“Liana….please don’t hit me.”

I paused with a piece of fish halfway to my mouth. “....what did you do?”

Loren took a deep breath. “Yesterday, I asked my friends to search the records for anything involving a person named Teru Kouto.”

I put my chopsticks down. “What? Why would he be involved with anything to do with the CCG?”

“I thought he might have been a survivor of a ghoul attack, but I didn’t find anything except for a classified document about some Tenko Tojikou.”

My brow furrowed. “Who’s Tenko Tojikou? And what does that have to do with Kou?”

“The Kanji in ‘Tojikou’ match the kanji for ‘Kou’.”

I gave him a deadpan look. “You suspect that he has ties to some classified person in the archives…….because of the Kanji in their names. Do you hear yourself?”

He scowled. “Liana, I’m serious. This Tenko guy, everything was classified. I’m talking photos, associates, address, there was so much redacted I couldn’t even tell if he was a ghoul or not. All I know is that he’s a guy, born about eighteen years ago. He’s probably the same age as Kou.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. What possible reason could they have for classifying that much information about some kid?”

“That’s where it gets interesting. Apparently, Tenko Tojikou is already dead. Two years ago, around the time of the Dragon Incident.”

I put a piece of fish in my mouth and chewed slowly, watching Loren. That is weird. But it has nothing to do with Kou. “Okay, so there's some weird records about a kid who died in the Dragon Incident. Kou uses the same kanji and he's about the right age. So? What links this Tenko Tojikou to Kou?”

He stuffed a clump of rice in his mouth and avoided eye contact. “….I’m not sure yet.”

I sighed. “I invited him to come back to rent the apartment, we better not have a repeat of last time.”

“I still think he’s hiding something." 

I took my dishes to the sink. “Of course he’s hiding something, you blew up when he said two sentences.”

“Well….there may be another reason he’s on his own.”

I stopped walking. ‘Another reason’? “What does that mean?”

He cleared his throat. “I’ll admit it’s unlikely since he didn’t immedeatly say no, but it’s possible. He might…..you know. Be a ghoul?” 

I took a deep breath. “Loren?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

My mother gasped. “Liana!”

I crossed my arms. “I left my back wide open after I said I was a Rank 1 Investigator, what ghoul would pass up that opportunity? If he was a ghoul, we’d all be dead by now.”

“How do you know he’s not just playing the long game?”

“What game?!”

“Let’s test his Rc levels and find out! Invite him to the Office or the hospital or something.”

“He doesn't trust me as far as he can throw me, and he definitely doesn’t trust you."

"Well-"

Mom cleared her throat, pinning my brother with a look. “First of all, you shouldn’t be abusing your powers at the CCG to dig up information about a teenager. Second, Liana’s right; a ghoul would take any chance they have to attack an Investigator. Now finish your breakfast and get going, you’re going to be late for work.”

Muko was slumped at her desk when we came in, and I tapped her on the head. “Hey, are you awake?”

“Mmm.”

I sighed. “There could be a surprise inspection, you need to at least look awake.”

Loren rolled his eyes. “I bet she was out drinking last night.”

I shot him a glare. “Not helping.”

Muko looked up at Loren. “The chief said he wants to see you, something about the records department. He said you were to go straight to his office.”

Loren froze, and I shot him a look. Not good. “I’ll come with you; might as well see what this is all about.”

We headed into the elevator, and to his credit, Loren kept his mouth shut for at least five seconds before he said “I told you so.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s a classified person, of course the chief would want to know why you were digging into it. When you tell him you found the files because of one or two matching Kanji I bet he’ll bust a gut laughing you out.”

We stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to the chief’s office, knocking on the door. I really hope we get laughed out, because the alternative is far worse. There was a shuffling noise on the other side before I heard the “Come in”, and I took a deep breath. Loren went in first, and I followed close behind. Two of Loren’s friends were already there, fidgeting nervously. Chief Kang smiled. “Hello Loren. Ah, and Liana too. Is there something you need?”

“I thought I’d tag along with my brother since I can’t go on patrol by myself. I also want to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid and try to hide it from me.”

He laughed. “Oh, it’s not that bad. Last night he asked Kaji and Luro to do some digging on a highly classified person, I just wanted to know why.”

I sighed. “Loren, do you want to tell him or should I?”

He scowled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was looking into some kid named Teru Kouto, and the Kanji happened to match.”

