A.N. Here is my late New Year's gift to all my faithful viewers and reviewers. Unfourtanely college as taken up all of my time for the past half-year now and I am taking more advanced classes this semester. Meaning that this chapter will probably be the only update for a couple months. Sorry about that, nothing I can really do about it.

On the brighter side of things, I don't plan on shelving this story at all, I mean it has been a year already since I posted the first chapter and I feel like my writing and the direction of the story has improved. I still plan on going to 200,000+ words, since the narrative will demand the fleshing out of several characters.

Without further adieu, Welcome my honorable readers to the twelfth installment in the continuing saga of "Bushidō" and the world of Tokyo Ghoul.

*Reviewer Feedback*

Demons Anarchy of Pride: Yes, Hide finally shows his elusive self, poor guy.

Scarease: Thanks for the words of kindness and encouragement!

togetherweloki'd: I know you've been waiting so long for this chapter. I hope you find it glorious.

Ryujomaru15: Glad you like the story so far, and here is the next chapter.

xxxDreamingflowerxxx: Come on now, we both know that your theory is a bit out there. But it would be one hell of a twist. Also, you're right. Bushidō does not swing that way.

Carlmike94: Glad you're getting hyped. the answer to your question: Yes?

Frosty Ninja: I'm so humbled you think so highly of my story. I really try to do the characters justice, with having enough space within the narrative to expand and really delve into each character and their interactions. That is part of why the pacing is so slow at times, but I am glad you are enjoying yourself!

Equinox: Please don't do that, you have so much to live for! Like telling me how good my story is. ;)

[November 10th: One Day Before the Auction 11:07 PM, Unknown Location]

When Rio groggily awoke all she could see was a curtain of darkness so vast and thick she was unable to tell if her eyes were open or closed. With her mind slow and foggy, the chestnut-haired woman's senses slowly came back to her, one by one.

First came the sensation of breathing, and Rio found that when she breathed in she felt some sort of rough fabric stick to her parted lips. Breathing out, she felt her warm breath ricochet off the fabric and sting her eyes, confirming that she indeed had her eyes open.

Secondly came the feeling in her limbs, as Rio tried bringing her hands up to remove whatever cloth-like obstruction prevented her from breathing properly. She came to notice that her arms had been bound behind her back and her wrists were tied tightly together with a rope of some kind. Whimpering slightly as she weakly twisted her hands and failing to break free from her bonds, Rio also suddenly realized she was lying on a cold floor; the hard surface sapping the heat from her body.

'Where...Where am I?' She asked herself, hoping maybe the question would clear the haze of her mind. She tried again to move only to be meet with failure, as the ropes around her extremities were as tight as a vise. A sudden spike of fear washed over her then, like an icy grip holding firm onto her core freezing her from the inside out as the gravity of her situation was starting to become clearer. With a rush of terror-infused adrenaline, Rio's hazy mind began to come into focus.

'What am I doing here? I should be... should be...' she thought, her mind slowly beginning to remember.

That's right, she was on her way to her friend's house when...when... Then like a rush of cold water, Rio's memory of her assault came flooding back and with it the stinging pain of her injured face.

With a loud gasp, Rio's whole body squirmed and thrashed as her swollen cheek radiated with white hot pain. It felt like someone had taken a heated frying pan and bashed it against the side of her face, the throbbing and burning were almost unbearable, the searing pain causing tears to well up in her eyes and her breath to be stolen away. After what seemed like hours, the pain began to subside and Rio's breathing returned to normal. Through the veil of blackness, Rio heard a rustling coming from some direction ahead of her, and after a moment the rustling ceased and silence ringed in her ears. Then catching the sound of an audible click of some sort, almost like a lock being undone, she then heard the creaking of metal hinges.

"What the hell?!" A slightly muffled feminine voice yelled. A dim light accompanied the voice, cutting through the darkness that surrounded Rio. A surge of hope filled the young woman; perhaps she would be saved, maybe someone had found her!

"Hey! Why the hell did you tie her up, she needs to be in perfect condition!"

Rio's heart sank into her stomach as she realized no savior had arrived. She faintly heard the murmurings of another person, but the words were lost to her as she was becoming more panicked as every second ticked by. Rio's eyes darted back and forth trying to peer through the cloth to the dim light shining through the fabric.

"Whatever. Don't blame me when Madam punishes you for displeasing the crowd tomorrow."

