@LemonZest1337

His arm was beginning to sting. All that bloodlust and excitement was beginning to drain from his body. Like a disappointing climax to a good dream. It was tantalizing and lingering on the tip of his tongue what destruction would have looked like, a killing urge, slowly beginning to fade from his body. He didn’t care to know who the Ghoul was that disrupted the fight with her “moral righteousness”. Or at least at this moment.

“It doesn’t matter any more,” Kristian told Travis as he guided him in the direction they needed to go, “What matters now is trying to get that gunk out of your eyes. And cleaning up your shoulder.” He smiled knowing Travis couldn’t see it and tried to sound as perky as he could about the situation. Reality was that he was concerned.

The Chimera that attacked them. Where did it come from? You think niceness and pleasantries would get those answers? Why did it attack them or was it a random attack? You think niceness and pleasantries would get that answer. Probably not. Still it was best he didn’t dwell on the scenario whatever consequences would come from that were now on her.

“You’re going to have to instruct me when to turn,” Kristian adds.

Travis wanted to know what happened but Kristian didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it so Travis didn't pry. The pain was easing up a little but his vision was still messed. "Yeah the sooner this crap is out of my eyes the better." Travis was kind of pissed off that he was being guided around by a kid, that and the fact that he had a pepper spray can blown up in his face. Fucking sucks...

As he was dragged along holding his shoulder he realised that his suit was ruined! This was going to be one of those days, Travis always had the worst of luck on days where his suits got damaged. This wasn't some superstition either it's a fact, today was already showing signs that it was a stinker before his suit broke so now he felt really worried. If a Chimera attack and pepper spray to the face was before his suit got wrecked then what was going to come after? He tried to think about it that maybe the bad luck was the Chimera attack, the bite and pepper spray did happen after the shard cut his suit. Travis was kicked out of his thoughts when he heard Kristian speak.

Kristian was reminding him that Travis was the one who knew where they were going, Travis mentally face palmed. "Oh yeah sorry about that. We're going to a cafe called 'The birdcage'. I think you'll like it, thinking about it I wasn't here that long ago..." He tilted his head to the right, "It's around that corner then a short walk down the road, the sign will give it away." This is when he remembered all the crap he'd gotten himself into, he would probably have plenty more broken suit days...

---

Seto stood up from the tree he was inspecting as Ketsu finished his speech. "It's more complicated than just Quinque. The body at the morgue had distinctive signs of three different Kagune or Quinque markings. And no bodies of Investigators have been found here in 8. My personal speculation is that this started out as a Turf War between two Ghouls, and someone else showed up and really stirred up the nest," he said quietly. "Perhaps the first Ghoul never had a chance to fully indulge their beastly desires before getting interrupted."

Graye looked around with disgust, her arms folded.

She was about to add her own two cents when a noise made her look up. With an impressive display of flexibility she leaned backwards as a large fin like blade slashed through the air where her face had been mere moments previously. A large tail slammed into her a second later, sending her flying into a tree some 200 meters. A soft "Oh!" could be heard before she impacted and slumped to the ground, unmoving.

Tracing back the tail as it retracted would lead to an unknown Chimera Ghoul perched on one of the fallen trees behind Ketsu and Seto, the tail splitting into three as it jumped towards them, tails rushing towards both Seto and Ketsu.

---

---

As the two young Ghouls left, the Chimera groaned, his wounds beginning to heal at an extraordinary rate. His limbs twitched as they healed back into use, and barely a minute later he was on his feet and several steps away, eyeing Mei with a mixture of distrust and confusion through new eyes still healing.

He raised a hand experimentally, gingerly touching the back of his head. With a slight shake of his head, he stepped forward towards the woman hesitantly.

In a blink he was in front of her, his hands gently touching her forehead as if trying to communicate through touch.

His eyes burned with curiosity, of questions, and of confusion.

