Author's Notes: I'm still not sure how often I will be able to post, especially since tests are coming up in about a week and a half at my school. I hope that I will be able to post at least once a week, or possibly even sooner. Please remember that I am new to all of this writing stories and stuff so things might not make sense or they may not even be interesting. I am open for opinions and I will try my best to write an entertaining story. Please don't forget to review my work!
Chapter 1:
Lith, although much younger and shorter than the ghoul, walked right in front of him. She faced him while he became enraged by her attitude. He attempted to punch her in the stomach, but surprisingly missed.
The ghoul started to think before he acted. He noticed that she was extremely fast, even for ghoul standards. As his mind continued to wonder, he was suddenly interrupted by said girl.
"So… can I go now? My friends and I really need to get home…we'll be in trouble if we don't." With said with a plain voice.
"No way! I'm starving, and all three of you have already seen my face! I can't have doves chasing me!"
Suddenly, the pink haired child started crying. "I wanna go home! I'm scared, brother!" She started to throw a fit, alerting people in the neighbourhood. The dark alleyway started to brighten with people turning on lights to find out what the commotion was about.
The angered ghoul became startled and ran towards the toddler. Using his red Bikaku, he grabbed the girl, making people notice the ghoul. As he covered his face with his arm, he stated "If any of you attempt to stop me, I'll slice her in half!". He quickly started running towards an empty street when the other sibling, started to charge at the ghoul. The ghoul easily threw him across the street. As he was about to fall, Lith took out her bright yellow Rinkaku kagune and caught him in time.
"You need to be more careful, or you'll get hurt! Next time try avoiding dangerous ghouls like him." she stated.
As she said that, the boy stared in awe at what had just happened. A ghoul had tried to save him and his younger sister? And even after that, when he charged at the other ghoul and almost crashed, he was saved again? Just what was with that ghoul? Is it even a ghoul? It's just a girl around his age. It wasn't even possible! Ghouls were supposed to be cruel, killing machines!
"Ne, are you ok? You seem kinda pale…" said Lith, with an anxious voice. The other ghoul was going to use this as a distraction to escape when his arm was suddenly pierced by a Rinkaku. The ghoul turned his head to face the calm girl. Something was wrong. Then he saw it. She only had one kakugan. She was a One-Eyed Ghoul! But that wasn't even possible! They were just urban legends that weren't real!
"Now that I have your attention, let go of that girl or you'll regret it." Lith said in an angered voice. The ghoul let go of the girl and ran away. As he was leaving an orange haired man in a white suit approached the scene. Lith quickly grabbed the child with her Rinkaku and placed her beside the startled sibling. Then her kagune disappeared and her eye turned normal.
She took a protective stance in front of them as the man opened a briefcase and a black and purple Koukaku appeared in his hand. "Move away from those humans, you filthy creature!"
"Sorry, but I can't do that. I've decided that I want to protect innocent from beings that try to cause imbalance and try to harm them."
The investigator suddenly burst into laughter. "A ghoul, protect a human from another? Don't mess with me!"
"Huh? You're a human too? Oops, I thought you were another ghoul! No wonder you don't smell like one. I guess you probably won't harm these children…" remarked Lith in a surprised voice. Realizing her mistake, she quickly bowed down in apology and disappeared. The investigator decided not to give chase, as he noted that the civilians appeared safe. He'd have to make a report about the ghoul that escaped without even trying to give a fight.
—
Lith felt embarrassed. She had mistaken a human for a ghoul! How could that possibly happen? She had heard about Investigators, who were commonly known as doves by ghouls. Although she had learned a lot about them, she had never actually seen one in the flesh. What had greatly surprised her was the fact that she had imagined their "kagune" as something else. It appeared as though if she wanted to change the world, she would first have to learn from it.
Suddenly, a strong, yet delicious smell caught her attention. As she walked towards it, she appeared to have managed to stumble into a cafe. "Um, excuse me miss, but we're not open yet." said a waiter with short, purple hair.
"Excuse me, but I seem to have caught scent of something delicious…would you mind telling me what it was, Ghoul-sama?" asked Lith with curiosity in her voice. Shocked, the ghoul waiter took a step back.
"What do you mean?" asked the ghoul with a gentle tone in her voice.
"That's because you smell like one."
"Touka, please open the shop. It's about time to get started. I'll lead our little customer to the second floor." said the shop's manager, ignoring the ghoul's growing anger.
"Yes manager." the ghoul sighed.
—
As the manager lead Lith to a room on the second floor, she stared in awe at all the colourful decorations.
"Are you a ghoul yourself?" the manager asked.
"Of course! But the thing is this is my first time in the outside world. I've been in the 24th ward all my life." replied Lith as she sat down on a black couch. "But, I'm curious. Where am I? This place has a lot of ghouls."
"This is Anteiku, a ghoul cafe." said the manager as he sat down to face her.
"Could I please have some coffee? It smells delicious! And maybe something else…do you have any sandwiches?"
"Sandwich? But you're a ghoul. It wouldn't be good for your system if you ate some."
"Don't worry, I can eat human food too! At least thats what Kaiko told me." explained Lith.
"Kaiko? Would you happen to be a member from V?" asked the manager in a calm tone.
"Why would you know? Were you a member? Are you a member? Are you going to take me back?!" Lith said in a scared voice. She quickly took out her Ukaku kagune and prepared to make a run for it. Unfortunately, this meant that her kakugan was visible. The manager quickly noticed this.
