Gravedigger

{Two-Shot}

Haise dragged himself into the chateau, falling against the door with a sigh as he closed it behind him. He stared defeatedly at the files held loosely in his hands, resigning himself to another sleepless night of reading.

"Oh, Sassan, you're home?" Haise looked up at the sound of Shirazu's voice. He removed his shoes and moved into the living room. Shirazu stared at him from his position on the couch, head hanging back over the side so he watched him upside-down. Saiko sat on another couch, playing a game on one of her handheld devices. Urie and Mutsuki were nowhere to be found.

"Hey Shirazu, Saiko." Haise called, irritated by how tired his voice sounded. It was just past eight o'clock. He wasn't going to survive the night at this rate. "Have you guys had dinner yet?" Haise didn't really feel like cooking, but he needed to provide for his subordinates.

Shirazu seemed to see how tired Haise was, because he hesitated before saying anything. "Eh, no, but we can figure something out. You should go to bed, or something. . ."

"Yeah, packet ramen!" Saiko sang, not looking up from her game. Shirazu looked less enthusiastic.

Haise was reluctant to leave them to fend for themselves, but the paperwork in his hands weighed heavier than his conscience and eventually he bid them goodnight. He passed Mutsuki on the stairs and exchanged greetings. After a seemingly endless journey, he made it to his room and pushed the door closed. He collapsed into his chair and spun to face his desk, shoving his glasses on and immediately launching into his work. The sooner he started, the sooner he would finish.

The first page was a letter, explaining how he and his team were to be drafted to China for a particularly peculiar case requiring their field of expertise. Haise translated this as: "We need someone who can think like a ghoul to locate and take down this deviant." Haise had already read this, so he flipped the page and got into the ghoul files.

The profile was titled "Gravedigger," with no picture of a face, mask, or even clothing. The sex was unknown. The RC type was listed as "likely koukaku, possibly bikaku." The ranking was "C~". Haise frowned at this. Why would a ghoul of this ranking require a team to be imported from Japan?

"'C~ rated ghoul 'Gravedigger' is a Chinese ghoul characterized by the unique desire to dig up and devour corpses. Because fresher bodies are typically preferred by ghouls, this behavior may be an act of desperation. 'Gravedigger' has not shown aggression towards the living, likely out of weakness. Because so little is known about this ghoul, the rating has been left at C~ as added information might raise the ranking.'" Haise read the passage under his breath, spinning slowly in his chair.

"This seems too easy," Haise muttered. "They just don't know what he's thinking is the problem. They think I would know better because I'm—I'm. . . I'm me." Haise sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose from under his glasses. "Well, I can't imagine he's eating stiff corpses for fun. He's probably just really weak, like they said, and can't establish sufficient hunting territory."

He read through the notes again then moved on to the page describing Gravedigger's appearances. A few pictures of graveyards were clipped to the paper. Haise flipped through them, then set them aside on his desk. Pulling out a sticky note from his drawer, he scribbled some notes down with a pen and posted it next to the paper clipped pictures. He kept reading.

Minutes passed, accumulating to an hour. Haise made note of the major details: the kagune marks suggested a koukaku or bikaku RC type, the remnants of the body were usually reburied (except for one instance in which Gravedigger had been caught and had to leave in a hurry), the gravestone was never touched. There didn't appear to be any correlation between the bodies. That wasn't unusual—it was part of what made investigating a ghoul's identity so difficult—but Haise felt there was a detail being left out. He took note of the assaulted graves and put it with the others. He would investigate it later.

Haise finished reading the files at ten o' three. Before he engrossed himself in research, he pushed his chair away from the desk and set his glasses down, stretching his limbs to their limit. He got to his feet and left his room, checking for a light downstairs. It was dark. The others must have gone to bed.

He padded slowly down the hallway, careful not to step on any creaky floorboards. Haise smiled. He knew one person who would need extra probing before they got to bed. Knocking on her door before he entered, he poked his head inside when there was no reply.

"Saiko," he sang quietly into the dark room, illuminated only by the light from the handheld device in her hands. "Time for bed!"

"Hmmm, Maman. . ." Saiko complained as she folded the device shut and stored it under her pillow. "G'night."

"Goodnight," Haise replied. "Make sure you do get some sleep, okay? We have work tomorrow and I need you to come with us."

Saiko groaned, but promised she would try and fall asleep quickly. Haise closed the door and headed back to his room, suppressing his guilt at needing Saiko along. Yes, it was her job, but it wasn't the job she had wanted. He did his best to give her leeway, but there was a limit to what he could and couldn't do. Maybe he would make it up to her by buying her an ice cream.

Haise sat back down at his desk, feeling more awake now that he had blood flowing through his body again. So far, the Gravedigger case wasn't looking so difficult. His team could handle this. Nevertheless, he committed another hour to extra reading.

—

The Quinx Squad met at the dining room table for breakfast the next morning. Haise served each person a specialized omelet, smiling and handing out greetings before taking a seat at the head of the table. The others gave him their attention as they ate quietly.

