"Gnh… Hn…" As sunlight started to hit Touka's eyes she slowly opened them, immediately hit by the awful smell in her nose and sticky sensation along her skin. "Ugh, what the…" She groaned, feeling both a headache and further awful scents. She wanted to rub her eyes but the stickiness around her hands had her hesitate. She blinked her eyes a few times, vision clearing and revealing herself to be surfaced by a cold metal and rotting garbage. "Ugh…" The realization nearly had her throwing up. The smell of rotting body parts, blood, and other grime hit her the moment her senses came back to her.
She shook her head, fighting off the nausea as she climbed out of the dumpster and onto solid ground, her head spinning from the smell and the soreness she felt from the wounds she got last night. "Dammit…" She let out a low hiss, clutching the side of torso and letting out deep, ragged breaths. The wounds she got still stung like hell, a reminder of just how badly she got her ass kicked.
Again.
"Uggggh!" She let out a snarl, kicking the dumpster hard enough to leave a dent in it, marching out of the alley and moving toward her apartment. Thankfully it was early morning, and few people were out. The few that were gave her stares as the dirty, smelling girl marched through with a vicious scowl on her face, but she thankfully reached her home with little issue.
The moment the door behind her slammed shut she stomped to the showers and took the hottest shower her skin could manage, hoping the heat would kill off some of her fury. Dammit, why? She slammed her fist into the wall. "I just wanted…" She gritted her teeth, letting out a low, painful hiss as the water slid over her sore body. "Dammit, this is getting me nowhere." Picking a fight with every single hostile faction in the 11th Ward wasn't going to fix anything. Even if she was trying to make this chaotic ward more peaceful her recent actions were only bringing more trouble. If she really wanted to fix things like she originally planned, then she needed to reorganize herself and form a proper plan of attack.
With that thought in mind, once she finished her shower and put on some more casual clothes, she pulled out a notebook and started making some notes.
So far, she had made a lot of enemies. The Doves led by the Mado woman, the Blood Maiden girls that were basically the woman's lapdogs, Aogiri now actively looking for her, and whatever other gang of ghouls wanted to take down the infamous Avenger. A constant stream of enemies that would have to be dealt with one at a time. And if she had to make priorities then she only had two big targets: Aogiri and the Doves. Aogiri was always going to be a threat to her, but the Doves could at least be pushed out and led away from the 11th Ward, at least for a moment. Long enough to focus on the Aogiri situation at least.
"… … …" She looked over her current notes. She needed some more information. More about Aogiri more than anything. She knew that people like Sachi and those kids were in their ranks, but they didn't seem hostile to everyone around them like some of the other branches that kidnapped and enslaved other ghouls. There might be factional issues within the group, but only certain factions seemed to actively cause more trouble than needed. "Tch," The issue was getting the information to know exactly who in Aogiri were going to be okay to keep around.
Well, I can figure that out later.
The immediate problem was the Doves. Touka had already ruffled a lot of feathers in the CCG, but there was a chance things would slow down so long as Touka kept things quiet. She'd have to avoid that Mado woman and those Blood Maiden girls for a while, but things might deescalate so long as she and other ghouls didn't attack.
That felt hypocritical after killing so many of them, but she needed to focus on one enemy at a time.
"Okay…" Touka said, finishing her notes. "Let's see what we got here…"
Aogiri was her top priority. She needed information on this organization and exactly what groups within that lived in the 11th Ward might cause further trouble. The smalltime punks knew nothing, so she'd have to go to bigger fish like Yomihime and others. The Doves were next, and the main plan was to just throw them off the trail. She had a few ideas for that, namely causing trouble in a different ward. That didn't really sit well with her, but she had already riled them up enough and it was better to lead them out of her main base of operations than keep them. Of course, if anyone figured out, she was the cause of a shift in Dove activity she might find a few Avengers after her instead. "Hm…" The 8th Ward might work. That place was basically devoid of Doves, and sightings of Touka there might give the idea she fled from the 11th Ward. And if anyone had issues with her doing so, she probably wouldn't have to deal with anyone particularly strong. It'd buy her some time anyway.
That just leaves Aogiri. Namely who to focus her offense on within. She still needed more info about the organization in general. And… there was probably only one place she could think of that she'd get it.
"Tch," And god, did she hate the idea.
