"Mr. Amon!" called a young, enthusiastic voice as the newly appointed Top-Class Investigator had just reached the brown mahogany door. He had hoped to be uninterupted in his walk to it, to the progress report of the binge eater case, of which he and Akira Mado, his former superiors daughter, had been working on for the past three day's. Amon thought it ridiculous to assume that a new investigator, regardless of how well her father had done himself, could find out any important details about the binge eater in a mere three days. However, the higher-up's had high hopes for her it seemed... But Koutarou had yet to see any reason for those hopes. He wasn't being rude, he was just stating facts, he was positive that she would eventually become great like her father, and that she could efficiently take down a ghoul(her father probably taught her a lot about that), but her ability in investigation had yet to be seen.
But, now he was lost in thought, and as much as he wished he hadn't been interrupted, he had still been addressed and it would be rude to ignore whoever it was who had called him.
Upon turning around to face the young, brown haired man that had called him and opening his mouth to reply Koutarou found himself cut off by the continuation of the investigators greeting. "Congratulations on your promotion! You know, most people retire as only a first-class investigator." He paused to smile before speaking again. "But to be promoted to Top-class at only 27... That's exactly what someone would expected from you."
Koutarou hadn't noticed, initially, that it was Seidou who had called out to him, so he couldn't be too annoyed. He was only 21 himself, so he was the expected age for a 2nd- class. Unfortunately for him, in his opinion anyway, he was normally stuck with desk jobs instead of field operations. Amon didn't know if it was bravery or Naivety that encouraged his want to go on field missions but either way it was a little admirable. But, there was a time every now and then that he would get his wish, though he was normally with Hoji when it was granted and nothing had ever happened. Takizawa grumbled about it, but got over it quickly... Hoji had forbade it, but the reason he had been left out of the Aogiri rade a few months back was because of the mans request. He didn't feel that the boy was ready for the combat and would rather gradually ease him into the more dangerous scenarios. "Thank you."
"What about me, Seidou?" A new, lighter voice announced, muffled by the sounds of chewing and licking. The two turned then, only slightly, to see a young man, even younger than Seidou, who at first appeard to be a girl if you didn't know him, chewing on a lollipop rather nonchalantly. It was Juuzou Suzuya, and just as before, he was acting as strange as he ever did... not to mention unprofessional... But, never the less he always got the job done... messily, but still done. "I got promoted too, Seidou, remember? You remember right? You should congratulate me as well!"
That must have stung a fair bit... Koutarou commented, smiling. It's never easy watching someone younger than you progress, especially when that someone practically skipped basic training.
Grumbling, and annoyed turning away from Juuzou, Seidou then spoke under his breath. "Yeah, I know... I just don't care."
Though, if he heard, Juuzou didn't seem to particularly mind it at all, he just kept sucking away at his candy, lacing his fingers behind his blonde scalp and walked right past the two into the meeting room. Koutarou didn't really mind it so much as Seidou did though. The young investigator now seemed to be fuming at the thought of the disrespect that he was just shown. However, thankfully, he didn't act on it. He just slumped his shoulders and followed.
In the end, the wait for Investigator Shinohara hadn't been that long, a few minuets at most, but who was counting? What really was bugging Amon was his subordinates lack of appearance. Still, ever the professional one, Koutarou, instead of angrily and loudly worrying about her whereabouts simply began to drum his fingers on the desk in front of him impatiently. Your father would have none of this... Amon mentally scolded as he closed his eye's in annoyance.
However about that same time the door opened, letting in two figures. A small, slim one and a tall muscular one. The first of the two was, appropriately, Akira Mado herself, a slight smile on her face. Koutarou fought the urge to scold her for not rushing in to the room and finding her place quickly, making up for the time she could have cost them if she had not shown up just now. The second however, was Shinohara, who seemed to be accompanying ms. Mado in a friendly way.
Amon frowned... There was an excuse, but it was an excuse nonetheless...
However, there was a certain new feeling in the air... A feeling emanating from Seidou. He looked dejected, angry, and annoyed all at the same time. He had his head resting against the ball of his wrist, which was slightly digging into it, forcing the wrinkles on his head to become more and more prominent. "Oh, why does she have to be here?" Koutaro heard him grumble to himself. "Why can't she just leave me alone for once, huh?"
"Seidou?" Koutarou called, prompting him to turn his attention. "You two know one another?"
Seidou merely chuckled in defeat "We were in the same class..."
