I dug my hands around the cold cavity, feeling around for something that wasn't in the human body. It was almost identical, the structure; organs… everything. My fingers brushed against something above the kidneys and a smile instantly made its way up to my face.
"Found it!"
"A ghoul?"
I tilted my head to the new voice, smirking at the pale face of Kaneki who strode in behind Renji. The older male walked over to my radio and turned the volume down, causing me to stand up tall as I turned and picked up a quinque-scalpel.
"Yeah, his name is Nougama Irano. But you probably know him as Pecker."
I slid the scalpel along the veins of the Kakuhou, effectively disconnecting it as it fell limp against the spinal chord of the deceased ghoul. Renji walked into my line of sight as I glanced my eyes up to watch him stare intently at the face of Pecker. I curled my nose slightly as I gripped the Kakuhou in my fingers, immersing myself in my work once more.
"A friend of yours?"
"No, a nuisance."
I nodded briefly at his answer and inspected the organ I had just pulled out. It was fleshy and covered in full thick veins, truly a beautiful organ. I turned and threw it into a biohazard box before removing my bloodied surgical gloves and moving over to wash my hands.
"You're not keeping it? I thought the CCG would have sent him to you."
"They did. But I could just say that since he's dead and unable to regenerate any more his Kakuhou was beyond repair. He is full of puncture holes and it'll be believable."
"But… won't you get in trouble if you're caught?"
I sighed heavily and turned to meet the dark and clueless eyes of Kaneki as I rubbed my arms down with blue roll.
"Yes Ken, you're right. So I will give this dangerous ghouls Kakuhou to the CCG and allow them to make a very effective Quinque with it that will probably take out a majority of ghouls in a short space of time. And while I'm at it why don't I just admit to them that I'm running a feeding service to ghouls as well?"
"I… I didn't..."
I sighed lightly to myself as the young ghoul turned his head away from me, maybe I was a little harsh; but it's the truth and he needs to understand.
"Well, my shift is over and I have somewhere to be. Renji, you know where the spare key is so just lock up when you're done."
I picked up my Zombie bag and slung it over my shoulder and making my way over to the exit.
"You're not helping us today?"
I froze as I looked at the archway of the door… I was so close. I sighed and spun on my New Rock to face the stoic male.
"Well you didn't want my help last time."
"Eve-"
"I have somewhere to be, I'll see you later okay?"
I walked out of the building, feeling guilty for just brushing Renji off like that as I made my way down the dirt path that led to the train station. I felt rotten, but if he knew where I was going then he would have probably tried to talk me out of it. I know he wants me to stay away from Uta, but there was something about him that made me unable to do so. I hopped onto the train, buying a return ticket to the 4th ward as I sat across from an elderly couple who watched my movements for a while. When I turned my eyes to meet theirs they turned away and begun whispering to themselves as I sighed lightly. It was always like this whenever I went outside; such judgemental ass holes. And not a single person would give me the time of day just because of my appearance. I jumped off the train once I had arrived in the 4th ward and read the address on the black business card I had kept all this time. It wasn't a struggle to get to, but I did almost miss the small alley that would take me there. I stared with a soft smile at the cute little shop with plants adorning the outside, it looked almost welcoming. I walked over to the door and pushed it open as a gentle chime met my ears, alerting the owner of my presence.
"Wow..."
Endless amounts of hollow eyes stared at me as I walked over to one of the walls to take in the beautiful designs that littered the entire store. I stared at a red Oni style mask for a second before removing it from its holder and slipping it onto my face. It was layered with a soft material, making it comfortable as it hung loosely on my face and obstructed the upper part of my vision from being too big.
"Eve."
I turned around to look at the ghoul, only able to make out his lower half as the red mask blocked most of my sight.
"I'm not Eve, I'm a ghoul."
I wiggled my fingers in a mock threat at the male as his soft chuckle met my ears before his boot clad feet moved to walk in front of me. His cold fingers brushed against my ears before pulling the mask from my face and I blinked a few times, removing the red hue that had taken over my vision.
"Well miss ghoul, how about a mask that fits?"
He gestured over to a stool that sat in the corner of the room as I tilted my head at him, hair falling to the side as I did so.
"You don't have to do that."
"Hm? A ghoul needs a mask for hunting yes? Besides, think of it as a thank you for the food you supply me with."
I thought back to what Renji had said to me, this man is a hunter and doesn't usually take already dead meat. So why did he come to the morgue? For me? I was also told that whatever Uta wants with me can't be good, but he's not showing any signs of anything malicious. I nodded to the male and walked over to the stool and flopped myself down onto the soft cushion as he walked over and opened a drawer filled with tape measures, tools and fabrics.
"I was thinking maybe a half mask?"
"You're the artist."
One of the tape measures wrapped around my head as he looked at the numbers before jotting them down in a black book.
"What's your favourite colour?"
"Purples and blacks, but do whatever colour you want."
"Are you allergic to any materials? Leather? Latex?"
"Not that I know of, but again make it out of whatever you want, do whatever you want."
"Significant other?"
I tilted me head, falling away from the tape that was previously pressed against the side of my cheek as I stared at the male with a look I knew was less than impressed.
"Really?"
"I like to get to know my customers, it makes the mask look better and gives me motivation to do it."
"And knowing if I have a boyfriend will help… how?"
The male shrugged as the cold plastic of the tape pressed against my cheek once more.
"It helps me."
I blinked lightly at him, wondering what he meant by that but decided against bringing up anything.
"No, I don't have a partner."
Uta smiled lightly, happy I actually gave him an answer as he turned away once more and jotted some more numbers before rolling the tape under my eyes.
"You haven't been much help, so I will just have to go by what I already know about you for your mask design."
"Do-"
"-Whatever I want, I will."
I huffed at the male as he cut me off, knowing exactly what I was going to say as he turned to write down the last of the numbers he needed.
"You know, I have somewhere I would like to take you when you're mask is finished."
I watched as he lent against the desk behind him, swallowing the lump in my throat at the thoughts that went racing through my mind.
"You're not actually going to take me hunting are you?"
He chuckled to himself before he tilted his head cutely at me, raising a nonchalant hand in a half shrug.
"As fun as that would be, no. It's an auction house."
"An auction house?"
My tone was droll, signifying how much I wasn't interested in this lame idea.
"It's more fun than it sounds."
I stared into his expectant Kakugan, hiding some kind of excitement behind them as I sighed and sat back into the stool with a fold of my arms.
"Alright, but if this sucks then it's all on you Songbird."
