"CCG inspector, huh? What's that?"
I think I've heard the word CCG somewhere before. But I can't remember when, let alone where.
"Haaah?! You really don't know? You're a ghoul, right?!"
I see a vein start to throb visibly on the girl's forehead when she hears my question. She seems annoyed by my ignorance.
"No, I don't know."
Of course I don't know the details. I'm a fucking zombie living in an abandoned building with no electricity or television. I don't have many convenient ways to get information about the world.
She looks at me with exasperation before sighing heavily.
"Do you at least know what a ghoul inspector is? Have you heard anything about them? They're pretty famous lately and all over the news."
Ah, yes. I do know a little about that.
After all, I sometimes passed by random houses during my morning wanderings and watched the news from the windows. If no one chased me away with a broom or yelled at me to leave, I could stay long enough to glean a piece of information or two about what was going on in the world.
Saya had also mentioned something about ghoul inspectors. I know they were in charge of studying ghouls or investigating them or something like that.
But from the genuine fear I see in this ghoul girl's eyes, it seems they weren't just studying them peacefully.
"They're bastards who look for any excuse to kill us. If they find a ghoul, they'll kill it without a second thought. So if you run into one of those inspectors and don't kill them first, you'll be in serious trouble because you'll be relentlessly hunted down until you're eliminated."
I nod as I try to engrave that information into my rotten brain.
"I see."
CCG, huh... They seem pretty troublesome, actually.
"But... Fufufu... I think it's an easy situation to solve. Kill them before they follow me, right? Problem solved."
Ghoul girl, hearing me say that and seeing me smile evilly, curls her lips with an expression of disdain for my stupidity.
"Why are you acting so carefree as if it's no big deal? CCG agents are powerful and well-trained. Kids like us can easily be trampled and killed by them. They don't care at all whether they're ghoul children or adult ghouls. They'll kill them all with a smile on their faces. To them, we're just monsters that need to be exterminated."
This girl grew up with that deep-rooted contempt for the CCG. Her parents are probably ghouls too, and they've instilled those thoughts and hatred in her since she was very young. But if the CCG inspectors act as ruthlessly as she says, then she has every right to hate them.
Since, from the ghouls' point of view, those who hunt and kill them are obviously the villains of their story.
The girl continues talking while pointing at me.
"Besides, you're a huge idiot."
"Huh? What's that all of a sudden?"
Why is she looking at me like I'm the stupidest being on the planet?
"You're a huge idiot for throwing that head so far away earlier. That head fell in the direction this inspector came from, don't you understand? That's why he got here so fast. Now he knows for sure that there are ghouls operating in this area. The CCG inspectors won't stop searching until they find and eliminate us."
Ah, now that I think about it. That man came running from the same direction I kicked the head. So he must have been very surprised that a human head suddenly rolled to his feet. It's possible that it even hit him directly in the face as he was walking. That image is quite funny.
As my train of thought is directed in that direction, I suddenly snap my fingers as a huge excited smile displays on my face.
"As I said before, we just need to kill him before he reports our location. That way, he won't cause us any trouble in the future. Fufufu..."
I think I'll play around with that person a little and see if he's really as strong as ghoul girl says. It will be interesting to test my new half-ghoul abilities against a professional hunter.
I'm sure they have nice white suits and shiny briefcases. I wonder what they're hiding inside those briefcases. Is it actually a lot of cash? But when I focus my sharpened senses specifically on the briefcase that man is carrying, I start to salivate.
'It's not money. There's something that smells delicious in there.'
As I take my first determined step toward the edge of the terrace to jump, I feel a small hand grab my shoulder, and then being pulled back abruptly.
I find myself face to face with the girl's completely cold and serious expression.
She clicks her tongue in irritation.
"Tsk. Are you seriously thinking of going down there and fighting that inspector right now? We're just kids! Too weak to even think about taking them on. He'll turn you into mincemeat in seconds! You really don't think about the consequences of your actions at all, you idiot."
I laugh as my white teeth reflect in her eyes.
"But it looks fun. I want to see how strong he really is."
She crosses her arms and with deep disdain in her voice, she says to me.
"If you're going to stupidly kill yourself, then let me escape first. I don't want to die because of your idiocy."
At that moment, I look down again and see that the man with the briefcase is already walking away from the alley. The girl sighs with relief as she sees the danger receding.
I regret it because I wanted to test my new strength while I'm in this half-ghoul mode that hasn't disappeared yet. I wanted to see how powerful I am now.
To get rid of that annoying feeling of disappointment at not being able to face a new type of enemy, I look at the ghoul girl and ask her something I should have asked before.
