I'm back! For those who pay attention to this story, sorry for the long wait. This chapter will focus on V's secret plans, how a half-ghoul's diet works, a small fight scene to test how well I can write them, why some Japanese delinquents died, and a small medical lesson.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.
Dialogue format:
'thoughts'
"talking"
Vasuki Base, Unknown location, Tokyo
Eric looked around the meeting room nervously. Kaiko stood several feet away, grumbling as he attempted to get a projector up and running. Several agents had already filed in and taken their seats, with more entering by the minute. The half-ghoul gulped nervously, attempting his best poker face
'This is going to be the first squad operation I'm apart of…' the tall hybrid thought. He smirked as he looked over the file in his hands. The file on the unknown Yoshimura now included a picture of her mother, a label indicating that the young girl's possible appearance would be based on her human parent. Eric looked up as Kaiko made a loud exclamation, having apparently gotten his projector working.
"Now that that's working," he surveyed the entire room, "Good morning all! Since everybody has arrived, we should get started!"
He clicked to the first slide, a basic map of the 24th ward.
"For those of you who are new, or have chosen to selectively forget about it, it's that time of year again!" he announced to the room, eliciting several groans.
"This year is going to be different from previous years of course… apart from the fact that we have new information regarding our primary mark, we also have a secondary target within the tunnels."
"How is it going to be any different from last time?" a voice called from the back.
The white-eyed man smirked in amusement at the agent's outburst.
"When my new partner and I visited Kuzen in the 20th ward, we were able to get a new piece of information from our former comrade…" he turned back to the slideshow, clicking to the next slide.
Sounds of confusion broke out, many of the agents tilting their heads. The next slide had been a closeup of the mother of Kuzen's child, and included details on her medical history, genealogy, and her physical measurements. One of the agents in front raised his hand
"Why are you showing us a picture of Kuzen's fiance again, Kaiko-sama?"
"Because" Kaiko's smile widened, "I figured Kuzen's daughter would inherit her mother's looks rather than her father's…"
The calm, formal atmosphere in the room broke immediately after the white-eyed man said this. Several agents stood up in shock, others exclaimed loudly at the new revelation
"No way, a daughter?!"
"Did we just assume Kuzen's brat was a boy?"
"How long was the bastard pulling a fast one on us?!
Kaiko's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Enough!" he growled loudly, putting down the disorder that had taken over the meeting room. The white-eyed man cleared his throat before resuming the slideshow presentation.
"Yes, during our excursion to the 20th, Eric here was able to get it out of our old friend that he was being entirely truthful when he said, "I have no son"... because he has a daughter…" Kaiko grimaced.
"Still not sure how we missed that one…" he muttered to himself. Eric looked around the room and shrunk slightly in embarrassment. Many of the agents had turned their heads to the half-ghoul, staring at the boy in awe as they murmured amongst themselves.
"What'd he do to get the old man to spill?"
"I heard he's taken more cleaning missions than Kuzen did…"
"He's always completed every task the bosses gave him to the letter, with no room for error."
An unsteady smile grew on the tall boys face at the whispers of commendation. Kaiko once again cleared his throat to get the room's attention.
"So during this four day excursion into the 24th ward, we will be searching for a 10 year old girl matching the physical appearance of this woman" he pointed to the picture of Ukina once again, "And, she'll have this kagune…"
The white-eyed man once again changed the slide, this time to several pictures of Kuzen during his time as a member of their organization, kagune manifested clearly and shown at different angles. His greyish red ukaku wings were shaped like those found on a bird of prey, and several accompanying pictures showed them formed into large scimitar blades with feathery protrusions.
"Our superiors want her captured alive so she can be brought to the garden and examined, then reconditioned into the first hybrid womb. This mission will be done to confirm her presence in the tunnels, as well as truly gain full confirmation of her biological sex" Kaiko turned to room again. "Are there any questions?"
An agent in the back raised his hand in response.
"Yes, what's your question?"
"You said Kuzen's brat was the primary target… but you also mentioned a second target. Who's the second mark?"
The white-eyed man smiled at the agents in front of him.
"Yes, there is an explanation for that… Eric!" he turned to the giant teen and motioned for him to stand "Why don't you fill them all in?"
The half-ghoul stood up nervously and took a deep breath. He walked over to the projector and replaced Kaiko's slides with his own, and turned to the seated agents.
"So, for those of you that aren't aware… before joining the organization I worked in what is now one of our subsidiary labs. Unfortunately, at the beginning of this year one of our test subjects, an asset of our superiors, escaped. I have reason to believe he's hiding out in the 24th, based on the fact that I've found his kagune secretions in parts of the tunnels during my own personal excursions there…"
The teen clicked the blank slide to a picture of his younger brother. In the picture, the younger hybrid sat in a cat-like stance, his gigantic bikaku tail coiling behind him. The boy's single kakugan flared bright red due to the light from the camera flash.
"This is subject 3. Like myself and our primary mark he is a naturally born, "perfect" hybrid. Within three months he'll be 12 years old, his last recorded height was 190 cm and his projected height at this point in time should be either just over 213 cm or around just under it, and…" Eric grimaced as he changed the slide. The pictures shown were of the younger boy's half-formed reptilian kakuja, and the destruction he had caused with it during the points of its use. "His last recorded RC count was 5273, which has most likely increased. I'm unsure whether or not his kakuja has been completed, and if he has control over it…"
"Are there any questions?" the teen asked, looking around the room. Eric turned to a man in front who had raised his hand. He was a senior agent name Saitou, apparently he would be in the same squad with the hybrid.
