Amon's Justice

Chapter 1

Amon trudged through the sewer water, his body shaking from exhaustion and his mind reeling. He had just encountered the Eyepatch ghoul. They had fought, and Amon managed to injure it, but at the cost of what he thought would be his life.

He had gotten too close. His quinque had found Eyepatch's shoulder, landing a deep wound but leaving Amon wide open and vulnerable to a deadly attack from the ghoul's kagune. But no such attack came. Instead, the strange ghoul had spared him -- again. Eyepatch used the opening merely to push him back, and then to run. Why? No matter how hard he tried, Amon simply could not understand this ghoul.

He paused, leaning against the sewer wall to catch his breath. As his breathing quieted and the sloshing stopped, he was able to hear something else. Another set of lungs was breathing raggedly in the dark tunnel just ahead. A soft voice (Eyepatch's!) murmured phrases he couldn't understand, and footsteps began sloshing through the water towards him. He quickly pushed himself off the wall and stood, quinque at the ready. A tuft of white hair was the first thing to catch the dim, striped light from the sewer grate overhead. Then Amon spotted the beaked, one-eyed mask and a gleaming, crazed grin. Centipede. The ghoul had assumed its half-kakuja form, and its insanity was on full display. It muttered "tasty," and charged blindly towards the investigator.

The ghoul was fast, but Amon was ready this time. He waited for the right moment, and swung the blade sideways. Clang! The dull edge of the blade hit Centipede squarely on the side of the head, and it crumpled to the ground.

After waiting to see if he was down for good, Amon checked his pulse: alive, but unconscious.

"...Now what?" Amon wondered out loud, as he watched the half-kakuja's kagune disintegrate. The beaked mask faded away to reveal a young, soft face, free of the creases of distress and insanity that plagued it moments ago. Amon's eyes widened—he had never expected a ghoul to look so... human. And serene. I can't just kill him... He spared my life. Almost gingerly, he reached down and moved Eyepatch into a more comfortable position so his (no: its!) torso was out of the water and leaning against the wall. He held him there by his shoulder so he stayed upright.

"Investigator Amon?" came a voice to his right. Amon sprang up to come face to face with Nagachika Hideyoshi, the CCG's new messenger boy. How the hell did I not hear him coming?! Amon thought despairingly. There was no way he'd be able to explain his merciful treatment of the ghoul.

Amon began to stammer out some sort of excuse, but Nagachika's eyes went straight to Eyepatch, who had since slumped into the sewer water. He immediately crouched down and pulled him back up, looking worriedly at the unconscious ghoul.

"Hey, Kaneki, stay with us buddy..." Kaneki? That name sounds familiar... Nagachika took the ghoul's pulse, and sighed in relief.

"He's alive," he said.

Oh my god he's the missing boy from the posters!

Amon exclaimed, "This is your best friend! What happened to him?"

Nagachika (aka Hide) nodded, but ignored his question, instead choosing to heave the ghoul upright and practically dump him into Amon's arms.

"We've gotta get him out of here. Take him to my apartment. Here's the key. I'll be there soon; I just need to get some stuff for Kaneki." Hide saw Amon's distraught face, and how uncomfortably far away he was holding the ghoul from his body. "You were helping him, weren't you?"

"I-I guess," replied Amon, "But... taking him to your apartment is dangerous. He's— it's starving."

"It's fine; please just do it. I've got it under control.

Amon remained hesitant. Hide tried again:

"Look, I don't know your reasons for wanting to help Kaneki, but I'm his best friend. I'm trusting that you'll act in his best interest, at least until he's safe. I need you to trust me too, and please get him back to my place. Get him home." At this, Hide's voice broke. He's being truthful. Amon nodded, and hoisted the ghoul over his shoulders. Hide smiled.

"Thank you. I'll meet you there." He ran off down the sewer, leaving ripples in his wake.