Black Water | Tokyo Ghoul

Chapter 26: Cooperation

There was no way Aki was stupid enough to stay in a fight between ghouls with an unconscious man almost twice his size toppled over his head. By the time the two Doves were gone, Rin had already charged the white suited ghoul head on, easily startling Jason out of the manic rage and tossing aside the two other ghouls with a good, fast whip his kagune flung to their heads.

He thought that would've at least decapitated or severely injured the annoyances but he just heard them crash hard against the wet pavement as he charged at Jason.

He was getting pitifully weak.

The white haired man kept his mask on but even with that, Rin could still see the hungry red gleam of his black eyes. Even in the thick, night rain, they pulsed, fighting a tug of war between frustrated impatience and excitement as he simply stood with his arms wide open, waiting for Rin with taunting laughter.

Rin growled, pooling all his strength into his kagune before he lashed it out.

If Rin used his kagune the way an experienced swordsman would a familiar blade, Jason parried his agile attacks with his own forceful pounding.

Rin had encountered various ghouls and by now had an inkling of the different styles each ones had to fighting. Most of them fought simply with the sense of self-preservation that muddied the fear of being killed and eaten by some nomad ghoul. Some of them fought like he did – with unbridled agility that catered to a frightfully obvious yet calculated attack that could instantly kill their attacker. Rize had the same fighting style but she was faster, more vicious, and less open to attacks.

But Jason's style was that of a bear playing around with a caught fish. And Rin had the misfortune to be the fish.

Now and then, he had to dodge a series of head numbing twists from the cannibal's pulsing red tendrils. It was the kind of exchange that had Rin's blood going cold every time it was Jason's turn to attack. Unlike others who fought with their lives in mind, the 13th ward's killer held off his blinding speed at the last minute, hefting his thick kagune like a spear an experienced athlete would hurl at a moving target.

For a while, Rin was on the defensive, lunging only to find himself jumping back again as his kagune tried to keep up with Jason's strangely timed attacks.

By the end of the first three minutes, Rin was thrown across the street and into one of the silent, concrete houses. The stone shuddered against the harsh throw, cracks forming underneath Rin's sudden crash and instantly waking sleeping humans who yelped in fear as lights flashed inside windows and humans hurried through their rooms, panicking about a potentially strong earthquake.

Rin thought it was gonna stay that way but as he heaved himself up, watching the window, it burst open to reveal a little boy – eyes wide with what seemed to be horrified fascination. Until he caught a glimpse of the tails glowing red beneath his house.

Instantly, his face went white. Just as he was about to scream, Rin felt the sudden hot change in the air near his ears and heard the hiss of air plummeting right towards the child.

Huffing will into the little strength he had left, Rin readied his kagune, twisted its defensive position and launched it straight towards the open window.

A claw shaped kagune crashed with the blade-like one, flashes of red pulsing and dripping just inches before the boy's petrified form.

Like any sensible human, the boy screamed and ran. A few seconds later, half the neighborhood was awake, humans shouting about ghouls fighting each other just outside the street.

The neighborhood had finally woken up. A few minutes later, the different scents of humans mixed with each other in a haze of fear as they all ran away from the fight, never minding that the rain was gushing over their heads again. Rin heard one of them talking into her phone, she was calling the CCG.