A/N: I don`t own Tokyo Ghoul or Hellsing
"Speech"
Thoughts
Telepathy
Chapter 4: Unknowingly Caught in the Eye of a Growing Storm
Hisao POV
"Now, when it comes to teaching the World War II era, many Western educational institutions place emphasis on Germany`s atrocities when it comes to human rights abuses, particularly when it comes to the Holocaust, when the Nazi Party exterminated tens of millions of people in a quest for racial purity; particularly noting the six million Jews who were murdered during their reign."
Who doesn`t know this BS already? Hisao groaned mentally. Although he personally liked learning about history, he did not particularly enjoy relearning the same lessons that he had learned by himself.
"While true and tragic at the same, these same institutions also fail to either notice or place emphasis on the fact that our own nation during those years was guilty of crimes of equal and even greater magnitude than our, shamefully, erstwhile allies-in-arms."
No kidding. We were REALLY messed up in the head in those days. He had read through every history book he could get his hands on in his home before discovering the wonderful world of the library, where he now spends the vast majority of his free time in reading anything that catches his random fancies, from computer manuals to shounen manga.
"In fact, after the Imperial Army won a more difficult battle than expected at Shanghai during the pre-World War II invasion of China, they vented their frustration on the next city they conquered, Nanking, by slaughtering over half of the city`s 600,000 residents, going so far as to rape tens of thousands of women and girls and then butchering them. This event-"
A hand was raised, interrupting the lecture and drawing the female professor`s attention - and Hisao`s - to the bespectacled girl sitting to his right.
"You have something to say, Iseri Nanami?" the teacher called, using the traditional method of addressing someone with their family name first.
"Yes, Shoji-sama," Nanami said. "Although I understand the importance of us learning about such historical events as this, are you sure that we should be taught it in such gory detail?"
"First, I don`t think you`re one to complain about "gory details", Nanami, considering the fact that I know you are an otaku with a particular interest for anime that have explicit violence as one of their main draws, and two, just like I`ve said in my lessons on Feudal Era Japan, I have a firm belief that history ought to be presented as is, without any romanticism, propaganda, or political correctness on the subject."
At least she`s honest, so thank the gods for that.
"Besides, who needs to be an otaku when the world is practically a real-life horror story? Who needs anime and manga when all you need is a newspaper or even a science documentary to get your daily scares?"
This random, uncalled-for comment came from the girl sitting directly behind Hisao. One Michi Matsuzaka, daughter of recently-promoted Associate-Class Ghoul Investigator Akumo Matsuzaka.
"Michi," Yui Shoji said, annoyed. "No matter how insightful you may think you are, in order to speak in my classroom, you have to raise your hand and wait for permission to speak, just like everyone else. And, last I checked, that`s the way it`s done everywhere at every educational level. So, be polite and considerate, that is your last warning."
"Yes, ma`am," Michi droned.
As the teacher restarted her lecture, continuing where she left off with the Rape of Nanking, Hisao let his mind think about Michi.
Not too long ago, Michi was one of the most popular girls in the school, having rubbed shoulders with the likes of Masahiko Himura, star athlete in both track and archery, Chiasa Hara, daughter of one of the members of the Japanese Diet, and even Katsuo Ishikawa, a rumored member of the yakuza.
Then, she and her two dearest friends, Asuna and Reiko, were the victims of a ghoul attack that left the two dead and Michi in shock.
For a time, her social life had suffered, as her father, in paternal and professional paranoia, managed to get protection for Michi for the next two weeks while she grieved the loss of her friends, ensuring that only the truly concerned, or morbidly curious, would bother to approach and bother her. It didn`t help that people were afraid that, if they were associated with her, some ghoul stalker might come and eat them too.
Then, two weeks prior, came the CCG`s public announcement of the cannibalistic S-rated ghoul Ripper, a ghoul which hunted and killed its own kind.
This announcement had the odd effect of restoring Michi`s popularity, when rumor spread that the real reason Michi had survived the ghoul attack was because Ripper had saved her at the last minute, leading to just about everyone pestering her for any and all details she could give about the latest on the CCG`s Most Wanted. Despite her obvious discomfort, Michi was able to take advantage of everyone`s curiosity to reestablish her previous relationships with her various other friends and the other popular kids and assuage fears about being her friends. And now, everything was back to normal, with Michi again using smart comments in class.
Despite all this, Hisao just couldn`t stop that nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was something he was missing…
Nanami POV
BBBRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!
FINALLY! I thought that would never end! Nanami thought exasperated, as she gathered up her textbooks and notebooks into her bag, got up and walked out the door towards the cafeteria, more than happy for the arrival of lunch break.
She had never really enjoyed history class, and never liked learning about bloody stuff in it either. Despite Ms. Shoji`s point that she enjoyed bloody anime, with the likes of Elfen Lied and Berserk among her favorites, she always possessed a very distinct understanding of the unreality of fiction – basically, she herself was not frightened, swayed, or otherwise affected by anything that she knew to be false. In real life, she could barely stand the sight of blood or any news regarding ghouls or bloodshed. Thus, unlike many others, she indulged in anime and manga because she could then pay witness to over-the-top acts of violence without suffering a complete mental breakdown.
Although, she also thought back on Michi`s comment that real life was like a horror manga. What with all the ghouls running around and eating people, and that Ripper causing a ruckus throughout the 10th Ward, she couldn`t help but admit that life did look like a horror manga. After all, she was regularly attending high school, the practically default setting for just about every other anime or manga EVER, man-eating human-looking monsters prowled the streets both day and night, a powerful and secretive, although public, organization was hunting them down, and, for the cherry on top, her classmate and friend Michi had gotten caught up in the madness.