The Animal Circus was in full swing just like last time. Ghouls talking and chatting away about the local gossip, the arena pit having a brawl just below as patrons screamed out bets, encouragement, and insults toward the fighters, and maintaining that overall loud atmosphere that only left a pit in Touka's stomach as she waded through the noisy crowd. A few folks recognized her, either from her mask her from her fight here, but she did her best to ignore and dodge them. The last thing she wanted was another spontaneous toss into the ring. If there was one solace it was that she could barely hear the mutters about her through the loud as hell music of the club. Thankfully, there was one small empty table in a corner of the club, and she immediately sat at it to collect her wits. She flagged down a sever and asked for an iced coffee, immediately getting a glass shot of iced expresso that she drank in one gulp, practically slamming down the glass and sighing.
"Well, looky here~"
Touka held back a groan. She hated how she recognized that playful and whimsical voice near her ear. Reluctantly, turned her head to the side and stared face-to-face with the redhaired clown she was slowly growing to hate.
"Back for more violent fun~?" She teased, a wide smile on her face.
Touka rolled her eyes, a fist clenched tight over her arm as she resisted punching her. "No, I'm here for info."
The clown immediately pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Booo~ That's boring!" The clown complained. "Do something fun! Jump in the pit again and start a war! Break someone's arm or something!"
"I could break yours?" Touka snarled out, getting an exaggerated wince from the clown.
"Fiiiiine, be that way!" She whined, turning on a stomping away in what seemed to be exaggerated anger, muttering things Touka could no longer hear or make out.
Touka only rolled her eyes again, shaking her head. Honestly, she was thankful the clown didn't do something crazy that'd wrap her in some kind of situation again.
"Um… hey, Avenger."
Touka perked up, turning to a person in a plain, red mask that was fidgeting in place. He seemed nervous, but familiar with the club, or at least the atmosphere. His nerves were likely after seeing her casually threaten a regular patron here.
Relaxing her posture, Touka looked toward the man. "Yeah? What's up?"
The red mask man fidgeted a little before speaking. "Do you, um… take request?"
Touka thought on that. "I might." She said. "I need some info on Aogiri, their 11th Ward specifically."
The red mask man paused, likely thinking something over, then nodded. "I… have some things I could relay." He said. "I know some… specific members in certain groups."
That was… vague, but it was also just the sort of thing she needed. "Alright. What's the request?"
"There's a big dispute over territory in the 15th Ward and it's getting violent." He explained. "Maybe… you could help ease things? A strong ghoul like you mediating things could help."
Touka thought about that. Territory disputes were pretty normal in almost any ward, and she had some experience with mediating thanks to her work at Anteiku. Of course… things could also end violently but beating down a few hotheads didn't hurt her conscious or anything. Honestly, it'd be nice to do some honest work for the ghoul community.
"Sure." She said. "I'll do it tomorrow night."
The red mask man's shoulders straightened, and they immediately perked up. "R-Really?" He said. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Touka shrugged. "No promises, but I'll be there at least." She pulled out her phone, quickly tapping to her map app and showing it to the red mask man. "Do you know the disputed area?"
He stared for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, right here." He pointed to a public park near what seemed to be a stream.
"Got it." She said. "I'll see what I can do."
The red masked man thanked her again, and they were off. Touka stared at the map, then the man. She had a job, it seemed. Hopefully it'd go well and she'd get that information.
The next night Touka was on the rooftops of a 15th Ward neighborhood near the park in question. It was a surprisingly quiet place despite what she was expecting. She looked around, seeing a group of four masked ghouls seemingly patrolling the area coming from the south, though it looked more like they were marching, heading right toward the park like the man had described. Keeping to the rooftops, Touka followed them. All four of them looked young given the voices she was hearing, probably a little under high school age or just starting there. They didn't seem like Aogiri either, they wore no uniform or marking of the organization and stuck to casual clothes that hid a good amount of skin, much like Touka. Just some young punks then… Touka didn't know if she should be relieved they weren't a dangerous gang or annoyed that kids were causing enough ruckus for requests of mediating to reach her ears.
Just as she and the group were about to reach the park and Touka had to properly trail them from the ground she saw the other group, about five ghouls in total also in simple clothing and masks. Both groups immediately marched over to each other, shouting out swears, insults, and seemingly trying to goad the other side into through the first punch.
Okay… so it was just some stupid kids shouting and acting a fool in their masks then.
Not the worst thing to happen in the city, but still annoying, and if they were going to brawl it might set off some alarms if they were sloppy about it. Doves tended to ignore fights between ghouls, but if those fights caused collateral there'd be an investigation.
"I'll kill you if you keep showing up here!" A boyish voice from the group she was trailing said.
