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Counterattack

"Bullshit." Korua said.

"You're bullshit." Nishio countered.

"Bitch, you really wanna start a fight wi-"

"You two, shut up! This is important." Kaya growled. They silenced as Yoshimura sighed, looking out the window for a moment.

Korua knew that Yoshimura wouldn't have the audacity to kill the Doves, but she also knew that he was angry. Anger in people can make up for the audacity in many cases.

"If Mado and Amon die, they can't hurt any more people in this Ward or any other, Yoshimura. Please, think about that." Korua added more desperation in her voice than she wished, but it worked. He exhaled a deep breath, as if he'd been holding it since Nishio came.

"The Doves know something's up, which is why they're circling in on the 20th Ward and killing them aren't gonna make it any better. There must be another way… "

"Well letting them live isn't gonna help us in any way!" Nishio was riled up, along with Enji. Kaya kept a straight face, but her face darkened, probably thinking of the outcomes that would come out of their actions.

"I say we kill 'em. We have plenty of skilled fighters in this room. And the CCG will most likely blame Aogiri. They use Aogiri like a scapegoat." Korua remarked. Aogiri was well known as a powerful group consisting of ghouls residing in Tokyo. No one really knows how it started, but all Korua needed to know was that the CCG would gladly use them to take the blame if there were any… unanswered deaths.

"Yoshimura, to be honest, the girl's right," Korua was surprised. Kaya, usually composed and analytical seemed set on going out with this plan.

"Ah… well I guess, there's really no chance I can change your minds at this point." his eyes sweeped the entire room, meeting the eyes of Anteikus members.

"Okay, so it's settled that we will, but we don't have a plan." everyone moved their eyes towards her as Korua moved on, getting straight to the point.

"We'll have to send skilled, ghouls. These officers aren't 'nobodies', people know them. Mado, renowned for his brutality should be watched especially." Kaya added.

Korua cleans her glasses with the edge of her uniform apron. The entire room was silent until Nishio spoke again.

"But who would go to kill him?" his tone is serious and logical.

"Kaneki, of course, well, with his consent." Enji stated..

"B-but he's new!" Korua was surprised. Kaneki had intellect, but she had never actually seen his power.

"You're new, too girl." Nishio mentioned.

"Not like that! You know what I'm talking about, I mean can't you smell it?"

"Of course, but that comes with good reason."

"Oh yeah, like what?!" Korua asked, annoyed with this guy and she barely even knew him.

He turned to Yoshimura. "So, you haven't even told her? I thought she came here a while ago."

"Came roughly the same time Kaneki did. Maybe a little later" Enji interrupted. Korua was confused with everything they were talking about. How could a ghoul be new at being a ghoul, much less a grown one?! That was like saying an adult bird didn't know how to fly (with several exceptions).

"Korua, there have been rumors going around about the murder of an S-Rated ghoul known as Binge Eater. I do hope Uta has mentioned that to you in the past." Yoshimura began. He had in fact, mostly just to keep her in after curfew and stay out of sight. Korua had encountered Binge Eater several years ago, while living on the run in the 17th Ward, searching for Uta. Needless to say, Korua hadn't expected someone like Binge to die in such a short amount of time.

"Her name was Rize. And she died at the hands of Kaneki Ken."

"Kaneki?! How- what- when-?" Korua was at a loss for words. She looked around at everyone, the disbelief on her face clear.

"Okay now you're just exaggerating, old man." Nishio butted in, scratching the back of his neck, "I mean, he ain't weak, but Rize wouldn't have died because of him when they met."

Within the next few minutes Korua got the update about how Rize was crushed by several tons of construction beams and how Kaneki was stuck with her. Yoshimura moved on to the organ transplant and the successful creation of an artificial one-eyed ghoul. At that time everyone took a short glance at Korua, all knowing that she was unique from day one of her life. As he talked about Kaneki's first appearance of power Nishio muttered small remarks like "Screw off old man," and several other quite curses.

"So Kaneki isn't originally a ghoul and I got mixed up into this because Uta wants to keep me 'safe' from the Doves?" Korua was even more confused as to why Yoshimura wanted her here. It's not like Korua could teach Kaneki to be a One-eyed Ghoul, much less an artificial one. When she just got here, Korua thought it was to keep her safe, but she should've known Uta didn't think like that.

"You're here because rumours that the fabled Arachnid was spotted in the 4th Ward have reached the CCG and Uta thought it would've been good to take you to the people he trusted most." Enji said. He clearly knew a lot of information, maybe everybody else knew all about the situation, even Hinami. Korua raised her hands in the air, exasperated.

"Guilty, as charged." she replied. Korua was tired of the whole Arachnid thing and just wanted to help Hinami, so she shut up. "We can talk about this another time, but please, Enji, can we move on to the more immediate problem?"

There was little progress after that, and despite the fact that there were many capable ghouls at Anteiku, there wasn't a possible situation that wouldn't call to the attention of the CCG. Korua rubbed her eyes. Even if someone died, it was more normal for a ghoul than it would ever be for a normal human being and Korua couldn't help being a bit exhausted. The last few days had surely taken its toll on her, and if this issue with the Doves wasn't settled soon, she'd probably have to deal with much more restless nights.

Almost out of nowhere, the sound of footsteps came, filling the room. A dull thud could be heard, as someone hit the door, not knowing it was closed. It was quickly opened by a disheveled Touka, eyes filled with alarm and worry. Yoshimura advanced towards her, saying, "What happened, Touka?". She practically charged at him, grabbing his arm, her knuckles turning white.

"She's gone! Gone-" Touka's voice rose, practically shrieking, "Hinami! The news article, it was on the table- in the room she was in!"

Nishio wrenched her off of Yoshimura before Touka could ramble anymore. Korua rushed towards all three of them, shaking Touka while Nishio held her back.

"What news article!?" Korua shouted at Touka, holding Touka's head between her hands, focusing her.

"Ha… ha… ," Touka breathed deeply, her throat parched, "The news article of the dead CCG operative. The one… I killed, Kusaba. I think- know, she ran. We have to find her!"

"Keep your head on your neck, she'll be fine." Korua said, unconvincingly, "Where's Kaneki?! Isn't he with you?"

"He's out for now, but he'll be back for shift, most likely." Yoshimura answered, melodramatic.

"Touka, Amon and Mado will be taken care of, but don't make an hasty advances." Enji tried to reassured Touka, who was prepared to leave.

"I'll make sure that they're taken care of right now." she replied. Her eyes were practically piercing, all the colors reflecting sharpened to knife-like points.

Touka sprunt out of the room, running down the stairs, grabbing her coat on the way. No one really made an attempt to run after her since it was obvious that she was looking for Hinami, but Korua was more worried about what the Doves would do if they found either of them. Yoshimura called Kaneki on the landline phone a couple times, until he finally picked up. After a series of people yelling into the phone, explaining fractions of the story piling up on itself, Kaneki ended the call, agreeing to find them.

"You better come back in one piece, Hinami. You've dragged two poor souls down with you, and you sure as hell better bring them back." Enji said to no one, glancing out the window.

Korua was filled with despair. Down at the bottom of her stomach, something resided there. She felt something bad coming, real bad. Shaking her head, Korua ignored the thought. She was usually wrong anyways.