As the lone surviving Aogiri ghoul ran off into the night, a fast-healing wound left a trail of red behind his dirty cloak. One last shard of crystallized RC cells flew past Amon and hit the final combatant square in his back with a satisfying thwack. He fell before he could round the corner of the alley.
Amon clutched his side, feeling the jolt of a bruised rib with each breath. A gash on his shoulder was slowly oozing blood, and he had rolled an ankle badly at some point. That was the most pressing injury—the pain and swelling were setting in, and it was feeling less and less able to bear weight. No running away, then.
A foe was still before him, so he steeled his exhausted body to fight once again.
Rabbit was heaving and out of breath from her impressive acrobatics. "Aogiri scum," she spat in a hoarse voice. She went back to holding the shoulder that had hit the wall. That arm hung limp at her side—dislocated, maybe?
The mask turned his way, slowly. He could almost feel her sizing him up. He would be a sorry opponent with his injuries, but she wasn't looking too combat-ready either.
Without warning, his freshly-injured ankle gave out and he careened back into the concrete wall of the alley. The pain went from dull throbbing to red-hot running up his leg, but he managed to keep silent.
Their silent standoff felt like it lasted hours, but in reality it was probably only five seconds of waiting, ready for the other to make a move.
Rabbit broke first. She simply turned around and started to walk away.
Before he could consider the wisdom of it, he yelled, "Rabbit!"
She stopped in her tracks and turned back around. Heaving a sigh, she said, "I'm tired. I don't want to fight anymore."
That startled Amon, and he blurted out, "But we have to fight!"
"I don't have a bone to pick with you tonight, I was only after Aogiri. Word is their foot soldiers passed through here sometimes, and I was just trying to eavesdrop for news of…someone I know. But I'm not the best spy, it turns out. I would've gotten away fine if I didn't have to stop and save your sorry hide. Consider this my apology for attacking you that day. Now we're even and we can both just…walk away."
He struggled back to his feet, half-leaning against the wall, barely managing to stay upright. He was a professional, though. This was far from the first time he had to dig deep and force his broken body to keep moving through sheer willpower. He knew how to push himself.
"You killed Kusuba and Mado. I won't betray them by just letting you get away."
Rabbit tilted her head to the side and regarded him silently for a moment. "I was angry that you killed Ryoko Fueguchi. The most harmless ghoul in the world. I don't think she ever hurt a human in her whole life. But you know what? Killing your friends didn't bring her back. It didn't make anything better." She started backing away slowly. "I'm trying this new thing where I don't let my anger get the best of me. It sucks. But if you want to test me, come and get me."
First Eyepatch just walked away from an easy kill, and now Rabbit? Since when were all these ghouls turning pacifist? Amon wondered why it was his lot in life to be spared by ghouls when everyone around him was slaughtered.
Rabbit spun around and crouched in preparation to jump, her one good hand braced on the ground.
"Wait!—"
She looked back over her shoulder.
"Your friend Eyepatch—where is he? Was he behind that ghoul restaurant massacre in the seventh ward?"
She froze for a second. "What Aogiri did to him, it changed him. But he said we should talk more and fight less. That's a big part of the reason I'm letting you live. For now."
With that, she leapt up from the alley and disappeared across the rooftops.
