RWBY:Crimson Ghoul

by GoofyDoober

He always wondered if ghouls had an afterlife and if they did, would he deserve it... No. Death was probably the best choice for him. After all the things he's done, it was the punishment he deserved. With his last breaths he looked at the full moon. 'It's beautiful,' he thought and closed his eyes. Rated M for violence, gore, and language.

4. Nothing Stays

Let me just start by saying thanks for the support.

It's really heart warming and I appreciate it immensely. I'll keep trying to post these chapters as best I can.

In other news, this chapter is going to be different from what I promised in the last one. But I will explain everything in the Authors Notes below, so make sure to read that. With that being said, let's start the chapter.

Chapter: 3

---

Isaac silently strolled through the area of Beacon. The campus was naturally beautiful at this time of night. Wonderful greenery accented with the clear moonlight. And just a general good breeze. He honestly couldn't get over how beautiful the city of Vale is, Beacon and all. He honestly questioned who the hell they hired when making this place.

Then again, his brain is completely giddy right now, so that could have something to do with his fantasized thinking at the moment.

He just couldn't stop thinking about his previous talk with the headmaster. It went a lot better than he hoped it would. Although he didn't really know what he was expecting. But Isaac was glad that he proved a point to Ozpin. He didn't know what it was about that man, but everything he does seems so infuriatingly caring. He just couldn't understand it. But that wasn't the only thing that was making him jolly.

He actually unlocked his aura! Isaac heard that people could unlock aura manually, but to think it was so easy! Isaac originally planned to train and bring out his naturally, but if you have the ability to gain it right away. Then why bother with the formalities?

Isaac stared down at his hands and concentrated, flaring his aura. The same wispy, red miasma seeped from his body. He found it strange how malevolent, his aura felt. He always read that unlocking your aura was an enlightening feeling.

It didn't feel like the exact opposite of that, but there wasn't exactly a happy feeling to it. Also, unlike when he first unlocked it, the amount of aura that was being produced was... small. Like something was holding it back.

'I guess it's to be expected. I did just unlock it,' Isaac thought. 'It seems I'll have to wait until tomorrow to use its full capabilities.' Isaac continued walking with a little less jump in his step. But he wouldn't let that small inconvenience ruin his so far perfect day. He wondered if all first days of school are like this. He doubted most schools have campus's this big though.

At the thought of the campus, Isaac stops in his tracks, realizing that he was more or less walking in circles. He just saw the same tree for about third or fourth time. So he decided to pick up a different strategy and sniffed the air, searching for the smell of humans.

His ghoul senses enhanced with his hunger could point out the smell of a human for miles. He caught a scent and followed it.

---

After about ten minutes of searching, he found what he "guessed" was a dining hall. Since it could probably fit about two dining halls inside it. He pushed open the doors and found the room mostly empty. There were a few people here and there, but they seemed to be leaving soon and were obviously tired. Isaac had to think for a moment and ask himself why he would come here.

"Oh yeah, I was looking for Ruby and Yang." Isaac scanned the barren dining hall and unsurprisingly couldn't see the two sisters anywhere. Isaac that hoped he would find at least Ruby. He that felt he kind of disappointed her after abruptly leaving without showing her his weapons.

He did, however, see a familiar face. The same raven-haired girl that berated Weiss about her family business. Isaac took a stab in the dark and figured she might know where Ruby and Yang are. It was the best lead he could probably get.

He skipped over to Blake, who was silently reading at an empty table. "Excuse me, may I have a moment of your time?" he asked politely.

Blake looks up from her book and sees the ghoul standing over her. "You're...," she looked him up and down, "the Crimson Ghoul," Blake said with disinterest as her bow twitched. She didn't really read much up about the Crimson Ghoul of Vale, only that many seemed to find him to be a strange stoic figure and was very popular on the news lately. She's already heard multiple rumors that he was here in Beacon. She thought many of them were exaggerating his power. For instance, she heard one story that he took out twenty armed thugs with no weapons and no obvious use of aura.

She couldn't tell if his fighting prowess was real or not, but him being a silent figure was definitely not true.

"Yeah, I am," The ghoul chuckled nervously, noticing the twitch of her bow. "I was just wondering, have you seen a short girl, black hair and usually accompanied by a lively blonde?" he asked.

She hiked an eyebrow at his description. "I think I saw somebody like that head to the Ballroom," she responded unsurely.

Isaac was a bit disappointed that he couldn't get a straight answer. "Ah, I guess that makes sense. It is getting pretty late... Why aren't you there as well?" the ghoul asked her.

"Well, I was planning to but I stayed here for some peace." Isaac tilted his head questioningly. "And quiet," she said curtly.

Isaac got the message quickly. "Oh, I understand... I'll leave you to your book. Thank you for your time." He gave her a small bow and walked away. 'So where was the Ballroom again. Hell, where's even the dressing room?' he asked himself dubiously.

Blake couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty as she watched the ghoul walk away. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I hope I... didn't offend you." Blake honestly couldn't tell if she did.

Isaac quickly waved off her apology. "It's fine... But if you don't mind, can you show me to the changing room. I've noticed that I get lost quite easily," Isaac said, embarrassed by his lack of direction.

"Sure, I don't mind," She stood up and picked up her book. "I need to go change anyways."

In a flash, Isaac appears next to Blake. "Great! Lead the way, then," Isaac says cheerfully as he longer has to wander helplessly.

---

Blake and Isaac walked side by side through the school halls. Of course, since everyone was probably in the Ballroom sleeping. The halls were devoid of other students.

Not a single word or glance was given as they walked together. And while many would've found the silence uncomfortable, Isaac was quite fine with it. He knew a conservative person when he saw one, so he wouldn't pry. Blake felt the same, in a way. Usually, she could get a read on how a person feels about a situation due to their expression. But the ghoul was a cold slate to read with that helmet on and only showed his personality when he spoke.

The only thing that made Isaac really want to talk to her was the book she was carrying. He hadn't read a good book in a long while so maybe he could ask for suggestions based off her book.

They walked for a couple more minutes before Isaac turns to Blake. "So, what's your book called?"

She looked a bit relieved that he was able to break the ice first on a comfortable subject. Blake took the book from under her arm and showed it to him."It's called The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." (A/N: That's an actual book by the way.) "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," she explained to the ghoul as the information sank in.

Isaac looked over the book with interest before chuckling,"That sounds like a book my mom would write."

Blake looks at him, surprised. She didn't expect the ghoul's mother to be a writer. "Your mother was an author?"

Isaac nodded. "Yup, I doubt you've heard of her. She would love to write physiological books like this. She was interested in the mind like that." He spoke of her with a nostalgic tone.

"She sounds like an amazing writer. What was she like?" Blake asked now interested in his mom's writing career.

Isaac clammed up awkwardly. He didn't really know how to answer that. "She was well...a sociopath," he said straightly, surprising Blake.

He notices his poor choice of words. "Oh! Well, I... shouldn't say it like that. But she was a strange woman Not the type of person you can explain with a few words."

An awkward pause filled the air between them until Blake spoke. "That must've been a... interesting childhood. Did you leave her... to become a huntsman I mean?" She asked as if she was standing on thin ice.

"Hmm," the ghoul contemplated. "I guess you can say that I wanted my own future in a way. Away from her ideals."

Blake looked at Isaac questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Isaac let out a deep compressed sigh before chuckling. He pointed to two doors that held classic gender signs. "We're here."

Blake stopped and looked surprised that they reached their destination already. She then gave the ghoul an accusing glare, seeing what he was trying to do. "You dodged my question."

Isaac puts up his hands in defense. "I dodge bullets for a living. Questions aren't all that different," he joked truthfully.

Blake chuckles as she steps inside the changing room. "All right, but expect me to ask again. I want to know more about your mom's writing."

He shrugged. "Ok, I'll dodge those questions too then." Isaac was just about to walk into the changing room until he remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. What's your name?" the ghoul asked.

"It's Blake, Blake Belladonna. What's yours?" Isaac looked confused by her question. "I mean your real name, I know Crimson isn't your real one," she says with a cheeky grin.

Isaac huffs behind his helmet. "Why do people think my name is so important," he mumbled under his breath. It's not like his name is special in any way, besides that it would give up the identity of the Crimson Ghoul.

Isaac looks back up and sees Blake patiently waiting for an answer. He sighs seeing that she won't drop the subject. "Alright my last name is Keller, and that's all I'll tell you. For now anyway."

Blake seemed to be disappointed by the answer, but was glad he told her at least half of it. "Fine, but I'll be waiting, Keller," she said before slipping into the changing room. Isaac steps into the male changing room a few seconds after.

He leans up against the door, pondering to himself as he studied the empty dressing room.

"I wonder if I should tell her. She seems trustworthy enough," he said out loud.

Isaac looks around the simple washroom. It had mirrors, showers, and moderately sized changing rooms. Isaac steps into one and locks the door behind him.

'Then again, I'll have to tell Yang and Ruby if I do since they're just as trustworthy. And I have the feeling Yang's going to draw it out of me sooner or later'

Isaac's helmet fades into a red mist as he looks into a long mirror. He still had the disarming, childlike face that he remembered. Seriously, would it kill his body to make some testosterone once in its life? He's looked like this ever since he was a kid. It was starting to get annoying.

