They had finally been given permission to investigate one of Kanou's houses. Though once they entered the house, it was clear it had been remodeled into a lab facility. Simply walking down the hallway and seeing RC-walls bulging out of dark corners like poisonous mold was enough evidence to put Kanou behind bars for life. Amon looked at the RC-walls with disgust and pity. The pulsing, pink flesh was unnerving to say the least. He did his best not to look at it.
"Special Class Shinohara," Akira said, breaking the silence. "Suzuya's wandered off." A glance around showed that the white haired investigator was no longer with the group. Amon cursed under his breath. Juuzou was strong but leaving the group to go solo in a place like this was just pure stupidity. The boy had no idea what Kanou had left here.
"Typical." Shinohara sighed but seemed unconcerned as they walked into a room. Shinohara studied their surroundings for a moment before firing off orders. "I'll take this side path. Half of the supporting squad comes with me. The rest of you follow Amon."
"Be careful, Shinohara." Amon said as the other began to walk away. Shinohara turned around and smiled.
"You guys stay safe too. Remember to keep your communicators on." Shinohara reminded them and then set off down the dark hallway.
"Let's go. Don't let your guard down. I've got a bad feeling about this place." Amon told his group as they began to move.
"You don't say." Akira muttered under her breath and Amon resisted rolling his eyes. He may have sounded like he was stating the obvious but considering their group was just cut in half with Shinohara's departure and with Juuzou off doing God knows what, it never hurt to err in the side of caution.
They walked for some time. Nobody spoke and the tension in the air was thick. Slowly, Amon heard something that didn't sound like footsteps echoing off the walls. He held out his arm, signaling for the others to stop.
"Do you hear that?" He asked Akira. It wasn't very loud but Amon thought he heard clanging and muffled yelling.
"Yes." Akira said after a moment. "It sounds like there's a battle going on."
"My thoughts exactly." Amon said, clutching his silver suitcase. "Everyone, be prepared to engage in combat. We don't know what we're about to walk into."
When they surged into the room, Amon was glad they had their weapons ready. It was a surprise to see two ghoul groups fighting each other in such a place but he put that thought in the back of his mind. He recognized Naki, a ghoul who had escaped from the Cochlea, fighting a purple haired ghoul with a moon mask. A purple koukaku spiraled around one of his arms. Was this the infamous Gourmet?
Amon did not have a chance to verify his suspicions. The ghouls teamed up and the fight was on. Amon may have been feeling more . . . charitable towards ghouls lately but that didn't mean he was going to let them attack him or his comrades without fighting back.
In the middle of the fight, Shinohara's voice came through the communicator.
"Amon, Akira, is backup possible? I've found Eyepatch and, well, I'm afraid engaging in combat may be my only option."
"What?" Amon muttered into his microphone as he dodged another attack. "Ka-Eyepatch has always done his best to avoid confrontation with humans. Why is combat your only option, Shinohara?"
'"He's not himself. Please send backup as soon as possible." Shinohara replied. Amon furled his eyebrows at the response. Not himself? That didn't sound good.
"We're also in combat, but we'll come as soon as possible."
There was no response. Amon didn't have time to worry about it because Naki had come at him full force. Naki, Amon soon discovered, had a ditzy, childish demeanor. He also confused his words every time he opened his mouth. It made him come off as stupid but he was S rank for a reason. He was certainly putting up a fight against Amon. Thankfully, Akira managed to get Naki with her quinque. She was quite vicious with it and Amon was glad he wasn't fighting her.
(In his mind though, Amon couldn't help but shiver at the cold, sadistic glee in her eyes as her quinque tore into Naki. In that moment, she reminded him of Yamori.)
The ghouls were slowly overpowering them and Amon was about to have his men retreat when Akira brought out a weapon he didn't know she had.
CRC gas.
"It begins affecting the repository system and mucous membranes. Due to the Rc-cells activating, it stops the kagune from working." She said as Naki's kagune crumbled into dust. "It's still a prototype but a direct hit should produce some results."
Amon wanted to stop her; to tell her that this wasn't right. Killing ghouls was necessary but this was borderline torture. He bit his tongue. Akira wasn't doing anything wrong. Ordering her to stop would be a strange order, one he didn't have reason for. At least, not a reason that the CCG would accept.
Amon heard her taunting the two giant ghouls she had chosen to take out and he braced himself for the blood and screaming.
