What better way to celebrate coming back to this site than making a new story :') Hope you all enjoy and thanks for checking it out!

Without further ado I bring to you,

A Marshmellowtime Productions...

I do not own Haikyuu.

Acquired Taste

Chapter One:

Flavored

"Adj; tasting of a certain way."

There were a lot of ways to describe the word normal.

For everyone the definition was different. Normal for one person could be making their way out of bed and slipping on their clothes to head to another day of work. For another person, normal could be constantly running from cops or living out on the streets.

"Mark this as case thirty-five, binge eater."

"Yes, sir."

For some, the word normal could involve waking up in the morning to get ready for work and trying to keep fellow humans safe from being eaten.

Chiyo blew a sigh through her lips, a frown marring her features as flashes flared and the detectives before her snapped shots of the crime scene. Despite the countless amounts of times she'd been forced to see the sights of the mangled bodies and halfhearted remains, it never ceased to make her grimace or tug at her heart when families were informed and the bodies were carried off.

The sky was overcast above them. Clouds loomed overhead as if waiting for their moment to burst and shed down the tears people couldn't. Pale blue eyes watched the sheet fall over the bloody remains and Chiyo ran a hand through her dark brown, nearly black locks, adjusting her ponytail.

Young female, early twenties... Notes were scribbled onto paper as the sound of tires squealed and she hurried her efforts before the news reporters started to swarm the area and snap pictures that were only needed to instill more fear into people about the monsters lurking in the shadows. And that's not what I need with what I'm trying to do...

"We checked her identification," her senior investigator, Sugawara began. The young man was dotted with gentle features that belonged behind desk work instead of field infiltrations, but wherever the team went the man insisted on going, even though Daichi often had him behind the screen to monitor things. He ran a hand through his silver locks and sighed, thumbing the license in his hand where the image of the girl before them gazed back. "Looks like she lived alone and worked in a coffee shop down the street, parents passed away in a car accident a few years ago, no siblings."

Chiyo jotted this all down with a nod, keeping an attentive ear on the details as she spoke up again, trying not to show the hopefulness she felt. "Could that mean the ghoul that did this was purposely trying to target someone who wouldn't leave too much of an impact?"

Sugawara threw her a faintly disapproving look, understanding where she was trying to go with her question. "Possibly, but it's more likely it was just convenient for the binge eater."

A sly smirk and devilish eyes flashed through her mind, Chiyo's pen pressing a little harder into the paper as her lips turned downwards into a grimace. "How do we know it's the binge eater?"

"Her hands were left behind," a voice beside her quipped, and Tanaka scowled as he shook his head. "They were left with her fingers curled into a heart shape."

Chiyo's pen slid to the side, leaving a streak of ink across the paper.

That son of a...

"Hinata!"

"Y-Yes!" A bouncing ball of bright orange appeared in her view and her fellow investigator, Tanaka, whirled around with his briefcase in hand as he jutted a finger toward the first year intern.

"Take Kageyama and go scare of the reporters before they start swamping this place!"

"Yes, sir!" Hinata exclaimed. His eyes darted toward Chiyo and he added, "Chiyo-senpai would you like me to bring you a coffee later as well?"

God bless the sweethearts we have in this program. Chiyo smiled warmly, ruffling Hinata's unruly locks and shaking her head. "I'm fine, thank you. Try not to piss Tobio of this time, all right?"

"I'll do my best!" The younger boy quickly darted off to go drag his fellow brooding investigator along. Chiyo watched as the bright orange disappeared from view and turned back to the scene before her with a sense of annoyance and disgust curling in the pit of her stomach.

"Son of a bitch thinks he can make a fool of us... Damn, him!" Tanaka snapped, saying her own thoughts aloud and waving his briefcase around threateningly. "Who does he think he is, huh? He isn't even good enough to make a quinque out of!"

"Don't let it get to you," Daichi sighed, shaking his head as he slipped his hand into his pocket and nodded toward some other investigators. "What's done is done; we can only try harder to prevent this from happening again."

