Alright, chapter 20! Big accomplishment here, considering the other two don't have half as much chapters or effort as this one, if I'm being honest with myself. The next few months will mostly be focusing on rewriting the first several chapters of this fic in between getting a few chapters out, as well as porting it over to Spacebattles, and maybe getting a chapter or two out for my Pokémon fic as well. As for 'In Another World', that's gonna be a whole arc I have to write, and I wanna make it good, so it'll take a few months.
Thank you to followers and favoriters: Redsummer09, Lione-san, HoodedDragonX, and Queen Bad Bitchery.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.
Dialogue format:
'thoughts'
"talking"
Roma darted across the top of the large building, wobbling a bit as she landed on one foot. The clown woman groaned as her legs shook from the impact and held her arms out to steady herself before walking forward. The clown shook her head before digging around in her pockets, producing a small letter.
"Hmm...alright, I'm at the top of the building. Where the hell is he?" the ghoulette scrutinized the note in her hands. "What's so special about this particular vision? I mean, he has them every other week-"
"Roma."
"EEP!" the clown woman jumped a few feet into the air in fright, looking around when she landed. "Ah, Hanzo-kun! So good to see you again...could have gone without the jumpscare though."
Hanzo tapped his cane on the ground as he faced away from the woman. The man tilted his head to the side and hummed thoughtfully, letting out a small chuckle at the ghoulette's exasperated groan.
"So, I assume you got my message?"
"Yeah, you got a 'vision' and all that jazz," Roma waved her hand dismissively. "You have those every week. Last month you went on about one you thought was the 'vision to end all visions', and it was just a bunch of golden trees that uprooted a nest of snakes."
"They aren't always meant to be taken literally, you know," Hanzo snorted as his cane tapped at the ground again. "The trio of golden trees...they were symbolic, obviously, just like the nest of snakes. I don't think I have to go into detail there, do I?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. The snake nest is meant to represent old Tsune and his Vasuki, and the golden trees represent a person or group of people that are gonna destroy them once and for all...hasn't happened yet, obviously."
"Remember, in the vision I watched it from afar," the man wagged a finger at the clown woman. "That means that it hasn't happened yet, and that it's quite far out...but we're not here to talk about that, after all."
"Yeah, your new vision. What's that about anyway?"
Hanzo walked towards the edge of the building, tapping his cane on the ground all the way. "You mentioned that you knew a one-eyed ghoul, correct?"
"Yeah, I mentored one. Eric, I just knew he had boundless potential. He was just so cute when he played with his food and-"
"He's also...white, correct?"
"Yeah, he's white," Roma tilted her head in confusion. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"He's a one-eyed ghoul, he's white...how tall is he?"
"Do you want that in centimeters or-"
"Whichever you're comfortable with, Roma."
"Right! He's about...I think the last time I checked on him he was just above 7'3," the clown woman blinked as the man sighed. "What's wrong?"
"A few inches taller than what I wanted...he has silver hair, right?"
Roma froze immediately, a deep blush and an orgasmic expression creeping across her face. "You...you saw Riley-chan?"
"So you know another one? You neglected to tell me-"
"Riley is mine! I barely gave my pet half the story, why would I tell you about what's mine?! I know you're a dirty thief about these types of things, Hanzaki!"
Hanzo ignored the woman and walked to the side of the building. "In my vision...I saw a girl."
"Sounds like somebody is getting lonely, huh old man?"
"An angelic girl, with emerald hair and eyes, flashes of images telling me she had been born of a love that led to a tragedy," the man's nose curled up in disgust before continuing. "I saw a boy with silver hair, chained to stone, blood pooling around him. I watched as he broke free from the chains, and fled through a hole."
"Ok, I have no idea who the girl is...but yeah, that last one is definitely Riley-chan!" the clown giggled happily. "Please tell me there's more? Is there more?"
"I saw the scene change. The boy held someone in his arms, tears streaming from his eyes. Who it was, I couldn't tell," Hanzo tapped his cane on the ground. "An owl flew in front of me, and everything changed once again as it passed. In front of me was Nagaraja, still deep in his slumber, and facing him was that boy you seem to be...infatuated with."
"So you saw the king? That's not-"
"Let me finish!" the man said curtly, stamping the ground with his cane. "Atop the king's head, I saw a great beast that smelled of brimstone and ash. The creature, I could only describe it as...a dragon…and I could feel it's endless rage," Hanzo turned his head towards the clown woman. "I watched as it pounced from Nagaraja's head, and charged towards the great nest of snakes from before. Then the vision ended, this time not by fading away, but rather the last images were consumed by a massive plume of flame."
Roma stared at the man silently for a minute, before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there Hanzo. I mean, there's a lot of symbolism there too," the woman shook her head before walking towards her friend. "I mean, you talked about an angel girl, then there was what was probably my Riley-chan holding a dead body, then an owl...and a dragon attacking a nest of snakes?"
"It means there's going to be a new chosen, Roma."
"...OOOOOOHHH!" the clown jumped up and down happily. "So, you were seeing the next one Naga-kun chooses?"
"Yes, and it's split between the boy you mentioned, and the girl I saw. I only asked about the other's height because he was quite tall in my vision...perhaps around 7 feet, maybe just above or below it."
"It's gotta be him, it's just gotta! He was the one facing the king after all!" Roma swooned at this, a dreamy look spreading across her face. "That's just like him, after all. Whenever he was bruised and bloodied, he'd just pull himself right back up. I just knew that I wanted to keep that tragic boy all to myself, so I could see him get back up over and over…" the clown woman let out a breathy sigh. "Things are definitely going to get interesting now."
"You know it could be the girl with the green hair, right? She was in the vision as well," Hanzo said flatly.
"Ha, what?! Some no-name floozy? Get real!"
Kōtō Ward, Tokyo
4 months after the reunion
Eto stared at the derelict warehouse in front of her. On the outside, the building looked severely abandoned, and even to the trained eye there was no activity. The only reason the half-ghoul knew otherwise was due to the fact that she had seen a few other ghouls entering the building, either through the front entrance or through one of the obscure side entrances. The hybrid frowned as she scrutinized the surrounding area, noting how the warehouse sat on the fringes of the eighth ward.
'It's like every ward has an abandoned warehouse district…' the girl wiped a few beads of sweat from her face. 'Being here is so obvious, just what are these people thinking?'
"Eto," the green-haired girl turned to her father with a pitiful expression, glaring flatly when she heard him chuckle. "I did tell you that it would be a bad idea to wear a sweater in july."
"But it's cute!" the half-ghoul hugged the long sleeves of her new light-green sweater to her chest. "You can't just tell me not to wear it like that, it's not fair."
Kuzen shook his head, a small smirk stretching at the corners of his lips. 'I knew Irimi shouldn't have introduced her to the mall…' the green-haired man laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and motioned for her to move along. "I'm sure there's an air conditioner inside. I already told Dr. Fueguchi that we're on our way."
"So, you told him that I'm back?"
"Ah, no actually…" the aging ghoul rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I just said that I was bringing somebody in for a checkup, not that it was you," he gave his daughter a sly grin. "It'll be a neat little surprise, wouldn't it?"
"I guess...the eyepatch gives it away though," the half-ghoul fiddled with the piece of cloth affixed to her face. "Alright, so what's a doctor visit like anyway?"
Kuzen put a hand to his chin thoughtfully as they entered the 'lobby' of the warehouse. "I suppose it's pretty standard. He'll check your blood pressure, your eyes, ears, and nose…" the ghoul grimaced before looking back to the girl. "I may ask him to take a bit of blood from you, just to check, considering what happened earlier in the week."
The small hybrid lost a bit of color at her father's words, but her expression immediately grew apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break your arm...or cut off Noroi's leg," Eto flinched as her father moved his damaged limb around in his makeshift sling. "I don't even remember what happened. Everything just went black after my rant, and I only remember the talk before. I don't-"
"Eto, accidents happen during sparring sessions."
