Sen Takatsuki

"Okay... Mr. Ghoul Investigator~"

*'Urgh...' * Huiqi backed away a few steps, watching the man in front of him warily.

No ghoul, however powerful, had ever made Huiqi flee or back down. Yet this human with no fighting ability whatsoever frightened him.

"Next~"

Sen Takatsuki's voice rang out ahead. Only a handful of people remained in line, and soon it would be Huiqi's turn.

"Miss Takatsuki, pretty please give me your autograph~"

"Eugh. Ugh." ×2

Huiqi and Sen Takatsuki both made sounds of disgust, but Sen Takatsuki concealed hers so well that the man failed to notice. Huiqi, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide his reaction.

"Hmph!"

After getting his autograph, the man rolled his eyes at Huiqi, his gaze seeming to say, "Who do you think you're fooling? Try mocking me again."

Huiqi was utterly speechless. He could only be thankful that this guy wasn't from Ward 20. Otherwise, the thought of having to protect someone like him would make Huiqi sick.

"Next, hurry up. Once I've signed yours, I'm off work." Sen Takatsuki sounded languid and listless. Her eyes, hidden behind her messy hair, hadn't spotted Huiqi.

"Really? If you're in such a hurry, I'm delighted... Sign these for me."

Huiqi took out the two books he had been holding against his chest and presented them for her to sign.

Scratch, scratch, scratch...

Halfway through, the scratching gradually grew fainter until it stopped altogether.

"Why did you stop signing? I'm in a hurry to get off work and attend to some personal business too." Smiling, Huiqi met Sen Takatsuki's eyes.

"Oh, ho ho ho. Mr. Toy is here... How did it feel without me around?"

"Did you miss me terribly?"

A smile spread across Sen Takatsuki's face. Her eyes narrowed, and her voice became exceptionally gentle.

"Yes, yes. With that pest gone, I couldn't have been happier! But now it's time to settle old scores!"

The assistant beside them watched the pair in a panic. One was a Ghoul Investigator, the other a ghoul, and they were still in the city. If they started fighting, his life would be in grave danger.

"You can go. I have something to discuss with this Ghoul Investigator."

Sen Takatsuki waved at the man beside her, signaling for him to leave.

Huiqi couldn't help being surprised. The woman who had once enjoyed using human heads as toys had changed considerably. She seemed to have learned society's rules.

"That eager to have a party with me? I'm scared of rough handling..."

"Ha ha ha. I told you before: the next time we met, I'd cut off your arm and turn it into a Quinque!" Huiqi enunciated every word, the killing intent in his eyes practically spilling over.

"Then have you got your thighs ready? I'd love to taste your meatballs..."

Neither would concede an inch in their verbal clash. As their remarks grew increasingly vicious, a fight was about to erupt!

On the top floor of an abandoned building, Huiqi and Sen Takatsuki stared at each other.

Their gazes met, her red kakugan clashing with Huiqi's eyes as though their very presences were locked in combat. Both wore solemn expressions, neither showing the slightest intention of backing down.

Sen Takatsuki narrowed her eyes slightly. The red glow in her single kakugan grew brighter, as though she wanted to look through Huiqi's eyes into his heart. Huiqi straightened his back and stared her down.

Their breathing gradually grew heavier, as though an oppressive presence filled the entire rooftop. Huiqi held his long blade, gathering his killing intent, while Sen Takatsuki leaned slightly forward, ready to attack at any moment.

Whoosh... boom!

A firework suddenly shot into the sky and burst into brilliant light. Its explosion also marked the opening of their battle.

An oncoming ukaku barrage poured down like a torrential rain, covering the entire rooftop in an instant.

Huiqi nimbly sidestepped, his long blade flashing like lightning as it struck every ukaku projectile with precision. At the same time, his other hand swiftly drew five Quinque daggers from inside his clothes. With a flick of his wrist, the daggers shot straight toward Sen Takatsuki like five streaks of cold light.

