Chapter One
Now located close to TSC and across from Yoriko's bakery, the back room of the newly rebuilt :Re Café usually houses ghouls and humans who come to discuss the most serious of topics with the former One-Eyed King. And today is no exception.
The Serpant and the Centipede huddle together in a crowd of ghouls and humans, speaking in desperate whispers.
"But how did you know?" Nishiki Nishio presses.
"I didn't. She proposed to me," Kaneki Ken says, sipping his coffee.
"Of course she did," Nishiki grumbles, adjusting his glasses. "Of course. I shoulda talked to Touka."
"You're welcome to," says Kaneki with a chuckle.
"Nah. He just wants reassurance she won't say no." Hideyoshi Nagachika lounges behind them. His voice is scratchy, but comes out more quickly these days. Nishino Kimi has been trying to improve the quality of his voice box with Rc cells, and the medicine seems to be working.
Nishiki glares at him. Ever-perceptive, that Nagachika. "You lost half your throat and wasted your newfound voice on that?"
"Nishiki!" Kaneki exclaims, but everyone is snorting with laughter.
"She won't," says Kirishima Ayato.
Nishiki and Kaneki side-eye Ayato.
"Hinami won't either," sings Kaneki, earning a glower from Ayato.
Ayato bristles, deftly switching the topic. "Hey, can I help plan this proposal? Since I'll actually, you know, be here for this one."
"It was wartime – " Kaneki protests.
"I was the brother of the bride!" Ayato jams his finger at his brother-in-law. "Don't think I didn't notice when the marriage was and when Ichika was born, too!"
"Are you implying something?" Nishiki asks sweetly. "Kaneki and your sister, kissing, sharing a room, me totally not hearing noises down the hall…"
"STOP." Ayato claps his hands over his ears. "Back to your proposal!"
Nishiki sulks for a moment.
"I think Tsukiyama has an idea, but you're welcome to help," Nishiki says at last. "I'm going to need all the help I can get."
"Well, not really," suggests Kaneki. "The hard part is already done. She already loves you."
Two weeks later
"Is everything a go?" Nishiki paces inside :Re.
"Yup." Kusakari Miza and Naki, designated babysitters, swing the children around their legs. Four kids for Naki and Miza in a few years; Nishiki can't imagine the insanity.
And they still want more, if Miza's growing belly is any indication.
"We're gonna have so much fun, right, Ichika?" Naki asks. For tonight, all the children will be in their care so that the adults of Goat and TSC can enact Nishiki's plan.
The little girl giggles. She loves spending time with her 'cousins.' "Yes!"
"Let's get this sleepover started early! To the art studio!" Naki crows, and the children cheer.
Miza rolls her eyes and follows her children out the door. "I'm gonna be the only adult at this sleepover, aren't I."
"Probably," Nishiki calls after her, earning a cheeky glare.
Yomo approaches him.
"Hey, Raven," says Nishiki. He never knows what this ghoul is thinking.
Yomo responds quietly. "I'm proud of you."
"You?" Nishiki goggles at him. Yomo never discusses his feelings with anyone, save Uta. Oh, and if he thinks he's sly about that, Nishiki had them pegged as a couple since observing their first interaction.
He coughs to hide a tickle in his throat. "Thanks, Yomo."
"I'm so ready!" the door burst open and Suzuya Juuzou waltzes in, his squad in tow. He carries a dozen baked items from Yoriko's; he refuses to start his morning without treats. "Touka, can we have coffee?"
"Extra sugar, right?" Touka smiles at him. It's nice that they don't want to kill each other anymore.
He nods, and Nishiki savors the sight of friendships. Because it's a coffee shop very much like this where he first began to accept the idea of friendship.
"Yoshimura would have been proud, too," says Yomo, and that does it. Nishiki's eyes sting, and he promptly curses himself for being a sap.
The medical offices in TSC are always bustling these days. People need treatment for Rc disorders, and people need Rc cells for regular, human disorders. Not to mention treating those injured fighting ghouls bent on murder.
And Nishino Kimi is now the head scientist. Today she sits across from two fellow TSC employees.
"Your latest results are quite good." Kimi offers Hsaio Ching-Li her most encouraging smile.
"Really?" Hsaio's childlike girlfriend, Yonebayashi Saiko, brightens immediately.
"Yes. Your telomeres have effectively stopped shortening beyond a normal level." Kimi hold out the data so that Hsaio can see for herself.
Hsaio rubs her eyes; these days, reading gives her a headache. "And when will we know if the RC cells reverse my aging?"
"That's still a few months away," Kimi says apologetically. "I wish I could speed that up."
"But on the bright side," Saiko says stubbornly as she sucks one of the lollipops the medical office offers, "the pills are having an effect."
Hsaio nods. "Yes, that's good news."
"I'm glad," Kimi says. She hates what forced breeding has done to Hsaio, and Arima Yusa, and the other garden survivors. If there's anything she can do to save them, she'll gladly do it.
And if Kaneki could be saved, if Kaneki's telomeres reversed, so can Hsaio's. It is possible, and she will find the way.
After all, a human and a ghoul relationship was once thought impossible too. It's safe to say that Kimi views the next impossibility as her next goal in life, on and on and on.
Kimi smiles to herself as she stands. She wavers a second but dismisses the resulting tingling. "Go home and eat something good."
She should take her own advice, she thinks with some disconcert.
"Cake," Saiko says seriously.
"You promised we'd go to the fair," Hsaio says instead. "Fried dough. I've never had it."
Saiko's eyes widen. "That's right!"