Isaac decides to put that thought aside and fishes into his pocket, pulling out a small rectangular package. "I wonder how much I should eat," Isaac questions himself as he unwraps the paper.

Red flesh peeks out of the wrapping paper as if teasing his taste buds. He could eat all of it now or half.

Eating half would be safe for him, but since tomorrow is the initiation, eating all of it would be helpful. After all, he's never faced Grimm before. There's no telling how strong these things could be.

Isaac stared down at it for awhile, thinking of the pros and cons before he makes a decision. He unwraps all the meat and chows down.

It wasn't much of a big deal. He can always stab himself to get rid of extra Rc cells.

When he's done, Isaac licks his lips and wipes his hands off on his shorts. "Now that's out of the way I...," Isaac looks into the mirror as his brain reboots the situation. "I don't have any pajamas, damn," Isaac spat. He couldn't wear his suit. Unsurprisingly, chains are super uncomfortable to sleep in. Rubber for that matter is uncomfortable for him. So what could he wear for pajamas? It's not like he could just go naked.

Isaac looked his body over in the mirror. "Actually, maybe I could."

---

Yang lands on her sleeping bag next to her sister Ruby. "It's like a big slumber party!" Yang said enthusiastically.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the guys, though," Ruby said as she continued writing her letter to her friends back at Signal. She didn't understand how her older sister could be so comfortable next to so many people.

"I know I do~," Yang seductively purrs as she watches multiple guys proudly show off and flex their muscles for the crowd of girls. But their jaws drop when they see a familiar helmeted ghoul walk past...without a top.

Yang takes a double take, not believing what she's seeing. She almost wondered if she was hallucinating, but knew her eyes weren't deceiving her. "Whoa, Ruby look who it is," Yang pointed.

"Yang, I'm not interested in seeing boys flex," Ruby replied.

"C'mon, it's something different. Just look," She shook Ruby, trying to convince her.

Ruby finally caved in and looked up. Her cheeks turn into a hot blush at what she sees.

The Crimson Ghoul stepped into the Ballroom shirtless, showing off his toned chest. Girls drooled over him while the boys watched in envy, losing the attention to the ghoul. Isaac looked like he didn't care much for the attention he was getting. But it was hard to tell with that helmet Yang personally hated.

Yang whistled as she watched the ghoul walk. "Dang, I knew Crimson was a beast, but I didn't think he'd be so buff!" she drivels and catches a pillow thrown at her face.

"Yang! That's gross!" Ruby yells, blushing hard enough to put her cloak to shame. Yang laughs at Ruby's expense, smirking deviously.

"What? Weren't you the one who couldn't stop talking about how cool Crimson was during dinner," she teased her little sister.

"Wha- No! I said his weapons were cool and you know it!" Ruby defended. "Besides, you were the one who started talking about him in the first place!"

"Talking about who?" Yang and Ruby look up and see said topless ghoul standing over them.

Ruby shakes her head quickly. "N-No one! No one at all!" She looks back down and continues writing her letter. Yang jumps up puts her arm around the ghoul.

Isaac's eyes drift to the arm around his shoulder as Yang talks to him. "Crimson~, why didn't you tell me you were so fit." Yang reaches over to touch his toned stomach before Isaac slaps her hand away.

"My body is off-limits Yang," he said strictly. Isaac had never really been a fan of body touching unless it was hug between friends or a handshake. Anything else he just found weird and unnecessary.

Yang smirked,"C'mon, just one little touch~."

Isaac smirks behind his helmet and quickly ducks to dodge a pillow heading for Yang's face. The pillow is a direct hit and knocks her to the ground.

"Thanks, Ruby," Isaac said.

"Ugh, no problem," Ruby said, disgusted with her sister's flirting. Now on Ruby's level, he notices she's writing something.

"What's the note for?" Isaac asks curiously.

Ruby shrugs. "It's just a letter to my friends back at Signal. I promised I'd tell them all about Beacon Academy while I'm here."

Yang stumbles up onto her knees. "Aw, that's so cute." She receives another pillow to her face knocking her back.

Isaac cringes at her fall while Ruby yells at Yang. "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here," she complained.

Isaac stands up and helps Yang to her feet. "Well, you know Jaune and me. That's better than nothing," he assured her.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend."

Isaac tilted his head. "Why do you say that?"

"We had another fight during dinner," Ruby says hopelessly as she stuffs her face in her pillow.

Isaac thinks for a moment. "Still, that's better than none, and besides, I'm sure you guys will become friends soon," Isaac assured her charismatically.

Yang finally regains her balance from getting knocked down. "Yeah, I agree with Crimson. There are friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet," Yang told her sister. Ruby still looked unsure about the advice and eventually nodded her head in acceptance.

Then, out of nowhere, the sound of a candle being lit fills the Ballroom, drawing the three's attention.

Isaac immediately notices a black bow. "Is that... Blake?" Isaac asks himself out loud.

"Who's Blake?" Yang asked.

"Me and Ruby saw her when we met Weiss. Do you remember her Ruby?" he turned to the girl.

"I think so?" she said, questioning herself. "She left before I got the chance to talk to her."

Yang smirks and takes both Isaac and Ruby by the hand. "Well, now's your chance!" She drags the two towards Blake despite their protests.

"But I've already talked to her," Isaac tried to say.

"Great! Then you can introduce us!" Yang said enthusiastically. The ghoul sighed and accepted his fate while Ruby was still fighting her sister's monster grip.

Blake peeked up from her book and saw the approaching figures. "Hello! I believe you two may know each other," Yang gestures to Isaac.

Blake looks at Crimson and slightly blushes. "Crimson, why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Blake asks as she hides half her face behind her book.

Isaac shrugs, not seeing the problem. "I didn't have any pajamas and my regular clothing is uncomfortable to sleep in." He then shook his head. "But that's not important." Isaac gestured to the girls beside him,"These two wanted to say hello."

Ruby fidgets in place, nervous. "Um, hi, my name is Ruby Rose, nice to meet you." Ruby gives out her hand for Blake to shake, but Blake doesn't take it, making Ruby hang her head dejectedly.

Isaac pats Ruby on the back and turns to Yang waiting for her piece. "Sooo, Blake, right? I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! ...I like your bow!" she compliments her suddenly.

"Thanks," Blake says blandly as she continues reading her book.

"It goes great with your... pajamas!"

"Right," she continues reading.

After a few seconds of silence, Isaac leans over to Yang. "So, what's next," he whispers.

"I don't know. Help us," she whispered back.

Isaac sighs and reaches into his pocket. He had something he wanted to show her. "So Blake, while I was in the changing room, I was digging through my pockets and I found this." Isaac pulls out a small leather notebook.

Blake looks up from her book. "What is it?"

Isaac flips through some of the pages. "It's a little journal I got a long time ago. I rarely write in it anymore." Isaac closes the notebook. "But when I was looking through it, I saw that I actually copied down one of my mom's old books in here."

Blake puts down her book completely. "Really, how is it?" she asked fully invested. Yang and Ruby's jaws drop seeing Isaac break the ice so easily with the silent Blake.

Isaac shrugged. "To be honest, it's better than I remembered. But it's a bit scrunched up. So if you'd like, I could print it down for you," he offers kindly.

"You don't need to but... I would appreciate it very much." Blake smiles thankfully at the ghoul for his offer.

"Great, I'll make sure to do so when I have the chance." Isaac turns to Yang, smirking. "And that's how you make conversation," he said snidely making Yang pout.

Isaac then turned away from the girls. "Now if you need me, I'll go find something to sleep on."

"You don't have that too?" Blake smirks knowing the answer.

"...Maybe," he responds and simply walks away, leaving Ruby and Yang with Blake.

As he leaves, Ruby decides to pick up where Isaac left off. "Sooo, what's your book about?" Ruby asks hopefully.

After her previous talk with Crimson, Blake was feeling a bit more open. "Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," she explained to Ruby.

"That sounds... lovely," Yang awkwardly says, not really in her element with books.

Ruby takes a step forward, continuing the conversation. "I love books. Yang used to read to me all the time, about the hero's who fight for justice and help people who can't help themselves. That's kinda why I wanted to be Huntress when I grow up."

Blake smiles at Ruby's innocence,"That's very ambitious for a child." She then quickly frowns. "Sadly, the real world isn't like a fairy tale."

Ruby smiles regardless. "Well, that's why we're here, to make it better."

Yang reaches over and bear hugs Ruby hard enough to lift her off the ground. "Oh, I'm so proud of my little sister!" she says enthusiastically

"Yang, stop it!" Ruby struggles in her sister's grip and they break out into a dust cloud brawl with random kicks and punches flying everywhere. Blake stares slightly stupefied and doesn't notice Isaac walking back with a pillow and sleeping bag under his arm.

He tilts his head in confusion as he stands next to Blake. "So, what did I miss?"

Blake didn't really know how to explain it. "Well... We were talking and it was going pretty well, until they hugged that is."

