District 20
In the beautiful Anteiku café, Kenzo sat at the counter, absentmindedly cleaning cups with an expressionless look.
"Kenzo, it's time to work. Cheer up!" Said the café manager, looking at the young man not too far away, whose face bore a palpable loneliness, slowly cracking his inner self.
"Manager... I'm better than ever. Why do you assume I'm not okay just because I'm silent?" Kenzo asked without looking up, his eyes focused on cleaning the cup in his hand the whole time.
"You went out again at night, didn't you? When things don't go well emotionally, you try to ease your anger outside. This time it took you much longer than usual since you came back past two in the morning. Did you go back to that place?" Manager Yoshimura wasn't angry at Kenzo's uninterested response, who had stopped cleaning.
"It doesn't matter if I went to that place! He knows perfectly well what I think and what anyone would think, knowing my stance on it. I'd much rather have ended it..." Kenzo's calm voice rose in volume upon hearing those questions.
Seeing Kenzo's attitude, as he bottled up his anger within himself, Manager Yoshimura shook his head with a certain helplessness. He is the owner of this café, his full name is Kuzen Yoshimura, and the apathetic young man was his son from whom he had been separated for many years. To be more direct, he had abandoned him because he didn't have time to take care of him, and for many more complicated reasons to explain in a few words.
Years ago, Kuzen Yoshimura, like most Ghouls seeking power and survival, cannibalized Ghouls and humans alike, even isolating himself from his fellow Ghouls to do whatever it took to live.
Then, his abnormal strength soon caught the attention of the organization V, who heard about an abnormally strong Ghoul named Kuzen.
In his youth, Kuzen Yoshimura decided to cooperate with these Ghouls and joined the organization to serve as their cleaner, much like a literal cleaner, responsible for eliminating hostile forces to the organization or those who disrupted the world, even Ghouls who were just trying to survive.
His existence as a Ghoul bothered him, seeing himself as a curse that killed others in order to stay alive.
Although at that time, Yoshimura had sorted out the issues in his life, he still felt very alone, and the organization hadn't become a place for him.
After meeting Ukina, his personality underwent a favorable change. He began to slowly open his heart to her, and ultimately, he came to love her immensely. It was through his relationship with Ukina that Yoshimura decided to create Anteiku and pursue his goal of helping those with a similar past and other Ghouls or humans in need.
During that time, he learned that his wife was pregnant with twins, but he knew perfectly well that a human couldn't bear a child due to the fact that, in most cases, they would be stillborn due to lack of nourishment. When he coldly shared these words with his wife, Ukina, he thought she would give up on the idea of becoming parents.
However, there was a single way for their babies' lives to be saved, and it was at that moment that Ukina started consuming human flesh to provide the necessary nutrients for her children to be born. Yoshimura knew that there was still a chance of not succeeding.
But against all odds, a miracle happened, and she gave birth to their beautiful twins, which was extremely rare among Ghouls. However, as if this weren't surprising enough, the boy was born completely human.
The birth of twins, one girl, and one boy, remains a very miraculous case.
A half-Ghoul girl and a completely normal human boy.
The girl's name is Eto, and the boy's name is Kenzo.
In other words, the name Kenzo was chosen by Kuzen himself, who, in other words, was his father, but due to many circumstances, Kenzo didn't consider him as a father.
But going back to the past, Kuzen found Ukina's diary where he discovered that she was a reporter seeking information about V, and the organization, on their side, discovered the relationship between Kuzen and Ukina. They forced Kuzen to make a decision, kill Ukina or die together. In an isolated place, Kuzen chose to flee with Ukina, but she was killed right before his eyes. So, in the end, he escaped with his twin children, Eto and Kenzo.
Eto was entrusted to Noro, who was known as Noroi back then when she was a child. Kuzen could only do that because it was the only way to protect her properly.
But the less concerning issue was Kenzo's, as at that time, he was considered a regular human.
So, Kuzen finally decided to give Kenzo to an ordinary old man to raise him, and he continued to run alone.
When this ordinary old man picked up Kenzo as a baby, Kuzen only left him a notebook. Unfortunately, the old man who raised Kenzo was illiterate and eventually called the baby by his name.
Yes, during the first ten years of his life, he was human... But everything changed when the stimulus in a life-or-death situation awakened something within him, something that was hidden deep within. When he discovered that he was a Ghoul, there were certain issues at the beginning regarding how to control his power, which was extremely difficult to keep under control.
During that time, he was raised by the old man, and the old man never realized what he was. He never knew, and for Kenzo, it was much better that way because that was the only way to move forward. Most of his time was spent training his abilities. He was good at it because he was much more adaptable than others and could quickly adapt to any situation.
He soon created an organization called the "Three-Eyed Crows." Its primary role in creating this group of Ghouls was to find a way to protect himself and others from humans. His knowledge was extensive, and he knew perfectly well that they were strong now, but that could change in the future because humans are geniuses in warfare. That's why they have always been the winners in ancient times when they faced beasts much more brutal than a Ghoul.
Ghouls were nothing new, just beasts that hunted among human civilization and would soon be hunted in their place. But Kenzo knew something very important, and that was that the only way to escape was with power, which could only be obtained with money and good connections.
That's why he soon recruited decent Ghouls whom he ordered not to kill because that was the key to not exposing themselves to capture. For that same reason, they needed the help of someone who could feed them. This issue was easy to address for Kenzo; the easiest way to obtain human flesh was through traffickers who never lacked corpses to dispose of.
What's the best way to get rid of a corpse than to deliver it to the Ghouls for consumption? For money, Kenzo had to resort to unethical methods at first, but that was only until he found sponsors.
