Chapter 10

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Gimme the stones.

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I ran across the rooftops with excitement. And the excitement was from the fact that I was absolutely not helping myself with magic, which I had done all the previous such walks. Night had fallen, and the Huntsmen were now scouring the city for a kuroken. So, I was heading towards a blue-haired girl who was also skipping along the rooftops... Well, skipping... running along the icy path.

Oh, there she is. She's checking out the alleyways. I stop at the edge of the roof, sit down and watch Esdes. The girl is just coming in my direction, and in about a minute she'll see me.

By the way, there's a pretty big cloud on the horizon... It's supposed to rain pretty hard... And in this heat that's hitting the city now after the cold weather, it's going to be divine! I rather closed my eyes, against the cool breeze.

- Kaneki! - I heard Esdes' voice.

Opening my eyes, I saw Esdes rushing across the street.

- Yo, Esdes. - I waved my hand phlegmatically.

The next thing I knew, I was in the girl's arms. However, she remembered something and pulled away from me.

- That night... did I say something that offended you? Please forgive me! - She exclaimed, folding her arms at her chest in a pleading pose a little wrongly. Hmm... Apparently someone told her to do that... She wouldn't have done it herself, and she hardly knows the procedure for asking for forgiveness.

- Don't worry... - I smiled and waved my hand. - I was a little out of it, and... you reminded me of my childhood. So you don't have to apologise, I'm not offended. By the way, what are you doing here? - I changed the subject.

- Huh? - As if Esdes had woken up. - We're looking for a Tokyo kuroken. But it doesn't matter because we've met again! - and the next second, I was in her arms again.

***

With an evil sniffle, wrapped in a pair of chains, I was subjected to Esdes' caresses. Except... not erotic... at all.....

- This is my speciality! - smiling, Esdes saluted with her spoon.

I was insistently shoved some kind of soup, which for me personally tasted like... well, let's say, like rotten fish guts. I guess it was the nature of Ghoul... or... the problem was Esdes. I doubted the latter, though, because she must have tasted her dish... She did, didn't she????

So, it was early morning, all the Huntsmen were sleepy, but Esdes had a different opinion about their fate. They all attended my feeding. I didn't see the point. True... sometimes Esdes asked various questions to Bols... As an "expert" in relationships. But the others in this scene were only spectators.

- I don't want to eat! - I struggled with the urge to vomit. Most of the food I burned off on its way down my oesophagus, but a small part of it did get in. And the taste sensation... no one cancelled it.

- Oh, yeah? - Esdes exclaimed in surprise, but she put the spoon with another portion of this fierce shit... soup away. - In that case... Tell me about your past!

Thank goodness I have white hair... Otherwise I would have gone grey for sure. What should I tell her!???

- Oh, Madam... - Balls raised his finger in a stern manner. - Such conversations should be held in private with the beloved, and in the extreme degree of sympathy on his part!

I involuntarily remembered telling Wendy about myself. Well...

- In that case, leave us alone. - Esdes waved her hand.

The jaegers accepted this command with great enthusiasm, rushing towards the exit, already mentally in bed. And so, at the door there was a small scuffle between the members of the squad. But no one wanted to argue, and as a result, they left the room quickly, one by one, leaving me to Esdes' mercy.

***

I woke up just before noon. The first thing I felt was the gentle embrace of Esdes, who was still asleep. A sincere smile came to my face as I looked at her. Still, how cute she is... It's a sin to miss out on such a miracle.

Carefully releasing myself from her grip, I made my way to the bathroom, where I finally awoke. As I showered, I felt a wave of panic coming from Esdes' bedroom. However, the wave quickly faded away. Apparently she heard the sound of the water from here.

By the way, I wonder what Najenda will say to me when I meet her. According to the canon, she was supposed to go after the new members of the team, i.e. the biological teigu Susano, as well as the funny girl Chelsea... By the way, she was always wearing headphones, which indicates the existence of such technology here... I'll have to ask.

And also, in the near future, the doctor who I gave a bump on his forehead was supposed to attack the asylum, but... In the canon, he tracked down Tatsumi... And I didn't leave with the team... But still, I'll have to follow him... Out of harm's way. Or better yet, eliminate him altogether.

With such thoughts, I finished taking water procedures, then got dressed and got out of the shower, on the way shaking my mana-dried hair. I don't like it straight! And being shaggy makes it look more... ridiculous... which can make the enemy laugh, letting them off guard.... Yeah, without realising it, I've chosen an option that will help a little bit in battle... There's no cure for that....