"Enjoy," Kimi says with a forced grin. She loves fried dough. But she feels – she feels –
As she turns around, the floor tilts, and her head detaches – or at least that's what it feels like. Black grows before her eyes, and in the distance, she can hear Saiko shriek and feel Hsaio catch her, quick as ever, quick as someone twenty years old should be.
Nishiki feels very out-of-place in the top jewelry store in Tokyo. Like, how is he allowed to breathe in the shimmering air here without paying?
Oh, right. Because he just spent half his soul on a ring he knows Kimi would enjoy.
"Ma cherie, that is a beautiful ring," says Tsukiyama Shuu, eyes wide. His best friend insisted on accompanying him to this posh shop.
"You're not just telling me that, right?" Nishiki side-eyes the Gourmet.
"I'm not. Though I will offer once more to fund it." Tsukiyama knows diamonds. He especially knows that the rose-colored diamond is of extraordinary quality and likely costs the meager yearly salary they collect at the TSC. If Nishiki had told him earlier, Tsukiyama could have leveraged his family influence for a discount. But then, Nishiki is too prideful for that.
"Piss off," Nishiki grumbles. He bought it. So Kimi knows this gift is from him.
"Admit it, you love when I offer to help with ze money." Tsukiyama nods with approval as the manager hands Nishiki a velvet box, and, hands shaking, Nishiki signs the check.
"It's such a nice change from when you tried to kill us."
Tsukiyama's eyes light up. "Please tell me I can mention that at your toast. I'm your best man, non?"
Nishiki harrumphs. "You're the best bachelor. Kaneki is the best married man."
"Good heavens, I've tried to kill most of the wedding party." Tsukiyama claps a hand over his mouth. The manager looks frightened as he realizes who stands before him.
"Yeah, pretty much." Nishiki rolls his eyes as they thank the manager and depart.
"She did smell lovely, your Kimi." Tsukiyama winks at the kakugan growing in his best friend's eyes. "I mean to say, you are a lucky man, Nishiki."
"You're telling me," says Marude Itsuki, bureau chief of the Tokyo Security Committee, "You can't hunt Rio tonight because of an engagement party?"
"Damn right," says Kuriowa Takeomi, one of Marude's best underlings. "Right, Urie?"
Urie Kuki, the other young prodigy, shrugs weakly. "Look, it's Nishiki and Kimi's. After all they've done for us…"
"After all they've done for us, they'd want us to carry out our mission, Urie." Marude scowls.
"But, Tsukiyama is funding this," Higemaru Touma pipes up from behind Urie, eager to be useful to his squad leader.
Marude harumphs. "Tsukiyama would fund the world if he could."
"He practically can," Urie replies.
"I'll dismiss your snark, brat," says Marude, not unaffectionate. "Okay, I'll get Juuzou for tonight."
"Um," says Takeomi, glancing towards Urie.
"Oh, don't tell me Juuzou's in on this too!" Marude gripes.
"Look, we didn't plan it," Higemaru says.
"Yeah, blame Nishiki, on his engagement," Urie says acerbically.
Marude's face is red. "I don't care who planned what thingymabob –"
"Urie, is everything going all right?" Inspector Mutsuki Tooru pokes his head into the office. "Um, hi, Investigator Marude."
Marude seems momentarily pacified at the sight of quiet Mutsuki. So even the distant TSC branch has come, eh? "Well then. Urie, make the most of tonight."
"Huh?" Takeomi says, but just then, Higemaru grabs Urie's arm and hauls his furious, red face out of the office.
"Come on, Mutsuki, let's see how Hsaio's appointment went." Urie stomps past Aura Shinsanpei, but he can't help but soften his voice for Mutsuki. Goddamn that Marude for noticing.
"Wasn't expecting you during the day," Touka says to greet Kimi, Saiko, and Hsaio.
Fortunately, Hinami spotted Kimi's approach and hid all evidence of the plan in the broom closet. Along with herself.
Touka kicks a chair out to invite Kimi to sit. "Tell Shitty Nishiki if he wants his job back, he's got it. These Aogiri brats are killing me, and my customers."
Kimi grins. "Can I have decaf today?"
"That's not the way of a scientist. Shouldn't you run nonstop?" Touka looks at her sharply. "You live on caffeine, Nishino."
"I'll say it, then. She's pregnant and wants advice," Saiko says, eying the caffeinated coffee pot in Touka's hands.
Touka's hand slips as she pours into Saiko's glass. "For real?"
"I knew those antibiotics were going to wreck me last month," Kimi moans.
"What do you wanna do?" Touka hurries to grab a decaf pot. She pours it and sits across from Kimi.
"Keep it – it's Nishiki's and I always wanted a family with him." Kimi wipes her eyes. "Especially since…"
Touka understands. Since hers died. That's what she wanted, too. A family for the one she lost. She pats Kimi's hand.
"But this is such a surprise," Kimi manages.
"I know, but Nishiki is gonna be thrilled. And scared." Touka cracks her knuckles. "Oh, the teasing Kaneki can give him."
"Kaneki doesn't really tease," says Hsaio.
"He will if I make him," Touka growls, prompting a laugh from Kimi.
The backdoor to :Re opens.
"Touka, take your brood." Miza and Naki stagger in, dazed and surrounded by Ichika and their own children. After only a few hours, the children are already winning today.
"Has anyone explained birth control to those two?" Saiko whispers.
"Twice," says Kimi. "I think they like big families."
Touka exchanges a smile with Kimi as she embraces Ichika, who is three and – and apparently very into finger painting Touka's apron, right there, right now.
We survivors do, too.