Authors Note: This is the closest I can get to a lemon without any drama involved. Sorry if it's a little too sour for your taste, I've never been great at writing them.

Making the chapter longer than usual also contributed to a few new issues, for one I ended up including way more description than necessary. Additional problems include an overall poor pacing within the story. While writing longer paragraphs usually mean more typos and editing and deleting sentences in far greater frequencies.

Choosing between splitting this chapter and making it the longest one in the series was not an easy choice. Ultimately I don't like leaving my fans hanging so I resolved to spend as much free time in writing to make it one "whole" chapter. Now that's it done I can finally get some much-needed sleep.

I'm just going to throw this out here, *takes deep breath* I really butchered the ending. I was in a rush to end this never ending chapter and I couldn't really tie most of my crummy plot together.

~ Kaneki ~

Kaneki was dressed in former wear, while Touka was wearing a velvet dress lined with cutouts. The attire they were wearing was just a disguise however; they had actually come for something else.

Shuffling around the crowd, they had made their way into the ghoul restaurant in relative seclusion.

Kaneki found it entirely unnecessary and brought it to Touka, "Shuu knows us, why do we have to pretend we're complete strangers when we're around him."

Touka hissed, "I went over this, can you keep anything longer than a sentence in your head. If we confront Shuu and have him reveal Rize's intentions to us directly, everyone will be able hear us at the same time we can. That's if we even find him."

The Ghoul restaurant was after all where Rize was last seen. From Touka's viewpoint she had to have come here for a purpose, other than sampling culinary.

Fixing Kaneki's wear, she pulled his tie back just far enough that it didn't strangle him. Hoping that tightening his suit would make him more alert.

Suddenly forcing Kaneki's head down she caught a glimpse of something she hoped she wouldn't have to see, "Keep your head down, we're not alone."

Kaneki was only able to see them for a few brief seconds but he wasn't mistaken. Uta and Itori had joined in on the fun, and had dressed appropriately in matching color uniforms of red and black.

He found it shallow, considering what Nico was probably going through right now.

Watching them pass by without a word made Kaneki shiver, it didn't seem right to be this secretive with one another. "Aren't we supposed to be working together"? Kaneki said, passing a glance to Touka.

She knew it couldn't work, "They might not want to, their organization is loose but still does things their own way. It's better if they didn't know we were here".

Holding him by the hand she led him away from where Uta and Itori were headed. Taking him to a refreshment stand behind a fountain pool, Touka didn't seem to have anything on her mind, while she tried to think about their next move after getting in.

It only took a few minutes but Kaneki was already starting to annoy Touka with his aimless wandering, now that it was making it harder for her to focus.

"Don't stand there and look clueless, try and blend in." Touka scolded at him. If you can't come up with anything that will actually help us, make yourself useful and bring me something to drink."

Kaneki took her advice and made his way to the refreshment tables. The drinks were labeled by there alcoholic content, so he decided that it would be wise for him to chose a non – alcoholic beverage. Knowing that making Touka drunk would mean that she wouldn't be able to keep up with her own demands.

Just as Kaneki was about to make his pick, someone else had made contact with it. Instinct made him pull his hand away but curiosity made him turn to look at the person next to him

His heart skipped a beat after he realized who the figure was.

"You're still the shy boy that I remember, too afraid to make contact." Itori smiled while she spoke without looking at him.

Uta had made his way over to Touka and brought his eyes towards her, "What brings you here today?"

Touka scoffed, her fist resting on her head, "The usual, you can't pull off anything that I won't be able to see."

Uta seemed to feign amusement, "You live up to your words Mrs. Kirishima they say a rabbit can see every direction."

Hearing the words, Touka lost herself in her thoughts, "So they're intent was to keep me and Kaneki apart. If so, it was likely to work in their favor since their plan had been different from ours. For a start Uta and Itori didn't have to rely on each other for the entourage to work, if it was outlined by both of them beforehand. Kaneki wouldn't be able to take his own lead without me and would only be less capable of being able to refuse Itori's demands judging from his timid nature. I can't be forceful either, not when it's apt to make a scene.

Touka wasn't wrong; Kaneki was being dragged away by Itori barely able to stutter out a refusal with, "I have to go back."

"Great now I lost Kaneki," she thought to herself. "Excuse me but I have to tend to business elsewhere." Touka told him, turning to leave.

