DEVIL APE

I know. I know you all want to know about my past.

Once there was a group of Ghouls, based in the 20th Ward, that killed investigators in every ward. They wore big hoods and monkey masks with one fang sticking out, and they swung their Kagune around to show off their power.

In general, Ghouls are solitary creatures. Especially the stronger ones. But nevertheless the Apes were strong, and they were united as one. But their leader was the strongest of them all, the major power behind the Apes—Devil Ape.

Even with his monkey mask on he had incredible strength, and stealing people’s lives was like a game to him. If his enemy was a good match, then he enjoyed himself even more.

The CCG took measures to combat the Apes, of course. In particular, to try to destroy Devil Ape, who was the nucleus of the group, they tried to set a two- or three-layered net to catch him. But Devil Ape just slipped right through the net like their work was laughable to him.

The body count was ever growing. There was nothing for the CCG to do but to create a big, sweeping strategy. Talk had started going around stations about their plan.

And then Devil Ape suddenly disappeared.

Did he decide to hide out after hearing what the CCG was up to? Or did he die in a conflict with another Ghoul group? Everyone was speculating but the truth was not yet clear. Where had Devil Ape gone?

The answer lay within a coffee shop in the 20th Ward.

“Whoa, even dust runs in fear of the Devil Ape’s fists!”

“Koma’s got a mop in his hands. That’s why the dust is going everywhere.”

The man’s name was Enji Koma. He had a big nose that made an impression, and small, round, sharp eyes. It would be beyond flattery to say that he had a nice appearance, but there was something charming about him anyway. He was the man they called Devil Ape, the one who was feared by CCG investigators.

And he was currently mopping floors in a café.

It had all begun when he met Yoshimura, the owner of the café. He had suddenly appeared to Koma and told him to end this futile conflict.

It took a real moron to try to tell Devil Ape what to do. Koma bared his fangs and told him he was going to regret that, but Yoshimura was prepared for this laughably quick rejection. Yoshimura had a rare spirit for a Ghoul.

What hit Koma next wasn’t a Kagune, although he was prepared for a battle to the death.

“Let’s just have a conversation, shall we?”

Yoshimura hit him with a gentle suggestion.

Yoshimura told him that he wanted to live in human society, without unnecessary killing. It was strange to wish for such a thing while holding the power of a Ghoul. But Koma found something strangely attractive about the idea. He wanted to try to see what Yoshimura wanted to see. So he decided to follow him. It is no exaggeration to say that this is where the second chapter of Koma’s life began.

Next he came to Yoshimura’s café, Anteiku. It was a café for both Ghouls and humans. They sold coffee, of course. One of the few things that could be shared by Ghouls and humans.

“Mr. Yoshimura, what can I do for you? Should I make coffee?” Koma asked excitedly, clad in a uniform. He’d never made coffee before, but he would try. His enthusiasm would have moved any living creature under the sun.

He didn’t know how to act around humans, but he didn’t imagine there was much interaction between a clerk and a customer anyway. Besides, he just wanted to make coffee. He wanted to make his debut as a master barista.

But Yoshimura handed him a mop and a bucket, two items that had nothing to do with coffee.

“But Mr. Yoshimura, this is …”

Never mind, he thought, I can show off my creative dance skills with the mop and bucket, to bring in customers. It’ll make me stand out, and people might like it too.

But Yoshimura’s reply was very simple.

“First I want you to clean the shop.”

Koma’s round eyes widened. Cleaning is boring, shitty work that anyone can do. Is he really making Devil Ape do that?

Once upon a time Koma would’ve killed him for the insult. But he realized something now: the real reason why Yoshimura had given him the task of cleaning.

“Oh, yes, of course …”

Koma grinned and took the mop and bucket. “Got it!”

And he started cleaning, something he was unfamiliar with.

“Got a new guy working here?”

It wasn’t long until the first customer of the day came in. She looked like a young office worker, stopping in on her way to work. Human. She looked at Koma with curiosity in her eyes.

It was a new expression for Koma, who was more used to seeing humans trembling in fear.

