Snowdrops
Izurich
Bombardier
ChronoBovino
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!"
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!"