Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

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Adrian was rubbing at the back of his heel with his other foot when Jackson started to tell him that everything was okay, was it really? Was he really not upset with him over this? It wasn't as if this was something small...Jackson had literally been stuck in the same position for hours. That was his fault, how could the man be okay with that? Surely he couldn't... But...he guessed it wasn't the biggest worry they had right now. He still had Claire and Taylor in the house and Jackson was okay, he'd just have to keep apologising.


He was going to say something when he saw Jackson's attention switch to the door, which made the boy's do the same. Taylor was standing there, looking on at the two, and Claire was quick to push past him and start looking at Jackson's stuff. For a moment Adrian smiled, he seemed about to speak once again, but then Jackson said his name. His head snapped back around to look at the man, before his eyes dropped again. Oh yeah...


"O-Oh. This is...um..." Adrian looked back up, "Claire and Taylor." He managed to put a smile back onto his face and stand up straight, looking at least a little more cheery than before. "They helped me out...last night..." There was no point going into detail with it, he'd only upset himself even more, he just wanted to keep it a secret. "Oh! And I'm okay now! Everything's good!" The boy leaned back and rocked forwards once again, giggling, "I hope you don't mind, Jackson... It's just Taylor was told he had to tail me home just in case, and then Claire wanted to see a house so...I brought her here..." He knew that Jackson might not like it, but they really had helped him out, what right did he have to deny them this? "They're okay!"


Taylor gave a wave with two fingers in the air before looking over to Claire, he sighed and shook his head, walking over to the girl to pick her up.


"At least have some sorta manners kid, c'mon." He placed her down back at the door, "If you wanna look at somethin' you've gotta ask first." Letting the girl get too caught up in all of this was only going to end badly, she wouldn't want to leave, "An' Lee wants us back soon y'know..."


"Mmn... What time is it..." Adrian looked to the clock, eyes widening, "Did we have work Jackson? I should probably call them at some point...otherwise they're gonna think-..." He cut himself off, "I-I mean...we're late...so... Yeah..." All of this was said very casually, Adrian really wasn't too phased anymore, it was like this was an every day occurrence or something.

 

[yaint]

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NOTES

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time for that conversation we talked about


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"Ow! Taylor!" Claire flailed and struggled in Taylor's arms, kicking at his stomach with the sharp nails on her bare feet until she was finally on the floor again, after which she made a point of crossing her arms over and turning her head to the side with her chest puffed outwards. In another act of stubbornness, Claire chose to ignore Taylor's sentence-long lecture and instead traced a finger on the wall all the way to the kitchen.


A wide, yellow-toothed grin spread across her face as the girl discovered the barstools, and she quickly forgot her irritation with Taylor. One foot as a time, she stepped up onto the footrest and then sat backwards in the seat, tapping noisily at the breakfast bar with one hand and grabbing onto the edge with the other to swivel herself from side to side. She wasn't going to drop such an opportunity of discovery that easily, not even if Taylor threw her out head-first. "Lee's no way gonna believe this," Claire whispered to herself as she took another moment to stare out of the enormous window to her right. The view really was spectacular.


***


What in the-!? Jackson shook his head from side to side as though he had been caught in the web of a derailed daydream, but when he opened his eyes again everything looked the same. Claire... Taylor... These people - these things, or whatever they were - had names? It didn't feel real. Nothing really felt real at that moment, even when the voices were speaking almost into his ears.


"Uh... Y-you..." Spit it out! shouted a voice inside his head, but Jackson didn't know what exactly he was supposed to be saying. Who should he talk to? Adrian? Adrian. But there were still so many things to react to; the ones walking around his home being one of the most pressing. Claire, who he assumed to be the child-looking girl, gave him the chills. Then again, Taylor wasn't much better. He looked somehow more threatening, and both strangers carried an odd but faint stench on their clothes that made Jackson's nausea grow worse.


"You... A- uh - Adrian, these are..." Speak, stupid! Jackson swallowed. His mouth suddenly felt very dry, and without thinking, one hand found its way into the grasp of another and he was rubbing his thumb in a circular motion over the skin of his wrist. Somehow he had managed to completely blank out everything that he had heard about work, instead pushing his concerns over his career at the CCG to the back of his mind. It was the two strangers he needed to address first. "A-Adrian... These, uh, oh... Oh no, they're not ghouls, are they? They're not, tell me they're not."

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

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"Huh?" Looking back to Taylor and Claire, Adrian cocked his head to the side, Jackson asked a question he didn't want to answer...so he was stalling. He knew he had to at some point though, so he might as well get it over with. "Yeah," He turned back to look at the man in the wheelchair, "They're ghouls..." How did he justify this? There must be a way, he didn't really want Jackson to get really mad at him, "But...they're not gonna eat you or anything, they promised they wouldn't, and they're nice enough." He smiled again, obviously he wasn't as bothered by the two as Jackson was. In a way Adrian was able to relate to them, he knew that it sucked to have nothing, he didn't want to deny them something as simple as this.


"It's only for a little bit, Jackson, they have to get back to somewhere anyway...I just...um...I..." Unsure of how to finish that sentence, Adrian looked away and put a hand behind his head, smiling awkwardly, sure, it wasn't the most ideal of situations, but it wouldn't last long. They weren't going to be where forever, Jackson didn't have to deal with it for much longer. "I promise they're go soon..." Obviously he'd done enough to Jackson already, maybe this was just too far. It was hard for them to both take in what had happened to Adrian, never mind him bringing home ghouls all of a sudden.


The situation had just become very awkward, Adrian wasn't sure of what else to say, and standing there with his hands behind his back, dragging one foot back and forth across the floor was just making things worse than before. Now he was really feeling bad, he didn't want to have to just kick them out, but Jackson seemed uncomfortable.


---


"Claire!" Again Taylor was chasing after the girl, he headed after her towards the kitchen, but stopped when he looked around the area. He hadn't lived in a house in ages, they even had an actual kitchen and a television! Wow... No, now was not the time to get distracted by random things. He could do that later. Now was the time to get Claire to calm down a little, they really did have to go soon.


"Look, we did it okay?" He crossed his arms as he approached the girl, "Lee said he needed us back... We can't stay forever y'know..." As much as he wanted to look around he could tell that the human that had been in the other room definitely wasn't comfortable with them, and Lee really didn't want them to stay too long. "So look around for a bit and then we gotta go, 'kay? Not too long... Sure these guys have things to do anyway..." He didn't want to get caught up in it himself either, this house was...so warm...

 

[yaint]

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NOTES

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PRINCE AND JESTER, PRINCE AND JESTER OHOHOHO


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Ghouls. The word kept ringing inside Jackson's head, playing over and over again as loudly and clearly as though someone were shouting it into his ear. Ghouls, ghouls, there are ghouls in my apartment.


"What... What is this!? Adrian! Y-... No, no way, you c- you can't just be bringing ghouls in here. Not them, you can't. They'll kill us."


What was he going to do? Adrian said that they wouldn't do anything, but... What if he couldn't trust Adrian right now? No, stop it. Jackson ground a knuckle into his jaw and shook his head. What the hell is wrong with me? Of course he could trust Adrian. It wasn't like he had changed... At least not his mind... Right? No, it wasn't Adrian that Jackson was afraid of. It was Adrian's judgement. He could be wrong, the ghouls could turn on him. What if they took advantage of his childish nature? What if they had deceived him, and now they were both as good as dead? It's a possibility. Even if ghouls on the inside were nothing more than bloodthirsty wild animals, they put on a good disguise.


This isn't happening, no way, oh God, I can't let this happen. There were ghouls in his apartment, and despite Adrian's wholehearted trust of them, Jackson was convinced that no good could arise from the situation. They're going to kill us both.


Out. That's what he needed to do; he needed to get the ghouls out and away from the apartment before their innocent nature hooked him in the trap along with Adrian. Get them out, get them out. Adrian could do that...


"Out, please, you - you've got to get them out. Listen to me, Adrian, something is - is going to happen. They have to go."


***


Claire swung her legs about the barstool and dropped onto the floor with a rather ungraceful whump from each foot. "Aw, c'mon, Tay!" the young girl sighed, passing her gaze over Taylor for a second before spinning about to look back out of the window again. Despite the numerous other tall buildings in the vicinity, being on the ninth floor gave a surprisingly wide field of view and much of the city was visible from where the girl was stood. "This place is really cool. I'm sure Lee isn't gonna mind if we spend just a little longer here... An' besides, it took me forever to find that kid."

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

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"Mmn... Jackson..." Adrian whined, he crossed his arms and turned let and right. He didn't want to tell them to leave...did he have to? "They're gonna gonna kill us...I promise!" He tried protesting, but it didn't look like Jackson was having any of it. The other was panicked because of the ghouls in his home, and Adrian understood it, even if he didn't want to kick them out. In his mind he was making friends, it was better than making enemies! At least he hadn't brought hostile ghouls to the home! They were friendly enough.


After a few moments of just standing there the boy sighed, "Fine... I'll tell them to leave." He mumbled, it was obvious he was unhappy about doing so, but he knew he'd upset Jackson enough for one day, so he wasn't going to make it worse by whining and complaining like he'd done in the past.


The boy turned on his heels and headed out of the room, going towards where Claire and Taylor where standing, it was awkward to tell people to leave, but...at least they'd had somewhat of a look around right? He'd tried to show them the house, Claire had seemed excited about it, and they could see each other again, which would be fun.


He was really pushing what happened the night before to the back of his mind, he didn't want to think about it...but he knew that something would eventually force him to do so.


"Guys..."


---


Taylor had crossed his arms and gone to look out of the window along with Claire, it was a nice view, he had to admit, but he wasn't staying longer than he had to. Even if it was nice he felt out of place here, this wasn't where they were supposed to be, and so they had to leave.


"It's not just that Claire... We need to go arite? It just...ain't right here..." He finished his sentence by putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, they could get a house of their own one day, he'd do something to make their lives a little better at some point. Claire wanted what everyone had, so did he, so they'd have to find a way to get it.


As he was in deep though he heard a voice come from down the hall and spun around, noticing Adrian standing rather awkwardly, he didn't look comfortable at all. What was up now?

 

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NOTES

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FLASHBAAAACKS


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There we go. It was shaky, but Jackson finally managed a sigh of relief, and the words thundering through his skull seemed to dull and mute and disappear into tiny, unintelligable whispers of notions he couldn't be bothered to remember. The ghouls were still there for now, so of course relaxation would have to wait, but at least the man could find some peace of mind in knowing that they would soon be gone.


