Narimi's Path

The sounds of various feet gently walking on concrete echoed in Narimi's mind. It was as if it was the only thing in her mind was the sound of the people, and her own personal commentary on how each human moved. How each human swayed. How each human felt much different to the next, and how no matter what they all felt exciting. Her blank gaze moved along the sidewalk. Sometimes, she would barely catch a conversation. Humans, to her, would sometimes speak of the most trivial things-- even if ghouls weren't much different than them. The difference was still there and obvious, though. She was much more powerful than these basic creatures, and could probably kill all of them if she wanted to. Narimi pushed aside this thought, though, and she went back with obsessing in silence with a blank face.

They are quiet today. They aren't speaking as much. Maybe there haven't been enough events. It could just be the time, too. Some people talk about how work hours are odd, this must be one of those moments. Her eyes moved through the crowd, or lack of, watching the mouths of each person. If she was lucky, she was able to make direct eye contact and hold it until they broke away. Narimi got happiness from the uncomfortable movement of humans, their nervousness funny to her, even if her expression wouldn't show it. Street people rarely make conversation. I should walk more often. Just as she had been finishing her thoughts, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders unexpectedly. From under her jacket sleeves, she had readied her hands to jab the culprit in the gut when a familiar voice could be heard.

"Ah! Narimi!" The cheery voice rang brightly as his hands adjusted so that his arm was around her shoulder and he was standing right beside Narimi. Kiyoshi was much taller than her, making this stance a little awkward for him. "I'm surprised you're out walking this early! What're you doing, hm?" He smiled, looking down to Narimi with his eyes bright with joy.

Narimi looked up to him, glancing into his eyes. "I'm walking." Her tone boring as she looked back to the street in front of her. "It sounded like you knew. Plus, you are doing the same as I am." She hesitantly looked over to her shoulder, his hand still there. Ech. Her hand slowly grabbed his and moved it off from her shoulder.

He frowned as his hand got moved, and he rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "That's... not what I meant." His chuckle was dry. "You know, I meant like where are you going?" Kiyoshi faced forward, looking at the street the same way Narimi had. Although, he was much more enthusiastic about the people that walked by. He casually waved at anybody who passed.

"I don't know." Narimi answered. "I just enjoy walking." She hadn't bothered to observe her surroundings anymore. With Kiyoshi around, paying attention wasn't something she was fully required to do. She wouldn't hunt, either. She could just pass off being a human.

"Oh." Kiyoshi mumbled to himself, now looking down to his feet nervously. "Well, Nari," His tone brightened up again. "If you aren't going anywhere, would you like to go get lunch, on me? I know it's a bit sudden but, if you don't know." He turned his head back to Narimi. His focus bounced rather quickly, trying to find a good place to keep his eyes on. While speaking to her, it would make the most sense to lock his eyes on her.

Narimi gently shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry." She then turned her head slightly, making strong eye contact with him and not moving. "If you want to eat, I can follow you. I don't mind watching you eat." What she said had came out very creepy and absurd, and her emotionless stare had only made things much worse. Her hands, from under her sleeves, were folded together. The appearance, along with her long hair, hadn't seem very threatening, but her choice of words made everything awkward. "Sometimes it is weird when you drink, though."

Kiyoshi's smile lowered down to a concerned frown. "O-oh?" He decided to shake it off as just another oddity of Narimi. "Hah, well, alright!" They walked for a bit, then when they had finally came to a restaurant, they both walked in.

Ring, Ri-ring.

The small bell tied to the door caught Narimi's attention quickly, her eyes gazed up to it with awe. "How nice." Her voice calm as she looked back to what was in front of her; Kiyoshi leading her to a table by a window. She sat from across him, and turned to look outside. It was still calm outside. It was rather relaxing; the contrast from the store to the outside world. The noisy conversations of various people filled in her ears again. One conversation was an interesting one, about how one family member needlessly left another, and how the struggle that was happening in the family was painful. The only voice of reason being a young drunken man, saying how it would've happened anyways. I wonder if they know he's drunk. Narimi turned around to look at the other people.

Kiyoshi had in his hands a menu, peering through all that he could order before sighing and putting down the laminated paper. Looking up, he stared at Narimi for a while before looking to where she was looking. Her eyes were set on one of the customers. He smiled and looked back to Narimi, yet she hadn't broken her stare yet. His smile, once again, became a frown. "Nari?"

"Hm?" Narimi's gaze was locked onto a customer with long, red hair. She had seemed to be rather rowdy and reckless, but in her hair was a bow clip that held the hair up in a ponytail. As Narimi carefully observed, she noticed the customer's hips. They were hips to kill for, literally. She had blinked with interest, then Kiyoshi's hands touching hers caused her to turn quickly, and pull her hands away.

"Staring isn't very polite." His voice was calm, trying not to bring any attention to the duo.

"Oh."

Kiyoshi sighed happily, moving his hands off from the table and into his lap to be as polite as possible. He didn't want to be marked as a hypocrite, so he would have to take the lead for her sake. In just the right timing, a waitress had stepped over to their table and got ready to write down their orders. Her hair was up in a ponytail, too, but hers had to be done for work. Narimi tilted her head slightly. It must be very popular these days. She thought, then looked to Kiyoshi as the waitress asked him for his order.

He nodded and started to point on the menu. "I'll take a hot cup of tea and a burger, too, please?" Kiyoshi's cheerful tone stayed even when ordering food. "No lettuce or tomatoes, and I'd like it to-go, too." He looked through the menu again, then looked up at Narimi. The waitress also looked to her way. "Nari? What would you like?"

Narimi blinked slowly. "I'm a vegetarian." She said to avoid having to order anything that the menu had to offer. While what humans had for a selection of food hadn't appealed to her tastes at all, it always had a cool look to it. It was rather disgusting, really. Mushed all together, unsure of what food really was, worrying if something was poisonous or not. She wouldn't speak about it, though. Kiyoshi's tastes weren't something she could speak on. Besides, if she were to say that she preferred eating humans, she wouldn't have been alive for too long.

The waitress gave an unimpressed stare at Narimi. Kiyoshi tilted his head with curiosity. "Narimi, they have salads here. You can have one of those, right?" He smiled, hoping she would order something.

