#felt like i got stabbed in the heart by ishida T^T

[kenkamishiro]

re:quest [tension] - chapter 5

This is the last chapter of “tension”. It’s been lots of fun translating it, and though it’s been difficult, I’ve learned a lot from it. The next short story I’m planning on translating is “quinquies”, the short story featuring Saiko and the Qs. It’ll be a while before that story will be out though because of my schedule. Anyways, thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoyed “tension” as much as I did!

For those who haven’t read “tension”, the short story about the CCG art festival, you can read chapter 1 here. Enjoy!

(Thank you @tokyo-ghoul-out-of-context for proofreading.)

Today was the day of the art festival. The convention centre located in the same ward as the CCG main office was showing a turnout unseen in previous years. All sorts of paintings, sculptures, pottery and the like were on display, with the outstanding art that had won awards organized based on the colour of their attached ribbons.

In the midst of it all, Urie was gazing at the red ribbon for the highest honour that was attached to his own painting.

“...(Of course it would go to me.)”

Urie, who had been an Academy scholarship student and had graduated top of his class, was continuing to pile on achievements. The people around him had been praising him for being outstanding even in his hobbies. Though he had been furious as to why all the Qs had won some sort of award, but he was the only one who had been able to win the highest honour that so few could achieve.

“...Urie.”

“...(So you’re here.)”

Everything that Urie had done was to show the overwhelming difference between him and this man. He turned around and faced Takeomi.

“Congrats on getting the highest honour.”

“It’s not really a big deal. (Take that!)”

“No, what you said was absolutely true. Art isn’t something you can just make in a day,” Takeomi said to Urie as he observed his painting.

Usually Urie would get irritated whenever Takeomi complimented him, but today was different. Takeomi was a human who couldn’t appreciate anything related to art. He just couldn’t compare to Urie, and that made Urie feel good.

“So, how did you do? (Do you even get an award for participating?)” Urie asked nastily.

“I got an honourable mention,” Takeomi said.

“...honourable mention?”

A sense of dread filled his chest for a moment from his unexpected words.

Honourable mention? You of all people? How?

It’s just an honourable mention, Urie told himself. There was no reason for him to care about it. But his heart continued to race.

“It was all because of your advice. Thanks.”

“There’s no need to thank me. (I don’t remember giving him advice. What the hell is he talking about? Did he just try to copy me and paint something?)”

He felt a sense of discomfort crawling along his body like a bug. Takeomi, with no knowledge of how Urie was feeling, said, “I’ll see you later then,” and prepared to leave.

“Bujin, I just saw your art! It’s so cool!” a lively voice jumped in. Itou Kuramoto, whose eyes always appeared to be closed, ran in, followed by Michibata Shinji, whose notable features were his sideburns and lower eyelashes. Those two men were in the same squad as Takeomi as his seniors, and it looked like they had just seen Takeomi’s artwork.

“How’d you transport that thing up here!? But first I wanna hear about how you got the materials for it!”

“...(How you transported it? Materials?)”

It seemed that Takeomi had made something quite unique.

“I took my father’s car and went up to the mountains.”

“...!? (Mountains!?)”

Why did he have to go the mountains?

“When Kuramocchan looked up at the thing you made, he was just starin’ at it with his mouth gapin’ wide open!”

“...(Looked up at!?)”

“Ignore him! It reminded Micchi of sports festivals, and he was so excited that he wanted to climb the thing!”

“(Sports festival!? Climb!?)” Urie thought as he watched Takeomi being complimented by his two seniors.

“(No, this doesn’t mean anything, they’re in the same squad...it’s like getting compliments from your family…!)”

Thinking about it, Urie didn’t think he could stand being there any longer. He began walking quickly away from Takeomi and his squadmates toward another area of the hall.

“(What the hell did you make, Kuroiwa Takeomi? You don’t have an inkling of what art is supposed to be. There’s no need for me to worry about this. Yeah, I’m just going to look at your crappy artwork so I can laugh at it…)”

And then Urie heard voices saying, “Did you see what Kuroiwa made?” The voices didn’t belong to Itou and Michibata, but to investigators that Takeomi didn’t interact with. Urie chased after what those investigators were looking at.

“...!?”

Despite the crowd of people surrounding the artwork, Urie could clearly see it.

“A totem pole…(a totem pole)”

It was around three metres tall. From the rough carvings it was obvious that it was made by an amateur, but it still left a huge impact on everyone. Realizing that his jaw had dropped, flabbergasted at what he was seeing, Urie closed his lips in a fluster.