'Crowd?' Rio thought, only having a moment to contemplate those words, for she heard footsteps coming closer. "Now let's see how beautiful this one is, shall we?" the feminine voice said, it almost sounded like the person was...excited.

A primal fear took hold in Rio then, but unlike before this fear raged like a wild beast tearing and pulling at every fiber of her body to simply do one action: Run.

"No!" She screamed with all her might as she frantically tried to roll away from the approaching threat. She twisted her arms furiously as she thrashed about, the rope biting into her wrists and chafing the skin, turning them an ugly red color.

"How unladylike, all that fussing won't do you any good. You should feel grateful to be part of tomorrow's event, you'll be more beautiful that you've ever been."

"S-Stay away from me!" Rio shrieked, growing ever more afraid of the click-clacking of advancing footsteps. "D-D-Don't-" she choked out as she held back a sob, trying very hard not to break down. She felt utterly helpless, powerless to do anything at all.

The faint light disappeared from Rio's vision as a silhouette loomed over her, and after a moment Rio felt the cloth lift over her head and a hand grasp her chin, yanking her upwards to reveal a woman's face leaning down over her. The woman had long beautiful midnight violet hair that graced the sides of her face and wore a pure white surgical mask that covered the lower half of her face, but to Rio, the most unnerving aspect was the woman's eyes. They seemed to analyze every part of her face hungrily as if she was judging whether or not to devour it.

When the woman's eyes roamed over Rio's swollen cheek they narrowed in displeasure. Letting go of Rio's chin as she straighten back up to her full height, Nutcracker turned on her heel and growled angrily at her partner, who stood expressionless in the doorway.

"Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to make her look presentable?!"

The other ghoul's deadpanned expression did not change, instead, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and said rather dismissively; "You don't get to complain, I finished your quota with this one. Remember, you owe me now."

Their words and the meaning behind them were lost to Rio, who was using all her willpower to stop from shaking in fright. She could still see the woman's thirsty gaze upon her and it shook her right down to her core.

With his piece said, the male ghoul turned and left, leaving a fuming Nutcracker to herself as well as letting more fluorescent light filter into the room. The light illuminated the room around the two women, revealing dark metal walls that were stained with either rust or dried blood, Rio could not tell.

She heard her new captor make a sound of annoyance before turning back around and leaning over her. Forcing Rio to look at her with another yank of her chin, Nutcracker examined the woman more thoroughly and saw that despite the terrified expression and swollen cheek she had a certain beauty to her, an aura of innocence.

"It's such a shame that I won't be able to buy you..." The violet-haired ghoul said as she brought up her free hand to grasp the top of her mask. Pulling it down to reveal the rest of her face, her lips parted to gave Rio a bone-chilling smile that revealed blackened teeth; "You going to look so beautiful that I could just eat you now."

[November 11th: Day of the Auction 4:23 AM, Quinx Chateau]

Bushidō stumbled into the modern-styled bathroom and collapsed against the toilet bowl. Lifting up the lid just in time to vomit out the contents of his stomach, Bushidō regretted ever consuming Sasaki's cooking over the past week. The ghoul had managed to quietly endure the utterly detestable food; No food wasn't the right word, the word food couldn't possibly describe the substance that was being forcefully ejected from his innards. 'Utterly detestable garbage...' he thought bitterly, his stomach seemed to be in agreement for it lurched and Bushidō had to clench his teeth and forcefully will himself not to throw up.

With gastric acid burning his throat and pale-faced, he stared at the floating mess in the toilet's water. The smell was enough to almost make him gag and he only took a few moments to contemplate the mixture of regurgitated red and brown chunks before his stomach lurched violently again and this time, the ghoul did vomit adding more bile to the putrid mass.

After his bout of hurling Bushidō pushed himself away from the vomit filled toilet and rested against the nearby wall. The ghoul stretched out his right leg, the heel of his foot sliding against the smooth white tile as leaned his head backward; his locks of white hair were wildly strewn all over the place, but that was the last of his worries at the moment. The ghoul's half-lidded eyes stared at the bathroom's light fixture, every breath feeling like sandpaper grinding against his raw esophagus. He felt incredibly sluggish like an enormous invisible weight was pressing down on him, so Bushidō just gazed into the lightbulbs, finding a bit of comfort in the searing pain of his optic nerves, it took his mind off each painful breath and, of course, the smell of his bile. He only closed his eyelids when the burning pain became almost unbearable and even then behind his eyelids the golden light still stung at him.