"Spoken like a true captain," Chiyo mused.

"And as captain I expect your reports to be in first thing tomorrow morning, Akisame," Daichi added, throwing her a meaningful glance as Chiyo grimaced and Tanaka snickered beside her.

"Yes, captain."

In all honesty, she rather liked her job at the CCG as a ghoul investigator. Despite the lifeless remains and sorrowful news she had to bring to families and loved ones, it was a job she truly took pride in and did her best towards. When she was younger and most girls her age wanted to be princesses and presidents, she bragged about how she was going to become a ghoul investigator—at first she did consider the idea of running an ice cream shop but ghoul investigating was just a little more rewarding. Though when she'd gone through the long days at the academy, she had to work extra hard considering her weapon choice was a simple gun with quinque bullets instead of an actual quinque like most investigators.

The moment the subject had been brought to her she'd shaken her head and calmly set her foot down with a few choice words and maybe a few scathing retorts. It was just personal preference, really, but using those weapons never sat right with her, especially considering that they were made from ghouls, it just felt...wrong. Even if it was the best weapon they had against them, it didn't make it any more justifiable.

While some people joined the program in hopes that they could avenge loved ones and protect their families, Chiyo had joined with a sole ambition in mind.

To make a world where ghouls and humans could coexist together.

Everyone apart of the Karasuno team was generally accepting of her ideals. While some had regarded it more warily than others—Daichi and Asahi had stared at her as if they feared for her life while Sugawara patted her on the back and offered her his support—it took more convincing for people like Tanaka and Nishinoya to realize no, she wasn't out of her mind. Hell, even the newbies had a few cents to put in—Tsukishima had looked at her as if she was stupid while Yamaguchi looked concerned for her sake. Hinata being the sweetie that he was had proudly told her he thought her idea was awesome while Kageyama gazed at her for several minutes before saying he hoped she didn't die before them.

You and I both, buddy. Chiyo sighed once more, clicking her pen and flipping her notebook shut as the sound of sirens wailing in the distance grew closer and muttered voices began to draw near. People weren't making her job any easier.

"Akisame! Get some notes on the remains over here!"

Then again, neither were the ghouls.

"I told you, stop kissing up to the seniors!"

"I'm not kissing up! I'm trying to be nice! You should try it sometime, King."

"What did you say?"

"Try not to kill each other," Chiyo called over cheerfully as Hinata and Kageyama broke out once more into another squabble beside her desk. "Investigators are hard to come by as it is, we don't need killing amongst ourselves when we have ghouls hunting us down."

"We're not being hunted down!" Tanaka snapped, his body lurching through the doorway of her office as he jutted a finger at her. "This is war!"

"Tanaka-san, finish those reports!"

The investigator grimaced, mumbling under his breath as he slunk away. Chiyo made a mental note to try and convince Sugawara to convince Daichi to get some sort of screen door placed between the office cubicles so she could finish her reports in peace—in reality she was typing up speeches and devising plans to convince the top chiefs about her ideas and programs to help humans and ghouls live peacefully—without Tanaka knocking over another vase of flowers.

Flowers. Her fingers halted over the keys, her face suddenly setting into a sour grimace as they turned toward the bright flowers gazing back at her. The vase was brimming with pansies, the gentle looking flowers only deterred by a single flower in the middle—rhododendron? A brief frown touched her lips and Chiyo quickly opened a tab and began to type in the flowers, scrolling through as bodies appeared on either side of her and a milk tea was placed at her side.

"What are you looking at, Akisame-senpai?" Hinata inquired curiously.

"Shouldn't you be finishing reports instead of looking up flowers?"

"I didn't have these flowers yesterday," Chiyo responded dryly. "Suga, did you change the vase on my desk?"

"I did!" A head of silver peeked over from a few cubicles down and the man offered her a warm smile. "Someone left you the flowers so I put them in a vase. I hope you don't mind!"