Now that Adrian was busy and Jackson had no more words to find and piece together, Jackson had time to compose himself - after all, sitting slouched forwards with sweat on his back and wearing nothing but his own underwear wasn't the best he had ever looked or felt.


He began by rummaging through the drawers next to his bed for something he could cover himself with - not necessarily a tight-fitting shirt. Work clothes could come later, if there was still any time left in the day to do anything productive. For now he simply found a folded dressing gown made from a soft and feathery-light fabric, unravelled it and then threw it over his shoulders. One step at a time, he threaded his arms through the sleeves and then pushed himself up slightly so that the back would fall down between the back of the chair and his skin.


Good enough... He still didn't look fantastic, but judging by his image in the mirror beside his desk, Jackson had certainly improved his appearance from a moment before.


***


"Huh? Oh! Adrian, it's you!" Claire squealed, abandoning the mesmerising London view to remember that oh yes, somebody actually lived in this wonderful apartment with which she was so fascinated. "Hang on a sec', Tay! I'm not done. Look't, Adrian's got something to say as well."

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

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Seeing Claire's enthusiasm only made things so much worse, kicking her out was hard for Adrian to do. He just wanted everyone to be comfortable and happy, but that wouldn't happen with ghouls in the same hour as Jackson... It was okay, something these things had to be done, right?


"Um... I..." He tapped his toes on the ground, looking to the side, "Jackson said I have to tell you guys to leave." Speaking quickly was the best way to do it, that way he'd get it over with, "I don't think he's very comfortable with all of this, plus we have to go to work soon... So yeah." He tried smiling, but the minute he even caught Claire's eyes his gaze dropped again. He didn't want to hurt her.


"I'm sorry."


The news didn't really seemed to affect Taylor, he'd already kind of figured that the human in this house wasn't the most comfortable with them so it really wasn't a surprise. He'd get Claire and get out.


"Sure." He nodded, grabbing Claire under the arms and lifting her up, "We can get gone. Lee wants us back anyway, right Claire?" Taylor knew that she might not be happy with it, but they did have to go at some point, so now was probably a good time. "We'll probably end up seein' ya some other time, try not t'get yourself killed...kid." Even though Taylor knew that Adrian was older than him he couldn't shake that habit. The guy looked and acted younger, it just seemed right.

 

[yaint]

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NOTES

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Kind of feel asleep whilst writing this


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Claire's face contorted in an overly expressive frown; her brow furrowed, nose curled and mouth dropped open into a squashed 'o' shape with the top row of her yellowed teeth visible beneath her cracked upper lip. "Aww, seriously?" the girl wailed, her arms suddenly seeming to grow heavy and drop limp by her sides. "But Tay! I hadn't even finished lookin' around, an' there's still stuff left to talk about with Adrian, isn't there? I spent so long lookin' for him..."


Her jaw had just dropped open a little wider, but if she had been about to protest again, her words were cut off by the suddenness of feeling Taylor's skin beneath her arms. It wasn't necessarily an unexpected gesture, but disappointing nonetheless. Still, Claire knew better than to argue at this point and simply allowed the older male to lift her up (though she pulled a face behind Taylor's back).


***


For several minutes, Jackson loomed just within the frame of his bedroom door, the back of his neck prickling with uncertainty. Are they going? It was hard to tell. Adrian was being quick and quiet with his words, which made the speech difficult to make out. Could he check? Was it even safe to look? Wimp. It's not like taking a look will kill anybody.


Jackson grabbed at the fabric of his dressing gown and bunched it together at the front so that it wouldn't fall apart as he moved. Then slowly and reluctantly he used his other hand to push himself about in a circle, finally facing outwards towards the door just in time to see it click shut behind the ghouls' backs.


"They're... They're gone," he mumbled blankly, staring at the plainness of the glossy painted door. "Adrian. Th-that's it, right? There aren't any more in here."

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

Adrian had spun when the two had started walking, Taylor carrying Claire out. He didn't want to have to do that so quickly, but it was probably best, sure, they knew where he lived, but they weren't going to hurt him... He'd have to go and find Claire some time, see what she wanted to talk about, she seemed to have a lot more to discuss with him after all.


"Uh." Upon hearing Jackson's voice he turned to face the male, holding his hands in front of him and smiling, "Oh, yeah! That's it! Don't worry, they're all gone now!" He'd be over the decision soon enough, in fact he seemed pretty much over it at that moment, it wasn't a big deal...he'd see them later.


For a few moments Adrian stood there in silence, rocking back and forth on his heels, he wasn't sure what to do. Then something else popped back into his head and he looked up, rushing to his room to find his phone. He needed to call work! That was right! It was getting into the afternoon now, and they didn't know where he was.


"Hey Jackson!" He called, picking up his phone from the side table and running back out, "I'm gonna call work okay?" He typed the number into his phone as he talked, "They won't know why we haven't been in so I'll have to tell them something... I'm not sure what...but something..." After that he put the phone to his ear.


It did seem like Adrian was trying to avoid something, and he was, he was trying to avoid having a conversation with Jackson about what happened the night before. That was just...awkward, plus neither of them wanted to say it, neither of them wanted the confirmation of what had happened, so...so why not forget about it until he needed to remember again? For now he was fine, none of that needed to be brought up, no one needed to say anything. He was too nervous to have that conversation, what...would Jackson even think of him? Forget it. They had work to worry about.

 

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NOTES

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SCREAMS BECAUSE HYPE


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Gone, they're gone. It felt as though Jackson had finally been uncaged, like the tightness in his chest had suddenly disappeared to allow him his deeper breaths. Everything is fine. The ghouls had left. They were nowhere in sight, out of mind and concern. Gone.


Jackson went to adjust his cuffs, but then remembered what he was wearing and simply fiddled with the sleeves of his dressing down for a moment as he continued to think. What was Adrian talking about now? Oh... Work. There was a twinge of guilt in the pit of Jackson's throat; he had completely forgotten about work. How could he? Though he had been fading between sleep and consciousness, Jackson had heard the landline's tinny, upbeat ringtone several times as he laid on the floor. They must have been trying to contact us... That wouldn't be surprising. Adrian goes missing and neither him nor his flatmate turn up to work the next day - somebody must have noticed that something was off.


"Oh... Um. Adrian?" the man began after clearing his throat. His fingers uncurled from the sleeves of his robes so that he could move through to the lounge area and get closer to Adrian. It was awkward trying to converse from opposite ends of the apartment, after all.


What do I say now? Jackson wondered and chewed down on his already-scabbed lower lip, biting into the skin as his thoughts deepened. He had just remembered something else - the night before. If there was ever a time to discuss it... Well, now was it. But did he really want to bring that back up? The ordeal had frightened Jackson nearly out of his life, and maybe mentioning it would... No, no. It wouldn't. He had to trust Adrian now. Something had happened to the boy that night, that was for sure, and that was all that both he and Jackson needed to know. Or wanted to know. Same thing.


Finally, for the sake of both man and boy, Jackson decided not to bring up the topic of the previous night. Instead, he tried to find the rest of what he had originally attempted to say. Work, we're talking about work. Not anything else. "Err - sorry. I was going to say that, uh, we got phone calls... I mean, this morning, on the landline. When you were out. I think it was from work, or something..."

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

"Oh?" Adrian looked to Jackson, "I hope they aren't too worried..." He watched the man as he held the phone to his ear, so work had already tried to get into contact with them, but because Jackson had been unable to move, and Adrian had been gone, they hadn't gotten an answer. Was it urgent? He hoped not...


A few seconds went by where his phone just rang, the boy kicked around at the ground, bored, was anyone ever going to pick up? There must be someone there right? They wouldn't all be out would they? A few more rings and he was thinking of giving up, but just as he was about to put the phone down and end the call he heard a receiver get picked up on the other end and a familiar voice answered the phone.


"Hello?"


Adrian's head shot up from looking at his feet and he smiled, he knew that voice, it was Oliver. The male was usually the one to answer or make phone calls, Adrian swore that he never left that office.


"Oliver!" The boy exclaimed, "Um, sorry this is a bit late...we've had uh...issues."


"Issues huh?" The voice on the other end seemed to be doing something else whilst they talked, "You're late you know." He sounded rushed.


"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry." Adrian stopped for a moment, noticing there was something wrong, "Is...something up?"


"Hm? Yeah, kind of." More tapping, "Are you hurt in any way? Are you fit to fight?"


"Yeah. I'm fine... Why?"


"Quinx got deployed earlier, there's something about a ghoul organisation attacking a certain area, they've gone to check it out." Footsteps could be heard, "Listen. It's probably best I let you off the phone. If I give you the area they're in do you think you can get there?"


"Okay. Yeah."


"Alright. Be quick. I'll let you go."


And with that Oliver put the phone down on him.


A little baffled and showed, Adrian turned around to Jackson, blinking. Quinx had gone out earlier...and there was a ghoul fight! Oh this would be so much fun! He had to get there!


"Jackson, Oliver says I need to go meet up with the Quinx squad. Are you coming? Or...going to the building? We need to leave soon."

 

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NOTES

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"Huh?" What? Jackson shook his head from side to side and blinked, clearing his head of irrelevent thoughts once he heard his name being called so that he wouldn't lose track of Adrian's words. Oliver. That was a name he knew; Jackson had spoken to Oliver many a time when he contacted work from the apartment, but he still hadn't made himself overly familiar with the man's character. At least if Adrian had managed to get in contact with Oliver, he wouldn't be in trouble with Strat. Not yet, anyway.


But what was going on now was more important. Jackson turned his head to the wall to check the position of the clock's hands. I was right, he thought, noticing that the short hand had already turned past the marker for twelve, It is afternoon.


Was there even any point going to work now? More than half of the day had been wasted, and Jackson still didn't exactly feel fit to spend hours in an office or laboratory; his joints still ached from spending all night and morning on the floor, plus he would have to clean himself up and dress properly. But... Adrian had said something about the Quinx squad being sent out to the field. Did that mean there was an active investigation to see to? For a moment, Jackson's breath caught in his throat as he realised that this could be a new opportunity for him. He had been shepherded away from the path of an investigator before he was ever allowed to participate in a mission.


It was risky. The stunt could get him demoted or even booted entirely. I'm not supposed to go out on the field. But this? This time he would have Adrian and the rest of the Quinx. And if he were to remain supposedly absent all day, he could still pass himself off as a passerby, or say that he got confused trying to find his way without a driver. It could work!


