Date Unknown, Time Unknown.

The roaring in her ears felt like she was standing right next to a jet engine as it rumbled to life, the left side of her face was so cold and her shoulder was cramped. Slowly she blinked open her eyes, the world was sideways, spinning and dark but she could still make out certain things. Like the rectangular box directly in her line of sight, a tin can rolling back and forth over the metallic floor and the two large beings sitting opposite each other.

The van slowed and stopped, Emily lurched forward but didn't move. She was glad she hadn't moaned or called out, the two people hadn't noticed she was awake yet. The van's skeleton shuddered noisily underneath her as it stood in neutral, braked and waiting to go again. She flexed her fingers, trying to get the feeling back into them and realized her hands had been bound with what felt like plastic ties. They were tight, but didn't bite into her skin. The van lurched forward and they were moving again. Emily focused on keeping her breathing regulated, panic would cause shallow, fast breaths and alert those two sitting in the back with her to her awakened state. She closed her eyes again and deliberately took deep breaths while trying to figure out how she'd gotten into this situation and where she was going.

"Oi," one of the people in the back said, Emily willed herself to keep breathing. His voice was slightly muffled and she figured he was wearing some kind of mask, "Why do you think they want her?"

"Who knows. I just do what they tell me and don't ask questions." the second replied, his voice also muffled. There was a short pause and then the first one spoke again,

"Yeah but," he said, "Why a human?" Emily's breath came out a little faster than it should have. They were Ghouls. She'd been kidnapped by Ghouls. Real fear made her heartbeat pound heavier and faster than it already was - if she'd been kidnapped by Ghouls the chances of death had skyrocketed.

"I dunno, Jun. Maybe the King wants to make more of himself." the second replied sounding somewhat bored with the conversation. King? What king? Ghouls didn't have a king? Maybe it was a nickname for their leader, or a metaphor for something else.

"A Ghoul organization?" Emily asked in disbelief. Toshio passed her the photocopied pieces of paper and smiled,

"That was my reaction too. But look, Em. Recon photos of guys wearing the same masks and cloaks with this symbol on the back. The guy who told me said they're calling themselves Aogiri Tree." he told her as she flipped through the black and white photos. Sure enough there were dozens of photos of Ghouls wearing the same things, like a uniform, and on the back of their cloaks was a kind of fleur-de-lis, but instead of the ends of the leaves being curled downwards, they pointed up and there looked to be something like a lotus in the centre.

"They call their leader..."

The One-Eyed King.

"Both of you need to shut up." a new voice said, his voice was nasally and it quickly conjured pictures of a rat - if a rat could talk, "Girl's awake."

Shit! Emily thought to herself as heavy steps moved towards her. She opened her eyes and kicked out. Her foot connected with something and Second cried out.

"You bitch!" he yelled bending over. Emily rolled around so her feet were pointed towards the back of the van and tried to shuffle her way closer to the front. A cold hand clasped around her ankle and pulled her back down and then there was a heavy weight on her abdomen.

"You'll pay for that." Second growled.

"Oi, oi! Tatara said not to kill her!" First cried appearing over the shoulder of Second, clutching his arm and trying to pull him off Emily. Second just shrugged and First fell away again.

"I ain't gonna kill her." Second growled running a finger along the side of Emily's face as she struggled beneath his weight. She swallowed, hoping and praying he wasn't going to do something worse.

A sharp pain stabbed the side of her face where Second had been trailing his finger along, Emily's head rolled to the side and blood pooled in her mouth. Her head spun again but it wasn't from being drugged. Second lifted her head back to face him and punched her again and again and again. He wasn't using his full strength, if he had been she would have died. His punches were about as strong as an average human male's. But it still hurt and she would still be swollen and bruised. Swelling that was already starting to arise.

Second stood and Emily breathed out of her mouth, her nose had been blocked by blood flow.

"We were gonna be nice, ya know." Second said staring menacingly down at her, "But since you did that, I've no choice but to punish you."