"I meant to say I'm a vegan." Narimi looked outside of the window again, to her surprise a person had walked right beside her window. That stranger was so close. Her thoughts pushed away the reality of her current situation.

Kiyoshi gave a sceptical glare. "Do you know what a vegan is?" The waitress raised a brow, as if she wanted to ask the same question.

Narimi looked over to Kiyoshi and furrowed her brows in a scowl. "Of course I know what a vegan is, I am a vegan." She looked down to her hands, then to the waitress. "That's when a person doesn't eat at all." The waitress scowled, and frowned. Kiyoshi sighed and shook his head slowly.

"I guess that's all, then. Thank you very much." He said, faking a smile to the waitress and waited for her to fully walk away before turning back to Narimi and talking. His brows gave him a sad appearance, but his smile made it a lot more different. Its almost as if the two expressions didn't mix with each other very well. "That's not what a vegan is, Nari."

"Are you sure?" She responded.

"Vegans can eat, they just can't eat or use animal products." Kiyoshi gave a distressed sigh at the ignorance of his friend.

"Oh."

He rested his elbow on the table, then his head on his hand as he looked outside through the window. "Do you even listen in school?" He spoke under his breath, curious about what else Narimi had no knowledge of. He had hoped she didn't listen in, or hear him.

"Sometimes." Narimi said, looking outside, too. "Though the teachers don't always know what they are teaching and teach outdated facts. They mess up frequently, so I am not learning anything really. I just go so that I can do something." She watched the pedestrians quickly move between buildings. It seemed that it became more busy than before.

Kiyoshi frowned. "There must be a real reason why you go. You can keep yourself busy doing other things, so you must enjoy something." He looked at Narimi. She was stuck looking outside.

"I enjoy watching adults fail at what they are supposed to be good at." She said, her tone brutal as she said it. "Seeing a teacher fail is funny. They are shocked, but they try not to show it. I see their mistake, though." Narimi still watched, at one point she saw a dog and she exhaled with shock. Dogs are cute. She then looked at the owner, and she scrunched up her nose in disgust. His shirt contrasts with his shoes. It's very ugly. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kiyoshi.

"You might want to be careful about how much you laugh at your teachers, you don't wan-" He looked over, the waitress came back with a small box and a cup of hot water. She put both gently on the table and looked at Kiyoshi, waiting for him to pay. His eyes looked over the burger when he opened the box, his mouth already watering. He turned to the waitress and handed her the money. "Thank you!" His voice went from serious to loud and happy again.

The waitress scoffed and gave a half-hearted "You're welcome, come again. Narimi's gaze moved from the window and to the waitress, her expressionless stare enough to haunt someone if they had noticed her staring. Once the waitress was out of her sight, Narimi's focus moved to Kiyoshi, who was already standing up and getting ready to go.

"I'm going to go home. It was nice seeing you, Nari!" He chuckled, then gasped with joy. "Wait! Maybe I could walk you home, or even better-- You could come visit! I bet my parents miss you so much! Come on, Narimi!" He went to grab for her hand to take her with him, but she calmly shook her head before he came too close.

Narimi looked up to Kiyoshi with heavy eyelids, as her eyes usual state of relaxation. "I will go home myself. I'm going to stay back for a while." She stood up, too, waiting for Kiyoshi to leave so that she could stall for a few minutes. He sighed, and gave a sad wave to her as he walked out the door.

Ring Rin-ring

Narimi trailed behind a bit, walking outside of the door after he had. The ringing wasn't as loud for her, causing her to be a little bit down, now. The bell was a soothing sound for her, kind of like how Aloha both meant Hello and Goodbye, it was a greeting to one half of the world, and a parting statement for the other half. It was a nice change, but also the most repetitive thing a person could probably hear.

She stood outside of the shop, just thinking about the bell as she watched the many people on the street. Thank you for dinner, Kiyoshi. She said gently, bowing her head slightly as her hair fell over her shoulders, acting as a coal black curtain for her face. She looked up to the sky, and watched as the sun slowly began to dip under the horizon. "Wow." Narimi said with delight, even though she wasn't smiling. Soon, the street lamps were lit and the once busy streets were dull again. Narimi nodded to herself, then sighed, preparing herself.

Abruptly, she slammed open the door-- the bell aggressively ringing as she did so. When she fully entered the building, the people who were left in the restaurant looked over to her and watched her run to a waitress. The attention that the crowd was giving her was like a flock of seagulls watching a kid with a sandwich. She pushed her way through other waiters and waitresses, only to grab the arm of the waitress that served her and Kiyoshi.

"Please, ma'am!" Her tone was desperate as she tugged on the sleeve of the worker. "Please, help me." Narimi's voice was on the verge of tears, trying to sway the waitress to help her. "My friend, Kiyoshi, he... we were walking and this, this mugger came from no where! He's hurt!" She continued to pull until the waitress started to follow her without struggle. Narimi staying quick as they left the building and started running down the street.

The waitress, being dragged by her arm, had small troubles with her own running. Her lungs felt like they would have popped at any moment, her legs tired from work already, and the strong grip Narimi had on her wrist had only added so much pressure. Looking down at her feet, the waitress saw she was still in her work heels. Now wasn't the time, though, and Narimi quickly led her to a side alley.

She started to walk slowly. "Ma'am... I think... he's down here somewhere." Narimi looked up to her, tears lightly decorating her face even though her mouth was at a blank slate and her eyelids were still heavy. "Please... help him." She faked a sniffle, rubbing her nose as if she actually had something there. As the waitress started to walk nervously, Narimi blinked.

She's being careful. She observed, even though this would've been a given. I can't smell anything but her, and the stench of a rat. I'll be damned if a rat takes her away from me. Narimi closed her eyes, sighing as the waitress began to part away faster. She's all mine, anyways. Once opening her eyes again, her iris had became red, and the once white space was black now. Her eyes glowed a bit in the darkness of the alley way. Narimi's koukaku started to branch out, feeling pressure as it did. They came out just as she last remembered them, large, red ribbon like spirals. Soon, her ukaku followed, the spirals wrapping around her arms as they had similarly came out as the koukaku. Narimi lowered her body now.

