Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Humans are thought to be at the top of the food chain. But there are beings who hunt them as food. These monsters who feed on the dead flesh of humans, they are called... ghouls.

The doctor took off his gloves, the operation having been successful. He looked back at his patient one last time before exiting the room.

“How did it go?”

“It went well,” he replied. “She'll need immunosuppressants. She won’t be hungry for a while, so only water for at least six hours. Don't feed her for a few days and then let her meet her donor. Let's see how it goes.”

The other man nodded and the doctor walked off to his room to get some much-needed sleep.

In the operation room, the woman opened her eyes, one human and one ghoul red, and gratefully took the offered glass of water, not yet realising what had been done to her.

In the nearby room, a young man lay on his bed fast asleep, feeling empty even in his dreams, not knowing that his days were numbered.

That night, one gained power while the other lost it, power transferred, power traded. It was an abomination that never should have been allowed.

They suffered for it.

★

The simple truth was that ghouls were not supposed to lose their kagune, were not supposed to lose the only thing they knew, the only thing they had to defend themselves with. They were not meant to acquire human taste.

The truth was that humans were not meant to be transformed, to be forced to become something they're not. They were not supposed to acquire inhuman powers that they didn't know to appreciate.

Neither knew to survive such drastic transformations, anyway.

The ghouls, or the used-to-be-ghouls, the ghoul-turned-humans; they adapted quickly enough, given that they could now enjoy the exquisite taste of everyday food, but most found out the hard way that their body was not as strong or unrelenting as it used to be. They resented the new change.

(They didn't live long enough to learn to accept it.)

The humans, on the other hand, suffered. They had gained a new power, but in its stead, they lost something precious to them, something they had taken for granted, something they now had no hope of ever getting back. They could no longer enjoy life peacefully, they lost their relative safety in society, and although they moved up in the food chain, they could no longer mingle with their loved ones. Human priorities vary, but most would cherish their love and life over the power to kill and devour.

One reason the half-ghouls never survived was that they did not know how to live without the comforts they had grown up with.

Another reason was that most of them refused to consume humans as food, because of their useless morals.

And the truest reason was that humans were simply not meant to be turned, not meant to be given such a gift. They knew not to appreciate it, and they knew not to accept it.

This was what the Prometheus Association believed. They were simple-minded, some might say, that they did not acknowledge the purely biological fact that the human body just could not accept the sudden changes thrust upon it that the new organ, called kagune, brought on, especially in such an environment as the Association had.

They decayed, and were blamed for their inferiority.

That was the current topic of discussion as the members of the guild sat around a round table.

“What do we do, Makoto-kun? It doesn’t seem to be working. We had hoped, after that first one, but all three after that have disappointed.”

“We will not give up,” Makoto Sano, the leader of the Prometheus Association, said. “We will continue.”

The other members traded glances.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," said their resident psychologist, Kaito Nakai. “Perhaps we should do more research—”

“We have already done enough research,” Makoto snarled, and the others flinched.

Ayumi Hana, the one in charge of creating fake documents, shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, but don't you think you're deluding yourselves? I don’t claim to know the details of your project, but if you’re relying on luck, my advice would be to be more thorough."

The others nodded.

Makoto stared her down. “And if I refuse?”

She smiled. “Shall we get it down to a vote? Your choices are: continue as we have been doing, or close this project indefinitely until we are confident about the procedure and the most likely results.”

Makoto was the only one who voted for continuing, and the others glared at him fiercely when he opened his mouth with a scowl on his face.

★

Four Years Later

“Prepare the next patient,” the doctor spoke up after a pause. "And get Shubuimaru ready"

That night, one gained power while the other lost it, power transferred, power traded. It was an abomination that never should have been allowed.

Five hours later, Light Yagami opened his eyes, one human, and one blood red.

A ghoul can only feed on humans and other ghouls. They are unable to digest any other type of food due to a particular enzyme their bodies produce. The structure of their tongues is also different from that of humans, making other foods taste disgusting and uncomfortable. If ghouls attempt to eat normal food, they will be struck by a powerful urge to vomit. When forced to digest such food, their physical condition will deteriorate. While ghouls cannot eat normal food, they are, however, able to drink coffee (and eat the beans), as well as regular drinking water.

A ghoul, when in hunger or by choice, can make their eyes become red in colour. Usually, both eyes of a ghoul become red, but in some cases, like in a half-ghoul, only one eye does.

Chapter Text

The Commission of Counter Ghoul, abbreviated as CCG, is a federal agency that serves as a criminal investigative body in cases connected to ghouls. The ghoul investigators, dubbed "Doves" by the ghouls, carry out the actual investigations and capture suspects. Only Doves are permitted to be armed with quinques, a weapon manufactured from a ghoul's kakuhou.

As it is manufactured from a ghoul's own Rc cells, it is uniquely capable of injuring ghouls. The level of injury that a quinque can inflict is dependent on the strength of the ghoul from which it was extracted.

It was by now a given that humans who were given the kakuhou of a ghoul did poorly. They had to be forced to eat human meat and insisted on trying every "normal" food item they could think of. They drowned in despair and loss and self-pity. They succumbed to depression and refused to get better.

That was why it was a surprise when Light Yagami thrived in his new life.

He was the newest experiment, and Kaito Nakai was present when he opened his eyes after the operation. He stayed by his patient's side, he catered to his needs, and he was gentle with him. He told him (kindly, in the way a friend might do) what had been done to him, and Light Yagami, or Subject-19 as he was named, took it all in stride, with only two breakdowns so far, which was a record for the Shuzenkai.

He was the first of the experiments to accept his fate.

(Kaito Nakai also forbade the others from referring to him as "Subject-19" in his presence, as he had for the last fourteen Subjects or so, and he thought that had a lot to do with Light's acceptance of himself, though he couldn’t say why it worked on Yagami but not the previous thirteen.)

Still, they did not expect his meekness to last. It was probably shock, they decided, and he would soon disappoint them as well. And they were surprised yet again when, after a week and then two, he still expressed no signs of breaking and learned everything he could about ghouls on top of what he already knew from his previous life as a human.

So they taught Subject-19 all about ghouls, what he had to do to survive, how to mingle with humans, how to choose his meals, and how to avert suspicion. They taught him all about the different wards and the ghoul and Dove activities there. They warned him about the Doves, the CCG, and got him a new mask.

It resembled a human face, with narrow eyes and red irises and slits for pupils, so that he could still see when he put it on. It had a fixed smile that was so obviously false and yet appealing in its falsity. Light’s hair framed the mask when he put it on, making it seem like it was his real face, and turning his head this way and that in front of the mirror, he smiled in satisfaction behind the resin surface.

Light Yagami was very soon a favourite of all the staff, not that there was anyone else to compete for the spot.

When he was finally discharged two weeks after the operation, he was given an “aid” to help him during the first few weeks of being a ghoul. He never got to see what the man looked like behind the mask, and the members of the Shuzenkai introduced him as Kurou, meaning ‘black’; the CCG had dubbed him that because he had a plain, faceless, black mask and dressed in all-black whenever he hunted.

His mentor, Ryuji Kawabata, had been training him in combat, saying that if the Doves ever cornered him, he would have to fight his way out and that he most likely wouldn't have any help because ghouls cared more about saving their own hide. Light couldn’t possibly know if this was true, so he went along with it.

One thing that irked him was that he hadn’t been able to coax out his kagune yet, but his sensei said that he would nail it in a few weeks if he just kept practising. Light bristled internally whenever he saw him after that condescension for a few days.

But now, he couldn’t contain his excitement to finally be out there in the real world because while he knew how to do everything in theory, he'd also never been given the chance to hunt his own food, to return to his former world and see it through new eyes, eyes of a hunted hunter.

"Do not do anything reckless, Yagami." Kawabata-sensei sounded stern, but Light knew he cared. He was a ghoul, and ghouls— well, they didn't look after each other, but they didn't actively sabotage each other's survival. At least, when you didn't enter another ghoul's territory. And as long as there wasn't a Dove within scent. "Don’t go hunting on your own for the first few times. Get used to it first. Keep a level head and listen to Kurou."

Light nodded. "Of course, sensei."

And then it was time to leave. As they drove to Kanto, Light looked back one last time, just before the Shuzenkai disappeared from sight.

When they arrived at Light’s apartment, he took a deep breath before climbing out of the car, keys clutched in one hand and the other fiddling with his tie, a bag handed to him by his… companion? Mentor? …Babysitter?

"See you Friday, then," Kurou nodded to him through the sunglasses and high collar coat hiding his face, and Light nodded back. He watched as the car crawled away, leaving him alone in front of the house and surrounded by people. Humans.

All at once, he became very aware that he was a ghoul. He was a ghoul in human habitat, in enemy territory. Feeling exposed and increasingly vulnerable all of a sudden, he retreated into the apartment and set about unpacking his small bag. He couldn’t help feeling that even if he liked the Shuzenkai, he felt more at home here in his familiar place.

Someone had sprayed thick perfume everywhere. Normally, Light would wrinkle his nose, would hate it, but he was glad not to smell the tantalising smell of humans; thank you, whoever sprayed scent in his apartment.

He took out a special phone Kawabata-sensei had given him for Ghoul Purposes Only ("in case of emergencies, I'm on speed dial"), some new clothes he’d bought on the way, and some books picked up from the small library at the Shuzenkai. He took the envelope last of all, pausing before putting it back into the backpack; he would need it now.

He wandered to his room to fix up his wardrobe, rearranged the pillows on his bed so that they formed a nest of sorts, and collapsed backwards onto the hard mattress. He’d get used to it pretty soon.

Only then did he allow himself to think about what had happened.

He thought back to the night he was taken, a blur of fear and limbs lashing out, of something fleshy and red striking him in the head. He remembered waking up in an operating room, feeling the sharp claws of hunger. He remembered the man he’d devoured—the first meal of his new life. His name had been Takuo Shibuimaru, he’d been told, and he remembered being led to a (his) new room and catching sight of his own bloodied form in the mirror. He was not proud to have fainted.

The next day, Kaito-san had explained to him that he was now a human-ghoul, and he’d had a breakdown. He was not proud of that, either. But he resolved that this wouldn’t break him, and so far, nothing had. He wouldn’t let a measly species change bring him down.

Compartmentalising got tiring when he couldn't dissect his thoughts in regular intervals. Now, he was free to think his thoughts, be himself, as much as he could be. His parents, his mother in particular, would no doubt want to smother him with worry when he showed up after almost a month of his disappearing act, and he needed to be prepared, mentally and physically.

His cover story had already been put together weeks earlier, and he sighed tiredly and got up from the comfortable mattress to practise in front of the mirror.

He knew pretending to be human was going to be hard, but he would overcome every problem along the way to retain as much of his old life as he could. He had help from the Shuzenkai, and Kurou would guide him. He just had to be careful not to give anything away, especially not the fact that he was trying not to give something away.

His father would be the hardest to fool, and not only because he was close enough to Light to know his tells. Light was painfully reminded of his profession every time he thought about him now. Most ghouls dismissed him because he was quick to anger, righteous, and comparatively old, easily forgetting that older equalled more experience. Light was not going to make that mistake.

His father was, after all, the chief of the NPA for a reason.

★

Sayu was in the kitchen setting up plates for the cake he’d bought before coming here. He could hear her muttering under her breath as she exited the kitchen and approached them, holding two plates and balancing two more on her forearms.

“You got hit in the head?” Soichirou was asking with a worried frown. “By a car thief?”

Light sighed. “Yes, Dad.”

“But why didn’t you call us?” his mother asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Mom. My phone was in the car. I called from the hospital as soon as the nurse let me.”

He'd given them the fake prescription for when he'd allegedly stayed at the hospital. The Shuzenkai had an agent there—a nurse who would stick to his story. He'd been told it was a place he could trust if he needed medical help. It was a safe place for ghouls. He'd never known just how much influence ghouls had in the human world.

Light blinked, coming back to the present. His father was nodding and then shook his head, moving to hug Light for the third time. “I’m glad you’re okay. We were worried,” he murmured as he let go.

“We’ll have to brush up on those defence lessons if you were taken down by a measly car thief,” his mother said, her eyes crinkling.

Light smiled. God, was he glad to see them again. He accepted his plate of cake from Sayu, and they sat down, Sayu close enough to lean on him.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright, Light?” his mother asked, turning from teasing to anxious in a second. “You ought to stay here for a week or two.”

Sayu nodded enthusiastically. “We could catch up! Did you know there’s a new Haruka Kibo movie out tomorrow?”

He chuckled, opened his mouth to decline politely, then closed it again as he considered. No one had explicitly forbidden him from interacting with his family, had they?

“Well, I'm not paying for the popcorn," he smirked at Sayu, and winced at the instant onslaught of happy squealing.

★

He spent the next week with his family, cooking with his mom, watching whatever was on TV with Sayu, and chatting about little things with his family during dinner when his father came home. Kuro had not been happy when he cancelled what was supposed to be their first meeting since Light integrated into society after becoming a ghoul, but Light didn't care. He promised to meet up on Sunday to make up for it.

Cooking as a hobby was something he'd missed at the Shuzenkai as well. While there, it wasn't necessary to eat normal food, and he hadn't had time for cooking anyway, among training with Kawabata-sensei, reading up on ghouls, sitting for what he thought were supposed to be therapy sessions with Kaito-san, reading some more, trying to coax out his kagune, and by the time he was free, it was late evening, and he fell into an exhausted sleep.

