Amon clenched his attaché case in his hand and walked to the gate. He rang the doorbell but there was no response. They peeked through a gap in the sturdy gate, which was much taller than they were, and saw that lights were on in the back of the house. Then they heard some music playing quietly.
“What should we do?” Morimine asked.
This is an urgent matter. If it’s all a misunderstanding then I’ll take the punishment gladly.
“Morimine, get down.”
Amon flung the hand holding his attaché case out and shook it hard to get through to the Quinque’s biometric authentication system.
“Whoa!”
The attaché case, which looked just like an everyday model, opened with great force, and what was stuffed inside made a sound as it took its form.
“Holy shi—”
Amon’s weapon of justice had appeared in the blink of an eye. It had shown its full power as Amon’s companion in the Aogiri incident, but this Quinque, Kura, had originally belonged to Mado, Amon’s respected superior. Its shape mimicked that of a giant sword, and even among other kokaku it was the heaviest of the heavyweight. Its weight served to maximize Amon’s power.
Amon gave Kura a big swing, then turned his attention from warming up to the gate.
“We’ll figure out a reason later!”
But you can’t take back a human life. Amon pulled Kura back, then took a big step forward and struck the gate like he was trying to break through it with a ram.
“Agh!”
The sound of the impact was a heavy thud. The sturdy gate bent like a piece of wire in the face of the Quinque’s attack and was blown away.
“Morimine, if it turns out she is a Ghoul, then we’re in danger too. Once we’re in there we’ll have no margin for error, so if push comes to shove you might have to save me!”
Amon headed straight to the house. Morimine followed after him. “You’re not human, you know,” he said, teasingly.
He looked back at Morimine and said plainly, “No, I’m an investigator!”
Once he’d broken through the locked door, a high-ceilinged reception hall appeared before them. As one would expect from a trader’s house, the room was decorated with lots of art pieces and luxurious chandeliers. Classical music was playing loudly from an antique record player.
“I didn’t think you’d come this quickly.”
Further down the hallway a door leading to another room swung open and a woman quietly emerged. That pale skin, those tragic eyes … That’s Koharu, all right.
“Is that … ?”
In her right hand, Koharu held a showy attaché case with a disproportionate amount of silver on it. Amon was familiar with the item—it was Tojo’s Quinque.
“What have you done with Tojo, you bitch?”
Koharu said nothing. Instead she moved aside a screen that had been placed in a corner of the room. Behind it was a large table draped in a luxurious embroidered cloth, hiding something. She pulled the cloth away slowly.
“Tojo!”
“Mmf, mmf!”
His hands and feet were bound and he was gagged. She moved away from him quickly, and Amon and Morimine rushed over to Tojo, staying wary of Koharu.
“What have you gotten yourself into, Tojo!”
“Ah! S-sorry. You found me!”
Morimine removed the gag and started undoing the ropes that bound his arms together. Amon turned around to face Koharu, shielding the other two. She held Tojo’s attaché case to her chest.
“What on earth did you do this for?”
This woman had made Amon cupcakes to say thank you and praised his work as an investigator. That was all just a front, he thought, and suddenly felt sick. Koharu had no answer to Amon’s question. She looked down, shutting her eyes tightly.
Something dense and foglike began to rise from Koharu’s shoulders. Amon, the first to realize what it was, closed the distance between them at once, swinging his Quinque down. Koharu leapt back as far as she could, and as she pulled off a magnificent landing, her eyes opened.
“Her eyes are … red …”
Her kakugan.
“She’s a Ghoul!”
The incessant overflow of Rc cells had created a set of thin wings on Koharu’s back, just like dragonfly wings. She leapt backward again to create some more distance. Amon followed her.
The body of an Ukaku Ghoul was top class, but their attacks were lighter and no match for the kokaku, which provides serious defense. Wielding a kokaku Quinque, Amon had the advantage. He kicked over a sculpture that was about six feet tall, blocking the direction that Koharu was headed, and then he swung Kura with all the force in his body.
She stuck out the attaché case she was holding and blocked Kura’s swing with it. A crack formed in Tojo’s case, but because it was made especially to contain Quinque, it was not totally destroyed. Koharu had nothing to counter the vibration that came at her through the attaché case. It flew backward, cushioning her impact.
“N-no! Not my Quinque!”
Amon could hear Tojo’s pitiful screams, but for now his top priority was to destroy Koharu. Not letting up, he swung Kura again.
“Damn!”
But Koharu was skilled with the use of Tojo’s attaché case, and she dodged Amon’s attacks. Did she steal Tojo’s attaché case just for this?
Naturally, when a Ghoul was faced with an investigator, they would attack in order to protect themselves. This increased the possibility for injury, but after they attacked there would inevitably be an opening. An investigator would use this to repel and destroy them—or that’s how it always had been, but Koharu showed no sign of attacking. She did not try to cover the distance between them, instead devoting herself instead to defense. If she played it like that, her ukaku boasted a quickness that would make her difficult to catch. Is she trying to wear me out, and then come at me?