Kang stared at him for a few moments, and the room collectively held its breath. Then he burst out laughing, and the atmosphere relaxed instantly. “What, that’s it? Oh Loren, you never fail to entertain me.”

Loren’s scowl deepened. “Ha-ha. I just thought it would be better to be careful, but Liana made sure I gave up.”

Kang shook his head and smiled. “Well, in any case that’s all I wanted to know. You can all return to your duties now.”

We filed out the door, and as soon as we were in the elevator Kaji and Luro dropped their arms around Loren’s shoulders. “What was that all about? You nearly got us in trouble Loren!”

“Yeah! You owe us yakisoba for this!”

Loren scowled. “Alright alright, get off of me!”

I sighed. “Sorry about that. My brother has a tendency to overreact, even when it comes to kids four years younger than him.”

His friends got off on the floor for the records department, and Loren and I started our patrol. The 19th Ward was quiet, with few incidents and a small ghoul presence. As we approached the 19th Ward’s Dispensary I put a hand on Loren’s shoulder. “Remember: we can’t afford to scare the ghouls who come here. If we make them feel unsafe they’ll go back to hunting.”

He scowled. “Is letting them literally fucking spit on the dead any better?”

I stopped face to face with my brother. “Those people gave their consent. We don’t get to judge them for that; our job is to keep the peace, not to kill Ghouls. We can’t afford an incident, unless you want that squad from Goat to come and reassure them of their safety.”

He scowled. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

As we approached our destination, it became noticeably emptier. The sidewalk was bare, and even the street was quiet with most cars passing the turn. Three or four of the shops on the other side of the street were closed down, and at least half of the ones on the same side were vacant. …including Kotaro’s bakery.

Loren scowled at the now-empty storefront. “Every birthday. Every Christmas, every promotion party, every celebration we ever had was with a cake from Kotaro’s. Now we can’t even have that.”

I tightened my grip on my quinque, turning away. “Come on; the sooner we start, the sooner we’re done.”

The dispensary was spotless and clean, tidy and unassuming. If you didn’t read the smaller text underneath the word ‘Dispensary’, you might think it was a pharmacy. The ghoul at the counter put on a nervous smile when she saw us, straightening and visibly drawing up her guard. “Oh! Hello….I guess it’s that time of the week. One moment please.”

She turned around and unlocked the safe in the back of the store, taking out a record sheet and putting it into a printer for scanning. The original went back into the safe and she handed me the copy, and after I checked for all the right markers I folded it into my pocket. Recite the script and we can go. “Thanks. Any incidents to report? Hate crime, portion disputes, supply disruption?”

She shook her head. “No. Everything has been going quite well, that gang even stopped loitering.”

My head shot up. “Gang? Were they led by a man with a chin scar, bloodshot eyes and brown hair?”

The ghoul at the counter stared at me. “Yes….how did you know?”

I frowned. That gang loitered around here? Ghouls wouldn’t have felt comfortable with them around, did one of the stronger ghouls on this list decide to teach them a lesson? It would make sense if that were the case. I barely listened as I continued with the rest of the scripted questions. “Do you know if any of the ghouls that come here are combative? Aggressive, unfriendly, maybe a bit paranoid?”

She shook her head. “No, not really. Most of the ghouls that come here want to avoid violence.”

Loren scowled. “We’re wasting time. She either doesn’t know anything useful or she’s covering for her pals, we won’t learn anything useful talking to her anymore.”

I shot him a look. “Shut UP Loren. I’m sorry about my brother’s behaviour, I’ve tried talking to him……”

The ghoul smiled sadly. “Oh no, it's quite alright. I’m not naive enough to expect anything more than grudging cooperation.”

He scoffed. “I guess ghouls aren’t that dumb after all.”

I smiled and bowed slightly. “Thank you. Until next time then.” Then I grabbed Loren by the hair and dragged him down the street.

“Ow! Liana-”

I waited until we were a full block away before let go of his hair and let him stagger upright. “Do you want things to go back to the way they were?”

He stared at me. “Liana, what-”

“Do you want us to go back to when every ghoul went killing without another option? Do you want any semblance of peace to disappear? Is that how much you want to get back to killing ghouls?”

He scowled. “Don’t make me sound like the villain here Liana-”

“Then don’t fucking act like one!”

“THEY EAT PEOPLE!”

“I KNOW THAT! Believe me, I am well fucking aware! But we have a job to do, so for once in your life could you grow up and be professional?!”

