Candlelight

**Candlelight** is the sixth arc set during the events of TGRP. It takes place during the course of April, starting from the beginning of the month and extending until its very end. There are multiple important events unfolding in the arc that bear significant importance.

After the Aogiri 11th Ward base raid occurring in Eye for an Eye, the faction was forced to hide inside smaller safehouses and their numbers were forcefully reduced. In a bid to strike back and regain reputation, morale, as well as attract potential recruits, Kota Okada birthed the plan to attack the 12th Ward Branch Office (which is coincidentally the man's previous place of dwelling and the former home of the Fox Gang which he was a member of). At the same time, CCG starts an investigation into the concert massacre conducted by Shuukaku and dispatches a squad to investigate the group responsible and hunt them down. An unnamed employer also hired various mercenaries to retrieve information on Quinque technology from the CCG and deliver it to them. Maki Itokawa also initiates the final stages of his plan to annihilate the Inquisitors, attempting to set Nikki and the entirety of Anteiku on the mercenary group by staging an Aogiri attack on the cafe and having his subordinates pretend to be employees of Shidu.

Following an investigation performed by Waller Squad that had occurred as a result of the concert attack, several ghoul investigators end up matched against Shuukaku at the ruins of the 11th Ward Aogiri base. Things pick up pace when The Colorless, following their own investigation into the matter, join in and support the CCG in combating the death cult.

The base of the Inquisitors is raided by the CCG, following Maki Itokawa's anonymous tip-off regarding Yuureien being a den of ghouls.

## 12th Ward Branch Office attack

### Introduction

While Aogiri and the factionless mercenaries prepare to strike, CCG investigators investigators are actually pulled from the 12th Ward in order to be sent to more problematic zones.

### Aogiri attack

Kota Okada goes around the various Aogiri safehouses, working on informing the entirety of Aogiri about the plan to assault the 12th Ward Branch Office. Eventually, he manages to do just that and segments the force into multiple teams that are to deal with different objectives once the actual attack starts:

Main force - the main group whose function is to conduct the attack and kill as many opponents as possible.

Sabotage team - The sabotage team strikes first, before any other force, and their goal is to render the Branch Office's power supply defunct and plunge the whole building into blackness, causing chaos and disarray. It consists in the ghoul siblings Kaoru and Minato, the former of which uses her knowledge as an electrical engineer to more easily trash the power facilities.

Long range support team - The long range team is conduced of only two people - Kichirou Kurosawa and Hachi Kasamatsu. The former plays a key role in busting up the building as well as breaking the armoured windows so that there are more entrances for the Aogiri troops. He accomplishes that by utilising a siege-based Quinque, Thanatos B, that he looted from the corpse of the deceased First Class Andrei Fukov that perished in combat in a fight against him some time ago.

"PR" team - This group consists in Haruna Suzuki and her bodyguard Kuroneki Osiris, who steal records of the branch office, as well as incinerate whatever they left of the archives. Additionally, they also took pictures of dead investigators for as of yet unrevealed reasons.

"Fashion designers" team - This team consists in Kamen and Itsuki Karamasu The Crimson Fucker, who work together to paint Aogiri's symbol on the front wall of the Branch Office.

Separately from Aogiri, factionless mercenaries group up at a hotel where an unknown client hires them to steal information on Quinque technology. Kamen is present at the meeting and informs the mercenaries that he can point them to a location where items of interest could be found, assuming they cooperate with him.

On the CCG side of things, the aggression from Aogiri's nastier killers that had been setting the pressure at Wards 8, 16 and 20 had attracted their attention and led up to CCG drawing forces from the eastern Wards and assigning them to the western ones. Naturally, there were some teams that were switched, which resulted in lots of familiar faces being deployed in the 12th Ward Branch Office.

#### *Kayami Mizushina and Jiro Horikoshi vs Kota Okada (Fox) and Juggernaut*

Kayami rushes towards Juggernaut, but is quickly demolished by the vastly superior opponent. Jiro engages in a somewhat drawn out fight with Kota in which neither man really sustains any significant damage. Kota, seemingly sick of the game of tag, flees and exits the branch office through the window. Eventually, as he stands on a rooftop, he runs into Asa Yakou and coerces her into helping Aogiri.