"Not at all," Chiyo halted her scrolling, eyes skimming over the definition of the flowers before she grimaced. "Could you do me a favor and throw them away next time though?"

Sugawara blinked once, looking painfully confused before he nodded and slowly sank back into his desk. Chiyo let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes so she didn't have to see the face coming to mind as Hinata and Kageyama curiously peeked over her shoulders.

"Loving thoughts and..." Hinata frowned. "Beware?"

"Akisame-senpai, I think you have a stalker." Kageyama said thoughtfully; face serious as he turned to the dark brown haired woman beside him.

Chiyo simply groaned, waving them away as she shook her head. "Just some idiot who's biting off more than he can chew...dumbass..."

"Senpai, if you need any help, I'll be glad to walk home with you!" Hinata offered eagerly, eyes growing bright as he practically began to bounce up and down. "You don't have a quinque, right? I'll protect you!"

"Idiot, what can you do?" Kageyama snapped. "You barely passed your exams during academy—"

"I scored higher on physical statistics than you! I'd like to see you try and run faster than me!"

"I won't need to run. I'll be fighting those ghouls—"

"Did someone say stalker?" Nishinoya exclaimed, skidding to a halt beside them as Chiyo frowned.

"I really need a door or something..."

"I need to tell Kiyoko-chan! Kiyoko-chan!"

Chiyo idly reached over and grabbed the vases, throwing the flowers a slightly apologetic glance before she plucked them from their place and threw them into Tanaka's trashcan.

"Is there anymore news on the binge eater?" Hinata prodded eagerly, looking up from where he was fending off an annoyed Kageyama. "When are we going to launch and infiltration for Aoba Josai—"

"We don't launch infiltrations unless there is need to," Chiyo answered curtly. Hinata looked rather chastised and she added more gently, "most of the gangs have been regulating themselves as of late, but there are still ghouls doing as they please... And yes, sort of. The Grand King seems to be changing target preferences, but we'll need more data before we can say for sure."

"The Grand King..." Kageyama muttered, his eyes narrowing as he gripped the brief case at his side tighter. "We'll take him down for sure."

"He could definitely pull back on his...habits." Chiyo grimaced. "I try to keep an open mind since ghouls have got to eat and there's nothing we can do with that, but there has to be a way to stop this..."

Her eyes glanced upwards to find Kageyama and Hinata taking in the map she had plastered above her cubicle pin pointing ghoul locations and sightings, as well as mapping out rough sketches of boundaries between certain groups in different areas rather greedily, their eyes taking in information only authorized to more senior members. Chiyo couldn't help but selfishly wish that they would be looking at those files thinking the way that she did instead of the way everyone else did, but that was a change of thought that would come with some intensive struggle. Her pale blues turned glumly to the large red markings on the map and angry faces she had drawn illustrating where "The Grand King", a binge eating ghoul, had struck.

People like that don't make my goal any easier... Chiyo pinched the bridge of her nose, looking over the unfinished report before her and then glancing to the pictures of the crime scene earlier today.

The higher ups think cases thirty-four and twenty-two are related to the binge eater... Chiyo's brows furrowed and she glanced again to her map, studying the markings where she drew frowning faces to mark where the binge eater had struck. There's no way he'd ever resort to eating fat old men though... That's not in his tastes...

"If they attach anymore killings to his name then it'll be impossible to prove any of them of being innocent..." Chiyo furiously rubbed at her temples. "But there's no way he'd ever go for people like them..."

"Say, what does the Grand King look like anyway?" Hinata inquired, looking curious as he idly inched toward her files.

"You've never seen him?" Kageyama scoffed. "Figures."

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Hinata snapped.

"He wears a fox mask like most of Aoba Josai," Kageyama answered simply. "If you kept up with the wanted bulletin and the briefing files you would know that. Thin, agile, and extremely dangerous, he's often known to target young women and on occasion others."

