The Quinx of Change
Summary: The Quinx Squad is assigned their first mission, titled: Torso Investigation, where they must find the source of a ghoul whose been slaughtering women, only leaving behind their upper bodies, decapitated. Hide is assigned alongside them, all while he struggles with the temptation of Amber wanting to join in on the fun. Of course, this only further complicated by, some interesting developments.
Ward 4
The past week, for Hide went by rather quickly and uneventful, that is, if you take away the fact that Haise would have to wake him up and he had returned to the aogiri tree base again. After the third attempt, Hide ultimately decided it was not worth it anymore.
As for where Amon had gone, Hide didn't know. He had hoped the guy was alright out there, but considering his research on the doctor who brought him there in the first place, he probably was like Kaneki now.
"Hide!" The sound of Mutsuki got him out of his thoughts as he looked around and noticed Haise was on the ground.
"Oh sorry lost my train of thought, what happened?" He simply asked before Mutsuki pointed to the white haired investigator with his knees on the floor.
"We are to assist in investigating an A rated ghoul named Torso, who apparently only leaves their upper bodies decapitated." Haise said at last before getting up.
Hide had the feeling of throwing up after hearing that, "that's revolting…" he commented.
Right now, he was alongside Haise and Mutsuki looking for intel for the ghoul in question. At the moment, he was equipped with the quinque Kura. While for someone like Hide, one may think that the quinque is simply too large for him. However, through multiple training sessions with Haise and Suzuya, he was able to get the hang of how it worked, including unsheathing it as a sort of dual blade, as well as its decay phase.
"The headquarters should have the data, I'll head back." Haise stated.
"I'll go with you" Mutsuki offered, but Haise stopped him.
"No." he said, looking into Mutski's confused eyes. "Go with Hideyoshi, right now Urie and Shirazu are out, you two search around as well. I shall talk to Saiko for her tardiness once this night is finished."
Mutsuki sighed, and Hide could tell that he had some sort of connection to the investigator. Made more evident by the still position he was in, despite watching Haise walk away.
Hide sighed, not wanting to fret as the time passed, and so grabbed Mutsuki's arm. "Let's go." He merely stated, dragging Mutsuki to the area Haise recommended searching.
In truth, Hide was not paying too much attention regarding the Torso Investigation. He was too busy with his own investigations regarding Aogiri Tree and the potential connections it may have had with Kaneki, and now he learned, Takizawa and Amon.
Eventually, the sky began to turn to its dark blue to black colour, rendering the night time and the moon to showcase its dominating presence in Tokyo. Hide looked onwards, noticing Mutski was behind him. He really was a quiet person, whom despite talking to during the occasional nights, they never really strike anything in common. Not that Hide minded, Mutsuki was the first to openly admit to knowing his past in Cochlea, and not outright criticize him for it.
"Do you hear that Hide-kun? The sound of a ghoul fight, oh so marvelous to hear such a commotion after all these times!" The sound of Amber, yet again was daunting to Hide.
Overall, the presence of Amber in Hide's mind was very mixed. What started as her simply only being there whenever he was asleep or unconscious now had her speaking in crucial moments. This was especially the case whenever he activated his kagune, which because of his training with the Quinx Squad over the past six months, now allowed Amber to be more crucial role whenever Hide was out and about.
On the one hand, she was relatively useful in regards to information whenever he was uncertain, specifically with ghouls and how they fought. She was also kind of a nice person to talk to, which while make Hide seem a bit crazy on the outside, it gave him some stability, knowing he had someone to talk to. Like in the case of now, she was advising him of a commotion he wouldn't have thought of as ghoul-related.
But of course, there's a catch. It is clear to Hide that Amber is not acting out of her own free will. She clearly has something planned with Hide, for her own benefit. He had talked to Amber in his subconscious about it, and while she iterated that she cannot return to the conscious world due to already losing her access to it, Hide had a feeling that she was trying to influence him into something he'd regret, like embracing the ghoul inside of him, she would always say.
Hide's ears caught the commotion, as well as the grunts of two others, and his mind worked, "Mutsuki, there's fighting going on over there." He stated, pointing near an uncrowded intersection.
Mutsuki simply nodded, gripping his own quinque before he and Hide began running towards the area.
"What the-" Mutsuki mumbled, and Hide spotted a car that had seemed to crash. The commotion getting louder.
"This road is narrow for taxi drivers." Hide confirmed he got close and could smell the mixed blood of both a human and a ghoul.
