"Hey, Shouto," (Y/n) mumbled, "when do you think Shiota and Akabane are going out again?"

"Probably in a few weeks," Shouto sighed.

"What do we do in the meantime?" (Y/n) wondered aloud.

"Nothing," Shouto deadpanned, "after what happened at school today, we need to just stay out of everyone's business."

"We didn't even do anything," (Y/n) grumbled.

"Exactly, (Y/n). Let's keep it that way," Shouto responded.

The teens went silent again, lounging in Shouto's bedroom. Enji Todoroki hadn't come home yet, and no was looking forward to the moment he stepped through the door. It didn't matter how late it got, as soon as he walked through the door, it was down to the basement for them.

Fuyumi was (luckily for her) the only one who wasn't one-hundred percent sure what went on in the basement. She'd never had to go through it. Enji was nice enough to let his only daughter not go through the training. His sons and nephew, however, hadn't been so fortunate.

There were times when Enji didn't feel like training them, but those occasions were rare. (Y/n) and Shouto could almost tell they were going to happen even less often now that they had missed a night. Tonights gonna be fun...

┈

"Are you sure you don't just wanna walk with me?" Nishinoya asked again, trying to get his underclassman to go with him. "It's safer that way, and Yamaguchi might be a while."

"I'm walking by myself," Tsukishima sighed, "just start walking already, it's getting dark."

Nishinoya gave his underclassman an unsure look before turning to head home. He was considering just forcing the kid, but that probably wouldn't work. The best the short second-year could manage was a loud "Stay safe!" as he made his way home.

After he was out of sight, Tsukishima began to walk himself. Yamaguchi would be outside the gym soon and would catch up to him, surely. The area should be okay. There weren't many ghoul attacks, and what were the chances that he'd get hurt, anyway?

┈

Yamaguchi traveled silently, mostly through alleyways. He felt as if his stomach was caving in at this point. Ghouls didn't need to eat as often as humans, but the freckled teen knew he was pushing it. If he were to get seriously injured, his body would have a load of trouble regenerating.

When he picked up on the scent of blood not far from him, Yamaguchi's eyes turned immediately. The thin teen made his way around a corner and into another alley, becoming alarmed at the sight in front of him.

 ┈

"Well, this isn't good..." Isogai stated sheepishly, backing up a bit.

The large ghoul in front of him was terrifying, to say the least — especially since Isogai had already seen how strong and able he was normally. The smaller of the two regretted choosing this particular alleyway greatly. He didn't exactly stand much of a chance if the painful, bloody, gaping hole where his liver should be was anything to go by.

"You really haven't changed much," the older ghoul taunted, "it's a shame, really."

Things were starting to go dark. Isogai's vision was getting cloudy. This was what he got for not wanting to eat humans, though. In a world where that was the only way to sustain himself, not doing so would obviously carry its consequences at some point. Perhaps, maybe, getting killed by one of the only men he truly despised was Yuuma Isogai's punishment.

I had a good run while it lasted...

The last thing he saw before blacking out was splattering blood and a tall figure blocking his view of Pops, the older ghoul. Isogai wasn't sure what he'd just seen due to his mind's muddled state, but if whatever it was kept him alive, he'd have to thank the person in front of him.

┈

The choked gasp meer feet away was all it took for Tsukishima to want to see what was happening. Despite his uncaring demeanor, he's still human, and therefore still curious enough to put himself in danger to know what was happening. The voices he heard after that made him stop, though.

"You really haven't changed much. It's a shame, really."

Tsukishima heard wheezes, then he heard something (or, did he dare consider, someone) hit the ground. Tsukishima was suddenly paralyzed by fear. He couldn't be totally sure what was happening, but it didn't take much work or imagination to narrow down the possibilities. He then heard a sickening squelch, then a splatter not even a second later.

"Pick on someone your own size, Pops." Tsukishima froze at the sound.

"A crow? Haha, guess I should leave before more of you show up, huh?" the gruffer of the two voices, who Tsukishima assumed to be Pops, questioned.

"That might be smart," Tsukishima wanted to hurl. He heard loud steps (like heavy stumbling) and then fainting pounding on the roof of the next building. The intonation in the voice became less serious, and Tsukishima was afraid to look. "Hey, are you alright? (No response) ...You passed out? That's not good..."

Tsukishima knew that voice so well. It was so friendly and familiar that he forgot the situation and called out to it, only to have the reality of the situation come crashing down on his thin frame.

"Yamaguchi?" Tsukishima felt the air get lodged in his throat at the sight.

Yamaguchi turned towards him, the blood on his clothing soaking it a gut-wrenching crimson.

"Oh no..." Yamaguchi froze, glanced back at Isogai's bleeding figure, and made a rash decision, "go home, now, please. Run, just leave."

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima started.

"Go home," Tsukishima had never been ordered by Yamaguchi to do anything; it didn't sit right. "You should've gone with Nishinoya — it's not your world at this time of night, it isn't safe, so go home."

Before Tsukishima could reply, Yamaguchi had scooped up the shorter, bleeding teen in his arms and bounded over the building behind him. Tsukishima looked at all the blood around him in shock. He clumsily stumbled back on long legs before turning and sprinting in the direction of his home. Kei would do anything to have what he witnessed erased from his memory.

┈

Nagisa was just out at night, enjoying the cool air. He needed the break from his controlling mother. He had no intention of hunting, much less interacting with any of his peers. That's why when he smelt blood and saw someone rush by him, he wanted to ignore it. That proved to not be possible, though, when he saw the ghoul carrying a person. The second he processed that that person was Yuuma Isogai, his friend, he abandoned all hope of a peaceful night and followed.