"On occasion..." Chiyo frowned, looking troubled as she eyed her files. Case thirty-four was an old man with hardly anything on him, not worth his time... And twenty-two was brutally slashed open and barely identifiable... he always makes it obvious it was him...

Then there has to be a new ghoul mooching off of Aoba Josai's territory. Chiyo realized, glancing to the clock and to the large clear windows that opened up to the sky from their headquarters, the city skyline gaze back at them as the sun began to set. If I can prove it's not related to the binge eater's habits and submit the report before the meeting tomorrow...

It'll help my goal!

Chiyo quickly shot forward, scribbling down coordinates and street names on her hands before she hastily gathered her things, kicking Tanaka's trashcan for good measure so the stems of the flowers she'd been given snapped. "Bye guys, I'm pulling out for the night, get home safely!"

"A-Ah, Akisame-senpai, do you want me to escort you home?" Hinata inquired quickly, matching her hurried pace. "It's getting dark and—"

"No need, thanks Hinata," Chiyo ruffled the younger rookie's head and stepped into the elevator. "I'll grab a cab. Tell Tanaka I dumped two more reports on his desk."

"R-Right! Get home safely, Akisame-senpai!"

Chiyo flashed him a grin and he flushed while Tsukishima looked disapprovingly from down the hall, his head popping out from his cubicle. She threw the taller boy a smirk and stuck her tongue out, ignoring his look of disgust as she hit the button and glanced down to the street names on her hands.

If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself.

"Miss, would you happen to be all alone?"

Well... Chiyo grimaced, turning slightly to find a man facing her at the end of the alleyway, conveniently blocking her exit out. That was terribly easy.

She'd been poking her nose around the outskirts of Aoba Josai territory, avoiding hot spots and aiming for areas any low ranking ghoul would loiter around in hopes of catching a meal without upsetting the rulers of this territory. She'd found herself headed down one particular alley way when the man before her had appeared, young, lanky, a crooked grin on his lips with greasy hair and a nasty stubble.

It didn't take too long for her to obviously figure out that this man was either a rapist, a crook, or a ghoul. Her eyes followed the line of drool beginning to leave the corner of his lips and she grimaced.

Ghoul.

Most likely the one I've been looking for. Chiyo's eyes darted around her, realizing the only place the alley way went was further down, but she was certain that it would only lead to a dead end at some point.

Her guns were heavy in their holsters on either side of her hip, hidden by her thick hoodie. Chiyo slowly turned, meeting the man's hungry gaze as his eyes ran up and down her form over and over again, his gaze literally hungry.

"No," Chiyo said slowly. "I'm meeting up with a friend."

"Really?" The man offered false concern, brows furrowing as his smile began to widen. Bastard isn't even hiding it. "I didn't see anyone coming in."

"Oh, uh, he'll be here in a second," Chiyo offered slowly. She took a deep breath, taking in the man's expression before she hardened her own. "Listen, sir, I, I know what you are."

The man arched a brow, looking amused as Chiyo took a step forward, spreading her hands out. "My name is Akisame. I work for the CCG, and I know that you're the ghoul responsible for the deaths of those two men."

The man before her allowed his eyes to turn, completely black with nothing but a bright red pupil.

"But I want to tell you that we can put that all aside," Chiyo began slowly. "I don't carry a quinque with me, I don't believe in using them. What I want, with your help, is to help create a world where people and ghouls can live together peacefully."

She calmly offered him a hand. "Willing to give it a shot?"

There was a second, a brief, thoughtful second before Chiyo was scrambling to the side, lunging to the ground and slamming hard into the floor as a spiked kagune shot outwards, barely missing her head. Chiyo scrambled to her feet as a sick cackle filled the alleyway, the ghoul before her clutching his stomach as his kagune swung about wildly with the motion. "A world where ghouls and people can live together peacefully? Are you out of your mind? You must be the most foolish investigator in the world. Humans and ghouls can't live peacefully!"

"Why not?" Chiyo muttered bitterly, always annoyed to have someone talk down her ideals as she reached for her gun.

