Hey guys!
I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like FOREVER! I've just been so busy with school at the moment- GCSE's in like 3 months eeek!XD I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but I shall try my very hardest to keep updating often!:D
Anyways hope you enjoy!:)
Chapter 7- The worthless
It was then that we heard the pounding of boots round the corner.
"Great!"
"Shit."
"It's too late to run?" Yu laughed aloud.
"Just a tad," Eto smiled.
Fear and excitement soared through me, was this my chance? To actually fight a Dove for real? I didn't think then about the possibility that we could lose…it never even occurred to me. We would win as we were stronger; easy. Simple.
Eto giggled and transformed with a bang. Her limbs bulged outwards; large armour coated her body, her Ukaku sprung outwards like wings, she shone in the moonlight.
The One-eyed-Owl stood before us.
I and Yu glanced at each other. Yu released his fire coloured Rinkaku and me my Ukaku. The alley shone with incandescent colours, twinkling in the few puddles that dotted the ground. Yu resembled a burning star in the darkness. And the ground around me shone a startling blue; like lightning.
Eto then dashed up to the top of the building on our right, we could no longer see her.
"She'll come out later, she probably wants to test our abilities too," Yu laughed and I smiled, my back feeling suddenly a lot less sheltered than before.
The Doves skidded to a halt as they rounded the corner. At least twenty of them, they were kitted out now wearing plastic Kagune proof armour, the 'CCG' written in white across their front. They were wearing knee and elbow caps; screwed into their thick bullet proof trousers. They looked like giant armoured bugs; oddly out of place in the alluring light of our Kagune's.
Mado was absent.
Bulky laughed, at the front of the band. "I told you, didn't I? Never trust a kid."
Yu spat on the ground, "Fooled you a tad though didn't I?"
A couple shuffled guiltily. The others merely glared at us.
"So, what were you really looking at on the computers?" Blue Eyes asked, his eyes having gone cold.
"Ha… We didn't exactly lie to you there… we ain't from no big ghoul organisation. We got bored, decided to crash your little office party." Yu breathed a laugh. "We may be killers but we ain't liars. You never actually asked us whether or not we were Ghouls did ya? And my name is Yukine."
"Pft," Blue eyes growled. "Anyway, the both of you are under arrest for committed murders in this city."
"What if I haven't killed anyone?" I asked, before leaving Anteiku I hadn't actually killed anyone. It was Arata who'd gone hunting every month. I felt like slapping these Doves in the face with a few facts. We weren't all crazed killers. I thought of Amalie's soft kind hearted smile of innocence and my heart wrenched; All Doves were narrow-minded brassards.
"Ha- like we'd believe you."
"Until I was nine and a half years old I had never killed a human." I stared at them, "That's the truth. And that was only a few months ago. Since then I've killed six criminals who were harassing your precious humans. That's it. Face the facts Doves, we're not all mad. Just a few of us." I gave a fake laugh and muttered, "And you wonder why those few are all crazed." If you hadn't killed my bastard of a dad and if you didn't exist I'd be living a fucking perfect life. I probably still wouldn't have killed anyone.
Yu giggled, "My track record ain't as clean as Yatty's but if I'm correct humans under the age of fourteen who've committed murders get taken to a special rehab place right? Why should Ghoul's be treated any different?"
A few of them backed away in surprise then.
"You're animals, simple as." Bulky stated.
"Bastard," I muttered.
"Who was the woman then?" Blue eyes spat, his salvia hitting the floor in splatters.
"My sister, she left after she picked us up." Yu stated without missing a beat.
The Doves raised their eyebrows and Bulky laughed aloud, "We supposed to believe you?"
"I told you, I ain't no liar." Yu snarled.
"See? Monsters, the lot of 'em. And you know what Doves do?"
"Let me guess," I breathed a laugh.
"We hunt them down," Bulky's eyes glinted, "And put 'em down."