"Oh, ma'am?" Her voice echoed through the alley. The waitress turned around, and gasped. She stumbled a bit, then let out a loud, pitchy scream that could've caused any dog pain. As the lady started to run to the other side of the alley, she gradually became slower and slower. Something wasn't right. Narimi exhaled with joy as she started to close in to the waitress. "Maybe you should be careful when running. The human lungs can only take so much before they begin to experience excruciating pain." Narimi began to speed up, her footsteps on the concrete becoming stronger with each stride.

The waitress tried running again, feeling nothing but sharp jabs in her torso. She could hardly run five more steps before being out of breath again. She leaned against the wall, her ponytail falling in front of her shoulder. She looked behind herself, with fretful eyes like a deer in front of a car, and let out another scream.

"Screaming while out of breath will not help you run. It will only make your last breath more useless." Narimi became very close now, not close enough to attack with her kagune, but enough to leap and take the kill. Which, she did. Narimi pounced, almost as if she were an animal hunting for a weak piece of prey. Luckily for her, the waitress was already exhausted. It would have been easy, and a nice opportunity to have a free meal. She moved her arm back, then slammed her hand down onto the waitresses chest. At the same time, her kagune hit directly where she had aimed. Blood followed, and as she moved her hand away, her finger tips were left stained.

The waitresses' muscles twitched violently under the sharp jab of the kagune. Narimi looked down at the pained look on the woman and stared directly into her eyes. A part of her feeling guilty for slaughtering a creature she admires much more than anything else, but the reward was great. To assure the death of her half-dead prey, Narimi jabbed down rapidly with both her left and right hands, blood starting to go further. She tilted her head and stood up. Looking down, her sweater was ruined by the corpse. "Oh." She said sadly, turning her attention back to the waitress.

Sighing from the complexity of what she had to do next, Narimi took the legs of the corpse and started to drag it out of the alley, before leaving and running away she peered out. The lack of people made everything so convenient for her. She wrapped the corpse in her Koukaku and began to run away, leaving behind only a slight pool of blood as she stole the corpse to store it away in a place where she could keep it for later.

As she ran away, Narimi made sure of herself to be silent so she wouldn't lure any doves. Her routine was paying off well in her mind.

Narimi darted down the street, the corpse wrapped in her kagune still. She felt a sense of worry, being without her mask and her required tools to feel truly safe- but it isn't like too many doves shared the district with her and the few other ghouls that also lived here. Not that she really knew any. She preferred to stay away from others, with the exception of a friend who was too oblivious to not realise she was a ghoul. She was slightly disappointed in him, especially after earlier events about her lack of knowledge on what "vegans" are. It surely rose suspicion with somebody else, somebody else who isn't as important anymore.

She took an immediate left, leaving no sign of her little hunt on the main street. She started to slow down and looked behind herself, not seeing a sign of a person. Maybe a bird or two, but nothing to fret over. The only birds she would need to notice were Doves. Looking in front of herself again, she felt a bit anxious, as if someone was with her. Glancing nervously across the small alley, she rested her hands on the walls of a building and tried to get a better view, the lack of light not doing her any favours in this situation. "Hello?" She called out to the darkness, in hopes that there wouldn't be a response.

Nothing.

Narimi began to walk forward again, proceeding with caution into the area.  Something about the emptiness of it, the echo from her own voice and the darkness that resembled a night sky with no stars to look into had haunted her. Even though she could have gone out of the alley and just try a different route, she stuck to her original choice, though it may seem like the worse possible option. As she continued on in the darkness, fumbling like a young deer over her own feet, she felt a corner and knew that it was a dead end alley. The only thing in her way was a chain link fence, slipping her fingers through as she peered to the other side. There was a rotten smell to whatever was on the opposite side, pushing her to turn back around so that she wouldn't suffer with the stench of meat that hasn't properly been taken care of. Or was it something else? She hadn't really cared.

Now facing the hollowness of an empty alley again, she felt the same pinch of worry from before. As if someone had been watching her, and she heard quiet taps from the nearby street. Her red iris gleamed brightly from the alley, and the blood that had splattered on her outfit has made her hard not to notice. There was no place to hide now, so she stood in a readied stance. Soon a shadow was cast over the alley, a large, strong figure. Masculine, with long hair that wasn't taken care of. Arms that stuck out a bit, and a body at least two times her own size. She lowered her head, feeling more and more threatened the closer the man got. His footsteps stopped and took a left, stopping Narimi's heart. Why am I so anxious? I saw this coming. She tried her best to shake it off, but only felt more pressure as he turned into the alley.

Thin, long, greasy brown hair. A strong build, strong enough to snap her in half. His face with scars that tore through his skin, and even from a distance Narimi could tell that he had been through much pain before. There was no way he was a human, a good human anyways. He rested his eyes on her kagune, and the corpse that had been wrapped in one of them.

"Wha'chu got there?"

She was a bit shocked he hadn't attacked her, so she assumed he was a ghoul. Narimi stared up at him, trying to relax a bit. "She was stupid. I..." Her eyes darted to her left, then to her feet. "She attacked me, so I only attacked in defence. She's mine now, though. Don't bother asking for her." The man had only chuckled at Narimi's excuse. His teeth were gross, and he was missing a few.

"You think I'm gonna ask for permission from a runt like you?" His tone sure was a lot cheerier than what he had said, a strong contrast that had hit Narimi hard with a worry strong enough to make her regret her own choices. She kept a strong, careless glare, though. "I could kill you and take two meals home."

He's a cannibal. Narimi took a step back, feeling her kagune bump into the chain link fence, jumping her slightly. Oh no, oh no... Ohnoohnoohnoohno. He started to take a few steps forward, chuckling eerily at her obvious fear. Her heart raced violently as she had very little choices, either try to climb upwards, outrun the guy, or risk whats behind the fence. Her kagune weren't built for climbing, only as a bit of storage and weapons. Outrunning wasn't a good choice, either, since he could easily grab the lass and ruin her corpse. Narimi moved her head back and looked as far behind her as her peripheral vision would allow her. His footsteps became louder the closer he got. But, where is his kagune? Isn't it natural for ghouls to show their kagune before fighting, or at least killing?

