Updated as of: 4/08/2015

Chapter 2

Bella moved through the airport terminal making her way through the mass of people slowly clambering their way through the customs and quarantine checkpoint and into the main wing of the airport.

As she moved through corridors she couldn't help but gawk at the sheer size of the building, it put the terminals she had travelled through in the US to shame. All around her masses of people were milling about making their way to their flight or to one of the many cafes and shops that dotted the hallways creating an atmosphere more akin to a bustling city street.

Making her way through the crowd she headed for the lobby where she would, according to the itinerary sent by Kami University, meet representatives of the staff and students who would take her to what would be her home for the next 12 months.

After a short walk she found herself waiting in yet another queue at yet another security checkpoint. This one seemed however was clearly different, instead of airport security there were armed guards manning what appeared to be a row of metal detectors yet curiously there seemed to be no x-ray machine for checking bags. Stranger still were the three men who sat off to the side. All three of them sat there dressed in striking business suits and white trench coats carrying identical white attaché cases and were staring intently at the crowd of people entering and leaving the lobby. As she approached she noticed a sign posted at the head of the queue in multiple languages that said she need only step through what was apparently called an RC detector. she Stepped through the machine and let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding when nothing happened.

Not that she was expecting anything to happen but still, this whole thing was just strange. Why would they need another checkpoint when they weren't even checking her carry on luggage? As if to answer her unasked question she was handed a small flyer by an attendant as she moved into the lobby.

A flyer about ghouls...

Now that was something she hadn't given much thought to when she had signed up for this little trip. Though to be fair she like most people in the western world didn't know a whole lot about them. It was common knowledge that Japan had been having issues with a species that preyed upon humans but the Japanese government had been notoriously tight lipped about them. As had the organisation that had been founded to remove the problem. Beyond of that the rest of the world didn't seem too interested in ghouls since recorded instances of ghoul activity anywhere else in the world are apparently incredibly rare. So long as the bulk of the ghoul population remained quarantined within Japanese territory it seemed everyone else was happy to let Japan and the anti ghoul organisation deal with the problem.

The flyer itself seemed to have been made with this lack of knowledge in mind. It was a guide for tourists and covered general information from the basics like what ghouls actually looked like along with how to avoid potentially dangerous situations that a ghoul might take advantage of for instance not traveling alone after dark. It also had a list of contact details for people wishing to alert the authorities to ghoul activity.

Flicking through the pamphlet it was obvious just how little she actually knew about them. According to the leaflet these creatures actually looked like humans, in fact they could blend in to society so well that they were completely indistinguishable until they attacked. Up to this point she'd assumed like many westerners that ghouls were some kind of animal. Her mind conjured images of monstrosities that lurked in sewers like some bad horror film. But if they could appear human then not only was her assumptions dead wrong but it made the ridiculous amount of border security make a whole lot more sense.

If they look so human then no wonder security here is so tight. Otherwise they could have spread all over the world by now…

It was enough to make her wonder how many had managed to leave Japan before technology had been sophisticated enough to detect them.

There was one distinguishing feature though sent a shiver down her spine. Their eyes.

Red eyes

Apparently their irises would turn a deep vermillion surrounded by obsidian black. The illustration given in the pamphlet was truly chilling. She'd encountered beings with red eyes before. The vampire James and his two coven members that she had the misfortune of encountering during her high school days had had bright ruby eyes and had also preyed on humans, but they hadn't had the deep black that accompanied the red. She found the eyes on the flyer that now stared back at her far more chilling.

They looked truly inhuman

Looking around the lobby Bella began looking around for whoever was meant to be meeting her. Lined up along the wall were different groups of people, from families and taxi drivers to business men were all patiently waiting to greet the stream of arrivals now making their way out of the terminal. Scanning the crowd her gaze fell on a jovial looking man toward the end holding a sign with her name clearly written on the front. The man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was quite tall with dark hair and was wearing a white shirt and tie with black trousers and shoes.

Accompanying him was a girl about her age, a student from the looks of it with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a green knee length skirt and sandals with a white blouse. Unlike the man whose upbeat demeanour seemed to radiate from him the girl appeared shy and reserved as if trying to make herself as small as possible. She clearly wasn't good with crowds.

Time to see if Mitsuko's extra tutoring paid off. Just breath you can do this…

Bella made her way towards the duo, their eyes falling on her as she approached. The man waved while the girl simply stared timidly. Well at least I won't be the only one feeling shy and awkward.

"Welcome to Japan! You must be Bella!" The man bowed the smile never leaving his face.

"My name is Professor Tanaka, and I'll be your staff mentor as well as your literature teacher". He said deliberately taking his time enunciating his words in an effort to make sure she could understand.

"And this" Placing his hand on the girls shoulder "is Haruko", who was still looking rather uncomfortable.

"Y-yes hello I'm Okada Haruko it's a pleasure to meet you", stepping forward Haruko gave a faint smile and bowed.

"Hello it's nice to meet you" Bella smiled and bowed returning the gesture, "Thanks for meeting me at the airport I don't know how I would have managed otherwise".

"It's no trouble at all, but we should grab your things and get moving, its getting late and we still need to get you settled into your accommodation" the professor said as he gestured for them to head toward baggage collection.

Ten minutes later the trio found themselves making their way to the train station luggage in tow.


And there you have it chapter 2 :-)

It was sitting on my computer completed so I figured I would put it up as motivation to finish off Ch 3

I wanted to use this chapter to establish ghouls and how they fit into the world this story takes place in, which was harder than I thought it would be since the author of Tokyo Ghoul has been rather vague about ghouls outside of Tokyo.

My first attempt at dialogue too which if i'm being honest im not too happy with but the I gotta start somewhere I guess.

Also Thank you to Corina O for reviewing! : Thanks! I hope you enjoy it! I don't think i would consider myself a fan either but I like the premise and thought it might be fun to tinker with.