"Uh, actually... I - there's a mission? Like, a real investigation? Hey, Adrian... You don't think that the others - the Quinx, that is - would be too annoyed if I tagged along?" The words were spoken stiffly and quietly; Jackson couldn't even count the number of violations he would be committing by showing up for a mission unaccounted for by the higher-ups, and just the idea of doing something so drastic was daunting to say the least. But this was the first big chance in his career. I can't just pass it up.

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

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"Mhm. Like the real thing!" Adrian replied, it was obvious he was excited, this was the day he'd been waiting for! He was putting his phone back in his pocket and moving to grab some other things when he heard Jackson speak again, "I don't think so... They'll be fighting anyway... You should come! It would be really good!" He knew that he shouldn't be saying such a thing, Strat was going to kill him for bringing Jackson, but he wanted to, so he would. He'd just have to get the other ready first, then they could let's.


"Let's get outta here quick."


---


It hadn't taken Adrian long to get Jackson into some actual clothes, and once he left the apartment he'd elected to take the car instead of walking. It would be quicker for the both of them after all. He'd gotten Jackson into the car and quickly sped off down the main road, following his phone's GPS in order to make sure he went the right way. Getting lose now would get him in so much trouble.


Of course he hadn't been able to drive straight up to the area, he'd had to park and then go search. Who knew where they'd be by now...


It was the crashing that had given it away.


Along with Jackson, Adrian had sped off towards the sounds, weaving through back allies and under bridges until he found the place. It was on the outskirts of London, a pretty deserted place par the smashing and crashing he heard. Adrian was getting more and more excited, his pace getting fast and fast. Then as he rounded another corner...he saw it.


A human leg dropped to the ground from around ten meters up where a masked figure sat, a masked figure he recognised. The ghoul turned its head to the side and that familiar jingle of a bell could be heard. Jester. Jester was here again? No way. And it seemed that his presence had been spotted by the ghoul as he'd turned his head and now crimson irises were staring down at him from the crumbling wall, but he wasn't moving.


There was another crash and Adrian's attention was pulled in another direction. Another ghoul, there was another ghoul. This one looked taller and stronger physically than Jester, they was wearing what looked to be a golden mask along with a hood and cloak that covered their head and ended down next to their feet. Other than the white cloak and golden mask, they were completely in black.


Wait... Who was this? He'd never seen this ghoul before...but they stood confidently, like they didn't have a worry nor care in the world. And...who were they looking at.


Adrian's gaze shifted again and he noticed that someone had been slammed into the wall across from him, he recognised them...they were... Wait...was that Ryan? He was about to shout when he heard another crash that caught his attention, then another, then another. There were fights going on all around, he could hear them... How big was this thing? This was...only one enemy? How many people were here? It had to be more than the Quinx squad, he could hear voices, voices he didn't recognise. Were they all fighting ghouls? And...where was the rest of the Quinx squad anyway?! He couldn't see them from there...


They had to be around. He needed to help!

 

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NOTES

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AAAHAHHAHA IT'S HAPPENING!! FINALLY, YEEESSSS!!!!


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Ever since he had got out of the car, Jackson had felt an electric buzzing sensation in the space between his ears. Excitement, fear, apprehension - whatever it was that that buzzing meant, it left the man with a racing heart and an itch for the action he knew he was forbidden to take part in. He had the steel quinque case laid ready on his lap. This time I'm prepared.


Only when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure did Jackson finally skid to a halt by Adrian's side. The sight of the severed leg dropping down in front of him brought about a violent shiver and somehow intensified the nausea that Jackson had been suppressing for so long, but his horror was quickly forgotten as his mind set to work on Jester's image.


This is who we're dealing with? Jackson thought to himself as he stared up at the figure sat many metres above him. He knew that Jester was strong, he knew the stories of the ghoul with the bell-decorated mask wiping out entire teams of investigators, but did his death really require the entire Quinx squad and all of their mentors? Then again, Jackson had experienced this ghoul's ferocity first-hand when he had been thrown across an alleyway and forced to witness Adrian and Lea take him on two-versus-one. Lea had been scathed in that fight, and she was supposed to be one of the best...


"Adrian? Adrian, look, it's Jes-" Jackson began to point out the obvious to his friend, but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by an impossibly loud crashing sound that once again brought him back to the night with Jester. What was that!? His eyes widened and searched wildly for the source of the noise, scanning up and down, around, all the way to the side, when he found it.


There.


Another ghoul, dressed in black and white and a regal-looking mask somewhat resembling that of Jester in terms of shape and size. What's it doing? It looked like it was just standing around, but there was something strange about its stature and body language that made the alarm bells in Jackson's head begin to ring. He knew he had seen that ghoul somewhere before, and it was more than a niggling feeling of familiarity. Come on, come on! screeched a voice inside Jackson's head, muting the imaginary sirens and bringing him back to his senses. Now's not the time to daydream. This is a fight.


This is a fight. The voice in his head was right. A fight was happening, and he could see it through the thick lenses sat in front of his eyes and he could hear the voices and the crashing echoing around the walls to his sides. Who's that? There was a person Jackson recognised but could not name - a young man, by the looks of it - being thrown up against a brick wall. The sight brought about another bout of shivers, but his thoughts were once again interrupted as a voice whose owner he knew piped out a screech of terror.


"Oh jeez, Ryan! Shit!" Teddy!? Of course. Teddy was a member of the Quinx squad as well as Adrian, so he was partaking in this mission alongside the others. He wondered for a second if Matthew was there, and his question was immediately answered as a burly-looking ginger-haired man dropped into Jackson's line of sight along with a slender, dark-skinned woman.


"Matthew!" Irene yelled at the top of her voice. She sounded somewhat breathless. "Quick, go get Ryan!"


Jackson swallowed hard and turned his head towards Adrian, feeling a bead of sweat roll down the side of his neck. This is a real fight, he realised, This is a serious matter. "Adrian," he began, the tremor in his voice betraying the mixture of fright and anticipation that swirled in his core, "I - I think they might need help."


It didn't take long for Jackson to decide that he needed to move quickly if he wanted to make any difference. He was already here, after all, he had accepted the danger. There's no glory in hiding around a corner and waiting for the shit to hit the fan. So before Adrian could respond to his statement, Jackson's hands were on the wheels of his chair and he was speeding forwards over the pavement towards the site of the commotion.

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

The crashing the banging, Adrian could see that Ryan was in trouble, he heard Irene's shouts, but he didn't know what to do. Something...was nagging at him...


A moment ago he'd been excited, now he was fixated on the ghoul with the regal-looking mask. There was something about him. He didn't have time to dwell on it, he heard Jackson speak and then the guy was speeding towards the fight. If Jackson was going in...he couldn't just stand there and stare, could he?


There was Irene shouting, Teddy too, and Matthew, were they all here? He needed to help them out! This wasn't a small matter, whoever this guy was...he was giving the squad a hard time to say the least. A squad that Adrian was part of.


Standing here was only wasting time, but he was so transfixed. His team, his friends, they were over there fighting! They needed his help, if he didn't leave now then everyone was going to get hurt! What was he doing?! There were so many things to think about, but Adrian knew that if he didn't do something Ryan was going to get pummelled by that ghoul. That...rather intimidating, over confident ghoul. He stood with the air of someone higher up, like he believed himself to be above everyone else. On another level even.


Adrian's eyes flicked up to Jester, the ghoul still hadn't moved, he was sitting casually, staring at Adrian with his piercing eyes. His kagune hung in the air, curving over his head as he watched the male. It was like the ghoul knew there was something up with him. He sniffed the air. Adrian did the same. Then Jester turned his head to the side, eyes still locked on Adrian. He was making no attempt to move, nor did it look like he was going to any time soon, but that stare...it wasn't just that it was a little bone chilling, but also that it reminded him of when someone was confused. It was as if he thought Adrian himself was the confusing being out of the two, there was nothing to see here...it didn't matter, he was going to help his friends.


The boy broke their silent eye contact first, releasing his own kagune with a wince, his eye turning that solid black with a crimson red iris. If they wanted to fight, then he'd help fight. Jester could wait. It was time to get that guy hurting Ryan. That's what he'd been called here for. That's what he'd do.


"Get the fuck...off!" The exclamation came from a cool and calm Katherine, her fire-like ukaku danced behind her as she ran behind the large male ghoul, keeping her distance. Small red shards erupted from her kagune heading straight for the ghoul's back. She was too slow however, as he seemed to vault straight over her barrage, using four strange, jaged edged tail-like structures that extended from his back. Each had a rather sharp time on the end of it, and the minute he landed he locked eyes with Katherine.


They seemed to stand there forever before the four appendages struck down on her with incredible speed and force, the girl's eyes widened and she dodged just in time, however one managed to hit her in the leg, causing a yelp as she rolled out of the way. The ghoul's head turned, but he made no further move, his kagune retracting back to rest out to the sides of him. Instead he raised a hand towards Jester, beckoning the guy down.


His attention would have flipped back to Ryan if he hadn't seen Adrian about to attack him. The boy had run in, his kagune releasing sharp purple-black shards that flew towards the older ghoul. He simple stepped to the side of them. However, the two were now face to face, and they could both see each other.


"Jester. Deal with her."


Adrian's eyes widened. A one eyed ghoul? The ghoul turned his head to the side, regarding Adrian in the same manner that the boy was regarding him, it seemed neither of them expected to meet another one eyed ghoul in such a place. This man's gaze reminded him of Jester's look, except...he could see one of his eyes... Well, if he looked at that one surely he'd be able to get a better idea of his emo-


...


Adrian froze up. That...eye. That voice. It wasn't possible. But...he knew that eye... He was certain...he'd never forget it...he'd never forget how he sounded...


He was being stupid.


It wasn't possible.

 

[yaint]

tฬเxt

​

NOTES

​

DEAD END


TAGS


@Yoki

MAIN

​

It felt to Jackson as though he had exchanged an entire conversation with Adrian within the space of a single shared glance, a set of instructions and acknowledgements that had no time for words or gestures. It was simply a matter of a broadcasted thought from one mind to another: Let's go.


For a few seconds, Jackson let momentum do the work for him as he removed his hands from the wheels to click in at the handle of his quinque case. The steel parted at the edges and flew backwards to fit back together in the shape of a short, circular handle. From the outer end of the handle exploded three thick tentacle-shaped appendages coloured the same red as the blood Jackson could see dotted around on the pavement.


Jackson began to slow down after having activated the quinque, so to free his hands again he shoved the handle of the weapon between his jaws just in time to swerve out of the way of a bombardment of colourful missiles. What the!?


