A Masked Secret
Chapter 9
Silence
Shi visited Uta the day following her injury with her usual petticoat, leggings, boots and black bag. Even her makeup was done to its usual perfection, although her lips were a light pink rather than the blood red they normally were.
"I'm sick of the color red." Shi explained to Uta as she took her usual stool in his shop. Uta looked up from the mask he was working on to examine her. She didn't seem to be dying anymore so he felt slight relief.
Shi took Uta's stare to be of confusion, so she elaborated, "My bathroom isn't stained with just nail polish anymore. Blood was everywere." Uta understood, but didn't reply. He continued to work on the mask. They sat in a silence that wasn't their usual peaceful silence. This one was tense and heavy. Uta wasn't bothered by the silence, but Shi was. Shi fidgeted on her stool and her fake grey eyes looked between Uta and the mask he was creating. He took notice, but didn't do anything.
Shi was... fragile. Uta knew humans were fragile. But the memory of Shi, covered in blood, was fresh in Uta's memories. Why bring up something like that? But other than that Uta wasn't sure why he couldn't bring himself to talk to Shi. He wasn't angry at her, or annoyed with her. But for some reason Uta's words kept dying in his throat. Even when he peered at her from the corner of her eye he had to look away when he envisioned crimson liquid dribbling down her body and staining the light grey leggings she was wearing.
Despite the tension Shi stayed late into the afternoon and past when she should have left. She stayed after Uta had flipped the shop's sign to Closed. Uta let her into his apartment where she stood, looking around like she was lost.
"Make yourself at home." Uta told her after a moment and Shi blinked at him. Those had been the most words he'd said to her all day. Shi wracked her brain, no, those had been the first words he had said to her all day.
"Have I done something wrong?" Shi asked, tilting her head in question. Slowly Uta shook his head.
"No," Uta drawled out the word, "Nothing."
Shi frowned, "Then why the silence?"
Uta didn't know how to reply. He looked at Shi and opened his mouth to speak when a sudden slamming of a door caught both their attentions. Uta looked at Shi and suddenly his heart almost stopped as he sniffed the air.
A Ghoul.
But not just any Ghoul as the pervasive smell that came with the Ghoul signified only one individual.
"Shi, hide in the bathroom and don't ask questions or listen. No matter what stay in there." Uta ordered,his voice taking on a tone Shi had never heard from Uta. Shi looked like she would argue but the urgency that was in the air made her listen. She gave Uta a clear look that said he would explain later before closing the door on herself. Uta's apartment door opened and footsteps sounded up the stairs until a familiar face reached Uta's vision.
Kuroda Warai was a strong older Ghoul who was the current leader of the Clowns and the founder of the gang. He was built strong with pale skin, a happy face, and dark auburn eyes that were normally hidden by the kakugan. Warai's eyes contrasted with his body as one look into them and danger could be seen. His scent not only reeked of Ghoul, but of sex, blood, and surprisingly, paint.
"Uta," Warai greeted as he circled the apartment, "I spoke with Itori recently."
"What do you want?" Uta drawled, his eyes narrowing on the Ghoul while his mouth pressed into a firm scowl that looked almost neutral. Almost, being a keyword.
"You." Warai answered, running a hand through his flaming ginger hair that was pulled into a short curly ponytail at the base of his neck.
Uta didn't react, keeping his body still, "Me? What for?"
"We'll be putting a plan into motion soon and we need all our best. You still want to live life?" Warai looked to him, waiting for an answer, "No point in living if things aren't interesting..."
Uta mentally finished the sentence as he had heard Warai proclaim it so many times in his teenage years, 'and the ones who get the last laugh are us, the Clowns.'
Uta thought back to his younger days. The Clowns had been exciting and bloody, each member being brutal and insane. But, the Clowns were fun. Each Ghoul had an intention to live their life how they wanted so they could enjoy it. And for the Clowns, most of them lived for chaos, blood, and manipulation. After all, there were many ways of playing with people.
Uta was tempted. He did have his moments where he missed the Clowns. He relieved his sadistic urges on ocassion when he brought back a live human and let them suffer for his meal. But, Uta's mind cleared when he thought back to the human who was currently hiding in his bathroom.
Then, Uta made his fatal mistake.
Uta's eyes made the tiniest of a flicker to look at the bathroom door, and Uta knew immediately he had made an error. The Clowns lived for torture, and not just physical torture, but mental torture. Each one was a master of manipulation and reading someone. Warai instantly looked to the bathroom door after seeing that tiny, barely there glance.
'I've killed her.' Uta realized as Warai slowly, drawing out what he knew to be Uta's mental suffering, sniffed the air and his eyes, already in their kakugan, widened in excitement.
"You have a human in there." he stated, "And not just any human."
Warai sniffed the air again, "She's something that the gourmet's would love. Is she dinner? If so, I think I'll stay awhile."
"If not?" Uta challenged.
Warai smiled, "I'll have fun with her, she's just a human after all."
Uta didn't allow himself to tense, hoping Warai would lose interest. His hopes died as Warai walked to the bathroom. In the silence of the room, all that could be heard was the steps that Warai's dress shoes made against the wooden floor.
