Touka had heard the rumors and general info about the place, but it was still surprising how quiet the 8th Ward was in terms of ghoul and Dove activity. She walked along the usual places where ghouls gathered, but there were few people in the alleyways, the defunct buildings, and the places that might had been clubs or general hangouts were emptied out and left to themselves. It was practically a ghost town in a way. She saw a few ghouls here and there, mostly some teenagers and a few adults that recognized her, some even a little worried when she passed by in her mask and overcoat, whispering about the Avenger about to cause trouble in their Ward. That… made her feel a little bad for what she was about to do. Still, this was best to keep the Doves out of the 11th Ward. Well, no use in moping about it. Time to get to work.
Touka went from sidewalks to the shadows quickly, now fully patrolling the area for Doves. She had heard the Ward lost a lot of manpower over time, but she was surprised to see there were still a few Doves wandering out. The odd two walking the streets in pairs, chatting about whatever the hell Doves chatted about. She spotted one pair walking out of a convenience store and struck fast, darting past them in a flash and sending a solid chop to their necks with just enough force to knock them out. As tempting as it was she knew better than to kill them. She wanted their attention, not their ire, at least not yet. Plus, it was better to have witnesses to her activities before she darted away.
And that was the pattern for the night. She'd find a pair of Doves off in some corner of the ward, strike them down at lightning speed, and dart away before they could react or fight back. She was already decent at hit-and-run tactics, so the first three pairs were easy enough to take out and move on to the next. She got a few witnesses pointing and shouting, a few even screaming her name before they fled, and after the fifth group she started to find her rhythm.
Alright, time for a quick break. At that point, Touka had already taken out six groups of Doves, and she decided to take a moment to catch her breath at a nearby bridge that led to some kind of camping ground. She recognized the place a sort of hidden refuge for poor ghouls that couldn't fully integrate into human society. Camping grounds and other outdoor areas tended to be good places to hide out from humans, or eat humans unlucky enough to be homeless. After all, the Doves didn't seem to care what happened to the undesirables of human society.
"What the-" Or… at least that's what Touka thought.
Just as she was about to cross the bridge and into the camping area of the ward, she saw a familiar sight. Three young girls in black school uniforms, all with red armbands and carrying varying weapons. One was a class-president looking girl with short, straight black hair with a ribbon tied along it carrying a katana-like weapon. Another wore a black hoodie, large blades with circular handles reminiscent of scissors. And the last one had sportier attire akin to gym clothes, wearing thick, metal combat boots. Touka gritted her teeth. Shit… It was those damn Blood Maidens again. More importantly, they all looked surprisingly healthy given the brutality Touka showed them last time. It had been a week, but the scissor-blade girl should still be out of commission given how bad that fight went. They weren't ghouls, they couldn't just heal from the damage Touka did in just a week.
Just what… was going on?
Debate time. Should she go after them again? Touka was not in the mood to get triple-teamed again and run away after nearly dying again. She had done enough in terms of getting attention in this ward. She caused more than enough trouble here to get the Doves to flock about in the 8th Ward instead of the 11th. She could run away and let these girls be none the wiser about her presence here.
"… … …"
Touka bit her lip, shaking her head. No, it was too tempting to ignore. If she attacked the Blood Maidens girls and got away she it might even drag that Mado woman out of the 11th Ward for a bit. If she remembered correctly that woman was supposed to be in charge of these girls, and she might investigate the 8th Ward in order to keep them safe. Well, might as well take a chance and try. Plus, she'd be lying if she said she didn't want revenge for last time as much as they did. They could hopefully get a stronger conclusion to their last fight.
With the girl's still behind them, Touka charged forward a blinding speed, giving a short hop before nailing the scissor girl in the back of the head with a kick and knocking her down. The other girls immediately reacted, spinning around to face Touka with weapons raised.
"Rabbit!" The katana girl snarled, the kung fu girl quickly getting into stance as the hoodie girl staggered to her feet.
Touka didn't give a reply, only rushing forward right past and behind the group. She pulled out her kagune, shooting off shards toward them. A few nicked the group of girls, but most were blocked by the scissor girl's wide blades. Touka didn't give them time regroup, immediately shooting forward and kicking scissor girl away, focusing a close-range blast of shards on the other two.
The katana girl was surprisingly depth with her sword, parrying the shards with her blade in quick succession, her hand moving like a blur. It was… inhuman. That wasn't even meant as an expression, it was just impossible for a human to move with that much coordination that quickly. The hell? Touka gritted her teeth, laying off the shards and backing away just before the kung fu girl tried to kick her.
The girls regrouped and collected themselves, weapons ready.
"You damn beast!" The kung fu girl shouted. "It's about time someone finally ended you."
Touka said nothing in response, darting forward. The girls immediately rose their guard, but Touka sped right past them again, grabbing the scissor girl's hoodie as she passed and used her momentum to toss her out of their formation.
"Akazuki!" The katana girl shouted, moving to try and slash at Touka with her blade.
Touka grabbed the girl by the wrist, twisting it hard and thrusting her hand to stab into the katana girl's side, but-
"What the-?"
Her hand dug in a little, but not enough to penetrate the katana girl's body fully. That… should be impossible. She wasn't exactly trying to kill these girls, but she knew how fragile a human's body was compared to a ghoul's. She should be able to pierce through the girl's stomach and make a fist-sized hole in it. It was almost as if she was trying to pierce through a ghoul. How is she-? "Guh-!" A sudden sharp kick to Touka's back forced her to hit the ground, and she quickly rolled up to her feet to see the kung fu girl right next to the katana girl, the leg she kicked Touka with stretched forward.