"I stabbed you in the stomach!"
"And it was a very good stab," the aging ghoul chided gently. "In fact, you've made quite an improvement in your fighting style in the past few months."
"I stabbed you in the stomach," the girl said once again, pinning her father with a concerned glare. "And I cut off one of Noroi's arms. If he couldn't grow them back-" the half-ghoul froze when she realized they had entered the 'waiting room' for the doctor's office.
Every ghoul in the waiting room was staring at her. Even though she was a small 11-year old, many of the ghouls immediately put themselves into guarded stances, or placed themselves in front of their family members. Eto sputtered for a few seconds before her father laid his free hand on her shoulder.
"Relax, like I said, accidents happen during sparring sessions," the man made sure to emphasize this, his eyes flashing to some of the glaring ghouls for a split second.
The other patients calmed down slightly, and the two took their seats further away from the rest of the group. The half-ghoul shrunk back nervously as she caught several curious ghoul children staring at her. The older ghouls simply stared at her warily, either waiting for her to make a wrong move or simply curling their noses up at her anomalous scent.
The half-ghoul tilted her head curiously as a young woman with light brown-hair exit the nearby room. She called out a seemingly random name, and one man stood up and walked towards her, still clutching his slashed torso. The woman motioned him into the room quickly, looking around the room and regarding several patients with a kind smile before following the injured ghoul. This repeated for well over an hour, with many patients leaving the warehouse after some kind parting words and advice from the woman. The small hybrid did her best to ignore the skeptical glances from the departing ghouls.
Eventually, they were the last people waiting. The green-haired girl looked on as a teenager and his younger sibling exited the office, calling out a thanks to the doctor and listening to the woman as she handed him a nondescript bottle of pills. When they passed, the little boy stared at the girl curiously for a few seconds before being pulled along by his brother.
The brown-haired woman pulled out a clipboard, jotting down a few notes before scrutinizing it. "Yoshimura?" the woman smiled kindly as Eto helped her father up. "I see you weren't kidding about the broken arm. Who might this be?"
Eto shrunk back nervously when the nurse flashed her a motherly smile. "I-I'm Eto…"
"Oh, so you're helping out a new employee?" the woman let out a small chuckle.
"Actually, that's not quite what the situation is, Ryouko," Kuzen smirked when the woman looked at him in confusion. "You'll understand when we see Asaki. I mostly came here so Eto could get a checkup and update her records."
"I see," Ryouko gave him an unsure look before shaking her head, then motioning the two into the office.
Eto had expected to see a lot of sharp objects and instruments of torture. Ever since she had first read Portrait of Markov and the works of Lovecraft and H. G. Wells, her mind had ran wild with nightmares of men who would be more than happy to poke at her body and tear her up just to see what happens.
The actual room she found herself in was completely opposite to what her night terrors had conjured up. While it was still a room in an old abandoned warehouse, it was cleaned neatly and the smell of antiseptic permeated the area. The sharp tools and needles she did see were kept in a clean spot and labelled with warnings.
The half-ghoul's gaze was drawn to the man in the nearby swivel chair. A dark-haired man dressed in a white lab coat and a pair of small glasses sat hunched over a small pile of paperwork. He made a few final marks on the charts of two random patients before swivelling to face them with a closed-eyed smile.
"Kuzen, good to see you! So, you brought somebody for a checkup?" the doctor opened his eyes, taking note of the aging ghoul's right arm. "Ah, right! Forgot about your arm was broken. That should be pretty standard, but if you need to me take a look-" Asaki cut himself off when he saw Eto peek out from behind her father nervously.
The half-ghoul blinked as the doctor stared at her blankly, deciding to slowly wave a hand towards him. "Umm...hi?"
Asaki shook his head clear and stood up, walking towards the girl with a skeptical glance. "...Eto?" the doctor's eyes widened at the girl's slow nod, and he turned to Kuzen with a confused expression. "But, she...she was...the tunnels...how? When?"
"About a few months ago, actually...and apparently, Noroi forgot he was supposed to bring her back last year," the former assassin cupped his chin in thought. "I feel like he must have had a head injury a while ago...anyway, I brought Eto here for a checkup, and to update her records."
"I see...goodness, I'll need to really drag up Kenshi-sensei's old records," the doctor moved to a nearby filing cabinet, absently regarding his wife as she entered the room. "Ryouko, which one of these is the one we put Kenshi's files in? We have an old patient here and I need to update some records."
"That's quite insulting to Kuzen, don't you think dear," Ryouko smirked at Asaki's chortles, covering her mouth to hide her giggles as the man in question set her with a flat glare. "Oh relax, you know I'm only teasing Yoshimura-san."
"It's for me," Eto chimed in, surprising the woman. "I'm the old patient, the one who needs their records updated."
Kuzen's mouth formed into a smirk at the woman's confused look. "I suppose I haven't properly introduced you," the aging ghoul laid his free hand on his daughter's shoulder and flashed Ryouko a bright smile. "Ryouko, this is my daughter, Eto. We haven't seen each other in quite some time, but since she's staying with me I figured it'd be a good idea to bring her in for a checkup."
Ryouko gaped in shock at the man's declaration. "Daughter? Since when?"
"11 years ago, actually."
"But how? When did you adopt her?"
Kuzen bit his lip as he continued. "Well, the initial proceedings were somewhat quick, from a certain standpoint, but there was a nine month waiting period," the green-haired man chuckled deeply at the woman's sweatdrop. "Yes, I can assure you she's mine. She just takes after her mother in appearance."
"I have green hair and eyes," the girl in question puffed her cheeks up indignantly. "That's plenty I got from you."
"Well, that...and the obvious," the aging ghoul gave the girl a kind smirk. "You can take off the eyepatch you know. It's fine to do it here."
"Ah...well...it's kind of…" the hybrid shrunk nervously and looked away from her father. "My eye is kinda...on."
"Eto, it's fine. You don't need to wear it in here."
The green-haired girl stared at her father blankly for several seconds before letting out a small sigh. Her hands slowly moved to the piece of fabric on her face, and she slowly removed the patch affixed to her eyes.
Ryouko blinked owlishly at the girl's single kakugan. The woman turned to her husband just as he let out a happy exclamation at having found the files. Asaki followed his wife's gaze, and shook his head as a bright smile spread across his face.
"I remember when I first saw that, most incredible thing in the world...of course, I also remember when you were able to fit in the palm of your old man's hand," the doctor chuckled at the girl's blush as he reviewed her file. "Hmm, yeah, we'll definitely need to update this. I can get her weight, height, blood pressure, the like...anything else?"
"Yes, I was going to ask you to take some blood-"
"EEP!"
"Eto, it's to check your RC pathways," Kuzen chided.
"Why would I need those checked?!"
"So that you don't end up like me," the aging ghoul pulled at a grey strand of hair. "When I was younger, I pushed my body too far. I did a lot of things, most of which you don't know about, and everything I did caused a strain on me that took a good amount of years off my life. I even gained a kakuja at an early age, which is the reason I'm most concerned about you."
"...Kakuja? What the hell is that?"
Kuzen froze suddenly as he realized what he had just done. "Oh boy...guess I'll need to explain it," the green-haired man turned to Asaki with a concerned gaze. "For context, she has one. That's why I want to make sure her vessels aren't damaged in any way."
"I see...Ryouko, why don't you help obtain the blood sample," the doctor gave his wife a sheepish grin. "I'll help Kuzen sort his arm out. He and I have a few things to talk about."
"Right, of course," Ryouko turned to the small hybrid with a kind smile. "Why don't you come take a seat with me, it'll only take a moment."
"To take some of my blood?" the girl asked unsurely as the woman moved her to a nearby chair.
"It's not as bad as you think…" the ghoulette cringed as she brought out the rope, noting how pale the small half-breed went. "This is just...a part of the process for it. There's nothing to worry about, I promise."
