12 Rippling Waves Alerting the Beasts of Tokyo and its Undercurrents.

Standing below the suicide cliff at the spot where a few days ago Kichimuri had fought and killed Yoshimura was Kichimuri's boss, Kaiko. Kaiko had arrived at the 20th ward today with a team of V agents to investigate exactly what went on here. There had been reports of deafening noise here and the authorities had been sent here to find the source of the deafening noise. Upon arriving the authorities had surmised this event had something to do with ghouls and so had invited the CCG 20th branch investigators to take over. Kichimuri may have absorbed all biological evidence of ghoul activity at the scene but there was still a lot of physical evidence to note that very powerful ghouls had a fight here. All Muri did was remove his and Yoshimura's dna from the scene. Upon arriving and seeing the huge damage done to the area below the cliff, the investigators had correctly surmised this was done by a high level ghoul fight. The investigators found themselves a bit scared by the damage done all over from the places that looked like a huge body was slammed into the ground repeatedly, to the place that looked like heavy projectiles tore into the ground. The investigators then had the sense to report this up to HQ about the possible presence of such powerful ghouls capable of causing so much destruction in the 20th ward. Upon receiving notice of this, the CCG Chairman and Muri's father Tsuneyoshi Washuu, dispatched Kaiko to look into it and eliminate whatever ghoul caused it.

Kaiko stood there and examined the scene. His white eyes roaming around him trying to pick up the slightest clue to the identity or whereabouts of the ghouls who fought here. Finding nothing, he left the scene to meet with a tall, well-built man with snow white hair and gray eyes. The man wore a pair of thin-framed glasses and a calm apathetic expression. He was dressed in a professional suit and tie, adding a pure white coat over it. This was the genius of the CCG, Kishou Arima. Several hooded figures stood silently behind him. He and his squad had been ordered here to the 20th ward to aid Kaiko in finding and eliminating the powerful ghouls that caused the disturbance here. "Did you find any clues on the scene? Anything as to who they were, where they came from or more importantly where they are now?" Questioned Arima to his former mentor. "Nothing at all. It's amazing there's no biological evidence or dna there that shows ghouls fought there but the destruction caused to the area shows only ghouls could do such a thing. It seems we'll have to go at this from the ground level up. Let's meet the local authorities." Replied Kaiko emotionlessly as he moved towards the local investigators who just finished speaking with the local police.

Kaiko: Director Kamemochi, what do you have for us? Any unexplained events in the past few days that might be related to our mystery ghouls.

Kamemochi: We had the local police spread out and take witness reports all over the ward for any strange sightings. After investigating and canceling out the fakes, we found some ghoul activity but upon having our investigators hunt them down they turned out to be weaklings not who we're looking for.

Kaiko: Weird, no strong ghouls at all?

Kamemochi: No sir, interrogations from the ghouls captured reveal that many have been disappearing while the rest fled the ward.

Kaiko: What were they fleeing from?

Kamemochi: Most likely whatever brought you here. After hitting a roadblock there, we went through crimes reported in by civilians in the past few days. We've been combing through kidnappings, break-ins and assaults to find one related to what you're looking for.

Kaiko: Good what did you find? Focus on reports from the night of the incident and the morning after. Whoever did this had to have left quickly in case authorities arrived and closed down the ward.

Kamemochi: We found a couple of break-ins reported that night and the morning after. We investigated and cancelled out the ones where the victims reported the culprits were human. That was all of them but....

Kaiko: But what?

Kamemochi brought Kaiko and the Arima squad towards a local cafe with the front glass broken into. Apparently a neighbor noticed and reported it in as a break-in but the investigators arrived to find no victims around to interview. The investigators proceeded to search the entire building and found personal belongings showing five people lived here. They entered the basement with a smashed in door to find rotting human flesh hunting that this may have been a ghoul hideout. Kaiko was in the bedroom of the supposed owner of the cafe. He thought the picture of the old man looked familiar before realizing it was the former V agent cleaner named Kuzen who abandoned the organization around two decades ago. Kaiko thought how it was funny this was where one of his top cleaners ended up. He briefly wondered if Kuzen survived whatever attacked him before looking at the room with no signs of someone who packed and fled. He felt the likelihood was very little. Upon receiving notification, he moved towards the basement to find Arima and his squad there. He found them observing the piles of rotting human flesh in the corner before turning to the entrance to a passageway. Kaiko moved toward it and found a backpack on the floor by the entrance. Kaiko picked up the backpack as he looked towards the dark passageway. He didn't know where it went and didn't want to dive in recklessly. Taking one last look he turned atmround to walk back to the investigators and continue searching through the cafe.