"This fight is ghoul-related, let's hurry!" Hide told Mutsuki in a rather serious tone before they rushed in. Gripping Kura, the black hard exterior, with a small red flashing dot was the only light that radiated off of him.
Hide quickly took note of his phone, quickly messaging Haise as he ran, asking to track his location, before he and Mutsuki found themselves in the fight.
The kagune of this ghoul seemed rather uninteresting, and Hide utilized Kura immediately, using its hard armour to deflect an attack from the ghoul in question.
"Is this Torso?" Hide asked merely, watching as Shirazu and Urie took a second to catch their breathe.
Once realizing he would not be answered, Hide merely sighed, before rushing towards the ghoul, raising Kura to slice him. He was unsure how he would fair alone, but decided to at least stall until the rest were done resting.
The ghoul dodged, but Hide was ready, already adjusted to the weight Kura, swiftly spinning around to dodge the kagune of the ghoul, a simple tail-like structure with a sharp end, Hide raised Kura, the red dot shining brighter, as he sliced the ghoul's kagune off, or at a part of it.
"Step back, you idiot." Amber's voice echoed and Hide listened.
The ghoul wasn't finished, landing a kick to Hide's thigh, he quickly recovered from, before taking a step back, realizing how he had almost been pierced by the remainder of his tail.
He silently thanked Amber for the warning, an example of how she could actually be helpful to Hide.
He brought up Kura again, this time splitting it putting the black case on his left hand, and the now exposed red blade in his right.
Once again, the ghoul, now standing again, his tail grown, but nowhere at its full strength, began to charge at Hide.
Hide merely dodged, the ghoul predicting that, and redirecting its tail towards Hide. He lifted his left arm up, now encased in the black exterior of Kura, it successfully colliding with the ghoul's kagune tail, before striking the ghoul's ribcage.
The ghoul did not finish as he attempted to strike Hide down with an unsuspecting kick, planning to then pierce him with his kagune.
*Fiery Drift*
The lack of impact of the attack caught the ghoul by surprise, who did not have time to comprehend, as with superhuman speed, Hide was behind the ghoul, using his left hand to catch the ghoul in a chokehold position.
"Someone! Get ready!" Hide yelled towards the Quinx Squad, who all looked on.
Most of the Quinx Squad looked on in shock at the violent display, and despite the ghoul attempting to attack Hide with his kagune, while it did relieve him of being choked, it wasn't helpful, as the ghoul found himself panting for breath, which allowed for Urie to go in with his own kagune, and stab the ghoul right in the lower chest.
The ghoul collapsed to the floor, clearly unable to fight, as the rest of the Quinx Squad looked on.
"My achievement, the ghoul I uncovered while taking a taxi, his cab smelt of blood and I quickly determined his status as a ghoul." Urie merely stated.
"You can't really call this your achievement, Urie, we all participated in it." Shirazu commented, which clearly got on Urie's nerves.
"Yeah, and what did you do, land nothing but a mere glancing blow? Pathetic..." Urie replied, and Hide sighed.
"You two, stop arguing, right now, we have to make a choice regarding our captive ghoul." Hide commanded, getting the two to stop their bickering, while Mutsuki looked on, confused.
"I'll just kill him." Urie stated, walking towards the unconscious ghoul, reading to fulfill his statement.
That is, until Haise decided to drop down with his own quinque.
"Haise..." Shirazu gasped in shock, before Haise looked on in anger.
"This isn't good..." Hide thought as he and the rest of the group were subjected to a bit of yelling from their deputy leader.
"We may be able to get some information out from him, so he'll be taken to Cochlea. But more importantly, you are not to act on your own!" Haise yelled, aiming his anger specifically at Urie and Shirazu, while Hide and Mutsuki simply looked on.
"What's going on?" Mutsuki quietly asked Hide, who was sheathing Kura back together, before putting it away.
"Urie and Shirazu seemed to have made a mistake." Hide replied.
"You two are damn lucky Hideyoshi texted me of the commotion and for his tracking services." Haise finished, all the while Urie looked on with a stoic expression. It was quite impressive actually.
"We got the results we were looking for, however. And my body will heal." Urie merely replied with, before walking away, leaving the other four to take the ghoul to Cochlea, where he is to be questioned and interrogated.
"B+ rating." Haise mumbled, the last thing Hide heard before they left.
