Mourning Doves | Tokyo Ghoul

2 | N o s t a l g i a

Her eyes grew wide, the scarlet light dissipating from her eyes and merging the terrorizing hue into a staggering shade of amber. Her breath hitched, stunned.

"My...name?" she breathed.

"You do have one, right?" Takashi asked, tilting his head to the side.

The girl sputtered, completely dumbfounded.

"A-ah...Etsuko. It's Etsuko."

Takashi smiled, warm and enticing despite the sight of blood that smeared across Etsuko's pale face; dripping down from the corner of her lips with icy droplets that fell from the heavens, they glided along her sharp jawline and toppled towards the pavement.

"Etsuko," he said slowly, as if savoring the words upon his tongue like sweet blood. He closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them again, radiating a rare and beautiful kindness. "How old are you? Where are your parents?"

Etsuko swallowed, her golden eyes wide and her white hair sparkling with little raindrops that glittered like stars.

"Fourteen," she murmured softly, gazing at the boy in a paralyzed awe. "My parents are dead."

Takashi hummed quietly, twisting his lip to the side.

"Ah," he whispered. "Yours too?"

Etsuko flinched.

"M-mh." She hummed a sputtered reply, tilting her head to the bloody ground. Her eyes fell upon the corpse, her hunger having to have mysteriously vanished. "They were killed two years ago..."

"It hasn't been that long then, hasn't it?" Takashi said in surprise, fluttering his dark eyes. "Have you been on your own since then?"

"Ah," she confirmed softly. She stared down at her blood-encrusted hands, the dark gore crackling and lodging under her fingernails. "Since I was twelve."

Takashi gazed at the solemn girl, the hostility in her eyes wearing away as the rain pattered down still. There was something in his look that emanated warmth against the frigid air, his breath misty and deep. He swallowed.

"Forgive me," he murmured, catching her attention again. She glanced up at him, her brows slightly knitted together; she looked away. He had his hands inside his jean pockets, casually slumped over as he chewed on his lip. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but if you want some company, you can move in with me...if you want."

Etsuko's eyes snapped back up unexpectedly. They were wide orbs, her mouth suddenly ajar as she stared up at the boy in shock. She searched deep within his dark eyes, furrowing her brows deeper in confusion as she tried desperately to find some kind of treachery within that liquid gaze; to her disbelief, she found none.

"You don't even know me," she said, stunned. She found herself on her knees, next to the oozing body of the man she had only just killed. Her scarlet eyes stared wide at the body, her breath shallow. "Why...?"

Takashi's lips pulled up into another glittering, close-eyed smile; she sucked in a breath.

"Kindness is lacking between us ghouls these days," he said, cocking his head slightly to the side again. "We all need kindness every once in a while, right?"

Etsuko's breathing quickened, her heart rate spiking and beating wildly in her throat. The boy deemed it was safer and began walking forward; he slowly approached the kneeling girl with her eyes remained staring up at him in a dumbstruck expression.