He spent the late hours of the night getting patched up at the main office's clinic and doing the debrief on his encounter. The most he said about Rabbit is that she was there, and it was some sort of territorial scrap between her and some foot soldiers. He left out their confounding exchange. That bit of obfuscation left a bad taste in his mouth, but even stronger than his sense of duty to the CCG was his need to understand what happened.
Around 6 AM, he was finishing up some paperwork at his desk with his foot elevated on another chair. An ice pack was wrapped around the sprained joint.
He set down his pen and rubbed at his eyes. He'd have to go over his report after a good rest. He was so exhausted he'd probably made some mistakes.
The door to his office suddenly slammed open. Marude stomped in, with Kuroiwa on his heels.
"I heard you had a run-in with the Rabbit last night," the director declared. "In the 14th ward. At 11 PM."
"Yes sir." Amon attempted to stand. Before he could, Marude gave a harrumph and stomped away.
Kuroiwa remained in the doorway, stoic as ever. He seemed to take a moment to weigh his words before he spoke. "I'm glad that the promotion I recommended you for went through. Come over to my house for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate. My wife's a great cook."
He glanced down the hall after Marude. "There's something I want to go talk to you about, as well."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be there."
As promised, the dinner was delicious. Kuroiwa's wife made sure to spotlight her son who had recently graduated from the Academy in a single year under the Honor's Curriculum.
The young man, Takeomi, was obviously uncomfortable with the attention. He would probably grow up to be a man of few words like his father.
Mrs. Kuroiwa asked Amon if he had any advice for a young investigator. He had a list of heroic platitudes that he usually pulled from when speaking to civilians, about risking your life and saving lives and fighting monsters, but none of them felt right anymore. "I would say to remember that we exist, first and foremost, to preserve peace."
Kuroiwa stared at him and nodded once decisively. "Well put."
After dinner, the party retreated to the den. Amon lived in a nearly sterile apartment that he mostly just used as a place to sleep. Being in a family home like this was an unusual treat, and he took a moment to bask in the cozy atmosphere of the room.
Whatever Kuroiwa wanted to discuss, it was clear he would wait until his wife and son were gone. Amon felt uneasy about what the discussion could be of—what would the seasoned investigator find so troubling he couldn't discuss it at work?
Mrs. Kuroiwa entered with a tray of after-dinner coffee and pastries. "I thought you boys would like some dessert while you talk business." She watched with a smile as they both grabbed a petit four.
"Careful, Amon's sweet tooth is legendary at the office!"
Amon took a bite, then another. "Delicious! Did you make it yourself?"
Mrs. Kuroiwa laughed. "Oh, heavens no! I can cook, but I can't bake. Baking is a completely different, more advanced art form. One of Takeomi's childhood friends heard about his graduation and she sent him a huge box of confections. We won't be able to eat them all before they go stale, so please help us out! I'll send you home with some, even!"
He glanced over at Takeomi. The young man was determinedly looking at the wall, holding himself stiffly, and blushing brightly enough that everyone in the room noticed.
"We went to grade school together for a while. She sent a note saying she saw an announcement in the alumni newsletter. Baking is her hobby, it seems, so she sent baked goods."
Kuroiwa laughed. "And I think we all know who announced your graduation to every school you'd ever been to!"
His wife gave him a sad smile. "I know everything he does in his career will be highly classified. This is the last time I'll get to really celebrate."
There was a moment of heavy silence—there was really nothing more to say on that front.
Mrs. Kuroiwa was an experienced hostess, though. She clapped her hands together and smiled again, saying, "Well, I know you boys need to talk shop. Takeomi, dear, would you help me clear the dining room table?"
In short order, Amon and Kuroiwa were left alone in the den.
"So, sir, what was it you wanted to discuss?"
Kuroiwa weighed his words carefully. "In our job, it's easy to lose sight of the important stuff and start paying attention to the politics. I think Marude is feeling the pressure to deliver results against Aogiri."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"I haven't voiced my suspicions to anyone and this doesn't go beyond this room for the moment, but something was different about the One-Eyed Owl we faced during the Aogiri raid in the 11th Ward. The fighting style was…completely different. There were no fatalities, either. I can't be sure, but I have a hunch there's more than one One-Eyed Owl."
Amon could only raise his eyebrows at such an assertion. "And you think Marude wouldn't listen to this theory because it would be inconvenient politically?"
Kuroiwa grunted in affirmation. "No one in the CCG wants dangerous ghouls to be multiplying on their watch. Which brings us to you and the Rabbit."
"Why's that?" Amon grabbed another confection from the nearby tray and ate it in one bite.
"We're about to ramp up the search for the Rabbit. That ghoul has been attacking investigators more and more frequently."
Amon couldn't withhold his shocked reaction. He realized he had almost started to believe Rabbit meant it when she said she didn't want to fight anymore.
"You seem surprised to hear that."
"I…I didn't include this in my report because I'm still confused myself, but I was injured and she could have probably killed me if she really wanted. Instead she said something about how killing investigators never brought back her friends and how she was tired of fighting."
It was Kuroiwa's turn to raise his bushy eyebrows in shock.
Amon continued, desperate to get it off his chest. "Normally I'd think it was some sort of bluff to catch me off guard…but she really did leave peacefully. If she's still attacking investigators, though…"
Kuroiwa huffed. "Well, that's very interesting. Especially since your Rabbit isn't the one behind these new attacks."
"What makes you say that?"
"This is highly confidential, but there was a Rabbit attack the same night as yours. Around the same time. On the border of the 22nd and 23rd Ward, clear across the city. This second rabbit appears to be a male affiliated with Aogiri. Because your run-in did not result in any loss of life, your report will be quietly buried. The official explanation is that the Rabbit killed two investigators, ran across the city where he encountered you, and attacked you with the Aogiri ghouls you ran into. Rabbit was too weakened from the earlier fight to kill you, and instead retreated with Aogiri."
"Because Marude doesn't want it to look like two Rabbits appeared on his watch."
"Exactly. He's having a hard enough time with the two-owl theory gaining steam. I think you should be aware of the politics going on in the background, especially when they concern you. Tread carefully when talking about the Rabbit."
Amon nodded and ate another petit four.
