The Brink - 3rd Ward - Hana's Clinic

---

Mi quietly sobbed without further protest as she watched the man lift his hammer. Blood continued to gush out from her open abdomen, pooling around Mi's broken form. Her Ukaku flowing like a dwindling fire. She closed her eyes, hiding her kakugan. This was it. Her Kakuja had finally put her in a position that was going to cost her life, just like she had always figured. Mi's only solace was one that she was hopefully getting a quick, painless death. She couldn't continue to bear the idea of her failure to David and with her death here, she felt responsibility for his demise. She needed to be there for the older American, but alas, it seemed fight decided to take another turn....

Miyako laid there waiting for any indication for her impending death but nothing came. She was so attuned to everything around her at the moment that her eyes opened when she heard the quiet breath of hesitation from her executioner's mouth. She focused on him and his hammer as he slowly withdrew it. Was he sparing her? It didn't make sense according to Mi's own sense of twisted morality. She had caused harm. So she thought that maybe she was being left to die slowly from her wounds. Tortured until her last breath by her constant reminder of failure. But then, again, she was surprised by an unprecedented act of charity that would ultimately save her life for the moment.

Miyako watched the man flay himself and drop his bit of flesh into Mi's agate mouth. Without hesitation she swallowed the chunk whole, tasting the decadent taste of the half human flesh. Feeling rushed back into Mi as smoke billowed out from her open wound and around her back from the various wounds she received earlier, indicating a sudden acceleration of healing. The man promised a return after giving a psuedo-order that Mi quickly identified with. Mi watched the man until he disappeared in the other room and was left alone with her thoughts.

Her thoughts quickly circulated around the idea of that guy. He.. saved her. He was going to save her, at a cost to himself, and the strangest part was it was for seemingly no reason. While her thoughts continued to ponder why her savior was returning, deep in her unconscious, she started connecting with her familiar notion of servitude. It was all subtle but Mi was slowly identifying her role under the command of her savior. “Just. Just try to stop thinking about dying. Or just. Try not to die in general, please?”
She wasn't going to die. The thought of mortality, in fact, hadn't crossed her mind since the order was given. Her body passively healed where it could to also prevent that, though that was probably due simply to natural survival instincts.

The man returned with a bundle tucked under his arms, Mi couldn't really identify it as he went over to seemingly nurse his ally. It appeared Mi was next and despite how difficult it was, she had to hold on, but if things remained, she would keep her life and have that man to thank.

But what Mi couldn't have predicted is that the whole reason for her finding this place was due to that Rinkaku Ghoul. It hadn't even crossed her mind that he would return but the moment she heard the elevator door creak open, she had a dreadful feeling that she knew who it was before even looking. She leaned her head back and confirmed her sense of dread as she saw a flurry of Rinkaku converge on her. Mi quietly yelped as she was grabbed and slammed into the wall, scales digging into her flesh and crushing what was left of her armor. Her mask fell of from the impact of the wall and the agony displayed her bare face, stained around the lips with her own blood, was plainly visible to all.

Mi gasped as a hand went around her throat while the sounds of her armor cracking echoed in the room. She hung their limp for a moment, realizing that she was likely to die again. However the thought was brief and interrupted by her current orders. “Just. Just try to stop thinking about dying. Or just. Try not to die in general, please?”

She wasn't going to die. She wasn't going to just accept it this either, which was a vast change considering moments before she had accepted her death. One of her legs was free enough to where she started kicking, fruitless albeit, at one of the tendrils while her she tried to slip her good arm out of a coiled tentacle. Her arm scraped across the scales, cutting itself down it's length until it was finally withdrawn. She started to punch Itsu's side but she was very weak at the moment and the man had likely not even felt it in his blinding rage.

Her ears kept attuned to everything else but she could feel her senses fading, blurring in and out as the continued abuse she was receiving was putting her closer and closer to death's door. A sudden crack in her chest alarmed her that the squeeze of the Rinkaku tentacles had just cracked her rib and with her insides already delicate, she gargled and spat out another spray of blood in a muted yell of anguish.

She could barely make out her savior's words, but heard enough to make out what he had said. She was.. like that girl.. The meaning was cryptic but somehow, Mi's cheeks warmed hearing hearing that, especially because the pressure around her body was relieved considerably. She gasped a fresh breath, coughing shortly after with each exertion of her lungs causing a spittle of blood to come out.

Released, she collapsed to the floor. She was in a bad state at the moment as she couldn't feel anything anymore. Her body felt heavy and tired and all she wanted to do was rest. She hadn't even realized that the female Ukaku had awoken and began poking around inside her abdomen. Her head bobbled as it drooped a bit as she closed her eyes, passing out briefly before suddenly jerking up again in shock. Whatever was going on, Mi had just barely been able to recognize that passing out here might just well be her passing on for good and she still had a command to follow.

Takumi Minamoto - The Second Sexy Halloween Costume
Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor

---

For a few long seconds after his final utterance, the world was left in a tense repose. The half-ghoul’s eyes - now both a very human shade of green - remained affixed to the sight of his older brother and the defeated but still defiant kakuja. Itsuki… Takumi didn’t know what to think about Itsuki, his reckless rage, and the sudden stillness that had come over him. It was true that desperate times called for desperate measures, but he still felt like an absolute waste of human life for using that particular piece of ammunition against his unhinged elder brother.

It was an impulsive move, probably one of his most impulsive ones to date, but it was his only shot. The fingers of his mained hand dug into the bloodsoaked carpet. If Takumi could put himself in Itsuki’s shoes, he knew he wouldn’t be feeling so hot right now. Past failures, lapses of judgement, personal weakness… Nobody wanted to remember those. Especially not someone like Itsuki, who didn’t seem to be able to let go too easily.

But to Takumi’s pleasant surprise, Itsuki just let the girl go. Falling forward onto the bloodsoaked carpet, the human breathed a sigh of relief, only now conscious of the fact he’d been left breathless by the anticipation. He forced out painful, gladdened laughter, silencing himself only upon the sound of his name in Itsuki’s irate voice. ’Time to pay up,’ Takumi thought grimly. He was really going to get it now, he was sure. He winced; somehow the possibility of getting hurt was a lot more painful than all the puncture wounds. Slowly, he turned to look at his brother, the guilt spelled out on his face plain as day. “I understand, onii-san,” Takumi lowered his head, “It won’t happen again.” Yet somehow, he had the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.

As Itsuki moved to speak to Rin, Takumi placed his good hand flat on the ground next to him, and pushed himself up to his feet. “Nngh.” The heat of battle was gone, and replaced only by the soreness of flechette rounds and spikes, it seemed. He looked at his mutilated hand and let it hang against his side. “I don’t think that’s very necessary,” he countered upon hearing exactly what Itsuki had instructed, “She said earlier that she didn’t want to fight us. I’m thinking she was just crazy because it's a kakuja thing.”

Perhaps he could’ve worded that a bit more elegantly, but he meant exactly what he meant. It was only now that Takumi had come to the realization, but he’d given Itsuki the benefit of the doubt for far too long. He couldn’t let him stay on his current path. Even after all the charity he’d been shown, the kakuja had shown a blase disregard for everyone and everything apart from his own whims. And as much as Takumi didn’t want to believe it, he was sure this was some kind of self-serving venture. A way to justify the results of his actions to himself, and to rectify the aftermath of his actions.

“...”

Takumi’s mouth became a hard line, and for a moment, he breathed a bit more ragged than before. ’Yeah,’ he thought, ’Yeah… That’s the problem.’ He looked back to Itsuki and Hana, the latter of which had thankfully interrupted his train of thought by making some subtly sarcastic statement about shoving stale genitalia down her throat. “Heh, sorry onee-chan,” he apologized sheepishly, unintentionally rubbing blood into the back of his hair with his injured extremity, “Guess I don’t make great calls under pressure, huh?” He grinned. The battle was over, so it was best to get back to the swing of things quickly; no use wasting time moping. “But it worked out for the best, didn’t it? Er, sort of.”

Takumi was taken aback by the angry glare, however. As much as he wanted to say something like “You didn’t see what I saw!”, he refrained. The kakuja lady could explain for herself later, and it wasn’t as if Hana was being uncooperative right now. As he watched the doctor do her work, he heard her quote a familiar passage. ’Art of War chapter 12’, he recalled before confirming Hana’s rhetorical question with a simple: “Mhm.” Everything seemed to be going alright so far, so Takumi took a seat on the floor - getting some blood on his butt in the process- and decided to take it easy in the meantime.