He continued to get closer, not caring to release the predatory organ. Maybe I can... fight him? The slight flutter of hope bringing a bit of bravery to Narimi. She nervously got both of her arms ready, and in the process her kagune, then lowered her body. A familiar stance, and an efficient one, too. With a lowered body, dodging the attacks of him would be easier, and she could have more of a reach. It would also give her a bit of a speed boost since her legs were ready to run, if she had, too. She put her right foot back, and held her breath, waiting for her opponent to get closer to her.

He stopped walking and rolled his head from side to side, a creak could be heard. She stared at him, but after he stopped once he seemed to have stopped coming any closer to her. Hm? Narimi shook away her uncertainty and abruptly leapt into action, running full speed at the man. Once she got close enough, she thrusted her arm at his lower gut. It wouldn't have been a killing blow, just enough to have him down for her escape. Out of nowhere, he counter her attack with a large bikaku. It was sharp, flowy, and sword-like. Her arm was sent to the side, but she quickly moved her other arm for an attack, only to have it grabbed by him. How? She stared at her arm. He had so easily avoided her kagune and grabbed her arm without injury. He strengthed her grip, causing her to exclaim in pain.

Turning her gaze over to his bikaku, she watched him get ready to stab her. The weapon was impressive in size, but a bikaku wasn't about speed or strength. It's a balancd kagune, meaning she had time. She looked back to the arm he had a grasp on, and she rammed her other arm directly into his elbow, jabbing aggressively so that she could free herself from him. More blood spilling on to her once clean coat. He shouted with pain and let go of her arm, clutching his injury. Narimi gave a relieved chuckle-like exhale and backed up, turned around, and started to run to the fence. "Bitch..." He whispered not so quietly as she ran, then lashed his bikaku out at her legs.

Narimi hit the ground with a loud thud, the corpse spilling from her kagune and to the ground. The sound of her body hitting to the floor repeated in the alley. Narimi widened her eyes and looked over to the body, no puddles, no dirt, no trash can... she had gotten lucky, but the sound of the man nearing her hadn't felt like it. Narimi got up to her feet, and ran over to the body, her koukaku wrapping around it again. When she looked back, the man had a fist ready for the side of Narimi's head. Reacting as quickly as she could, Narimi blocked his hand with her arm and began to run again, this time making sure to watch her feet. Meeting the fence again, she leaped up and grabbed the top of the fence, kicking her body up as fast as she could.

She felt something shift in weight, though. Turning her head around while clinging onto the fence, she noticed the man had grabbed the corpse. Narimi's eyes twitched. His filthy hands taking hold of the corpse's foot, dragging the dead body out of her grasp, and before she could do anything it was too late. The dead body's front half was loose and slammed into the cement ground, a cracking sound from the skull being heard. "You..." Narimi's voice was weak. "You ruined her." She whispered under her own breath, then scurried up the fence. Once at the top, she looked down at the man, who had already bitten into her leg. "Disgusting pig." She whispered, then dropped to the other side. She slipped her fingers through the chain links again and stared directly at the corpse. I hope the doves find him. Her voice a bit like a jealous child. Though, it isn't too far off. She was very jealous.

The man just laughed, disgustingly enough as flesh filled his mouth. The gross sound of blood on his lips when he opened his mouth. "Thanks for the free meal."

Narimi clutched her fist and sighed, deciding to leave him be. The body wasn't worth fighting over anymore. He already ruined it with his teeth. She looked to the new alley she decided to go down. It still smelled of rotten meat, and rusted metals. Heart broken and furious, Narimi went down the path anyways. The scent stinging her nose sharply, causing her to feel a bit worse somehow. She closed her eyes when she walked, now. The darkness no different, but at least this way she had some comfort. In the distance, she could still hear him slurping down the waitress' blood. Narimi groaned. "At least have some manners when eating."

For now, Narimi just had to find her own home and change her messy clothing. Perhaps clean it, too. It's such a shame about what had to happen. This was her favourite coat. Sniffing the air again, Narimi found the source of the awful smell. Walking over, she noticed it came from a trash can. A dead pig, or parts of a dead pig. Not very safe to keep like that, but at least it wasn't something much worse. She shook her head and walked away again, finally relaxing her muscles enough to hide away her kagune and her kakugan again. She gave the appearance of a normal human again, except bloodier than a butcher. This was a minor set back, though. By tomorrow, she would have everything straightened out again. For now, she simply took her coat off and rested it on her arms. She was wearing her favourite blouse, too. White, long sleeved, with a cute little bow at her neck. Luckily for her, most of her blouses looked like this. They were all her favourite, really.

Narimi continued to walk, and soon found herself back on a main street. She followed the street lamps comfortably, waiting for a reason for her to turn.

She's a ghoul? Well, that's bothersome, but thankfully it's not my job to deal with her. Well, given circumstances and timing.

The man looked back at his meal, namely the Sashimi. His eyes then laid upon the Miso soup, and his mouth watered, the thought of consuming the food clawing at his mind. His eyes then looked back up to the ghoul for a second, directing around the room naturally as though he were scanning the environment. He practiced a lot to keep himself from being zeroed out as a dove. Hell, he even went through the trouble of concealing a filtered case for his Quinque. Ghouls can't smell it, and it's small enough to hide in his jacket pocket. He started to eat, forgetting that he wanted to listen in on the conversation that was proceeding at the other table, and by the time he realized that he was finished, the ghoul was gone.

He sighed, his mind retaliating with the instinctual jump into action and search, but his body reacting by not moving at all. He looked at the waitress who was serving him. She smiled at him, a common courtesy for manners, and he smiled in return. His eyes looked back down at the empty containers. He longed for more, but alas, he was on a budget.

Between this month and the last, he spent more of his money of fine cuisines than he should have. In fact, it's become such detriment that he let six ghouls free in the past week: His excuse was that he was too full to complete his given task. Well, I can't help it if I ea--

The ringing sound amplified immensely from an abrupt entrance. What followed was a distressed voice crying into the room, his eyes quickly snapping onto her as she ran up to the waitress that had just come to his table, his brows raising in recognition. Interestingly, it was the ghoul again, her eyes full of fake tears.

Well, maybe not. He listened to the story she spewed and kept himself from laughing, though he didn't really need to try, he rarely laughed unless necessity called for it.

