As nice as a Ghoul's healing factor was, it did jack and shit for quinque injuries. Touka couldn't do her daily jogs with her leg in the condition it was, so she settled for just walking around the park. It had been a few days since her fight with the Dove school girls and police and Doves alike were still crawling all over asking questions and scanning the area. She could still the spots of carnage where she and the schoolgirl Doves fought. Bits of debris here and there, small craters where some hits missed, the only difference were all the normal folks commenting on how dangerous even the park had gotten. She sighed, looking away from the scene. It was a fight for survival, but she couldn't help but feel bad about causing the damage. This was her favorite place to train in the mornings, and now it was swarming with police and others. No pointing in sticking around here.
After surveying the park she made her way to a café, ordering a black coffee and getting her thoughts together. Alright, I can move around again for the most part, but now where am I going to train? It'd take at least one more day for her leg to be fully healed, but she could still do something not hunt Doves, but maybe she could do some patrols and take out small time punks. It'd be a start. Or maybe go undercover and double check Dove records at the CCG. It'd be risky, but possible. Or maybe-
"Oh, it's you."
Touka turned, seeing the blonde Dove. She gave a wave and smile. "Hello ma'a-," She paused, her eyes widening at the group behind the Dove. The very girls she fought a few nights ago, the katana girl and kung fu girl were right next to the blond Dove. She nearly flinched seeing them, hiding her surprise with a fake sneeze.
"Hm?" The woman looked back at the girls, who both gave a confused look. "Something wrong?"
"A-Ah, no! Not at all! Just allergies I guess," She gave a dismissive wave. "Surprised to see these girls though. They look… really beat up." The katana girl had her hand in a cast, and the kung fu girl had an eyepatch around the eye Touka took. Both girls blushed and looked away.
The blond Dove turned back to girls, glaring, then sighed. "Yes well, they're students from the Academy doing a bit of field training with me." She explained. The two girls bowed to Touka. "This is Arisu Amada and Reira Shido. I'm watching over a third one as well, but she's still in the hospital." She turned to the girls, giving a piercing glare. "Which why I told you three that going off on your own is dangerous."
The two girls flinched, nearly in tears from the tone alone. Hell, Touka winced just seeing it. It gave her flashback to Anteiku when Yoshimura gave her those kinds of looks and lectures whenever she did something stupid as well, at least until she started high school. He'd probably lecture me for the avenger stuff too… She frowned at the thought, then looked back up at the group.
"Well…" She said, getting the group's attention. "I'm Touka Kirishima," She lowered her head, biting her lip soon after. Shit, why didn't I give a fake name. She scolded in her head. "Nice to me you all,"
"I see you have new bandages," Akira noted. Touka blushed, looking away and mentally cursing herself again.
"Y-Yeah…"
"What happened?" Arisu asked.
"I believe Touka said she was a martial artist,"
Touka nodded. "Y-Yeah, self-defense and all that." She said, scratching the back of her head. "Classes get pretty rough sometimes,"
"You're a martial artist too?!" The kung fu girl moved right to Touka's table in a flash, her eyes lighting up with passion. Touka nearly fell out of her chair with how quickly she got close to her. "What fighting style? Do you train at a dojo? A gym? Do you guys have free sparring? Are yo-"
"Alright you kung fu nut, back off," The katana girl pulled Reira back. "You need to stop that," She bowed in apology, forcing the kung fu girl's head down. "Sorry Touka, Reira here's a bit of a martial arts nut. She lived in China before moving to Japan and has a bad habit of getting… excited when meeting other fighters."
Touka waved it off, trying to remain calm. "I-It's cool…"
"Um… think we could train together sometime? I'd love to see your routine,"
"Uh… maybe?" Not likely. Even if she did, she'd have to hold back against a human, and it wouldn't even make for good training. "Maybe when my legs heal up,"
"Hm…" The blond Dove looked at Touka, then the girls. "I'll be stepping away to question some people about your little incident. You two, feel free to question Touka here," She glared at them. "And stay put."
The girls gave a shiver and watched her walk away.
"Damn… that was some glare." Touka noted.
"You don't know the half of it…" Arisu said. "A few days ago with found the Rabbit Ghoul, Miss Mado's sworn enemy."
"Really?"
Arisu nodded. "Yes, we were supposed to just patrol the area and call Miss Mado immediately if something happened, but…" She sighed. "When we say the Rabbit we just couldn't help ourselves, we had to at least try to kill her. She was about our size and it was three on one, but…" Arisu bit her lip, staring down at her cast.
"She was too strong…" Reira continued, placing a hand over her eyepatch. "She took us all down, nearly killed us, and… she took my eye… Twisted bitch probably ate it too." Reira's eye narrowed, looking at the ground, then at Touka. "Hey Touka, if you see the Rabbit try not to fight it. She's actually pretty good at close combat for an Ukaku type."
"R-Right…" It was a surprise these two were still willing to go around patrolling and asking questions. Guess Doves are just that hardy. Even kid ones.
"Anyway… guess we have to ask you some questions now,"
The questions were simple. Her location during the attack, the day of and before, a few questions about the area. Then they trailed off, asking about cafes to gather at, then about some of their training routines, then their favorite foods. Touka gave the usual fake answers, but… the girls were surprisingly nice when they weren't after her blood. Arisu seemed like a stoic class representative type, and Reira was the tomboy, though a bit more expressive and dramatic. And both were surprisingly athletic. Well, obviously given the fight she had with them, but apparently their academy had a lot of sports clubs. Arisu being in the kendo club and Reira bouncing between several martial arts clubs. It was… odd having a normal conversation with them.
