May 5th, 6:58pm

"Ayato, I'm leaving now." Emily told him as she slipped on her knee high boots, "I'll pick up some more food on my way home."

"Whatever." she heard him call from the bathroom. After a night's rest and finishing off the rest of the food supply she had for him, the Ghoul boy she'd taken in had recovered some of his lost strength. It wasn't enough to fight off another Ghoul or Doves but it did give him enough energy to finish cleaning the mess he made in the bathroom. Emily rolled her eyes at his reply and left her apartment, locking the door behind her. Down below Toshio was waiting for her, a taxi hummed nosily behind him. He looked even more handsome than normal with his shoulder length dark hair slicked back so only a few strands were left loose on his forehead, and a cloud grey suit that matched her dress surprisingly well.

Toshio, like her, lived by himself near their high school. His father, mother and older brothers all worked at the CCG but only his mother stayed in the 20th Ward. Even when she was home she was never there, always focused on her work and getting called in at random hours. Toshio had been left to raise himself, so for that reason he'd moved out of home several months ago and got a place closer to school.

"You look great." he said commenting on her light blue sleeveless dress, she gave a small twirl for him.

"Thanks." she replied and made a mental note to get Ayato something extra on her way home. The drive to the restaurant didn't take very long, and soon Emily was being pulled into a loving hug courtesy of Toshio's mother.

"Emily-chan, you look so lovely tonight!" she swooned making the girl turn in a circle for her, "Oh how I wished I had a daughter like you." Emily laughed awkwardly in response and looked to Toshio for help. Ever since Toshio had first introduced Emily to his family, his mother had been saying things like that. She was thankful his family were so warm and welcoming towards her, however if they ever found out the truth about her secret life or her father she knew all that would stop in a heart beat. Still she kept up her charade for Toshio's sake.

"You're too kind Mrs. Hamada." she said bowing her head, "Have you been well?"

"Oh you know, as well as I can be with such a busy job. Tsk, Toshi, you couldn't make more of an effort on your hair? It's getting so long now, you should get it cut." she said abruptly thankfully turning her attention to her son.

"I like it this length though." he complained as he attempted to swat her hand away from the few stray strands of hair. Emily hid her smile behind her hand; one thing about Toshio she loved was his hair. Although she would have liked it if it was a little messier...Kind of like...She shook her head as Ayato's face came into her mind, glaring coldly at her and trying to eat her.

"You okay?" Toshio asked quietly taking her by the arm gently. Emily nodded and was about to reply when Mrs. Hamada made a loud cooing noise signalling the arrival of her eldest sons, Akihiro and Isao. All three Hamada boys looked similar, each had tall builds, dark hair and dark eyes. But where Toshio was slender, Akihiro and Isao were muscular and strong from years of physical training and working out. Akihiro, the eldest at 24, resembled his mother while four years his junior, Isao, resembled his father. Toshio had the same amount of looks from each parent.

"Hey little sis, you made it." Akihiro greeted her as he swooped her up into a bear hug. Akihiro looked stern and serious but he was kind and laughed a lot. He'd been the first one to fully accept her despite being foreign.

"Of course I did." Emily replied as he put her back on the ground, "I missed you guys too."

"Toshi, you'd better step up your game with this one." Isao commented as their elder brother moved from from Emily to their mother. Toshio arched an eyebrow,

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you don't, I might have to steal her away from you." Isao clarified sending a joking wink towards Emily. She laughed at his banter; Isao was the 'good looking' son with a strong jawline, sharp features and piercing eyes, and now he had well manicured stubble gracing his chin, he was quite the head turner and he knew it. But all his flirting was only jokes when it came to Emily.

"You wish." Toshio replied elbowing his brother in the arm. After a few more minutes of chatting and Mrs. Hamada picking on her sons appearances and lack of girlfriends (Toshio aside), a black sedan pulled up beside them and out stepped and middle aged, tall man who cut an imposing figure in his black suit and tie.

"Sorry I'm late." he said closing the door, "Traffic tonight was impossible. Were you waiting long?" Hamada Masanori was as tall as his sons and just as strong. He looked quite intimidating with his sharp eyes and short, neat hair.

"Not at all, dear." Mrs. Hamada said as she and her husband embraced. After greeting the rest of the family and Emily, the group made their way inside where they were immediately escorted to a table in the middle of the room.

