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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 (2)
Yoriko Kousaka, aspirant chef, was feeling quite interested with her current predicament.
A quiet hum left her mouth as she looked around the mostly empty entrance of the school, trying to avoid looking too much at the young investigator that was supposed to escort them.
It had been quite the surprise when none of her classmates, even other students, had wanted to be accompanied by the Ryouga-san.
Certainly she was quite dreading the fact Touka had gone to the nearby toilet, excusing herself with one of her sick bouts, leaving the blonde alone with the brunet.
I swear, Touka, I will pester you if you don' come back here so- "Something's wrong?"
Yoriko paled a little and turned to the young man, his face twisted in a concerned frown.
"W-What?" It was then that she realised that she had unvoluntarly expressed her inner struggle via strange looks.
"I-I mean, yeah, I was thinking about Touka-chan and her silly moments, hehe."
He stared a little longer, maybe trying to see if it was another reason about it, then he nodded and looked away.
It was in that moment that Yoriko actually saw something peculiar about the man.
He had two cases. Her father had told her about meeting some investigators and usually those had just one Quinque to use.
"W-Why two?"
"Huh?" Confusion appeared momentarely, then he realised she was talking about the Quinques.
"Oh, I.. I am quite proficient with those two." He patted one of the closed cases fondly. "I guess it's just luck I can use them both at the same time."
The schoolgirl nodded, her mind processing this new information for any future encounter. "So.. do you live nearby?"
He blinked and the blonde's cheeks reddened as she realised she might have pushed too far with her questions. "I-I didn't mean to-"
"No, no. I understand." He sounded quite appeasing as he scratched his chin. "I suppose it's natural for you to be curious about investigators in general."
"You don't mind?" When did my voice get this lite?
"Nope." His smile widened a little bit, putting the girl at ease in that unnerving predicament.
"Have- Have you already hunted Ghouls?" He nodded and the blonde slowly accepted to be coaxed back in her usual self.
"I killed few low-ranked ones. Pesky scum lurking in the alleys of the 22th Ward."
"But how was it?" Yoriko and Ryouga turned to see Touka blinking at the latter, a weird glint in her visible eye.
"You mean if I felt something out of what I was doing?" The blonde frowned, surprised her usually quiet friend would ask about this subject. "I think... no. I didn't feel much from it."
The Kirishima seemed surprised at the reply. "N-Nothing? But isn't this your job to-" "It is."
She closed her mouth as Kaizo sighed quietly. "It is my job but doesn't mean I will take pleasure in truly killing, even with Ghouls."
"Why?" Yoriko admonished herself when her mouth acted against her best judgement and relayed one of her pressing thoughts over this response.
"In the very first day at the Academy, one of the sentences that have stuck around and I will always remember is.. 'This is a war. Not just a boxing fight, nor a hunting match. We are soldiers that protects humanity just as some ghouls react to our defense."
"And that... means?" Touka seemed to be quite confused and her friend could understand her frustration, the human girl too trying to make sense out of those words.
"A soldier is a guardian, someone that should never be happy of taking lives as his duty is to protect. If he forgets his main mission, he is no more better than the ones he is protecting people from."
"You mean that... humans can turn into Ghouls. Not physically but.. psychologically?"
The young man nodded at the blue-haired girl's assessment. "Yes. Yet the results of such transformation is something far worse than any ghoul, because the human shouldn't have a reason to take pleasure in maiming and killing ghouls."
Touka nodded and Yoriko hummed, drawing Kaizo's attention. "I-I think we should go?"
The investigator blinked and noticed that it was getting dark. "Yes.. I hope you both got everything before leaving." At their shared nod, the young man sighed and took the lead of the trio.
Ayato had always disliked the night.
The cold wind, the darkness covering every inch of his body and the fact everyone else turned into faceless shadows when there wasn't any light.
And yet the member of Aogiri was far from terrified with what his little group had planned.
He had learnt much from how the patrols from the cowards at Anteiku worked and he had created a small plan that revolved around a blank spot in the Ward.
The area was in the proximity of a highschool and that made it an important part to install a feeding ground for his pack.
It's been two weeks and no one had come around to resolve the little chaos the Kirishima was happily creating around this little free-zone.
"Ayato-sama... that girl looks just like you."
Every possible thoughts focused on this little whisper from one of his subordinates looking out for any new prey.
He took the bynoculars out of the younger boy's hands and looked through them to see... her.
A low growl started to form in his throat as he eyed rabidly at the other members of his group. "Mask up. We got some food!"
It was time to settle the score... finally!
He leaped up, his Ukaku sparking to life and glowing fiercely as it was ready to kill the liar once for all, his group following him closely with their own Kagune formed and eager to attack.
