Stitched Together

Chapter 1: Odd Circumstances

I stretch and kick back from my desk. The moon hangs high in the sky and I had just finished my work. I'm a second year student in a sort of criminal justice program. Nothing is heard except for the rhythmic ticking of my clock. After a moment I stand up and grab my coat. All this work has made me hungry; I think I'll go out and treat myself tonight. I reside in the thirteenth district. It is meant to be extremely violent, and due to that I got an excellent apartment for cheap. Being an average student I really don't have that much money, so I take what I can get. At the moment I don't have a job, but I'm working on that. After slipping on my shoes and grabbing a small bag I head out. The wind is chilly so I grip my coat and quicken my pace. My eyes scan the area for a good place for a snack. Ah, that should be good. I put my hand into my bag and stalk into an alleyway. I grin and slip on my mask. It's a quaint little thing, a white fox mask with black tipped ears, a small black nose, and two red streaks coming up on each cheek. Uta said something more traditional would suit me. Something about balancing my childish nature and my tendency to 'play' with my food. After I flip up my hood I clack my shoes so my meal turns panicked. "Good evening," I smirk, eyeing them through the holes on the mask. They let out a small shriek but before they could make another I'm in front of them. "Really now, I can't have that," I giggle as I take their head in my hands and twist quickly, snapping their neck. "Tsk tsk, if you didn't make so much noise we could've played for a bit longer," I sigh before taking an arm and ripping it off. Being a ghoul is wonderful, when you don't get caught of course. I use a finger to tilt up my mask before ripping into the flesh. The warm blood pools in my mouth and I lick my lips, delicious. Most ghouls don't wear their masks just out to hunt, but this is a very competitive district, especially since Jason disappeared. Other ghouls always seem to show up claiming territory and such, and if they saw who I was they might escape and hunt me down while I'm under cover. Frankly, I can't have that. Speaking of which, the echo of footsteps alerts me. My mask goes down immediately after I wipe my mouth of the blood.

"Ah, 'kitsune' of the thirteenth district, there's a lot of talk about you. The one who kills you will surely be respected," a male ghoul approaches me. I click my tongue in annoyance and toss the arm I was holding. It's impossible these days to have an uninterrupted meal. The man doesn't look entirely strong, kind of chubby actually. His kagune sprawls from his tailbone. Ah, a bikaku, I haven't fought one of those in a while.

"Do you honestly think this is going to work?  This is my turf now, you all know that.  Now you've gone and made me cranky. I didn't get to finish my meal you know. On the bright side, I was awfully bored, I needed someone to play with,"I giggle, which makes him charge. I flip back onto my hands and spring into the air, taking him by surprise and swinging my leg hard into his face. He gets thrown into the alley wall and my lips curl into a large smile. "Well now, hurry along and get up. I'm terribly impatient you know," I sigh and clasp my hands behind my back. He comes at me again but I dance and spin around his attacks. He goes to punch me but I jump up and knee him in the stomach.

"You were said to be mysterious and strong but you're nothing but a child," he coughs. I stop spinning around and turn to glare at him, my smile disappearing. I don't really prefer using my kagune, considering I'm a Koukaku and it's considerably heavy, but I've learned to still be agile, and no one calls me a child. My eyes finally shift to black and red as my kagune sprouts out of my shoulder. The deep red appendage wraps tightly around my arm and goes over my hand to form a thin sword like blade. My opponent shudders slightly when I look up at him. He attacks with his kagune recklessly but I use my blade to brace against his advances. He pulls back to hit me and I see my opportunity. I dash to him but come to a screeching halt. He hits me and I get tossed into the wall next to my meal. I clench my teeth and draw my kagune back immediately, as well as shoving my mask back into my bag. He looks at me thoroughly confused as I make sure I have only blood that is my own on me. I grin and stare at him wickedly as my eyes shift back to their typical golden color. He gets fed up and goes to attack again but stops. Looking down he finds half his body missing before both pieces fall to the ground. Whipping up some tears, I look at the opening of the alleyway helplessly. A member of the CCG, like I expected. Yukinori Shinohara, associate special class ghoul investigator. He helps me up and I look at him thankfully, but I can't help smiling on the inside at my act.