---

Katashi smiled at Mika. She was kind to the ghouls, and humans. Of course, it was hard for her too. It was next to impossible for an Idol's life and history to be kept private, and the young starlet was unfortunately no exception to this rule. He feels for her, genuinely. Judged for things that are outside of her control. In all honesty, the way she dealt with the situation, it wouldn't be bad traits for a ghoul to have either.

"Yes, actually. Turns out Alice here can brew like the best of them." He said with a smile as he looked at the owner of the Bird Cage. He then looked back at Mika. She always seemed a little strange at times with her normal self, turning from bubbly to timid on a dime. He wondered why but shrugged at the thought in the end.

Probably nothing...

@knifeman@Old Amsterdam@Alias

She always liked this place, she wished people could see this side of Ghouls more. Just like them. They had friends, cared for another, carried welcoming conversations. They made her feel as welcomed as any living creature should.

Before Katashi said anything her heart skipped a beat. How had she not noticed Alice through the window? Alice was always beautiful to her, raven black hair, and these beautiful eyes that seemed to look deeply into your soul.

Mika-cam:

“My little song bird, how could have forgotten about me?” Alice asked as she twirled a strand of her black hair around her finger, “I’ll make you coffee, but I will have to punish you later.” she winks at her.

Mika felt her face go hot for a second and she looked away frantically. Her eye then glanced the new person she hadn’t met yet. How rude of her! She got up from her seat immediately and walked over to the small young little lady.

She smiled at the rough dressed individual. Her lifestyle shown in her clothes, but Mika saw an adorable doll.

“I apologize for not introducing myself,” Mika told her grabbing the young girl’s hand, “I am Sasaki Mika. And you are?”

She was adorable, Mika wanted to dress her up like she were her little sister and that made her very excited. She was already thinking about a collection of different fabrics and different colors she could use on the young girl.

Mika turned her head towards Katashi who was complimenting Alice’s coffee brewing skills, Mika shined with another one of her glittering smile. Her brown hair caught the light.

“Alice makes the best cup of coffee, it’s warm and inviting like love,” Mika tells him, but turns to Alice, “The secret ingredient in your cup is love.” she gives Alice a warm and gentle stare.

---

Alice slid Mika's coffee over the counter towards her, a wry smile on her face. She recognized those brief moments of daydreaming the girl frequently entered into, though she often wondered what the subjects were.

A mystery.

Looking back at the young thug, Alice nodded to herself. "Then stick around. I'm planning on having a little meeting tonight. Maybe sooner, actually, given the reports on the news. Depends on if Travis appears sooner than the designated time, really." She looked over at Mika as she continued. "And you're more than welcome to stay, old friend. Maybe this one would like to work on beginning a professional mask."

Turning back to Katashi she bowed slightly. "I'm glad you enjoy the coffee. It's nice to know hard work pays off."

Alice tapped the counter in boredom. "So, flower girl, what have you been up to?"

@Old Amsterdam@TheRedWatcher@Alias@LemonZest1337@knifeman

Following Travis directions weren’t so bad, he kept a hold of Travis hand just in case. So he wouldn’t bump into anything or seem completely inadequate at walking the streets. People didn’t really look at them all the much, but they also didn’t expect what they were. Simply why two young people were walking down the street bleeding.

People were weird to him. He didn’t understand them. Couldn’t understand them. Sympathy and empathy were concepts he was all aware of, but had trouble lending them unless he felt the person receiving it deserved it in some way. Such as if in the near future Travis were to talk to him about something he might lend him some sympathy or empathy.

People were even weirder because they didn’t understand the concepts and moral lessons they toted around. Be kind to others, lend assistance, not a single person walked up to them in this moment. He wondered if their Human God would have been pleased with them. Praised them. He use to read the Bible back at “home”. And God told you to be kind to your neighbors, but he saw very little kindness.

