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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Case 2: Dance of Shadows (1)
Two weeks later...
"Still thank you for your availability, Urai-san."
The kind old woman had been their neighbor for years now and it was a blessing that she had noticed our situation and asked about the newest individual in the appartment.
Few words regarding Emi's name and (faked) predicament led to a good arrangement that didn't dent too much on my income.
The first few days had been incredibly dreadful as I had to pray in my mind that the little girl kept her promise to not show her ghoulish side.
Two weeks had passed and the woman had become 'Urai-baachan' to the sweet girl and Juuzou had seemingly relaxed around the former stranger.
Having solved the babysitting issue, I focused fully on the strong regime Kuroiwa had given to me to accomplish and.. I could see quickly some improvements over my performances.
In the mean time I would also go with the Special Class Investigator to solve minor cases that would mostly be removing the minor threats in the Wards, never going far too much deep in the rabbit hole that was the Ghoul hierarchies.
In those moments I had the chance to learn more how to deal with some peculiar Ghouls, the experienced mentor being crucial in giving information from his past cases.
Surprisingly enough this line of work turned quite easy to grow accustomed to and I felt I was truly understand the mechanics behind it all.
Soon I was truly capable of deducing patterns from clues left by the suspects and.. I found myself contemplating about my distant future.
Will I be able to reach the high post I was striving to obtain? Maybe but.. I didn't thought much about it as I feared I would jinx my chances at it.
It was early in the morning when I was passed by a tired Marude the newest case's dossier and I opened it up and.. I was surprised.
Case 154864
Team:
- Special Class Investigator Kuroiwa Iwao (Leader)
- Investigator Class 3 Ryouga Kaizo (Subordinate)
Setting: 20th Ward
Description: TPD has forwarded suspicions of an aggressive Ghoul group acting near the instances of the Kiyomi High School sited in the 20th Ward. Caution is advised as the number of disappearings that had urged the intervention is between 10 to 20 victims in the last week.
"A Highschool?" I mused quietly as I stared at Kuroiwa. "Wouldn't that be a big no-no for Ghouls?"
The man merely sighed as he took his coat. "There had been situations where Ghouls were either desperate or cocky enough to try for their danger zones. Hopefully we will find them quickly and eliminate this monsters."
I nodded and we both moved out of the meeting room to reach the laboratories to pick up our Quinques.
As we stepped inside the room we were greeted by the now familiar Chigyou. "Kuroiwa-san and Kaizo, good to see you both healthy."
"Kouitsu/Chigyou-san." We both returned the greeting and the scientist's smile widened.
"I suppose you are here to take.. Tsunagi." The senior investigator nodded at the supposition and took the case off from the researcher's hand as the latter turned towards me.
"We finally managed to complete the rework, Kaizo." He picked the container that once had Yukimaru and.. I was mesmerised at the sight of the new blade.
Its theme had seemingly inverted, its blade red with some white spot on it. "This is Akaimaru 1. We decided to numerate the variants that still have to be released."
Those last bit took me by surprise. "Variants?"
"It's not unusual for researchers to fully study how many variants a new Quinque can be developed into. It seems that your idea will have more results that you have planned."
"That is correct, Kuroiwa-san. Several higher-ups have shown interest in the project and had been quite elated when the budget proposed for it was approved."
I... I didn't know what to say. It was incredibly rare for something like this to take such a positive note as the only investigator that could push for this kind of situations was Mado Kureo.
The Quinque Expert was renowned in his skills and was highly-valued by the laboratories as a the perfect practical expert in Tokyo.
"Sadly nothing can be truly done to update Douhi. Most of the interest in the Ukaku Quinques is centered around the Hollow project."
I had heard about that particular project, a Quinque that shared the same firepower as Douhi but attached to the user's free arm, removing the issue regarding the aim. In my opinion the idea was... not preferable.
Sure, Hollow will avoid issues regarding dealing with two Quinques but.. will possibly hinder the user that wants to use the long-range Quinque as a shield from an unexpected attack from the side. The greatest weakness that Hollow suffered was how frail it was against strong meele strikes.
"I suppose I will have to wait for some improvement.." Kouitsu nodded sadly at my words.
"If only people could grasp how dull that design is."
Finishing the brief chat, Kuroiwa led the way to the garage and to one of the CCG's cars assigned to us.
"Do you think... we should contact to have some enforcers during the nightshift?"
The man didn't move at my words but soon replied calmly. "We might need some manpower if we don't find the culprits early on.. We will wait the end of the day before truly asking for backup."
I nodded, understanding the compromising stance the mentor was suggesting. Sure enough we had yet to assest the extent of the case on a personal basis but.. I had this weird sensation that we weren't going to have an easy time with the situation.