“Oh, pay no mind to me, miss,” he said.

“Then quit swinging that mop around and splashing water everywhere! That shouldn’t happen in a restaurant, you know, you should have your pay cut!”

Her response was cold. He immediately thought about killing her, but this was Yoshimura’s place. Koma restrained himself and picked up the mop again.

“I’ll have my usual,” she said to Yoshimura, turning away from Koma quickly. There was nothing cute about this human.

Koma grew fonder of Yoshimura’s way of life, but he still had absolutely no attachment to humans. She doesn’t deserve my special coffee, he thought, and went back to cleaning. He decided to maintain indifference, but customers kept coming, one after another. First a man on his way to work, then an old lady who ran a sewing shop in the neighborhood, followed by a young man who stopped in by chance, and a woman who seemed to be Yoshimura’s friend. There were both Ghouls and humans there. Ghouls and humans sat side by side, across tables from each other, simply spending their time as they pleased.

Koma watched all of this as he wiped down the window with spray and newspaper.

II

“Devil Ape! My brother! People are talking about you!”

He had been working at Anteiku for a few weeks. Whenever he saw a member of the Apes, they all looked very serious and said something similar.

“You guys know how Devil Ape always loves to be the center of attention!” Koma would tilt his head as if to suggest they must be confused about something, but then his friends would say, “Nah, man!”

“Can you believe Devil Ape’s mopping the floors at Anteiku? Don’t make me laugh!”

Everyone else would nod.

“I was ready to knock some heads for spreading that bullshit! But then I went down to Anteiku and saw him doing that shit myself … Our brother should not be sweeping a café floor!”

They could not control their anger. They stamped the ground.

“That bastard Yoshimura, making our brother work like that! He’s got it coming!”

Their anger seemed to have turned on Yoshimura now. But Koma looked at them sharply.

“Hey, don’t talk bad about Yoshimura.”

Koma’s words only ratcheted up the tension. But he was glad to know that his comrades’ feelings for him were still strong.

“But Devil Ape! My brother!”

Koma looked around at his former comrades, who had come here to beg and plead with him to return. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“Do you guys know what ‘baking soda’ is?”

“Baking … soda?”

They all looked at each other.

“Is that one of those drinks humans like?”

No, that’s just soda. But none of them were going to deliver the punchline. Koma continued.

“I thought so too at first, but actually, it’s something else. It’s a magical powder that gets rid of even the toughest grease stains.”

They started to get excited.

“You mean those really sticky, greasy ones?!”

“Yeah. But that’s not all. It also has a deodorizing effect, and it neutralizes the smell of sweat.”

“Are you sayin’ it fights stains and bad smells too?!”

“Yes, it also eliminates foot smells from your shoes.”

“Even the smell of feet?!”

Several of them held up their feet. They seemed to know something about having smelly feet.

“Devil Ape, is this some kind of miracle drug?”

He looked at his comrades, in shock at all the things that baking soda could do, and he shook his head.

“Now this is the most surprising part. Humans can eat it.”

“They can?!”

“That’s right. There are different kinds of baking soda, and some of them are used in food.”

He explained that it was what made pancakes fluffy, among other things. Ghouls had almost nothing to do with human foods, but everyone was still surprised by all that baking soda could do.

“Yoshimura told me all about it when I was trying to clean the ventilation fan with two feathers. And he originally learned about it from a human. I thought cleaning was a boring, pointless job too, at first. But there’s a surprising amount to it. It’s not as easy as it looks. And,” he added, “I know some of you have been saying how horrible Yoshimura is for making me do the cleaning. But that’s really just a mark of prestige for Anteiku and Yoshimura.”

When Yoshimura had asked him to clean, Koma had freaked out. He thought that Yoshimura was sacrificing him to improve Anteiku’s standing in the 20th Ward.

“It’s true, Devil Ape, our brother. Everyone thinks Yoshimura’s a real bastard …”

“I know. If one of these other Ghouls who only care about looking cool were in my position, there’s no way in hell they’d do it. But I’m not like that. Mr. Yoshimura trusted me with this mission. This kind of dirty work is no big deal.”

