Akira and Yomo are the only adults in the room
"Yomo," called Rabbit quietly as the two of them raced to get some distance from the bar.
A large figure landed in front of them. "What happened," said Yomo from behind his raven mask.
Another ghoul dropped from above to land a bit behind Akira.
"What are you doing here?" Rabbit shook her head but continued addressing Yomo. "Itori gave us a lot to work with, but she also baited Haise into coming here to look for ghouls, so we gotta go. Why are all your friends so sketchy?"
Akira finally looked behind her and nearly had a heart attack at the sight of Orochi, casually listening with his hands in his pockets. "I followed Yomo. You guys have been acting dodgy all month, so I figured you might need my help. If it comes down to it, I'll fight Kaneki so you guys can get away. I owe him a beating."
Akira was vibrating with tension, but was not stupid enough to attack anyone yet.
Touka eyed her cautiously and decided, "Let's try and get somewhere we can hide out for a while."
"Fine. I'll try not to pick a fight with your boy toy. Let's go." Orochi jogged off, following some internal compass. The rest followed.
It quickly became apparent that Touka wasn't as fast as she usually was. That helped distract from Akira's human slowness, at least.
Orochi called back over his shoulder, "What's up with you, slowpoke? Pick up the pace!"
"Shut up and move," Touka shot back. Then to Akira, "You okay?"
Shit. I'm in a ghoul disguise, with Rabbit and Orochi, and my own subordinate is out here somewhere trying to hunt us down. This might literally be the worst-case scenario.
"Yeah."
They slowed down after a couple of minutes and settled into a quick walk, with everyone scanning the alley ahead, and any visible rooftops.
Something was off, though. Akira couldn't figure it out—there was no sign of trouble and it was so late that the only noise was their quiet footsteps echoing off of the surrounding buildings.
Wait…what if not all of the footsteps are echoes?
"Behind us," she whispered.
Everyone froze. It was like a scene out of a horror movie, when they all slowly turned their heads to look over their shoulders.
There he was, casually spinning his quinque in one hand, one red eye, cutting an imposing figure in a white trench coat from his time with Arima's squad.
"We're out late, aren't we?" He chuckled in that unnerving way of his, the way that always raised Akira's hackles and served as a warning sign for an impending episode.
He's not sadistic, but he is good at his job. This is bad.
Because their little group was suddenly reversed, Akira and Touka—the ones who should have been the most protected—found themselves face-to-face with the last investigator in the CCG they wanted to confront.
When everyone else was frozen, not quite sure what to do next, it was Touka who acted first. She took a leisurely step forward.
Yomo muttered quietly, "Don't get sucked into a drawn-out battle. We just need to get away."
"Hey." Rabbit spoke in a low, dangerous voice, made even more eerie as it echoed through her mask. "Can't you let us go, for old time's sake?"
Haise narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious at the friendly greeting. Pointing his katana at her, he growled, "No. Not you and not Orochi."
Orochi held up his hands. "I know we've had some issues in the past, but you're going to regret it if you attack us."
Haise laughed darkly. "Is that a threat?"
"I meant more like existential regret, you know?"
Rabbit held out one arm to hold Orochi back. Then, in an act that ratcheted up everyone's stress, she took another step towards her husband.
"We're not trying cause any trouble, Eyepatch."
Crap, is she trying to trigger an episode? Actually, yeah, that might be her plan. It's short-sighted and I'll probably have to deal with the fallout, but it could work.
Upon hearing the moniker that followed him wherever he went, he choked up his grip on the quinque and moved his front foot forwards a half-step. "Why don't you run that by me one more time."
She recognized those tells. "He'll attack soon," Akira whispered. She couldn't fight like an investigator tonight and she certainly couldn't fight like a ghoul, but she would contribute where she could.
"I see it," responded Yomo.
Orochi hissed at Yomo, "Screw this, she's gonna get herself killed."