Uta called out her name to stop her, for a second he looked sad and afraid. "Why won't you let Kaneki be himself again? You were always there to hold him back. He'll never change into the person we want him to be if you don't want him to."

Touka didn't expect a question like this, it had caught her off guard; "He's the same person with or without me." Turning around she refused to speak another word.

Kaneki didn't know where Itori was taking him and knew that Touka wouldn't be able keep up with him at this point.

Itori had forced into a crowd, only for her leave him by himself now that her hand had slipped away. Staying still for a while, he was given a gentle push by the person behind him.

Initially trying to find a way to be spotted by Touka, he gave up when he realized that there was no way she would ever find him amongst the commotion and confusion. Making his way to the middle, he could at least figure out why the crowd had all gathered here.

In the center was a coffin with a corpse laid to rest under it although most of him had been thoroughly eaten. Holding his hand over the dead man's head, he was still able to sense warmth coming out of him. Kaneki judged that it wasn't long before the person had died and would be delectable to ghouls who found it fresh and to their liking.

In any other instance Kaneki would at least have seemed indifferent, but after the body started to moan and move. Kaneki suddenly felt his stomach collapse. Shaking visibly, the ghouls around him did not fail to notice. "They kept him alive"? Kaneki thought in horror, "Even after putting him through all of this?"

"He's not liking the look of this, can we be sure he's not a human?" The voice of a ghoul rasped, "He could be a ghoul investigator that'll put the establishment in shambles if he isn't". Another voice replied.

"This isn't good," Kaneki thought to himself. The place had suddenly felt alien to him and unsafe. It wasn't like him to feel left out but trying to be as human as possible had taken its toll. Revealing his one eyed kagugan would be the easiest way to remedy the situation but it wasn't coming out.

"Give him a taste", a voice was heard from the crowd. "If he's not a human, he'll eat it willingly enough".

Kaneki recognized the sound as Itori's even when he didn't see her.

He had a severed arm tossed to him, still oozing with blood. The now alive corpse was now staring at him. All of a sudden he couldn't take a bite, it wasn't right. So he managed to think of something clever that Shuu had once taught him, "It's a bit uncomfortable to eat with people watching me, is it okay if I have a minute to myself?" He sputtered unconvincingly with his hand over his chin.

There was disagreement on why he couldn't have just taken a bite. Although the discussion was eventually settled that it didn't matter how it was done as long as it was done.

Noticing that the ghouls were leaving him momentarily, he was given the chance to tuck the arm into his pockets in a few quick motions that offered perfect concealment. The ghouls that came back to check on him were still suspicions but otherwise believed him and paid him no further mind.

After their focus was lost on Kaneki, he could now work on 2 things: Getting rid of the poor man's arm and finding Touka.

Passing through vacant rooms, he heard an ensuring struggle in a room.

He hadn't expected Touka storm out angrily, although her expression softened after she saw Kaneki. Knowing that he might want an explanation for this she began, "The person inside tried to force himself on me when I only wanted information; the only 'kiss' I was able to deliver was with my fist."

"Still you should listen, I figured out tonight's 'course' through some 'coaxing'. If I haven't been deceived it would be the same people that witnessed Rize's death. No doubt she had used Shuu to lure the few humans that witnessed her 'accident' to their demise. If so, she planned well and accordingly, killing them directly would be too risky if they knew the deaths were from her, but neither could she let word get around that she was still alive."

"Sparing them may be a kindness to them but for us it would also mean that Rize is left with one more obstacle. Of course we're not the only ones with our hands in the water. Uta and Itori are playing their own game whether it's with or against us."

Kaneki was supposed to be happy upon learning this but felt he hadn't done anything to contribute on his part. Thinking back to how Touka told him that he wasn't useless to her.

"Are you feeling alright, Kaneki?" Touka said to him, who was usually never this open.

Kaneki came back slowly, "I'm fine it's just, maybe I."

Suddenly stopping, Touka decided to patiently wait for his answer, her eyes narrowing.

Kaneki knew the last words would take all his breathe, "Shouldn't have come along."

He hoped Touka would understand but it had to be that she didn't. Jabbing him in the gut with her elbow, Kaneki was left with an upset stomach, "So you've suddenly decided to abandon your date for some godforsaken reason?"

Kaneki was rolling on the floor, "It's not that, I just don't feel like I belong here. There are some things that I can't accept when some ghouls can. Maybe if there were other half ghouls like me that I could talk to, I wouldn't feel so alone in this world."