"I have a question… subject 3, he looks physically similar to you. Are you related to him by any chance?"
Eric's fingers twitched ever so slightly, and his mouth formed into a thin line.
"Uh… yes, he's my biological sibling…" he looked around the room, seeing a few hands raised.
"Before you ask… No, I do not feel any form of familial relationship towards subject 3" the teen watched as the raised hands fell. "Any other questions?" he asked.
When the tall hybrid saw no more hands raise, he turned to his partner and motioned for the man to take over. Kaiko smiled at the boy for a second before turning back to the assembly before them.
"Thank you Eric… now, if you look into the folders placed in front of you, you'll find all the details you need on little miss Yoshimura and subject 3. Also included are the squad details for this mission" the white-eyed man leaned forward menacingly, "do not forget which squad you're in. Last mission in which we grouped into squads, we had a bunch of mix ups and it put everything out of sync, this endeavor is going to be more dangerous than that particular assignment, so we can't afford ANY flubs."
The white-eyed man looked around, smirking at the sufficiently intimidated agents.
"Now then" he started, "for those of you who have concerns about the munitions for this mission, please turn to section 12…"
Shibuya ward, Tokyo
*POP*
Riley woke up to the loud popping noise with a start. He looked around the room in confusion, unsure of where he was. The sound of quiet breathing met his ears, and he turned to his right, finding Kentetsu sleeping on his temporary bedroll. After a few seconds, he realized he was in one of Minami's guest rooms. The half-ghoul scrunched his face in confusion.
'Where the hell did that popping come fro-'
*POP*
The hybrid jolted when the noise sounded out again to his left. He looked down to see the phantom of his older sister lying on her stomach, holding her face between her hands and sporting a bright, cheeky smile. She closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.
*POP*
Riley's face fell, and his eyes became shadowed by his bangs.
'...At least that explains the noise' the hybrid though irritatedly.
He lifted himself from his sleeping bag, left the room and made his way to the kitchen, taking extra special care to not wake Kentetsu as the other boy slept. He cringed as the illusion followed him the entire way. The tall preteen grimaced at the sound of his stomach groaning, looking around the room.
'Minami said we weren't allowed to eat her meat stores without her permission… and Morio said to ration the food we brought with us in case we got into conflict with other ghouls or investigators, so what-'
*POP*
"Can you stop that please?!" the half-breed hissed to the phantom. The girl just looked up at him with a smile.
"As you wish" she said, giving him a short curtsey. The half-ghoul leveled a deadpan glare at her, and she simply responded by moving her hand up to the boy's face while holding her index finger out, and poking the tip of his nose.
"Boop!"
Riley glared at her for a few more seconds before turning back to the matter at hand. As he looked at the cupboard, a thought occurred to him. He opened the cabinet, and his faced morphed into a mask of delight as he spotted a box of honeyed oat cereal. His face fell into a doubtful expression as he grabbed the box and checked the side, his smile returning when he saw that the expiration date wasn't at all closeby. He turned to an adjoining cabinet, pulling a bowl and spoon out. As he walked to the fridge, he spotted his sister giving him an owlish look.
"What are you doing? Miss Minami said you couldn't eat her food!"
"She said we couldn't eat any of her human meat stores… I doubt she cares about her human food."
The half-ghoul pulled out a carton of milk, looking it over for it's due date. His face grew a satisfied look when he was sure it was okay to use. A couple minutes later and he sat at the table enjoying his bowl of cereal. The phantom sat in front of him, holding her head up with her hands and smiling at him.
"Honey always was your favorite food, huh?"
Riley barely spared her a glance, choosing to focus on eating. As he was halfway through pushing another spoonful into his mouth, he heard a short gasp not to far away. The boy looked over to find Kentetsu standing several feet away, staring at him wide-eyed in fear with a gaping mouth. Riley looked at the quiet preteen in confusion as he swallowed another spoonful of cereal. This only elicited an even greater look of horror from Kentetsu.
'Seriously, what's he so scared of?' the hybrid thought in bewilderment.
A newly awoken Tetsuomi emerged from around the corner, catching sight of the mute boy staring in shock.
"Hey Kenta, you ok? You look like you've seen…a… wha?!" the formerly tired redhead looked at the tall boy in confused panic.
"What are you doing?!" he hissed at the half-breed. Riley looked up at the redhead, a puzzled expression on his face.
"I think I'm eating some cereal?"
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
"No" the boy said flatly, "I think I'm eating a bowl of cereal…"
The redhead grabbed the boy by the shoulders and lifted him from the chair, making the half-ghoul drop the spoon he was using for his cereal. Riley looked at Tetsuomi in irritation.
"What are you doing?" the boy growled.
"I'm taking you to get that poison out of you. Come on, we're heading to the bathroom, I can show you how to get rid of it."
"I'm fine Tetsuo-kun…"
Riley looked over to see the timely arrival of Moriomi. The Raven haired teen rubbed his eyes clear of gunk, having just woken up. When he looked at the scene before him, he blinked owlishly at the two arguing.
"The hell is going on here?" he asked tiredly. Tetsuomi looked over to him, panic evident on his face.
"Riley poisoned himself, so I'm bringing him to the toilet to teach him how to get rid of it."
"Poisoned?" the ravenette looked over to the half-ghoul in confusion.
"I was eating cereal…" Riley grumbled, "and I'd like to finish it before it gets all soggy."