Sighing, I opened the bedroom door. Esdes was already dressed, and now she was actively dressing herself. Something didn't seem right... Esdes, and putting on all kinds of nail polish? Or what do girls do? Or is this just another piece of advice from OWLs? In that case, the advice is a bit wrong, as far as Esdes is concerned, cosmetics will not beautify but spoil the girl.

The girl didn't notice my manoeuvres, as she was standing with her back to me, and the mirror didn't reach me.

Hmm ... and now I will be taken to breakfast, although no, even to lunch ... and such a case for me is very undesirable ... There may be questions about why I'm not hungry. Although I could lie that I'm still hungry from the soup.....

Nodding to myself, I turned to Esdes.

- Good morning!

At my greeting, the girl jumped a little, and some kind of jar fell out of her hands. She turned to face me... and from what I saw, I couldn't hold my face.

It was horrible. I mean, I know girls can go overboard with make-up and it's pretty ugly, but not like that!!!! Esdes' entire face, was literally scarlet, her lips were painted on so much that you could even see small remnants of bits of lipstick. The eyelashes... no comment.

- Esdes..." I squeezed out. - It's you, isn't it?

The girl looked at my horrified face in surprise.

- I did something wrong, didn't I? - she asked sadly.

- 'I'll give you some advice...' I asked, covering my face with my palm. - Go to the bath... and wash off all this gibberish. - and after some thought, I added. - You're much prettier without it.

A second later, the girl was in the bathroom, frantically washing off her face colouring. I even risked a peek at the emophone! And I have to admit, it wasn't very pleasant. A wild mixture of anger, sadness, joy, happiness, anticipation and a little bit of pleasure, but sadistic. The last one wasn't directed at me. Balls? I'm sorry, man, but apparently our next breakfast meeting will be our last. Esdes will gut you, after which... well, not to that extent.

Still, my attitude towards Balls is slowly beginning to change. I'm even hesitant to kill him. After all, he's a pure mercenary, and he's a good man who won't do a damn thing to me or the Night Raid without orders. Why would he? And he has a family... Well, I'll think about it at my leisure.

In the meantime, Esdes came out of the shower, having washed off her colouring. I looked at her and nodded, indicating that I was satisfied with her appearance. And the girl's face lit up with happiness at my satisfaction.

***

- We're having breakfast now. Would you like something special? - Esdes asked on the way to the local food court.

- I'm not hungry. - I answered, sceptical as I looked at the guards walking past us. They were giving me a lot of "talking" looks. Like, "Who's that little guy, and what's he doing here?" Oh, if they knew how many of their fellow soldiers I'd put down... Put down and eaten.

- Did you? - was surprised by the girl, not paying attention to these unicellulars.

- I haven't come off the soup yet. - I smiled a little. - But I'm not going to say no to coffee.

- Great. - Esdes smiled oddly. She was obviously up to something again. I'll have to check the coffee for any unconventional additives.....

What am I supposed to do next? What do you do? It's too early to go to the third party, because neither Kurome nor Balls are likely to leave with me, and leaving them in the empire is very undesirable. I don't need Bols in my squad, the main thing is to persuade him to leave the Empire, but Kurome... No, I have to get her. And if she's working with Akame, she'll be great. Kurome isn't reliable in hand-to-hand combat, she's more of a support. A very powerful support. Yes, she's also great at swinging a katana, but compared to Akame... Or even more so to me... It's not even funny.

And Akame will cover up that disadvantage, making it a perfect pairing. And if you add Main and her sniper to the mix... Oh, come on, I'm getting carried away.

What do I know about Balls? He can blow up his teigu, creating an explosion of massive proportions. That's all I know. However, in terms of supporting me... when facing a strong opponent, Balls would be the perfect match for me already. Still, the ability to instantly raise my reserve from depleted to saturated would be very trumpy.

Okay, next. Esdes. Esdes is very, very strong in her own right, and to pair her with... I don't even know who it could be. In principle, she can work together with Lubbock, who will show her the location of the opponents... However, it's too much of an option....

You could also use the girl in a three-way with me and Balls. That way, we won't get hit at all. However, if there are a lot of targets... It's still better to go separately. Okay, that's for later. What's the saying? Don't share the money without killing the beast? Or something like that.

