Not much to say here. Basically I'm still having problem finding real inspiration to get working on this fic. I'm still trying to figure that out.

But I do need to say. I talked with another about this series. I'll try to give news about this if something new comes up.

Ken looked out at the foreboding sky as they drove. It looked like rainstorm was about the hit. It smelled like a big one as well. He sighed before turning back to the others in the car. A mix of different older ghouls then him. He saw Irima sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the carriage. She smiled at him and waved. He waved back. But it didn't help as much as he hoped it would. Ken was feeling really nervous.

It was his first real mission after all. He had so far only been on small patrols around wards with no real major presence of dangerous ghouls. Now though, he was assigned to a real threat. He felt the truck stop with a small lurch. Ken took a deep breath before the back-door opens and all of them jumped out of the back of the truck.

The place they had stopped at was a somewhat run down. Shinohara had informed him beforehand that this was a rather poorer section of the city. Most of the people who lived here were good people but made up mostly of manual labor jobs or careers that didn't require too much specialization or knowledge. But it was peaceful for the most part. Still ghouls were a decent problem here. Ken perked up when he heard Shinohara call them all over to him.

Ken came over to where the group of people and ghouls was standing around the man. Once they had all assembled, Shinohara passed them each a picture of a young boy and to the ghouls he handed them a small item in an evidence bag. The ghouls took out the small item and began to take in the scents of the owner of said item while their investigators studied the photo to get a good idea of what the kid looked like.

"A few hours ago, this child disappeared from around here. We have been called in to give aid to the rescue effort. There is also a decent chance of a rogue ghoul being involved in the kidnapping. If this is true, then you have my go ahead to do whatever is necessary to protect the boy and any other civilians in the area and to place the rogue in our custody. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," they all cried in unison. Shinohara nodded at them with a smile. "Dismissed then," he told them. The human investigators all turned to their cars to go the checkpoint to look around and ask around the area for sightings while the ghouls took off to immediately begin searching. They ran at full speed into alleyways or jump onto the sides and roofs of buildings to check out the whole area or see if they smelled something coming from the rooms. Ken himself gave one last look at who he believed were the parents of the boy; crying as they were consoled by a nearby police officer.

He then turned around and jumped over a fence to begin searching. For a couple hours, he scoured the place. Jumping from building to building, checking the local alleyways, and checking up on what the other searchers had found. So far nothing substantial. All of the whiffs of his scent they caught were days old and in places like the local mall or restaurants that he would have visited with his parents. But finally, he got a break. Talking to another twenty-fifth ward ghoul who worked at a local construction site, Ken was informed by him of a place that smelled heavily of ghoul. They had reported it a day or two ago but the issue hadn't been investigated properly yet.

Ken soon arrived at the area and had to agree with the older man. The place had the smell of ghoul permeated the area. The strong scent meaning that the ghoul probably lived close by. Ken was thankful that he seemed dumb enough not to realize he needed to hide his scent. He pulled out his communicator and told Shinohara this. "Good work Ken," he assured him. "Keep looking for the kid there. We'll be there once we gather the rest of the investigators." Ken then began to search the place. He checked around the block and asked a couple passersby about the locals and anyone who seemed suspicious to them.

He eventually was told about a rather gruff person from one of the buildings that seemed to keep to themselves. Ken went to check out that building. He decided, due to the lack of time, to check every room from the outside. He didn't have enough clearance by himself but he felt that he couldn't wait for Shinohara to come. He went around the building; scaling the walls to get to the higher floors. He listened through the windows and sniffed the air. He found a couple people engaged in adult activities and a few drug deals but not what he was looking for. He was about to give up when he got to the top floor and came to one of the last rooms. It reeked of ghoul and he could hear sniffling.

Ken broke in and found the boy in a cage. The boy looked at the new arrival in fear but the older boy came over to him with his hands in the air to show him he meant no harm. "Hey, kid. Don't worry. I'm here to help you. I'm one of the good guys okay." He pointed to the collar on his neck hoping that he would recognize it and calm down. Once he was sure the kid was okay, he pulled out his communicator and told Shinohara, "This is Ken. I've found the kid in apartment nearby the scent. He's alive but a bit shaken up." Ken heard the man sigh on the other end of the line. "Good work. Get the kid out of there. We'll try to encircle the area and then track the perpetrator down."

"Ok, I'll bring him to the closest CCG car." Ken then turned to the boy and ripped open the cage. "Come on," he called to the boy. But before he could take Ken's hand though, another figure entered the room. Spotting Ken, he growled out, "Damn it. A dirty CCG dog." He jumped at Ken but Ken used his training to toss him away. He quickly turned to the kid and told him to run. But the enemy ghoul used that distraction to slug Ken. Ken yelped as he fell to the ground. The other ghoul pulled out his kagune and tried to stab Ken but Ken was able to activate his own in time to block it. Ken lashed out with his but the other ghoul dodged it. Ken used this chance to get up and grabbed the kid and jump out the window. Ken held the kid close to his chest as he landed to prevent injury. Ken got ready to run as he didn't want to protect the kid and fight at the same time.

But before he could get out of there, the other ghoul jumped down and slashed his back. Ken collapsed and dropped the boy. The other ghoul was about to strike him down before he could heal but Ken was saved when another figure joined the fight. Juuzo appeared and launched several small quinque blades at the ghoul. As he roared in pain, Ken jumped up and kicked the man's head off. "Ten points!" Suuzya yelled out as Ken landed in a crouch.

"Mission successful," Juuzo giggled.

"There's a sensor in your collar that alerts us when you activate your kagune," Shinohara had told him when they came back to the starting point. "When I got alerted I sent Juuzo to take care of you immediately." Ken grinned at him and thanked the man.

"We'll leave the rest to the cleanup crew while we return home." Shinohara put a hand on Ken's shoulder. "You did good Ken. You saved that boys life." Ken felt happy at that. Ken got up and started heading to back to the transport when someone called for him. He turned to see the boy's father approached him. The man bowed down deeply to the surprised half ghoul. "Thank You so much!" the man shouted. Causing Ken jump a bit. "You're welcome," he responded. The man stood back up and smiled at him. "Here take this." The man gave Ken a bag of high quality coffee beans. He was surprised that they would give him this. Especially since they probably couldn't afford it. But before Ken could say anything the man had already ran off to his family. Ken looked at the bag one last time before sighing.

"Next stop. Anteiku."

Sorry I'm too tired to really put anything up here. Took me a couple weeks to work this out.