Jane |UTA| [ Re-Write ]

opening up ✍︎

Jane stumbled into the CCG with an embarrassing smile that put Victor on edge. He hadn't seen her be late to anything let alone see her clothes so askew. Beside him, was Arima, and it didn't take long for the Frenchman to notice the dark expression upon the Investigator's face.

"Where have you been?" Victor almost exclaimed with extended arms. In the meanwhile, Jane was too busy fixing her hair to answer.

"I just overslept, shouldn't have drunk so much last night" she chuckled after a minute.

Victor didn't miss the shy flicker of her eyes toward Arima. To the Japanese Investigator, he knew her past had caught up with Jane and she allowed it willingly. From the smell of her, her old friend could practically see the ghoul essence rolling off her in waves.

"You should take a shower, Victor will collect your clothes from home" Arima stated.

For a moment, he watched Victor silently groan in defiance before shooting him an empty look that subtly masked a threat.

"Lead the way" Jane sighed before finally following Arima to the CCG showers found in their training gym.

The walk was hauntingly silent as Jane continued to adjust her clothes.

"There's no point in hiding, I know what happened" Arima announced calmly, his body rigid against Jane's silence.

"What are talking about? He's long gone-",

"I'm not stupid, Jane-" the Investigator suddenly seethed, "- his stench is all over you, I'm surprised you didn't set of the detectors".

Jane pursed her lips tightly in embarrassment, her heart racing as the truth became stagnant in the air surrounding.

"I-I didn't mean-",

Arima shot her a dangerous look in his glare.

"This is more complicated than I can explain" Jane growled out, her voice venomous as it infected Arima's ears.

"What's complicated about letting a ghoul-",

"He's not just a ghoul anymore",

"Then what is he?",

"Not a monster, that's what" she bit before disappearing into the women's changing rooms.

While she showered her whole body shook with frustration. How could she explain it? How could they move on from it? The entire situation wracked her brain even after the bliss she experienced the night before.

The exhaustion eventually took over and left Jane standing idly under the stream of warm water.

Where was it gonna go?

Once she pulled on what Victor shoved together from her wardrobe and tied her hair into a tight bun, Jane collected her quinque and patrolled the 9th Ward.

It was close to the 11th which put Victor significantly on edge. There, was the reported base operations of Aogiri, but with ghouls actively hunting down investigators in the vicinity, it made the ward completely uninhabitable. Entering that area was a death trap for any human.

"Isn't this great for a Tuesday morning?" Victor sighed sarcastically, breathing in the air with a deep, exaggerated inhale.

"It's our job",

"Yeah and far more interesting than Paris. There's danger around every corner here" Victor announced with a lingering excitement etched in his voice.

"If you think that's a good thing I question your integrity as an Investigator" Jane stared blankly as they continued to assess their surroundings.

Thankfully, it was quite a busy ward despite the equal number of ghouls to humans. It left Jane with some sense of security during their patrol.

"I'm just saying, work got a little reparative in Paris" Victor reasoned.

"Well I didn't join the CCG for the thrills",

"Then why did you?".

The silence between them quickly became awkward and her partner was initially going to dismiss his question due to the atmosphere before she exhaled in relent.

"I told you once my dad died here, he was CCG",

"Yeah, I was drunk but I still remember",

"I joined because of a betrayal and because I felt like I had to, for my dad" Jane admitted.

Victor stopped in his tracks for a moment, allowing that slight bit of information to seep into his mind. The Investigator still needed the context but the fact she was opening up made him cease all actions.

However, once he concluded she wouldn't continue if he acted this way, Victor began their patrol once again.

"What are you talking about? Betrayal?",

"When I seventeen, I met a boy-" she began, her voice light and vulnerable against the bustling streets, "- he was intimidating to say the least and intrigued me from the moment we met. It was the summer of 2010 and he still wore black, the only thing that made sense about him was his sunglasses. He was one of those people you read about in teen, romance novels: the bad boy with bleached hair and too many piercings. He was a sweetheart thought when I really got to know him".

Between her pause and next explanation, Victor remained confused as he tried to piece the puzzle together.

"I knew him for a month before my dad died. I practically ran into his arms like a love-sick, broken puppy while I grieved. Except, I didn't know the boy I loved was a ghoul. Better yet, I didn't know he was the one who killed my dad".

Victor couldn't begin to comprehend. His heart beat heavily in his chest, his palms became sweaty and while he observed his partner, he noticed the anguish that coated her features.

"Found out eventually he was an SSS rated ghoul, affiliated with the clowns. What a shitty first love am I right?" She tried to question like it was one big joke. But Victor couldn't hear the punch line.

"That's why you didn't want to come back" he nearly gasped.

"He would be able to track me down in a heartbeat".

That's when Victor had to stop his co-worker, pull her aside from the waves of people and ask the very question Arima did last night.

"Why don't you turn him in then? You know his identity, what's stopping you?".

The look Jane gave under her thick eyelashes said more than any words, leaving the Investigator in awe of her.

"How can you?... why don't you?...", he didn't know what to say.

"I don't fucking know-" Jane nearly exclaimed, "- he's still there, in my head constantly comforting, hurting and breathing over my shoulder, and if it's taken ten years of getting no where, I don't think even forever would solve my feelings... now can we stop talking about this? You're making me regret opening up to you in the first place".