A Black Butterfly's Emergence || The Story of Eto Yoshimura

A Caterpillar's Journey up the Tree || Hide and Seek

'Run. Hide yourself away, don't let them find you.'
There were too many, and they were too strong.

Her footsteps tapped softly as she sprinted through the corridor. Her blue eyes were squinted, focused on the darkness ahead of her. There was no destination in mind, only a faint hope of escaping, a hope of saving herself.

'It's not worth sacrificing your life. You're why we fight so hard. Protecting you is my reason to live!'

The words shot through her like bolts of lighting as the moments flashed in front of her eyes. Hot tears spilled from her eyes as she moved faster and faster, aimlessly moving forward.

***

A large hand moved atop her shoulder, another smaller hand patting her head. She smiled softly.
"You've grown so much Eto..."
A deep voice sounded, echoing softly in the chamber.
"You really have. I couldn't be prouder, I can't wait to see what kind of young woman you turn into."
Eto's arms wrapped around the woman, squeezing her tightly. Her words came naturally though it was something she'd never spoken before.
"I love you."
She felt each beat of the woman's heart, she felt her chest lift with each breath.
"I love you too."
The two remain still for a time, enjoying the peace while it lasted. The quiet was nice. It was rare that they got any. They'd been running for what felt like weeks, constantly moving, hiding, and now, their numbers had been reduced.
"I wonder if he's okay."
The deep voice cut in, breaking that peaceful silence. Eto frowned.
"I'm sure he is. Yasushi is tough."
"But he's still only so strong. Against that many, could he really have.."
Everybody was thinking it, but it was the first time it was truly brought up. As hard as it was to accept, he was probably dead. Noroi began to walk once again, the other two quickly moving to walk with him.
"He went out on his own terms. He sacrificed himself for us. We shouldn't waste too much time."
"He was never the self-sacrificing type, but if he didn't do what he did, we'd probably already have been caught."
Eto was quiet. She didn't quite know what to say. She'd never been on good terms with Yasushi, but strangely, she missed him. He was a part of her group, a part of her family. She remembered his words.
'Don't grieve for those who are lost, it won't do you or them any good. You just have to keep moving forward. Look out for yourself.'
They never talked much, and it was impossible to tell what kind of mood he would be in whenever they did, but his words had an impact on her. She felt that he wouldn't want her to stop or be sad at his death. He did it for them. Noroi was right, they couldn't waste it.

A silence came over the three. Each left to their own thoughts as they moved forward. They had no direction, only knowing that they had to go deeper and deeper into the tunnels.
Below the drainage tunnels ghouls had spent decades carving out intricate tunnel systems that spanned all of Tokyo. It was so vast that it was simply impossible for any one ghoul to memorize. There were no landmarks other than carvings on the walls, but even they were unreliable as those in hiding would replicate the carvings in random tunnels to throw off or disorient those perusing.

The tapping of feet finally stopped, a huff of relief escaping from the young girl. Her legs were sore from moving so much. Surely they'd put enough distance between them and the ghouls who chased them. They could rest, at least for a time.
"I can take first watch"
Noroi's voice called out from the rear of the group. His dark eyes scanning behind him. Nobody argued. Both Eto and Akiri were fit to drop. The green-haired girl leaned onto a wall, slowly sliding down until she was sitting. Comfort wasn't a priority, they didn't have any time for luxuries; but, that was fine if it meant they would survive. Her eyes closed. It was a rare peace, one that she hadn't experienced in some time. Her body relaxed and Eto drifted to sleep.

***

CCHHHNG

Concrete sprayed the ground. Large projectiles were just barely blocked by two swiftly moving Tendrils.