"It's not that...I'm just a bit wigged out by ropes in general," the green-haired girl shrugged nervously. "So, what is the rope for anyway? What does it have to do with taking my...uh, well…"
"Well, first I'll clean your arm, then I'll wrap this rope around a portion of it, so that the veins will be easier to see."
The half-ghoul cringed nonetheless. "You're still gonna take blood from me…"
"It won't hurt at all, I promise," Ryouko gently wiped the girl's arm with an antiseptic swab. "Tell you what, why don't I help you take your mind off of it? That usually helps."
"How am I going to ignore you taking-EEP! Big needle!" the half-ghoul paled as the nurse pulled out a sizable syringe.
"Actually, this isn't very big," Ryouko's shoulders fell at the hybrid's terrified expression. "Relax, there's nothing to worry about...how bout this, why don't we talk? Not about anything in particular, just whatever you feel like."
"...You're curious about the eye, huh?"
"Eh? No, I-" the brunette cut herself off at the green-haired girl's raised eyebrow. "You've had people ask about it, I'm guessing."
"Not recently, since I'm always hiding it."
"So, you're really a one-eyed ghoul?" Ryouko let out a small hum as the girl nodded. "I didn't think it was possible…"
"It was my mom, obviously," the half-ghoul said lowly, answering the woman's unsaid question. "I won't say how she did it, but she was able to give birth to me...even though she was a human," the girl took a deep breath as her mind was flooded with written words from a nearly blank face in her memories.
"She must be a wonderful woman, to have done that," the brunette said as she worked the rope around the girl's right arm.
"I'm told she was…"
The nurse paled at this. "I'm so sorry, I didn't-"
"It's fine...I'm kind of used to having that reaction actually," the green-haired girl flinched at the small pricking sensation in her forearm. "The rope feels a bit tight…"
Ryouko tilted her head and gave the girl a small smirk. "Don't worry, I'll loosen it just a bit. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
Eto's free hand moved to her chest as a blush spread across her face. "Umm...well, my chest suddenly started growing into these weird bumps, and I'm kinda scared. It's not swelling, is it?"
Ryouko gave the girl a blank smile. "Ah...well...that would probably be something your father should explain."
Meanwhile, Kuzen sat still as Asaki examined his arm. The entire time, the aging ghoul made sure his doctor was caught up with everything involving the half-ghoul only 10 feet away.
"-I was actually planning to bring her here earlier, but I heard about a CCG operation only a ward away, and I felt the need to be cautious, so I put it off for a few months," the former assassin let out a small sigh. "Aside from that, up until this month...they were active around my ward."
"I see...you'd think destroying 75% of their bases would set them back decades. I suppose they're like a Hydra."
"Cut one head off, and another few will grow in place," Kuzen mused.
"And how have things been?" Asaki glanced to the half-ghoul. "You know, between you two specifically."
"It's been...well, awkward at first," the aging ghoul cupped his chin with his free hand. "She's still mad at me for everything, obviously, but we're connecting more...just a bit…" Kuzen let out a short sigh. "I don't think I deserve her forgiveness, to be honest."
"Oh, hush up about that! I barely got away from them myself, so I know how awful it was. Sure, there could have been a better way, but hindsight is 20/20," the doctor shook his head solemnly. "Kenshi-sensei got the last laugh, at least in regards to what they made him do. I don't think there's anybody who's ever given them as much hell as we all did."
"It's not just that...I've been thinking back to my 'last job' with them."
"It wasn't your fault, Kuzen…" Asaki narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What brought this on anyway?"
The aging ghoul glanced over to his daughter momentarily. "I think it should be pretty obvious...she looks so much like her, it hurts."
"There's more to it, isn't there? You came here because of...well," the doctor motioned to his friend's right arm.
"Oh, right! Well, Eto 'accidentally' broke my arm in a sparring match earlier this week."
The doctor gave his old friend a bewildered look. "I know that's not the whole story, what else is there? You said she had a kakuja?" Asaki adjusted his glasses and set the former assassin with a flat glare. "Would you mind explaining what happened in this so called 'spar' where you broke an arm?"
"Well…" Kuzen looked away from the doctor as he began his tale. "I've been trying to teach her how to fight, and get her into a proper combat style. I thought we were making good progress, but it just seemed like something was off," the aging ghoul let out a short sigh as he looked up to his bespectacled friend. "She's been holding back at certain points. When I make it clear that it's a more serious spar, she still pulls most of her punches."
"So you confronted her over it?" Asaki narrowed his eyes in concern. "And how did that work out?"
"About as well as you must be thinking, all things considered..."
Nerima Ward, Anteiku basement/24th Ward entrance, Tokyo
(Earlier in the week)
"Oof!" the half-ghoul grimaced as her father pushed her back with the blunt end of his kagune. "Come on, this isn't fair…"
"Eto, fairness doesn't exist in a life or death battle," Kuzen chided. "If you ever do get into trouble with ghoul investigators, you'll need to know how to deal."
"Alright…"
"Of course, if you do happen to gain ghoul investigators on your tail for whatever reason, you'll be grounded for about a month-"
"A month?! Why the hell is it a month?!"
"It matches Kaya and Enji's punishments if they draw investigators in. Whoever directly caused it has to clean the bathroom they like the least, for the whole month," the aging ghoul smirked at the hybrid's disgusted look.
"What happens to Renji?"
"Uta spends the entire week with him, with no protest."
"...Who's Uta?!" the green-haired girl cried out.
"Ah, I forgot you don't know Renji's friends...that actually reminds me, we'll need to get you a mask," Kuzen's mouth formed into a frown as the half-ghoul glanced away. "Eto, what's with that look?"
"I have a mask-"
"*Cough* Noyoudon't *Cough*"
Eto immediately rounded on Noroi with a fierce glare. The ponytailed ghoul ignored the small hybrid for the most part, instead focusing solely on the magazine he was reading.
"I could quite catch that, Noroi-kun. Mind repeating it?"
"Oh, what? I was just clearing my throat," Noroi turned a page as a small smirk formed on his face. "Huh, apparently these human scientists have almost completed sequencing the human genome. I wonder if they'll get to us next-"
"I heard you Noroi! I know exactly what you're doing!"
"Do tell," the ponytailed ghoul said cheerfully as he held a hand to his cheek.
"You're trying to move onto some random topic so that I'll let my guard down and avoid...the original...uh…"
"Yeah, I know! It sounded really familiar," Noroi snorted at the half-ghoul's deadpan expression before turning to his old friend. "And for your information, no. She doesn't have a mask, despite what she claims."
"Is that so?" Kuzen gave his daughter a concerned look.
"Ok, it technically isn't a mask...it's more like a disguise."
"And what does this disguise look like, young lady?"
A few minutes later
Eto stared at her father with a triumphant grin that was easily visible through her disguise. The half-ghoul was now completely wrapped in bandages, with no clothing article in sight save for the new droopy-eared cloak she had obtained months prior, as well as one of the two scarves given to her by her fellow half-ghoul.
Kuzen stared owlishly at the girl's outfit. "I see...and, you've used this before?"
"One other time, but that was because Noroi was worried they were nearby."
"She's using the new cloak obviously...also, you're using one of the scarves Riley gave you," Noroi tilted his head in amusement. "You certainly seem to like them. How-"
"If you even think about finishing that, I'll remove your vocal chords," the girl said coldly.
Kuzen cringed at the exchange before setting the girl with a stern look. "What clothes are you wearing under that anyway?"
"...Clothes?"
"Eto, please tell me you're not...you know…" the former assassin sighed when the half-ghoul's shoulders slunk. "You are...goodness, what if they all...fall?"
"I used tape this time."
"What happened last time then?!"
"I just made sure they were wrapped around really tight," the hybrid twirled around happily, causing her cloak to billow around her legs. "C'mon, I like it. It's really comfy, it feels easy to move around, it doesn't chafe my skin...I like how airy it feels...I look spooky."
