Chapter 7: Bloodied
{Border of Ward Two: November 21st, 2020, 2:40am}
Guren listened to Kaneki and Touka as they spoke about the situation on the other side and took it in stride. The risks were high, and had shot even higher when the group sent to Osaka informed him of what those flesh-toned vines were: a type of living, rotting-corpse-like plant. It was a terrifying situation; however, they didn't have an choices at this point and with the options of either chancing open ground or the sewer tunnels, the Lieutenant Colonel prepared to make a admittedly nerve-wracking decision on how to do this best.
With little questioning, the sewer system of V-Fourteen would work well; however, it carried high risks, and it was completely uncharted territory for all of them at this point, and they didn't have time to send people down there to survey it. Within the sewer system, Yuuichiro and Mikaela couldn't maneuver their Psychometric abilities let alone their Seraphic forms as easily, Kaneki and the other Ghouls would be restricted, and because of those factors alongside the Cursers within his group and the others, he knew what had to be done.
"We have no choice, we have to use the open ground and hope for the best," he admitted.
"Seriously? Are you sure that's a good idea?" the Lieutenant Colonel nodded.
"I am… as it stands, none of us know what's lurking down there, it's a confined area, something that could be disastrous if we were to be ambushed and if such a thing did take place, we would be in quarters to close to actually fight at full strength or maneuver properly, so no, underground is to risky," he stated.
"Guren's right, if we do that then you can pretty much count the Psychometric Gift out, it works best if we're out in the open and don't have to reign in the strength we can put out." Shinoa nodded.
"Same for the heavy melee weapons and the Demons, if they manifest, they'll bring the place down on us," she said as her gaze turned to the Ghouls.
"We've gotten adapted to fighting within closed areas, but our group is large, and Ghouls never travel in packs of this size unless we're raiding a place, at which point, we break off into smaller groups; however, with the condensed area, the things that are unknown, the fact that the few of you who have Gifts would be stinted, the Cursed Gear basically useless, and our Kagune wouldn't have the room to move or let us work… it's a bust." The group eyed one another as Kimizuki sighed.
"Then… that leaves one option…" all eyes turned to the area just past them.
"Open field…" said Akane.
"Little to no chance of living, most likely to be eaten alive, having to face corpse-plants… hell, why not? Let's go!" Ayato's statement got him a glare from his sister.
"Okay, here's the plan, we'll spread out, but stay in a close formation, rotating our front and back rows as we go. The curses must be active in this point, it will be the jobs of our Gift users to be our back-ups. Kimizuki? Yoichi? Do you think you can do enough projection work to fry those plants and keep them off us while we take care of the Chimera?" asked Guren.
"Possibly… we've never really used them like that before, so…" the man sighed as he looked to his two boys.
"Yuu? Do you have those stimulant pills from Shinjuku still?" he questioned, causing those who had been present in Shinjuku to jolt, eyes going wide as they looked at the three of them.
"You're joking right?!" one of the others burst out.
"Lieutenant Colonel! No!" stated Shigure.
"Absolutely not!" the others who had not witnessed the terror of the Shinjuku events were slightly perplexed, but had the most distinct feeling that something important was taking place.
" Guren! You can't be seriously asking him to – "the man glared at them.
"I would not ask him to push himself that far if it wasn't something that was necessary, and unfortunately, that may be our only option. I fixed those pills to release the Seraph form without the receptors in place, due to that, you saw how Yuuichiro was…" Sayuri glared at the ground.
"In pain… having lost his mind… forgetting everyone and everything… releasing enough destructive power to level an entire damn city if he tried hard enough! Not to mention he didn't just try to kill the Vampires, but us as well! I am not letting you put him through that again!" she snapped.
"Sayuri! I suggest you tell me a better option because I'm at a loss here, and we have almost no time left!" the two glared at one another and as the silence fell a faint rattle caught their attention as the black-haired boy held up the pill case marked with a black star.
"I marked these, so I wouldn't take them by mistake… but I never took them off my person ever since then. But… if I'm going to do this… I want to ask you one question, Guren?" the boy stared his adoptive-father in the eye and the man never once looked away.
"What is it Yuu?" the boy took in a deep breath.
"Can you stop me if I lose control?" he questioned. Everyone became nervous, knowing that something was wrong as they watched the boy continue to keep eye contact with his father.
"Yes, we can…" the boy closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.
"Okay then… how many do I have to take to push it that far?" the others stared at him.
"No! Yuu! Are you insane!" Mika immediately protested.
"We don't have a choice…" Shinoa shook her head.