He finally made it to the store Travis described. He felt a sudden sense of nervousness looking at The Birdcage. It was so strange to see a cafe that must have been inspired by the Europeans who must have visited Japan with Asian influences. It didn’t make him homesick in the sense that he missed it, it made him homesick in the sense that it made him want to puke at its sight.

Entering the building the first thing he smelled was the scent of something sweet being mixed with the smell of freshly made coffee. There was a woman behind the counter with raven black hair, with a tied braid at the side. There was a man dressed all in red.

A bubbly looking girl with brown hair that nearly had him pause for a second, something about her lured him to stare at her much longer than he should have. Blue dress, nearly inspired by a Chinese cheongsam white stockings, little blue flats. He only moved to seem roughian looking individual on a stool.

This is where impressions mattered he supposed.

“Hello,” he said quietly, “This is your friend.He was hurt when we were attacked.”

---

If Ketsu had had a chance to reply to Seto, he'd have suggested that that was just as viable a possibility, but didn't account for how the quinques had gotten involved without investigators being present. As it happened, the enemy ghoul attacked before he could say anything - Graye barely avoided getting her face ripped off by one set of kagune, only to get slammed in the chest with another and hurled bodily, two hundred meters away. Holy fucking shit.

Two flavours.

...wait, what the fuck was he thinking? One of the strongest investigators in the CCG was out in literal seconds, batted away like a human-sized cricket ball with himself and Seto next in line, and here he was, thinking about his next meal! Speaking of which, Ketsu had pressed the button to manifest his kakuja quinque almost before the ghoul had begun to charge - the crustacean-like armour surrounding his body, covering even his eyes with lobster-esque lenses, and in essence replacing his hands with a pair of oversized claws.

Though he certainly had the speed to try and dodge, that wasn't what a koukaku did best. No, his plan was to play to his strengths and this oddly-feral ghoul's weaknesses: step aside just before one of the bikakus reached him, snag it out of the air with both claws, and use the ghoul's own momentum as leverage to swing it overhead and slam it into the ground as hard as he could. Which, even whilst pretending at humanity, could be pretty damn hard, considering the suit's intended strength boost. And then, perhaps, to repeat the process, one side to the other, as many times as he could achieve, if he wasn't beaten down somehow.

And, of course, to not let go of the tail he grabbed. That might well be catastrophic.

---

Alice looked up at the door as two Ghouls entered, frowning as her eyes fell onto Travis. Her eyes moved to the new one.

"Hello,” he said quietly, “This is your friend. He was hurt when we were attacked.”

"Attacked?" she asked sharply, jumping the counter in a fluid motion and pulling the two to a booth. "Katashi, lock my door and close the blinds. Flip the sign to Closed while you're at it."

She began her inspection of the two, starting with the boy she didn't know before he could protest. "You'll be fine. New clothes, maybe an hour to heal. Go sit, I'll make you coffee while you tell me exactly what happened."

Looking at Travis she wasn't entirely sure what was going on with him. Something in the eyes, a nasty looking injury in the shoulder. She clicked her tongue, unsure. She was no medic...

With a sudden move she took a glass of water and splashed it into Travis's eyes, handing him a napkin. "Dab, don't rub. If that doesn't do it I'll run your face under the sprayer at my sink. You got a thing for getting liquids all over my shop, don't you?"

She went back around the counter, starting another cup. "You, boy, talk. Name, alias. Whichever. Then tell me what happened." she commanded in a quiet voice, offering the cup of coffee to him.

@Old Amsterdam

He stared at the individual with heterochromia for a second. She must have been the ringleader, she couldn’t have moved fast enough to their aid. Giving directions, starting to bark instructions to Travis. Kristian watched her for a second, until she addressed him. He stared at her for a second and then nervously looked away playing with his fingers.

She told him to sit down and explain what happened, so he did as she instructed. He found a seat near the counter and sat on the stool. He played with one of his fingers on the counter, before speaking up.

