Chapter 1 — Amon

Today, Koutarou Amon arrived early at the CCG headquarters. There were dark, crescent pillows under his eyes, but that wasn't unusual. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten more than four hours of sleep. If he was lucky, like he was last night, he was able to go home and use his bed. Most of the time, he slept on the couch in the common area.

CCG's territory was slowly diminishing. Only wards one, two, and three were safe. People outside of that had to fend for themselves now.

"What did you need me here so early in the morning for?" Amon muttered, hardly glancing at Shinohara when he fell in stride with him.

They made their way through the atrium, beelining for the elevators.

Shinohara reached out to press the down button. "We found her. Tatara's lover."

Amon hadn't expected her to be human. The first thought that entered his mind was that perhaps Tatara was trying to produce a hybrid offspring. Looking at her through the tinted glass into the interrogation room, though, all Amon could see was a plain, demure girl with slightly doe-like eyes and a nose that was a little too wide for her face.

Hardly the woman Amon pictured someone like Tatara would want for the mother of his child. The normalcy she exuded was almost painful.

"We wanted you to begin the interrogation," Shinohara said, his arms folding.

"Why me?"

Shinohara winked. "Because you have the right effect on women."

I wish that were true, Amon thought. At age 31, he thought he'd be married by now. But all of the women he dated seemed to be repelled by his obsession with this job.

Amon flipped through the contents of Mika Hinamori's thin file. She'd never been convicted of a crime, not so much as a civil offense. Her family operated a traditional tea house —

Conservative, Amon immediately thought.

— And she had an older brother. She attended Tokyo University, graduating in the top ten percent of her class.

Hardworking due to parental pressures, but not the least bit ambitious.

For three years out of college, she worked at a prestigious accounting firm before quitting to take care of the family business when her father fell ill.

Amon flipped the file shut.

"She's a valuable asset," Marude said, sweeping into the room. He'd been outside the door wrapping up a conversation over the phone. "Most likely she has information that could turn the tides of this war. I wanna know everything about Tatara from his vulnerabilities to whether he pisses standing up."

Amon brushed past Marude, irritated as it was without having him there shooting his mouth off. It was too early in the morning for his pompous bullshit.

He knocked twice to let Mika know he was coming in, then swung the door open.

Amon noticed her eyes following him as he closed the door and took a seat across from her.

"Mika, my name's Kotarou Amon. I'm an investigator here at CCG. I have a few questions to ask you."

She met his eyes. "What would you like to ask me?"

When she spoke, Amon felt like they were talking over a pot of tea, like the walls around them weren't barren and grey, but cream colored, warmed by the afternoon sun.

The power of normalcy.

She had her hands in front of her. They were small, delicate. Amon imagined Tatara would be able to crush them both in one hand. Her bones would be as brittle as matches in his grip.

"I'd like to ask about your boyfriend, a ghoul who goes by the name Tatara."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Did you know he was a ghoul when you began dating him?"

Her gaze finally lowered, resting on the styrofoam cup of water before her. "Not at first."

"And when did you first begin suspecting he was a ghoul?"

"Suspect? I never did. He told me of his own volition."

Amon paused.

"Any idea why he'd tell you something that would put you at risk of the death penalty? Your ignorance was the only thing protecting you from the law."

It'd been an intentional dig at their relationship, a subtle suggestion that Tatara didn't value her safety enough to keep that information to himself. So Amon was slightly irritated that she looked back up and said without a ripple of annoyance in her voice, "We were getting serious, and he thought I had a right to know."

"Harboring a ghoul is illegal —"

Mika smiled beatifically. "Then it's a good thing I'm not harboring him." She glanced up at the camera in the corner of the room, then met Amon's eyes once more and said, "It's puzzling you're investigating me given how busy the CCG should be."

For the past few months now, the CCG had been undergoing a witch hunt trying to weed out ghoul sympathizers instead of trying to stop the ghoul advancement onto the last three wards. Amon didn't agree with their recent policies, and saw them as a waste of energy, especially since being a ghoul sympathizer, or even having a relationship with one for that matter, was not punishable by law.

