She woke up in her own bed, flashing her eyes open with ease as she laid there, staring up into the white ceiling. She remembered last night, with Uta at HySy, and gave a little huff to brush off the matter. However, there was still a painful expanding feeling growing in her chest, and she couldn't shake it off no matter how deeply she breathed. It was guilt, as it seemed, and it was becoming rather annoying; it confused her immensely, since the feeling was something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

She felt herself become enshrouded in a black blur, and thus, she closed her eyes once more, succumbing to the memory that would surely haunt her like the rest.

It had been a week or two since she and Takashi had discussed the topic of her tattoo at Anteiku, and now that they had a solid agreement, Takashi had agreed to take her to the friend he had mentioned that night.

"He's just starting his shop is in the Fourth Ward," he explained on the subway, standing in front of her sitting figure. It was rather crowded for a weekday like that, but she didn't mind as long as Takashi was there with her. She watched him with bright, golden eyes as he gave her a few pointers. "Uta-kun and I had grown up together, but we lost contact up until about eight months ago. Anyways, I barely recognized him when I saw him again after all those years, and I wouldn't have been able to recognize him with all those piercings and tattoos he had if he hadn't come up to me first."

Takashi let out a little chuckle, puzzling Etsuko.

"Piercings and tattoos?" she asked in a small voice. "Is he scary, Oniisan?"

The man gave her a smirk.

"Quite," he grunted with an amused huff. "But he's a good friend of mine, so you'll be fine."

Etsuko twisted her lip to the side, out of curiosity and a little bit of fear; she wasn't good at meeting other people, whether they were humans or ghouls.

The pair got off the train at the Shinjuku station, Takashi leading the girl down a handful of winding roads and isolated alleys, finally appearing in front of a concrete building, a little worn and the crimped metal sheets that made up the garage a little bronzed from rust.

"Come on, then," Takashi murmured, descending down into the dark stairway with his hands shoved into his black leather jersey. Etsuko scuffled after him, her black skirt fluttering slightly behind her. She fiddled with the sleeve of her knitted beige sweater, out of anxiety and nerves. They appeared in front of the main door, where Takashi rapped at it with the heavy-looking knocker set upon it, expertly and beautifully crafted into the head of a dragon.

She had been staring at the magnificent piece for a second when Takashi opened the door and allowed himself in; she scurried after him, following him right at his tail.

"Uta-kun," he called out, stepping into the shop with long strides. He turned around to a dawdling Etsuko, gawking at the masks set upon the walls. "Come on, Etsuko-chan."

"A-ah," she stammered, rushing up to his side and digging her arm into his. She pressed herself up against him. "Is he here?"

"I'm not quite sure," Takashi huffed, stopping in the middle of the chamber. "That's odd. I made sure to come early enough to fit into his hours. Did he go home early? That doesn't seem like him at all..."

Etsuko played with the sleeve of his jacket, rubbing the fabric and tugging at it in nervousness. She couldn't put her finger on it, but for some reason this room gave her the nastiest chills.

A sudden "boo" in her ear forced a little frightened squeal out from her lips, the girl whirling around and landing a solid punch on her attacker.

"Uta-kun," Takashi scolded the man, whose face was now turned to the side, his cheek purpled and black eyes spread out in a vague awe. "You shouldn't scare Etsuko-chan like that - she doesn't like to be frightened."

He responded with a light laugh.

"My apologies," the man named Uta murmured, his voice swimming in mirth. He realigned his jaw, a little smirk resting upon his pierced lips. "I didn't expect such a response from a cute girl like her."

Etsuko boiled in fury; she wasn't easily scared, but even so, she hated the feeling of it.

"I'm Etsuko," she said vaguely. "Nice to meet you, Uta-san."

"I would say the same," Uta jested, "but your type of greeting wouldn't exactly be classified as 'nice.'"

Etsuko just huffed, crossing her arms and averting her gaze to the ground.

"Sorry," she muttered.

Uta only chuckled.

"It's quite alright," he mused. "It's rare that someone can stun me like that."

She chewed on her lip.

"Same here," she mumbled, inching slowly behind Takashi's taller figure.

A twinge of a smirk appeared on the other man's lips, and he turned his gaze back to Uta.

"How've you been?" he asked.

