It had been a long day for Sunset Shimmer. She had stayed at school late today in order to help plan this year's Fall Formal. While she had enjoyed the extra time to hang out with her friends and being able to help with something, it was now almost ten o'clock. All Sunset could think of doing right now was heading back to her apartment and sleeping for the remainder of the week.
Sunset walked down the path that would ultimately lead her to her apartment building. While it was getting late, she was surprised that there were so few people out roaming the streets. Normally, there would have been a decent sized crowd even at night. But now, there was almost no one. That worried her.
That was when she noticed something. There was another set of foot steps in sync with her own. Sunset turned slightly to see what was behind her, and, lo and behold, she saw a man behind her. There was nothing spectacular about him in terms of appearance. He was scruffy looking, with unruly hair and was unshaven and wore baggy clothes, but something was off about him. Sunset didn't know what it was, but she didn't want to find out. She began to pick up her pace slightly only for the man behind her to pick up his pace as well. This was when Sunset realized that this man was following her. With that knowledge in her head, she broke into a run.
Sunset ran at full speed down the sidewalk with her pursuer hot on her heels. She looked back at her pursuer only to see that not only was he still behind her, but he was drooling. Sunset turned around and kept running as fast as she could, however her pursuer somehow appeared next to her and kicked her into an alleyway. Sunset crashed into a chain link fence and fell to the ground. As Sunset got up from the impact she could feel a small amount of blood trickle from a cut above her left eyebrow. However, before she could get up, she felt a hand grab her leg and hoist her up. She came face to face with her assailant and finally saw his face. More specifically, his eyes. The irises were red, with black sclera, and red veins running across them. The man was a ghoul, a creature that survived by eating human flesh.
"What a pretty face!" the ghoul said in a voice that clearly showed he was not all there, "I think I'll save it for last so I can keep looking at it while I enjoy my meal."
The ghoul opened his mouth and prepared to take a bite out of Sunset. However, before he could, Sunset removed her backpack and hit the ghoul with it. The sudden impact caused the ghoul to stumble and release his grip on her leg. She collapsed to the ground and got up to run away. However, she didn't get more than five feet before something wrapped itself around her waist. She looked down to see what looked like a large blue luminescent tail, before it dragged her back to the ghoul.
"You're a feisty one aren't you, hot stuff?" the ghoul said, "I think I'll take your heart first."
The ghoul angled his hand in a way that would pierce her chest. Sunset closed her eyes and prepared for the end. She heard a loud splattering sound and felt several drops of what she assumed to be blood hit her face. However, she felt no pain. Instead, she hesitantly opened her eyes and almost regretted it. The ghoul had what looked like a scaled blue tentacle sticking out of his abdomen as blood flowed out from the grievous wound. Behind the ghoul was a figure cloaked in a black hood and the tentacle weapon sticking out of his lower back, around the waist area. The ghoul that had Sunset hoisted up finally lost his grip on her and she fell to the ground. Sunset looked on as her former pursuer looked as if he was about to be torn to sheds by his assailant. However, instead of killing the ghoul, the hooded figure swiftly turned around and threw the ghoul off of his weapon. The ghoul flew for several yards before landing in the street. The frightened creature got to his feet and scampered off.
The figure then turned towards Sunset. That was when the scared girl saw it. The figure was wearing a black leather mask with large, artificial teeth and what looked like an eyepatch covering his left eye. His exposed eye, however, was identical to the eye of the ghoul that had just attacked her. Sunset attempted to get up and run, until she actually looked at the hooded ghoul. Despite the intimidating look of the mask, there seemed to be a strange kind of gentleness coming from the way the ghoul was looking at her. Sunset realized that, at least for the moment, this ghoul had no desire to hurt her. The ghoul got close to her and knelt down in front of her. Sunset was about to say something when she felt a light pressure in her neck and fell into unconsciousness.