The night went well, toasts to success were often, the food was amazing and the conversation was rarely boring until the inevitable. Ghoul talk. Emily shifted in her seat as Mr. Hamada brought up the situation in the 11th Ward.

"...Give it a few more years and there'll be a war. I guarantee it." he finished.

"Why doesn't the CCG do something to stop it from coming to that?" Toshio asked curiously.

"They're trying. But Ghouls have gotten good at hiding themselves these days. It's getting harder to find them, and it's not like we can just go around and take everyone's Rc levels. We do what we can with those we find." Isao replied casually.

"Personally I don't even know why Cochlea even exists. We should just exterminate them on the spot." Mrs. Hamada said darkly. Emily knew she had a personal reason for hating Ghouls as much as she did, but she didn't know what it was. Toshio hadn't told her and she thought it was rude to ask.

"There's a lot we can still learn from them." Akihiro told her, "Each Ghoul is different, actually it's pretty amazing."

"Emily," Mr. Hamada said, his sharp gaze on her from across the table, "You're always quiet when it comes to Ghouls. I'm curious to know your opinion on them." Emily paled at suddenly being put on the spot; she couldn't tell them her true feelings about Ghouls nor could she lie. Just thinking about what they would do to those at Anteiku or Ayato back at her apartment made her sick if she didn't.. So, swallowing the lump in her throat, she did her best to lie and tell the truth.

"Well, I've never met a Ghoul before so I can't really say for certain." she said glancing at each of them nervously and trying to not to think about the fact that she was eating dinner with a family of Ghoul hunters, "But from what I've seen and heard from the news and stories Toshio has told me, I know that they're not something easily reasoned with. I think Cochlea is necessary to maintaining the upper hand against them." The Hamada family were silent and Emily wondered whether she had said the wrong thing, but her fears were put to rest when Isao chuckled.

"Beautiful, kind and has a mind for strategy - what on earth are you doing with my idiot brother?"

After that the rest of the night was in good spirits and everyone left the subject of Ghouls alone. Though Emily felt wretched for what she'd said, even if it was to protect herself and those she knew.

8:49pm

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Toshio asked her as he held the taxi door open for her. Emily nodded,

"I'll be fine. Spend some time with your family now that they've had several glasses of champagne."

Toshio snorted and ran a hand through his hair, the gel he'd used was starting to loosen, allowing some of his hair to fall into its normal style, "Yeah right. I swear if they insist on going to karaoke afterwards, I'm getting an emancipation."

"You love karaoke though." Emily teased earning an eye-roll from her boyfriend, "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Sure will." he said pulling her into another hug and kissing her forehead, "Seriously, thank you for coming tonight and for putting up with my annoying family."

"Compared to you, they're not that bad." she teased giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before escaping into the taxi. Toshio clutched his heart dramatically,

"You wound me!" he said, "Good night." Emily waved as the taxi drove off towards her house. Only when they were far enough away did she tell him turn around and go towards Anteiku. She stopped the taxi a block from the cafe, paid the fare and told him not to wait for her. The taxi driver gave her a concerned look, but did as he was told. As usual, Yomo Renji was waiting for her outside the cafe.

"Night out?" he asked her motioning to her unnatural attire.

"Date with the boyfriend's family." she replied easily.

"Still dating the CCG boy?" he asked, Emily didn't reply and she didn't need to. Yoshimura and Renji had known about her relationship with Toshio since it started, they kept a close eye on him and his family for obvious reasons. But so far the CCG hadn't bothered Anteiku.

Yoshimura was waiting for them both in the basement, this time with two coolers for her.

"I have to say I was surprised to get your phone call yesterday." he said after their usual pleasant greeting, "How bad is he?"

"He was so weak when I found him that he couldn't even find the strength to attack me before passing out." she replied, "I don't know what happened or who did it, but it's taking him much longer to heal than it should. How long has it been since he left Anteiku?"

Yoshimura looked shocked for a moment, surprised that Emily would know Ayato had been with them and had decided to leave, but he soon returned to his normal self.

"Not long after the last CCG sweep. His hatred for your kind was too deep and he decided to go off on his own. That was the last we had heard of him until you called. Has he told you anything?"

"Only his name and that I'm an idiot human." she replied with a shrug, "He doesn't have to tell me anything. It's how Blue Lotus runs; I stay out of the affairs of Ghouls, they don't eat me."