"Alright," Uta replied. "The usual, you know?"

"I see you've been working on the shop," Takashi grunted, gesturing to the space around them. "The renovations look very modern - I like it."

"Thank you," Uta chuckled, beckoning them to the back of the room. "Are you here for a mask? I already have some ideas flowing just from looking at the girl."

Uta's gaze peered over to Etsuko, who sank herself even further behind Takashi's sturdy figure. He let out a small chuckle.

"Actually, she's here for a tattoo," Takashi laughed. "Two, actually."

Uta raised a curious eyebrow, pursing his lips.

"You know I don't specialize in tattoos, Taka-kun," he murmured, leaning against one of his display cases, which lay to the side empty. "If you want someone good, the guy who did mine lives in the - "

"They're only gonna be small," Takashi insisted, holding up his index finger and thumb. "About the size of a coin each. It won't be that difficult, right?"

Uta twisted his lip, thoughtful.

"I suppose so. What are they gonna be?"

Takashi lifted his brows, turning around to look at the girl hiding behind him.

"Etsuko-chan?" he asked her.

"What," she stated grimly.

Takashi let out a little scoff.

"Tell the nice man what you want," he told her, his voice soft as if he were speaking to a child.

Etsuko glared at him, clenching her jaw as she look a huff of air. She sidestepped and stood in front of Uta, her hands clasped behind her back; she reached around and lifted up her shirt from the front, showing her midriff, and pointed to the protruding hipbones, her face cold.

"A scorpion and a lizard," she muttered. "On either side of my hips."

"Fu fu fu," Uta chuckled, flickering his swarthy eyes from her flesh to her face. "Isn't that a little promiscuous for a cute girl like you, Etsuko-san?"

"Shut up," she mumbled, letting her sweater tumble back down. "Oniisan and I have been discussing it for two weeks now. I know what I want."

Uta laughed.

"Oniisan?" he pondered, turning to Takashi. "She's a feisty little sister, isn't she?"

Takashi rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea," he muttered.

Etsuko hissed, smacking his arm.

"Let's just get on with the tattoos already," she seethed. "I'm getting anxious, and I don't like feeling anxious."

Uta let out another soft chuckle, pushing himself off the display case and disappearing into the back of the shop.

"Make yourself comfortable and pull up a chair at my desk," he said. "I'll be out in a moment."

Takashi, taking the invitation, set up two chairs in the nook of the room where his little office was, turning on the bright lamp and illuminating the dusty wooden table with a warm, golden light.

"You could have been a little nicer," he commented lightly.

Etsuko only huffed.

"It's his fault," she spat. "Sneaking up on me like that. What the hell was he even thinking?"

"It's just his way of having fun, Etsuko-chan," Takashi chuckled, placing an arm around her shoulder; she flushed. "He also has...other methods, so just be careful, okay?"

Etsuko's cheeks turned into an even darker shade of red.

"Is he your age?" she asked him in a small voice.

"Eighteen," he said curtly. "So a year older than me."

She twiddled with her thumbs, set quietly in her lap.

"He wouldn't go after someone who's three years younger than him, would he?" she mumbled, leaning her head on Takashi's shoulder. "That's illegal, isn't it?"

Takashi let out a fluttery laugh.

"Since when have you worried about human laws?" he chuckled.

Etsuko pouted, flickering her eyes grimly to the side.

"Shut up," she muttered, batting her eyelashes a few times, a bit flustered.

"Alright," the other announced, reappearing from the back of the parlor. "Taka-kun, can you do the set up while I do a quick sketch on what the princess wants?"

"Princess?" Etsuko hissed, raising a threatening eyebrow. "Who're you calling princess?"

Takashi, ignoring her, got up from his seat and walked over to the other side of the table, gathering the pens and tubes and began assembling them appropriately. Uta strode on next to her, taking Takashi's seat and bringing up a sketchbook, a pencil in his hand.

"Now Etsuko-san, you said you wanted a scorpion and lizard?" he asked her gently.

The girl eyed him carefully, her eyes narrowed.

"Yes. The scorpion on my right hip, and the lizard on my left."

Uta began scribbling on the notebook, nodding his head.

"Alright then. I see. So is there any special meaning behind them?" he inquired. "Any reason why you're getting these?"