So it was clear what Mika had said was her intentional dig at him and the recent incompetencies of the CCG.

Even though he fought it, Amon felt the annoyance he'd wanted to inflict on Mika grate on his own nerves instead.

"How'd you meet Tatara?"

"He frequented our family's teahouse. He'd ask me to play Go with him."

"Is he any good at Go?"

"He sucks."

Tatara being Aogiri's lead tactician, Amon didn't believe that for a second. "Maybe because you're a two time national Go champion."

"That could have something to do with it."

Flipping through the meager pages of her file, Amon said, offhandedly, "I didn't know ghouls could drink tea."

Mika shrugged. "I didn't either."

"Have you slept with him yet?"

When he didn't hear a reply, Amon looked up from her file. "Did you really think we could go through this investigation without my asking? Ghoul hybrids are dangerous, and while the chance of conception and a successful birth is ridiculously low, we don't need another one-eye on our hands."

She leaned forward in her seat. Suddenly, her eyes were no longer very doe-like. "Let me make something very clear, Amon-san. This was a courtesy call, because CCG inspectors have been harassing my family's teahouse for some time now, and I wanted to clear the air. I came here alone without a lawyer as a sign of good faith. But as things stand, the CCG has no hold over me. I've done nothing wrong — the friend of a criminal isn't a criminal herself."

Amon wanted to massage his temples. Talented Go players were the worst. They were far-seeing, careful aggressors, skillful risk assessors, and Amon had underestimated her.

He understood now why Tatara was drawn to her: he was the kind of person who was attracted to power in all shapes and forms. The fact that he'd never won a game against her, and probably never will, Amon suspected, was enough to make Tatara respect her and maybe even love her for it.

"I'd like to leave now," Mika said, standing. "If that's alright with you."

Amon rose too and had a half mind to detain her, but he knew he couldn't, and somehow, he knew Mika knew that, too. "I'll show you the way out."

As they stood waiting by the elevators, Amon said, "He's ruthless, you know. He's killed twenty-three inspectors these past few months. Most of them had families."

Mika didn't say anything, choosing instead to stare straight into the metal halves of the door.

"It's true that your association with Tatara doesn't legally make you a criminal, but public perception is that birds of a feather flock together."

Mika turned to him with feigned surprise. "Ara, Amon-san, are you accusing me of being a murderer?"

It was Amon's turn to keep his silence.

Mika's eyes narrowed. "Or are you threatening the reputation of my father's teahouse with CCG's public influence?"

"The CCG can't influence public perception," Amon said, pokerfaced. "I'm not threatening you with anything."

The elevator door opened. Several inspectors walked past them, similarly haggard.

Their ride took them up a floor and released them into the atrium.

It was busier now. Receptionists were settling behind the counters and staff members were coming in through the revolving doors.

"Thank you for walking me out, Amon-san." She smiled at him and handed him a business card. "If you ever feel like it, stop by the teahouse with a friend. It'll be on us."

Amon nodded, pocketing the card. "I'll take you up on that offer," he promised.

He watched her cross the street and disappear into the nearest subway, all the while replaying their conversation in his mind.

Tatara had successfully orchestrated the capture of wards five to twenty-three for Aogiri. No matter what they'd thrown at him, he'd proven unstoppable. It was only a matter of time before Tatara re-rallied his forces to attack the third ward. Information from Mika would be the only way to defend the rest of the city.

Back in his office, Amon flipped the business card over and over in his hand.

"Amon," Kuroiwa said, knocking on his door. "Some papers for you to sign." He placed them on his desk and rocked back on his heels. "You doing anything Saturday?"

Ever since his divorce, he'd been eager to get out of his apartment during the weekends. And for some reason, Amon could never say no to him.

"Saturday?" Amon tossed the business card down. It glided across the polished wood of his desk and stopped before it could go over the edge.

Kuroiwa squinted down at it to make out the words.

Amon smiled. "How about some tea?"

A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Leave a review if you liked it :)