Chapter 11: Anyone but you

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul nor the characters.

It was all new to Saya. It was as if she had been living under a rock all those years and now she was out there in the real world for the first time. When she asked to be brought along on the mission to liberate the 11th ward, she did not expect for everything to be that overwhelming or better said, that frightening. Unbelievably enough, her brother had not insisted on stopping her and while that would be an alarm signal in other circumstances, this time, he probably credited her outburst to the recent incident with their father and had allowed her to be selfish for once. Saya was thankful to him but had wished he could have come along. She would never admit it to his face but Saya knew there was no safer place for her than besides her brother and while Marude was praise-worthy enough to be appointed her guardian, Saya still found it difficult to be surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar and armored vehicle which had been parked far enough from the mall for their protection but close enough to be in the middle of everything.

'Keep your eyes on the radar, men! I want to know every move, do you hear?' Marude Itsuki barked, hovering above the beeping screens installed inside.

'Yes, sir!' The other three CCG men inside the vehicle responded while checking their monitors for any suspicious movement and keeping in contact with the soldiers outside who were ready to infiltrate the Aogiri Tree base.

Saya shifted in her chair, failing to understand their language code and not making much of what was happening outside. After all, she could not read the radar or interpret information and even if she could she would not - she was there to observe, not participate. She never imagined an investigator's job to be that complex. Yes, danger was a given but to be able to master various weapons, insert courage into strategy and handle time management was highly impressive. And everyone was the same, they had similar training and identical goals; they all blended with one another and gained each other's trust by cooperating in the darkest of scenarios. So many individuals that seemed to share the same fate; Amon, Shinohara, Suzuya - all gathered together with their team members in specialized combat vehicles advancing towards the 11th ward. And that's where the line between the two sides was crossed; the CCG members riding in tenths of cars, weapons at the ready and her, driving in another car, safe and shielded from the harsh sense of the battle. And then it finally began, the storm of gunshots.

'What's happening? How are we being outgunned?' Marude demanded, suddenly becoming impatient.

'The enemy is using kagune shields and scopes,' one of his men supplied upon observing the bullet exchange between their force and the opposing one.

`Former soldiers, huh?' The inspector questioned rhetorically, not liking the delay caused by such miscalculations. Without cue, he stood up suddenly and directed his attention solely to Saya.

'Arima-san,' Marude addressed her right before he exited the car to go join his main force.'You are to stay inside this vehicle at all times. Do you understand?'

'Yes,' Saya replied in a tone so serious it was absolutely impossible to read the wavering behind it.

'You are my responsibility and I would not know how to face your brother if anything were to happen,' Marude said, peering his eyes into her own. 'Remember, the main condition for you to join us was to stay put and not cause any trouble.'

Marude was completely different when in his CCG skin, Saya noted. While reliable and a bit too self-important, Saya always thought of Marude to be slightly goofy but the person standing right there before her was able to break walls and start a revolution. That person was not asking her to be on her best behavior, he was ordering her. And with good reason to, Saya was a small traitor at the core of it all. If only they knew she was there to try and ensure a certain group of ghouls would not be harmed.

'Don't worry, Marude-san. I won't move an inch from my seat.'

'Good,' the man nodded and shooting a warning look to the members inside, he left to join the other groups. His foot extended brutally to open the door, annoyed by how long such small tasks were dragging on.

`Damn it! You've gotta be kidding me!' Marude cursed, heading straight to the front lines. `Give me that!' He barked at one of his men, tearing the riffle from his hands and pointing it at the offensive row of ghouls. Wasting not one bullet in vain, the inspector fired steadily, quickly eliminating one of the best shooters in the group. Showing them how it's done, Marude ordered:

`Take out that insidious sniper nest immediately!'

`Amazing...did you see that?' His men commented in awe. Even inside the vehicle the event kept sinking in.

`Marude-san is so cool, there's no target he can't shoot, can't he?'

Saya agreed. So much her stomach churned with nausea just by thinking either Uta or Kaneki or any of their party could get hurt. She had to warn them. Saya had no idea how but she simply had to let Uta and his friends know that they were cornered or else there was truly no point for her to be there. Without question she was overstepping her boundaries and taking advantage of the people who were entrusted with her safety but she was there for a reason and she hoped to contribute with even the smallest of matters to ensure Uta and Kaneki's survival.