Renji chuckled quietly behind them at her joke. Honestly, the was no such arrangement with her and the Ghouls she helped. They could break into her house and kill her whenever they wanted. But they didn't. No one ever did. Even those who hated humans. Her father's family had been running the Blue Lotus for years, it was known amongst almost all Ghouls to be a safe house, however you could only find it if you or someone you knew had been there. The only thing Emily got out of the arrangement was the hope that one day Ghouls and humans could live side by side with each other.

"I should be going. My guest is probably starving by now." she said picking up the two coolers only to have one taken from her by Renji.

"I'll take you." he said, "It's dangerous tonight." Nodding once, she said goodbye to the old Ghoul and followed Renji out to his car.

"You're walking a dangerous road." he told her once they were driving. Emily stared out of the window; she knew he was referring to her involvement with Toshio and his family and running the safe house on her own.

"I know." she replied, "He'll be going to the Academy soon..."

"I'm not talking about the CCG boy." Renji said, "Running Blue Lotus on your own without some kind of muscle...you could get killed. How many times has Ayato attacked you? It's more than once, isn't it?"

"I'll be fine. He hasn't bitten me."

"What will you do when he gets his strength back and attacks you again?" Renji asked almost repeating the same thing Ayato had asked her the other day. She didn't reply. It's true that some Ghouls, Ayato among them, had tried to eat her more than once, and it was true that she would be easily over powered. But this was her life, if she didn't do it there would be no one and Blue Lotus would no longer exist.

"At least let me or Uta drop by every once in a while to check up on you?" he said stopping the car a few buildings down from her house. Emily sighed, she had known Renji and Uta ever since she was small. Her father had taken them in at separate times usually after fighting each other. They were almost like older brothers to her.

"Renji..." she said resting a hand on his thick muscled forearm, "I'll be fine. Really." The big man sighed deeply and allowed her to leave. It was touching how he cared so much for her well being, and she was thankful, but she couldn't risk drawing attention. She was lucky her apartment complex was half empty, half filled with the elderly and collage students. No one paid her any attention, but if she had two people like Renji and Uta turning up at her doorstep on a regular basis it was sure to draw unwanted gazes.

"I'm home." she said stepping through the door and closing it behind her. Ayato was stretched out on the couch watching television, a bored expression on his face. Slipping off her boots, she dug out a package from one of the coolers and tossed it at him, "Here."

"Thanks." he replied, eyes still glued to the screen as he opened the brown wrapping. Not wanting to watch him, Emily went to the kitchen to put the rest of the food into the freezer. However the news report caught her attention; the media had managed to film the capture of an S-ranked Ghoul. The camera panned left and caught the faces of three CCG Investigators - Chloe's father amongst them. Emily closed her eyes and went back to what she was doing knowing that one day she was going to have to choose between her friends and her family's legacy.

"How'd your date go?" Ayato asked switching the TV over to another channel. Emily was shocked; he was actually trying to make small talk with her.

"What makes you think I went on a date?" she asked feeling slightly unsure about whether she wanted him to about her life, kicking the empty cooler to the side and sliding the full one over with her foot. She glanced towards the lounge and saw Ayato stretch and stand up, no longer interested in the Mech anime show that was on.

"Please, I'm a Ghoul. I can smell another scent on you from here." he said leaning on the back of the couch casually and folding his arms, "Cologne, an expensive one which not only tells me it was a guy but that he's loaded."

"I'm not sure whether that's creepy or cool..." Emily said as she finished stacking the last of Ayato's food and closed the freezer door, "How was your night?"

"Answer my question first." he insisted coldly. Emily rolled her eyes, man was he demanding.

"It was fine." she said superciliously, "Do you want me to describe the food I ate too?" Ayato half smirked in response, seeming to like it when Emily got angry,

"My night was quite and boring. But what do you expect being locked in this place." he said moving back to his original position. Emily's anger spiked,

"No one's forcing you to stay here." she snapped, her hands on her hips, "By all means, leave and go back to whatever it was you were doing before I found you bleeding to death in an alley!" She didn't bother waiting for a reply and stormed off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She wanted to go back out there and punch him in his smug face, he'd just ruined a relatively good night. What pissed her off more though was that he could easily get a rise out of her just like that. She generally never got angry, but this guy...

She groaned as she slid off her dress and collapsed on her bed, picking up the framed photograph of her parents from her bedside table as she went. "This guy..." she said gazing at her father's smiling face, "He's the kind you warned me about.