Isaac hummed comprehensively and walked towards the two siblings. He sticks his foot in the middle of the brawl, tripping a random leg, causing the two sisters to collapse into a heap.

The ghoul leans over the sisters chuckling, "You two are very interesting people, you know that?"

"Thanks," Yang winced in pain. Trapped in what can only be considered as a human pretzel along with her sister. The sight only made Isaac laugh more.

"What in the world is going on over here!" Weiss stomped over to the group, furious. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!?

Isaac turns his head, remembering the voice. "Oh, it's you Weiss. Nice nightgown," he said politely

Weiss's eyes widen in surprise not noticing him before. "Oh Isa- I mean, Crimson how are you?" she asks equally polite and mentally berates for almost saying his real name.

"I'm doing quite fine. How are you?"

Weiss was about to answer until Ruby interrupted. "Hey, how come you're nice to Crimson and not to me?" she asked as she untangled herself from her sister.

Weiss's smile at Crimson turned to an expression of annoyance towards Ruby. "Maybe because he's polite and has some common decency!"

"You know he's not wearing a shirt right?" Blake pointed out. Weiss quickly looks back at Crimson and blushes. 'How did I not notice that before?!' Weiss internally screams as she shakes the image from her thoughts.

"W-Well he still has more common decency than her," she crossed her arms, still blushing.

Yang triumphantly stood by her sister. "Hey, my sister has common decency!"

"Yeah! Wait, what does common decency mean?" Ruby asks Yang.

Isaac watches the three girls bicker back and forth with an amused expression behind his helmet.

The ghoul takes a step forward,"Excuse me."

They snap to him. "What!?"

Isaac didn't seem to be fazed by the shout. "Since you all seem rather busy. I just wanted to wish you all a good night." He turned to Blake,"You as well Blake."

She nods to the ghoul as he turns away from them. "Goodnight~," he says sweetly and disappears in a blur, blowing out Blake's candle.

He reappears in a quiet far corner of the Ballroom.

Isaac chuckles as he watches them freak out in the dark, wondering where he went. He sets down his sleeping bag and pillow and plops down crossed legged.

'Such interesting people, those girls,' Isaac thought as he watched everyone in the entire Ballroom slowly, but surely fall asleep. He looked around the Ballroom and the many faces in it. 'Really, everyone in this place is interesting, even the teachers. Maybe being here won't be such a drag after all.' Isaac thought as he snuggled into his bag, 'Time will only tell, I guess.'

The ghoul allowed himself to decompress with a sigh.

Today was an exceptional, but tiring day all in all.

He's made some good friends, scared some adults, unlocked his Aura. He even was reminded of some old memories, thanks to Blake questioning.

Isaac pulled out his small notebook and looked through some of the pages. He couldn't remember why in the world he got this and how he forgot it for that matter. Besides his mom's book copied in here, most of it was simple phrases and ineligible paragraphs that probably made sense to him at the time of writing. For instance, something that particularly gained his attention were three simple words saying:

It changed again

'Why would I write something like that?' Isaac asked himself as he tapped the notebook against his helmet. Plus, it was in Japanese, very sloppy Japanese at that. So that means it wasn't anytime recent. After being an uneducated orphan for most of his childhood, he had the incessant need to learn how to read and write. He even learned English, but that was more to fit one of his human persona's background of being an American foreigner.

He simply just stared at the text, hoping something would come to him.

"It was when...," Isaac quietly whispered. Isaac closed his eyes tightly, remembering his past.

...Isaac's eyes then shot open with a gasp. The realization hit him like a truck, terrifying him to the core. That feeling alone was enough for Isaac to lose his concentration, making his helmet fade into a mist as his head abruptly landed on his pillow.

Naturally, if you saw Isaac or the Crimson Ghoul without his helmet, you would see him mostly smiling. Not a large smile, but a small one. One that showed he was listening to you and/or simply happy, for no other good reason other than he can be. Although this particular time was not a face of happiness.

It was a face of fear, desperation, anxiety, an expression he rarely had.

The young ghoul puts down his notebook and ran his hands through his messy hair. A nervous habit of his from when he was young.

He remembered. He remembered when and why he wrote that.

It was when he first joined the Aogiri... It was when his life changed again.

Isaac pulled on his blonde locks roughly as he remembered that dreadful day.

---

Flashback

'That doctor should be done already,' Tatara thought as he sauntered through the halls of the 11th ward Aogiri base.

He honestly hated it here. If it wasn't for its strategic placing, the Aogiri would've never settled here as long as they have. Everything was run down and falling apart. And the ghouls here are weak as much they are stupid.

The red-eyed ghoul looks down to see a hole about five feet in the middle of the hallway, proving his point. He clicks his tongue and diligently jumps over the hole and continues walking.

It also didn't help that the reason he was here was for something just as stupid.

He gave Doctor Kanou a little guinea pig for his experiments. Of course, he didn't expect much from the kid, why should he? You don't need to be a doctor to see malnutrition and possibly a cold, maybe even the flu. The kid was falling apart. And the doctor was so anxious to try out a little crackpot theory of his, that he didn't even wait to go to a proper surgery room. He just took the tools and resources he needed and just started to work on the child.

Even though Tatara could appreciate Kanou's enthusiasm, he thought the doctor acted rather rashly. Although the subject was expendable, so it wouldn't matter much if turned out to be a failure, like the many others. The materials, on the other hand, were not which was real the downside of failure.

Tartara turns a corner and sees two Aogiri members talking amongst themselves.

"Hey, did you hear the doctor laughing in there?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, what do you think so funny?" the other replied.

"I don't know, but I feel bad for the sucker that's stuck in that room with him!"

The two ghouls laughed together, knowing how strange Doctor Kanou can be.

Tatara gives them a calm gaze as he walks by, shutting them up. They straightened themselves out and one cleared their throat,"I-If you're looking for the doctor, he's r-right in here," they gestured to a door beside them.

Tartara turned and opened the door.

'Idiots,' he thought as he walked into the surgery room.

The room was relaxingly dim, in contrast with the eerie windowless interior. The Doctor stood by a dresser that held on top of it multiple medical reports and scribblings. He was looking down at a small boy with a blank look.

The child's face was plump but deathly pale. His ear-length, dark blonde hair rested on his pillow, eyes closed. An I.V needle was stuck into his arm, connected to a bag that contained Rc suppressants. The rest of his body was covered by a white blanket that rose and fell in tune with his slow breathing.

Tartara turned to the doctor. "By the look of your face, I say the procedure was a failure." The doctor looked at him surprised and gave him a warm smile.

"Ah, Tartara, I didn't notice you come in." Kanou turns to the boy with the same smile. "The surgery was a success. A complete success," he said smoothly.

The masked ghoul's natural cool expression became one of confusion. "A success?" he said, bewildered. "How was it a success?"

"See for yourself," he handed him a medical board. Tartara took it and flipped through the pages. The boy's vitals were more or less fine.

Blood type: O+

Rc quality: High

Kakuhou transplanted:

A ranked ghoul Mr. Hiromasa: Bikaku

S ranked ghoul Mrs. Hisa: Rinkaku

S+ ranked ghoul Dr. Jun: Ukaku

Rc level before surgery: 103

Rc level: 3̶7̶8̶4̶,̶ ̶4̶8̶5̶2̶,̶ ̶5̶9̶3̶5̶,̶ ̶6̶1̶8̶9̶ (After Rc suppression) 2̶0̶6̶8̶,̶ ̶2̶7̶5̶6̶,̶ ̶3̶1̶0̶8̶, 1677

Tatara looked up at the doctor. "Why are his Rc levels crossed out?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, you see, I implanted the Kakuhou in order of least to greatest Rc cell count, to allow his body to get accustomed to each one. Luckily, after the procedure, his Rc cells didn't immediately bolster. They rose at a rate that I was able to control with Rc suppressants," Kanou explained.

He rubbed his brow. "The boy's Rc level kept rising and falling so much that I just stopped recording it altogether. Honestly, if I didn't catch it at the right time, it would've gotten way out of hand. Which would most likely end up with him gaining a grotesque mutation due to overflow"

"Which would also mean we'd have another Floppy on our hands," Tatara finished looking at the boy.

Doctor Kanou nodded sourly. "After all the work and new materials I put into this one, I don't think I could handle another failure." The doctor then chuckled, charismatically. "Then again, it was me who suggested doing the surgery, so I guess it would be my fault."

All the talking makes the child murmur and whimper in his sleep. Kanou's eyes are quickly drawn to the boy's position with curiosity.

Tatara then realized something.

"Wait, I gave you the child days ago. If the surgery has been finished for a while, why didn't you tell me?" Tatara asked.

The mad doctor glanced at Tartara. "I wanted to be the first person my creation saw when they woke up. And besides, it was best to make sure they were fully stable before telling you."

"Hmm," the ghoul considered. "Well, I'm fine with that. But make sure to put him in a safe confinement when you are done. I need to judge the boy myself." The doctor nodded as Tatara walked towards the door.

Before he could reach the knob, the door swings open with a short Aogiri grunt behind it.

The low-ranking member was shaking with fear as he stood in front of his superior. "U-Um e-excuse me, s-sir"? He spoke in a shaky young voice.