***
Sunset was awakened by a loud, high pitched, beeping. She rolled over in her bed and pressed the "off" button on her alarm clock. She sat up and stretched loudly. It was strange, the events of last night felt like nothing more than a bad dream, but she was sure that everything she'd seen had happened to her. She went to scratch an itch above her eyebrow, when she felt something. She shot up from her bed and ran over to the full length mirror in the corner of her bedroom. She saw that above her left eyebrow, there was a large bandage covering the cut she'd received the night before. However, there was something else she saw. There was a piece of paper with a note scribbled on it taped to the mirror. It read;
Wash the cut with soap and water whenever you bathe and change the bandage after.
Sincerely,
Eyepatch
Sunset looked at the note several times before she noticed the time. It was a little after six o'clock, meaning that she had enough time to get through her morning routine. She went into the bathroom an took a quick shower, taking this "Eyepatch's" advice and washing out the cut with soap and water. After toweling herself off, and replacing her bandage, she grabbed her usual attire of a teal blouse with a see through skirt, a pair of light blue skinny jeans, a pair of black heeled boots, and a leather jacket with yellow stripes on the sleeves. After getting dressed, Sunset decided that she simply wanted toast for breakfast. She grabbed two slices of bread and placed them in her toaster and waited for them to finish toasting before buttering and eating them.
With her morning routine complete, Sunset Shimmer rushed out the door, locked it, and began to run to school. The first bell was at 7:30 am sharp. It was just before seven o'clock right now, meaning she had a little over half an hour to get to class. She managed to get all the way to school in just under ten minutes and calmly made her way to her homeroom class. As she opened the door to her homeroom class she was immediately greeted by a flurry of purple and a bone crushing hug. She realized who it was almost instantly.
"Oh, Sunset dearie!" said an over dramatic and high society voice, "I heard what happened! Are you okay?! Did that ruffian hurt you?!"
"Rarity," Sunset said as she struggled to breath, "I'm fine. Really. I'm just a little scraped up."
"How can that be true?!" Rarity said, "You where attacked by one of those 'ghoul' creatures! How can you be 'Just a little scraped up?'"
"I got away before he could do anything too bad." Sunset said as Rarity finally let her go.
"Wait you got away before he could do anything?" said a mid pitched somewhat book wormy voice, "How do you know he didn't follow you back home?"
Sunset looked behind Rarity to see the rest of her friends, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.
"You could say I have a feeling I won't see him again any time soon." Sunset responded.
As they continued to chat about Sunset's encounter with the ghoul, their homeroom teacher, the always peppy, Miss Cheerilee. Seeing their teacher had arrived, the students all took their seats.
"Good morning students." Cheerilee said in a sing-song voice.
"Good morning Miss Cheerilee." responded the students, most of which in a robotic fashion.
Cheerilee placed her handbag on her desk before turning back to the class.
"Before we begin, today I have a special announcement."
Hearing this the students began to perk up, wondering what would make Cheerilee even more peppy than she normally was.
"Starting today," Cheerilee began, "Our class will be receiving a new student."
This caused all of the students to perk up a bit. They hadn't gotten a new student since Twilight transferred from Crystal Prep last year. This was always exciting for them. Cheerilee turned towards the door and said, "Class please give a warm CHS welcome to your new friend, Mister Kaneda Shiro."
With that a young man walked through the door. His appearance caused many of the students to gasp. He was of average height and build, with a thin face, and a visible blue eye. His attire was unspectacular for a boy in his late teens. He wore a grey zip up hoodie over a black shirt, dark blue jeans, and a pair of Converse All-Star sneakers. But that wasn't what drew the class's attention. The first thing that made him interesting was the fact that he wore a medical eyepatch over his right eye. The second was his hair. It was somewhat messy, and was completely white, despite the boy only looking to be about eighteen.
"Hi there." he said in a calm voice, "My name is Kaneda Shiro. I'll be joining your class for the remainder of the year. I hope I get to know each of you very well."
