【心做し】 Kokoronashi 『Between Ghouls and Doves』

『2』

Chapter Two: CCG HQ

"We're going now. We'll be back later in midnight." Ayato said, with Eto beside him, they were both standing outside while facing the door of :re.

"Stay safe the both of you..." Hinami said as she waved her hand.

"Sure thing!" Eto smiled and waved back. "Bye bye!!" Eto added as they started to walk. There were silence as usual while walking but it wasn't that awkward. Eto then break the silence.

"You know, the atmosphere in the Café earlier became weird when I talked to Hinami-chan about Kaneki-san. I wonder why..." She giggled but it doesn't seem Ayato to be happy about it, as if he knew how his elder sister feels about Kaneki. He remained at silence.

"Well, I really don't know what happened to him after being captured by the CCGs." He said with his hands on his pockets, walking uncomfortably as he knew Kaneki wasn't the one who he was going to the CCG Headquarters for. There was someone else, his childhood friend.

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"Roger" Juuzou saluted Seido weakly. Seido rolled his eyes and left Juuzou standing while leaning against the wall. He traced his stitches in his arms for a while and looked around.

"Good Morning, Ma'am and sir!" Seido greeted. "What can I help you for?"

"Hi there! I'm just going to interview someone I know here." Eto answered. "Sure thing." Seido replied and scratched the back of his head.

"Rei Suzuya, do you know where he is?" Eto said with a warm smile on her face. Seido blinked. "S-Sure... but do you mean Juuzou Suzuya?" He asked confusingly. Eto just nodded her head.

"This way Ma'am." He leaded them to a table and a seat. Ayato and Eto sat next to each other while waiting for the person. Seido called Juuzou to come. While waiting, Eto whispered quietly.

"So his name changed... or maybe it was just a wrong person." She smiled warmly. "We'll see." Ayato replied. It'd been several minutes since they're waiting, for the reason Ayato to feel disappointed but then Eto pulled his jacket.

"Look! There he is!" Eto said as they both looked at the guy walking towards to the table. Ayato was frozen at the girl's changes. He knew she supposed to have long white hair with a headdress. He didn't felt that he was facing the girl he knows from the past. Yes, he knew that years have passed already and people changes when they grew older but even her look to him changed.

"Hi! I'm Yoshimura Eto! And you are...?" She asked and waited for a reply even though she already know his name. Juuzou opened his mouth but nothing came out of it, no words escaped his lips.

"I see..." Eto sighed. "But don't you worry! I already know your name!" She added. The white haired man sat there silently. Eto glanced at Ayato for a while who was uncomfortably sitting at the table while starring at the ceiling. Eto elbowed him a little and whispered "Stay cool and go ahead." "Right." He replied.

"I'm Ayato Kirishima. I'll be your new partner, it's nice to meet you." He said confidently while looking at him straightly "Suzuya Juuzou." Juuzou replied back, Ayato then let out a hand. Juuzou blinked and stared at it for a while remembering his last companion, Shinohara. It didn't took several minutes before he put himself back together, he took his hand as they shook their hands.

"Perfect! Then everything is settled." Eto interrupted and clapped her hands. Ayato let go of his hand. Eto stood up as Ayato was about to stand along with her also but she quickly stopped him.

"Hey, now. No need to leave." Eto said pushing Ayato's shoulders down to make him sit back. "I'll be leaving and you two better to get to know each other, so bye-bye!" Eto said and walked out of the room. Juuzou was facing his new companion while Ayato can't look straightly. Juuzou noticed that.

"Can't you look at me?" He can't help to ask which got Ayato's attention. "Sorry. U-uhm... Do you need help or I should answer questions incase if you have one." Ayato just said and scratched the back of his head.

"Okay, then... I want to know how old you are."

"I'm 15." Ayato replied. Juuzou started wondering, he was already 19 while the man in front of him looked 20+ but just in the age of 15. Ayato was even taller than him. While Juuzou was wondering about Ayato, Ayato was wondering about Juuzou as well, he knew he must be 18/19 yrs old but he wondered why he was now taller than him, when they were kids, Rei supposed to be taller than him. He shook his head for a little, putting himself up together and realized that the white haired man was confusingly looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Ayato asked as Juuzou just blink. "Yeah, I'm fine... Umm Can we stand up for a while?" Juuzou suggested.

"Sure thing." He agreed as he stood up along with the man in front of him. Juuzou stared at his height. Ayato noticed that it was becoming awkward.

"I want to know about your old companion. Mind if you tell me about it?" Ayato suggested a topic Juuzou looked at the ground for a while. Ayato was disappointed at himself. "If you didn't want to talk about it, it's fine with me." Ayato said while scratching the back of his head. Juuzou then faced him back with a warm smile on his face.

"No, It's okay. I will tell you." He said as he held his tears. "We should go out and eat for dinner while I tell you." He added. Ayato just nod in agreement as they walk together towards the dining area. They sat down in front of each other, they remained in silence while waiting for their order. It didn't took long, they're order just arrived in time.

"This is the second time I'm going to use the chopsticks~!" Juuzou sang quietly while playing the chopsticks with her fingers. Ayato remained in silence and took a sip of the coffee he ordered, signaling him to start telling him about his old companion. When Juuzou noticed him, he stopped eating for a while and turned serious.

"A few days past since he was gone... He was actually got slain by the owl." Juuzou started while staring at his coffee. "He always managed to follow me wherever I go. He's always there by my side. He never let me feel alone... but..." His voice cracked, he didn't want to talk about it, as his tears fell down.

"And.. that makes me hate ghouls even more." He added which made Ayato's eyes widening.

'But when we were kids you supposed to be on my side.' He thought to himself and clenched his teeth in anger mixed in sadness.