"Please, there's got to be another way," she pleaded.
"Don't do this to yourself, you remember what happened last time!"
"Please, Yuu!" Yoichi tried to convince his friend, remembering the horrific sight from the summer that he was certain he'd never forget.
"Hyakuya?" the group looked to Nishiki who fixed his glasses, looking at the boy as he did so.
"Nishiki? What is it?" the chestnut-blonde sighed.
"I know we don't know what happened, but if they're this concerned, we should think of another way out of this," he stated.
"Look, I'm glad that you view me as a comrade enough at this point in our standing as teammates to expression concern; but we're out of options, and if I can do this, then I am!" Kaneki looked at the others, grim expressions upon their faces as they heard those words.
"If you do this… can you remain who you are?" Kaneki questioned. Emerald met a singular hazel eye.
"Under normal circumstances… I would just laugh and tell you that it doesn't matter… but I get the feeling your talking from personal experience about going to deep in your powers… if you've got something that can even the odds between us… then fight with me… but you've got to understand something as well…" all of them watched the exchange as the white-haired Ghoul sighed.
"What's that?" he asked.
"This is part of who I am." Guren remained silent as he watched the two boys, knowing in that instant that they had no other choice but to rely upon their decision from this point onward to guide them far enough to get to their destination, and put an end to this long, bitter night. He only hoped and prayed, that there would be a way to keep them in control if this silent conversation ended the way he believed it would.
"I can do one thing that will give us some leverage…. It's… risky, but… if one of your own is going to be putting themselves on the line like that, then I feel as though it's only fair one of us does the same… and I'll be doing that," Kaneki stated as the others stared at him.
"Have you gone insane?! The Kakuja?! Kaneki, you can't control it as well as your Kagune, please, don't do this!" the boy smiled to Touka.
"I can do this, just follow the Lieutenant Colonel's orders, and stick to the formation he's going to plan, when the time calls for it, Yuuichiro and I will do this together," he said as the others eyed the two.
"But how do you know that the two of you won't turn on us?" the nervous tone of one Yoichi had the two of them looking to him as he stood next to Hinami.
"We don't, but you'll just have to trust us to do what we can, okay?" Kaneki asked as he started to unbuckle the mask that he wore.
"Kaneki…" the boy handed Touka his mask.
"Keep it for now, the Kakuja has a mask for me, just don't lose it okay? I'll need it back once this is over," he stated with a smile to the girl as she took in a deep breath.
"You better not die on me, do you understand? Idiot?" he nodded.
"I won't…" Yuuichiro looked to Guren.
"Alright, let's hear the plan Guren, we better get this show on the road," he told him.
"Very well then, listen up!"
{Border of Ward II: 3:00am}
To say that the group of eighteen were nervous, would have been the understatement of the century – possibly even the millennium – as they remained crouched down at the border of the second ward, preparing to attack as the lights blared brightly around them and shed light on the scattered areas where a series of fleshy vines were strewn and Chimera had begun to sniff about, sensing something amiss in the air. Kimizuki tensed, swallowing around a lump in his throat as he kept his arms crossed, his weapon having been put away for the sake of getting into position with its form being hidden in a pair of matching rings on his middle fingers on his hands. Nearby him, Mitsuba was also crouched alongside Mika, Yoichi, Shinoa, Akane, the others from Guren's squad, and the Anteiku Ghouls, save for one, just as with their group having been dwindled from seven to six as just a bit ahead of them, hidden behind rubble, were both Yuuichiro and Kaneki, crouched, and awaiting Guren's signal to take the pills that Guren had given Shinoa to hand to the black-haired boy in Shinjuku, and to activate the Kakuja.
What the pills would do to Yuuichiro now that he had started to gain control over his Seraphic side, was unknown; however, it was a risk that they were willing to take, and he knew that if all else failed, he would find a way to reign it in. Asuramaru was not looking forward to the situation, but she had agreed to help him stay in control, and if needs be: stop him. Just so long as she didn't possess him or try to kill him off, but he had the feeling that he needn't worry about the Demoness doing anything at this point.
Taking in a shaky breath, he glanced back to the others, looking pale-faced and anxious as they settled there at the ground, preparing to sprint while he and Kaneki would be leading them into the fray. Emerald eyes glanced to tearful tangerine ones as the weight of the promise ring on the chain around his neck began to feel like a prison chain attached to a large stone than a piece of metal that was so small. He took in a deep breath, thinking about how Shinoa felt seeing him placing himself in such a position, but he knew that it had to be done, otherwise, the Tokyo Raid was a loss cause.