"Go to hell! I'll rip your damn legs off!" A female voice from the other group shot back.
Yup, it was brats making noise. She sighed, remembering her own past, and decided to act, putting some power in her legs and leapt up before landing right between the squabbling group. They immediately backed away, hands raised in defense and obvious surprise. "W-What the- the Avenger?"
Oh, they knew her here too, that saved her some time.
"What do you want?!" A girl shouted. "You better not be trying to muscle in on the 15th War-"
Touka kicked the kid in the throat before they could speak further, knocking them to the ground and having them gasping for air. "Shut up." Touka snapped, turning to the group. "Alright, all of you are knocking this off. Now." She said. "You're screaming so much I can hear it from the 11th Ward and there are noise complaints now. Scram and fight somewhere else."
The group was stunned into silence, so Touka continued. "If you're gonna' brawl it out, then do it somewhere else. Fight here and you'll cause problems. Dove-problems. Or worse, me-problems." She gazed over the group with a sharp glare from behind her mask, each kid shuddering as her eyes passed them. "Don't know why you're arguing so much, just find a spot to hunt and stay there. That's how it always works."
The group paused, blinking at her.
"Why should we listen to you?" A boy asked, marching over to her. "You're from the 11th Ward, don't you just beat up people and take their food anyway?"
Touka responded with a fast swipe across his face, cutting into his cheek and drawing blood. "Because I'm stronger than you." She said simply.
The boy was screaming for a moment, clutching his face in pain and panic. The others watched, staring directly at her with still faces and bodies. They were probably shocked by the violence, the first time seeing another ghoul truly hurt another.
"What?" Touka said. "You didn't think I'd just shove you all around and leave, did you?" To that point, she cracked her knuckles. "No, only two of you actually get to walk without a broken bone or six. Consider it your initiation into ghoul life. You'll learn just how fast we actually heal tonight."
The groups stepped back, their posture and stances taking a more hostile shift. Touka only rolled her shoulders. Beating on kids was going to leave a sour taste in her mouth, but brats like these usually didn't live long without a harsh beating. It'd prepare them a little for fights with kagune involved and the eventual skirmishes with Doves and less diplomatic ghouls. And much like Renji had done with her and Ayato, she'd give them one hell of a beating to limp back home and think about before they pulled this stuff again.
"So, who's getting their beating first."
A girl ran at Touka, throwing a telegraphed punch that she easily dodged, grabbed her by the wrist, and shattered her arm right at the elbow with a knee strike. She got a loud, terrified shriek as the girl clutched her useless arm, sobbing and likely shedding tears.
Touka only rolled her eyes. Yup, definitely their first serious fight. "Seriously? Already crying?" She said with a sigh. "You've got a lot to learn if that's the most pain you've ever been in." She looked to the rest of the group, seeing their still bodies and quivering bodies. She sighed again. "Okay, time to a crash course in combat. Rule one: you're going to get hurt." And so she systematically started taking down every single kid save for two of them, one from each group, making sure to snap a limb and break some bones at each encounter. After three went down the rest finally got the memo and started charging her, only to be met with smashed masks, bloody noses, and missing teeth. With the group quaking in their boots and limping away in what was clear sheer terror she gave a shrug. "Next time have these brawls in a warehouse or abandoned section of the ward. Tokyo's got plenty of spots to hide and die in. I get another noise complaint and I'm breaking your jaws next time!" With that, she left.
Her next night at the Animal Circus had the red mask man thanking her profusely, much to Touka's chagrin.
"Thank you so much, Avenger!" He said. "Those kids lost their parents have been causing a bunch of problems lately. Whatever you did really set them straight. They only get rowdy in quieter parts of the ward now, and some of them are even friends with each other! Whaatever you did sure worked out great!"
Touka waved it off and simply asked for the information. The red mask man obliged, explaining what he knew. Apparently, the guy knew a bit more than Touka was expecting.
Aogiri had a few bigger gangs and executives within the 11th Ward, the Bloody Fangs and Ayato's groups were the big one. The two squabbled every now and then but so far things were steady. At least until Touka started rocking the boat. Now smaller gangs were starting to form and trying to harass other ghouls thanks to the growing discontent and increase in Dove activity.
Touka clicked her tongue at that. It was her fault it seemed, and she had to fix it. Thankfully her plan to pull the Doves out of the 11th Ward had even more motivation to it now. Well, time to get to work on that. With her info gained she left the Animal Circus, hitting the rooftops and heading to the 8th Ward.