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)
The terrible sense of tragedy that fills you of despair, the endless abyss swallowing your form without hesitation, the final step towards the ending of a pathetic life, the end of-
Okay, I am waking up! Can you not be this much skittish just once in your life?
Me, skittish? Are you sure you aren't the one causing this? After all the situation isn't as simple as you are painting it there-
J-Just shut up!
My eyes opened widely as I stared at the familiar ceiling of my bedroom, the dark gray color perfect to keep my sight from grow dizzy every morning. The sun lights were the only thing I particularly disliked that I had yet to find a solution for but… it was alright.
Slowly I stared at the furniture by the bedside, several emptied medical boxes lying scattered on it together with a large glass bowl with several pills.
It's my artistic self coming to play, didn't our therapist wanted us to 'express ourselves' years ago?
It was about learning to enjoy our dual creativity. I don't see how 'creativity' fits in wasting medicines we- I need.
Oh right, because I am just a silly voice in your head. But do go ahead, I will be more than happy to enjoy our talks late-
It ceased instantly, the moment I popped some of the pills in my mouth. Gulping quickly, the medicines were immediately repressing the dazing effects that came from dealing with the uppity voice in my head.
I sighed, leaning back on the wall near the bed as I tried to reorganize my thoughts in a collected and harmonious manners and-
"Bzzzt!"
I groaned, eyes glancing at the phone vibrating furiously on the ground near the furniture. Didn't I left it on the bedside last night?
Another question that would have to wait just like the usual early morning thoughts as I recognized the name displayed on the small device.
Clicking on 'Accept' I was barraged by senseless words, furiously arranged by the one of the other side.
"Misaki-san, what is going on?" I asked with a sleepy tone. I let out a quick and quiet yawn to remove the last bits of tiredness out of my voice as the woman on the other side recomposed her previous gibberish.
"Satoshi-hakase! We- Haruse-san has left the building for an emergency and- there are still patients-"
My eyes were now wide open. Why did that old fool left work without much more notice?! Why today of all possible days!
I sighed tiredly, failing to find any reason to keep calm. "Misaki, calm down."
The secretary was now descending in a panic rant and I coughed loudly, showing more strength in my voice. "Misaki, I will be there in fifteen minutes. Tell the patients to wait just a little more and I will be there to take their cases."
At first there was a stunned silence, but I was already putting on my pants when the meek voice of the lady replied. "H-Hai, Satoshi-hasake."
I flinched as the call ended, finishing to button up my shirt. I picked up my phone, dropping it inside one of my pants' pockets. I stopped right by the flat's door for right as I remembered an important detail about the medicals.
Stress reduced the effects and…
Without thinking too much about it, I popped in another pill before slamming the door behind me. Of all times, the old fool had to ditch job for 'family issues'.
An ongoing divorce case against him for getting caught cheating on his wife and some minor issues with the TPD were far from a legitimate 'emergency', especially with the massive influx of people seeking help to recover from the still lasting tragedy that had happened just five years ago.
The Dragon War, an insanity of events that barely resembled a War and more of a childish villain's plan that not only failed but caused quite the stressing experience for the inhabitants of the capital.
Blood was spilled, a rampant epidemic of ROS decimating almost a quarter of the citizens and the so-called 'Dragon Orphans' still causing issues once in a while.
Sure, the crime rate and the Ghoul attacks had decreased to single digits percentages, but the cost to allow this change? Too many lives had been lost and frankly, the situation back before the War wasn't that horrible.
I mean, getting mugged or eaten are still scary thoughts, but the same happened in other major cities in the world. Well, minus getting eaten.
I was still recovering from a very 'personal' situation back then but I could easily remember the giant monster of gore trying to devour the former headquarters of the CCG and the following massacres on the streets caused by Furuta Nimura.
The name was taboo even nowadays, a painful reminder of the mad man that spearheaded the disaster of the Dragon War. The crimes of the Washuu bringing some earthquakes in the National Diet and, surprising many at the time, several former members were found guilty of having accepted bribes from the influential family to keep quiet over certain meddling with the Japanese laws.
The Tokyo Security Committee was formed by the ashes of the CCG just few weeks after the end of the tragic events. At first a joke compared to the previous organization, the TSC was able to quickly rise above from its initial state by having many important individuals that once worked for the CCG.