Moriomi shook his head in exasperation.
"You were just eating cereal?" he asked.
"Yeah, just cereal. I was gonna clean all the dishes after I finished so Minami-san wouldn't suspect it…"
"Wait!" the redhead growled, pointing over to Moriomi. "Why are you acting like it's not a big deal that he's eating human food?"
"Because he can digest human food, remember? He told us."
Tetsuomi looked back and forth between Moriomi and the half-breed, confusion evident on his face.
"He never told me!"
"...Oh shit!" Riley blanched, looking at the redhead apologetically. "You weren't there, so I forgot to tell you, I only told Morio and Meiko-nee…"
The hybrid sat back down, continuing his breakfast. Tetsuomi looked at the boy in stupefaction as he ate.
"So, you can handle that perfectly fine? Like, digestion and taste and all that?"
"Mhhm!" Riley swallowed, turning his gaze to the redhead. "I mean, it doesn't really do much for me, like it would humans…"
The half-ghoul brought a hand to his face and lifted the headband he was using as an eyepatch up. Tetsuomi tilted his head at the boy's single active kakugan.
"I still have to eat like everybody else…" the hybrid trailed off.
"Oh… I see" the redhead brought a hand up to his chin, furrowing his brows in thought. "So it's like coffee for normal ghouls, but your eye acts up when you do it…"
"Well, I can tone it down a bit, since I've dealt with it before..." Riley demonstrated this by deactivating his kakugan as best as possible. The blackness in his sclera disappeared completely, but his iris remained blood red.
"Huh, thats pretty neat… so as long as you keep your eye hidden, the doves wouldn't be any wiser."
Tetsuomi was brought from his musings by a small slurping noise. He looked over to find the half-ghoul finishing off his cereal, downing the remaining milk. The tall boy then walked over to the sink and began scrubbing the dishes. The redhead hung closely to the boy's side.
"So... you've eaten meat, right?" he asked the hybrid.
"...as in?"
"Meat that isn't human or ghoul" Tetsuomi clarified.
"Oh yeah, I've had it a few times…"
"Ok, well I'm just gonna be frank…" the redhead took a deep, nervous breath. "What animal that isn't human, tastes closest to human?"
"Oh, that… uh…" Riley put his hand to his chin in thought. "Pork… definitely pork. First time I ate it I almost couldn't tell the difference."
"Pork huh… doesn't really make sense when you think about it."
"...Long pig" Moriomi gasped in disgust. The other three looked over to him in confusion.
"Eh, what was that Morio?" Tetsuomi asked in apprehension.
"Long pig, or long pork. That's what human cannibals call the meat on the black market" the ravenette shuddered in revulsion. "Jesus, I never understood why they called it that until now…"
"...there are human cannibals?" Riley asked, surprise on his face.
"Oh yeah, you hear about them sometimes…" Tetsuomi scratched the back of his head. "There was that Dahmer guy in the states that was caught a few years back, and then there's somebody in kobe, I forget his name though, he ate a girl while he was in france and now he's a minor celebrity cause of it…"
"But thats people… eating other people!" the hybrid lamented.
"Yeah, a few years ago some ghoul rights activists tried pointing that out to the CCG in a debate, and they got a lot of traction from it… guess what happened" Tetsuomi drew his own finger across his throat. "Nobody ever heard from them again. They just went missing, and the doves later revealed "evidence" of them harboring and fraternizing with ghouls, to discredit their arguments…"
Riley grimaced at this piece of information. A loud, drawn out yawn broke them from their conversation. The half-ghoul glanced over to see Minami standing in her doorway, stretching her arms and adjusting her stiff neck. When she looked over to them, Moriomi specifically, a small frown formed on her face.
"Oh, so it wasn't a nightmare…"
"Oh goodness, your words wound me" Moriomi drawled out. The girl turned her gaze over to Riley, scrutinizing him.
"What are you doing?"
"...w-washing your dishes" the hybrid stuttered out. "I figured you wouldn't look forward to it in the morning, so I decided I'd take it off your should-"
The half-ghoul was cut off when Minami closed the distance between them, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging his head to her level of height. She began sniffing around his neck and face. Riley immediately blushed and let out a small "eep!". The girl released him from her hold and gave him a deadpan look.
"Relax, I was checking to make sure you didn't eat any of my meat stores…" she said flatly.
"You should get out of your PJs…" Moriomi said. Minami gave him a sideways glance, sporting an ever growing blush on her face.
"Wh-what!?"
"You said you have a meeting with your principal today?" The older boy offered.
"Oh yeah, that…"
"Do you even have school today?" Tetsuomi inquired.
"No…" the girl grimaced in thought. "The janitor tried to murder my homeroom teacher a couple days ago, so while the doves clean everything up we have a whole week off."
Tetsuomi winced at this, then found his attention drawn to Riley. He looked just in time to see the hybrid finish cleaning the last of the dishes. He looked over to Kentetsu as well when a thought finally occurred to him.
"Hey, I need a space for these two," he pointed to the preteens, "to train them. Are there any out of the way spots or secret places nearby where we'll be hidden?"
"Oh yeah, the basement is free…" the girl opened a nearby drawer, searching for something as she continued to speak. "My landlords, they're ghouls by the way, they're cool if others train there. Just as long as nobody causes too much damage and cleans up afterwards…"
"You coming with Morio?" the redhead asked. The raven haired teen shook his head.
"I'm going with her" he pointed to Minami. "I have to make sure the doves don't tail her or anything."