It was a girl - presumably one of Adrian's squadmates. She was the source of the bullets. But what's her name!?


Suddenly Matthew was upon Jackson, stumbling over the man's legs on his way towards the brick wall against which the boy named Ryan had been thrown. For once, Matthew appeared to take little interest in Jackson or Adrian other than to shoot the both of them a short, sharp glare. Irene was the first person to react to the presence of the two newcomers.


"Buh - Adrian!?" she spluttered breathlessly, leaping backwards with the help of the deeply serrated appendages protruding from her lower back. "Jesus Christ, it's good to see you. Shit-" The girl was forced to jump once more to make way for Matthew's return with Ryan in his arms. Jackson, too, had to jerk out of the way to avoid being tripped over again. Teddy was doing some visible stunt in the distance that involved running up the side of the wall and leaping towards Kathrine to cover her with his pink-and-green bikaku.


Once the danger of being run into had dropped, Jackson reached up to touch Irene's wrist and make himself known to the girl. For once she was speechless as she stared back down at the man below her; over and over she opened and closed her mouth like there was a thought to be expressed, but not one word made its way past her mouth.


"Y-yeah, sorry. I, uh, I came with Adrian," Jackson strained over the earsplitting crashes after dropping the quinque from his mouth to his lap. "We weren't in this morning, and, uh, I think Adrian left yesterday to-"


"Tell me later!" the girl piped back, having found her voice at last. "Just do as you're told, got it? You're here, so help us fight these pricks. Adrian!" Suddenly she was shouting, craning around to search for the boy. "You hear me? Wh- wait, what the hell are you doing!?"


What? What was Adrian doing? Jackson shoved the handle of the quinque between his teeth again so that he could turn around and find his friend standing frozen in front of the second ghoul.


"Adrian! Jackson yelled - but his voice couldn't reach the volume it needed to pass all the way to Adrian's ears. What the hell!? He's just standing there!

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

"Leo!" The long drawn out whine came from a tiny pre-teen Adrian as he held onto his older brother's sleeve, the male next to him simply dragging him along as he went. "Can I come with you!?" His eyes were bright, he was smiling, looking up at his older brother as his feet scraped along the carpeted floor of their small, cosy apartment.


Leo had used all the money he had to buy the place, he'd moved the two out of Devon after their parents had been sent to jail. Adrian was still getting used to it, he knew that, the boy kept asking when he was going to see them again, even though he knew he wouldn't. Those conversations were always awkward.


"Leo!" Again Adrian's small voice chirped up to the man, earning a chuckle from him as he stopped moving and turned to face his younger brother.


"Come on Adrian." Soft brown eyes stared down at the child, making him smile brighter. There was a sweet smile across Leo's face as he picked Adrian up and walked over to the sofa, placing him down on it once again. "I won't be long okay? But you gotta wait here for me."


"Why can't I come?" Adrian reached his arms up, dragging one hand down Leo's face, which caused him to make an 'eugh' sound before standing up straight again and laughing, crossing his arms.


"'Cause I say so." Leo teased, his voice soft, he smiled and turned away from the boy.


The child climbed up onto the back of the sofa, watching as his older brother made his way to the door.


"Mmn! But I wanna!"


"It's too dark Adrian, you'll get scared going to the shop at this time."


"Will not!"


"Will too!" Leo got his keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door and opening it, "Anyway, I'm the adult. I know what's best for you. So listen to me for once, 'kay?" He stuck his tongue out at Adrian, making the little boy giggle and sit back down with a 'hmph'.


"Okay... Fine. Don't be long!"


"I won't! Be good!"


Click.


----


"Hey Adrian..."


"Mhm?"


"Promise me something, alright?"


"What is it?"


"If I ever become a monster, like mum and dad, save me... Promise me you will."


"I..."


"Promise."


The word left Adrian's mouth before he knew what he was saying. He was standing there, motionless, staring into the ghoul's eyes. He'd never forget those eyes, he couldn't ever forget them...but...this couldn't be him, he'd never do something like this. Leo, a ghoul, he couldn't be, he'd always despised the things for hurting people.


Leo was the sweetest, kindest, and most loving person Adrian knew, he wouldn't do this...he wouldn't be trying to kill people like this. He wouldn't have hurt Ryan. Yet...those eyes. That voice. They told a different story. He was the same height as Leo, he supported a similar build, but Leo was dead. He'd been told Leo was dead. His brother wasn't alive. So...So who was standing in front of him right now? This man, whom he recognised, didn't act like his brother, but his physical qualities...they matched Leo. They matched him exactly.


They'd never let him see the body.


He'd never seen Leo die.


He'd never seen Leo die.


"Leo...?" The two were still staring at each other, but the ghoul in front of him seemed to have much more awareness of his surroundings that Adrian did. Adrian was a sitting duck, this ghoul could tell, but it was intrigued by him. What a strange individual, a ghoul working with the CCG. It didn't make sense...at least his scent suggested he was a ghoul, even if it was slightly masked by that of investigators and the CCG headquarters.


The ghoul's head snapped to the side when he heard a name being called out, what was that? He stared into the distance, looking at the man in the wheelchair who had called the name, before hearing the boy in front of him utter something else.


"Leo..." Adrian took a step forwards, stretching out his arm, but a large spiked appendage crushed the ground in front of him. The ghoul had just given him a warning to back up, yet, Adrian didn't even flinch. His eyes were wide, he was completely focused on the male in front of him, the kagune strike that nearly pierced him hadn't even been noticed by the boy. Adrian's mind was filled by stupid day dreams and silly fantasies, if...if this was Leo he was to get near him. It had been six years, he'd been apart from his brother six years, and...and that'd been hell. Getting the chance to see someone who matched that man's appearance, who sounded like him, Adrian was completely transfixed. At this point he was beyond caring about anything else.


For six years he'd been desperate to get Leo back, he'd only wanted to see him again, to know what happened that night. If he was standing right in front of him...Adrian wasn't going to give up that opportunity.


----


"What're you doing you idiot!?" Katherine was back on her feet and had seen Adrian approaching Prince, she turned to Teddy who was now in front of her. "Oh god Teddy, I don't know what the fuck he thinks he's doing, but he's going to get himself killed." Just then her head shot to the side as a large stinger pierced its way through the concrete in front of her as she jumped back. Jester. Of course. The familiar jingle could be heard as Jester landed on the ground, kagune thrashing. He was ready for a fight, and his sole target was Katherine, though it looked like he was trying to push her back towards her group.


The woman jumped back, firing blood red spikes from hr kagune once again, which Jester skillfully dodged, thrashing out again and again at her with his own kagune.


"Teddy! Please! Shout Irene and help me with this!" Katherine jumped backwards, "Matthew! Prince! Now!" Her attention was to be focused on Jester, though she was doubtful about whether she could beat him alone. She just had to distract him right? Ryan was around, even if he was slightly dazed, she could employ Ryan's help on Prince and get Teddy to help her with Jester.


"Stop standing there like statues everyone! Attack him!" There was a loud crash as Katherine crystallised her kagune in an attempt to jump over Jester and attack him short range, however, she was batted out of the air by a tail whilst jumping, sending her flying into a nearby pillar.

 

[yaint]

tฬเxt

​

NOTES

​

IDK WHY BUT WHENEVER I MAKE LOTS OF THINGS HAPPEN IN THE POST, IT READS REALLY BADLY. SORRY LOL


TAGS


@Yoki

MAIN

​

"Adrian!?" Oh no, oh no, what the hell is he doing? Jackson felt the tightness of his hands on his wheels ebbing to a slippery, tremblingly weak hold which soon saw his arms simply drop limp by his sides. Why's he just standing there!? No, no, that wasn't happening. Adrian... Adrian wasn't doing anything. He was just there - just standing frozen in front of a ghoul that could easily kill him with a single swing of that great spiked appendage. Oh no, no no no, Adrian! That was it - Adrian was going to die, right there, on that spot. He was going to watch his best friend gored to death.


"Adrian! Shit..." Irene was calling again, but her endeavour didn't last more than several seconds; when Katherine called her name, the girl switched her attention to the squad leader and darted away from her spot to assist with Jester.


Jackson had no idea where to look now. Adrian? The boy was still frozen in front of the ghoul that was apparently named Prince. Still alive, but in no less danger than before. Katherine and Irene? No, no, they were fine. Teddy was back up on his feet and standing tall behind his two female comrades, kagune extended outwards to form a barrier in front of the trio. Matthew? It didn't look like Matthew had heard his leader's instruction, because he was on the ground furiously patting at Ryan's face with both to try and bring him about.


Suddenly, there was an earsplittingly loud screeching noise of stone against stone. The sound forced a flinch in the blond-haired man and his head whipped around to find its source.


Oh my God. More. There were more ghouls - that was all that he could think of as he saw another black-clad figure slide over the far wall, a single, thick and arm-like appendage jutting out of the upper back just below the shoulders. It was wearing a plain black cotton mask that completely obscured its face, but from its body shape it appeared to be a female.


Teddy flexed his kagune as the female ghoul approached. Jackson tensed up. Fight, they're going to fight again. What should he do? What could he do?


Adrian.


Teddy and the girls.


Jackson had two choices, but his mind would not cooperate with the situation. I can't... I can't choose, I can't do it. Who was he supposed to help? He might even end up being more of a burden than a lifeline. Come on, come on! Try, I've got to try.


"Agh... A-Adrian..." The name came out as a strained whimper, muffled behind the large object held in between his teeth. Anyone could die at this moment, but Jackson in his situation was not prepared to sacrifice one person to save three. Not when Adrian, rooted to the spot in front of an enormous ghoul, was worth a million.


He couldn't even recall what he was doing or why. Something was happening to his right, but when he saw himself gliding over the ground, it wasn't towards the fight with the group's newest threat. He was accelerating in the opposite direction, speeding towards Adrian and his opponent at a velocity he didn't even know he could reach.


Then, suddenly, his hands were up in the air. He was still moving. There was a quinque in his hands, and like the pulsing tendrils of liquid muscle they were, the three long claws spiralled together into a single blood-red blade.


Without sparing a moment to think, Jackson had rammed his chair into Prince's feet, skidded around in a half-circle and had raised his quinque-wielding arm in the air.


One.


Two.


Three.


"Adrian!" With all of the speed and force that his thick and heavy arm could manage, Jackson thrust the blade at Prince's abdomen as he screeched his friend's name.

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

"Shh, Adrian, everything's fine. Just gimme your arm, okay?" A younger Leo who couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen forced his way into Adrian's mind.