But when he cooked with his mom, he could feel it again, the ease with which they worked together. He'd learned to cook pretty young, and it was still one of his favourite things to spend time on, even if he couldn't enjoy the taste anymore.

So to make up for it, he cooked up his and Sayu's favourite dishes, watching with fondness as she exclaimed over them in delight, while he pretended to chew the food and swallowed the tasteless dribble. It worked if he didn't chew it, as the taste didn't register that way. He knew from the times he would practice chewing that he could control his facial expressions pretty well, but he wasn't all that eager to put it to the test with his family.

He threw up after every meal or so, and so far, no one had noticed. He suspected it wasn't just a biological response but also a psychological one. He could feel the resentment and fear at times, threatening to burn him to his core, to consume him entirely.

It tried to burn him, so he drowned it with anger and sometimes tears. If that didn't work, he froze it with ice-cold determination. He would not be defeated by this.

When a ghoul enters an extreme state of hunger, they will suffer very painful headaches, and their mental ability will be impaired, causing them to become driven by instinct alone. They will feed on any available source of human meat to end this state.

Light had taken the week off for recovery, but he had to go back to work the next day now that the week was up. It had been three weeks since he’d last eaten, and he couldn’t risk going to work with even a slight chance that he would grow hungry during work.

He sighed, staring at the ceiling from the couch in his apartment.

His phone pinged. He glanced at the message — a simple "I'm here," from Kurou — before getting up to open the door.

The older ghoul stood on the other side, carrying a small bag. His face was once again hidden by his high collar and sunglasses.

“Have you got your mask?” he asked, striding inside.

“Yeah,” Light answered, going into his room and coming back with his mask in his hand.

Kurou himself stood with his blank black face, and Light looked away, feeling just a bit uncomfortable. He could see why this man—this ghoul—was so feared. Even just standing in Light’s living room, he gave off an aura of power and confidence.

“This is your first hunt,” Kurou said. “And you must do exactly as I say. You’re still not experienced, so we’ll not be killing humans. We’ll be searching for dead humans.”

"Won't people see you with your mask if you put it on right away?" he asked, and Kurou shook his head.

"There's no one out right now."

Light nodded hesitantly and followed Kurou out of his apartment, locking the door behind him. Kurou led him to his car, and they kept silent during the drive to wherever they were going. They drove for about an hour and a half, and Light blinked when he saw where they’d come.

Everyone knew about Aokigahara Forest, also called the Sea of Trees. It was a famous spot for suicides and murders. Light’s father often complained about kidnappers leaving the kidnapped in the forest to die after getting the ransom. Light’s head swivelled around to face Kurou.

“Your first time, you’ve got to be careful,” he started. “No one goes hunting their first time, got it? We’re going to search for dead bodies here. Fresh ones taste the best, but it’s okay even if it’s a day or two old.”

Some small part of Light couldn’t quite believe he was having this conversation. The other parts rolled their eyes and told the smaller part to get used to it. “Okay,” he said.

“Put your mask on. You never know where those Doves will be lurking." He waited until Light had done as told before walking ahead and gesturing for him to follow.

They trekked through the forest, stepping around root clumps and avoiding patches of slimy green that Light was certain would slip him up. They must have been walking for about twenty minutes when his nose twitched. Something smelled delicious, and he swallowed down the saliva filling his mouth.

Kurou touched his arm lightly, gesturing to stay behind him, and Light realised that whatever he was smelling was alive. He noticed that Kurou had his mask in his hand now and followed suit.

They crept forward silently until they came upon a small girl leaning her back against a tree, knees hugged to her chest. She couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, and Light heard small sniffles coming from her direction. She was bleeding from her left arm, a nasty gash that had already begun to close.

The two of them stopped, and the girl looked up. Short black hair surrounded a round face, with brown eyes that were bright enough to catch the remaining sunlight. She stared at them for a few seconds before speaking. “Who’re you? Have you come to save me?”

Kurou approached the girl slowly and asked, “Why are you here, child?”

She sniffed. “I got lost. I swear I won’t ever disobey Mama again. Will you take me back?”

Light stood still, unable to do anything, as Kurou swiped out with his arm quickly, and the next moment, the girl was dead. Blood splattered on the muddy ground. Kurou donned his mask once more and gestured for him to come forward.

“Easy meal,” he said. “It’s only been three weeks since you last ate, so a little girl ought to be enough for you. Enjoy. I’ll be right back.”

And then he was gone. Light stared down at the empty eyes of the girl, still reflecting the light, wide and glassy now. He expected to feel repulsed. Disgusted with himself.

He didn't.

He knelt beside the body and tore through its intestines.

★

Later, as he lay in bed curled on his side, he wanted to feel bad for what he’d done. She’d just been a little girl, in the wrong place at the wrong time. A mother would now never get to hold her daughter again. A brother or sister might have become an only child.

He wanted to feel guilty for what he'd done. After all, he ought to.

He felt nothing.

It wasn't like he hadn't had his fair share of trauma. Getting kidnapped and waking up to find that you're now a ghoul would fuck anyone up. He was just doing what was necessary in order to survive. He wished that they'd found a dead body for him too, if only so he wouldn't be having wanna-be guilty thoughts this early. What he ought to feel versus what he didn't feel.

Regardless of what he did or didn't feel, his stomach felt full, and that thought repeated in his head endlessly until he fell asleep.

Masks are worn by ghouls to prevent their identities as "humans" from being discovered by the CCG. Several masks bear a symbolic attachment or representation to their owner. They heavily influence the aliases of some ghouls filed by the CCG.

Chapter Text

A kagune is a ghoul's predatory organ, used as a weapon and claw. It is usually red as blood, flexible, and sturdy, and when released, strengthens the ghoul's physique, resilience, and mobility. It is made of Rc cells, which flow just like blood and can become as solid as teeth. There are four types of kagune based on the type of Rc cells possessed by the ghoul, viz., ukaku (feather), koukaku (shell), rinkaku (scale), and bikaku (tail).

Being around humans (who were not his family) was a wholly different experience when he was no longer human.

He walked to work, wanting to stretch his legs a little. When he arrived at the NPA, though, he had to stop short. His breath hitched. He forced his legs forward, made himself walk, step by step, made his face relax, raised his hand to wave at the man sitting at the desk.

It was like smelling some delicious food and wanting to stop right there and give in to the temptation but forcing himself not to act on the thought because… well. Social cues. Do not eat people at work.

He could smell them all and at first, it was almost too much and too sudden, though he managed to block it out with some effort. He figured he'd get used to it.

Still, he was initially overwhelmed by the different scents he picked up from different people, of rain, or something distinctly spicy, or strawberry shampoo. The most common one was, he decided with a grimace, of dripping sweat from almost every person in the building, which was almost tangible and not at all surprising given that the day shift was over and most of them had been running around all day for one case or the other.

It was when he was leaving the building himself that he first knew something was not quite right. He stopped, confused, and looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong. He quickly concluded it was a smell again and subtly sniffed. And oh wow.

There was a ghoul here. Here, at the NPA.

He turned around frantically, following his nose, and locked eyes with one of the receptionists.

He didn't know her name but knew that she worked the night shift. She was rather pretty, he supposed, with hair dyed a pale violet, dark grey eyes, a slightly snubbed nose, and a serious face. Her eyes didn’t waver from his. He swallowed before walking over to her.

"Hello," he said awkwardly. He'd never talked to another ghoul outside of the Shuzenkai and Kurou, and he wondered if there was any ghoul etiquette to follow. Wondered why he hadn't thought to do it earlier. He promised himself he'd look it up soon. "I'm Light Yagami."

"Hello," she replied politely. "I'm Remu Omoiyari. Call me Rem, though."

"Rem," he repeated. "Uh, I was just… I mean…"

How do you tell someone they don't smell human?

"You are different now," she said. "After your unfortunate accident."

He stared. Well. Of course. He wouldn’t smell human either.

"Y-yeah," he managed. "Yeah, it, uh, changed me."

She nodded. "Do you want to meet for coffee?"

Well, that was abrupt, but at least Light was saved the trouble of coming up with a socially acceptable invite for a stranger. He supposed he could've just asked her out on a "date," but these ideas only came after the problem was solved.

"Sure," he said.

"I know a lovely place," she said.

★

The two of them sat at a table at the back of Kiyo no Teru Kafe.

The owner was a woman called Kiyomi, and the manager was Teru. Rem told Light that the two were dating and that Kiyomi was filthy rich. She told him that they were both ghouls. She also told him that this hotel served only ghoul customers.

This was a safe place for ghouls to take residence in, if they had nowhere to live or if the Doves managed to become aware of their identities. There were currently three rooms occupied, and the restaurant part was empty.

It was aptly named, Light thought. Kiyo no Teru. It meant "brilliant contribution," and though he thought they should add an "if we do say so ourselves," he also knew it was a brilliant contribution.

“What do they do if human customers come here?” he asked curiously.

“Humans don’t know this place even exists. We're in ghoul territory, Light. Not one human has set foot in this area, maybe in a fifty-mile radius, in years.” She paused to look at him, and he could see the unspoken 'except you' hanging in her pale eyes.

Light shifted under her threatening gaze. “I’m not human. Not completely,” he said. “I’m half-ghoul.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “How did that happen?”

It would be a bad idea to say that he didn’t know if he was allowed to say that, wouldn’t it? Funny, that none of them back at the Shuzenkai had said anything about secrecy. “I don’t know how it happened. But I’m half-ghoul. Half-human.”

“Interesting.” She still wasn’t looking away, and Light thought she was terrifying as fuck.

“Listen, I don’t know what your problem is, but can you stop looking at me like you’re gonna kill me any second?”

Rem’s lips quirked up, but she was still eyeing him warily. “Don’t take it personally. I’m slow to trust.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me, I’m just asking you to stop eyeing me like I’m dinner!”

She laughed this time. “You realise you smell delicious, don't you?”

Light bristled. “What do you think you're—”

“Don’t worry,” she interrupted. “I won’t kill you.”

Light breathed in deeply and held it for a few seconds before exhaling.

“You should visit the local monthly ghoul gathering,” Rem ordered. “I’ll text you the location when it’s decided.”

“But you don’t have my number?”

Rem raised an eyebrow. “What are you waiting for?”

★

As soon as he was back at his apartment, Light texted Kurou.

So, i heard there's a local ghoul gathering?

Not really. They only meet when a newbie
needs to be introduced.

She said it was monthly.

Whoever it was lied. Who invited you?

Remu omoiyari

Traditional ghoul.

You should accept the invitation. It'll be
helpful if you have other ghoul acquaintances.

👍

★

L sighed in relief.

The kids were all bundled in the car, ready to drive to Naomi's. Soon, there would be peace and tranquillity.

"Take care, Quillsh," L said.

"Of course, L," Quillsh replied.

L looked in through the passenger side window. "Don't get into too many fights, okay, boys? Naomi will likely be out shopping when you arrive. Quillsh has the keys. Let's not have a repeat of last month's incident."

"We apologised," Matt said, rolling his eyes. "And it's been so long, forget it already, L."

"I cannot," L said simply. "Be safe, you three, and Matt, Mello, don't forget to use protection."

Matt, as always, just laughed, while Mello, as always, went red and scowled.

"You're not my dad."

"Mello, don't be rude to my father," Near said flatly.

"You shut your mouth," Mello said harshly.

"Boys," Quillsh said jovially.

They immediately shut up and looked chastened.

Why can't I do that?, L thought, slouching further, annoyed at his lack of authority in this household.

Soon enough, the car was pulling out of the driveway. L went back inside once it vanished from sight and got more work in the next three hours than he had in the last three days. He couldn't wait until the kids were finally cleared to enter the field with him. They were more than competent enough.

He got stiff after a while, and after getting a piece of cake from the fridge and sitting back down, he decided to get on with another case. He had nothing else to do until Quillsh was back, anyway.

He tucked his legs up and looked over the case. A ghoul in Japan was denying that she was a ghoul. The authorities told him that she'd been caught at the scene, but that there wasn't any proof. Looking at it, L was sure that the girl was the culprit. She was very clearly guilty.

He frowned. The Rc scan had revealed that she was human. It was simply baffling.

In the end, they'd had no choice but to let her go. She hadn't been spotted since then, which in itself was suspicious, especially as she was a famous model.

That had been almost a week ago. But L couldn't stop thinking about it. He knew there was something he was missing, but he hadn't been able to focus. He sat in front of the screen for another hour, thinking over every possibility.

By the end of the day, he was no closer to an answer.

★

"Why are you drinking coffee?"

Sayu was looking at him weirdly.

"What?" he said. "I'm not allowed to drink coffee now?"

"But you always drink tea," Sayu said, clearly confused. "Now there isn't a single tea bag in your kitchen."

Light sat up and looked at his sister mock-seriously. "Did you know that our taste buds change every seven years? My taste buds changed, too." He leaned back and shrugged. "I read that the more we are exposed to a food, the duller the flavours can get, and going without for a while can reset that. So I decided I'll go without tea for a while."

What he'd said was only true for human taste buds. How nice it would be if a ghoul's taste buds changed every two weeks. They would be able to eat something other than human flesh. He missed pizza. And ice cream.

"But you just threw away all your tea so suddenly?" Sayu was frowning. "And since when do you like your coffee black? It's almost like your tongue underwent a taste bud surgery or something when you were in the hospital. You didn't even have any tea while you stayed with mom and dad."

The word surgery struck panic in him, but he forced himself to calm down. This was getting irrational. Although... He smiled a little. Sayu could sure be perceptive when she wanted, though he doubted she realised it herself.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be absurd."