This wasn't making Touka happy, "So it's another way to say I can never understand isn't it? That it was harder for you to go through life than it was for me because you didn't start life as a ghoul."

Kaneki knew that he was once again blaming his own struggles by being a half - ghoul. It was something he would have to change.

Jumping up, Kaneki had never felt this energetic before now that a wave of relief overcame him. " It's me being me again, I'm sorry for that. If I admit that everything I just said was wrong, could you see past it and forgive me?"

Touka had not expected him to react this quickly, poking him in the head, "You didn't have to apologize, I just want you to accept being you already. I need this here right now more than anything, try and keep up with me, I don't want to lose sight of you again."

Before leaving, Kaneki chucked the severed arm inside the room before closing it.

Touka wanted to ask but stopped when she knew it wasn't going to important.

Going with something better, Touka pressing her hand against Kaneki's. Seeing a small smile escape his lips, making Kaneki happy had the likewise effect of making her happy as well.

One thing was true; If Kaneki hadn't been a ghoul, he would never have gotten to know her.

The next move had to be done carefully; there were only a few individuals considered "influential'" that knew where Shuu was hiding right now and were all found in the ballroom. If things went accordingly, their names should have been familiar to both them and Shuu's. Which wouldn't give them a reason not to cough up the clues they needed to know where they could find him.

Touka knew that like Uta and Itori had gone separate ways for certain measures to work, now they had to do the same. "Kaneki, I may need to do something that you may not find, enjoyable".

"I'll hear it," Kaneki told Touka hoping that it wasn't going to involve something painful. "I can draw attention to keep Shuu's location safe while you question one of the "influential. But you have to know that doing so means that I'll have to take someone else's hand for a time being." She eyed another ghoul "influential" in the vicinity still dancing to entertain the viewers on the hardwood floor.

Kaneki pretended not to care, but couldn't hide his hurt expression when she met him in the eyes. Turning his back towards her, he quickly agreed, "It's nothing, there's nothing I don't understand, we both know that it's only necessary in accomplishing the mission."

Squeezing his shoulder, Touka whispered a quick, "Sorry" before she fled.

Making his way to the influential, Kaneki was disappointed to see Touka catching the attention of almost every ghoul in her vicinity through some "bold" dancing moves. Considering that he was unfortunate that he wasn't one of the ones that got to watch. Seeing Touka with someone else didn't cease to make him feel jealous even though he had known it was just for show.

Tearing his eyes away from her for the final time, he quickly came across an influential was snoring softly in a corner; discriminate by the attire he had worn. Looking around, nobody was here to overhear.

Kaneki waved his hand in front of him to wake him up. Failing to work, he tried to gently nudge him with his shoes next. This managed to do trick causing him to sputter spit and an inconceivable response.

Finally awake he looked up at Kaneki, "Greetings sir, I'll have to apologize for that display, has something happened?"

Kaneki bowed slightly, "I didn't mean to disturb you sir, but there is some urgent business I wanted to discuss with you, I'm Ken Kaneki and a friend of Shuu's.

The name peaked his interest, "Ken Kaneki", he said again louder than Kaneki had wished. "Ken Kaneki!" Almost screaming the third time. "The half ghoul?"

Kaneki nodded slowly, hoping that he would be able to give him an answer soon.

"Yes the man has said a lot about you, but you won't be able to hear it from him."

I'm afraid he isn't available to take visitors now, it's not that he's a man who dislikes company, it's more because he's fallen sick."

Kaneki knew something was wrong, "When did he get sick?"

"Just the other morning, I know what you're thinking. That someone must have done something to him for this to happen."

"Rize," Kaneki thought. "She anticipated that we would come here. Shuu wouldn't give in to what she wanted that easily, not if he didn't even like her. Following her instructions without complaint wasn't like him, unless, she had someone in charge of running the show when he was sick and unable to do so himself."

"Do you know where I can find him?"

"The man found the question uncomfortable, "He's usually on the balcony, it's unusual but not for a person who hates staying indoors".

"Even when he's sick?" Kaneki exclaimed.

"Even when he's sick."

Thanking the man, he went to find Touka who was waiting for him. The crowd had mostly dispersed, leaving Touka standing and by herself. Feeling his heart leap, he realized he couldn't take it anymore, to him right now, being without her meant that he wouldn't even want to be alive at all. Rushing towards her, he had only wanted to embrace her but ended up stumbling before he fell on top of her.