"I got you, Arisu!" She said, standing in front of the katana girl.
Touka looked over at the two, her eyes focusing on the kung fu girl as she went wide-eyed at the sight. The hell? She couldn't tell from a distance, but now that she getting a full view of the girl she noticed something strange. No, more like surprising.
The kung fu girl two eyes again.
What the-? Touka gritted her teeth, the flames around her wing flaring out along with Touka's growing irritation.
"Surprised, Rabbit?" Kung fu girl taunted, gesturing her hand toward her two eyes. "Maybe I should break that mask of yours again. I'd love to take your eye in vengeance!" It was all she said before charging, sending out a flurry of kicks at several angles that Touka's senses helped her dodged and deflect, sending out kicks of her own in retaliation.
Every blow the two sent toward each other was either dodged, parried, or countered. The kung fu girl again proved her moves weren't just for show. Every movement was aimed and had a purpose, and Touka only had a split second to react and counter with every movement. Admittedly, the girl had skill, as much as she hated to admit it.
"Hgk-!" A slash at Touka's back had her turn her head to catch a glimpse of the katana girl, her blade wet with Touka's red blood as she pointed the weapon at her.
"Forgot about me?"
Touka clicked her tongue, catching another blade in her periphery and ducking under a swipe from the hoodie girl's large scissor blade.
"And me?" She added, quickly moving to support the kung fu girl.
"Tch," Touka's kagune flared up again, sending out a series of shards. The katana girl once again deflected them at inhuman speed as Touka jumped back to gain distance. This was more than enough to get the message across.
"You aren't getting away!" The kung fu girl started to run after Touka, but she already started darting away, running into the campgrounds and taking as many confusing turns and twists she could to throw her pursuer off.
Once Touka was at a decent clearing free from either the homeless or others she finally took a moment to catch her breath. Shit… that was rough… She was mostly just trying to rough them up a bit, but it was a hard fight all the same. Three-on-ones were definitely not a fun experience, and one she hoped to never have to deal with for a long while. At least I gave them the slip and moved deeper in. Now I just have to find my way out without drawing attention and-
"Finally… caught you… Rabbit…"
Touka felt her blood chill over, turning back to see the kung fu girl standing in behind her, hunched over and panting as she also caught her breath.
Give me a damn break… She thought, letting out an annoyed huff. It was almost impressive that this girl had the stamina to keep up with her given how fast she could move and only be a bit out of breath. Actually, wait a second… Touka looked the girl over again, noting some changes about her now. The kung fu girl's dark hair had some noticeable strands of white in it now, and her eyes… had a more pinkish color to them, they practically started to glow.
Warning bells sounded in Touka's head. This was bad. Something was telling her to escape before things got dicey. What a pain… Touka summoned her kagune, wrapping the wing in front of her like a shield as she started to circle the girl, trying to find a good position to start retreating again. The kung fu girl started to circle Touka in turn, refusing to give her a good angle to escape.
The two stared each other down, neither back down. Then, the kung fu girl spoke.
"Why?" She asked. "Why did you kill our teacher?"
Touka paused, looking the girl over again.
"Our teacher was a good man." She continued. "He kept the streets safe, taught us how to protect ourselves, even taught me how to speak Japanese when everyone made fun of my accent! Just… why?!"
Touka took a breath, looking the kung fu girl in the eye from behind her mask. "Why do you guys keep trying to kill my friends and family?" She shot back.
The kung fu girl froze for a moment, looking Touka up and down. "Hehehe…" Then, she let out a low snicker, giving Touka a surprisingly elegant smile that lacked warmth or kindness. "Which one of your friends did I kill, Rabbit?"
Touka's eyes narrowed behind her mask. "Which Dove did I kill that was your teacher?"
The kung fu girl's eyes immediately narrowed, and her grin turned wicked. "Oh, the Rabbit can actually banter. I'm almost glad you can make sick little retorts like that." She snapped back. "Go on Rabbit, say more human words. I know some Cantonese too if you wish to surprise me with some phrases."
"Piss off,"
The kung fu girl canted her head. "Aw, that's not a nice thing to say for something wearing such a cute mask."
Touka could hear footsteps approaching from behind, and she then saw the kung fu girl's smile widen. Dammit, she was stalling me.
Without a word, Touka started to charge forward, then immediately wheeled back, jumping off to a nearby tree and flinging herself along the branches into the denser, more forest-like area of the campground. She could hear the kung fu girl gasp in surprise before hearing her screaming in rage.
"Hey, get back here!" Touka heard her call out. "Rabbit! RABBIT!"
Touka already started hearing the other two group up with the kung fu girl, and she was thankful long gone by the time they reconvene. It seemed the other two were holding back the kung fu girl from following, likely wanting to report on things just like Touka was hoping. She wasted little time and started to move to the underground tunnels.
The moment she was finally safe she slumped onto the floor, panting and looking up at the dank ceiling above. Too close… She thought. Way too close.
The trip home was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. She made it to her apartment with little trouble and the moment she was inside she jumped right into the shower to wash away all the struggles of tonight before heading to bed. The morning after she immediately started to take notes on last night's activities.
Despite the beating she took it was a good night's work. The grief she gave those girls should be enough to keep them in the 8th Ward for a bit. She might have to make some periodic attacks there to make sure they stay there, but hopefully things would go well.
"Hm…" Now that she had finished up one of her main tasks all she had to do was focus on her next major goal, cleaning out the trash in the 11th Ward. Actually, I should probably get a bit more training in before that. As tempting as it was to use the information she got from the Animal Circus to just take out the smaller gangs left and right, it'd also be good to be in top form beforehand. And thankfully, she knew the perfect place to polish up her skills.