"I see…"
"Weren't you having a sparring match?" Noroi asked absently.
"Ooh! We can test how this works in a fight!" the girl made a small fist pump.
"...Are you going to stop holding back?" Kuzen asked lowly.
Eto's cheerful demeanor quickly diminished. "I'm not holding back."
"You are, I know you are," the aging ghoul frowned as the girl glared at him.
"I'm done!" the girl growled out.
"Eto, it's important that I understand everything you're capable of. You've made a lot of progress, but it always seems like something is off whenever-"
"I'm not talking about this!" the half-ghoul turned and made to leave.
"Eto, this isn't something you can just avoid. I know there's more to it than just holding back in a sparring match, and we need to talk about-"
"We don't need to talk about anything!" the girl growled as she rounded on him. "Not when you're gonna accuse me of bullshit and confront me over stuff I wanna keep private!"
Kuzen felt like he could choke on his own breath. The way she had said it, the way she glared at him, it was all familiar. For a split second, it was like he was back in time, right to the day he found out he was going to be a father.
"There's nothing we need to discuss!" Ukina had yelled angrily. "Not if you're going to accuse me of things like that, or confront me over stuff I want kept private!"
The former assassin shook his head and set the girl with a stern gaze. "Eto, we need to talk this out. I want you to be able to trust me-"
"Oh, is that why you left me in a hole for 10 years?!"
"...You're still mad at that," Kuzen said simply. "Eto, I'm sorry. I can't express how much-"
"That's another thing! You're always apologizing about it when it does come up. You do it so much it's gotten annoying! It doesn't mean anything anymore!"
"I...I understand. I just wanted to-"
"SHUT UP!" the half-breed's glare only intensified as her father froze and shrunk back. "And then there's that! You don't act like my father most of the time, you act like a doormat ! I could destroy half the city and you wouldn't do a thing about it. You just move out of the way whenever I get mad at something."
"I suppose-"
"I'm not done talking!" Eto cried out angrily. "You...you're a fucking coward! That's the only way to explain it! If you act that way around me, it's no wonder you did whatever they told you to do!" the girl's single kakugan flared to life beneath her bandages. "It's no fucking wonder you could just kill mom like that!"
This gained a reaction from Kuzen. Immediately the green-haired man's eyes opened, and his permanent kakugan narrowed viciously at the girl.
"That is not how things went! You don't get to construe it like-"
"Oh, now you get a spine? Because I called you out for that? It doesn't change shit!" the half-ghoul jumped forward and jabbed a finger at her father's chin. "How the fuck do you look at yourself? How the hell can you stand knowing that you fucked everything up in my life?! You could have just gotten us as far from them as you could and held them off, but you just folded like a damn coward."
Noroi, who had been gaping in shock from the moment the girl started her rant, moved to intervene.
"Eto, that's not-"
"Shut it Noroi! You're no better! You're just as bad as him, moving me around all over that shithole like it was going out of style!"
"Alright, that's enough!" Kuzen grabbed the girl by the shoulders and glared at her sternly. "I understand you still have issues with everything that happened, but we're trying to work past them. It's just going to take some-"
"Work past them?! This is literally one of the only two times we've talked about it in the past three months!" the veins around Eto's single red eye blackened as a cloud of RC wafted from her shoulders. "You want me to stop holding back?! I'LL STOP HOLDING BACK THEN!"
A pair of monstrous blades emerged from the girl's shoulders. She stabbed one into the ground and used it to propel herself into the air, before aiming a fist towards her father's gut. The half-ghoul's fist went straight through his abdomen, causing the man to cry out in shock.
Kuzen quickly removed the girl from his form and held his wound as it healed, all while gaping in shock.
"You...you tried to kill me…"
"Yeah, that's what 'not holding back' means, after all," the half-ghoul's bandage covered hands curled up like claws as she shook in rage. "Every time I look at you, part of me feels like killing your wrinkled ass. That's why I was 'holding back', because I really feel like I could do it if I just went a little further," Eto's single red eye flashed wildly as her kagune rippled. "That'd be too good for you though…"
Eto's kagune transformed, with more feather-like protrusions growing along the length of each blade. Soon enough, a second pair of smaller wing-blades emerged just beneath her primary pair, accompanied by a mass of spikes shaped like bird plumage. Soon enough, her excess RC cells began forming armor around her that closely clung to her form.
"You..have...no idea...what you put me through..." the half-ghoul's single kakugan shone as her beak-like kakuja mask formed around her face. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING THROWN INTO A FUCKING HOLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"
"And then she attacked me. Noroi tried to help me, but he lost one of his legs in the process...and as for myself, well…" Kuzen moved his right arm up nearly an inch. "I think it should be pretty obvious."
Asaki blinked in shock as his friend finished the story. "Alright, disregarding everything about your daughter still being mad that you left her in that place for her entire childhood, and the fact that you're definitely downplaying it by saying it was an 'accident' in a sparring match," the doctor set the man with a flat glare. "You came in because of her kakuja specifically?"
"Yes, I wanted to make sure her RC vessels didn't have any problems…" Kuzen moved his free hand to his chest. "Like mine…"
"Is she still cannibalizing?"
"...Define cannibalizing?"
"Eating other ghouls," Asaki said exasperatedly.
"Well, technically...yes," the aging ghoul let out a tired sigh. "It's probably something she can't grow out of. She might have some hangups about eating humans since-"
"Kuzen, you have to tell her about the dangers of cannibalizing and how kakujas work. You also have to teach her how to control it."
"I know...it's just...I don't know how to feel…"
"About what she said? Kuzen, she's right. You don't know what she went through, but you did indirectly cause it," Asaki looked at his friend pitifully. "What, it's only been maybe four months, right? It's not like she's going to forgive you just like that, you need to wait. You try to spend enough time with her, right?"
"I see her plenty of times. I brought her out food shopping once or twice-"
"That does not sound very child-friendly," the doctor said darkly. "Although, I guess she could probably stomach it...who knows...What else?"
"I help her refine her reading and writing."
"...And?" Asaki motioned for his friend to continue.
"I have this spot in the shop where she won't be noticed, that way she can observe how humans and ghouls work. You know, to get a better idea on how to be in a social setting."
"So, most of the day you leave her by herself?" Asaki hummed as realization spread across Kuzen's face. "There's your problem. Did you ever think about taking her to the movies or something? Maybe a zoo?"
"I can't exactly do that, considering-"
"Right, right, V...the movies wouldn't be out of the question," the doctor mused. "What about the day-to-day management of the ward? Did you ever think to bring her along for important things like that?"
"She's 11 years old, I don't think it'd be appealing to her."
"You never know, it might be interesting for her. If not, she at least gets to spend time with you, so it'll help you improve your relationship," Asaki stood back and gave Kuzen a tired smile. "Well, your arm should heal by the end of the week, as long as you eat regularly."
"Thank you, Asaki. I think I have enough money for the checkup-"
"Kuzen, there's no need for that. You're a friend, and I don't really do this to get paid in the first place-"
"Asaki, I'm not taking no for an answer. Especially since I know the process for checking RC pathways," the green-haired man mumbled something as he struggled to find his wallet. "Oh...I think it's in the other coat pocket."
"Alright, I think we have some around here," the two men turned to see Ryouko digging through one of the nearby cabinets. "Aha! Here we are, our specialized 'sugar cubes' for our young patients," the woman triumphantly held up a jar filled with cubes made of an unknown brown substance.
"Uh...I can't actually eat human food," the half-ghoul said nervously.
Kuzen shook his head in amusement. "It's not actually sugar, Eto," the man smirked as the girl looked at him in confusion. "They're made from parts of human bones, with a bit of blood mixed in. We use them in our shop, for our special 'red eye' coffee we sell to ghoul customers."