"What the hell, who's on me?" Rolling around she managed to push the person down, "Kaneki?" She yelled out in surprise.

"Uh, sorry for this, I got a bit too excited after seeing you," Kaneki told her.

"You were gone for 5 minutes, how was that long?"

"Well, I guess it wasn't, but you did say you'd never leave my side." Kaneki reminded her, now sitting up with his legs together.

Touka hated being wrong, so she swore to make him regret this. Running towards him she hugged him likewise in turn. Lying on the floor with her arms over his neck and her legs over his waist, she had him constricted like a snake. "Is this close enough?" She asked him, taking everything he had while she enjoyed his scent.

Kaneki awed by the display was barely able to make out,"Touka, you didn't have to-"

"I couldn't keep my word," she told Kaneki, inches away from him. "There are days I've gotten lost and can't follow it."

Releasing Kaneki a few minutes later, Touka helped him up, still above temperature.

"I figured out where Shuu is," Kaneki finally told her.

Making their way to the top floor, they found it nearly abandoned and pitch black. It could be contributed to the start of the dismantling show, one of the main events that were about to be shown. But it also could be something else.

Looking around, Kaneki was surprised to find that the elevators weren't responding. "So the power's not only off, it's dead," Kaneki realized.

"Touka I don't feel we can stay her, it seems the light's were intentionally cut by someone".

Touka was only a few feet away, still looking for a way to get to the balcony. "Nobody could have followed us, unless they were already here." She reminded him. There's no other way up unless I throw you, there are windows but they're too narrow for us to climb."

Then Kaneki realized something that he didn't notice before, "Shuu's trapped, or was trapped by someone. That's why we couldn't find him at ground level."

Kaneki made his way over to Touka who was prying the elevator open, hoping that she could at least see the number of floors. Kaneki did his best to help her despite not being able to do much at all.

The act of opening the elevator had triggered a mechanism; the lights were turned back on but also caused the elevator to release a cloud of tranquilizing gas. Both of them had inhaled enough for the effects to work.

Scrambling frantically on the floor, he was now panicking now that Touka had collapsed faster than he had. "Please don't let it end like this, I need you right now, Anteiku needs you." Kaneki thought, trying his best to carry her away as far as he could from the cloud before collapsing himself.

~ Uta ~

Kaneki didn't feel like he was dying anytime soon, the gas had left him leaving him conscious and awake.

Trying to move he realized that his movements were no longer free, cuffs on his hands had connected him to a person behind him. Turning his head he realized that Touka's back was against his.

"She's fallen asleep", Kaneki thought, listening to her steady breath. Doing his best to nudge her awake with his shoulders to no avail.

Trying his best to stand up he was unable to support her weight. Collapsing with a thud, the sound signaling approaching footsteps.

Uta and Itori had stepped inside, clearly indisposed to what was happening.

Kaneki hadn't expected it to be them, "If we're on the same side, why have we been left like this." Kaneki questioned them.

Uta looking apologetic gave them the truth, "We wanted Shuu to see just enough to convince him that we were on his side, meaning we couldn't directly free him but neither could we let you".

Kaneki took the information in, "What does Shuu have in relation to Rize?"

"It was our idea to use him against her, the animosity between them cannot be denied."

Kaneki didn't like hearing this; "Rize will kill him for a certainty." Shuu was formidable would still be outmatched.

"We wanted to use you at first, judging that your strength would have tied Rize's". But we couldn't turn you in time, and couldn't exceed certain limits either".

Kaneki understood what he had done, "Why did you keep me next to Touka."

"I didn't want to keep you 2 lovebirds apart this time," Uta told them while Itori blew kisses at both of them.

Staying stuck like this was uncomfortable enough but if Kaneki wasn't wrong, they were about to do something else.

Itori had whispered to Uta's ear causing him to look away, knowing what she did wasn't going to be pleasant. Passing something along to Itori, Kaneki noticed that her eyes were now wet with excitement.

Scampering next to them, she pulled at Kaneki's collar. Before deciding to whisper to his anxious eyes instead of his ears, "I wonder who'll squirm more after I get to do this, you or the you-know-what." At first he didn't know what "this" meant and only understood what she had done after he felt his skin crawl, literally after the "talk" was over. Which meant being subjected to having a centipede crawl down his back.

"What the-, get it off, oh please get it off of me!" Kaneki trashed on the floor dragging Touka with him, his screams growing progressively louder. " You have to take it out of my shirt, it can't stay in there, it can't!"