"Because..." the man's grin turned upwards, drool dripping from his jaws as his kagune rose above his head.

"Humans will always be nothing but food."

Chiyo ducked to the side as his kagune shot forward, impaling the ground before her. She took a knee and aimed, firing off her gun. The ghoul grinned, his tail swinging outwards and swiping the bullet out of the air. "Guns like that won't work on me, sweetheart. Didn't they teach you anything in that academy?"

His smile faltered when he noticed the deep cut the bullet had left on his kagune and Chiyo offered him a small smirk.

"They taught me plenty." She fired off another set of rounds and the man growled, lunging forward and shooting towards her rapidly. Chiyo's foot shot out and kicked a trashcan lid upwards as she ducked under, the spiked kagune impaling the lid where her head would have been as she flipped over and fired off several shots, nailing the ghoul in the leg as he let out a vicious growl.

"What, not used to your food fighting back?" Chiyo taunted, ducking another swing of the kagune as the man shot forward with a roar. She dived beneath him and shot upwards, a bullet slamming into his stomach as she rolled to the side just as his kagune came crashing down, barely slicing a line through her jacket and tearing the arm.

Her eyes went wide as he whirled around, clawed hands swiping outwards and she ducked once more, rolling along the ground and wincing at the impact against her shoulder. She scrambled to stand and clicked the trigger, grumbling beneath her breath when she realized she'd forgotten to restock the cartridge once again.

Sugawara is going to have my ass for this...

Chiyo quickly grabbed the trashcans beside her and threw them to the ground, a useless blockade as she ran further down into the alleyway, wrestling to get her second gun from her holster as the man cackled behind her.

"Now you're running away? What happened to all that talk?"

"I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew," Chiyo called back, shooting down the alleyway and sliding a new cartridge in. "My friends rub off on me."

Air whistled past her ear and she jerked to the side as his kagune sliced a thin scratch along her cheek, retracting back to do more damage had she not thrown herself against the wall and shot off another round, impaling holes through the kagune as the man let out a howl of pain. Chiyo quickly rushed to reload when the kagune swung back out, catching her in the gut and throwing her to the side as the air rushed out of her lungs.

Chiyo winced at the harsh impact, quickly struggling to stand as she scrambled around madly for her gun as the ghoul before her chuckled darkly, saliva sliding from his lips as he panted eagerly. "For all the trouble you're worth, you sure smell...delicious."

"I used to be a bit chubby when I was younger," Chiyo ground out, her hand closing around her gun as the man before her grinned, canines glistening. "I'd like to think I lost those few pounds though."

The kagune above her glistened in the moonlight, a deep, rusty red color—blood? If she was lucky she'd be able to make her shot before it did any real damage, but she wasn't coming out of this looking too pretty.

My fault for getting into this mess. Chiyo breathed slowly. Too bad I didn't get to update my will in case anything happens.

"You're the first meal I ever had spout such strange nonsense," the man's teeth glimmered and Chiyo's eyes began to grow wide as the moonlight above them became blocked by another figure. "And now you'll be the last."

"Shit," Chiyo muttered.

"You should've realized that sooner—" the ghoul above her paused, blinking once in confusion as the quiet drip drip of blood filled the air. "...eh?"

His snarling lips pulled back as his head slowly craned downwards, blood pooling from the now open would in his chest where a thick kagune rested, impaled straight through him and glistening with droplets of red against the vibrant aquamarine tones. Chiyo's eyes were wide, the first instinct to be relieved quickly washing away as realization dawned on her who she'd just ended up running in to. The ghoul before her coughed, blood spilling from his lips as he turned, rage and disbelief pooling across his face. "W-What..."

"I thought I smelled something tasty," suave lips pulled upwards into a sly little grin, devilish as dark irises quickly turned red amidst a sea of black.

The ghoul's eyes widened, fear flickering across his face as the ghoul before him offered a frighteningly warm smile as his kagune surged forward, piercing him deeper and lifting him off his feet as he casually tossed him to the side, the force of the impact causing the wall to collapse.