He glared at me. “Have you forgotten what they did already?”

For a moment I just stared at him. He- PIECE OF- I had him by the collar before he could blink. “You think this is easy? Suck it up little brother, welcome to the real world! We have to make compromises for peace, if all you want is to kill ghouls then then fuck off to join one of those hate groups who just want an excuse to kill. I haven’t forgotten anything, you say that shit again and I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass you’re gonna need a doctor to c-section my shoe out of you!”

He opened his mouth to let out a retort, but instead he was...oddly quiet. He stood there for a few moments without moving, and I realised he wasn’t looking at me anymore. I followed his gaze and turned, finding a pair of almost-black eyes a few feet from mine. Kou was carrying a bag of what was probably groceries in one hand and Sumi’s leash in the other, staring at me and Loren. Shit. 

“Oh. Kou. I- Um- It’s…uh…how are you doing today?”

He edged back slightly. “I’m…fine. Am I...interrupting?"

Loren scowled. “Yeah, you are. Buzz-”

I flashed my brother a warning look and he shut his mouth, and I smiled at Kou. “Ignore my brother please, he’s still an ass. Please, don't mind us; see you later!”

He nodded and headed down the street, and once he was gone I exhaled. “We’re taking this off the street."

He said nothing, but followed as I turned down an alley. We threaded through the backstreets until I found a quiet and relatively clean area sheltered from possible eavesdroppers. I stopped and turned around, putting my quinque down and crossing my arms. “I get what you’re saying, but bringing up dad was a dick move. Peace comes at a cost Loren, this was never gonna be easy.”

“That doesn’t mean it has to be us who pays for it. We should just exterminate them all.”

“You’ve seen how many groups are protesting for them to be given the same basic human rights."

“So what? They can all die with the monsters for all I care.”

I sighed. “We always knew that Ghouls were just as intelligent as us, but now that it’s been said out loud people are starting to realise that our laws should apply to them as well. We tried extermination for years and have nothing to show for it, but with the stations open ghoul predation has dropped by a lot.”

“You say that like there hasn’t been an increase in hate crimes.”

I remained silent at that, and he finally turned to look at me. “Lynchings and vandalism are through the roof, and investigator casualties haven’t changed at all.”

I crossed my arms. “Do you have a better idea? An actual plan, a proposal, something other than extermination? Because if you don’t then there’s nothing else to discuss.”

We said nothing on the way home, but neither of us schooled our expression in time when I opened the door to  find our mom in the living room. “Did you two have a fight?”

Loren brushed past me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let a ghoul stab her just because she’s too good to kill ghouls anymore.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, this coming from the guy who was so hung up on the glory of killing an S-rank that he nearly had his shoulder torn off? I was the one who had to drag you away while the Special Classes finished the fight you started!”

He turned to  glower. “That’s not what that was about! I didn’t recognize the mask-”

“Because you didn’t care! All you saw was a ghoul, so you didn’t try to identify him, or tell Koku, you just ran right in and start stabbing because that’s all you-!”

“ENOUGH! Please, just…”

Guilt flooded my system as my mom sat down. “I know you two don’t always get along, but if you’re going to fight then make sure it starts and ends under this roof. What if you ran into trouble while you were busy shooting glares at each other?”

I took a breath and put a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I just….it’s been a long day.”

My brother looked away. “…fine.”

Loren and I went out to the lawn to take in the laundry, and after looking back to make sure our mother couldn’t hear he sighed. “She worries too much about us.”

“I know. But we can’t just stop working at the CCG.”

“We should find a way to reassure her.”

I scoffed. “How are we supposed to do that?”

“I….don’t know.”

My hand went to the silver clover at my neck. “Every mission and patrol carries a risk; she knows that. We all do. Unless we leave the CCG, we won’t really be ‘safe’.”

He opened his mouth to say something when his phone rang. He frowned at the caller ID, then picked up. “Chief Kang?”

His eyes widened, and I put the basket down. “Loren? Is everything okay?”

He grit his teeth. “We’re on our way.” He hung up and went to the door, grabbing his Quinque. “Trainjacking, they need all hands on deck.”

Shit. I grabbed my case and coat, looking back at my mother. “Start dinner without us, we’ll call you as soon as it’s over.”

The face she made had me hesitating in the doorway, but after a moment she swallowed thickly and nodded. “Be safe, okay?”

I gripped the case tighter. “We will. Love you.”

“I love you too.”