Bang!

The clang of metal rang out. Only one of the five Quinque daggers inflicted any damage, embedding itself in Sen Takatsuki's kakuja arm. The other four were deflected.

But Huiqi seized that fleeting opportunity and charged toward Sen Takatsuki like lightning, his long blade gleaming coldly. He put strength into both arms, and violent sparks flew the instant his blade met her kagune armor.

Scrrrreech.

The piercing noise echoed across the rooftop. For a moment, neither gained the upper hand in their contest of strength. Then several kagune suddenly sprouted from Sen Takatsuki's back and attacked Huiqi furiously.

Huiqi remained utterly calm in the face of Sen Takatsuki's surprise attack. Using his smaller frame to his advantage, he slipped beneath the kakuja's abdomen, aimed his blade at a vulnerable spot, and drove it straight in.

Squelch!

The kakuja let out an agonized roar. She reached a massive kakuja arm toward her abdomen and pulled the long blade out inch by inch, then smashed it toward Huiqi.

Crack!

The Quinque blade shattered, scattering fragments across the ground, while the blow sent Huiqi flying to the edge. Behind him lay a sheer drop, and cold wind swept across his face.

"Hee hee hee hee. It hurts, it hurts... Mr. Toy, you're about to become mincemeat..."

Ignoring Sen Takatsuki's deranged behavior, Huiqi reached inside his clothes and pressed a button. A moment later, strange mechanical sounds came from the surface of his body.

Three seconds later, the sounds abruptly stopped, and a long blade covered in strange patterns appeared in Huiqi's hand.

SSS-rate Quinque - Amber's Wail (optimized by chief scientist Jin Toka)

Obtained during the operation to capture the SS-rate ghoul Shachi.

Shachi had traveled through various countries studying martial arts. His mastery was exceptional, as were his physical capabilities and reflexes. Among all the SS-rate ghouls Huiqi had encountered, Zhong Dan was the strongest in individual combat.

"My, my, my. You even managed to capture him... You're getting stronger very quickly, Mr. Toy." Sen Takatsuki sniffed the Quinque and instantly recognized the ghoul it had come from.

"Heh. Now I need a piece of you."

Huiqi answered with a cold laugh. Power erupted from his body once more as he charged at Sen Takatsuki. This time, his speed far surpassed what it had been before, and he swung his blade far more rapidly.

Slash, slash, slash!

Dense slashes covered the kakuja's body, with green traces staining the wounds. Under the effects of this strange liquid, Sen Takatsuki discovered that her kagune had grown weak and feeble, its hardness plummeting.

"RC Suppressant!!! Damn you, Huiqi!! I'll gouge the flesh off your body bit by bit!"

Huiqi gave no answer. He focused entirely on the fight, his long blade relentlessly attacking vital points.

"I'll eat you! Eat you! Eat you!!"

The severely injured kakuja underwent a drastic transformation. Long spikes protruded all over her body, forming a grotesque defense.

The sight was all too familiar. Huiqi once again recalled the devastation in Ward 24.

"It's useless. I'm much stronger than I was before."

Huiqi gathered his strength and unleashed a second burst of power. His long blade sliced through the spikes like tofu. For a time, the rate at which they grew matched the rate at which he destroyed them.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss... Hee hee hee hee... I can't hold it in! I can't hold it in! Something's coming out of me! Hee hee hee hee..."

The RC levels within her kagune rose at a terrifying rate. From the outside, her kakuja underwent a second transformation, becoming even larger and more unnerving. Drool poured wildly from her mouth, and her ruby-like single eye was all the more mesmerizing.

"Can't control yourself anymore?"

At the sight, Huiqi arrived at an answer. Over his long years of hunting ghouls, he had encountered all sorts of unexpected situations, and Akihiro Kano had mentioned this too: once the RC levels inside a ghoul surged, they would lose their intelligence and become a flesh-eating monster.