A/N: Alas, not much to say other than thank you.


Lily was not a novice when it came to dating. She had gone on a plethora dates with Yukimura, and plenty of boys before that. She didn't want to brag, but she was actually rather popular to the males in the student body. She wasn't sure why, but she was sure it had something to do with her status of 'foreigner'. Regardless, she had never dated anyone more than a year older than her, and now she was walking to a cafe with a twenty-one year old ghoul. She peeked up at him, her nose wrinkling as she took in his hyper masculine features. With his smooth red hair, chiseled face, and nice suit he was certainly the type of guy that plenty of girls in her class would drool over. Heck she was sure even Sana, who was a self proclaimed asexual, would want to drag this guy home and rape him. But his attitude destroyed any of his arguably nice looks, she just wish he would shut his mouth and let her look at him. He worked better as a pretty arm piece that you showed off to your friends than an actual date. That statement would make her ethics teacher proud...

"Lily-chan, are you alright? You don't seem to be enjoying yourself?"

She blinked and looked away, keeping her focus on walking through the busy sidewalk. "

"I'm fine." When his concerned look didn't disappear she gave a shaky smile. "Um, I guess I'm just tired."

"That's understandable. Your family wakes up early just to tidy and set up the church. It truly is a wonderful thing to do, and not expect a single soul to help. It's always amazes me when people can be so selfless."

She wasn't sure if he was being genuine or if he was trying to flatter her, either way she wasn't amused. If he thought it was so nice, then he should help out! Did he realize how much caffeine she had to inhale just to get out of bed on a cold morning? Instead of voicing her opinion she just muttered a quick thanks. A few more minutes of silent walking they made it to a small cafe nestled between a tattoo parlor and a butcher. The harsh smell of chemicals and blood made her gag, a sound that caught Tomoyama's attention.

"Are you alright?"

"F-fine."

A warm arm slid around her waist, pulling her into Tomoyama's body. The blood and chemicals dissipated behind a layer of a lemon smell that was followed by something oddly metallic but not off putting. "This place is in an unfortunate location, but I always hear humans rave about the cupcakes sole here. I've heard you in passing mention that it was one of your favorite foods."

Her eyebrows wrinkled as she mulled his statement around in her head as they entered the shop. She had only said that once at church, and that was when Yukimura was alive. Just how attentive was he? She jerked away from him when he went up to a table, and sat down in the chair closest to the door. Tomoyama smoothly slid into the chair in front of her and gave, what she assumed, was a reassuring smile. A busty young woman flounced up to them and asked for their orders. Tomoyama ordered water, while she asked for five chocolate cupcakes with coconut icing. Since Tomoyama was paying, she had checked before even agreeing to this date, she didn't feel the least bit guilty about getting so much food. The woman wrote down their orders and went back to the counter, leaving the both of them alone once again.

This was the part of first dates that she hated. The sit there and try to come up with some kind of conversation part. Unlike any of the other boys she had went out with, she didn't have know anything about Tomoyama other than the fact that she was supposed to see him as some kind of deity. Oh, and that he was a jerk, but that went without saying.

"Tomoyama-sama,-"

"Just Tomoyama." He said. "If we're going to be intimate I think it's fair to drop the honorifics*. At least, if that if okay with you, Lily-chan."

And that was completely unexpected. "N-no, it's fine. I didn't grow up with that type of thing so..."

He gave a small smile. "I know. Do you like it here in Japan?"

"I guess. The food took forever to get used to, but I like some of the entertainment mediums and the convenience stores are alright."

"Just those?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You've never been to the festivals or shrines*? Some of the largest ones are here in Tokyo, plus there's all the cultural events that go on, and the samurai reenactments."

"My parents are religious, if you haven't noticed."

"Well on our next date I'll have to fix this travesty of justice."