"It's hurting, ow, ow..." A very small, extremely child-like Adrian sat on the bed of a rather tatty room, the light didn't seem to work properly, flickering on and off all the time, and there was hardly anything in it. Just a broken wooden bed, and a poorly built, creaking metal framed bed. There was also a set of drawers over in the corner, but apart from that and the few cheap toys the children had scattered around, they didn't have much at all.


"Adrian, keep your voice down will you. Shh..." Leo was dabbing at a large graze across his brother's left forearm with a wet cloth, whilst Adrian complained, whined, and sat there watching him. "Let me look at your face." He grabbed hold of the boy's chin carefully and turned his head to the side, earning a wince from his brother, but revealing one of Adrian's cheeks to be rather red and slightly swollen. "I have something for that."


"Mmn..." Adrian played around with the thin blankets on the metal framed bed that he was sitting on, the mattress was uncomfortable and cheap, and the blankets were itchy and hardly ever kept him warm. "Did...I make them sad?"


Leo's attention was suddenly taken off the wounds on Adrian just to look at the boy.


"What?"


"Mommy and daddy... Did I make them sad?"


"Adrian...I-"


"They don't like me, do they?... Does that mean I made them sad? Did I ruin their life?"


"Adrian..." Leo seemed to stare at him for the longest time, his eyes filled with sorrow, worry, and guilt, but his young brother simply looked back with a gaze of utter confusion. He didn't understand, and Leo knew he wouldn't understand... He was too young to.


"Why do you look sad? Who made you sad Leo? Was it me? I'm sorry."


Within seconds of hearing that Leo had dropped everything in his hands, letting it fall to the cold wooden floor with a thump, and wrapped his arms around Adrian, holding him in a tight hug.


"Listen to me Adrian. It's not your fault...okay? It's never your fault... You didn't do anything wrong."


All he could think about were the similarities between this ghoul and his brother, at this point even if it wasn't his brother, Adrian still needed to get closer. He needed to know that Leo was alive. He was look obsessed with finding the other, making sure he was okay...


He just wanted Leo back.


It seemed that the others had gone to deal with Jester, whilst he was left alone with the stronger male ghoul. Maybe he could talk to him, he might be able to reason with him, tell him who he was, tell him what was happening. Ask him where he'd been... But every time Adrian tried to open his mouth, no words came out, only almost silent sounds.


The ghoul's attention seemed to get taken away at points when he heard another male screaming the name 'Adrian'. His gaze gave nothing away as he looked at the man in the wheelchair, in fact he seemed as impartial as ever. However, he quickly got bored of Jackson and went back to facing Adrian. He was waiting for the boy to step forwards or step backwards, whilst Jester was more than capable, he did want to get involved as well.


The two continued to stare at each other, but little did Adrian know that there were four appendages getting into position to run him through. Well, that was until a screech can from next to the two.


Jackson had gone to attack the large male ghoul, but as the quinque came flying towards him he made no effort to move. Much like he knew he didn't need to. All he did was simple stare in Jackson's eyes, his appendages moving position again to point at both of his opponents.


Adrian, however, saw the quinque going towards the ghoul and his eyes widened. No...Jackson couldn't, he didn't understand...


"Jackson!" The boy screamed, suddenly jumping in the way of the quinque. It pierced right though his left shoulder as he attempted to stop the ghoul behind him from getting hit. Adrian cried out, fell to his knees, and then held onto the middle of the quinque. "You can't...you can't..." His voice was shaky, but he was trying to explain.


A large hand landed on the top of Adrian's head and he looked up to see who it was. For a moment Adrian seemed happy, his eyes lit up, and even with the quinque through his arm...he...was happy... Lel had his hand on his head. Lel was alive...


That happiness however was short lived, as his hair was suddenly grasped and his whole body was forced upwards, before he was driven into the ground, temple first, at an alarming speed. Over, and over, and over, and over... After quite a few hits, the ghoul seemed to be satisfied that it had made its point. So his eyes switched to Jackson.


He extended an arm out at the man, grabbing his throat for a moment and lifting him up, never breaking eye contact. But something in him seemed to change when he heard another crash and saw someone else join the fray. The ghoul dropped Jackson again into his wheelchair, then used his foot to kick the chair backwards just as fast as it had come forwards. He obviously didn't see Jackson as a threat, after all, the man had just stabbed Adrian.


He was toying with them, there was a lot more damage he could do, and that much was obvious.


----


"Dammit! What the hell!" Katherine had been firing another attack at Jester as she saw another ghoul crash through and into the fight... This was bad enough, they didn't need extra members added to the party. She regained her position behind Teddy, trying not to keep herself in the firing zone. Already her stamina was decreasing, that wasn't good, she needed to do something quickly.


Jester had also noticed the other ghoul joining the fray, the bells on his mask jingled again as he turned his head, but he wasn't distracted for more than a second. Without warning, he'd plunged his kagune down towards Irene and Teddy since they were the closest, he was aiming to kill. If he missed it seemed he already had a plan, since he was on the move immediately, jumping forwards to try and strike again, this time in an attempt to knock Irene completely out of the way. It seemed he wanted to deal with each person individually, even if he could possibly take them all out.


----


"W-Wha..." Ryan woke up to Matthew above him trying to slap him back to life. The man's eyes widened for a moment before he sat up straight, looking around. "What's going..." Oh yes, they were still in a fight. "Goddamn..." He saw that everyone seemed to be going different things now, but also saw that there were some ghouls that needed more attention than others.


There were three on Jester, one ghoul had just arrived so no one was on her...but...Prince... Adrian was there... Adrian, and he seemed to be getting messed up. What was he doing? And who was that with him? Were they insane.


"Stop slapping me and get out there! They need our help Matthew."

 

[yaint]

tฬเxt

​

NOTES

​

no notes


TAGS


@Yoki

MAIN

​

Adrian! Forwards, forwards, Jackson had to force his quinque ahead with all of his strength if he were going to make contact with Prince, and that was the only thought in his mind as he felt his shoulder tense and lock, elbow extend impossibly straight. It was up to him to rescue Adrian from the being of death stood menacingly before his comparitively small and fragile figure. It was up to him to stop Adrian from getting hurt. It's up to me. It's up to me, it's-


Jackson!


"What the-!?" No. No, no, Adrian, no! Jackson's head whipped to the side to face the spot on which Adrian had been stood, but the boy was no longer there. Gone. Like a whirlwind, he had shot away from his place in front of Prince and had leapt directly into the path of Jackson's quinque. He was in Jackson's way. He was shielding Prince.


"Adrian, no!" the man shrieked, his eyes stretching into huge white circles decorated with the thin red lines of pure horror.


Too late.


There was no time to think, no time to retract his weapon or change its trajectory to miss Adrian. All that Jackson could do was squeeze his eyes closed so that he wouldn't have to see the blade slice through the boy's skin, tearing an enormous hole in the flesh between his torso and his arm - after all, imagination did the job just as well as his eyes ever could.


Only when he felt the quinque slip out of his grip and heard a sickening crunch did Jackson dare look again, and he was immediately met with the image of Adrian's skull being repeatedly slammed into the concrete.


Oh no. Oh my God, no! Adrian!


"No-!" Jackson began to cry out to his friend, but there was suddenly a hand around his throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak. The quinque was still in Adrian's shoulder. No, no, no! All the while he was in the air, Jackson clawed at Prince's hands to try and relieve the pressure on his windpipe, but suddenly there was no need. With no warning, the hand loosened and dropped Jackson back in his seat, and then he was flying backwards. A winded grunt was forced out of him as he collided with a wall to the back of the site, and it took several seconds for him to mentally compose himself again.


"Heads up!" Jackson blinked as he heard Teddy's loud-voiced warning. The younger investigator, who had been shielding his teammates, was now directing his attention towards Jackson.


What...


Oh.


The third ghoul, the unknown female attacker with a thick and heavy koukaku, had chosen to abandon the situation in which she was outnumbered, instead averting herself to single out the weaker agents one by one.


No! Jackson didn't have time to be targeted now. He had to get back to Adrian, he had to help his friend. I stabbed Adrian. I... No, no! What had he been thinking!? Save Adrian. That's all he wanted to do, he wanted to save Adrian's life and stop him from getting hurt... But in the end it was Jackson who was doing the hurting. He had just impaled the person who he was supposed to help. I... I just stabbed Adrian, oh my God, no... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, Adrian, oh God.


Teddy was in front of him now, stood up high on his thick and strong legs with kagune stretched out to protect them. Slam, hop. Teddy danced tirelessly with the ghoul, but Jackson wasn't looking. All he cared about was getting back to Adrian, all he needed was for Adrian to be okay. I stabbed him, oh God, I just stabbed Adrian.


One hand, then the other down by his sides and tightly clutched around the edges of his wheels. His quinque was no longer in his reach, but retrieving it wouldn't be hard. He just had to get to Adrian.


"Adrian, no, no, oh my God!" There was no holding back the wails of horror as the distance between him and his friend began to close. The blood, the home in Adrian's shoulder, it was all becoming clearer with every heartbeat. Closer, closer...


Wham! Without noticing nor caring, Jackson crashed head first into the wall and took the time to share a brief glance with Prince. He shuddered; there was that strange familiarity he had felt before, and the fluttering in his ribcage knew where he had seen those eyes before. But it didn't matter. "Adrian? Oh my God, no, are you okay? Please, please be okay, you can't...


***


Matthew clenched his teeth together and glared at the boy in front of him. Despite the fact that an insult was ready on the tip of his tongue, he did not lash out at Ryan. Instead, he rose to his feet and twisted his head from side to side in order to regain his bearings.


Katherine. Irene. Both stood together in the wake of Teddy and the female koukaku ghoul. The male in their trio was busily engaged in combat, no longer shielding Jackson but simply fighting to save his own life.


"Irry!" Matthew called out as his legs began to carry him towards the female investigator he so dearly admired.


"Matt, now is not the time for stupid nicknames! Get over here and hold this ground!"


"But Teddy-"


"Seriously! There's a fuckload more ghouls on the way and we're gonna be in way more trouble than Teddy if you don't get moving. You too, Ryan!" After glaring at the burly male, Irene cast Katherine a quick apologetic glance for taking command, but her guilt was quickly forgotten. Just as had been warned, there were more ghouls climbing over the fence now; two, five, ten of them, all dressed identically to the female attacker and ready to fight with their kagune released.

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

CRASH.


