"If there is no struggle, There is no progress."
- Fredrick Douglass
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The Cafe is closed today. It's been three days since I came here and work seemed so normal to me now. I'm surprised at how fast I got used to the flow of everyday life.
I woke up, got ready, worked until afternoon, then trained with Yomo for most of the night. Then I went to sleep.
But today wasn't like that.
I walked into the lounge in the back to see Touka have her hands on her face, no doubt stressed about something. And Yomo stood near her, his face in a frown. He saw me and nodded, Touka gave me a quick glance but that was all.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Yomo sighed, putting a hand to his face. "Today... someone saw Touka getting the supplies from the drop point." He said.
Where people did suicide? If someone saw her, then what would happen? I'm pretty sure they'd tell someone.
"What do we do? It was a normal person, right?" I said.
Touka shook her head. "No, it was a Damn dove. Now their gonna have me on file..." She said with a worried expression.
I frown. "The burrow has to go through steps to get a file into its database. It first has to be taken to an info broker for the burrow. Who was the man who saw you?" I asked, rubbing my chin.
She rubbed her temples. "He had blond hair and green eyes... he was a small guy, but I could tell he was tough."
"Why didn't he attack you then?" Yomo asked.
"Because I had already escaped by then." She said, looking at the ground. She seemed really beat up over this. It did mean she wouldn't be able to act normal again. Which means she wouldn't be able to see any of her human friends she probably has...
That didn't settle right with me.
I stood and Yomo already knew what I was gonna do. He was about to tell me to stop, to grab me, but I slipped out of the room with ease and ran to the garage.
"What the hell are you doing!" Touka yelled.
I jump into the open window of the car and start the engine. I drive out of the garage and into the street, clearly breaking some speeding laws as I zoomed past stop lights and into the high way.
The nearest info broker is near the 17th ward... I turn into an exit and drive next to the burrow station. I parked and walked for awhile, seeing the info broker was easy to spot. A man with a trench coat and a hat over his eyes.
I tapped his hat as he looked up and I nodded to an alley. He smiled, thinking he was gonna get paid for some info. As we walked into the alley, I quickly turned to kick him in the gut, catching him off guard as I elbowed his nape of his neck, knocking him out.
I drag his unconscious body into a dumpster, and grab his hat. I sit in the exact spot where I had picked him up, and waited...
Two hours later...
The investigator was easy to spot, like I thought, they all dress the same. And his blond hair was easy to spot. He was a foreigner, like me. Though I am half japanese, he's totally from a different country.
He sits next to me and hands me a file. "Send this to the burrow for me, this is important. Those are the only photos of evidence I have, so be careful with them." He handed me a wad of bills and I slowly nodded.
He got up and left. I smile at his back, looking at the bills I had collected. I felt bad for the info broker who as of now, is in the trash, but hey, all's fair in war pal.
I walk back to the car and drive away. That was much easier than I though-
My car rivets forward, jerking from an impact. I look behind me to see the blond investigator, his face torqued with anger. I turn back to the street and drive onto the freeway, him on my tail.
I open the glove compartment and grab the hidden pistol, aiming it behind me carefully and firing a shot into the windshield of his car. It spun a little, but got more balance and started to catch up.
I gulped as I held my breath, aiming at the man. Wait... if I kill him, would it make me a killer? Who am I kidding, I'm already a killer!
I pull the trigger and the bullet flies into the doves shoulder, making him swerve off the road and into the railing. As it impacted, he flew out the window, slamming into a building full force, leaving a blood splatter.
Warning! Always wear a seat belt before driving kids!
At Re...
I open the door and I'm instantly slapped across the face. Touka has a frown on, making it seem like she wants to strangle me. I take a step back and pull out the file, throwing it onto the table. She stares at it in surprise.
"What?" I smirk. "Didn't expect me to get it?" I said.
She puffed up her face in an irritated look. "Sh-Shut up!"
"Anyway, don't worry about that investigator either, he's dead." I wave as I leave the room and into my room.
I slump back onto my bed and think about the blond man who I killed today. Well, he would've lived if he had his friggin seat belt on, but I guess the odds were in my favor. I sighed and stared at the ceiling like I usually do when I'm thinking.
There's a knock at the door and this time I get up and open it, revealing Touka, who has a straight face on, I can't read her very well. She walks in without my consent and sits down at my desk, spinning around in the office chair.
Her hair flowed beautifully, and her legs coiled up as if she were sitting on them, she leaned back into the chair. "I just wanted to say..." She stumbled with words.
I look at her confused, what did she want? Is she here to tell me off again about something? I sigh and wait for it to come, better get ready-
"Sorry I doubted you." She mumbled.
I look up surprised. My eyes widen and I see her looking at the ground, her face a bit pink. She stands suddenly and walks out the room, and down the hall. Well, I didn't expect a thank you... She does think I'm human, meaning she didn't expect me to do things like that for a ghoul.
