Thanks for reading! Warning for a mention of self-harm, and for violence at the end of this chapter.

Juuzou huddles on the couch in the lounge, feet tucked under him. He whistles as he sketches and reaches for the donut Shinohara bought him. It's chocolate and covered with star-shaped sprinkles. Amon walks past, giving him a nod. Juuzou waves.

"Are you seriously finishing that picture?" comes a disgusted voice.

Juuzou cranes his neck back. "Kurona!"

"It's creepy, given what you did to that cat, Rei," says Kurona, crossing her arms as she heads towards the stairwell. Some things never change. She and Nashiro always look at Juuzou like he's a freak. Well, only Kuro now. Shiro got stabbed during the summer when she and Kurona snuck out of that miserable place they were all forced to stay at. Okay, maybe Juuzou taunted them to get them to leave after they called him a psychopath—but to get them in trouble, not killed.

"Oh," says Juuzou, slapping the sketchpad shut. "It's Juuzou now, in case you live under a rock. And is it as creepy as the way you talk to your sister, Kurona? She's dead, in case you didn't remember."

Kurona whirls around, eyes flashing. "Don't you dare talk about Nashiro."

"You talk to her enough," says Juuzou with a shrug.

Kurona's face scrunches.

Are you gonna cry? "I did always wonder," Juuzou muses, giggling as he taps his chin. "What does happen to one twin when the other dies? They go insane, apparently."

"Shut up, Rei." Kurona trembles.

"That's not my name!"

"Don't insult Nashiro's memory!"

"What does it matter?" Juuzou croons, jumping onto the arm of the couch. "She's dead."

"And it's your fault!" Kurona lashes out.

"You chose to leave!"

"You're a psychopath!"

"Then what are you?" Juuzou cackles, the memory of the poor cat filling his mind. His stomach churns, and he suddenly wants to hate—needs to hurt someone. "And what was Nashiro?"

Kurona lunges at him, but Juuzou's ready. He swings his arm up and grabs a fistful of her hair.

"Stop it!" bellows Seidou, wrenching them apart. "What are you doing, Juuzou? You can't hit a girl!"

"I can handle myself!" Kurona screams at Seidou. Tears stream down her face.

"Go and cry to Nashiro," Juuzou taunts.

"Go and kill another cat!"

Juuzou lunges for her, but Seidou drags him back. "I said to cut it out!"

You act like you care so much about being the best and doing the right thing and excelling in school when really, you're just a hypocrite! Juuzou blinks up at him. "You said, stop it."

Seidou grasps his hair like he's going to tear it out. "Oh for—stop it!"

"What does it matter whether I stop or not?" Juuzou snaps. "You all think I killed that cat and I'm some kind of monster." What does that make you, believing a lie?

Seidou's shoulders slump. "I know you say you—"

"I haven't said anything to you, because it doesn't matter." Juuzou scowls and wrenches his arm away from Seidou's. He grabs his sketchpad and the remains of his donut.

"I'm out of here," says Kurona, a sob tearing from her lips as she rushes for the stairwell.

"Get back here, Yasuhisa!" Seidou hollers. "I need to—I'll tell Akira to write you up!"

"What does it matter?" Kurona asks, tilting her head back. Dark hair falls down her back. "Everyone's dead. I've got no one left to disappoint, or take care of, or—"

I never thought you would actually leave. And when Juuzou found out Nashiro was dead, he was shocked. I wish she wasn't dead.

Seidou looks as if he doesn't know what to do. His eyes dart around from Juuzou to Kurona to the door. Cringing, he takes a step forward and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Kurona—"

"I don't need your help!" Kurona snarls, yanking out of his grasp and flying up the stairs.

"I didn't kill her sister," Juuzou says.

Seidou squeezes his eyes shut. "I know."

You actually mean that. "She blames me anyways."

"Can you blame her?"

Juuzou storms past him. Seidou calls after him, but Juuzou doesn't bother turning around.

He throws himself over his bed and groans. Ayato's gone again. Figures.

Juuzou pries himself up, checking the time. He's got a half hour before dinner. If he can talk to Shinohara—tell him what happened, see if Shinohara blames him for what happened to Nashiro—

When he leaves his room, he sees Seidou's door open, and his RA pacing back and forth, gripping his skull. Seidou pulls one hand away to curl it in a fist. Juuzou frowns.