"Yes, what is it?" Tatara asked coolly.

"E-Eto h-has asked for you."

Before Tatara could respond a loud yawn fills the surgery room. Tatara turns his head and see's the boy leaning up in bed. All the noise must've woken him up.

The child rubs his tired eyes and feels a sharp sting tugging on his arm. His eyes drift to the I.V cord pierced in his shoulder. The boy tugs on the cord and winces before pulling it out.

He rubs his now sore arm as he looks around the room. Well, not really looking, more of a squint. Everything was a blob, it was hard to diversify what was a person and what was simply part of the room. The only definite thing he saw was red, but not enough to know what it was.

"Strange, his eyes seem to be adjusting to something," he heard a blur say.

They rub their hazy eyes, trying to shake the blindness away.

And then pain.

A searing hot sensation burnt through his cornea and retinas. Like a hot pillar of metal was stabbing through his eyes. His left eye was the worst. It was like somebody was twisting the nerve in his eye with red hot pliers. But it was just a few units of pain away from screaming.

Like dipping your hand in scalding water, but the pain never got better or worse.

He almost couldn't handle the pain. He wanted to cry, but the pain was never enough. The child sucked hasty breaths through his teeth as he covered eyes. "If you're busy, s-sir, I can tell Eto." The young boy looked up with watery eyes. The red blob before started to sharpen its image. The first thing he noticed was not the cloak itself, but the thing the cloak was wearing. It was a mask.

A mask he's seen before. That, as an orphan living in the 13th ward, was something you needed to fear and know the face of.

Aogiri.

His brain went on autopilot and ignored the pain in his eyes. He jumped out of the bed and quickly pushed through Tatara and the Aogiri member and proceeded to run down the hallway. The Aogiri members guarding the door stood confused to see the running child.

Everyone stared at the doorway bewildered by what just transpired. "Hmm, I've never seen one do that before," Kanou snickered. Tatara turned to the grunt with a glare.

"Well!? Go after him already!" he barked at the Aogiri member. The grunt jumped back, shaking in their shoes.

"Y-Yes sir!" They quickly fled the room after the child. The doctor chuckled as he walked to the door. He glanced at the red-eyed ghoul.

"You know they're not going to catch him." Tatara stared at the doctor and sighed, begrudgingly agreeing with him. He fled out the door with the doctor walking casually behind him.

---

'The Aogiri! What are the Aogiri doing here?! Does that mean there are ghouls here too?!'

'Of course there are ghouls here, idiot. Everyone in the Aogiri are ghouls!'

'Well I'm sorry, I'm panicking right now!'

'Then maybe you should stop talking to yourself and-RUN FASTER!

The young boy slaps himself as he keeps running.

What was he doing here? How'd he even get here? The last thing he remembered was passing out in the streets and now he's here. And why the hell is he wearing a hospital gown!

The boy skids to a stop at an intersection. He can go straight or right. As he thinks about his choices he hears the patter of feet behind him. 'Screw it! Right!'

He turns and runs like his life depends on it, probably because it does. They look for any type of change in direction. He couldn't just go right forever. After all, their ghouls, he can't outrun a ghoul.

But he can outsmart them.

As if lady luck was listening to his prayers, he sees a doorway, not too far from here. He rolls into the room as fast as he can. But instead of the cold hard ground, he was greeted with air. The boy looks down mid-jump and sees that the room was a room, but inside of it was a huge hole to another floor. He tries to roll back but it's too late. He falls face first on the dusty concrete below with a resounding 'thud'.

He tries to lift his body off the ground only to be stopped by the burning sensation in his eyes to come back. It seems the adrenaline from running has run out. He winces as he holds his eyes in a faint attempt to make the pain go away.

His struggles immediately stop when he hears footsteps from above him. The child holds his breath as the footsteps run away from his location. Which seemed to take forever in his panicked mind.

As the footsteps disappear, they let out a shaky sigh. He reluctantly stands up through the pain and walks out of the dusty room. He leans up against the wall as he puts pressure on his eyes.

Why was it hurting so much? And the thing that made it worse was that the feeling kept changing. The pain level stayed the same, but the way the pain transmitted itself to his nerves and brain changed and morphed. His left eye was still the worst as it now held a throbbing rhythm that rang through his head. He took slow, labored breaths as he tries to think of a plan.

He outsmarted his pursuer, for now anyway. Those ghouls could sniff him out like a dog if they wanted to. He knew that they could all too well. All he needs to do is lose his scent, which is easier said than done and find a way out of here. He can't be that far from civilization.

As the boy contemplates his situation, he passes an open window.

Their eyes widen and they trace back to the window. As they lean out the opening trying to find their bearings in the area, only to discover...

That he's in the forest.

"I'M IN THE GOT DAMN FOREST!" he yells out the window. He quickly covers his mouth and hoped nobody heard him. He walks away from the window and curses to himself. Things just got a lot more complicated for him.

So now he has to find an exit without getting caught. While simultaneously navigating out of a huge forest. Yeah, cause that was going to be easy.

But on the bright side, the pain in his eyes has...lessened. He just needed to stay calm, not panic and everything would be fine, right? Even now he thought he saw an opening.

It was a large doorway with a maroon curtain. He'll take anything he could right now. He peels apart the curtains hopefully.

The room was filled with Aogiri. The child looks, stone-faced, at the crowd of ghouls. "Hey, who's that?" The boy looks up and sees's there were some ghouls on some type of podium. The person who was talking was a young teenager with messy purple hair, leather hoodie jacket and black pants along with knee high boots.

A short girl in a red cloak covered head to toe in bandages crouched on the floor. Standing next to her was a giant of a man with the signature red cloak, but his face was covered with a mask that had huge teeth and tiny slits for nostrils.

The child takes a deep breath and walks away. "Nope, juuust nope."

The ghouls stare where the child left with varying degrees of confusion. Ayato runs his hand through his hair. "Hey, wasn't that the human Tatara brought back a few days ago?"

"I think so. It seems he escaped," Eto clarified. Ayato sighed as he stepped off the podium. He knew the procedure for escaping Aogiri members, can't be that different.

He points into the crowd of ghouls. "Okay, you, you, you and you. Come with me," Ayato commanded. The four stood up and followed the ghoul out the door.

Meanwhile, the young patient stumbled through the old hallway. At this point, his brain just gave up. He couldn't outrun them even if he tried. They turn their head and see a stairway. He walks down the stairs calmly all the way to the bottom.

The bottom floor was large and clear. There were two doors that led to the outside. Although he still had to get through the woods, so escape just went out the window. He then heard multiple footsteps behind him.

He nonchalantly turns his head and sees Ayato with four masked ghouls behind him. The child keeps walking forward and picks up a large rock with both hands.

"You know," he said in a bored tone. "I kind of gave up on escaping now." He turns around with the rock in his hands. "But I'm sure as hell not gonna let you kill me."

Ayato smirked. "Well, lucky for you kid we can't kill you as long as that damn doctor finds you important." He turns towards the ghouls,"That goes for you guys too. Use your kagune and it's on your ass." The ghouls nodded and one of the larger ghouls walked towards him.

"Okay, make it easy and just come with us." The Aogiri member made the mistake of leaning down to the child's level. He raises the rock and slams it on the ghoul mask, cracking it. The ghoul's body slumps over unconscious as the boy stands surprised.

'Wow, that's usually only enough to stun them,' he thought. An another ghoul walks up to the boy with his Koukaku reflexively unsheathed. Like a sixth sense, the boy dodges to the side, avoiding his kagune.

"You brat, he was trying to be nice!"

"Hey, dipshit! What did I just say!" Ayato barked.

The ghouls turn towards him. "Oh! Um, sorry bo-." The child slams the rock on top of the ghoul's head. He falls back lifeless as his kagune dissolves. The young boy arched a brow. He looked down at the unconscious bodies. 'Either these ghouls are really weak, or I got stronger... probably the first one.' It wouldn't be the first time he was able to deal with a ghoul because they were hungry or weak. The last two ghouls ran towards the small boy.

The child smirks, reels back and throws the rock. The ghouls move out of the way only for the rock to curve and hit one them in the face. "Agh, Dammit!" one screeches as he holds his throbbing head. The boy laughs and sticks his tongue at them.

"Ha, jokes on you, I throw baseballs in my spare time!" he mocked. The last Aogiri ghoul runs up and grabs the boy by the collar. A red tail shoots out from his back inches away from the child's face.

"Okay, I've had enough of this human brat!" His tail reels back. The child closes his eyes awaiting the attack. He hears the slice and cutting of flesh, but not his own. The child opens his eyes and sees the ghoul pierced by multiple black shards.

He drops down to the ground confused as Ayato complained with his kagune out. "Seriously, were you guys born idiots are something!? I tell you not to use your kagune and you use it. I tell you not to kill him and you try to kill him! You better hope this kid killed the rest of you before I get the chance to!"

While Ayato rambles on, the boy jumps up and starts running full speed. He clotheslines the Aogiri member holding his throbbing head, knocking him to the ground.