He snapped to attention upon hearing his name in a surprisingly imperative tone. He turned his ear to Hana, who was issuing out commands at a rapid pace. “Affirmative,” he nodded and, before Hana could even finish her final sentence, was up and ready to carry out his orders like a good trooper. But there was something that was bothering him. ’Third drawer… Key.’ He clenched his good fist around the metallic object and headed for the elevator.

---

’Counterclockwise…’ he pushed the key into the hole and rotated to the left. His fingers travelled along the underside of control panel, before encountering a bump. ’Secret button.’ Immediately the elevator began to descend. He began naming off the checklist of things to retrieve. ’Five flasks of GBP, and two doses of...’ He paused. “...RCS...” There was no way that meant what he thought it did. No way at all! That stuff was usually too expensive for even hospitals, and the only other way was...

Before he could hypothesize, the elevator dinged and opened up to a chilly room filled only with the hum of machinery and rows of lockbox-esque cabinets. “It’s like a morgue,” he noted during his search for the freezer with the keypad. “Here you are…” he began punching in the numbers. 5-4-2-1-enter-mechanical-rotation-click-open. “Bingo,” he grinned, grabbing hold of the properly labelled flasks and setting them in the simple little basket he had made with his kagune. ‘Now for the RCS…’ Of course, it didn’t take long for him to find it; that box of syringes was unmistakable.

“No fucking way,” Takumi’s voice was a combination of horror and amazement, “Now how’d you get your hands on these babies?”

---

The elevator arrived on the fourth with another ding, and out stepped the designated nurse for today, holding a gift basket for the poor patient. Sadly, there were no get-well cards, flowers, fruit, or anything that fluffy. Just two pointy objects and bottles of strange fluid. Takumi set it down gently beside Hana, looking rather awkward as he did so. Should he pretend he didn’t know what those syringes were? The box was labelled, but…

“Erm. This is the stuff, yeah?” He asked as a final confirmation before turning his attention to the wavering form of Miyako. "I'm back," he joked before taking a few steps back to give the Hana and Rin room to work.

---

Hana gritted her teeth, as her blood mixed with sweat dropped from her eyebrow into her eye. She kept her poise, steeling herself as she unrelentingly kept trying to get a hold of the squishy insides of the other ghoul, trying to undo the ravage she herself had caused. Sarcastically, she admitted that she probably was as good, as if not better, at killing ghouls than trying to save them. Time seemed endless, as the seconds kept ticking, with no sign of Takkun.

And then, a crude basket was presented before her eyes. "Yes, yes it is. Thank you Takkun." She answered, without sparing much more than a glance. However, her voice lowered to all but a whisper. "You know what the RCS is for. If the Kakuja does anything funny, either of them..." She added, as she withdrew the five flasks of GBP from Takkun's grasp, her hands finally retreating from Miyako's cavity. She eyed Takkun, Miyako, and then she eyed Itsuki and the others who were watching.

"Watch this." She said as she opened one of the bottles, ingesting the compound greedily. Almost immediately, smoke oozed out of her wounds, her regeneration speeding up like if she had just eaten, a triumphant smile in her face as her wounds closed and she regained the lost stamina, standing proudly, before offering a flask to Takkun.

"Ghoul Battle Potion." She added, as she opened yet another flask and poured it in Miyako's wounds and throat. " A culture I've made out of human tissue rich in RC cells. It's still a very experimental work, as I've not found the right preservant yet that can settle with a ghoul stomach... but wether it is ingested or poured". Hana added, smiling. "The effects are immediate. " Hana added, as she watched the scene.

"Science and medicine are wonderful, don't you think?" The female ghoul smiled as she prepared her reply to the Kakuja girl.

The Brink - 3rd Ward - Hana's Clinic

---

Images would fade in and out of focus as Miyako's eyelids drooped before being forced back with a sudden pained gasp of another breath, a reminder that Mi was, amazingly, still living. Little things kept her going, kept her awake, as Mi focused on the tattered pajama wearer pluck away at Mi's inners but unlike before, the movements had a grace and delicacy. Although given Mi's current state, she wasn't really sure if Pajama was helping or finishing what she started as Mi didn't really have much feeling elsewhere in her body at the moment. It was just her mind, drifting along a turbulent sea slowly being washed away from everyone and everything else.

The man, Takumi, seemingly vanished the next moment Mi became aware enough to scan everyone gathered. New faces appeared, it seemed. They were younger, in fact, Mi seemed to pull memories of their terrified faces to overlap the present visages in her delusion state. A reminder, perhaps, that she, at one point, was going to kill them but not anymore. Realization hit Mi at that moment and for brief second, her looked relieved, happy almost. Her Kakuja had failed. Nobody but her was laying on the ground, dead or dying, but Mi herself. A remarkable failure that Mi had never figured and she was glad.

Another wave of disorientation swept over Mi before she came to again and noticed that Takumi had returned. Takumi, she remembered she had heard the Rinkaku mention the name earlier, somehow. Mi watched him, his words but a inaudible mumble to Mi's ears, as he passed something to Pajamas. Mi didn't even feel Pajama's hands leave as the other Ukaku did something with the new equipment. It was a blur but smoke was distinguishable. W-was the Pajama healing from that? W-was Mi next? She had to be. That was the stuff Takumi had acquired which meant Pajama was helping, right?

Mi's mind drifted a bit, not noticing at first that the labeled "Ghoul Battle Potion" was being poured all across her wounds, encouraging her Ghoul physiology to rapidly heal. It was only when that miraculous liquid was poured down into her mouth that she suddenly felt a surge of life. Mi's eyes fluttered as she took a big gasp of fresh breath, as if being startled from deep sleep. Her mind flushed with stimulus and her eyes quickly darted around with a new vigor taking everything in. Deep, panicked breaths pulsed from her stunned mouth. She was definitely supposed to be dead but here she was, alive and healing. It was a very surreal experience.

However Mi calmed as a wave of pain from her injures worked there way back into feeling within the nervous system. Mi choked on a gak of pain as her body clenched tight. She hardly noticed that Pajama was talking to her now, but she kept a careful eye open, watching the others around her.

"You saved me...", Miyako muttered, sounding a bit in disbelief. She was trembling slightly, not from fear but just from the sheer shock and agony still present in her body although her wounds were quickly healing from the inside out. Tears welled up on the on her bottom eyelid. "I..I don't know...", Mi started but was interrupted by a sob but she steeled herself just enough to plead. "I didn't want...!", but again she was stopped short of her quiet sobs. This time she didn't continue as she raised her good arm to attempt to wipe her eyes. It was at this point she realized that some of her Kakuja armor still covered herself, although some of it had since crumbled away (her other arm) or been removed (Her mask), so she just ended up covering her eyes with her armored hand.

Itsuki didn't say anything in response to Takumi's comment, but couldn't help the sigh at Hana's reaction to his attempt to help. Leaning against a nearby wall to watch the proceeding events, all he could think about was how this was all a big mistake. This is a fool's errand. Even if the girl herself isn't a killer, it's quite clear that some part of her is and that she can't control it in the slightest. Itsuki's thoughts were somewhat interrupted by Takumi's return from whatever Hana had sent him to do, the scents coming from the box feeling strange and odd in his nose. Wrinkling his nose, Itsuki focused his attention back onto the shape of the Kakuja girl, though he didn't miss Hana's little order to Takumi. All it did was make him roll his eyes, though he couldn't really blame them. Between nearly killing the kids and nearly killing Mi, it was clear that he had issues controlling his killer instinct as well. That being said, those two instances were caused by clear triggers and I was able to come back from them, while this girl seems to go off and stay off. From a purely objective standpoint, she is clearly the bigger threat, and I have little doubt in my mind that Hana is aware of that fact entirely. So that just leaves the question of what exactly she's planning for the crazy bitch.

Putting those thoughts on the backburner for now, Itsuki watched with only a vague interest as Hana made a big showing off her little concoction. While a highly impressive demonstration, all Itsuki could think of is how many ghouls would kill to get their hands on such a thing, especially the gangs in the 24th. If she ever went public with that stuff, it'd be like painting a huge target on this clinic.