"And something rather rancid." A slender hand ran through dark, chocolate brown locks and the familiar ghoul before her let out a sigh. "Honestly, we go through all the effort to make our boundaries clear and stupid little shits like you never learn."

Oikawa Tooru. Chiyo wondered how well her luck in life would hold up for one more night as the ghoul before her turned, eyes brightening considerably at the sight of her as his lips pulled upwards into a wide, almost hungry smile.

The Grand King.

"Chi-chan!"

The familiar sight of his fox-like kagune waved along behind him almost lazily, the beautiful shade of blue and aquamarine matching the uniform they used to wear together in high school. Blood dripped from one of the thick tails where it had struck the ghoul from before and Chiyo could only stare in disbelief as Oikawa's face contorted into one of obvious pleasure. "My, my, what a pleasant surprise to find you here so deep in my territory."

Oikawa's eyes glimmered playfully as he stepped toward her. "You know the area so well you always avoid it—I've been rather lonely without you, y'know? Did you like the gifts I sent you? I took extra time—"

Chiyo quickly raised her gun, firing off a volley of bullets that Oikawa easily deflected with a simple flick of one of his kagune tails. She quickly made a mad dash for the only opening she saw, sprinting forward as fast as her feet could carry her as Oikawa let out an audible sigh. Her eyes went wide and her face paled as she lurched, a tail swiping her legs out from under her and another quickly wrapping around her midsection, pinning her arms to her sides and squeezing tightly as she began to thrash about, struggling to get loose.

"That hurt, Chi-chan!" Oikawa pouted, bringing her closer as she continued to thrash about, struggling as hard as she could against the ghoul's grip. "Here I am trying to catch up and make small talk and you go and shoot at me! A little rude, don't you think?"

"Let me go, Trashy-kawa!" Chiyo spat. "And it's Akisame to you!"

"Chi-chan, you've been around Iwa-chan lately, haven't you?" Oikawa frowned, looking clearly displeased with the news. "You spend so much time running from me and yet you actually come looking for him—if he weren't such a good friend I might get a little jealous."

"Maiming and mutilating the men who come to my door isn't jealous enough?" Chiyo snapped. If she gave him an ounce of gentleness he'd pounce on it and shaking this particular fiend off would be near impossible.

"A ghoul's got to eat~"

"You don't even eat them!"

"I was full!"

Chiyo breathed heavily, glaring at the ghoul before her as Oikawa continued to smile charmingly, eyes taking in her form as hungrily as always. "Is that anyway to thank your savior?"

"Depends," Chiyo began dryly. "No use thanking you if I'm just going to get eaten again."

Oikawa's face flashed with a look of hurt. "I couldn't possibly eat you, Chi-chan! Though very tempting, you're much more fun...alive." Chiyo's eyes narrowed and Oikawa beamed, bringing her closer as she reeled her head back and he reached forward, fingers brushing along her cheek and gently brushing over the scratch the other ghoul had left.

He brought the bloodied finger to his lips and Chiyo paled, nearly gagging as he slid it into his mouth, pupils flashing red and eyes pooling with black as he let out a somewhat longing sigh. "Although, I'm sure you'd make a wonderful meal..."

Oikawa's eyes narrowed and he swiftly jerked Chiyo to the side as she let out a rush of air, a rusty red, bristling kagune slicing downwards as one of Oikawa's tails flicked upwards to deflect the attack. "Eh? Maybe you're not as weak as I thought if that last one didn't send you running."

"T...The Grand King..." the ghoul before them breathed heavily, drool and blood pooling from his lips and Chiyo's eyes narrowed, mind racing as she tried to piece together why the obviously lower level ghoul hadn't split for it the moment Oikawa let him.

"Getting back up again basically means you'd like for me to kill you," Oikawa said cheerily, turning to him with a devilish smile. "You know that, right?"

