kill me

Ui was drinking coffee when hell came.

Hell, in the form of hundreds of mailed pictures. Pictures that seem to show Ihei Hairu and Hsaio Ching-Li as children, being cared for by none other than a teenaged Arima Kishou. Others show Nimura Furuta playing tag with a pretty purple-haired girl, and fetuses in test tubes. 

Others show the Washuu clan leader, Tsuneyoshi, having children with women half his age. Even he can see the fear in their eyes, behind their kakugans.

The room spins. Ui wants to vomit.

He hears sobbing behind him, and sees a suspiciously calm Hirako embracing Rikai, Shio, and Yusa. 

“All of you, too?” Ui rasps.

“Don’t hurt them!” Hirako shoves them behind him. 

“What!” Ui would never hurt a child. “Where’s Hairu? Where’s Arima?”

“We need to get them to his office before CCG thinks they need to be exterminated,” Hirako said grimly. “Come on.”

Ui takes Shio’s hand, because he doesn’t know what else to do, but helping kids seems a good idea. 

When they open the office door, Arima sits sullen at his desk, Hairu is crying in the center, and Hsaio leans against the wall, her face ashen. 

“Shio!” She opens her arms, and her relative falls into them.

“Arima!” Yusa hurls himself over the desk.

“Are we gonna die?” Rikai asks Hirako, who’s busy locking the door.

“No,” Ui assures him. 

“You sure?” Nimura Furuta stands in the corner, as far from everyone as he can. 

He wants to say yes, of course, you’re our allies. But he feels betrayed himself, and he knows them.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” Hairu lifts her head defiantly.

And it’s her spark that propels Ui forward. 

Yes, they’re ghouls. Everyone he loves is a ghoul.They’ve always been ghouls. And yet, their love has been real.

How can this be? Ui doesn’t know the right action, but he knows hugging Hairu isn’t wrong.

“Ui – I – I can explain -”

She’s beautiful. Arima is practically a god. They’re part ghoul.

His worldview is crashing, and he loves it. 

“I’m gonna help you. You’ll be safe.” All he regrets is not being someone they could trust before.

Speaking of trust.

“Wait!” His eyes narrow at Furuta, who is slowly inching towards the door. “Sasaki mentioned seeing you at the post office yesterday.”

“Yes?” squeaks the raven-haired boy.

In an instant, Arima is dangling him off the ground.

“Let me go!” whines Furuta. His tone turns panicked. “Please!” 

Arima drops him to the ground. “Why?”

Furuta pouts.

Hsaio comes over to glare at him. “Why?”

“Fun?”

“Your vengeance is myopic at best,” Arima tells him. He squats before the young man. “You know, you’re not the only one with a plan. A plan you just threw into danger.”

“A plan?” Furuta’s eyes widen, like he dares to hope that maybe he won’t have to be evil. No, I have to be. 

“I have no idea, but if it’s your plan, and if it keeps all of you safe, I’m game.” Ui nods. “Even you, Fruit.”

Hairu smiles at him through her long lashes. And especially you.