I get up and walk down into the basement for training, trying to get that cute blushed face of hers out of my head.
Yomo sees me and stands, and just like that, we begin.
He runs after me, jumping off the wall like some spider monkey and trying to land a bit on me, I dodge, but he flings his leg out and it connects with my side.
I grab his leg, and throw him with a large swing. He lands it and smiles. "Your getting better at controlling people's weight." He said.
I don't say anything back, I just get into a position to fight again. Yomo is about run at me but stops and says, "How about we practice with your Kagune today?" He said.
I flinch. I haven't used my kagune in four to three days. And I was just getting good at keeping it locked away too. I look at the ground and sigh. "No, I'd rather practice like this." I said.
Yomo nods and runs at me, I duck and land a blow on his stomach, but he grabs my arm and twists it, I groan in pain as he swings me around and implants me into the ground, into a choke hold.
"I win." He said, a straight face on.
I sigh as he helped me up. He squirts at me. "You seem depressed about something." He said.
"N-Not really! I just can't get something out of my mind, is all." I said with a fake smile.
The two things I couldn't get out of my mind were Touka's blush, dang that was cute~! Ah, snap out of it. And the second thing was I was getting terribly homesick, it's only been three days and a half and I'm having trouble sleeping, I keep thinking about the Nest all Damn day.
But I can't show my face until I'm stronger! I put my fists up at Yomo and he gets his up also, signaling that I was ready for the next match.
I ran forward this time, jumping into the air and kicking downward onto his back. He grunted in pain but still managed to punch me while I was in the air, making me land hard onto the concrete.
He held out his hand. "You are distracted." He said.
Damn his sense to know everything! I stand and immediately walk to the door. "Maybe it'll go away after some sleep." I said.
I go back to my room in defeat, today I got my ass kicked three times. I didn't win even once! I can't go home until I win against Yomo! That was the deal, and I'm not giving up!
Touka POV (yes, introducing POVs! yay!)
Late at Night...
What is all that racket?! I get out of bed and walk outside my room into the hall, down it I see that Levin's rooms door is cracked open, the noise coming from there.
What was that human doing now?! I walk slowly to the door, trying to catch him off surprise. I look through the tiny peek of the door. I freeze at what I see.
Levin is standing near a punching bag that he got yesterday, and is continuing to punch it non stop, with inhuman speed. I didn't know humans were that fast...
What was the most shocking part was that he was shirtless, only having a pair of jeans on. A pair of biceps have grown on his stomach, and his arms had muscles. Sweat poured off his forehead as he continued to punch the bag, making it shake and look as if it might pop.
Wait! Why am I staring at his chest! Stop looking, stupid Touka! I shake my head and slap my cheeks, and look in again. He stopped for a second then spun around, and kicked the punching bag, hard, making a cracking noise. At first I panicked, thinking he broke his leg, but he stood fine and the bags side exploded, making sand go to the floor.
His blue hair strung to his face and waved around as he took heavy breaths. He took a long breath and looked at the ceiling, like he usually did when he was thinking about something.
He then walked over to his night stand, the one I sat at earlier that day and he opened the drawer, grabbing a gun from it. Where did he get a gun!? He aimed it at the punching bag, but didn't shoot, he had the safety on. He checked the chamber and put it back into the drawer. He then put his hand into it again and this time pulled out something different.
A mask.
I flinch at the sight. Why did he have a mask? Only ghouls got masks! He's not a ghoul, he eats normally and does things like a normal person would! Where the hell did he get that mask?! Don't tell me he killed for it!
The mask was a circled yin and yang symbol, one of the dots one the side a eye hole. But when you looked on the inside of the mask, it looked high tech. Uta made that!
I back away from the door. Why would Uta give a mask to a human? Did Levin kill a ghoul to get that? What's going on here!?
"Hey Touka." Levin said, suddenly at the door and smiling at me. I flinch and jump in surprise.
He laughs a bit. "Did I scare you?" He grinned.
My face burns up. "S-Shut up!" is all I can come up with.
He smiles and turns around, I notice he still has no shirt on. I try to control myself, to not look at his chest. What's with this guy? He's a human yet he can mess with me so easily.
"You better stop mocking me, or I'll eat you!" I said, trying to scare him. But this only makes him laugh.
"If you can." He spins around in his chair and begins to write on a piece of paper. I look at what he's writing and see that it's a letter. Who's he writing to?
"It's for my friends back home." He said, a half smile coming to his face.
He said that with a longing in his voice, he must be lonely being away from his friends.
I pace around his room and find myself staring at his back, which not for the reason you think! Along his back is a scar going across his upper back. it's barely noticeable. What happened to him in the past, I wonder...
I leave the room without him noticing, what a weird human.
But what about that mask? And why does he keep a gun with him? And what's with that scar along his back? Who is Levin, exactly? Hell, I don't even know if that's his real name...
I think all these things as I slip into sleep.