"Oooh…" the hybrid tilted her head curiously as Ryouko plopped a handful of cubes into her hands. "So, I just eat them?"
"Preferably now, considering that you did just have blood taken."
"Oh, alright then…" the green-haired girl held a cube up and slowly put it in her mouth. "Hmm...it's good...you can put these in coffee?"
"We don't really use it for that specifically," Ryouko noted. "But they can be used for that. I just use them as treats for children who come in...and...huh?"
"What, what's wrong?"
Kuzen had just fished his wallet from his coat pocket when he realized the woman had froze. The aging ghoul followed her gaze, smirking when he saw what she was staring at.
"Hinami, what are you doing up?" Eto's gaze followed the woman as she walked to her right.
Her confusion was stamped out as a blush spread across her face when she saw who Ryouko was speaking to. A small child, barely a year old, sat on the floor while reaching toward the woman. The brunette shook her head before pulling the baby off the ground, cooing to the infant sweetly.
Eto bit her lip at the sight. "So...cute…"
Ryouko noticed the half-ghoul staring and walked over. "Eto, this is my daughter, Hinami," the woman smirked as the small brown-haired infant turned towards the hybrid curiously. "Say hi, Hinami-chan."
"Koomiiwaa," the baby giggled, flashing her small kakugan at the green-haired girl and reaching out for her playfully.
Despite their appearance, the baby ghoul's eyes were wide and shimmering, to which the half-ghoul instantly melted. "So...cute…"
Ryouko shook her head before turning back to her husband, holding out a small box for him. "I finished taking the blood sample, it's just enough for you to work with."
"Excellent," Asaki turned to Kuzen with a grin. "I should be able to get the result to you by next week, if nothing else comes up. Remember to take it easy with that arm, if I see you back here with it again I'm not going to be pleased. Now, onto Eto's checku-"
"Dear, could you take Hinami for a second? I need to have a word with Kuzen," Ryouko gave her husband a dangerously sweet smile.
Not wishing to argue with her, the doctor quickly took his child from the woman, playfully cooing at her and letting her play with his fingers. The brown-haired woman immediately turned to Kuzen with a stern gaze.
"You need to give your daughter 'the talk', Kuzen-san."
"...N-No"
"The...talk?" the half-ghoul looked between the nurse and her father, while also noting how the doctor went pale at his wife's words and turned away. "Is this about how my chest turned into the bumps?"
"Nooooooo…" Kuzen clutched his usable hand to his face. "Why now? It shouldn't be this soon? You're 11, you shouldn't even have stuff like that. Soon there will be...the blood thing...I can't handle that…"
"Blood thing?! You mean there's a reason I'm bleeding...down there?" the green-haired girl's face fell as her father let out another low moan.
"Why...why now…"
"That too, huh?" Ryouko let out a short sigh and gave Kuzen a sympathetic look. "I wish I could give you a leaflet or something. I think the best thing to do would see if you could look it up online."
The aging ghoul groaned, mumbled to himself, and looked to the woman. "I'll try...damn, this is one of those times where I wish Ukina was here for me."
Asaki let out a short cough. "Perhaps we can discuss this at a later time? I still need to give Eto her checkup so I can update her records."
The nurse shrugged and quickly took her daughter back into her arms. "Don't put it off Kuzen, it won't work out well. She shouldn't have to figure it out all by herself."
Hinami giggled and made a little wave to Eto. "Sayomaa!"
"...Eep!" the half-ghoul swooned at the child's giggling as Ryouko left. "So cute, I couldn't believe it."
Kuzen stood back up from his sulking and turned back to Asaki. "I suppose you can start the checkup."
"I-It's not gonna hurt, right?" Eto shuffled back a bit when the doctor turned to her.
"Relax, Eto. It shouldn't take more than an hour, I promise…"
Nerima Ward, Anteiku (a few hours later)
The moment they had gotten back home, Kuzen had made sure to sit his daughter down so they could have a small talk. Noroi sat across from the girl, his leg having regrown long since the event earlier in the week. The moment the green-haired man had given the two a concerned glance, neither refused to meet his gaze.
"Obviously, there are a few things to talk about between all of us...since apparently, there's more to it than just what I suspected," the former assassin huffed when he noticed his old friend squirming in his seat, before turning to his daughter. "You're still cannibalizing?"
"I...I don't want to stop," the half-ghoul winced at her father's expression. "I just don't really feel right about eating 'people' people, it's weird to do it all the sudden and I don't know what to think," the girl set her father with a restrained gaze. "Besides, I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, so I just don't see the point in stopping. Plus, it makes me stronger, and I need to-" the girl cut herself off before turning away.
"Eto, it's not that simple. Believe me, I know plenty about this," Kuzen took a deep breath before turning back to Noroi. "You've been helping her?"
"...I have," the ponytailed ghoul's jaw clenched as his friend gave him a disappointed look. "She told me why, so I figured I'd just...supply her with extras I get while I handle V in the tunnels. Some of those extras are, or were, from them."
"I didn't know that…" the girl mumbled.
Kuzen shook his head. "Did you know she had a kakuja?"
"A w-what?"
Noroi flinched at Kuzen's questioning glare and Eto's confused expression. "Yeah, I knew...but, I didn't think it had progressed that far. Last time I saw it, she was 9 and it wasn't like before. It only covered half her face and she only had one blade."
"Wait, when I was 9? What are-Oh!" the green-haired girl went ghost pale. "That time when that gang attacked...I blacked out and they were all dead, and I didn't need to eat for weeks...what happened?!"
Kuzen let out a tired sigh. "You have a kakuja...essentially, it is a mutation of your kagune," the aging ghoul looked to the girl solemnly. "I have one as well, I gained it the same way you did. When a ghoul cannibalizes enough, they trigger a mutation in their RC cells, which creates a secondary kagune that covers the body like armor."
"...So, I have an extra kagune that makes armor around me?"
"Correct, though there's a lot more to it...you wouldn't understand it immediately," the green-haired man leaned towards the girl. "The problem is that while cannibalism does make you stronger, and lets you unlock or improve your kakuja, it affects your mind. I've noticed you can be prone to anger at the worst of times, or that you seem to have bouts of paranoia that appear out of nowhere. Among other things...I've heard you talking to Ukina's journal-"
"That doesn't make me crazy!" the girl cried out.
"Eto, I never said you were crazy. I was pointing out that it's a bad thing to cannibalize. I can tell it's already taken a heavy toll on your mental state, which I know I certainly haven't helped improve."
"It's not like you had to-"
"But I did! I gained a Kakuja long before I met your mother. It didn't just affect my mental state…" the green-haired man put his free hand to his chest. "I'm not even in my late forties yet, and I already have wrinkles. There were a lot of factors that contributed to that, but having a kakuja at such a young age, and the consequences of using it so much, was probably what started it."
"So you don't want me to look old by the time I'm your age?"
"Well, I want to make sure you're healthy. That's a father's job after all," the man cleared his throat as he fought down a grimace. "I want to make sure you understand what you're putting yourself through by cannibalizing, that you understand the risks to yourself."
"I...I still wanna get stronger…"
"You can get stronger through training," Kuzen said softly.
"...My...kakuja...that can get bigger, right?"
"Eto…"
"I want it bigger. I need to be strong," the girl said firmly. "I get it, eating ghouls bad, eating humans good, it doesn't even matter what I eat either way. I'm not budging on this."
"...I'll have to think about it," the green-haired man said blankly. "Before that, I'll need to teach you how to gain control over your kakuja, which may take a few months."
"I'm fine with that," the girl said.
"Until then...no," the aging ghoul set the girl with a stern gaze. "You aren't to cannibalize other ghouls, regardless of where they came from, until I have come to a decision. Noroi is not to help you either."
"...Alright," the half-ghoul wilted beneath the man's glare and twiddled her fingers. "I can do that, I promise."
"Noroi?"
