Eto walked down the streets of Tokyo. It was now dark out, and rain had begun to fall. Tears streamed down her face. She loved him. And it was over. She went to the only place she knew she could.
She scuffed her feet up the long driveway, and came to a stop at a giant oak door. She lifted the heavy knocker and banged it three times.
A light flicked on and the door cracked open. Large doe eyes peered at her through the crack. When the person recognized her, the door was opened all the way.
Ju San stood in the doorway, and she gave Eto a confused look. Then, she turned her eyes to Eto's suitcase and a look of understanding came over her face.
"I'll fetch master Naki for you," she said softly.
She held down a button on the intercom next to the door.
"Master Naki, you have a visitor."
A groan came from the other end. "I'm trying to sleep, can't they wait till morning?"
"It's Eto," Ju San said.
There was a pause. "Be right down."
Ju San invited Eto inside so she would not be standing out in the rain. In a minute, Naki came tromping down the steps.
He was wearing a silk white shirt and silk navy blue pants, and he wore no eyeshadow. His usually nicely combed hair was a disaster. He had obviously been sleeping.
He stopped when he saw Eto, rain soaked and teary eyed. The half ghoul ran to him and threw her arms around him. She began to sob, and she buried her face in his chest.
"He found out," Eto wailed. "It's over."
Naki stroked her hair. "You need sleep," he said. "It's late."
Only when her friend said that did Eto realize how tired and hurting she was. She nodded, and Naki picked her up and carried her up the stairs. He brought her to the lavish guest room and laid her on the bed. Eto slipped her shoes off and threw her hat on the ground. She climbed under the blankets, and Naki propped her head up on a pillow.
"Naki, I'm going to get your sheets wet," Eto murmured.
"It's ok," he said. "Servants can wash it tomorrow."
Eto began to close her eyes, but then she heard Naki walk away.
"Naki," she mumbled, half asleep.
"Yeah?"
"Please stay with me."
Naki blushed. "Like, in the bed?"
"Yeah," Eto said, not opening her eyes.
"O—ok," Naki stammered, and he laid down next to her.
That night, Eto had many dreams. All of them of Juuzou. And they were all happy dreams. But then, she would awake, and she would remember everything. Eto would sob for awhile, then fall back asleep.
When she awoke in the morning, Naki was gone. Eto had no desire to go anywhere or do anything, but the immense pain in her shoulder drove her downstairs. She found Ju San dusting in the main hall.
"Ju San," Eto said softly. "Do you have any medication? For pain?"
The servant frowned. "I know your heart is hurting, but no medicine will heal that."
"No, for physical wounds."
"What happened?"
"I was injured in the raid," Eto explained.
"Let me see," Ju San said, putting down her cleaning supplies.
Eto pulled her sleeve down so that her shoulder blade was visible. Ju San gasped at the wound.
"I'll get you to the nurse immediately," she said.
"You have a nurse at the mansion?" Eto asked as they walked down a side hallway.
Ju San nodded, and she opened a door. Inside was several cots, and a thin woman with black hair was fixing the sheets on one of them.
"Nijuhachi," Ju San said, addressing the woman. She looked up, and then looked at Eto.
"What is the problem?" the black haired woman asked.
"Show her," Ju San said.
Eto sighed and showed the nurse her injury.
"Oh my," she said. "That's bad. Come lay down so I can take a good look at it."
Eto laid down on the cot, back up.
"Now I need to you pull off your shirt so I can see the wound," Nijuhachi said. Eto did as she was told, and she uncomfortably laid on the cot in her undershirt. "Does master Naki know you're injured?"
"No," Eto said quietly.
"Ju San," the nurse said. "Fetch Master Naki."
"He's in his sleeping quarters," the doe eyed servant said, fiddling with her hands.
"Well, go get him."
"Go into his sleeping quarters?" Ju San said, eyes widening.
"Yes, haven't you been in there before?"
"N—no," Ju San stuttered, blushing hard.
"Well, go on."
Ju San scurried away, and the nurse began to examine Eto's injury. The half ghoul explained how she had sustained it.
"This is probably going to take three to four weeks to heal," Nijuhachi said finally.
Just then, Naki strode into the room, followed by a cringing Ju San, who had a large red mark on the left side of her face.
"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" he demanded.
"I have other things I'm more upset about," Eto said in a tired voice, eyes wet with tears.
Naki grimaced when he saw the wound. "Tatara need know about this," he said, taking out his phone. Before Eto could tell him no, he was already calling his white haired superior.
"What, Naki?" he said when he answered the phone.
"You need come to my mansion, Eto is hurt bad."
There was silence for a moment. "On my way," he finally said.
Within ten minutes, Eto heard a rapping on the door.
"I'll get it," Ju San said quickly, blowing a strand of brown hair out of her face.
Soon, Ju San returned, Tatara accompanying her. Eto was a little shocked when she saw him. She was used to his white cloak and red mask. Instead, he wore a steel gray suit with dress shoes and his hair combed nicely. His mask was not on. He looked strangely attractive like this.
He frowned when he saw Eto's mangled shoulder. "What happened?"
Eto told him the same thing she had told Nijuhachi.
"How long will it take to heal completely?" he asked, turning to the nurse.
"Three to four weeks," she said, blushing for some reason. "I—I'll bandage it up."
Tatara nodded. "Will she be able to use it?"
"No, not until it's fully healed," Nijuhachi said, fiddling with her hands. "She needs rest."
"I see," he said, and then turned to Naki. "Can I trust you to care for her until she can come back to Aogiri?"
"Yes sir!" Naki said.
"Alright. Thank you," he said, nodding gruffly at the nurse, who blushed. He then left.
"I need to wrap her shoulder," Nijuhachi said to Naki.
The blond ghoul seemed to understand that he needed to leave, and he exited the room. Eto took off everything on her upper half, and the nurse wrapped her shoulder.
"I'll have to change the wrap every night," the nurse said. "So come here before you go to bed."
Eto nodded. All she wanted to do right now was go to sleep. Ju San was sitting on the cot next to Eto's, giggling.
"What's so funny?" the nurse asked.
"You were completely smitten with that Tatara guy," she giggled. "You were blushing so much."
The nurse rolled her eyes, opened up her mouth to say something, and then stopped. She narrowed her eyes and looked closely at Ju San.
"Your cheek is bruising," she said, gingerly stroking the left side of the brunette's face. "What happened?"
"Told ya I shouldn't go into his sleeping quarters," Ju San mumbled.
"He struck you?" Nijuhachi asked, not looking the least bit surprised.
Ju San nodded.
Nijuhachi sighed and got an icepack from a freezer in the corner of the room, like it was a routine.
Normally, Eto would've gotten up and given Naki a piece of her mind about abusing his servants. But right now, she didn't care. Her eyelashes were heavy with water and her head ached. Soon she was asleep in the little cot, dreaming of the investigator she loved.