The girl turned her gaze to Moriomi and glared in annoyance. She pulled a small piece of metal from her drawer and turned to Tetsuomi stiffly.
"Here's a spare key to the apartment. I'll bring you all down there in a bit…"
"Alright!" he turned to the two boys. "We have a lot to cover this session. Get your training clothes."
The preteens looked themselves over. Riley to his flannel shirt and sweatpants, Kentetsu to his turtleneck and jeans. They both looked back at the redhead sheepishly.
"So… just grab our shoes?" the hybrid asked.
"...Y-yeah just grab your shoes."
The basement, a few hours later
"I think you two did pretty well…"
Tetsuomi stood in front of the two boys as they hunched over, panting in slight exhaustion. Kentetsu looked up at the redhead, a small smile on his face. Riley flashed the teen a similar smile, satisfied that Tetsuomi didn't push them as hard as Neneko had. Both the hybrid's eyes were visible, his headband/eyepatch now adorning his forehead.
"Shame Morio couldn't join us… guess he's too busy protecting his girlfriend" the redhead jeered to himself. The half-ghoul looked up at the teen puzzledly.
"...I don't think they're like that Tetsuo" the boy said doubtfully.
"Hahaha! You haven't been paying attention kid" the redhead flashed a devious grin."If you look back on dinner last night, you'll realise the sexual tension was all over the place. That, and the fact that they were already childhood friends…"
Tetsuomi shook his head, looking back to the young hybrid.
"Anyway, we need to have a discussion. Remember our first sparring match?"
"How could I forget?" Riley grimaced as he remembered. "You beat me in under five minutes…"
"There's a reason for that. I'm what's called a "perfect offensive chimera" by the doves, because of my kagune" he the released his dual kagune to illustrate this, summoning both his wings and two feather-like tentacles.
"Since you're a bikaku, ukakus will always be a bad matchup for you… but if you train to deal with ukaku types, you'll eventually get to the point where having a bad matchup won't matter. To put it bluntly" the boy retracted his ukaku kagune and put a hand on each of the boy's shoulders. "You two… are going to fight!"
The two boys stared at the redhead owlishly. Kentetsu glanced over to the half-ghoul, looking him up and down before blanching. Riley shook himself out of his state of bewilderment.
"I'm sorry, could you go ahead and repeat that?" the hybrid held his hands in the air as he spoke. "It sounded like you just said you wanted me to fight him."
"That is definitely what I said, yeah" the redhead flashed them a bright smile. Both preteens shrunk back, wide eyed. Kentetsu pointed to the half-ghoul and made a small gesticulations with his hands, which the the redhead gazed at mutely.
"You're scared of fighting Riley because of the size of his kagune?" Tetsuomi asked. The quiet boy made another hand gesture in reference to the tall boy.
"You're scared of fighting Riley because of his size in general?" the redhead asked. Riley shrunk a bit at this, even more so when Kentetsu made another gesture.
"You're scared fighting him for both those reasons?" the redhead asked. The quiet boy gave the teen a nod, causing the tall hybrid to palm his own face.
"See, it's probably a bad idea-"
"No, it's not a bad idea" Tetsuomi cut the tall boy off. "You spar with Neko and Mei-chan all the time."
"Yeah, and I hold back against them all the time because I'm over a foot taller than them" he motioned to himself to illustrate. When compared to the other two, the hybrid truly did seem gigantic. "I broke Neko's arm once, remember?"
"Yeah, and then when you tried to apologize and help her up, she punched you and said "fights not over yet baka!", it was hilarious!" the redhead chuckled, placing his hands behind his head. "You don't have to go all out against Kenta, but you both need the experience. Kenta needs to fight people out of his weight class, and you need to figure out how to deal with ukaku types. You'll never improve if you don't take chances like this…"
Tetsuomi clapped his hands in front of him, his face having grown a serious look.
"Alright! I want you both to take positions adjacent to each other. You're starting this sparring match, whether you like it or not!"
Both boy shrunk nervously as the redhead boomed his command to them. Not looking forward to what would happen if they disobeyed, the took their positions across from each other and settled into their combat stances. Riley sent the shorter boy an apologetic look.
"Ehe… no hard feelings, right Kenta-san?"
The quiet boy gave a short grunt of affirmation in response. Tetsuomi called out for them to start, and instantly their demeanors changed. Their nervousness died out completely, and their faces became masks of focus.
Kentetsu made the first move. He sped forward almost too quickly to track, and aimed a kick at the taller boy's legs, attempting to sweep them out from under him. The half-ghoul dodged the strike with speed unbecoming of his size. The quiet boy didn't let up, slamming a fist into the hybrid's stomach. Riley was pushed back a bit by this, only slightly winded. He looked over to see that the smaller boy had jumped back several feet, watching his opponent in order to evaluate any possible openings to take.
"Wow, he's pretty speedy!"
The hybrid grit his teeth, attempting to ignore the phantom that had taken it's place not to far from him, and did his best to focus. Kentetsu threw several more punches and kicks at the taller boy's legs, probing his defense for a weak point. A particular strike near his left foot set Riley off balance, and he wobbled backwards on one leg for a bit before regaining his footing.
"You know, if you keep giving him ground, he'll get cocky…" the phantom smiled at Riley as he blocked more strikes from his opponent. "If he tries to do a flying spin or drop kick, it's a surefire win for you."