In the office of the Chairman of the CCG, Tsuneyoshi Washuu sat behind his desk as his legitimate son Yoshitoki sat before him. Tsuneyoshi has summoned his son to his office to listen to and give his view on the information coming in from the 20th ward. The latest information had also made mention of a few rumors. Rumors about a growing threat in the form of a cannibalistic ghoul hunting down and consuming any ghoul that it came across. The CCG had been hearing an increasing volume on rumors like that for the past year from the ghouls they were capturing and interrogating around Tokyo. The CCG has named the existence 'Eraser' based on the name given to it on the streets. The CCG had decided to give the existence an SSS rating for now. Rumors attributed the ghoul disappearances to a group of powerful cannibalistic ghouls feasting on their own kind to grow stronger. The problem was figuring out how they were able to devour their victims without leaving any DNA traces of any kind. That was one of the reasons the CCG was more likely to believe this was all done by one ghoul despite how unbelievable it would seem. A group couldn't possibly be so uniform in their actions and results. This event had forced the CCG to direct their attention to this mystery ghoul. The father and son were waiting for Kaiko and Arima to come in to report their findings and personal evaluations. Suddenly the doors opened and in walked the two men led by the Chairman's assistant. The assistant bowed and headed out of the room after leading them in.

Tsuneyoshi: Dispense with the greetings and formalities. Tell me what did you find. What are your evaluations on the identity, strength and current location of the ghouls that caused the disturbance in the 20th ward.

Kaiko: We found nothing at the scene and managed to track the conflict to a cafe that served as a base for a group of ghouls. Interrogation of ghouls captured in the 20th ward found the name of the group to be Anteiku. It served as the peacekeeper of the ward with their leader possibly being the strongest ghoul in the ward. Examination of the cafe residential areas found the leading ghoul to be formed V agent Kuzen. Eyewitness statements put him as the owner of the cafe with four employees working for him. We can only assume them to be ghouls too. We found packages of human flesh in the basement which they used to give out to ghouls in the area. We also found a passageway in the basement leading to an unknown location underground. We found the baggage of one of the waiters of the cafe before the entrance to the passageway. We find she may have been trying to escape underground when found and had to leave her bag behind. This leads us more to the question of whether Kuzen and his subordinates survived whatever attacked them.

Tsuneyoshi: Hmm, have you heard the rumors of the Eraser? If whatever it was that attacked the members of the ghoul cafe was the Eraser, most probably there wouldn't even be bodies if they were killed. With no traces of their corpses we can only single out this unique existence as the culprit.

Kaiko: Yes sir, we have. We've also considered the fact that even if Kuzen won or survived there would be traces of blood and DNA to track. We can only assume he and his subordinates to be dead. Based on the damage done to the fight scene it was clearly a close vicious death match between two very powerful ghouls.

Arima: We also sent agents through the passageway and found it to lead to the 24th ward. Chances are whoever survived the fight, most likely the Eraser, fled into the 24th ward to evade the authorities. Requesting permission to take my squad to track down and eliminate the Eraser.

Tsuneyoshi: Permission denied. Let the ghoul continue to erase the ghouls underground. It will reduce a lot of our workload. Let the ghouls continue to kill each other and we'll swoop in at the end and erase them all completely.

Yoshitoki: Sir, that would be an ideal situation but the more we allow this ghoul to cannibalize, the stronger it becomes. By the time we swoop in we may no longer have the capabilities to eliminate it. However it is true that there isn't much we could do. The 24th ward is the most dangerous in Tokyo and we don't have the manpower and resources to wipe out the ward while protecting ourselves from the other wards. Moving in to eliminate a potential threat will only leave us open to threats in the surface wards. It's simply not worth it. It would be best to deal with the threat when it surfaces and concentrate all we have to eliminate it then. I doubt that it could really get that strong to withstand the full night of the CCG.

Tsuneyoshi: Yoshitoki you're right, excellent analysis and decision making. Now moving onto other things. How are the agents from the sunlit garden doing? Especially the twins, are they performing well as agents?

