"Oi, you."

Haise looked up from his book, and fear settled into his being as he realized there were numerous ghouls surrounding him.

How could he not realize?!!

Ok, note to self: don't go reading a book when you're walking through black alleys.

Haise hurriedly stuffed his book under his arm and got out his quinque, sweat beading down his forehead.

Haise struck forward, hoping this many ghouls wouldn't be too much for him.

--------------------------------------------

Haise had barely been keeping the ghouls off him. He'd successfully slashed at one of them, but he also had a gash lining his side. Hissing filled his ears as he tried to stay alive by killing the ghouls who'd jumped him.

But just as one of the ones in Haise's blindspot was about to strike him, they all fell, now limp corpses. Haise blinked down at them all, slightly confused. He then whipped around as he realized someone else had done that, and he saw a boy his age with orange hair. He had half a mask, much like a sunrise or sunset. He had scars lining his chin and neck, and his revealed nose was adorned with the same type of scars.

Haise was frozen in fear for a few seconds - this guy had just killed a bunch of ghouls in an instant without any effort! - before his instincts kicked in, and he started to run away.

His wrist was grabbed before Haise could even take his first step, and the new ghoul offered the book Haise had dropped when the fighting had gotten messy. The ghoul had a soft smile.

Haise looked from the book to the ghoul and back again.

"Y..You're not going to kill me..?"

The ghoul's laughter was angelic, comforting, and it made Haise almost completely relaxed. He wasn't sure what kind of control this guy had over him, but he was barely able to stay on guard after hearing his chuckle. It had some crazy soothing effect that Haise could barely resist.

"Why would I do that?" the ghoul purred.

Haise was shaking slightly. The ghoul let go of his wrist after Haise took his book, and Haise took the chance to run.

--------------------------------

Luckily, it'd been only the afternoon when Haise had left, so there were still workers at the CCG.

Specifically, Akira was still there, to which Haise was very glad.

"Akira!!" Haise shouted, running over to her. Akira's eyes were wide.

"Haise! I thought you went home. Where'd you get that gash?!"

"Huh? O-Oh, right.." Haise glanced down at his side. It was already almost done healing. "Well, I was jumped by a few ghouls - I'm sorry, I was to engrained in my book to pay attention - and I was having trouble with the number of them. Then suddenly, they all drop like flies. This ghoul with a half sun mask appeared, smiling at me. He offered me my book - which I'd dropped during the fight - and I ran the first chance I got. He's obviously strong- how did he kill all of those ghouls in a mere instant? WHY did he kill them? Why didn't he kill me? Why did he give me my book back?" Haise babbled.

"Haise, calm down."

"R-Right, sorry.. It's just that sun-thing was seriously odd about that situation." Akira stared at him dully.

"That is the worst pun I've ever heard, Haise."

"S-Sorry.."

Haise admits that it was way out there, but he couldn't really think of any other pun to intergrate into that sentence.. And he NEEDED to say a pun to calm down a little.

"So, you were attacked by ghouls, and some mystery ghoul shows up, saving you. Where?"

Haise led Akira to the scene of the crime.

"Wha-?!! B--But I'm sure this is where I was attacked!!" Haise cried, looking at the empty space.

There wasn't a body - or even blood - to be seen.

"Hmn," Akira hummed, "You're right, this ghoul's good."

"Huh?!!"

"If this really is the place that you were attacked.. I'd say the ghoul you met's already cleaned up. We'll probably find the ghouls later somewhere."

"..."

"You said he had a half sun mask. Was anything else noticable about him?"

"? Well.." Haise thought back to it. "I think he wore bright clothing.. A white jacket with stripes or something.. I didn't see him attack the ghouls, so I don't even know his kagune type, but.."

"A white jacket with stripes.."

"I'm sorry, Akira. I was just so frightened that I wasn't even seeing clearly, never mind thinking clearly. I panicked."

"It's fine. I'm sure we'll see this ghoul again sometime."

"..."

Akira neglected to mention the fact that this crime scene was similar to a few others--

The ghoul who left no trace of his victims or his being there. They finally had a description to him, thanks to Haise.

.. But.. why DID the ghoul risk leaving Haise alive? That doesn't match the ghoul's MO.

Akira glanced around the scene, looking for the MO that would make her positive whether it was the same ghoul or not.

Her eyes furrowed upon seeing it.

In the corner laid a lone quinque knife, covered in blood.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Knife-Leaving Ghoul. The CCG would assume it was actually just a investigator who worked on his own, but this ghoul had killed investigators and ghouls alike. And the fact that he had a mask.

It leaned more towards it being a ghoul. After all, you never saw the bodies. Only the lone knife that had been used to kill a victim that night.