Seidou's fist flies out, not towards the wall, but towards his own leg. He pounds his thigh again and again. Juuzou knows how hard you have to hit to leave bruises, and Seidou will definitely have a few.

Juuzou scurries away, heart pounding. He pauses outside Shinohara's dorm. Should I tell him?

No.

Shinohara's voice echoes. Dammit, he must already be talking to someone. "No leads on Kamishiro?"

Rize. Juuzou never knew her well. She was out of control, according to what he's heard.

"I'm concerned," Shinohara says. "There are plenty of kids they can easily target here—if they were on campus, or in the hospital—I'm not making any accusations, Mado, I'm just saying—the beam incident is an awfully big coincidence and—"

Who? What? Juuzou's eyes widen.

He's afraid he knows exactly what they're talking about.

"Kaneki?"

He lifts his head up from the book he's reading. The light's on behind him as the sky outside darkens.

"That's not even for Lit class, is it?" Hide asks, shaking his head.

Kaneki smirks. "Nope."

"I miss you," Hide tells him, flopping onto Kaneki's bunk by his feet.

"Huh?" Kaneki shuts his book, Takatsuki's words fading. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're so secretive," Hide says. "I hardly know what you've been up to, and we're roommates, Ken."

You shouldn't have followed me to this place. I knew this would happen. Kaneki swallows, dragging the sheets through his fingers. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry," laughs Hide. "I just want to hang out more. That movie night we did with the juniors was fun."

Kaneki smiles. "It was."

"We could do a movie tonight," Hide suggests. "We can see if Nishiki and Kimi want to join. There's this new superhero film I've been wanting to see."

"Yeah!" Kaneki agrees, heart pounding. Please don't hate me, Hide. "Let's."

"Text your girlfriend," Hide says. "And those juniors you practically baby-sit."

"Touka's not my girlfriend!"

"Because you're too shy to ask." Hide winks. Kaneki throws his pillow at him and Hide cackles. "Have you so much as held her—"

"I'll go ask the juniors!" Kaneki hollers, getting to his feet and flying towards the door.

"Coward!" teases Hide. "I'm not letting this conversation die, Ken Kaneki!"

Kaneki cringes. His chest feels strange, tight. Touka would probably gag herself at the thought of dating him. And they'd kill each other. It'd just be all wrong.

The sound of muffled curses echoes through the stairwell. Kaneki freezes when he sees Ayato crumpled on the stairs, a fistful of money in his hand.

Ayato leaps to his feet. "The fuck are you doing?"

"What are you?" Kaneki squeaks. "That money—where did you get it?"

"Mind your own business!"

The blue skirt… Kaneki leaps forward, grasping Ayato's arm. Ayato cries out. "You—Anteiku!"

Ayato's face whitens. "What do you—"

"You're trying to protect Touka, aren't you?" Kaneki asks, letting Ayato go. She has no idea.

"No," Ayato snarls, cheeks flushing as if he'd rather his sister hate him than anyone know he's been helping her out. Or—

The thought slams into Kaneki's stomach. "The cat—"

Ayato's eyes bug. "Do I look like a sociopath to you?"

Kaneki shakes his head. Touka's words about Ayato tumble through his mind. A chill runs through him, and Ayato's indigo hair bleeds with Rize's purple. "What do you need the money for, Ayato?"

His eyes avoid Kaneki's. "It doesn't matter."

"Fine then." Kaneki crosses his arms. "I'll just go tell your sister that—"

"You wouldn't!"

"Let me help you, Ayato." Kaneki wrings his hands. "We can go to Shinohara—Furuta—you need help, Ayato."

Ayato throws back his head and laughs. "I'm not on drugs, Kaneki."

"Huh?" Kaneki blinks.

"Nice assuming, though," Ayato spits as he turns to enter his floor. Kaneki grabs him again.

"Then what did you do, Ayato?"

Ayato swallows.

"Because you're not all right," Kaneki continues, shaking. "Touka—she's worrying herself sick over you, Ayato. She—"

"I'm just a loser to her!"

"That's not true!" Kaneki shouts. Ayato's jaw drops, and Kaneki lowers his voice. "It's not, Ayato. You're her brother. She loves you."

Ayato squeezes his eyes shut. "Someone—off campus, last year, suggested I could make some money by helping ferry—things—back and forth on and off campus."

"So, drugs."

"No. The packages seemed like they were either money or paper—like documents," Ayato says quickly. "They text me a couple times every week. They pay well."