"We've been assigned a new mission," Haise announced, holding the files up pointedly. Urie suddenly seemed much more interested. Haise went on, "It's the Gravedigger case that Division II was debating about."

"I heard about that one," Mutsuki spoke up after swallowing his mouthful of food. "Kuroiwa said Division II couldn't even decide on an RC type."

Haise nodded. "It's listed as either a koukaku or bikaku in the files."

"Couldn't it be a duel-kagune type ghoul, if the evidence leans either way?" Urie suggested.

Haise shook his head. "I don't think that's the case here. The kagune marks were consistent. The problem here is that the kagune isn't being used to fight—it's being used to dig. We haven't seen this behavior before, so it's only natural that the marks would vary from what we're familiar with."

"Isn't that case taking place out in China?" Shirazu inquired. "Does this mean we're going to China?"

Haise sighed. "Yes, we are. Sorry, I know this is out of no where."

Shirazu shrugged. "Eh, not much we can do about it."

Saiko hummed happily. "China has a really good online gaming market."

"I'm glad you've both got positive outlooks on this," Haise smiled. "Now, our flight leaves in a couple of days, so we'll have to be fully packed by then. For now, I'd like to go over a few more things about the case, if that's alright.

"Gravedigger is a C~ rated ghoul, so he doesn't pose much of a threat on his own. The trouble here is catching him, so we're gonna need to—"

"Why would we be assigned such a weak ghoul?" Urie protested, irritation evident in his voice. Shirazu glared at him.

"Oi, don't interrupt Sassan while he's explaining the mission!"

Urie glared back, preparing a retort, but Haise continued before any more comments could be made. "The tilde means that Gravedigger's rating could be raised as more information is gathered. No one's encountered him in battle yet, so we can only make assumptions based on his timid behavior."

Mutsuki raised his hand for permission to speak. "What do we know so far about Gravedigger?"

Haise referred to his notes to refresh himself briefly. "He digs up corpses in graveyards, eats small pieces and then buries the corpse again. He never touches the gravestone and only left the corpse out in the open once."

"Why'd he leave one unburied?" Shirazu questioned, his mouth full of egg and hot sauce.

"That night was the first sighting of Gravedigger," Haise explained. "He was caught eating the corpse by one of the cemetery workers, so he fled before cleaning up after himself."

Mutsuki considered this for a moment. "Do you think Gravedigger could be a female ghoul?" He suggested. "Female ghouls are usually less open about their eating, so it could be possible that this shy behavior is a result of that?"

"Girls don't like to be interrupted," Saiko agreed. For some inexplicable reason, Haise felt a shiver run down his spine. He ignored the lightheaded feeling of déjà vu.

"That's a possibility I hadn't considered," Haise admitted. "But let's not make any assumptions. The cemetery worker wasn't the only one who saw Gravedigger. Pedestrians reported seeing a figure in the graveyard on the nights of the robberies, but no one got close enough to pose a threat. So far, Gravedigger hasn't attacked any living person, probably due to a lack of physical capability. The notes say that it's possible that he was wasn't strong enough to establish hunting grounds in his area, but because the grave robberies have only started recently I want to point out that he could be suffering from an illness or physical disability."

"But ghouls can regenerate, so it can't be from a physical injury, right?" Mutsuki pointed out. "Can ghouls even get sick?"

Haise considered this. "I've been sick before, so I don't see why not."

The atmosphere tensed awkwardly. "Y-yeah, but you're half human, so that kind of sets it off, doesn't it?" Mutsuki replied.

Haise shrugged. "My immune system's comparable to a full-ghoul's. Eating human food disrupts the digestive system and weakens a ghoul, so maybe he's been trying to blend into human society and it's hurting him more than he thought?"

"That would make sense," Shirazu agreed. "But couldn't he just throw it all up right after?"

Haise tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Sometimes, ghouls have trouble getting human food out of their system. It's not very fun, either." He laughed awkwardly. "I—I remember. . ." Suddenly, his smile vanished and his eyes darkened with concentration. A memory floated just out of his reach, a headache forming behind his eyes.

There was a brittle silence encasing the Quinx at Haise's sudden shift in behavior. "Sasaki?" Mutsuki called nervously, thoughts drifting back to the fight with Serpent.

But Haise shook his head and his smile returned. "Sorry," he laughed, bringing his hand to his chin shyly. "I got lost in my thoughts for a minute there."

Mutsuki and Shirazu exchanged skeptical glances, but they didn't say anything.

"Anyway, where was I. . . Oh yeah—Sometimes, ghouls can't get the human food out of their stomachs before the digestive enzymes set to work, and it's a really horrible experience overall. The closest thing I can relate it to is Rank 2 Investigator Densaka's celiac."

"What's that?" Saiko whispered to Shirazu.

"It's a severe gluten allergy," Shirazu replied quietly. "Basically, you can't eat anything delicious like donuts or packet ramen ever or you'll die."

"That's horrible!" Saiko despaired.

