“Oh, really?” Hozuki raised one eyebrow, not letting the guard down despite the other retreating his weapons. He didn’t make any sign of attack, however, more curious about this man than anything else.
He never saw Tatara involved with the most disgusting crowd of the city before, like White Fang and others. The man frequented his sushi bar and the cat cafe as peacefully as if wasn’t nobody’s business and was an acquaintance of Sekine, too. And now he was lashing out in the middle of the street engulfed in chaos, what didn’t match the side Hozuki knew.
However, he seemed willing to show it all to him now, so the oni would take the opportunity wisely.
“Part of me is honoured, but I don’t see how you think I’d be useful in such sense. I’m not a tool, you see.” He replied in the usual calm tone, as a matter of fact, not as reacting to an offense. Anyone with that level of rationality was better than mindless murderers and troublemakers in Hozuki’s eyes, so he would give that much to Tatara.
Some creatures can’t avoid bloodlust, but the ones who can and try to control it are better than the cattle. Deep down, Hozuki included himself in this group, one of the reasons for the sympathy, probably.
“I see. So, Tatara-san… if you don’t mind answering…”
“Who are you, after all?”
He allowed a glimpse of genuine curiosity to slip through words, regardless the tension in the air.
“I just see you as someone worth keeping.” There is another word for this yet Tatara had been reluctant to call anyone, even inside his own group, this. A ‘friend’ as most people would call that type of person, but considering his past, the ghoul would rather not let anyone have that title. Pushing people away and having no attachments had been his only solution after all to avoid the pain of loss again.
Just as he was about to answer, a screeching floating head came down flying towards them. But before it could reach the duo, Tatara’s bikaku had already pierced through the head through its mouth. Once the silence had been brought back to them, the ghoul spoke again.
“I am the brother of the late leader of the Red Tongue Company, second in command of the Aogiri Tree.” He gave a pause. “But you may not heard of these names.”
He is unaware of the influence the tree had before his arrival, but he assumed that the demon would have learned of the last name through his customer’s hushed whispers.
“But surely, you should have at least heard of creatures called ghouls in this city, haven’t you?”
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