Ayato looks through his rage and sees the patient running towards the door. He growls and appears next to the boy in a blur. He reels back and aims a kick to the back of his head. The child immediately ducks under the kick without even looking. Ayato growls and aims a roundhouse kick to his stomach. The boy didn't have the athletics to jump over the leg and gets hit by it full force. He falls to the side, unconscious.

Ayato walks up to the boy and picks him by the collar. Ayato smirked. "You're a real handful, you know that kid." He slings the body over his shoulder.

"Kirishima," he heard someone say. Ayato looks up and sees Tatara walking down the stairs, the doctor not far behind.

"Oh, Tatara." He points towards the body. "Don't worry, I didn't kill the kid."

Tatara nods as he looks around the room. He raises an eyebrow at the fallen Aogiri. "Did he kill them," he asked without a thread of care.

Ayato shrugged. "I don't know about kill, but they're definitely out cold." The ghoul chuckled,"It was pretty funny actually, he knocked them all out with a rock."

"A rock?" the doctor pondered rubbing his chin. "He was in recovery longer than most of my patients I test the strength of, so it makes sense his ghoul characteristics have activated. And the adrenaline probably negated the effects of the Rc suppressants."

Tatara nods and looks at Ayato. "Bring him with us, I know where we can put him." Ayato nods and follows Tatara and the doctor with the unconscious child over his shoulder.

---

He felt sick. Like his stomach was trying to turn itself inside out. He subconsciously clasped at his hospital gown as he began to open his eyes. The boy's dull senses first felt the cold sensation of the table against his cheek. A comical string of drool connects his face to the table as he slowly sits up. He rubbed his eyes as he looks around the room.

It honestly had a sinister atmosphere to it. There was a single light source that shined over his head. And as he felt around him, he noticed that he was sitting in an armless metal chair just as uncomfortable and plain as the table.

"Wakey, Wakey~," he heard from a honeyed female voice.

The young boy finally looks in front of him and see's a small child or woman sitting on the other side of the table. It was hard to tell with how short she was. As he squinted at the robed figure he realized that it was the same girl that was in that room filled with Aogiri. The only exception being that the giant masked man no longer stood by her side. That thought alone made him feel safer but anyone in the Aogiri can't be taken lightly, even this girl.

His gaze drifts to the closed door leading out. He thought about running again but his sore stomach told him otherwise. Not only that, but the only reason he was able to outrun them the first time was because he had a head start. But now he has no such luxury. He looks back to the small woman who was looking straight at and through him, propped on her elbow.

The child had seen that look from other ghouls before. She was studying him, for what reason he had no idea. For whatever reason it was, it better involve the reason he's here.

The bandaged ghoul could see the frustration on his face, making her laugh. Her giggle seemed to echo in the barren room as she stated the obvious to the boy,"I take it your angry."

Said child pouts at the ghoul. "Of course I am, you guys kidnapped me," he mumbled.

The robed woman laughs again, greatly unnerving him. "It's not really our fault."

The boy gave her a look of pure bewilderment. He couldn't tell if she kidding or not. "How is it not your fault?" he asked cynically.

She shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "Well, you were the one to pass out on the streets with no concern for your own safety. How irresponsible of your parents to let a child explore so recklessly." The child widens his eyes in surprise and it quickly turns into a scowl. "Oh, I take it you don't have parents, do you?"

She hit the nail on the coffin with her guess. The child felt his anger rise at the uncomfortable subject. She continues, seeing his anger clearly, "No wonder you ran so much. You've probably been running your entire life. And now you've been captured ghouls probably responsible for the death of your parents. Unfortunate, wouldn't you say," she said condescendingly. He turns away from her and grinds his teeth.

'Shut up! What would you know?' he yelled internally. It was all too easy for him to get flustered on this subject. And as if on cue, his left eye started to burn in sync with his anger. But this time it wasn't painful. It was invigorating, strengthening, maybe even exciting.

And the next thing she said made his blood boil. "That must've been a very miserable and lonely life for you. In a twisted way, it's almost like you aren't even alive. Considering the only people who truly loved you are dead now. It's almost like you...

Don't even exist

The child slams his fist on the table, kakugan finally bared. He wanted to hit her, attack her, KILL HER! He refused to let his place in this world be questioned by this ghoul! She's a monster! What would she know about family or to be loved by someone? He doubted she even had the chance to have a family, what ghoul does!? SO...so...

The child's brain seemed to rewire his hatred into logic as he thought more on the subject. His expression began to calm becoming a bit more stoic in appearance. "...You know... You have no right to talk yourself," he pointed at the ghoul with jaded eyes.

"Oh? What do you mean?" she inquired, interested in his now calm disposition.

"Well, you're a ghoul, right? That has to suck," he said matter-of-factly.

The ghoul giggled at his bluntness of his words. "I am quite comfortable being a ghoul," she clarified proudly.

He calmly shook his head as he sat straighter in his seat, hands nestled in his lap. "That's not what I meant. I mean...ghouls aren't...born monsters. They go through their own experiences in their lives that make them who they are. But, because they're ghouls, they can't enjoy the life that most children should... And they hate the world because of that. So, while what happened to me can be considered bad luck. Your lives are destined to be terrible the day you're born." He gave the ghoul a condescending, shit-eating grin.

"If that's not a depressing life, then I don't know what is." The child finished with challenging eyes.

Neither of them spoke after that. They simply watched each other, waiting for someone to speak their piece. Until the ghoul laughed, purely satisfied with his reply.

"You might have a point about that," the ghoul smiled behind her bandages. In contrast to her original smile, this one was kinder in a way. "What's your name?"

The boy's calm face involuntarily twitched at the woman's strange change of tone. "My...name? Why do want to know my name?"

"I'm just curious. Is there a problem with that?" she asked. The child grumbles to himself making Eto cup her ear, "What was that?"

The child grumbles again as he looks at the woman. "My name...is Koshiro Koriyama. What's your name?" he asked, not really wanting an answer.

"It's Eto, I prefer not to use my last name." Koshiro hummed in acknowledgment as he looked away from her. He wasn't in much of a mood to talk with the woman after their previous little bout.

She pressed on regardless of his discomfort. "So, Koriyama-chan~," she said teasingly. He grumbled at the use of the honorific. He's always found them so unnecessary, especially that one. "What is it that makes you happy in this world?"

He arched an eyebrow at her question. "I'll take any happiness I can get really. You can't exactly be picky in my situation."

"Oh really? Do tell."

Koshiro grits his teeth thinking of an example. "Well, when I was little I got really happy getting a new toy. And now I get just as happy finding food that isn't generally rotten. Is that a good enough example for you?" he said spitefully

Eto giggled for a reason unknown to him. "Yes, that's fine. But I have another question for you." She leaned forward in her chair. "What would you do to preserve your happiness?"

Koshiro looked confused and shifted in his seat. "I don't know, anything I guess."

"Anything, huh? Would you kill someone to preserve your happiness?" she says a bit too cheerfully for him to be comfortable with.

"Um, well," he twirled a finger through his hair nervously. "I've never been in a situation where I would have to. I would fight for my happiness, though."

Eto chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. "That's a good answer." Koshiro looked confused by her response as Eto stepped out of her chair and walked towards the door. She turns around to face him one last time.

"It was nice to meet you, Koriyama-chan~," she says sweetly before leaving the room.

She giggles as she stretches her legs. "Well, he was an interesting one. What did you think?" Eto turns towards Tatara, who was standing by the door listening to them the entire time.

"Depends, did you see his eyes?" Tatara asked, leaning up against a wall.

"Yes, I was able to draw them out. They were simple, but in a good way," Eto clarifies. "I know what he wants out of life and because of that I think we can make good use out of this one."

"If you think so, I have no objections," Tatara said as he began walking with Eto beside him. "Also, the doctor said that we won't be able to speed up his ghoul transformation. Opening his Rc pathways with torture could end with him undergoing a body mutation when he heals and that he was luckily able to avoid failure during the surgery. Although that it is just a concerned theory of his."

She shook her head, seeing no point to torture the boy. "It's fine, I have a feeling he'll grow into it on his own time. All we need to do is wait."

---

Koshiro had his head down on the metal table, peacefully sleeping. Despite how dark it was, the room was tranquil, very little ever disturbed the silence. The only constant interruption was an Aogiri member who'd check on him every hour or so. Each time they left, he heard the distinct sound of a lock clicking. Which meant there was either a lock on the door or a key. Regardless of which, he couldn't escape if he tried.

"So the kid is in here, right?" An Aogiri member asked outside the door.

"Yeah, he's in here," another one replied. "Here's the keys." He took out a key attached to a small ring and handed it to his comrade.

They took the key and stuck it in. The key turned with a satisfying 'click' as the door opened. One of them quietly peeked their head in and saw the child. "Ok, he's asleep." He withdrew his head and closed the door as quietly as he could. "It's hard to believe a kid like that was able to cause so much trouble."

"I know what you mean. I heard the people who couldn't catch him are going to have a talk with Ayato." Both of the ghouls shivered at the thought.

"Those poor fools," he said honestly as he reached for the key.

"Gotta give props to the kid though. I heard he knocked them all out with a rock."

The Aogiri member jerked the key out in surprise. "Geez, a rock?!"

