Authors Note: I might have some people find Rize way above her Ghoul ranking. That's not something I can really change that since it's just how it's written. I'm a little sorry for this . but just try and enjoy it as much as you can. 1.6k views is way more than I anticipated so I want to send a big thank you to my viewers.

I don't know what I'm going to do with my life after this series is done.

This chapter also took a bit longer to publish so I also increased the length.

~ Rize ~

So he came after all, Rize thought, taking a brief glance at the boy that had made his way over the bridge. "You have an answer?" Rize asked Kaneki.

Kaneki had to ponder his words for a minute; "I can't take the treatment, it won't be fair if the person I've become ends up hurting others."

Rize's expression did not change, "That's what you were told, not what you've decided."

Kaneki's eyes widened, "She doesn't even know about Touka and she's already figured out the meaning behind my words," he thought.

Rize continued, "You shouldn't forget what 'you' want. Furthermore, I assume it was only one person in Anteiku, maybe someone close that influenced your decision. It doesn't seem logical that everyone would have shared the same outlook, not when so many ghouls have dreamed of being a human themselves."

"Rize had emphasized Touka's words exactly," Kaneki thought, suddenly finding it harder to breathe. "Was what she wanted for him, really for the best?"

Before he would disbelieve that there would be a chance that some people in Anteiku would see him off, but now things were different. What Rize had told him made it seem that Touka's actions as intentional by making him choose between being a human and her that night?

Still one thing that Touka said wasn't necessarily wrong; "Anteiku was a home for ghouls not humans, if I do make the transition I won't be able to return."

Rize's head turned just slightly, "You really believe they'd turn you down just because they'd see you as foreign again."

Kaneki didn't know the answer but he wanted to believe, "I don't think they will."

Rize smiled," You should trust your friends, but you should also trust yourself. Somewhere along the line there'll be conflict.

Kaneki stared blankly, wondering if there was anything else he should say.

"What if there isn't a right choice? "Remembering Touka's words about "2 paths going down the same road".

Rize had her answer, "Then accept it."

At that point, Kaneki knew the right from the wrong answer, "If I go back now, changing myself back to the person I knew would only be harder. I can't risk taking anymore step backwards".

As the last words left his mouth, a gust immediately fell on their direction.

Noticing that something was off, Rize grew serious, "We're being followed by another ghoul, the scent isn't easy to tell from this distance but I can still take it in".

Moving quickly, she knew the figure wouldn't be listening in the same place after being discovered. Peering forward to look down the bridge supports, she silently slid her Kagune down to drag a frightened Nico out.

Holding 2 of his arms in place with her kagune, the rest was positioned to strike.

Rize studied the peculiar person for a minute, taking note of his features. "You know, I don't take kindly to interlopers, especially if he was someone that was responsible for having me crushed, while everyone that looked on and called it an 'accident. What you didn't know is what came after, but I can tell you wouldn't like to be the one to live out your existence as an organ donor.

Dangling Nico by the leg with her kagune she held him over the bridge, ready to release him to his fate. The fall would be enough to kill anyone, even a ghoul.

Kaneki couldn't let this go any longer; "You'll kill him if you do this! Pull him back!

Starting to panic, Rize didn't seem to hear him. Standing on the handrails, he reached his hand out to grab Nico. Like everything that happened to him so far, he fell a bit short. Trying to extend another inch, he felt his feet slip. Sending him over the edge.

Nico was there to catch him by the arms, although doing so made Rize's grip over him even weaker.

"Kaneki! I have to tell you, something, very important." Nico voice trailed.

Rize's eyes fell on Nico, she didn't know what he was going to say but if it went against her favor she wasn't going to let him, "You won't unless you both want to fall."

Nico seemed to be far less afraid than Kaneki who was starting to feel beads of sweat run down to hit the road under him.

Nico yelled at Rize,"It's cruel to leave someone hanging between a height and floor. There's nowhere we belong here, do one or the other."

Kaneki didn't whether to be glad or afraid that Nico had said that, although he hoped that Rize would at least admire the bravery he still had.

Contemplating briefly, she pulled them back on the ledge. Although a bit harshly judging how Nico was thrown with a force that was greater than necessary.

Standing over them, Rize addressed Kaneki, "I have a purpose right now, which is dealing with the people that did this to me. I'll start with this one but not here in the open."

Forcing Nico up, she delivered her threat, "A word and you'll hit the ground."

Nico took her words literally, afraid to even a simple yes in agreement, choosing his answer by nodding instead.

As Kaneki saw them leave, a feeling of uselessness dug into him. It wasn't the first time he had ever felt before, but still ended up making him awful.

Running forward, Kaneki hoped that what he said wasn't going to sound stupid, "You won't kill him will you?"

Rize's head turned, "I might, I want all of them dead but I'll need him to tell me how to find them".

Feeling that watching someone die wasn't going to be much different than doing it himself. He didn't stop running until Rize put a stop to his advances.

Her kagune had tightened around Kaneki's neck, strangling him and leaving him breathless. "You know I don't like being followed, you should already learned that after I spotted him." Rize sighed.