Nagisa decided to call his friend, telling her to join him in case he was going in over his head. When he saw the blonde join at his side, he quickly filled her in.

"I saw him go right by me, and he has Isogai," Nagisa explained.

The blonde hummed, the two of them speeding up as to gain on him.

Yamaguchi opened the window to his bedroom and slipped inside. He set Isogai on the ground, propping him up against the wall. Yamaguchi pulled up his sleeve, deciding which part of his arm would be missed the least while he was semi-unable to regenerate.

The window creaked, then two thumps were heard, and Yamaguchi nearly had a heart attack.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" the blonde, Rio Nakamura asked.

Yamaguchi took off his mask quickly and turned around, ignoring the blonde to stutter instead.

"Shiota?" Yamaguchi was shocked, "why are you in my home? Who is she?"

Nagisa blinked before slipping his mask off as well. "Yamaguchi..? Wait, why were you abducting him?"

"Yeah, what do you think you're doing?" Rio questioned.

"What?! I'm not kidnapping him!" Yamaguchi blubbered, "he ran into that older ghoul, Pops, and I just kinda helped him not die? Why are you angry at me, anyway?"

"He's a friend," Nagisa sighed, "I saw you running off with him and I smelt blood, so..."

"It looked really bad," Rio stated.

"Oh, well, that makes sense," Yamaguchi gave an empty smile, "I have to get him to wake up, though... He looks like he hasn't eaten in longer than I have, so..."

Rio looked conflicted, "So you're going to let him take a bite out of you? You're being awfully nice to a ghoul you don't know."

"Look," Yamaguchi exhaled loudly, "I've already had my identity revealed to a human who'll report me to the CCG tonight. If your friend is hungry enough, he'll eat enough of me for me to bleed to death or something. Why not help him when I have nothing to lose?"

"You're an idiot," Nagisa declared, "what would that tall friend of yours think if you suddenly stopped showing up to school?"

Yamaguchi didn't reply.

"He's the human, then?" Nagisa asked, not even needing an answer. He looked at the mask on the floor. "Well, if you want to help my friend so much, I won't stop you, but the Crows might miss you."

┈

"Hey, Nagisa!" Karma called with a grin, "where're the two beanpoles? It doesn't look like they've been here for a few days."

"I was wondering something similar," Itona said, "the two of them don't seem like the type to skip."

Nagisa contemplated telling his two friends about the events that went down a few days prior. He wasn't sure if he could tell the story accurately, as he wasn't there for most of the event. The voice in the back of his head also brought the fact that it might not be his place to tell to mind. He swiftly out-ruled that, though. If Tsukishima knew about Yamaguchi, then the rest of them could somehow get in trouble as well.

"A few days ago, a couple of things happened," Nagisa stated, speaking in a hushed tone, "I'm not totally sure, but it sounds like Isogai went out to get food-"

"Isogai was there?" Itona interrupted.

"Yes," Nagisa said quickly, "now, Isogai went to get food and ran into Mr. Takaoka. He was weak, got hurt really bad when Mr. Takaoka attacked, and couldn't heal. Yamaguchi happened to be out, and being the apparently good samaritan he is, somehow saved Isogai."

"We owe him one," Karma sighed, "being in debt to another ghoul is never good."

"I wasn't done," Nagisa grumbled, "anyway, somewhere along the line, Tsukishima found out that Yamaguchi was a ghoul. Yamaguchi fled and went home. I saw him and was suspicious, so I called Rio and we followed him, where we found him about to let Isogai take a bite out of him to replenish his strength... and... he was fully aware that Isogai's hunger might cause him to get killed. As far as I can tell, nobody's heard from him after that."

"What?" Itona asked, wanting clarification, "you mean to tell me that he might of... crap."

"Don't assume things," Karma said, "he might just be healing up."

"He's too weak for that," Nagisa informed them, "and even if Isogai didn't devour him, his friend probably called the CCG."

"We should go see him after school," Itona stated, "we should bring food in case he's alive, too. Do you remember where he lives?"

"What are you guys talking about?" (Y/n) asked, concern washing over his face after seeing the looks on their faces.

Itona looked at his two friends cautiously. He wasn't sure if they could trust (Y/n) yet.

Karma nodded before saying, "in short, it sounds like Tsukishima might have called the CCG on Yamaguchi, and even if he didn't, Yamaguchi might be dead either way."

"Is that why they haven't been here?" Shouto piped up.

"That's my guess," Nagisa answered.

"It's too early for trouble this deep," Itona grumbled.

┈

"Shouto! (Y/n)! Come down here!" Enji Todoroki shouted from the first floor.

The two teenagers sighed, anxiety and nervousness bubbling up inside them. Enji was always loud, but this particular tone meant they might have done something wrong. The last thing they needed right now was to deal with some harsh form of punishment. When they arrived in front of the large man, they both prepared for the worst.

"Is everything alright?" Shouto questioned him.

"No," Enji growled, creating fear in his son and nephew, "do you two know a kid who goes to your school named 'Yamaguchi Tadashi'?"

(Y/n) resisted the urge to gulp. "He's in our class, but we don't talk."

"He hasn't been to class in a few days," Shouto added.

"Well, if he shows up to school, call me immediately and steer clear of him," Enji ordered. "he's a ghoul."

The two of them wanted to hurl. To think that his best friend had betrayed him so quickly...

┈

(2381 Words)