[Un]Shakeable

- Eight -

As soon as you reached the underground private rooms, you knew that you were in trouble. Even though Ayato marched right in arrogantly, ready to ask for a training room, you followed him with hesitance. Scattered around the main entrance of the underground were ghouls with different body types, most had their kagunes out, though it seemed like it was for show. Their scents were sharp in your nose, and you had a feeling that they were dangerous.

When Ayato sauntered right in, all conversations ceased, and pretty soon, glares were shot to the two of you. A lithe female ghoul with bright purple hair who stood next to a buff male ghoul with a black undercut narrowed her eyes at you. Her lip twisted back in disgust, and she crossed her arms. "What are you doing here, Kirishima-san?" She snarled, baring her teeth. Her pale, watery blue eyes flicked to her kakugan, showing hostility. The female stepped up, eying you two suspiciously.

Your lion-maned companion shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his dark gray hoodie. "I'm only here to rent a room; calm down Kotone. And drop the honorifics. There's no need for them," Ayato replied noncomittedly.

The buff ghoul next to "Kotone" scoffed and smirked. "Really, now, Eggplant? Training room or uh..." He glanced over at you, jerking his chin in your direction. "A Red room?"

Your [Eye Color] pools widened in surprise, not understanding what he meant at first before making the connection. Heat rushed up to your [Skin Tone] cheeks. "No way," you muttered, hugging yourself to hide your chest.

Ayato let out a loud, exasperated sigh. "No, Osamu. Why would I like this piece of shit? We need a training room," Ayato growled sternly. "Give us one."

Kotone let out a shrill laugh. "Seriously, Ayato? You know how popular we are." She placed her hands on her hips. "You should know the rules: pay up and wait, or fight for it." Her instructions were utterly meaningless to you so far. But you couldn't say that you weren't intrigued by the rules that she had set down.

Ayato rolled his eyes. "I have no time for waiting." The ukaku ghoul took out a hand from his jacket and ruffled his hair, thinking. "I'd rather take a fight than pay and wait."

Osamu loudly laughed. "Arrogant as always, are we now, Eggplant Punk? Don't blame me if you get killed fighting for a training room," he provoked, leaning off of the wall. He waved his hand along, gesturing for you two to follow. Kotone rolled her eyes and took off after Osamu, still crossing her arms.

Your companion looked back to you and waved you forward, holding out a hand, "The sewer system's pretty confusing. I don't need you getting lost again, shithead." Rolling your eyes, you went ahead and took his hand, and he pulled you forward, following Osamu and Kotone.

Honestly, you thought that there wouldn't be as many ghouls in the strange, maze-like sewer system, but there were lines of people waiting at the doors of numerous bar-doored rooms for training. As you passed them, they all sent you dirty looks, and a few even growled at you, as if they were challenging you.

Feeling threatened by the hostility of the other ghouls, you squeezed Ayato's hand for support. "What's going on?" You asked, your voice dropping low so that the other ghouls wouldn't be able to hear any questions and deem you as stupid or a newcomer. "I know ghouls can be hostile, but why are they all giving us these dangerous looks even if we're not around food?"

The indigo-maned boy glanced over at you, though he didn't show any particular expression on his face besides his usual look of scorn. He pursed his lips to think of what to say for a minute, then answered, "Remember how I said that we needed a training room?" He asked. You nodded, but he continued without even looking to see if you answered. "Well, we don't have any money, and the only other way to get a room quickly without waiting in a fucking damn line is to fight the current user of the longest line," he explained.