"Ghk...!"
The Ghoul’s face twisted as he clutched the wound on his calf. His finger sank deep, pressing in up to the knuckle.
Ghoul bodies were certainly tough and possessed incredible regenerative powers, but there were clear exceptions.
One was when they suffered a fatal blow that surpassed even their natural durability and healing. The other was when they were attacked by another of their own kind.
The saliva and mucus contained within a Ghoul's Kagune acted as a mild poison to other Ghouls. It was a toxin that made them easier to wound and severely hindered their regeneration.
This wound had been inflicted by a brat he had dismissed as a pathetic idiot—a mere pet raised by humans.
The moment he converted that pain into rage and glared viciously at the child who dared block his path without knowing his place...
He saw something impossible.
He blinked several times, but the image remained.
The child, glaring back like a small predator, had one eye transformed into a dark red [Kakugan]. The other remained a normal, human eye.
A Ghoul's eye and a human's eye existed in the same socket.
"A one-eyed...!?"
A [Kakugan] typically surfaces when a Ghoul's emotions peak or when their cells are activated beyond a certain threshold.
Even if a Ghoul could control their emotions to suppress the change, there was no known Ghoul capable of triggering only one eye. There was simply no biological need for it.
If such a thing existed, it was a mutant.
An existence that could only be born by defying the very laws of Ghoul nature.
He muttered in utter disbelief.
"The child of a Ghoul and a human... The world has truly gone mad."
The mutter was brief. The realization that some mixed-blood mutt was growling at a tiger caused the Ghoul's killing intent to ooze forth, thick and suffocating.
"Eto..."
My breath had only just returned, and forcing my voice out felt like a struggle. But I couldn't stay silent.
More than the relief of surviving thanks to Eto, a surge of anger hit me first.
Why were you standing there? Why were you turned away from me, glaring at that Ghoul?
The sight of you shielding me, baring your teeth at the enemy.
No. Stop it.
You shouldn't be in that position.
No matter if Ghouls can wound each other, Eto was still just a child. There was no way she could defeat an adult Ghoul.
She didn't react to my voice, looking ready to pounce on the police Ghoul at any second, so I shouted louder.
"Eto!"
She flinched.
Perhaps she had sensed the desperation in my voice.
At my call, Eto glanced back at me with a flicker of unease in her eyes.
"Ru..."
I wanted to tell her to run, but I stopped myself halfway.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her gaze sharp and focused. I knew that look; it was the face Eto made when she was truly furious.
Usually, she was incredibly obedient, but in moments like this, she became a stubborn mule who refused to listen to reason.
If I told her to run, she would ignore me and charge the Ghoul. She would rather die than leave me behind alone.
I had to choose my words with absolute precision.
In a desperate situation where every second counted, I racked my brain and pivoted.
"Run away *with me*!"
Tap!
Eto leaped without a moment's hesitation.
Not toward the Ghoul, but toward me.
"You think I'll let you!"
The Ghoul, who had been poised to strike, reacted a beat too late. He hadn't expected Eto to suddenly abandon her aggression and flee.
By the time he lunged and swung his Kagune, Eto had already wrapped her arms around my torso and vaulted up the alley wall, lifting me with her.
It should have been an impossible feat given her size, but the raw, unrestrained power of a Ghoul made it possible.
The instant his Kagune shattered the wall where my back had been resting, Eto had already cleared the ledge. Her speed was staggering, far beyond what I had imagined.
Landing atop the crumbling wall, Eto tightened her grip on me and leaped again.
I clung to her as she kicked off weathered brick and sprinted across rusted iron railings, darting between buildings as if she were flying. I looked back over my shoulder.
The Ghoul had vanished from sight, but we weren't safe.
We couldn't simply outrun him. He was a Ghoul with a keen sense of smell.
No matter where Eto took me, he would track the scent of my blood and hunt us down.
"Haa... Haa..."
Eto's breathing grew heavy and ragged in my ear.
She had likely never pushed herself to this limit before, and now she was carrying my dead weight. A child's stamina had its limits.
I knew she couldn't keep this up. I only made her run because I needed a few moments of time.
"Eto, over there."
"...?"
Eto looked toward where I pointed with a confused expression, but she quickly changed course. She trusted that I had a plan.
We sought refuge in a derelict building that looked as though it had been abandoned decades ago.
It was a three-story structure with peeling paint. Perhaps it had been a hospital once. The place radiated a gloomy, oppressive aura—the kind of spot urban explorers and thrill-seekers loved.
Looks like a good place for a grave...
With that grim thought, I entered a wide, open hall and slumped against a pillar supporting the ceiling.
I had been strangled by that damn Ghoul in a police costume until I had almost glimpsed the afterlife.
As I slid down the pillar, my body felt completely spent, as if the physical toll of the last few minutes was being collected all at once with interest.
"Dad, are you okay?"
Eto looked at me, her face on the verge of tears. The fierce predator from moments ago had vanished.
"Hoo..."
I closed my eyes and flexed my hands to assess the damage. I had no strength left, but my arms were still functional.
I touched the blood seeping from the wounds across my body, then smeared it across Eto's face.
"W-What?! What are you doing!?"
Eto flailed in panic, but I ignored her, meticulously staining her face and clothes with my blood.
Then, I gripped her shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"Eto. Listen to me very carefully. Go outside right now. Stick to the alleyways and just keep running. No matter who calls to you, do not stop. Do you understand?"
"Huh?"