A chain of laughter erupted inside the vehicle, drawing Saya's attention to the men in charge of the monitors. Something had caused them amusement and while she was curious to pinpoint the cause she was also astonished by how well those people managed to act normal under the grim circumstances outside.

'I can't believe it!' One of them said between tears, trying to calm down his laughter. 'Did you see Marude-san's face? He was crying, crying I tell you!'

'I know, right? Well, I would be too if someone trashed my motorcycle that way. Good thing I don't own one,' another replied, drawing in breaths and shaking his head in stupefaction. 'But seriously, that new guy, Suzuya, is crazy. He doesn't follow the rules, does he? I have no idea how he got this far.'

'Obviously because he's good at it,' the third one who had remained silent finally joined the conversation. 'He might have sacrificed Marude-san's motorcycle but with it, he also wiped off the entire resistance front so we can now enter the building.'

The truth of those words weighted on all of them, encompassing the space in silence. It seemed that Suzuya had destroyed Marude's property in order to ensure entry in the abandoned mall. Based on what was said, Saya had to hand it to Suzuya, for the freak that he was, he was clearly proficient at his job.

'But still,' the solemn one leaned in, 'the look on Marude's face!' And that was all it took for the CCG members to break into laughter again and for Saya to take the opportunity to sneak out. It was now or never. With the men busy poking fun at their superiors, Saya somehow managed to slither to the door and exit the car unseen.

She knew it wouldn't be long before they noticed her absence which was why the moment her feet touched the ground, she began running in an unknown direction, anywhere that would take her far away from momentary imprisonment. However, just seconds into her escape, she began regretting her action. Saya had never seen a battlefield before.

There was dust everywhere, smell of gun powder and blood. CCG soldiers were running all around the place trying to monopolize the area, fighting off deformed humans that actually turned out to be ghouls, each side more vicious than the other. Bullets were flying everywhere, the sound of gunshots hurting Saya's ears and the thunder screams of agony and frustration made her realize she was not deaf enough. The human side was shouting out orders while the ghoul one was advancing profanities, making it difficult to understand which side had the upper hand. Saya saw brand new quinques used in battle and weapons she only heard of as they efficiently cut through flesh and dismembered adversaries. She saw people dying just meters in front of her, bodies which once belonged to humans gushing into fountains of blood never to be recognized. The earth trembled under her feet or maybe she was the one trembling, horror-struck by the unimaginable sight in front of her. She wanted to go back, to crawl into the CCG vehicle that had kept her ignorant but safe. Kishou was right, he was always right, she had no place on the battlefield. She would never be able to overcome the initial shock and now she was probably going to get killed due to her arrogance.

What was she imagining? That she would get out of the car and run straight into Uta's arms? She hid behind a tree watching the combat, her eyes searching for a familiar face. Anyone would do.

But there was no one. Someone did approach her though but his intentions were far from honorable.

'What's a tasty-looking girl like you doing here? Are you lost, perhaps?'

Saya cringed,the man's exposed kakugan casting no doubt over his kind. She took a step behind, bumping into the tree and therefore her dead end.

'Stay away. If you touch me, the CCG are going to stop you.'

'Are they?' The ghoul took a dramatic look around him. 'I see none paying attention to you, kind miss. Who's going to step away from their battle to come save a brainless little human like you?'

'Just let me go,' Saya tried, herself knowing everything was over for her and only a miracle would be able to get her out of that mess. A sharp kagune came straight at her, etching itself into the tree trunk behind her, issuing some splinters into the process. Saya screamed instinctively but remained helplessly in place.

'Don't worry, I missed on purpose,' the ghoul snickered, drawing closer. 'You see, I like hearing humans scream right before I devour them. You could call those my appetizers.'

Saya glared at the ghoul, gritting her teeth in order to prevent other cries from escaping her mouth but now her eyes were plaguing her with problems. She felt her eyes would water her cheeks soon enough as she foresaw her death with no one else to witness it or save her. Now that she reached that predicament, Saya regretted showing up to that mission with no real plan at the ready and the image of her father, brother and Uta crept into her head as she silently asked them for forgiveness. If she could, she would turn back time, stay obediently in the vehicle and play the part of the observant. Yet, as she closed her eyes expecting to feel the kagune which shot towards her the second time to pierce her skin, Saya realized she was lying to herself. She would do it all again.