"And that's something we cannot afford… not after Nagoya went down just before we were in Tokyo…"
"Everyone ready?" Guren asked as he received nervous glanced and nods, sweat rolling down some of their faces as he watched them.
"Ready when you are…" burgundy eyes looked to the two children out in front, the parental part of him chiding these choices as he took in a steady breath.
"Begin!" he ordered.
The group lunged forward, their weapons roaring to life as Yuuichiro and Kaneki sprang from their locations, the black-haired boy swallowing the bitter pill in his mouth as a painful spark let him know it was going to activate quickly as he heard the slightly sickening crackle of the Kagune as Kaneki jumped out of the way of one of the vines that had tried to snag him while the others began cutting away at the vines and the group of Ghouls assisted as they looked at the fight ahead of them now that the noise had begun to catch the attention of the Chimera. Mika rushed slightly ahead, a flush of ice falling from Fenrir's blade as it froze over the vines and made the surface harder for the Chimera to keep their footing on as Shinoa, Mitsuba, and Shinya took post to attack, the Ghouls bringing up the sides and rear while Guren's formation and strategy working seamlessly as Ayato shot a blast of crystalized shards at the first Chimera, blinding it as Touka took aim and lashed one of them, killing the blinded creature as she hit the ground running and kept moving.
Goshi used a spell to distract the Chimera coming from the right side while Sayuri held her ground on the left and Yoichi took up the rear, using Gekkoin to help him channel his Sentry gift to block the back. Guren turned his gaze to Kaneki first, seeing a black, almost insect-like trail of his Kagune flare outwards like something from hell as he turned, showing the crooked black mask to them and turned on his heels, lashing out at a Chimera that was sent flying outwards, smashing into a building as if it was nothing, and did not get back up. It was then that his gaze turned towards the black-haired boy not far from him and the state he was in, arms wrapped around himself, teeth gritted, bangs hiding his eyes as he seemed to be struggling to breath and get a grasp upon the surge he was feeling.
"Shit! Mikaela! Guard Yuuichiro!" Guren ordered as the group momentarily took their eyes off of the battle to see the blonde nod once as he cut a flip over the back of one of the Chimera, activating his Psychometric Gift to hold it off before inducing Fenrir's manifestation as a giant, white wolf with ice-blue eyes appeared at his side and howled, shaking the ground a fraction as the Chimera backed off a moment, roaring back while Fenrir stood its ground to guard Mika long enough for the blonde to get to his brother.
"Yuu! Hey! Talk to me! What's going on? Are you – "the boy stopped as the black-haired boy glanced to him out of the corner of his eye, revealing a startling shade of silver to him, his sclera having darkened further from blood red to port-wine in tone. Mika felt a breath leave him, fear rippling through his body at the sight.
"M-Mika…" the boy shot his gaze forward as the other shifted away, preparing to guard his back as the others started to make progress.
"Come on, please! Yuu! Get up!" he pleaded as the boy took in a shaky breath.
"You're about to go insane… apparently, there's more to your Seraphic blood than any of us knew… and what you're feeling… it's what your blood and power is really like… so… what will you do Yuu?" Asuramaru informed him of this, and he took in a shaky breath, hearing the crashes of battle around him and the roars of the monsters.
"Fight… I can't just…"
"I can't just sit here and watch…" he growled out, canines becoming sharpened points as he took in a rattling breath, his body protesting as he struggled to stand, and Mika jolted to attention, preparing to guard the other as Fenrir circled them.
"Yuu?" the boy stepped forward, the others backing up as a small wave of the vines came and Kimizuki took to the front.
"Kiseki-O! Aid me in this strike!" he called as the blades of his weapon glinted, the green turning a sharp yellow as he jumped up into the air and came down, electricity buzzing as he did so until he pierced the ground and the sparks shot through the vines in front of them while nearby, Kaneki was dealing with the Chimera who were trying to take down the right front-side of their team.
"Stay in formation! Mikaela! Get him up here!" Guren ordered, keeping Mahiru-no-Yo in his grasp.
"Be careful Guren, that boy isn't stable…"
"I know Mahiru, but I don't have a choice… they aren't weapons, but we'll have to weaponize their power if we want to –" burgundy eyes turned to the boy as the two of them tried to move forward, and one of the Chimera ran forward, slipping past Fenrir who growled to warn Mika who prepared to attack only to be blocked by a powerful flare of emerald fire.
"Holy shit!" stated Goshi as he turned to see the attack happen as Kaneki cut a flip nearby, landing in a crouch.
