I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or any of the characters.
Search And Rescue
Kaneki stared at Touka's newspaper in silence. The police officer who Touka had killed was on one of the pages, along with the general statement that it was a ghoul-related crime. Kaneki dropped his eyes from the newspaper and picked up a tray of coffee, delivering it to its table before walking back, glancing at the paper again.
"Do you have a problem with me reading this at work?" Touka asked.
"No," Kaneki said. "It's just..."
"What, the cop?" Touka asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
"How much longer can we stall before we have to deal with them?" Kaneki asked. "We're obviously going to have to. So how long until then?"
"I'm not sure," Touka sighed. "Long enough, I hope. Have you been practicing?"
"Yes," Kaneki nodded. "I feel like I'm getting closer, but I'm still not there yet."
Touka nodded, pushing off the counter. "I'm going to take Hinami and Ryoko a cup of coffee. Can you handle things down here for a minute?"
"I've got it," Kaneki nodded.
Touka nodded and made two cups, Kaneki opening the door for her. She walked upstairs and he shut the door, returning to work. A few minutes later, Touka returned and began to work again. The cafe remained relatively empty for the most part, Hide showing up for a cup of coffee at one point, but he didn't stay long. Finally, the time came for them to close the shop and Kaneki flipped the sign, beginning to clean up.
"Alright, I'm going to go check on Hinami and Ryoko," Touka said, Kaneki nodding, setting his broom down.
"I'll come too," Kaneki said. "Hinami probably has a few words she wants me to teach her."
Touka smiled and nodded just as the door upstairs burst open, Ryoko staring at them, eyes wide with panic.
"What happened?" Kaneki asked.
"Hinami's gone!" Ryoko said. "All I could find was my newspaper open to the article about the police officer."
Kaneki and Touka didn't even hesitate. They both sprinted out of the shop, spreading out to search for her. Kaneki sprinted along the road toward where they had fought the investigator with the whip. As he was nearing the river, his phone rang so he slowed to a stop, answering.
"Hello?" Kaneki asked.
"Kaneki, it's Touka. I found Hinami."
"That's great!" Kaneki smiled. "Where are you? I'll come meet up with you."
"We're near the river by Kasahara elementary school," Touka said.
"Alright," Kaneki said. "I'll be right there. Is she okay?"
"She's-"
The phone went dead. Kaneki stopped, staring at the phone. Maybe hers had just died.
"That's at the Kasahara river we just left isn't it?" a voice asked off to Kaneki's left, Kaneki turning to see the younger of the two investigators they kept meeting below them. "I'll be right there! Just hold on!"
Kasahara, Kaneki thought, eyes widening. "Touka!"
He looked in the direction of the river, then at the investigator. It would only take a couple of minutes for him to reach Touka. And Kaneki suspected the other one was already there.
Dammit! Kaneki swore, pulling his mask on quickly before leaping over the railing and landing in front of the investigator, who slowed to a stop. "I can't let you go there. I'm sorry."
"You," the investigator growled. "Eyepatch." He opened his attache case, the metal pole with the cylinder on it expanding from inside, miraculously. "I'm going to make you pay for what you two did!"
"I don't want to fight you," Kaneki said. "I don't want to hurt anyone. All I want is peace between humans and ghouls. There has to be a better way than this. Not all ghouls are killers. The Fueguchi family is one of those."
"What do you mean?" the investigator asked.
"They don't kill," Kaneki said. "They get their meat from humans who end their own lives. Neither Fueguchi has ever hurt anyone. And it's bullshit that ghouls don't have emotions. We do. But we're painted as evil and slaughtered for no reason. How would you feel if someone killed someone you love simply because of what they were?"
The investigator's hands gripped his weapon tighter.
"You already know that pain," Kaneki realized. "Then you should understand that much, at least. And you'll understand why I can't let you go to Kasahara river."
The investigator stared at him for a moment before growling in rage. "I won't let your words deceive me! I'll kill you for what you did to Kusaba!"
He charged at Kaneki, swiping at him rapidly, Kaneki evading and flipping out of the way of each strike. Finally, Kaneki leapt backward, flipping and landing a distance from the investigator. He sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his emergency meat package. He opened the zipper of his mask's mouth, allowing him to pull it out of the way.
"I really didn't want to do this," Kaneki sighed. "I despise eating meat. But I have to protect her."