"Thank you very much Mister Shiro." Cheerilee said, "Now, you may take any open seat you like."
Kaneda bowed towards Cheerilee before taking a seat in the third row near the window.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's begin today's class." Cheerilee said as she began to write out the day's lesson on the board.
***
After a very long and, from many students' perspective, boring series of classes, the lunch bell finally rang. Students shuffled out of class and into the hallway to make their way to the lunchroom. Sunset Shimmer grabbed a tray of food (which looked like it went bad 20 years ago) and began her search for a seat. That was when she noticed that the new guy was sitting by himself, reading a book. She decided to be friendly and walked over to his table.
"Excuse me." Sunset said when she finally reached a seat at his table, "Is this seat taken?"
Kaneda looked up from his book and said, "No. Go ahead."
Sunset sat down across from Kaneda before saying, "I'm surprised more people aren't trying to sit with you. Most people try to make the new student feel welcome here."
"Well, most of people don't have prematurely white hair and an eyepatch." Kaneda said.
Realizing how rude that came across Kaneda placed his book down and said, "I'm sorry. That came out unintentionally hostile."
Sunset was about to say something when she noticed Twilight was now joining the two of them.
"Hello." Twilight said in here usual "nervous to meet new people," way, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I was trying to find you to welcome you to CHS, but it looks like Sunset beat me to the punch."
"It's a pleasure." Kaneda responded, as he picked up his book.
Twilight looked at Sunset, who shrugged not knowing what to do. The two of them decided to bring the conversation to him.
"So, where are you from?" Sunset asked.
"Tokyo." Kaneda responded.
"Oh wow!" Twilight responded, "I've always wanted to go to Japan! What's it like?"
"It's kinda nice, I guess." Kaneda responded finally putting down his book, "I lived there my whole life, so I never really thought about it."
"I know how you feel." Sunset replied, "I've lived here for so long, I never really think about other people not knowing what it's like."
Kaneda nodded and closed his book, seemingly deciding to fully participate in the conversation.
"So, what's your book about?" Twilight asked.
Kaneda looked down at the book he was reading. It was a rather unimpressive looking book. The cover was completely blank with the exception of the title, which was written in blood red Japanese characters.
"It's the definitive guide to ghouls." Kaneda said.
"Whoa!" said a somewhat scratchy female voice, "There's a book about those ghoul guys? That is so awesome!"
The three of them turned to see Rainbow Dash was now joining them, as well as the rest of Sunset and Twilight's friends.
"There's a book on just about everything, if you're willing to look for it." Kaneda said.
"Yeah, sorry." Rainbow responded, "I'll wait for the movie."
This caused everyone to laugh, except Kaneda, who merely offered a smile.
***
The day was over and the students filed out one by one. Kaneda began to walk out as he was eager to return to his apartment. However, before he could completely leave the school grounds, he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around to see the girl who had been the first to approach him at lunch.
"Um...Sunset Shimmer, right?" Kaneda asked.
"Yeah..." Sunset responded, "So, you seem know a lot about ghouls."
"I dabble." Kaneda responded.
"Do you know anything about specific ghouls?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Sunset looked nervously at her feet. In truth, she didn't want to tell Kaneda about what happened last night, but there was little choice in the matter. She wanted answers and it seemed like he was the only one who could give them to her.
"I was attacked by one last night." Sunset shakily responded, gaining a slight amount of sympathy from Kaneda, "But, before he could do anything, I was rescued by someone who seemed to be a ghoul as well. I just..."
As Sunset responded, she began to shake nervously. Despite not being seriously injured, it was still the most terrifying experience she'd ever been a part of. She was always afraid of appearing weak, but that creature had put the fear of death in her. Sunset was about to start crying, when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She opened her eyes to find Kaneda was hugging her.
"Sorry," Kaneda said as he broke off the embrace, "I may have overstepped my boundaries a bit, but I've never been able to handle a crying girl all that well."