Lily looked up sharply at that statement. He hadn't even asked her if she wanted to go on another date, was he really that full of himself that he thought he would score again? Then again it could be a ghoul thing, if Tomoyama was a high ranking ghoul, he was probably incredibly cocky and got whatever he wanted when he wanted. An awkward silence ensued until the waitress came back with their orders. Lily's eyes widened as she took in the plate that was set in front of her. Five cupcakes, large ones at that, were sitting in front of her. They were topped with a caramel colored icing that had just the right amount of coconut spread through out it. She carefully picked one up and bit into it, her insides squirming in pure joy. It was sweet with just a hint of nutty that was quickly washed away by the overwhelming taste of coconut. She hummed and continued to devour her food, all of her attention off her date. So maybe this little outing wasn't a complete waste of her time, she may just forgive Shinohara next time she saw him. She swallowed the food in her mouth, and bit into the cupcake again.

"Lily-chan?"

"Hm?"

"What do you know about that Juuzou and Shinohara duo?"


Juuzou sipped on his drink while he watched Shinohara through the integration room window. Even though they had managed to get Tachibana to admit that she was eating humans, she hadn't said a word about where any of it was being located, where the camera feed was going, or anything about the ghoul's involved. She had shut down completely and this only irritated him. They had almost finished this case, he could feel it, and now this woman wanted to sit around and be all noble. He bit down on the end of his straw, eyes narrowed as the woman locked eyes with him, she quickly looked away and bowed her head again. Why was Shinohara asking her questions again? Couldn't they just throw her in with a hungry ghoul? After a good ten minutes she would start talking so much you'd think she was on one of those talk shows they played in the lobby. He perked up when Shinohara stood up and made his way to the door, when it opened he quickly maneuvered himself so he could stand in front of Shinohara.

"She didn't talk."

"Not a word. It's like she shut down, I'm not sure if it's because she's scared of us, or the people that she's associated with." Shinohara sighed and shook his head. "If this keeps on we're not going to have a choice but to start using other methods. I really hope it doesn't come down to that with her family and all."

Juuzou just shrugged, but knew better than to say anything when his mentor looked like that. His eyes looked heavy and the wrinkles in his face looked a little more obvious. It was moments like these that he wondered if this was the same man who had no problems taking out a problem ghoul with all the gusto and power of a younger man. The man sighed again and began walking down the hall to the elevator on the other end, Juuzou silently followed behind him, taking sips from his milkshake. When they got to the right floor they were immediately met by a woman telling them to take a look at the paperwork on Shinohara's desk. They headed to the office and on the desk was a pile of paperwork, Juuzou had a sneaking suspicion that everyone threw it in here to get back for all the things he did to them.

"Awe, I just finished all the paperwork!"

Shinohara picked up the top file and looked over it before shutting it. "No time to complain, we need to dispatch a ghoul."

"Really?" The gloom in his eyes had died and was replaced with an excited tint.

"Yup, a binge eater."


Lily opened the door to her apartment, her eyes not even taking accost of anything as she walked in. The house was quiet, proof that her parents were still at the church even though she had been gone for nearly an hour. She took a deep breath, her body shuddering when she did, as she took off her shoes.

"What do you know about that Juuzou and Shinohara duo?"

The question had been unexpected, she would have been less surprised if he told her that he was pregnant and she was the father. Lily had been unsure how to respond, and had abruptly stood up and went to the bathroom. And if that didn't look suspicious, when she came back she had laughed off the question and said something about what a weird question that was. The rest of the date had been just a casual pass of information such as likes, dislikes, and the normal datey things but the question still scared her. There was no other proof she needed, if he didn't already know then he suspected that those two were really part of the CCG. And as soon as they figured it out it wouldn't be long before the trail led back to her. Even if she was the pastor's daughter, there was no way they would risk keeping her alive in case she tried the same stunt a second time.

