DISCLAIMER
The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Tokyo Ghoul:re and other products related to the TG Series are all owned by Sui Ishida, Shin Towada and Shueisha.
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Prologue: Starting with a loud bang (1)
The Commission of Counter Ghoul was an organization that had long outlived many institutions that were created during the Meiji period, surviving the grand purge of military groups that happened just after the end of the Second World War.
Founded in the late 19th century by the renowned Washuu Clan as the Ghoul Countermeasures Office, the CCG prospered as a powerful political and jurisdictional company in Japan that was funded by private donations, the Washuu's own wealth and the Government's funds. But this favoritism wasn't without merit, as the commission was one of the best in term seniority and expertise in handling Ghouls in Asia.
And while the organization flourished with new recruits and improved equipment, something was lost with the end of Japanese militarism.
As democracy replaced the authoritarian system, the previous conscription laws were replaced with a permissive two-years long preparation program that was established in the Ghoul Investigators Training Academy.
The tuition was cheap, and with Tokyo's Ghoul stable population and numerous cases of violence perpetrated by the man-eaters, every candidate with prior combat training was well accepted by the Academy.
"Ohi, are you doing another of your inner monologues?"
I blinked in surprise at the sudden interruption, and I found my attention instantly taken away by the one that had interrupted my line of thoughts.
White hair, red stitches in his exposed arms, and a pair of inquisitive red eyes that waited for a response from me.
Those were the main intriguing details that made Juuzou Suzuya a curious individual for those that had the chance of knowing.
"Ryo-kun?" The boy pressed, huffing as I lost myself in another thought over this unique character I had the chance of befriending since my first day at the academy.
I sighed in response, tiredness getting some hold over my poor brain as we prepared for quite the important event.
"Sorry, Juuzou. It's… you know that this is important. I just need to have my mind elsewhere instead of… this."
The quirky boy nodded with clear understanding, and soon he returned to stare at the loud mass of graduates that were excitedly talking about the final exam we were soon going to tackle.
Years of intense training and learning under the wisdom of some of the renowned investigators inside the CCG left us to deal with just a single element before becoming proper investigators ourselves.
A final written test to confirm our knowledge of the laws and the restrictions to abide during our early years as part of the active squads.
And I wasn't planning to fluke the test for whatever reason, especially with how much of my life was spent in sacrifices to arrive to this very point.
My name is Ryouga Kaizo, 19, investigator-in-training, and I was failing to find peace in that chaotic trail of thoughts that was fiercely drilling within my mind.
While I had decided to come here dressed formally (as everyone did for this important day), I would be a liar if I denied the fact I was feeling slightly jealous with Juuzou's brave move of keeping the same outfit he had been using every single day this year.
It was odd how he could manage to get it cleaned as quickly as he got all for the sake of proving a point that we had been debating about ever since we decided to share the same flat.
But my mouth didn't voice any of those unimportant thoughts, as I knew well enough that this kind of comments would just irk my only friend at the academy and prompt him to be a little less inclined to spare me some company now that I needed some.
Plus, I knew that the very move would mostly hurt Juuzou in the long-term, especially with how unpleasant his stay at the academy.
It was no secret that after having been close to the white-haired teen from the very beginning that Juuzou was not treated properly by the Academy staff. It all started with some vicious rumoring coming from a couple of teachers, all of them blaming the childish student for being the one behind the murdering of a couple of animals that were taken to live in the Academy's inner garden.
I was one of the few ones that knew that something was off, but I was the only one that legitimately learned the truth behind the rumors and the one that really killed those critters.
It all started when I decided to give Juuzou the benefit of the doubt, deciding to hang out with him as we wandered the nearby park.
By all accounts, that would've been the best place for someone with a twisted mind to start making some deranged actions against 'easy preys' and yet… I was given a completely different look of the situation.
Juuzou was an animal lover. Or at least he liked to be in the company of non-humans creatures that wouldn't be able to 'hurt him'. I was given proof of this when a dove first left one of the trees' branches it had been perched on to fly up to the boy.