#### *Nai Hanashimasu (Scarecrow) vs Rin Zuki*

Rin Zuki spots and attack Scarecrow, managing to land considerable blows onto the Shuukaku ghoul. However, she is caught off-guard as Nai attacks her with his severed Bikaku tail, piercing her spine and killing her in the process. As a result, Nai also retrieves Essence - a Koukaku Quinque made from Berserker, his comrade from Shuukaku. The sword Quinque then becomes an item he greatly cherishes.

#### *Kamen (Kiro) and Itsuki Karamasu (The Crimson Fucker) vs Izumi Okazaki*

Kamen decides to occupy Izumi and buys Itsuki time to finish the drawing of the insignia. Kamen manages to hold Izumi Okazaki down for some time by being extremely cautious in his fight against the CCG investigator. However, eventually he is pressed into a corner and forced to resort to more reckless attacks in order to accomplish his mission. This results in him losing his leg to Izumi's blade, but not before Itsuki Karamasu had managed to complete the drawing. Itsuki then swiftly saves Kamen by impaling him on his Bikaku and carrying him away. Kamen also manages to retrieve his leg during the escape.

#### *Akane Hayashi (Spring-Heeled Jack) vs Kinmaru Kurotsuchi and Dan Hohen*

Akane enters a rather brief fight against the two investigators which concludes with her embedding herself onto the ceiling and refusing to come down so the men could fight her. This results in a rather vulgar response from Kinmaru who quickly leaves at the preposterous suggestion that he'd ever wait for anyone and Dan quickly follows.

#### *Hinode Suiryusei (Basilisk) and Shun Kirishima (Storyteller) vs Junko Kobayashi and Chiyo Aikawa*

The pairs engage in combat which concludes with the ghouls taking some damage and emerging fatigued, before they're forced to back down and run away in order to evade extermination. Later on, Chiyo Aikawa catches up on Basilisk and manages to dispose of him anyway.

#### *Ayano Morino (Queen) vs Kori*

This fight drags on for quite a bit and concludes with Kori taking significant enough damage to become immobile, which allows Ayano to run away, but not before she's lost all of her Bikaku tails as well as having her Ukaku disabled.

#### *Ayano Morino (Queen) vs Izumi Okazaki*

Izumi Okazaki stumbles upon the injured Ayano Morino. Ayano, in turn, attempts to trick him and pretend to be an injured investigator in order to get away without a fight. However, Izumi expresses the slightest hints of doubt regarding the legitimacy of Ayano's claims, and decides to kill her, *regardless of whether she's a ghoul or not*, just to be sure. He also attempts to deceive her and try a surprise attack, which Ayano survive. Izumi then presses on his offensive in order to kill her and manages to land several hits, all the while Ayano keeps to the defensive. Eventually the two exchange blows, which results in light injuries for Izumi and Ayano's death. Soon after, Haruna Suzuki jumps out of her hiding spot and quickly steals Ayano's Quinque before instantly running away.

#### *Daren Blackshire (Soundwave) vs Alistair Bake*

Daren Blackshire goes to the basement floors of the Branch Office and attempts to steal various documents and Quinques. He is stopped by Alistair Bake, who arrives and intercepts him. The two men lock in combat, where both Alistair and Daren give their best, the former utilising his trademark acrobatics and the later resorting to using his powerful Ukaku kagune. The two engage in a mix of long and short range combat, from which they both receive considerable injuries. The fight concludes in a stalemate as Daren grabs onto Alistair's weapons. In the process, he himself is left unable to fight as if he lets go of the weapons in order to strike his opponent would regain his Quinque. As the No-Eyed Queen arrives, Daren decides to let Alistair go, allowing her to take care of him instead.

#### *Taka Hyoukin vs Sayaka Rei*

Taka Hyoukin notices that the 12th Ward Branch Office is under attack and prepares for any attackers, blocking access to the room he is in with his shield Quinque. However, soon after Sayaka Rei arrives and manages to break through his shield with her Rinkaku kagune. The man is then killed by the aforementioned ghoul.

#### *Kaoru Tomori (Golem) and Minato Tomori (Puppeteer) vs Reika Hinomori and Hiroka Mizushima*

The two pairs engage in combat, the CCG investigators fighting to prevent the ghouls from sabotaging the electric installation in the 12th Ward building.