A yelp could be heard as a plate crashed to the ground, smashing into tiny shards and scattering across the sleek wooden floor of the kitchen. Large, anxious, grey eyes stared down at the broken shards, he hadn't meant to smash it...


Adrian quickly dropped to his knees, attempting to pick up all of the shards of pot before anyone came in, he hoped no one had heard him.


But then there were footsteps.


The boy's eyes widened and crawled across the floor, trying to scoop everything into a pile before the footsteps reached him.


"Adrian?"


He stopped in his tracks, placing his hands on his knees and looking down at the floor, nervously.


"I-I...I didn't mean to I-..."


"Hey, don't try and pick that up." Another voice, this time one he recognised a little better. Leo.


His older brother had walked over and started to pick up the shards of pot himself, Adrian attempted to help, but Leo simply swatted his hands away whenever he saw them go near any of the broken pieces. "You're going to hurt yourself, don't touch it Adrian."


"I'm sorry. I-..."


"Shh, shh, it's alright, everything's fine bud." Leo's gaze went over to a woman standing at the door, she seemed to be around the same age as him, eighteen or so. "I'm sorry, he's a little clumsy sometimes." The man smiled, putting a hand on his brother's head and motioning for the boy to stand up.


"Oh. It's okay, really." The girl didn't move forwards, but she watched from the entrance to the kitchen, smiling kindly.


Leo went to put the shards in the dustbin, which Adrian seemed to stand anxiously in the middle of the room, head down, foot rubbing against the back of the opposite heel.


"Are...Are you mad with me?" His voice was quiet, almost like he didn't want to find out, "I...really didn't mean it..."


"Huh?" She shook her head, again simply smiling at the boy, "No, no, I'm not mad. Accidents happen, don't worry about it."


"But aren't you gonna-" Adrian's head had shot up, but before he could finish his sentence Leo was crouching in front of him with his hands on his brother's shoulders.


"Adrian, she said it's okay. Don't worry."


"But..."


"I know, but that's not how it works here. Come on, no one wants to hurt you." Leo smiled, "We'll never hurt you, you know that."


----


Adrian's head was throbbing, what...what just happened? One second he'd been jumping in the way of a kagune, the next the person he'd been protecting had grabbed him by the hair and slammed him against the floor repeatedly. Did...Did he do something...wrong? His eyesight had blurred slightly, but it was starting to come back, his head was throbbing, he could feel a warm liquid trickling down the side of his temple. It was awful. His body wasn't listening to him.


The boy tried to raise his arm, but he sucked in air through his teeth the minute he realised which arm he'd lifted. Jackson...had stabbed him. Or he'd gotten in the man's way rather. Why would Jackson try to hurt Leo? Why would he do that? They were friends right? So why would he attack him? Did...Did he not realise? If he didn't realise Adrian needed to tell him, Jackson had to know!


"Ja-" His pathetic attempt at a shout was cut off as he felt his hair grabbed and his head forced up again. Once more he was eye to eye with the older ghoul, it seemed to unnatural...to see that one black and red eye where another soft brown should be. He was really a ghoul...but...he was alive, that's all that mattered, he was alive.


"You're really fucking stupid, aren't you kid?" His voice was deep, but it had a certain aggressive tone to it that Adrian had hardly ever heard Leo use before, and never towards him. Never. "Jumping in front of a quinque for a ghoul. Do you have a brain in that underdeveloped head?" He pulled Adrian's hair backwards, forcing the boy to look up, "I don't think I've ever met someone so-" The ghoul cut himself off when he heard Adrian whine and saw two small hands grasp hold of his arm, for a few seconds he just knelt there, staring at the younger male's hands as the other stared up at him. "What're you doing? You stupid child."


Adrian didn't answer, but he didn't let go. In fact he did quite the opposite, he attempted to sit up. It took him quite a few tries to force himself into a sitting position, and even when he did it was obvious by his swaying that he wasn't completely stable, but he never let go of the ghoul's arm. His tired grey eyes stared into the emotionless eyes behind the golden mask, and...those grey eyes seemed to be filled with joy, more joy that they should have been.


For a few seconds the two stared at each other, it was obvious that the larger of the two wanted the other to let go and get off, give up, but Adrian didn't want to do that. It was shown by the way he gripped the man's arm that he didn't... He kept trying to open his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. So, after a few moments, the older broke the silence.


"Fine." He gripped Adrian's hair tighter, slamming the boy's head back into the ground once again before resting a foot on his rib cage to support his kneeling position, "If you won't listen. I'll make sure you can't move."


----


"She's right!" Katherine didn't seem to mind Irene taking over a little bit, she'd seen the ghouls start to come in, she just hoped they had backup soon. There must have been people fighting them, hopefully they weren't all dead. Still, she should get backup from Strat, they needed it. Maybe even needed some higher class investigators to deal with this. Jester had backed off when the female ghoul came out, in fact she wasn't sure where he was anymore, so she took the time to back up and get hold of Strat. They needed more operators, they needed a stronger force to deal with this man ghouls.


Prince was not a ghoul to be taken lightly, and he seemed to be leaving most of the fighting to his subordinates at the moment. They couldn't deal with him and everyone else on their own, it just wasn't possible. She'd heard stories about Jester and Prince, when the two were seen together, many people died... She couldn't risk the life of her squad for pride, backup was required, but she didn't know how quickly anyone who wasn't there could get there. It would be a stalling game, they'd have to do their best without any help for the time being. They had to fight.


---


Jingle.


There was another familiar sound near Teddy as something interrupted his fight with the female ghoul. Jester had come out of nowhere, suddenly sprinting and ramming into the male to try and force him backwards. As he did this his kagune had been raised in the air, coming down in a strike that Teddy would either had to try and dodge or block. The male seemed to be trying to take the female's fight away from her. He'd lost interest in Irene and Katherine, and since Teddy had been the one blocking his attacks he was ready to exact his revenge on him. His eyes locked onto the female for a seconds whilst jumping back and sending another barrage of quick fire attacks with his kagune Teddy's way. He was thrashing out with the bikaku, trying to knock the other over or injure him in some way.


---


"Gah." Ryan rolled his shoulders back, his kagune moving and swirling behind him. It was about time he got involved in this. He could see everyone on the battle field and he could see more ghoul coming in, but his main focus was that ghoul in the centre of it all.


"Prince." That was the one who had thrown him back, taking him on alone would be an idiotic thing to do but- Wait. Was that Adrian? Did...Did he have hold of Adrian? The male ran forwards, looking around to see who needed help, then returning his gaze to Adrian. There was too much going on, too many ghouls. He had to attack one of the other's, he had to get involved in another fight in order to keep them off until they figured out what the hell to do with this many ghouls. "Don't die you imbecilic child." He muttered, turning and blocking the attack of a nearby ghoul as it jumped towards him.

 

[yaint]

tฬเxt

​

NOTES

​

IT'S JACKSON'S TURN TO BE A COMPLETE GODDAMN IDIOT


TAGS


@Yoki

MAIN

​

"No!" Jackson's mouth dropped open as he bore witness to Adrian's fall, his eyes stretching wide once more as he saw the words fly off Prince's lips, the words that announced his threat with an icy hostility that sent a hair-raising shudder down the back of his neck.


He knew that this was bad. He knew that Adrian was in trouble, and that he likely would be too if he made a move against Prince. But sitting around and doing nothing was not an option anymore, if it ever even had been before. Jackson saw everything he needed to know - Adrian, on the ground. Prince's foot balanced so precariously over the fragile frame of the boy's ribcage. There was enough power in that leg to snap every rib at once if he so desired, and the thought of it made Jackson sick.


A plan. That's what he needed; if he could forge a plan from whatever he was seeing, maybe a solution would arise from the murky depths in which they were so densely shrouded. But what could be do now? Ideally he would have his quinque, but that... That didn't look like it would be coming out of Adrian's shoulder easily. The boy would bleed out if the weapon got removed. Damn it... Jackson was forced to suppress another pang of guilt, convincing himself to push the blame away from himself for just a few minutes more. There would be time for regret afterwards, but not now. Not now. He just had to move.


It was a risk, and it went against everything the man had ever told himself. But Adrian needed rescuing. There's no other choice. The ghoul was already kneeling down, so when Jackson reached up, his hands had no trouble finding a grip on the white fabric of Prince's cloak.


One, two, go. Suddenly he realised how heavy he was when he used the cloak to pull himself forwards, taking the weight away from his chair and instead onto Prince's shoulders. It took several attempts, but eventually he had one arm wrapped around the ghoul's neck and the other pawing around his face. Eventually Jackson's hand found and forced its way into Prince's mouth, then grabbed at the ghoul's tongue. The man made sure to dig in his fingernails during the endeavour.


Jackson didn't know what he was doing. A part of him wanted to cry out and drop back to the ground, it was panicking. What if I add more pressure to Adrian's chest? he worried suddenly, but his grip did not loosen. Oh God, what if I'm in the way of the kagune? A quick glance downwards confirmed that Jackson's lower body was indeed rested over the base of Prince's kagune. Jackson swallowed hard and turned his attention back to pulling Prince up and away from Adrian. Well, it's too late now, it's too late to change my mind... Oh, Adrian, I'm so sorry if something goes wrong.


***


Maybe, had he not heard the warning of the Jester's bells, Teddy would have been caught off guard and killed on the spot. Luckily for him, though, the most that the first barrage of projectiles did little more than graze the side of his face.


"Oh, not cool," the boy muttered, desparately whipping his head from side to side to find the source or the kagune-bullets. The ukaku ghoul was nowhere in sight, but his eyes landed on Jester's when Jester's landed on his, and for a moment human and ghoul held eye contact before the rest of the battle commenced.


Left. Left again. Right - no, that was a feint. Left. Teddy licked his lips and wiped at the moist skin beneath his nose. Using his kagune for so long was costing him his energy, and he was beginning to have difficulty keeping up with Jester's relentless attacking speed. Time and time again he would miss a cue in the ghoul's body language and feel the sharp sting of the claw grazing and piercing his flesh. Jester wasn't even giving him the time to counter, and the strategy was working.


"Ow, bugger!" Teddy wheezed his curse at Jester as he was subjected to a particularly nasty trick of aiming to both sides at the same time. Tangled up in his own confusion, the boy tripped over his own feet and took a spectacular fall to the ground, landing with a deep grunt flat on his stomach.


***


"Ryan! Look out!" Suddenly Irene was in front of the fair-haired male, her twin kagune arms twisting around at near-impossible speeds to block shards of an ukaku's long-range attack which had been aimed at Ryan's throat.