"Ha! Good luck with that mate, we're not easy to catch. And if you can't catch us- you can't kill us." Yu grinned, showing all his gleaming white teeth.
"A bit outnumbered maybe?" Blue Eyes gloated.
"Outnumbered… yes. Outmatched, never," I smirked.
"Don't get so full of yourselves boys… Humans are stronger than we first seem. You haven't got any leverage."
"You keep telling yourself that sweetheart!" Yu mocked.
The Doves seemed to turn a nasty shade of grey then. They tensed and their expressions went dark. For some strange reason I found myself searching for Ginger among the group. I couldn't see any mop of ginger hair. I felt relieved- not quite knowing why.
Bulky released his quinque- it was shaped like a large axe and glimmered white in the darkness. The other Doves followed suit.
Yu looked at me, that mischievous glint in his eyes. Enjoy it Yatty, his expressions, as usual, spoke volumes.
I turned to the Doves before me and tensed, the pain in my neck having turned to a dull ache.
The Doves ran towards us, quarter stayed at the back, blocking the exit from the alley. The others charged with purpose, their kagune proof armour rattling ever so slightly, their boots slapping hard on the ground.
I let lose my Kagune, my arrows with their deathly tips whistling as they soared past my ears: First you release your offense.
The Doves worked their defences, hitting my spikes with their quinque or allowing them to rebound against their armour. I kept shooting; got to keep them back. Tire them out.
"Don't shoot aimlessly!" Yu shouted, "Shoot with purpose!" Hit their weak spots.
I aimed for their necks, where the armour was slack; I shot for the folds between their trousers and chests. I angled my spikes to catch their feet or legs; making them immobile.
Yet they were a hell of a lot stronger than I'd first thought.
My spikes only managed to take out a five of the fifteen; and even then they were only rendered immobile. I had in no way defeated them. "Tsch," I gritted my teeth.
The remaining ten broke out into two groups, the five at the back rushed to their fallen comrades' aid.
"Don't mind! Don't mind!" Yu yelled, "This way it's more fun!" He laughed and charged, hitting half of them head on.
I turned my attention to my five. They spanned out round me, circling me. I forced myself to block out Yu's fight and concentrate on my own. The moon illuminated the fight, bouncing off the shimmering kagunes and quinques. The night felt alive. Blood pounded through my body, adrenaline firing through my veins: round after round, a constant bombardment of energy. My vision sharpened and my kagune steeled.
Bulky had gone after Yu but Blue Eyes stood before me, his ice like eyes penetrating my own.
"So kid, let's see what you can do in a real fight." His smile was sickly.
I grinned, "Thought you'd never ask."
He charged at me his whip like quinque snapping against the ground and hissing like an angry snake. It came down on me full force and I flipped my Kagune round, blocking its hungry fangs perfectly. I then flipped upwards and grabbed hold of the weapon, it was slimy and as Blue Eyes pulled it back it slipped through my fingers, burning my hands.
I yelped and shot spikes from my Kagune all round me; the slight panic from my injury causing me to attack for a moment with naïve recklessness. The Doves blocked them all and I landed on all fours, looking up at them.
"First Attack; failed." Blue Eyes noted, counting on his fingers.
I scowled.
Slowly he came forward with a pair of hand cuffs, "You know you can always surrender yourself to become a prisoner of war… or even a test subject… if you want the interesting life." He laughed aloud.
My scowl disappeared and a fury unlike any other hit me square in the chest. Ferociously, I raced forward and punched him right in his chin, his head jutted backwards and I landed a solid hit underneath his upper armour. The shattering of his ribs was freakishly audible.
He coughed and blood splattered across my face.
"Tobio!" A Dove called out in distress. I kicked my leg up, squeezing it in tight, and letting lose.
He flew across the alley, hitting the wall with a rebounding 'smack'.
I looked him in the eyes then, my emotions had gone still. I felt nothing, not anger, not pain, not sadness, not joy, not relief. Nothing.
And I liked it.