"But there isn't a single tea bag here!" She was pouting now. "I like tea. You could've kept them for me."

"I'll buy some more," he promised her. "Though I don't see why. You don't even live here."

Sayu threw a cushion at him.

They watched a TV show that afternoon, bingeing a whole season. Light was filled with nostalgia, thinking of the times he used to watch Amane Misa's movies with his sister. Sayu had had a celebrity crush on Amane, and Light remembered teasing her about it constantly.

"Are you still obsessed over Misa Amane?" he asked her.

She looked over at him in surprise. "No, I'm not, and also, funny you should ask. She hasn't performed in ages now. Last week, she was accused of being a ghoul by the CCG, but they had to let her go. Her Rc cells were apparently decidedly human."

Light frowned. "Amane Misa, a ghoul? I think someone would've noticed if that was true."

Sayu shrugged. "The CCG are losing their touch. Yuri says a lot of ghouls, and a lot of humans, just disappeared recently, but that the CCG were not the ones to catch the ghouls. They couldn't find the civilians anywhere either. Her father complains about it a lot. It's a mystery they can't solve, apparently."

"Cannibalism?" Light wondered. "Maybe someone outside of the CCG is killing ghouls, a vigilante group? Maybe there's a serial killer around."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Either way, no one knows anything."

"Weird," he murmured.

"Though I really don't think the serial killer theory makes sense," she added. "Serial killers leave the bodies behind, don't they?"

Light hummed, internally proud. Sayu would make a good detective.

They went back to the TV show as the advertisement ended. When Sayu waved goodbye that evening, he was smiling again and promising her that he would definitely buy more tea before her next visit.

★

He received a call three days later. It was from what he'd dubbed his Ghoul Phone. He swiped to accept. "Hello?"

"Light," Kawabata-sensei's voice greeted him. "How are you doing?"

He grinned. "Pretty well, sensei. Kurou's been very helpful. I got invited to the local ghoul gathering too, did he tell you?"

"He did." His teacher sounded amused. "I'm glad you're enthusiastic about all this, Light. Now, the reason I called is that we performed another… operation, on a human."

"Like with me?" Light asked.

"Yes. She's… not good. She escaped a few days after the operation and got caught, but it's all okay now. The thing is, we thought it would be very helpful if she talked to someone like herself, someone who underwent the same thing. What do you say?"

Light was silent for a second as he processed that. "She was captured by the CCG?"

"Yes, but she's free now," Kawabata-sensei assured him.

"How did she escape?" From the CCG? From the Shuzenkai?

"I think it's better if we talk after you come here, Light," came the response, and Light frowned.

"I have a job, sensei, I can't just come over whenever. Give me until the weekend."

A sigh on the other end. "Very well. Kurou will drive you on Saturday, as early as you can, okay?"

"Alright," he said and ended the call.

So much for having a free choice, he thought. But he had to admit he was curious. How did the girl, woman, whoever she was, escape the CCG?

Sayu's words came back to his mind. Last week, she was accused of being a ghoul by the CCG, but they had to let her go. Her Rc cells were apparently decidedly human.

Could it really be…?

He shook his head, going back to the book he was reading. Part One in the Ghouls series, and he couldn’t help thinking that the name was mysterious enough to attract attention. He’d first thought it was a fiction series, but when he opened the book, snagged by the cover portraying two luminous red eyes staring out of nothing, he’d been surprised to find that it was something resembling ghoul history and before he knew it, he was fifty pages in and an employee was telling him to either buy the book or keep it back on the shelf, please.

When he’d shown his discovery to Kurou, he told him it was written by a human—Ryuzaki, which was undoubtedly an alias. The man had been interviewed once, it seemed, and after watching the video of the interview, Light concluded thst he was as weird as they came.

Now, he was almost at the end of chapter eight, and as he turned page after page, his fascination with the author grew. The descriptions, the portrayal of ghouls, the quality of writing... but more than anything else, it was the pure ingeniousness of the author and the depiction of such realistic problems within the ghoul society that intrigued him. He was pretty sure most of these problems did exist within the ghoul communities that humans were ignorant of.

Which was the main point. Humans didn't know about those.

So how did this one, Ryuzaki, know so much about ghouls and their internal conflicts?

The Rc (Red children) factor is a measure of the amount of Rc cells (cells that form into a kagune) in the body of a living being. The average healthy human has an Rc factor of about 200 to 500, while a ghoul has an Rc factor of about 1000 to 8000. If a normal human receives an excessive amount of Rc cells, they will start to develop ghoul-like characteristics and eventually not be able to consume human food.

The Rc Scan Gate is a security device used to measure the level of the RC cells of each individual who passes through it. It is used to detect and identify a ghoul, should one attempt to enter the secured area.

Chapter Text

"Surrender."

Aiber was breathing hard, worn out from the long battle; yet his eyes were defiant and determined, a death wish though it was to show it.

"You cannot win."

He swallowed with difficulty. He knew he couldn't fucking win. He didn't stand a chance against the world's greatest Dove, the only one with a hundred per cent success rate in his missions and the highest kill count. L Lawliet and his kill fucking count was more than that of all the ghouls in the ward conbined.

"I propose a deal."

Propose a— what?

"What do you mean?" he spat out.

The Dove tilted his head to the side and smiled blankly. It sent chills down his spine.

"I will let you live, under certain conditions."

"What conditions?" Aiber asked warily. Was he going to conduct experiments on him or something?

L smiled wider. "Why don't we discuss this over some coffee?"

Aiber snorted. "Don't say that just because I'm a ghoul. I know you British folk like your tea."

L didn't respond, simply staring at him. Waiting.

"Fine," he muttered. "Coffee."

A kakuhou is a sac-like organ that is only present in ghouls. It stores Rc cells, which are absorbed by the ghoul for nutrition. The Rc cells released from the kakuhou form the kagune. A damaged Kakuhou can not form a kagune until it has healed.

Light sighed as he glanced at his watch again.

Work had dragged on unexpectedly, and Sayu had said she was visiting. He hoped she’d brought the spare key he’d given her to let herself in, because he was definitely going to be late.

His phone pinged. He unlocked it to see a message from an unknown number.

Hello, Light. This is Rem. The Meeting will be held
on Thursday at 10 p.m. Make sure to be there.

[ Location ]

He sent an ‘okay’ as a reply and saved the number before pocketing his phone again and walking on. Sayu was going to be insufferable if he was more than ten minutes late.

★

“Come out, Miss Amane,” came the voice again.

Misa shook her head and burrowed her head deeper into her knees.

“Please,” the man said, knocking louder. “We need you to meet someone. It’s important, you can go back to your room after this.”

“Go away,” she said loudly.

There was silence for a short second before the man sighed and left, his footsteps echoing through the passageway.

Misa laid back on the bad and let herself slump. She’d been here in ‘her’ room for two days now and had refused to come out. They’d asked her to come out plenty of times and she’d always ignored them, but she knew they’d get her out of this room if they had to drag her out.

She shook her head again. She had to think quickly. Concentrate. She had to get out of there. If she could do it once, she could do it again.

★

The next time, it was a woman.

“Hello, Misa. I’m Rem. My men are telling me you’re refusing to come out of your room.” There was a slight pause and a rustling. “That’s okay. You don’t have to set foot outside your room, at least for now. Could you let me in instead?”

Misa, sitting with her back against the door, playing with some satin she’d found in the room, wasn’t paying much attention to the voice. She’d heard the ‘you need to leave your room, Miss Amane,’ a hundred times and this voice was also reasonable, a persuasive tone, so it took her a minute to register that whoever it was hadn’t asked her to leave her room.

“...What?” she asked.

“I asked if I could come in,” the woman repeated.

She swallowed. Was it really different? Going out of the room and letting someone in instead? The woman could just as well drag her out.

But something in her voice convinced her. She got up and unlocked the door, letting the stranger pull it open.

What Misa first saw was red eyes.

She scrambled back, eyes widening as the ghoul looked at her, body poised and still, eyes serious and face grim.

“Miss Amane,” she said.

“That’s me,” Misa said, and her voice came out shaking. She cleared her throat and made herself stand straighter. “Who’re you again?”

The woman didn’t blink. “I’m Rem. I am one of the founders of this institution, and one of my subordinates informed me that you have been cooped up in here for days.”

“Two days,” Misa said. “And I didn’t want to come out. I still don’t.”

“That’s fine,” Rem replied. “You don’t have to. I just ask that you allow me, or other staff and people, to help you out.” She looked around the room and pulled up a chair, the only one in there. “Sit. This will likely be a long conversation.”

Misa sat down. Rem went to the door and called for someone. “Bring a chair, please.”

As the woman waited at the door, Misa took the chance to study her appearance. Lean body, dyed-purple hair that came down to her hips, and a simple white dress with a light grey knotted pattern.

Rem turned around, and Misa looked away hastily, though she noticed that the eyes weren’t red anymore.

Finally, the chair arrived, and the other woman sat down after closing the door.

“Misa,” Rem began. “You are a ghoul now. I understand that this is a terrifying situation for you and that you do not want to be a ghoul—”

“It’s not that,” Misa interrupted. “I don’t particularly like being a ghoul, but I don’t particularly dislike it, either.”

“That’s good,” Rem smiled. “Would you tell me why you don’t want to leave your room?”

“Are you the therapist or something?” Misa snorted. “It’s because I don’t like the people here.”

“Why not?” Rem frowned.

“Do you know how I got here?” she asked. Rem nodded, but she continued. “Well, a ghoul was in our house, to eat us all, I assumed, but they hit us in the head and brought us here. Me and my parents. They dumped us in this place and the doctor here, he turned us into ghouls.” Misa smiled mirthlessly. “Then a guy called Kaito told me what had been done to me and that my father was being operated on at that moment. The next day, they told me both my parents had died shortly after the operation.”

Rem inhaled sharply. “Misa… I’m so sorry.”

"I was angry, I was broken. I had no one else but them, no friends either, not real ones… And yet they wanted me to embrace my new ‘status’ and be a spy in the human world. Like they don’t have enough of those. They didn’t even give me a week, to cope or whatever!”

Her eyes prickled and she blinked angrily, turning her face away from Rem.

“I’m very sorry, Misa,” Rem said, her voice firm. “They shouldn’t have done that. And I’m very sorry about your parents. And... I hope you feel better soon, if not completely alright.”

Misa smiled bitterly. “Why? So I can be your spy sooner?”

“Of course not. Because I care about you. I care about everyone who has been under this roof.” She paused to look at her, grey eyes boring into brown. “If you need me anytime, just ask for me, alright?”

Misa hesitated for a moment, then nodded. What else could she do?

An ukaku kagune, roughly translated as “red feathers,” is a type of kagune in a ghoul that is released from the shoulder area in the shape of wings or feathers. It specialises in high-speed attacks and is lightweight.The primary method of attack is crystallising their kagune to deliver a high-speed torrent of spike-like projectiles. Some ukaku users can generate powerful lightning-like bolts, a rare ability. Short-range combat is considered a weakness in this type of kagune.
Ukaku users deplete their stamina quicker than other types due to the release of more Rc cells during combat.

“I’ll have a box of Earl Grey and one of Peppermint tea, please,” Light asked.

“Coming right up,” the shopkeeper said, disappearing into the back.

Light was in the shop that sold the best tea in the whole of Kanto, where it wasn't self-service based but it was the shopkeeper who got you what you needed, and so, it took a lot more time than at a convenience store, but Light felt it was well worth the tea.

The man returned with his two boxes of tea bags, and Light paid quickly and exited the shop.

“Did you get it, did you get it?” Sayu demanded, jumping up and down.

“What does it look like?” He lifted the bag and rolled his eyes. Sayu grinned and snatched it, eagerly opening it and peering in.

“Peppermint tea!” she exclaimed. “Earl Grey? You have no taste in tea, Light,” she pouted, and he snorted at the irony as he started up the bike and gestured for his sister to get on.

“Either you take what I get or you buy your own bloody tea,” he emphasised.

“Nah,” she dismissed. “It’s much more fun to pester you and waste your time.”

“I could be reading right now,” he grumbled.

“What, that ghoul fiction you got earlier this week?” Sayu teased. “Like it very much, do you? I didn’t know you read fiction, Light.”

“I do,” he protested. “You just haven’t seen me read it before.”

“So you say…” She trailed off teasingly as he slowed down in front of his apartment. "I heard you bought more books by the same author."

"It's part of a series! Besides, it's not fiction, it's history."

"Oh really? I thought history books came in volumes, not series."

"Whatever," he huffed.

"Aw, Light, are you becoming a fanboy for that historian?"

"I'm not getting your tea," he yelled after her. "You can get it yourself."

"Aw, is Light mad? Is Light sulking? Do you want to read your favourite series to cheer up? Oh, I know! Maybe you can become his assistant or editor, and you two can geek out about history together!" Sayu laughed as she skipped away.

"Argh," he groaned.

He should never have rambled about that fucking book to his demon sister.

★

The drive to the Shuzenkai was a quiet one and Kurou drove away without a word as soon as Light stepped out of the car. He shook his head and made his way inside the building.

“Oh, Yagami!” A man in the front hall startled as he walked in. “Kawabata has been expecting you. Please, come this way.”

Light was led down the passageway, and he glimpsed a woman in a nurse's uniform hurrying out of a room and into the opposite door. However, the man stopped in front of a familiar office, giving him no time to wonder.

“Kawabata said to just send you in, Yagami,” he said, and Light thanked him. The man smiled awkwardly, bowed, and went his way.

Light knocked twice.