Individuals that had fought and bleed to make sure that Tokyo would survive against some unfair odds. Gratitude was a must, especially since many of those were paid less than back in the CCG.
The government was still unwilling to trust the group, some were even sprouting about 'a rip-off CCG under a benevolent mask' and part of the people were eager to further aliment the rumor mills.
My thoughts ceased the moment I reached for the entrance of my workplace. The building had once been owned by Akihito Kanou, the man responsible for creating the dangerous variant of the ROC that had targeted the city without discrimination and it had been sold to some investor to build a Medical Consultation Institute.
An interesting venture that quickly paid off, as many individuals were actively seeking medical help in overcoming the traumatic experiences causing either by the illness that threatened to turn them in mindless monsters or because of the near-death experiences caused by the Furuta and his Clowns.
"Satoshi-hasake! Thank God you are here." I sighed as I nodded at the panicking Misaki. The woman was fairly young, just few years older than me, but still kept some of the shy personality that was usually common in school girls.
"Misaki-san, you said that we had some clients-" She nodded and speedily led me right by my office.
"I let them get inside and wait there- I said that you were coming, sir-"
"Good." I muttered as I adjusted the collar of my jacket. "Take a five minutes break, Misaki. Get refreshed, get some coffee or merely sit somewhere to rest."
"S-Sir?" I groaned inwardly at her hesitancy.
"Haruse pulled a terrible move and I think you should take some moments to recover." I turned around just to glance at her as I went to open the door. "Five minutes, nothing more."
She nodded slowly but thankful as I entered my office to find myself thrown in the middle of a chaotic shouting contest.
The yelling ceased right as I walked slowly towards the young couple and I got a good look over their appearances and expressions.
The young man had short, black hair with a bluish undertone. Piercing dark-blue eyes were giving quite the chilling emotion at glancing as he was still conveying his current state of anger.
The lady had shoulder-length, brown hair. Her eyes were much more expressive, giving some sadness with the overall fury she was directing at her boyfriend.
My deduction over their relationship was the lack of rings, but I could as well having been given the wrong impression and I was dealing with a serious case of a marriage breaking apart.
...What a good thing to start the day, ain't it?
"Good morning." I greeted them with a simple bow. "I am Doctor Satoshi Haruno and I will be the Consultant for this session."
"Shouldn't it be Doctor Harase?" The woman asked with some confusion and I sighed tiredly as I sat on my chair.
"Harase-san decided that it was a nice thing to ditch today's work because of his impending legal issues." I clapped my hands together. "So I will take this case from his hands and replace him in this session."
They both nodded at the explanation and I started to give a look at the documents given by both individuals.
"Fueguchi… Hinami. And Kirishima Ayato?" They were not married.
Another pair of nods and I blinked at them. "I would generally ask for the reason behind this session but I have just some ideas why you are both here… if I may."
"Sure/Of course not." They both stared at each other, glaring viciously as I sighed at the bellicose predicament I was going to deal with.
"Then I will refrain myself from suggesting the case, since one of you is not agreeing to this and I prefer to keep this civil."
I paused, letting my words sink in as they seemed surprise at me backing down with my initial proposal. "I hope you understand that this is a session to try and solve whatever issue is causing the dissonance between you two. This isn't a boxing ring and I hope you will all agree that shouting is not required, we are all in range to speak normally."
The woman, Hinami, blushed a little in embarrassment while the man, Ayato, nodded calmly at my assessment.
"Then I will use a little trick to pick the first one to talk and express their opinions." I took out two empty papers from one of the drawers and passed them to the two individuals with a pair of pens.
"I want you to write down a number from 1 to 9 and the number that is the closest to my birthday will be the one that start first."
"What?" Ayato asked loudly, frowning at the confusing question.
"Most of the time it would be 1 to 10 and maybe something like 'the number I like the most' or 'the highest number' but I think those are all faulty one way or another." I gestured them to the papers. "Please do the task quickly so we can start the session properly."
After some confusion-induced doubt, the two scribbled down some numbers and passed the papers back to me.
I stared at the two different answers and had to frown at one in particular.
"Hinami-san wrote down a 7. Ayato-san wrote down a 4." I stared up from the numbers and shrugged. "Ayato-san, you got my birthday right."
..."Eh?" Sighing at their shocked expressions, I showed to them my ID card and the birthday written there.
