Rivers of blood ran like rivulets down the alleyway as it made its way down to the streets outside, and stained everything in a dark red.

Breathing heavily, her body still in excruciating pain in the places that had been either torn apart or ripped off. The parts that had been lost, had left behind a dull ache and her still beating heart struggled to keep up a rhythm. To say she was in the greatest of shapes would be an understatement. It was only thanks to her regeneration and ghoul body that she was still alive. If she was a regular human, she would've been dead long ago.

She was weak and she knew it. It had been so long since she had feasted on human flesh, and that made her physical and mental condition not at it's finest.

Earlier that evening, the hunger had gotten the better of her and against her better judgement she had decided to venture outdoors in search for a bite to eat. Although eating humans wasn't something she enjoyed doing; not since a particular event happened.

In the past, she enjoyed nothing but eating humans and she would laugh as she watched them writhe in pain beneath her. Their screams of anguish were like music to her ears. But nowadays the feeling of ecstasy had evolved into something like a trauma for her, and it made her stomach turn just thinking about how it felt for the broken bits of flesh to pass through her mouth, and swallowing it now tasted like tar.

Unfortunately, for her it was the only way for her to survive. Just like the humans needed their food for nourishment, (y/n) needed a different kind of food, and that was the humans themselves.

No matter how much she tried to resist it, no matter how much she ignored it, the hunger was always there, resonating in the pits of her stomach. Tonight was just one of them nights where it had become too much for her.

And just as she had exited her apartment to go hunting, she felt strong arms circle her neck and choke her until she passed out.

After that she had regained consciousness and locked eyes with one of the four men who were surrounding her. That was when she noticed that most of her chest cavity was missing and bits off her flesh were torn, bloody, and she was nothing more than a breathing carcass.

There was no point in struggling, as she was just too weak at that present moment; not just physically, but mentally as well. Maybe this was what she had been waiting for, a chance for her to die.

(y/n) had given up on being a ghoul a long time ago, thanks to a particular tattooed, eye-loving ghoul.

If this was how her life were to end, then she was happy for it to be this way. It was better than nothing anyway.

When the male ghouls had finished they had just abandoned her where she was, bleeding out and pretty much lifeless.

She shut her eyes and allowed a few tears to slip out.

Even if she did wish to die, there was no way she could. Not with her body slowly recovering. Already her bones were righting themselves and her skin was grotesquely stitching itself back together. Soon she would be able to move, but right now that was the last thing she wanted to do. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and stay there.

That was something that apparently wasn't going to happen as she could hear swift footsteps moving towards her.

Splosh, splosh, splosh went the footsteps, as they noisily came into contact with the blood, that was still making its way down the alleyway.

Cigarette smoke wafted in the air and seemed to surround the broken body of (y/n). The first thing she saw were military boots, and they were followed by a knee as the male knelt down beside her.

Her eyes moved upwards and they were met with the red eyes of Uta, who smirked down at her. He reached out towards her face with one of his painted fingers and wiped some of the blood that spilled from her mouth. His actions caused her to flinch.

"Uta you bast..." She didn't manage to complete her sentence as everything had faded to black.

Her ragged breathing seemed to slow down as (y/n) found herself lost in the darkness.

"It's good to lay eyes on you again (y/n)." Uta smiled a genuine smile and carefully picked up the half-dead girl in his arms, turning towards the direction of his shop.

Uta laid (y/n) on his sofa not caring if she was bleeding out on his clean floor or furniture. At this moment, he just cared about her body's condition and despite himself, he was happy to be able to even lay his eyes on her again.

It had been so long since he had seen her and it was probably his fault that he had lost contact with her, not that he would ever admit it to her. The last thing he wanted was to see that smug look on her face, the one that excited him, but he loathed it at the same time.

Right now he was rummaging through his cupboards, searching for the bits of meat he had been saving for a special occasion, or when he really needed it - clearly this was one of them times.

He stood up from his squatting down position and made his way over to the struggling girl. Her eyes were rapidly moving behind their lids; meaning she was in a lot of pain or was having a bad dream. Uta assumed it was the latter.

No matter how you looked at it, she wasn't in the best of shapes and anybody would be in pain. Bits of her flesh were still falling apart, and they looked irreparable. Although some parts had already repaired themselves, there were still some parts that were having a hard time fixing themselves.