"And so why do you need money now?" Kaneki demands. None of this makes sense. It's like a puzzle that no matter how hard he tries, he can't fit it together.

Ayato swallows and studies his scuffed boots. His hands twist his scarf. "I lost one of the packages."

"How did you lose it?"

Ayato shakes his head. "I—don't know. But Jason says that—I owe him, now. And, okay, I've occasionally bought pot or vodka from him. But I don't have a problem."

"How much do you owe?" Kaneki asks.

"More than I have." Ayato gulps. "And it has to be tonight." For a moment, his mask vanishes, and he looks like a vulnerable kid, and then the mask slides back over his eyes, glassy and hard. "And I had to do it. How else am I gonna save up enough money to get the hell out of this place? Only the strong survive. We learned that in biology and if Re Academy isn't an example of natural selection I don't know what is."

"I think that's a cruel way to live," says Kaneki quietly. "What if you aren't strong?"

"Like you?" Ayato sneers.

"I didn't lose a package full of money," Kaneki points out.

Ayato glowers.

"Let me help you," Kaneki repeats. Let me be kind.

"How?"

"He's a criminal," says Kaneki. "Mado's back on campus. You get a recording of him talking about dealing pot to you, and to other kids at this school—leave your phone in your pocket, say you'll get the rest of the money to him later—and you give it to Mado, he'll be thrilled."

Ayato snorts. "What, be a hero instead of the loser everyone thinks I am?"

"You're not a loser," Kaneki insists. His heart pounds. "I'll go with you, if you want." I'll watch the movie—I can slip out with Ayato during it; it won't take long—

"You would?" Ayato's eyes widen.

Kaneki nods.

"You'll have to wear something a bit less 'rob me,'" Ayato warns, his gaze scanning Kaneki's striped t-shirt and jeans.

The earring in Ayato's ear swings back and forth as they slip out the door. Hide, Kaneki's weird friend, scowls when Kaneki follows Ayato out of the room. The superhero's in the middle of listening to a woman proclaim her love for him. Hinami peers at the screen, her chin glued to the top of her knees. Touka's in the bathroom.

The air strikes Ayato's face, surprisingly cold. He sucks in his breath and stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"We'll be okay," Kaneki assures him.

You're a fool.

Life's been nothing but cruel to Ayato, and if Kaneki's at this school, clearly it's been nothing but shitty to him too, and yet Kaneki insists on being an idiot and trying to make everything okay while keeping his hands clean. You can't.

"Someone gave me your name," said Naki at the end of last semester. "We have a group of students who work for us—you come highly recommended!"

Congratulations to me, Ayato thought.

But they give him a place to go to after a long day, ears to complain to, voices that echo his hatred of Re Academy, a job to do, and a way to earn money. Naki's been gone since the start of this semester, and Jason's far less fun to work with. Despite Naki's insistence that Jason is essentially a god, he just seems like a sadistic bastard to Ayato.

I can't turn him in, though. Kaneki's suggestion is a good one, if naïve.

"Ayato! Kaneki!"

The shout echoes behind him. Ayato whirls around to see Touka charging at them.

Oh, hell no. "Go away."

"Where are you off to?" Touka demands.

"Go home, dumb sister."

"Touka," Kaneki starts. "I have to help Ayato with—"

This is taking too much time! Especially with Mado back on campus. Ayato glances around at the trees pressing in around them. Shadows splatter the paved path. Leaves lie dead and crumpled under the trees. The moon glows above them, silver and cold.

"Let me help you too," Touka insists.

There's no way Ayato's bringing Touka anywhere near Jason. "No chance in hell."

"Ayato, you—"

That's it. Ayato's foot flies out, connecting with Touka's chest. She tumbles back.

"Touka!" Kaneki cries out, flying towards her.

So it is true. You do like her. Ayato can worry about that later. He grabs Kaneki's arm. "I need—"

"You just kicked your own sister!" Kaneki gapes at him.

"Goddamn you, Ayato," Touka grunts, getting to her feet.

"Kaneki, let's go," Ayato says. Please come. Please don't stay with her. I need you for this.

Kaneki hesitates.

"Are you really helping him?" Touka wheezes, clutching her chest.

Kaneki nods. "Not with anything—"

"I trust you," Touka snaps. "Make sure this idiot doesn't get himself killed, okay?"

Kaneki glares at Ayato. Good thing he's so pacifistic, because Kaneki looks as if he'd like to break half the bones in Ayato's body.