"Kaneki? You good?" the white-haired boy nodded.
"Barely… but I'm… managing… what about Yuuichiro and Mikaela?" he inquired, heaving in deep breaths as he did his best to keep control on the Kakuja.
"Something tells me… that Yuu's about to fry these vines, and possibly the Chimera…" Guren looked onward as the Chimera turned their attention to the flames that had erupted as the black-haired boy took in a shaky breath, another Chimera coming after him as Fenrir corralled Mika away and pushed him towards the others, the group blocking occasional attacks.
"The ends of his hair are turning white! What the hell is… no… no, no, no, no! If this is what I think it is… we may be in serious trouble!" Guren thought as the boy drew Asuramaru, and in a swift motion shot an attack at the Chimera before cartwheeling away when the monster was only wounded. He skidded to a halt, taking in deep breaths as the others watched as his wings began to almost materialize from nothingness, the sharp emerald green tips having begun to fade to a brilliant silver at the very end of them.
"Yuu? Are you good?" asked Shinoa as she went to cover him with her scythe.
"I…. think…" he shivered a bit, his hands clenching around his sword.
"You better be careful Yuu, you're teetering on the edge of that other side of your Seraphic Blood, if you do that before you're even remotely prepared: you will kill them all." He tensed, shaking a bit more as another wave of Chimera came.
"Everyone! Remain in formation! Attack them together!" Guren swept an attack after the Chimera that came towards him and the group began moving forward again, using their strikes alongside the Kakuja Ghoul and the Seraphim to thin out the masses.
Mika kept his gaze upon his brother half of the battle, seeing things he didn't like as he realized the boy had a frightened look on his face as he fought against the Chimera, his attacks fierce and fluid as always, but a strangely icy fear had settled around him, almost as if he was struggling to control the state he was in and having a very hard time doing it. However, as they were in the midst of a battle, Mika had no way of asking his brother if he was alright or not. The blonde parried the monster's attack, lashing out with a strong wave of ice and ashes as he made sure to guard his brother who attacked in the same state that he was, preparing to face what was coming alongside him.
The feeling was as though someone had injected fire into his veins. Yuuichiro had felt this sensation once before: in Shinjuku. The feeling of flames, burning hot and fierce within his body alerted him to his veering control as he continued to use the leverage to fight with the fire that was available to him from Asuramaru, and what seemed to be himself. The Demoness was rather pleased with herself to cause such havoc, but there was this distinct underlying sense that she was watching him like a hawk, unwilling to let him be hurt or die because he lost control.
"Hyakuya!" the two boys looked towards the voice in time for Nishiki to block an attack and send it to Kaneki who tore into the Chimera with little trouble.
"Nishiki?" the chestnut-blonde looked at the two brothers.
"You guys are okay? Right?" he asked as he looked at them, both looking a bit roughed up as they stood there near the others who were starting to find very few Chimera left as they neared the border of ward one.
"I-I think so… how are the others?" the twenty-one-year-old nodded.
"Their fine… thanks to Kimizuki, Saotome, Hanayori, Kaneki, Norito, and you of course, Hyakuya… if we didn't have you guys as back up we'd be dead right now… but…" Nishiki looked around them, noticing that the Chimera had stopped coming, and a clean burn path had been left in the vines, leaving them a safe exit.
"I think we should run," Yuu stated, finally locking eyes with Nishiki who jolted at the sight of them.
"W-What the hell is wrong with your… eyes… I…" the boy put his hand over his left eye, knowing that something was terribly wrong with it.
"Alright you three! Regroup! Thanks to the method we used, their steering clear of us! time to find a place to recover for a moment!" Guren called as the trio began to walk forward, the black-haired boy keeping his gaze down as a creeping heat settled over him.
"This… feeling… it's intense… like an open fire in the dead of winter… why though? What is this? My powers aren't like this… so why…"
"Maybe your normal powers aren't like this, but the Seraphim half of you has powers like this… abilities and traits that you never even knew about." Asuramaru butted into his thought process, but he didn't mind that one bit as the group of twenty settled into the remains of an old post-office, preparing to plan their next phase now that the Chimera were leaving them alone.
"I wonder why they started running?" questioned Hinami as she slid down against a wall, taking in a deep breath.
"Probably because they realized we were too tough for them as a whole group, especially with Kaneki and Yuu out there." Yoichi's answer satisfied the girl as he came to sit beside her, the two picking up a soft conversation amidst the group who were trying to get their bearings while Kaneki took in a few deep breaths, easing out of the changes while Touka kept speaking to him.