Kaiko: Sir they've been doing superb work. Kichimura was the latest of the twins to join us and he's been working hard and well with others. He's progressing smoothly and racking up a sizable list of achievements. We are glad to have him and look forward to his future as a pillar of the organization. His younger brother on the other hand is a bit of a problem. He joined us earlier on than his brother and has been able to rack up a much larger and stellar list of accomplishments on teams and off them. But it seems he tends to like to move on his own a lot. It's rare to see him if he's not called back for team missions or training. He's even refused returning for training claiming to train by hunting powerful ghouls. He checks in on time and has a high submission rate of ghoul corpses. Honestly he's shaping up to be just like Arima and we even tried to call him back to join his squad but he refused claiming he liked to work alone. We've yet to find anything to be concerned about but recently he asked for leave to go deep undercover and refuse communications because he's tracking a high level ghoul. We weren't able to locate where he called in from but it is possible it was from the 20th ward and the ghoul he's tracking down is the Eraser. Attempts to contact him have been rejected so we can only hope we made a wrong assumption and he's still alive. After assessing the threat level we found Kichimuri would not be able to survive if he encounters the Eraser.

Tsuneyoshi: Hmph, continue communication attempts and confirm his location. If he did follow the Eraser into the 24th ward have him return immediately to report what he observed. Lock him up in the headquarters when he returns and train some discipline into him. He should learn to follow any orders given to him.

Kaiko: That may not be necessary sir. His track record is very good and it's been noted that his efficiency in ghoul hunting increases when he's on his own. It may be best to leave him on his own and continue summoning him for important team missions.

Arima stood there and had been about to interject when Kaiko spoke up defending Kichimuri. Arima didn't want such a rising star tied down by the organization. He was insanely impressed by Muri's stellar record that rivaled his. He wouldn't want to suffocate such a talented seed by placing it in his squad. He'd known the twins since they were kids and he'd always taken an interest in the talent of the younger one. Even at such a young age, the kid was skilled in weapon mastery and tended to match him whenever they sparred. Looking back on it, Arima wondered if Muri was holding back. If he did that meant the child has been hiding his true capabilities for the longest time. Arima hoped that such a rising star wouldn't be put out due to a moment of carelessness. As the meeting ended and discussions about future actions to be taken by the organization concluded, Arima walked out first to meet with his squad while hoping for the safety of Muri and deciding to request his transfer to the CCG from the V organization when he returns.

A few days later at Itori's bar Helter Skelter, a meeting was taking place between the clowns that were currently not incarcerated. They met to discuss the recent rumors floating around and the information leaked from the CCG about the event in the 20th ward. They found the notion of a cannibalistic ghoul roaming the wards targeting and consuming powerful ghouls without leaving a trace interesting. They met to discuss the validity of such rumors and whether they should recruit such a ghoul into their group. There were also rumors that the disappearances were because of a group of cannibal ghouls acting on their own or on the orders of the CCG to wipe out the ghoul populace while breeding their own army of powerful kakuja ghouls. The clowns found these rumors delightful and sought to find the truth of the matter. They also met to discuss the joining of a new member called Souta. He was present for the meeting and greeted everyone in the group. Sadly one member current not incarcerated was missing, Mugen. Mugen has been hard to reach and thus hadn't been able to make the meeting. The group ultimately decided to try and recruit Eraser but members were warned to be careful when encountering it. They were to contact the other members first for backup in case the Eraser decided to attack and consume them. The meeting ended and Uta stayed behind at the bar counter to find Itori sulking heavily behind the counter.

Uta: My my, what's wrong? You sad because you miss your boyfriend? Did he abandon you? He hasn't called you since he left has he? Wow this is surprising, Itori was thrown away by a guy and she's sulking about it.

Itori: Shut up. He's just busy doing something probably. I'm not sad because I'm missing him. And he didn't abandon me but it's not like I'd care if he did. He's free to do whatever he wants and so am I. You should be sad because your best friend is probably dead by the person we're trying to recruit. Didn't you hear the event in the 20th ward was an attack on Anteiku. They don't even think any of them survived. Face it, your obsession went and died by someone else's hand.

Uta: That doesn't matter. We may have been the best of friends for a long time because I couldn't kill him but now they he's dead my new obsession will be the Eraser. I will find out his identity and do my best to devour him even though he seemingly dispatched Renji easily. All I feel is excitement at the challenge rising in difficulty. While I am a bit sad at Renji's death, it's mostly sadness at the fact that it wasn't me that did it.