And there was blood and screaming. But not from the ghouls Akira had targeted.
It was from Naki who had jumped in and took the attack head-on.
'Why?' Amon wanted to scream at the ghoul. 'Why did you do that? You're not like Kaneki –you've never been human. You're not like those mothers; you didn't have the same bond as they did with their children, so why did you take the hit? Even with your kagune destroyed, you still shielded the other two. Why?'
Naki was kind enough to monologue his answer.
"Ow . . . that really hurt. I feel like crying." Naki said, sitting on the floor. "When you're twins, it means you get two chances but you also get double the trouble. Which means the chance of dying is also doubled."
He began to sniffle.
"Just when I thought I could meet big bro Yamori when I got to the 'outside world', he wasn't there. Of course I cried every night. Even thinking about it now, I get teary."
('So, even a monster like Yamori had friends. How strange.' Amon thought.
'Why is it so strange?' A voice that sounded similar to Kaneki's whispered back.
'After all, you were friends with Mado, weren't you?' )
Naki shot up from the floor and glared at the investigators.
"Which is why I won't let them die! Compared to crying alone, crying in while in pain is multiple times better!" He screamed at them, tears, blood, and snot flying everywhere.
It was here that Amon was blessed with understanding. True understanding. He was shown that all the things he thought were right weren't and that the monsters he fought so often weren't as monstrous as he wanted them to be. Kaneki had been given a pass since it was discovered he had been human and did not eat people. The two mothers who did their best to protect their children were also given a reluctant pass in Amon's mind after some serious thinking. They were mothers. And most mothers had an instinct to protect their young – even ghouls. Naki, though, he didn't have a reason. He could have let those ghouls die; could have laughed at their demise and continued on with his life. But he didn't.
Why?
For the same reason Amon wouldn't leave his comrades; they were his friends. Which is why Amon didn't hold back and smashed Naki into a wall after the ghoul had taken a bite out of Akira's leg. The purple haired ghoul saw how much damage the gas had caused and called out for them to retreat. Amon was thankful he did.
He didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want to kill these ghouls.
He didn't want to take away someone's friend.
After taking a small break and gathering his bearings, Amon told his group they were going to meet up with Shinohara. They had been banged up but they could still fight. Akira was the worst off and Amon wasn't about to send her back to the car alone. Not that she would go even if he ordered her too. For a person who knew the rules down to the last punctuation mark, Akira was rather negligent of them when she felt like it. As they moved down the hall, Amon discreetly watched her to make sure she wasn't hiding any injuries.
"Are you ok, Akira?" Amon asked when she began having a coughing fit.
"It's because of Naki's kick. I think my womb's ruptured." She told him, voice soft.
"What?!" That wasn't good. That was horrible news. Why did he let her come with him? That was a serious injury. She'll never be able to have kids, which, sure, maybe that might not be a concern for her now, but in the future she might want them. And it's his fault; he didn't protect her well enough. Mado would skewer him if he was still alive.
"The medic team. They should be here soon. If we get you to them in time maybe-" Akira cut off his babbling.
"It was a joke. Please laugh."
"I can't understand jokes!" Amon snapped as he turned back around to stop himself from yelling at her. It wasn't a funny joke. He thought she had been permanently injured.
"It was a shameful mistake. It's easier on the mind if you make fun of it." Akira said. Amon was silent at the surprising confession. Akira didn't admit to making mistakes often. Even if someone thought she had, she would argue her point until the other person had no choice but to accept it.
"Being unprepared is one's greatest enemy. It can happen to anyone at any time. You're an exceptional investigator but you're still young. You're still new to the game. What you did back there was risky. Please don't be so rash in the future and, please, trust your comrades. I'm not going to let you die." Amon said. Not just because she was Mado's daughter. Not because she truly was exceptional. No, it was because she was his friend. Even if she never counted him as one; even if she always hated him for not saving her father, she would be his friend.
"I'm not going to die. I've got a cat that's waiting for me at home."
Amon was about to say something sarcastic but a flash of movement caught his eye. In between the big machines and tanks that surrounded the hallway, there was a dark figure. A little girl? It was hard to tell. He must have done something to gain its attention because he soon found himself looking into terrified, mismatched eyes.
"Yasuhisa? Is that you?" Amon asked. The girl – as he could tell now that he saw her face – looked like a rabbit that had caught the gaze of a wolf. She was there and then she wasn't; darting off into the dark, clutching a white bundle close to her chest.