May 6th, 5:55am

Emily was already awake and staring at the pale blue ceiling when her alarm alerted her that it was time to wake up and get ready for school. She had had an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning, and when she had finally managed to fall asleep she'd had a horrible nightmare about her parents. After that, she just couldn't get to sleep.

Rolling over to slap her alarm off, Emily sat up and swung her feet onto the warm floor and mentally prepared herself to face him. Her troublesome house guest who seemed to have little to no manners, Ayato: the angry Ghoul boy. He was still asleep when she finally ventured out fifteen minutes later, after her shower, but woke up when she started preparing a quick breakfast. Ayato stood, his messy hair even messier and eyes half closed, wearing nothing but a pair of her father's old sweat pants, and made his way over to the kitchen to make coffee.

"Morning." he muttered, his voice low and gravely from sleep. Emily stared at him in bewilderment - how could this guy just be so nonchalant about being half naked in front of her, and look so good doing it?! His midnight blue eyes slid to her face,

"What?" he asked. Emily shook her head, her burgundy hair spilling over her shoulders, "Nothing, I was just looking at your wounds."

"Oh." was all he said as he poured the boiling water into his mug. Emily, feeling the burn of embarrassment upon her cheeks, quickly finished making her breakfast and retreated out onto the balcony to gather her thoughts and get away from Ayato. How could she have just stared openly at him like that? He wasn't unattractive by any means, but that didn't mean she should think that. He hated humans! He was a jerk! She had a very normal, very nice and exceptionally human boyfriend! She shouldn't be ogling other men, especially ones she knew barely anything about and could possibly kill her in her sleep and eat her.

"Hey." his voice made her jump in fright, spilling half her breakfast onto the ground, "Shit, sorry. I'll clean it up." Ayato knelt down and began picking up the dropped pieces of fruit.

"No, it's okay. Just leave it." she told him desperately waving her hands in an attempt to get him to stop trying to pick up the food. She could just sweep it off the balcony, easy fix.

"You sure?" he asked looking up at her curiously. Emily frowned at him; he was being overly nice this morning and it was weird.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked him bluntly, no use sugar coating it. Something was up and she knew it. Ayato stood, wiped his hands on his pants and then ran a hand through his shaggy hair,

"Um...well...about what I said last night..." he said fumbling for the right words, "I didn't mean it..."

Emily was shocked, stunned - flabbergasted even. Ayato, "I Hate Humans" Ayato, was trying to apologize to her.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked before she could stop herself. Ayato's brows furrowed and he looked angry again,

"Seriously? I'm trying to make an effort to be nice to you since you're letting me stay here..." he trailed off having realized that Emily had been joking and he'd just spilled more than he had initially wanted to. Emily chuckled quietly behind her hand and stepped around him,

"It's okay, Ayato. You don't have to force yourself to be overly nice to me; actually it's a little uncomfortable. I'd rather you stay the way you are, being nice doesn't suit you." she told him while washing her plate, "By the look of it, you should be ready to leave next week so it'd be better if we didn't try to be friends anyway."

The navy haired boy shrugged, "If that's how you want it, whatever. I'm going for a shower." Emily watched him stalk down the hallway towards the bathroom, wondering if what she had decided last night was really what she wanted. Ever since he'd woken up, she had been intrigued by him. Ayato wasn't like any other human hating Ghoul she'd met before. Not only did they not talk to her but they didn't even acknowledge her existence. After her parents had died, only a few of them had tried to attack her. It'd been pure chance and a little bit of luck that she'd even managed to stay alive this long, but he was different. Why? And why did she feel unhappy telling him that there was no friendship in their future? Could...Could she be...

No! Absolutely not. She certainly was not developing a crush on Ayato. She'd only known him four days AND she was in a relationship with Toshio. No, she had just been spending too much time with the Ghoul. That was all.

Time...Emily glanced at the clock on the microwave. She was going to be late for school if she didn't leave!

6:00pm

The apartment was quiet when Emily arrived home from school sparking concern. The TV was off, no lights were on and the couch was empty. Had Ayato left? Slipping off her shoes, Emily, who was trying not to let her emotions get the better of her, crept down the hallway quietly and peered into the bathroom. It was empty. He was gone. Ayato had gone without so much as a goodbye note. She should have been happy he'd left, he was rude, arrogant and more trouble than he was worth. But still, she was sad. She couldn't explain it.