Etsuko just nodded once.

"Takashi is Lizard, and I am Scorpion," she explained.

The lead in his pencil snapped as the pressure in his hand increased tenfold. Both Takashi and Etsuko stared at him in shock, confused and befuddled. There was tension in the air, emitted powerfully by Uta's dark and swarthy aura. The room seemed to have dropped two degrees, and the three remained frozen in place until Uta, sitting there like a statue upon his chair, lifted up his kakugan to meet her own golden eyes, giving her a small, close-eyed smile.

"You're Scorpion?" he asked her calmly, though his voice was strained.

Etsuko hesitated, flickering her eyes to Takashi before flashing them back at him, giving him another single nod.

Uta gave out a grim chuckle, leaning back against the chair and tossing his pencil down on the sketchbook. He flashed Takashi a dangerous look.

"Out of everything, you didn't tell me that you took in Scorpion, Taka-kun," he rumbled darkly.

The other ghoul growled.

"Does it matter?" Takashi replied, his own voice low. The two glared at each other with tense eyes, both pitch black with fiery scarlet irises burning into each other's sockets.

"Oi," Etsuko snapped, her own voice menacing, flickering her eyes from Takashi to Uta. "Is there a problem?"

There was more silence for a while before Uta stirred, turning back to her with his look softened and placid.

"Not at all," he chuckled, picking his pencil back up. He twirled it skillfully in his long fingers, eyeing her as if she were some sort of prize. "So. You're Scorpion - how lovely to finally meet you. If I may say so, Etsuko-san, I am a huge fan of Scorpion myself. A lot of ghouls are."

Etsuko merely blinked, her expression bored.

"Thank you," she said blandly.

Uta let out a small laugh.

"At first when you said you wanted a lizard and a scorpion, I figured that you were a fan yourself," he explained. "Not to mention Taka-kun, the Lizard. It was only understandable, but actually meeting Scorpion like this? I must say that I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all, Etsuko-san."

The girl twisted her lip downwards.

"I'm sorry to be such a burden to you, Uta-san," she said, moot.

"Hardly," Uta chuckled again, beginning to sketch on the paper once more. "It's just that I never imagined Scorpion to be so..." He searched for the word. "Enticing."

There was a low growl from the side.

"Uta-kun," Takashi glowered, his voice deep.

The ghoul only smirked.

"Right," he said. "The tattoos. Now, due to the unexpected circumstances, I only have black ink - is that alright with you?"

Etsuko just nodded, her lips tightly zipped.

Uta returned the gesture, continuing his sketch.

"This can go two ways, then. You can either have the figures colored in, or you can have an outline of them - which is my personal suggestion. It's more elegant, I think, and it suits your body type more than a solid tattoo would." His dark eyes flickered up and down her figure, the smirk deepening in his face. "Yes, it suits you very well," he murmured.

Etsuko shuffled her feet a little in discomfort.

"That sounds nice..." she said, her voice trailing off.

Uta increased the pressure in his hand, darkening the outline of his sketches.

"They're simple enough," he commented. "They'll look lovely on you. Now, let me see the material I'll be working on." He tossed his pencil down and got up from his seat, getting down on one knee and lifting up her sweater with his index finger and thumb. Etsuko squealed, smacking his hand away with one quick blow.

"Uta-kun," Takashi hissed, a little more firmly now. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The ghoul rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh in exasperation.

"You came to me with a request for a tattoo," he said sternly. "And on top of that, you chose a very promiscuous place to put it. It's not my fault that I have to look at her so indecently, Taka-kun."

The other ghoul spat in disgust, whirling around and continuing with the preparations.

Uta turned back to Etsuko.

"May I?" he asked her gently, gesturing to her sweater.

Etsuko clenched her jaw, flickering her golden gaze to Takashi, who busied himself with the tangle of wires and tubes, sterilizing and setting them up. She turned her eyes back to Uta, and gave him a curt nod.

"Thank you," he chuckled, lifting up her sweater once more. He traced a finger across her skin, making her shiver in response. "The skin is nice and supple. This is your first tattoo, I presume, so it'll probably hurt a little. Is that okay?"

"That's fine," Etsuko barked, her throat strained.

A swirl of dark amusement traced the man's eyes.