“Come in.”

He pulled the door open and went in, taking in the familiar wallpaper and the desk, smiling at the man sitting behind it.

“Sensei,” he greeted. “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise, Yagami,” Kawabata-sensei said. “How has life been treating you?”

“Well enough,” he answered. “The books from the Shuzenkai are very helpful. I have some in my bag right now, actually, to return them to the shelves.”

“Well and good. I suppose you’ll want to visit your old room too.” Sensei smiled, and he smiled back. “But now, without delay. I'm sure you've been wondering."

"It's Amane Misa, isn't it?" he said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes. Miss Amane was turned into a ghoul a couple of weeks ago, and we let her outside the compound after just a few days, as she kept asking. She somehow managed to evade our guards and her escorts and escaped; however, she was caught by the CCG as she wasn’t careful enough, and even more alarming, she lost control of herself and killed three civilians merely because they approached her. So she’s not really in a good headspace, but I believe one of our members has managed to lift her mood a little.”

Light nodded. “So what’s my job here?”

“Nothing much, Yagami. Just to assist her and make sure she’s alright, befriend her, she could— both of you could do with someone by your side who understands.”

Kawabata-Sensei could act like he was only a teacher and nothing more, but Light knew he cared. He knew that almost everyone who was involved in this cared for him and for every other patient they’d killed. It was good, he supposed, that this project was starting to straighten itself out. He did wonder now and then why the Shuzenkai was doing this in the first place, but Kaito-san had told him that he would be told one day, after he was more familiar with the whole ghoul thing.

‘Imagine teaching a two-year-old calculus, Light. It’s like that. There’ll come a time for everything. And trust me when I say that we won’t delay telling you.’

Light smiled at his teacher. “Okay.”

“There are records with the nurse if you want additional information,” he said, pulling some papers towards him. “I’ll write you a permission slip, take it to Akuta.”

★

“Miss Amane Misa’s records.”

Akuta handed him the file, and he glanced it over, his eyes skimming the first few lines before freezing and jumping back to the beginning.

“Subject twenty-one!?" he exclaimed.

“Yeah,” the nurse frowned. “Her mother was S-20, her father S-22, though neither of them lived for long after the operation.”

“But…"As far as he knew— "They're the only ones who were operated on after me, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Akuta replied, confused.

“So… I was…” Light bit his lip, looking at the nurse questioningly.

Inexplicably, Akuta hesitated. “You’re Subject-19, Light.”

It was what he’d concluded, but still, it was a blow. “You mean there were eighteen people before me?” he asked incredulously. “Why haven’t I seen any of them here before? Why haven’t I been introduced to them like with Amane?”

The other’s face showed nothing but sympathy and sadness, and it chilled Light to the bone.

“I’m sorry, Light. None of them survived long enough to meet you…” Akuta lowered his head. “Some of them did survive the first few weeks, but, well, you know how it is. Weak ghouls are taken out by either the Doves or other ghouls to claim their territories. The fact that you’ve survived this long is a big thing for us. No one has lived past two weeks in the human world before.”

“But…” he stammered, unable to retain his composure. “But eighteen …”

“I know. It’s a big loss. But we seem to be doing the right thing recently, both you and Misa Amane are doing quite well.”

Light shook himself out of his daze. “Didn’t her parents both die?”

“Well, yes,” Akuta shrugged, “but it wasn’t due to any error on our part. They killed each other. They were put in each other’s vicinity before they were fed, it was a new experiment, and they both perceived the other as partly human and tried to feed. It was quite messy.” He shuddered.

“Alright. I’m… I’ll just go see Amane. I’ll return the file later.” Light breathed deeply and walked out of the infirmary.

“Good luck, Light!” Akuta waved him off.

Light went straight to the small library and made himself at home in his usual spot. Taking one of his favourite ghoul fiction novels out of the shelf at the side, he sank back into the soft fabric and read to forget.

Time flew or ran or swum, he didn't know or care, but it was three in the afternoon when Rem found him curled up in his bean bag, head buried in a book with Amane’s file tossed carelessly on the table in front of him.

“Yagami,” she called. “ Yagami. Light!”

His head snapped up. “Wha— Rem? ”

“Yes,” she sniffed. “What are you doing here?”

“Here, as in the Shuzenkai? Or here at the library?” he asked, smirking.

“I know what you're fucking doing in the Shuzenkai,” she snarled. “Weren’t you supposed to talk to Misa?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He raised his hands. “I’m going there. Why are you so angry?”

Rem closed her eyes for a few seconds and seemed to be praying for patience. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m a bit annoyed. Please go talk to Misa. She needs to talk to someone who understands, and sadly, that is not me, or anyone else here.”

“I’ll go,” he assured her. “So… when you invited me to the ‘ghoul gathering,’ did you know about me all along?”

“Of course,” she answered. “I was just messing with you.”

He snorted. “Fuck you, too.”

"I wanted to know how you would react if such a situation arose." Rem sniffed. After a second, she sighed and smiled. “Go speak with her, Light Yagami. And convince her to stay.”

“Why?”

She gazed at him for a long minute before turning and walking out. He snorted to himself and followed her out, nodding at her as she pointed out the direction to him.

“Ask for Room 23.”

And then she was gone, disappearing around a corner to do whatever. He wondered what she was in the Shuzenkai. One of the top dogs? Maybe she handled some outsourced business? Was she like Kurou, helping human-turned-ghouls? That would explain her closeness to Misa Amane.

In the end, he didn’t need to ask for Room 23. It was right there in front of his eyes, and he stood at the door and knocked.

★

There was no answer to the first few knocks, and soon, Light got tired of it and wondered if he should just leave. Then he remembered Rem’s face when she asked him to talk to her.

( “Convince her to stay.” )

He sighed. Was he really stuck here trying to be a wingman to some random lesbian ghoul?

Yes, he was.

He knocked again, and thankfully, there was a response this time.

“Who is it?” someone, presumably Misa Amane, called from inside the room like he was the one being annoying.

“My name is Light Yagami,” Light told the door. “Rem told me to come see you.”

He heard a shuffling sound and the door opened, revealing a woman who was, indeed, Misa Amane.

“Miss Amane,” he greeted politely. “Nice to meet you outside of your concerts.”

She blinked up at him before breaking into a smile. “Oh! Nice to meet you, too! And call me Misa! You’ve been to my concerts?”

He nodded. “My sister’s a big fan. After a couple of times accompanying her to your tours, I became one, too.” He smiled down at the blonde. “We were discussing your sudden absence from the stage just a few days ago. I guess this explains it.”

She winced a bit. “Yeah… Do come inside!”

She moved out of the way, and he walked in, looking around the bare room, before claiming one of the two chairs.

“So,” he began. “Kawabata-Sensei tells me that you’re having trouble with something?”

He noted Misa twisting the hem of her top in her fingers. “Well,” she began, "it's like this. You know how they made me a ghoul. I guess you were made the same way. They performed an operation on me and my parents and when I woke up, they fed me a human. Who, as I later learned, was the ghoul whose kakuhou I now have. They told me to have a positive outlook on the whole thing, that being a ghoul might seem like a bad thing at first, but we're on the top of the food chain, after all, and the Doves couldn't keep coming after us and that we would destroy the CCG someday, blah, blah, blah." She rolled her eyes. "And then they told me that my parents died because of the operation, and I obviously didn't take that too well, and Rem spoke with me, and here I am."

Light nodded. "I was told to convince you to stay on our side," he told her. "But frankly, I don't think sweet words are going to convince you. I… When I was given a ghoul's kakuhou, I guess I went into shock for a while and then consciously blocked it all out for a long time. I did everything they told me to do, and when they deemed I was ready, I was driven back to my apartment."

"And you had a breakdown," Misa guessed.

"Oh, no, I had breakdowns in my two weeks here," Light chuckled. "But yeah, I only really thought about all of it and what it meant afterwards. And, well, I think that going out into the world, experiencing it, is a good way of getting used to it. The hunting can be a chore if you don't want to kill, but there are solutions for that, too." He smiled wistfully. "It's very different but also the same from what I knew, so it's a little disconcerting at times, but well… I'm happy. I can be happy, even though I'm a ghoul."

Misa smiled at him with bright eyes that he realised were brimming with tears that she wiped away with one hand. "Thanks, Light. I wasn't going to stay here forever, of course, but I was still hesitant to leave this safe place, you know? Now I’m more… confident, about it all. Hopeful. So thanks for sharing all that with me."

"That's fine, Misa." He smiled. "Honestly, I'm just happy that there's someone else like me here, though I’m sorry that it happened this way for you."

Her eyes shone. "Yeah. Me too."

The region where ghouls feed is divided into divisions called Wards, of which there are 24, which indicate and delineate areas where there might be more or fewer ghouls. Wards 1 through 4 are uninhabitable by ghouls, as well as Wards 13 and 23. Ward 24 is the most ghoul-inhabited.

Chapter Text

A Kakugan, translated as 'shining eye,' denotes a ghoul's eye where the pupil turns red and the sclera black. The ghoul can enter this state by their own will, but this state is also entered when the ghoul becomes excited or when they use one of their special abilities. A kakugan is a result of activated Rc cells.

Light grunted as he rolled away from Kurou.

“Not enough,” the ghoul scoffed. “You think you can defend yourself at this level? Focus. Don’t fucking take this easily.”

He didn’t shout the words. He said them casually, a sneer on his face. Light crouched on the rough gravel, panting. Sweat poured down his face. He wasn’t fucking taking this easily.

“Well, tell me what to do, then, instead of just telling me to “feel it” or shit,” he spat back.

Kurou grinned in response and took off with such speed that it gave Light vertigo even in his now kneeling position, and within a second, the other was on him, his kagune blade digging into Light’s throat.

“You lost again,” the man said after a few seconds.

Light sneered back. “Well, it’s not due to me being a poor student because you’re not being a very good teacher, are you?”

Kurou shook his head. Light had finally seen his face, and it was ugly as helll. But Kurou was a fighter and one of the most wanted ghouls, and he was teaching Light battle. More importantly, he was teaching LIght how to get his kagune out of his body. Kurou was powerful and he was teaching Light, and Light had to be grateful because he was learning from one of the best.

“This is not the kind of lesson that can be taught. You have to learn it by yourself. It’s always hardest the first time, and this is the traditional way of learning to control and train your kagune.”

“Train my kagune?” Light asked.

“Yes. Kagunes can act on their own to an extent. Maybe when you’re in danger, maybe when you’re hungry. Your kagune protects you, Light. It makes you who you are. It’s a part of you and it keeps ghouls alive.”

“Right…”

“There are many ways that I could teach you to use your kagune, but this is traditional. You coax it out and hone it. That takes time. It takes a lot of time. It’s like making friends. You don’t become friends with someone automatically after meeting them. You have to spend time with them, get to know them, familiarise yourself with them…”

“And that’s how I should treat my kagune,” Light said.

Kurou nodded. “Ready for the next round?”

Light let out a groan and flopped back, resting his cheek on the rough concrete. “It’s been two hours.”

“Get up now, I’ll let you go after this.”

★

Light straightened his collar, smoothened his already smooth shirt and patted down his pockets to make sure he had his ID, phone and wallet before making his way out of the house and locking up.

It was late at night and there were a lot of thieves and robbers lately. He would likely not return until the next morning, and he wanted to be on the safe side.

Getting to the location sent by Rem was easy. He walked leisurely, running through possible scenarios in his head. Preparing for an ambush even though Kurou had said it was fine. He was too much in the unknown. Rem was part of the Shuzenkai and he hadn’t known that. Who knew if someone he knew from his former life as a human was actually a ghoul? A classmate or a colleague.

Once he’d revised his plans, he attempted to clear his head enough and focus on the point right between his shoulder blades, where he’d been told his kakuhou was transplanted. He’d need his kagune if there was a fight and he felt tense enough.

One consolation was that he’d already scouted the place, an abandoned warehouse, where he was supposed to meet Rem and others. He wasn’t sure why were having a welcoming party in a grimy warehouse, if Kurou was to be believed, but─

When he reached the place, he pushed the door open with a creak and stepped inside.

“Hurry,” Rem said from where she was leaning against the wall, probably trying to startle him. He knew her, though, and didn't jump in fright. She seemed annoyed by the fact.

Then, what she said registered in his mind. “Hurry?” he repeated.

“We’re going to Ryuk’s place. That’s another ghoul.”

─that made much more sense.

He nodded and followed her out of the back exit, which led into a dark street and a winding road.

“Ghoul activity is relatively moderate here,” Rem informed him as they walked. “Those who reside here lock up their houses as early as 8 at night. So we’re safe.”

He appreciated her telling him that. He kept quiet through the walk, not knowing what to talk about, exactly, as she kept up a steady pace and, suddenly, stopped in front of a house that looked no different from the others.

“This is the place.” She beckoned him inside as she walked up to the door and rang the bell. “Open up!”

The door opened violently and a grinning face looked out. “Remu! Your girlfriend is here already! Ooooh, that must be Light-o!”

“Ryuk,” Rem replied with a slight look of revolution on her face. “This is Light Yagami. Light, this is Ryuk.”

“Hello,” Light said with a dry throat.

“Come on in, Light-o! This is your first test!” Ryuk cackled. “How hard can you party?”

★

It is surprisingly bright inside the house given the dark look from outside. The ghouls had pasted black chart paper on the windows and stuffed pillows under the doors, which made walking around the house very difficult with lots of tripping. The pillows didn't even block out the light coming from under the doors, given that said doors weren't even closed in the first place.

