Masquerading Virtuoso【Tokyo Ghoul Fan-Fiction】

xii. O Fortuna

【 I go to get my college courses tomorrow and I couldn't be more nervous, you guys! Anyways, here's an update. Please, do vote if you like it and let me hear your thoughts as well! hehe】(⌒▽⌒)

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"A serpent will stand its ground, but only attack when provoked. Whether or not its assailants deserve the toxins held by its glands ... is all determined by the duration of their agitation."

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The sky had all but ceased its assembly of pounding drums---giving way to a silence that cut through the streets in a manner so deathly that the cool breath of the wind was all that could be heard, leaving man to his troubled thoughts. Few civilians, however, roamed the streets at night, in fear of the demented creatures that prowled them.

Those that dwelled knew better than to venture into the daunting alleyways in search of a shortcut to their destinations---unpredictability was certain if they risked such an excursion.

Tsuki's piercing crimson eyes stared at the two investigators, her face tainted by blood and hair soaked by the previous rain---allotting herself a more intimidating appearance as her three tails sharpened at them. She knew she wasn't going to be capable of fighting at full strength against them, but the flesh she had devoured from the child was enough to carry her through, long enough for a possible escape.

"Going to put up a fight now?" jeered the white haired man as he propelled his quinque above himself, a sudden broad grin etching his face. "After pulling such an docile spectacle back there?! How amusing you ghouls are!"

The dark haired fellow swiftly pulled an upper-cut with his blunt weapon, causing Tsuki to sprawl two of her tails around it before it could send her backwards. He was abnormally strong for a human, but his physique didn't depict a weak man---he was determined and a man who took his training seriously.

Tsuki grit her teeth as she noticed Mado's weapon hastily descending towards her. Her eyes widened, her concentration focusing more towards the oncoming projectile, rather than Amon's.

A terrible mistake on her part.

He pulled it from her tails' clutches and repeated the same strike, the sheer force sending her three feet into the air and twelve feet back, landing roughly on her back. She coughed and scrunched up her features only for a moment, just as Mado managed to extend his quinque and lessen its distance between it and Tsuki.

She gawked at the fierce rinkaku tail, her own squirming out from her sides and forming a sort of shield around her torso, just as the beastly weapon was about to hit her. Tsuki seethed as a seering pain emitted from her tails, she knew that the prongs had succeeded in piercing them, but also that she couldn't allow herself to be overwhelmed by their assaults.

Once Mado had freed the sharp spines from her tails and raised the weapon for another attack, Amon rushed towards her, hoping to take advantage of her prone position with his cylindrically fashioned quinque.

Without a second's hesitation, Tsuki tumbled away from him and used her three tails to catapult her into the air. The woman's dark peripheral caught a glimpse of a shimmering object sprawling towards her. Her eyes widened as she noticed it was the other man's quinque coming directly at her; the flat tip slammed into her abdomen before she could even react, shoving her into the side of the building twenty feet behind her.

She gripped of the weapon as her back met with the cold, rough bricks. Tsuki let out an exasperated exhale as she narrowed her eyes down at the pair of investigators. "D-Damn it," she muttered, her hands squeezing tightly of the massive tail pinning her against the wall.

Mado chuckled as he kept his focus on her, cocking his head to the side a bit to get a better look at her. "You're not that tough, are ya?" he mocked, allowing his weapon to shove even harder into her stomach, the power behind it cracking and chipping a few of the bricks. "Amon-kun, let's hurry; they're expecting us back there soon."

The dark haired man subtly nodded and walked sternly towards Tsuki.

She glared at him through her red eyes as he inched ever so closer to her. It was a sad thing to admit, but he was attractive; however, she didn't wish to die by either of their hands ... or rather their stolen kagune.

As he stopped close to her, he lurched back his quinque to strike the finishing blow and crush her skull.

Noting that no mercy lingered in his navy eyes, Tsuki shifted her gaze down to the weapon holding her against the building and grit her teeth. Mustering the last bit of proper strength within herself, she elongated one of her tails and wrapped it around him. Picking him off of his feet, she tossed him away from her---back to his partner's side.

Mado didn't bother peering over at the man as he sat upright and stared angrily at the black haired woman still against the wall. "Are you alright?" he asked, to which his partner nodded. "Good. She shouldn't be much trouble now, Amon-kun, kill her so we can get going."

Tsuki clenched her jaw and strained to make her remaining two mimic the other. They slowly extended and secured tightly, yet shakily, around the quinque still pinning her. C-Come ... on, she thought, her teeth grinding and forehead perspiring beads of sweat that mingled with the blood and drained into her mouth. I ... have to ... get out of this!

With a bout of adrenaline and determination, she shoved it off of her abdomen and dispersed her kagune. Taking a small breath, she sprinted for the nearest alleyway.

Mado sighed and called back his weapon to its container---his suitcase---and looked over at Amon. He glanced over at the path she'd taken. "She will heal quickly, Amon-kun," he explained, walking towards the exit of the labyrinth-like alleway, he peered over his shoulder and stared at his exhausted partner who was preparing to chase after Tsuki. "There will be another day to fight, but for now ... we have to rest or we'll be too tired to track down our current targets."

Amon furrowed his eyebrows, stood upright, and dispelled his quinque. "Rabbit ..." he murmured, his blue eyes glimmering with a trace of utter hatred at the mere thought of the ghoul.

The white-haired fellow chuckled, gesturing towards the suitcase in his right hand. "As well as ... Dr. Fueguchi's wife and child, Amon-kun."

Mado turned towards the exit with his subordinate in tow.

Renji, who had watched the spectacle from above, narrowed his eyes behind the raven mask at the two investigators, then leapt from the rooftop to the alleyway below. He slowly strode in the direction Tsuki had taken and followed her scent until he found her sitting on the back step of Anteiku, her arms hugging her shivering body.

Her head immediately snapped upright and chocolate eyes fixated solemnly on him. "Yomo-san ... I-I'm sorry for rejecting your help back there," she admitted, feeling ashamed in her behavior. Lowering her gaze to the ground next to her, she sighed and looked back up at him. "I knew I couldn't make it back to my home, safely, with them hanging out around h---"

"Don't apologize," he said, flatly, reaching up to remove his intimidating mask. His dull grey eyes focused on her for a moment, before they shifted to the door.

It suddenly opened, causing Tsuki to stumble to her feet and stare at the figure standing within its way: it was the manager, Yoshimura.

He analyzed her bloodied clothes and baffled expression for a moment, then waved for her in the most calm of manners. "Come inside," he said, to which the black-haired woman shamefully glanced away and balanced herself properly, following the elderly ghoul inside with Yomo following closely behind. "I must speak with you once you have bathed and found a change of clothes, Nomura-san."

Tsuki's eyes widened at the back of the man's head.

How had he known her surname? She had never given it to any of them, let alone ... not her real one.

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