This turned out to not be the first time the boy had gone to the park, and the animals there seemed to 'know' him enough to trust Juuzou by approaching him.
With that doubt confirmed, the next step was to identify the real monster behind that cruel deed at the Academy… and it turned out to be easy to find the most likely suspect.
Goumasa Tokage was a twisted man that had lost some screw while intensely working within the CCG, and that was me being lenient with the man's description considering the bizarre known info about the always smiling man.
The bald man had been an important operative in some shady section of the organization, but somehow his doubtful sanity became a good reason for his supervisors to be concerned about his ethic and integrity with his job, and soon the maniac was demoted to a mere instructor to limit the damage he would've caused through the years.
There were rumors among those that had parents or relatives in the CCG that Arima himself had intervened in the case, being the one that pushed Goumasa into this position, one that was supposedly meant to leave him harmless and mostly innocuous.
If the White Reaper himself supported this change, then there was truly some big reason behind it.
Plus...
*Crack*
...there was that unnerving habit of his.
"Good morning, class," The man greeted with a creepy voice, the usual for anyone that had the chance of knowing him for a while now. "I hope you are ready for the... test."
The clearly unstable teacher didn't linger too much when he started to hand over the paper for the exam and looked blankly to every student... except when it was Juuzou's turn.
The man paused, his unnerving eyes staring fondly at the boy as a weird smile formed in his face.
"Good luck, Suzuya-kun."
A shiver went down my back as his voice, coated with barely hidden hate, left his lips as the words struck the calm-looking student.
Yet the teacher lost all attention over the white-haired teen as the young man didn't provide him any reaction worthy of retaliation, soon forcing the bald man back to his task.
Once everyone received the paper, Goumasa returned to the front of the classroom and to his desk.
"You have thirty minutes to finish the test. Good luck."
The last two words sounded ominous and left more dread in the graduates' mind. Knowing the way the bastard handled tests, it was possible that he had left some tricky queries that would delay the proper completion of the exam.
Just as I prepared myself for the important test, I found myself blinking in confusion as I noticed that Juuzou, instead of grimacing over the document, merely shrugged at the worry and silently started to compile his own paper.
Shaking my head at the confusing development, I decided to start my own test and went ahead in answering the questions that were about Ghoul Biology, Ghoul Behavior and Quinque Studies.
Fifteen minutes passed smoothly, and I just went back on the questions a few times to add some more details to their answers or change some words with better ones to better relay the response to each query. But as soon as that much time passed, I found myself stopping and blinking in awe as I ended up realizing that I had managed to finish the whole exam.
I, Ryouga Kaizo, an average student in the GITA, had finished what was supposed to be an incredibly difficult test so easily...
With a sigh leaving my lips, I felt immense relief washing upon my brain. It was an astonishing achievement, one that was seriously going to give me a chance in finding some impressive partner and mentor once I graduated.
Having nothing else to do, my eyes calmly landed on my quirky friend's test and wondered how he was faring with the questions about Kagunes and Hybrid Quinques.
...
...Was that a dog? And… is that a cat? What the-
"J-Juuzou-kun?"
The white-haired teen paused in his actions to turn his innocent eyes on me, almost unaware that I was looking at his document
"Yes, Ryo-kun?"
At first my mind lacked the strength to formulate the question I really wanted to inquire about, but soon I got enough bravery to release some stuttered words at what I was seeing there.
"Y-You are... w-why are you doodling?"
Several kitty faces were drawn here and there in the blank spots that were supposed to be used to write down the answers to each question. I was confused as to why he was doing this since… he wouldn't doodle this much in a test.
Some tiny drawings were common to find in his tests, but this was the first time he outright refused to go through an exam. Especially this one that was meant to determine his future!
He blinked once, before shrugging silently and returning to his paper.