Once they got back to the investigation ward, they quickly learned that the ghoul they fought, was actually not Torso. While that news did demotivate the Quinx Squad temporarily, the fact that they had successfully handled an actual ghoul threat was a plus.
"Hey Hide." The sound of Mutsuki made his head jump up, as he spotted the green haired boy and Shirazu looking at him.
Hide looked on making sure they wanted to talk to him. Right now, the three of them were the only ones in the Chateau.
"Why did you choke that ghoul?" Shirazu asked, and Hide tensed.
He knew he couldn't refer back to his private and solo investigation of the aogiri tree base, due to how much trouble he would get in, but he did have to make an excuse.
So, with a shrug, he explained, "It was more to make him weak enough so that he couldn't defend himself. That's why I called out beforehand. Plus, with my stamina, I can't afford to waste it on prolonging a battle against a ghoul life this or something."
Shirazu looked on, "Oh, that makes sense, I understand now."
Hide shrugged in response, thanking the fact that he did not have to explain that he had killed a ghoul like that.
Truth be told, he was still haunted by that action for a while, made worse by Amber's constant reminder of that act he had hoped he could forget about. With Haise's explanation, he was glad he did not go through with it.
When Hide woke up the next morning and was told to come in request to Dr. Shiba, he nodded.
Back at CCG Headquarters, Medical Ward
Upon realizing Haise was there as well, Hide gulped, but made his way in.
"Is there anything you need?" Hide asked, and Dr. Shiba looked on in glee.
"Yes, you know about rc cells, and their count, right?" Dr. Shiba asked.
"Yes, I do, what is it?" Hide asked again, wanting to now spend too much time here.
"Well, we were doing some checkups regarding the Quinx Squad's rc count, and we want to gather some information about yours." Dr. Shiba responded.
"But wouldn't you have the information about that?" Hide asked.
Dr Shiba nodded, "Of course I do, however, considering the unique problem with your rc count-" Dr. Shiba stated, which made Haise raise an eyebrow at that. "We'll have to keep a closer eye on yours."
Hide scratched his head, "Um, okay, so do I have to answer any questions?"
Dr. Shiba nodded, and with the first question, made Hide freeze up, "Have you been getting dreams or nightmares when you go to sleep?"
That question made Hide freeze slightly, before realizing he needed to answer. "Um, occasionally, but I don't think it renders anything to worry about." He replied.
Dr. Shiba nodded, and Haise looked on in confusion, but merely listened, rather intrigued with what Dr. Shiba meant by his rc problem.
Eventually, after Hide was given another rc test, he was given his final question. "What was the last count you had, and how long ago was that?"
Hide pondered, "About a month ago, around 820."
Dr. Shiba looked on in confusion, "I see, you currently have a rc count of 792."
Hide nodded, and if it was the most normal thing, which confused Haise. "I see, anyways I'll talk to you next time."
With that concluding statement, Hide left, and Haise looked on in interest.
"Sir." Haise started, Dr. Shiba looking at him, waiting for the question. "What exactly is the rc problem Hideyoshi has?"
Dr. Shiba smiled, "Oh, sorry you do not know. He has a rc fluctuation problem, after the result of an experimental surgery regarding regeneration of limbs. His rc count can lower or rise to unsustainable levels if he is not careful. As a result, he must be checked on, though it also made him a viable pick for the Quinx Squad. Though, it does seem when using his kagune, it does seep his rc cells away with time."
Haise merely took the information on with interest, and disappointment. He wanted to learn more about this, he was thinking of ROS, but that was when the rc cells over-secreted, causing an uncontrollable growth of them, but to also have a rapid decline in rc cells, was unusual. Maybe it was a fluctuating problem.
"Now, in every individual, rc fluctuation is very normal, especially within ghouls whenever they activate their kagune's. However, a humans would be very limited, to about a precision error of around 5-20 rc. With Hideyoshi, however, the precision error is 200-400."
Haise's eyes widened at the range. "That is very unusual for a human. Are you sure Hideyoshi is a human?"
Dr. Shiba laughed, "of course he was. When I performed the Quinx surgery on him, he had no kagune, so there's the evidence."
Haise nodded, "I see."
With that small conversation regarding Hideyoshi Nagachika, Haise was unknowingly at the start of meeting his best friend all over again, even if he didn't know it. But he digressed, knowing he had a meeting with some CCG bureaus with Akira Mado.