As soon as he stepped into the ‘Party Room’ as Ryuk called it, a blur of blonde threw herself at him and he spluttered.

“Misa!” he exclaimed when he’d finished spitting hair out of his mouth. “You’re here, too?”

‘Yeah, Light!” She beamed. “This isn’t a ghoul gathering, apparently. It’s just a welcoming party!”

He smiled back at her.

“Misa,” Rem said from behind her, making them both startle. “Good to see you so cheerful.”

Misa turned and blinked at the ghoul. “Hey, Rem! Thanks! This is really fun. Thanks for inviting me!”

The older ghoul had rapidly lost the hard look in her eyes as Misa spoke, and she smiled back. “Indeed. I figured that if I was going to invite one newbie, I might as well invite the other one.”

Light, out of sight of Misa, mouthed you’re so whipped, and Rem scowled at him.

“Go ahead, Light, introduce yourself to the other ghouls,” she said.

“Of course,” he smirked and winked. “Have fun with her, Misa.”

He could practically hear the blonde’s confusion as Rem led her away from the so-called party and deeper inside the house.

“Well, let’s hear your story, Light-o!” Ryuk grinned as soon as he’d yelled loud enough for everyone to pay attention. “Which ward are ya from?”

“This one,” he replied calmly, though he could feel the dampness in his sweating palms. “I am… I was a human, before. Before I became — was made into — a ghoul. Rem found me and we had a little chat and she told me to come for a gathering.”

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he kept his own focused on Ryuk throughout his little speech, who was, to his relief, grinning even bigger now.

“Well, well, well, it seems we have another changeling,” the ghoul said in a sing-song. “Same as Misa-chan. Welcome to the ghoul world, Light-o.”

Another ghoul, a bulkier one, came forward at a sedate pace, her eyes boring into Light’s. “Let us introduce ourselves, houl.”

“Houl?” Ryuk cackled as the older ghoul cracked a smile.

The ghoul shrugged. "He's a human and a ghoul. What else am I supposed to call him?"

★

Misa stared up at her with wide eyes. Rem almost forgot to answer her question.

“Well,” she said slowly. “Ghouls… Our eyes turn red when we are hungry and also when we are fighting, no?” Misa nodded, eyes fixed on her, and it brought a rush to her veins in a very human way to have the new ghoul focused so completely on her, so trusting. “Well, that is why the Doves call us Red Children, and that’s how they discovered Rc cells — Red Children cells, which are found in a much greater proportion in ghouls than in humans. In half-ghouls such as you,” she continued, “the Rc cells have an average closer to that of humans than that of ghouls, which is why you were able to get away from the CCG when they caught you."

Misa nodded. “Because even though my Rc cell reading was more than what was normal for humans, it was still way too low to be a ghoul’s.”

“Exactly.” Rem smiled, pleased. “As to your question, the reason our eyes take on a red colour is that we would likely be releasing a lot of Rc cells through our kagune during that time. It is an influence of the activated Rc cells, and our irises turn red and our eyeballs black due to the high concentration of the cells. Do you follow me?”

“Yeah,” Misa responded, frowning but nodding. “Like when we’re hungry, or fighting, we’ll release out kagune and activate our Rc cells, which also flow to our eyes and make them red?”

“Precisely. You can even control when your irises turn red and the sclera black.”

Misa’s eyes widened comically and Rem felt fondness warming her from the inside.

“That’s so cool, Rem! Can you do that?”

Rem nodded her head and drew up the scorching feeling from her shoulder blades and guided it to her eyes, letting her irises glow red for a few seconds before letting it consume the entire surface of her eyes, Misa’s gaze never leaving her.

★

By the time the round of introductions was over, Light felt confident he could at least remember the faces if not all the names.

Some of the ghouls — including Ryuk, the bulky leader Nu, the oldest Midora, the fun Sidoh who drank quite a lot, and the rather quiet and sinister Gelus who lost one eye to the Doves almost fifty years ago — had been there for so long that he began wondering if ghouls were immortal, but Midora scoffed and said they were only alive for so long because they took care of themselves and didn’t get into unnecessary trouble unlike some, which was said with an unsubtle glare at Rem, who’d returned with Misa, both wearing smiles so big (a soft tilt of her lips in Rem's case) that he wondered if they’d kissed already.

He found himself enjoying the evening and laughing quite a lot at the antics Ryuk and Gelus got up to, even if they had to be quiet enough that the neighbours didn’t start suspecting something.

Overall, he felt content as he was walking back to the rendezvous warehouse with Rem beside him, humming quietly in the still night air.

“See you around, then,” he said to her in goodbye as she nodded, turning back and heading back.

He watched her until she was out of sight and then headed to the front exit again as he pulled out his phone to text Kurou that all had gone well.

He thought about Misa and Rem laughing with each other, Ryuk throwing his arms around, drunk, Sidoh staring mournfully at everyone before declaring loudly that he had far too little alcohol to be happy… He’d enjoyed himself, he realised, and smiled.

A koukaku kagune ("shell-red") is released below the shoulder blade. Due to its high density of Rc cells, it is heavy and extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness and making it very well-suited for defence. Generally, they are shaped into armor or shields, but on the offence, they can be shaped like melee weapons such as drills, hammers, blades, and swords. Due to its heavy weight, a koukaku's speed is inferior to all other Rc types and the kagune is difficult to wield.

Mello insisted on driving, and to his surprise, Matt put up no fight. Near, as usual, silently took his seat at the back as the brunette called shotgun, Mello rolling his eyes and muttering, “You always sit in the front, get on already.”

Matt just laughed at him. “I know you’re excited too, Mells,” he grinned wickedly.

Mello scowled immediately. “Don’t call me that.”

“Yes, yes, Mells, calm down.”

Mello growled.

“Start the car,” Near’s bored voice came from the back.

“You shut up, midget,” Mello spat before reluctantly starting the car and reversing it from the parking spot.

“Woah, slower,” Matt said. “We don’t have a death wish, Mello.”

“You do if you let him drive,” Near said.

“Well, then, die,” Mello replied cheerfully — wait, him, cheerful? — as he dutifully slowed down when they were one inch from hitting a wall.

“Mello,” L sighed from where he was waiting by the entrance to the parking lot. “Please don’t start a fight with anyone.”

“Can I join a fight, then?”

L ignored him. “Matt.”

Matt nodded. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Near… you as well.” L smiled a bit at the nod he received. “Take care, you three. Report right afterwards. I expect you to behave as the adults you are and justify the responsibility that’s been given to you.”

“Yes, father,” Near said.

“You’ve given that lecture at least three times,” Mello sneered. “Goodbye, then. You bet your ass I’ll catch a ghoul before your son.”

“This is not a competition,” L sighed. “You are a team. Work together, for goodness’ sake.”

“We will,” Matt assured him quickly.

“Good luck.”

And finally, they were outside, turning right and left to get to the highway, Near huddled by the window to avoid being tossed around and Matt holding on for dear life.

“I know for a fact that you can drive well enough not to crash,” the brunette ground out.

“Ah, but that’s no fun!” Mello yelled as he swerved around another car to overtake it.

“Mello!”

★

The initial excitement he had eventually faded as they encountered nothing but traffic and humans returning from work on a normal day.

Mello scowled as he subtly sniffed at another man walking past, Matt leaning on the wall next to him and Near wandering about in the street like a little urchin.

“Why are you smelling them?” Mett asked, disgust colouring his voice, and Mello looked over.

“Ghouls don’t smell like sweat,” he offered. “Not as much as humans. Weren’t you listening in class?”

“I self-study,” Matt snorted. “And since when can you differentiate the amount of sweat from smell alone?”

“Don’t make it sound so crass. It’s instinct.” Mello wrinkled his nose.

They both looked over at the sound of Near’s higher voice.

“What are you doing so late at night?” he was asking a man, and they exchanged a glance and started moving towards the other boy.

“It’s almost morning, actually,” the man replied with a smile. “And I could ask you the same. The streets aren’t all that safe.”

Near stared up at the man. “I know. They aren’t safe for you, either.”

“I’m a police officer,” the man replied, eyes snapping up as Mello and Matt sidled up to stand behind their friend. “Well, an investigator, but I work at the NPA.”

He whipped out his card and Mello stared at it.

Light Yagami, it read. Date of birth: 02-28-1986. Twenty-four years old, then.

Mello shifted. “I see. Were you out on a job?”

Matt chuffed him over the head. “Don’t make it sound like a murder, you,” he admonished, and Mello smirked at him.

Yagami coughed. “I do not see why that is your business, but no. I was at a friend’s place, partying. He just got engaged.”

Near nodded. “That’s nice. Don’t mind my brother. He’s a little too curious sometimes.”

Yagami nodded as Mello spluttered. “It’s no problem at all. Do you want me to accompany you home? As I said, it really isn’t safe.”

“That’s fine,” Near responded. “Our father is coming by to pick us up shortly. Thank you for offering.”

Yagami’s eyebrows rose. “Very well, then. Be safe, stay together.”

Mello scowled. “We’re adults, too, you know.”

“I know,” Yagami said. “But it is still my duty to make sure you’re safe.”

“We understand,” Matt said quietly. “Thank you.”

Clearly aware that he was being dismissed, Yagami raised his eyebrows in amusement again before nodding to them and walking past.

When he was out of hearing, Matt placed a hand on Near’s shoulder.

“Was there something about that guy?” he asked because the smallest member of their little group did not just go up to anyone to ask them what the fuck they were up to.

To his mild surprise, however, Near frowned and shook his head. “No. He just seemed strange and out of place. He was coming from that direction,” he pointed, “and there’s nothing there except the abandoned warehouse and a few houses where the poorest hole up. I don’t understand what he was doing over there, dressed like he was… And he’s with the NPA, too. It doesn’t make sense.”

Mello was nodding. “The way he spoke, too. He said he’d been at a party, and people who’re partying this late wouldn’t be that sober. They’re more likely to get so drunk that they stay over at their friend’s place. And an engagement party? It’s fishy.”

Matt nodded slowly. “What you’re saying makes sense, but we may still be reading too much into it. He could just have an early work day tomorrow; it’s not the weekend yet, after all. Or he could be one of those people who just don’t drink.”

Mello frowned at him, upset. “Matt, he was—!”

“No, Mello, I get your logic,” he said hurriedly. “And I agree, for the most part. But I’m putting all the perspectives out in the open, so we don’t jump to conclusions.”

Near sighed. “He was right. It is getting late. We’ve been out for hours, and I’m tired. Can we go home and investigate Yagami from there?”

Mello frowned at him. “You’re tired already? Weak.”

Matt shook his head, already anticipating the ready agreement. He felt smug when Mello immediately followed up with, “Let’s get you home, then, loser.”

Matt knew that the blond did care about Near. He just liked to pretend he didn’t so it would make the “rivalry” between the two going.

Matt convinced Mello to let him drive this time, while Near sat in front and Mello stretched out on the backseat and rested his head on his arms.

Matt turned his head back and started the engine, already planning out the report that the other two would no doubt push onto him.

A quinque is a weapon manufactured from a ghoul's kakuhou used by CCG ghoul investigators. They can be made into some type of weapon, but most retain a few characteristics from the original kagune. In contrast to kagune, quinque cannot change shape nor store or absorb Rc cells other than what was harvested from the ghoul it was made from. Ghoul investigators transport them in bags or suitcases to store the kakuhou. A quinque is the weapon that works the best against ghouls though other normal weapons can also harm and kill them.

Chapter Text

Rc suppressants are drugs used by the CCG as a means to subdue a ghoul rather than to exterminate them, by suppressing the activity of a ghoul's Rc cells. The drug can be administered either using a syringe or by coating Q bullets or quinques with it.

Honestly speaking, L wasn’t expecting the boys to find a ghoul on their very first field outing. No doubt, he should have expected them to exceed his expectations yet again.

“So, we want to investigate Light Yagami,” Matt finished, holding out the printed report.

He nodded. “Go right ahead. I took the liberty to add another monitor to your room, Near, so you can all hole up there like you tend to do.”

The boys nodded.

“Don’t worry, father,” Near said quietly. “We will catch him.”

He smiled at his son. “I know you will.”

They all filed into their room, and the door closed with a gentle snap. L sat at his desk, rotating the chair just slightly, sitting normally for once. He was on a break, and neither Quillsh nor Naomi approved of case-related thinking during break.

He sat like that until, fifteen minutes later, he heard the sound of the limousine and got up to head downstairs and greet Naomi.

“How are you?” he asked as she walked towards him primly, handbag over one shoulder and smile ready and radiant.

“Well enough,” she said in response. “How’s the case going?”

He frowned. “It seems Amane is not a ghoul after all.”

“Good. We don’t want more ghouls running around.”

He laughed. “True. Though the boys seem to have identified one already.”

Her eyebrows rose. “So soon? Isn’t this just their first week?”

“It was their first day out yesterday,” he said, smirking, and she laughed.

“No way they’re onto something, then. Not to downplay their talent, but it took most of us months to properly learn to identify a ghoul. It took you three weeks, and everyone knows you’re the best.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “They might also be right.”

“They might,” she agreed. “But they might not.”

“It’s about time you stopped thinking about work, L,” Quillsh intervened, smiling and pushing a cart full of sweets into the room.

L felt his eyes widen. “Oh, Quillsh, you’re my favourite person!” he grinned, carefully choosing a slice of cake from the numerous trays. Naomi laughed. “And for your information, I’ve been taking a break for the past fifteen minutes, so you have no right to complain.”

“My, my,” his friend said. “You actually took a break on your own?”