With these thoughts, Esdes and I reached our destination. Everyone was already sitting at the table, talking amongst themselves. I guess Esdes' move with the make-up had delayed us a lot. But something at the table was still not right....

Stop... There she was, Kurome, who was now, like everyone else, drilling us with her gaze, while eating biscuits. Balls putting food on plates... Meat... yikes. Serue playing with Koro... Wade... Where the hell is Mengele?

- Good morning. - Esdes waved her hand, grabbing me, who was about to sit down at the nearest chair.

As a result, I was seated next to Esdes, and across from me sat Kurome, who was currently drilling me with her gaze while slowly chewing on a biscuit.

Esdes herself, waved at Balls and headed towards the kitchen. The paranoia was starting to squeak more and more.

Sighing, I shifted my gaze to the rest of the team. Who were now actively drilling a hole in me, similar to Kurome.

Sighing, I turned my gaze back to Kurome, sadly eyeing another biscuit. And then, the girl held out another biscuit to me. It was strange... In the canon, she never gave them to anyone, but rather wildly protected them from being tampered with.

- Where's the doctor? - I asked the Huntsmen, who were obviously hesitating to ask me.

- Dr Staelish? - Serew smiled at me. - He's gone out this morning, probably on business.

Yeah... Business... We need to get out of here as soon as possible. And run as fast as we can to the Night Raid. I don't know where he's going, but there's a 70% chance Mengele's following in the footsteps of the unforgettable Raiders.

He's got mutants with big ears, eyes, noses. So I don't think he'd have any trouble tracking down a group of five teigu. And if you think back to that battle. My help could be very much needed.

- Hey, do you really have a fire control teigu? Like Lady Esdes? - Wade asked, snapping me out of my musings.

I didn't answer, creating a fire salamander that sat on my head. The beast jumped onto the table without burning the surface, thanks to my control, and then ran around the wood for a while before settling down in front of Kurome. I have to admit, it's easy to control these creatures. A simple mental command and he already fulfils it.

Kurome, however, reacted to the act... much more calmly than the others, who immediately jumped up from their seats, away from the salamander. Akame's sister was only interested in my creation, even setting aside her bag of biscuits. By the way... There's just one sticking out there....

The salamander instantly snapped towards the bag, grabbing the biscuit sticking out of it. Kurome was about to crack the lizard with indignation, but it was already climbing up my shirt to my head, eating the biscuit... Well, eating... pretending to bite, but actually sizzling that very piece.

- He... He stole my biscuit! - Kurome jabbed her finger indignantly.

- And you should be more careful..." I smiled.

Meanwhile, there was a noise in the kitchen, and when I turned to see what it was... I saw the greatest sight of all.

Esdes was carrying a saucer... with a cup of coffee on it. Balls, meanwhile, was trailing behind, muttering something to himself.

- Here. - Smiling embarrassedly, Esdes placed the cup in front of me, then sat down in her seat, looking at me expectantly.

I drilled the cup with my gaze for a bit, after which I threw a glance at the Huntsmen. Wade and Seriu were stiff with shock at the sight.

So I take a sip of coffee... And I'm surprised to realise that the coffee tastes good. Maybe even a little better than the Tasty Paradise. I'm not sure who made it, though.

- It's delicious. - I smiled, breaking the silence.

Wade choked on the salad he'd just started eating, and Esdes, ignoring him, melted with pleasure. Apparently, she was cooking after all. It was pretty good...

***

- We're going hunting. - Esdes said excitedly, giving me a quick glance.

I, on the other hand, was completely indifferent to the news, though I was cheering in my heart. Just a chance to escape to the shelter to see how things were going and if Stileish was still there.

- We'll hunt the Ents first. Kaneki and I will scour the eastern slope. Wade and Kurome will head west.

Mm-hmm... so here, she decided not to let me and Wade go... Sad. I'll run away from Esdes too, if I feel like it... I feel like it.

- Why are just the four of us going? - Wade asked. - What about Dr Stileish and Balls?

- The doctor's gone off again. When he comes back, we'll have to talk to him about it. - Esdes said thoughtfully, pulling a strap of jars round her arm. - And Balls... He has a teigu flamethrower, which is not suitable for hunting.

- So..." Wade stretched out, throwing brief glances at Kurome, who was munching on a biscuit.

The girl caught his gaze, then instantly hid the biscuits behind her back, frowning.

- I won't. - she said briefly.

Yikes... And I've already been offered twice, haven't I?