Once the day turned to night, yet again, Haise made his way back to the Chateau, where he was only met with what appeared to be Mutsuki and Hideyoshi.
"Oh, Hideyoshi, Mutsuki, where are the others?" Haise asked, noting the sad looks from Mutsuki and Hideyoshi.
"They have gone out furious after the result of the torso investigation." Hideyoshi replied.
Haise shrugged, "When they go off without warning like so, then they are bound to make mistakes. And they have gone out, even though their quinques are repairing? Where's Saiko?"
Mutsuki answered, "Upstairs, though I do not know what she is doing."
Haise merely nodded, "Actually this is perfect. Hideyoshi and Mutski, Dr. Shiba has informed me of your rc levels, Mutski, you need to build more muscle."
"That means meat, huh?" Mutsuki asked, and Haise nodded, while Hideyoshi merely looked on in confusion.
"And Hideyoshi." Haise asked, and Hide's figure flinched.
"Oh! U-um, yes?" Hide asked.
"Dr. Shiba informed me of your rc fluctuation problems, may I ask how you control it?" Haise asked, and Hideyoshi clearly looked a bit nervous.
"U-um, well before they gave me rc suppressants, but my body developed an immunity, so now I'm just left with dealing with it."
Haise looked on, while cooking for both of the two and the other upstairs, "Wait, you have no way of controlling them?"
Hideyoshi nodded, "Yep, though they say as long as it does not surpass 1000 for around a week, I will be fine. I mean I guess using my kagune also drops it."
Haise nodded, while Mutsuki looked on in confusion but understanding, "Wait, so do you have ROS or something?" He asked.
Hide for his part laughed, "Everyone thinks that. No, it's different, for some reason my rc cells just fluctuate, goes up and down."
"Strange..." Mutsuki commented before Haise called for Saiko, saying that dinner was ready.
"Um, I'm going to take this upstairs if you don't mind," Hide commented afterwards.
Haise was a bit suspicious of this, "Are you having trouble eating?"
Hide for his part looked on, "What? No! Mutsuki sees me come down every night, with the empty plate and everything."
Haise merely looked at Mutsuki, who was embarrassed, but nodded.
"Very well, go on Hideyoshi." Haise stated, watching the orange-haired walk off, clearly nervous for some reason.
Despite that, Haise himself found himself asking who this person really was. Why was his subconsciousness "Kaneki," telling him about Hideyoshi?
Haise shook his head, getting the voice out of his mind. He had no time for this.
"Oh, wait, Mutsuki, can you tell Hideyoshi that he's going to accompany us down in Cochlea?"
Mutsuki clearly looked a bit terrified at the mention of that place, but nodded furiously.
"Thank you." Haise replied, eating his food, while the two talked awkwardly.
Once they finished, Mutsuki decided to go and talk to Hide. He was clearly an enigma to Mutsuki. What would he think of Cochlea, considering the fact that he had spent a year down there?
Only one way to find out, knocking on the door, Mutsuki heard Hide yell, "It's open!" Before the he went in.
"Oh, Mutsuki is there-"
Mutsuki interrupted Hide, "I told you to call me Tooru."
Hide looked on, before nodding, "Okay, Tooru, are you here to ask me something?"
Mutsuki simply nodded, taking in the half-eaten food that was in Hide's plate.
So, he was eating it, Tooru thought before looking Hide in his eyes.
"Haise requires the two of us to accompany him for a trip down in Cochlea." Mutsuki's eyes watched as Hide's widened slightly, before he shook his head.
"Didn't think I'd be going back down there so soon..." He mumbled.
"It's not because of you or that you are going back in prison, it is just because he wants to talk to an imprisoned ghoul is all." Mutsuki replied, and he saw Hide momentarily sigh in relief.
"Oh, well that's fine, just let me know tomorrow when we are heading down, I would like to mentally prepare myself before I go down there." Hide stated, and Mutsuki laughed.
"Trust me, I want the same."
Hide had told himself he did not ever want to return down into Cochlea, but of course he eventually found himself going. With Mutsuki and Haise, it was awkward for him.
He had spent most of his time down here for defending his best friend, who was now a CCG investigator himself. It was strange, Hide thought as he looked at the terrified look Mutsuki had as they descended down into the ground.
Once they made it down, they remained silent as he followed Haise until he reached a particular area, with what appeared to be an elder ghoul on the other side.