Killing people took the humor out of life. It's incredible how quickly a man can go from living a jovial and charmed life to a sardonic and desolate existence. It's sacrilege. It's unmoral. It's utter desecration.

The instant they departed from the room, he instinctively stood.

Money. He dropped the required cash--don't forget the tip--by his plate as he tailed them.

Wait! No need for a tip now.

Whatever, he'll survive another scolding whenever CCG is billed and acquire new funds to extinguish his hunger.

That is, if he survives this week. Last week would have been the end of him had he not created a diversion and cremated his target though he almost cremated himself in the process.

Listen, don't act. That's how he learned to eradicate ghouls. How else other than learning of the opponent and using that knowledge against them? Knowledge is power, after-all.

He gave chase after the two of them as silently as he could.

Distance, can't forget to keep distance. Wait, not that much! Well great, now I've lost them.

He stopped his momentum to scavenge his findings. He knew--or he thought he knew--who the ghoul was, and he knew for a fact that if the waitress goes missing, his superior would tear him to shreds. Hell, she might even be a ghoul herself with how brutal she is. Incentive to correct his blunder.

Well, first he'll make his way to a sketchy as hell alle--slam, clang, clash.

"Ow ow ow ow! That hurt!" he said, his voice gravelly as he started hopping on one foot, going from a high tone to a deep tone. He looked up and his eyes caught onto the trash-can that he ran into. "That hurt!" he continued, his voice still undeniably androgynous. He cleaned the mess he created before continuing his expedition to locate the ghoul.

Or the remains of her feast.

Steadfast, he continued down the path and experienced, yet again, the absolute loneliness of darkness.

How do ghouls live through this eternal hell? They can't experience a feeling of safety without having to worry about some human hunting them down and annihilating their kind. Not only that, but they have to deal with the distress that accompanies your relation to fellow ghouls. If you're associated with a group of ghouls, there's another group hunting you down. Gangs!

He didn't like the idea of killing ghouls. Bloodshed isn't something he likes to contribute to, which is why he considers a ghouls habits and extracts as much information on a ghoul before he murders them.

So far, this ghoul is a bad egg. Expensive one, too, judging by his now empty wallet. Incentive to work harder? Not a chance. Without much thought he continued his expedition and increased his pace, his mind stuck on whether or not the ghoul was a threat or not, or whether he should just leave the ghoul be.

Well, I still need more evidence, right? Fact time. Does she like killing? Hell if I know. Is she trying to make a living in the world of humans? Kind of. Who is she? No idea.

He stopped and tapped his fingers on his chin, his face clean shaven and smooth. Suddenly, he heard conflict breaking out within the vicinity. Perfect! Maybe this will give him what he's looking for. He hides himself behind the corner with closed eyes, listening unconsciously, his creativity taking control and painting out the situation so that he could get a better perspective of the situation.

"I could kill you and take two meals home."

Not a voice he cared about, who was he talking to? Visuals exploded into his head, varying rapidly as he tried to picture what they looked like and how they were positioned with his expressive imagination. Though he was far from wrong, he managed that the girl obviously had an ukaku. Interestingly, he felt that the girl would fight closer to the ground in order to bypass the height and prowess of the man, who from his voice was imagined to be big. Movement, the girl obviously was going in for an attack as--

That's a kagune, possibly either bikaku or rinkaku from the height that the sound came from. The exclamation of pain, he didn't like this ghoul. Obviously the female ghoul killed somebody, and this guy decided to attack her and threaten her for a meal? Somebody is dying tonight. The event continued to unfold as the Dove's hand reached into his jacket yet again, his heartbeat rapidly increasing and drowning out his imagination as he prepared himself for what was ahead.

He looked down and into a mirror, his silver-blue eyes staring back at him. They were slanted lightly on his thin, rather feminine face, his appearance accentuated with makeup to give his androgynous appearance an even more feminine look, something he varied constantly to keep his true identity hidden; this was his first time in this ward, but he wanted to be known as a female rather than a male for now. He then held the mirror out a bit more and examined his body. He looked like a very formal young woman with light curvature on the upper and lower body. Lastly, he checked his hair--which he should have checked first to be honest--and found that he it was a mess from all of his adventures of the day. Without much time left he fixed his long red hair into a rather neat, professional, and charming manner--well, maybe a little messy to express a long day at work.

"I'd definitely date myself." he mumbled under his breath in a light, girly voice. With a wink he put the mirror away and started to walk, turning around the corner and seeing the sight before him: a male ghoul eating a woman (I should have kept my tip!) quite brutally. What was he, a feral beast? Without pause the man looked up and, at first, stopped all movement--he was evaluating the situation. Then he committed to a chuckle whilst still chewing the meat his mouth, the 'woman' screaming and stumbling back, her foot 'catching' on something and causing her to lose balance. The man stood as his bikaku lashed out and whipped around: extensive dramatics, much? The ghoul watched as his 'prey' fell and starting to turn away, fight or flight. Obviously flight, obliviously fight. Rather eerily, the man started moving slowly forward before breaking into a full-sprint, by-the-book hunting. His steps got closer and louder as they echoed and amplified, heartbeat increase, adrenaline rush, uncontrollable insanity.

"You're mine!" yelled the Dove in a voice that was a croaky mixture of male and female. The ghoul lost his footing as he smelled another ghouls stink, his face confused for a second before realizing that it was coming from the human. Suddenly, he was impaled from six directions, death instantaneous but painless. The Dove was smiling and dancing around with lithe before breaking down seconds later. Tears flowed from his eyes as he retracted his quinque and placed it away. He was crazy, and he hated it. Sometimes, he couldn't help but kill, and this is how he has chosen to deal with it. With ghouls, he can kill them and not get into trouble, but it still took a toll on him. He needed to push on, though. There was still another ghoul evaluation to be completed, and if the ghoul got away before his examination, then he wouldn't be able to help exterminating her.

Again, he began his adventuring and followed the path that he thought she followed, breaking into a run while making a phone call, the voice picking up one that he didn't want to have an exchange with.

"Hey pretty boy." came the voice of his boss, strict but flirtatious, she was. "You calling about funds or are you actually on a hunt this time?"

"Well, I'm calling because I need access to the camera within this area, and I need to know if there is a lone girl walking do--"

"Lone girl, I see two. One is running and the other is walking. Now, I feel as though there is a 'but' that you were holding out on, dear."