Akira gritted her teeth as she watched him release his kagune and charge Haise. The rapid assault gave Orochi the chance to knock the quinque away, clattering down the alley.
Haise wasn't left defenseless, though. With a shout, he struck back with his own kagune. It crashed through the serpentine kagune to deal Orochi a glancing blow to the leg, and then bat him aside.
The ghoul slammed into a wall and didn't hop back to his feet. Not good. Instead, he tried to hold closed the gaping wound across his thigh. Akira thought she saw a flash of pale bone in the injury before it started healing.
Yomo flashed through the field of combat and, with a single strike, Haise's kagune was cut off and dispersed into a red mist. Akira barely even saw him manifest his kagune before it was gone.
So he is as dangerous as he seems.
It was during that momentary distraction that Rabbit saw her opening and tackled him to the ground. They rolled a couple of times, ending with her on top and Haise gasping at having the wind knocked out of him.
The entire brawl only lasted a few seconds.
Yomo helped Orochi up as they watched, ready to step in, but no one's objective here was to kill Haise or even to escalate the situation.
She pulled a fist back to punch him. And then lowered it. "I won't hurt you," she said.
"Why not," he spat out.
"You and I go way back, Eyepatch."
"Don't call me that name!" His red left eye blazed to life anew, and like a cobra he struck at Rabbit.
With the sickeningly loud crunch of teeth through skin, he grabbed her by the arms and latched on to her shoulder.
Everything froze for a split second, because no one—not even Haise, it seemed—had been expecting that.
"Ow!" Rabbit reached up to yank back on his hair, hard, and managed to pull his bloodstained mouth off her. She shoved him back to the ground and jumped back a dozen feet, to land clutching at the bloody wound above her collarbone.
Their attacker sat up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and a shocked look on his face.
He'd paused long enough to give Orochi an opening, though—the serpent's regenerated kagune snaked around one ankle and tossed Haise down the back alley to land in an open dumpster. "Get a room next time!"
Rabbit stared after her husband, took a step in his direction.
Akira shouted, "Rabbit, run!"
The ghoul snapped out of it and joined the rest of them as they sprinted to put some distance between them and the ghoul investigator that didn't realize they were all on his side.
The tired foursome found a closed storefront that was for lease. Yomo directed them around the side, where he kicked in a boarded-up window and jumped in.
Everyone got inside and collapsed on the dusty floor, and for several minutes the only sound was three ghouls and a human trying to catch their breath.
Akira couldn't stop thinking about how easily Yomo, Touka, and Orochi had managed Haise. They're all incredibly dangerous, and yet Yomo and Touka mostly stay under the CCG's radar. They could really wreak havoc if they wanted. Although it seemed that no one, not even Haise, was trying to go in for the kill tonight.
Then she had another, worse, thought. Work tomorrow is going to be interesting.
Leaning against the wall, Yomo removed his raven mask. Touka pushed hers up so that she could breathe easier, then unzipped her coat. The wound on her shoulder was healing fast enough that she didn't feel the need to fuss over it.
Akira tried to suppress her concern, but quickly lost that internal battle. She quietly asked the pregnant ghoul, "You got knocked around a bit, will you need to find a doctor?"
Touka shook her head. "Nah, I'm tough. I didn't take any hits I'm worried about." She laughed sardonically. "We do this without doctors all the time."
Following everyone else's suit, Orochi yanked his snake mask off and tossed it aside. "Man, what a mess. Am I right?"
He stared around the room for someone to chime in, only to be met with Touka and Yomo staring at him in silent horror.
"What?"
Akira just sighed.
Touka spoke first. "Nishiki, I don't even know how to explain how badly you've screwed up."
He adjusted his glasses and looked around. He didn't understand quite what was going on, but… "Hey, we all survived, right? I know I wasn't invited, but I feel kind of obligated to look out for you. You and Kaneki helped save Kimi's life…You know if you bit him that one time, and he got you just now, you guys are, like, married?"
