First Encounter
We had taken a little more time than we anticipated to reach a rather large building that looked more like a temple with a kind of white stone and golden pillars. We walked inside and noticed that the building was one large room with various tables filled with vials, papers, and one even had a bikaku kagune laid across it. An elderly man with grey hair that had a few loose strands hanging over his face was dressed in a white coat, white shirt, and a black necktie was diligently writing on a piece of paper and didn't turn around once even when addressing us. He spoke in a kind voice that you would expect from an elderly man, but I could tell that his façade hid a much colder side. "Ah, my name is Akihiro Kanou, what can I do for you today? I heard from Uta that I would be getting visitors, so I assume you're here for an organic weapon, hmm?"
The old man turned to us and I handed him the note that Uta gave me and he nodded his head before walking through a door at the back of the building. I thought that it was a door to the back of the building outside, but when he came back out I got a glimpse of what looked like a storage room. The man clapped his hands once and said "Ok, so I need you five to show me your kagune and fighting style. Don't worry I'm a Ghoul as well." He activated his kakugan and his right eye turned into that of a Ghouls, yet he reeked of human...
Yami pat my shoulder and activated his ukaku kagune, which burned brightly like a phoenix's wings. The old man's brow raised as he released a quiet 'Hooo?' and his smile increased in size. He wrote a few things down on a clipboard before looking toward Enji. Enji released a small sigh with a smile on his face as he activated his bikaku kagune that waved around with the appearance of a monkeys tail. Kanou burst into a happy laughter as he exclaimed "It's the Devil Ape himself! Ahaha!" before jotting some more things down on his clipboard. The next was Touka and the old coot got even happier as he continued to say 'It's the Rabbit, the Rabbit!' but that was nothing compared to when he saw my kagune and kakuja.
Kanou fell to his knees and it looked like he was kneeling before a God of some sort, but it was just me after all. He spent a long while writing things down and hurting over to a large piece of blue paper and furiously scribbling on it before he moved to Emily. I myself was actually excited to see her kagune because It was still a mystery to me. Emily cast a side glance at me and Touka before a small smirk touched her lips as she activated her left eye kakugan. Her kagune burst forth from both of her shoulders to reveal long, spine like whips that wrapped around her arms and moved around like they had a mind of their own. Her koukaku kagune was a dark grey with a bright red inside of every groove. Kanou looked like he was about to pass out at he began to quietly laugh to himself and murmur things like a madman.
"That's a pretty damn cool kagune Em. When did you learn to use it?" I said while looking at her kagune that snaked around her arms and shoulders. She tilted her head to the side slightly and said "Hmm, I think it was the first time I trained by myself that I had learned to use it effectively, but I first learned I had it when we first came to Anteiku..." I wasn't that surprised to hear this, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't have seen it sooner. A loud outburst caught our attention. "I've got it! All of you, get out so I can work! I'll have it done in about a week, so scram. Shoo!" We were chased out and onto the streets by the crazed man.
I shook my head and smiled at the old mans behavior before shrugging and beginning the walk back to Anteiku. A muscular man with a handsome face and dark hair with teal eyes was less that 20m away from me and was holding a metal suitcase with a fierce and crazy look in his eyes. I felt danger coming from this guy and I quietly said "Enji, Yami, take Touka and Emily and get the hell out of here. I'll join you soon." I didn't wait for a response as I began to walk toward the young man, who clicked a button on his suitcase to reveal a massive quarter staff with a large blade on the end and, even though the blade looked like it had no point, I felt as if it could rip me to shreds...
The man rushed me and released a feral yell as he swung at me, forcing me to dodge backwards and then duck under his second swing. I clicked my tongue and activated my kakuja and blocked his quinque with my kagune. He began to laugh and said "Aha! I knew you were the Grim Reaper! I'll fucking kill you for what you've done, you bastard!!" He appeared to get even faster as he furiously swiped at me with a murderous aura. I had no clue why this man was so pissed at me, and why the hell he called me 'Grim Reaper'. I was getting annoyed at his repeated attempt to injure me, so I released a yell of my own and swat him to the side and into a building. I looked back and saw that everyone else had already left. I felt a pain in my stomach as I went flying back into the road. The massive gash on my stomach healed in an instant as I recovered and put my palms on the ground and launched off toward the man.