Pause, this was so that he could close his eyes and sigh.

"How much did you spend this time?"

"Well, let's just say that I won't be eating for the rest of the week. Could you spare me some cash?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Next time, I'm hanging you from your feet. Again. For now, meet me in the 20th ward tomorrow, coffee shop across from the Antiku Art Studios. Beautiful art, maybe you'll take me there."

She hung up.

Of course, she was forcing him into an exclusive meal that she refused to acknowledge as a date. Why couldn't she just accept that she has the hots for him? He would fume indefinitely, but he had to do so later or it would inhibit his ability to confront and interpret his ideology to the ghoul he may be exterminating in the near future.

There, the bloody figure in the distance, an extravagant sight to the eyes of an egotistical maniac that had schizophrenia. Explicit to a hemophiliac. He was both--his previous ambitions were to dictate the daily routine in a hospital while exclusively taking it upon himself to rehabilitate the sickly and bedridden, the invalid and debilitated. Unfortunately, he acquired a sort of madness once he lost his beloved family to a collapse within his house. Wife, children, everything.

He caught up, one bloody figure looking at another.

"Hello, my name is Aimi!" he said in a charming and girly voice, his makeup a mess and his clothing covered in blood.

He smelled of ghoul and human.

He didn't care.

"What's your name?"

Narimi lowered her head to look at the ground, and in the process, her feet gently tapping against the sidewalk at a very calm and relaxing pace. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. She mocked her own walking pattern, feeling a sense of relaxation. Well, she had felt a sense of relaxation, but the sudden sound of a mismatching rhythm caused her to face forward. Nobody in front of her, she turned around, only to be greeted by a person that was covered in blood. She tensed up a bit, feeling more worried about this possible creature. Were they... following me? Narimi hesitated jumping to the conclusion, but in her own distracted thoughts she missed out on what the person had said before.

"What's your name?" They asked, the fresh scent of human on them. There was ghoul, too, but she felt more human. Narimi just stared at the person, with a fretful glare.

My name. Narimi folded her hands together, clinging onto her bloodied jacket. She hoped she hadn't gotten any blood on her white shirt, but looking down to check would have been problematic. After that other ghoul she had just encountered- She's bloody. If she followed me, and survived, does that mean she killed the other ghoul? Narimi felt afraid, she felt worse than afraid, anxiety was a better term to fit right now. Would she actually be able to say her name to this potential threat? She shook away her worry, deciding that there couldn't be too much danger.

"Narimi." Her tone, although quiet as usual, was also lightened a bit to sound more delicate and less worried. Friendlier than what her actual friend got, really. "And you are?" She asked calmly, hoping that this person wouldn't sense the dread she had for talking with them. It wouldn't be good luck if she ran into two ghouls in one day, it would also be very odd. It hadn't quite crossed Narimi's mind that this person was a dove, though. Would a dove be this peaceful when greeting someone? She seems nice. Narimi's glare hadn't moved yet, it still fastened on the bloody lady-looking person.

She inhaled through her nose, then exhaled through her nose, too. Trying to make it a little less obvious that she was trying to get a better smell on the person. However, she could still smell the reek of the rotten pig, and the stench of the larger ghoul had still stuck around for some reason. It was on both of them, and it wasn't very strong but it was enough for Narimi to remember his horrifying features. Especially his teeth. They could've been bug ridden, and yet he bit into the waitress anyways. That isn't a proper way to take care of a corpse, or even eat it. Narimi sighed, her own thoughts frustrating her. I hate that memory. The idea of filth touching such a clean, well taken care of creature. She even managed to scream, and wasn't too out of breath! Her lungs were probably still moderately in tact. Just thinking about the lungs, Narimi's glare started to drip down, lowering down to the person in front of her's feet.

Lungs kind of look like balloons. Except you can eat them. Narimi sighed, remembering the looks of the waitress. She would have been perfect. She would've been frowning, but something kept her face glued to the same neutral expression that always seemed unimpressed. The way she ran, too. Even in heels. She probably had great legs. They probably would've been the tastiest part. He bit into them, though. Ruined her. Narimi moved her hand up to her face and covered her mouth, trying to avoid drooling from the sheer idea of the human.

Scum. She sighed internally, then looked back up to the person. Did I interrupt her with my thoughts?

Aimi looked at her and watched with curiosity as the ghoul went through obvious hesitation. It must be worrisome to introduce yourself to an unknown, bloodied figure. Might also be exhilarating to the adrenaline junkies; the potential for danger is higher in that which is unknown. His eyes roamed around and got a better look at the area, the situation, that he was in. Street lamps were lined down the road, and it was desolate of life other than the two of them. Buildings were on either side, but the lights were all off as it started to darken from night. A beautiful scene, his sister would have loved to draw such an ideal location. Suddenly, the ghoul's voice broke his concentration and he focused on her position again.

"Narimi." she said, quietly. Sounded different from what he heard earlier: worry, excitement, fear? No, it was hiding something. Maybe it would be illustrated on her face? His eyes scanned her face, her body language, everything it could to depict what her inner voice was saying. As he did this, he found nothing other than a few pointers and obvious signals. She was feeling slightly anxious as far as he could tell, though he didn't really know due to not paying attention much when told these things. "And you are?"

She must not have heard him at first, probably a distraction due to her thoughts. Analysis? She was afraid and needed to know what was following her. Most likely she doesn't know what Aimi is. Aimi opened his mouth to speak again, his eyes catching onto Narimi's nose as she inhaled, and then exhaled. She was trying to figure out what he was, still. He paused his own thoughts, his speech, and watched as Narimi went into a daze. What was she thinking about? Was it the ghoul that attacked her earlier? Aimi watched and waited for her to get back to her sense before speaking again, watching as she broke eye contact and looked at his feet. After a couple of seconds, Narimi's hand moved up to her face and covered her mouth, Narimi looking back at Aimi. Dead giveaway. She's either thinking about eating, or she's just really hungry.

"I'm Aimi! Are you hungry? The ghoul back there seems to have eaten your meal..." he said lightly, trailing off at the end, and then he snapped back into a happy, kind tone. "Anyway! I have a few questions for you at the moment, but I want to ask three at the very start before going into depth, just to make sure we understand each-other, okay?"

