Movement
(A/N: lmao I'm writing this on my phone while cooking hot wings and grilling some pork loin xD)
A handsome man with a well built body and short dark hair and teal eyes was praying in front of a gravestone that read 'Kureo Mado'. He finished his prayer and murmured "I promise that I'll avenge you, Mr. Mado. I'll kill that bastard...I'll kill the Grim Reaper and set your soul at ease..." he saluted with his right arm across the middle of his chest and walked off with a fire ignited within his eyes...
- - -
A sneeze racked my body and made me feel lightheaded for a second and I almost dropped the cup I was cleaning. A few days had already passed by without anymore sightings of Naomi and I was feeling quite energetic today, so I decided to work today even though it was my day off. Touka had gone with Yoshimura and Yomo to investigate a recent incident of repeated predation so it was rather quiet here today. Hinami came over and we talked for a while as I was serving customers while Enji sometimes joined the conversation and cracked a few jokes. The day went by slowly as I happily hummed a random tune that sounded good with a small smile on my face.
Emily was busy studying up for some test in order to go to school so I had went straight to the training room to work on my technique. The air whistled around me as I worked a deadly dance of death that was also strangely graceful. I was able to bend my body in unnatural ways so my style was hard to adapt to in the middle of a fight, as I used my flexibility to my advantage. I had my eyes closed as I envisioned the enemy before me and moved in accordance to their moves, which seemed strangely...real.
I dodged a punch that would've put a hole in my chest and swept the illusion of Jason off of his feet and delivered a crushing axe kick to his skull. I dusted my hands off and popped my neck before calling it a day and heading off to my room to study up on some stuff myself. I tried to absorb as much information on the different wards and the top dogs of the CCG as well as S-SSS ranked Ghouls. I put my hair up and began to read up on some of the more serious predation issues in the 20th ward. If this continued then the CCG would end up sending some investigators, which is why Touka, Yoshimura, and Yomo were out to check some places out. Actually now that I think about it, I haven't seen Kaneki around for a while. Not since the Jason encounter...
No sooner than I realized this my door swung open and I heard Yomo say in a monotone voice "Come and talk some sense into this fool before he sends the whole CCG down on us..." I sighed and followed Yomo outside and after 5 minutes of walking I saw Touka and Yoshimura holding down a feral looking Kaneki, who now had slightly lighter hair and dark grey eyes that reflected an almost 'lost' light. I put my hand on his shoulder and asked "Kaneki, what the hell happened to you...?" but all I got in response was a yell and a snarl.
I was being nice until he tried to activate his kagune and pierce Touka and Yoshimura. I slapped Kaneki across the face as hard as I could before lifting his face up and looked into his single kakugan while saying "Are you really willing to kill the people who showed you leniency and kindness? Is this your true nature, or are you denying the truth before you...?" A single tear flowed down his cheek and he feel silent before calming down a few moments later. It took even longer to get him to talk, but he eventually revealed that he was beginning to crave human flesh and it got so bad that he ended up attacking an innocent man and devouring him before going on a killing spree after he found out that human flesh tasted good.
"Kaneki, why didn't you use the specialized cubes we gave you?" I asked to which he just shrugged and murmured "I knew it was made out of human parts and I didn't want to consume anything like that, but I guess I just made it worse by denying my existence..." I felt bad for the guy so I only lightly reprimanded him and increased his training intensity. I could tell he truly felt guilty about what he had done so as long as he truly felt that way we couldn't really do anything. I mean it's not like we were going to kill him for doing something like that, right? Anyways, we all headed back to Anteiku after agreeing that Kaneki should stay in the dorms until he stabilized. Despite what had happened I was still in a pretty good mood so I of course teased Touka a little on her sudden outburst from a few days back, causing her to blush and yell at me as she furiously tried to bash my face in.
- - -
A boy who appeared to be in his teens with pale skin, pure white hair that reached down to his shoulders with red hairpins to keep his hair back. His eyes had bags under them while his dark red eyes peered out over the cliff and looked toward a burning building off in the distance with an amused smile on his face as he began to hum and laugh while a middle aged, bulky man with short black hair, a beard, and a rather large nose and wide chin walked up to him and said "Juuzou, do you think you can handle a siege of this size?" In which the boy replied with an energetic "Yeah!" and began to giggle while tossing around a knife.