There were ghouls advancing on them from all angles now, taking position at various heights and distances to surround the small group. It was going to be difficult to leave the scene unscathed, or even alive if back-up didn't arrive promptly...

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

The only noise that escaped Adrian was a cough after a foot was placed on his ribs, his arms had dropped to his side, but he was still looking up, eyes wide as they stared up at the male above him. Those eyes looked like they wanted to kill, they looked furious at him, and whilst that did upset Adrian, he couldn't help but smile. It was weak, but it was genuine, his happiness at seeing Leo again rivalled everything else he was feeling. The man should have known better than anyone that no matter what he did here Adrian wouldn't ever hate him, maybe it was an attempt to make the boy scared, or to try and get him to stay away...but all it made him want to do was try and get through to Leo. He needed to see his brother again.


"Leo.. Please... Do-" He gasped, feeling pressure on his rib cage.


"Shut up."


Adrian whined and attempted to move his shoulder again, but he could feel the quinque still stuck in it, he...he should take that out. It was only causing him more pain right now. His head was thumping, everything was spinning, everything kept fading in and out of focus. It was really hard to concentrate, it was really hard to do anything at all. He wanted to get up, yet his small body was no match for even one of the older ghoul's legs. If he moved he'd crush his own rib cage...and he didn't really want to do that.


It seemed like the ghoul was going to do something when suddenly Adrian saw something wrap around the guy's back, he saw a hand go to the man's mouth and pull at his tongue. It definitely shocked Prince, but it only seemed to make him even more livid than he already was, he took his foot off of Adrian's chest and moved backwards a few steps, whoever was on his back was in for it.


"Gah! Do you people not LEARN!?" The man grabbed hold of Jackson's arm, squeezing as hard as he could, he then turned at a speed that would force Jackson to either break his arm or follow it. After that Prince drove the arm into the floor, expecting the body to follow. His eyes locked onto the figure that he'd just thrown, and once they hit the ground he knew they weren't a threat anymore. It was almost like he knew about them, he'd paused for quite a few seconds in order to look at Jackson's figure, but...it didn't seem like this time he was going to let the man off so lightly.


Four dark spiked ends could be seen hovering meters from Jackson's body, he was going to try and kill him, he was actually going to try and kill Jackson, at least...by the looks of things. His mouth formed a scowl, and then he kagune had raised, striking down hard and fast.


It was a suddenly movement that had stopped them, seeing Jackson trying to help him had prompted Adrian to force himself to his feet. He'd seen the man getting attacked and knew that he had to help, but he didn't want either man getting hurt... Until there were kagune rushing down towards Jackson Adrian had been confused about what to do, but once he saw those appendages.


Adrian had ran to Jackson, grabbing hold of him just as the kagune came down and skipping out of the way again, carrying the older male. His dark ukaku had hardened to fend off Prince for a moment, so luckily neither of them got caught. The two were now standing only a meter or so to the right, with Jackson in Adrian's arms. It was obvious he was hurt as he kept stumbling over, he was trying to blink to clear his vision, but it wasn't great.


"Y-You can't...Jackson..." The boy's voice was drowsy, he was trying, but it was hard for him to concentrate, he needed to put Jackson down again...somewhere safe, somewhere he could move. "Please... Please don't hurt him..." Just as he was speaking he saw a large appendage start down towards him, it was a barrage of attacks and he had to jump and swerve out of the way in order to stop them getting hit...but Adrian was pretty sure that he was being toyed with, surely he wasn't fast enough in this state to avoid someone like that...


It had only taken seconds to get to Jackson's wheelchair, which Adrian had knocked out of the way of Prince, he'd placed the man back there and smiled bright, even though it was more than obvious that he was in so much pain. Throughout carrying Jackson Adrian's shoulder had been burning, and it still was, but it was bearable, he could do it. This...this was for Leo after all...


"Don't...Don't lose it...Okay?" There was blood dripping down Adrian's hand and arm as he held Jackson's quinque out towards him before skipping back to standing next to the male, his hands behind his back. He was swaying as he stood there, staring at Prince with an overly bubbly expression, an expression as if nothing was wrong. His head was bleeding, as was the large wound in his arm, yet Adrian acted as if everything was fine.


A few more moments went by with the three standing and staring, before Adrian suddenly burst forwards. The two were quickly caught up in a rather quick paced fight, but the fight was very one-sided. Prince attacked, but Adrian didn't counter attack, he just dodged, slowly making his way forwards. Attacks got fast, Adrian got closer, he was trying his best to get as close as possible. Crash. Slam. Kagune flew around him, attempting to hit him left and right. Yet he just kept going. Prince backed up. He went forwards. More attacks. Adrian jumped up in the air, landing close to the much taller male ghoul. Then he made a B-line, straight for the guy.


Prince grazed him a few times, but mostly hit just behind or to the side of the boy. It seemed be believed that Adrian had an attack planned, and close quarters he was much better off that the boy in front of him, so once he got close enough he left him keep coming... Closer. Closer. Closer. And- What?


The minute Adrian got close enough to Prince he wrapped his arms around the other and squeezed him in a tight hug, this baffled the ghoul, his gaze showed that he thought Adrian was absolutely insane...but why didn't he just kill him? He'd done it with plenty of other investigators that day, and it was simply to kill someone who refused to fight back... But...he didn't.


"Why did you leave me?! You promised! You promised you wouldn't! You promised you'd come back! You promised, Leo! YOU PROMISED!" Adrian was crying, he didn't know what to do, he just wanted his brother back that's all. He knew what was going to happen, he knew that he wasn't going to get to stay like this for too long, he knew he was going to get hurt...but...he didn't care. He needed this time, he needed it more than he needed anything else. He needed to be close to his brother again.


---


Jester seemed to find it amusing to watch Teddy flail, he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much in fact. As the fight went on his attacks seemed to get quicker and quicker, purposely leaving small gaps to allow him to toy with Teddy that little bit longer.


Then he got bored. He wanted something more exciting, so he attacked to both sides to see if the other could dodge. It seemed he could not. What a shame that was.


The ghoul hopped forwards, landing centimetres in front of Teddy's face. That unsettling ring could be heard once again, his bikaku were raise precariously over Teddy's back, hovering in the air. This one was a human with a kagune, a threat. They were all here, taking them all out would be simple, especially when they were so vulnerable. He didn't seem to want to waste time. But...was this one important to anyone? He probably had a family, loved ones, friends. The people who loved him would miss him.


Maybe he should have thought about that before getting involved. This was his own fault.


The two scorpion-like tails both raised at the same time, they came together slowly, but when they started to move down again it was a swift motion that required not even seconds to execute.


Talking of execute.


Both of the tails plunged their way through the air and straight into Teddy's back, right where his heart would be.


----


"Ach. Fuck!" Ryan stumbled backwards, fending off another ghoul as it came in from the opposite side. He managed to force them back before meeting up with Irene again. "Thanks." He obviously didn't have long to think about thank yous for having his back before there was another attack on top of them. "Y'know...reinforcement better come soon!" He called, "I'm not sure how long we can last." He seemed shaken, but other than that fit to fight. There was so much going on.


"I think that-..." The blond's head turned, noticing something in the distance, who was hovering over someone over there. "Oh fuck no... Irene! Over there!" He pushed away another ghoul, just as Katherine also appeared to cover his back, shooting the ghouls with several of her ukaku's own shards.

 

[yaint]

tฬเxt

​

NOTES

​

NOBODY EVEN NOTICED THAT TEDDY IS DEAD. POOR TEDDY D:


TAGS


@Yoki

MAIN

​

Jackson clenched his teeth together and pulled backwards with all of his strength in an attempt to pull Prince away from Adrian, or maybe even strangle the ghoul - after all, he was heavy. Maybe with enough force, his arm could close around the ghoul's throat and cut off his air, just like what had been done to him mere seconds ago.


"Run, Adrian!" the man cried over Prince's shoulder. The ghoul had stepped away from his opponent, if ever there was a chance for Adrian to get back up on his feet and run to safety, now was it. Jackson wouldn't be able to hang on much longer, he would be on the floor in a minute. Can Adrian even move with that quinque in his arm? "Adrian! Get up, move-"


Snap. Jackson's grip suddenly lost all of its strength, but his arm didn't drop to his side like he had expected it to, for Prince had taken hold of the limb and thrown it to the side at an impossible angle. The bone must have been snapped clean in two by the force of Prince's grip. It hurt. It burned more than Jackson could bear, and an involuntary scream of agony tore through the back of his throat and boomed throughout the battle field.


Jackson didn't pay much attention to what happened after that. The pain had clouded his mind, made it difficult for him to think or act. One moment he was on Prince's back, and then he was on the ground again with a throbbing arm and head. What's that? A kagune was hovering above him. Prince's kagune. But then Adrian was there, he was speaking, they were moving. Don't hurt him, Adrian had said. Jackson nodded in a false gesture of understanding. "I won't," the man promised as his hand was pried open and gifted with the handle of his quinque. My quinque. Did Adrian pull it out? That must have hurt, that must have been hard. Thank you, Adrian.


It took Jackson more than a minute to realise that he was in his chair again, his back sloped to one side with the weight of the weapon in his left hand. My left hand? Why was he holding it in his left hand? His mind was beginning to clear again as the pulsing ache at the back of his head faded, and then he remembered.


Oh no. His arm. Prince had snapped his arm. No, oh no. He needed that arm if he wanted to be able to move, but it wasn't working properly. It wouldn't bend at the elbow. It hurt. I'm stuck.


What could he do now? Without both of his arms, Jackson was stuck in place. Adrian. Where was Adrian? Jackson bit down on his lip and used his left shoulder to push his glasses back up his nose, for they had slid down over the course of his attack on Prince. He had to see, where was Adrian? Where was he?


He was becoming frantic now. There was no sign of Adrian among the sea of ghouls which were now swarming the area. Maybe the boy had been trampled, or beaten down. Or killed. No, no, he was here just a minute ago! He must have been fine. He was with the others. He must have been, he must have grouped up by now, right?


No. No, he hasn't. Jackson's jaw dropped when his line of sight briefly cleared to confirm his fears. He wasn't dead. He was with Prince again. The hairs on the back of Jackson's neck rose and he felt himself subconsciously pushing back on the arm of his chair. 'No! You idiot!' he wanted to scream, but surrounded by so many ghouls and as helpless as he was being immobile, attracting attention was the last thing that he needed.