His spirit of self-sacrifice was moving. The other Apes were impressed.

“You’re a good guy, my brother! Still out there doing battle, just with stubborn grease stains!”

Tears fell from his comrades’ eyes as they lamented their own lack of maturity and forward thinking. One clapped Koma on the shoulder.

“Does baking soda do anything for ape tears?”

It was a joke meant to make everyone feel better. And it worked; everyone smiled.

“You don’t have an enemy in the world, my brother!”

III

“Cleaning again?” laughed the young lady who looked like she worked in an office, seeing Koma out sweeping in front of the café again. Koma had worked at Anteiku for a few months now, and he always started the day by cleaning.

“Oops, you caught me. Morning, Tsubasa. You’re sharp as ever today.”

“And you’re as thickheaded as ever today, Koma. All you can do is clean … is what I’d like to say, but actually, it’s pretty nice to watch you when you’re at it.”

Although leaves from the trees along the road were everywhere, there were none in front of Anteiku. But the outside of the café wasn’t the only thing that was spotless—the inside was too. It gleamed thanks to Devil Ape’s special cleaning techniques.

Koma, who had been cleaning ever since he was first entrusted with the task, had become better at it than any army of housewives or professional cleaners.

“It looks like you just tipped a bucket of water on the floor, but that can’t be true.”

“Oh, Tsubasa, don’t tell me you want to know my secrets.”

“I don’t care.”

“No need to restrain yourself!”

“Oh, Mr. Koma, enough already!”

Her words were stinging but the expression on her face was joyful. She looked like she enjoyed talking to Koma.

“Oh, and you polished everything today, too!”

And Tsubasa wasn’t the only one who liked to talk to him. Many customers at Anteiku would seek him out for a conversation.

“All the coffee cups should be much shinier today.”

“Oh, I must pay attention to my cup, then.”

“Be on the lookout!”

She laughed.

This human, who would’ve been terrified of Koma before, actually smiled at him now. And she told him things. About her family, work, school. She had a lot of stories about things Ghouls could never experience.

And so, eventually, Koma was not the only one who could meet humans naturally.

“My brother! With everything you taught me I got a part-time job of my own!”

Now the rest of the Apes could too.

“I have to clean up at work too, but I’m really not any good at it. So everyone helped me! And while we were talking we really hit it off! I mean, I can’t go out for food or drinks with them but it’s still fun!”

They all seemed to have been inspired by seeing their leader, Devil Ape, sweating and working his fingers to the bone.

The Apes, who had the strongest sense of togetherness of all the Ghoul groups, had followed a strict hierarchy that served them well in human society.

And as they got to know people more their knowledge grew. Some of these discoveries shocked Koma.

But then the next blow was lessened, and the next, until it was just a minor reverberation in his stomach. Sometimes the pain rose up within him and made his chest ache.

“Those Ghouls are at it again … better be careful out there,” Tsubasa said looking up at the TV as she drank the coffee that came with her breakfast as usual one morning. Koma was usually talkative, but at those moments he never knew what to say.

“Getting sentimental in my old age …”

When his shift was over, Koma changed out of his uniform alone, lost in thought. There was a pall hanging over him that he could not shake off. This isn’t like me, he thought. But wait. Do I need to shake this feeling off in the first place?

“Mr. Koma …” He heard a soft voice behind him.

“Mr. Yoshimura.” Koma turned around.

“Do you have a moment?”

“For you, Mr. Yoshimura, I would go anywhere or do anything,” he said lightheartedly, forcing himself to cheer up. Yoshimura led the way.

They went into the café. The place looked sad with nobody in it. No, I’m the one who’s sad when nobody’s in there.

“Have a seat.”

Yoshimura gestured toward the seats at the counter. Once Koma sat down, Yoshimura went into the kitchen and started making coffee.

“How’s work treating you, Mr. Koma?”

“The dust is so afraid of my cleaning it hardly shows its face around here anymore!” Koma always loved to exaggerate. Yoshimura nodded in agreement.