"That was my reaction too! Do you think they'll let him join the Aogiri?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if they did. I've already seen a handful of kids here already." He tosses the keys back to his friend. "Now come on. We need to keep making rounds."

The Aogiri member nods. "Yeah, you're right." They walk away side by side, continuing their patrol.

In the room, Koshiro peeks one eye open in the dark. He heard them walk away, but no 'click'.

...They forgot to turn the key.

Koshiro let out a smirk as he stepped out of the chair. He pressed his ear against the crack of the door to hear any voices or footsteps. After hearing nothing for a good minute he opened the door.

As he steps out, he looks toward left and right. If he heard correctly, they went right. So Koshiro turned left and started walking rather calmly. He was in no rush anyways.

He saw a flight of stairs that led up towards the roof. He shrugged and walked up the steps, not even trying to hide the sound of it. On the top of the stairs, lied await a door that led to the outside. Koshiro took hold of the door knob and opened it, immediately getting assaulted with the cool night air. The sun was just about set on the horizon. 'Good, I didn't miss it,' he thought as he walked towards the edge of the building and sat down.

He kicked his bare feet over the edge as he looked at the sunset. It was his favorite time of the day and never wanted to miss it. And for the first time today, he let out a real smile as the sun faded. The dark soon came across the sky as Koshiro hunched over with his eyes closed. He peacefully drifted off to a dreamless sleep under the faint light of the stars and the moon.

---

"Come on we need to find him!" An Aogiri member yelled from one of the lower floors of the building.

Koshiro's sleeping face flinched at the new noise as he opened his eyes. He looked up with a tired gaze and saw the mass array of stars over him. It would've been peaceful if it wasn't for the person behind him.

He lets out a dense sigh through his nose before falling on his back. He wasn't really in the mood to talk, but he doubted she would give him the choice.

"Eto," he yawned. "Is that you?" Koshiro asked, hoping for no answer. He heard an amused chuckle coming from the stairway as the bandaged woman stepped out.

"You have sharp ears, Koriyama-chan~."

He subconsciously flinched at the honorific. "Yeah, one of the many new perks I'm realizing I have," he said with his voice devoid of emotion.

Eto teetered back and forth absent-mindedly with her hands clasped behind her back. "Oh, you figured it out then?" Koshiro glared at her as best he could.

"I think I do, but I wouldn't mind you explaining it to me," his voice was lined in venom. Eto giggled at his aggressive tone and skipped over to the small boy.

"What was the first sign?" she asked comprehensively as she knelt by his head.

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember. "It was when you left. I was still angry after our little talk... Then I...saw it...in the reflection of the table." Eto chuckled and pointed to his left eye.

"It's called your kak-u-gan," she sounded it out like a teaching a child their first words. And very much like a child, he seemed perplexed by the strange word.

Koshiro puts a hand over his left eye. "A kakugan?" he questioned innocently. "So that's what it's called... Wait, I've seen ghouls have two though. I only have one."

"That's because some ghouls only have one," she clarified. The child seemed to think about how that was possible before giving up. He simply looked up at the sky looking rather placid. "You seem to be taking this a lot better than I thought you would."

The child shrugged and closed his eyes. "I had some time to think about it," he said numbly. It was the truth. When he saw it, he didn't want to believe it. He tried blinking it way, poking it, nothing worked. The fact that it didn't go away made him even angrier, which made it stay longer. And right before he felt like he was going to explode with anger, a female Aogiri member opened the door to check on him. They were maskless and had a look of sympathy on their face. They told him that everything was going to be ok, that ghouls tried escaping all the time and many of the superiors have been lenient lately. With that, she left and locked the door.

A part of him thanked the woman for trying to give him hope in his situation. But another part of him shattered at those words.

'She thought I was a ghoul...' At that point, it was hard to deny to it. He was a... He wasn't human anymore. His life, in a few hours, had completely changed. Just like when his parents...

He clenched his fist at the thought of it. Koshiro glared at Eto with a cold expression. "I know it's your fault that I'm like this."

Eto shook her head much to his confusion. "Actually, it was completely the doctor's idea of doing this to you."

The boy furrowed his brow in thought. He briefly remembered seeing somebody who looked like a doctor when he woke up here. But why would he turn him into a...

Koshiro took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Why would he do that?" he asked tonelessly. Eto shrugged in the response to the question.

"It was really just a test. In all honesty, you weren't supposed to survive, you just got lucky."

"Lucky!?" He jumped onto his knees and stared straight at Eto. "How in the world is that lucky?"

Eto chuckled and flicked his forehead, making him flinch. "Well, you could've died for one. And considering how close you were from dying before, I'd consider that pretty lucky."

Koshiro crossed his arms and looked up at the sky. "Of course you'd find that lucky," he said solemnly.

"Well, you gave off the impression that you didn't hate ghouls. Yet you seem to be pretty irritated by it," Eto said as she too stared at the night sky.

"Honestly, I don't. I just naturally avoidance against them since they've been trying to kill me all these years." He looked back at Eto. "I do hate that against my will, my entire world just got turned upside down and now I don't know what to do anymore."

Eto was silent for a moment, thinking of a way to answer. "Well, you could always try your hand at killing yourself. You'd die with your humanity in a way," Eto said nonchalantly. Koshiro scowled at Eto's words.

"Ok, first of all, I will not do that. And second of all," he points at her face. "Why the hell were you smiling when you said that?"

Eto openly laughed at his confusion. "I just wanted to see how you'd react," she said sincerely. Koshiro gave her an "are you serious face" and looked away from her.

"Ok, this conversation is now officially over, goodbye now," he waved farewell to her wanting to leave the conversation at that. Eto giggled almost psychotically as she leaned towards the boy.

"Are you sure? I had one last proposition for you~." Koshiro sighed and turned his head towards the ghoul and sees her face inches from his. Her bandaged visage was curved into a mischievous grin. He didn't back away from her and simply quirked an eyebrow.

"And what would that proposition be?" he asked simply as if the situation wasn't uncomfortable. Telling how close she was to his face, he probably wouldn't like what she had to say.

Eto leaned an inch closer. "I would like you to join the Aogiri," she said in a whisper.

Koshiro didn't look surprised, he simply looked blank. He gazed up towards the stars not really knowing how to answer. What ten year old would in this situation? Everything in his life just got stripped away from him. And now he has to choose an entirely different way of life.

There was only one thing he could do, right?

He stood up and stretched his legs. Koshiro looked down at Eto with dull eyes. "You say it as if I have a choice."

Eto stood alongside him, dusting off her cloak. "Well, you technically do. You could simply try to return to the life you had before."

Koshiro quickly shook his head. He refused to let that be an answer. "I learned that in this world you either adapt or you die." He looked straight into Eto's eyes with a fierce determination. "And I choose to adapt in this world than live a lie." His voice was cold and emotionless. Even the smallest childlike flare he had before was lost. "In other words... I'll take your offer."

Eto sported a sly smile, all too pleased with his answer. She gestured for him to follow her. "In that case, follow me." She cheerfully walked towards the stairway with Koshiro close behind her.

"I want you to know that I don't plan on being your little lap dog," Koshiro clarified, as he took the first step down. Eto giggled and turned to face him.

"Don't worry, you won't be." She turned back around, smirking to herself fiendishly. "You'll be our little Soldier Boy~," she said teasingly.

"Soldier boy?" he repeated. "What do you mean by that?" he questioned, suspicious of her meaning.

Eto brushed aside his worries with a wave of her hand. "Oh, don't worry about it, Koriyama-chan~," Eto said sweetly as she walked faster down the steps. Koshiro grumbled as he followed the ghoul.

"Can you please stop calling me Koriyama-chan?"

"Why? It's so cute."

"It's annoying!"

"That's what makes it cute."

---

Koshiro opened a door that led into a small, well-kept room. There was one bed off to the side and a decent wood desk with drawers on each side, pressed up against the wall. Other than that it was pretty empty. As he looked around the room, Eto stepped from behind him. "So I have to ask," he turned around to face her. "Are you going to tell them that you found me because they're still freaking out over there." He figuratively gestured behind him towards the distant panicking Aogiri that they were able to sneak past.

"I'll let them panic for a little while longer. They deserve it after letting you get away," Eto said a bit too happily. Koshiro hummed and scratched his cheek in thought. 'Probably shouldn't tell her how I got out then. There's no telling what she would do to them." He internally cringed as he envisioned the thought and looked towards Eto as she began gesturing around the small room.

"This will be your room as long as you're here. You'll get used to the size," she told him. Koshiro nodded as he sat on his new bed.

The boy studied the room with varying degrees of suspicion. Something seemed off.

His gaze returns to the ghoul with his arms crossed. "You know, this place in pretty neat compared to the rest of the building," he pointed out to her.

"That's because I used to use this room," she clarified to the young boy. "But I don't use it anymore, so I'm letting you have it," she said in a sweet tone.

Koshiro opens his mouth to respond only to bite his tongue. He didn't know how to respond, he felt so...confused. And he hated it.

"Why?" he asked. "Why are you helping me?"

Eto leaned up against the desk. "Is there something wrong with helping you?"