The ghoul stayed motionless for some time, his mind emptying into a feeling of numbness while his body was on the verge unwinding, but Bushidō was disrupted by a soft knock on the wall.

"Uh, are you alright?"

Bushidō cracked an eye slightly open, looking away from the ceiling fixture to see a sleepy and disgruntled Shirazu in the doorway. The Quinx Squad leader looked ready to fall asleep standing up; He barely had his eyes open and the nineteen-year-old was lazily scratching a haphazard patch of orange hair sticking out from the side of his head.

"Not..really." The ghoul croaked, his throat burning fiercely as he spoke, his voice coming out in a raspy whisper.

Noticing a distinctly different tone and lack of snarky comments of any kind, Shirazu quickly sobered up and realized the older ghoul was indeed not alright.

"Damn, what hell happened?" Shirazu asked after he had taken in Bushidō's ghastly state.

Bushidō, not having the energy nor in the mood to be sardonic, turned his head slightly to the right, motioning towards the toilet. "Food...not agreeing...with-" The ghoul stopping mid-sentence as his stomach convulsed violently, giving Bushidō a matter of seconds to lean over the bowl and once again vomit into the bathroom's toilet.

Shirazu's eyes widened in shock at the Bushidō's sudden upheaval of semi-digested food. After a few moments to get over his surprise, Shirazu averted his eyes and awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck, finding the bathroom's wallpaper suddenly very interesting.

After his puking spell had ended Bushidō slowly pushed himself back into his previous position, his eyes glancing over at Shirazu, who was making an expression akin to disgust; his hand waving in front of his nose to ward off the smell of bile.

"Shit, it reeks in here!" he stated absentmindedly, causing Bushidō, even in his tired and sickened state, to roll his eyes in exasperation at the young man's complaining of the obvious.

"Er..." Shirazu mumbled to himself after realizing that he had just stuck his own foot in his mouth and in doing so, he instilled a period of awkward silence. Shirazu mentally cursed himself for his blunder and as the seconds ticked by the young man struggled to grasp the words to fix the situation. The older ghoul said nothing, partly due to his state of being and also Bushidō preferred to let Shirazu try and sort out his own problem. Although he had only known him for a short while the ghoul knew that Shirazu was someone who was awkward, self-critical, and oftentimes overbearing towards people close to him. Saiko immediately came to mind, but she was a whole other case entirely. Perhaps it was a defensive mechanism for him, a way to cope with a tragedy in the past.

"...Uh, look. Sorry about that. Do...do you need help?" Shirazu asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck yet again as he avoided eye contact.

And there it was. One of Shirazu's redeeming qualities, maybe his only one but it shined brightly through all his shortcomings.

'His altruism towards others, even ones that he views as untrustworthy...' Bushidō thought, inwardly smiling at Shirazu's offer.

"...Water. Some water would help." The ghoul told Shirazu and the nineteen-year-old nodded as he shuffled out rather quickly into the hallway towards the kitchen.

Hearing the creaking of Shirazu's footsteps down the hallway, Bushidō attempted to stand upright using the toilet seat and narrowly succeeded, almost slipping and falling face first into his own bile.

Grimacing at the thought, the ghoul pushed down the toilet's handle flushing the vomit down into the sewage system and to its inevitable demise through Tokyo's water treatment facilities.

Placing one hand on the marble counter for support, Bushidō turned his attention away from his discarded bodily matter to the bathroom's mirror and found that he looked absolutely miserable. With disheveled hair, an exhausted gaze, and slouched posture Bushidō was sure that he looked dead on his feet. Gazing at his own lifeless reflection, the ghoul's own eyes stared back at him, burrowing into his consciousness and something stirred in the pit of his stomach, a feeling of mounting dread...

Hearing the oncoming footsteps of someone, the ghoul turned just in time to see Shirazu return holding a tall glass of water and looking more awake than he did a minute ago.

"Here, don't drop it." Shirazu said as he held out the tall glass for Bushidō to take. Extending his unoccupied arm the ghoul took the glass from Shirazu's outstretched hand and tilted his head upwards to drink the cool liquid, finding it extremely refreshing as slid down his hoarse throat.