“I’m guessing it’s because of the boys,” Quillsh replied solemnly, and L rolled his eyes.

“You two are horrible.”

“I thought he was your favourite?”

“He can be my favourite and still be horrible. Maybe I like horrible people.”

Naomi sighed sadly. “Guess you hate me, then.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said flatly. “You’re third on my list.”

She gasped, mock-offended, but her reply was interrupted by the boys’ door creaking open.

Near poked his head out. “Is that Mum?”

“My baby!” Naomi shot across the room, and L smiled. “How have you been, hmm? Had fun on your first outing?”

Near nodded absently. “We found a ghoul. But no, I didn’t really have fun. Mello drove the car,” he added at her inquisitive look, and she 'ahh'-ed.

“My driving is exactly that bad,” Mello smirked, enjoying the show.

Matt threw an arm around the blond’s shoulder. “How’s it going, Naomi?”

“Great!” she beamed, and led them over to the coffee table. “Tell me about your investigation.”

Near shrugged. “All we managed to do was confirm the information we got out of Yagami, and he didn’t lie. He works for the NPC, has a police father, a college sister, and an ex-engineer mother. Pretty normal.”

“Except,” Mello interjected, “for the fact that he went kind of missing for a couple weeks and then showed up again just as mysteriously and claimed to have had his car stolen and been hit in the head by the car thief. He had proof and all, but when we checked the hospital records, there were some contradictions in the report and what Yagami said happened.”

“He could just be in a gang,” Quillsh suggested.

“He could,” Near hums. “But it doesn’t sit right with me.”

Quillsh smiled a little. “Never ignore your instincts.”

He received a nod from all three brand-new detectives. “Exactly.”

“I can go take a sniff if you want.”

Matt grinned savagely. “Get me some footage too, please.”

★

His parents took them both to eat outside that night.

Light sat next to Sayu at their usual table, and a waiter came to take their order.

“Would you like to order now?” the man asked them with a smile.

“Could we have some time to decide?” his mom replied with an equally bright smile. Light had learnt from the best.

“Of course,” the waiter said and walked away, though remaining in sight.

The night was spent with laughter and fun, but still, something didn’t quite sit right with Light, even as his mother tipped the waiter generously and returned his beaming smile.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but his neck prickled right until he climbed into the car that night.

★

“So? So so so so? Did you get it?” Matt demanded excitedly, a large grin on his face and hands making grabby motions.

L and Naomi exchanged looks and chuckled at his enthusiasm as Quillsh smiled. “Of course.”

He handed the boy an unassuming disk, nodding. “He is definitely not human.”

“Ghoul?” Mello asked, relishing their victory.

“Yes.”

They both let out a loud whoop as Near winced but smiled all the same.

“Yes, yes, good job, boys,” L said. “Calm down.”

“Can we go and arrest him now?” Mello asked.

“Not now, it’s late,” Matt scolded. “We’ll go tomorrow, as soon as the sun is up.”

“What do you mean?” Near asked. “We aren’t going to arrest him.”

The other two turned to stare at him as he twirled his hair with his fingers.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Mello asked.

“Language,” L admonished.

“You’re not my dad,” Mello retorted.

“We aren’t going to arrest him, he’s not a rogue ghoul.” Near turned his eyes back to his new puzzle. “He’s pretty peaceful, he even warned us, who he thought were human citizens, because it wasn’t safe.”

Mello and Matt exchanged a look. “He’s still a ghoul. He could go rogue. He’s a hazard to society.”

“So are you, with your rash driving,” Naomi returned flatly. “And what if you become a serial killer? Shouln’t we detain you right now to eliminate that possibility?”

“Oh,” Matt said.

“Oh,” Mello agreed.

“So, we just keep tabs on him?” Near asked after a pause.

L shrugged. “Yeah. And move on to the next case. A real one this time.”

The boys brightened up, and L turned to his computer and pulled the tab up.

“Look at this one. There is a ghoul, or many ghouls, in Shibuya who have taken up killing and thieving. The victims are all dead, and there is not one trace to be found. No fingerprints or Rc cells or tangible evidence, but they’ve also clearly been killed using kagune, always similar marks but never the exact pattern on the bodies of the victims. Anything valuable is taken, and the doors are all broken off their hinges and placed next to the door frames, clearly a signature left behind every time.”

“We’ll go to the site first,” Near decided. “And then go over the reports.”

“Are you working on it, too?” Matt asked.

“No,” L answered. “You’re grown up now, full-fledged detectives. It’s far past the time when I should be looking over your shoulders.”

“We’ll get this one,” Mello said with determination, and the three relative grown-ups all smiled.

“We know you will,” Naomi said. “Good luck, boys.”

★

“L,” Quillsh said quietly as the boys left the house, chattering loudly.

“Yes?” L asked, looking up.

“Yagami is definitely not causing any problems, but I would recommend keeping a closer eye on him than just once every few weeks,” his friend and best advisor said.

L felt his eyebrows rise. “Do you suspect something of him?” he asked.

Quillsh, though, shook his head. “I went to investigate, as I said, and he smelt… different from other ghouls. Not that much like a ghoul, and more like a human.”

Naomi frowned. “Do you mean he’s not a ghoul, after all?”

“No,” Quillsh shook his head. “He is definitely a ghoul. What I mean is, he seemed to be a strange mix of ghoul and human. It was… disconcerting.”

L sat up. “And he smelt more human than ghoul?” he asked with sudden vigour.

“Yes,” Quillsh answered.

“Suspected of being a ghoul, investigated, but he is more human than ghoul… Does that sound familiar at all, Naomi?” L asked.

She was nodding along. “Amane.”

It was a single word, but L felt a shiver go down his spine. 

Another thing stood out to him. Both cases were happening in Japan. Light Yagami, who lived in Kyoto, and Misa Amane, who had come to Kyoto on a tour.

Something new was happening, something which hadn’t happened to anyone as far as records were concerned, and he was likely to be right in the middle of it, given that the boys were involved in it.

“I’m assigning this to the boys as well,” he said aloud.

Naomi turned to him. “More advanced training? Is it safe for their level?”

“It’s happened twice already. There might be more. And some of them may not be as peaceful as Yagami.”

Naomi stared at him. “Is it safe?”

“They’ll be fine, Naomi,” he reassured her. “They’re expertly trained. And they won’t be alone in this case. I’ll assign more men.”

“Including me,” she said.

L sighed, knowing she won’t yield. “Do you want four people I care about in danger instead of just three?”

“We’ll have a better chance of staying safe,” she insisted.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on it too. I’d come along, but I want the boys to get the experience without me.”

“I understand.” Naomi stood up and walked over, kissing his cheek. “There’s no need for five of us to be in danger. Four is quite enough.”

He rolled his eyes at her fondly.

★

It was barely a week later when the boys burst into his room in the middle of a case concerning a whole lot of cabbages and announced that they’d solved the case and could they have another one. Near added a please after a moment.

L smiled amusedly.

“Why don’t you have some time to relax first?” he suggested. “Quillsh, Naomi, and I will brief you in the evening.”

They agreed enthusiastically and disappeared, and he had to shout for them to close the fucking door, but Matt just laughed and shouted back, “Revenge, L,” before they disappeared into the kitchen to raid the fridge.

A rinkaku kagune (“scale-red”) is released at the back around the waist. It looks similar to scaled tentacles; a ghoul can generally create one to eight tentacles at a time. A rinkaku wielder has powerful regenerative abilities and can survive the most critical of damage, in addition to having brute strength and striking power. The shape of the kagune can be manipulated, such as changing its usual tentacle form into swords or claws, though it is very soft and easy to break. As their Rc cells bind so easily, rinkaku can bind their multiple tentacle-like kagune together to make a larger, stronger tentacle.

The half-ghoul thing brought out some interesting things to notice.

“Light!” Misa said brightly. “We match!”

And then she unfurled her own wings, which were almost exactly the same as Light’s own, though hers were bone white with pulsing red veins. Stunningly though, hers had feathers.

Looking closer, Light could see that they weren’t actual feathers, but even the fact that her kagune had feather-like features by default was a new development.

“Pretty,” he commented, smiling. “Look at mine, though. Prettier.”

He twisted around to fully show off his new kagune, pitch black with flecks of lava red and gold, and constantly shifting.

“Don’t be silly,” Rem sniffed. “Misa’s is certainly the most beautiful kagune I have ever seen. Do you see those colours and the way they bring out her eyes and how unique it is. Ghouls normally only have plain wing-type kagune, but you have feathers.” She smiled at Misa, who was red in the face and beaming back at her.

“Thanks! Are feathers really all that unusual?” she asked, curious.

Light nodded. “Remember that documentary that I recommended to you? It says that ghouls can shoot sharp projectiles from wing-type kagune, but having feathers is practically unheard of. It’s been mentioned only once, if I remember right, and even that was only when a researcher was wondering why ghoul wings don’t have feathers.”

“Anyway,” Ryuk grinned, “what’s with yours, Light-o? Gone emo, have we?”

He scoffed back. “That’s your job, you apple addict. Who the fuck puts apple sauce over ice cream?”

“Me!” his friend screamed delightedly. “Fly, fly, fly!” He unfurled his own plain leather-black wings and jumped out of the window, reemerging a second later and soaring in circles. Light grinned back despite himself and stepped onto the window ledge, teetering and looking down, when he was pushed from behind by Rem.

It was a strange coincidence that all four of them had wing-type kagune, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He gave an involuntary shout as he fell, and his wings snapped out instinctually. His breath caught in his throat as he surfed the air, flapping his wings occasionally to maintain balance, Misa joining him with a shout of joy.

He let himself get lost in the air for a while, just enjoying the rush of the air on his cheeks making his ears cold and the flutter of his heart as he soared higher and higher, streatching his arms out and diving down towards the ground and pulling out of the dive and Ryuk and Misa laughing to his left and Rem flying circles below them, keeping an eye out but smiling at them all.

He slowed down a little as Ryuk appeared by his side. “How’s flying, bitch?” he yelled to be heard over the wind. Light looped a loop around him in response.

“Yagami!” Rem called, and they both looked down to see her on the ground and Misa touching down, her wings shrinking and retreating into her shoulder blades. “Get down here!”

He landed lightly, his wings still flapping, and when he was fully on his feet, he shook his wings out before retracting them back into himself, wincing when his skin expanded to cover the wing-holes.

He looked over his shoulder and sighed when he saw that his shirt was whole and hole-less. “Guess it doesn’t rip because kagune is just Rc cells and doesn’t pierce it?”

Rem nodded. “That’s right.”

“Then why did it hurt a little when it came out and went in?” Misa wondered.

“It’s your cells, kid,” Ryuk told her. “They’re bursting out of your body. Of course it’ll hurt. But you’ll learn to control it with practice, and then it won’t hurt.”

“Speaking of that,” Rem said, “don’t overexert yourselves this soon. Fly for shorter periods of time, and don’t experiment too soon or too much.”

Misa nodded. “Will you teach me, Rem?” she asked.

Rem visibly softened and smiled down at her. “Of course, Misa.”

Light smirked. “So how come you call her Misa but don’t call me Light?”

“Very well, Light,” the ghoul glared at him. “Go to your sensei and show off your flight.”

“So eager to be alone, hmm?” he teased. “Don’t worry, I’m leaving soon anyway. Wanna come with, Ryuk?”

“Sure, why not?” Ryuk replied, wiggling his eyebrows at the two women.

Misa blushed. Rem shot the boys a glare that didn’t reach her eyes and declared, “We’re going out now.”

Misa laughed. “See you later, Light, Ryuk!”

Five minutes later, Light was driving to the underground ward, having already messaged Kurou, with Ryuk chattering about his latest shenanigans.

Kurou would no doubt leave him drained and exhausted, but Light felt excited all the same, to finally learn to fight and defend, and get the chance to test the boundaries of this gift he’d finally unlocked.

★

Light's phone rang. He looked away from his book to see an unknown number calling him.

But it was his ghoul phone.

Hesitating only a moment, he picked it up and held it to his ear, not saying a word.

"Light? Can you hear me?"

Light smiled, surprised.

"Misa! What's up?"

"Nothing much, which is why I called! Rem says I need to go out, but I don't wanna go back home so soon, I mean, I'm sharing a flat with my friend, so..."

Light nodded, though she couldn't see him. He'd always been good at reading people. "You want to come to my place for a while?"

He can hear her answering smile through the phone. "Oh, Light, can I?"

"Of course, Misa. And I bet you want to gush about Rem?" Light smirked.

"Light!" Misa squealed. "I can't believe it! I never thought it'd be a woman I fell for, but it really looks like I'm—" There was a sudden cut, and Light could hear a short, muffled conversation on her side before her voice came through clearly again. "Light! Kawabata-sensei says I can leave now!"

He grinned happily. "I'll make some coffee for you, then. Go on, you hang up first."

She was laughing too as she ended the call, and his heart swelled at the confirmation that she's happier, and he let himself hum a tune as he went to the kitchen to get the coffee beans.

★

Light was facing a dilemma.

Light had had a pretty uneventful life before his kidnapping.

For the first few years of his life that he could remember, perhaps since he was five years old, he’d always acted in a way that would please the adults around him. He concluded from the behaviour of those around him that he would be respected like his father if he tried really hard in school and got very good marks, and he resolved to become an amazing ghoul investigator like his dad.

So, he smiled politely at guests or the people his dad worked with, answered correctly and concisely to any question he was asked, and paid attention in class. And when he showed his mother the full marks he’d gotten on his first even test, and saw the happiness on her face, he knew he’d made the right choice.