"Well, you're a regular mad scientist, aren't ya? Name sounds too much like something out of an RPG, but hey, with results like that, I guess most wouldn't really care." Itsuki said with a shrug, his eyes narrowing as the girl came back into consciousness. He didn't quite know what he was expecting from the Ukaku ghoul, but the absolute last thing was for her to start breaking down so suddenly. Some distrustful part of him wanted to beleive it was all a trick to lower their guard, but he was a good enough judge of character to see that this was only too real. While he didn't say anything, Itsuki turned away from the sobbing girl, scratching at the back of his head as he made his way to a nearby window. "Well, if you don't need me for anything else, I guess I'll just take my leave now. The crazy probably won't snap anytime soon given how she's bawling like that, and unless something changed in the last half-hour, I'm not really welcome here, am I?"

@AtomicNut
@Pirouette
@Grey
@liferusher

Takumi Minamoto - Responder
Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor

---

Takumi jumped a bit when the second, unused syringe was pressed into his hands, like it was a deadly allergen - which it was, in a way. He was well-acquainted with the function of intravenous red child cell suppressants (...and the gases...and the bullets…); though the only time he’d been on the receiving end of them was during the frequent check ups the coats in the Garden subjected him to. As a result, the application had been ingrained in body as well as mind. In that doctor’s voice, the applicable locations of insertion were mentally recited and methodically matched to locations on both the kakujas’ bodies: ’Eyes, nasal passage, oral lining, tongue, throat, reproductive tract, anal canal.’

He paused, then omitted the final two. How did the quote go? “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful”? Having a needle shoved up his ass or worse was not Takumi’s idea of a fun time; he was a nose guy, personally. Casting aside that digression of thought, he planned a course of action best suited to neutralizing the threat of either of the two. When finished, he turned the syringe between his thumb and index finger, just as he turned to face Hana, fresh-faced and offering a drink of her strange potion.

“Erm, yeah. It’s definitely awesome. In a lot of ways.” He answered awkwardly, his heart going out to his fellow humans. He received the bottle in an odd two-handed grasp - his mangled hand serving as the base, and the hand holding the syringe serving as reinforcement so as not to drop the thing. He stared into its murky fluid, unsure of whether he should or shouldn’t drink it in spite of his wounded state. Like the Yakuza from the night before, he had made a point of ensuring he ate only those who deserved it like some kind of spirit made vengeful-by-proxy. It was only when Hana pointed out that she hadn’t figured out a way to preserve them that he resolved on trying to consume this concoction. A trembling, two-handed grasp brought the brew to his mouth - it was almost as if he’d been the one most heavily injured.

And then he drank.

Typically when eating a corpse or the flesh of a charitable human, Takumi had to fight back the urge to gag so ingrained in him by his time with the CCG. Despite compatibility issues, he felt more at home eating regular food; plus, the deliciousness of cannibalistic indulgence just made it feel all that much worse. “Uwuu…” he groaned, swallowing down the last bit, and watching his healing factor rapidly assert itself. He turned to Itsuki, deciding to answer his rhetorical question to the best of his abilities, as Hana was attending to her patient.

Takumi shrugged. “That’s not really my call to make,” he admitted, displaying the extent of his abilities to answer the question in a single sentence, “Actually- I think everyone, especially family, deserves a second chance. But in my experience, those don’t come easy; all actions demand karmic reparation.” He stretched his rapidly regenerating hand by closing and extending his fingers. “Ah, look at me. I must sound like a temple monk,” he laughed, “Well I’m pretty obviously a big softie, and not the one you’ve wronged, so how this karmic rebalance is gonna go is all up to onee-san!”

It seems the thought of it not being a possibility hadn’t even occurred to the jolly brunet.

“Anyway, I guess we should get to the bottom of all of this, huh?” Takumi turned to the teary-eyed kakuja girl, gesturing wildly with his hand, “You’re all good now, right? Everything intact-ish? Regen working well? Is it okay if I ask you a few question?” He spoke patiently; there was something in his voice that suggested a 911 responder speaking to a distraught victim. “You mentioned earlier that you didn’t come here for this.” He gestured to the wrecked room, “So what did you think you’d find here?” He steepled his fingers; it was clear that he was preparing to ask something a bit more troubling.

“And for the sake of everyone’s safety, how well can you keep your kakuja at bay? Things we ought to avoid, that kind of stuff? We’ve children here, after all.”

Resolution - 3rd Ward - Hana's Clinic

---

With the focus of the conversation drifting slightly away from Mi at the moment, she took the opportunity to wipe her cheeks and attempt to recover herself mentally. From her experience, albeit limited for this particular scenario, her next words were crucial to survival. Although it might be tough to actually convince the others to spare Mi and let her go, sometimes all she needed was to stall long enough to make an escape. The only case that it came down to this was the latter as Mi was stuck severely wounded by that Vatican agent. Surviving that night had changed Mi after that. It was the moment she convinced herself to devote her eating habits to be a full Kakuja and ever since, she regretted it. She had almost no control at times and the only counter she had was just to avoid certain situations, which was almost impossible to do as a Ghoul. At the moment, Mi's captors didn't know anything about her, and they were going to ask, so Mi had to be ready to explain herself. To explain all of it.

Takumi's wild waving broke her out of her thoughts and she focused in on him. It was bewildering to hear his calm, patient questions despite only minutes ago they were at each others' throats. Not only that, he asked if she were alright first, to which Mi nodded showing a bit of apprehension about all of his initial questions. It was rare for her to encounter someone with sincere kindness but Takumi was pretty convincing at the moment. He spared her, fed her, and saved her again. Still, Mi was about to trust some stranger right after a first meeting, especially after the one they just had.. However, there was definitely a kindling of something in Mi that put her slightly at ease, bordering happiness even, that it was him talking to her.

Miyako gingerly repositioned herself up so she was sitting upright against the wall. Smoke continued to escape out her wounds but the volume had decreased noticeably enough. Her right arm was still broken, maybe something that would have to be set later, but she could still move her fingers as she swirled them around in the pool of her own blood. One whole side of her body was still sticky with wet blood but she didn't notice, nor care at the moment. Instead, her eyes dropped to watch her fingers swirl as she tried to think of how to respond to Takumi. What did she want here? Information, but how would that look if she tried to explain she just lost control when she just wanted to ask a question? Not good.

"I have just returned from overseas. I didn't want trouble but I was just hungry and my Kakuja doesn't like that." Partially true. Mi had arrived only two days ago and she hasn't really eaten a human since she arrived but she did take a few bites out of those Ghouls from last night, but it was true that hunger did encourage her Kakuja. "I just wanted to find help so I followed a Ghoul here." Her eyes lifted to meet Itsuki's. Now with her no longer dying, she could focus again. His scent, his Rinkaku. That was definitely the Ghoul her Kakuja fought last night. "I didn't want to sneak in so came in during the day. I didn't know humans were running in and out of here, too..." Mi sort of let herself trail off there. It probably wouldn't be good to explain that just the smell of humans could trigger her Kakuja. "But I didn't harm any of them down there! I came up here to find other Ghouls first!", Mi quickly added figuring this was important to establish that she was capable of control. If Mi were to be honest, she was surprised that her Kakuja didn't just lash out and eat all those people. A clinic might be the worst place for her to be as the smell of humans and their injuries was just ripe. However, the smell didn't permeate much up here. In fact, the only reason she snapped was... Her eyes lift Itsuki and went to Takumi. He wasn't a full Ghoul. His one-eye and the smell of human on him... Now Mi felt a guilty that she was psuedo-blaming him and for the previous thoughts of eating his probably delicious flesh....

"Things to avoid? Fighting. My Kakuja likes it. Otherwise as long as I'm fed a lot. I'll be fine." A lie. There were plenty of triggers for her Kakuja but she couldn't admit that. Wait. What did that question mean and further, what did her answer imply? Was she going to be kept here? Did she actually want to stay here? Judging from how quick was to answer, it seemed like it, didn't it? [color=6ecff6]"I'm sorry... about everything, including the children." Mi glanced over to the younger ones, obviously the children implied. To be honest, she, personally, didn't care that much about them but she felt like owed it to the others, especially Takumi, to care enough. Her eyes scanned each person present. What was going to come next, she wondered. "My name is Miyako. I hope I can be forgiven.." This last bit kind of sounded out of no where, but it was really an attempt to sell herself in a way. It was like the whole adage where if you name something, you are more hesitant to kill it. Although Mi had doubted she wasn't going to killed, there was still a risk of her being subjected to some more nefarious things, in which case, she hoped to avoid that.