"Yes!" he shouted, flailing his arms. "You have no reason to help me! Plus, you're not exactly the most trustworthy person I've met."

"Oh really?" she said in a mocking tone. "And what makes you think I'm not trustworthy, Koriyama-chan?" Eto gave the boy a taunting smile as he grumbled to himself. Besides the taunting, he couldn't find an actual reason not to trust to her. It didn't feel like he hated her per se, but something just made him cautious towards her. It would be best if he followed his instincts like always.

The young boy shook his head as he stared at Eto. "I just don't trust you," Koshiro finally replied, to which Eto responded with a laugh. Almost immediately, she suddenly appeared right next to him on the bed making him nearly choke on his tongue. He broke into a coughing fit from the surprise as Eto chastises his behavior.

"Koriyama-chan~, that isn't very nice. Haven't you ever heard not to judge a book by its cover?" she chided.

Koshiro coughed, trying to steady his voice. "Yeah, of course I've heard of it, so what?" he asked. Eto playfully flicked his head..

"Well, did you know, most people only say that because they can't do it correctly?" she told him with a grin. Koshiro didn't respond but gave her an inquisitive brow. Seeing it as a sign to continue, Eto gladly explained what she meant. "For example, when you look and judge somebody, it is much like judging a book. The cover can be misleading and the inside can be something entirely unexpected."

"But some books tell you exactly what they are by the cover and only leave out their more...finer and more important details. And those are the ones you need to look for."

Koshiro nodded along with Eto's explanation. "Ok, I see what you mean. But why are you telling me?"

"Well, I've just noticed that you're surprisingly observant for your age. Making assumptions about your situation whenever you can when most people wouldn't be able to rely on their instincts alone."

Koshiro snorted and crossed his arms."Yeah, well, here's an observation for ya'. You're surprisingly short." Eto smiles and gives a quick flick to his forehead. "Gah! Fine, what's your point?" Koshiro says as he rubs his forming bruise.

Eto giggles and points to his left eye. "Other than you being a ghoul now. Do you know why I wanted you to join the Aogiri?" The young boy shrugged actually wondering the answer himself.

"I find you strange," Eto said. Koshiro internally scoffed, 'Your one to talk.'

"How exactly am I strange?"

"Well, when you first got here, you ran around terrified like a lost child. But when you're trapped in a corner where nowhere else to run, you simply pick up a rock and knock out three ghouls. That's pretty strange."

Koshiro furrowed his brow, seeing what the ghoul was getting at. "Hey! That doesn't mean I'm weird!" Koshiro interrupted. "And besides those were some the weakest ghouls I've ever see-" Eto pressed a hand on his protesting mouth.

"I'm not saying that protecting yourself is strange. It's strange that a child of your age, defended yourself so fearlessly. With the way you acted, I'd dare say you fought ghouls before." Koshiro made no attempt to deny the claim and only looked away from the ghoul. He didn't need to look at her to see the wide smirk on her face. "Ah, I was correct, you have dealt with ghouls before, maybe even killed a lucky few. I guess it makes sense, how else would a child live all alone without rallying behind the CCG." Koshiro swatted Eto's hand away from his mouth.

"It's less that I know how to deal with them and more I've learned how to run away," he insistently defended. Eto smiled and leaned her head on her hands.

"You know it only makes it even more suspicious when you tried to deny it," Eto pointed out to him.

Koshiro crossed his arms, "I'm not trying to deny anything."

Eto only snickered. "It's not good to lie, Koyama-chan," she responded. Koshiro looked he was going to retort until Eto appeared in front of him again inches from his face. He wasn't as surprised this time and exhaled calmly as he subconsciously clenched on his hospital gown.

"And what would I be lying about?" he asked coolly.

Eto smiled, glad that his perseverance didn't falter. "You try to act more childish than you really are," she responded. Koshiro nodded numbly showing that he wouldn't interrupt. "From what I've seen, you completely switch from acting like a foolish child to knowing and aware," she told him.

"Because when I look at you, I don't see a sad orphan left to rot on the streets, just barely surviving. I see a person who has adapted and played with the cards dealt to him in the best way he could think of. Yet you are constantly torn between accepting this new life or yearning to go back to the happy days when you had a family. So instead of going through the moral conflict of choosing, you simply splice the two wants and personalities together," she interlocked her fingers for example.

"So you constantly change from having the same wants and answers to a problem like a child would and yet also try to handle things in a experienced and controlled way." Koshiro chewed on his cheek as he continued to process the information given to him. "That's why I find you strange and interesting." Eto wore a crooked smile,"I want to see what to see what life you'll choose in the end."

Koshiro stared at Eto blankly knowing the truth in her words. He turned his gaze to his feet. "...Your right," he said, his voice dry of emotion. "I don't know what type of life I want to have. But honestly what ten year old does?" The child tightly clasped their hands.

"I shouldn't have to know!" he yelled not at the ghoul, but at himself. He breathed heavily, trying to calm himself down.

He ran his hands through his blonde locks. "I've... survived so many things in my life. The death of my parents, of Ms. Sanako who taught me how to survive and cope after my parents died," he said shakily refusing to let himself cry. "And then I had to deal with Ghouls and thugs who tried to kill or rob me of what little money I had..."

"But I always survived. I would always get back up and try again and again to find something worthwhile, something that could give me a reason to keep trying on living. Because I was always just so lucky," Koshiro mocked himself sardonically. "Hell, even now I miraculously survived some special surgery that turned me into a ghoul!" he slammed his fist on his leg. "Why!? ...Why did it have to happen to me... What makes me so got damn special?"

"So would you give up your life simply to go back to your happy times you had before," Eto asks. Koshiro thought of his answer long and hard as anxiety coursed through his body.

"No. There'd be no point, nothing would change. It would either get worse or the situation would be entirely different..." He let his head drop into his hands. "It never gets better for me, only worse."

Eto knelt down in front of the young boy. "Then why not give up? If life is so painful for you then why keep on moving forward?"

"Because I-I want to be happy. I deserve to be happy... But how can I," he whimpered as he felt tears threatening to spill over. His inner trembling only stopped when he felt a warm hand on his head.

"Of course you can be happy. You're a ghoul now, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

"I'm not scared it's just I...," his shivering returned in pulsing shakes. "I'm just tired of everything changing. I hate being so alone. It's painful and I hate it."

His frail voice echoed in the small room. But the one thing that was never heard was the sound of him crying. Koshiro refused to let his tears fall no matter how sad he felt. If he hated anything, it would be crying. To him, it was weakness and he refused to make himself weak. The young boy only bit on his knuckle and gripped on his hair, replacing the want to cry with pain.

Eto was silent and only watched the young boy trying to cope with his emotions. They were both quiet until Eto finally removed her hand from his head. "Well, maybe this could help." He hears the sound of something rustling before he felt something tap on his head.

Koshiro reflexively looked and let go of his blonde locks.

In front of him was... A book?

"It's a journal," Eto explained readily. "It's for you to write your memories in." Koshiro only blinked as he looked over the plain cover.

He swallowed concentrating his still wobbly voice. "W-Why would I need to do that?"

"Because, even if everything changes, you'll still remember it. Your memories will never change and even if they do," Eto gently set the book in his lap. "This journal will help you remember." Koshiro seemed shocked by her words and looked down to the notebook. He gingerly picked it up and held it to his chest.

It was a way for him to remember, a way to let things stay the same. A very small smile crept on his cheeks by the thought alone.

In a hushed whisper, he said "Thank you" and hugged the book closer.

"No need to thank me. Think of it as a gift for being entertaining to talk to," Eto said and began walking towards the door. "I suggest you get some rest Koriyama-chan. You might need it for tomorrow." The child numbly nodded as Eto cracked open the door. "Goodnight, Koshiro-chan," the ghoul said before shutting the door behind her, leaving only the boy.

Koshiro sat there quietly, still holding the book in his arms. He chuckled to himself as he thought about previous events.

Eto played him. Or at least tried to.

She exploited his weaknesses, questioned his motives and even got him a gift. Opposite of the probably desired effect, it made him wary of her even more. Not afraid, only wary.

It kind of reminded him of a spider, sitting patiently in an intricate web of lies or persuasion. You can easily avoid them, but they're still everywhere and can bite you in your sleep when you least expect it.

All in all he was still happy to receive a gift though, even if that was planned as well. And if Eto was as smart as he thinks, she knows that he was still untrusting of her. His faith in the ghoul would remain a fickle bridge for now. In the meantime, might as well check out the notebook Eto gave him. Koshiro withdrew the book from his chest and gave it a good look over.

It had a sleek brown leather cover and actually seemed to be new. Plus the notebook wasn't really big, it was quite thin. And it was just small enough to conveniently fit in your pocket.

Koshiro opened the small notebook and was surprised to find how many pages it had. They were exquisitely thin, but tough enough to easily write on and were so compact that they held a good hundred or more pages. He couldn't help but respect the craftsmanship of this small journal.

Which made him question why Eto gave this to him in the first place. Despite how sneaky this woman is there's no way she bought a new journal just for him. Unless she had already bought it before and just decided to give it to him now. Which still didn't make any sense considering this must've cost a lot of money. At least in poor orphan standards.

