Unravel the World

Ch IV ~ Dangerous Connections

Two men, both covering their faces with masks.

One wore a white mask that depicted only a wide, almost sarcastic grin, while the other sported only a red half-mask, though it was much more stylish than that of the other's. It had corners and patterns that were verging on gothic.

The one with the half-mask was wearing a white trench jacket with a high, patterned collar and it swept almost down to his feet. He had white hair which seemed to be constantly caught in some kind of invisible breeze, quivering and moving as he stood and trained his piercing eyes on Iriai. She felt as though he could see everything she was thinking now, every thought she had ever had. Everything she had done, said, throughout her life.

Then there was man to the left of him. Even with the mask, Iriai could see that he was shifting his gaze everywhere. Looking out for doves, most likely. Like the other, he was wearing a long trench coat, but it was black and covered in metal, two rings hanging down, chains going from them to the inside of the pockets. She would have loved to know what was at the end of them. Behind the mask, Iriai guessed, he could have been a tattoo artist. His hair, blacker than black, was tied in a long, thin ponytail and hanging down his straight back. It moved ever so slightly whenever he shifted his head even the tiniest bit, making his shiftiness detectable.

"So this is her?" he asked, voice deep and self-assured, though he sounded very sceptical. "The one who killed Koi?"

"Yeah," Ayato said. These two foreboding men standing in front of them were obviously of a higher rank than Ayato, yet he showed almost no respect to them. Now that they were under the spotlight of a streetlamp, Iriai could see that he was not a dark, scary man but a teenager, barely her age, who was given too much power. He was childish and inconsiderate and too impulsive. How they let him treat them like that, she would never understand. None of it added up at all.

"She just looks like a scared child," the man in white commented, in a circle around Iriai and Ayato. "A long way from home..."

"How could a child kill one of our higher members, Tatara?" the man in black mused from behind him, almost talking to himself. "And, if you remember, Kirishima-san here was also a scared child when he first went out on his own. Look how quickly he became one of our executives. He's almost up there with us two, you know."

"Noro, you know as well as I do that he will never be one of us. He kills anything he sees and doesn't have any control. We don't know who this girl is, why should we - "

"We are in dire need of members right now, Tatara," Ayato interjected, not caring at all for how that sentence would be finished, "she is a one-eyed ghoul. Can you imagine what we could do with that?" He started to grin, laugh. "We could take down the CCG!"

"We already have a one-eyed ghoul, Ayato. The One-Eyed King. He is our leader and we are no closer to taking down the CCG than we ever have been. This girl - "

"Could be that boost of power that we need. We don't want her as an enemy and I know she doesn't want us as one. She could at least help us with the Rize situation."

Something in Tatara's eyes shifted and, in that moment, Iriai watched him change his mind. He looked back at Noro and Noro gave the tiniest of nods.

"Fine," Tatara finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, "She's in. If she proves useless though, she's dead."

"I understand," Iriai said, bowing respectfully as Ayato stood next to her and nodded slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Iriai pulled her thin hoody closer around her as they walked through the seemingly abandoned warehouse. Every shadow was dancing in front of her eyes and she felt as though someone were watching her, following. Ayato, Noro and Tatara walked ahead of her, not bothered by the cold or the little scratches and rustles that were telling Iriai that she should get out of there. Ayato's mask was now hanging from his hand and swinging against his leg as he walked. Noro and Tatara still wore their masks, as though they would be attacked by the shadows if they showed their faces. Her own mask was clutched closely to her, as though it would ward off the demons that weren't there.