“We met at the park,” Kristian began mumbling, “And we were talking, getting to know each other. I am...mostly new in town. And um...we were just having a nice chat. When were suddenly attacked by a Chimera ghoul. It had wings, and a tail, it was fast. Maybe...no younger than me...I guess.” He continued to explain, about the pepper spraying woman, and the events that had just unfolded feeling uncomfortable about it the whole entire time.

He had entered another ghouls territory and he was worried about the consequences. All he sought was his own safety and was trying not to appear as a threat. Underplaying his efforts in the fight as best as he could.

“And that’s….what happened,” he tried to keep his head low as to not catch anyone’s eye. Or more closely not catch the leader’s eyes any more than what he had to. Any animal would feel threatened if you stared at them for too long in the eyes. It was a challenge. A sign of aggression. So he remained more demure than he normally would.

“Oh...my name!” he had almost completely forgotten, “I’m Kristian, but I am also known as Void.” He nodded and brushed a bang out of his blue eyes for a second. He wasn’t sure what the reception would be like. He wasn’t even sure if this was the safest bet, but it was the only option he currently had.

@Old Amsterdam @LemonZest1337

Here they were having yet another nice day. The sun was high in the air, the birds singing, people were busy going to work. Alice was making coffee and everyone was getting along well, the girl hadn’t responded to her, but something immediate suddenly occurred. As Travis and a young female walked into the store.

Travis eyes were red and irritated, his shoulder was cut into deeply. She gasped placing a hand over her mouth at first. The young girl had a cut on her arm. She immediately came over to Travis side who was handed a glass of water to dab the stuff out of his eyes.

“Oh my this is horrible,” she told him sweetly, “Let me get you something to clean up that wound.” She frantically moved away from him and then gave another glance to the very pretty girl. She wondered why she was dressed that way. She could be even prettier she thought to herself. Though she wondered if that was an appropriate thought process given the circumstances.

She looked over to Alice, “I’ll get some bandages for the meantime. And I have clothes. Emergency clothes here.”

She flailed her arms around for a second. Here they were having a nice day and something horrible happened. “I can go to the living corridors, right?” Sometimes she had little sleepovers with the Ghouls because they were so much fun.

Travis got guided into the coffee shop like an injured puppy shoulder bleeding and eyes full of pepper spray. He felt like dead weight though that wasn't new, Travis wasn't a good fighter ever. He did kinda wonder why he said yes to Alice knowing that he himself was pretty useless. He nodded to Alice then took the water to the face. "Thank you." Travis mumbled as she was handed the napkin, he dabbed it on his face slowly removing the pepper spray. Travis just listened to some girl she had yet to meet panic and run around, she was gone before Travis had finished cleaning the gunk out of his eyes.

He went through a few napkins and a decent amount of water but he got the pepper spray off eventually. He let out a sigh, "thank you Alice, looks like the world is trying to teach me how to fight. That or I was in the wrong place at the wrong time... Or both... Travis seemed a little annoyed, mostly at the fact that his suit was messed up and he got pepper sprayed sure cuts hurt but eye stuff really sucked. "And what's with that girl? She sounds sorta familiar." Travis was so done with today, but he had night shift tonight so the day wasn't going to be over for a while. Fucking sucks...

@LemonZest1337@AngelofOctober

Rushing to the living corridors, she first opened a spare bedroom left for her and began to rummage around. Thinking about that beautiful girl downstairs with that hurt arm, she had beautiful white hair, and her blue irises were so dreamy. They were almost like the sky. She knew something good must still be coming from this day. It might start off looking bad with darkness, attacks on random people, but it would end up in making new friends.

Aha. This would look absolutely perfect on that girl, she had the figure for the little sailor girl like uniform. The girl might even appreciate it a bit more than her fairly stuffy looking suit. Maybe she’d let her do her hair. It seemed like an odd thing to talk about when she heard Travis and the girl had gotten attacked, but had to look at the positives.