In a way, it was as if the universe rewarded her for her sincerity. The kagune never touched her, not her anyway. When she opened her eyes to inspect the damage, she was left breathless at the sight of a red-cloaked man standing before her and acting out the role of a shield. The ghoul retracted his blue member, growling at the intruder. In the spare seconds they were given, Saya saw her protector take off his hood and regard her sternly.

'I can't even begin to understand why you're here.'

'Uta,' Saya breathed out, sensing her muscles relax and her heart diminishing its rhythm in relief. That man really did have impeccable timing, much like her own brother but this time, it was Uta's turn to intervene and save her. Unfortunately, that fact did not sit well with the other ghoul who was not about to retreat and let this opportunity fly by.

'Hey, I don't know who the hell you are but you'd better back off,' the ghoul addressed Uta, preparing himself to remove the uninvited guest. 'I saw her first.'

'I beg to differ,' came the aloof voice of his contender. Uta watched dispassionately as the ghoul initiated another attack, clumsy and barely intimidating in comparison to what he had in store for him. He lunged in for a fatal attack, not once bothering to activate his kagune unlike the other ghoul who could barely keep himself in check. As Uta finished him off, Saya turned to look away, unable to see another kill for that day. The struggle finally stopped and she exhaled a breath she kept supressed all that time.

'Well?' Uta inquired coming closer to Saya. 'Why are you here?'

'To...help you,' she replied with difficulty. His tone was as calm as ever, his expression unreadable but tempered and yet Saya was slightly afraid of him. It was less because of the man he had slaughtered right before her very eyes and more about what she saw nestling behind the read tinge of his eyes. He was displeased, maybe a bit angry with her and while she could imagine the reason, she felt he was being unfair . Yes, she had gotten in trouble when she was actually supposed to be miles away from this place but he was all she could think of and she would not stand losing him.

'To help me?' Uta repeated, his eyebrows rising quizzically, as if he had heard the most preposterous of things. His body had neared just inches from hers, an arm raised, resting on the trunk of the tree. 'How interesting. Just seconds ago, I was busy dispatching lives in the eastern perimeter when I suddenly catch a whiff of your scent. I thought I was hallucinating but even so, I rushed over to check. And here you are, knocking at Death's door. Helping me.'

While there was no mocking accent in his voice, the entire text of his speech was dripping with ironic notes. Saya knew herself she was of not much help but she hated being that useless.

'I know it wasn't a very bright thing to do, I know that but I needed to warn you. The CCG have the entire perimeter surrounded, there's no way of getting out now.'

'We've figured this much,' Uta replied, glancing at the battle in the distance. 'But we'll manage.'

´Will you really? Do you promise that?´

She was so fearful of the wrong things. The fact she worried more about him than her made Uta give up on his plan to ask retribution for her foolishness. It annoyed him that she did not stay put at home but given the recent scare she had experienced, it was expected of him to spare her the scolding. For now.

´We´ll manage,'he repeated.

´Kaneki...´

Uta shook his head for a negative answer. ´We haven't finished looking. And speaking of which, I should go back,'he said, lowering his voice.

´What is it?´ Saya questioned, sensing something was wrong.

´A human is approaching,' Uta informed. ´He'll have to do. Go with him back to your stationed cars and stay there. The perimeter is safe now but I can't bring you back, you'll have to stick with him.´

Saya opened her mouth to protest which gave the signal for Uta to pull out a knife he had picked up from one of the CCG soldiers he had incapacitated earlier and hand it to her. ´Take this. If he's not reliable, protect yourself.´

Saya looked at the knife and then back at him nodding mechanically.

´Just in case,´ he justified. ´When all of this is over, I'll come find you.

She looked after Uta, a bit anxious to be left behind but fully comprehending the risks of having him lurk by while a human was approaching them. She wondered who could it be; a regular soldier, an investigator perhaps, if lucky maybe even Amon Koutaru who would not spare her the sermons of straying from the protected area but would at least bring her back safely. She squinted her eyes as she saw someone emerging from the trees, an instant later wishing she'd be thrown into fire than having to rely on help from that person.