"Wait!" Amon called out but she was gone. The Yasuhisa twins. He remembered talking to them once after he had finished a lecture at the academy. Both of them had been sharp and everyone knew they were going to be excellent investigators. Then, one day, they stopped showing up to class. After a week of absence, their dorm was checked and all their stuff was gone. The teachers reported them as runaways and that was the end of it. It wouldn't have been the first case. Now, after seeing who Amon was positive was one of the Yasuhisa twins, he had a feeling they hadn't ran away so much as they had been tempted away.
What lies did Kanou fill their heads with? Amon felt sick as it dawned on him where Kanou had been getting some of his victims. He thought of all the runaway reports he had seen in the CCG's database. How many of those kids had actually ran away? How many were here, stuck in tanks, marked as failed experiments? How many were like Kaneki?
"Investigator Amon!" One of the other investigators yelled. They were ahead of him and waving frantically.
"I'm coming!" Amon said and picked up the pace while making sure Akira didn't fall behind.
"What's this room?" Amon asked as he walked in. All along the walls there were tanks. Tanks big enough to fit a human inside. "It looks like experiments were conducted in here."
"Oh, thank God you're here, Investigator Amon!" A panicked voice called out and the two men that had gone with Shinohara were suddenly by Amon's side. Both of them were pale and crying. "We're saved!"
"Where's Special Investigator Shinohara?" Amon asked when he realized the man was nowhere in sight. The two subordinates bowed their heads and Amon felt his heart stop.
"Sorry. With only our quinques, it's impossible. That thing is too strong." One of them said right as Amon caught sight of the gruesome scene.
This was not how it was supposed to go.
Amon had imagined it happening many different ways. He imagined them meeting in a bookstore; he imagined them bumping into each other on the street; he dreamt of Hide calling them together at Big Girl's or Chi-Chi's. He had even, on occasion, explored the idea of Kaneki simply walking into the CCG's lobby and asking for Amon.
Amon had imagined them meeting again but never like this. Life never imitated dreams, he had learned that when he was child, but he had thought that – for this at least, for this one meeting that meant so much to him, things would go smoothly.
Seeing Kaneki bent over, eating Shinohara's fallen form was unthinkable to Amon. Yet the proof was before his eyes. He stood there, unable to comprehend what he was seeing until he heard it. The desperate sounds of someone who had not eaten in a long time. The gasping breath, the gurgling of saliva and the grunts of a starved man biting into flesh. The noise filled the room, it was so loud It was almost tangible. At one particularly loud crunch, Amon snapped out of his daze.
His body reacted faster than his mind. He was running, weapon unleashed, screaming at the top of his lungs. For one brief moment in his head, this wasn't Kaneki he was attacking. This wasn't the boy who had captured his attention; who had turned his world upside down. No, this was monster that was eating Shinohara and Amon wouldn't stand for it.
His screaming must have caught Kaneki's attention because the other turned away from his meal and faced Amon head on, catching Amon's quinque with four of his extra limbs and threw Amon back several feet. Amon stood back up and took a deep breath. He had to calm down. Think. He had to think. This wasn't a monster. This was Kaneki. A boy that liked to read; a boy that was kind. A boy that had been fucked over for the amusement of others. A boy who –
– shit.
Amon barely dodged the next attack. This was bad. Akira was injured, Shinohara was out for the count and the subordinates that had been brought along? They were useless. Kaneki could kill them without moving from his spot. Worse, he probably wouldn't even notice in his current state of mind.
Screaming. There was so much screaming. Jumbled words fell and tripped out of Kaneki's mouth. He sounded angry, hurt and hungry.
And, really, how could Amon had been so stupid to not think this would happen, that Kaneki would become a kakuja? He knew from the tapes that Kaneki hated eating people. He knew Kaneki had been hunting and slaughtering ghouls for months now – of course he was eating some of them! And why wouldn't he? Kaneki wouldn't have known that eating other ghouls would be bad for his mental health - all he knew was that it would make him stronger and that it was an alternative to eating people.
A tortured shriek arose from Kaneki and Amon blocked another attack with his quinque. The others were probably wondering why he wasn't going on the offense but, now that Shinohara was safe, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Kaneki – not even in this state. No, he had to get the other to snap out of it. He had to make him see that he was safe.
