Chapter 2
...
Time passes, and it turned out the rumors were true. It has now been two weeks since the first (and so far, only) ghoul has moved into a human cell. No blood has been spilt, but it's only a matter of time. This isn't goddamn safe
We're out in the courtyard and I go find the man sharing a cell with a ghoul. His name is Walter and even before he roomed with a monster I have gotten to know him well. He was imprisoned for voluntary manslaughter and has been at Quinx Penitentiary for eight years. Honestly, this man doesn't seem like he could hurt a fly. I wonder what his real story is.
I sit beside Walter on the bleachers, and he waves in greeting. "How are you, Amon?"
I smile lightly. "I should be asking you that. You're cellmates with a ghoul." Walter is one of the few I've conversed with within the prison. We don't agree on everything, but he's shrewd, kind, and seemingly trustworthy. Truth be told, I hold him in high regard.
He is one of the few I've told about how I am (was) a ghoul investigator, and he doesn't seem surprised by my response. "Ah yes. I forget, you believe all ghouls are evil."
I don't hesitate. "They are."
"If a coyote eats a rabbit to survive, is it deemed evil?"
Damn wise old man. I spat, "This is different."
He shakes his head. "I do not believe so. Ghouls eat humans, but it's not their fault. It's in their DNA." He scratches his gray beard. "In order to survive they eat what they must, just as we do."
I feel my anger rise. "But what we do isn't murder!"
He looks at me, and his eyes twinkle. "But isn't it?"
I grit my teeth, and look away. I stare at the ghouls' side of the courtyard. They are still rowdy, annoying, abominations. I absently notice Eyepatch is staring up at the sky. In a few minutes I am calm again, and I revisit the topic. "How is living with the ghoul?"
"It is fine."
"No danger?"
"No danger." My brain whispers for now, but I don't voice it.
Because even if the ghoul's not threatening you, even if it's not actively trying to kill you, it will. It's only a matter of time. Their thirst for human is strong and hunger wins over humanity ten times out of ten.
"Which ghoul is yours?" I ask.
Walter scans the courtyard for his cellmate, then points to a thin, black-haired ghoul. "The one with the big tattoo on his shoulder. His name is Sheik." He leans back onto the bleacher above him, his elbows resting on the cold bench. "His parents were killed when he was twelve. He enjoys sewing dresses for his little sisters and watching NBA sports on cable."
Huh...that's not the answer I was expecting. "What's he here for?"
Walter suddenly turns his gaze to me, solemn. "…For being a ghoul."
His eyes see through me. I feel oddly flustered by the gravity of his stare, and I shamefully look away. "I see," is all I can mutter.
"You're not curious about Sheik though, are you? You're not even curious about my living arrangements with him."
I scrunch my eyebrows. What? That had been the entire reason I came over here. What the hell is he going on about?
"You're curious what I know about the One-Eyed ghoul. The Eyepatch."
I blink furiously then yank my head in Walter's direction. What the fuck, what the absolute fuck?
"And how the hell did you reach that conclusion?"
Walter scratches his beard, chuckling slightly. My gaze is deadly but he's not intimidated at all. "I'm old Amon, but I'm not blind. In fact, I notice many things others do not." He's watching through the fence now, and I follow his gaze to see he's looking at Eyepatch. Eyepatch is looking at nothing but the sky.
"Unfortunately, I know very little about that ghoul. He's mysterious, abnormal, but he shows little malice to me. What he seems most of all is…" He pauses, searching for the right word. "Pained. So utterly, utterly pained."
As I watch Eyepatch I remember that I have gotten that impression as well. His eyes seem haunted, like he's seen and endured things he shouldn't. I wonder how old this ghoul is.
I say, "A lot of the ghouls don't get along with him. A lot of humans too." The first day Eyepatch arrived at Quinx Penitentiary is likely the most memorable day of my imprisonment thus far. The guards had trouble finding a cellmate for him, either because they wanted to killEyepatch, or get his help escaping from the prison altogether. Many of the guards mistreat him too. I hate Eyepatch, but...something about everything he's been through just isn't right. It doesn't sit well with me.
Walter is still watching Eyepatch as he nods. "Because in their eyes he's too different. He doesn't fit in with the ghouls, yet he doesn't fit in with humans. He has nowhere he belongs...he's alone..."
I let it sink in. What has Eyepatch been enduring all this time? That very first time I met him, a time that feels like centuries ago, he had been talking to me about change. How both humans and ghouls should get along, how we shouldn't fight each other. Is that what had sparked my curiosity in him? Has my despair for Mado-san's death blinded me so completely that I couldn't see Eyepatch was different? That maybe others were different?
I have much to think on, but I need to do it on my own. I stand. "Thank you for your time Walter."
I can hear the smile in his voice. "You're quite welcome, Amon."
...
That evening I thought a lot about Walter's words. It was disconcerting how astute he was, but I think he's right. I am curious about Eyepatch. I want to know his story. But, just knowing I want to know more about him makes me…angry. Why must my self-fulfillment be completed by a ghoul? Why do I have to care about a ghoul?
In the middle of my musings three short dings ring through the intercom, signaling a meal. The guard Crowe leads me and several other inmates to the cafeteria. I miss my light banter with Besch during this time.
Because when I got back from the courtyard today I discovered Besch wasn't in our cell. Then a guard informed me he was taken to the clinic, and would probably be hospitalized tomorrow. It sounds like Besch is in bad trouble.
I don't pray, but I silently hope Besch is alright. We weren't friends, but he was a good cellmate. The door opens and I'm led into the cafeteria.
There are 2 instances ghouls and humans are put together: the showers and the cafeteria. I resent it entirely, and it makes no sense (why eat fake human food when real food is in the seat next to you?). Regardless, I endure. I'll endure just like always.