Suzuya continued walking in her direction, his face all but a sadistic grin. Whatever the reason he was happy, Saya was not certain she wanted to find out. He had traces of blood all drying up on his face and as she took a closer look at him, she noticed he was dragging something behind him. At first, she was uncertain about it but a few steps closer and the unidentifiable object finally revealed itself as a dead person, all but tattered and bathed in blood. Saya gasped, stepping back thus eliciting a dark chuckle from Suzuya's part.

'Don't worry about him, Arima-san. He can't hurt you, he's dead,' he gestured to the dead ghoul at his feet. 'This is Jason and now that I've given him a proper send-off from this world, I will finally receive a quinque.' He was proud about it. He had killed someone, as his duty requested and he had enjoyed it thoroughly. She had never seen her brother take pleasure in killing ghouls, but clearly, Suzuya was a completely different species. That skinny boy had not only managed to kill a ghoul of that size but had also dragged him for who knows how many miles. It was beyond reason.

'It's not him I'm afraid of,' Saya finally said, hoping someone else would come save her, anyone really. That knife she got from Uta became awfully attractive all of a sudden.

Suzuya looked confused, tilting his head to the right, trying to decipher if there was any other meaning to her words. When nothing specific came to mind, he decisively put the statement past him.

'I've been meaning to ask, Arima-san, why are you out here? Weren't you supposed to stay put besides Marude-san's side like the good girl that you are?'

Saya hated his condescending tone, delivered in fragments of irony, precisely to point out that she was in trouble. Even a child would know she was not supposed to be there and as of now, she was to be penalized by Marude for her reckless actions. It was a miracle she was even allowed to accompany them on this mission but disobeying orders and extracting herself from the safety haven she was assigned to was ridiculous. Marude was probably in shatters by now. Still, it wasn't as if she hadn't had her own share of karma. From the moment she had stepped out of the car, she had been frightened to the core, harassed by a vicious ghoul, nearly escaped death and to top it all out, she was still in dire straits, Suzuya's presence accounting little to reliability. But there was always room for worse.

'It's complicated,' Saya replied, opting for the more ambiguous answer.

'Hmmm...I wonder about that,' Suzuya mused, having seen the dead ghoul murdered just meters away from them and finding it hard to believe said flesh eater had not been involved. 'Well, it can't be helped,' Suzuya chanted and extended a bloody hand toward Saya, 'I'll take you back to your watchdogs.'

The young woman stared at the tainted hand for a while, wondering if Suzuya was being serious or simply toying with her. From her brief experience with the bizarre investigator, it was most certain he was testing her, eager to inspect the reaction he would get but Saya was prepared to rob him of that satisfaction.

'Thank you but I can walk without attendance. Moreover, you already have your hands full,' she said, referring to the dead weight Suzuya was dragging around.

'Suit yourself,' he retreated his hand, still awfully pleased by the outcome and proceeded to move away from their spot in search for his group, Saya forcing herself to walk besides him, thus avoiding seeing the said deceased Jason. 'I had forgotten blood is not for girls. It's too bad because it is such a pretty red color, don't you think?'

'I simply hate sullying myself,' Saya disregarded his unnecessary additions.

'It doesn't seem like it.'

At that, she stopped in her tracks. Whenever they met, he always spoke as if he knew everything that was going on and this time was no different. Did he see her speaking with Uta earlier? He couldn't have, Uta would have noticed. Or maybe he picked up something from the circumstances or his intuition was highly-developed. Either way, he was right. She had sullied herself and continued doing it even now, lying and hiding matters of serious implications. Saya could no longer pretend she was innocent. As she saw Jason's disfigured face all muddled up and vacant, easily pulled away by Suzuya, she realized that some of the victims that were to come were probably going to be a result of her betrayal and she wondered how on earth she was going to sleep from now on.

'Arima-saaan,' Suzuya's voice brought her back to reality. 'If you don't hurry up, you're going to be left behind. You might even be eaten by a ghoul.'

'Somehow, I think that wouldn't affect you.'

This time, it was Suzuya's turn to put a halt to his steps. He turned his head to Saya, an eerie look gleaming in his usually dead eyes.