It was just a moment.
At first he was smiling under his black rabbit's mask, excitement overriding whatever common sense he had attained after months of experiences on the field.
Then his eyes were wide open, jaws dropping as a modest chunk of his left wing was cut off cleanly from a glowing red blade.
He blinked as he turned to eye the responsible and.. Ayato paled.
A dove with two Quinques. Generally that meant that this individual was easily a S-rank but.. he looked far too young to be high-ranked.
His musing died as he eyed the second quinque aimed at him, a fiery blast forming inside of it as his mind muttered just a word at the familiar intense heat.
Tatara?
His remaining Ukaku enclosed protectively but while most of the damage was absorbed painfully by his Kagune, the subsequent recoil pushed him few metres away.
As he slammed on the floor with his Ukaku burning on his back, Ayato stared at the massacre happening in front of him.
He had seen doves moving this quickly but... the way this one in particularly dealt with his group was utterly flawless.
The man fluidly moved through the attemps of the multiple Kagunes, his blade burning fiercely as he cut into every single member trying to take revenge for him.
They were all putting their best to at least land an injury on the monster they were dealing with but the human would merely move out of the way and mercilessly strike down through any visible opening in their offensive.
It was a slaughter, one Ayato hadn't planned to be witnessing and certainly not one he had planned to be part of... especially as part of the dying cattle.
None came out alive despite their undying determination and, as the last one fell to its knees and then collapsed on the floor, the investigator turned to walk towards him.
It was a hellish figure, one that reminded him of someone he had heard about...
It was the reaper... but he was donning his usual black but he also reminded him of the terrifying supervisor back at their HQ.
T-Those eyes..
He felt a chill go down his spine and every single attempt from his soul to call upon a revenge against the fiend was obliterated by his mere stare.
Instincts ruling out his bruised pride from his mind, the wounded Ghoul started to run away, hot tears flowing from his eyes as he escaped death itself.
He had failed.
"That was a close one."
Truly, who would have seen a bunch of Aogiri Tree thugs attacking so desperately?
As my quinques returned inside their cases, I turned to see the two girls' reaction, hoping I hadnt' scarred them for life-
...
I was quite surprised to see that Yoriko was the only one to pale at the burning remains of the Ghouls I had just disposed of.
Touka appeared to be neutral on the situation, yet her eyes were trailing over the results of my little skirmish.
"Everything's alright?"
The blonde opened her mouth, possibly to state her discomfort, but then closed it up as she couldn't think of proper words to express her distress.
"We will be fine." The Kirishima's voice was soft but calm, her eyes turning to her friend. "She is quite squeamish in gorey scenes."
At this the extrovert girl pouted, her cheeks regaining a little bit of color. "I-It's not my fault movies make it so- so realisting and like this!"
"I suppose you wouldn't want to walk back home now. Maybe once we reach Touka-san's home you could call your parents and-" "Y-yeah!"
The blonde blushed now at this outburst. "I-I mean, I might not be in the right mindset to walk back home at this late hour..."
I nodded as I could understand how unnerving the sight had to have been.
We finally arrived to the place the Kirishima lived and- "A coffee shop?"
It was quite unique to see someone living in the same building where a cafe was.
"I work here part-time too. The owner was a friend of my father before he passed away.."
My mouth opened a little as I realised I might have hit a sore spot with that subject.
"Don't be sorry." She stated dully. "I suppose that you are an... orphan too."
I nodded as she sighed while helping her friend towards the entrance, the shop surprisingly still open. "I hope you all have a good night then."
She paused for a moment, the blonde peeking over her shoulder while Touka merely turned her head on the side. "Good night, I suppose."
With a last nod, I proceeded to walk back towards the highschool, ready to deliver a report to Kuroiwa.
Good news: the group responsible with the last deaths in this ward had been dealt with.
Bad news: the now deceased Ghouls were part of Aogiri Tree, their red cloaks and unique masks showing their allegiance to the group.
Why was Aogiri moving there of all places? The 20th Ward didn't have anything that could have truly changed their cornered state..
AN
This chapter coincide with Tokyo Ghoul's first chapter. While Kaizo is making his way back to Kuroiwa, Kaneki Ken is one of the victims of the steel beams incident.
Canon is offically now!
Also just gave Ayato one more reason to be resentful with his sister and... be utterly scared of Kaizo.
Review Q&A!
PaperWorld: (P.S. I kind of skipped the notifications of the review and forgot to address the review last chapter but... I will now! xD) Dunno! I think it's possible many are skipping the story because not many had used this idea and one could suspect I am trying to copy Haise part from :re... but this isn't the case! Also thank you and hopefully I will be able to create a decent plot about Arima but.. it will be unique! :)