The raid on Kanou's lab was the first time Amon saw Akira in action.
It wasn't his cleverest idea to speak with Shinohara in the middle of a battle, but he was worried for the others and he was reasonably confident he could notice a ghoul before they attacked.
Except he almost hadn't and he felt the consequence of that as Naki kneed him in the face. Before the ghoul could do worse though, a whip-like quinque tossed him into the air.
A whip attached to the hand of Akira Mado.
She was elegance personified, precise and efficient in every movement. For a starting investigator to have such skill with a chimera quinque… he had to commend her for the effort it would have taken to master that weapon. She really had an affinity for quinques, much like Mr. Mado.
Amon only shook himself out of his thoughts when he noticed another ghoul behind Akira, and he rushed to block that blow with Kura. As the battle continued, the two of them built a steady rhythm, fighting beside each other with ease though they had never done so before. Even with the disadvantage of numbers, Akira's clever reveal of the CRc gas grenade turned the tides, rendering the ghouls unable to use their kagune. It was all going smoothly enough…
So he should have known things would take a turn for the worse.
Akira tossed to the ground, overpowered by that ghoul… and then Naki had taken a bite out of her leg.
Akira had gotten hurt on his watch.
All Amon could sense in that moment was the fire coursing through his veins as he leapt forward and smacked Kura into Naki's midsection, sending the ghoul flying back. Though he had been the one to suggest a retreat, right now the number of ghouls didn't matter to him. He'd take them all down here and now if it came down to it.
Anger wasn't an emotion that was new to Amon. He had spent years harnessing his anger at the world, at the injustice of it, so he could use it against the cause of the pain and suffering—the ghouls.
But this… this wasn't the anger he felt for tragedies. This was personal.
"Stay behind me," he told Akira with as even a voice as he could manage, tightening his grip on his quinque to the point that his knuckles were white.
He stared down the ghouls for only a few seconds before they decided to flee. Once they were fully out of sight, Amon let himself relax.
"Akira?" he asked, turning to face her.
She was already pushing herself up despite her wound, using her quinque like a cane to balance herself. Knowing she wouldn't accept his help, he walked ahead, keeping his pace slow enough that she could follow.
On the day they first met, Amon had promised himself he would protect Akira.
"I won't let you die."
Now he made that promise to her too.