"So why did you guys want to be Do- uh, Investigators?" Touka asked. The two went silent for a moment, looking at each other. Arisu spoke first.
"I lived in an orphanage," She began. "Me and my friend Jaku were there after our parents were eaten by Ghouls. That's the story they told us anyway. Ghouls raided the place when I was seven, ate Jaku right in front of me when he pushed me under the bed, and... when I was crying, they decided to kidnap me, something about saving me for a snack. I was rescued by the CCG a day later and started training to be an Investigator ever since."
Touka frowned. "Oh… sorry I ask,"
Arisu shook her head. "It's fine. I see it as a motivator,"
Reira puffed up her chest. "Well I was original raised in China, both my parents were Japanese, but there was some ancestry back in China and some job opportunities for my dad's martial arts studio thanks to a friend of his. He trained me in martial arts ever since I could walk, and I'm quite the fighter for it. I wanted to be an action star, but then a Ghoul triad attacked my father's martial arts studio and ended his life. I've sworn to put out all ghouls since then," She made a dramatic gesture, as if about monologue her whole story. "Yes, a local detective traced that triad's origins to this very city, and so here I am, a young flower hoping to punish the evils of all Ghouls!"
…
…
That was way to dramatic to be real. She glanced at Arisu, who only nodded solemnly, as if mentally saying 'yeah, it's true and she really talks like that sometimes.'
Touka forced a smile. "Oh… that's… cool…".
"Akazuki's dad took Reira in when she moved to Japan, as well as myself. He was our teacher and an instructor at the academy. He showed us the ropes, caught Reira up on Japanese, taught us the basics of Ghoul combat, even made us some custom quinques." Arisu explained. "He… was killed by ghouls in the line of duty, so we want to try and pay them back. Pay him back by using the skills he and Miss Mado are teaching us."
"Oh…" It was a similar case to hers. Scarily similar.
At this point, the blond Dove came back and the two began to live the café.
"Goodbye, Touka," Arisu said, giving a small bow.
"Let's spar when we're both healed up, okay?" Reira added.
"Sure," She watched the three leave, left with a bitter feeling in her throat. Man… tomorrow night's gonna' be rough.
The next place Touka decided to hit was the dojo. She had already made plans to see it, if only to get a better look at it in the daytime. It wasn't likely she'd run into that brat Eto, or at least she hoped.
Inside the dojo was Kakuma, his sister, and a few others training, still in what looked like ragged kimonos. The place was… really traditional. Wooden floors, wooden training posts to punch, beat up punching bags, even some wall scrolls at the end of the hall. Rundown, too spacious for its own good, and looking like it came straight out of a samurai movie. Is this… just that Sachi guy's aesthetic?
"Hey, it's the Avenger!"
One of the dojo kids came up to her, then a bunch more.
"Are you here to beat us up?" One of the kids asked, wary.
"Uuh, no?" Touka scratched the back of her head. "I'm… just walking around." She glanced around the place. "Where's the old man?"
"Master Sachi is out,"
Kokuma came out, looking indifferent as he scanned Touka.
"Huh…" She scanned him as well. He still looks like a girl. The long hair, the tattered gi that looked like a dress, and the thin figure just gave him a feminine look. Hell, all the kids looked thin, not malnourished, but close to it. She didn't take this Sachi guy to be abusive or anything, but… just how often did they eat? "Hey Kakuma,"
"What?"
"Mind if I train here?" She asked.
"Wha-" Kokuma staggered, staring up at Touka, surprised. "Tha' hell? Ya' said no last time. Why now?"
Touka shrugged. "I don't really have a place to train." Daily jogs and bugging Renji wasn't going to cut it anymore. She had enough difficult run-ins to know that now. She needed a steady pace to work on her combat skills now, with someone that would give her at least something in the way of advice and guidance. She didn't want it to be somewhere connect to Aogiri, but it was either this or getting her ass kicked somewhere down the line, or even that old man said, this was a place for honing skills. She still wasn't interested in joining, but at least having a solid, steady place to work on her combat skills would be nice.
Kokuma was quiet, looking down. He pouted for a moment, then muttered out "You'll have ta' ask the Master later, but he'll prolly be okay with it."
Touka smiled, ruffling his hair. "H-hey!" He pushed her hand away.
"Heh," Touka took her shoes off, walking to the center of the dojo. "Wanna' go a round while I'm here, kid?" She asked. "I'm not fully healed yet, but I need a warmup after resting for a few days."
Kokuma stared at Touka, then smirked, walking to the center as well. "Sure ya' wanna' get your butt whooped again?" He asked, getting into his stance.
"Heh, little brat," She rose her fists, scanning him. The same proper stance as last time, though this time Touka wasn't going to treat him with kid's gloves. He could obviously fight, take a beating, and give one back. Part of her felt bad about stomping in a little kid.
"Don't hate me if I knock ya' out," He said. "But hey, at least only a buncha' kids'll see it."
And now no part of her felt bad about stomping this little kid's face in.
"Heh…" She took a more proper stance herself, as if she was sparring with Renji. "Like you could, runt!"