“ ‘Ghouls rule Tokyo?!’ huh …” Touka read the headline from the cover of a magazine that had been left on the apartment floor. Something he stole, I suppose. Touka set the magazine on the table and sighed.
It was already past noon. Ayato was perhaps still asleep, because he hadn’t come out of his room yet. Touka debated for a little bit before calling for him.
“Ayato,” she said, in the direction of his room.” I’m going over to Mr. Yoshimura’s place. What are you doing?”
No response. Either he’s asleep or he didn’t hear me.
“Ayato?” She tried again.
“Shut up. I’m not going …” His voice was full of irritation. The door jerked open and Ayato, who looked like he had just woken up, walked out into the living room. He ignored Touka as he combed his hair.
“What’s with the attitude?”
Touka sounded irritated too, and Ayato looked at her blankly. He looked away and sat down on the sofa, picked up the magazine that Touka had just set on the table and started flicking through it.
“Go whenever you want,” he said.
Before, he’d followed her everywhere she went, but now he only acted on his own whims. Everything Touka said seemed to rub him the wrong way. I never know what he’s thinking.
When she arrived at Anteiku—from outward appearances a normal coffee shop, but in actuality the headquarters for the Ghouls of the 20th Ward—the café was quiet, perhaps because it was after lunchtime. A few people were having coffee, but they all appeared to be Ghouls.
“Welcome …”
Yoshimura, the manager, was drying cups in the back of the shop. He noticed Touka and looked her way. He already seemed to know about the Ghoul that had died in the fight with Touka and Ayato. Preparing herself for the usual lecture, she took a seat at the counter and asked for a cup of coffee.
Yoshimura said nothing as he made the coffee and set it down in front of Touka. She had expected a warning from him, but his silence actually made her feel more uncomfortable. This was far crueler than she had anticipated. Feigning calm, Touka brought the coffee cup to her lips.
“Yomo dealt with his corpse for you, but if you keep this up the CCG will start asking questions.”
And there it is. He just jumped right in.
“This again,” Touka said and turned her head, still holding her coffee cup.
“The other side has ways of identifying Ghouls from the marks left by Kagune. They will find you if you get too cocky. And by ‘you,’ I don’t just mean you, Touka. I mean Ayato too—”
Just then the door chimed. A new customer had arrived—a human.
It was strictly forbidden to talk about things that would identify them as Ghouls in front of people. Yoshimura returned to his work as if nothing had been going on, and Touka closed her mouth too.
Another human customer came in, then another. Ayato preferred to shy away from Anteiku, and this strange environment was probably the reason. Human customers in a Ghoul café. A place where Ghouls and humans coexisted, albeit temporarily. This seemed to grate on Ayato’s nerves.
“Ayato’s so young, but he has tremendous strength. I worry that that strength will take him in the wrong direction,” Yoshimura said, quietly, so that people could not hear him.
“What’s the wrong direction?”
“If you have power, you have a lot to lose.”
Yoshimura always came back to these vague lessons. Annoyed, Touka set her coffee cup down on its saucer roughly.
“Touka.”
Saying nothing, she walked straight out the door of the café and did not look back. As she walked away, she thought she could almost hear Yoshimura sigh.
With the sun shining and people bustling here and there, the city was full of life. But Touka’s heart was sinking. Go home, she whispered to herself, and started walking again, but time after time she came to a stop. Looking at her reflection in a store window, she saw an expression frozen on her face. I can’t go back looking like this.
After checking to make sure there was nobody around, Touka ascended to the roof of a nearby apartment building, using walls and low roofs as footholds. Up there she had a nice view, but it was windier than down below, and Touka’s black hair whipped around her.
I’ll just stay here until I calm down. Touka sat down on the edge of the roof, wrapped her arms around her knees, and closed her eyes.
But she soon heard someone crying somewhere. At first she tried to ignore it, but the sound continued, and she began to listen closely. The crying seemed to be coming from somewhere below the building. Touka looked down, searching for the owner of that voice.
“A kid …”
A boy, about five years old, was sitting there crying. Listening carefully, she heard him saying, “Mama.” He got separated from his mother, perhaps?
“Right, now, where is his mother?”
None of the people near him appeared to be his mother. Those passing by looked down at him wondering what was wrong, but they all walked by without saying anything. He was curled up in a little ball, sobbing, “Mama, mama.”
For some reason, Touka saw Ayato when he was little.
Clicking her tongue at herself, Touka came down from the roof in a way so as not to be noticed. Why do I always get involved with humans like this? she thought, then called out to the boy from behind.
“What’s wrong?”
The boy jumped with surprise, then turned to look. He stopped crying at once.
“Where’s your mother?” she took the opportunity to ask.
“Waaaaaah!”
The boy began to sob again, sparked by Touka’s question.
“Wait—”
Suddenly all the passersby looked at Touka. I must seem very suspicious right now.
“Oh, you idiot, come here,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from there.
The boy seemed to calm down as they walked. They went into a nearby park and sat down on some deserted swings. The boy started swinging happily.
“What—what’s going on?”
The thought suddenly came to her: Maybe I should just leave him and go.
As she considered her options, the boy said, “Thanks.”
“Huh?”
“Daddy told me I should say thank you when somebody helps me,” the boy told Touka, who was lost in confusion.
“But I haven’t helped you …”
Touka didn’t know what to say, but the boy kept swinging happily, seemingly satisfied now that he’d thanked her.
“Where’s your dad?”
When she’d asked about his mother, he’d started crying, so she decided to try asking about his father.
“At work!” he said, cheerfully. Suddenly he stopped swinging, crestfallen at the realization. “If I don’t go back to kindergarten, daddy’s gonna be mad.”
“Kindergarten?”
He must’ve run away.
“Then let’s take you back.”
The boy silently picked up a pebble from the ground near his feet and threw it toward the fence surrounding the park, sulking.
The easiest thing to do would be to take him to the nearest police station. But Touka was the right age to be in school, too, if she were human. If she took the boy to the police, they would likely start asking prying questions about why she wasn’t in school. I should’ve never gotten involved, she thought.
But then she heard a voice.
“Shota! Shota!”
Touka looked around and saw a man in a suit coming toward them.
“Daddy!”
Shota leapt down from the swing and ran toward him. I guess that’s his dad. His father gave Shota a rap on the head.
“You made me worried!”
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
I guess that’s that. All wrapped up now. Touka started to leave without saying anything, but she caught the boy’s father’s eye.
“You’re here with my son, aren’t you?”
“N-not really …” Touka stuttered.
The man smiled.” He ran away from his school, we’ve been looking for him all over. Thank you.” He was about the same age as Touka’s own father. She felt a twinge of nostalgia.
“I think he was looking for his mother,” she told him, meaning it in a kind way, but as soon as she said it, the expression on the boy’s face changed.
“I wasn’t! Don’t make stuff up!” Although she’d been looking after him until now, the boy started yelling. “She’s lying!”
Touka didn’t know what to do, but the man started rubbing his son’s back. “Of course,” he said in agreement. What a naughty boy.
After telling her she was mischievous, the father thanked her, saying, “I’m sorry,” and left the park with the boy in his arms.
Left alone in the park with a stupid expression on her face, Touka muttered to herself, “What was all that?” I went out of my way to help him and that’s the thanks I get? His parents must’ve spoiled him rotten.
I never should’ve gotten involved.
Touka kicked the ground in frustration, then left the park.