How did he do this?
When fears arise that everyone is afraid of, many people do everything they can to protect themselves, including extremely wealthy businessmen who fear for their lives. For them, Kenzo offered a protection program in exchange for cash. These businessmen were initially distrustful, but after clever ways to gain their trust, several business agreements were established.
Kenzo thought a lot about it and believed he would fail in his first attempt, but surprisingly, that was not the case, so his initial problems decreased. The first client was hard to get, but soon more people were interested in having Ghouls trained by Kenzo's company as bodyguards.
When you have money, all you need is an ingenious mind to move in the shadows without humans noticing, much like drugs but instead of moving white powder, they were moving human flesh.
Everything was going perfectly, Kenzo's organization, which focused on providing food in exchange for money and training Ghouls who couldn't defend themselves, began to increase in numbers, and after several years, it managed to establish itself permanently in District 20.
But while he mostly focused his time on his organization, he completely neglected his adoptive father, who died due to his advanced age. Kenzo was not a person who liked to delve into the lives of others, but somehow he knew that the old man who cared for him had lost his family a month before Kenzo arrived at his doorstep.
When the old man died, Kenzo was only fifteen, and at that very moment, Kuzen Yoshimura appeared before him again.
For this man who was his father, Kenzo didn't have much to say. Inside him, there was neither hatred nor guilt, just pity. At that moment, he realized that strength was much more important than he had considered, which is why he understood that he had to be strong, and those who followed him had to be much more lethal.
However, still being young, Kenzo didn't understand his true father's reasons for leaving him in a stranger's house when he was perfectly fine.
Kenzo looked at the cup in his hand and murmured, "I can't understand you, Kuzen. You have great power, but you can't protect your loved ones. You should have thought about it when you fell in love with my mother. You and I are monsters, but you still don't need to know it."
At this point, Kenzo knew his father's identity, but his father still didn't know he was a Ghoul. Kuzen might have suspected it, but he never dared to ask, perhaps out of fear or some sense of guilt at realizing he had been wrong more than he thought.
"I told you that I take care of the old man's company. He left everything in my name, so even though my presence is not necessary, I have to go once a week to make sure there are no problems." Kenzo didn't know why he was upset, but every time he looked at his father Kuzen, he felt a deep sense of sadness.
'Why is this old man who abandoned me so sad? I should be the one who's sad. I should cry and blame you for abandoning me. You have no idea how many times I thought you abandoned me because I was a monster. You have no idea what I had to go through to control my own power. Maybe you'll never know, and that's fine for both of us.'
For the first time, Kenzo encountered someone he couldn't understand. His heightened senses of perception were not enough to comprehend what had happened to his father Kuzen, let alone uncover the true story behind his birth.
He had investigated, and Ghouls are born as Ghouls; there is no record of them becoming Ghouls after birth. So, he shouldn't blame his father in this regard.
"Hey, Kenzo..." Koma Enji couldn't help but speak to stop him, but a hand touched his shoulder, and Irimi Kaya shook her head. Father and son had always had this discussion every time the day they started living in this cafe approached.
Koma Enji looked at Irimi Kaya in confusion and then turned his gaze to Manager Yoshimura.
"I'm sorry; they've made you uncomfortable again, I suppose it'll be this way for a while." Manager Yoshimura said with a slight expressionless smile.
"But Manager Yoshimura, we're talking about your son; are you going to let him continue like this?" Koma Enji was more upset than usual.
Hearing this, Manager Yoshimura fell silent. Kenzo was his son, but he was a human like his mother. If he thinks about it, it would be too unfair to reveal the whole truth to him because he didn't want to burden his son's conscience.
As a father, he's a Ghoul, which can be difficult for any normal human to accept. And since Kenzo is currently the only relative by his side, he can only choose to be as tolerant and understanding of his feelings as possible.
"Don't say a word." Irimi Kaya shook her head as she arranged the cups that Kenzo had cleaned.
"I, the famous monkey, will educate Kenzo properly and give him a few kicks to make him behave."
"Stop talking nonsense; this doesn't concern us!" Irimi Kaya warned the loud Koma that now wasn't the time.
When Koma looked at the silent Manager Yoshimura, he understood that he should stop right now. "Haha... Manager Yoshimura, I'm sorry for intruding!"
"Oh, it's okay. Anyway, I wouldn't expect that kid to be of much help in the cafe. Since he's tired, he should rest."
Kuzen Yoshimura didn't mind and smiled a little.
"I'm back!"
At that moment, a voice rang out, and a girl with slightly short hair entered the old cafe.
"Oh, you're here, Touka. How did the shopping go this time?" Manager Yoshimura asked with a smile when he saw the girl come in through the door.
"Well, all the items on the list were successfully purchased. By the way, where's Kenzo?" Touka put down the objects in her hands, looked around the place where Kenzo usually was, and couldn't find him anywhere.
"That boy is still too temperamental." Koma Enji felt a sharp pinch on his back, and his disbelieving eyes turned towards the assertive woman Irimi Kaya.
"He went back to his room to sleep!" Irimi Kaya responded swiftly with an indifferent look.
Shaking his head, Koma Enji pointed upstairs.
"What's he doing this time? That guy has been going out every night recently and doesn't come back until after two in the morning. He can't go on like this; I'll call him!" Touka heard the words, frowned, and went to look for Kenzo.
"Oh..." After Koma Enji saw this, he shrugged at the store manager.
The store manager still didn't mind; he knew Kenzo was getting increasingly confused and would leave him in peace for a while until he decided to approach him.