Emily spat blood up at him, "I'm not scared of some underling piece of trash."

Anger flashed all over Second's body as he tensed and glowered at her. A green streak twisted down around his arm like a vine and came to a point just beyond his middle finger. He crouched over Emily and held the point over her eye.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "Let's see how long you'll last."

"Jinei." First cautioned but Second paid him no attention as he slowly lowered the sharp point towards her eye. Emily stared at it, hoping to call his bluff but Second didn't seem to be bluffing. Suddenly the van screeched forward and Second flew off her, the tip of his koukaku scratching her forehead deeply, and crashed into the iron grate separating the front from the back.

"We're here." the driver said harshly, "You'll be lucky if I don't tell the higher ups what you were planing to do, Jinei."

The back door was kicked open and light poured into the dark van, blinding Emily. Another hand was around her ankle, dragging her out of the van, she twisted and tried to kick but it, like every other attempt she had made was useless. First tossed her out onto the hard concrete without warning and she landed awkwardly, bruising her hip bone. She lay on the ground and looked up to see Second staggering out of the van. First picked her up and dragged her into the building. Rubble, dirt and debris where lying all about the place, not that taking in her surroundings would help her. Emily didn't even know what Ward she was in. She could have been off the mainland completely but she doubted it.

"Oi Jun," Second nudged First's arm lightly, "Let me have a few more seconds with her?"

"So you can stab out her eye? Fuck no." First replied shoving Second off him.

"Nah, nah. I just wanna...talk." he said. Emily figured there was some other meaning for talking and that it was a code word in Aogiri for something less pleasant. First stared up at Second for a few moments before dropping Emily to the ground again.

"Fine. Five seconds. You kill her, he kills you." First said as he walked ahead of them with Driver. Emily rolled and squinted up at Second as he loomed over her again. He lifted his skull mask just enough for her to see his sinister grin and then he was kicking her hard in the stomach until she coughed blood. There was nothing she could to do stop it. She curled around, he just kicked her harder and sometimes in the face. She rolled over, he kicked at her kidneys and spine. She couldn't escape, she could barely breathe and the edges of her vision were starting to distort and darken.

Five seconds felt like five weeks and Emily was sure she was going to die before that time was up. Then, Second stopped. She was saved, First and Driver had come back and stopped Second. Her mouth twitched, it was too painful to actually smile. Second bent down and grabbed a fist full of her hair. Emily cried out weakly as he dragged her along the ground, rocks and glass scraped her calves and the back of her thighs mercilessly. She heard doors opening and then once again she was tossed to the ground like rubbish.

Someone grabbed her arm tightly and half lifted her, "This girl. This human girl is that answer. She is the adopted daughter of Ishihara Royta and will help us in our fight against human kind and the CCG!"

Emily blinked weakly at the sea of faces before her. Most of them wore the same skull mask, but there were two or more who still wore their own, and some who were no masks at all. A tall, young looking guy with blonde hair, the fringe of which was sleeked back was one such Ghoul . Emily eyes scanned the crowd. Her breath hitched as her eyes met with familiar midnight blue eyes.

7:15pm

Ayato stood with the rest of Aogiri high enough to be summoned by Tatara. He leaned against the wall, scowling at his bandaged right hand. It had been just over a week since his fight with Kaneki that left him half broken. It was no secret around Aogiri that Ayato had gotten his ass handed to him, so he'd spent the better part of two days beating down any challenge to his authority. Suffice to say, it didn't help his wounds any.

"Hey, Ayato-senpai!" Naki called as he pushed through the new crowd of members making their way into the room. Ayato groaned internally. Naki had been let loose after Eto and Tatara had attacked Cochlea since he was Yamori's underling and supposed right-hand man. Though without Yamori around to confirm such a claim anymore, no one really cared. Ayato hated him. Naki was an idiot who cried at almost everything and barely listened to orders.

"What?" Ayato replied as Naki came to stand beside him.