---

Hana contemplated thoughtfully the variety of expressions in the female ghoul that had been just spared. She also took notice of her still state of semi naked-ness, but it wasn't an important issue right now. Words were exchanged, and Takumi seemed all too eager to help, and talk about forgiveness. The voice of Itsuki, however had earned her undivided attention for a split second, and she clasped her hands in an acknowledging gesture.

"Hana-chan apologizes for the lame name. Hana-chan will let Itsuki choose an invention name when he gets to invent something that can save hundreds of ghoul lives." She said, a curling in her battered and chapped lips, savouring the invective far more than she should. She lingered in that position for a while, before composing herself for the next part. "About the staying part, that depends. Have you actually cooled off?" Hana let the question linger, without waiting for an answer.

Her next stop were the kids, surprisingly enough. The eldest female ghoul smiled once more, this time gently. "I'm sorry, kids. This has been a difficult moment and you needn't to watch this. Hana-chan has to get serious one last time. It won't be long. Hana-chan promises." She cooed, as once more she assumed a position in front of the other female ghoul.

And her stare was pure ice, her expressions had flushed out in a rather striking livid visage. She scratched her chin, once more, before looking at Takkun, then at Itsuki, and finally to Rin.

"I've got this. I will try to appear a better ghoul than I am and with any luck I will escape. That is what you're thinking, right?" Hana replied, her voice coarse and almost like a whisper."You're insulting my intelligence. Forgiveness? You. Are. Heinous. A monster. You've raised your kagune against your kin countless times. You've consumed your kin countless time. You have hurt my siblings. You tried to kill kids. And what for? You're barely functional now. You don't know wether to eat, mate or kill. Or all at once."

Hana clenched her fists, as she kept piercing Miyako with her gaze. "You've endangered this clinic, whereby I perform healing on fellow ghouls after a hard-earned medical knowledge i stole from humans. And now probably the CCG will burn the place down, because of your actions. For all of this, you deserve my enmity, actually." Hana finished her harsh spiel with her kakugan flaring to life. Until she covered her eyes with her hands, irises returning to normal.

"But I already have the worst enemy i could think of. I need not to burden myself with grudges and spats. Because the weight of this sick, maddened world is more than enough." Hana said, in a tired tone. "I saw my beloved parents burning to death slowly. Itsuki's one love was brutally killed by our kin, for she was human. Rinrin will never talk normally again. And these kids are orphaned, and their eldest...was taken by agents. And Takkun, who was human once upon a time, is now hunted by his kin."

She paused, before stretching out a hand to Miyako, an ominous pointed finger. "So, I am going to take revenge on this world in the most insulting and humilliating way possible. Wherever there's wrongs, I will make rights. I shall heal, instead of kill. And you Miyako, one who is one of the best examples of this corrupt world, someone who has been riddled with Dissociation and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder fracturing your mind, shall be my Masterpiece. This is my pride as Ghoul and as a doctor."

Itsuki simply shrugged of Rin her remark of not killing her, he seemed to agree to her though by telling Rin to keep an eye out on the new ghoul in the clinic. Rin turned her eyes off Itsuki looking unbothered by him. Rin her bikaku turned away from Itsuki at the same time. Instead, Rin glared in sharp manner at Miyako with her bikaku fixated on Miyako too.

Everyone was starting to get fixed back up again by hana her potions. She had really become something great after all these years of hard work. Rin was at least glad she didn't need any herself. With everything settling down again Rin became a tad more lax herself and folded her Rinkaku around her body again. With a bit of a hazy look she stepped closer to Takumi and laid her chin on his shoulder.



Rin quietly shoveled over towards the closest wall and dropped herself against it slowly sliding down towards her butt. She sat down onto her Rinkaku with her legs spread wide but essentials covered by her skirt loosely hanging next to her white legs. Her eyelids lazily dropped down, she hazily stared at everyone with Miyako in the center just about not sleeping. Hana began her rant about the corrupted world against Miyako. Everything she said was true but it was hard to fight something like that.

When Hana mentioned Rin for a moment she softly moved her hand up to her throat and gently stroke over it as she thought back about that moment. Rin stayed quiet letting Hana do the talking.

With everything becoming peaceful again the stench Rin gave off from her unwashed body refilled the tender noses of the ghouls once more, delightful.

"Well, if that's you intent, now the name is both cheesy and misleading, since 'Battle potion' leads one to believe it's supposed to be used for, well, battles. You know, the things that people do that end lives." Itsuki replied with a small grin, taking joy in getting under his siblings skin just a little bit more then he probably should. This grin turned into an annoyed frown as Hana asked if he was 'cool' or not, as if he was in the wrong somehow for wanting the crazy bitch dead after what he came back to witness."As for if I'm 'cool', I'd like for you to notice that the bitch still has her head, does she not? I guess even geniuses like yourself are still capable of asking stupid questions."

Itsuki turned his attention to the Ukaku bitch that had started this whole mess. He didn't say anything at first, wanting o hear the whole of what she had to say, but it didn't take long before he saw through the girl's attempt to muddle the truth and lie her way out of this situation. However, before he could call her on her bullshit, Hana chimed in with a speech about how keeping the girl was a bad idea, but she was going to do it anyway because her massive scientific/medical ego wanted to have the achievement of 'Kakuja Reformer' under her belt. She might've tried to spin it as some sort of noble gesture, but Itsuki was almost certain that her true intentions weren't nearly as benign. She wanted this girl for something, though whatever it was, Itsuki sure as hell had no way of figuring it out. And truly, he didn't really care too much about what happened to the Ukaku Bitch, only what she could do to Takumi, Rin, Hana, and the children if she goes berserk again.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Itsuki only felt the need to mention one thing, directing a glare towards Hana as spoke. "I don't care what kind of Psychological bs you're trying to use to convince this girl to stay with you, but next time, don't go telling people about my business when you do it. What I've lost is of no concern to her, or anybody else for that matter." Turning away from Hana, Itsuki focused his gaze directly on the bitch in question, his glare hardening as his white Kakugan came to life. "And as for you, Ukaku Bitch, if you do anything to anyone here, I will kill you. Pick up right from where we left off last night. So make sure that the your Kakuja half is listening closely to what I'm saying and understands clearly what will happen. My siblings, for whatever reason, are choosing to spare you, but I won't be so generous. Give me a singular reason to end your life, and I will end it right then and there."

With his piece said, he walked away from the two towards the room he'd stayed in the night before, stopping just in front of the door to see if Hana was going to say anything before he decided whether he'd walk in or not. However, upon hearing Riun complain about her being tired, he opened the door anyway, grabbing a pillow and a blanket to bring out and toss over his youngest sibling's form. "You've hardly done anything today, yet you're already tired, huh? You sure you're not an Ukaku, Rin?"

@AtomicNut
@Grey
@Liferusher
@Pirouette

Takumi Minamoto - Kokoro
Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor

---

“Okay then,” he nodded, looking back at Hana and then back to Miyako. Quieter, he said: “I’m Takumi and, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re completely lying.”

For now, there was nothing Takumi could do but that - give words of encouragement and an introduction. But even though he’d said he believed her, there was a pervasive wrongness about Miyako, different from the wrongness surrounding Itsuki. A beating drum on the edge of perception, rather than a high tide that becomes a tempest. Nevertheless, he was inclined to believe her; she didn’t seem to be lying to him. At least not to his face. But the Garden wasn’t supposed to interview witnesses or gather evidence; they were supposed to assess the information, and clean up the mess.

And by his assessment, nothing she’d said necessarily contradicted anything he’d seen thus far; ergo, he would trust her for now.

Not that it particularly mattered; all of the responsibility of determining what was to happen fell on the shoulder’s of Hana, regardless of what he, personally, thought. It was her home, so it was only right that she be allowed to make the call for whatever happened. But although this was not the CCG by any respects, Takumi was feeling vaguely disgruntled, like an Investigator who’d just gotten their ownership rights redacted by a superior.

“Huh?”

From out of nowhere, Rin had decided to rest her head on Takumi’s shoulder, which turned his attention away and was very cute, but unpleasant in a very specific way.