#### *Haruna Suzuki (Scribe) and Osiris Kuroneki (Ice)*

The two ghouls steal some files from the CCG, set fire to the CCG archives and take pictures of dead investigators for as of now unknown reasons.

#### *Kichirou Kurosawa (One-Winged Dove) and Hachi Kasamatsu (Arachnid) vs Katsuo Hattori and Bob Smith*

The two investigators move up to the building that Kichirou is using to fire the cannon from and attack him, but are pushed back by the two ghouls and are forced to retreat.

#### *Maki Itokawa (Incision)*

The young ghoul attempts to steal data from the CCG servers. He remains largely undisturbed, allowing him to accomplish his task with ease. Maki Itokawa also runs into Ayano Morino and the two declare that they are no longer going to be hostile towards each other, as well as set a meeting during which they'll talk in greater detail. Unfortunately, Ayano dies short after in the raid.

#### *Xeno Akizaki (Smoke) vs Izumi Okazaki*

The two lock in combat that continues over a moderate period of time, which concludes with Xeno sustaining light wounds and one of Izumi's swords shattering.

#### *Duke Baldwin de Valois (Ironclad) vs Jon Voo*

Jon lunges at Baldwin, only to be disarmed by the gigantic ghoul once his attack lands. The match ends with both participants withdrawing for one reason or another.

#### *Kane Heyma (Fox) vs Hiraku Kei*

Hiraku Kei spots Kane Heyma messing with computers in the 12th Ward Branch Office. He then approaches Kane and tells him to go away. Kane, obviously, refuses to go away and viciously attacks Hiraku, who hides behind his defensive Quinque and doesn't attempt to do anything apart from that and telling the ghoul to go away. In an *extremely* intense battle which results in a ruined sleeve and shoes, Hiraku is pushed back and force to retreat. Kane allows him to do that because he honestly just doesn't care enough to try and pursue anyone.

#### *Kichirou Kurosawa (One-Winged Dove) vs Kane Heyma (Fox)*

Sent by Kota Okada to assassinate Kane Heyma, Kichirou Kurosawa enters a fight against the Ukaku ghoul. After a moderately long skirmish, Kane is left at Kichirou's mercy, who attempts to end the Ukaku's life. However, Maki Itokawa intervenes and saves Kane, citing the need for Kane to be alive due to his knowledge about the lab raid and the suspected traitor, Tojo.

#### *Osiris Kuroneki (Ice) vs Sachi Raku (7 Lashes)*

Kuroneki Osiris enters a fight against Sachi Raku and both of them trade some blows, but eventually they resolve the conflict and head their separate ways.

#### *Juggernaut vs Nakano Otsuji*

Nakano Otsuji intercepts Juggernaut and the two lock in combat from which there is no clear victor, although it appears that Juggernaut held the upper hand for the duration of the fight. The humongous giant only leaves once it hears the sound of CCG reinforcements approaching.

#### *Xeno Akizaki vs Miles Koumoto*

After a rather brief encounter and a little bit of one-sided combat, Xeno defeats Miles but spares his life, allowing him to live another day.

#### *Gao Mahoshi vs Kaiyo Ishikawa*

Gao Mahoshi is attacked by Kaiyo Ishikawa and is quickly killed once the ghoul releases her Ukaku kagune, even though the two appear to be evenly matched before that.

#### *Asa Yakou vs Matsushita Squad*

Asa Yakou joins in the Aogiri assault on the 12th Ward Branch Office and slaughters a fair share of investigators that were going to assist the defenders as reinforcements. The woman plans to continue killing more and more CCG personnel, but she runs into Matsushita Squad, which proves somewhat problematic for her to deal with. After a decently long fight and multiple injuries that she sustained against the investigators, she manages to take down all of the Rank 2 investigators in the squad - Tomoyuki Otsuji, Okubo Sawamura and Kosuke Ichijouji. Once she gets to fighting First Class Kouta Matsushita, she appears to be quite vehement about killing him and then finishing off his incapacitated underlings, but as the No-Eyed Queen arrives, their fight is interrupted due to Asa's unwillingness to stay anywhere near close to behemoth Kakuja ghouls. In a final, mocking gesture, Asa feeds on the corpse of a killed investigator before taunting Kouta and leaving the vicinity.

