With Every Step

21. Belief

The moment she had been assigned to Team 1 for the Rushima Landing Operation, Akira knew something would go wrong. And unlike her intuition during the large-scale operation in the 20th Ward, she told herself she wouldn't ignore this one.

In the end, it was of no use. There was nothing she could do as Takizawa killed each and every member of her squad, starting with Houji.

And for whatever purpose, he had left her for the last.

Over the time that she had trained Haise, Akira had the faint hope that half-ghouls could live among humans—that their former humanity made them moral enough not to cause harm to humans.

Takizawa's actions couldn't be forgiven though. Even if he had killed Tatara for them, he had killed even more investigators. He was truly a ghoul, and Akira fully understood why Houji wanted to end Takizawa's—the T-Owl's—life himself to give peace to the human he used to be.

But he didn't understand. She hadn't expected him to, either.

His hand tightened around her neck, easily keeping her off the ground. Her vision was darkening. She had struggled at first, frantically kicking her legs and scrabbling at Takizawa's hands, but her energy was rapidly fading. Every struggle for breath became harder.

A sense of calm washed over her as she realised the futility of fighting. So this was how she would die... strangled to death by someone she once considered a friend.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she made a final prayer. Mother, Dad—

Suddenly Akira felt herself drop, hitting the ground with a hard thud. The pressure around her neck had vanished, leaving only a fiercely burning sensation, and she gladly took in the gulps of air she had been denied.

What happened just now...?

She slowly opened her eyes, trying to blink away the tears, and found a large figure standing in front of her, wielding a rod.

The breath she had just gotten back left her with a whoosh. There was no way...

"Hey there, Amon!"

Akira struggled to get up, to reach out, to say something, but she was still too weak to do a thing.

"Playing the knight in shining armour, huh? Couldn't find the time to save the others, but when Mado is in distress..."

"I won't let you die."

He had promised her that, so long ago, but she never thought he would be able to fulfill it. Once upon a time, she would have relaxed in his presence even in the midst of danger, trusting him to have her back.

But now, if Takizawa had been twisted beyond recognition... what would Amon be like? What sort of monster had Aogiri created with his form? How much of this person was the man she had known?

Akira needed to find out. So even as her exhausted body urged her to collapse, she forced herself to remain awake and watch them both fight.

All she could do was watch and believe in him.