The half-ghoul looked to the side, the new piece of information making him pause just a bit. His attention was brought back to the fight when the shorter boy threw a kick to his legs, and he brought both his arms up to block another strike aimed at his stomach. Riley narrowed his eyes down at his opponent, before drawing his right arm back and slamming it into the ground, the small shockwaves from the blow pushing the quiet boy back and upheaving small bits of the floor.
"Hey! We're not supposed to break anything!" Tetsuomi called out from the sidelines, shrinking a bit in annoyance when he saw neither boy was paying him any mind.
Kentetsu narrowed his eyes in concentration as he watched the half-ghoul. Both of them circled each other, the quiet boy attempting to gauge any possible openings he could take advantage of while the taller preteen did his best to predict when his opponent would finally slip up and give him his chance. Riley furrowed his brows in deep thought.
'As much as I want to ignore her, she isn't wrong' the boy's fists clenched as he focused on the quiet preteen across from him. 'I can be fast if I need to be, but I don't want to just burn all my energy at the beginning of the fight…'
Luckily, the half-ghoul was going to get the chance he was waiting for. Kentetsu sped forward, aiming a kick at the hybrid's feet. The taller boy leapt out of the way in the nick of time, while the shorter preteen slid across the floor, getting up quickly and charging for his opponent once again. Riley smirked when Kentetsu leapt into the air, aiming a kick towards his head. The hybrid only needed one hand to grab the offending limb and lock his opponent in place.
Kentetsu's eyes widened as his attack was stopped and he was held aloft by the half-ghoul. Riley looked up at the quiet boy, his active kakugan narrowing as his smile widened. The hybrid swung his arm, throwing his opponent forward. The shorter boy ricocheted across the floor, incurring more than a few bruises and cracked bones before landing. His healing factor did it's best to fix his injuries as he rose shakily, but the half-ghoul didn't give the boy a chance to recuperate. By the time Kentetsu had gotten to his feet, the hybrid had already zipped forward and slammed a fist into the quiet boy's chest, throwing him into the nearby wall and knocking the wind out of him, the impact throwing dust and small chunks of debris into the air (nearby, Tetsuomi whined as he witnessed the destruction before him).
Riley looked to the small dust cloud in satisfaction, sure that the match was his. That satisfaction disappeared completely when his eyes caught small amounts of dim light from within the dust. It was only through pure instinct that he had dodged the glass-like ukaku shards that were fired at him. The hybrid dodged several more ukaku spikes, noting the peculiar way they were fired. Kentetsu stood further away, his thin ukaku wings displayed. The boy fired his ukaku shards as precise as possible, making sure to release them in sparse amounts, rather than the common ukaku tactic of firing hundreds of shards in a massive spread. The boy had no need to do the latter, his target was nearly impossible to miss.
The half-ghoul grimaced when he saw the shimmering hummingbird-like wings point at him again, firing a few more ukaku shards at his feet. The tall boy rolled forward, aiming a fist at his opponent. His eyes went wide when the quiet boy coiled his right wing around his arm, shaping it into a thin blade to block the hybrid's strike. Riley paled when the other boy's left wing moved upward, transforming into a long tentacle and slamming into the taller boy, sending him careening into the air before he landed roughly. Nearby, Tetsuomi had a downcast expression as he used his rinkaku kagune to remove the stray ukaku shards embedded in the floor.
Riley lifted himself up with his hands shakily, gritting his teeth in annoyance as his cracked vertebrae healed. The sound like insectoid buzzing kicked his instincts into gear and he rolled to the side, away from yet another deluge of ukaku shards. The hybrid jumped to his feet, just in time to block another set of spikes aimed for his face with his forearms. A restrained grunt escaped his mouth as he jumped back a bit, attempting to dislodge some of the shards embedded in his limbs.
"Y'know, if you don't bring yours out, you'll lose big time" the illusionary girl nearby stated, giggling at the poor boys torment. "Why don't you try making it into a shield or something?"
The half-ghoul glared at the phantom from the corner of his eye, grimacing as he removed the last shard.
'Make a shield?' he thought in confusion, turning to face his opponent. 'How would I even use my kagune as...a… oh!'
Riley's eyes widened in elation as a memory of his fight with Tetsuomi flashed through his mind. His monstrous bikaku tail emerged from his back, slamming into the ground just next to Kentetsu, causing the quiet boy to jump back a bit. The half-ghoul smirked when his opponent readied another ukaku barrage, folding his arms and smiling at the other boy, fully prepared for the next strike. Before the deluge of shards met their intended target, Riley maneuvered the tip of his tail in front of himself, flattening it into a shape not dissimilar to the paddled tail of a beaver, sans the reptilian scutes running down it. The ukaku spikes met the flattened tail, either piercing it, breaking apart or even bouncing off to the side.
Kentetsu grimaced when he saw that his attack had been made completely useless. The hybrid moved his tail from in front of himself, revealing his smiling face. Kentetsu tilted his head in annoyance, and spread his wings out further than before. Instead of firing off precise bursts of spikes, the quiet boy now began expelling a massive barrage of spikes that would be more often than not expected of ukaku type ghouls. Riley looked in trepidation as the mass of spikes zoomed towards him. A small smile grew on his face as an idea quickly developed in his mind.