"He's attacked 63 times now.. Counting the ones before the break in activity."

Yes, it was true. The Knife Leaver attacked quite often, really. But then after the Anteiku Raid, there was no word of the ghoul. A few months went by, and the CCG assumed he might've been dead. But then the ghoul came back with a bang. He killed ten people who were not investigators nor ghouls. The CCG couldn't figure out why.

Of course, Mado-san's statement is incorrect. It wasn't that he attacked. The case was, he'd BEEN attacked 63 times.

The Knife Leaver would never start a fight, only finish it.

--------------------------------------------

"Offense? Oh, no, I'm defense."

"You have killed 90 people, Sun."

"Yes."

"How the f*ck can you have murdered a bunch of people and claim you're defense?!! I doubt all of those kills were defensive!! You must've started at least one of them!!"

"Nope."

"I swear, I have no idea what's wrong with your brain!!"

"Haha. I don't know what's wrong with yours either, T."

"STOP CALLING ME T!!"

"Would you prefer I call you R? Should I call A BR? Maybe I can call N S. No, that doesn't fit him. I'll still call you T, T."

The Rabbit facepalmed herself. Haise watched cautiously.

He'd just been walking home when he stumbled across the Aogiri Leader Rabbit and the Sun Ghoul..

HE SERIOUSLY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!

Come on, Akira.. Haise begged in his mind. He'd texted Akira a few minutes ago, notifying her that he'd come across the two ghouls. He still hadn't gotten a response.

"Anywho, I've been thinking, T. I think I should definitely contact KK."

"KK?!! Sun, I have told you a million times, that guy is an INVESTIGATOR now!!"

"So? He's still my best friend, whether he's a ghoul or an investigator or even if he was a demon."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!! Honestly, Sun!! He has AMNESIA!! Even if you two did know each other, he wouldn't remember you!! Besides, he's happy now. Are you really wanting to risk his happiness for remembering you? Is it really worth it? Would he really want to remember.. if it meant losing his current life..?" the Rabbit asked softly.

"... Is he really happy though, T?"

"Huh?! Of course he is!! Just look at him!! He doesn't have to run for his life or anything!! It's the peaceful life none of us ghouls ever had. We'll never get the chance to live like he does."

"T, you're so disbelieving.. I firmly believe that ghouls and humans will be able to live in peace someday."

"I lost that ideal when Anteiku fell. There's no way we can live in peace. I realized that as I stared at the flames of all my dreams. Why don't you understand it's impossible?"

"It's not impossible, T. It'll happen. Trust me. I'm working on it."

"With those stupid experiments of yours? You're nuts. The last guy you tested it out on, didn't he die?"

"Eh, it made him a little grumpy. No helping it."

The Rabbit huffed a sigh. "You're an idiot, Sun."

"Thanks for noticing. Anyway, how's Aogiri doing?"

"Great, thanks for asking," the Rabbit snorted sarcastically.

"So Aogiri's doing well, huh..? That's unfortunate.. I really do want to settle everything peacefully.."

"That's a void dream, Sun. It won't happen. That's why Aogiri seeks to destroy the CCG."

"Ahh~ Ghouls and the CCG are so violent~" the Sun Ghoul stared up at the dark sky. "What would KK think if he knew how you were thinking now?"

Twitch.

"... He doesn't give a cr*p, Sun. He has amnesia. He doesn't remember me. He'd just kill me without even thinking about it."

".I wonder...."

"Anyway, I need to go. It's a waste of time, talking to you. See ya."

"Hmmn.. Bye, T."

"Stop calling me T!!"

The Rabbit hurried off. Haise sighed a little.

Akira still hadn't texted him..

"Whatcha doing?"

Haise screamed.

The Sun Ghoul was smiling, leaning down into his face.

"Y-Y-Y-You!!"

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, me. Did you notice I blocked your wifi?"

"H-Huh?" Haise had tears in his eyes.

"I'm going to guess that's a no. So, little Haise," the Sun Ghoul straightened himself, and Haise felt like a mouse staring at a goblin or something. "Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation? By the way, I don't want you crying to Mado-san. Which is whyyyy I'm going to make sure you DON'T contact ANYONE for the rest of the night! That way, by the time you explain the situation to Mado-san and everyone else, I'll be long gone!"

"H-H-How are you going to do that..?!!"

"Duh, by staying with you for the rest of the night. I've got an abandoned building in mind. Sounds nice, right? It's got pillows, and blankets, all ready for you. We can sleep there."

WHAT THE h*LL IS THIS GHOUL TALKING ABOUT?!!!!!!!!

"So, sweet dreams, Haisie."

"H-Huh?"

Everything went white as a needle pierced Haise's neck.