"It's okay." Sunset responded, "I think I needed that."
"So what do you want to know?" Kaneda asked.
"The ghoul who rescued me, I think he goes by the name 'Eyepatch.' Do you know anything?"
"That might be a tough one." Kaneda said, "A lot of information on specific ghouls it classified."
Sunset frowned in disappointment. In all honesty, she didn't really care who this 'Eyepatch' really was, but she really wanted to find him so she could thank him.
"But, there may be a way." Kaneda responded, "It's not entirely legal though."
Sunset looked up at Kaneda and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I have an old friend in the CCG." Kaneda responded. Sunset had heard about the CCG. They were an organization tasked to deal with ghouls by any means necessary.
"I could see if he knows anything."
"But I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me." Sunset said realizing what Kaneda planned to do.
"Again, I said I he could see if he knows anything about the 'Eyepatch.' Whether or not he can tell me is up to chance."
Sunset looked at this boy in shock. This boy was willing to do something illegal just so she could get closure. Just who was he?
"Well, I need to go." Kaneda said, "I'm working the night shift tonight. My boss will be pissed if I show up late again."
Kaneda turned and began to walk away. "I'll see you tomorrow."
***
Kaneda walked through a small district of Canterlot city. It was not quite an urban hot spot, but for a person who just immigrated from another country, it was cozy enough. Kaneda rounded a street corner and found himself in front of a quaint little coffee shop called "Cup of Joe." While not exactly Starbucks, it was perfect for the average broke collage student. Kaneda walked into the coffee shop and was greeted by the cheers of the workers.
"'Ey, look whose here!" said a big man with blonde hair and green eyes.
"Hey, Adam." Kaneda said, "Is the boss around?"
"Yeah," Adam responded, "He should be in your room now."
Kaneda nodded as he entered the door behind the counter with a sign on it that read, "Employees Only."
Kaneda walked down the hall all the way to the end and stepped through the last door on the right. This was his room in the apartment building attached to the shop. It wasn't anything impressive. It was a small one bedroom apartment with a basic living room that had a medium sized sofa facing the television as well as two cushioned chairs. Immediately through the door was a desk with a bowl for keys with a mirror above it. Kaneda placed his keys in the bowl along with his eyepatch. Kaneda looked into the mirror as he did every day, and saw his right eye hadn't changed. It still had a red iris and black sclera. However, his left eye was still its normal blue color. As Kaneda looked into the mirror, he heard a voice come from one of the chairs.
"You never change, do you?"
Kaneda turned his head to see his boss. He had about the same build as Kaneda, being only slightly taller than him. He was about twenty four years old and had black hair with white streaks towards the tips and black eyes. He wore a standard black suit and white tie.
"Well, is it too much to hope that one day, this damn thing will disappear Sasaki-san?" Kaneda responded in a friendly tone.
"I suppose not." Sasaki responded, "So, how was your first day?"
"Well, so far, I haven't found them. They've been here for a long time, so they probably know how to blend in pretty well."
"That's not what I meant. Did you have fun? Did you make any friends?"
"I...I guess. There were these girls who I talked with at lunch. They were nice."
"Good. It's always good to have a few friends. You never know when-"
"'You'll need them to bail you out,' I know."
"You know it's true." Sasaki replied.
Kaneda sat down in the chair opposite Sasaki's and said, "Listen, Sasaki-san. I need a favor."
Author's Note
Hello everyone and welcome to my first attempt at writing on this site. In order to address a few things, Kaneda is not a self insert OC. I know the stigma of self insert OCs, so I'm trying to avoid it as much as possible. Also, for those who know the source material of Tokyo Ghoul, expect some gory moments in the later chapters, so I apologize if that isn't your thing. Finally, I'm taking some liberties with Tokyo Ghoul, having not yet read :re, so I apologize for any inconsistencies.
Any who, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns let me know. Thank you for reading and have a good day.