So I've been thinking about what anime I should watch next. I'd prefer something fairly new, so I'm considering Drifters, or the one with the genius little girl in an army (although that one's still airing), or maybe I'll go rewatch Kill la Kill. I don't care what anyone says about the fan service. That anime is a work of art, and anyone who hasn't watched it because of the skanky outfits, excuse my tone: GET OVER IT! You won't regret watching it! The thing is, I don't watch anime as much as I used to, because I've gotten really picky with the storylines. As an author myself, I pay attention to every, little detail in the stories. Basically, I find it difficult to watch an anime purely for mindless enjoyment. So...any suggestions as to what I should watch?
Back to the fanfiction.
I don't run. My feet remain planted where I stand even as she lunges at the dove, for reasons I can't quite put together coherently right now. Whatever my reasons for staying, I'm quickly mesmerized by the glow of colliding kagunes. The ghoul investigator seems to have in his suitcase a kagune of his own, which he controls beautifully as if an extension of himself. At least, I would say so if not for the ghoul in front of me that actually has one as a part of her. Although they each vie for an advantage, the ease with which Hanako manipulates her crimson tail clearly surpasses the human's control over his kagune.
Absently, I wonder when she ever found the time to train like this. I've never seen her get into any trouble other than the trouble she'd get into for me, and even then, she only ever brought out her kagune the once. After the consequences that came with that, she's been stubbornly hiding her tail away from me. Even so, she dodges and attacks like it comes naturally to her. Maybe it does. I'm not a ghoul, so how would I know?
I feel a pang in my chest at the thought. Isn't that what I'm trying to make up for by coming out here to see this? Can't I learn to understand, even if I'm not a ghoul?
"I don't want to hurt you!" The young ghoul investigator we first met at the mask shop keeps insisting his harmlessness, despite his being on the attack.
"You're sick!" Hanako laughs, leaping back to catch her breath. "Real sick, you know that?"
He attacks again before she can rest long enough. "If I call someone in, I can't guarantee your safety."
"If we're talking jokes, I've got one," Hanako offers. "Why don't you let us go and we all pretend nothing happened?"
"Quinx squad, I've located two ghouls, does anybody copy?" He presses a hand to his ear, guarding against Hanako with his suitcase weapon. "Behind the brothel."
I back against a wall to avoid the dove's kagune that flails in my direction after being knocked aside by Hanako. Reinforcements? Can Hanako handle that? Maybe we should run. Surely ghouls don't always fight when confronted. Surely some flee.
As if reading my mind, Hanako begins to back off. "Mockingbird, I'll come with you, so just go!"
If she's coming…. I take a step and locate the nearest exit. When I begin to dash towards it, though, I slip on the pooled blood. Before I can fall, an arm catches me. Then I'm thrown roughly into the wall and pinned there, another glowing kagune pointed directly at my face. Gasping from the pain that sprouts in my back, I peek at the person attached to the kagune. The owner of it is a boy around my age, with dark hair and a dark expression. A ghoul?
"Weak," he sneers. Then to Hanako, he calls, "If you don't want you companion to die a long, painful death, you'll be good and get killed!"
"Urie!" The tone of the dove is scolding.
"Don't tell me to be nice to ghouls again," he bites.
I blink. "Aren't you a ghoul?"
"No!" He presses me harder against the wall and my heart begins to race in both confusion and fear. My back aches. I'm going to have a nice, large bruise all over tomorrow.
"Don't hurt her!" Before my eyes, Hanako falls still, her resistance immediately ceased. "I...I'll go with you, just...let her go!"
"Just die," Urie orders, glancing to the dove.
"Please," Hanako turns to the ghoul investigator we've already met. "She's innocent, I swear. You can...kill me...but let her go first!" Kill her?
"Escape!" The word bursts from my lips without my thinking.
"Shut up, unless you want to die sooner." Urie's gaze turns my blood to ice, his kagune beginning to dig into the skin of my neck. My breath hitches at the pain, but if I don't do anything, she'll die! Because of me! After all she's done for me, how could I do this to her?
"Don't hurt her!" she snarls, blood staining her teeth. Urie just presses harder, and I flinch. Her kagune twitches in response, readying to fight once again. "Hurt her and I'll kill you."
"Try," Urie taunts. "I'd love to see killing the Black Cat on my list of achievements."
"Wait!" The dove shouts, Hanako freezing and Urie glaring. "Before anyone else gets hurt, I have a few questions I want to ask."
"If I answer," Hanako inquires, "will you let her go?"
"I can at the very least guarantee her life," he promises.
"Stop making deals with ghouls!" the ghoul(?) in front of me rages. "We're investigators! Our job is to kill them!"
"Indulge me, Urie. This is an order." A snarl evident on his face, Urie falls silent. "Do you go by Mockingbird?"
The question is for me? "Sure."
"I haven't heard of you before, and the Black Cat has never been reported with anyone. Did you come from a different ward?"
"I come from the same one as her," I reply.
"Which is?"
"Home," is all I say, despite knowing what he's really asking.
"Sasaki, this is pointless," Urie complains.
"One last thing," the dove calms his apparent subordinate. "Black Cat is obviously quite aggressive, but you haven't shown even the slightest signs of fighting back. Why is that?"
"Because I can't."
"Why not?"
"Does it matter?"
"Just let me kill her already!" Urie gripes impatiently.