He quickly shoved the meat into his mouth, chewing for a moment before swallowing it almost whole, the dull ache that he had gotten used to almost completely vanishing as he zipped his mask closed again.
"I'll give you one last warning, investigator," Kaneki said. "Leave this place."
"I will not!" the investigator spat.
Kaneki nodded, focussing on the small of his back until, finally, his tentacles burst out of it, all four of them, all of them thick and useful at long last. The investigator stared at him in utter shock.
"But...you had an...two?" the investigator blinked.
"Are you ready," Kaneki asked.
The investigator shook his head, rolling his shoulders back and charging again. This time, as he swung his quinque at Kaneki, Kaneki dove under it, two of his tentacles slamming into it, knocking it into the air. Kaneki rolled to his feet, swinging his hands forward, all four tentacles shooting forward and blasting into the quinque, making the investigator stagger backward. Then, the investigator lunged, swiping at Kaneki only for two of Kaneki's tentacles to slam the quinque into the ground. Then, Kaneki sent all four at it, blasting it away, making the investigator spin away from Kaneki. The investigator recovered well, turning the spin into a strike. Kaneki leapt over it, landing just as the investigator raised the weapon. Kaneki looked at it, spotting the cracks he had formed and launched all four tentacles again. This time, when they blasted into the quinque, it exploded, chunks of it clattering to the ground around the investigator, who stared at the broken handle, eyes wide. Two of Kaneki's tentacles streaked toward him again but Kaneki's arm snapped up, a loud grunt of effort ringing out as he halted their strike, both tentacles hovering in front of the investigator's chest.
"Leave!" Kaneki growled. "Fighting makes ghouls hungry, and right now you smell delicious. Please. Get away before I have to eat you."
The investigator simply stared at him.
"LEAVE! ! !" he shouted.
The investigator seemed to be shaken out of his trance because he took a couple steps backward before turning, fleeing from the area, taking the quinque's handle with him. Kaneki sighed, the tentacles retracting into his back before he turned, sprinting toward where Touka had said she was. He felt like he was moving too slow, but finally he found himself running under a bridge where there was a massive amount of damage and a lot of blood.
Just as he arrived, the older investigator leapt toward Hinami, one leg and hand missing, and swung his whip at her, only for Touka to fall past him, slitting his throat. He crashed down, blood flooding out of his throat, and Kaneki walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"You're hurt," Kaneki said, noting the blood coating Touka's side.
"I'll heal," Touka said.
"I...can't...die!" the investigator lying beside them suddenly rasped, trying to crawl toward them. "Not...until...I get...my revenge! I will...kill...the owl!"
He reached out toward Kaneki's leg but collapsed. Touka glared at him but Kaneki wrapped an arm around her, turning her away and guiding her to Hinami, helping her up just as Yomo arrived, walking over to them, not even bothering to look at the investigator.
"You're all okay," Yomo noted. "Good. Let's go home."
Hinami nodded, drying her eyes and climbing onto Yomo's back. Kaneki glanced at Touka who rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to support herself as she limped after Yomo, Kaneki supporting her. She glanced at him as his stomach rumbled and he winced but remained silent.
"You fought the other one, didn't you?" Touka asked.
"Yeah," Kaneki nodded. "I managed to make my tentacles form on command after I ate the meat Yomo gave me. Then I broke his quinque."
"Impressive," Touka nodded. "That's a powerful kagune."
"I agree," Kaneki nodded.
They fell silent until they reached Yomo's car, climbing in. Yomo drove them back to Anteiku. They all headed upstairs where Yomo got both Touka and Kaneki some meat, Kaneki eating it before he had time to think about what kind of meat it was. Once they had eaten, Yomo bandaged Touka's side for her while Kaneki tucked Hinami into bed. Then, Kaneki returned to the other room, sitting down and sighing.
"Are you okay?" Yomo asked.
"I'm fine," Kaneki said. "It's just been a long night."
"Yeah," Touka agreed. "And we have work tomorrow."
Kaneki groaned, tipping his head back and covering his face with his hands.
"You can stay here, if it'll make it easier," Yomo offered.
"Sure," Kaneki nodded. "Thanks."
Yomo nodded and stood, leading Kaneki to a spare room then getting him some spare sheets and a pillow. Kaneki got his bed laid out and within minutes he was asleep.
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