Shirazu watched as Bushidō downed the entire glass in one go, the gears in his mind churning as he stared. After the ghoul finished Shirazu spoke up; "I still don't get it."

Raising his eyebrow at the vague question Bushidō gave Shirazu a questioning glance as he turned on the bathroom faucet to fill his now empty glass.

"I mean... What are you doing here, with us? Shouldn't you be out there, ya know..."

"Killing people?" Bushidō asked, finishing Shiazu's sentence for him. "Uh...yea." Shirazu said, his voice quite. He found that his question sounded much better in his head than out loud.

"Let me answer your question with one of my own. Do you believe this world to be black and white? Right and wrong?" The white-haired ghoul asked, his stare turning calculating as his eyes searched for Shirazu's reaction.

The nineteen-year-old blinked quizzically, taken aback by the strange question. "W-Well, I..." Shirazu started to stay but stopped abruptly. He knew that the ghoul was trying to tell him something, but the more he thought about it the more Shirazu became confused.

'Of course there is right and wrong, but that is the answer he's expecting!' Shirazu thought, his expression becoming more and more conflicted and sour.

Inwardly smirking at young man's lack of understanding, Bushidō finished his glass of water for a second time before saying; "It is a simple 'yes or no' question, Squad Leader Shirazu."

"It ain't fuckin' simple, and you know it!" Shirazu complained, his heated gaze and furrowed eyebrows pointed in Bushidō's direction.

"You're right."

"Don't give me that sh-. ...Huh?" Shirazu asked, clearly puzzled at the ghoul's agreement.

"You're right, it is not simple," Bushidō stated, feeling slightly refreshed as he stood up to his full height and no longer needed the white marble countertop for support. The ghoul's answer perplexed Shirazu even further, the Quinx Squad Leader's bewildered expression mirroring his thoughts. "This world is a spectrum of gray, and no issue is as straightforward as it seems."

Shirazu nodded slowly, understanding slightly what the middle-aged ghoul was saying. "But how does that answer-"

"You think of ghouls as murderous monsters who, given the chance, will tear you apart without a second thought." Bushidō stated, catching Shirazu completely off guard, his eyes widening at the statement.

"In reality, your assumption only applies to the ones that you have battled through your affiliation with the CCG, there are plenty of ghouls who are, for lack of a better word, more human-like than you realize."

An image of Yoshimura's patient smiling face flashed across Bushidō's mind and the ghoul's shoulders slouched just a fraction.

Shirazu's face contorted into a look of confusion, Bushido's statement a foreign concept to him. "So you're saying that..." Shirazu asked, not being able to connect the dots in Bushidō's argument. Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Bushidō closed his eyes suppressing his overwhelming urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

After a few moments of respite, the ghoul opened his eyes as he stated; "What I am saying is that I'm-" but stopped abruptly as he saw a person standing behind Shirazu.

Haise Sasaki stood in the bathroom's doorway, his gray hair strewn across his forehead haphazardly and a tired but stern look on his face as his eyes darted between Shirazu and Bushidō, his stare lasting on the latter for a few moments noting the ghoul's haggard appearance.

"What are you two doing up?"

"Sas-san!" Shirazu exclaimed, immediately turning around to face his superior with a surprised expression.

Sasaki raised an eyebrow as his gaze settled on his subordinate, looking for an explanation. "You do know we have an operation today, right?"

Shirazu nodded, his expression turning from surprised to slightly nervous as he opened his mouth to give his reasoning, but Bushidō interrupted; "Don't be too harsh on him. He was helping me after all."

Sasaki's gaze turned toward's Bushidō's frame, his one eyebrow still raised; "Helping you?" he asked, a hint of doubt in his voice as he fully took in the sight of the ghoul's haggard presence.

"Ah, well-" Bushidō started to explain, only for a singular sound to quiet all thought and action. The ghoul's body instantly stiffened and froze, a cold sweat breaking out across his skin, his hands feeling clammy as the sound penetrated into the forefront of his consciousness.

He heard knocking, clear and concise coming from his left, right where the mirror was.

It called for him, but Bushidō dared not look over for he knew only madness would follow if he did.

Another knock, its volume the same as the last almost as if the culprit knew Bushidō had heard...as if it was mocking him. The white-haired ghoul's balance waned, his eyes becoming glazed-over dying embers staring into nothing and the glass slipped from his hand, crashing into pieces on the white tile below. He couldn't see the shocked and confused looks of Haise and Shirazu, nor could he hear the words that were forming on their lips, only the resonating sound of knuckles rapping on glass.