Uta still found her beautiful nonetheless. (y/n) had always been beautiful, no matter how much she was covered in blood, even when she was at her worst, Uta found her attractive. Honestly, Uta found her the sexiest when she was laughing maniacally with blood covering her whole body, as she devoured human after human.

There was no point in asking why (y/n) had stopped all of that and gone on a non-human diet, because the raven-haired ghoul knew the exact cause for it; he was the one who was at fault.

Frowning, he held the meat in one hand and squeezed it, making the blood trickle down his hand and enter the mouth of the female ghoul. She visibly gulped, and some of the colour on her face slowly returned to what it once was. (y/n) slightly opened her mouth and obliging, Uta fed her some of the meat, the one she was so obviously craving.

"Why have you starved yourself to this point?" Uta asked her, concern lacing his voice. "You're such an idiot (nickname)."

He bent down, so he was resting on the balls of his feet, and watched as her body finished regenerating. (y/n) suddenly shot up and coughed up some blood. Wheezing, she wiped some blood of her mouth and heard someone clear their throat next to her. With one hand still at her mouth, her eyes widened slightly when she came face to face with the man who made her heart squeeze in both hatred and affection.

How could she love someone she also hated?

Her strength had somewhat recovered, so she was able to leap off the sofa. She stumbled a little, then came to a stop with her back against the wall.

Uta slowly made his way over to her and grinned.

"Uta! Why am I here?" She spat out. "I didn't want to see you again."

Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes and she furiously wiped them away. No way was she was going to let him see her cry.

The male ghoul came to a stop in front of her and just continued to grin at her. He didn't utter a single word.

(y/n) raised her fist and angrily pounded him on the chest. Why, why did he always confuse her?

She was supposed to be angry at him for what he had done, but whenever she saw those eyes of his, or the smile she loved so much, it sent her mind into turmoil.

Weak, she was so weak. Especially when it came to him.

Uta grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms above her head. He leaned over her and he was so close she could even feel his breath.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" He breathed out, "it's been so long since we saw each other."

"No, I'm not happy!" She lied.

Uta saw through her lie and let go of her so suddenly she collapsed to the floor.

"You're pathetic (y/n)." He towered above her and coldly looked down at her. "Go take a shower and clean yourself up. I have to go back to the shop."

And with that he angrily slammed the door, leaving (y/n) still on the floor.

Through blurred vision she could just make out the blood that stained the walls and coated the floor. Excruciating pain racked her body, making it hard to think let alone move.

Her perked up ears picked up on the sounds of the blood-curdling cries of her mother and siblings.

Scanning the room, her eyes locked with the black eyes of the very ghoul who was bringing out those pained voices, as he devoured the people she cared for.

Distant laughter faded into the background as she felt someone roughly shake her shoulders, rousing her from her deep sleep.

And the very eyes that haunted her nightmares met with her (e/c) ones.

Her breathing sounded laboured and sweat beaded on her forehead: she would've thought it strange, with her being a ghoul and all, but with her mind distracted she paid it no heed.

Those eyes - those black, soulless eyes belonged to Uta, the man she hated but also loved.

He destroyed her home, her family and who she used to be, but there was a part of (y/n) that couldn't stop loving him.

Yes it was a weakness, a very big weakness, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't forget the years she had spent with him.

But she was good at hiding it. It was buried deep and there was no way in ghoul-loving hell she was going to submit to Uta.

(Y/n) abruptly sat up and swept away his hand, the one that was pressed to her clammy forehead.

"It seems you don't have a fever." He got to his feet and lifted up something that was placed on the coffee table, before tossing it to her. "Bad dream?"

"Something like that." She mumbled, examining the thing in her hands, the thing being a half-mask: it was black and had red-painted lips, and only her eyes would be visible. She already had a mask, so why would she need this one? She asked the same to Uta: who just said to put it on and follow him.

He picked up some keys and exited the apartment. (Y/n) presumed he was going to wait for her downstairs.

She looked about the room as she got ready. Living here wasn't something she had planned on, but with the attack that happened the other night, Uta felt it would be best if she stayed with him.

She hated the idea of course, but she had nobody else to rely on.

Sighing, she shrugged on her jacket and left the apartment; closing the door behind herself.

She met Uta in the mask shop below and asked him where he was planning on going.

To which he just replied with a grin, "you'll find out when we get there."