Kaneki's reaction had left Itori giggling before she had to bury herself in Uta's shoulder to contain the outbursts of her own laughter. Uta's expression was pure regret for letting her do this. Pulling Itori along, they took off.

He didn't know if there was a more uncomfortable position he could be in right now.

After trying to say everything he could to wake her, Touka finally woke up by herself, "Kaneki, where are we and what the hell is this?"

"Now she's awake," Kaneki thought miserably.

Kaneki had to explain the entire encounter to Touka again before she understood.

Touka thought it over before she came up with the next plan." How far can you extend your arms from behind," she asked him?"

Kaneki did his best stick his right arm behind him as far he could. Touka used the extra slack to twist the chains together and with some effort caused it to snap.

Grateful for the freedom, Kaneki emptied his shirt allowing the critter to find a new home.

Scratching his back, Kaneki felt his entire body tingling.

"Let me take a look," Touka sighed trying to get behind him.

Kaneki didn't need this her genuine concern not when he was more concerned with her than with him. "I'm fine now, there's no reason you have to worry-."

"I said let me look," Touka said again a little louder than the first.

Kaneki felt himself growing warmer, but turned around like she said. "Lifting his shirt up, she pressed her fingers to where she believed the centipede had been.

"Was it here?" Touka asked him. Kaneki shook his head so Touka continued to trace her fingers over his back.

When he brushed over a spot that made Kaneki cringe, she knew that she found it.

Pressing her thumb on the area for a while she lightly scraped the surroundings with her nails, although lightly had only been her way to describe it. Kaneki was muffling his screams.

Flicking her fingers, Touka guessed that whatever Kaneki had gotten, it wasn't going to kill him.

Pulling his shirt down, Touka urged him along. Although she had to tell him the truth, "There's a chance we may be too late, whatever Uta and Itori have planned won't be stopped by our interference alone.

"Can we still reach Shuu?" Kaneki asked Touka.

Touka thought of the answer for a while, "We were resourceful enough to escape in a matter of minutes which might not have been what they expected, so we still might."

Walking to the now functioning elevator, they were able to reach the balcony this time.

~ Tsukiyama ~

Scanning the area, they saw Shuu standing near the edge, which only meant that he was about to jump soon.

Running toward him, both Kaneki and Touka had to pull him back on either arm to bring him down.

Tsukiyama was sobbing, "I couldn't let this go on any longer, having to see my own establishment taken away by Rize. She's likely put it all to shame."

Kaneki knew this wasn't true, "Shuu nothing has changed Rize isn't even here, you're still the one in control here."

Looking up, "You really mean it, to believe there was a reason for trapping me here?"

"We can go down and see, but we sort of need you stop something first if you could."

Making their way to the dismantling zone they hoped they hadn't been too late. Greetings of Master Shuu were suddenly heard, and Kaneki guessed that they hadn't expected his return.

With a loud stop, all movement was halted including the scrapper that looked up curiously.

The "influential" that Kaneki had spoken to looked surprised, before Tsukiyama turned his attention to him. "You conspired with Rize didn't you, running the show while I was sick. The broken elevator was your doing to keep people from finding me."

The man now afraid confessed, "Everything you said is true but I have told no lies either, I even wanted the young man beside you (Kaneki) to find you eventually. You weren't well and neither did you dislike staying on the balcony."

Kaneki knew that he wasn't lying but had played both sides; he only restored the power after they were rendered incapable to make sure Uta and Itori got to him first. Or would have if they haven't escaped.

"You'll tell me everything you now about Rize or I'll have to leave you to the scrapper."

The man was trembling now; "She want's to destroy Kanou's experiments, the artificial ghouls. It reminds her of how awful she felt when she had her parts forcefully taken from her although she wants the man responsible, Kanou dead most of all.

Most of the work was done; however he wasn't sure where Uta and Itori had gone.

Touka pulled Kaneki out, sensing that it wouldn't be wise to linger for them to linger any longer. "The discussion should have been in private," she thought, "Rize still has other ghouls at her disposal. Making the pathetic man confess here had put them at risk, now that her plans had been foiled".

The few people that were meant to die tonight would be spared. Shuu had promised that he himself would owe it to them to keep them safe, unlikely as it seemed.

Once they were far enough away, Touka asked Kaneki if he had enjoyed their date, he wasn't sure if she was joking.