After a few months of this, however, Light’s mom had sat him down at the dinner table, and he’d cried himself hoarse thinking that she was disappointed in him. He was around nine at that point.

“Oh, Light,” she’d said, and her voice had been so remorseful, so sad, that he’d stopped crying to look at her in bewilderment. Why was she apologising? “Oh, my Light…”

And then ensued a conversation that left him bereft of what to do with his life; his mom and dad had explained to him, among tears and hugs, that he need not do anything to earn their love, that they loved him no matter what.

(“Yes, love, even if he got the worst marks in class,” Sachiko had said tearfully, realising just how deep this conditioning ran.)

His dad had told him that he was already proud of him, and that he was proud to be a father that Light wanted to be like, that Light looked up to, and he hadn’t understood for a long time.

They said they loved him no matter what, but his classmates who got low marks kept telling the class stories about how their dad had yelled at them for disappointing him. How could love be something you simply gave away?

And then one day, his sister had come home crying about how a boy in her class had teased her about failing her maths test, and that he’d said that her mom didn’t love her anymore, and Light had felt a burst of anger at the boy.

He went to hug his sister and repeated his parents' words to him. “No, Sayu! There’s no connection between your marks and whether we love you! We all love you no matter what!”

The four of them had a group hug, which later embarrassed Light whenever he thought about it, but he was glad he’d come to understand, and that he’d helped his sister along the way.

That sudden realisation that what his parents said was true… It paved the way for him to be more freely happy, more expressive, and more open to people in general.

He wasn’t known as the cold, unreachable top-ranked holder of Japan in his school. He was instead known as the smart senior who was happy to help you and encouraged you to learn how to learn.

The teachers loved him, and he helped them with classes. Some let him correct the exam papers of his juniors. He was charming and charismatic, but he didn’t approach people with an ulterior motive in mind. He was, most importantly, kind.

Light Yagami had learned to be kind, and this changed much in his life.

Light smiled, slowly returning to the present from his reminiscence. Having talked and played games all night, Misa and he had finally gone to bed. He’d prepared the guest room for her, and she seemed genuinely relaxed. She was, apparently, taking a short break from her career as a model to focus more on her own life and get better first.

Light sighed, turning to lie on his side.

He didn’t know when sleep claimed him.

★

A prefecture away, a man pulled up into a hotel in a black car. He got out and glanced at his reflection in the side mirror. When he looked up, he smiled at the security guard at the entrance with what was often described as void-like black eyes, and walked inside. The guards eyed his unkempt hair skeptically, but he paid them no heed.

The receptionist bows to him. “Welcome, sir. What can I do for you?”

“Room for one, please.”

“And under what name should we assign the room, sir?”

He smiled.

“Beyond Birthday.”

Invulnerable ghouls may be, but they, too, have their natural weaknesses. Ghouls can smoke, are able to contract related illnesses, and are capable of having allergies to various materials, including but not limited to metals and plastics.

Chapter Text

Twenty-two Years Ago

There were, of course, some who survived despite all odds.

The Prometheus Association’s first-ever human subject—a woman named Fumiko—was operated on. She lived, and the people who watched felt hopeful: this was a good omen, to succeed the first time.

The woman had been unconscious, but as she woke up a few hours later, tears falling from both eyes, red and white, screaming about her mother and bills and hospitals, something was definitely wrong with her.

Her eyes were always rather far away, or in the past. She muttered nonsense to herself and didn’t seem to hear anyone or anything. After a few days, she got a gleam in her eyes but still didn’t speak to anyone. SHe started going utterly silent for long periods of time and then would start muttering seemingly randomly, making the people around her jump.

Three months after the operation, she escaped the confines of the building easily because she had taken them by surprise. No one had expected the crazy woman to be competent, but they had underestimated the lengths people would go to when they were desperate.

As she wandered the streets in a half-dead state, she fell upon a man walking by. Her stomach burned hot, drool dripped from her mouth as she panted, and she pounced on him.

He fought her off, and held her down, and looked into her tear-stained eyes—only one red, how strange—and softened when she began to snarl and sob.

He produced a package of chicken meat from the bag he carried, but she wouldn’t touch it. He told her to wait—why, she wondered, but stayed, having exhausted herself—and came back an hour later, his hands covered in blood and a paper package in his hands that smelled heavenly. She devoured the human meat.

He took her home, and she slept.

Later, when she woke, he told her that his name was Liam Lawliet, and that he was a ghoul investigator, that he had had a son, once, before he was lost somewhere someday, and he hadn’t even realised in his grief for his wife.

She held him, and he held her.

They held each other, and this one story did not end in tragedy.

★

Twenty-two Years Ago

L was a child when Quillsh found him.

Even as a four-year-old, L knew something was not quite normal about the old man.

When L was found by Quillsh, he’d been at an arcade, having wandered around on his own when he couldn’t find his father anywhere. There were a lot of people around, which irritated L. He didn’t cry, though. The other kids were always crying.

Quillsh had looked at the child and asked him where his parents were. When L simply shrugged and stared back, something had made Quillsh escort the boy to his own estate, from money earned in human enterprises. He was one of the oldest ghouls to be alive and undetected, which garnered him respect among his own kind as well.

The boy came willingly enough. He seemed curious, and not at all afraid. He didn’t mention his parents again, so Quillsh asked.

“I don’t like my dad,” the boy replied. “He cries a lot and doesn’t speak to me.”

“What’s your name?” Quillsh asked, his worry for the growing.

“L,” he replied. “Just the letter. The other children laugh, but I like it. I think my last name is Lawliet. I saw it in the framed marriage certificate before Father packed it away one day.”

“I see.”.

He asked L if he would like to stay with him, and L shrugged again. “Whatever,” he said. “If it’s boring, I’ll just run away.” He said it like it was a fact.

At the end of the day, when L had looked around the estate and selected his room, found the library, found the stash of human meat in the fridge in Quillsh’s room, he told the about that he was a ghoul. L didn’t blink.

“I know,” he said. “Is being a ghoul interesting?”

Quillsh takes a breath. “It is interesting, if you know how to live like one, properly.”

L nods. “Father didn’t answer when I asked him. He only mumbled Mother’s name.”

Quillsh nods. “L, do you want to go back to your father?” He’d found the man, Liam Lawliet, who lived in the next town over.

L shook his head. “I like this place. Can I have a puzzle book?”

“Can I have a puzzle book, please,” Quillsh corrected him, and L rolled his eyes.

It’s in that moment that he first has an idea of how difficult L’s upbringing was going to be.

In the next few years, L rapidly went through all the puzzles, crosswords and Sudoku that Quillsh bought him. He asked about ghouls, and Quillsh spent his evenings telling his foster son about his life. After some months, Quillsh tells L about his wife, who was killed by Doves, and L had simply nodded.

Someday, L saw the arrest of a ghoul to be interrogated in the news and decided that he wanted to arrest ghouls too. Quillsh had been shocked until L explained that he didn’t want bad ghouls like that hurting Quillsh.

He reluctantly agreed and brought home old cases for L when he went out. L solved them all correctly, and one day, Quillsh instead brought L an ongoing case. L told him about who he thought was the culprit, and Quillsh leaves an anonymous note at the NPA.

The next day, they watch the news reporter read the note on television and inform the public that the ghoul responsible had, in fact, been the one the note had indicated. The ghoul had been exterminated by the Doves the previous night.

L started asking for more gruesome cases. He saw serial killers on television and wanted to get his hands on the case file. Quillsh refused at first, as L had just turned seven the previous week, but L sneaked out and went to the CCG office without his knowledge. Quillsh had been out of his mind with panic when the police turned up at his house and called him, telling him they had his “grandson” with them, and he had to hurry back home from the next town, where he had gone on the off-chance that L had returned to his biological father.

He hurried back home and gave L such a fierce scolding that the young boy looked shell-shocked, and thanked the police again for finding his “grandson”. They beamed at him and told him that if L was interested in joining the workforce when he grew up, he would be most welcome.

“Were you really worried about me?” L asked him that night when Quillsh was making him hot chocolate after his little adventure, in a small voice.

Quillsh’s heart broke. “Oh, L, of course I was.” He embraces his child, who hugs back hesitantly. “I love you, L. Never forget that.”

“But Quillsh,” L said, “if you love me, why didn’t you let me solve this case?”

Quillsh resigns himself that night to explain to L about the normal behaviour of children, and how he was different from that, and how Quillsh neither blamed him nor loved him any less for it. L didn’t seem very fazed and instead repeated his question. Quillsh didn’t quite know how to put it into words.

L didn’t seem traumatised, though, and he agreed to let him solve the more gruesome cases, but sternly told him that that was only if L agreed to get his permission for them. L rolled his eyes, but agreed.

For Christmas, Quillsh got his child a new laptop entirely for himself, and thus began L’s time as the greatest investigator in the CCG.

★

Twenty Years Ago

They didn’t want to go to the hospital, mainly because the doctors would have them arrested before she was allowed to give birth to her child.

Fumiko laboured at home with her husband. It was painful, but they had borrowed books from the library on childbirth, and Liam had subtly been curious about it with the right people who were only too glad to rant about their work to someone whose wife was dead and whose son missing. They felt sorry for him and gave him what he asked for, which wasn’t much.

It was painful, but Fumiko was no stranger to pain. She grit her teeth through the contractions and tried her best to listen to her love’s voice as he told her to push, clutched at her pillow as she locked up her screams inside, and after what seemed like an eternity, she heard the wailing of a baby.

She heard Liam’s breath hitch. “It’s a boy.”

Her lips tugged into a faint smile, and her hands reached out.

He placed the baby in her tired arms, and he slowly stopped crying. Big eyes stared up at her before they drifted close. She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes.

“I— We didn’t choose a name,” Liam says, and his voice is full of emotion.

“Later.” She smiles at her husband. “He’s beautiful.”

She marvels at how, even after she became the worst of the monsters threatening society, she had still managed to find love and give her love in return. How she had helped a man up from the pits of his sorrow, how she had, now, created a life that was resting peacefully in her arms.

“Happy zeroth birthday, my love,” she whispers to her son. Her son.

Their son.

Her eyes droop and she sleeps, not losing her smile even in her dreams.

Liam watches over them, heart impossibly full, filled with love for these two people in his life who gave him joy when he’d thought he would never feel anything again.

He thinks of his first wife, and now, he can think of her without pain marring every memory. His dead son, L, whose name he’d tried to write on the birth certificate but passed out from exhaustion before he could write most of it: Louis.

Rohan had laughed when she’d seen the birth certificate, and told him amidst her tears of laughter that she was not going to change it, Liam! This is so precious!

A lump forms in his throat as he looks at his wife and his second son.

Well, maybe it would be a way to honour L’s memory if he named his younger son something equally strange— refreshing, Rohan had called it.

He would ask Fumiko in the morning.

★

Two Years Ago

Teru ran for his life.

The field was a blur, and his jacket was flapping, his body aching, but he still ran as fast as he could towards the building that seemed to be getting farther the more he ran.

His feet were slowing down. He forced himself to move, to ignore the sounds of the doves chasing him. If he focused on that, he would only grow more panicked and mess up running, he was that pathetic.

Time seemed to be slowing down, allowing him to appreciate possibly the last moments of his life. He could hear the wind rushing in his ears. He could hear water somewhere, the clear, soothing constancy of it overwhelming him.

In a way, he was glad that his last thoughts were of beauty and nature. He wouldn’t want to have his dead body or his splurting blood as his last thoughts… and there he went!

Trees, he thinks, eyes closing as he slows down. He comes to a stop and stands hunched, hands on his knees, and gasps for breath. The doves catch up with him.

Rivers. Mountains, northern lights, sunrise on a snowy day. His mother and father.

“Surrender,” one of the doves cried, pointing his quinque at Teru.

Teru collapses to his knees. He remains slumped.

He doesn’t want to spend his last moments obeying doves.

“Put your hands up,” they shout. Teru remains still. He’s already planning to fight back; like hell he’s going to go out cowering!

He’s breathing hard, and his head is spinning, but he stands up. He raises his head, looks them in the eye, and puts his hands up.

As they approach him cautiously to take him prisoner, Teru makes his move. He slices up with his leg, catching one of the doves in the groin, and simultaneously lashes out with his hand, striking the second one in the neck. They both go down fast, one groaning and the other unconscious.

But there are about five more, and they’re closing in already with their quinques up, and Teru is already weary from the long run from the nearby Ward to this place, which is incidentally deserted except for the sole building. It doesn’t look like he’d survive.

And he didn’t. He fought to his limit, but there seemed to be more doves appearing out of nowhere. His kagune was of no use, he’d exhausted it the previous day in the same fucking fight.

Eventually, Teru slowed down again. The doves pressed in, taking advantage of his growing weakness. He was pushed back.

He knew that now, he wouldn’t be taken in or imprisoned. He had fought back, resisted capture instead of just running. For that, he would be killed here and now.

He closed his eyes. Why did he ever think he had a chance? There were already seven of them before others appeared, and he was just one man.

Mount Fuji, he thought desperately. Icicles. Mother. Father.

The court of law. Does that count as nature? Humans are nature, too, huh? But law and order aren’t natural… chaos is.

He laughed, a little bit hysterically.

God, save me.

Kami-sama…

…please.

Save me—

The doves yelled as one and jumped back. Teru’s head snapped up, and before him stood someone with their back to him, in a fighting pose, like a hero in some drama come to save Teru.

“Get back,” the man yelled. “You, run!”