"I wanted to talk to you." Amon said as they clashed again. The boy's kakuja covered his face in a strange manner. It came right down the middle, forming a mask with a needle nosed beak. It covered his eyes but at this moment, the mask had broken a little, showing Amon a deranged smile and a hungry red iris. There was no recognition in that eye.
"Do you remember, Kaneki?" He asked just loud enough for Kaneki to hear. "The night we met, you cried, didn't you? Do you remember that?"
The other twitched.
"I have no idea about what you're talking about." A raspy voice replied and Amon felt hope spark in his chest. It wasn't Kaneki – not yet – but it was a coherent response and that was loads better than the ear-piercing, cacophonic noise that Kaneki had been spewing. He would have to push him, Amon decided. He didn't like the thought, but if it snapped the other out of his episode then he would do it.
"The thing that's wrong with this world is ghouls. I told you that once." Amon started, dodging another blow. "I believed it too. It was my religion and I was devoted to that belief. But now I only know one thing; everything I believed was wrong. The world is not black and white. You understand, don't you?"
"Don't remember. Can't remember. Don't know. E-enough." Kaneki stuttered and rushed forward. "I don't want to hear anymore. I am a ghoul!"
The attack almost knocked Amon off his feet again. He had to give it to Kaneki, the other was strong. Amon's weapon was cracking under the pressure of Kaneki's kagune. He had to think of something - something that would bring Kaneki back but as the boy moved forward, Amon realized he wouldn't have time to speak or dodge.
The daggers that sunk into Kaneki were a godsend.
"Are you in a pinch?" A childish voice called out, and Amon risked a glance to the side to see Juuzou walking towards them. The younger investigator stared straight ahead, ignoring the others. "There are so many of you here, why are you just standing around? Useless."
He then sprinted forward towards Kaneki.
"Hello! Thank you for the quinque! I would've never gotten it without your help! Let's play, ok?" Juuzou said with a happy smile, releasing his quinque. It was a nice weapon. A beautiful metallic scythe that Juuzou had named Jason. Had Kaneki been in a coherent state, if they had negotiating instead of fighting, Amon might have tried to comfort him. He would have said, "Look at what we did to that bastard, Kaneki. Look at what we made him into. He'll never hurt you again."
And Kaneki would look at him and say, "Will I also be turned into a weapon if I surrender to the CCG?"
So perhaps not so comforting. Amon stepped back for a moment, allowing Juuzou to keep Kaneki occupied. He trusted Juuzou not to go too far. Of course, right as Amon thought this, Juuzou decided it would be a good idea to show off Jason's special attack, hitting Kaneki in the stomach.
"Wow! Cutting with this is so fun! Ah, how do I release again?" Amon heard Juuzou ask over Kaneki's screaming and rushed forward just in time to stop Kaneki from turning the other into a blood stain on the floor. Amon didn't like attacking Kankei - felt terribly guilty about it, actually - but right now he was out of control. He had promised himself that he would never hurt the other but in these current circumstances, he felt Kaneki would prefer that someone stop him.
Amon's attack cut off four of Kaneki's extra limbs and knocked him to the floor. Unlike before, Kaneki did not get up right away. Amon waited as Kaneki got to his knees. Then, he stepped closer, holding his quinque in front of Kaneki's face.
"You're not just, 'a ghoul.' You are. . .beyond that, better than that. I know it, you know it, now remember it. Please." Amon pleaded, as Kaneki tensed. He wished Hide was here. He would know what to say to snap Kaneki back to reality. Hell, all Hide would have to do is say, 'Yo, Kaneki!' and the other would have stopped in his tracks. Amon, on the other hand, had no idea what to say to bring Kaneki out of his berserker mode. There were many things he wanted to say to Kaneki, things that were important to Amon but probably not all that important to Kaneki. He wanted to talk, wanted to compare their experiences. He wanted to talk about their lives and hobbies. He wanted to tell Kaneki about the books he's been reading –
A though came to him. Not quite an epiphany but as close he could get to one under the circumstances and time constraint.
"But the people I want to believe in were born for love and revolution." He said and withheld a smile as Kaneki's head jerked. "You said that once - well, quoted it, I guess. Don't you still believe that?" Amon asked.
There was a shaky intake of breath and Amon saw two hands clutch at the ground.
"I. . ." The strange voice was slowly turning back into Kaneki's as tear drops splattered to the floor. "I. . .don't want to eat anymore. . ." There was muffled sob as Kaneki bent down, almost as if he was bowing; as if he was apologizing.