Cochlea
"Porpora." Haise called out, and Hide knew this was probably the ghoul he wanted to converse with.
"Haise, huh, look who decided to show up. And I see you have brought two of your friends." the elderly ghoul called out, looking at Mutsuki, "This one look delicious, and the other." He replied looking at Hide. "Interesting..." Was all he said.
Hide shrugged, knowing how his rc would make him tasty to other ghouls. It did not bother him.
"I'd shut your mouth if I were you, let the investigators ask the questions." Hide merely stated, taking a serious tone.
Porpora merely laughed, "Very well, I understand that you three must have a reason as to why you want to converse with me."
Haise nodded, and brought out some documents, and Hide could only watch as the two began to speak about a ghoul named Torso. Hide was already told about what Torso did exactly, how he devoured his victims and everything, and ultimately decided to continue listening to them.
"Another ghoul, how useful, huh Hide-kun?" The voice of Amber had yet again decided to talk to Hide, as he simply watched the two converses, while Mutsuki sat down shivering in fear.
"Yeah, I guess so, useful because he knows quite the information." Hide replied.
"I was once a ghoul trying to live and blend in human society you know. I remember how I was such a good candidate for my job. I almost had it, until it was destroyed. Filthy CCG for destroying what I had built for so long..." Amber replied.
In truth this was somewhat awkward for Hide. He had originally thought he could only hold conversations with Amber in his dreams, but here he was, interacting with him while he was awake. Perhaps it was also whenever he was in the vicinity of ghouls? He still wasn't sure how Amber was talking to him at all.
Hide quickly shook his head, realizing the stares he was getting from Haise and Mutsuki.
"Is there something wrong?" Hide asked.
"We were trying to call for you like three times, you blanked out." Haise merely stated.
Hide's eyes widened, "My apologies, let's just get out of here." He stated, and they clearly could tell he was uncomfortable being down here, at least that's what they assumed, and what Hide wanted them to assume.
They began to walk, and while he had heard Mutsuki complain about how creepy that ghoul was, Hide remained quiet, until they made it up.
Day 21-25 of the Torso Investigation... Back at Ward 20, General Hospital
"So, his crimes are situated around these hospitals?" Hide asked, and Haise nodded in confirmation.
"Around these areas, with most of these hospitals receiving the mutilated victims." Haise replied.
"Notice how most of these spots are prominent taxi pick up spots?" Hide pointed out, and the two investigators, Haise and Mutsuki looked on, agreeing with his statement.
"That is indeed true." Haise replied.
"Yeah, good thinking..." Mutsuki acknowledged.
Hide merely looked at the two investigators, who seemed a bit hopeful, maybe thinking they could actually find this Torso fellow.
Hide simply nodded, "So we are to look after these popular pick-up areas for taxi drivers?"
Haise nodded, "It would be best to split up and check out the Surgeon Offices in this range, but whatever you do, remember. If you find someone suspicious, do not act on your own. At least call or provide a tracking service. Got it?"
Hide and Mutsuki nodded, before they began their search.
It lasted about five days, before on the 25th day they began to find something interesting, at least Hide thought.
After finishing his shift of looking for anything suspicious, Hide sighed, after another day of no results. It really seemed like they were getting nowhere. It almost seemed that the ghoul was being vigilant, as if he was told of his wanted status.
Hide decided to at least take a stroll. He had set his location on, so that his fellow Quinx Squad members could track him if anything bad happens.
Besides, Hide wasn't too worried about being ambushed by a ghoul. He would be ready. He had Kura secured on his back, in the form of a sword. After around a year of training, he had developed the necessary skills to use it to its extent. Being told by many that it used to belong to Koutaru Amon was also a plus, and a nostalgic feel, as Hide began to wonder how the guy was doing ever since he'd been free.
That was, until he heard the echo of Amber yet again. Over the course of those days, Hide was quickly understood something strange about Amber.
"Another smell of ghoul, oh how erotic!" Hide nodded in response, with this acting as his sort of sixth sense. After a conversation with the ghoul in his subconscious, he had learnt some new things regarding Amber, with one being that she was a kakuja, a ghoul who gained the ability through cannibalism. As a result, though he wasn't directly told, but he theorized that Amber liked eating ghouls.
The bright side of this, however, is that whenever a ghoul was in the vicinity of Hide, Amber was able to detect them, as she seemingly had a desire to eat ghouls and humans alike. It seemed that she was strictly a pure carnivorous and cannibalistic creature during her time on this world.