"You're a One-Eyed Ghoul?" asked the manager. That caused Lith to cover her normal eye with her hand. She was scared. Beyond scared, she was horrified at the thought of having to go back to V. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't believe that the only reason she was born into the world was to kill others.
"Yes, I am. And if you tell anyone, I'm afraid I'd have to silence you and anyone else who gets in my way." responded Lith in a bold voice. Even though she said this, internally she felt like she was going to fall apart.
"Don't worry Miss, I wouldn't hurt you. Here at Anteiku, we help out other ghouls. This is a very peaceful ward in comparison to others. I won't ask anymore questions, but if you want, I'll be here to listen to you."
Relief spread across Lith's body. She hid her kagune and her eye changed back to normal. She decided that she would trust the manager and possibly visit the cafe once in a while.
"Would you still want something to drink?" asked the manager.
Lith nodded her head. She went back down to the main floor and sat down in front of a small table beside the window. This cafe was strange. Both humans and ghouls visited here to drink coffee. Maybe she could try to make a friend with the first person she saw. With turned her head and saw a young ghoul reading a book.
"Hi!" Lith said, as she attempted to start a friendly conversation. The purple haired ghoul raised her head and smiled.
"Hello." said the ghoul. Then she returned her attention to her book. Annoyed by the fact that Lith wasn't able to keep up a conversation, she attempted to get her attention once again.
"What book are you reading?"
"The Black Goat's Egg."
"Is it interesting?"
"Of course it is. That's why I'm reading it." said the ghoul with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice. Lith started panicking. The ghoul was clearly starting to get mad at her. She couldn't think of anything else to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind.
"My name is Lith! How about you?"
"My name is Rize. Now if you could stop asking me questions, I'll be leaving now." said Rize. With watched as she got up from her seat, payed Touka, and left through the front door.
"Thanks a lot. Now we have one less customer." said Touka.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't have any friends, so I tried to make one, but it didn't turn out as I expected." said Lith. As she tried to think of a way to fix things, the manager interrupted them.
"Touka, some coffee and a sandwich for her, please." Touka glared at Lith but went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned with Lith's food.
—
The manager had agreed to let Lith stay at the cafe over night while she found an apartment. As her payment, she decided she would help work the next day at the cafe.
The next day, Lith came downstairs before the coffee shop opened.
"Now, make sure that you remember to make coffee and sandwiches. If you mess up, you'll be the one to apologize."
"Yes, ghoul-sama!" responded Lith in a sarcastic voice.
"I told you not to call me that! Do you want me to get killed!?" asked Touka. Lith shrugged. "You know what! Never mind!"
While Touka opened the shop, Lith turned on the television. There seemed to be a lot of channels talking about ghouls. She decided that people would most likely want to hear the news in the morning, so she changed the channel to a news station reporting about a ghoul incident. Lith quickly turned around when she heard a bell ring. Two college students walked in and sat down at a coffee table. They seemed to be talking about something, but Lith couldn't tell what.
A few minutes later, the orange haired boy suddenly started talking out loudly. "For example, which one's the cute coffee shop girl you were telling me about?"
"Ack!? You're shouting! Don't look around like that…" replied the black haired boy.
Lith giggled. "Could they possibly be talking about you?"
"As if. Anyways, I'm pretty sure they're talking about Rize. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." replied Touka.
Lith watched in amusement as the ecstatic customer called Touka over. Touka looked so sweet when she was working with customers. But Lith knew better. Touka may look sweet on the outside, but in reality, she was horrifying if you got on her wrong side.
"Kirishima-san… DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!?" asked the orange haired boy. Touka looked like she was about to die of embarrassment. She quickly ran away, clutching her notebook tightly.
"Hide, why you- stop that, you idiot!" screamed the black haired boy. All Hide could do was stare at Touka with a dazed look in his eyes. The black haired boy continued to talk, but Lith stopped listening the moment she heard the door ring. As Lith turned her head, she saw Rize. Although she looked gracious, Lith thought she had some kind of split personality. One moment she was nice, the next she was Suddenly there was a pause and the atmosphere changed.
As Rize passed by, Lith noticed that the black haired boy was blushing and Hide wasn't helping. It was then that she understood. The black haired boy had a crush on Rize. As the two boys looked away and started talking to each other, Lith approached Rize to see if she wanted to order something (and if she was still mad at Lith).
"Good morning, could I offer you anything to drink?" asked Lith in her most polite tone. Rize's expression quickly changed. One moment she was glaring at Lith and the next she was smiling and asking for a cup of coffee.
"Talk about bipolar…" Lith mumbled as she walked away. With watched as Hide left the cafe as she poured some coffee. The black haired boy was left alone while reading a book. He appeared to have the same one as Rize, but Lith couldn't tell from a distance.
"Pay attention, you idiot!" Touch exclaimed as hot coffee streamed from the edges of a cup.
"Oh! Sorry!" stuttered Lith.
"If you want you can try to pay me back another way." said the manager, as he walked towards Lith, handing her a towel.
"But, how will I do that? I'm not even sure if I can survive in the outside world at all!" responded Lith.
"How about, if Anteiku ever needs help, you must come to aid us." said the manager.
"Deal!" responded Lith.
—
Lith had nothing else to do, so she decided to just wander the streets of the 20th ward. She quickly learned to enjoy the peace it had to offer, but found something strange. V was not attempting to recapture her.