"Liar~ Liar~" A sing song voice said, coming from everywhere and nowhere, causing a feeling of freezing cold ice to shoot up Bushidō's spine.

Feeling his legs grow weak, he used the marble countertop for support again, his body becoming ever more contorted as he collapsed further and further into himself, his back arching like a feline's.

"Hey~ ...Aren't you hungry?" The voice asked, the whisper coming now from inside his head. Bushido's stomach churned and grumbled in response, and the words brought waves of emotion that cascaded over him.

Fear.

Disgust.

Loathing.

Yearning.

Hunger.

Oh, the hunger.

It gnawed at his core, threatening to drive him over the edge into the gaping maw of madness. As he struggled for control Bushidō inhaled through his nose, an action he immediately regretted.

The aroma of flesh was intoxicating, so much so that he began salivating and the ghoul had to clench his fists with all his might so that he would not lunge and tear Shirazu apart.

'It would be so easy, simple even.' He thought. He could see it in his mind's eye; ripping off the limbs with ease, tearing open the ribcage as blood splattered over the bathroom walls, caking them a sinister shade of red as he pulled entrails and organs out. He could practically taste the flesh, its flavor just waiting to be devoured. Yes, it would be so easy.

The far off voices of the two in front of Bushidō slowly came into focus; "H... ar..e you... ...Oi! Are you alright?" He heard Shirazu ask and as the white-haired ghoul's senses came back into focus, he noticed Shirazu's foot take a step towards him.

Bushidō immediately brought is free hand over his mouth, in an act to keep it shut and shook his head vigorously signaling for the quinx to not come any closer. Clamping down with his fingers and gritting his teeth, Bushidō refused to let himself be taken over by his desires.

"Don't... I...I d-don't feel well. Please, I-I need to leave." The ghoul mumbled through his hand, not meeting the other's stares. Thankfully, with their enhanced hearing, Sasaki and Shirazu both heard his words, and Shirazu's baffled look was accompanied with silence from the teenager while Sasaki's eyebrows furrowed in thought. He could smell the stench of bile emitting from the room, knowing that the ghoul had been throwing up. Then it dawned on the ghoul investigator that Bushidō had eaten nothing but human food for at least the past week.

Quickly realizing the situation, Sasaki placed a hand on Shirazu's shoulder to get his attention and motioned with his head towards the hallway behind him, signaling for the Quinx Squad leader to let Bushidō through.

Shirazu grudgingly complied, shaken up by the sudden change in tone, and shifted over to the right, allowing a pathway for the hunched over ghoul to take.

His hand still gripping the countertop, the ghoul's only thoughts were how many different ways he could kill both Shirazu and Sasaki, that fixation alone was what stopped him from acting on his thoughts as he teetered on the cusp of insanity.

'Break the kneecaps first...'

The ghoul took a step forward, his eyes trained on the bleach white tiles. His bare feet smashing the glass shards into tiny crystalline fragments.

'Dodge the first strike then grab and twist, ripping bone and sinew...'

Another step, passing Shirazu as he did so and Sasaki moved out of the doorway, creating a path to the hallway and the front door.

'Tear off the arm. Hear the scream. See the gore. Taste the flesh...'

The ghoul silently reveled in the scene playing out in his mind as he exited the bathroom. The light fixture behind him casting a dark shadow on the opposing wall. The ghoul couldn't keep his balance without the support of the countertop and slumped forward, his left arm moving to the wall to catch himself from falling even further. Sasaki stared worryingly down at the sunken ghoul in front of him and wondered if he was going to be alright.

He knew the older ghoul was not himself, but surely...

Reaching out with his hand to place it on the ghoul's shoulder, Sasaki was about to open his mouth to ask about Bushidō's well-being when a subtle movement stopped him cold, freezing the blood in his veins to ice.

With the small turn of the head, a single eye stared up at him. The ghoul's kakugan was active, the iris a blood-red with red veins in jagged patterns running across the now black sclera. Its gaze regarding him hungrily, as if he was a piece of meat...

Bushidō raged an internal war with is carnivorous desires, one that he knew he would ultimately lose if he stayed here any longer. The crescendo of whispers and the vividity of images that blossomed from the darkest corners of his consciousness threatened to drive him over the edge; so much so that he was drooling, but he would not be beaten. He would not go back, he would never go back...