"I must be pretty important to get called to this thing, right? I mean, it's got to be some pretty serious stuff." Naki said scanning the crowd.

"Who knows." Ayato replied simply and continued to stare at his hand. How had he become so weak? Or rather, how had Kaneki become so strong? What had Yamori done to him exactly and...how did he know Ayato's true intentions?

"What do you think it could be? New orders to attack the CCG main building? Taking over a new district?" Naki continued talking even after Ayato had said he didn't care. He sighed, trying to fight the urge to beat the crap out of the annoying trash by his side. Then the room fell silent as Eto and Tatara entered.

"I suppose you're wondering why I called this meeting." Tatara said as he stood at the front of the room on the little make-shift stage, "As you know we need to expand our territory and recruit more to our cause. Our little game with the CCG has started to bring in more of us and we're slowly replenishing our ranks.

"However it's not enough. The King has ordered us to infiltrated other Wards starting with the 20th!"

The members cheered, all except Ayato who stayed quiet. Everything he cared about was in the 20th Ward. This wasn't news he could be happy about.

"As many of you know, the 20th is the most peaceful Ward for our kind. That is due to no small effort by a group of Ghouls who organize and moderate the goings on there. Many of you are familiar with the coffee shop Anteiku, and it is because of them that we've not been able to get a firm foothold in the 20th. Until now..."

Ayato frowned suddenly, he could smell something familiar. Something sweet and sour at the same time though it was hidden amongst various other scents. It was faint but it was there. What was it? He knew it, it was right on the tip of his tongue. Some kind of fruit.

He lifted his head and looked up at Tatara just as the door behind him opened, "Oi Naki, can you smell watermelon?"

"Huh?" Naki asked curiously. But Ayato wasn't paying attention. His full focus was on the human girl with long burgundy hair being held up by Tatara. He fought to keep his expression fixed, he could allow anyone to work out that he knew her. His own fucking weakness was right there, several meters away from him being dropped to the floor like she was nothing. Damn him, damn that asshole Tatara! Fuck them all!

"Ayato!" Tatara called out getting his attention. Ayato stalked forward, digging his hands roughly into his pants pockets. He couldn't let on, their lives depended on it. She was just a weak, shitty human. He had to believe that.

"Choose three of your strongest, most trusted subordinates to help you watch her." Tatara said tossing Emily down the stairs towards Ayato. She stumbled and almost caught herself on him but lost her footing and fell to the ground at his feet. Ayato let her fall, trying not to touch her despite the desire to hold her to him and protect her.

"You want me to babysit with pathetic, weak human? You're fucking kidding, right?" Ayato questioned. Tatara didn't respond, his sharp crimson eyes were locked onto the girl at Ayato's feet. Ayato shifted his gaze to see what had captured his boss' attention. Emily was on her hands and knees, struggling to stand. She whimpered and clutched her abdomen with one arm, then slowly managed to climb to her feet. The look she gave Ayato was defiant - it said 'I am not weak'. He scowled at her and shouted out three names, Jun, Hiko and Taka. The three appeared behind him in a second.

"Take this girl," he said with a sneer, "to her new room." He turned on his heel and started to trudge out of the room.

"Ayato-kun," Eto called, "If she dies, the King will be very angry~!"

Unknown time

Emily was shoved along the dimly lit, winding corridors roughly. Her legs hurt, her stomach was agony and she was still bleeding. All she wanted to do was just curl up and sleep, hoping that this nightmare would be over if she woke up. She stared at Ayato's back wondering just how much he had changed. She caught a glimpse of a bandage on his right arm and frowned, was that from his fight with Kaneki? She half smiled to herself, even in this situation she was more worried about him than herself. He was right all along, she was fucked up.

They stopped walking and Ayato unlocked and opened a steel door, it groaned and complained as he slid it completely open. Emily gazed at it through her hair, apparently it was an old industrial freezer that hadn't been in use in years. Ayato flipped the light switch and walked inside, signalling for them to follow with a curl of his finger. Inside all the shelves had been removed and a single bed, chair and table had been placed in it.