At least they were not dead. Alice and the others would act swiftly, she knew Alice took care of her own. Just look at her as an example. She had to believe in the good of the world in order to deal with its darkness. Grabbing the dress and running into the bathroom real quick for bandages, gauze, and something to clean the wounds with she finally entered with a bright smile.

Placing the bandages on the counter, she turned to Travis real quick.

“I’ll get you all cleaned up and take care of you, okay,” she says her voice and the way she carried herself she almost looked like she could illuminate naturally.

Turning to the girl, “My name is Sasaki Mika and I’ll take care of you. I got you a little dress to replace your torn clothes.” She says holding the dress up to the young girl.

---

The Red Tiger was just about to order another coffee when Travis had stumbled into the shop, accompanied by a younger boy. He turned around, about to smile and greet the two, but his expression slowly turned to one of concern when he saw the injury. Katashi noticed the crimson ichor dampening Travis's clothes. He got up out of his seat, then heeded Alice's instructions. "Right." He nodded in acknowledgement as he rushed over to the door, turning over the sign and twisting the lock. Katashi then proceeded to lower the blinds as instructed. Now they could be left in peace. He listened to the young boy's explanation of what happened. Kristian, huh? When Mika lead him out of the room, he turned to Alice and Travis.

"Your shoulder matches that of a Chimera attack." He began to explain. "Although, it's not like one of them to give up their prey so easily." He added, trying to piece together what happened himself using his pre-existing knowledge and Kristian's story together. He wondered who was carrying around pepper spray that was enough to take down a ghoul though. "You're in Alice's capable hands, Travis. I'll go talk to Kristian." Katashi decided as he walked down the corridor, following Mika's voice. He soon found them and peered into the room, seeing Mika pull out a dress...

Wait, what?

"Uhm, Mika. You know his name is Kristian, right? I... don't think Kristian is a girl."

---

Seto watched on in stunned silence as Graye went flying far further than he would've thought possible. That hesitation lasted but a moment as he activated his Quinque and met the tail coming at him with four of his own. They strained against the brute strength of this Chimera before suddenly the pressure left.

The Chimera was lifted full body by a second tail by Ketsu, slamming into the ground moments later. Before Ketsu could continue the maneuver, the Ghoul planted his feet back beneath him and put opposite force to that which Ketsu was applying. It became a tug of war of sorts, neither side gaining the advantage.

Suddenly the tail nearly doubled in size as another merged with it, shrinking just as quickly and slipping out of Ketsu's grasp. Before it could get very far, however, he clamped back down on it, causing the Chimera to growl in anger.

Meanwhile Seto was looming from the side, coming in the flank the beast. As one of his green tendrils swung out, the beast jumped backwards, tugging Ketsu along with it in an attempt to knock the young Investigator off balance, and surprisingly avoiding the attack by Seto, who paused to consider his options.

Given the relative close range of his partner and the rogue Ghoul, he could operate freely without risking injuring Ketsu. For the moment he'd need to wait for the opportune moment to strike.

The Ghoul, upon pulling Ketsu forward, swung out with one of his Koukaku fin blades at the young man's mid section.

---

The stranger introduced herself as Sasaki Mika, and the name rung a bell in Kazu’s head. She didn’t pay much attention to pop culture, but she definitely had heard the name before.

She replied, “Kujo Kazu.”

Alice mentioned a meeting later in the day, and Kazu nodded, smiling.

She looked over when two roughed-up looking individuals entered. She recognized one as someone who had left the coffee shop soon after she first came, but the other girl…? Boy…? Person was someone new.

She stayed quiet through the exchange, not really knowing what she could add. While she was concerned, she also felt a weird satisfaction in the fact that she wasn’t the most banged-up person in the place anymore.

Kazu broke her semi-awkward silence with a laugh when Mika came back with a dress for the feminine-looking boy (she had realized he was a boy at this point; his name was Kristian, after all).

“Dang, a Chimera? I’ve never seen one of those before. If he bothers you again, let me know.”