"I'll stop giving her food from the tunnels," the ponytailed ghoul said simply. "Or any ghoul meat in general."
"Perfect...now, I think there needs to be some sort of punishment for what has transpired this week, and I've already come to a decision," Kuzen gave his old friend a sly grin. "I think I have some spare uniforms somewhere around here."
"...No."
"I'm certain there's one in your size."
"No...please no…"
"I think Kaya and Enji will appreciate the help."
"Damn it…"
The former assassin chuckled before turning to his daughter. "Now then...Eto, since you did injure Noroi and myself, you'll need to be punished as well."
"Oh? Ok, what is it."
"Chores," Kuzen said cheerfully. "You'll need to sweep and mop the upstairs floors, clean the kitchen counter, do the dishes, the obvious."
"That's...I don't know how to do a lot of those things…"
"I can show you how to do anything you would need help with. Of course, I'll also leave the dishes from the shop out as well," the man smiled at his daughter kindly. "If you were to complete all the extra dishes, you'd get quite a bit of allowance."
"Allowance?"
"Money, you'd get money for doing work around the house and shop."
"...Like, enough money to buy new shoes?" the hybrid leaned forward as her father gave her a quick nod. "Enough to buy a new sweater, or a dress? Or, even some more writing supplies?"
"All that, yes...speaking of which, I'll have to dole out a punishment for keeping your cannibalism hidden from me."
"What? But I thought we just needed to talk it out?" the half-ghoul sweatdropped as her father shook his head. "Alright, lay it on me...what do I lose?"
Kuzen tilted his head and chewed the inside of his cheek. "Well…"
"Nooooooo!"
"Eto, I thought you were ok with this?"
"Please, noooooo! Don't take it away!"
"Eto, could you please let go of my leg?!"
Koma blinked in shock at the scene before him. His boss shuffled his feet across the floor as best he could while the small green-haired ghoulette squeezed his lower leg. In Yoshimura's hands was a bundle of pencils, erasers, and a stack of paper somewhat haphazardly jammed into a folder.
"You can't do this! This is unfair!"
"Eto, it's only for a week. You can survive a week without writing."
"I can't! I just know I'll get an idea that I won't be able to write down before I forget it! I'll go insane! "
The girl's whines were met with an exasperated sigh as Kuzen continued his path towards his office. Trailing behind them was Noroi, who Enji knew was a friend of Tenchō's from the 24th ward. The ponytailed ghoul was now clad in a somewhat tight-fitting uniform, and clearly wished he could be anywhere else.
Koma snorted hotly as Irimi walked over to watch, before turning to Noroi curiously. "So, what's with the getup? I thought you only played around in the tunnels when the old man asked."
"Eto and I are being...punished…" the ponytailed man sighed as he looked back to his old friend. "I'm supposed to work the shop, which I'll get paid for...but I have to clean the bathrooms a lot, apparently," Noroi grimaced before turning back to the other two. "Eto is, obviously, losing her writing tools for just a bit."
"This is cruel, this is tyrannical! You're a monster!"
"Eto, please let go of my leg! You know I only have one usable arm right now!" the green-haired main lifted his foot up and attempted to shake his daughter off. "You might get all of these back sooner if you behave, but you're not really endearing me to that option now."
"No! The world is cruel enough without you taking all my stuff, I won't stop!"
Enji snorted as the man shuffled into his office. "Wow...so, she's grounded?"
"Not exactly…" Noroi rubbed the back of his head. "I think he's only taking away her writing supplies and her 'diary'."
"So she's still gonna be in the shop today, like always?" Kaya cupped her chin in thought. "She's usually writing then, what's she supposed to do instead?"
"Reading, probably," the ponytailed ghoul replied. "He hasn't taken her books away, just her writing privileges...honestly, I think he made the right choice. The last time anybody took away her books, she went berserk, and not in the same way she gets when you call her-" Noroi shook his head. "Nevermind...hopefully she doesn't go crazy over this…"
Eto spent the rest of the day as she had for the past few months. Her father had placed her at a spot where she was practically invisible and gave her a cup of coffee which he'd come and refill whenever he had the time. For the regulars, they had figured out who she was pretty quickly due to the passing resemblance she had to Kuzen, or simply from slightly eavesdropping when he came to check on her.
The only difference this time was that she couldn't continue writing 'Dear Kafka', courtesy of her father. While the half-ghoul was allowed to read, one could only reread 'Red Dragon' and 'Portrait of Markov' so many times before getting sick of them. The half-ghoul quickly shifted her attention to the other 'pastime' her father had saddled her with; Observing both humans and ghouls, supposedly to pick up on social norms.
For the first few months, Eto had concluded that this was a waste of time. On the surface, it seemed that there was no difference between how humans and ghouls functioned. Unsurprisingly, this conclusion turned out to be mostly correct…mostly. When she spent the past few months watching them out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed things in passing that hadn't seemed to be important in the slightest.
Now, she was kicking herself for not realizing them sooner, while also reminding herself not to do any of those things. Whenever another ghoul entered the shop, familiar or otherwise, every ghoul already present would tilt their heads to inspect them, all while flaring their noses. If an investigator had come on, it would have been painfully obvious what was going on, to the point that only an idiot wouldn't figure it out.
Investigators were another matter entirely. No one from the CCG ever came into the shop, probably because her father and his employees made sure never to give them a reason to. Despite that, whenever a human walked in carrying a briefcase, every ghoul in the shop froze in fear and did what they could to keep themselves from drawing any attention, which actively drew attention to them due to their strange behavior.
By the end of the day, the half-ghoul had gained some small grasp on how ghouls functioned around humans, and how the latter functioned in general. Long before the last customer left, the mentally exhausted girl had already gone back to rereading the last part of both books to pass time. From the corner of her eye, the green-haired girl noticed her father sweeping the floor nearby.
The aging ghoul turned to the girl slightly. "It was quite a slow day today, if I'm being honest," the man tilted his head at the girl's hum. "Do you...have anything you want to talk about?" Kuzen noticed the girl turning to him and quickly interjected. "Anything that doesn't have to do with getting your writing supplies back."
"Damn!" the half-ghoul let out a small huff before glancing away from her father. "I...I'm sorry about calling you a coward…"
"Eto, it's-"
"It's not alright...I mean, I'm kind of a hypocrite for saying it," the girl twiddled her fingers and tilted her head. "When I was in that place, I had to run away plenty of times. It's just that I'm still angry over everything that happened, and I can't stop being angry over it."
"You have an outlet though, right?"
"Yeah, which you took away for a week," the hybrid deadpanned. "Aside from that...I still read her journal," Eto let that sit in the air for several seconds. "I know that I remember her, somewhere deep down, but really she's just a blank face to me. When I read her journal, I feel closer to her, but I don't feel it as strongly as before when I could just read and think about who she was."
"Perhaps you're focused on your current situation," Kuzen offered. "You're still adjusting to a big change in your life, it's understandable that things are starting to seem…'off kilter', so to speak."
Eto let out a sardonic chuckle. "I'm sorry, it's just...I've been back for a few months and I started thinking, 'hey, why didn't I have this all before? Why couldn't things have been better?' and after that…" the green-haired girl shook her head. "Everything started weighing on me, and I was already holding back, and not just in sparring matches. It all just felt like too much, I guess..."
"It's alright, I'm not mad at you for that. I could never be mad over that," Kuzen pulled away from the hug, giving the girl soft smile. "Do...do you know if you could ever forgive me? I know I've asked but-"
"No, I don't think I could...at least not now. Maybe not this year, or next," the half-ghoul let out a tired sigh. "M-Maybe in a few years I could, but that's a long way out, and it's still a 'maybe'. Even if I don't...you did say a few months ago that you'd always be there for me from then on, right?"
"I will, I promise."
"O-Okay...thanks," Eto flinched as her father pulled her into another hug, a quiet gasp escaping her lips as she mulled things over. 'When I get strong enough, I'll tell him, but I can't go up against V until then. He can't know…'
Kōtō Ward, Tokyo
"Mama!"