Amon closed his eyes and withdrew his quinque.
"I know." He said and turned around, leaving Kaneki on the floor. It hurt. He wanted nothing more than to reassure Kaneki – to tell him that everything would be ok. He wanted to take Kaneki home and put him in bed; let the kid sleep until he felt more like himself but Amon couldn't do that. Not here, not with so many investigators around.
"Leave him." He said when he saw Juuzou move closer to Kaneki. "Shinohara's injuries are top priority." Juuzou studied him for a moment before a sly smile lit up his young face.
"Ok." Juuzou said before skipping over to Shinohara. Amon followed and did his best to ignore the questioning looks the others were giving him.
"Sir, we need to exterminate that ghoul." One brave subordinate spoke up.
"No, we don't. Leave him alone." Amon said as he took in Shinohara's injuries. Even with Arata equipped, Kaneki had done a number on the older investigator.
"But Amon-san! That ghoul - he's dangerous! He's SS rank! We need to take him out immediately. If Mukade-"
"Mukade?!" Amon roared, rounding on the subordinate. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, Amon pointed to Kaneki's trembling form. "Is that who you are referring to? Is that Mukade?" Amon asked, practically spitting and the terrified man in his clutches nodded hastily. Amon had half a mind to punch him.
Mukade. Centipede.
How dare he call Kaneki that.
"That," Amon stressed, "is Eyepatch and he is to be left alive. The wanted poster hasn't changed. And if I find out you been giving ghouls aliases without permission you'll wish I'd had left you with him!"
The subordinate let out a terrified squeak and nodded his head frantically until Amon released him. A heavy silence fell over the group; as if they were afraid Amon would rip off the head of the next person to speak.
"As I said, Investigator Shinohara's wounds are our first concern." Amon said before glancing at Kaneki. The other was still on the ground, shivering from head to toe. "Besides, Eyepatch is . . . not in best frame of mind at the moment. You all saw how powerful he is. We may not be able to control or subdue him if we did take him with us. Tell me, do you really want to take that risk while we're driving?"
There was a mumble of agreement and Shinohara groaned.
"Sorry," Shinohara gasped out as soon as his eyes found on Amon's. "I didn't recognize him at first when we walked in here. I think I startled him. That kid has a lot of power in that little body of his." He said as Amon helped him sit up.
"Investigator Shinohara!" One of the subordinates exclaimed before becoming a traitor. "Should we exterminate that ghoul, sir? He's been injured enough, we can probably overpower him."
"No." Shinohara said. "Investigator Amon is right; we should leave him alone. Like I said, I surprised him when I entered the room, so I'm partly to blame for his behavior."
"But sir!" The subordinate continued on stubbornly. "He was eating you! He's clearly dangerous."
"Yes, and it's also clear he isn't all there in the head!" Shinohara said with a glare. "Besides, while I'm sure it looked like he was munching on me to his heart's content, he was trying his best to resist eating me. He got in a few good bites but mostly he was eating Arata. And, even if I did give you the ok to kill him, it's a moot point now. He's gone."
Indeed he was. The spot Kaneki had been at was empty.
"And next time, when Investigator Amon gives an order, don't try to disobey it by asking a higher ranking investigator." Shinohara said and Amon reveled in the ashamed look on the subordinate's face.
"Thank you." Amon whispered as he helped Shinohara to his feet.
"Think nothing of it." Shinohara replied. "I understand why they think he needs to be killed. They didn't see the tapes; they don't know who he is. They probably think we're crazy to let him go after what they saw. It wasn't pretty, Amon. In any case, he's not a full kakuja yet and I'm hoping this fight will make him realize how dangerous eating ghouls can be."
"We can only hope." Amon admitted as they made their way out of the house. "I'm not sure I would have been able to get through to him if Juuzou hadn't bought me some time. But Shinohara, somebody needs to tell Juuzou he shouldn't wander away like he did. I'd give him the lecture myself but I have a feeling he'd blow me off."
"Thank you for not lecturing him." Shinohara said. His eyes were on a humming Juuzou who was a few feet ahead. "He's been through a lot, Amon. How he grew up – well, you know the rumors and I won't betray his confidence but he is doing much better than he's given credit for. Most people don't understand how he thinks. When I'm better, I'll try to impress on him how important it is to stay with the group." He let out another pained groan. "Besides, I have a feeling when we get back, we'll be the ones getting lectured."
