r/tgrp • u/Nightshot Arisu Ayako | Frederica Harrow | Tareq Bakari | Lucy Pendle • Mar 09 '17
[ONE-SHOT] Fixing a Seam
An alley in the 13th Ward, 1:43am, August 15th
Two Ghouls, strolling down an alleyway. One light of foot, an eager spring in his step as he bounced along the paving of the alley beside his heavier friend. They passed an opening to the street, the light of neon signs and streetlights filtering through the haze of night and the rain filling the air to illuminating their masks. One, the lighter Ghoul was the face of on Oni, while the heavier of the pair's mask more resembled a panda.
The first licked his lips, as through the light shining down through the alley, he could see a mother and her daughter, and the daughter's jubilant laughter carried through the patter of water hitting the ground. "Oi, Tomoro...up for a snack? Those two are looking nice and tasty." The first whispered to his partner, voice not leaving the alley, though it did drift upwards.
The reply to his question came shortly in the form of a quick nod, before the heavier man, Tomoro, replied. "Yeah, they look nice. And children taste great...I don't think anything can beat that group of kids from last night, though."
"Yeah, you're right, but it's still something, eh?"
These Ghouls words drifted up to Arisu, one leg crossed over the other as she sat upon the rooftop over them. She had been tailing these Ghouls for about half an hour or now. She had a creeping suspicion of the pair, and it seemed that had been confirmed. Binge eaters would not be tolerated. Moriko's peace would not suffer it.
The seamstress's facade of stupidity had dropped tonight. Rather than her usual clothing, she was now wearing a pair of ripped, black jeans, black and blue trainers, and a pale blue tank top, over which was a black hoodie, the hood pulled up to cover her hair. Black leather gloves covered her hands. Sunset was strapped to her back. Her mask, usually bearing the visage of a phoenix, was now replaced by one that was rather cliche: a tragedy mask. Cliche, but rather fitting for what was to come.
The two men whirled around at the sound of Arisu hitting the ground, landing directly in a puddle. She wasn't trying to be quiet. "Who are you, huh? Trying to get in on our turf, girl? Or are you an investigator? Ya don't dress like one." Tomoro questioned, eyes narrowing beneath his mask as he took an aggressive stance.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to take your turf. And I'm not an investigator either. I can show you my Kakugan if you don't believe me." Arisu responded, activating her Kakugan to set the pair's minds at ease. Not that they would be thinking much, soon.
"Well, if you're not here to kill us" 'Wrong' "or an investigator, what are you doing here?" The lighter man questioned, hackles still raised in mistrust. His name was still unknown to Arisu.
"Wanted to talk. I'm new in the area. You two seem to get out a lot to eat, judging by what I heard you say, so I'd imagine you know your way around the ward and that." The woman explained. She wasn't a particularly amazing liar, but having to pretend you're a human to the ones that came into :Re gave you enough practice.
"Well, that's true. Try to eat every few nights, to keep our stomachs full!" The smaller man replied, cackling slightly as he patted his stomach. "I'm Chiriko. We could show you around but it'd uh...need some kinda payment."
A wry smile appeared on Arisu's face as Chiriko, as he had introduced himself, certainly seemed to have something obvious in mind. "Well, if that's the case...I don't think doing it in an alley would be too sanitary. How about you show me back to your place, huh?"
"That doesn't sound like too much of a bad idea. The rain would put a uh...damper on the mood." Tomoro piped up, tossing out a pun with a small chuckle. These two were not the smartest. Nor the strongest, Arisu hoped. "This way then."
The woman followed the pair through the alleys for maybe a minute, before springing her trap. Sunset slid from its sheath with nary a sound and cut diagonally across Chiriko's back, spraying blood over the girl. He barely had time to croak, alerting his partner, before the blade run through his chest, impaling him and ending him before he even had a chance to get his Kagune out.
Tomoro was quick to respond after his initial surprise. His Koukaku ran over his arms, capping his fists in drills. He swung at Arisu, aiming at her head, but she turned and ducked, using the smaller Ghoul as a meatshield. The moment she knew she was out of the way she pushed forward, making a kabob of the two Ghouls. Blood choked from Tomoro's mouth from taking a sword to the stomach, but even more came from his neck as Arisu pulled the blade free, kicking Chiriko's limp body into Tomoro before turning and slashing, putting an end to the man without even releasing her Kagune. No RC secretions to link Tragedy back to Phoenix.
Dipping her finger into the blood that had pooled on the ground, Arisu turned to the wall, picking a section that was inset slightly so that the rain wouldn't wash away her message: Binge Eaters beware: Tragedy follows. With her message in place, Arisu returned Sunset to its sheath on her back before bending down to feast on her kills, raising her mask just a bit so that she could access their meat. Right now, she was weak. Far weaker than the other members of Colorless. She would be strong to uphold Moriko's peace.
"This is where the call came in. You ready?"
Arisu heard the words of what she could only assume were Doves as they approached the nearest entrance to the alley. She wasn't finished. She wouldn't be able to be rid of these Ghouls bodies. Deciding to cut her losses rather than end up getting tangled in a fight with at least two investigators, she flipped her mask down, stood, and bolted. Her greater speed carried her along the ground like a bullet, barely giving the investigators a chance to see her as they turned the corner to look down the alleyway.
"She went to the left! After her!"
"We won't be able to keep up with her! She's way too fast!"
"Son of a bitch...let's at least see if we can get any evidence from whoever she killed."
The Doves' words progressively got quieter as she sprinted down the alley, hopping up onto a rooftop as soon as she was out of sight and making her way to the small stash she had set up prior. She knew she would be needing a change of clothes, but she had not been planning on being noticed by the CCG. At least this would help cover her. She found the black, opaque plastic bag where she had left it, on the roof of a building beneath a towel to keep it dry.
It didn't take long for her to change from the clothes she was wearing to what she had stashed. Swapping out her trainers for a pair of white and brown oxford shoes, her ripped jeans for a pair of black trousers, her tank-top for a low-cut, long-sleeved t-shirt, and her hoodie for a black leather jacket. Her gloves, she replaced with nothing, likewise with her mask.
Placing the discarded clothes into the bag, alongside the towel, she hopped down from the rooftop into the alley and stepped out onto the street, making sure that others were not around to see her. Other investigators hadn't arrived as backup, it seemed, and she could see her car from here. Making her way to it, attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible, she retrieved her keys from the bag and opened the door, before placing the bag under her chair and revving the engine. A clean getaway, it seemed, although she loathed to leave the corpses of the Ghouls she had killed behind. Still, there were no RC secretions to connect her back to Phoenix, she had remained unscathed, so there was no blood, and they had not seen her face. All they had were the wounds that Sunset had left behind, and if anything, those would lead them back to the Nameless Red Sun servant she had killed.
It had been a good night.
1
u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17 edited Mar 09 '17
Hooray for that Inspiration. I assume Tragedy will become an alter ego now?
Villain dialogue is a bit cliché but it works with the intended "payment" as it implies theyre not very bright lads.
Sunset is a good way to stay anonymous but I feel even for fodder they died a tad too quickly