***Clutches what remains of my heart***
“Were you also…bred?” Souta trembled. He was finally doing it – he was talking to the pretty girl.
“Yes.” She ought to hold out her hand like a polite little girl. Instead, she shoved him. “But I’m a full ghoul. I have a kagune. Want to see it?”
“Yes!” Souta clapped his hands. She was delightfully unlike anyone else here. “I’m Souta!”
“I know,” the girl said. “You know I’m Rize.”
“I like your name.” His face turned red.
“I like you.” She giggled and activated her kagune. It slithered towards him. “You look delicious.”
Furuta Souta would have been okay with her eating him. She was so pretty. “Wow, that’s a pretty big kagune.”
Rize stroked it. “They say it’s special.”
“You’re special.” Should he have said that?
Rize took his hand, and he felt certain he knew what heaven was like. “We’re all special, right?”
“I dunno.” He never felt special. Dad – Tsuneyoshi, as Mom always reminded him never to call him Dad – never paid him attention. “Can I touch your kagune?”
Rize nodded. “Ooh, that tickles.”
“I like it! I wish I had one.” He ran his hands down the slippery red tentacles. Maybe then Tsuneyoshi would like him.
“We can pretend it’s both of ours.” Rize pulled him closer. “One condition, though.”
“What?” He felt so happy in her arms, her kagune wrapped around him.
“We start a book club. I stole all the books from the library. the trick is to only take one, and then they don’t notice, and when you put it back, you take another.” Rize fished a copy of The Black Goat’s Egg from her dress. “This is supposed to be a scary one! They said I’m too young for it. Wanna read it together? Please, Souta? I have no one to read with and Mommy says you’re smart.”
Furuta’s eyes widened. “O – Okay.”
She tackled him. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold you if you get scared. Now, for chapter one.”
Mercy and Magic 