Honour

XIX : Dodgy Mother

A/N: This chapter sort of has spoilers about Roma?? So read at your own risks!

Urie didn't need to walk through the school for very long before he heard the sounds of your battle. That seemed to have stopped only a few moments after he walked into the building. That wasn't a good sign at all.

He hurried his pace, keeping an ear out for any crucial signs that could give out your coordinations or how well you're dealing with the ghoul.

A loud growl followed by a terrifying roar made him nearly loose balance on his feet. Before he could say, think or do anything else, he heard an awfully familiar voice screech a few profanities. Your quick footsteps resonated through the empty hallways (along with the ghoul's frightening cries and giggles), apparently making their way towards him. Good. He'll deal with what was obviously a kakuja ghoul and then bring you to safety. And maybe do something about his current feelings because he almost couldn't handle them anymore.

You bumped into him, ripping Urie out of his thoughts and back into the real world.

"Kuki!" You said with relief before your eyes shone with fear once again. You gripped his hand and attempted to tug him with you as you kept running. He didn't move an inch. "Kuki, we need to go! She has trouble going through the halls, but she'll catch up with us soon if we don't-"

"I'll kill it." He interrupted, gently freeing his hand from your already loose (and shaking) grip. "You can go back outside. I'll deal with this, don't worry." The male turned around to give you the tiniest of reassuring smiles.

"Urie, you won't be able to deal with her alone." You insisted. "Come outside. I'm sure the CCG can kill her later, ok-"

"Roma can't leave here. She needs to pay for what she's done." Your friend firmly said. "I can-" Before Urie could continue his sentence, a huge beast smashed through the brick wall separating two hallways. Roma laughed from atop its head as it crawled towards the two of you, heavily breathing. God, that thing was terrifying. And strong.

Your friend quickly got into a battle stance, leaving you frozen in fear behind him. "U-Urie, you can't..." You muttered. He didn't listen to you. Instead, he leapt forwards to attack the kakuja ghoul.

His first moves were experimental. You knew he wanted to test what were Roma's strengths and weaknesses, which you could usually use to identify a ghoul's type of kagune, but you had tried that earlier and you hadn't spotted a single weakness. And that was when she wasn't a kakuja.

Kuki quickly got knocked back, giving you a side glance. You took a defensive stance. "I didn't know she was this strong!" You assured. "I didn't-"

"You should have read her file." He muttered, looking back at the ghoul. "That's Dodgy Mother. Sasaki told me about it."

You were about to answer until a hand swept down, ready to crush you into practically nothing. You instinctively tried to use your kagune to push back, although you knew it wasn't strong enough to hold against Roma all alone. Which is probably why Urie came to your aid and helped you by cutting the hand off Roma's body, who simply giggled.

"I'm sorry, I should've-"

"Live in the present, not the past." Kuki cut off. "Help me take her down."

You could do nothing more than nod, accepting his invitation even if your entire body was still hurting from your previous struggle with the ghoul. It's not like you did much attacking though. For most of the time, you were just backing up Kuki (and he really needed that back up when it came to fighting the Dodgy Mother).

He, on the other hand, was using more strength than you had ever seen him display before. Seriously, if you hadn't known any better, you would have thought he was a kakuja ghoul as well. You could've sworn his kagune grew in size...

He was surely draining his energy by relentlessly attacking Roma like he was. Sure, he could keep up with her this way, but for how long could he hold up his act? Not much longer, from what you saw...

"Urie, maybe you should fall back." You proposed. "I'll take the offense and you can back me up, you need to re-"

"I'm fine!" He shot back while his kagune somehow nearly managed to chop off Roma's head. How did he get that close? "It's nearly over!"

"You'll get yourself hurt!" You insisted. "Urie, I'm here too, I can fight while you recuperate."

"I said I'm fine! Go back out and find the rest of the squad!" Kuki turned his head back to you, shocking you once your gazes interlocked. How was that even possible?

Both of his eyes had somehow turned black and red. It looked as if he was practically a ghoul, but how? Could a Quinx convert to a ghoul like that? Should you do something? Of course you needed to do something. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't?

"You need to stop!" You yelled at him. "You're going too far!"

At this point, Urie simply resorted to ignoring your pleas. He turned back around and attacked Roma with even more force than before. It was literally scary, watching him as he risked his health to beat and kill her.

After a strong swing at Roma's head, it separated from the kakuja, making the body stop abruptly and killing the ghoul right there and then. So much for more information... Oh well, you had gained enough by yourself.

Just as you were about to congratulate Urie, you realized that the male had never stopped his attacks. By now, the corpse was barely recognizable. Kuki himself was nearly unrecognizable. He was covered in blood, hunched over as he repeatedly stabbed Roma's kakuja, his breathing pattern ragged.

You had no idea what you were supposed to do. Was he just in shock? Did it have something to do with his double kakugan? Do you go get help? Can you even allow him to leave your sight in this state? You had to take a risk somewhere, but which risk will you take?

"Kuki." You said as gently as possible. "Kuki, it's over. You killed her." You attempted to remind him, keeping your distance.

Your words must have done something, because he stopped his movements and slowly stood back up, his back facing you.

"You did great." You praised. "But we need to go out and contact Sassan now..."

"I'm hungry." He said, his voice wavering as he kept his back turned to you. That sounded way too ominous for your liking...

"O-of course you're hungry, you just fought for your life... Let's get out of here and-"

"I never realized how good you smelled." He cut off, turning around and staring at you with a bloodthirsty gaze. It was almost sinful, in a way, but you were too scared to think about that right now. Did he just say what you thought he said?

You took a step backwards. "K-Kuki... Get a grip on yourself." You slowly advised, keeping your eyes on both of his black and red ones. If they moved even a bit, it was a sign that he was going to attack soon.

And they did move.

At an inhuman speed, Kuki lunged forwards.