And when I get out of here I'll make sure the CCG does something about this.
I walk to the right side of the spacious room. Human food and ghoul food are side-by-side, and I get in line and take my human dish. I look at the contents. Every day the human food is different, but the quality remains…painfully the same.
Several inmates are already at the tables eating their food, and I go to a random table, sitting without even looking up from my tray. My musings are still so distracting. When I first met Eyepatch he let me live. He had disarmed me, then declared he didn't want to be a killer. He told me to run.
Eyepatch kept me alive when he could've so easily eaten me. Why did he do that? What is the meaning of this? Is Eyepatch the only ghoul like this, or are there others?
A few minutes pass, and I'm almost done with my food when a soft voice beside me speaks. "It has been many months since I've spoken with you, Investigator."
I stop mid-chew and for a moment, before I even identify the owner of the voice, I am incited to violence. There are few inmates I've told of my occupation, and I have never told this voice.
I turn to see Eyepatch himself sitting beside me. He is looking at me, and I think I knew even before I turned that it was he who had spoken. So he remembers me too?
Usually when I see him it's from a distance, and it's almost surreal to have him sitting beside me now. I know I'm staring but I can't stop myself. Up close I realize just how white his hair really is. The first time I met him it was the darkest black, and now there isn't the slightest hint of it. Even if he had dyed it there would be dark roots. So how is it so white?
For some ungodly reason though, I'm suddenly angry. I'm angry Eyepatch is sitting beside me, I'm angry I'm curious about his white hair, that he's a ghoul, that he let me live. I'm angry he let me live when everything I've ever learned about a ghoul is that they are malicious and evil. I'm so damn angry.
I growl, jut my chin, and say nothing. I feel like a spiteful child but I don't care.
I don't see Eyepatch's expression and he goes back to eating his fake human food. From my peripheral I notice his fingernails, black as night. He's in a jail for fuck's sake, how are his nails manicured? Is there a fucking salon in this place I don't know about? What the hell?
The black fingernails take his food to his mouth, and I grimace with repulsion. The food looks like shit, but somehow even the way he eats is delicate, almost graceful, and it's a stark contrast to the dish in front of him.
I had been so engrossed that my head jolts in surprise when he speaks. "I didn't used to eat food like this. I haven't always been like this..." Eyepatch's voice sounds sad and distant. He must have noticed me staring at his food. I squint my eyes at him. Haven't always been, what, a ghoul? A monster? I call bullshit. You're born human or you're born ghoul; there's no in-between.
I hadn't even realized Walter is at my table, but I look up to see him intrigued by our exchange. Of what I don't know, and don't care.
I take the last bite of my food and stand before Walter can say anything I don't want to hear. I'm tired and just want to go to bed.
As I turn to leave I bump into a large body. I'm not used to anyone being bigger than me, and I look up to see a gruesome expression.
The voice is deep. "You ran into me bitch."
Many may feel fear in this situation, but me, no. I may not have my quinque, but I'm trained in more than just ghoul killing. My eyes do not waver. "It was you who ran into me."
Then I stare at his face more, and I realize he's familiar. With his strong jaw and dark eyes, coupled with the deep scar along his right cheek, I remember. Danzo Gershille. A ghoul that I had captured and imprisoned many months ago.
Oops.
He seems to recognize my identity just as I recognize his. The first punch launches and I'm not ready for it. I gasp as I'm sent flying backward, my back painfully hitting a table. "Bastard," I mutter, and as I try to stand he runs at me and kicks his foot into my stomach. The breath is knocked out of me, and I can do nothing but watch in surprised horror as he rears back for another hit.
The hit never comes, and a small body suddenly stands before me. His back is to me, but I could recognize that white hair anywhere. Eyepatch is standing between me and Danzo.
He's…he's…protecting me?
What?
"Move out of my way one-eyed punk," Danzo growls. Eyepatch says nothing, and a fist hurls toward him. I'm horrified as the boy stands there and takes it, and I almost get whiplash as I watch his head spin from the impact.
When Eyepatch remains standing Danzo's anger intensifies, and he punches again and again and again. I gape with horror as hit after hit Eyepatch's body swivels from the impact. His head swivels left to right, his abdomen is pounded into, and his elbow makes a cracking noise that makes me want to puke.
Yet...yet he does nothing.
He is being beaten half to death, yet he does nothing.
When Danzo finally stops punching he's out of breath, and his arms sag back to his sides. My eyes widen when Eyepatch lets out a chuckle. Deep and barely audible, but enough to send violent chills down my spine. "You think something like that could hurt me?"
Danzo's eyes widen. "You…" He says no more as he stares in shock. He seems to have come to a realization.
My horror of the situation is relieved when finally, so goddamn slow, the guards arrive. Danzo is pushed to the ground by a dozen bodies and his hands and feet are handcuffed. He growls and yells but I ignore it, for my eyes are solely on Eyepatch. I wish I could see his face. He's still standing tall, and it's almost like those beatings didn't even hurt him.
I…I am so confused.
Two guards stand by Eyepatch, but more as a preventive measure. Two others are coming in my direction and I stand before they can try to help me up.
I am so confused, my brain is so addled. He so willingly allowed Mado-san to die at Rabbit's hands. He was Rabbit's accomplice. He's a ghoul!
Almost mindlessly I brush passed Eyepatch and escape the cafeteria. I absently feel the two guards follow me, but I don't give a damn. I am let into my cell, the bars are shut behind me, I sit on my bed, and I stare at the wall.
What.
The.
Absolute.
Fuck.
...
fanfiction ❣
boy x boy ❣
ship ~ amoneki ❣
Amon Koutarou & Kaneki Ken ❣
Tokyo Ghoul ❣
mature ❣