Mourning Doves | Tokyo Ghoul

19 | S u s p i c i o n

The news broadcast was festering with a huge story of a man who had been slaughtered ruthlessly in the First Ward. Strong suspicions were directed towards yet another ghoul attack - one of the first of its kind in Chiyoda - and thus the CCG was dragged into the scene.

"We never thought it would get this bad," a broad-shouldered investigator with charcoal black hair, set in soft waves upon his head, said sternly into the microphone. "Mad Temptress hasn't been active for the past month and a half, and she never veered away from the areas around western Tokyo. We couldn't have predicted a First Ward attack as a possibility even if she had been active in the past few weeks. We're upping her rank as a SS now - she's an incredibly dangerous ghoul, so please take your utmost precaution."

Etsuko shut off the television set with a sharp click of her finger, tossing the remote angrily onto the coffee table as she lounged back into the canvas couch, heaving a breath that radiated remorse and immense rage. She massaged the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths as she pondered over her rather irrational moves and thus cursing herself a thousand times over.

How could she be so stupid? She could have waited a little longer, just so she could use the damned subway to get away from Chiyoda. A ghoul attack in the First Ward? That was unheard of. Completely absurd and utterly stupid. How could she be so stupid?

She hissed out a seething breath, letting out an enraged screech and punching a hardened fist on her knee, shattering the kneecap and sending spikes of pain up her leg. She didn't mind though, as the injury immediately began to heal; she felt the shards of bone shift under her skin and start stitching back together into the knob she identified as her knee. She spat out again, infuriated with herself, and sprung up from her seat, limping over to the kitchen to pour herself her fifth cup of coffee that morning; she glanced at the clock.

9:42 am

She scoffed; Ichijou hadn't even left for work even for an hour, and he was rushed to the red-light district of Chiyoda to investigate the only fresh lead on Mad Temptress he had in his possession for the past seven weeks. He had been oblivious to her outing when they had risen from bed, entangled in each other's arms just as he remembered, and completely and incandescently ecstatic that he had woken up next to her once again. She only smiled, as that was the only thing she could do, and sat down for breakfast with him just as she did yesterday. He went out for his morning smoke, with her drinking her second cup of coffee by his side, and kissed her goodbye when the clock struck ten before nine, shooting out the door in a sharp navy suit with a matching silver tie.

She was lost. She was utterly lost for words and actions, because her little show just then could potentially cost her life. She sipped her coffee, scalding hot against her tongue, with the most scrutinizing face she could ever pull and her anxious fingers drumming loudly against the kitchen counter. She didn't even know why she was drinking so much coffee; she wasn't even hungry, for Christ's sake. She had devoured a single adult man just that morning in ten minutes, leaving behind a bloody severed head, looking disheveled and its eyes round with utter shock.

The memory of the expression amused her, which sent a little giggle to shoot up her throat, but was then quickly suppressed by the aching rage that boiled within her chest. She hissed out again, splashing the remaining amount of coffee in her mug down drain and clattering the cup down after it, storming off into the bedroom to scavenge for some clothes she could wear.

She raided the drawers, finding a fresh t-shirt he used for sleep and a pair of gray joggers; she tugged them both on over her provocative lingerie, messing with her hair into a single ponytail before pulling on her crimson cut-off boots and grabbing her purse, which she double checked to make sure it contained the spare key to the apartment. She made her way down the street and to the subway, where she boarded and took it to Shibuya, the Thirteenth Ward, and her home for the last four years.