14Hello! Welcome to American Ghoul, my Tokyo Ghoul fanfiction. Just a few warnings, this story takes place after Chapter 40 of the sequel manga, Tokyo Ghoul :Re, so be ready for some spoilers.
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"Sir, would you like anymore coffee?"
The big man, handsome but greyhaired, occupying the window seat of the airliner waved the hostess offer away, as did the very similar looking, but much younger man seated next to him. As the hostess continued her rounds through the sleep craft, the older man leaned closer to his counterpart, who was sweating profusely.
"If you're hungry, take one of the pills," He said in barely a whisper, "I'd prefer not to have an incident before we land in Tokyo."
"Ok, Dad," The younger one said, reaching into a pocket and pulling a small capsule out, popping it in his mouth quickly and discretely, "I know I should have eaten before we left, but…"
G. Abraham Lincoln, known as Abe to his friends, looked at his son with a hint of compassion.
"…You didn't want to eat Ghoul. I know, Aeneas." He paused, waiting for the hostess to pass by the empty seat at the end of their row, before continuing, "But sometimes we have to do what we don't want to. And at least, we have to help keep the streets clean."
His son looked down at his hands, and the plane flew for several more minutes before either of them spoke.
"Why are we even going to Tokyo?" Aeneas said, looking past his father at the coastline of Japan as they flew northward. "And why didn't we bring Sis or Mom?"
"Because an old friend called me a few weeks ago and asked if I could come out for a while," His father explained, pulling a magazine from the seat in front of him and flipping idly through the pages as he spoke. "Your mother can't be spared from work, and Diana is in school. And your Mother and I thought this would be a nice graduation present."
Aeneas fell silent once again, wiping sweaty palms on the front of his slacks. Before he could respond to his father, the airliners captain came on the intercom and announced they were beginning to land. A half hour later, they were walking through the terminal, carrying the minimum of baggage they'd chosen to bring with them.
"Do you know where this hotel is?" Abe asked their taxi driver as he handed him the address he'd written down on a slip of paper. As the man nodded wordlessly, Aeneas watched the people walking by their vehicle, trying to pick up a scent.
Who's a Ghoul? Who's just a human?
He let that thought linger as the taxi pulled out and headed for their hotel.
It took about an hour to get through the afternoon traffic, as thousands of people tried to get home for the weekend. The hotel was upscale, but not luxurious in a ward called Shinjuku. And in several areas surrounding Shinjuku, according to their taxi driver, who had grown progressively more talkative, there were gangs that roamed in both day and night.
When Aeneas had flashed a look of distaste, his father had given him a look he knew well.
It's part of our feeding schedule.
And that was how life went for an American Ghoul. Although known to the general, unlike in Japan the government had never stripped Ghouls of their rights, and had instead coopted them. Those that worked with the government were generally left alone, as long as they only fed on criminals and those deviants that would disrupt human society. Those that didn't work with them…
Are hunted down and exterminated. Just like any of my kind in this country.
Their room was small, but well appointed, and the two of them took a few moments to get unpacked and remove their shoes.
"Nothing quite like a good stretch after a long flight," His father said, arms stretching well past where they should have, "Those seats kill your back."
"You're not that old, Dad." Aeneas responded, folding a pair of jeans and putting them in a drawer.
"I guess not, but getting older still isn't fun." He said, throwing the contents of his own small suitcase messily onto the top of his own set of drawers. "Hurry up, I want to get to my buddy's place before it gets dark."
And so, not even ten minutes later, the two of them walked outside and hailed another cab, his father switching into Japanese without a hitch. Aeneas' Japanese was much worse, and apparently he had an atrocious accent according to his teacher. But it got them by, and into the neighboring district.
Unfortunately, all they arrived at was a pile of rubble.
"This is the address." His father said, looking about them. Aeneas watched as his father pulled his phone out and consulted it, before trying to make a call. "Kuzen, it's Abe. I just landed. What happened to you shop?"
It took a moment for Aeneas to figure out his father was leaving a message, and he'd never heard his father speak of anyone named "Kuzen". He expressed interest once his father hung the phone up and returned it to his pocket.
"Kuzen and I met, hell, feels like decades, ago." His father began, eyes seeming to mist over. "He and I nearly came to blows, over a kill, when I was stationed here after being in 'Nam."
"I never knew you were stationed here!"
"Really?" His father said, tapping his chin with an index finger. "Well, it must have been your sister I told. Doesn't really matter, cause I have no idea how else to contact Kuzen. This may have been a wasted trip."
Aeneas shrugged, feeling uncomfortable, like someone was watching. He began to turn his head, to sniff the air, but his father patted his back.
"Don't look." He said out of the corner of his mouth, as Aeneas felt someone, a pair of someone's, approaching, "This isn't like home. They'll kill us if they suspect."
"Excuse me, can we help you?" Someone said in English behind them.
