Think.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข.
I need a way out of this crisis.
It's fine. It'll be fine. It's just a bit of reddish discoloration in Eto's right eye. I can call it a chronic condition. If I explain that there's a rare disease that causes thisโฆ
I desperately tried to conjure a solution, but the rational part of my brain immediately spat in its face.
Do you really think that'll work? Look at his face. No excuse will survive in the path of that gaze.
Dammit, don't give up. I haven't given up until now, even when I wanted to. There has to be a way out.
There is no way out. Do you already forget the depth of his 'hatred'?
Hell! Then what am I supposed to do? We're one second away from a bloodbath.
Forget persuading him. Protecting Eto comes first.
Etoโฆ Right. I have to protect Eto.
If we stay like this, Father willโฆ!
"Koma."
The sheer momentum in that single, cold, dry voice was enough to scatter my thoughts to the winds. I was terrified to look him in the eye. I felt that the moment our gazes met, the image of the 'father' I remembered would vanish forever.
"I will say it one more time. Put 'that thing' down this instant."
Haโฆ Until a moment ago, he was calling her a "child" and doting on her. But the moment the "ghoul" element is introduced, he switches to calling her "that thing," as if she were a mere object. How typical of him.
I wanted to let out a hollow laugh, but my lips were so tight with tension that nothing could escape.
It was impossible. Maybe at any other time, but persuading my father when he's lost his mind to ghoul-hunting is a lost cause.
Facing him head-on is even more insane.
He is a veteran Ghoul Investigator of sixteen years; I am a mere civilian boy, and one currently suffering from low physical condition at that. There is no world in which I am a match for him.
That left only one path.
Okay, let's run.
I'd hide Eto somewhere safe first, and ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ I'd figure out if dialogue was even possible.
My eyes darted toward the front door. It was about six or seven meters away. Not an impossible distance if I made a break for it, though the fact that my father stood squarely in the middle was a bit of a "flaw" in the plan.
๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฅ!
๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ-๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ-๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ!
The steel briefcase fell to the floor with a heavy thud, its locks disengaging. He'd followed my gaze and realized exactly what I was thinking.
Something resembling dark-red metal was rapidly assembling itself in his hands. Even seeing it for the first time, I knew instantly that this massive butcher bladeโcapable of slaughtering a bullโwas a 'Quinque,' the specialized anti-ghoul weapon used by investigators.
The gargantuan blade leveled toward us, as if to swallow my upper body whole. Perhaps sensing the chill radiating from a weapon forged specifically to hunt her kind, Eto gripped my collar tight, her face pale with fear.
๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆโฆ
The sound of thunder echoedโa prelude to the impending downpour.
"Your claim that it is your child must also be a lie. At the very least, I have never heard of a child being born between a ghoul and a human."
"Who knows? Maybe there are more than you think, and you're just out of the loop."
"I am in no mood for wordplay, Koma."
"I'm not joking either. Turns out they exist. Heart-wrenching love stories between ghouls and humans."
"Spare me your nauseating stories."
I tried to distract him, but he wasn't biting. Leaving through the front door was out. I had to find another way.
Eyes darting left and right to map out the room, I hooked my foot under a folding table and kicked it toward him.
"Trivial!"
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ!!
I heard the wooden table being sliced into splinters by the Quinque, but I didn't stay to watch. My body was already diving through the open window.
"What!?"
My father's startled voice rapidly receded. I experienced the sickening acceleration of freefall, pulling Eto tight against my chest.
"Dammit! I didn't think I'd actually have to use this plan!!"
It was the absolute last resort in my contingency plans for a surprise visit: abandon everything and flee with Eto. The "Run for Your Life" strategy.
Actually throwing myself out made me want to go back in time and punch the version of me from a few days ago who thought this up. It was the movies. Watching too many action movies was the problem.
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ! ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ! ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฅ!!!
Directly below the south-facing window was a fairly large garden tree. I gritted my teeth as the branches lashed my back like clubs. When I finally hit the garden floorโthe final "bonus" hitโthe impact knocked the wind out of my lungs, leaving me paralyzed for a moment.
"๐๐ธ๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข! ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข!"
While the world looked distorted, as if I were peering through jelly, I heard Eto's crying. Since her voice was clear and strong, she likely wasn't hurt, but she was clearly terrified.