Sasaki ignores him. "We're ghoul investigators, so we need to know all weaknesses involving ghouls. The more information you offer, the longer our organization will let you live. It's to your benefit to answer, I assure you."
"She's human." All eyes land on Hanako, who stands with her fists clenched at her side. "She can't fight back because she's human. She doesn't have a kagune or the strength to compete with a filthy dove like you."
Urie raises an eyebrow, staring me down. "Human? You expect us to believe that?" Hanako must be desperate, because in all the time we've been together, she's done her absolute best to keep my species under wraps. Because to ghouls, a human is food, and to humans, anyone associated with a ghoul is a monster. She and I have kept my connection to both worlds well hidden from the other.
On impulse, I suggest, "Cut me."
"What?" Hanako growls.
"Do it," I insist. "I won't heal. Or give me regular food. I'll chew it and swallow it. For dinner I had rice and salmon with tea."
"Urie, we can't kill her if she's a civilian," Sasaki points out.
"You can't seriously believe her!"
Slowly, I raise my arm. "Cut it."
Urie doesn't even hesitate, his kagune shooting down roughly to my shoulder. Before he can slice through anything, though, Hanako practically shrieks, "Use a knife!" When he pauses, she explains, "A ghoul's skin wouldn't be cut by a regular blade, and if you cut off her entire arm like you just about did, it won't ever grow back."
"What's it my business if she loses an arm?"
"It's our job to protect civilians," Sasaki warns.
Tch. "Fine, but do we even have a knife?"
"Use this." Sasaki tosses him a brown rectangle, which when opened, is revealed to be a pocketknife. I don't have time to prepare myself before he's slit a gash in my arm. I bite the inside of my cheek, my arm tensing reflexively.
"See?" I squeak, my voice small. "Human."
Urie, for a second, gawks at the flowing blood. Then, he relaxes away from me and I let out a long breath. My hand rubs my aching neck as he turns to Hanako and his superior. My back stings like it's just been bombarded by bees. "You'll come with us for an interrogation."
"I have to go home." Even as I say it, the look in his eyes makes my words seem futile.
"Give us your address, and we can call your parents to inform them where you'll be," he says emotionlessly.
Gritting my teeth, I respond, "I'd rather not."
"You don't have a choice."
"I'm going home!"
"Just let her," Hanako pipes up. "She can't do any harm."
"If you won't come peacefully, we'll bring you by force." Urie's kagune returns to my neck, Hanako bristling.
"Urie-"
"Stop sympathizing!" Urie cuts him off. "If anyone here is doing an acceptable job, it's me! You're too soft!"
The ghoulish investigator only has time to block when Hanako lunges, kagune whipping out like a snake. I hastily slip away from Urie while he's distracted, stumbling into a run down the alley I'd earlier identified as an exit. Without looking back, I shout, "You'd better get home before morning!"
I don't get a response, but I keep going anyway. Me being there will only hinder her more. She can't fight while having to protect me. I'll just have to trust she'll be able to slip away. Oh, god, if you exist, please let her escape! Please bring her home safely!
When I'm sure I'm not being pursued, I remove my mask and replace it on my back. Then I slip out of the back alley and into a bustling crowd. Using my phone, I find out where I am and navigate back home.
Mom's at the door to greet me when I arrive. Her eyes go to my arm first thing and she anxiously ushers me inside to care for it. I tell her I fell down a flight of stairs. When she asks about Hanako, I honestly tell her she's taking care of ghoul stuff. As usual, this prevents further questions into the matter. She has me change my shirt, telling me she'll sew and clean it, but who knows if I'll ever wear it again. If she notices any of the blood on my shoes, she doesn't say anything about it.
When I'm bandaged and cleaned, my mask hidden under my pillow for the time being, I plop in front of the television and flick it on. Before long, Mom excuses herself to bed, but I stay staring at the flashing screen. Not that I really pay attention to the drama playing on it. My eyes repeatedly flutter to the door, anticipating it opening at any moment. Whether it will reveal Hanako or doves, I don't know, but I can't help but feel like it's on the edge of opening.
At some point, it finally does, and relief floods through me when I see Hanako step inside. I abandon the couch and throw myself at her. She returns my embrace without delay, gripping me tighter than ever before.
"Thank god you're safe!"
"Far from unharmed," she mumbles. I pull back to find she's right. Her face is spotless, her mouth wiped of blood and the rest of her face having been shielded by her mask, but her arms dangle crusted with dried blood, and her clothes hang half in shreds. "I'd heard rumors, but who would have thought there'd be doves with kagunes in them?"
Deeming her clothes irreparable, I sigh and offer a forced smile. "Go take a bath and change clothes. We'll discuss things tomorrow when we've both slept."
So, contrast to my last TG fanfiction, this one isn't getting very much attention. Maybe the idea isn't that attractive to many people...I'm also thinking it might have something to do with the M rating. Scarlet Child is also M, but it was originally T. Considering the contents, I quickly changed that, but it got attention while it was T that carried over after it went M. So I'm starting to think that I should have had this rated T for the first few chapters while it could be, but after these past few scenes, I can hardly change the rating now. Even if this doesn't get the exposure Scarlet Child did, that doesn't mean you guys won't enjoy it. At least, I hope you're enjoying it. I haven't heard from anyone yet. If you aren't, please, share with me what's wrong. I can't improve my writing if you don't tell me what's wrong with it.
Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!