The quiet boy across from his gaped when Riley coiled his massive crocodilian tail around himself, as well as poising the pointed tip in his opponent's direction, all while leaving the tall boy just enough room to move his limbs around within. Kentetsu watched as his massive ukaku barrage was made just as useless as the prior attempt. Worse so, the crystalized ukaku shards that had embedded themselves into the half-ghoul tail soon shrunk and diminished completely, the hardened RC spikes having been absorbed by the taller boy's kagune. Two pairs of large kakugan eyes suddenly formed on the saurian limb, staring straight at the the hybrid's opponent. Riley, while still encased within his coiled kagune, began walking towards the boy. Kentetsu fired several more smaller ukaku barrages, grimacing as they either glaced off or were absorbed by the half-ghoul's spiky bulwark. Soon enough, Riley was only a few feet away from the smaller boy, his kagune eyes looking down at the quiet preteen menacingly. Kentetsu's face became shadowed for a second, before he glared up at his opponent with active kakugan. He shaped his right wing into a blade coiled around his arm, and attempted to strike the hybrid and break through the kagune barrier.
This was a completely fruitless effort. The moment the ukaku blade met the reptilian aegis, a small mass of tendrils morphed on the surface of the tail, and grabbed the blade, holding it in place. Kentetsu looked at his imprisoned wing in surprise, paling when the tail uncoiled and the hybrid looked down at him with a closed-eyed smile. The shorter boy suddenly felt a warm sensation near his throat, and looked down to see the sharpened tip of the half-ghoul's massive kagune pressed close to his neck.
"And that's the match!" Tetsuomi yelled from the sidelines, smiling at both preteens. The illusionary girl nearby clapped her hands and cheered, causing the hybrid to grimace.
Riley retracted his tail and Kentetsu his wings, and both boys sighed in a mixture of tiredness and relief. Both boys then notice that the redhead still has his rinkaku tentacles out, coiled around several red shards. Kentetsu grimaced when his eyes caught sight of the stray spikes he had released during the fight.
"So…" Tetsuomi trailed off nervously, hoisting the mass of shards up with his tentacles. "The fuck are we supposed to do with all these?"
Riley looked back and forth between the unsure boys, before closing his eyes and sighing. He once again released his bikaku tail, placing the tip in between them and morphing it's shape into a large mouth, willing it to open and close slowly. The half-ghoul motioned to the toothy maw, hoping that the redhead would get the idea.
"Oh… okay, I guess that would work" Tetsuomi said uneasily, seemingly worried. "Uh, you sure about this? Cause it could cause problems…"
"What do you mean problems?" Riley asked. The redhead shook his head, causing the half-ghoul even more confusion.
"Eh, who cares! We'll deal with it when it comes up" with that, Tetsuomi began slowly shoveling the hardened RC spikes into the kagune mouth.
"I think that went off without a hitch!"
Tetsuomi smiled as he led the two preteens back to their temporary dwelling. Both of them were still tired from the few hours of exercise, as well as the impromptu sparring match they were forced to partake in. Kentetsu in particular walked stiffly, his healing factor still working on the minor injuries he incurred during the fight. Riley gave the redhead a flat look with his visible eye, having reaffixed his makeshift eye patch.
"I don't see how the went so well Tetsuo-san" the hybrid snarked to the teen. The redhead just smirked back at the two boys.
"Well for starters you won in at least 10 minutes, tops. That's pretty good time. Also…" Tetsuomi looked over to the mute preteen. "Kenta knows to go for the arms first when he's fighting somebody almost twice his size."
Kentetsu hummed in acknowledgement. Riley's shoulder slunk comically as he looked to Tetsuomi questioningly.
"Why would that help? If they got cut off, I'd still heal my arms in a few seconds…"
"Well, that's in regards to you. Not everybody can completely grow back severed arms in 3 seconds."
"Yeah, fair enough…" Riley trailed off, his face shadowed.
As they neared Minami's apartment, the redhead cleared his throat to get the two boy's attention.
"So listen… me and Morio are gonna be doing a once over of the ward later, to get a read on the doves and any of the big players in the ward" his face became serious as he spoke. "Morio wants to make sure Minami doesn't leave her apartment, especially in her lantern guise. So you guys are on babysitting duty…"
Both boys looked at Tetsuomi owlishly.
"Babysitting? Isn't she 16?" the hybrid asked in bewilderment.
"Yeah, and she's also public enemy number one in this ward. Moriomi doesn't want her going out and causing more problems for herself…"
Both the boys nearly face vaulted at that. They were both baffled at the ridiculousness of an eleven year old and a twelve year old babysitting a teenage girl. The look on the redhead's face was much too serious for them to believe it was a joke however, so they couldn't possibly think about truly arguing.
"I...I still don't get this" Riley protested lightly, still slightly mystified.
"Oh come on, you two babysat younger kids in the tunnels sometimes. Your height always made it easy."
"That's because the little kids were too busy using me as a living jungle gym to cause any other problems" the half-ghoul said flatly. "Why would being tall help with a teenage girl?"
"Because... it'd distract her?" Tetsuomi sounded unsure when he said this. Riley just shook his head and sighed in annoyance. Kentetsu grunted lowly beside him, clearly sharing the taller boy's sentiment.
Soon, the three had arrived to their temporary dwelling. The redhead checked the doorknob before attempting to use the key, becoming pleasantly surprised when he found it was unlocked, sure that the opposite would be the case. When the boys entered, they found Moriomi and Minami sitting at the table, the ravenette sipping on a cup of coffee while the girl sat across from him, though sitting would have been an inaccurate description. Minami's face currently rested on the table, concealed by her long brown hair. She looked up not long after she heard her apartment door, blinking when her gaze caught the three boys.
"Well…" Tetsuomi looked them over. "You two are back early. How'd your meeting go?"