We attacked each other viciously and traded blows after blows, but he was just a human after all. He was breathing heavily and was struggling to stay on his feet. I rushed in for the finishing blow, but he separated his quinque into two falchion-like blades and blocked my kagune before cutting deeply into my abdomen. A veritable flood of blood flowed from my wound and mouth as I leapt back to gain some distance and heal, but my regeneration was slower than usual. He rushed me and began to skillfully draw arcs in the wind as he blocked and countered. I blocked his attacks while trying to keep him at bay so I could heal, but I was struggling. My blood on the ground shot toward me and covered my wounds, making me feel twice as strong as before. I bat the man's quinque away and delivered a heavy strike to his jaw, knocking him out effectively.
My eyes darted to the various civilians that were hurrying inside of buildings and filming me on their phones. I resisted the urge to sigh before speeding off after Enji and Yami. I caught up with them and jumped to the roof they were standing on and was forced to dodge a half hearted punch from Touka as she muttered "Jerk..." I laughed and let my kakuja dissipate before jumping off of the roof and landing in a nearby alleyway before walking off toward Anteiku once again.
- - -
The young man with short black hair woke with a start and grit his teeth against the pain in his head as he stumbled to his feet and leaned on his quinque before muttering "I'll kill you for...Mado...on my name Koutarou Amon, I will bring you down whatever the cost..." and falling to the ground once more. A group of Ghoul investigators from the CCG came by shortly after and put him in the back of an ambulance before questioning the many civilians on what happened. A young man with dirty blond hair and a yellow varsity jacket stepped up and showed one of the investigators a video of a Ghoul in a black hooded robe and white skull mask battling the black haired man...
- - -
I was put through the multiple lectures from not only Touka and Emily, but Yoshimura and Yomo as well. I was currently in the middle of having me ear pulled painfully as Touka let me have an earful of how stupid I am, something I'm used to by now. She noticed that I wasn't listening and reluctantly released my ear before kicking my shin and stomping away with a giggle Emily in tow. Yoshimura sighed before smiling and shaking his head as he walked back to the shop part of the building and left me and Yomo by ourselves in the meeting room. Yomo pat my shoulder and said "At least you're alive. You're lucky you have many people who care for your safety..." before walking out of the door.
I stared out the window and at the various people walking around and going on with their lives without a care in the world. In the short time I was with everyone here at Anteiku, I had grown to realize that Ghouls aren't man-eating monsters, they're just people who want to survive. I've come to realize that not all Ghouls are evil and, just like humans, we do what we have to in order to survive. I somewhat envy those people, you know, being able to walk around and have relationships without constantly living in fear of being hunted down and killed for no reason, only to have your body used to kill the very people you held dear to you. I thought at that moment...why can't us Ghouls and humans live peacefully together? Is it that hard to come to an agreement...?
I sighed and walked out of the meeting room and into the shop. I walked through the door and saw a muscular middle aged man with short black hair and a small beard sitting across the bar with a CCG uniform jacket draped across the back of his chair as he sipped on a cup of coffee. I walked past Yoshimura and began to clean the left over cups and plates while refraining from acting suspicious of anything like that. The last thing I need is a CCG bastard to swarm Anteiku...
I heard the man compliment Yoshimura's coffee making skills while the latter shook his head and lightly laughed. They seemed like they knew each other, but I could tell the man was fishy, like he was trying to lure something or someone out. I finished cleaning the dishes and told Yoshimura that I was going to bed, but the investigator stopped me and called out "Hey, what's your name kid...?" I turned my head and said "It's rude to ask for someone's name without saying yours first." The man laughed and rubbed the back of his head with an awkward laugh and said "Sorry, sorry, that my bad. My name is Yukinori Shinohara and I am a Special Class Ghoul Investigator for the CCG..." I raised my brow after hearing he was a Special Class and said "My name is Ryu Takao, and I work here at Anteiku part-time." Before walking into the staff only door and into the dorms.
That man named Shinohara may look old, but damn was he putting off a suffocating pressure...I guess I'm lucky he didn't think I was a Ghoul. I wiped a bead of sweat from my brow as I continued down the hall and into my room before flopping onto my bed and releasing a content sigh. I rolled around on my bed in a futile effort to get comfortable but it felt like something was off, something felt wrong, so I reluctantly left the comforts of my bed and ambled back down the hall, which was pitch black due to it being late at night, and opened the door to the shop and walked out onto the balcony. What I saw was something that I will never forget, not for as long as I live.
There was an army of CCG investigators and cars lined up outside of the shop and along the streets with guns aimed toward the shop and one man that stood out from the crowd. It was the black haired young man that I had fought earlier...