Amon looked back to Akira as she went to take her seat next to him, and, if his mind was not playing tricks on him, he would have sworn that he had seen a smirk on her face. Apparently Seidou and Akira, from the way they interacted, had some sort of rivalry back in the academy. The thought was almost enough to make Koutarou smirk himself, but it would be best not to... after all it would be very unprofessional.
"Now then..." Shinohara began, clasping his hands together in a formal fashion, "Now that we've all arrived here, I guess we can-" He stopped abruptly, frowning, and looking at Seidou. The boy was without a partner... he was alone.
"Ahhh... Seidou?"
Seidou turned to look at him, averting his glare from Mado. "Hmm?" He hummed in response.
"Where's Hoji at?"
"Oh, he said that he'd been called for some immediate business and that he couldn't make it... He tried calling you but it didn't go through. He wanted me to take notes for him." the 2nd-class explained, throwing his wrist into the air non-nonchalantly.
"I see..." Acknowledged Shinohara, "Then, let's begin with the debriefing on the binge eat-" Shinohara never got to finish that scentence, because as he tried to the door slammed open and in came a slightly sweaty, rushed Hoji, with a vanilla folder in his hands, documents slightly sticking out of it in a disheveled manner.
"Hoji?" Shinohara asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"The main office..." he panted, "Has some important news from the twentieth ward."
That, of course, led to where the group of investigators standing in one of the many secret ghoul restaurants in Tokyo, along with some other members of the CCG, not quite investigators, but rather scientists. The scientists were the ones who were in charge of creating quinque's and other ghoul related things. Chief among them Dr. Chigyou, a rather skinny man who's large bowl cut hair seemed to intentionally have been styled to cover his eye's.
However, the scientist and his underlings were the least of Koutarou's worries at the moment. Of course he wouldn't even have noticed them had one not just accidentally walked into his field of vision. How could he care? After all, he was standing dead center in a room filled with the destroyed, decapitated, penetrated, and mangled bodies of ghouls. On top of that, the ghouls around, all seemed to be incredibly wealthy, dressed fashionably, in expensive attire... But what good was all that money in the end? He asked mentally, turning over a ghoul with his foot... And what in the hell actually happened here?
The forensics department had determined that this was no work of an investigator, nor the work of someone who had gotten their hands on a quinque, but another ghoul... Or ghoul's rather. The Kagune had different marks of entry, and the marks were consistent... Two rinkaku user's had been apart of this massacre as well as a Koukaku user. However there was one answer to all of this... The assailants. The more rough wounds were made by the 13th wards "Jason", a lieutenant in Aogiri... or so they thought him to be... But this was not an Aogiri attack, that much was certain. Aogiri only ever attacked humans, and besides, what would be gained from this?
The next one, the Koukaku user, was "The Gourmet". A ghoul who had been laying low recently, but not low enough to be off the radar completely. What was strange though, was that the CCG had been certain that the gourmet was a member of at least one of the restaurants, but the fact the fact that he was apart of this suggested a falling out... Now they didn't just rely on shape, they also relied on the DNA left from Kagune to determine the culprit... and the Lab worked fast.
The last assailant was... a shocker to say the least. The DNA left from the Kagune, as well as the shape of the wounds suggested none other than the "Binge Eater". The ghoul had resurfaced apparently, and they had announced their presence with a great force. But what was more worrisome is that... These three were working together...
Koutarou frowned and looked over to Suzuya, who was preoccupying himself by rolling over the giant masked man that they had found, gripping a quinque in his cold, dead hand... Where the hell did they get that? He watched as Suzuya began waving to the body, smiling brightly as if he had just been reunited with an old friend.
Next, Akira appeared next to him, almost causing him to jump at the sudden approach. "Koutarou," She spoke, in the way that she always did, without honorifics or anything like it. "The scientist are telling me that we can't gain anything else from being here any longer. They know this is our ward, but they can't have us impeding their work."
Koutarou nodded, turning as his subordinate did, a single thought in his mind... It was completley unrelated to the case and had zero relevance to anything else but... He couldn't help but wonder if "Eyepatch" had also been killed by this group... Amon hadn't seen the ghoul since his superiors death and the words he spoke to him resonated in his mind ever since. "Don't make me a killer..."
Koutarou frowned, You're a ghoul... You were a killer the moment you were born.
It hadn't taken them long to get the woman to reveal that Dr. Kanou's residents, Touka noted, as the the group began towards the mansion that loomed at the end of the drivewat, surrounded by tree's that seemed to bee a cold blue in the light of the moon. "The group" was Kaneki, Yakumo, Banjou, his group,Shuu, Touka, and Madam A. The most flamboyant of which Touka demanded stay in her sight at all times, lest she end the fight that they had started 4 years ago. The Europe-envious ghoul simply flipped his purple hair chuckled at the threat when she made it, saying he had no intentions of letting Kaneki die to anyone who could do so in that mansion... It wasn't who was in the mansion she was worried about though...