"Oh, nooo," said Touka sarcastically.
"Whatever. All I'm saying is, I owe the both of you. Even if that means keeping him from hurting you when you've got a kid on the way."
"Ugh, how do you even know about that?!" Touka slouched back against the counter she was leaning against.
He listed off the evidence on his fingers. "I was a pharmacy student, I was in a long-term relationship with a human woman, I caught you eating a hamburger in the back of :re last month…I know you have a low opinion of me but I'm pretty damn smart and I know women." Then, to add insult to injury, he added, "Plus, you've been sitting like that the whole time we've been in here."
Touka looked down, where she had indeed rested both hands on her belly in a gesture that was nearly unconscious and very recognizable. "Shit."
Nishiki continued. "But hey, good thing I showed up, right? If it was just you and Yomo and uh…sorry, have we met?" He looked at the silent black-masked woman.
Akira gave up and took her own mask off. She started massaging her temples, trying to hold the headache at bay. Why does everything keep getting worse? "Nope. Your reputation precedes you, though."
Touka directed her next question at Akira. "Sooo…what's the best way to handle this?"
The investigator threw her hands up. "I don't even know who to trust anymore after tonight. You haven't killed me yet so I suppose if you decide he can know, I'll go along with it."
The ghoul chewed on her lip while she thought. "He's been taking out Aogiri members left and right, he's not a total idiot, he owes me for that time I didn't kill his girlfriend…What's his rating?"
"Around S, last I heard."
"Then it won't hurt to have him in our corner in a fight if you guys can avoid killing each other."
As she said, Nishiki wasn't an idiot. He was listening avidly, trying desperately to understand the subtext of everything they were saying.
Yomo maintained his stony silence.
Nishiki kept staring at the unnamed female across from him. "Touka…I'm worried that you're about to ruin my day."
"More like your life, buddy. Sorry. You just took your mask off in front of a dove."
"Associate Special Investigator Akira Mado. Pleased to meet you, Orochi. Or, I'm sorry, Nishiki was it?"
Orochi—Nishiki—got a blank look on his face. He slowly sank to the floor, covered his face in his hands and groaned. "Whyyy…"
"What's the matter? You've been getting your meals from us for years, right? You haven't preyed on any humans in ages. There's no reason bringing you onboard this slow-moving train wreck with Akira here could cause any problems. The CCG couldn't possibly have any special business with you, right?!" Touka sounded like she was at the end of her rope as well.
"Oh, can it, Touka. Like you haven't done the same."
"Yeah, when I was in high school! What's your excuse?" She stood up and stomped across the room to stand over him.
He looked up at the enraged ghoul looming over him. He managed to squeak out, "Love?"
As she spoke, she punctuated her words with sharp kicks to his side. "Oh, shut up! I've held this in long enough because I thought what you do wasn't my business. I didn't get it when I was a kid and Mr. Yoshimura said we shouldn't attack the doves after Ryoko was killed. I thought I was an adult but I was still a child then."
"Ow! Jeez—Stop it!"
He tried to roll away, but she just cornered him against the wall and continued her barrage. "I didn't see how much my actions affected everyone around me. I think I get it better now, because even though you're older than me, you're somehow more immature and now your messes are making my life more difficult!"
While she ranted, Yomo and Akira glanced at each other. They seemed to have reached the reluctant understanding that they were the only adults in the room.
"I'm not going to stop her," said Akira. "As far as I'm concerned, Orochi has it coming."
Yomo closed his eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh. He slowly moved to stand behind Touka as she raged, and put a hand on her shoulder to halt her. "It's time to go. Let's get out of here."
Gosh, they're all out way past their bedtimes.
I wanted to mention that I appreciate every comment even if I don't always respond to every one...sometimes I'm just reading them super early in the morning on a busy day, brain-dead and barely able to process being alive because I haven't downed my daily pot of black coffee.
Next week: Akira sinks to a new low.