"Are you going to fight me over this human?" Warai asked as he rested a hand on the doorknob of the bathroom door. Uta stayed silent in hopes that Warai would leave the door alone if Uta didn't give a reaction. Warai thrived off reactions and giving none would be the best bet.
"Pushing the limit, as you always have, Uta." Warai laughed before his hand wrapped around the doorknob and he swung the door open.
Shi, who had only heard murmurs through the door, felt her heart almost stop as the door slammed open suddenly. Shi looked up as a man with ginger hair, a ridiculous shiny yellow suit and kakugan that conveyed his intentions of torture, met her eyes.
Shi's heart sped up considerably as she realized a Ghoul stood before her. And with the flamboyance that he radiated, she knew he was cocky. He was strong then. But, what about Uta?
Was he dead?
"Leave her alone." Uta's voice called, his normal tone replaced with something so menacing yet so eerily calm that goosebumps raced up and down Shi's body.
"Or what? You'll kill me?" Warai looked over his shoulder to laugh.
"Yes." Uta said, "I will." Warai grabbed Shi by her arm (Luckily the uninjured one) and dragged her out, holding her off the ground. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Uta who stood so calmly that she wondered if he was just going to let this Ghoul kill her.
"I didn't leave her alone." Warai challenged, shaking Shi around, "Why don't I have a little snack before leaving?" He went to bite into Shi's arm, and Shi, a fighter at heart, brought her elbow down on the Ghoul's nose. Warai dropped her and she landed on her feet, sprinting towards the door before realizing Uta hadn't ran with her.
"Uta!" she called, eyes wide. Uta gave her his usual smile.
"I'll hold him back for you," his voice was a simple calm but still laced with that dangerous intent, "Run, Shi."
Laughter suddenly spilled from Warai as he threw her head back, ignoring his bloody nose. His laughter finished after a moment and he tilted his head to look at Uta with a mocking grin, "You've gone soft! It's time to show you how to be a Ghoul again!"
Shi's eyes widened a fraction as kagune rippled out of Warai's lower back and his words hit her like a speeding bus. Two tails reached out of Warai's back, each glowing in orange and yellow. They appeared like blades and then struck out with one at Uta and one at Shi.
"Uta!" Shi screamed, gasping when Uta was suddenly in front of her. Uta wrapped his arms around Shi and pulled them to the side, the strike from the tail brushing Uta's face.
There was a shatter as Uta's goggles were broken almost in half and knocked from his head. Uta pushed Shi back into the stairway and Shi caught herself on the rail. Her eyes met Uta's for a moment and she found herself staring into a pair of kakugan just like the ones belonging to the Ghoul trying to kill her.
"You're... a Ghoul." she whispered as Uta disappeared under speed that humans couldn't match. Uta appeared behind Warai and his fist cleaved through his chest. Uta's once pale hands were now stained with blood while a puddle started to form on the floor. Both Ghouls stood there, neither seeming to care as blood dribbled down from Warai's chest.
"Still impressive, I see." Warai chuckled, "I see you still don't use your kagune." Warai's kagune receded and then came up, aimed for Uta's body. Uta took the hit, the kagune ripping through his stomach as Uta wrapped his hands around Warai's neck. Uta's blood painted the wall behind him as the kagune came to a stop just before reaching the edge of the room.
"So you didn't dodge." Warai noted, his hands reaching up and meeting Uta's. A power of strength began between their hands while Warai's kagune pulled out of Uta, splattering more blood on the wooden floor beneath them. The tails disappeared back into Warai and didn't emerge again.
"That human over there, she knows your face. She'll report you to the CCG. You're dead if she isn't." Warai cackled, "Let's just kill her. She smells good. You know she does!"
"I don't like it when others try and take away my interests." Uta stated, and Warai's cackle came to an end as Uta used his full strength to break through Warai's hands and rip through his throat.
"You're still a monster!" Warai gurgled with some issue due to his throat being ripped open, "Your bare hands can go through even the skin of a Ghoul!"
"You've started to bore me." Uta drawled before ripping through the remainder of Warai's neck. Warai's head dropped to the floor with his expression now forever left in a crazed laugh. His body followed after a moment, the muscle making a loud thump as it hit with all it's weight. Uta looked at the mess in his apartment, briefly glad Warai had doubted his skill or else their fight would have destroyed the building, before he walked towards the stairs. Uta moved slower than usual with his slowly closing wound. He was surprised to find Shi still sitting there, and briefly wondered if the gaping hole in his stomach would scare her.
"You're still here?" Uta questioned. Shi nodded before shakily getting to her feet. She eyed his stomach but didn't say anything, rather her eyes met his. She didn't flinch back when he moved like he expected. Nor did she scream and run away.
"Unless you magically became a Ghoul right now, you've been a Ghoul the entire time I've known you." Shi's voice was even and calm despite what she had just witnessed, "If you were going to kill me, I'd be dead. I've slept in your bed."
Uta tilted his head to the side in surprise and amusement, "You're an odd human, Shi."
Shi stuck out her tongue, "And you're a weird Ghoul, Uta."
For both of them somehow the situation felt... right.
Like they belonged.
Thanks to the following for reviewing:
SkittleStalker
MaxBacon