Eto blinked, bewildered.
I was in checkmate. In chess or janggi, a king in this position is doomed.
But even a doomed king can change the board one last time to ensure the family member he loves most survives.
"There is a Ghoul named Kuzen. He is someone you can trust. If he catches the scent of my blood, he will find you. When he does, follow him. He will protect you. Understand?"
The "organization" Kuzen dealt with was dangerous, yes... but it was far safer than staying here with me while a hunter closed in.
It was fine. A child who wasn't actually my daughter was simply returning to her real father.
I was just releasing a bird from the cage that was me. That was all.
Even if that bird looked heartbroken.
"Why... why are you saying this? What about you, Dad?"
"Just say you understand!"
"No!! I don't want to! You're just telling me to run away by myself!"
Damn it. I had run all this way to break her stubbornness, but she wasn't budging.
Please. Please just leave. I don't want to use the last resort.
Ignoring my plea, Eto grabbed my arm, trying to pull me up.
"We'll run together! We'll find this Kuzen person together!"
"I can't run anymore! You were already out of breath just carrying me! How do you expect to get us both away!!"
"I can do it! I know I can!"
Please... please don't make me say it.
"I'm not leaving you! I'm going with Dad!"
Please...
"That bad man is after you! If we stay here, Dad will—"
"I'M NOT YOUR DAD―――――!!!"
I finally did it. Damn it.
The moment those words left my lips, it felt as if an invisible knife had been driven into my heart. It must have been the same for Eto, hearing the one thing she feared most.
Eto's eyes widened in shock, and she fell silent.
I wanted to take it back. I had just denied every single moment we had spent together.
But I couldn't. Before the guilt paralyzed me, I had to force her to leave.
"I'm not your father! Your real father is that Ghoul, Kuzen! I only raised you because he forced you on me! I was just stuck with you!! I was never your father, not even for a second!!"
"..."
"When that bastard called me a cage and looked down on me, I couldn't even argue! Because he was right! A human raising a Ghoul is absurd! We live in completely different worlds! It was never going to work! I've raised you wrong! I've only ruined you and made you weak! I really was just a cage! If you don't want to rot and die in here, get out! Go back to where you belong!!"
Haa! Haa!
For a long moment, only my ragged breathing filled the room.
Eto said nothing. Her head was bowed so low that I couldn't see her face.
And yet, she still didn't run. Even after all that, why?
I opened my mouth to scream at her again.
Crack...!
The sound echoed, and I knew.
Time was up.
The ceiling split into a dozen jagged pieces, and concrete debris rained down upon us.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM―――!!!!
The smallest fragments were the size of a child's head. A single hit would have been fatal.
Yet, my consciousness remained even after the roar subsided. I wasn't in the afterlife; the crushing fatigue of my body was still very real.
I slowly opened my eyes. And...
"Ugh..."
I saw Eto's face, twisted in pain, directly above me.
She had shoved me down and taken the full weight of the concrete on her own back to shield me.
"Eto!?"
I screamed.
Crushed by the weight, torn and pierced by jagged shards, Eto's back was a ruin of blood and flesh.
She had never been this badly hurt in her life. I felt the blood drain from my face.
"What are you doing!? Get off me, now!!"
I grabbed her shoulders to push her away, but her arms were locked firmly beside my head, refusing to budge.
As blood streamed down her back, Eto spoke softly.
"I... sometimes have scary dreams."
"...?"
Dreams? What was she talking about now...?
"It was a rainy day. Something scary was trying to hurt me... and Dad wrapped himself around me to protect me as he ran. Even while lying there bleeding, he fought to stay upright just to keep me safe. And in the end... he got angry at that scary thing for my sake."
"...?!"
A memory flickered in my mind as I listened.
But that was impossible. Eto had been a three-month-old infant then. There was no way she could remember...
"Dad... You said you were a cage, didn't you? But you're not. If you let yourself rust in the rain, get dented by kicks, and break apart... all just to protect the baby bird inside... then that's not a cage. It's a 'nest.'"
"E-Eto..."
"And that 'nest' isn't closed like a cage. It's open. It doesn't bind; it welcomes. A nest that gives a baby bird the chance to fly, cheers it on, and always stays by its side... that's not just a nest anymore."
A drop fell.
A hot liquid hit my cheek. It wasn't blood.
It was a tear falling from Eto's trembling eyes.
"It's 『family』, isn't it? Dad..."
"Ah..."
Right... Why had I forgotten?
Regardless of blood, regardless of species.
We were family.
Even if the world refused to acknowledge it, we had never doubted that bond...
Pshhk!
"...!?"
A fragment embedded in Eto's shoulder was suddenly forced out, and something erupted from the wound.
It looked like blood, but it wasn't. The substance gushing out began to take a distinct shape.
"...A wing?"
"Dad. You didn't raise me wrong. You didn't ruin me. You didn't make me weak."
A wing—crimson, grotesque, and yet breathtakingly beautiful—bloomed from Eto's shoulder like a flower unfurling its petals.
Eto pulled away from me.
Then, as if showing off a favorite new dress, she spun around once, fluttered her wing, and beamed a bright smile at me.
"The 'love' you've given me all this time... is what makes me this strong."
KWA-BOOM!!
With a thunderous impact, Eto vanished from my sight.
She launched herself off the ground, becoming a red flash that tore through the air.
She soared through the hole in the ceiling, delivering a devastating kick straight into the torso of the 'enemy' who dared torment her 'family.'
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