He crinkled his nose at her stench in such close proximity. Still, he gently patted her on the head, and leaned against her in kind. “Oh. Hey Rin. Yeah that's fine. Just go ahead and take a nap now, because you...” Takumi said, before whispering conspiratorially in a tone firm and cheerfully stern. “...Are getting a shower later, even if I have to throw you there myself!”

He patted her on the head again, and let her slink off to rest in the back of the room. A momentary respite that he was sure she deserved. If not for anything she’d done earlier, then for what was to come later. Because that was almost as smelly as Itsuki, with none of the acceptable excuses he had.

Not that Itsuki would be any better off if Takumi had the authority to make it happen. Curses, to be a younger brother more self-conscious (not in that way) than the older one…! Maybe he could get Hana to help him out - call it a security issue or something.

Though that implied Itsuki was allowed to stay, but he’d been... acceptable. Too quick to kill, too much of a threat, but Takumi’s heart went out to the guy. If he was in the same situation - seeing his family all bloodied by a former enemy - he’d probably be the same way. He blinked a few times, and stared at the wallpaper.

’Maybe that family,’ he thought, before shaking even the barest concept of that thought from his head. There were other things he had to think about; that was not a top priority. That was one of his bottommost priorities at the time. He turned to the scene, where Hana was finally giving her adjudication on the most pressing issue at hand.

First sentence in, and Takumi figured that it could’ve gone worse. But it could also have gone a whole lot better. It was worrying, dismissing the girl’s words as outright lies, but he would wait, see, and hope for the best above all. The problem here was that he couldn’t find anything empirically wrong about what Hana had said. Miyako did, in fact, do all of those things. But she wasn’t in the right mind? No, the mind was different, subjective and unknowable. She could have been lying, but… Beh, this introspection wasn’t getting him anywhere. Continue watching.

And then he heard something which made his blood run cold, his breathing hitch, and a sudden deathly stillness pervade his being. But it wasn’t the fact that she’d mentioned the fact his own kin were hunting him. No, he’d gotten over that quickly - even if it hadn’t helped the issue. What got him was the diction, the word choice, the maddened rambling. And at that point, Takumi knew he had to speak.

“Hana,” he said with a surprising adamancy, even going so far as to omit the honorific, “I think you need to calm down. You’re getting a bit heavy on the absolutes there. If she’s anything like Itsuki, I’m sure she’s more capable than she seems.” He looked over his shoulder at Rin, Itsuki, and finally Hana, who seemed to him even madder than when she’d attacked Miyako. A thought in the back of his head realized comparing her to Itsuki was probably not the best decision, but he pushed that aside.

“...Besides people who dehumanize others and talk about masterpieces and pride and righting a corrupt world with science are usually the same that...” Takumi shook his head, his resolve vanishing as his urge to ignore the past grew. “Eugh. Sorry, sorry. Just... Yeah. It’s just rhetoric. Sorry. Don’t worry about me I’m... I’m good.” He didn’t want to think Hana was anything like that. She could see the path her intentions were leading her, right?

"Don't get me wrong I agree we should help her with her kakuja problem," he blurted, then pursed his lips, intent on staying silent until he could be silent no longer. Which was only a second or two.

“...But, ehh, I’m still worried. About you. You might go off the deep end if you start seeing ghouls and people as tools, and it’s just revenge in general isn’t a super good motivation insofar as reasons for helping others goes,” he warned, nervously wringing his hands together. He suddenly raised his hands up, trying to just move past it all with nary a breath in his lungs. “Okay. Ignore. Dropping the issue now. Dropping the issue. Your house. Hotel. Clinic. Your rules.”

He paused, realizing the greater meaning behind her statement, just as he tried to cast it from his mind.

“Wait a sec... Does that mean we’re keeping her around? Does that mean we’re helping her with her problem, too?” he looked to the girl, “Erm. What is your problem?” He realized the connotations behind that statement, and began backpedaling immediately. “What I mean to say is: what is the problem by which you attempted to go here to find help for? Because that’s important, yeah?"

When Rin had placed her chin against his shoulder for a moment Takumi had placed his hand on her head and for some reason looked kind of disgusted. Rin tilted her head in confusion and looked somewhat pleased with the head pat at the same time. He was cheerfully telling her to get a nice nap and had stopped with talking for a brief moment only to make her look in disgust back at him. She had to get a bath? No way that was ever gonna happen. Rin stepped away from Takumi as she gave him an annoyed expression. This guy also wanted to end her now apparently.

Rin sat down against the wall seeming fairly sleepy. Her Rinkaku was still pointing at Miyako, lightly sitting next to the wall should be enough sleep. She didn't have to close her eyes, resting could probably fill up the lack of sleep she had.

A sudden pillow against her head made her sleepiness go away for a second as she let out a soft broken yelp. Her head peered up towards Itsuki who had tossed the pillow and blanket towards her. She gave him a short glare before she turned her head back towards Miyako again. She dropped the pillow besides her and covered herself with the blanket a little as she shifted herself into a bit more laid back position against the wall. She continuously stared at the new girl with half open eyes as minutes strode by without anything happening.

First Crush - 3rd Ward - Hana's Clinic

---

There was a fair chance that Miyako had sounded convincing enough but any hope she had was quickly crushed at the doctor’s glare. Hana-chan. In more ways than one, she was the architect of Mi’s other side losing the fight. A surprising upset all things considered as Mi was pretty confident she had everyone in here beat with raw athletics, but that analysis is neither here nor there at the moment. The more important thing to focus on was the mad ravings of the mad doctor before her.

Mi knew a putdown when she heard it and despite having thicker skin, being called a monster still hurt. She knew that her Kakuja’s actions were wrong but it was something that she did not know how to handle properly. A curse that had befallen her but had to be taken for preservation. David was pretty good at helping Mi through some of her rougher patches but with his absence combined with Mi’s intense fervor to find him, she hasn’t been very good at keeping it away. So was it her fault for allowing it get so far? Probably but Mi didn’t see it that way.

As for the rest of the raving, Miyako honestly tried to keep up with Hana’s talking points but due to a lack of finer education, most of it was lost on her. She could only stare blankly, mouth agate, as Hana ranted. There were times Mi had felt on edge and she tensed up slightly, preparing to make a break for it (as much as she could in this state). Thankfully the perceived threat was never enough and in fact, the tail end of the rant sounded almost positive possibly. ”Okay.”, Mi meekly replied not knowing how else to respond. Another thing that came out of this was the names of some of those present observers. Speaking of which…

Takumi had surprised Miyako yet again. He claimed he believed her despite his allies’ stated distrust and out of everyone, he was the only one to respond, in kind, by introducing himself. An act that really humanized Mi, which she needed right now and one that she noticed. Out of everyone present, Takumi was really starting to consume Mi’s thoughts. A shy, relieved smile curved on Mi’s face as she eyed the man in a quiet, unconscious infatuation.

The other female ghoul, Rin, that arrived with Itsuki had almost gone entirely unnoticed by Miyako at this point. She was quiet, waifish girl and appeared in many aspects to mirror Mi. They would probably get along if not for the fact that Rin’s simple interaction with Takumi had stirred emotions in Mi that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Passive thoughts of Mi finding a way to get her chin to rest on that man’s shoulders had begun to kindle in the back of her mind. Most thoughts had involved forcibly removing Rin in various, sometimes violent, means. Her smile was gone now as Mi’s glowered stare lingered for a moment on Rin before her attention snapped back to conversation elsewhere.

Itsuki had just finished the end of what seemed like a threat to Hana before his gaze dropped on Mi. Another threat. In a way, Miyako felt sorry for him for some reason. It was probably because of the revelation that he also had a Kakuja half. For some reason, he was lead down that path and while Mi’s other side always had a hunger, she reckoned Itsuki’s was more bottled rage. It was best to avoid any incitement for now so Miyako merely nodded in response.

Her focus was brought back to the two she fought, Takumi and Hana. If Takumi hadn’t sold himself to Mi before, he certainly was now. Miyako’s heart swelled as he talked about her, in a positive manner no less. He was even standing up for her.

Mi didn’t have the words to describe the elation she was feeling. It was a foreign feeling though and internally, her mind was going haywire from it all. Biting her bottom lip, she leaned toward Takumi slightly. She wanted to just reach out and brush his arm, feel his chest. Thank him for what he was doing. She almost giggled at the man’s bumbling at rhetoric thinking it was some cute joke.