The tense moment between the two was gone when Bushidō turned away and hobbled down the hallway, almost stumbling over his own feet as he progressed. Sasaki watched with bated breath, his senses heightened, his muscles tensed, waiting for the ghoul to leap and attack him.

Shirazu poked his head out of the bathroom to look down the darkened corridor, a confusion expression still plastered on his face as he watched Bushidō go.

Collapsing against the ornate door in an audible thud, Bushidō felt the wood creak and groan as he fiddled with the door lock with increasing anxiety. His hands were shaking, making it exceedingly more difficult to undo the locking mechanism. The ghoul bit down on the inside of his cheek with such force that it ripped a chunk of flesh right off, but the pain and the taste of rusted iron were not felt over the mounting frustration. With the last of his waning resolve, he willed his limbs to work properly and managed to unlock the door. Reeling back as he gripped the door handle, Bushidō swung it open with such force that it smacked violently into the opposing wall, the door handle lodging itself in the drywall, creating a hole.

The sound resonated through the dead quiet abode, but Bushidō couldn't hear it. Lunging forward, the ghoul catapulted himself out of the house, and in his desperation found himself sprawled out on the sidewalk.

Sasaki, a bit shocked with the overzealous show of force, squinted into the dead of night, watching as the ghoul seemed to quiver from his laid out position, then after a few moments slowly began to pick himself up. Once he was in a crouched stance, all movement from him ceased.

For several moments, there was not even a twitch from a muscle, a breath of exhaled air. There simply was only him and the black expanse of night.

Then, with inhuman speed, the ghoul leaped away into the folds of midnight, leaving both Shirazu and Sasaki wondering what they had just witnessed.

XxXxXx

A man gazed down at his prey with vicious excitement in his black eyes. His red irises watched the woman beneath his form as she cried hysterically, tears smearing her makeup leaving thick black trails from her eyes to her jawline, and her bleach-blonde dyed hair had become matted and stuck to the sides of her face. She was spouting useless pleas for her life that fell on deaf ears. Didn't the bitch know she was going to die? Serves her right for being out alone at this time of night.

With only the stars to illuminate, the ghoul's eyes shifted from his quarry' face to her bent and broken leg that, in the darkness of night, bleed inky dark fluid onto the concrete of the rooftop. It had been so easy to snap really, and the thought of breaking more of her bones brought indescribable pleasure. That power to dominate another was uncomparable.

The smell of blood only made the predator more excited, and he found it high time that he silenced her grating voice. Bending over slightly and extending his arm towards the woman's neck, he was too engrossed in his actions to realize the sudden attack that blew him across the rooftop, tumbling him into a mess of broken bones and ripped flesh.

The ghoul didn't even have time to register the pain, only the glint of something sinister against the starlight and a figure standing above him before his head caved-in with a bashing force so great that gray matter, brain, and pieces of skull fragments flew in all directions in an explosion of gore.

The figure chuckled at the sight and without further thought, bent down and began feasting on the dead ghoul; ripping muscles, bone, organs and skin with teeth and hand.

The disgusting scene caused the woman to gag, as the putrid aroma of guts was enough to make her puke. She could hear whispers coming from the person, they were faint but the woman could pick up on a few words.

"Tasty...more?...no, I can't...Am I a good boy?...remember, please...don't make me..."

Not being able to make sense of the garbled insanity, she began to slowly crawl away, dragging her useless broken leg with her. The pain was dulled by the rush of adrenaline and fear as she desperately attempted to flee.

"Hey," she heard the figure say, the tone of the masculine voice making her heart skip a beat. Or several.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The poor woman slowly turned her head towards the voice and saw, with the help of the light of a few stars, the fleeting glimpse of a wild mess of white hair.

"Please, I..."

The cannibal hushed her before saying; "Don't worry, you're next."

XxXxXx

Akira Mado was having a bad day. In fact, bad did not even come close to a powerful enough adjective to describe just how bad her day was going. Stacks, as in several stacks, of paperwork, making the final organizational touches for her teams in the upcoming auction raid that was just mere hours away, and worst of all, there has been no word since Haise's phone call this morning claiming there had been an "incident" involving a certain white-haired ghoul.

