THIS BOOK ALL ABOUT SUZUYA JUUZOU (and me..)

36

Months of preparation are finally finished. Tonight, we infiltrate the auction, in disguise.

Mutsuki, Juuzou, and I, are going undercover as prey sought out by Nutcracker.
Mutsuki is waiting by himself on the street, i quickly walk up to him. Im wearing an old dress of mine, a white knee length. A red ribbon tied around my neck hides the black ring tattooed around my neck. I grab Mutsuki's sleeve, tugging at it.
"Where's Juuzou?" I ask him, shifting a bit. Mutsuki points past me, i turn and look. Juuzou is wearing the dress he borrowed from me, he added his suspenders as a stylistic choice of his own. He's wearing a long black wig, which resembles my own hair. He walks up to me, leaning towards me.
"You really do look similar..." Mutsuki says.

***

I slowly come to, opening my eyes only to find pitch blackness. I try to recollect my thoughts, feeling around. Im on some sort of concrete floor, probably a holding cell for people getting auctioned off.
This is gonna fucking suck if me and Juuzou got separated. I think back as far as i can remember.
Juuzou, Mutsuki and I were riding in a car with Nutcracker... We were probably knocked out.
Suddenly a door is torn open, a large man comes in and yanks me to my feet.
"You and your sister's turn now. You'll fetch a high price the lot of you." The man says, his voice gruff. He pulls me out, and i'm met with Juuzou, a dead expression on his face. He sees me and cocks his head to the side, signalling me to look forward. I do as suggested, being escorted beside him.
I hear a loud voice announcing our arrival, a curtain is parted and we are told to walk through it.
Me and Juuzou walk saide by side through the curtain, murmurs are heard among the crowd.
"These two beatiful sisters come together! Now the starting bid is-"

"No need for a price." Juuzou says darkly, lifting up the skirt of the dress and removing his prosthetic. Inside, the walls of the prosthetic are lined with knives. Before i realize it, Juuzou has begun his attack.
I quickly run off to the side, reaching into my stocking and pulling out my quinque box i slipped into the hem. I release it, catching the staff midair and bringing it down into a ghoul's skull.

"IT'S SUZUYA! THE DOVES SET UP A TRAP!"

The ghouls begin to scatter, i stab my quinque into another one.

I cannot let anyone escape.

My ribbon is torn from my neck, revealing my tattoo.

"It's that candy striped investigator! Get the fuck out!!"

They recognize me?

I rip knives from fallen bodies, throwing them into fleeing ghouls. There are none left in the auction hall, i stay still, panting heavily.
My eyes scan for Juuzou, i find him standing idly. He's staring at something. I follow his gaze to find him looking at Big Madam, the ghoul from his past.
My ears twitch as i hear the air part just behind me, i dodge as fast as my body can manage, just barely avoiding the incoming attack. I fall on my back, quickly rolling into cover.

I look up to find Bunny, a well known ghoul, entering the auction hall. He immediately redirects his target onto Juuzou, launching after him. Juuzou dodges, entering into a 1 on 1 brawl with the ghoul.
I think it better to stay hidden, i'd only get in Juuzou's way.
I carefully leave my hiding spot, in search of where all the ghouls evacuated to. I try to ignore all the commotion caused by the fight between Juuzou and Bunny, my main priority are the ghouls. A small pillar like building sits in the middle of the auction hall. I quickly glance towards the fight, making my way into the building. I press my back against the wall, clutching the dress at my chest.
My heart is racing, i've never been in such a large scale mission, if i fuck up now i could die.
Suddenly Juuzou slides into the building with his back facing me, stumbling over me. He twists his body to look at me, a look of pure malice on his face. I grab his arms, pressing him agaisnt the wall and shaking my head violently.
"Quiet." I whisper sternly.

"Where did you go Suzuya? Run out of knives?" I hear Bunny call out.

Juuzou leans down and whispers into my ear.
"Should we withdraw for now..?" He asks me, gripping my arm.
I shake my head again, peeking my head out. Bunny has started to exit the auction hall.
"We'll follow." I mouth to Juuzou, he nods in agreement.

***

We find ourselves perched on a tray above a large underground room. The whole audience seems to have been evacuated here.
Me and Juuzou share a look. Juuzou raises his hand and point spast me, i turn and see Mutsuki and Urie.
"What the fuck?" I mumble, making my way to them, Juuzou is already ahead of me.
"Suzuya?" Mutsuki exclaims, Juuzou raises his finger to his lips, frantically shushing Mutsuki. I make eye contact with Urie, he's clearly annoyed.
"Why are you two here..?" Mutsuki asks quietly.
"We finally made it here by tailing those giys.. Due to those numbers.. We might want to call reinforcements.." Juuzou says, looking down at the ghouls.
I reach for my earpiece, only to find it missing. Juuzou looks at me expectantly, i shake my head.
"We dropped our communication devices.. Could you contact headquarters instead?" Juuzou asks, looking at Urie.
My eyes trail down to the ghouls, they've begun to form a line of sorts.
"It's no ise.. The radio raves won't penetrate down here." Urie claims.
"Juuzou- they're escaping-!" I say quickly, grabbing onto his wrist.
Mutsuki and Urie look down, observing the retreating ghouls.
"I'm running a bit low on knives.. But i guess the only option is to go." Juuzou says, standing up. Urie gets to his feet, jumping down alongside Juuzou.
I look back at Mutsuki, giving a look of apology before jumping down after them.
"DOVES! only three?" Someone calls out.
Before the ghouls can react, all three of us begin attacking them relentlessly.

My quinque staff quickly makes its reappearance, i bring it down onto another ghoul's skull. A wet crack is muffled by the onslaught of snuffed out lives.
This is just work.