'That's not true, Arima-san. If they found out you got hurt or murdered in my company I would never get a quinque, right?'

What a cruel and primitive answer. Yet she deserved that and even more. Saya gulped down any misplaced retort that would make its way through the barrier of her lips and rejoined Suzuya in his return to the CCG camp.

'How is the mission going? Do we have someone in our custody?' Saya asked Suzuya, hoping to get some clue regarding Kaneki's whereabouts.

'Custody...' Suzuya repeated between giggles. 'Spoken like a true diplomat, Arima-san. Well, I guess there's this guy over here,' Suzuya indicated Jason, 'but then again, taking someone in custody implies the person is still alive. Think we do that often around here?'

'You didn't have to put it that way,' she said dejected, briefly forgetting about the annoying dragging noise perpetuating behind them.

'There's no other way to put it. Ghouls have to be killed.'

'Of course. Every last one of them.'

'You know something, Arima-san...Sometimes, I think you are a very bad liar.'

It took all the strength needed to keep walking in line with him, her facial muscles remaining motionless. He could read her. A bit too clearly. That strange boy could see it in her-the nest of vipers swarming in betrayal. And she envied him. She used to be like that too before she met Uta. She used to be an ally of justice, even more, a believer of truth only who could unmask any lie at any given time until she became a whole lie herself. She felt the urge to tell him everything, somehow hoping that his quirkiness would allow him to justify her actions. Maybe he could understand. Or maybe he would kill her right there, not sparing her a second glance for shaking the very foundation of their mission.

Whatever panic-issued thought she had, it dispersed at the sound of Marude's voice which pierced the air like an unforgiving whip.

'Arima-san!'

It was then that she realized they had finally reached their temporary base. Marude almost flew over to her, his strong fingers grasping onto her fragile arms.

'Thank Heavens you're alright! Are you hurt? Did anything happen to you? Why did you leave the car?'

Saya took in all the questions-one at a time-straining to find the right answer to each of them without avail. She simply kept looking at Marude defeated, silently blaming him for ordering the assassination of each ghoul in sight, wishing to make him spare Uta and Kaneki. A part of her knew they had managed to escape but the rest of her dreaded to see them behind Marude on their knees.

'It was you, wasn't it?' Marude detached himself from Saya to launch an even more brutal attack on Suzuya. 'You took Arima-san out with you, didn't you Suzuya-kun?'

Saya blinked, not understanding how the conversation deviated focus from her to Suzuya. If anything, the boy had brought her to safety,so-to-speak.

'Do you think this is a game, Suzuya-kun?' Marude insisted, his accumulated stress finally bursting out on the wrong person. 'A road-trip, perhaps? Do you think Arima-san here came to have fun and you appointed yourself as her guide? Is that so, Suzuya-kun?'

Bystanders also came into view, Marude's men being drawn in by their superior's loud voice and frantic body language as he tried to convey his indignation. Suzuya,however, remained silent, a wide grin slitting across his face, almost enjoying the misplaced scolding. His eyes shone with excitement, curious to see how far Marude would go before his face would reach alarming tinges of red and choke on his own breaths. It was either that or he was surprisingly covering for Saya -fact which made her sick to the core. She wanted to owe him nothing, no matter his intentions.

'What do you have to say for yourself, Suzuya-kun?!"

'Marude-san, it was not...' Saya started but was immediately cut off by Suzuya's unearthly voice.

'It's not good to shield little girls forever, Marude-san. Plus, I brought her back safely, didn't I?'

'You little...' Marude began, his fingers twitching in spasms from all the anger.

'Marude-san,' one of his men interrupted the investigator, 'it's not only Arima-san that he brought back.'

They all followed the trajectory of his pointed hand, staring in awe at the dead ghoul behind Suzuya. Marude took a better look, initially not believing his eyes. He thought it was just another ghoul the boy picked up as a sick trophy and not actually one of the CCG hunted heads.

'Jason...' Marude whispered, expecting the ghoul to rise up at any moment and kill them all in sight. 'Did you do this? Did you kill Jason, Suzuya-kun?'

'It was no big deal. He barely put up a fight,' Suzuya commented, remembering he was half-dead when he found him anyways.