Touka Kirishima sighed in her resting nest she had created from her arms on her desk.
Teachers sure knew how to make every single bit of a lesson quite boring to listen and even demolish whatever efforts students had to keep some attention over the words enounced by the adults.
Such was the tragedy of students, being exposed to such insanely dull scenes thorough their growing years.
Many had adopted her stance but with a slightly more composed style, faking any interest to the math lesson she was forced to listen muffled in her ears.
There was only one individual that incredibly managed to not look murdered by the teacher and that was her friend, Kousaka Yoriko, the blonde sitting right by her right side and with her seat close to the window.
But it wasn't like the extrovert girl was not begging for the end of this torture because she was actually listening. No, she was completely ignoring the painful noises sprouted about numbers and complex formulas by merely looking outside, staring at the insignificant scenes that sounded much more appealing than what the young Kirishima was facing.
Yet that monotony was broken by the unexpected sound of three knocks coming from the only door close to the teacher's desk.
The woman stopped amidst her speech to stare in half-surprise at the entrance before a curious look of realisation flashed on her face. "You may enter."
No matter how Touka was feeling down that moment, dealing with boring lessons after a night spent helping around at Anteiku, the moment she saw the young man entering the classroom... she felt conflicted.
It wasn't difficult to realise that the individual was affiliated to the CCG, his grey trenchcoat and the two cases with familiar scents were a dead giveaway for which work he did but... it was oddly distracting staring at the unblemished, youthful face that was the Dove's one.
Maybe her cheeks turned a little darker shade of pink and hopefully that small unvoluntary reaction hadn't been catched from her friend- A giggle from her side suggested otherwise and the female Ghoul stared elsewhere and ignoring as usual the blonde's antics.
"As of today there had been tragic disappearances around the school and the principal has accepted to let the CCG work to solve this situation as quickly as possible." The teacher stated calmly while gesturing to the individual that has just entered.
The dark-haired man coughed before finally speaking and.. she blinked.
"I am Ryouga Kaizo, Investigator Class 3, and in those days me and my colleague and senior partner, Special Class Investigator Kuroiwa Iwao, will work to find the aggressors that are attacking around the area of this establishment." He paused for a moment before continuing with his oddly composed tone. "It is possible that the ones behind this horrible situation could be students or teachers, so it is advised to be escorted to your homes by someone trustworthy and before late hours. This is why for the time being club's hours are temporaly suspended under further notice."
If Touka had not enjoyed an alibi for her little secret, she would have worried no little about this unexpected development but.. it seems that Yoriko's cooking had finally prevented quite an annoying predicament.
Yet the girl's hopes of having to deal the least with the quite attractive investigator were quite destroyed when she gave a quick glance into Yoriko's way and.. got a dreadfully familiar glint out of her eyes.
Said fear was manifested by her hands going above her head and drawing the dove's attention. "Yes?"
"What about people that have no one to accompany them?"
Oh no... Please don't you dare-
"Well, Kuroiwa-san suggested that I could escort those who have no one to accompany them if there was the necessity."
The Kirishima felt her staring at her and she knew what was going on as soon as the human girl spoke once more.
"My friend, Touka, usually has to return home alone. Maybe you could.. plan something out."
It was painfully easy to recognise her not-so-subtle tone by the end of the request and Touka wanted to die as several of her classmates directed their stares at her.
"I... suppose that I could accompany her back at home." She resisted from cringing at the young man's attempt to appear clueless on the matter- "But I guess that she would also need.. her friend to not be too much embarassed."
... "Eh?" The female Ghoul blinked at her friend, now gawking at the proposal and her cheeks hinting at some unplanned embarassment as they turned a distinct red under her stare.
"You are a good friend for trying to avoid Touka-san to not get hurt.. but I guess it would be less awkward for her if she was helped around by a familiar face."
It was in that brief moment of shock coming from Yoriko that Touka felt a little thankful smile appear in her visage as she met the understanding look from the man.
Maybe he wasn't as heartless as the others...
Mini-Snippet (The aftermath of the previous scene):
Yoriko is Y and Touka is T.
Y: Touka-chan, you better marry Ryouga-senpai!
T: *Blushes* W-What are you talking about, you idiot?!
Y: *Serious expression* If you don't... I don't think I can restrain myself from trying to conquer him for me and me only!
T: ...
AN
Maybe I should serious consider altering some stuff... I mean some crucial points are going to persist but.. I don't want some people to die in this story and... did anyone know that the Anime 'killed' Kuroiwa? In the Manga he recovers from the wounds and becomes part of the TSC but... they left him to die in the Anime, WTF?!
P.S. Do I seriously scare people enough to have them forget to leave a feedback to poor, ol' Bukharin? (JK, be free to review or not!)