What is he doing!? Adrian was with Prince. Adrian was right in front of Prince, and he wasn't attacking. Just standing there with his arms outstretched like he were giving the ghoul a hug. No, no, he's going to get himself killed. He's going to die, he can't-


"Yaargh!" Without thinking, Jackson raised the quinque in his left hand and struck out at the black-clad figure of a ghoul that had just launched itself at him. The three spikes of the weapon bent and wrapped around the mystery attacker, throwing them to the ground with a sickening crunch.


Jackson shuddered and twisted his head around. Of course he was going to be targeted now; he was on his own, vulnerable and unmoving. And there were ghouls everywhere. Another one unexpectedly came up by Jackson's side, their long rinkaku arms ready to lash at the man's throat. He countered again with the quinque, wrestling with the kagune and eventually pushing it out of range.


Tick. Tick. Seconds passed. Another ghoul attacked, and then another. Seconds turned to minutes, and the ghouls didn't slow down. Jackson was swarmed, forced to put all of his concentration into twisting the three spikes of his quinque to push back five ghouls at once. It was working for now, but it was becoming more difficult; the man was tiring, he was gradually becoming more heavily outnumbered, the pain from his injuries was beginning to take its toll on his focus. Thrice he had been grazed by the blade of a koukaku. Five times he had felt the sting of a rinkaku or bikaku on the skin of his head, neck and arms. He had lost count of how many grazes he had received from the bullets of an ukaku.


I can't... I can't keep up... His forehead was slick with sweat now, and the hair in front of his face was starting to darken and curl with the moisture. Over and over the ghouls jumped at him, grabbing at his arms, his hair, relentlessly lashing out with their kagune until they saw new blood.


He couldn't keep up. He couldn't hold his defenses. They were closing in on him, he was surrounded, he was going to die. "No!" Jackson cried out as he felt himself sliding downwards. What's going on!? He was being pulled out of his chair by a ghoul who had its kagune wrapped around his ankle. Down, down it pulled. Jackson grabbed desparately at the seat, but he was tired, he was slipping. He couldn't hold on...


"Tch, that's a dirty trick." What? Who was that? It was a voice he knew, a lilted, gentle voice belonging to a woman who had just impaled Jackson's attacker with a long black spear.


"Minnie," Jackson realised aloud, blinking to focus his gaze on the white-haired woman he used to call his mentor. Somehow, despite his horrible state, Jackson found himself mesmerised by the image of the older investigator as she swept away at ghouls with her weapon, keeping the area around her and Jackson somewhat clear. Never before had he seen Minnie fight - somehow he had always imagined such a gentle woman to be incapable of causing bloodshed. Yet here she was, swinging and stabbing left, right and centre with that enormous spear of a quinque.


Reinforcements are here... Jackson was halfway to the ground, but he wasn't alone anymore. More investigators, young and old, junior and senior, were all pouring into the clearing with quinques unsheathed and ready to fight. Reinforcements are here. Maybe one of them could help Adrian. Maybe Adrian wouldn't have to die by Prince's hand after all.


***


"What, Ryan?" Irene gasped, straightening her legs after having ducked to avoid a particularly deadly-looking stream of ukaku spikes. As soon as her head was at normal level, though, it was thrown to the side by the bare-footed kick of an unexpected attacker. "Oh, shit," the girl swore, bending her arms in front of her face to deflect the next kick from the ghoul and then slicing through its stomach with a forward surge of her kagune. The ghoul dropped limp to the ground, only for two more to take its place.


"Irry? What's wrong?" This voice was coming from Matthew, who had just a moment ago been busying himself with fending off a pair of young-looking female ghouls. He was beginning to look tired, now, and his shield-like kagune was beginning to thin and crack at the edges. His defenses were weakening.


"Only a few dozen ghouls out for our blood, nothing major," the girl grunted back as she pushed her own foot into the back of a male who had been targeting Katherine. "Can you see any back-up arriving yet? We can't hold out much longer."


His back and neck stretched upwards, Matthew swayed on the spot as he strained to see past the ocean of ghouls. Sure enough, more white-coated investigators could be sighted filling in the clearing in groups of three or more. It looked like at least two squads had been deployed to the scene, and the ghouls were quickly scattering to find a good position against their new rivals. "Yeah," he confirmed, "Look! They're here!"

 

[Yoki]

Dead Enmity

​

"Adrian! What do you think you're doing?!"





"I-I'm sorry...I..."





"Look at this! It's a fucking mess!"





"I..."





"What's...going on?"





"Oh and now you're back... Where the hell have you been!?"





Adrian grasped to his brother's shirt, crying his eyes out as he hugged Leo, whilst the older looked more than little confused. He'd just gotten in and he had no idea what was going on. In front of him stood a brown haired woman with grey eyes and a scowl on her face, whilst a rather good looking individual, her beauty was ruined by the anger that she looked at her children with.





"Hey...Adrian..." Leo put his arms around his little brother for a moment, before cupping the boy's face in his hands and attempting to lift it up to look at him, "What's going on? What's wrong?"





"What's wrong?" The woman in front of them scoffed, rolling her eyes, "What's fucking wrong is that that kid breaks everything he fucking touches!"





"Can you not swear please, he can hear you." Leo covered Adrian's ears with his hands, looking up.





"Oh who cares if he hears me or not. Don't play fucking saint now Leo." She spat, glaring her son down.





"I'm not playing saint. His teachers told you that he swore at another kid and that-"





"I don't care if he fucking swore at another kid, he knows what he is and isn't supposed to say, so he knows he's not meant to copy the shit I say. He's just stupid, he's slow, isn't that right, Adrian? Aren't you slow? Everyone else can do simple stuff without fucking it up. So why the fuck can't you!?"





Adrian buried his face back into Leo's shirt, crying even harder. He was shaking, he tried not to, but he couldn't help it... He didn't mean to drop it, he wasn't trying to upset anyone.





"Look at me when I talk to you you little shit!"





"Will you stop? You're scaring him!" Leo raised his voice just enough to get to his mother, "He's crying, can't you just leave him alone? I'll clean it up!"





"It's not just about that though is it?! This happens every time the little bugger touches anything at all! You weren't like this at his age! And you weren't as fucking stupid either!" At this point she was screaming down the whole house, and it was obvious it was scaring both Adrian and Leo.





"Well, you don't exactly help, maybe if you stopped yelling at him then-"





"Then what? He'd suddenly become a genius and stop dropping everything he touches!"





"That's not what I-"





"No, that's right. He fucking won't. Just stay the fuck out of this Leo, it's none of your business."





"It is when you're making him cry!"


Adrian knew it was very idiotic of him to run up to a ghoul who had just been beating his face in, but this was worth it. His arms were wrapped around the other tightly, and he was crying, balling, this was Leo... Leo was alive. His brother was alive. So...why did he leave him? Why hadn't he come back? If he hadn't died...then...where did he go? Why was he a ghoul? None of it made any sense. But...who cared right now? All that mattered was that he was alive.


The boy felt a hand grab his wrist and pull it from around the ghoul, it wasn't particularly violently at first, which surprised Adrian and made him look up. There he locked eyes with the other and for a few seconds they just stared at each other, in fact he even stopped crying for a moment. His eyes were brimming with tears, but he was smiling, this was Leo...he had no doubts about it anymore. Honestly he thought everything would be okay, he seemed okay, it seemed like Leo was going to give him a chance.


But then...


His eyes widened as he heard a loud crack noise that came from next to the two. For a few moments he was simply in shock, and then the pain set in. Adrian drew in a sharp breath, wincing and forcing himself to look in the direction he'd heard the crack from.


Prince still had hold of his wrist, but it was twisted unnaturally, and the man was squeezing it as hard as he could. He'd snapped his wrist. He'd just...snapped it. Oh. The tears in Adrian's eyes fell down his face as he tried to move his arm out of the other's grasp, but it hurt too much. Each time he moved it felt like he was stabbing something deeper and deeper into his flesh, he needed the other to let go, he couldn't force his arm out of his brother's grip.


But...why? Why did he do that? Adrian hadn't hit him once. So...So why did he want to hurt him so badly?


"Leo, I-" His waved before he was cut off when he felt something through his shoulder. This time the boy was frozen looking forwards, he knew what had happened. The man's kagune had been pierced right through the hole that Jackson had made earlier that fight. It hurt more than anything, it burned, he didn't want to be torn apart. Would Leo do that to him? All he wanted to do was see the other again, he just wanted to talk.


"I-" He was punched, straight in the gut, winded, before he was lifted up via the kagune and thrown right back down to earth again, face first. Once again his felt that throb in his head, he felt like he could hear the ripping of his own flesh, screaming for everything to just end, screaming for Leo to stop...but something told him he wouldn't. Not until he was done. When would he be done?


"I don't owe you any explanation." That was his brother's voice, but it was seething, livid, that wasn't like Leo. What happened to him? What did they do to him? Did...Did Adrian make him this angry? Did...he hate him?


-----


Ryan had already got tangled up in another fight with a male ghoul, he was trying his best to manoeuvre his way through, he seemed to be trying to get somewhere else at that moment. Yes, he'd noticed a rather large threat taking out one of their members, he wasn't just going to stand and let that happen. Although he didn't understand why they seemed to be toying with him. He had to get to someone before something else broke out, they couldn't let their members die already it wasn't right. Yet again Ryan was working on his own, which had always been a silly move for him, especially in this situation. He knew staying with his team was the logical thing to do, but there were other problems on the battlefield.


---


Katherine hadn't noticed anything going on, she was too busy dealing with several ghouls. They were coming in left and right, how was she meant to keep this up? There had to be reinforcements coming in soon. Just as she'd thought about it, they'd appeared. More investigators, more people to help them... Thank god. They couldn't have held on for much longer alone.


"Everyone group up!" She struck down a ghoul not too far from where she was standing with a couple dozen shards from her ukaku, "We've got backup! Head for the centre!" She was going to have them take on Prince and Jester, they were the biggest threats, and if they could get other investigators to deal with the other ghouls then they'd be okay.


---


"GERONIMO!" There was a large yell from a building above Jester as something came crashing to the ground, a small girl with a large quinque came crashing down on top of Jester just as he looked up. He was quick to react however, blocking with his kagune and forced the girl to jump backwards.


"So..you're here again. How fun." Lea giggled, flipping her quinque. She was about to say something else when she noticed something to her side, someone was dead...someone she recognised. "Teddy?" The girl blinked, but she honestly didn't look too phased, "You killed him, huh? How sad..." Then she looked back to Jester, "It's okay. I'll get revenge for him, people like that right? When you avenge them!" After that she darted forwards, paying no more attention to the dead body beside her.