They finally turned, and his father plastered a smile on his face even as Aeneas had to hide a frown. He'd read about these people before. They both wore formal suits, one a small, stout woman and the other a tall, thickly built man. The attaché cases each carried were a dead giveaway.
"Actually, yes." His father began, "My son and I were supposed to meet a friend for dinner, but it appears the address has been moved. Could you help us find it?"
He handed the woman who had spoken the paper that listed the restaurants address, and she took several moments to gaze at it.
"Sanji, didn't they move that restaurant over a few blocks?" She asked her big partner. The man simply nodded, not taking his eyes off of Abe or Aeneas.
"Do you think you could show us where? I must admit I don't know these streets very well."
Aeneas nearly took a step back at the woman's predatory smile, which flashed across her face for a bare moment before she nodded and walked past them. His father simply turned and followed the pair of CCG agents as they walked down the street.
"So how long are you here for?" The female agent asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Oh, a week or so. We were hoping to do a little sightseeing." His father said, trying to be as vague as he could.
They took a turn down a dimly lit alley, and Aeneas felt his father tense slightly.
This is bad. Aeneas thought, knowing they were being lead to a trap. How did they figure out who we were?
"That's nice." The agent said, stopping and turning as they reached the halfway point, hand tightening nearly imperceptibly on the cases handle, "Were you also hoping to sample our exotic cuisine?"
He never saw his father move, simply felt it, as his father's kagune burst out, forming a pair of shining shields over each of his arms. Aeneas had seen his father use it before… But this was different. They were facing down a pair of cinque wielding investigators.
"I am Investigator Yuna Tokashi, and this is my partner Investigator Senji Fujimoto."
"I don't care who in the hell you are." His father's voice had taken on a tone he'd never heard before, as if he was a totally different person. "We are American citizens. Leave us alone, or else we're going to have a diplomatic incident."
"Then let's have an incident." The big man, Senji, finally spoke, as he leapt forward, the blade of his cinque stabbing for his father's throat.
Aeneas was frozen in place, eyes wide, as his father, eyes changing color, deftly deflected the weapon, and then grunted in pain as the woman stabbed her pair of short dagger-like blades into his father's abdomen.
Abe took a swipe at Investigator Senji, but he ducked under the blow.
"What kind of a moron Ghoul would show up here of all places." Investigator Yuna said, as Abe lost an ear. "Stupid. Why would your stupid country allow a monster like you to be a citizen? You're kind should only be given death!"
She died as Aeneas own Kagune exploded from his back and shoulders, the strange reddish tentacle impaled her through the heart. Senji jumped back, as the kagune from his shoulders, very similar to his own fathers, swept through the air a bare fingers width from the bridge of his nose.
"A Chimera?" He said, before dying himself, as Abe took advantage of his momentary surprise, and impaled him through the stomach.
"Damn." His father said, looking at their bloody, ruined clothes. And at the pools of blood surrounding them. "We need to find someplace to hide. Our hotel is a no-go."
Their kagune disappeared, as Aeneas helped his father down the alleyway, past the bodies. Night was finally beginning in earnest, and streetlights began to pop on at the end of the alleyway. It was this flickering of light that drew his eye, and illuminated the group of figures. The figures wearing formal suits and carrying attaché cases.
"Surround and exterminate." One of them, a young man with short, dark hair said. And the dozen men and woman moved at the order.
"Aeneas… Run!"
His father's kagune reappeared, but it changed even as Aeneas began to move towards the other end of the alley. The armor seemed to move up his arms, as a horrific mask formed across his face. When the armor stopped, it covered him from head to toe. Aeneas thought he looked like the pictures of medieval knights, but his armor moved like it was alive.
That was the last sight Aeneas had of his father, as he leapt, grabbing a fire escape and heading towards the roof.
Damnit, Dad!
He ran as hard as he could, hearing the sounds of battle reach a crescendo behind him, he stopped and turned.
"Hey, idiot." As if by reflex, his kagune whipping outwards towards the Japanese voice. He missed, badly, and toppled backwards as someone hit him in the chest. He rolled, coming up on his feet, ready to defend again. But he stopped, looking at the guy and girl standing before him. One was… cute, but the look of anger on her face was even harsher than the light haired man beside her. "You looking for trouble?"
"N-… no." He got out, as a third figure appeared beside him. This one wore a mask, reminiscent of a ravens head. He removed it as he began to speak.
"We need to get out of here," The well-built, silver haired man said, seeming almost bored as she spoke, "They just finished off that ghoul."
Aeneas world seemed to tilt on its side, as he heard the man speak of his Dad's death as if he spoke of the weather. He fell to his knees in shock, as the three ghouls watched him.
"Dad…"
"If you want to live, come with us." The girl said. "We have a place you can lay low."
And with that, they disappeared into a nearby stairwell, one of them having smashed the lock with their kagune.
With a final look over his shoulder towards the now silent battleground, he followed them into the stairwell.