Chapter Text
Takizawa huffed, his strained breaths scratching at his dry throat. He stood in a small puddle that gradually washed away the blood and other grime his body was covered in while his mind slowly caught up with what had happened.
He did it, he escaped.
It was all such a blur, dashing through hallways, passing God knows how many experiment bodies, fighting off Kano’s assistants, and running through the dirt and mud until somehow finding civilization once again.
The nighttime air was cool against his skin, the only barrier between it and him being the bloody and torn hospital gown he had worn the past few months. It slowly brought him back to reality along with the sting of his fresh wounds, struggling to heal against the amounts of RC suppressants still flowing through him. Another puddle just a step forward reflected the full moon that night and as Takizawa looked into it, one brown eye and one red stared back at him. That one reflection was all he needed to know for certain.
Of course, the changes in his body had been confirmed long ago, first when he threw up shortly after waking up from the surgery and then countless times over when eating scraps of his old coworkers regenerated his missing body parts taken by Kano. Seeing his kakugan was different though. Everything that happened in that cell seems so far off already, like some sort of twisted nightmare he can’t wait to forget, but even though his injuries might go away, this red and black eye will always be there. It might be hidden, but it will always be there, a clear reminder to anyone that looks at him that he’s no longer human and will never be again.
There was one more glaring change to his body though, even more so than his eye, and that was the extra limb that sprouted from his back. Shreds of the gown that hung from his shoulders indicated a clear sign of an ukaku kagune while the limb sat gently in it’s liquified state in his kakuho. He wanted to cry from all the changes that made him unrecognizable to himself, like the heavy eye bags, bruised lips, and silver hair, but the scarring around his tear ducts prevented anything more than a trickle from passing through.
There were more pressing matters though, such as getting shelter before Aogiri could recapture him. Being imprisoned again was the last thing he needed. There were so many things Takizawa needed, but water, a shower, clean clothes, and assurance Aogiri couldn’t find him for at least one night were at the top of his list.
Looking around, Takizawa could see that he was on the outskirts of the 12th ward. He had been here only once before, but it was better than somewhere he had never been. He wanted to go to his family’s home more than anything, but the thought that he would have to face his mother with this new body was too much for him to bear. Besides, traveling across the city barefoot in blood-soaked clothes with few wounds of his own would be far too suspicious and he needed shelter now. Only one other place came to mind, and while it wasn’t somewhere he’d like to go, it was the closest and safest place he knew of, so he wished for the slightest sliver of kindness from the coldest woman he knew and began walking, shedding his dignity with every step.
~*~
Akira sighed as she looked at the ticking clock in her kitchen.
2:13 am.
She was having a hard time sleeping that night for some reason, no matter what she tried she simply couldn’t force her body to sleep. She had decided to grab a glass of water before laying back down again with a new book she had been meaning to read, but it soon became clear that she would not be able to touch that book tonight.
A slow and weak knock at her door quickly caught her attention. Who in the world could possibly be at her door so late at night? She nearly opened the door without thinking but hesitated just before touching the handle. Whoever it was, someone knocking this late at night couldn’t be knocking with good news, so she braced herself to see the worst.
Her glass shattered on the linoleum floor upon seeing the ex-investigator leaning against her door frame.
“I-I didn’t know where else to…” he muttered, avoiding her eyes and looking towards the ground.
What the hell, what the hell??? He died, “Rank 2 investigator Seidou Takizawa died in the line of duty”, that’s what all the reports say, that’s what they said at his funeral, she went to his fucking funeral and now he stood in front of her doorstep?? Is this a dream? A hallucination? How in the world could someone she swore died be here?
Akira was too overwhelmed to be able to think straight, she didn’t notice the arm that was supposedly buried was back or even his eyes, she just quickly ushered him inside, stepping over the broken glass. She closed the door with a silent click and swept the glass aside before turning to the disheveled and clearly terrified man.
“How, wh… What happened to you?” she whispered, taking a seat at the small table nearby and gesturing for him to do the same.
His hands shook as he reached for the chair and Akira’s mind rushed through all the thoughts of what horrible things must have happened to bring him to this state. He was so skinny and underweight, his hair almost entirely grey with just a few brown hairs left, his lips and nails were bruised such a dark purple they were nearly black, and his eyes had such heavy bags, his… eyes… Finally noticing the black sclera, she couldn’t stop herself from sucking in a sharp breath and tensing up.
“Your eye…” was all she said and Takizawa tensed up as well, his eyes becoming watery.
“I… Ao-Aogiri, they…” He swallowed, “they put… a-a kakuho in… in me. I-I’m not…” He struggled to choke out. The horror of the situation washed over Akira.
That’s possible?? The very idea of somebody being able to become a ghoul was horrifying enough, but that someone could steal someone else’s bodily autonomy and bring them to such a point? That it happened not to a stranger, but somebody she knew? That hell, if she was the one to have gone looking for Amon, it could have happened to her?
Amon… He was reported dead as well and his body was never found. Could he…?
Once the horror of the situation passed, she was furious. How dare Aogiri do this to an investigator, to her friend? How dare they force somebody to become a killer against their will? How dare they make someone a cannibal?
Oh my god there’s actually a cannibal in my house. She thought and was filled with fear once again. Her chair slid back against the floor as she stood.
“We need to call the CCG.” She said as she went to grab her phone, but was stopped by an inhumanly quick hand grabbing her arm.
“No! No, please, please I can’t… I don’t… I don’t wanna die…” His face melted from pure terror into a gentler fear as he looked towards the floor. He didn’t let go of her arm, though his grip did soften. Akira thought for a moment, but she was set in her decision.
“Takizawa, listen to me. You’re in danger and need protection and the CCG is the safest place to be. They won’t hurt you.”
“They, no, th-they kill ghouls, I- please…”
Akira was conflicted. On the one hand she knew she was right, the CCG could offer the best protection from Aogiri Tree for him and they would never intentionally harm an employee, he was a victim after all, but on the other hand he was begging so desperately to stay away from them.
Sometimes in life you just have to lie, and this was one of those times she felt. He was too scared and traumatized to think properly and though she wasn’t in much better of a mental state, she knew what the best course of action here would be.
“Okay. I won’t call them.”
Relief came over Takizawa’s face as he let go of her arm.
“Thank you…” He whispered, hitting Akira with a pang of guilt.
“For now though, you need shelter.” She glanced at the clock. “It’s 2:24 in the morning. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”
“Right… Th-thank you.”
She brought the broken man over to her couch and once she was sure he had fallen asleep, she slipped past Maris Stella and stepped outside to make a call.
~*~
Takizawa’s eyes gently fluttered open, and below him he felt a familiar cold concrete. The panic he had become so familiar with flowed through him once again before recognizing the bulletproof glass window.
Cochlea, but on the side he never thought he’d be.
She… betrayed me.
Trusting someone, he decided, wasn’t worth the risk anymore.