She pushed herself off the door and went to her room, pulling off articles of clothing as she went. She ended up in the bathroom, the hot water running, allowing the hot water to scald her hands. It was almost anchoring her to reality, this terrible reality she had dug for herself out of her own petty greed. How would her life be if she didn't strike those deals with Shinohara nearly a month ago? Would she feel sick, estranged from her parents, filthy? She shook her head and drew her hand back, the sudden assault of cold air making her shudder. Seconds later it was all drowned out as she pulled herself into the shower and let the water scald her entire body. All the day's filth, frustration, and annoyances was cleansed with watermelon body wash, and rushed down the drain with the grayish suds. When she was finished she changed into her pajamas and stepped out of the shower, using the towel to dry her hair, but stopped as she heard yelling outside. "I hate our neighbors."

She went to the living room and opened up the window, just for her eyes to widen as she caught sight of Juuzou and Shinohara fighting a ghoul. The ghoul's kagune were out and the long appendage was flicking back and forth in an attempt to keep the two fighters off of it. She couldn't tell much else about the ghoul thanks to the thick jacket covering it from head to toe and the draconian mask covering its face. Shinohara moved in with a large sword and tried to swipe at it, just for the ghoul to jump out of the way, its tail like kagune rushing out and smacking Juuzou as he attempted to counter. It landed on the balcony across from her and the kagune snapped out in front of him again. A flurry of silver sailed through the air, two of them embedding into the tail, while the other five managed to hit the glass door. The ghoul bent its legs and jumped, more knives sailing through the air and missing, before it landed on her balcony. Lily's eyes widened and she backed away, praying that the ghoul didn't notice her existence. Why had she been stupid enough to watch the fight again?

However God proved how much he didn't care, as the ghoul turned towards her. She continued to back away, ready to make a run for the kitchen and grab the knives, but instead of attacking her a knife lodged itself into the ghoul's shoulder. Its head snapped back to the fight and it jumped off the balcony and to the other side of the street again, just to scramble up the building in a retreat. After a few moments she heard banging and Juuzou managed to shimmy into her apartment, his clothes slick with blood. "Hey, Ri-chan! Isn't it weird that a binge eating ghoul was found around your apartment building?"

"I told you I found a ghoul."

He hummed. "But you didn't say it was a binge eating ghoul."

She opened her mouth, but shut it when she remembered who she was talking to. It was pointless to argue with Juuzou, he was going to ignore whatever she had to say anyway. Shaking her head she went back to the window and looked down, Shinohara was looking around the area, probably doing investigator type things. "Don't you need to help, Shinohara-san?"

"Nope~!"

"You must be a terrible investigator."

He stared at her a few moments, head tilted to the side and a grin on his face. It looked scarier than usual thanks to the blood clinging to his face and clothes. He looked like some type of unholy demon spawn that needed to be punted back to hell. "All I need to do is kill ghouls. This one ran off even though it had the upper hand, I wonder why?"

"Maybe because you stabbed it?"

"No..." He came closer to her, shoving his face so close to her's she could smell the powder sugar coming off his tongue. She schooled her face into a blank expression, not allowing him the satisfaction in knowing that she was uncomfortable. "That ghoul is a binge eater, all they do is eat, and eat, and eat. They're stupid too, they wanna fight to eat and don't care how they do it. So why didn't it try to eat you?"He lifted a hand towards her face and grabbed her neck. She shrieked and tried to back away, but proved that he was stronger than her as she couldn't move an inch without him putting more pressure on her windpipe. "They know. And now that they know they're sending a binge eater to try and throw us off, but the boss said not to eat you. Isn't that weird, Ri-chan? Isn't it weird how you threw yourself into all this and how its been going to hell ever since?"

Her finger wrapped around Juuzou's wrist, digging her nails into him as hard as she possibly could. Blood welled to the surface in crimson drops that melded with his thread, but he didn't seem to react to the pain. "I-I-!"

"Hm~?"

Her vision began to waver as she stared at him. "T-they know!"


Translations:

Honorifics: They're polite things you tag at the end of a name. -san, -chan, and -kun are some of the more common.

Shrines: Temples for the Shinto gods. Often you give five Yen and say a prayer for luck and stuff like that.


Review Replies:

AlwaysRunning9: Thanks, though personally I didn't think that part was cute. Then again, he thought her breaking was cute so...I'm glad you like the plot, which thickens in this new chapter.