Touka sighed to herself, shifting her eye's,only her eye's to Kaneki... Recently, despite his faith in Eto's "act", it seemed that all the progress he had made had been slowly becoming reset, bringing him back to how he was after they first rescued him from Aogiri... Much more unpredictable... just like this morning.
Earlier Today, Author: Sen Takatsuki's (Eto) Home.
Touka gulped as Banjou closed his lips for the final time, fully explaining what he had seen Kaneki do... Suddenly Touka was glad she had been left behind... According to the well-built, but admittedly weak, ghoul, Kaneki(along with Yamori, Shittyama, and Banjou himself, to some extent) had murdered every single attendee at the restaurant. The half-ghouls reason for the act was... understandable... and he didn't make them suffer. But, and the man wasn't quite sure of this himself, Banjou had thought he'd seen Kaneki eating the bodies, some of them, as the others hunted down any other employee or member at the restaurant.
And now, looking back out into the living room(noticing the shut tight blinds), Touka had seemed to realize that Kaneki had yet to notice that he was practically caked in the blood of ghouls... or he didn't care. God she hoped it was the former. It did seem though that he wasn't dealing with Eto leaving as well as he led on... Kaneki was becoming one of those people... How had the author her self described it? "The more used something someone is the more difficult it is for them to cope with losing it... At the same time, when pushed to extremities, those people(the ones who have lost) can become crueler than the world itself." Sighing, Touka nodded to herself more than banjou, and made her way back into the living room... she needed to show Kaneki that he wasn't alone in this...
Making her way past Yakumo, then Shuu, she finally arrived at Kaneki, who had taken the time to look down at his left hand, which was surprisingly clear of gore, apathetically, like he was bored of what was going on at the moment. Then, Touka found herself shaking, scared to how he'd reply to her. It wasn't that long ago that he was more timid than even Hinami was it? No, certainly not... But... dammit... Why did you have to change?
"Hey." Touka said, approaching the half-ghoul.
Quickly, as if he were hiding something, the white haired boy threw his hand behind his back and looked up, same apathetic look on his face. "Hi...' He replied back, a little confused.
Touka smiled, awkwardly, trying to find a way to get him to say more than that to her, and found her eye's wandering to that left hand which had suddenly been put away so quickly... that's when she saw it. A single, pale finger, the tip sticking out awkwardly in his closed fist... it wasn't his finger... Oh God... Touka thought, looking away quickly and back to his face... He is cannibalizing... But then, every time he eats he cannibalizes one way or another, right?
"I'm going to get you a bath ready... I don't know if you've realized it yet, but you're covered in blood." was her way of continuing the conversation.
"Kaneki looked down at his closed and frowned, "You're right... I am, aren't I?" he paused, looking up. "I'm sorry Touka, I didn't mean to scare you, or anyone, I just... Other things were on my mind..."
Like cannibalism?
"That's fine..." She said quickly, hoping to move past it... "So... How long after she tells you do you think we should go?"
Kaneki frowned, and opened his mouth. "Touka..." he began, almost apologetically, "You have your grades to worry about, as well as your identity as a ghoul... I can't let you come with me..." he paused, "I'm sorry."
There was almost a breathless silence for her... She felt like a child who was denied getting a present when she heard it... but unlike a child she could do something about it...
"You're joking right?" She replied almost instantly. "You're talking to me about school and social standings? You haven't been to school in half a year just about, and you haven't left this goddamn house except to go to Anteiku either!" Her voice was raising, gaining the attention of the others.
"It's not only that." Kaneki replied, "I don't want you getting hurt."
"Getting hurt?" She asked again, "What the hell are you talking about!? Sure I may not be stronger than you anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't take care of myself!"
"Touka-"
"I care about her too." She interrupted, angrily. "She's practically my older sister... She was all I had when Ayato ran off to be with those goddamn cultists! And, I know you aren't 100% sure that she actually is acting, but... I... You aren't denying me this..."
Of course, Like a lot of things in her life lately, it wasn't that simple was it? No, Eto was the main goal to her, of course, of course, but... She also wanted to see Kaneki happy again... Of course that's what most of them wanted, but, it felt like out of everything that's what she wanted the most out of this whole ordeal in terms of the result... Kaneki had never done anything wrong, so why did he have to go through all this? She asked herself, still trying to keep a determined look on her face.
