“Guess this is the place,” Chie said, looking up at the apartment building. Having heard that Mitsuba lived in housing provided by her agency, Chie had been able to deduce her address from photos and statements she’d posted to her blog, along with other eyewitness accounts from the Internet.
It was already past midnight, and given the possibility that Tsukiyama might well use his wealth to gather information, Chie figured there was a fifty-fifty chance the girl was still safe.
“Well, the lights in her room are still on.” Chie made her way up to the second-floor apartment and rang the doorbell.
“Yes?” came a reply from inside. “Who is it?” Chie recognized Mitsuba’s voice from the Idol Fest. It seemed she was safe after all—but still, it wouldn’t be too surprising for Tsukiyama to turn up at any time.
Chie faced the peephole and said, “I’ve come to deliver some photographs.”
“Photographs?” She was bound to be confused by that, but she also didn’t seem to be terribly wary of someone who looked like a grade-schooler, and so she opened the door, visibly curious. “Who asked you to deliver these photographs, miss?”
In a complete change of pace from her outfit at the Idol Fest, Mitsuba was dressed far more casually in jeans and a three-quarter shirt. Probably nobody would suspect she was an idol singer if they saw her out on the street wearing that, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that sort of thing.
“Pardon the interruption,” Chie said, slipping her way in through the open door without bothering to ask permission. Once inside, she took the intense perfume she’d brought out of her backpack and sprayed its scent around the room.
“Whoa, what?!” Mitsuba cried out, eyes going wide with bewilderment. Chie headed farther inside and started spraying with another type of perfume. “Um, miss? What are you doing?”
The different scents intermingled, stirring up a stench that almost made it difficult to breathe inside the one-room apartment. Tsukiyama ought to find the vulgar scent repugnant, to the point where being awash in it would be more than he could stand, making him unable to do much of anything without first taking a break for a shower.
Chie scanned the room, ignoring the confused Mitsuba behind her, who clearly wasn’t sure how to deal with this. “Huh?” the girl squeaked out as Chie unlatched the window, then picked up the cell phone and wallet that were on the table and tossed them to her. Flustered, Mitsuba managed to catch them.
“Okay, now let’s go and—” Chie began, stopping as she noticed the picture hanging by the front door. It was a family photo showing a young Mitsuba, her parents, and a girl Chie guessed was Mitsuba’s older sister. Chie picked up the photograph, forcibly handed it off, then said, “Okay!” as she grabbed hold of Mitsuba’s arm and dragged her outside.
“Miss, I, ah … I don’t know what this is all about, but …” Mitsuba was quite flustered, but Chie could feel something in the air behind them, like little pinpricks, and she shushed the girl before hiding behind a telephone pole. Watching Mitsuba’s apartment from the shadows, Chie could see someone trying to sneak in through the window.
“Hey, what’s …” Mitsuba had noticed the suspicious man now as well. He opened the window, slipped fluidly inside, and then, a mere moment later, jumped right back out, holding his nose.
“Guess we can call the scent bomb a huge success,” Chie said. She walked quietly so as not to catch Tsukiyama’s attention, then broke into a run after rounding the corner at an intersection.
“M-miss, what’s going on? Who is that man?”
“I have a name, you know. It’s Chie Hori,” Chie said, introducing herself.
“Chie Hori?”
“Yeah.”
By now they’d come out onto a main thoroughfare. Chie stuck out her right hand and hailed a taxi. “Come on, get in.”
“Wait, hold on. Where are we going?”
Chie felt it was only fair to give poor, perplexed young girl another hint. “Mitsuba, you’re being hunted by a Ghoul.”
Mitsuba stiffened visibly.
“Come with me if you want to live.”
“Where are we?” Mitsuba asked as they got out of the taxi, fearfully inspecting her surroundings.
“We’re near a Ghoul detention center.” Up ahead, the building was visible, encircled by a tall fence. There was no telling what might be inside.
“Then we’re in the 23rd Ward?”
“You know it, then?”
“Yes. I used to live in the 23rd Ward a while back, so I’ve heard of it. But wait, wasn’t there a breakout at this detention facility a few months ago?”
She was right. Several months earlier, a number of Ghouls had indeed managed to escape from the Ghoul detention center, and the 23rd Ward had been in a state of high alert ever since as a result. “Yep. According to the rumors, some of the Ghoul escapees were particularly nasty, too,” Chie said.
“But Miss Hori, hold on. Doesn’t that mean it’s dangerous around here?” Mitsuba seemed like she thought one of these nasty Ghouls could be right next to her, and she continued to uneasily inspect her surroundings.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. After the breakout, a whole bunch of Ghoul investigators were assigned to the 23rd Ward, and Cochlea had its security beefed up a ton,” Chie said as she led them to a nearby park. With a soft huff, she sat down on a bench and patted the spot beside her, which Mitsuba promptly took.
“So what do you mean, I’m being hunted by a Ghoul?” she asked.
A picture being worth a thousand words, Chie took her laptop out of her backpack and showed her the photo she’d taken of Tsukiyama feeding from way back when. A tiny squeak of fear escaped Mitsuba’s throat, and she went pale.
“Apparently this Ghoul has taken a liking to you, Mitsuba, and he’s decided to track you down. Which, uh, might be partially my fault.”
“Your fault, Miss Hori?”
“Yeah. This Ghoul’s an acquaintance of mine. His name’s Tsukiyama.”
“You’ve got a Ghoul for an acquaintance? Then … then does that mean you’re …”
Probably she was wondering whether Chie was also a Ghoul like Tsukiyama. Under the circumstances, it may have been reasonable to think.
“Hey, I might have a Ghoul acquaintance, but I’m very human!” Chie said promptly, to clear things up.
“But sheltering a Ghoul isn’t something you …”
“Sheltering? Hey, I’m just leaving him be,” Chie replied, pulling up the photo that started this whole mess. “I wound up showing him this picture of you singing at the Idol Fest, and that sparked his interest.”
Mitsuba gasped as she saw the picture. “Is … that what I look like when I sing?” It was as if she’d been shown a picture of someone she didn’t recognize. She just stared at it, dumbstruck. After a moment, however, she snapped out of it. “You’re a very talented photographer, Miss Hori,” she said.
Chie slipped her computer back into her backpack and hopped off of the bench. “If Tsukiyama finds you, you’re going to get eaten, so for starters you should probably hide for the time being. I know someone who has a place here in the 23rd Ward, so let’s see about hiding you there for a while.”
“But Miss Hori, since this is a Ghoul matter, shouldn’t we take this to the CCG? They should be able to help me, right?” Mitsuba asked.
“That’s a no-go,” Chie replied. “The CCG could harbor you for a while, sure, but it’s not like you can just live there forever, right? And investigators can’t guard you 24/7, either—and besides, Tsukiyama’s likely stronger than they’d be, anyway.”
Chie went on. “Also, assuming we did somehow eliminate Tsukiyama, his Ghoul family would be out for revenge, and you’d wind up being killed anyway. They’re kind of a … unique bunch.”
“Then it sounds like there’s no way to save me …” It was understandable for Mitsuba to lose hope. Even just having Tsukiyama after her was frightening enough.