Taking a deep breath she decided to repack all the food in her freezer and take it to Anteiku - Yoshimura would have more use for it than she would. Also having human meat in her freezer wouldn't end well for anyone if the CCG suddenly wanted to check out her place. She didn't feel the coldness of the freezing air when she opened the door, the brown packages didn't sting her fingers as she dug them out. It was strange not to feel anything, but she'd known this numbness for five years. It was nothing to her now.

A fly buzzed around her face and landed on one of the packages on the bench. Frowning she stared at it for a moment, she had been certain she'd closed the door to the balcony before she'd left this morning. Closing the freezer door, she went to check her suspicions. Sure enough the glass door had been slid open letting the dying light (and fly) creep into the apartment.

"Odd..." she said quietly to herself closing the door but as she turned to go back to the kitchen she noticed something that wasn't there before and her heart lept into her throat. A shadowy silhouette of a person was stretched across the balcony floor. Opening the door again, she leaned out afraid of what she might find. There, with his long legs up on the banister, in the same outfit he had been wearing that morning, was Ayato fast asleep. Relief and joy smothered any other emotion Emily had been feeling when she saw his peaceful face. He hadn't left!

A soft wind tugged gently at his messy hair, pulling more of it into his face and giving Emily a strange itch in her fingers - an itch to brush the navy locks out of his face. She shook her head and looked away from the sleeping Ghoul; what was wrong with her? She had to get herself in check now before things became ridiculously complicated.

What's wrong with just moving his hair? Her subconscious smiled innocently. Nothing was wrong with moving his hair, but it was the itch that worried her. She feared it would only get worse if she gave into it. As her internal debate on whether she should touch his hair or just leave him alone completely raged on, Ayato moaned softly and rolled onto his side more, his hair completely covering his face like a navy blue mask. That made up her mind.

Walking as quietly as she could over to him, Emily crouched down and hesitantly reached out her fingers. All kinds of thoughts ran through her head; what if she woke him? What would she say when he asks what she was doing? Why is she doing this anyway? But as the tips of her fingers brushed against the soft, thick strands of hair, her mind became silent. She hadn't expected his hair to be so soft, he didn't seem like the kind to worry about trivial things like that. Ayato moaned again as her fingers brushed his back and moved his entire body towards her hand, almost as if he was craving the touch. Emily froze as she felt the smooth skin of his cheek, warmed from the sunlight. After a tense few seconds, she slowly tried to pull her hand away but he stopped her.

"Don't..." he said quietly, "Just stay like this for a moment longer." Emily's heart pounded so loudly in her chest she was certain the entire collective of Ghouls in the 20th Ward could hear it, but it was out of fear. Fear of not knowing whether Ayato was awake or asleep and not knowing which was worse out of the two.

7:23pm

Emily had managed to sneak away a few seconds after the ordeal with sleepy Ayato and retreated into her room until the dire need to eat something got the better of her. Peeking out of the slightly ajar door, she checked the hallway for signs of Ghoulish activity. They were clear. Perhaps he was still asleep outside...

"Oi," he said making her jump as she crept past the couch, "When did you get back? I didn't hear you."

Emily calmed herself as best she could before replying, "Not long ago." she lied, "I've got a lot of studying to do so I'm just going to make something to eat and leave you alone."

"Oh...cool." he said but continued to hover on the edge of the kitchen. Emily got the feeling there was more he wanted to say so, keeping her back to him as she prepared some dinner for herself, she bit the bullet;

"Is there something else?" she asked him trying to keep her voice as normal as possible.

"Actually, yeah there is." he said immediately, "This morning, after you left-"

"Is this about what I said?" she asked interrupting him, "Because if it is I want you to know that it's not because I don't like you...I do like you...I just don't like being on too familiar terms with people who stay here, especially since I'm on my own now..." Emily trailed off realizing that she was just rambling her messy thoughts and if she didn't stop she would probably end up telling him about what happened when she got home and her completely ridiculous growing affection towards him. But when he didn't respond, she became worried and turned around.

Ayato was staring at her with a perplexed expression. Emily felt like an idiot as heat rose to her cheeks; he hadn't been referring to their conversation...

"You..." he said softly trying to find his words, "You said people..."

"I did?"

Ayato shook his head, pulling himself out of his daze, "Whatever. Some dude called."

"Oh..." she said turning a deep crimson from embarrassment, "Wait...Did he leave a name?"

"Nope. Didn't even leave a message." Ayato replied casually, "I only knew it was a guy from his low breathing." Emily was confused, no one knew her house phone except Chloe and Toshio. Toshio wouldn't have rung her that early in the morning anyway, at least not on the house phone.