She didn’t really believe she could actually take on a Chimera, and she doubted she was fooling anyone, but boasting was in her nature.

---

---

Alice rubbed her temples at everything going on. "Focus, people. This is part of a larger problem. Feral Ghoul? Possible serial killer? War? Come-on. Wear the dress, don't wear the dress. Who cares if you got a wang. It's clothes. And I'm not letting you leave until you're in a new outfit. Way too much attention there."

She sounded exhausted.

"Kazu, stick around. We'll spar after this before the meeting. Travis, finish cleaning your eyes and let Mika see what she can do for you. Katashi...I don't know. Whatever. Kristian, we need you to decide if you're sticking on your own or what after this. I... Need to think."

She sat in a booth with her head in her hands, staring at the news.

What the hell was going on in Ward 8 now?

@Old Amsterdam

Kristian stared at the dress blankly for a mere second. The man in red, being addressed as Katashi by the woman in charge, corrected the mistake. But the woman in charge told him why should it matter and that he should wear the dress. The girl with brown hair and smelled nice like a garden of flowers just continued to stare at him with increased intensity. Was it him or was she shining?

He hesitated to answer for a second. How does he even get a dress on? Why was he even considering it? They had boys here, so why couldn’t they find another boy’s clothes? He didn’t think he looked that much like a girl, did he?

He had never thought about it. None of these questions were things brought up when he was younger, learning, gestating, and so and so forth. And now they were just rising to the surface from the depths of some collective culture he did not know about.

It crossed his mind that this was some kind of initiation of theirs. They couldn’t be this brazen about a boy wearing a dress unless they were trying to test his compatibility.

He grabbed the dress wordlessly, “Is there anywhere I can change?” he mumbled quietly and nervously. He was embarrassed by the very idea about what he was to do.

He gave the woman in the charge, “My options. I don’t…..”

Know. The last part was uttered so under his own breath that he barely caught he said it. He wasn’t use to being put into this much of a corner. He felt rather frustrated with the situation. Having to run with his tail between his legs.

Being undermined by an older person who clearly thought they knew better and didn’t even acknowledge their existence. He had failed every drive that steered his DNA today. Letting prey get away like that. Now about to put on a dress because some Ghouls had a weird initiation rite.

He was humiliated and disgusted in himself for not being strong enough to tear that thing apart today in the park. He should have ripped him limb from limb. Let blood soak into the very earth they stood on. Instead he was here. And that frustrated him. Made him ashamed he existed.

Travis was still washing out his eyes as Alice gave him new orders, he mumbled to himself "I wasn't planning on leaving this gunk in my eyes..." he continued his work at removing the stuff from his eyes and his efforts eventually paid off. He was free from the pain that had plagued him, although he wouldn't admit it this wasn't the first time it'd happened. He looked at the bandages on the bench, he sighed and picked them up before walking over to Mika. He seemed indifferent now that the pepper was out of his eyes and he looked at the blood soiled shoulder and sighed. He got a few napkins to start cleaning up the shoulder.

Mei gritted her teeth as she watched the chimera regenerate, blood trickling down her leg where she had made her surprising act of self mutilation. Back in the day, she would have agreed to kill any dangerous ghoul, but now, years and years of seeing the fragility of existence in full force made her think otherwise. Humans were fragile, ghouls less so, but still surprisingly fragile aswell. At least her stopgap measure had saved the attacker.

He looked at her in confusion, craving for reaffirmation through touch. Would that be a younger ghoul, she probably would have flinched, but she stood there, staring down the creature. Her medical knowledge kicked in some sort of automated protocol.
"Awake?Good, you had quite a heavy hit. Do you know who you are and where are you? Please follow my finger with your eyes." Mei parroted, as she performed some tests on the ghoul to assure the condition... wasn´t worsening. She looked left and right, and clasped one of his hands.

"We should make ourselves scarce." The chinese ghoul said, while trying to limp towards shelter, chimera ghoul in tow.