"If I can take you down..." the ghoul grinned, his kagune bristling as he surged forward with an animalistic screech. "I'll become invincible!"

What?

Oikawa let out a sigh, looking obviously bored as he took fine steps back as the ghoul before him made swipe after swipe, all the while continuing to handle Chiyo in the grip of one of his tails as she paled, jerking around from side to side. "You idiot! Just put me down—I'm only going to make it harder for you!"

"And give you the chance to scamper off?" Oikawa chuckled. "I don't think so."

The guilty and disappointed look that flickered across Chiyo's face said enough and Oikawa's brow twitched. "I'm not that above eating you, y'know."

"Watch—"

Oikawa's eyes narrowed as the other ghoul's kagune barely nicked his cheek, the wound healing instantly as a trail of blood trickled downwards. His eyes flashed and two of his tails surged forward, impaling the ghoul before him. Blood trickled from his lips as he practically frothed at the mouth and Oikawa's eyes narrowed as his lips curled upwards.

"I was contemplating killing you nice and cleanly so my darling here wouldn't have to see such an awful thing but..." Oikawa's lips turned into a bright smile and his tails jerked sharply outwards, splitting the body before them in half and throwing them spitefully toward either side of the alley wall as Chiyo watched with morbid horror.

"You pissed me off."

The thick coppery scent of blood and rotting flesh filled the air and Chiyo grimaced, placing her head against the tail wrapped around her abdomen as she wrestled and arm free and placed it against her mouth.

"Now then!" Oikawa's eyes quickly turned cheerful once more as he whirled around, clapping his hands. "Where were we—"

"Let me down," Chiyo groaned.

"Now why would I—"

"I think I'm gonna hurl."

Oikawa wordlessly set her down beside one of the trashcans as Chiyo stumbled toward it, one hand clutched over her mouth. She bent over and gagged, her empty stomach only allowing her to dry heave as she coughed, spitting into the trashcan and grimacing as she shoved up fallen strands from her ponytail out of her face. Oikawa hummed, sauntering over and making cooing noises as he rubbed at her back.

"Ah~ I'm sorry, Chi-chan, you didn't need to see something so revolting." Oikawa pouted, looking truly apologetic. "Shall I make it better—"

Click.

Oikawa blinked slowly, eyes never leaving Chiyo's as she peered up at him beneath dark brown bangs. The cold touch of metal pressed against the bottom of his chin, threatening to blow his brains out should she pull the trigger. Oikawa slowly raised his hands and Chiyo slipped a stick of gum into her mouth with her free hand as she backed the ghoul before her up into a wall. Oikawa's lips turned upwards into a somewhat annoyed smirk as his eyes bore intently into hers and she kept her gaze even, not giving him an inch to work with.

"Eh~ How rude." Oikawa pouted, tipping his head slightly despite the gun pressed to the bottom of his chin. "This is how you treat your knight in shining armor?"

"Thank you," Chiyo said simply.

Oikawa gave her a look of obvious displeasure and Chiyo pressed the gun a little further into his chin as Oikawa clicked his tongue, looking hurt. "No need to be so rough, Chi-chan, I don't mind you taking the lead every now and then but I like you a little more submissive—"

"Did you kill the old man last month?" Chiyo said curtly. "And the homeless man three weeks ago? Were those you?"

Oikawa blinked slowly, a smirk touching his lips. "What if they were?"

Chiyo pulled the safety off with a dull click.

Oikawa chuckled, the force of his laughter resounding through his chest. "Please, Chi-chan, you know my tastes. Old men are so...dry." Oikawa made a look of disgust, as if someone had just fed him something he didn't like. "Not to mention you never know where homeless people have been—I can't afford an upset stomach now!"

I knew it. With the rise of the recent generation of ghoul gangs running certain cities, they're capping the way they eat and keeping to their habits. Chiyo almost wanted to release a sigh of relief. Not all of them are mindlessly killing.