"I'm meeting with my principal again in two days. He wants to really flesh things out since I actually transferred at the beginning of the school year…" the girl looked up at a lock of stray hair that had fallen on her face, blowing it out of the way and sighing. "I'm gonna be going to a cram school later on in the year, so I'll need my records."
"Neat! Anything else happen?"
"...I saw Arima-kun and Fura-kun… they're really cute, but they also want to kill me" she said nervously.
"...EH?" the redhead couldn't help but be confused. Moriomi spared him a glance, deciding to clear it up.
"Fura, human, fellow student. Arima, sunlit garden…"
Tetsuomi's eyes widened when he heard the last two words. He glanced back to Riley for a fraction of a second before he spoke again.
"So he's a-"
"Don't say anything about that idiot!" the ravenette growled. Riley and Minami both looked at the in confusion.
"Say anything about what? And why'd you look at him when you tried to ask?" she pointed to the tall boy in question.
"Oh, it's probably because everybody at the sunlit garden has a… mutation! Genetic mutation that makes them better than normal humans" the redhead looked over to the white haired boy contemplatively. "He...he has our kind's equivalent to it."
"Wait… like the Wendigo gene?" Riley asked, tilting his head. "I don't think I have that."
"...Wendigo?" the three teenagers gaped at the boy in confusion.
"It's supposed to be a mutation in the states… I don't actually know how it works though."
The teens just shook themselves from their bewilderment. Kentetsu stood far off, both confused as to what the taller boy was talking about, and amused at the reaction of the older teens. Minami just clutched her head in regards to the small headache the tall boy had given her. She looked over to find Tetsuomi flexing and stretching his arms, and Moriomi seeming to prepare some things for an impromptu outing.
"What are you two up to?" she asked flatly.
"We're going out, to deal with any of the assholes you went on about last night…" Moriomi looked at her from out of the corner of his eye. "We'll also be keeping an eye on the ghoul hunters you mentioned. You'll be staying here."
"Oh, so you're both going on a stakeout to protect me, but you're also dumping me with two kids to babysit?"
"Oh relax, they're fine. Kentetsu probably can't even talk, and at worst, Riley is just extremely passive aggressive" the redhead flashed her a smug grin. "Plus, it's the other way around. They're babysitting you."
"...HUH?!"
"He's telling the truth" the ravenette said. "If anybody attacks you, they'd be enough to keep you safe. Also, I don't want you leaving and going on a murder spree in your ridiculous crusade against teenage delinquents."
"I said I'd stop!" she cried indignantly. The two looked to each other for a second, before flashing her a flat look of distrust, causing her to shrink back a bit.
"We'll be going now. Be back in a bit!" the redhead called as the two left.
Minami groaned when the door shut, slumping her shoulders in embarrassment. She looked over to the two preteens, both of whom were visibly nervous.
"You two want any coffee?"
Kentetsu nodded eagerly at this. Riley gave her a closed eyed smile.
"Ah...sure, if it's not an inconvenience" the tall boy said shyly.
The girl flashed them a soft smile before moving to brew their beverages. Kentetsu took a seat at the table, while the half-ghoul took time to grab a book from his pack nearby. The hybrid soon took his place next to the quiet boy, continuing where he previously stopped as they both waited for Minami to finish.
"So… sorry I haven't been as welcoming towards you guys as I really should" the girl said as she brewed. "But, aside from not really knowing how to act around kids, you specifically…" she looked over to Riley curiously. "Well, you're kind of…"
"White?" the boy offered.
"I was gonna say really tall, but yeah, that's also pretty noticeable…"
The half-ghoul lowered his book and looked over to the girl nervously, grimacing as he decided to voice the question burning through his mind.
"...So, what did they mean when they said that?" the boy inquired.
"Eh? What do you mean?" she asked, looking over to him.
"Tetsuo made jokes about you killing teenagers… you didn't actually do that, did you?"
Minami stiffened immediately, audibly gulping. She turned to the two boys with a grimace on her face.
"...Yeah, I killed teenagers… jesus, don't look at me like that!" she growled out to Kentetsu, who had shrunk in his seat anxiously, a look of alarm across his visage. Riley simply looked over to the girl in concern.
"I...I didn't do it for kicks ok! You two know how hard it is for us to live, right?" the girl stared down the quiet boy as she asked this.
Both boys looked downwards, cold expressions spreading across their faces. The half ghoul closed his eyes, his visible eye twitching. His fists clenched as he remembered his life prior to his escape to the 24th ward. He looked over to the quiet boy, seeing that he had a sour look on his face that rivalled the taller boy's own.
"Yeah, I can tell you know. I definitely haven't had a good run either…" Minami looked away grimly with grit teeth. "The only reason I was ever able to survive was because of Morio-kun. I went off on my own because I wanted to go to school. I wanted to be normal, even if it'd be for just a bit."
She squinted her eyes in anger, and her body shook violently before she spoke again.
"The teens I killed… they weren't good people. They robbed corner stores, sold or did drugs, they broke car windows, all that criminal shit" she growled, clenching her fists in rage. "They went around trashing their own lives while I had to constantly live in fear that if anybody found out about what I was, they'd hate me, they'd want to kill me… all my friends I've made at school, the teachers who said they supported my goals in life, they'd end up calling me a monster, they'd just look at me like any other piece of scum on their boot!"
The girl looked back to the two preteens, taking in a deep breath as she attempted to calm herself.
