Glow | Tokyo Ghoul

# 0 3 1 ⦋ Yet ⦌

— edited 2023

word count — 2303

♫

Three hours had passed, and yet, no one was back.

   Where the heck is everyone?!

   After all that had happened, I'd gotten up to do a few pushups and jumping jacks and ran throughout the backyard for a bit. When I had gone to take a brisk shower, big, bruise-like shapes greeted me on and around the paleness of my neck. I touched them in the manner I touched hers, expecting them to hurt, but feeling nothing once my finger made contact with them.

   Changing my attire, I toured the house and did virtually everything I could for the third time. I checked all the channels on the TV and lit up the logs underneath it, fed the fish some food, and gave Mirélle a once over, seeing that she was asleep.

   I...I never felt that way my entire life. I never knew something like that was even possible with clothes still on.

   And I was pretty good at these things. Navigating friendships, coming to my senses; I was aware of how to act, what to say, and how to say it. It was always mind over matter.

   But I couldn't this time. I was incapable of pulling myself away from her. Despite realizing it was a mistake, I...

   Why?

   Filling a kettle with water and plugging it in, I dragged a stool behind the counters and took a seat, resting my elbows on the tabletop as I scrolled through my phone.

   I don't know how long this will go on. My adoration for her was meant to be short-lived; I understood that I had more pressing matters.

   But Miri...

   A fleeting sting traveled through my chest. With a sigh, I tousled my hair, clicking on our LINE chat. In spite of only being friends with each other for about a month now, we'd already accumulated over two hundred messages to each other.

   Again, who am I kidding? I keep telling myself that I'll have to cut ties to investigate the disappearance of Kaneki further, but did I need to detach myself? Besides, Miri offered to help! If she were a CCG trainee, then I might definitely ask her.

   I can trust her.

   And I have such a soft spot for her...

   Shaking my head, I recalled the confrontation with Jin earlier.

   I'm in real deep, all right.

   Scrolling through our conversation and smiling at the sweet texts she sent, something I told her last week stood out to me. At some point, she'd asked me if I was free for a call, and although we had spoken for a while, I eventually hung up and said I was busy with university work.

   That day was especially hot. I'd been walking and cycling around the Ward when my classes ended in the early afternoon; following a few people that seemed suspicious, following Jin to know where he would spend his time or if he was meeting up with Ghouls that were bad news. I'd found out his place of work—he was a bartender at a restaurant bar, and Maki worked as a waiter there as well—and decided that it was a pointless hunt, especially since Jin appeared to be close to the Anteiku folks.

   He seemed suspicious numerous amounts of times, but he was clearly aggravated about the other Ghouls, based on his encounter with Touka.

   The others that I'd followed led nowhere, either; just some people having a rough day.