Classic Juuzou's move…
It wasn't the first time I was facing this little tactic of his, with him trying to appear blissfully ignorant of the gravity of his action. Sadly enough for him, I knew that he was far smarter than this, and I had taken the duty of 'reminding' this back to him.
But just as I continued to stare at him, shock burning on my face, I ended up turning my attention back to his papers and…
My shoulders sagged as I slowly realized that something was already wrong with the document the white-haired boy was supposed to compile.
"He- He didn't give you the proper exam…"
My throat itched in clear irritation, and I had to restrain myself from glaring at the smug bastard right at his desk.
Juuzou didn't give my reaction much attention, keeping on drawing distractedly on the document, but still nodding absently at my affirmation.
I was instantly worried about my quirky friend's chances of passing the year. The possibility of failure ordained by some jerk's mean self was enough to rekindle my anger right to my tired brain.
Small fragments of the previous days quickly echoed in my head as I remembered the cheerful pitch in the fellow orphan's words when we discussed our 'certain' graduation.
"Do you think we will share the same senior investigator, Ryo-kun?"
My brows rose as I stared blankly at the 'innocent' red orbs of the extrovert friend.
"Juuzou-kun, you know that it's always a 2-men team composition when they make the squads."
I rolled my eyes as the slightly older, but less mature schoolmate of mine huffed childishly at my affirmation.
"But then we wouldn't be having fun like always."
The whine wasn't one-sided somehow for me.
It wouldn't have been bad to be in a team Juuzou but... it would harm the two of us in the long-run if we didn't stop for a second to realize the harsh reality and focus to open up with the other colleagues.
"Don't worry, we will still do Saturday's Pizza Day."
His eyes glowed in remembrance. "And Sunday's Horror Night?"
I nodded, a small smile tingling in my face as we both exchanged a loud chuckle.
"I promise."
And now I was set to become a liar. Not only to myself, but also to the guy that had been my best buddy for two years now.
I don't think so. Not today… not to him!
"Juuzou-kun..."
The white-haired teen paused once more as he noticed the distinct new tone in my voice.
"Pass me your paper."
Juuzou blinked, glanced for a moment at the paper, and complied with some hesitancy while I silently canceled my name off my document and handed it back to him.
Time to deal with my own flunking.
At least Juuzou was able to pass the test.
Those were the words that kept me from actually going full-depressed on that situation.
Goumasa will not try to call out the switch, the bald man surely knowing that he would have been exposed with that stupid trick of his if he even thought about doing that.
I wasn't planning to have this sacrifice of mine, a bitter one at that considering that I lost the chances of leaving the academy for another year.
Sighing I remembered that life wasn't fair. It was always a painful roller coaster that tended to leave one drained, disoriented and regretting of past's life choices.
In a single moment, I choose that the very friend that had been eager to pass with me should be the one to be happy. And I the one to take onto the burden of being a failure before my peers.
The air was getting heavy as it had just stopped to rain in the city. I was just wandering through the 4th Ward and hoping that I wasn't going to get some cold from the fact that I had lacked anything relatively warm other than the jacket of the formal suit to keep myself from freezing up a little bit.
I was in my merry way to the flat that was partly paid by the CCG, one of the few benefits of being an orphan of a ghoul attack and having taken the offer of going to the Academy, when I heard several gunshots echoing near to where I was walking to.
Stopping for a brief moment to remember if there had been some exercises by the JSDF or the CCG itself announced to happen today in the area, I found myself blinking as I realized that today was meant to be a normal day devoid of strange activities.
Against my best judgment and sense of self-preservation, I decided to investigate the noises and I felt my body tensing up when I noticed the small crowds of people running away from the origin of the firefight.
I turned the corner and froze when I finally got sight over the problem behind the unexpected noises.
Six Ghouls.
Red cloaks were hiding their features, and their Kagunes being the only identifiable elements as they tore through the small squadron of CCG's enforcers that had been sent to the area.
Why was the group alone? Generally there should have been at least two.. investi-!