Teru stared. In the state he was in, he wouldn’t be able to walk. Run? Certainly not. The man seemed to understand this.

“Take cover, I’ll take care of the investigators!”

He leapt forward, and the battle continued. Teru couldn’t do much except give way to his exhaustion, slumping to the ground and hiding his face with his hands. The way the man spoke, he probably had a wide-range kagune.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, noises dull and sounding farther away every time.

What am I doing?

Here was a man, a stranger, risking his life for him, and he was passing out without any consideration.

Next time he became aware of his surroundings, he forced himself to sit up, and then to stand. Blinking away the blur, his breath left him when he realised there were bodies all around him, but no one was moving.

In a few painful minutes, he was stumbling forward towards the closest body. It was a dove, and he quickly moved on. The third person he checked was the man he was looking for.

“Hey…” It was so soft that Teru wouldn’t have heard it if he were even one inch further away from him, but his saviour had just called out. Teru fumbled closer to him. He was bleeding in multiple places, and his breath was shallow. Teru checked his pulse— slow.

“Young man…”

“Mikami,” he said, desperate. “Teru Mikami.”

The man smiled. “Teru… Go to my home. It is the building you can see from here. I…” His breathing was laboured. “I run a restaurant,” he said. “And there are rooms for ghouls on the run. Seek shelter, Teru. Go…”

Teru sniffled, trying not to cry. The man needed help, not someone crying over him.

“I— I can get someone, please, just hang on—”

The man smiled at him. “It is too late. My son, go.”

Everything was still, except for the dying man and himself..

Teru sobbed. “Please—”

“I’m glad… that after all the lives I’ve taken… I was able to save one.”

Teru stayed, sobs breaking out of him, kneeling next to a dead man whose name he didn’t know.

CCG Branch Office, Ward 22

“Uzura.”

A puzzled frown in response. “Uzura? Meaning quail? That makes no sense.”

“They’re loyal to their herd—”

“Is it called a herd? I think it’s a flock, man.”

“—act as lookouts and don’t engage in battle, are known for their symbolism representing transmutation, and victory in battle.”

“Why are we naming a ghoul after all the good things?!”

A smirk. “He’s a kid. He was fucking crying. An old man had to save him, and from the reports, it looks like he died for the kid. If he hears the name we got him… don’t you think it’ll break him more, being perceived as a survivor when really he’s living off the life he took?”

A few minutes of silence.

“Or, you know, we can dub him Kojiki instead…?”

“Beggar. How fitting. He was begging to be saved, I suppose.”

A little confidence is gained from the absence of argument. “And it won’t traumatise him. You said yourself that he was just a kid! They’re born that way, man!”

A cold stare. Condescending. “You need to squash that pity you have for those monsters, [CENSORED], or you’ll never amount to someone the CCG can rely on.”

A wince. Gaze tilting downwards in guilt, hesitance. “Yeah… I guess you’re right…”

★

Five Years Ago

B was a problematic child.

For one, he was half a ghoul. This was pretty normal, however, as he had lived with it his whole life.

However, he was quick-tempered, and his bouts of anger were short but devastating. Once, when he was six, he’d broken the window with his kagune and his father had almost had a heart attack, since that was the first time he’d shown any sign of being a ghoul.

From then on, whenever he went without a meal, and he got a little bit too hungry, his eyes became black and red.

When he was fourteen, he broke another window, but intentionally this time, and with his fist rather than his kagune, and this was because he wanted to skip school the next week, but his parents absolutely refused.

B was tired of school, and incredibly mad at their refusal.

When teenagers are angry at their parents, they do stupid stuff. That’s exactly what B did, too.

When B was fourteen, he sneaked away at night to go to the CCG facility nearby. He didn’t exactly have a plan, but he was angry, and he wanted his parents to be sorry. He was so tired of school.

He ran faster than the other kids due to the increased stamina he got from his ghoul-ness, and he was more athletic, too. He was planning on entering the Olympics, but he had to be very, very careful not to give it away to the paparazzi or the fans he would have.

He almost gave it away, too, and at fourteen. He could feel his dreams crumbling before he was luckily saved by a person passing by.

He’d simply wanted to give his parents a shock when they were called by the CCG and told their son had reported sightings of a ghoul near their residence, and had insisted they call his parents.

But once he got hold of one of the agents who was entering the building, he’d gotten so many suspicious looks, and the woman whose sleeve he had grabbed suddenly asked him to come inside for a more detailed conversation. He’d been willing enough, until he’d realised he would have to go through the Rc Scan Gate, standing proud and alone, looming over him.

He’d frozen in front of it, fear creeping up his spine, when he heard a sudden exclamation. Jerking his head up, he saw one of his classmates looking at him with wide eyes filled with panic.

“Beyond?!” He cried out, and B, not even knowing who this was, stared back, bemused. “What are you doing here!?”

The boy had then come running forward and grabbed his arm. Turning to the woman, he said in an apologetic tone, “Sorry, ma’am, this is my classmate, Beyond. He’s a troublemaker even at school. I heard him bragging to his friends about leading the CCG on a wild goose chase, but I didn’t think he’d actually do it! I’m so sorry, ma’am, I’ll take him out and make sure he gets home without any incident!”

The boy bowed hastily, and, not having allowed the woman to say even a word, backed out and dragged a struggling B after him.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” B yelled as he was dragged across the street and into a narrow alleyway. “LET ME GO!”

“Shut the fuck up,” the other boy snapped, and B shut up, surprised by the anger in his voice. He didn’t know his name, but he had noticed him in class, and he was usually quiet.

As B continued gaping at him, the boy paced past him and slammed his head into the wall with some force. B startled, and then rushed to pull him away, asking him what the fuck was wrong with him.

“You idiot,” the boy murmured tiredly. “You stupid moron, what the fuck were you thinking, just sauntering up to the damn office like that, are you even using your brain?”

B scowled, letting the boy go and turning him roughly to face B. “Look, man, I have no idea who you think you are, but you have no fucking business in what the fuck I do, okay?! If you wanna start a fight, go somewhere else!”

“Well, you sure look like you wanna fight me,” the boy had retorted, before holding himself back almost visibly. “Look, do you wanna, I don’t know, come over to my house?”

B stared.

“I mean, because I have some… sensitive information, and I don’t want to say anything in a side alleyway. Uh…”

B looked at him, unimpressed. “Is your dad a kidnapper? Are you helping him kidnap me? If so, you’re a bloody idiot, because the CCG know you were the last person to see me—”

“No, you idiot,” the boy snapped. “You’re a ghoul. I know. Are you fucking satisfied—”

His voice cut off abruptly in a choke as he was slammed against the wall by B. He asked in a low growl, “How do you know that?”

His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, which made the boy’s eyes widen in fear. His lips trembled. “Let… me… down— I can—” He choked off.

B loosened his hand slightly, and the boy slumped as he was allowed to breathe again.

After a few seconds of B snarling at him, the boy said, “I know because— You, uh… Can we go to my house? I can tell you there, I don’t want to hurt you, or report you— I mean, I literally saved you from the Rc Scan, like, five minutes ago!”

B hesitated, and then nodded. “Fine. We’ll go to your house. Is there anyone there now?”

“No one should be home. They’re all still at work.” The boy looked at him with wide eyes, and B suddenly got the feeling he was missing something.

Tired of calling him ‘the boy’ in his head, he roughly asks, “Who even are you?”

The boy stares at him for a second before he lets out a harsh laugh. “Of course you don’t know. Fucking… Ah, well. I’m Alex. Alexander Ryuuzaga.” He put out a hand. “Hello, Beyond Birthday, though I’ve heard you prefer to be called ‘B’.”

B narrowed his eyes but shook his hand. “Only by my friends.”

The boy— Ryuuzaga smiled, but it looked off. “Come on, then. We should hurry up.”

~

“You can call me ‘A’,” Ryuuzaga joked when he opened the door, and B rolled his eyes.

“Just get on with it, Ryuuzaga.”

“Fine, fine.”

B refused refreshments and settled down on the couch. Ryuuzaga sat down across from him. He looked nervous, so B scowled.

“Just say it. How do you know about me?”

The other boy nodded. “Yes, well, I…” He looked away and continued talking while looking at the table instead. “I, uh, had a crush on you—”

“WHAT?!” B shouts, and Ryuuzaga winces.

“—yes, yes, but I’m over it, I promise! Anyway, I had a crush on you, and I told my mother, and she told me I could bring you some food the next day and tell you, so I followed you home because I was, I don’t know, shy—”

B straight out laughed at that, and feels mildly guilty when Ryuuzaga looks hurt. “Sorry. But why couldn’t you just give it to me at school?!”

He cleared his throat. “Of course I couldn’t! Your friends would’ve made fun of me, and you’d have laughed too, like you did just now!”

B winced. “I wasn’t laughing at your crush! I was laughing because you said you were shy!”

Ryuuzaga scowled at him and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I was , don’t laugh, too shy to talk to you so soon because I hadn’t realised your house was so close, and it only took a few minutes, so I just waited by the door for a while, just— to gather my courage, but before that, I could hear your mother in the hallway, telling you off for not practising your kagune, and man, that came as a shock.”

B bit his lip. Had anyone else listened in on them before? He hadn’t even realised they were so free about their ghoul-ness. They’d become complacent after their whole lives with it…

Ryuuzaga continued, eyeing him understandingly, and B again got the feeling he was missing something very important.

“Obviously, I wasn’t going to knock after that revelation, and I ran home crying. My mother asked me if you’d rejected me—” B had to hold in another laugh at this, but Ryuuzaga obviously noticed from the glare he sent him. “—but I wouldn’t tell her. I had no idea what to even tell her, because I’d seen you eating normal stuff and ghouls can’t eat normal stuff, so I just cried the entire night and decided to confront you directly.

“Of course, I couldn’t do that, because I was too scared you’d do something to me if you found out I knew. I mean, all my life, ghouls were these cruel, nasty monsters, you know? And then, suddenly, my crush is a ghoul but he’s never killed anyone, or well, it didn’t occur to me that you could’ve killed people— of course, after observing you and the news for the pst years, I know now that you haven’t murdered— speaking of, how can you eat normal food if you’re a ghoul?”

B hesitated. There wasn’t any harm in telling Ryuuzaga, but… He decided to compromise.

“I’m some kind of anomaly,” he said. “I have kagune, but I don’t need human flesh or blood to survive. I can eat normal food. But my eyes do get black.” He demonstrated, and Ryuuzaga’s eyes went wide, but weirdly, B couldn’t scent any fear, whereas Ryuuzaga had been reeking of it in the alleyway..

“That’s so cool,” he exclaimed, and B felt more laughter bubbling up. “I didn’t know you could do that intentionally!”

“Of course I can,” B smirked. It felt… good, showing off his useless abilities and getting such a positive response. “So that’s it? You overheard and never asked me anything?”

The other boy rubbed the back of his neck and let out an embarrassed laugh. “Well, after that, it felt too, uh, I mean, it happened so long ago, it just felt awkward bringing it up again. I just… watched you from a distance, and noticed some things.”

B raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

He grinned. “You avoid being touched around your waist. I’m guessing you have a rinkaku-type?” B nodded, embarrassed at having been so obvious. “And you never talk about any news related to ghouls. It’s like you want to distance yourself from the entire species. Don’t worry,” he added when B winced again. “The others probably think you’re scared of them.”

B huffed but gestured for the other to continue.

“I’ve never seen you eat any greens, like, at all! You’re always eating meat!” he exclaimed, as if personally offended.

B grinned. “Yup. I can eat greens, but meat digests faster. With plant food, there’s always a risk of indigestion or vomiting, I don’t know why. There ain’t exactly a mutant ghoul encyclopedia, is there?”

Ryuuzaga laughed. “That’s fair. I’m wondering about your Rc reading now, but I guess you wouldn’t have the chance to know that,” he said thoughtfully.

B sighed. “Well, as fun as this has been, Ryuuzaga, if you ever tell anyone about me being ghoul-ish, you’re whole family will be eaten.” He gave the other boy a pointed look. “Just because I don’t need to eat humans doesn’t mean I won’t.”

Ryuzagawa, instead of being scared, giggled. B felt his mouth gape open, but he couldn’t close it when the other boy outright laughed at his threat.

“Don’t worry,” he gasped amid giggles. “I won’t— tell anyone.” He clutched his stomach, and that was the last straw for B.

He lunged at the Ryuuzaga and pinned him to the couch, showing his teeth. The other boy’s laughter cut off as he stared at him, shocked.

B grinned, sitting back up on his haunches. “That shut you up, huh?” he smirked.

Ryuuzaga’s face was red, and B suddenly remembered what he said about having a crush on him. His own face started to flame.

Ryuuzaga cleared his throat. “You should, uh, call me Alex. I dunno about you, but knowing such a big secret warrants first-name basis, right?”

B looked away. “Right,” he said, and his voice was hoarse, which just wouldn’t do. He stepped out of the couch, and Ryuuzaga— Alex— sat up, too.

“Call me B, then.”

Alex looked at him, surprised. “Just the letter?”

“No, the annoying thing that buzzes in your ears.” B smiled. “Yeah, you doofus. Just the letter.”

~

That night, B couldn’t for the life of him stop thinking about the stupid boy who knew his secret.

And they weren’t even thoughts about how to make sure he wouldn’t go blabbing. No, instead, B thought about how his face had been scrunched up when he laughed, how he bit his lip while obviously trying not to smile too much as B waved goodbye, how his cheeks had looked, red as a cherry.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “God, I hope I don’t have a crush.”