THE TRIBULATIONS OF TSUKIYAMA SHUU

CHAPTER NINETEEN: OCEAN'S THREE.

A month before Doctor Chigyou arrived in Japan.

On a particular day in March, there was a shower of rain and school closed early. A young high school student with orange spiky hair appeared to be in a hurry as he was running through an empty road. He ran past a tall older boy with a face mask on and the visage of a model but paid no heed to him.

"Huh? The road ahead is blocked due to construction? But it looks fine to me. Anyway, I'll follow this shortcut in that alleyway." The orange-haired boy said out loud and ran into a narrow path.

'I better hurry up and visit Kaneki-kun, he called in sick today of all days when we had a pizza party! He's going to be so mad!' he thought to himself with a smile on his face.

But that smile suddenly vanished from his face and was replaced with a cautious one as he saw a familiar figure he just run past a few minutes ago. It is not wrong to assume that this person in front of him could be a ghoul since ghouls live in hiding amongst humans, that being said, the twentieth ward is relatively safe and there are few reports of humans being attacked by ghouls. The orange-haired boy on the other hand has a fairly high IQ and a knack for being a detective, he assumed the person in front of him was definitely a ghoul and thought of ways he could get out of this alive as he stopped in his tracks.

"I must say, I envy your demeanor and attitude even in this situation... Hideyoshi Nagachika." The taller boy in a face mask said breaking the silence in the rain.

"I am your master and benefactor from this moment on. I am Tsukiyama Shuu." Shuu said as he raised his unopened umbrella and opened it to stop the raindrops and to create a sort of sound barrier for both parties.

"Eh? Excuse me, sir, I think it's too early to be drinking sake." Hide laughed as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly without removing eye contact.

Shuu simply raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned his head.

"Ah, it will be a shame now to eat poor Kaneki while he is sick..." Shuu said pretending to care and looked away.

'He is a ghoul after all! He knows my name and he knows about Kaneki. This ghoul came here prepared with a goal in mind, I don't think he wants to kill me yet. I will do anything for Kaneki, he's the closest thing to family ever since my dad passed and I am living with a foster dad.' Hide thought as it was getting harder to maintain his calm expression.

"What do you want?" Hide asked with a stern expression.

"Ho ho, I like that look better. First of all let me make one thing clear, if any word of our meeting and such is leaked to anyone, I will not hesitate to kill Kaneki and send something to remind you of him to you, am I understood?" Shuu asked but this time the noise of the raindrops seemed to vanish as Hide felt like puking under Shuu's presence. Hide struggled to look up and saw two red pupils highlighting Shuu's face which was darkened by the poor illumination in the alleyway.

Hide limited himself to a nod, but suddenly felt the atmosphere lighten around him and raindrops fall on him again as the taller figure turned to leave.

"Come to that location, this Saturday. You are free right?" Shuu asked with his back towards him and threw a card at him.

"I will be there." Hide said and saw the figure vanish before him.

'What could that ghoul possibly want with me? What did I do?' Hide thought as he fell to his knees shaking and wiping the tears from his eyes.

Meanwhile, Matsumae was in a staff room at an institution called Kamii University. She was referred to by the director of the high school Shuu attended to the dean of the faculty of medical and pharmaceutical studies.