Exclamations of admiration echoed through their ranks and it was mainly because of those that Marude refrained himself from reprimanding the younger investigator. He would not praise but he would at least keep his mouth shut for the moment,that boy did eliminate Jason as a threat.

'Come along, Arima-san,' Marude instructed solemnly, shooting one last intimidating glare to Suzuya and planning to bring Saya to safety first and deal with the aftermath later.

Saya decided resisting was not necessary and intended to follow Marude back to the vehicle but not without attempting to offer a fragment of gratitude to her questionable savior.

'Thank you, I suppose.'

Suzuya said nothing to that. Instead, he kept looking at her like she was a mouse caught in a cage. Saya too, sensed the danger and wondered why on earth he decided to cover for her. The implications for that had to be a bit worrisome.

'What about your quinque?'

'I'll still get it,' he replied, watching with great interest as two of his comrades were trying to lift Jason's body off the ground and bring him to their camp. 'You're not as important as you think, Arima-san.'

Saya gracefully took the hit of that statement and walked away, not once looking back.

A/N: And chapter done! I can't believe I finished this, I had terrible writer's block and NO TIME to work on it but now that I've crossed this dreadful chapter I can hopefully move on to quicker updates. I got sick of Saya in this chapter though, I need a break from her!

Is anyone still out there, though? It's been a while XDXD. Even so, I'm replying to you guys below, as always. And the surprising thing is that I'm still getting followers even though I've neglected this fanfiction for so long. It's time I step up!

Thank you to all of my followers and people who added this story to their favorites, it kept my interest for this story alive.

Cyleana: Hey again!^^ So you're from Germany? Ah, so much diversity on , it's amazing how reading can bring so many people together. I did choose Germany because it is mentioned in the manga and I thought it would make sense for Adelisa to be German and have a little story there. Glad you liked the addition. As for Uta, I can see him no other way, especially after the manga. I always thought he's a semi-safe card to play but boy, was I wrong! Oo;Never trust anime characters. Hope you're doing well Cyleana and hope we'll be able to fangirl again!

sherlaylay: How are you, still around? It would make me happy to know you haven't given up on this fanfiction. It's good that you still have questions about Saya's family, I can't have everything exposed right from the beginning but little by little, I'm getting there. And you know, I secretly think Itori goes well with Uta, especially giving their history and their nature. If there's a ghoul out there for Uta, from all the characters we've seen I mean, she's probably the one. They're both so despicable and if that's not a match well-made, I don't know what is. However, there's Saya and just as you've said, Uta could never have with Itori what he has with Saya and I bet that's the beauty of it. Please take care!

AnimeFreak145: Aww, thank you so much! If the chemistry between Saya and Uta is liked then I can breathe in peace, it's somewhat difficult to grasp love between two people that are so different and while I do believe opposites attract, that doesn't necessarily mean their relationship is without flaw so praise to you for spotting Saya's passion and willingness to try. As for the paragraphing, I'm actually trying to write this in the spirit of novel composition and this is why the paragraphs have such lengths so I'm sorry about that. To make it easier to read, you can copy the chapter in a text editor (Word for example) and format it as you will.^^ Please come back again!

Catriona-Yagri: Tips, hmm...there isn't really a magic solution for getting characters right and even I make a mess out of things don't deny characters for what they are, try to really think if they would act the way you imagine them to or if they would really say a line you have created for them. Visualize it in an anime setting and you are good to go. Good luck!

SchokoDelphin: Thank you for the wishing and praise! And especially for sticking with me, honestly. Congrats on finishing your exams and may all be well with your next ones! Hope to see you here again with feedback. Bye! :)

wlfchen: Hello hello! It's been forever, I know. I re-read all of my reviewer's comments and I can't allow myself to neglect this story anymore, especially since I have such attentive readers. Yes, it's my fanfiction the one where I mentioned Itori loved a human, I should have pointed things better in Chapter 10. In fact, I wanted to specify that of all the ghouls Itori had a relationship with, Uta was her supreme, as far as 'ghoul love' goes. I really have to go back and correct so many things, from spelling to formatting but it's gonna take a while but thank you for pointing it out to having Saya stand up to her brother was scary, even for me. XD Let's see what happens next in the Arima household. Please be well!