The woman reminded herself that any such incident tied to that man was undoubtedly going to grant her a migraine, so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

The blonde woman walked down the steps into the polished lobby of the CCG twentieth ward's branch office as afternoon light poured through the windows. With dossier of the details on the raid in one hand and her quinque suitcase in other, Akira had every intent to head to CCG's headquarters until she caught sight of a peculiar individual sitting in the back of the nearly empty waiting area.

The man, or what she assumed was a man, was sitting cross-legged in his chair with the daily newspaper obscuring his torso and face. She saw the person's glossy black dress shoe tapping the carpet briskly, almost seeming impatient.

What struck her the oddest were the few strands of white hair she could see over the top of the newspaper and Akira immediately recognized who it was.

A fierce scowl working its way onto her pretty face, Akira Mado stormed her way over, past the RC cell scanners and counters of the receptionist desks. As she came to a stop in front of the man, confirming that it was indeed Bushidō, Akira opened her mouth to demand an explanation only to be interrupted.

"Don't ask."

In response, the female ghoul investigator furrowed her eyebrows as she glared daggers down at the sitting ghoul, noting the pristine jet black suit he was wearing. To say his hair was a mess would be a gross euphemism

"Do you have any idea-"

"I said. Don't. Ask." Bushidō said, his voice almost a growl, as he titled his gaze from the paper to stare at her. Akira was taken aback at the sudden intensity of his aura, the hard stare he was giving her made her hair stand on end. Akira's grip on her suitcase tightened instinctively and after a moment, she spoke, choosing her words carefully.

"You...are extremely insufferable."

Her words seemed to sink in after a second, for his eyes softened a fraction as he turned back to the black text in front of him. "...Sorry, I had a rough night."

"Hmph, that's an understatement. I got a call from Sasaki saying that there had been an "incident", you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

The man groaned as he slapped the newspaper against his face in an almost childish manner; "I told you not-"

"-to ask." Akira finished for him, sighing at his stubbornness. Getting a two-week break from this man really wasn't long enough. Akira could feel an oncoming migraine...

Blinking out of her reprieve, the woman noticed that the ghoul had forgone his newspaper and was sifting through the contents of a manila folder, the very same folder that she was carrying just a few moments ago.

"W-What do you think you're doing!?" Akira exclaimed as she made a grab for the information. Alas, Bushidō was quicker, batting her attempts away with his free hand.

"Ah, ah, ah~" he said in a sing-song manner, almost unable to keep the snicker out of his voice. "Don't ask."

Oh, how badly she wanted to wring his neck.

"So you found the location of the auction?" Bushidō said, his playful demeanor evaporating as he observed the document in front of him.

Akira was not happy. At all. Her whole plan had gone out the window, and he had only been in her presence for a few minutes.

"...That's only an estimation, if the CCG are correct in the assumption of the scale of the auction then that address is the only place that it will be carried out at."

"And you didn't want to share this information with me, why?"

Akira stood up a little straighter as she looked down at the ghoul through hardened orbs; "You won't be coming with us."

Bushidō raised an eyebrow at her statement as his mouth flattened into a thin line. "You better have a fantastic explanation."

"You do not get to be angry about this. Due to your blatant disregard of my orders before the meeting two weeks ago, you have driven me and yourself into a corner. Even though Matsuri Washuu is a high-ranking CCG member and leader of squad two, he, among others, cannot know about the relationship that you and the CCG...share."

"Is this you trying to save face?"

"Hardly." Akira scoffed. "The integrity of the CCG is at stake and precautions must be taken."

The ghoul couldn't argue with that. He could foresee that if knowledge of his evolvement within the CCG became widespread...well he didn't want to imagine what would happen.

The absence of something caught the ghoul's attention and Bushidō tilted his head slightly to gaze past Akira's frame, seeing that a certain receptionist was missing from her post.

"She isn't here." he said to himself, the statement reaching the blonde woman's ears. The ghoul had been too preoccupied with being incognito to realize that Rio was absent.

"Don't try to change the subject." Akira hissed at him, growing increasingly irritated with his attitude. He would not weasel his way out of this one!

Abandoning the comfort of the chair, Bushidō stood up abruptly causing Akira to immediately take a step back. She noticed he was no longer looking at her, but behind her.

"Look, the girl isn't there." the ghoul told her, inclining his head toward the receptionist's desks, and extending his arm out to give the dossier back.