Enamoured, she was almost lost to everything else but she caught that Takumi had directed a question to her. ”Oh! I…” Takumi bumbled and corrected himself. It was a stupid thing to find funny but everything up to this point had bubbled over. Miyako couldn’t help herself but she giggled at Takumi’s recovery.

”You’re fine...”, she replied happily with an informal way of saying ‘no problem’. However, it was after she said that Mi began to think about the words and interpreted the meaning a bit differently. Her cheeks began to burn brightly red as she looked horrified at calling the man fine, even though she did mean it that way too.

”I-I-I mean.. I Mi never finished her stammering as she pulled back, pressing her back up against the wall feeling trapped. What on earth was happening to her? ”O-oh. R-Right. I’m sorry. I.. Mi swallowed hard as she tried to recover. She took a deep breath and managed, ”I just wanted to find help in finding someone I care about. I’ve been living away from Japan for years and don’t remember much about it anymore.

Mi’s early glee was gone as she became more sullen remembering David. ”I just want to find him because I think he is in trouble and I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen.”

Takumi Minamoto - This is Fine.
Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor

---

Something was wrong here.

With his attention drawn to the wounded kakuja before him, Takumi had taken note of the rising peculiarity in her behavior. Mere moments ago this woman had tried to kill him, his family, and a bunch of ghoul kids. To see her acting so much like a meek young schoolgirl... It was jarring, to say the least, and in response, Takumi’s expression could only shift into one of befuddled ambivalence. It was good she was taking this well, but at the same time there was definitely something awry about her behavior that was somewhere in the periphery of his mind, unwilling to come forth at his beckoning.

Then it clicked at the sound of Miyako’s giggling, and the sight of everything that followed.

Now, Takumi didn’t much consider himself an expert of social interactions - the most he could really do in a vacuum was discern lies - but he’d experienced this kind of behavior before and, contrary to what he believed it to be, it didn’t bring any great amount of comfort. All it brought was ‘if’s, ‘why’s, ‘how’s and other things he’d rather not think about right now. And this was all in addition to the sinking feeling that he’d made a great error somewhere by letting things come to this point.

Yes, despite the fairly well-put-together demeanor, Takumi was internally screaming, and going through mental jumping jacks to connect whatever dots he could grab at. He was, in all respects, absolutely paralyzed by all these emotions, projections, retrojections and how they all just did not make sense to his bird-brain. What did he even do to get her to like him so suddenly? Save her life? Cerebrally, he knew that Miyako couldn’t be called a mentally stable person, but was she really crazy enough to think she was enamored with him, or was she actually? Dammit, why did understanding people have to be so damn hard?

’...Oh fuck, what am I supposed to do?’ Takumi panicked inwardly, making a point of not showing anything on his face. He remembered the last time a girl liked him and he went with it: everyone told him that he “should’ve just said no” and that “you don’t go out with someone just to get them to stop bothering you”. In short: not a good time for anyone, and therefore not something he was willing to repeat for fear of making everyone sad or mad again. But he also knew couldn’t just reject her here and there, which was the crux of this predicament: how could he resolve this issue without hurting anyone? ‘That line about ignorance being bliss continues to make itself relevant, I see,’ he thought, diverting his thoughts away from the issue at hand.

Suddenly, he took a breath and stood from his crouch, playing with his knuckles as he pretended to be occupied looking at someone (in this case, Itsuki). After all: when in doubt, ignore all of your problems until they become problems. He scratched the back of his head. That wasn’t how the quote went. But it didn’t matter, just like how all this deliberation didn’t matter. Whatever he would end up deciding upon could come later.

Yes, he was content with this result.

Of course, a different statement from the woman tore Takumi from his ruminations. Miyako was looking for someone, it seemed, and fortunately that line of thought meant that she wasn’t thinking about him anymore. The corners of Takumi’s mouth turned downward. That wasn’t a bad thought; it wasn’t good to take solace in other people’s suffering. Still, Miyako’s sentiment resonated with Takumi, but perhaps not positively. Turning his eyes to their limit in order to look at the woman in his periphery, he replied simply: “I get it.”

At that point, Takumi realized he was kind of awkwardly facing Itsuki, so he shifted his body to the group in general, with his back towards Miyako, and posed the open question with a nonchalant shrug: “What now?”

---

As Miyako's glare towards Rin didn't go unnoticed by Itsuki, and he had to really force himself to breathe before he ended up ripping the bitch's head from her body. Why am I the only one who seems to properly understands how much a fuckin' threat this girl is, and that taking a chance on her is beyond idiotic. If it wasn't for Takumi, then she would be dead and everyone here would be safe. . . well, as safe as ghouls can be. Letting out a deep sigh, Itsuki continued to silently observe, clearly noticing not only the girl's seeming infatuation with Takumi but also that Takumi had noticed it as well. Robotic as the boy tended to be at times, his sudden silence and the way he was awkwardly staring in Itsuki's direction but not at Itsuki himself was enough to alert him to the fact that his younger sibling was lost in some intensive thought all of the sudden. Given everything that happened, he could only figured the Takumi was also aware of the Crazy Ukaku's apparent crush on him and was, as Takumi is one to do, panicking internally while doing a damn good job at not showing it. Another sigh escaped Itsuki's lips before as he leaned against a nearby wall, contemplating just leaving this hotel and being done with it all. Hana didn't want him here, that much was plainly obvious, Asoka couldn't give a shit either way, Rin was difficult to read, and Takumi was likely to just stick with Hana no matter what(not that he wanted Takumi to follow him if he did end up leaving).

It would be so much easier to just jump out the window and leave them and the kids to fend for themselves, wipe his hands of it all, and find a good place to sleep for the night. . . but then what would he have to look forward to. A life of pitiful scrounging until he met his end at the hands of some investigator or another ghoul. A life that was more about survival than anything else. A life that would eventually see him towards his worst nightmare, that would see him turn to the beast he currently tried his best to contain. They're my family. . . they're the only thing I have left anymore, and I'll be damned if I let anyone, or anything, hurt them while I can do something about it. Thinking back to the scene he'd come upon, blood everywhere, Hana laying bleeding on the floor with the top of her fucking head missing, his teeth clenched tight against each other, forming a rather unpleasant looking grimace upon his face before he was able to reel in his emotions and regain his more apathetic composure. He tried his best to forget how his mind had replaced Hana's current grown-up self with the form of the girl he had grown up with, as he had done with Takumi, Rin, and Asoka upon seeing them. Those memories had been what he had clung to for sanity sometimes, when he had fallen lower than he had ever thought possible. Even if they cursed him, spit upon him, and hated him with all of his being, he could never bring it upon himself to abandon them, to hurt them, to even hate them, because they were his everything and without them around. . . he might as well walking to CCG HQ and turn himself in.

Man, I really know how to cheer myself up. A small chuckle escaped his lips at the thought as he decided to address Takumi's question, looking him dead in the eye. "Simple. You go find the bitch a place to sleep and I find a comfortable chair to rest on while I stand watch over her. . . unless you planned to share a room with her. Though, I doubt that would be the wisest course of action, as leaving you two alone together is rather dangerous for a multitude of reasons. Not the least of which being that I don't think I'm ready to become an uncle just yet, not to mention that I'm crap with kids." Itsuki gave Takumi a small grin to let him know he was joking, before turning his attention to Miyako once more. "I'm not going to threaten you again, cause at this point, it'd be redundant. I just want to let you know that I care very deeply about everyone in this room. They are everything to me, and I'd rather die then see any of them hurt. Remember that next time you feel your other half getting antsy. If I can control my demons, you can control yours. I don't care how sick in the head you are, we aren't humans. We don't need a gun or a knife to be exceedingly dangerous to each other when we lose control of ourselves.

---

Stoically, Hana stood tall, her eyes peeking at everyone's elses reaction about her statement. Her brow furrowed at Itsuki's statements. He was still trying to throw his weight around, despite having been overtaken by the pace of events. Not to mention rash and insulting. Hana's patience had waned enough to consider telling Takumi to use RC suppressor on Itsuki, but there were the kids to consider. No doubt some of the posturings and words were nothing short of scary.

Takumi was even genuinely concerned she had begun a one way descent into becoming a maddened amoral scientist, which given his background, he was extremely sensitive at all. His awkwardness seemed to win the day, and he engaged in some playful antics with Rin, who was gleefully ignoring the metaphorical elephant in the room. Are you doing this on purpose, Rin? Hana seemed to ponder as she looked at her own naked and pitiful status.