"Yes Hinami, I got you," Ryouko held her daughter aloft. "Come on, hold your arms out! The plane can't fly without its wings~"
The baby ghoul giggled as her mother waved her in the air with accompanying airplane noises. Asaki momentarily glanced at them with a small smile, before turning back to the paperwork before him. The doctor let out a small sigh as he adjusted his glasses, shaking his head as he fumbled over a particular section in a certain half-ghoul's records.
"Is everything alright, dear?"
The man scratched the back of his head as he faced his wife. "Nothing, nothing at all...just, still dealing with today's reports. Fixing and updating records, preparing for any upcoming follow up visits, the like…"
Ryouko let out a small hum. "Today's patients were...interesting, so to speak."
"I know, I was pretty shocked as well," the doctor let out a small chuckle. "When Kokosuke asked for those falsified records and told me why, I really did feel like I was hearing things. Hopefully his younger brother does well in school."
"That's not exactly what I meant…"
"I know that," Asaki said tiredly.
"It's still pretty surreal to think about," the woman smiled as her daughter cooed at her. "I mean, I never thought it was possible."
"Eto's probably the only one of her kind in existence," the doctor shook his head. "There was maybe a chance that another one would be born, around a year ago in the 19th. I kept up to date with that, but things...things happened that prevented anything from coming about."
Ryouko frowned at this. "There's more to it, isn't there?"
"There is...it's not for the faint of heart though…"
"I was also referring to Eto," the woman chewed the inside of her cheek as her husband froze. "I overheard you talking to Kuzen, about your…'past' with him. How is that girl involved?"
Asaki stood to his feet shakily. "It's...it's very complicated, Ryouko."
"That's usually your response when I bring stuff like this up," the woman said solemnly.
Hinami stared at her parents owlishly, having gone silent when she had sensed the mood had shifted. The tiny ghoul had already been half-way through reaching towards her father when her head snapped around, a confused look directed towards the door. A few seconds later, both of the older ghouls paled at the sound of a loud noise from within the warehouse.
Asaki activated his kakugan and crept towards the door, a cloud of RC cells forming around him as he prepared his kagune. His wife quickly moved to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder with a shaky grimace.
"It could be a patient, right? Somebody who has something urgent," Ryouko said, more to herself than her husband.
"It could also be a Dove, or worse," the doctor faced the door apprehensively. 'I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I can buy them time to leave…'
Asaki slowly opened the door and slunk into the warehouse proper to handle the intruders, quietly skulking through the building while scanning his surroundings. When the man got to the entrance, he stopped quickly and blinked at the scene before him. Sitting on the floor were two robed figures, one clearly nursing her fresh head wound.
"Minami, calm down!"
"Ugh, how is it even bleeding?!" the doe-eyed girl whined, turning to her cloaked companion with a pitiful expression. "I told you we should have bought a flashlight."
"We don't have-"
"We do! I saw Meiko using one, and Tetsuo has one too. Don't lie to me!"
"Alright, jeez! Just hold still," the cloaked ghoul turned around, stiffening when she caught Asaki in her gaze. "Oh...this is awkward…"
"You really scared the hell out of us, Kinuyo," the doctor's glare intensified as the girl pulled down her hood. "You could have saved all this trouble and called, you know?"
"You moved again, and your backup didn't work either," the blonde tilted her head at the man. "Did you change numbers for that one or something?"
"Ah...no actually...my daughter sort of…" Asaki let out a low groan. "She chewed on it, as infants often do to things they get their hands on."
"You have a daughter?" Kinuyo's eyes lit up. "Ah, congratulations...Oh, I should have bought a gift," the blonde sent the doctor a small smile. "With Ryouko, right? I'd love to meet her."
"I'd like that too...but, you'll have to tell me why you're sneaking around in my home."
"Hello? Girl on floor with head injury," the doe-eyed girl growled. "Ugh, I think I'm bleeding...why do you have this old equipment around anyway?!"
"Did it hurt?"
"Yes, I am very much in pain!"
"Then that's why I keep all this old equipment," Asaki turned back to the blonde. "Kinuyo, I love you like a sister, but I know this isn't a social visit. What's wrong?"
Kinuyo stared at the doctor with an unreadable expression before letting out a sigh. "So, we kind of have a situation with somebody down in the tunnels. I sort of needed...advice...pointers...ah, something like that?"
"Coaching?" Minami offered.
"Yeah, that! I need some help figuring out what to do."
The doctor looked at the girl in concern. "How serious is it?"
"We're worried he's gonna die."
Asaki chewed the inside of his cheek, before letting out a puff of air. "Alright, come with me inside-"
"We're already inside!" the doe-eyed girl whined.
"I know that, I meant to come with me to my office...house...it's something of both, I guess."
"Oh, alright then. Just let me-oof!" Minami let out a pained groan as she tried to stand, wobbling in place for several seconds before falling over.
The doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "This may take a while…"
"Kiyuooo!"
"No Hinami, it's Kinuyo. Her name is Kinuyo," Ryouko chided gently.
"Kiyuooo~" the tiny ghoul chirped happily.
The blonde in question stared at the child with wide, starry eyes. "Kawaii~! She's so cute, I can't believe it!" Kinuyo hugged the baby close. "Ma, I really should have brought a present."
"Oh hush, you didn't know anyway. Besides, I'm sure she's happy to meet you," the nurse let out tired grunt as she finished her handiwork. "Alright, done! How does it feel?"
Minami ran a hand to the bandages around her head. "It still stings just a bit, but it's not as bad as before…"
"Again, I'm very sorry about that. I guess I should try and move some of those things," Asaki laid two mugs of coffee before the two girls. "It's very nice to meet you, Uruka-san. If you want any advice from me, just ask."
"You learned from her dad, right?" the doe-eyed girl glanced to the blonde for a split second.
"Correct! In fact, Kenshi-sensei sometimes had me babysit," the bespectacled man turned to Kinuyo solemnly. "Speaking of which...how is Kinunao?"
"He...declined to come…"
"He still blames me for what happened," Asaki held a hand up before the girl could interject. "I know, I know, 'it wasn't my fault', 'I couldn't have saved him', things like that. I just wish your brother would let me apologize…"
Kinuyo chewed at her lip before looking away. "So, the situation we're having in the tunnels…"
"Right, you mentioned somebody might be dying. Can you give me a rundown? What exactly is going on?" the doctor sighed as the blonde glanced to his daughter momentarily. "Relax, she's not even a year old yet. She won't remember any of this in the slightest."
"Asaki!" the nurse recoiled and backed away several feet, sending her husband a petulant glare.
"Ryouko, it's true! Babies don't start forming memories until they're around three years old."
"They can form some memories before that. Children always mention weird things you'd never expect."
The blonde nervously held a hand up. "Umm…"
"Right, the issue in the tunnels. Please go on."
"Ok, so there's this kid our group is sheltering. He's twelve now, caucasian-"
"What?! But how?! There are transport laws that prevent that!"
"His family got past that...they're not around anymore, but that's not important," the girl put a finger to her chin in thought. "He's maybe 220 lbs, 205 cm height-
"I'm sorry, what?! That's a bit tall for a twelve year old."
"Oh right, he has Acromegaly...or is it Gigantism?" the blonde turned to her friend. "I kinda got confused as to which it is."
"They're sort of the same thing, if you think about it. Same cause too, really the only difference is at what age each happens."
"Whichever it is, he's a really tall white kid."
"Sounds like he's growing too fast, if that's the case," Asaki flinched as the girl paled and turned to her friend.
"That's probably because of the healing."
"His body must be making too much!"
"With the scales and tear thing, it's only making it worse."
"No wonder he's laid up like that."
"Ahem!" the doctor sighed as the two girls turned back to him. "Right, so there's a problem with this boy?"
