impartial interrogations

[another chance #5]

Takizawa wasn't sure what to say. The situation seemed completely absurd, in about every aspect imaginable.

Amon, who he hadn't seen in over a year (how was he expected to feel about that?) had arrived far too late to be of any use. Heh, how stupid. The dead would remain dead even in the face of his good intentions, so they didn't mean shit.

Amon, ever the hot head- really? Takizawa though, had he admired this man- took one look at the scene and drew the conclusion that Takizawa was the one responsible for all of this bloodshed. He wasn't wrong in thinking that.

But despite this, for whatever reason, Houji- uncannily calm facing a supposedly dead man- stepped up to his defence, claiming it wasn't him who had done it, but Tatara. He was lying. For what? For no cause at all, Takizawa was as close to a dead man as any living being could be.

It made him want to scream and shout at his- former, don't you dare forget that Takizawa- superior, asking why, why, why?

Amon seemed to believe it though, averting his gaze after a few intense seconds of stare-down. It drifted off to Akira, and turned into a worried, desperate and slightly hopeful look. Takizawa would have pitied him, but his head was spinning as his mind went into overdrive and he couldn't concentrate. It was just so many things that had happed in such a short amount of time. He didn't think it could get much more crazy. He was quickly proven wrong.

A knife flew past the three of them, cutting his cheek. Looking up, someone stood in the doorway- if you could even call it that- swaying slightly. In the darkness it was hard to see but Takizawa could distinguish green hair and something gray that might have been white once upon a time. Another knife appeared in their hand as they approached.

"Rank one Mutsuki, stand down." Houji's tone was commanding and calm, but Takizawa thought he could hear restrained anger brewing too. 'Mutsuki' didn't listen, didn't even appear to hear him as he threw a second and third knife. Running forward, he prepared to leap into the air and slash downward but he was stopped by Houji grabbing someone's- presumably dead- quinque from where it lay on the floor and aiming it at the green haired boy's neck.

"Stand. down." He repeated, punctuating every word.

"Aiding a ghoul is a serious crime." Mutsuki must have been suicidal because normally death was the only thing that could possibly come from attacking a special class. Normally. But Mutsuki's Kagune made a swipe for his quinque and Houji's injuries came into play as the block and following attack was unusually weak and with another attack the quinque was on the floor and Mutsuki had one of his knives embedded in Houji's- previously- good shoulder.

Next thing Mutsuki knew he was knocked to the floor, sliding back a few feet and scraping his legs against the uneven ground. Takizawa was staring him down, eyes blazing with anger and sharp shards building behind him. Glancing at his arm Mutsuki saw one of them was already impaled there. Pulling it out, he threw it to the side and spit on the ground.

"Youuuuu..."

"Stop it." Mutsuki didn't understand it, but the white haired man backed down at the command. He didn't seem like the type to obey anyone. "Don't make this worse than it has to be."

"But... Houji-san..."

"It's fine."