Black Water | Tokyo Ghoul

Chapter 27: Escape

The smell of grilling meat was what forced Amon's eyes open.

As if shoved upwards by an invisible spring, he shot up from the soft mattress that hugged his back and instantly regretted it. He groaned, gently clutching his head for a while because the recoil of a head rush was not something he was used to.

"Hungry?" Aki's familiar voice suddenly asked from somewhere.

He nodded, almost to himself, ignoring the way his stomach practically chewed its way through his skin in agreement. Carefully opening his eyes, Amon found himself lying in, not a mattress, but a very wide, leather sofa. It stood as the centerpiece for a large living room complete with all the modernities, knick knacks, and decorations that any rich, part-time model like Aki would be expected to have. Behind the couch was a modern kitchen where Aki stood sipping coffee as he grilled two pieces of savory meats in a pan.

Amon stared at the scene before him and almost cursed. Aside from the mouth-watering scent of meat cooking, there was another familiar scent that instantly made Amon think of the black-haired ghoul who saved their lives and probably endangered his own last night.

Citrus, if Amon wasn't mistaken, was Rin's favorite scent. But Rin was nowhere to be seen among all this decadence.

Aki meanwhile obviously didn't care. He was cheerfully humming to himself at the moment, sucking on a spoon of what seemed to be chocolate spread.

"Where's Rin?" Amon asked, trying not to let the feeling of cold worry bleed through his voice.

Sucking on the spoon, Aki simply shrugged his shoulders, not even bothering to look up at Amon who had to stop his jaw from falling at the movement and grinded his teeth instead, trying to calm the rising agitation bubbling sickly in his stomach.

Before Amon could start lecturing Aki about letting Rin do whatever he wants while being chased by one of the most sadistic cannibals, Aki groaned as if already hearing Amon's thoughts.

"Stop worrying about him so much. I'm pretty sure that asshole's fine."

"Fine?" Amon's voice was rising by the second, "He's up against Jason. Even if Rin was Rin, I can't just sit here quietly and not-"

"He'll be fine." Aki repeated through gritted teeth. Amon closed his mouth for a moment, slightly baffled by the quick temper Aki showed when Rin was in the conversation.

He really didn't like talking about Rin. Right after subtly rolling his eyes, Aki heavily sighed.

"As much as I hate to admit it...he's strong." Aki muttered, effortlessly flipping the grilling meat in the air and catching it with the pan. "True that he might be getting beat up at the moment, but I'm sure even Jason would have a hard time with him. That bastard lived this long, I doubt he'd bite the dust now."

Imparting that train of thought, Aki curled his lip in disdain and cursed as he shook the steak onto a white plate decorated with carrots, some mashed potatoes, and a brownie then walked towards Amon, handing him the plate. Before going back to the table where his own plate sat waiting next to a glass of what seemed to be orange juice.

"Stop worrying and eat." Aki said, then with a small voice, "He told me to watch over you."

That just made the sick feeling in his stomach worse.

It was never in Amon's nature to sit calmly and eat a steak while someone important was possibly being tortured. While Aki busied himself with his own plate and hunched over the table to mindlessly eat, Amon slowly wilted into the couch, his brows knit together as he thought hard about where Rin could possibly be.