The two began to walk toward the burning building while slaughtering a bunch of people who wore red hooded robes with skulls masks. A tall man with piercing blue eyes and long, messy blue hair and a mask that covered the lower part of his face appeared in front of the duo and activated his ukaku kagune. The middle aged man clicked his tongue while the boy named Juuzou began to laugh even more as he threw a flurry of knives at the blue haired Ghoul. The Ghoul dodged easily before sending out a veritable wave of spikes from his kagune. The middle aged man activated his Quinque and swatted the spikes away. The Ghoul narrowed his eyes and fled with the rest of the robed survivors, leaving the boy and middle aged man alone on a field of blood and fire...
- - -
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining through my window. I yawned while shuffling over toward the wardrobe next to my mirror on the other side of the room. I glanced at the mirror and took a double take. I saw the streaks of red in my white hair had grown longer and were lighter than before. I shrugged and got dressed in casual clothes before walking toward the shop area and greeted Yoshimura and Kaneki before walking out to the balcony and enjoying the morning breeze. My hair whipped in the wind, but I didn't mind because how good it felt outside. It was already mid-winter and it was probably ten degrees outside, yet it didn't bother me.
The balcony door slid open behind me and I turned my head to see the completely covered Emily and Touka as they shivered and looked at me like I was crazy. They had every right to look at me that way because I was wearing a black tank top and shorts with no shoes, so any normal person would look at me like I was crazy. I chuckled and turned my attention back to the rising sun in the distance. I spared the two from suffering and soon went back inside to enjoy a nice, warm cup of coffee and a fire.
The shop was closed today due to the cold weather so everyone just relaxed around the fireplace in the new meeting room and enjoyed each other's company. Times like these are ones that fill me with joy and such a profound happiness, and it makes me wonder why humans can't see the majority of Ghouls as people who merely want to live, not cause endless suffering. Hell, even a minority of humans kill other humans or do unspeakable acts to their kin, yet they treat them like people and us like monsters. I waved away those thoughts, as not to sully the nice moment I was having with the Anteiku staff, and engaged in a conversation about a new technology for organic weapons made out of Ghouls kagunes without harming the Ghoul in question.
Enji and, after he had randomly appeared, Yami began to talk about their dream weapons. It was more than a little exciting thinking about a weapon I could use besides my fists or kagune. However, my attention, along with everyone else's, was thoroughly captured when Enji admitted that he heard from Yomo that there was a Ghoul in the 20th ward who used to be the lead researcher in the experiment and he knew how to produce the organic weapon better than most. Yami basically beat the information out of Enji until the latter confessed that he didn't know the Ghouls exact whereabouts, so Yami and I exchanged knowing glances before asking Yoshimura about Uta's current location, to which he said Uta should still be at his mask shop.
Shortly after, Yami, Touka, Emily, Enji, and I began to walk toward Uta's shop with a slight pep in our, or more specifically my, steps. I walked in to Uta's shop and yelled out "Yo, Uta! How's it goin?" The Ghoul in question peeked his head out from a door in the back a few seconds later and a large smile bloomed across his face as he said "Ah, Ryu and Emily! Come on in and make yourself comfortable! What can I do for you today?" He seemed very energetic today and it was rather funny to see such a scary looking guy beaming with a large smile and sunny aura.
I explained that we were here because of the rumor regarding the organic weapons made from a Ghouls kagune. Uta's face actually got even brighter when I mentioned the organic weapons and he then went on a rant about how it was the ultimate style of art and how he absolutely adored it. He even told us the name and location of his friend who led the research and experimentations of the project and he gave us a note with his signature so he could make us all organic weapons. That felt way easier than it should have been but I waved Uta goodbye and we began to make preparations to travel to the other side of the 20th ward, which would take almost all afternoon at a faster than normal pace.
The man's name is said to be Akihiro Kanou and he was an artificial Ghoul. His general profile was a little shady since most of his life and details were left out or erased from the internet, but it was worth the try if it meant I could have a powerful weapon by my side. We made out preparations and set out at once for the far side of the 20th ward. The walk was actually fun, especially when a group of guys would suddenly stare at Touka and Emily with their jaws dropped. Of course I teased them for it and earned a few remarks but it was all in good fun. Life had been looking rather bright lately, and I felt like I could protect this life if I had my friends and my family beside me...
- - -
The young man with a muscular build, handsome face, and dark hair was trailing a group of five people while focusing his sight on a rather tall young man in the middle with white and red hair than ran halfway down his back. The dark haired man snarled as he silently followed the group around the 20th ward with a fire in his eyes, and a purpose in his step.