I shook my head violently to clear the fog. Crawling like an infant who hadn't learned to walk, I waited for my consciousness to return before pushing myself off the ground.
๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃโฆ!!
"Tchโฆ I guess it doesn't work like the movies after all."
My clothes were shredded, revealing minor scrapes, and a jagged branch was lodged in the lower right side of my back. It was in deep; better not to pull it out.
Vowing to never have stupid ideas while watching action movies again, I forced my heavy legs to move, desperate to escape.
๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!
A massive impact shook the ground directly behind me.
No way, I thought, but then realized that for a man like him, this was more than possible. I didn't even look back as I bolted.
As expected, my father had followed me, leaping from the fifth floor to land in the garden. I guess people who live through such violent careers are just built differently. Unlike me, who was a wreck after a clumsy imitation of a stunt, he stood there perfectly stable and unharmed.
My father tore his Quinque out of the groundโit had sunk halfway in from the impactโand roared.
"Stop right there, Koma!!"
"NO!!!"
Did you think my rebellious phase ended at fourteen? Not a chance. I'll show you what a rebellion at its absolute peak looks like.
๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ!
The rain began to pour in earnest. For someone fleeing while carrying a baby with a weak immune system, the weather was far from a blessing. I tore a piece of my already shredded shirt and wrapped it around Eto to keep her dry.
I could hear my father pursuing. He was nearing fifty, but his body, tempered as a Ghoul Investigator, showed no signs of aging or frailty.
At this rate, I'd be caught. I came up with a plan and headed toward the shopping district.
Despite the rain, there were several people walking about with umbrellas. Not as many as I'd hoped, but better than none. As I wove through them, people gasped and scrambled out of the way.
It won't be easy for you to swing that Quinque where there are people around, will it?
A Ghoul Investigator is, technically, a civil servant. He knew that openly wielding a Quinque in a crowded area would be a problemโand his target was a baby. To bystanders who didn't know the context, the sight of him harming Eto would look horrific.
In other words, this location favored me. I had to hide Eto here or create a standoff where I could negotiate while ensuring her safety.
However, I had overlooked one thing.
...My father's obsession with ghouls was far more dangerous than I had imagined.
"...?"
I turned back, puzzled by the sudden lack of footsteps. My father was nowhere to be seen.
What? Did he back off because there are too many witnesses?
Just as I stopped running to think, it happened.
๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!!!!!!!
Right in front of me.
A dark-red butcher bladeโlooking as if it had been steeped in bloodโflew like an arrow, shattering the concrete as it embedded itself in the ground. It was my father's Quinque.
A chill ran down my spine.
That Quinque had flown at an angle that would have pierced my pathโthe exact space where Eto was tucked against my chest. If I had taken even one more step without realizing, that blade would have brutally impaled her...!
"๐๐ฉโฆ!!!"
Groaning at the horrific thought, I tried to pull the Quinque out. I wanted to hide it so he couldn't use it, but it was buried too deep in the concrete. Even if I had managed to pull it out, I wouldn't have been able to run properly with that weight.
To use lethal force in front of all these people! Have you lost your mind, Father!?
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ!
"!?!"
My teeth slammed together as I felt something yank the back of my neck.
He had turned my own tactic against me. I had chosen a crowded area to limit his movements, but my father had instead used the crowd as cover to ambush me.
Having closed the distance unnoticed, my father grabbed me and swung his fist.
๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!
...How long had it been since my father had hit me?
The impact felt like it was rattling the contents of my skull, and I lost consciousness for a moment. As I collapsed into the puddles on the concrete, the branch in my back dug even deeper.
As I groaned, crawling on the ground, my blurring vision caught sight of my father pulling his Quinque from the earth.
His gaze fell upon me, cold enough to turn the falling rain into ice.
"Hand her over."
"...."
I wanted to refuse, but the shock kept the words from forming. Instead, I expressed my will by pulling Eto even tighter into my embrace.
My father's brow twitched with fury. He reached out to forcibly rip Eto away from me.
In that split second, pretending to crawl, I hurled a shard of concrete I had secretly scooped up at him.
"!?"
Startled by the sudden counterattack, my father took a step back.
I didn't miss the opening. I lunged forward, disappearing into the crowd of onlookers who had gathered to watch the commotion.
"Tch!"
Wiping the concrete dust from his eyes with the rainwater, my father's face contorted as he clicked his tongue, watching me vanish into the sea of people.