He then clapped his hands together and spun on his feet, his facing her. He started to walk forward and pace, his eyes darting to the mellow colors of shadow and darkness, the comfort of being in a lone, abandoned area when conducting business was all that he needed now. What to ask first? He should save the grand reveal for the third question, obviously, but he didn't really think it all through at the beginning.

Ah, that's a good way to start. He kept pacing before speaking in his light, girly voice. "Do you kill humans for fun or to eat?" he asked, one of his main concerns when it comes to ghouls. Some ghouls don't like to kill, and they even try to prey on those who died beforehand. This Ward wasn't known for it's mass ghoul attacks, so if Narimi does kill for enjoyment, she doesn't do it often.

Besides, there are only four known ghouls in this ward, it's not like she has too much competition.

Before giving her a chance to answer that question, Aimi went to her second question. "Who was that friend of yours back there to you, in the shop?"

An easy enough question. Does she care for her friend? Internally, a ghoul would long to eat a human that is around them. Some ghouls make friends with humans just to eat them, and some try very hard to keep a friendship with a human without eating them. Aimi finally reached into her jacket and faced Narimi, pulling out his quinque and giving a sly smile, one brow raised as he looked at her with a light, carefree gaze. The quinque sprung to life as a set of six tentacles, rinkaku, burst into life from each side. His last question was addressed in a deeper, threatening female voice, "Do you understand, now, what I am?"

The person hadn't said anything while she was busy in her own thoughts, which was nice for Narimi since she wouldn't have to fumble around and look for the right things to say, or guess what this person had said. Narimi slowly began to lower her hand from her mouth once they had started speaking. It must have seemed odd, or maybe they had started to add two and two together. This person didn't seem stupid.

"I'm Aimi!" The exclaim of the person causing Narimi to lower her head a bit. The excitement was a little overbearing, but Aimi's voice began to trail into a lighter, softer voice. "The ghoul back there seems to have eaten your meal..." The trailed sentence brought back Narimi's attention. She lifted her head up, and looked at Aimi with fear. Her eyes darted around the street, trying to avoid contact with the person who became more of a threat.

She knows. She knows I'm a ghoul, Narimi lowered her glance again. The look on her face was a shameful one, as if being a ghoul was problematic, or her fault. She's going to kill me. She wants to kill me. The socks Narimi was wearing were bloody, too. She didn't realise it before, but now that she did she felt worse. Of course this Aimi person knew I was a ghoul, I'm doused in blood. I look like a mess. I... Narimi looked back up, the constant bouncing between her glances must have been awkward for Aimi. Then again, Aimi was bloody, too. The scent of a dead ghoul on Aimi, the blood, the fact that they followed her, everything. I'm dead.

"Anyway! I have a few questions for you at the moment, but I want to ask three at the very start before going into depth, just to make sure we understand each-other, okay?" The chipper tone returned, something about the happiness of this hunter brining a sharp sting of worry for Narimi. Aimi clapped, bringing Narimi's attention again quickly. She looked on as suddenly they spun. What... w-why? Narimi looked around, there wasn't anybody to see how foolish that spin looked. She looked back to the excited person. The spinning was pointless, wasn't it? While completely pointless, it also grabbed Narimi's focus. She had a better idea now of this person, and what they were. They began to walk closer to her, though she tried to stay completely still. A threat coming closer to her though, it got harder and harder to stay put.

"Do you kill humans for fun or to eat?" Narimi opened her mouth to answer the question, but Aimi quickly moved on to the next one. Narimi scoffed under her breath and lowered her head again, hair falling down to cover her face. "Who was that friend of yours back there to you, in the shop?" Her heart stopped.

Kiyoshi... Narimi held her breath at the thought of telling this person about him. That means she saw him at the restaurant, too? She was there? And saw my trick and looked right through it? She lowered her brows, and clicked her tongue angrily. What does she want with Kiyoshi, he didn't do anything.

The Aimi character, who was rather close to Narimi now, pulled something out of their jacket, and thats when Narimi snapped out of it. Dove. The only instinct hitting her was to run, but running would easily be a stupid move. Wouldn't a large rinkaku quinque like that be able to easily trap her, kill her, or something? Narimi's muscles were already tensed up anyways, just trying to run would have left her in a similar situation of trying to run, falling, screaming and being stabbed through the chest five times.

Aimi's smug face was more threatening than their words. Something about it said that they had done this before, and killing Narimi would have been just as easy, if not easier. Yes, Narimi knew what Aimi was. A savage. Then again, the amount of times Narimi had to kill to eat was probably just as bad. With parents who couldn't care less about how often she ate, or how often they ate, her own hunting patterns were pretty much weekly. Not as if she had fun killing them, but collecting and preserving the bodies was always enjoyable. There was also the benefit of their clothing sometimes fitting her.

She had to answer sometime, though, and the delay from Narimi's thought wasn't doing any good. Narimi swallowed the lump in her throat, and spoke up.

"Yes, Aimi." Narimi shut her eyes, deciding that making eye contact was already too late. She already knew, now, that Aimi was a threat. That Aimi could kill her. "I do know." Avoiding the snarky set of words she had on her mouth, Narimi sighed away wanting to make a joke. "A dove, a member of the CCG. Hired to kill ghouls, like myself." Narimi opened her eyes again. "My friend is not a ghoul, and is a human. He has nothing to do with my hunting, or my need to eat humans. He has nothing to do with you. I'm not going to tell you his name." Kiyoshi could easily be protected if she stayed silent, but she also might risk her own life by doing this. "As for me killing," Narimi looked down to her folded hands. "I eat them." Sometimes. She could keep that last part out, though. Her hoarding hobby wasn't confronted, so staying silent about it felt more relaxing than out right saying; I eat most of them, but the bodies I don't get to eat stay in a freezer.

Only two of the four questions she had to answer today were honestly answered. Excluding the part about her not eating because she was a vegan, but that didn't really count. A bit of a risky move, really, but being secretive about things was for her own safety, and not to hurt Kiyoshi or Aimi or anybody around her. If she didn't put herself first, nobody would have, so she had to do something about it. Lies just felt safer, especially since she's been getting better at hiding her emotions. Her lack of smile, frown, gasp or mouth expressions helped quite a bit. People who didn't know better could easily be tricked.