"Are you coming?" Ayato asks.

Kaneki mutters something unintelligible and nods. "Sorry, Touka."

"Don't be." She snorts and glares at Ayato. "Dad would be disappointed in you."

"I'm disappointed in Dad," Ayato retorts, his arms shaking. How dare she bring up their father? He was a coward. Ayato wants to disappoint him, because anything his father could be proud of isn't worth being proud of.

He spins on his heel and stalks off. Kaneki follows, his breaths short and sharp. Ayato refuses to look at him as they make their way off the path, scurrying through the grove of trees Ayato knows so well. The oak one towers over the giant fence comprised of stone and with spiked bars on top. The bars aren't any kind of deterrent. Ayato grabs one of the lower branches, hauling himself up. The bark tears at his palms.

Kaneki follows, somewhat hesitant. "If you fall, I won't catch you," Ayato warns. Even though he basically has to.

"I won't."

Ayato swings off one of the branches, dropping on the other side of the fence. His ankle crunches. Ouch.

Kaneki gasps as he slams into the ground. He coughs.

"Get up," Ayato orders, yanking him up. They're on a deserted side street, lined with a bunch of shops closed for the evening and one failing restaurant. Ayato breaks into a jog, rounding the corner to the main street. Cars rush by, headlight blinding and horns blaring. Kaneki follows Ayato as he weaves his way through the Friday night crowds, ducking down an alleyway. Raucous laughter rumbles from a pub. Kaneki's eyes widen. The alley reeks of beer and pot.

Ayato climbs down a flight of stairs and pushes open the door to one of the bars, the one with a tree sign dangling and the word Aogiri painted in red over it.

"Ayato," coos one of bartenders, Roma, as they enter. Every light bulb in the place glows red, adding an almost vampire-like feel to the place. Ayato thinks it's awesome. "I'll tell Yamori you're here."

Yamori? Is that Jason's real name? How many drinks have you had, Roma? "Thanks." He folds his arms. Kaneki keeps his gaze on the filthy floor, stained with wine and rum and smeared cigarette butts. Bodies grind together on a makeshift dance floor. Chairs and tables perch precariously in a corner, shoved to the side to create the illusion this place isn't narrower than Ayato's room in Dorm Block 20.

"Is your phone—" Kaneki starts.

"Everything's all set," Ayato hisses, jerking away. Sorry. I'm not falling for your Do-Good plan.

"This way," says the waitress, leading Ayato and Kaneki through a red and gold checkered curtain to a storage room where the lighting is at least normal.

Jason rises, huge and no less repulsive than all the other times Ayato's seen him. He cracks a knuckle. "Ah. How thoughtful."

"I have about half of it," Ayato says, yanking out the money from Anteiku.

Jason chuckles. "From your coffee shop on campus? Why did you even bother when you brought him?" He nods at Kaneki.

Kaneki pales.

"I don't think you need his entire bank account," Ayato says, leaning back against a crate of wine. "I'm not planning on screwing up again."

"What?" Kaneki yelps.

"You won't tell, and we both know it," Ayato snaps. "Just give your bank card to Jason—I know you have one—and he'll take out the rest."

Kaneki clutches his pocket. "But—you—"

Look, it's not like I'm getting a thrill out of this! Ayato wants to scream. I don't have options! "Don't make things difficult."

Pop. Pop. Pop. Ayato hates that sound. Jason steps closer, leering down at Kaneki. "I don't think we need his bank card."

"Huh?" Ayato blinks.

"He'll do as payment."

"What?" Ayato doesn't understand. "The fuck are you—"

Jason's fist flies out, colliding with Kaneki's face. He struggles, and Jason grabs Kaneki by his neck, howling with laughter.

"Stop!" Ayato shouts, but Jason slams Kaneki's face down against one the crates. Again. And again. The wood cracks—or is it Kaneki's nose? Blood streams, and Kaneki's limp. "You can't—"

"Get out of here," advises Roma, leaning her head through the curtain, her voice a bored drawl. "I've seen him like this before. If you want to live, run."

Jason lets go of Kaneki. He falls to the floor as if unconscious, but Ayato notices his fingers twitching. "He's tough enough."

A centipede crawls across the floor towards Kaneki's face. Ayato takes a step back. Are you—

"Kirishima," orders Roma. "Out."

He doesn't remember how, but he's back outside now, and it's cold.