As usual, Shinohara was right. Well, mostly. Shinohara lucked out because he was in the hospital, leaving Amon to face Marude's wrath by himself.
"He was there and YOU LET HIM GO?" The yell could probably be heard on every floor of the CCG. "What were you thinking? Kaneki Ken was right in front of you! Better yet, he was injured and you let him go! Why? Explain yourself, Investigator Amon!" Marude said with a snarl and a glare.
"While it is true that Kaneki Ken was injured, he was also in a half-kakuja state. I felt it would be too dangerous to bring him back with us. We didn't go there with him in mind and we had no means to subdue him. Akira had some CRC gas but that had been used in another battle, as you'll see in the report." Amon said. After a moment of hesitation, he continued. "Also, I was thinking of his well-being. Waking up in Cochlea probably would have scared him and don't try and tell me you would have put him somewhere else. It would have been the safest place for everyone if we had brought him in when he was acting like that."
"I can't believe this." Marude muttered. A stiff, awkward silence filled the room as Amon waited for judgement. "I should punish you; demote you or something, I really should. The higher ups aren't going to be pleased when they hear this. Make no mistake, Amon," Marude growled, "The only reason you're escaping punishment is because Shinohara, Akira, and Suzaya are backing up your decision."
Amon withheld a blink of surprise at this revelation. Shinohara was a given but Akira and Juuzou?
"Whatever, the investigation was still a success. There's more than enough evidence, that, the next time Kanou shows his face, we'll have him for good. No type of bribery can help him out now." Marude ended with a mad cackle. "Now get out of my office! Go train or eat or whatever it is you do to relax."
"Thank you, Marude." Amon said with a bow and left before the other changed his mind.
The moment he was out of the building, he had his phone out and dialing a number. It rang a few times before a tired voice answered.
"Hello?" Hide said with a yawn.
"Hide." Amon greeted back.
"What is it? Why are you calling me so late? I wasn't supposed to work today, was I? Crap! If I was, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you!"
"Hide, calm down." Amon ordered. "You're fine. I'm calling about a different matter."
"Oh thank God! Warn a guy that he's not in trouble! Jeez!"
Amon chuckled a little more before getting down to the matter at hand.
"I'm calling about Kaneki." Even though he couldn't see Hide, he felt the boy's demeanor change.
"Ok? What happened? You went on a mission today, right? Did you run into him? Is he ok?"
"No, he's not." Amon admitted. "At least, not when I saw him. Some of the investigators wanted to kill him but I convinced them it was best to leave him. Listen, I have a favor to ask you. Can you pass a message along to him?"
"Sure. No promises he'll get back with you. How was he? You said he wasn't ok, but that doesn't really tell me much. Was he injured?"
"Er," Amon tried to find a way to say it that wouldn't send Hide into panic mode. "He was having a mental breakdown, I think. I managed to snap him out of it. Anyway, could you tell him that I'd like to meet? Just me. No one else and I won't bring any weapons. I promise I won't take him to CCG. He can pick the date, time and place. You can send him my personal cell, so he can respond directly to me, if he'd like."
"I, mean, yeah, I can do that. But I don't think he'll agree to meet with you, Amon." Hide said. "From the voicemail, he sounded pretty dedicated to avoiding the CCG and everyone in it."
"Yeah, I know." Amon said as he entered his apartment. "If it makes any difference, you can tell him that I have information about Dr. Kanou that I think he should know about."
"Ok, I'll let him know but don't get your hopes up. Once he decides something, it takes a lot to change his mind."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Hide." Amon said. After ending the phone call, he plopped down on his bed with a graceless grunt. He just made an offer to release sensitive information to ghoul. A year ago, he would have been appalled at his own behavior. Now days, he was beginning to care less and less as more truths were revealed to him.
8 days later, he receives a text from an unknown number.
'Gold Leaf Café. 6th ward. Tomorrow at 2 pm. Please come alone.'
A/N: Urg. Hi. So, I spent the past few days re-reading the some of the chapters from Tokyo Ghoul and, boy oh boy, there was a lot of stuff I forgot about! Also, if you're up to date on RE: I'm just . . . Arima, what am I going to do with you? And then Ishida wrote something that was the exact opposite of something I had wrote (I won't say what cuz spoilers). So, yeah. I'm no longer super concerned about staying in canon because I can't trust this man.
Unbeta'd. I always edit before posting, but if you see something that I missed, please let me know!