But, she found a way to keep it determined... She finally came to terms with herself... It doesn't matter if he never returns my feelings for him... He had every reason not to, after all I've done to him... But, that doesn't change the fact that I wan't to see him happy again... Like before, when he was with Eto...
It seemed though, while she had been lost in the memory of this morning, the group had traversed the incredibly large front lawn and to the giant set of twin doors that loomed over them. Touka frowned, supposedly, this entire mansion had belonged to a single family once... The Yasuhisa's, however after the family was attacked and the mother and father were killed by a ghoul it was abandoned... The city hadn't bothered to take it down, and no one bothered to but it... It just remained here, forgotten.
Kaneki turned to the now trembling Madam A, her finger now curled unto her lower, red lip. She had redawned the outfit earlier, since that would more than likely put Kanou at ease when she arrived. furrowing his brow at her, The half-ghoul spoke. "Is there anything unexpected behind these doors?" he asked, expecting a response.
The Madam simply shook her head no and averted her gaze to the ground, staring at her toes. Then, Yakumo had placed a rough hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Them, you woun't mind going first?" and with that, he pushed her into the door, causing it to burst open violently, almost breaking the lock, and into a dark hallway.
The rest followed in soon after, allowing the Madam time to get to her feet. The mansion had seemed... well kept, proving that Maiko hadn't lied to them, there was definietly someone still living in this house. There was hardly any dust, no dirt, and it practically looked like new... However, it seemed that at the moment it was empty. No one home.
"There's not a light on in the whole damn thing..." Murmured Banjou, to himself as he looked around, a little more than on edge. But, Kaneki recalled onetime, hearing it from Hinami, that the large man was afraid of ghost stories and horror television programming. So it wasn't that surprising.
Kaneki turned his head, just in time to see Madam A pick her prone form off the floor and dust off her clothes, adjusting those green glasses that she had on and puffing. "Call him." Kaneki told her, prompting her to quickly throw her head up in surprise.
"W-what?" She stammered, confused.
"I'm sure you have him on your cell phone, or some other way to contact him... So do it."
The woman began shaking her head vigorously. "N- NO, I don't! He finds me when he needs me, not the other way around... He doesn't trust me, and rightfully so... I mean... I led you all here, didn't I?" However, she saw Kaneki's glare, as subtle as it was on his apathetic face, and she began to think of someway to save her skin.
"B-but!" She said, almost excited, "Sometime's he comes out of his basement at times, with those two assistants of his... He may be there now!She said, now shifting her head towards a cellar door to her right, almost hidden, as it was the same color as the wall it was carved into. "W-why don't you go check it out?" She finished with a bright, almost happy smile. But her discomfort and feat was still quite visible.
Of course, Kaneki, ever so hopeful to finally meet with Eto a second time since her leaving, decided to take it. The underneath of the mansion was quite the contrast to the modern home that stood above. The basement was enormous, as well as a maze, along with looking like a mid-evil dungeon with it's brick layered hallway's, brown and powdery with the buildup of dust over the years.
Eventually, the group found themselves walking about another half hour, being led by the Madam, who was now visibly sweating as she searched the hallways for a door, any door. Kaneki, as well as the others of the group, aside from maybe Tsukiyama, who was admiring the smell of Kaneki, were becoming increasingly annoyed at the lack of any fruit to be bared.
Until Finally, they saw it... A giant slit in the wall, meaty, dripping and organic all the way... It was pulsing slightly, whether it was airflow or a heartbeat Kaneki didn't know, but what he did know is that this was a way forward if he ever saw one... Still, he had to know.
"What is that?" He inquired to the madam, who now looked just as confused or intrigued as he was.
"I... I don't know... It's disgusting. It looks like a gaping wound in a way doesn't it?"
"You mean you don't know what that is?" Touka inquired now, arching an eyebrow, "I thought you said you've been down here before."
"No, I said he has... Normally, I'm not allowed down in this part of the mansion, if I get past the front door at all. All of this is completely new to me..."
Kanou sighed as he looked at his computer monitor once again, tapping his finger onto the screen in boredom... First Aogiri comes... Now the masterpiece returns... I can't decide whether these past two days are a blessing or a curse... I just have to wonder why he didn't come here sooner... After all I at least looked over him from afar when he was taken by aforementioned Ghoul organization... Kanou sighed mentally and smile.
"Kurona... Nashiro... Shachi... Orange... We have some uninvited guests... Make sure they don't get to see our two most important resident's will you?"