crayonx3: The deal with writing is that you have to have time and strength to stay committed. You have to love your story because if you start falling out of love with your ideas and your plot, the reader will sense it, will unmask you and then rightfully dessert you. I had a point where I felt I couldn't continue with this story and then I had to mentally slap myself to realize I still liked it and I wanted to bring it to its closure and share with you all what I thought is best to happen. So I'm glad you take strength from this fanfiction because I do too and so I won't let Uta go just yet. Suzuya is great and he deserves the spot I prepared for him in this story so I'm wishing you'll stick around to reach the end with me. In the meantime, I got another cold but now I'm recovering from it. XD Stay healthy and may we talk again!

Guest: I love you too for loving this!^^

CoffeeWitch: Ah, I love witches, so glad you could join us! It doesn't matter how you read it, I'm just glad you are. :)

Blackwolf94: Thank youuuuuuuuu! I can really feel the love.

Hikiri: I missed your critical eye and precise comments, reading your words again really does make me more enthusiastic about writing. Don't think too much about the Adelisa scene, I'm just planting seeds to make everything flow smoothly in future chapters. I can't write without foreshadowing or intense connections, everything has to have a purpose. And as always, you're right...Itori is a ticking bomb, she will cause something but not just yet, there are already too many detonators around Saya. In fact, she's one too. As for WoW...I soooo want to play games! I'm the type who would rather stay indoors and play a game than go out for a social meeting or party but that's mainly because I don't have the right people to do that with. Next time, invite me over for games! XD. I'll try to keep my ground and not fail so miserably.

Lnyarg: I have but I'm trying to stay away from the sequel because I want to stay anchored in this story, I don't want to change too much of my original ideas. I'm not even watching the second season of Tokyo Ghoul, it went south for me from the first and only episode I saw. XD Just...no.

Becka3490: Thank you for your fave, please return and let me know your thoughts^^.

RuhGezgini: It's funny how people haunt some sections of fanfiction without ever thinking they would read something, I'm actually the same! :)) So the fact that you gave my story a shot is a great compliment for me, thank you so much.

Bleeding Of Life: Hello there! Oh dear reader, I misspell so many things; when I go back and re-read, I cringe. Badly XD. It's because I hurry to update and I forget to do a final read like normal people do. One day, I promise, I'll read one chapter per day and correct everything. In the meantime, I'll take your praise, thank you for it and invite you to drop by and read again. Thank you and take care!

.73: Nice to meet you! It's great you're liking my version of Uta, he's a real chore to keep in character. XD But luckily for me, he's the type of character to stay silent when he has to and talk A LOT when the situation asks for it so I have freedom with him. Please let me know what you've thought abut this chapter.^^

OfSilverandDice: At this point, sentimentality has to come from side-characters, they always seem to express more in-depth wisdom than the rest which was why Daichi was the perfect option to set some things in motion and give some sweetness to this universe. And I know, right? Saya's just...wtf.

symphonysiren: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! *hands cookies*

sayatsukiyomi: Bonjour! Toi, tu t'appelles Saya aussi? Quelle coïncidence! :) Le chapitre est prêt, merci pour ta patience.

Kat Khaos: So many thanks for following this story and giving each chapter a proper read! I'm sad too that not many people like to write about Uta, he's a character with so much potential. That's mainly why I thought about this story and came to the conclusion that an OC would not be so out of place if logically introduced in the story. And I precisely wanted her to be feminine. A high society girl who despite knowing how to discern good from evil, can't resist going to the dark side XD. And for that to be achieved I don't think I needed Saya to be extra strong or brilliant, just...genuine, afraid, weak and stubborn. I wanted her to grow in this story and don't worry, Uta will show his other side. There wouldn't be much of a story otherwise. As for a lemon story...I'm so not good with that. At all. I'm nearing towards a certain scene which keeps me awake at night and I hope I'll make it classy XD because I can't write fluff/love scenes for the life of me! XDXD You guys will be the judge of that.

EdenMae: Here I am, updating! Hope it lasts XD. Thanks for the support, my dear!

BlackCatNeko999: Hey there! Hope you're still thinking about this story and are willing to return to it. Thank you for your encouragement, it's really well-received.^^

Guest2: You and me both! Thank you.^^