He thought about why Takeomi would have made something like this, and then he finally remembered.

...instead of using a delicate tool like a paintbrush, why don’t you make something out of wood instead?

Despite Urie having said that sarcastically, Takeomi had taken his comment to heart.

“Just like I expected from Kuroiwa.”

“He really is different from everyone.”

Appreciation for Takeomi was entering Urie’s ears, which was what he hated hearing the most.

“(This is why I hate that bastard!)”

Urie gritted his teeth and left the hall.

After Urie had left, two women were standing in front of the totem pole.

“Madam!”

Recognizing one of the women, Gori Misato, a tall investigator with a beauty mark on the middle of her forehead, rushed over to her. Misato had worked under Special Class Investigator Kuroiwa Iwao and had participated in the 11th ward Special Countermeasures Unit created to deal with Aogiri, and the Owl Suppression Operation in the 20th ward.

“Hello, Misato-san.”

The woman who gave Misato a smile was Iwao’s wife and Takeomi’s mother. She had married at a young age, so she didn’t look like someone who would have a twenty-year-old son. Her appearance was a contrast to Iwao’s, whose bulk and stability made him look much older.

“It’s been a while, madam.”

“Thank you for always helping my husband.”

“Don’t mention it! Your son’s efforts are quite remarkable.” Misato looked up at the towering totem pole.

“I’ve also heard about your great efforts from my husband.”

“Oh dear...I don’t really have much though.” Misato was happy that her boss that she respected so much said that about her, but she decided to act humbly.

“Did you come here to see what Special Class Kuroiwa and your son made? Special Class Kuroiwa’s platter was quite splendid.”

Iwao had lost his left arm, but he was still working as an investigator. She couldn’t imagine how he had made the platter with just his right hand.

“No,” Kuroiwa’s wife said, shaking her head. “I came here today to meet Shinohara-san’s wife.”

Misato saw the woman standing next to Kuroiwa’s wife. The wife of Shinohara Yukinori, who was also known as the “Indomitable Shinohara”, showed a smile strong to the core.

“You are...Special Class Shinohara’s wife?” Misato bowed her head.

“I heard that Juuzou’s art was being exhibited, so I came here to see it.”

Shinohara had collapsed, and it had been a long time since he had regained consciousness, but to this day his wife and Juuzou continued to interact.

“I believe Suzuya Juuzou’s art is at the centre of the hall. It’s next to Mikage Miyuki’s crop circle made of origami cranes.”

Shinohara’s wife contemplated Misato’s directions. “I was trying to find it, to be honest. Thank you,” she said gratefully. And after a few more words, Misato split off from the two women.

“...”

As Misato stared at the retreating backs of the women who continued to support their investigator husbands, she let out a breath, having remembered Amon Koutarou, the man she had long yearned for.

Amon had a strong sense of justice, was outstanding in his work and had a promising future. However, he was said to have died in the 20th ward Owl Operation, though his body hadn’t been found. Misato still didn’t think that he was dead.

“Misato.”

She had been thinking about Amon so intensely, that she jumped when someone called her name.

“What’s with you standing there and spacing out?”

Mado Akira was the one who called out to Misato. Akira was younger and had graduated later than Misato, but she always spoke to Misato in an informal manner. This hadn’t changed even after Mado surpassed Misato in rank.

“...I was talking to Special Class Kuroiwa and Shinohara’s wives just now.”

“They’ve come here? I should greet them.”

Some things hadn’t changed, but there were some things that had, such as Akira’s concern for her surroundings. Misato didn’t know if it was because she was in a position where she had to lead her subordinates, or if it was because Sasaki and the Qs that were assigned to her had made her like this.

“I’ll be off then.”

“Yeah…”

Akira turned her back on her. It was a delicate back carrying heavy responsibilities.

“...Mado Akira.”

“Yeah?”

Without realizing it Misato had called out to Akira.

Akira was an excellent investigator with a deep knowledge of quinques who always kept calm. From now there would be more future female investigators who would look up to her. But Misato knew that underneath her calm exterior was a torrent of emotions. She knew because Akira had cried for Amon Koutarou and her classmate Takizawa Seidou.

“...”

Previously at the Auction Cleanup Operation, a mysterious ghoul had suddenly appeared and wreaked havoc on the investigators. No one in Misato’s vicinity talked about that unexpected incident, but it left behind an ominous feeling.

“...Misato?”

Akira had been stopped, and she watched as Misato was unable to get her words out. “What do you need?” she asked, tilting her head. She scoffed, putting her hand on her lips as she watched Misato.