The other four came up around me. I fought off purely instinct then. I didn't think about my movements; I just did.
Each one hit the wall or the floor with a crack that shot through my ears Violence ripped through me and a monster awakened in my blood. I wanted to rip them apart into tiny chunks of flesh and blood; I wanted to kill them... It was terrifying yet with every hit it felt so painstakingly nice.
I didn't even realise Eto had come down to fight the five at the front, until I stopped and looked round.
Yu was bleeding badly from his arm and his breathing was laboured, one of his usually bright eyes was closed and blood seeped through it, but he grinned, "That was sick; we just took out FIFTEEN doves SINGLE HANDEDLY."
I breathed a laugh, "Yeah… I guess we did…" My blood slowed and I looked around me. Doves lay all over the alley, blood seeping through their black armour; splatters of crimson decorated the slimy walls like a child's first painting.
It was then that Yu's eye rolled to the back of his head and he passed out on the ground within seconds, "Yu!" I ran towards him and dropped to my knees. His breathing was shallow but his heart was still thumping with life. I wrapped up his arm with my T-shirt and wiped the sweat off his brow. I popped his knee back into place and wrapped up his eye; my fingers working away like little ants. I looked at them, those soft fingers of a child, hands of a murderer. Hands of a monster. What was I? What was I doing? What did I really want?
I turned round, "Eto I think Yu-" But I stopped short when I realised she'd gone. The alley was quiet, almost silent except for the uneven breathing and slow moans escaping the Doves lips.
I shivered and hugged my knees to my chest. "Eto?"
But I received no answer. Pain started to make itself known then. My shoulder stung and felt sticky with blood... I tried to remember how I'd got the injury but my memories of the fight had turned into a blurry haze. My ankle felt twisted and throbbed majestically.
"Bastards, you had the One-Eyed- Owl with you too!" I turned, it was Blue Eyes, yet only one of his crystal eyes was open.
I felt a sudden fear and didn't reply.
"So that woman's the One-Eyed-owl? Ha…this'll be interesting information to give in my next meeting. That woman looked an awful lot like that new author… what's her name again?" He sniggered and clutched his side. Sweat ran down his face like little streams.
The sight of him, so weak, so vulnerable made me want to scream. I wonder if dad had looked like this when he was about to die…
I squeezed my eyes tight, surprised to find hot wet tracks running down my face, like little streams. Maybe Blue Eyes was crying too.
"Why… why do you hate us?" I asked, so child-like.
He spat on the ground, a mix of blood and saliva. "You're all monsters. You're all crazy… the amount of Ghouls I've seen laughing… bent over little kids bodies…" He chocked, whether in anger or sadness I'll never know. "It's disgusting."
Just then there was a loud splat on the floor, I jumped and turned, Eto stood before me; wrapped in her bandages.
She giggled, "What you doing Yattyyyyy?"
"I think Yu's hurt." I said.
"Think?" Her eyes flickered to Yu's body.
"Yu's hurt," I rephrased.
"He'll heal." She replied, averting her eyes easily to the rest of the alley. "You haven't finished them off Yatty?"
"They're all injured or knocked out… so I didn't see the point."
Eto tutted, "You keep acting so kindly Yatty and one day it'll come to bite you in the back. I sure regret not killing that little white haired jackass… well he's pretty squashed now…" She laughed to herself, "But Yatty…any one of these Doves could be waiting to pounce... You're a silly boy letting your guard down like that. I better finish them off. See they don't understand you Ayato; they don't understand that you've got a pure heart; they won't for a while. We must stay alive until they do, so I will finish them off."
I was about to protest when Blue Eyes bounded up with a roar of fury. I jumped up, my kagune spewing out behind me. He sprung towards Eto and she leaped gracefully out the way, "Oh you'll never catch me like that Mister."
"Bitch," He spluttered, removing a revolver from his pocket.
"My my, you are a troublesome one." Eto commented as gun shots rebounded round the alley, Eto dodged them all with what looked like little effort.