"You'll stay here until we get orders to take you back." Ayato explained, "You won't leave this room unless I say so and when you do, you'll be escorted all the time."

"So I'm under house arrest?" she asked although it wasn't really a question. Ayato scoffed,

"You think I like this either? I have better things to do than babysit shit like you." he growled. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, "Look, I don't know why you're so important to the higher ups but you are. So just do what I say when I say it and you'll probably get out alive. You three," he turned to his subordinates, "Go on a run and get some food, clothes and anything else our guest needs. Make it quick and don't fuck up."

"Sir." the three of them said before filing out of the room, leaving Ayato and Emily alone. Ayato closed the door behind them and Emily moved to sit down on the edge of the bed and stared at her knees. She had gotten her wish in a round-about way. She was able to see Ayato again but not in a circumstance she could be happy about.

"You okay?" he asked striding over to her and crouching in front of her knees. She flinched as his fingers brushed her hair out of her face but he ignored it, "I'm sorry about all that..."

"I know." she said quickly, "You have to keep up appearances. I understand." She didn't look at him as he stared at her face.

"Who did this?" he asked her, his voice low and even. She couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling. Emily shrugged, "I didn't see his face." Ayato stood and put his hands on his hips,

"When I find out, that fucker will suffer." he growled but she wasn't sure whether it was to her or just in general but then he looked back down to her, "I'll be back in a second."

Emily knotted her fingers between her knees as the metal door scraped along its run. A few hours ago she'd been so happy knowing that he was alive, but now she felt as though that happiness was years away and out of her reach. Of course she was glad to see Ayato again but not here, not in this place. He was a stranger to her here. She wondered whether Renji would figure out what happened to her. Would there be a rescue mission for her like there was for Kaneki?

Ayato returned carrying a first aid kit and dragged the chair over in front of Emily and sat down. He rested the kit on his lap and lifted her chin, brushing the hair that had fallen into her face again.

"Tell me what happened?" he asked gently looking everywhere but her eyes. Emily watched as he popped open the lid of the kit and dug around for antiseptic and a cloth.

"I was at the hospital visiting a friend who'd been hurt during the Cochlea incident." she said deliberately. The corners of Ayato's eyes crinkled slightly while he opened the bottle of antiseptic and dabbed some liquid onto the cloth, the only sign she got that he felt bad about it, "I went outside to make a call and someone grabbed me. That's all I remember before waking up with the back of a van with my hand tied behind my back."

"That's when they did this?" he asked gesturing her face with the damp cloth. She nodded and he dabbed at her cuts. She winced and hissed out her pain involuntarily, "Sorry."

"It was only one of them." she told him ignoring his apology, "I think they said his name was Jinei."

"Fucking typical." Ayato growled scowling at nothing but answered the question Emily was about to ask about who Jinei was, "He was one of Yamori's subordinates. Apparently he'd taken on some of his personality traits too."

"Was one?" Emily asked curiously. Ayato nodded,

"Yeah, he kinda belongs to Tatara now that sick asshole is dead." he replied then added with a smirk, "Can't say I'm too broken up about that."

Emily lowered her gaze in shock - Yamori, 13th's Jason, was dead? She'd known that Kaneki had escaped him somehow but she never would have thought he died. "How did he die?"

Ayato shrugged and winced, "Dunno. My guess is that one-eyed guy, Kaneki, did all the hard work and the CCG finished the job."

"Kaneki-san..." Emily whispered before she could stop herself. Ayato finished cleaning the blood from her face and started digging around inside the first aid kit for Band-Aids.

"You know him then?" he asked distantly.

"Of course I do." she replied, "He's a friend of mine." Ayato's hands clenched around the first aid kit. He was angry again but Emily didn't understand why. Of course she would be friends with Kaneki, he was like her in a way, Ayato should have known that. He huffed but didn't say anything. He continued tending to her wounds in silence and when he was finished, he put the chair back and went to the door.