"Something on your mind, Nanami?" came the concerned voice of Michi.
"Oh! N-n-nothing much," she replied, flustered. "I was just thinking about what you said in class. About life being a horror manga."
"Yeah, I did say that. I mean, with the stuff I`ve seen, it definitely would be most at home in a manga or one of those cheap B-rated horror flicks, wouldn`t you agree?"
"Yeah, heh," Nanami laughed nervously, as the two walked into the cafeteria and headed toward a table that sat next to the windows. Sitting down, she opened her bento box to see a delicious array of salads, both vegetable and fruit, and saucy chicken inside. Wafting the scent of the food in delight, she said her thanks and began eating, taking a brief moment to see Michi`s equally delectable lunch before her.
"So, Michi," Nanami started.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Back on the earlier topic of life being like a manga, would you think you`re the protagonist in one?"
"Hmmm," Michi thought. "In my case, maybe I am, but maybe not. If not the main character, then maybe a side character."
"Come on, Michi," Nanami groaned. "You`re beautiful, you`re smart, you`ve got big familial connections to a giant government organization that hunts monsters for a living, you even got attacked by one of those said monsters! If you`re not THE protagonist, you`re at least one of them, a major character, or the protagonist`s love interest."
If Michi had had anything in her mouth at that moment, it would have been spit right back out all over Nanami as Michi guffawed at this last statement. "WHAT?! The love interest?! What do you take me for, some random cut-and-paste anime girl that you can find anywhere that have no depth to them or any actually redeeming qualities?"
"Nononono, that`s not it at all!" Nanami exclaimed, waving her arms in front of herself (just like in anime) trying to calm down her flustered friend. "I mean, you strike me as the kind of person who would either be a big part of a story or, at least, have the attention of someone who is. Unlike me, who would probably be nothing more than your average disposable side character who gets a one-off appearance and then drops off the face of the Earth." This last part was said in self-pity, as Nanami had never believed herself to amounting to much in life, what with her being an otaku and all, knowing well that it was frowned upon in general society.
"Hey, don`t sell yourself that short, Nanami," Michi said, having gathered her nerves about her once more. "I mean, who knows. You could make a very interesting character in a story if done right. That`s something that can be said for everyone, because no two people are the same. That`s what makes humanity so beautiful after all. Everyone is precious."
Nanami blinked. And then just laughed in spite of herself. "That was as corny and cheesy as a giant bowl of popcorn. But thanks. It helped."
"Don`t mention it."
Nanami then remembered something. "Oh yeah, I just finished reading this book recently, and I was wondering if you wanted to check it out." She reached into her bag to grab it.
Michi was curious. "What is it?"
Nanami then pulled out the book, and, in a dramatic flair, plopped right onto the middle of the table. "Well, what do you think? I personally liked the author`s vision of swapping out ghouls for vampires and werewolves, and-" she stopped when she noticed her friend had frozen up completely, staring at the book with her eyebrows twitching. She looked up at Nanami.
"Tell me this is a joke. Please." Michi`s eyes held Nanami`s with a look of equal parts disbelief and pain.
"Uhhh, no?" Nanami said, feeling nervous.
Michi then lifted the book and held it out from herself like it was bio-waste material, and rushed to the nearest recycling can for paper and dumped it inside with a sigh of relief.
Nanami`s jaw would`ve been clattering on the floor if it had been detachable.
"B-b-bu-but, WHY?" Nanami exclaimed. "I thought we were friends!"
Michi placed her hands on Nanami`s shoulders and looked the glasses girl dead in the eye with a look that brokered no argument. "No self-respecting friends with so much as half a brain doesn`t make friends read Twilight. It makes them WANT to be eaten by ghouls."
A purple-haired girl sitting at the table behind them suddenly and violently sneezed, jump-scaring the girl sitting opposite her to cry out and fall back and startling Nanami and Michi apart. There was food all over the girl`s uniform and hazelnut hair, showing that her friend had just taken a bite when the sudden sneeze had occurred.
"Ohmygod I`m so sorry!" the sneezer said, rushing over to her blown-over comrade. "Seriously, I have no idea what came over me!"
"It`s okay," the girl replied, getting back up. "At least I`ve got spares at home, and I know how to wash out food from my clothes."
She then looked at Nanami and Michi. "Sorry for that, you guys. My friend doesn`t normally get sick, so don`t mind us."
"No no, it`s okay," Nanami replied. "I mean, there was that one time that I literally slipped on a banana peel when I was rushing through the cafeteria for my next class."
"Wait," the purple-haired girl stated. "The story of the Banana Girl, from last semester, that was YOU?!"
"Yep," Michi replied, putting an arm around Nanami`s waist. "And, fun fact: that was MY banana peel she slipped on! That`s how we met and became friends!"
"No kidding?" said the girl who`d been knocked backwards.
"Nope."
The other two girls just gaped, looked at one another, and then just burst out laughing. Michi and Nanami couldn`t help but join in. After calming down, Nanami bowed and said, "Well, fellow accident victim, my name is Nanami Iseri. What`s yours?"
"Yoriko," she said, bowing in return. "Yoriko Kosaka."
"Michi Matsuzaka," the banana peel-dropper said with her own bow. She turned to the purple-haired girl. "And you?"
"Touka," she replied, returning the gesture. "Touka Kirishima."
A/N: Sorry that this is a short chapter and that it`s been a while since I last updated, but I hit writer`s block again and I got distracted by lots of reading, working, and summer job-hunting. And I needed to deliver something that would both give this story a change in pace while hopefully make the wait worthwhile. Don`t forget: the more feedback you give me, from reviews to OC suggestions, the faster and better I will write!
Hope you enjoyed this!
