Stitched Together

:Re Chapter 1: Nowadays

Disclaimer:  This now follows Tokyo Ghoul :Re, so there will be spoilers if you haven't read it.  Please please please go read it if you haven't, this'll make a lot more sense, and it's amazing and totally worth your time. 

"Ugh, what a long day already," I yawn and stretch my hands behind my head. "It's no fair how he always leaves me to do all the office work," I mutter as I set my head down on my desk.

"Excuse me, Miss Reina," a voice calls to me and there is a small knock on my open door.

"Oh, Mizurou, good afternoon. Come on in," I spin my chair around to face him as I twirl a pen in my fingers. This is my subordinate, Tamaki Mizurou. We're both the same age, 22 now, but he's only a rank 2 investigator at the moment. Over these past few years, I've been very busy. Juuzou and I set up a branch in the 13th ward, and we did get our own squad after all. Technically it's his, but he doesn't like saying that since he was so determined to share one. Honestly he's become a great leader, even without me. We're both associate special class investigators, but he was going to get promoted nearly a whole year before I was. He turned it down and said that he only moves up when I do. I don't want to drag him down, but he's determined to make it seem like we're equals. We're not even technically partners anymore.

"I dug up the files on Aogiri activity you wanted. These are years old though, are you sure this is what you want?" he hands me a stack of papers and asks.

"Yes, these are perfect, thank you," I smile and set them on my desk. This lot hasn't disappeared over the years either; it's kind of annoying. I would have much preferred Anteiku over Aogiri any day. As far as major organizations go these days, I don't know much. I'm more human than ever. The only time I'm anything but is about every month, when I have to eat. I've been so inactive, they put my file in the archives, dubbing me 'missing' or 'deceased'. It's funny how I used to know everything about everything, but here I am now, with only the knowledge of the CCG. I can't say I don't miss it sometimes, really being a ghoul, but this is what I chose all those years ago, and I don't regret it. "Um... also-" I start but he cuts me off with a smile and sits at his desk perpendicular to mine.

"No, Suzuya and Hanbee haven't come back yet," he says. Apparently the whole office likes to talk about us. It's a known fact that we're virtually inseparable, but noting formal is confirmed to them. A relationship like ours is unprofessional, so it's kind of a secret, even if we live together now.

"W-what! I was not going to ask th-"

"We're back~" a familiar voice sings from down the hall. Juuzou walks into the room with a large smile and waves. He's tailed by his subordinate, Hanbee Abara. The pair is quite humorous to look at, considering how tall Hanbee is. He blinks for a moment and looks at me. "Reina! I missed having someone useful around," He cheers, tackling me and nuzzling my cheek.

"J-Juuzou, hi, um, welcome back," I stutter and pry him off of me. He flops back into his own chair at his desk next to mine. "How were things?" I ask, dusting myself off a bit.

"Eh, no sign of anybody by the time we got there to check it out. It took a while because someone was scared to go in and check things out," he huffs, clearly talking about Hanbee. "Hey Hanbee, go get me some pudding okay... and some coffee for Reina too," he orders and Hanbee scrambles off.

"Wait, that's alright Hanbee," I call after him, not sure if he heard me. I rest my cheek on my hand and frown. "Honestly Juuzou, he's an investigator as well, not some servant," I sigh. Juuzou finds Hanbee to be pretty useless, so he always has him run all sorts of errands for him. Hanbee's quite the sweetheart too, a little shy, but very kind.

"Isn't that what a subordinate's for? I don't see why you don't put Mizurou to use more," he replies simply, waving his hand in dismissal. We have very different methods of mentoring. I typically leave Mizurou to do his own thing, only being there when he really needs guidance. We're all adults of the same age, and I feel odd giving orders like I'm superior or something. Juuzou, on the other hand, has no problem with using his position. He always keeps Hanbee nearby in case he needs something.