"Damn. I really liked those pyjamas." She muttered in a recognizable grumble, before sighing and deciding that it was time to wrap things up. Her eyes darted from Takkun and the new acquaintance, that Kakuja named Miyako. Something really interesting was going on, already. The eldest female ghoul smiled mischievously as she brought her hand in a feign surprise.

"No way, Miyakon! There's only so much you can be shameless. You break in Hana-chan's clinic and then you want Takkun's babies? That's some shamelessness there, girl!" Hana eyed them both, decided to go for some levity to lift people's spirits up. Deep down, she showed a litte of concern about Miyako being every bit as agressive towards her love advances as towards her prey, but then again, she had given the RC suppressant to Takumi. He would be fine. Hana then clasped her hands, and added a new inflection in her voice as she addressed everyone.

"Well then, how about everyone helps Hana-chan in the cleaning?" She added, but before elaborating further, one phone which had miracously had survived the onslaught of the ghoul fight, rang. The doctor grabbed it, mumbling something about it being rotten timing or a certain fellow doctor of hers having his bottom rear as his top front.

Hana's face visiblely blanched for a second, all colour flushing out of hers. She had shown very little, if any traces of genuine fear and concern before, so it was all more spectacular when her usual playful and self-assuring smile came all crashing down. But, only for a brief second, before regaining her composture. Her answer in the phone was curt, almost monotone like. "Do as planned, then,
and evacuate. She added.

And then, in an uncharacteristic fit of genuine ghoul rage, smashed said phone with the fist, her head hanging limp as strands of loose hair obscured her factions. Her voice came at first quivering, unsure. Maybe because of rage or fear. Nobody knew. "I..I'm sorry kids. I promised you to take you to my safe place, but...the CCG is here. She added, before eyeing the infants. "You'll have to go elsewhere. Takkun, Rinrin, Ikki, and...yes, even Miyakon should see to your safety for the time being. I have to deal with my guests." The eldest ghoul adding, stomping forward to fetch some equipment before letting the shock that others could possibly have wear off.

"This was all my fault, I should've made this secure...two kakujas in a clinic duking it out, of course that had to get attention. Well, what's done is done, Hana...time to pay the piper." Hana said to herself as she produced several generic ghoul masks which then tossed towards the others. "Use these to wear them as you break through their barricade after exiting through the fire stairs. They're after a B rank ghoul so it shouldn't be too hard." Hana added, as she firmly adjusted her bee mask on.

However, the most interesting part were the devices she had grabbed on her hands. In one it was some kind of remote. She doubted for a second, before handing it to Itsuki. " Grab this remote, lead the others to safety, and then blow up this place sky-high. There's a lot of things the CCG must not know about this place, understand. Leaving this place to plunder for the CCG is not an option." Her other hand contained a folder, as well as a rectangular gadget. A gun. She offered the folder to Takumi. "The results of my researches must not fall in the wrong hands."

Her gaze became a bit of a longing one, as she stared at her siblings and the kids one last time. She cocked her gun, weighing it in her hands. Not even an hour since the last fight and she was getting in another. Ukaku weren't really made for this, but she had little choice in the matter, she run as she slammed the entry door hard, botching a CCG's officer attempt to enter and barricading it.

"Go!" She urged.

Out of the Pan... - 3rd Ward - Hana's Clinic

---

Miyako already had the feeling of being vulnerable, but what would you expect when you were surrounded by people you almost killed, and your shirt was now a shredded rag. Miyako hadn't even noticed how naked she was at the moment, thankfully her athletic shorts and bra were still on, though the latter had sustained some noticeable damage. However despite the reality of her situation being present in front of her, some of her focus felt like it was being pulled away. It felt like she had overstepped in the negotiations for her life by stuttering an unintended extra vulnerability, an unintended consequence of her girlish crush on her savior. Though that appeared to have slipped by unnoticed and for the briefest of moments, Mi had thought she had gotten away with such an out of character remark, leaving her unguarded for Hana's comment.

Miyako's attention snapped to Hana, alarm present in her expression at the forwardness of her comment. Miyako's cheeks flared with hot blood as she turned to Takumi's currently impassive face. She gave a real 'deer in the headlight look', believing that if even if nobody had noticed Miyako's affection for Takkun, they surely did now. Though their opinions mattered little compared to the man she was currently staring at. Even though Mi would have never experienced it, this was exactly like the big high school crush revelation. You don't want it to come out but your friend tells your crush anyway, which is what you secretly wanted anyway as your crush never noticed you until now. So you feel completely mortified and betrayed that you've been exposed and even though you want to retract that, you secretly yearn to see your crush's reaction, hoping that they reciprocate your feelings...

Mi was stuck in that limbo where you waited for your crush to react, wanting her secret never exposed but also yearning for a sign of Takkun to return her affection. The return Mi wanted never arrived. The only thing Mi was given was a static, 'I get it'. There was a small feeling of relief, as Mi's mind became deluded that Takkun was oblivious to the obvious, but a even larger part of Mi had felt rejected almost. It was as if Mi had anticipated a reality where Takkun throws himself at her in an tight embrace, confessing his affection in her ear, ideally with a light peck on her cheek being added. Instead of Mi's fantasy, she simply got an acknowledgement that he understood? The answer had left her spinning in trying to find a meaning.

A reply with clear terms of "Yes" or a "No" would have made Mi's reaction simpler but this? Mi didn't know what to think even though a saner mind would identify the clear signs of Takkun's lack of interest. For Mi, this answer lead her on an internal path of attempting to decipher the message, phasing out Itsuki's entire rant about her. Her gaze didn't not falter as she continued watching Takkun for some sign, she was missing. She eventually settled on more delusion, clinging to the fact that he continued to sympathize, reaching out to her in a not-so-obvious way. Meaning, this wasn't over. Nobody would reach out this much for Mi if she wasn't an asset and in her eyes, Takkun wasn't treating her as an asset but something living.

"...the CCG is here."

As if it were a sleeper agent's code word, Mi suddenly snapped out of her fixation on Takkun and brought herself back to reality. It appeared she was still being spared, but what was perhaps more shocking was that Mi's mind fell back into her servitude state. After all, she spent most of her life under orders by another and with Hana's authoritative aura becoming evident again, Mi found some of her earlier internal conflict quelled in the face of this situation.

Miyako got to her feet, wincing as she bent forward, indicating there was still some internal damage that was present or perhaps still recovering. She'd was still vulnerable and not at a hundred percent, that much would be obvious, but to serve she often had to push herself in such a manner. "What do you want me to do?" Miyako asked, finding her emotionless tone again focusing in on her responsibility to her new authority, glancing between Itsuki and Takumi though she found the sight of Takumi to quickly bring back thoughts of her complicated feelings for him. To attempt to rid herself of that thought, she eventually settled her eyes on Itsuki, trying to keep Takumi from her thoughts. Things were too critical for her to hesitate now.

---

---

Itsuki couldn't help but roll his eyes at Hana's silly act, finding it to be in poor taste given the fact that she had just been disembowling the Kakuja not half an hour or so before. Even for a ghoul, he figured that acting in such a fashion would be seen as more disturbing then anything else, though that may just be what his sister was attempting to do. Turning his attention to said Kakuja, he was only somewhat surprised by the fact that she was staring at Takumi with such a flustered, yet hopeful expression. For a moment, he felt a bit of a connection with the kakuja, but quickly shook his head of the notion, bringing to mind the grisly scene he had walked in on.

She's a danger and a threat. Nothing more, nothing less.

His thoughts(and the slight surge of anger that had bubbled up with them) were put on hold as Hana suddenly spoke up again, the bubbly tone stricken from her voice as she delivered the worst news that any ghoul could hear.

The Doves were here.

A million thoughts flooded Itsuki's mind as he tried to think of possible exits and escape routes, but it was difficult to do due to his unfamiliarity with the area. He almost didn't notice when Hana walked up to him, but his attention immediately as she place something into his hand. Looking down, Itsuki seemed to almost freeze as he listen to Hana's instructions, his eyes flitting between the remote then his sister as she moved to barricade the door. Grinding his teeth together, Itsuki took a single step forward, not seeming to even hear Miyako's question as he started speaking to Hana a harsh whisper, having enough presence of mind to not yell even though he really wanted to.