But with the mention, Hide knew a ghoul was nearby, and he began to run wherever Amber had stated. But it seemed to be too fast for him.
"A taxi!" Hide exclaimed, realizing the situation quickly, and began to head towards the nearest taxi pickup spot he could think of.
He was sure that Mutsuki was nearby at this one, but he wasn't sure.
Once he found the spot, to his surprise, he was spotting Mutsuki entering the cab, a confused female on the standing grounds.
Hide's eyes widened, made more evident by the nonsense Amber was spitting in the back of his mind.
Hide ran towards the female, "Excuse me, where did that taxi go?" Hide asked desperately.
The female for her part, pointed in the direction, "That way."
Hide nodded, "Thank you in advance, there's a possibility that was a ghoul." He swiftly spoke before he ran, taking out Kura as he tried to predict where the cab had gone.
"Closer, I want to taste it, the sweet smell of a ghoul..." Amber mumbled and begged as Hide groaned.
"Out of all the ghouls I got stuck in me, I got one that craves other ghouls? What luck is this..." Hide spoke to no one in particular, before he heard the sound of a struggle.
"Mutsuki..." Hide mumbled as he began to head in the direction of where his ears were taking him.
"Grah!" A pained yell filled the atmosphere as Hide found the cab parked in a quiet and uncluttered area.
"Call for backup..." Hide mumbled, as he quickly looked around and called a signal from his phone, alerting the rest of the Quinx Squad.
He could see through the dark tinted window that something was going on.
Hide sighed, with a mighty yell, he crashed Kura into the window, but before he could gather, he noticed a battered and badly beaten Mutsuki, blood running down his face and figure.
"No..." Hide shook the thought out as he noticed the car beginning to accelerate rapidly.
"I don't think so!" Hide yelled, and with a mighty stab, embedded Kura into a back wheel, which managed to cripple the car, before Hide found himself skidding across the pavement, landing on his back, as the car attempted to get away.
"Crap, that hurts..." Hide mumbled as he got up, inspecting the bruises and cuts he had received. Oh well, at least the car wouldn't be able to move, as Hide watched in relief as Shirazu and another investigator arrived on a motorcycle.
Hide quickly got up, once the car stopped, and took Kura out, thankful that the quinque hadn't been damaged too much, just in time to see Torso, with his kagune activated attempting to flee.
Hide simply watched on as the remaining investigators began to fight the ghoul, before Hide heard the sound of the door open.
Realizing about Mutsuki, he grabbed onto the injured individual acting as a crutch for them, helping him out, as they watched as the fight continued.
That is, until a new individual came onto the scene. Hide quickly helped Mutski to his feet before he ran towards the new individual, who was battling and soundly defeating Urie.
"The Quinx, is it? Humans with kagune's, disgusting. The doves are just as demonizing as Aogiri is." Serpent replied.
Hide eyes widened when he heard that, how did this person know about Aogiri? His voice also sounded eerily similar.
"Anyways, I want some fun." The man simply stated, and it was until then did Hide realize this was Serpent.
"Tooru, stay back, your injured." Hide stated seriously, pulling out Kura, standing in front of him as Serpent looked on at Hide in interest, as if it was trying to recognize him. It was somewhat difficult to make out Hide due to the CCG hoodie he was wearing.
"Zero Range Bomber!" The sound of Shirazu entered the atmosphere as Shirazu began his assault on the Serpent. Hide took this time to get Mutsuki to medical experts before he turned back.
Shirazu, like Urie was soundly defeated, and they began to retreat.
"You guys' retreat, I'll distract Serpent." Hide stated, pulling out Kura.
"Another faker, you Quinx are beginning to annoy me..." The Serpent merely stated, and Hide didn't change his tone.
"Another ghoul, how exciting, Hide-kun today is your lucky day!"
"We'll see about that." Hide stated as he initiated a battle with an S-rated ghoul, the highest rank he would be facing for a while.
"Let me free..."
He watched as the kagune made its way towards them, but before Hide could effectively strike back, Haise got in the way.
The battle seemed to stop momentarily before Haise began to strike back at the ghoul.
"Come on Hide, you should help your friend out." The sound of Amber, yet again trying to get Hide to release his "ghoul side."
"Not yet..." Hide mumbled, as he watched as Haise hold his ground against Serpent.
"But your friend is in danger, isn't he?" Amber taunted, and Hide flinched.