"We've made it this far at last!" rejoiced Hide as he leaned against the counter.
"Seems kind of crazy, huh? To make it this far?" Guren looked to them all as Mika led his brother over some, the boy holding his hand over his eye still, his body swaying a bit.
"Hey? You okay there?" he asked as he came up to the boys.
"I don't know… Yuu won't meet my eyes and he won't talk to me, so I can't be sure…" Guren walked closer, grabbing the boy's hand away from his face as he caught his chin and tilted his head up, his gaze staring into abstract eyes.
While the sclera of his youngest boy's eyes were a darker shade than normal, Guren had half-expected it to be a bit different considering he was triggering it with a pill that originally was intended to let out portions of the Seraphic gene's power in small bursts, and it was quite different from the form he was used to; however, he hadn't expected to see two distinct things. The first, was that the boy's pupils were feline-like in appearance, having contracted into slits, and that his left eye wasn't sharp green, or even red like had almost anticipated: but it was sterling silver. The man sighed, looking at the ends of the boy's hair, which had faded out to white, giving it a very strange ombré look as he pulled his arm around the boy who flinched before walking him forward with Mika not far behind.
"It's just a little change, don't freak out about it," he assured him as the others started to settle to the ground, Kaneki and Touka joining the group as Guren had the boy sit down while Mika hovered by him, sitting right by his brother with a concerned look in his eyes.
"Is he alright?" burgundy eyes met the young features of the eye-patch Ghoul with a smirk.
"For the most part, but, I didn't expect you to be that young, eye-patch," Guren admitted as the others looked at the boy who shrugged.
"I guess… Touka? Can I have the mask back?" she nodded and handed it to him while Shinoa came towards her boyfriend, intending on helping him keep himself in check until the pill wore off.
"How much longer until the pill's effects wear off?" asked Kimizuki.
"About five more minutes… I say we take the next fifteen minutes to plan our final step, we're at the grand finale folks, so there can't be any slip ups here." The others nodded and glanced towards the three-people huddled nearby.
"Yuu? Are you okay?" Shinoa asked.
"Yea… just a little… tense…" she nodded, taking his hands in hers.
"We'll be getting out of here soon, once we do… we can just have a little peace and quiet, okay?" she assured him.
"Right…" he glanced her way and she looked into his eyes, seeing their mismatched state and feeling realization dawn upon her.
"This isn't normal… what caused these changes? His eyes aren't right… and why did the ends of his hair turn white? What the hell is happening here?" Shinoa thought as she looked at him before reaching out to touch his cheek.
"Let's get this figured out, alright? We have a lot to do," she stated as he nodded.
"Besides, you know how hopeless Guren is without us." the boy smiled a bit, not revealing his teeth.
"Yea, he is… so… what you got in mind Guren?" Yuuichiro asked as he looked at the man while the others who hadn't seen those abstract, and slightly ominous eyes before found themselves staring, unbelieving of what they were seeing, while the group could only think of one thing: something else was going to happen, and once more, the Seraph of the End was tied to it somehow, and this entire mess was always going to do one thing: lead right back to the two boys sitting nearby them now.
"The plan is going to be simple, we'll keep using our formation, but widen it out. You have a teammate, I suggest you use that to your advantage. When we exit this building, your partner will be the one who is by your side, you are to watch one another without question, and under no circumstances, will you steer away from the formation we have unless required," Guren stated as the others nodded.
"What if something happens? Like the Noble attacks or – " the man looked to the others.
"Then you break formation, but do not abandon your partner, am I clear?" the group nodded once more.
"Yes sir!" Kaneki and the other Ghouls eyed the teenagers, and then looked at the man leading them, knowing that this fight had them all scared, but it had to be done.
"Right, we move out in ten minutes, Yuuichiro? Can you check the others over for injuries?" Guren questioned.
"Yea, I can manage… the effects are starting to wear off…" the boy messed with the ends of his hair, showing the silvery-white fading back to its normal raven black.
"Good, everyone get to work. The partner you had during our border lockdown is the same one you will have now, Kaneki? Touka? The two of you will be pared up, alright everyone, let's make this quick! We have a Noble to slay!"
{….}
Light the way, and I'll follow, where you go…
{….}
Author's Note: We're on the cusp of the final fight in the Tokyo Raid Arc, from there we have the Shibuya-Venice arc which covers chapters 11 through 20. I hope everyone is enjoying the story, and I'll be looking for your reviews soon.
Sincerely,
ShadowDragon94
Chapter 8: Gladiators