Void: Chapter 3

'''Pictures(写真を撮る) is the third chapter in the Tokyo Ghoul:Empty Days

Characters

 * Chie Hori
 * Ikuma Momochi

Summary
The story takes place between the 6 month gap after Kaneki escapes Aogiri Tree. This story is about Hori chie.

First Part
Little recorder clips time’s flow and reveals the truth.

- Idols’ festival?

23PM, time that scatters people in front of the 20th ward’s station. Hori Chie repeated those words with curiosity.

- Yep! Tomorrow at the 1st ward.

Her companion was familiar street musician. “Idols’ festival?..” – Hori Chie whispered one more time and stroked camera, dangling from her neck.

Short black hair, cut to even length, restless and hectic round eyes. Her real name is Chie Hori. At first sight she looks like a pupil, but actually she is proper university student and grown-up girl. Still, more than in student life she drowned in her hobby and nearly didn’t go to university anymore.

This hobby was photography, as one can understand from camera hanging on her neck. She always loved taking photos, and was preoccupied only with that, waking or sleeping. She didn’t get taller, but desire for photography only grew with years, and now she was ready to go anywhere just to take interesting shot.

That’s why she asked her acquaintance, whom she met accidentally after coming to the 20th ward for the first time in several days: “Is there something interesting happening?”

He laughed: “You are so abrupt, Hori Chie-san!”, adjusted guitar on his shoulder and said:

- It seems like famous idols are also invited. I will come too.

- Ikuma-kun, you became idol?..

- N-no, not at all! I’m on warm-up.

His name is Ikuma Momochi. He was an adorable young man of 20 years old, who came to the capital with the dream to become musician. At day he worked in transportation company, and at night sang and played guitar with his accomplices in front of the station.

- Apparently this event is with female-only idols. But you probably are not interested in such kind of shows, right?

Saying so he gave to Hori Chie candy that some fan inserted in his hand - though his dialect vanished and he got used to Tokyo, he had one big secret.

- Isn’t that OK to eat candies?

- That’ll be great if I could eat human food, sweets at least…

Catching up with his dreams, he looked like extremely normal young man, but in fact he was a ghoul. So that if he doesn’t eat human meat, he will be on the verge of adversity and his eyes will turn red.

But there are different ghouls, and he was the gentle one, who tried his best to live calmly among people. Feeding on the flesh of suicides, he managed not to kill people.

- By the way, how is Tsukiyama-san doing?

Tsukiyama, mentioned by Ikuma, was a ghoul too.

- Tsukiyama-kun? He is stalking right now.

- Well, Tsukiyama-san indeed has a special ability to create “shadow of death” feeling about everything he does…

Tsukiyama Shuu. He was different from Ikuma. Bellicose ghoul, constantly chasing his victims, who won’t avoid any cowardice to achieve dainty meals. The one who would hunt humans with obsession, but for people from the outside he didn’t look like ghoul at all – though among his kind he was accepted as heretical dissenter with frenetic and ill nature.

And this Tsukiyama was inseparable with Hori Chie from the high school time. Once she took a picture of his hunting scene – she caught the smell of scoop from her classmate, Tsukiyama, and secretly followed him, achieving what she was searching in the end. At first he wanted to kill her, but when he saw Hori Chie taking pictures without batting an eye, the interest sprout in him. So after that they started to stick one to another, though deprived of desire to interact.

And this Tsukiyama lately was focused on certain game.

- He said that it was exceedingly delicious prey, but he couldn’t eat it so easily.

- Really?.. And his partner is really strict, isn’t he?

While holding candy she received from Ikuma, Hori Chie agreed and said:

- Rather than that, Ikuma-kun, is idol festival tomorrow?

- Ah, yeah! So, you’ll come?

Reading Ikuma’s thoughts on how can it be that she had interest in idols’ festival on his face, Hori Chie pointed at her camera:

- I have a feeling that I’ll get to lens something interesting!

By hearing this, Ikuma’s cheeks cramped:

- When Hori Chie says “interesting” it should be something terrible for sure…