"How do you know-" Hide asked unbelieved.
"Everything in your mind is my information to read, isn't it?" Amber asked, and Hide watched on, before he saw Haise get knocked down with a kick.
"No..."
"You want to lose your friend, fine by me, but you may be able to save him if you trust me."
"I don't want to..." Hide mumbled, watching the two fighters face to face, literally.
"Well, then you should embrace your ghoul side. Let it free..."
The taunting sound of Amber, trying to get Hide to release his kagune was really getting to him, and seeing the state of his best friend, really worried him.
He gasped as he saw Haise flung onto the ground, spitting out blood.
"Let me free!" Amber yelled one last time, and Hide obliged.
With a mighty yell, Hide activated his kagune, his orange wings sprouting out as the rest of the Quinx Squad looked on in shock, the flames embedding on his wings.
Even Serpent was distracted to see the commotion. "A ukaku? Perhaps you'd be interesting if you knew how to use it,"
"Well, I'd like to show you as well." Hide replied, making the ghoul flinch at the voice, as Hide released multiple projectiles towards the ghoul, who grunted after getting hit by some of them.
*Flaming Pellets*
Serpent howled in pain, as he looked across his body, realizing that his clothes across his torso had been burned from the projectiles that hit him.
Serpent looked to Hide, who had applied some fire towards his projectiles, literally.
"Perhaps my kindness will be what kills me." The ghoul mumbled, but before he knew it the speed of Hide brought the two in a close quarters combat, with Hide using his crystallized wings as his weapon, the flames on his wings brightening a bit.
"What kind of ukaku fights close ranged?!" Serpent exclaimed, as Hide slashed his abdomen.
Serpent attempted to strike low, to swipe Hide's feet off guard, but Hide knew this, and jumped away, using his wings to levitate, firing more projectiles, which only landed in a glancing blow. Of course, Serpent had to worry about the flames, but thankfully, Hide didn't use them at close quarters.
Serpent grunted, "I admit your more accustomed to fighting with your kagune, but-" he was interrupted by Haise.
"Hideyoshi Nagachika, leave this ghoul to me!" This statement shocked everyone. Hide, as he was handling himself fairly well against the ghoul.
But for Serpent, the name was very similar to him. He knew of the person, he tried to eat, before he was impaled through the stomach multiple times by Kaneki.
"Hide? That's Hide? Why is he with the doves? Why does he have a kagune?" Serpent mentally asked himself. As if one mystery with this Haise guy was not enough, now Hide was working with the doves, and he had a kagune? He was a Quinx?
But before he could ponder further, he felt himself being stabbed in his stomach multiple times, by an onslaught of tentacles.
"I'll die, I'll die, I'll die, you're going to kill me..." The ghoul merely stated, as Haise went up to the fallen ghoul.
"Isn't that right, Kaneki?" Nishiki asked, his face now viewable to Haise, who was seemingly getting a mental flashback to that response.
"Haise, what's wrong?" Mutsuki asked, as to their shock, the deputy leader found himself having a breakdown.
"Sorry to go, but I'm out of time." Nishiki stated, jumping on top of a nearby bridge, before disappearing.
Hide merely looked on at the Serpent ghoul, before he looked down at the mental mess that was Haise, clearly traumatized.
While the others couldn't hear, Hide could tell what happened, the voice, the punctuation, the roughness of it, he knew the ghoul knew Kaneki.
"Nishio..." Hide mumbled, as he looked at his best friend, struggling to comprehend what he was told as he simply looked on as the group began to subdue him, and the Quinx Squad learning of Haise's true identity, and his history.
For Hide, it was just a reminder of the failure he had been, with another example being right in front of him. For Haise's secret was now out, when would his connection to him be out as well?
A.N / it was a bit of a struggle to condense all of this into one 5k word chapter, but I managed! The next chapter will probably be with Hide meeting up, wanting to talk to Nishio, as he recognized the ghoul.
Also, you might notice, that in this, I call it Quinx of Change, that was actually the original name I had for this, before I changed it to, "This Wasn't Supposed to Happen to You," so there you go!
Flaming Pellets: A long ranged barrage of flaming projectiles that burns the opponent on impact. More powerful than a typical projectile barrage other ukaku's can perform, but at the price of burning through some of the user's rc cells. Any opponent without sufficient armour is vulnerable to being burned, severely injuring any combatants.
Fiery Drift.