I found an answer to my question when I finally spotted the lifeless corpses of two men wearing the standard CCG uniform while still holding onto their Quinque cases. Their chest had been pierced, and, from their permanent shocked expression, they had been attacked in a sneak attack possibly from the same aggressor.
The scene was surreal. I knew the enforcers were made by people that had served in the army and that had retired to assume the role of 'helping the police and the CCG' through some funds from the government.
Their weapons were barely capable of piercing through the thick skin of the ghouls, and even the Q-bullets weren't meant to be used in a 'fair fight'. Those were meant for long-range support, away from harm.
At that very moment, I felt I had been put in a very difficult decision.
I knew how to use standard Quinques since every student at the Academy was meant to have experience with some basic ones before graduating. The two cases were relatively close and the team had small chances of getting out of there alive without someone intervening to help.
Quinques were capable of turning tides if the investigator was capable of handling the full potential of those and… if I acted now, I knew I had a minor chance of getting some of the mass-produced ones.
I weighed the pros and cons of the situation, trying to ignore the grunts of pain from the men while they continued to be skewered by the monsters.
I huffed, my eyes burning with a hint of determination as I finally made my choice.
My legs were quick to hurt as I strained them to move at the fastest pace I could muster, and I knew the wet ground and my quick steps would alert some of the Aogiri's grunts in my presence.
I felt wind coming towards me and slid downwards as I felt several shards from one of the Ukaku Ghouls soaring through the air to try to kill me from that long range. They flew over my head, and I was allowed a brief respite as I reached the bodies.
I quickly took hold over the two Quinques, grimacing a little at another issue that I had been presented with as I got a closer look over the cases.
One of the cases was broken shut, and thus I was forced to rely on the remaining weapon to defend myself from the approaching pack of Ghouls.
I quickly released the blade inside of it, and sighed in relief as I recognized it.
Yukimaru 1/3. This muramasa-katana Quinque was supposed to have been replaced by a few years now, being quite the unreliable Quinque to have because of its lacking abilities and faulty durability.
I was half-tempted to try my fate by beating the crap out of the incoming Ghouls with the cases instead of trusting my life on the Quinque's performance but.. beggars can't be choosers.
The first one to attack had a Koukaku Kagune, the dangerous tendril was a cone-like lance that formed around his arm. I was certain that the small green plaques would have resisted the old blade and thus I made a small bet.
If the two grunts didn't know I was part of the Academy, my feint and dodge would be rewarded big time. If this failed and they reacted in time, I was good as dead.
The roaring attacker tried to stab me the moment he got close enough, a yell dripping with bloodlust and amusement coming from behind his mask was cut short as Yukimaru did its job and cut cleanly his arm off, exploiting the small gap between the Kagune and his armpit.
A shriek of pain sounded beautifully as I engaged my second opponent, a Ghoul with a Bikaku Kagune that looked like a purple, baseball bat top.
This one was actually reluctant to show any opening in his stance, thus forcing me to make some feints to expose his weak points.
His Kagune was slower than the previous opponent, and the young man tried to use his fists and kicks to make an edge out of that disadvantage.
A wrong move from his part since engaging a Quinque specialized in close-range with something pretty average like that Bikaku was one of the most suicidal things he could've gone for.
Yukimaru drew blood once more, this time from the inexperienced thug that had hoped to win that clash. The man tried to retreat away from the direct confrontation by launching his kagune as a distraction, but I decided that he had to come to me and that we weren't done just yet.
I let the Kagune soar to my left side, letting the blade in my hand stab it vertically and stick it and its user right on the spot I wanted.
With a vigorous yell, I pulled the kagune back as mightily as I could, propelling the coward towards me and... into the malfunctioning case.
As soon as the AT member's face crashed on the steel-like case, the Quinque inside it decided it was a good time to activate, with the weapon inside deploying with its burning edge aimed at the mask of the frightened grunt.