"Ayato-san will start first. Then Hinami-san." After confirming my choice, I leaned on my chair as the young man started to tell his story.
"I-It's been few years since me and Hinami had decided to live together. We got engaged just two years ago and we have been dating quite rarely because of my job at the TSC and..." He paused just a moment, taking some breath in and letting it out. "We have been having trouble about… going a step further."
"You mean a step further in the relationship, like marriage or-"
"He is unwilling to engage in couple activities. 'That' kind of activities."
… "Oh." I blinked as the man was now flushing at the mortifying interruption from the pouting brunette. The lady was blushing too but she seemed too much angered to take under consideration the language used to define the context.
"E-Erm- I thought that this was meant to be a relationship issue-"
"It is!" The girl said loudly, freezing up as she realized that the outburst had been… relatively too loud. "I-I mean, I think that a relationship is meant to have some… intimate moments once in a while-"
"But it is still too early, Hina-chan." Ayato butted in. "We have been having too little time to explore the possibility, especially with work and-"
"I-I still want to go forward a-and." She sighed, sniffing just a little as I knew that the worst was indeed happening. "I-I just want to love you more- b-but you say no a-and."
"And you feel unsatisfied with the lack of contact." My comment brought their attentions back at me, reminding them that I was still there in the room. "I know it might sound personal, but what kind of work do you have Hinami-san?"
She blinked, sniffing again as I had managed to stop the dam from fully flooding. "I- I am a teacher for the United Front."
"So you work closely with children and… you like your job?" The woman nodded slowly at the question. "Then I think I have actually a clear sight of the real issue."
I stared at them with a serious look, a grave sigh leaving my lips…
"You are both wrong."
…
"What are you talking about?" Ayato once more intervened and I blinked.
"You think that Hinami-san is rushing with the steps and, while this is partly true, you are also working for the TSC. Whatever is your job, you are still going to be away from home for long shifts and… that is why you have the right to ask for at least a week-long pause every month."
"B-But he is-" "The Japanese Law is clear, whatever work you are doing, you are entitled to at least the chance of resting a part of every single month. Have you taken some pauses ever since you starting to work for the TSC?"
Ayato froze, his face paling as he realized that he had never taken a day from his job. "I-I didn't."
"Then you should. Use it to either rest a little and spend it with Hinami-san."
Now I was looking at the young woman and she looked curious at what I was planning to say.
How cute.
"Hinami-san, you are feeling stressed by the fact that you wish to have a healthy relationship and Ayato-san's ill-thinking led to this situation where you are finding your job the only thing that gives you the most satisfaction. Sometimes it happens that female teachers grows motherly instincts while dealing with children and that means that you seek to properly reach… that point."
I was blushing a storm as this was the first time in my career that I had to explain this to someone.
Ugh, why today of all times?!
"So that means-"
"While making steps forward at a good pace is a rightful thought, you should also consider the fact that your boyfriend is also unable to fully explore that idea because of the work he has to deal with. Spend some time with him and then, if you wish to proceed with this notion, you could ask him with a clearer mind."
"That sounds… good." Ayato looked at Hinami with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for yelling, Hina-chan."
"N-No." She blushed at the apology. "I-I should have been thinking this properly and-"
"You both love each other and you will deal with this back at home." I stated while looking at the clock. "The session's time is over."
"What if we needed more help?" The man asked with a hint of curiosity in his calm tone.
"Then you may request another session, this time with Dr. Harase if he is available. If not, then you will be given one of the other free consultants in the clinic."
"O-Oh." Hinami blinked in surprise at this explanation. "Then I guess we will go." She turned at her boyfriend. "Right?"
For some reasons Ayato frowned at his girlfriend. "Right.."
Few moments later, the two had left the office quietly and leaving me alone to deal with the paperwork of my following cases-
"Satoshi-hasake! Otzuki-sama said that you will have to take the clients that were meant for Harase-san today-"
Thud
"Satoshi-hasake!" She rushed by my side but I was already unconscious.
I was seriously hating Mondays today and it was Tuesday.
AN
If only our dear Haruno knew that this isn't the last time he will see Hinami and Ayato...
Following the New Principal's idea, this one is actually a little more immersive as there is not literally a canon to follow as... this is after Chapter 179 of :Re.