When her grip was finally loosened, Kaneki found himself gasping for air. "What's the point in being a ghoul if everything about you says human." she told him before walking away.

"I could end this", Kaneki thought his hands tightening, "But if the process kills Kaneki, would it be really worth it? Trying again, he realized that going through the transformation again was a guess at best. He wasn't sure but there was a chance that no amount of torture would make him the "real" Kaneki anymore.

Kneeling next to the ground, his instincts told him to look up. Doing so allowed him to realize that Rize and Touka were now at standstill.

"You're one more reason why I wouldn't leave Kaneki's side." Touka told her.

Rize wasn't offended at the remark and came up one own her own, "You didn't trust Kaneki far enough to turn the deal down, did you?"

Touka scowled at the jab, "Coming from a person that nearly strangled him to death a second ago you have no room to talk. Regardless, I'm not letting you make off with that 'package', it's not something I'll forgive myself for doing."

Rize didn't believe it, "Is that so?" Why protect a man who's life mean's nothing to you. You should know that there's no use in hiding the truth when I've already figured out the real reason why you had to intervene. It was because you didn't want Kaneki to feel useless to you.

Rize had made her mark judging by Touka's long silence before she was finally able to speak again. "You don't know him like I do, you'll see it when I fight with his strength as well."

She wouldn't be able to win against a direct confrontation against Touka when she still had to keep her grip on Nico. So she decided to use a different tactic.

"You can pretend to care for the sad man that I'm taking with me but I'm sure that there's a person here that you value even more. Kaneki is behind me while Nico is in front. Fight me and I could easily kill them both of them the second you make any sudden moves."

Dropping to her knees, Touka gritted her teeth now that she was forced to admit defeat. Knowing that this would do little to make Kaneki happy.

Rize passed Touka without a word, while Kaneki could only look on. The best that could be said was that Nico didn't look a bit troubled and even turned around to send both of them a wink.

Kaneki found the encounter strange if not disheartening.

He really wanted Touka to hug him right now, but felt guilty for indulging himself in her when a person he barely knew was going to be murdered soon.

Sighing he wanted to cheer her up somehow, so he walked around trying to think something uplifting.

~ OOC WARNING ~

"You're not useless, not to me." Touka told Kaneki, the words causing him to stop. "Because of you, I know what it's like to care again, to see value in others and the things around me. Everyone should get to live, even if they've wronged people so long as it's in the past. The very people that are stuck on fulfilling themselves or their own revenge will never make it. They refuse to move on and condemn themselves by walking backwards forever."

Kaneki took her words in before he spoke himself, "Then we'll save Nico no matter how little or how big of a person he is. Touka will you follow me."

~ OOC WARNING ~

~ Itori ~

Seeing Kaneki and Touka didn't alleviate Uta's and Itori's mood. Neither one of them wanted to be the one to explain since the one that spoke first would likely be pressed with the blame.

The silence had finally reached a point where everyone was getting uncomfortable so Uta finally spoke, "I'm sure you deserve our apologies, I know the act wasn't, logical. But we were only trying to guard you from coming in contact with Rize, who we thought would kill you if you were still Kaneki."

Itori didn't want him to go any longer especially when it was no longer necessary, "Alright enough of that Uta, we promised that we would work together with or without the new side of Kaneki. This is overdue but you can finally get your hands on this."

Itori threw the banana that Kaneki had so badly wanted in his hands, now overripe.

Kaneki didn't want to linger any longer; he needed to address the real issue soon and hoped that they would take his concerns as much as he did.

"We didn't come for this, but it was nice of you to have done so anyways. We came because we fell on misfortune, Nico was taken away by Rize and finding him means that you'll have to tell us everything he did before he was taken."

Kaneki knew the answer wasn't going to come easily, even in a situation as drastic as this.

Itori knew how to go on, "I needed to know something first before I can give an answer. Did you accept the offer"?

Kaneki wasn't surprised by her question, "No I, well we didn't."

Itori knew who "we" was; the answer had been what she wanted. At – least this meant that his hopes wouldn't be crushed. "Rize can make you human again, I have no doubts that she knows more about the 'experiments' then she's telling. The procedure will work but it will also kill you."

This came as a relief to Kaneki and Touka, but she wasn't done.

"That's not to say that you couldn't be brought back to life, much like Rize did".

Kaneki didn't understand, "You said I would die, but the death wouldn't stay permanent"?

Itori concluded, "Your regenerative abilities will continue to function after you die, which was why Rize was a perfect subject in creating a host of artificial ghouls. However the ability is lost after you become human, there's simply no way you can survive but anything that happens before".

She didn't finish, it was clear enough. For it to work Kaneki knew that his body had to regenerate the injuries during the procedure before he was fully human again. It would be a risk.

Kaneki now had a more difficult question, "Where can I find Rize"?

Uta and Itori looked at one another.

Uta spoke, "We can't tell you that, I'm sorry. It would put some of our plans to waste. If Nico can be guessed, he would give away our position by a few days. So we'll use it to our advantage to trap her.