“You clean so well every day that it’s always sparkling in here.”

Yoshimura set a cup of coffee down in front of Koma. The steam rising off of it brought the rich aroma to his nostrils. When Koma thought about it, he realized that he’d never relaxed and enjoyed a cup of coffee in his life.

“Here at Anteiku we’re all friends, and helping each other out is our motto,” Yoshimura mumbled as Koma picked up his cup of coffee. “And you’re being helped,” he said, then fell silent.

Yoshimura seemed to have picked up on Koma’s conflict. Perhaps he knew the reason, the cause, everything. And perhaps he shared the same pain, despite his desire to coexist with humans.

Koma took a gulp of the coffee Yoshimura had made for him. And as he drank he gave into the warmth of the steam, and realized he was about to cry.

“This Devil Ape will do his best to help you from here on, Mr. Yoshimura. It would be my honor.”

Yoshimura smiled softly.

“Then you’d better get started learning how to make coffee.”

“Coffee?!”

Koma jumped to his feet, taken off guard by this unexpected proposal. Koma had dedicated himself to cleaning and now saw the art of coffee making as something in the realm of the gods. It was something special that not just anybody could do.

“You know, Tsubasa whispered to me the other day, ‘I wish I could try Mr. Koma’s coffee.’ ”

Surely this wasn’t the same Tsubasa who always insulted him.

“I’ve had other customers ask about you as well.”

Anteiku, where friends help each other out. How broadly was the term “friend” defined?

“So I can’t let down those customers who want to try Devil Ape’s coffee!”

Each of them could have pointed at the other if they were asked to say which one wanted to help and which one needed to be helped.

From that day, Yoshimura started teaching Koma to make coffee. How to roast the beans, how to pour the hot water—every step had a role in making great coffee. After each lesson, Koma practiced what Yoshimura had taught him on his own, and he also made coffee for the other Apes.

Then, finally, the day came. Tsubasa entered the shop as usual to find Koma behind the counter, waiting.

“What’s going on? The cleaner’s behind the counter!”

“I thought we’d have Mr. Koma help us out making coffee from now on,” said Yoshimura.

“What? Don’t tell me he sloshes coffee around like he does that mop bucket.” As she grumbled, Tsubasa took her seat and asked for a cup of coffee, “made by Mr. Koma.”

“Coming right up!”

Coffee is a delicate thing. I don’t understand everything that goes into it myself. It’s just detailed procedure after detailed procedure. But that’s pretty much what it takes for Ghouls and humans to live together.

“Enjoy,” he said, setting the cup down. A cup full of passion.

“This better be good,” Tsubasa teased him as she picked up the coffee and brought it to her lips. The coffee swelled over her lips and disappeared over her tongue. “It is.”

These two honest words fell from her lips, which usually had nothing but poison on them.

Naturally Koma felt pride that the coffee he’d made was good, but to hear those words from her gave him a feeling of excitement.

Tsubasa smiled and looked happy. A smile from a customer—and a human. It looked like a dazzling light, and it made him unbearably happy, as well as hurting him tremendously.

The more Koma got to know people, the more this feeling sprouted in him, and the more he understood the root of this pain.

Light not only illuminates all creatures, but it also casts shadows. And those shadows also tell of all the crimes I have committed.

The more he started to like humans, the more he realized just what he’d done to them in the past.

He remembered people who had fallen to the ground, screaming, “I have kids, I have a family, I don’t want to die, help me!”

There were people who had confronted him so their friends could escape.

I wonder if they had a nice life like this. If they had happy moments. The pain grabbed at his insides ruthlessly.

I met Mr. Yoshimura and he got me thinking about wanting to live with humans. But I don’t think I have the right to live with them. These two conflicting feelings pushed up against each other, colliding within him, and the impact was hard to bear.

“Mr. Koma? Mr. Koma?”

He realized he was standing there, frozen. Tsubasa kept saying his name in a confused way.

“Oh, sorry. I was just overwhelmed by emotion there.”

“Overwhelmed by your own coffee? You are a strange one.”