“You don’t have anything to say, yet if you have the time to stop people, lead me to where the Special Classes’ wives are. I’ll show you a delicious curry shop as my thanks.”

In a convoluted way, Akira had invited Misato for lunch.

“How does that sound?”

Akira smiled. Misato blew air from her nose, and stood next to Akira.

“Follow me.”

“My pleasure.”

People were cheerfully looking at the exhibits, walking and laughing with their colleagues. These people, who fought as investigators, had looks of enjoyment on their faces.

Hairu was weaving through these people, slowly, walking alone.

Highest honour, high honour, honourable mention. The artwork that had won these awards had ribbons attached to them. She stood in front of her drawing that she had carefully coloured with her coloured pencils. She stared at the blue ribbon next to her name. A ribbon for high honour.

“And I thought I was gonna get praised a lot for it too.”

Hairu hadn’t gotten the Special Adjudicator award, the only award that was chosen by Arima. She entwined her hands behind her back, and blew a raspberry. Even though she had received the high honour award, it was meaningless to Hairu.

“Figured it’s better to take down ghouls. Tons of them.”

That was the easiest way, she thought while staring at her art. However, something caught her attention, and she turned toward it. The people in her surroundings began to stir.

With his silent gaze behind his glasses, just the sight of the man walking left goosebumps in everyone.

“Arima-san, I wanted to win the Arima award,” Hairu called out in contrast to her noisy surroundings. Arima stopped next to Hairu.

“Do you mean the Special Adjudicator award?”

“It’s called the Arima award, ‘cause you’re the one giving it out,” Hairu declared. Arima closed his mouth.

“And I spent so much time and effort on it.” Hairu pointed to her own drawing of a teenager and a young girl standing within the beautiful flowers.

“...it was disqualified from the award,” Arima said bluntly.

“Huh?” Hairu’s cheeks swelled. Arima kept staring at Hairu’s drawing.

“Because that scene is nostalgic and brings me back.”

He had memories of that place.

Whether human or ghoul, there a was a rule that forced them to never talk about this secret, of this moral contradiction and the place where they had been brought up - the Sunlit Garden.

That was where she had met him.

Hairu giggled. They shared this memory, and she couldn’t help but feel giddy because of it.

“Shao is going to join us starting next year.”

“Shao! I want her to clean my ears again! It felt so good!”

“Yes, please treat her well,” Arima said, and then he left. It seemed that he had to go somewhere. Most likely it was related to Haise.

“Hairu!”

Hairu, who had been gazing at her drawing alone, now had someone else standing next to her.

“...Koori-senpai.”

“So you got the high honour award. That’s amazing,” Ui said while looking at Hairu’s art.

“Koori-senpai, but you got the highest honour award.” Hairu began walking away from her drawing, Ui following close behind. Ui, who would always lecture her not to walk behind each other during work, didn’t say anything about it this time.

“The Special Adjudicator award is a joke. Though it really is like Arima-san to pick that kind of drawing.”

In the end, Arima had chosen Yonebayashi Saiko’s work titled, “My vision of the strongest investigator”. It was a drawing of a very muscular investigator holding a quinque that looked like a gold club that ogres would carry around. It appeared to be modelled after her squadmate Urie Kuki.

“Apparently he chose it because it was the first time he’d even seen something like that. Even though there were tons of others he could’ve picked from.”

Ui was known to complain a lot whenever Arima did something weird.

“Sasaki-kun’s gingerbread castle is really popular, plus that painting full of circles is just plain disturbing. The Qs are such a strange bunch…”

“Koori-senpai,” Hairu said, interrupting his tirade.

“What?”

“Let’s get to work.”

It didn’t matter who had won what award.

“...but I’m on break.”

“So am I. But we’re here together now, aren’t we?” she said to Ui’s unamused face, continuing to smile.

“Isn’t this great? We have tons of things to do. It really does fit us better to be holding quinques instead of pencils and scissors, don’t you think? But if you don’t wanna, I’ll just go by myself,” Hairu said and headed toward the venue’s exit.

I have to hurry.

So she could be praised by Arima.

Because we don’t live long.

Whatever reason they had been created for, why they had such a fate imposed on them, none of it mattered. As long as she could get that hand to gently stroke her head again, just like when she was little.

Ui let out a loud sigh behind Hairu, but he quickly raised his head and passed by her.

“We’re going,” he turned around and instructed.

“‘Kay!” Hairu answered.

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