paint it red // haikyuu x tokyo ghoul

18

sweat was dripping down the back of my neck as i choked down every piece of meat that was under there. every last bit went into my mouth, and i must have swallowed some of the mattress. 

i was hoping with all my might i'd get my timing right. every other day, they'd send me a small cutlet of that weird meat. today was one of those days; but i wasn't going to just let them leave.

click.. click.. click...

i heard the shoes coming down the linoleum floor of the hall. my eyes studied the tiny opening that only a few fingers would pass through, and i knew today was the day. my heart was beating in my chest as i heard a small shuffling noise.

glove covered hands barely passed through the slot. i reached forward, uttering something under my breath. without giving much thought to it, my kagune shot out and through the slot. a scream sounded as i blindly wrapped my other limbs around her, squeezing hard.

"if you want to go home alive today, i suggest you open the door." i spat. nothing. i tightened my grip a few folds.

click.

the door fell open and i stepped outside. it was a woman, short, blonde hair. that was all i saw before i plunged my kagune into her neck and continued on my way.

it didn't seem like there was any suspicion as i dashed through this back hallway of the prison. i passed by the doors of other ghouls; they were stirring, they knew something was going on.

seemingly, things went from zero to one hundred. deafening sirens sounded over the loud speaker. all i felt was the pain of it, using my eardrums as a punching bag. the lights turned red. i heard footsteps behind me.

fuck.

i just kept running, and suddenly there was shouting and i knew there were people about to catch me. desperately, i tried to remember what those two from anteiku had taught me, but in all honesty i couldn't tell you their names if you payed me. i was starting to lose my memory of that whole place; i'd almost been in cochlea as long as i'd been working at the coffee shop, and—

a figure appeared in front of me.

i stopped dead in my tracks.

he stood there, wrapped in a long white coat. it vaguely resembled a lab coat, i knew what that meant. that was a dove.

his hair was black, other than a few inches left over that were milky white. the briefcase he carried suddenly extended, revealing kagune of some deceased ghoul.

i felt my heart sink into my stomach. i started to stumble backwards, and then i heard the footsteps of the investigators behind me. i was literally surrounded, blaring sirens and flashing red lights all around me. i felt like i'd die in that moment.

but, don't forget all the food i had just eaten.

three investigators behind me, one in front. my kagune shot out from my back, slashing forward at the black and white haired guy, and my other blindly fumbling behind me in attempt to fend them off. my kakugan shone from my left side, and it was like surprise had flooded the man in front of me. using my kagune, i threw him across the hall, where he ended up in a heap.

behind me, the investigators were somehow tired out already. i felt so proud of myself as i began to dart back down the hallway. again, footsteps, although only one pair. it was the same investigator.

"stop!" he called. his voice sounded weak, soft, not the kind you'd imagine a ghoul investigator to sound like. i ignored the call, and continued. towards the end of the hall, where light was pouring in.

a window.

i knew it wouldn't just be a thin sheet of glass like a normal mirror, and it was much smaller than one you would find inside a house, but determination was coursing through my body.

as i smashed shoulder-first through the glass, i expected the sirens to continue outside the prison. they didn't follow me, and i found myself falling surrounded by shards of thick, what looked like triple plated glass. i fell onto a soft padding of mulch and sparse grass.

i barely heard the alarms anymore, but that didn't mean nobody was coming. the building looked tiny from the outside, but i knew that it was a lot bigger than it let on. my heart was in my chest as i rose from the ground, wincing from my wounds, and darted into the forrest.

for what felt like hours, i just ran. i ran through the thick brush, developing deep scratches from the brambles that healed in minutes, only to be cut again from something else in the woods. at a certain point, i knew there was no way there was people close enough to me to capture me again, but i still persisted. the adrenaline in my veins was just pressing me to keep going, i couldn't stop running until the night had fallen and i couldn't see enough to run anymore.

that night, i ended up stumbling into some abandoned shack in the forrest. it seemed to be a hut meant for hikers or something, and i barricaded myself inside while i slept. suddenly, life felt so, so foreign. even in the prison, it felt like i still belonged somewhere. at home, i belonged to my family. in anteiku, i belonged to the ghouls. in cochlea, i belonged behind bars. here, i was alone. alone in the middle of fucking nowhere.

my stomach growled loudly.

—

"hello, i am miyaki sato, here to present you with breaking news. four hours ago, a ghoul broke out of the maximum security ghoul prison outside of tokyo."

the cafe fell silent, staff and patrons alike turning their attention to the television.

"it started with one escapee, but there are now a fleet of ghouls on the loose. this break has only occurred on the floor that holds A rated ghouls, but the CCG urges the public to be very wary regardless. here is a collection of photos of the ghouls who are currently on the loose. if you have any information on these suspects, please contact the local police or call the CCG hotline."

a number of ghouls had escaped on that day, all because of hinata. 17 to be exact. they were not the most dangerous, but a lot were ghouls that were extremely crafty. it had taken a lot of effort to capture them, and now they were loose.

sugawara and kageyama were in shock, although they didn't want to show it. kageyama had just returned from conversing with someone who knew a lot about the prison, and how one would go about breaking in.

they were shocked because wow, hinata actually did it. he took something into his own hands, and although there were big repercussions from it with so many ghouls escaping, he had gotten out.

for some reason, hinata's two (former) teammates had assumed he would just show up at the coffee shop. although, that never happened. days turned into weeks, which turned into months without any sign of hinata. in the end, he ended up being the only escaped ghoul that didn't get caught again. the same couldn't be said for most of those who got out of cochlea.

slowly, the thought and memory of hinata was becoming more and more foreign. a far off memory. by the third month without him, they'd given up hope. kageyama spent long hours alone in his room, and suga spent almost all of his time working in the coffee shop.

it had broken them up. they thought maybe he had been killed, and nobody had spoken about it. there was nothing else to think, honestly. there was no way of verifying anything. the world of ghouls had to be so quiet, so secretive.

it wasn't until there was a report on the news of a series of ghoul attacks in their hometown, north of sendai. the news reported it under the ghoul's nickname, small crow.

small crow was hinata. there was no doubt. he was alive, and he'd fallen into madness. 

——