"Well, there are several problems…" the blonde squirmed nervously in place. "He can survive things normal ghouls can't. For example, getting his limbs torn off, getting impaled, getting cut in half, getting decapitated, getting his brain stabbed through-"
"I'm sorry, could you just hold off for a second," the man adjusted his glasses and set the two teens with a wide-eyed stare. "You've actually seen him survive all of that?"
"Yeah, more than a few times."
"How is he not dead?!"
"Well, his healing-"
"I get that he's healing fast, I mean why is he still moving around? If he's healing that fast, his body should have broken down ages-Oh!" Asaki went ghost pale. "That's exactly why you're here, isn't it?"
Kinuyo looked away solemnly. "It's been happening since we first met him. Sometimes he has this black fluid that comes out of his eyes, like tears. If his limbs are cut off and they grow back, they'll be covered in scales," the girl let out a short huff. "A few months ago, he fought this person who was infamous throughout parts of the tunnels for her...short fuse, I guess would be the best way to put it. During the fight, she sort of struck him in a way that pierced his skull...you know, right around here," the blonde pointed to the spot in between her eyes, just around the bridge of her nose. "It's right where his pituitary gland is. Y'know, that's also where the thing that is-"
"Yes, I think I get the gist of that," Asaki said flatly. "So, the adenoma should be gone, right? he shouldn't be at risk for any more issues."
"We don't know, but something happened that's for sure," Minami interjected. "Just the beginning of this month he said everything was starting to hurt. When we asked what he meant by 'everything', he specifically mentioned a headache, and that it hurt to walk. Then there was the loss of appetite, constant temperature shifts, erratic behavior and mood swings."
"And what's happening to him now?"
"Whenever he moves, he's in constant pain and his eyes leak that black stuff again. Last I saw him, he was laid up in bed from a brain aneurysm," Kinuyo let out a tired sigh. "I came to you because you'd be the expert. I have no idea what to do, I just don't want this kid to die…"
Asaki cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I may or may not know what's wrong with him. But that's going to require a...hang on," the doctor turned to the whiteboard he kept at the back of the room and quickly pulled it over. "Never really need to use this thing, though every now and then I have someone smarter than the general population who can handle a long lecture."
The man adjusted his glasses before grabbing a marker and quickly drawing a brain on the board, taking care to make it as accurate as he could. After finishing the sketch, he tilted his head before putting a small dot onto the pituitary gland. The doctor then faced his audience and pointed to the area.
"I don't think I need to tell you what that is. What I do need to tell you is that you can't assume all of his health problems are due to this," Asaki turned back to the sketch and quickly made a slash mark over the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. "Since that area was damaged in a fight, it probably healed improperly, and the tumor was improperly removed or destroyed. This means that, due to his healing, his hormones aren't being distributed properly."
"He hasn't grown in height that much since then," the blonde furrowed her brows in thought.
"He isn't getting taller because it's all being distributed elsewhere, probably to his bones, hence all the pain while moving," the doctor frowned as he made an arrow pointing to part of the brain stem. "The headaches are probably from swelling and inflammation in those spots. Hell, I'd be more worried about his kidneys," he flinched as the two girls blinked in confusion. "The pituitary handles your kidneys. Without something regulating it, they'll most likely fail…"
Minami gaped at the man in shock. "How do you know about this specifically?"
"A few years after Kenshi took me as his student, we had a patient come in with the exact same problem," the doctor flinched as the two leaned forward in their seats. "Unfortunately, that man didn't survive. Too much damage was done by the time he was brought to us, we could only help him with the pain."
Kinuyo went pale at this. "Oh no…"
"That was different! That patient most certainly couldn't survive being decapitated, so I think you may be able to help this boy...I assume you can't move him, right?"
"Not exactly, no."
Asaki motioned for Ryouko to look through their cupboards. "I'll lend you some tools, I know you'll give them back."
"Surgery tools?!"
"Yes, you'll have to remove the damaged pieces in that area," the doctor quickly circled the part of the sketch he had previously crossed over. "Since RC cells are regulated by the kakuhou, he should grow it all back to a 'safe' state."
"This will require anesthetic, won't it?" the blonde let out a small groan as the man gave her a flat look. "He doesn't do too well around needles…"
"If he's in that much pain, a little prick with a needle won't matter."
"What about the other things?" Minami asked quickly. "You know, the scaly limbs, black tears? That's some sort of side effect of his healing, isn't it?"
"Yes...but it's a little more complicated than that," Asaki hummed as his wife handed him a box of tools. "Thank you dear. These should have been sterilized, so they'll suffice," the doctor handed the box to the blonde. "As for what you're asking about, that's a different thing entirely."
The doctor quickly erased the sketch of the brain on the whiteboard, and began a new sketch entirely. This time, of a large square with a smiley face labelled 'chromosome', with two rectangles on each side labelled 'telomere'. He turned back to the girls and began another lecture.
"At the end of our Chromosomes sit something called telomeres, which play a big role in how-"
"Yeah, I think I know this," Minami interjected. "Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get smaller until they fall below a set length, and then cell division stops."
"Yes, exactly…" Asaki adjusted his glasses with a sigh before turning back to the board. "The reason your patient has those 'black tears' and scaly limbs is because his body has undergone cell division faster than that of a normal ghoul, because of his advanced healing factor."
Kinuyo stared at the man blankly. "So, he's aging, at least on an internal level, is that it?"
"Exactly! Being so big only exacerbates the problem, normally he would have just lived till his 40s or 50s if his body worked normally," the doctor gave the blonde a strained expression. "As it is now, I can give you a projection of a full two years, one if it takes time for him to heal from the operation."
"One year?! He's only twelve, there's gotta-" the girl flinched as she heard Hinami let out a short cry. "Ah, sorry!"
"It's fine, it normally takes a lot for her to get worked up," Ryouko shushed her daughter calmly, before turning to the two teens. "There's one way your patient could extend his life."
"How?"
"Not using his kagune, to prevent cell division. I know it may cause problems if he needs to fight, but that's the only thing I could think of, at least from my experience."
Kinuyo nodded before turning back to Asaki. "What about you? Do you know anything he could do to give him more time?"
"Well, there's a way for ghouls to lengthen their Telomeres, but I do not recommend it," the doctor adjusted his glasses and set the girl with a stern glare. "RC cells contain an enzyme called 'Telomerase', much like stem cells. It's what makes stem cells immortal, and it's why kagune can be shaped in different ways. If a ghoul takes in enough RC, they'd be spreading this enzyme throughout their body, thus lengthening their telomeres and their lifespan by extension."
"So...he needs to take in more RC cells?"
"Yes, and considering the fact that you're living in the 24th, it'll need to be more than his current intake."
"...Oh man, this is gonna be a fun talk with Meiko," the girl let out a short huff before looking into space. "Guess I'll just go up to her and say 'hey, we can save him now, but unless he starts binge eating the entire 24th, he's gonna die in a year'. She's pretty understanding about stuff like that."
Asaki sweatdropped at this. "Is that so? Good to hear...tell her I said hi, please."
"I will, I promise...and thanks for these," the blonde held up the box of surgical tools. "I'll be sure to bring them back, I'll even clean them after we're done."
"Don't worry about it," the doctor pulled out a small book and handed it to the doe-eyed girl. "You'll need that to make sure you don't mess up."
"Oh, thanks so much! We'll make sure-OoF!" Minami stood up shakily, letting out a small whine as she landed on her behind. "Ugh, still having trouble standing…"
"Hang on…" Kinuyo help the doe-eyed girl up and let her lean against her shoulder. "We'll be off then. Again, thank you so much," the blonde tilted her head to the tiny ghoul and waved. "Bye Hinami-chan!"
"Sayomaa, Kiyuooo~"
There we go. If you're wondering, of course I'm not going to kill the main OC just like that...I'll definitely kill off a bunch of the other ones though.
Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.