Itori: Hahaha. Whatever helps you sleep better at night. At least my fixation isn't dead or impossible to reach. Shiki will come back and when he does, we'll make up for all the lost time. Face it you're jealous I found someone that makes me happy. I'm sure you'd have been a lot happier if one day Renji burst into your studio one late night and...

Uta didn't let Itori finish her words before grabbing her by the throat with a cold furious look in his eyes. His facial expression was all Itori needed to know she'd crossed a line. She'd had a thing for Uta before Shiki cane along but never confessed her feelings because she saw that Uta felt more for Renji than friendship. She didn't have to be a genius to note that Uta had long stopped wanting to kill Renji and wanted something more intimate. Calming down as they looked into each other's eyes, Uta let go of Itori to find that Souta had also stayed behind in the bar. They both looked at him coldly as though they were about to eliminate him.

Souta: Sorry to interrupt but rest assured my lips are sealed. I'm merely here to inquire about referring a new member to join the group. It's my twin brother and I'm sure he'd fit in perfectly as he's also a ghoul investigator that would be of much use to the Clowns.

Uta: No, there's no need for anyone other than you. Just correspond with him to prevent any suspicions.

Souta seemed a bit defeated before peeking up and turning to Itori. He began telling her about how his brother was a bit similar to her boyfriend as they both tended to be gone for a long time without communication leading him to worry endlessly as an older brother. This seemed to cheer Itori up as they continued to bond and complain about the two inconsiderate loved ones who put worry in their hearts. Nevertheless both of them had no idea they were speaking about the same person.

Deep underground in the 24th ward, stood a secluded base housed by numerous ghouls. Deep in the base stood three figures in a room discussing the recent happenings and information leaked from the CCG about the 20th ward. The three ghouls consisted of a female ghoul with a child-like appearance, a tall male ghoul with white hair and red eyes and finally an eerie giant of a male ghoul with long black hair tied in a pony tail. The female ghoul had her entire body wrapped in bandages, with a tattered maroon cloak with droopy ears attached to the hood. She also wore a floral scarf around her neck. Her right eye was a kakugan, while the other eye was a normal light beautiful green toned eye. The white haired male ghoul hid his mouth with a red iron mask, and was wearing a white cloak. Finally the eerie giant male ghoul wore a white mask featuring huge black lips, a huge mouth with equally massive teeth and tiny slits for nostrils. His fingernails were black and he played with them not really participating in the meeting. These three were the heads of the Aogiri tree ghoul organization, the female Eto, the white haired male Tatara and the dark haired male was Noro. They had gotten information from a secret source about the attack on Anteiku and the probability that whatever it was that attacked probably fled into the 24th ward. Tatara and Eto were mainly debating what to do whether it was to avoid, attack or recruit the cannibal while Noro sat there quietly playing with his fingers. Tatara preached caution concerning this powerful uncontrollable ghoul that could end up joining and devouring every ghoul in the base. Eto wanted the Eraser to join as it might be fun and the organization would gain a very powerful asset. They argued back and forth until their secret King communicated to them not to engage the Eraser or try to recruit whoever it was until they had more of an understanding of the ghoul. Members of Aogiri tree would not feel comfortable having such an infamous cannibal in their ranks. Eto pouted as she left the base in anger at not getting her way. As Eto walked off into the distance, she found herself feeling a whirlwind of emotions concerning the fact that her father was possibly killed and devoured by the Eraser. She felt sadistic pleasure at his death and some anger at not being the one to do it or witness it. She felt confused by the tiny bit of sorrow at his passing before a rush of happiness at the fact that the man who killed her mother and abandoned her at birth was killed. She found joy in the fact that his comrades probably all died with him and were devoured by the Eraser. Feeling frustrated at her conflicting emotions, Eto decided to head out to kill something and vent her frustrations on something with a heartbeat. Tatara watched her go and he turned to find Noro continuing to play with his fingers as though none of this had anything to do with him. Tatara sat back in his chair and continued planning for the debut of their organization to the surface in the coming years. He planned to expand and recruit more civilian ghouls now that Anteiku was gone while factoring in the mysterious and dangerous Eraser who was probably currently roaming the 24th ward.