"Hana, let me take the heat. I don't know this area in the slightest, not any safe houses, or routes that wouldn't be watched by the Doves. And more importantly than that. . . I can't just leave you to die. I won't leave you to die. Take the detonator and get out of here. . . please." Despite his attempts to reign it in, emotion flowed onto Itsuki's face and into his face as he all but begged Hana to let him take her place. In his mind's eye, all he could see was the faces of those he had failed to save. His parents, the old man. . . Hiyori. He couldn't stand by and let someone else he cared for die. He had to do this. He needed to do this. . . or he didn't think he'd be able to handle the guilt that would follow.

Takumi Minamoto - Meeting the Family, All G
Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor

---

“...Please don’t...Y’know I’ll just... I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that...” Takumi protested weakly, his voice coming out little more than a nervous murmur. He brought his palm to his face, half in exasperation, half to conceal the extreme redness that had overcome him as a result of the sudden turn of topic. Waves of intense embarrassment, both firsthand and secondhand, flowed through his very being. In his eight years away, he’d forgotten how much of a handful this family could be, and at that moment, he’d decided that he would not make that mistake again. Ever.

Well, at least Miyako couldn’t see him like that. Someone impressionable like her might have gotten the wrong idea.

He quickly composed himself, fortunately, and turned his attention towards the kakuja girl. Then immediately away from the kakuja girl. ’...’ His eyes were firmly locked on a bloodstain on the wall. Hana and Itsuki just had to go and make things weird, didn’t they? Not even just a little weird, but really weird. How exactly was he going to play this off now? He didn’t have any plausible deniability, and he didn’t want to hurt the poor girl’s feelings - he’d already smashed her head a few times! But then again...Ugh, Thinking about things too much never did him any good. He’d just go with the flow as usual, consequences be damned. Besides, it’s not like consequences mattered much to him in the long run anyway.

As usual, once satisfied with his resolution to procrastinate on that decision, Takumi quickly began the process of moving past his distress by latching on to the first subject change he could reach: “Yes!” the brunet perked up, “I agree. We should clean up before everything starts staining... err, staining more. And smelling. And seeping. I’ll get started immediately.”

Takumi took a breath, smiled widely, and marched forward, until he realized he had no idea where Hana put the cleaning supplies. Damn. It seemed like he had to wait for her to get off the phone if he wanted to continue not thinking about… that thing he wasn’t supposed to think about. And by that, he meant the thing about the bre- ’Stop thinking about it, Takumi.’

...But how would the logistics behind male human and fem-

’STOP.’

And at that point he made a startling realization. A realization that he wished had occurred to him after it had occurred to someone else. He looked over his shoulder at Itsuki, then Hana. He shook his head to himself and ambled over to Rin. Crouching down, he whispered, nodding his head towards Miyako to clear his pronouns: “Psst. You should get...her some clothes. You...You know what I’m talkin’ about, yeah? Public n...no clothes? Fine of up to 300,000 yen? Ok?”

That could’ve gone better. Well, here was hoping that nobody had heard him, even with his...uneasy delivery. Too busy worrying, something Hana had said entered one ear and went right out the other. ‘Oh cool, the CCG are here,’ Takumi thought, sinking to his seat. ’That’s good. They'll make sure all the people are sa-’

...The CCG were here.

Takumi snapped to his feet in an instant, dead silent, and regrouped with Hana. They were cornered here, there was no doubt about it. Explaining away all the wounds and the bodily fluids strewn across the room wasn’t a viable option either. His eyes darted across everyone in sight, and his brow furrowed. As much as he was concerned for the well-being of the ghouls, he was concerned about the investigators answering that call. Poor guys were gonna get shredded, and their families would...

“You heard her: we all need to leave,” Takumi agreed. While Hana sifted through her evacuation supplies, the half-ghoul issued a quick set of directives: “Rin, you’ve got the twins. Itsuki, the boys.” He punctuated his commands with appropriate hand gesturing. “I’ll play rearguard, and kaku-” He paused. “Miyako, you’ve got the oldest one."

Takumi donned the generic mask provided to him. “Eh, sorry you're the boss here. Hope you didn't mind that... You’re gonna lead everyone out, right Hana?” he inquired, watching her hand off something to Itsuki, and then receiving something himself: a folder of Hana’s research, entrusted to him for safekeeping. Now wasn’t the time to look into it, but more than that, he had the feeling he wouldn’t like what he saw. More importantly...

“I understand,” Takumi nodded solemnly. This was a no-win situation: kill the investigators, more would come, more people would get hurt for no good reason; try and escape all at the same time, and they might all get seen; or sacrifice someone to distract them. It was a lot like SOP for investigations gone wrong: sacrifice the squad leader, let everyone get out.

Though, it seemed that Itsuki still didn’t understand. Anxiously, Takumi turned the needle in his hands. It would only take a single jab to the face, or the anus, or the mouth. All easy targets for the emotionally distraught. ’Not worth it,’ Takumi decided, pocketing the thing, ’We lose too much strength that way.’

Still, he could see the CCG officers begin to make some degree of headway, and who knows when they'd figure to whip out the quinque and just chop the door down...

“Itsuki, stop being dumb!” Takumi grabbed his arm and tugged forcefully, “You’re wasting everyone’s time! You're-"

Eugh. He felt scummy doing something like this; it would be the second time he'd emotionally manipulated his brother today. Not a good way to start off a reunion. But it worked last time, so it seemed that it was time for more fast talking:

"...Do you really think she wouldn't have a trick up her sleeve for something like this? She smarter than all of us, she knows this place like the back of her hand! I've seen her sub basement, there's an exit there. She can hit the sewers by the time we're out, how do you think her ghoul friends go out? Get it? Now go!"

Some time had passed after the commotion with Mi and all. Rin had lowered her guard quite a bit so her rinkaku had gone back inside her skin again believing the girl wouldn't hurt them so suddenly. It had left a gapping hole inside her shirt at the back but her coat was luckily covering some part of her naked back. Rin didn't mind however and would even have gone on if her shirt would have had disappeared into another realm. Rin had tossed the sheet and pillow besides sitting herself in her usual position again as she took a light sip from her cup of coffee that was still left over in the pot. It would keep her awake a bit better, lying on the ground as comfortable as possible wouldn't do that.

Takumi that had been close to her for a while now after the commotion had fi ally died down. He lowered himself to Rin her height appearing to want something from her. Rin didn't even flinch at him closing in on her ear, quietly sitting there while mindlessly glancing at the front of the room as she took a light gulp from her mug. Takumi told her that Miyako might need some clothes too if they had fo go outsids since nudity had a fine on it. Rin gave a soft nod as she patiently raised herself upright again. The significant height difference between her and the boy was obvious again.

Rin slowly unbuttoned her coat and removed it from her torso. Her frail child like form was displayed in front of the group for the first in a few years. Sbe had obviously not grown much. Rin was wearing a dark grey skin tight tshirt tucked into her skirt. She shoved the coat Miyako her way and unbuttoned her skirt short after letting it drop to the ground as it fell from her hips. Her tshirt was just about long enough to cover her glorious underwear. Shr shoved the skirt Miyako her way too with a blank expression. Rin didn't feel awkward or embarrassed in the slighest except for one thing. Her scarf was still wrapped arpund her neck and it didn't seem like she was gonna remove it before undoing the next item. Rin started pulling on her own shirt to take it over her head and give it to Miyako too if no one would stop her. Atleast she was still a bit dressed now. Or at least allowed on street.

A sudden panic broke out from Hana, apparently the CCG had found their location already. It was too quick for the liking. Takkun asked her to take care of the twins and so she did. But before she did she walked over to Hana after hearing a bit of their conversation and gave her a big hug. She would have been a bit sticky and smelly but it was meant sweet. Rin softly shuffled over to the kitchen and grabbed a roll of tape from one of the cupboards. She softly shuffled further into the room gesturing for the twins to follow her, she went to one of the windows and opened it looking down if there weren't any people around. She activated her kagune and held the twins tightly. She then proceeded to back dive out of the window with the twins off course screaming and Rin just staring dead ahead. She used her kagune to land safely and took the twins inside a nearby supermarket placing them both on the toilet telling them not to move and gave a mean look at the shop owner before heading back to the building. The twins would stay put by Rin her technique she learned years long for.