Akira, giving a withering glare for good measure before taking back what was rightfully hers, turned to see that he was right. The young woman who was usually in high spirits and sociable was indeed missing.

Strange. It wasn't like Rio to miss work at all, Akira knew she was a diligent worker. Something seemed off...

The ghoul left Akira behind as he sauntered off towards the occupied counter, his eyes darting to the on-duty receptionist, a middle-aged woman whose violet hair was kept in a loose messy bun. The woman was attractive, her face showing no signs of wrinkles or blemishes; her form slender but fit. It dawned on him then that this person was the same receptionist that was working alongside Rio the day he first approached the CCG. This wasn't going to go well...

The woman was unaware of the approach as she was filtering through paperwork, but looked up when he stepped up to the counter.

"Yes, what can I help-" The receptionist began, only to look mortified at the person standing in front of her.

"Where is she?" The ghoul asked as he pointed to the empty spot where Rio was supposed to be, not even batting an eye at the woman's expression.

She moved to press the emergency alarm under her desk, only for Akira to swiftly swoop in with an authoritative "Don't" as she appeared next to Bushido.

"Would you stop giving me that look? If you keep looking angry all the time it might just stay that way." he complained when Akira shot him a menacing glare.

Ignoring him completely, Akira reassured the older woman that the man was not a threat.

"He's just..." Akira said, pausing to find the right word for a description. The ghoul raised his brow as he watched her with curiosity.

"...unusual."

Bushidō chuckled to himself at her tone, he could feel the enmity drip from the words but he kept himself quiet. When the receptionist calmed down, they found that Rio hadn't shown up for work and that her mother had just called a few hours ago wondering about her location.

"If I recall properly, she said last night that she was going to a friend's house..."

"Did she say where?"

"I believe she mentioned it was near that popular tonkatsu* restaurant in the 13th ward."

At the mention of the notorious ward both Akria and Bushidō thought's immediately came to the same conclusion.

The ghoul swore under his breath as he rolled his shoulders in apprehension, causing the middle-aged woman to look at him in alarm. "What? What's wrong?!"

"That's...where a certain ghoul has been kidnapping victims. If she went out late at night..." Akira let her words hang in the air, the unfinished sentence defining more than words ever could.

"Oh no..." the receptionist said, a look of horror etched into features. "I told her not to go alone!"

Akira knew this complicated things, now the CCG most likely had three of its members that would be attending the auction as merchandise.

"Well...I'll be going." The ghoul announced, heading for the transparent glass doors that depicted the setting sun, the light emanating a myriad of dark red, orange, yellow colors against the backdrop of buildings and skyscrapers.

"I don't think so..." the female First Class investigator hissed as she followed his trail, leaving the older woman to her worries.

Akira managed to catch up to him just as he reached the entrance, her wrath apparent in her posture, her expression just as minacious.

"Have you been listening to anything I have said?"

"Sure. I just have to make sure I am not recognized. Besides, you said it yourself. I should apologize to her, shouldn't I?"

She didn't respond, for the dark color of blood in a patch of his bleach-color hair caught her eye.

XxXxXx

It had been the trick of the light, really. If it was a sign from a higher power or merely the geometry of the sunlight reflecting into his eye, Bushidō wouldn't know. However, what he did know was the owner of the hairpin that was sitting in the palm of his hand.

He knew the girl had two of these in her hair, no doubt they were some sort of gift due to its extravagant design. One-half of a butterfly, now tarnished and chipped.

There was no mistaking the connection of the upcoming auction, Nutcracker's abductions, and Rio disappearance. It all added up too perfectly to be mere coincidence.

The reddish-white orbs of the ghoul veered from the accessory in his palm to the sunset, its zenith just visible from the tips of the rooftops. Night would be coming for Tokyo soon, if he hurried to the address he might be able to make it before the auction starts...

An almost sinister wind ripped through the street, blowing against his frame and setting his hair into a tangled mess of ivory. That location was only an assumption and Bushidō knew this. Too many variables. Not enough time to solve the problem. He needed information and if anyone had information on the largest human trafficking ring of the ghoul underground it would be...

'Itori...' Bushidō thought as his hand clamped around Rio's hairpin. It would seem he needed to pay a visit to that damned woman. Just great.

A.N. Don't forget to leave a review!

*Tonkatsu*- Is a Japanese food which consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet.