With Every Step

5. Sympathy

Akira had heard the rumours. Of course she had. There couldn't be many investigators in the CCG who hadn't.

And she knew of the Priest. She had made it a point to know at least in passing all of the higher-rated ghouls, just in case she ever encountered them. The Priest in particular was famous for being one of the few ghoul informants that the CCG had access to, though he was also rather troublesome to interrogate from what her father had told her.

However, none of that knowledge prepared her for the slender file in her hand, filled with details from a small Catholic orphanage. Page after page of reports, a list of missing children, pictures of bloodied tools... Akira had gone through it in about half an hour, but the images and words remained for much longer, circling in her mind.

There was no identifying information about the child who had been rescued from there, retracted from the easily available document in protection of their privacy. There were always rumours though...

She closed her eyes and sighed. Koutarou Amon was annoying, especially in his constant efforts to be friendly with her, but there were things she wouldn't wish on anyone. And this was undoubtedly one of them.

The very thought of it was like ice in her stomach, chasing away the heat of the anger she held towards him for a moment. It didn't change her interactions with him throughout the day—she was as neutral and distant as always—but she couldn't forget what she knew either.

Even during the drive to Cochlea, she was content to stay quiet, but then Amon had to get on her case about her reports. She didn't see why it was something to be discussed. Just because he wrote extensive possibilities simply for the sake of being thorough didn't mean she had to do the same. Being accurate was far more important, and Akira was assured of her own accuracy, even if she only chose a few lines of thought to investigate. Amon treating her like an idiot for that was out of line.

Her annoyance grew more pronounced as he got heated and told her that Juuzou was more reasonable, making her bite back with, "Then let him be your partner. I could learn more from Special Class Shinohara anyway."

She said it while looking straight ahead, but she didn't miss the way Amon glanced at her and how his hands tightly clenched the driving wheel. Maybe she shouldn't anger the person driving the car that she was seated in...

But to her surprise, he slowly deflated, his hard gaze softening into something contrite.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he finally spoke, and the tired defeat in his voice stirred that latent sympathy she had been carrying.

For the rest of the drive, they didn't speak a word to each other, but when they reached Cochlea and got out, she walked right by his side the whole way.