I grinned at the irony that not only I now had something as simple as Yukimaru, but now I had Douhi to complete the 'old' combo.
The long-range quinque quickly blasted the head off the second opponent, leaving just the two Ukakus of the previously winning group that had witnessed the scene in utter fear.
Some of them were ready to leave when several bullets slammed on their bodies, some of those reaching their heads and brain. A domination of Q-bullets and lead, I mused darkly as I allowed the two Quinques to return to their case forms.
I approached the wounded survivors of the enforcers, and I was greeted with a military salute by the few battle-ready men there, while the rest that was made up of wounded soldiers was allowed to stay lying on the stretches. They all gave me hopeful looks and the older man, which I could tell was their leader, approaching me with a visible grin nodded.
"Thank God, HQ actually decided to send some good reinforcements."
I was tempted to disprove the speaker, but I knew that telling the truth would only screw things over for everyone.
I had already taken a step in this little warzone, and I knew that things were far from over if the enforcers had been sent to and the investigators were stretched thin across the ward.
The worst that could happen once this was done all depended with how I handled the situation.
Imagine this being the first mission you could've had. My mind seductively reminded me. You're the investigator, and these men need your help. And you know you can do it.
"What is the situation?"
"The 4th Ward is being attacked by a large group of Ghouls from Aogiri Tree," The chief started to explain. "Several patrol posts were attacked, and we suspect some are even storming towards the ward's HQ as we're speaking."
"Can you hold up until medics arrive?" I asked once again and the man fully removed his broken helmet, nodding at my question.
"We sure will hold here finely, good lad."
I nodded back at him, and after allowing myself a small prayer, I decided to go once more against my common sense, the idea of dropping everything now and not caring about this crisis now a distant memory as I needed to move as quickly as I could.
I have the chance to make the difference!
"Attacking the 4th Ward so brazenly. I don't think this was a good idea."
If there was one thing Tatara was sure of, it was that his boss was a mad genius.
Crafty and subtle in dealing efficiently with the CCG's plans to obstacle their moves, but also incredibly passionate and sometimes even suicidal when making those kinds of plans that would only result with large losses on their side and negligible ones for their enemies.
"Mah! It's not that bad," The mummy-like Ghoul exclaimed giddily. "We are just showing to the CCG that they need to keep their guard up if they don't want to see Tokyo swept out of their control and.. we are also getting some fresh popularity with the rookies."
He sighed, knowing that their recruitment efforts had grown stale in the last month and.. this chaos might work to their advantage. Especially with those groups that cared more about making bloodbaths instead of following Aogiri's cause.
New cannon fodders would help immensely...
"How do you plan to 'deal with Arima'?"
The Owl paused at the query, before mumbling something to herself that Tatara couldn't decipher. Then she sighed and smiled. "We will think of something on the spot. Kishou is, after all, a good actor. He can improvise some decent comedy and tragedy whenever he wants."
Such was the fate of a humble Chinese Ghoul that lived only to satisfy a dream of revenge: to be the 'minion' of someone incredibly shorter, crazier and more passionate to the very cause that he had espoused ever since he arrived in Japan.
Yet the very moment of calm passed away in a fleeting moment. His eyes caught a familiar burst of flames fiercely clashing onto a zone that was supposedly patrolled by some of their men. And It reminded him of something he truly hated to see happen.
"I... I will be checking around."
The short Ghoul stopped her mirthful watch over the mayhem she had just caused with a mere order, with her hidden eyes burning curiously at her subordinate's half-masked face.
"Did something catch your attention?"
The white-haired paused at these words, continuing to stare in the distance from the skyscraper they were witnessing all of this.
"Yes."
AN
Long ago I had this fanfic going. I still had lots of misunderstanding over the grammar and… now I think I can allow myself to try my hand at it again. Yes, I do like some aspects of TG. It's truly brilliant at times and my OTP is Tsukiyama x Handkerchief.
Expect some changes to the main plot, some extra chapters and… some more fluff. And Lemons.