"Splendid," he mused, standing up and turning to the worktable. He began stacking papers and setting jars aside, clearing a space big enough for a body. "Please lay down here, and we'll get started immediately."

Etsuko dipped her head in a vague obedience, climbing up on the tabletop and setting herself down, her white hair splayed out. Uta folded up her sweater just under her breasts and dragged down her skirt just so her hipbones became exposed. He stood over her for a moment, rubbing his smooth chin in contemplation. After a while, he pulled up a seat and tugged on a pair of latex gloves, taking the pen Takashi held out to him and stepping on a pedal positioned at his feet, causing the pen to buzz like a beetle.

"Wait, you're just gonna do it?" Takashi asked, stunned. "Aren't you going to do a stencil transfer first?"

Uta scoffed, flickering a playful gaze up at his friend.

"Do you really doubt me that much, Taka-kun?" he joked, a fabricated hurt hinting in his tone.

Takashi ground his teeth together, irritated, but turned his attention back to Etsuko.

"Ready?" he asked her softly.

Etsuko merely gave him a reassuring nod, flinching a little as she felt the coldness of the rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton rubbing across her skin. Uta followed the step by running a new disposable razor across the areas where her tattoos would soon be etched into, getting rid of any fine hairs on her body, and finished the preparation by rubbing another cotton ball of rubbing alcohol and a little ointment over the tender flesh.

"This is going to sting a lot, so please bear with me honey," Uta purred, dipping the buzzing needle into a pot of black ink. He stretched her skin with one hand and brought the pen down on her, dragging the stinging needle across her pale skin as she yelp and smashed her jaws together.

A good chunk of time passed, and both tattoos were eventually finished, much to Etsuko's relief. Uta cleaned off the excess ink with a clean hot towel, and the process was complete.

"For a human, the aftercare for a tattoo is extensive and tedious," Uta explained, admiring his work upon her body. "But us ghouls don't really have to worry about that, since our regenerative ability takes care of the healing for us. Just make sure you get something to eat after this."

Takashi and Etsuko said their thanks to Uta as they walked out of the shop, Etsuko's eyes lingering as she noticed Uta's own gaze trailing after her, a lustful, narrowed gleam glinting in his dangerously dark eyes.

Her breathing grew ragged as she tossed in her bed, the sheets strewn and the sweat beading upon her tormented brow. She shut her eyes tight as if she were afraid they were going to fall out of her skull.

She walked into the concrete building, the metal corroding with rust now, and descended down into the depths of the basement with her crimson suede heels echoing through the hall. She rapped the dragon knocker twice, allowing herself in a few moments afterward, and was greeted with a tender smile.

"Etsuko-san," Uta greeted her warmly. "How've you been?"

"Shit," she answered icily, walking past him and taking a seat at his table in the back. "How about yourself?"

Uta gave her a teasing smirk, shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed her, taking his own seat across from her.

"Business is booming," he murmured tastefully, running a finger against his lips as he leaned back into his chair. "So it's been pretty good around here lately."

She merely scoffed.

"Good for you," Etsuko muttered blandly, reaching down and tugging off her crimson camisole over her head. She ruffled her white bangs, smoothing out her ponytail as she took her spot up on the tabletop, the bright golden light illuminating her pale skin; the dark tattoos upon her hips glared upon the ghoul, just as he did so to her flesh. "Shall we, then?"

Uta only chuckled darkly, eyeing her curvaceous figure in front of him.

"Certainly, Etsuko-san."

It was normal for this to happen, at least, ever since Takashi was taken to Cochlea. She went in for touch-ups three times that year, and the next it diminished to two, then once, and it remained that way until she didn't come in for over a year, which was the incident that had occurred only last night.

She continued her restlessness, her mind swirling and pounding with hot blood as she breathed heavily upon her pillowcase, cool and icy to the touch.

"You seem to be taking it pretty well," Uta teased her, leaning naked upon a display case, his heart still beating rapidly in his chest. "With the Mad Temptress making her debut last month and all."

Etsuko spat harshly at him, tugging a paint-splattered sheet over her nude figure as she sat atop the glass case.

"It's been a year since that happened," she hissed spitefully. "It's all their fault. Those fucking Doves. I'll sever every one of their heads off, just you wait."