"I'm the last person to be telling you who to trust," he said with his back to her, "But be careful around that guy, Emily. He's something worse than Aogiri and the CCG...he's unstable."

The Next Morning

The sound of the heavy, steel door scraping along the ground woke Emily from her uneasy sleep. She groaned and sat up, the wired bed squeaked under her weight. Fresh air and sunlight filled her room, cooling the sweat on her skin and funneling out the stale oxygen. She had been expecting Ayato but the person who walked in was short and stocky with dark buzz cut.

"I'm Hiko. Do you need the bathroom?" he asked gruffly. Emily blushed bright crimson and nodded, using her hair to hide her face. Hiko jerked his head towards the door and Emily followed him into the corridor. They walked in silence most of the way until they reached the bathrooms.

"What was this place?" she asked glancing around. The bathrooms were like something you'd find in a bath house. Huge.

"It was a hotel until it burnt down several years ago. Now it's our base." Hiko replied, "Don't worry, the plumbing still works. We have a guy who worked at the water plant before he joined us. He hooked it all up." Hiko stepped to the side to let Emily through,

"There's towels and stuff in the closet next to the door. I'll get one of the women to bring you some clothes." he said before closing and locking the door behind him. Emily pouted, why did they keep locking her in? It wasn't like she could escape and out run them. She opened the closet that Hiko had pointed to and pulled out a white fluffy hotel towel. She turned on the shower tap and peeled off her clothes. When the water was just right, she sat underneath and let the water cascade over her. For a place as rundown as this, they sure had a great bathroom.

She'd just finished washing her hair when the door unlocked.

"Excuse me." called a light voice, "Emily-chan, I brought you some clothes. I'm not sure they'll fit you but they're clean. I'll put them in the second basket."

"Thank you." Emily called back over the noise of the shower and continued to scrub herself clean. What she wouldn't for a coffee right about now. Shutting the water off, she squeezed the remaining water out of her hair then dried herself off with the towel. The clothes the woman had left were a pair of blue jeans, a dark t-shirt and a green and white striped jumper along with a fresh pair of underwear. Those were new and still had the tickets on them. The clothes were a size too large but they would do. Hiko was standing outside the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, when she opened it.

"Do I have to go back to my room now?" she asked, pouting a little. She was hungry and sick of being in the dark already. He shook his head,

"No. Tatara wants to see you to explain what exactly your role is here." he told her. Emily's stomach grumbled,

"Will there be food involved?" she asked. Hiko coughed a chuckle, almost as if he didn't want to laugh but had no choice,

"I believe so." he replied. He was quiet the rest of the way until they were back in the large open room where Emily first saw Ayato again. Hiko stood in front of her and looked down,

"Listen, there's something I have to tell you before you go see him. Tatara has no conscience and doesn't hesitate when it comes to killing something. Be poliet and speak only when told to, otherwise just shut up and sit there." he said. Emily frowned, that last part sounded like something Ayato would have said but she nodded, understanding what he was telling her. A table had been placed up on the stage area and two chairs were placed either side of it. On side side was a covered plate. In the middle of the table sat a steaming pot of coffee and two mugs. Emily swallowed - sweet, sweet coffee. She'd just sat down when the doors in the back opened and a man with short white hair, piercing crimson eyes and a long white coat walked in.

"Good morning, Miss Ishihara." he greeted her, "Coffee?"

"Morning." she replied meekly, "Yes, please." He sat, flipped over the two mugs and began pouring. When he was done, he slid one mug over to her and gestured to the plate in front of her,

"Please. You have to keep your strength." he told her. Emily lifted the cloche and placed it out of the way to the side. Her mouth watered as she gazed down at the golden pancakes, crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. There was also a little bowl of fresh fruit cut into cubes in the middle of the plate. How did they know this was her favourite food?