"Maybe...maybe I went a little overboard when I went around trying to act like a vigilante… but I just got so angry at them" she looked over to the boys apologetically. "If you guys are scared of me because of it, or because of this, I understand. Sorry about flipping out about it at you two…"
Kentetsu looked to his side nervously, squirming in his seat nervously. Riley gave the girl a sympathetic look, flashing her a soft smile.
"I can't agree with what you did, but that doesn't mean I don't understand your reasoning…" the hybrid grew a wistful look in his eye. "I wish I could have a normal life… maybe when I'm older, I could try and manage it, but right now I'm still in constant danger because of my past. I can't stay anywhere else except the tunnels… by now it's basically the only place I feel safe."
"...How did you two end up in the 24th anyway?" the girl asked, tilting her head in befuddlement.
"Oh, well, I don't know about Kenta, because he never talks. But for me, I sort of…" the half-breed trailed off anxiously. "I… it's not something I really talk about. The basic gist of it was that I was tortured horribly to the point that I'm mentally unsound…"
Both Minami and Kentetsu gaped at the half-ghoul in shock, unsure how to respond.
"...You were tortured?!" the girl choked out in shock.
"Yeah, I don't feel any form of pain anymore. Also, that's why my hair is white" the boy pulled a stray strand of messy silver hair up to illustrate.
Minami's mouth had morphed into a thin line and Kentetsu's nervous look had grown larger than before. A beeping noise alerted the three to the finished coffee, the girl stood up and rushed over to grab the pot.
"Ok, we'll talk about that never… I'll just get to serving now" as the girl got a few cups out for them, she looked at the tall boy from the corner of her eye. "I do have one other question though…"
"Shoot!"
"How are you so damn tall?" she called out.
Riley's mouth formed into a nervous smile as he gave her an unsteady look, clearly flustered about this particular question.
"I'm not completely sure… My dad was 8 feet tall, and everybody on his side of the family was around the same height…" the hybrid put a finger to his chin in thought. "I think he had something called… acromaggy, because he had a pulmonary enema."
"...Oh, you mean acromegaly?" the girl asked, setting a cup of coffee in front of each of them.
"Yeah, that!" the boy exclaimed cheerfully before taking a sip of coffee.
"Well, you have it wrong, acromegaly is caused by a pituitary adenoma, and you don't have acromegaly" Minami chuckled when the boy tilted his head in confusion. "You have gigantism, though they're sort of similar, since they're caused by an overproduction of growth hormone. The difference is… well, did your dad look like a caveman?"
The tall boy shook his head, confusion still evident on his visage.
"Well, that means you probably aren't at risk. Acromegaly is when you produce too much growth hormone as an adult, when the epiphyseal plates have already closed…" the girl's face fell when the two boys in front of her blinked owlishly. "The epiphyseal plates are bits of cartilage at the ends of certain bones, they fuse together when you're done growing to keep you from growing to much… anyway, acromegaly happens when you produce the growth hormones when those are closed, so it just makes parts of your face bigger, like your forehead and jaw, which could make you look like a caveman."
Riley blanched as he took in this piece of information.
"So I'll look like a caveman?!" the boy asked in trepidation.
"No, you don't have acromegaly… you might not even develop it if you're lucky. You have gigantism, that's the childhood counterpart to acromegaly. Gigantism just makes you grow really tall when you still have the ability to…"
"So, I'm just gonna get really tall? Why… and how?"
Minami gave the boy a bright smile.
"Ok, let me explain how pituitary adenomas work…"
Excerpt from "Studies in Ghoul Genetics and Biology", by Emmerich Gehner of the Ghulforschungsgesellschaft.
The Wendigo gene
In normal ghouls, the process of mutating a kakuja is instigated increasing the concentration of RC cells within their bodies. By absorbing more RC, a ghoul can trigger a mutation of their kagune, which more often than not takes the form of armor encasing the user's body. Ghouls who increase their intake of RC will inevitably increase the size and strength of their kakuja. Normal ghouls can increase their RC count by cannibalising other ghouls repeatedly.
The Wendigo gene however, is a direct subversion of the "natural" method normal ghouls use to obtain kakujas. This gene was discovered in North America, and as of now is found in an unknown amount of ghouls native to both the United States and Canada (the number may simply be relegated to a very large clan of ghouls, or perhaps even 1/8th of the ghoul population, the statistics are still unclear). The gene is unique in how it affects the diet of ghouls afflicted by it, as well as the growth of kakujas in them.
Wendigo ghouls, while they are able to gain an increased amount of RC through cannibalism, cannot mutate their kagune through this method. In order to gain the mutated kakuja cells, wendigo must ingest the RC cells found in humans as a catalyst. This would be dangerous in and of itself, if it weren't for the behavior of wendigo that solely eat humans instead of their own species.
In behavioral studies done on wendigo, it was found that those who consistently cannibalised their own species acted no different from other ghouls, with some cases showing abnormal placidity. It was when these individuals were fed human meat did their behavior change, from placidness or ill-mannered gruffness and disrespect, straight to behaviors not abnormal for incomplete kakujas, and many cases going far past such an extreme.
Interviews with more sane and stable individuals afflicted with the mutation have them describing human meat not as a source of food, but as a dangerous drug. To eat ghoul meat is to be "on the wagon" for wendigo, and eating human meat is akin to relapsing after going sober.
Again, my note at the end of chapter 5 still stands. If anybody wants to use the Wendigo concept, feel free to do so, just leave some credit.
Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.