Did she really give it to him because he was entertaining to talk to? Koshiro groaned and hit his head with the notebook. 'I need to calm down. For the first time here I'm not worried about somebody coming to get me. I should just relax and worry about everything else tomorrow.' He nodded to himself and stood up from the bed to stretch his legs.

As he stood, he noticed a gleam of light on his new desk. He walked forward and noticed it was just a pen. 'Did she leave that for me?' He shrugged at the convenience and picked up the pen.

Koshiro laid his journal on the desk with the pen in hand. He briefly froze and stared at the book wondering what to write. He could write about his past, but... He still didn't feel entirely comfortable writing about that, let alone talk about it. So he could just write about the present. But how could he describe everything that's happened to him. "Hell, I barely remember how to spell my own name. What can I write with a limited vocabulary like mine?" It was times like this when he really wished he got to go school. But as luck would have it, he became an orphan right before it was time and was too emotionally broke up before he could enroll. And then Ms. Sanako died and he had to live on the streets...

He shook his head away from those thoughts and focused on writing. He turned the pages until he was in the middle of the journal. It took awhile to think of what to write, but it was just what he needed. So he would never forget this moment. If he's going to have to go through this, then the least the future him could do was remember it. So with careful (careful as they could be) drawn out letters he made sure they would.

It...cha..nged...aga..in

It took a painfully long minute just to write three words. But he felt that this was going to be enough. For his future self to remember that even if things change, to always stay the same. Or at least try to. He could only hope really that he would live that long. But like Eto said, he's a ghoul now. He didn't fully understand why he never hated them like many other humans. Maybe he's grown to respect them in a way that he can't be disgusted with.

Koshiro leaned back and groaned in frustration, 'Ugh, I think way too much. I need some rest.' The young boy looks towards one of the first sanitary beds he's seen in a long time and visibly drools at the thought of a comfortable sleep. 'I am done and there's nothing else to do sooo.' Koshiro promptly gets up and falls face first onto his new bed, not even bothering to put his journal away.

"Let's just see if tomorrow is any better," he said dreamily before closing his eyes, finally resting in on this exhausting night.

Flashback end

---

Isaac held his head in his hands as he leaned up against the wall. The small journal still tucked in between his legs. His blonde hair shadowed his eyes, which were blank and glazed over. No emotion to be found in their depths.

He...remembered everything. How could he forget? Why did he forget? Was he afraid of the truth?! Why...

Isaac stood from the corner of the ballroom, everyone was well asleep. With the journal in hand, he staked out in a steady stride not even bothering to put on his helmet. The empty halls echoed as he marched out. He quickly found the dressing room and donned his battle suit, refusing to leave without it.

The ghoul continued to stalk until he saw the front doors of Beacon. He steeled his resolve and kicked the doors open, nearly knocking them off their hinges. He marched down the steps and continued down the path of Beacon. He only stopped when his back was to the Beacon's statue.

He looked to the side and saw something he dearly hated every since he got here.

The moon. The first thing he saw when he came to this place.

Isaac collapsed onto all fours shivering to his core. "Damn it. God fucking damn it. Why?" he spoke to himself desperately. "Every fucking time. Why does it happen to me? Why..." Isaac whimpered and froze as he felt something warm run down his cheek. He lifted a hand and felt the dampness. The ghoul gave his hand a good hard look.

He was crying. He was actually crying. The new realization made Isaac let out a throaty chuckle. "I can't believe I'm crying, how childish of me," he mocked himself and dried his cheek. "I guess it doesn't matter how much stronger I get. I'll always be weak childish trash unfit to live a happy life." He openly laughed this time, reaching a maniac peak before dying down once again.

"What the hell am I even doing here, this isn't where I want to be, I want to go home." He savagely gritted his teeth, "But how can I when I don't know where to go!?" Blood drooled down his hands as he clenched his fists.

"Why...why aren't I happy here. Everything is so nice here. People are friendly, I'm not always getting chased down or attacked, I'm not even hated here! Everyone thinks I'm such a nice guy. Even Ozpin thinks I'm some lost child that's seen better days... So why?" He desperately asked himself again. "Why do I hate it here so much." As he said this, a red misty cloud began to rise over his body.

"I hate it here. I hate it so fucking much... Nothing makes sense here and I hate it," he growled as the cloud above his body became more violent flicking in random directions. "These people... I hate them, I've hated them all from the beginning. They're open books to read and manipulate. Not only that, but they're so weak!" He pounded his fist on the ground making a noticeable divot.

"They are so easy to kill it's not even challenge! They stand no chance against a ghoul like me, in fact," Isaac lifts and cranes his head back towards the school, "I bet I could kill them all right now. They're all sleeping, it would be so simple! It's not like I would care, I barely even know them. I could kill them all and not feel a thing!" He felt something pulse inside him as his cloud grew feet above his head.

A psychopathic smile began to adorn his face as he began to reach a fever pitch. "Why should I care!? I barely even know them and they barely know me! I could kill them all, eat them all! I could tear them all apart!" he screeched to himself as he felt his Rc cells run through his body exhilarated by his blood lust, waiting to be used.

"So why, why won't I? Nothing would be stopping me... Is it because that's not who I am?" he asked himself expecting an answer. He tore at his blonde locks in rage.

"THEN WHAT THE HELL AM I?!"

"You're a ghoul now, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Isaac's breath caught as he heard the feminine voice in his head. "...Mother?" There was no reply to his question, only silence. He dearly remembered the voice of Eto and thought about her words.

"I...am a ghoul?"he questioned the open air as his grin shrunk into a neutral expression. "Yes, I am a ghoul. That will never change I will always be that."

'What does it mean to be a ghoul?' Isaac heard a familiar deep voice ask him.

'Tartara,' Isaac thought as he lifted his face from the ground and onto his knees. The ghoul looked comprehensively at the full moon, as if he was trying to understand it. "A ghoul is one of the deadliest predators known to man. We feast on their flesh and have abilities and animalistic perceptions that make us superhuman." He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath as finally stood up. "And when predators are put into a new environment, they do not cower pathetically. They scour the new environment and make themselves known. They break the food chain and find a way to put themselves on top." The ghoul still remembered what he told him all those years ago.

Isaac finally opened his eyes, his kakugan glowing intensely. "But that is not my goal, no my goal is far more important," he told himself.

"I'll return back to the family that I lost by any means necessary. And if I have to kill everyone in my way to do that, then so be it! I'll show this world what a true monster is, a beast that can never be toppled or killed. Even if I have to destroy this world to do it, I will do it."

The ghoul actually felt the cloud pulse this time as it grew larger. He looked behind and saw the huge mass flowing behind him, large enough to overshadow the statue of Beacon. A small smile grew on his face as he knew exactly what it was. "So, my aura is powered off my negativity and anger, how fitting for a ghoul like me," he chuckled sinisterly as the thought came across his head,"Oohh that would work perfectly."

Isaac stood straight and tall as he stared at the moon, processing his goals. He would find a way home, he will prove his power, and will destroy everything that stood in the way. And it all would start tomorrow.

"And to think I would've chosen a life of mediocrity if I wasn't reminded of my journal and memories... I really should thank Blake in the morning."

He began to chuckle slowly before turning into a psychotic laugh that pierced the night.

---

A/N: Done.

I'll be honest, I wasn't planning on writing this backstory. Well, not yet anyway. But to be honest, I felt that Isaac needed a bit of motivation. He doesn't seem like the type of person to take a totally peaceful life and the chance to start over.

But with that out of the way, allow me to clear any confusion that might happen further in the story since Isaac was apart of the Aogiri.

First of all, as much as it pains me to say it, Kaneki will not be present in this story. I know, I know, it pains me too, but it must be done. Actually, instead of him not existing, how 'bout his parents are still alive, he's completely sane, he marries Touka and Hide is his best man.

Boom! Happy ending.

Now with that out of the way, time to address a bigger thing in the story. Yamori (or Yakumo, whichever name you like better) is dead. And the reason I'm telling you this now because there's no reason not to. Before you ask, there is a plot relevant reason why he's dead and it holds great importance in the story. And he died reasonably too, he didn't get hit by a train or anything.

That would be hilarious to see though.

But I figured out story changing events without Yamori existing. If you remember correctly, Hide gave a tip to the CCG that Yamori was part of the Aogiri and the location by tracking him. Because Hide is awesome. But now with him gone, the CCG does not receive the tip of the Aogiri's supposed location. And of course they'll find it eventually, but I believe they'll take longer than they did before meaning Isaac probably has about two or three months.

This counting the amount of time they existed that we didn't see, the amount of time Yamori spent torturing Kaneki, and the amount of time it takes for the CCG to make its move. And in that extra time they picked up the good ol' Doctor Kanou and the Aogiri will probably have more members from other wards. And the CCG will probably be more prepared to fight them as well. So it's a deal, deal.

It's funny how one characters nonexistence can change the entire story. But I'll leave it at that and I hoped to explained everything that could cause confusion. Leave a review, favorite or whatever you want to. Honestly, seeing people reading this is good for me.

And with that, I bid you adieu.