"I was quite surprised when your friends came to me about what food to purchase for you. I wasn't aware you had friends within Aogiri." Tatara said behind steepled fingers. Emily wanted to reply with; I didn't know I had friends here either. But instead she said,

"I'm very grateful to them, and to you for allowing me this privilege."

Tatara arched an eyebrow seemingly impressed and amused by the way she spoke to him, "I see they've cautioned you about me too. Well, I suppose that's good. Eat."

She did as she was told and dug right into the bacon. It was perfectly crispy, in fact the whole meal was perfect and she had cleaned the plate in a matter of minutes.

"Now that's out of the way." Tatara said taking her plate away, he'd been silent the whole time she'd been eating, just watching her closely, "We can talk business."

"The reason I brought you here is you have in your possession something very powerful and extremely useful to us."

Emily frowned and watched him as he sipped his coffee, waiting for him to elaborate on this thing was that she had.

"I'm talking about the keepsake your father left you - Blue Lotus." he clarified. Emily almost dropped her mug in astonishment. They wanted Blue Lotus? Why?

"I can see you're wondering what Aogiri's purpose is for a place that seeks to help Ghouls regardless of their affiliation. Allow me to explain; Aogiri has no interest in a hospital and halfway house. What we require is a base of operations within the enemies territory. Taking over the 20th Ward is significantly more difficult than the 11th was and for one single reason - Anteiku. We've let them be for the time being, however we've found ourselves with a need to move on the 20th and we need a strong foothold. Blue Lotus will provide that for us."

The entire time she'd been in Tatara's presence she had decided to be polite and treat him with respect. But he had threatened the thing she treasured most in the world, the one thing her parents left her to take care of, the one thing she would give her life to protect. Aogiri weren't threatening her house or the building she lived in - that wasn't Blue Lotus. They were threatening her father's legacy, his dream. She wouldn't stand for it.

Taking a breath, she placed her mug on the table and looked Tatara in the eyes, defiant and strong. He wouldn't kill her, without her there would be no Blue Lotus so she felt confident in opposing him. "You're asking me to break the promise I made to my parents, to forget everything they gave their lives for? Don't be ridiculous."

Tatara's gaze hardened as he regarded her silently. She wasn't sure whether he was amused or annoyed. Did she underestimate her potential to Aogiri and signed her own death warrant? One last foolish streak of rebellion took hold of Emily and she decided that she was going to be the one to control her fate. "The way I see it," she continued, "You can't kill me, especially if you still plan on trying to use me in whatever it is you're trying to do against the CCG. So you have no choice but to let me go."

Tatara stayed silent but his harsh glare spoke volumes. He was pissed. If she had picked up on anything that Hiko had told her before she met with him, it was not to piss off Tatara. He doesn't hesitate when it comes to killing people... Well, shit.

The sound of wood scraping against wood echoed in the empty room as he stood, glowering down at Emily. She gulped; he may not be able to kill her but he sure as hell could put her through all kinds of pain.

"Follow me." he ordered her and retreated back out of the door he'd entered from. Emily did as she was instructed and followed the tall, mysterious Ghoul as he walked down several flights of stairs, turned down the maze-like hallways and then finally came to a stop in front of a makeshift prison. Emily paled when she saw all the people cramped inside the space smaller than her room.

"You're right," Tatara said clasping his hands behind his back, "I can't kill you"

A light flickered on overhead, dirty faces squinted up at the sudden brightness and looked around disorientated and lost. Emily gasped and moved to the bars when she saw a face familiar to her.

"Akihiro!" she cried catching his attention. He was sitting at the back, his cheeks starting to hollow from lack of nourishment. He strained to see who was calling his name but the angle of the light blinded him to her face.

"If you don't agree to aid us," Tatara said, the tone of his voice sent chills down her spine, "We will kill these men, your co-workers at that little bookshop, your best friend, your boyfriend and everyone else you love."