Higemaru tries not to scream. Once again, he’s the helpless puppet of Donato Porpora.
Only this time, he did it for her. For Hakatori. He shoved her out of the Priest’s way, and now Donato has him on his knees.
“Hmm, shall I pick up where I left off last time?” Donato purrs.
“Urie’s not here,” Higemaru mutters.
“Yes, he’s not here to turn full ghoul and save you. Hypocrites.” Donato’s eyes flash. “Urie’s father cost me my son. So I can take his son’s son. Of a sort.”
Not again. Higemaru flinches as Donato’s hands tighten on his shoulder.
“The fuck?” Hakatori holds her quinques aloft, along with her bikaku. CCG and ghouls alike assemble behind her. The entire team sent to take down the Priest, save one.
“He’s my friend. Let him go.”
Donato chuckles. “You’re an interesting one. The Bin brothers’ protege, correct? I like you.”
“Thank you,” Hakatori says patiently. “Now release my friend.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that.”
Hakatori rolls her eyes. “Pretty sure you can.”
“He’s a pretty thing. Do you like him?” Donato asks.
Hakatori starts. Well, why not? “He’s my boyfriend.”
“What?” shouts a CCG member. Another ghoul hisses. This sort of mixing – it was okay for the scientist and the ghoul, and the half-ghoul Kaneki and his wife, people with questionable loyalties at best, but a Quinx and an Aogiri member?
“Yes, a Quinx and a ghoul are dating, get over it,” Hakatori says irritably.
“Hmm, now I’m almost curious who will kill him first, them or me,” Donato muses.
“We could always not kill?” suggests Higemaru. A shadow falls on them.
Donato spins around as a kakuja slams into him. Hakatori flies forward, swinging her quinques to remove Donato’s kagune. She then grabs Higemaru and leaps to safety.
“Hello, Father,” says Amon Koutarou. He straightens. “You’ll be arrested again. There is nothing more for you.”
Hakatori smiles down at Higemaru. “I couldn’t care less what they think.”
She leans down to kiss him.
Higemaru returns the kiss eagerly, and the rest of the Quinx clap. Even if CCG doesn’t have their back, their families do.
“Also,” says Hakatori, “if you ever push me out of the way again, I’ll tear your arm off myself.”
Higemaru blushes. “You know you loved it.”
“After you lived, sure.”