I'd have to send word to come check out this ghoul and then submit a formal report to present my findings. Chiyo quickly began to formulate a plan within her head as to how to present these new findings and convince the rest of the board, oblivious to the look of annoyance that was flickering across Oikawa's face.

"Chi-chan."

If I can just convince them of these findings then maybe...

"Chi-chan."

I'm sure Sugawara would help me with the presentation and maybe even Nishinoya if I play my cards right.

Chiyo felt a chill run up her spine and she nearly let out a screech of surprise when cold hands barely ghosted up the bottom of her shirt, fingers brushing against her stomach as she quickly shoved her gun up further and Oikawa let out a whine. "That hurt, Chi-chan!"

"Hands off or you lose your head."

"But you were ignoring me," Oikawa pouted, grudgingly removing his hands with a grumble. "I hate being ignored."

"Well, thanks for the information." Chiyo deftly stepped back and Oikawa looked up in surprise and slight disappointment to no longer have her body so close to his.

"Wait, that's it? No interrogation? No getting all up in my face and giving me the chance to kis—"

"I just needed to know if you killed those people or not and confirm if there was a ghoul on the lose not apart of one of the bigger gangs hanging around," Chiyo shrugged, clicking her gun and adding. "Besides, I was out of bullets anyway, it was an empty threat."

It only took seconds for Chiyo to suddenly find her back pressed firmly against the brick wall before her, hands pinned above her head and a knee between her legs as Oikawa leaned forward, eyes sparkling dangerously and mischievously as a wide smirk began to touch his lips. "A tip for you, Chi-chan."

He leaned forward, the thick scent of cologne and copper assaulting her senses as Chiyo paled and Oikawa's lips brushed the side of her cheek, breath ghosting over her ear.

"You shouldn't reveal your bluff so early into the game," lips barely grazed her ear and Chiyo froze. "Especially not to someone like me."

Well, shit.

"I don't mind," Chiyo said calmly, swallowing once as Oikawa paused, pulling back to meet her gaze curiously.

"I trust you."

That's a lie but he doesn't need to know that.

A slow blush crawled across Oikawa's cheeks, a rare look of surprise and obvious delight at her words flickering across his face as his eyes brightened and he grinned, leaning forward as if to kiss her when Chiyo quickly slipped a hand from his grip and pressed it to his lips. "If I'm not back to headquarters in fifteen minutes there's going to be hell to pay."

"Fine with me," Oikawa purred, and Chiyo quickly withdrew her hand when she felt his teeth scrape against her palm. "You should just quit that nasty job and let me take care of you."

"Move in with a ghoul? Tempting." Chiyo met his gaze dully. "How do I pay my rent, a body part a month?"

"There are different ways you can pay with your body, you know."

"I need to go."

"No."

"I need to go, please."

"Hmm, nope!"

"I need to go, please," Chiyo grimaced. "Tooru."

Oikawa's eyes brightened and Chiyo broke free when his grip on her hands loosened, quickly making her way down the alley way with the relief of knowing he wasn't going to hunt her down tonight. "Thanks for the info, you piece of shit!"

Oikawa simply smirked, sliding a hand into his pocket as he placed a fox shaped mask atop his face.

"Better be careful, Chi-chan."

She risked a glance back and felt a shiver up her spine as the moonlight illuminated the swirling mass of beautiful aquamarine tails curling around him, his kagune glistening beneath the moonlight and the glow of red irises as he slipped his mask over his face.

"You might not get so lucky next time."

Chiyo scoffed, making her way out of the alley way and quickly dialing for a cab as she blended in with a thick crowd of people.

If I'm lucky there won't be a next time.

I really wanted to try my hand at a sort of AU timeline, and I've come across mixes between Tokyo Ghoul and Haikyuu before, so I really couldn't resist. Most of the chapters will go along on its own before a real plot starts to set in. Currently no pairings are set, but romance is definitely going to be coming around ;)

I hope you all enjoyed it so far!

Thanks for reading :)

Marshmellow-

-OUT!