Then again, Aimi was a dove. Doves weren't trained to be dumb. Aimi had their own different vibe to her, anyways. They seemed happy, friendly, yet at the same time totally horrific. Psychotic, maybe. From what Narimi knew, psychotic people were far from stupid. They were intelligent and clever, and had many tricks up their sleeves.

Aimi listened without fault, his eyes watching every movement. If she were to leap into action and fight, he would react in instinct and destroy her. He wouldn't hesitant at letting his insanity flow in the face of danger. As he listened, he started to get less of a danger vibe and more of a survival vibe from this ghoul. The more the situation felt less tense, the more his body released tension and relaxed, his posture, however, was still unchanged. That, and he hated to tense up in dire situations; After all, too much tension could cause strained muscles, and strained muscles led to the inability to conduct work! After absorbing the information he heard, kind of, he got rid of the lull in his mind and the noise in the back of his head by putting away his Quinque and holding out his hand to shake.

"Well, hello Narimi! It's nice to meet you. Don't worry, I won't bite." he said, his voice cheery and light. Before she could respond, however, his phone started to ring. Aimi paused, his face showing slight annoyance, and he slowly took out his phone while turning away and sliding out his Quinque. The moment the Quinque slid out is the moment the tendrils slithered around in his jacket, hidden from sight but not sound. Narimi would know the Quinque was ready, and one wrong movement could be the death of her. Interestingly enough, one wrong word could be the death of whoever is calling him.

"Sorry, Narimi, this will only take a minute... I hope." A voice rang through the other side when he answered, a male voice. Aimi impatiently started to tap his feet, his annoyance reciprocated in his slightly bobbing figure. The voice on the other end spoke in a friendly, quick manner.

"Is that really necessary to call for, Uso? I know you're one of the main producers of Quinque but you don't need to ask me about your creations every day." he responded angrily, harshly, yet with a light, girly voice. Uso called once a day and asked about the Quinque he created, and he called EVERY person that owned one of his Quinque. How he figured out the numbers, Aimi didn't know, and he also didn't care. He had felt relieved the past couple of days since Uso didn't call. He had always felt something off about him, anyway.

Wait a second.

Uso never stopped calling. What was this about?

"In fact, why didn't you call the past few days?"

A somewhat deeper, more forceful voice range. He listened with interest and sadistic delight. Not a very ideal combination. His expression shifted to uncertainty, though it was short-lived, as he heard the reply.

"Okay, I don't believe you." he replied. A laugh came from the other end of the call as Aimi ended it, and he sighed while putting it away, turning around to face the girl he had been unable to greet completely.

"I'm quite sorry about that!" he put away the Quinque. "Nice to meet you, Narimi!" he started and held out his hand, again. His smile was light, nice, and caring. His charismatic disposition helped him slither into a lot of different situations, and he was quick to make friends with people, as long as they never forced him to kill them.

He hated having to kill his friends.

His mind slowly started to wander, but he quickly grabbed his thoughts and forced himself back into reality. This was no time to dwell onto the past!

Flashbacks are for another time!

Narimi's eyed lowered a bit as the situation began to calm down. This could easily be an ending for her, or a good meal, but she didn't want to risk it. The air was a bit cold as the staring began to die down and Aimi's cheerful tone rang in her ears. Well, hello Narimi! It's nice to meet you. Don't worry, I won't bite." They had said, but suddenly a phone rang. Narimi's eyes moved towards the source of the ringing and hesitated. Aimi's appearance went from bright and cheery, despite obviously bat-shit crazy, to annoyed and maybe a bit irritated. Her interest was caught though.

Maybe I can run home. Then, the flickering of a quinque metaphorically jabbed her. There wouldn't be time to run, or really a good chance to get far away without tripping. Not like another ghoul would help her here.

"Sorry, Narimi, this will only take a minute... I hope." Aimi tapped their feet on the concrete sidewalk, a tapping sound being heard. "Mm." She said, quietly so she wouldn't interrupt whatever clearly irritating conversation Aimi was having.

If it makes you so annoyed, why not just drop the call. Or is it a custom with doves to not drop calls? That sounds stupid. Really, Narimi didn't need Aimi to have a conversation when she was all the company she needed to gossip. Wouldn't it make more sense? She held back a sigh.

"Is that really necessary to call for, Uso? I know you're one of the main producers of Quinque but you don't need to ask me about your creations every day." Aimi said to the phone. The tone they had was pretty harsh, causing Narimi to look to her left uncomfortably.

Uso is a main producer of Quinque... She hesitated. She then felt a strike on her stomach, causing her to become sick. Aimi's going to kill me and use me for a quinque. A weapon to kill ghouls. Narimi looked up at the quinque that was already in Aimi's possession. A sense of sonder came over her. That was once a ghoul. Wh-who were they? She swallowed the rock in her throat and closed her eyes. Trying to escape the idea, she thought less on the quinque and more to the conversation that was being had.

"In fact, why didn't you call the past few days? Okay, I don't believe you." Aimi sighed and hung up the phone, the sigh causing Narimi to lower her head a bit more. It's time, she was fairly sure. Though Aimi did seem friendly, who know what sadistic joys she might get from killing with a smile. Aimi turned back to Narimi, and Narimi let out a sharp exhale.

"I'm quite sorry about that!" He put away the Quinque. "Nice to meet you, Narimi!" Narimi blinked one of her eyes open to see Aimi's hand reaching out to her. She looked down at the hand, then back up to Aimi with confusion. With the quinque away, she could run back home. Even if it did put her parents at risk, it was a better risk than running no where.

"Nice to meet you." She said lightly, almost in a mocking tone. "It's fine. Phones ring sometimes." She awkwardly said, looking down to her feet now. Socks stained with blood, she grumbled under her breath. "Why aren't you killing me?" She said, eyes still stuck on her bloody socks. "I though a dove's job was to..." She shook her head and closed her eyes again. "Thank you, Aimi." Wouldn't a normal dove just kill on sight? Perhaps the phone call made her lucky, but she wasn't about to just start running off. "Thank you, for not killing me on sight, I mean." Narimi clarified.