"It was probably just a prank." she said shrugging and deciding not to think any further on it. She'd had a few prank calls before, young kids dialling random numbers for fun, so it wasn't completely unheard of.

"By the way," Ayato said catching her attention again, Emily faced him once more, abandoning her food preparation. He was smirking at her, arms crossed as he leaned against the corner of the counter, "Do you really like me?"

10.57pm

Ayato lay on his back, his arm on his forehead and stared at the cream ceiling wondering what was going on inside his head. This girl, this human, Ishihara Emily was corrupting his mind, making him soft. Why did she have to be the one to find him? Why couldn't she have just left him there to die; he would have been happier dead than having to deal with all these confusing conflicting emotions. Why couldn't he just eat her?!

Groaning in annoyance, he rolled onto his side and stared at the dark television screen. Emily had been in her room for hours avoiding him, of course it was his fault she was doing that. He'd stepped way out of his comfort zone in an effort to be nice to her after making her angry, a sight he wished he could see more often, and then teased her when she'd said she liked him... She liked him. But did she like him in the possible friendship kind of way or was it more than that? The colours she'd turned when he'd asked her were delicious, all that blood rushing to her cheeks and then draining, leaving her as pale as snow...

Giving another groan he sat up on the couch, knotting his hands between his knees and lowering his head. What the fuck was with these stupid emotions anyway? Humans were pathetic and weak, they were less than worms. He hated them. All of them. Ghouls were the superior species...Sighing, he lowered his head further. Even in his own mind he couldn't dispute the fact that this girl was the only human in the entire world he didn't hate. Why? Why didn't he hate her? More to the point, why didn't she hate him? She didn't even fear him and he'd tried to eat her twice already.

He remembered smelling her approaching, that sweet smell of her scent getting closer to him as he bled out in the alley. His mouth had watered and every part of him wanted to eat her, to devour that sweet smelling flesh. But then he'd seen her; her hair the colour of red wine and those azure blue eyes so filled with sadness. She was more pitiful than he was, he could sense it, but she'd reached out to him almost like she was inviting him to devour her and take away her pain. Emily was such a sad girl, hiding it behind a warm smile. It frustrated him to no extent.

But the question he wanted answered most of all was: could he actually bring himself to eat her. He'd never had hesitation or second thoughts when it came to killing, but this girl - he'd even tried to warn her to get away before he did eat her. But she was too stupid to listen and he ended up getting flicked on the nose.

"Fuck it." he said feeling fed up with being indecisive. He was going to get an answer now, then maybe he could make some kind of sense of the hellish turmoil inside him.

He didn't bother knocking before opening her door and barging in, ready to argue or verbally defend himself - whichever arose. But he stopped before he even got started. Emily was curled on her side, a thick text book flipped open lay beside her head. Whatever emotion Ayato had been experiencing fled from him as he sighed softly at her.

"Idiot." he whispered softly as he walked over to her and picked up the book; The Complete Anatomy: Ghoul Edition. Ayato frowned, why had she been reading this book? He was certain it wouldn't be on the school's reading list. The page she was on was also interesting, a diagram of a Ghoul anatomy and a list of the time it takes for each part to heal. Emily had scrawled some notes on the side, 'face, chest, ribs, abdomen, biceps, radius and ulna, quadriceps, deltoids, trapezus, gluteus medius, latissimus dorsi.' Shaking his head, Ayato closed the book and placed it on her bedside table next to a framed photo of a tall, muscular Japanese man with onyx hair and smokey eyes and a short, slender Caucasian woman with a mess of curly golden hair. They must have been Emily's parents. He picked up the photo to examine it closely. He'd seen GhoulxHuman relationships before, his sister was friends with a human, and it had always made him sick. But looking at these two in the photo, he felt nothing like that. They looked genuinely happy together and it made him curious. How could two species so different - one that ate the other - be that happy and in love?

Emily moaned softly in her sleep making Ayato freeze, "...Papa..." Her brows furrowed as tears and she looked as though she was about to cry. From what he remembered, Emily's father was a Ghoul but now she was calling out for him in her sleep. Did she really love him that much? Abandoning his own values and morals, Ayato sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her burgundy hair behind her ear. Emily's expression softened instantly at his touch but Ayato's confusion and frustration only grew. He needed to leave this place as soon as possible and forget about her completely. It was the only way he was going to be able to survive in this hell.