“Ikuma,” Chie asked, “how long can you hold out for us?”
“Well, I’m carrying two people, and I’ve got Tsukiyama of all people after me! I think if he wanted to, he could end this in the blink of an eye, but he’s probably having more fun toying with us right now.”
Clinging to Ikuma’s shoulder, Chie looked back to see Tsukiyama following them some distance behind. He’d stopped using his Kagune, but his eyes still smoldered a fierce red. What Chie felt on seeing that, however, wasn’t fear. “Wow, looking good, there, Tsukiyama!” A Ghoul running full-out with his eyes blazing amidst the darkness of night. Chie took up her camera and began to fire off shots as if she were smitten.
“Hey, look, check it out!” she said. “Tsukiyama makes for a good picture when he’s not talking!”
“Chie, I’d really appreciate if you could focus on the more immediate situation!” Ikuma protested. “I mean Tsukiyama might not kill you because he likes you and all, but Mitsuba and I are kinda marked for death here!” He kicked up into the air and leapt over a fence, weaving up and down and side to side for dear life.
“Huh? Hey, I’m pretty sure he’d kill me too, when it came down to it! Like I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t pass me up if he needed to eat, and he’s definitely not so fond of me that he wouldn’t sell me out to get something he wanted.”
“Oh, that is not want I wanted to hear! I mean if that’s the case for you, what’s that say for the rest of us?” There probably wasn’t much they could say or do in the face of such a fearsome foe. But that’s why the weak used weapons.
Weapons only they could wield.
Chie took out her smartphone and checked her email. “Ah!” There was one new message. She tried to hold the phone steady enough to read as she bumped and jostled about. “Yes! There it is!” she cried out, unable to resist doing a quick fist pump. “Ikuma, let’s get out of the 23rd Ward for now! If Ghoul investigators find us, someone like you is as good as dead!”
“Aha-hah. That’d be really sad if it weren’t also so true! Okay, which way?”
“Same as the original plan: to the 8th Ward hospital!”
“Got it!” Ikuma said, picking up speed.
As if sensing that something about their situation had changed, the look on Tsukiyama’s face shifted as well. “Oh, he looks so cool right now,” Chie muttered. “I wish I had a better angle!” She lined Tsukiyama up in her viewfinder and clicked the shutter.
Ikuma was looking understandably tired. They’d chosen a more secluded area, leapt up onto the rooftops, and kept running. Caught up in her emailing back and forth, Chie snapped back to attention as Ikuma uttered a panicked, “Uh-oh!”
Tsukiyama had closed a good chunk of the distance in one go. “Looks like it’s just about checkmate!” He’d once again manifested his Kagune, his sights set directly on them.
“Sorry about this!” Ikuma said as he hurled Chie and Mitsuba into a shrub with slender, leafy branches. He crossed his now-free arms and attempted to form a shield from his kagune, but he couldn’t keep up with Tsukiyama’s movements.
“You weakling!”
“Agh!” Ikuma was knocked back by Tsukiyama’s Kagune and slammed hard into a tree. Leaves scattered about, and a group of birds that had been resting in the branches fluttered off en masse.
“Now, then …” Tsukiyama fixed his red eyes on Mitsuba.
Ikuma managed to get back to his feet and tried to shield her, but Chie said, “It’s all right, Ikuma,” as she tugged her snagged clothing free of some branches and stood up.
She then faced Tsukiyama, set on trying to deal with him one final time. “Tsukiyama, I already told you, there are pictures I want to get of Mitsuba.”
Tsukiyama set a hand against his chest. “Ah, Hori, my friend. We’ve known each other only a short time, but your feelings reach me so well it almost pains me! I would love to be able to grant your wish,” he declared. “But I’ve been soft enough on you already!” His eyes showed not even a shadow of hesitation.
Mitsuba was visibly flustered, and Ikuma’s cheeks were drawn back, but Chie couldn’t really disagree with Tsukiyama’s assertion, and the look on her face showed it.
“My desires need to come first. My gourmet palate needs to come first! So you’ll just have to deal with that and let me fill my empty stomach. It’s my God-given right!” Tsukiyama stuck a hand out to brush Chie aside. Compared to Ghouls, humans really were quite powerless. “I’ll treat you to cheesecake sometime, my little mouse.”
But Chie still had her secret weapon. “I’m not interested in cake right now!” She took the smartphone she’d been fiddling with earlier and held it up for him to look at it. “I know you too well, Tsukiyama.”
Tsukiyama went stock-still, the text on the phone screen reflected in his eyes—a word that held a very special meaning for him.
“Kaneki”
Chie opened the email she’d gotten from him.
“Found it.”
There was a sudden whoosh through the air. Tsukiyama leapt quickly back as a new presence cast its shadow where he’d stood a moment before.
His white hair fluttered, the mask on his face leaving one strangely colored eye visible. Tsukiyama looked at him, flabbergasted.
“K-Kaneki?!”
It was none other than Ken Kaneki, whom Tsukiyama had set his sights on for so long.
Ikuma, a fellow resident of the 20th Ward, was clearly puzzled. “Huh? Kaneki?” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Chie got in contact with me. She said she had some photos I was looking for, in exchange for my doing her a favor.”
“You want … pictures?”
“Yes. Ones necessary for my development, and which will demonstrate the atrocity of Ghouls even if I wind up getting killed,” Kaneki said. Tsukiyama eyed him keenly.
“And in my quest to get interesting photos, I’ve got a lot of pictures of Ghouls!” Chie said. She had sold several such photos of Ghouls to Kaneki before.
“Recently, I was able to have a little ‘chat’ with one of these individuals and got some very helpful information, so I thought it only fair to come and hear out Chie’s request,” Kaneki said, glancing down at Chie with a warm smile. “Whatever you need, just ask.”
The others turned their attention to Chie, clearly wondering what she possibly wanted to ask for. She allowed herself a smile. “From now on, if you’d like to use me for something, please get in touch with me through Tsukiyama!”
That didn’t seem to strike anyone as a suggestion that would resolve this situation, and the others’ eyes all went wide. “You want me to get in touch with you through Tsukiyama?” Kaneki asked.
“Sure, if you think I’d be of any use to you.”
“Of course. I’d certainly appreciate your assistance, but … why?”