Tsubasa looked amazed but she smiled nonetheless. Other regulars who came in after her also found Koma standing behind the counter, and they joked about how he’d finally graduated from cleaning.

These shadows, these things he did in the past, would continue to cause him pain. He still wasn’t sure whether living was atonement for them, or if death would be a better atonement. All he could do was try to understand the magnitude of the crimes he had committed.

I need time to think. So just for now I’m going to keep on living. Those shadows may bring me suffering, but I want to see all the brightly colored, blossoming things this world has to offer that I’ve never seen before.

VI

Shortly after, someone new came to the café. It was Kaya Irimi, the leader of the Black Dobers.

“No way will we ever work together, Irimi.”

“Shut up, monkey boy.”

Like the Apes, the infamous Black Dobers had also caught the attention of the CCG, and their leader had decided to come to Anteiku too. What on earth is happening?

Although their exchange was playful, Koma was her superior now. He imagined Irimi would start off doing the cleaning too. A strange emotion came over him when he imagined the leader of the Black Dobers, famous for her insistence on total obedience, slinging a mop around.

“Well, then, Kaya, first let’s learn how to make a cup of coffee.”

But Yoshimura’s words shocked Koma. Why was Yoshimura teaching her how to make coffee when she’d just gotten here? And on top of that, he served it to someone straight away.

“Irimi’s coffee is the best.”

“Somehow a woman’s touch is just better.”

All the male customers adored her. Even Tsubasa loved her. When she’d heard recently that Irimi had a boyfriend, she and Irimi started joking around. “If we have a boy, I’ll name him Shota.”

And with Irimi there, Koma no longer had a place behind the counter, and cleaning duty fell back to him again.

“You’ve been working at Anteiku for so long, and the leader of the Black Dobers just waltzes right into the kitchen, my brother!”

As long as Ghouls were coming into the café, rumors were quick to get around. His comrades from the Apes who heard about what was going on at Anteiku were once again incensed on his behalf. Especially because it involved the Black Dobers.

Also, since they’d all been inspired to find their own jobs, they often tried to turn the conversation into a passionate discussion about concrete problems they were facing, like issues with their contracts. But Koma would just smile and say, “You don’t understand. This isn’t a work issue, it’s a matter of the heart.”

“Irimi is not like me, she’s very immature. Which makes it hard for me to understand the intention behind Mr. Yoshimura’s actions. But perhaps he hopes that being in the kitchen straightaway will make her grow up a little and step up to the plate.”

As Koma spoke he saw that it was true—that Irimi had been put into the kitchen because she was being evaluated.

“Of course!”

“My brother, you’re amazing!” The Apes cheered.

Whatever position Yoshimura puts me in, I will not complain. I will do my best. That’s what makes me a man.

And besides, there are people watching.

“Mr. Koma, you’re so amazing. Whatever you do you give it your all,” Tsubasa whispered to him one day as he was in front of the café, engaged in his age-old battle with the fallen leaves.

“Really? Looks pointless to me,” said Irimi.

“Well, that too!” agreed Tsubasa, before giving her order to Irimi. “But he used to be so bad at cleaning, and now he’s a pro. And the coffee he makes is great. Just watching him work is more fun than anything. It just makes me happy every morning.”

Tsubasa smiled and put her finger to her lips, as if to tell Irimi to be careful not to tell Koma. When she saw that smile, Irimi listened. Koma darted here and there as he pursued the fallen leaves, until the path was perfectly clear. Devil Ape, the Ghoul once feared by all investigators, now focused all his attention on cleaning, something Irimi said was worthless.

But Irimi did not make fun of him.

He is practicing coexistence with humans. And winning their trust. I can’t let him beat me.

He set a good example for her. Because Yoshimura trusted him to do what needed to be done.

“Are you ready for the Devil Ape rolling hurricane?!”

Anteiku would be gleaming today, too.

And it would be until the end.

“Mr. Yoshimura, I gave it the old Devil Ape Special Cleaning Service! Nice and shiny.”

We’re all friends at Anteiku, and we help each other.

Now to prove it.