The tiny archivist reveals the truth through snippets cut from the flow of time.
“Idol Fest?” Chie Hori repeated, curious. It was eleven o’clock at night, and the crowds around the 20th Ward station were beginning to thin out.
“Yeah, tomorrow in the 1st Ward, apparently,” affirmed the familiar street musician.
Chie stroked the camera that hung from her neck as she murmured the words to herself one more time. “Idol Fest, huh?” She had close-cropped black hair and bright, round eyes that darted this way and that in no real hurry. By outward appearances she looked like a grade-schooler, though in fact she was a grown young woman attending university. She devoted far more time to her hobby than her schooling, however, and rarely even went to campus.
That hobby, as the camera that hung around her neck made clear, was photography. She’d long had a love for taking pictures, the thought of it occupying her every waking hour. While her height never increased, her fervor for photography did, and now she scurried about to and fro in search of interesting pictures to take.
She’d returned to the 20th Ward several days ago, but here and there she still asked her acquaintances if there was anything interesting going on when she ran into them.
“Abrupt as ever, Chiehori,” the musician laughed as he resituated the guitar that hung over his shoulder. “I hear some big-name idols have been invited. I’m going too!”
“You’re an idol singer now, Ikuma?”
“Oh, no, no! I’m just going to help load stuff.” His name was Ikuma Momochi, an affable young man who’d moved to Tokyo at age twenty to follow his musical aspirations. By day he worked for a shipping company, and by night he took his trusty guitar out by the train station to sing. “Apparently it’s an all-female idol event. But you don’t strike me as having much interest in idol singers.”
He then handed Chie a piece of candy he’d received from a fan. Though he’d gotten used to life in Tokyo, he still had his old accent, along with a big secret.
“It’s too bad you can’t eat candy,” Chie said.
“It’s too bad I can’t eat any human food.” While Ikuma appeared to be a typical young man in pursuit of his dreams, he was, in reality, a Ghoul. The only thing he was able to eat was human flesh, and his eyes would go awash with red when he was on the cusp of danger.
But although he was a Ghoul, he was a more gentle sort, one who tried his utmost to live as a part of human society. Evidently, he didn’t kill people, and fed only on the flesh of suicides.
“So anyhow, how’s Tsukiyama doing?” Ikuma said, asking about one of his fellow Ghouls.
“Tsukiyama? He’s out being a stalker right now.”
“Man, Tsukiyama’s got this weird ability that, no matter what he does, it just comes across as such a ‘Tsukiyama’ thing to do, y’know?”
And Tsukiyama didn’t do things at all like Ikuma did. No, Shu Tsukiyama was a belligerent Ghoul, and no means were too craven for him to obtain the fine meals he constantly sought. As someone who enjoyed the act of hunting, he was certainly a very “ghoulish” Ghoul from a human perspective, but his very particular tastes evidently made him something of an oddball maverick even to his own kind.
Tsukiyama and Chie Hori had been inseparable since high school, ever since Chie managed to snap a photo of him feeding. Her nose for a good scoop had led her to follow her classmate in secret, and she’d gotten the picture she’d been after.
At first Tsukiyama had wanted to kill Chie for taking his picture, but his interest in her seemed to grow upon seeing her unflinchingly taking photos of whatever situation she encountered. Since then they’d been close associates, despite the lack of desire to actually interact.
And lately, Tsukiyama had been absorbed by thoughts of his current prey.
“He says he’s found some super tasty-looking prey, but there’s some trouble in actually getting to eat it.”
“Huh. Sounds like someone’s in a bit of a bind.”
Chie popped the candy she’d gotten from Ikuma into her mouth. “Mm-hmm,” she agreed. “But more importantly, you said this Idol Fest is tomorrow, right?”
“Oh. Yeah. Wait, are you going?” He didn’t think Chie would have any interest in an idol festival.
The look on Ikuma’s face told Chie that there could be some rare sights, and so she pointed to her camera. “I just have a feeling I’ll be able to take some neat photos!”
Ikuma’s cheeks pulled back at that. “I’m a little scared by anything you’d consider ‘neat,’ Chie Hori.”