Masquerading Virtuoso【Tokyo Ghoul Fan-Fiction】

ii. Moonlight Sonata

"She is the beloved of the night; with him she is complete and adorned in garbs of black."

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The whispering voices of the horde of ecstatic masked guests reverberated throughout the excessive, balcony-infested room. The centre stage beneath them was bloodied and desolate, yearning for its next performer.

Tsuki stood at the golden railing's edge, her arms propped atop them and eyes examining the gore. She didn't know whose blood was painted on the floor, or even if such an amount belonged to a single person, only that it was a morbid sight to behold.

Her parents were behind her, their faces hidden by theatrical masks; her mother wore a white, eccentric one, while her father donned himself in a black, sorrowful one with a lumped up tear at his left eye's edge. They had given her one as well, though, hers was of a different design. It only covered the lower half of her face, forming a sort of muzzle. The right half formed a smile, while the left ... a frown. She understood their reasoning for giving her one that had both their mask's designs interpreted into it, but she would have preferred a more ... individualized one.

Their host hadn't provided them much information on what exactly would be going on at their dinner, only that they would find the main course of a rather exquisite, and unique taste.

The brunette sighed and glanced back at her parents, her eyes apparent with boredom. "How much longer do we have to wait for something to eat? I don't want to dally about." She shifted her gaze down to the hole in the middle of the floor below. "Especially when I know I could be back home practicing the Moonlight Sonata for next weekend."

Her mother glanced over at her husband, her eyebrows furrowed behind her mask. "She's right, dear. Her next performance is a part of the college's orchestral competition; she must perfect it if she wishes to move to the natio---"

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting!" exclaimed a man, his attire proper and exaggerated as he held the microphone in his gloved hand.

Tsuki's attention immediately shifted to the center of the floor below. She heard gears creaking and grinding as a circular platform filled the hole. A few of the spotlights shifted from the man atop the main balcony, to the young, ebony haired lad standing upon it, a small, white-clothed dining table behind him and a few steps beneath his feet.

He was clad in a finely made black, tail-coat suit. It was as if he, himself, was attending an elegant evening dinner. He examined his surroundings in horror at the many people staring curiously down at him.

Analyzing his mortified expression, Tsuki immediately noticed something odd: he wore a white patch over his left eye. She suddenly stood upright and peered over her shoulder, to her father. "Is he ... the main course?" she inquired in a hushed, panicked tone, her chocolate eyes apparent with bewilderment.

Ignoring her question, Dai glanced over at his wife from behind his dark mask, his thick brows furrowed in frustration. "Ame ... the scent is vaguely familiar." he murmured, to which Tsuki's mother nodded.

"Indeed." she added, interlacing her right arm into the crease of her husband's elbow. "It is similar to ... those two."

They walked in unison over to the railing's edge, placing themselves next to Tsuki, and glared down at the boy now on his knees, his deep brown eye wide and staring up at the approaching fellow on the main balcony behind the introducer.

Tsuki watched her parents' gaze shift to where the lad was looking. Warily, her parents looked at one another as the spotlight fluttered gracefully over to the white-suited man, a half-mask with a set of teeth covering the left side of their face, leaving the other side exposed. They quickly discerned the man as Shuu.

"Today's entrée is an unusual cut of meat: a ghoul, of all things!"

The ranks filled with utterances of disapproval and repulsion at the announcer's words. It was a thing of cannibalism to consume another ghoul; a disgusting taboo of sorts amidst most ghouls.

"Tch," Dai scoffed, his jaw clenched behind his mask. "Devouring one of our own is ... unthinkable."

Tsuki stared down at the lad, her eyes wide with shock by the confession. Most ghouls she'd come into contact with held a rancid scent---putrid and revolting, quite honestly. So why had that one smelled ... differently?

"Esteemed ladies and gentlemen," exclaimed Shuu, "the flesh of a ghoul offers a coarse flavor not worthy of devouring." He grinned and held out his hands on opposite sides of himself. "I am sure that those of you here of such discerning taste are well aware of this."

Dai glanced over at his wife and back at Tsuki, then around the massive, open room. There are those in this crowd who truly ... partake of such a thing? Perhaps this man was not as charismatic as he seemed.

Shuu bowed from the balcony above, just as the teen stood up in the spotlight below and rushed a ways toward him.

"Tsukiyama-san!" he huffed. "W-Why...?"

He ... knows him? thought Tsuki, causing her to look up at Shuu. Then ... is that how he lured him here? she wondered.

As if he were disregarding his question, Shuu suddenly removed a handkerchief from his inner coat's pocket and inhaled greedily of it. "The thing that caught my attention was his scent," he said. "For while he is a ghoul, the scent of a human is also pervasive." He held the handkerchief over the balcony's edge and released it, allowing it to fall into the clutches of those below him.

They all rushed to it, snatching it and taking their own whiffs of the cloth. Their reactions were positive and filled with sheer glee. They released their own oohs and ahhs at its savory smell.

"Aren't you fascinated?" Shuu continued, feeling confident in his choice of meat. "What sort of flavor does a ghoul who smells like a human possess?!" he pondered, his voice apparent with enthusiasm.

"We're leaving." said Dai, turning to face Tsuki with Ame still firmly at his side. "What they're about to commit is repulsive and indecent. Therefore, it would be in our best interest to leave before we're drawn into such an atrocious act," he explained.

Dai went ahead of his daughter and released Ame's arm, allowing her to come with him at her own leisure. Understanding there was truth in his words, Tsuki nodded, following after him to the red door leading down the stairwell.

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