I couldn't help but admire her courage and reflexes.
I wanted to serve under her. To follow her orders. To help her achieve the peace she clearly desired. We must stay alive until they do.
I allowed my spikes to fly free; one caught him on the ankle, another in his thigh. He collapsed to the ground still shooting like a madman. I shot my arrow one last one- it caved through his wrist and Blue Eyes cried out. The gun fell to the ground with a clatter. He braced his hands on the ground, his eyes looking at the wet concrete; hopeless pits of darkness. He yelled out in frustration and I felt a tug of sympathy…
"Daddy! Where's daddy!? TOUKA!" I woke up sweating; the bed sheets tangled round me like netting.
"Shh, it's okay it's okay, we'll find him," Touka's voice caught in her throat and she hugged me tight, her arms wrapped protectively round me.
I snuggled into her, "Is daddy okay? Is he back?"
"Not yet sweetie. But of course he's okay; he's strong, he's big and strong, no one will ever bring him down!" Her eyes glistened.
I nodded, "Touka… I'm scared."
"Me too Yats, but we gotta be brave right? Daddy will come back to us. He will."
"It's been so long though..." My bottom lip wobbled, "Touka, I'm hungry." My face was wet with tears and she brushed them away gently.
"I'll find you some food, okay Yats?"
"I can come with you!"
"No Ayato, you stay here and read your book okay?"
"I don't want you to leave me alone! Touka… don't leave me please!"
She hugged me tight, "I'll be back soon. I promise you!"
"That's what daddy said… and he lied…"
She just held me to her, her hand wrapped round my own as she kissed my forehead softly.
Eto laughed, "Humans really are weak…"
I gulped as she took out a knife, "Ayato!" She called; I slowly went over, feeling as though I was in a dream; the world just fuzzy shapes. She handed me the knife and I looked down at it dumbly.
"Kill the Dove."
I looked at her.
"Kill him before he kills you."
I looked at Blue Eyes and he looked up at me; the fight had fallen from his eyes and face just like his tears. "I have a wife and children…" He murmured. "Please… I'll let you go…"
"He's lyyying!" Eto danced round the Doves and began to sing once more.
"Poor little Woodpecker
Your nesting holes are all tainted, your food with toxins rife"
I kicked him and he rolled over to his side, whimpering like a child. I clenched my teeth, my fury coming back in a mad rage of scarlet and white. "Get up. Get up and fight me! If your kids need you you'll fight me!" I was shouting then, my anger and frustration boiling up inside me, overflowing like a volcano.
"Touch your friends, and they all will die falling at your feet"
"I can't…" He sobbed. "It hurts."
"What would you're children say!?" I screamed, "Get up god damn it! I won't fight a coward! I won't kill a coward! Get up and fight for your life you useless bastard! You have children! They need you!" My voice cracked and tears flowed down my face. Blue Eyes face transformed into my Father's. Arata looked up at me, "I can't it hurts…"
My heart squeezed tight, tighter, it hurt! It hurt so bad! I wanted it to stop! Stop! "You're a useless father! You're pathetic! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU; YOU'RE WORTHLESS GOOD FOR NOTHING BASTARD! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"
I plunged the knife into his heart and his eyes widened in shock.
"Oh don't look so surprised." I spat, my heart throbbing and beating hard against my chest and ribs. So hard it hurt.
"Oh sad little Woodpecker,"
His eyes shut and I cried out, my whole body heaving with sobs. "Why!? Why did you leave me!? Daddy why?! We needed you! You worthless… dead… piece of shit…" My eyes stung with waves of tears.
Eto patted my head, "Don't dwell on the past Ayato, they're not worth it." I watched her through a glassy screen of tears, as she picked Yu up from the ground.
"Poisonous tears, shining brightly, as they stream down your cheeks"
I sniffed loudly and stood up, wiping my tears away. "You're right. They're not worth it."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought down in the reviews below!:)
Acia xxx