Experiment 013 | Tokyo Ghoul

005 | stitches

•••

Glowing, red eyes, white hair and multiple stitching patterns adorned the pale skin of the colorfully dressed male in front of me.

"Hi there! My name is Juuzou Suzuya," waving, he brightly exclaimed.

When Shinohara-san asked me to come to the training area at 10am to meet my temporary training partner, this was someone I surely had not expected.

"Hmm... Let's see. Introductions? Well, I'm also a ghoul investigator working together with Shinohara-san, and from today, your temporary training partner, " he grinned, "What about you?"

The quiet, unchanging tone of my voice contrasted against the energetic tone of his, "My name is Aiko Akumu. I recently came here two days ago to work with the CCG. It's nice to meet you."

"Judging from how young you seem, you didn't have to go to the academy, right?" his eyes sparkled with excitement, "That must mean you're strong! I can't wait to train with you."

"Now, now Juuzou," Shinohara-san interrupted with a cough, "don't get too excited yet. Akumu-san has yet to grow used to things around here. Try not to overwork her."

"Yes, sir," Suzuya-san replied with a smile.

With a small wave, Shinohara-san exited the room and Suzuya-san abruptly grabbed my hand. Out of instinct and slight surprise, I tried to pull my hand back, but his grip was unexpectedly strong.

"Do you want to get something to eat first? I'm hungry."

"Huh?" I froze, taken aback, "Now? But aren't we supposed to train? And I don't need foo-"

"Excuses, excuses."

And that was how I found myself sitting in a nearby McDonald's in front of Suzuya-san in a table by the back. I watched silently as he stuffed his face with a hamburger.

"You're not going to eat?" he looked up at me in confusion.

"I don't need things like food, Suzuya-san," I thought back to the nutrient pills Mother provided me with. Considering what my body was made out of and its abnormal modifications, those pills were all I needed as a source of nutrition.

Suzuya-san continued to gaze at me, seeming to be more confused than before.

"Just call me Juuzou. By the way," he paused and his voice shifted into a serious tone, "why was your hand so cold and hard?"

Unconsciously, I gripped my hands, feeling insecure, "I'm different from normal people."

"Is that so?" suddenly, his face broke out into another grin, "I'm different from normal people too. I think we'll be good friends, Aiko-san."

For a moment, I thought I had felt a slight warmth in the hands I had known to be cold and void of feeling most of my life as those words left his mouth.

That was until I discovered that I was missing a certain amount of money from my wallet. Yes, it was the same amount of money that Suzu- I mean, Juuzou had spent on his lunch.

How did he take the money with me noticing?

"Juuzou?"

"Mmph?" came his muffled reply.

Apparently, I had a new training partner that prioritized food and sweets above most things, food that had been bought with money that wasn't his own, I'd like to note.

"Would you happen to know where my missing cash went?"

Innocent, scarlet eyes blinked once at me before a single pale finger, lined with pattern upon pattern of stitches, pointed directly at his intestines.