"Humanity is ruthless," Uta jeered, raising an expectant eyebrow towards her. "Taka-kun was a foolish man, putting such faith in those humans."

She hissed again.

"Oniisan was a good man," she glowered, sinking her eyes down into her lap, the sheet wet with the ghoul's jism. "I don't understand why they had to take him instead of some other fucking ghoul on the streets."

Uta ran a hand through his hair, tying it up with a single swoop as he made his way over to his office, flicking off the lamp and tugging his clothes back on, discarded on the floor. She remained on the cold glass, staring off into oblivion with a venomous expression. Uta blinked, analyzing her carefully before his lips tugged up into a sneer.

"You've had more than a few humans in bed already," Uta murmured to her, his voice low and husky. "So theoretically, your sexual tension shouldn't be a problem. Is there a reason why you're still visiting me?"

Etsuko flashed him a threatening glare, only to avert it once more, her grip tightening on the sheet spilled onto her.

Uta chuckled.

"I get it," he mused, slipping the sandals back on his feet. "Humans don't nearly have enough stamina for you, huh? I knew you were filthy, Etsuko-san, but I didn't know it came to this extent."

Etsuko just growled.

"Shut up."

"And what's even better, you're probably still gonna do it with the humans. For Taka-kun's sake, hm? You're going to make all of them all suffer in their own desires. That's beautifully poetic if I must say so myself, Etsuko-san."

Etsuko seethed through her teeth, a miniscule smirk appearing across her lips.

"They deserve it. All of them," she spat. "They're going to pay for taking everything from me. Just you wait."

Uta let out a light laugh, stretching out his arms as he plopped back down on his chair.

"So you're playing as the Mad Temptress now? What about the Bloody Duchess? And Scorpion?"

"Scorpion is dead," Etsuko hissed disdainfully. "And the Duchess was just an alias for the ghouls in the Fourteenth - the CCG never knew me as the Duchess. And I left the ward a long time ago."

Uta began spinning a pencil over his fingers, eying her intently.

"I hear the newest trend in the Fourteenth Ward now is cannibalism," he murmured darkly, catching her attention. "And the Noh Masks are getting pretty feisty."

Etsuko rumbled in irritation, clenching her jaws.

"Just make sure you get it in their thick skulls that they're not the ones who drove me out," she seethed. "I didn't get kicked out. I left. Simple as that."

Uta chuckled in amusement, drumming the side of the pencil on the edge of the table.

"Sure thing, sweetheart," he mused.

Etsuko hissed, snapping a lethal glare to him.

"Don't call me that," she spat.

Uta, in turn, flashed her a rare, toothy smile.

"It's just for some fun, Etsuko-san," Uta laughed, flipping the pencil in the air. "Just like all the other times, right?"

Etsuko ground her teeth together, slipping off the display case and dropping the sheet, revealing supple white skin and two very dark, sharp outlines of a scorpion and a lizard.

"Yeah," she muttered bitterly. "Fun."

✿

She was out of her bed and in the bathroom in less than a second, furiously getting ready and messing with her long cascade of white hair. She rummaged through her closet, tugging on a tight monochrome-striped top with a loose skirt, pulling on a pair of long black stockings and a free crimson wrap sweater around her figure. She did her makeup, dark and heavy as usual, and yanked her hair back into a messy white bun, slathering rouge lip stain in the inner portion of her small, pouty lips.

She chugged down the last cup of Anteiku coffee in her fridge, which still stood barren and empty, and tugged on a pair of red suede heeled boots, cuffed and cut off at the ankles and laced up with a taupe-colored string. She seized one of her black bags, fumbling with a few golden bangles on her wrist before she stormed out the door, glancing at the clock before she did so.

8:23 pm

She made her way down to the underground, getting in on the train headed towards Chiyoda, the First Ward. In all of her jumbled thoughts and intense emotions, she waited on the train with her heart pounding in her chest like a jackhammer; she struggled to even out her breathing as she pulled out her book, The Black Goat's Egg, and brushed against the pages of the book with tremulous fingers, smelling the faint scent of cigarette smoke hissing from the crisp, white paper.

~~~✿~~~

I'm on a roll today. What can I say? Uta inspires me xD

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