"Pay attention!" Shirazu hissed.

"His body can't digest gluten, so it doesn't gain any nutrients and over time can lead to several medical problems. Similarly, a ghoul can't derive nutrients from human food, which can lead to almost identical symptoms."

"That makes sense," Mutsuki agreed. "So that means that Gravedigger could be stronger than the rating says, but he's just weak from eating human food?"

"That's one hypothesis, yes." Haise confirmed. "We can't be sure if that's the cause until we catch him. It just means we'll have to be cautious about how we approach him."

"So, we know he haunts graveyards. Anything else?" Shirazu poked Saiko in the side to get her to look up from her phone.

Haise flipped through some of the files. "Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pattern connecting the graveyards or the victims. He seems to be acting according to convenience." He stopped flipping through the files to examine one, turning it over and reading the back after finding nothing on the front. "They said there wasn't much about him, but there's actually a decent amount of information on this ghoul compared to others we've investigated."

"It sounds like a lot of it is a result of independent investigation, though." Mutsuki replied. "Don't give Division II all the credit, Sasaki."

Haise waved the praise away with an appreciative smile. "No, it was definitely mostly them. I'm just adding some points from a ghoul's perspective."

"Maybe we should interview the cemetery worker," Urie interrupted, "or look for other people who might have seen him while walking past a graveyard."

Haise nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. The cemetery worker should be our first stop, as soon as we get to China." He yawned and stretched in his chair. "Alright, that's it for today's meeting. Everyone finish your breakfasts and get ready for the trip."

Shirazu sighed as he picked at his food. "This wouldn't happen if they just cremated their dead like normal people."

—

That afternoon, Haise was just heading out to lunch when he heard his own name echo off the halls of the CCG. He turned around and smiled, recognizing Juuzou's voice. The Special Class investigator waved, followed closely by Rank 1 Abara Hanbee.

"Juuzou! How good to see you. I'm sorry I didn't know you were coming, I would have prepared snacks!" Haise scratched at his cheek apologetically. "What are you doing in the 1st Ward?"

Abara answered for him, his right hand crossing over his heart in an almost reflexive gesture of politeness. "We came to directly drop off some papers regarding the Auction case," he explained. "We had to redo them after they got lost in the transfer and we didn't want the same accident occurring twice."

Haise rubbed the back of his neck. "That's terrible. I hope you had no trouble recalling all of the information."

"Admittedly, the hardest part was getting Suzuya to cooperate." Abara confessed.

"We wouldn't have had to do it if they could do their jobs right," Juuzou mumbled.

"Ah, I see," Haise laughed.

"Tooru told me you and the Quinx are going to China for the Gravedigger case," Juuzou mentioned suddenly. "Because the investigators there can't do their jobs correctly either."

"Ah, you heard about that?" Haise nodded. "We are, but I think they just need a different outlook on the case. They're having trouble catching such a low-class, careless ghoul that it makes me wonder. . ."

Juuzou hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe he's lucky, then, or just does what he can to get by and stays undercover the rest of the time."

Haise shrugged. "I think it's his methods that get them—it's strange that he reburies the bodies after he takes what he can."

"I don't think it's that strange," Juuzou disagreed, continuing to walk.

"What do you mean?"

Juuzou looked up at Haise, a flicker of something old and dark resurfacing in his eyes for a split second and sending a chill down Haise's spine. "Ghouls have a conscious just like humans. They're not just animals who're focused only on their next meal." He stretched his arms over his head and broke eye contact with Haise. "Of course, every ghoul is different. They're similar to humans in more than just appearance. You of all people should understand that," he added with a smile.

Haise said nothing. Of course he understood what Juuzou was getting at. He had always viewed ghouls more. . . humanely than the rest of the CCG—than the rest of humanity. However, he expected that full ghouls, ghouls born and not artificially made, understood their place in this world, and would waste no time when it came to fighting for their survival. Even if Juuzou said they were more human than most would think, that still made them nothing more than animals. Humanity was nothing more than a standard set by other animals, based on philanthropy and emotion. The way ghouls were treated, why should they want to meet such a standard?

Of course ghouls felt emotion—Haise understood that more than anybody. But he was only half ghoul. The CCG treated him like a human, so that must mean he presented some characteristic not shared by any other ghoul. He was biologically more human than them. Haise had never (in his current memory) been close enough to a real ghoul to discern what made them different, or what made them the same, and despite his sincerest desires to understand how they thought, how they felt, it was absurd to him that they would feel anything towards their prey. Investigators, real humans, rarely felt compassion towards ghouls, so how could the real predators look at them any different? Yes, they felt emotion, but like a lion chases a zebra colt, a ghoul would not hesitate to kill a human if it were hungry.

Perhaps that was what made this case so interesting.

"Goodbye Haise! See you around!" Juuzou called, waving as he turned down a different hallway, Abara following close behind.

Haise was pulled from his thoughts by the words of his superior. He smiled and waved back. "See you around," he echoed.

{End of Part One}