#### *CCG vs Velvet Devoré*

As Velvet Devoré makes her appearance and descends from the top of construction site onto the 12th Ward Branch Office, she quickly kills off the local Branch Office senior investigator in charge, but is soon faced with another, more challenging foe. Special Class Akane Hotaru intercepts the Kakuja and calls for reinforcements. Ultimately, Akane, Kouta, Jiro, Hiraku and Alistair engage the Kakuja in combat, with Alistair being instantly decimated. The rest fare much better, as Kouta manages to inflict some damage to the Kakuja, whereas Hiraku succeeds in protecting himself and Jiro. Akane herself resorts to an extremely dangerous attack and overloads the safety mechanisms on her SS rated Quinque, which provides it with enough explosive power to destroy the Velvet's Kakuja shell and force her to retreat, but ends up ruining her arms in the process.

### Conclusion

The aftermath of the 12th Ward attack leaves the CCG with a destroyed Branch Office and severely diminished presence in the location, as well as heavy losses. On the other hand, Aogiri Tree manage to bolster their reputation, and hence, forces, by alluring new recruits in with their new achievement. They also gain the S rated Optio ghoul as a new member. Meanwhile, The No-Eyed Queen is ranked as an SSS rank level threat. Due to her injuries, Special Class Akane Hotaru is also released from her services in the field as well as her responsibilities as the 20th Ward Branch head. The formulation of Kotsuzan squad is also a direct result from that, as well as the deaths of Bureau Director Ren Kawaguchi and Associate Special Class Marune Nakamori. In addition, the group that hired the mercenaries to participate in the attack on the Branch Office also managed to get their hands on some Quinques thanks to the operation.

## Shuukaku investigation

Waller Squad are assigned to investigate the perpetrators behind the concert attack. During their investigation, they do some analysis, receive a tip off and even go to consult an imprisoned Jack Conklin that's revealed to be alive and well, but thrown inside Cochlea after his fight with the same squad sometime before the investigation.

Parallel to that, Colourless conduct an investigation of their own into the matter and Tadashi Hisakawa conducts intensive information gathering. He is also the one behind that tip-off to the CCG.

### Conclusion

While the CCG fails to exterminate the Shuukaku threat, Tadashi Hisakawa manages to get the vengeance he wanted when he defeats Nai Hanashimasu, Sango's killer.

## Anteiku arc

The Anteiku employees peacefully and quietly talked to each other in the April evening, only to be interrupted by an Aogiri Tree attack. The Aogiri forces claim to be sent by the Inquisitors as they enter combat, effectively framing the group. The whole attack is in fact, one of the final parts of Maki Itokawa's plan on laying waste to the Inquisitors.

### Conclusion

The attempt to frame the Inquisitors, combined with all of the other previous evidence plants and such succeed at convincing Nikki Futago, Anteiku's manager, that the Inquisitors are indeed the ones that are raising their hand against him and his employees. Before he has the chance to go and confront them about it, however, a CCG raid puts an end to the mercenary organisation, destroying it completely.

## Data theft

Serafina Baxter, undertaking the data theft contract, decides to give it her best shot and kidnaps Tsuneo Ando, threatening to kill him unless Kari, his fiancee, offers her aid in retrieving information on Quinque. Forced into helping her, Kari leads Serafina into a research facility and shows her the way to the main servers, from which they steal approximately 85% of the information available on Quinque technology. Serafina then makes her escape. Eventually, she comes in contact with the client that had originally hired her and manages to sell the data for 56 million yen.

## Outcome

Following the destruction of the 12th Ward Branch Office, all CCG influence within the territory is completely lost and surrendered to Aogiri Tree as well as other ghoul gangs dwelling in the area. Aogiri's own numbers are bolstered significantly due to their reputation rising thanks to the collapse of the Branch Office. The Inquisitors are also destroyed thanks to Maki Itokawa's tip-off to the CCG. RIFT gains the ability to produce Quinques thanks to the contributions of Serafina Baxter in retrieving crucial scientific data, as well as other mercenaries that delivered working or damaged Quinques that could be studied.