"By the way, what's your name? We haven't properly introduced ourselves yet."
She fixes her intense blue eyes on mine for a long time. After a second or two, she says her name in a soft voice.
"Touka. Kirishima Touka."
"Touka... That's a pretty name."
Then I give her my own name.
"I'm Arata. I don't have a last name."
When I say my name, the girl named Touka's eyes open wide in surprise, and even her mouth opens.
"Arata? That's... that's the same name as my father."
As she says this in a trembling voice, a kind of deep sadness appears on her face for a brief second as she clenches her small fists tightly.
It seems that she has a sad past related to her family and her father specifically.
'Although Touka, eh...'
I think as I watch her.
With the CCG mentioned, ghouls hunting humans, and now a girl named Touka Kirishima, then it's completely safe to assume that this world is Tokyo Ghoul mixed with everything else. I don't remember much about the anime honestly, so I can't rely on my hazy memory to recall specific details of the overall plot, let alone the plot related to this girl.
It may even be completely different from what I remember, as there are other variables in this mixed-up world, such as parasites and who knows what other kinds of shit will eventually appear.
Touka shakes her head as if to clear herself of those sad thoughts. Then she slowly approaches me and brings her face close to my chest. Her little nose twitches as she seems to sniff me.
"Hey, that's pretty rude."
She ignores my protest and lifts her gaze to look me in the eyes.
"You have the characteristic eye of a ghoul, only one side transformed, but at the same time you don't seem to be a complete ghoul. You don't seem to be a normal human either. But putting those details aside, you smell absolutely delicious."
Seeing her start to salivate as she looks at me like I'm a gourmet dish, I quickly grab her head with my hand and pull her away from me.
"Do I really smell that delicious to you guys?"
In the past, that ghoul I killed in my abandoned building when I was six years old had said exactly the same thing. He seemed completely crazed with the desire to taste my flesh. Remembering that perverted bastard makes me want to go back in time just to kick him again.
Touka nods several times.
"Um! Your body gives off an incredibly delicious and captivating scent. I don't remember ever smelling anything like your fragrance. So chewing on your flesh would be very, very satisfying."
Eh, I suddenly feel like kicking this girl. That's bad. I mustn't think about kicking girls.
I ask her with a rather tense smile.
"Are you thinking of eating me then?"
She grimaces as her white cheeks turn bright pink.
"O-Of course not! I won't commit cannibalism! Even though you smell delicious, you have a ghoul form, so it would be like eating another ghoul. That's disgusting."
Then she quickly changes the subject as she looks toward the horizon.
"Anyway, we should return to our homes now. It will be very bad if many more CCG inspectors join forces to patrol the entire area around here looking for us."
She approaches the edge of the terrace and looks down. Then she seems to feel embarrassed. I look at her in confusion as she stands there for a few long minutes.
"What's wrong?"
I ask her curiously.
"It's so high... and I still don't know how to use my strength very well to land from this height without hurting myself."
Ah, that's it.
I approach her with a teasing smile.
"The ghoul girl is afraid of heights? How cute."
Before she can hit me for teasing her, I quickly lift her into a bridal position, holding her with one arm under her knee and the other under her back.
"Wait! What are you...?"
Without giving her time to protest properly, I jump off the edge of the terrace.
We're falling from about ten stories up. I hear the wind whistling in my ears.
Touka screams as she buries her head in my chest, terrified of the fall.
—Boom!
We hit the ground with that explosive sound. My feet dig deep into the concrete pavement, sinking several inches as cracks spread out from the point of impact.
But I climb out of the hole and walk normally. Since I cushioned the entire fall with my body, Touka was unharmed.
"Idiot! You scared me!"
Calling me an idiot again, she hits my chest with her small fists.
Even so, her eyes are wide with surprise as she stares at me. She seems to be looking at a fascinating weirdo she found along the way.
Then I put her down on the ground.
"I'll walk you home."
"I don't need..."
But I interrupt her before she can finish.
"A little girl shouldn't be walking alone on the streets at night. There are lots of bad men everywhere, like that pervert we just encountered. Tell me your home address and I'll take you there safely."
She gives up with a sigh.
"Just follow me."
Then she starts running.
Even though she says she can't control her ghoul strength very well yet, she runs much faster than a well-trained athletic adult human. Her feet barely touch the roofs of the houses as she moves nimbly across the rooftops.
As I follow her without any trouble thanks to my enhanced state, aside from breaking a few roofs, I think about this ghoul girl.
She is very young, probably my age or maybe a year younger. But she is already hunting alone in the streets to get her food. Hunting human predators to survive.
'She must have a difficult life.'
×××
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