Authors Note: I don't like making up my own characters because I can't even stop existing characters from going OOC. However I couldn't take it anymore when the lack of original characters was killing me.
You can probably guess who the "mysterious figure" is. It's not a new character so you can rule out that.
I am going to finish this series even if I can't motivate myself to write on certain days. Although once I start writing, I rarely stop. Music helps me regain my focus.
I apologize if you find this chapter a bit short, I needed it done to separate it from the next one.
~ Kaneki ~
Kaneki wasn't going to stay around Eto long enough to meet Kanou. He had drawn a plan in his head and would be the only who could see it.
Hide was the only focus in his mind aside from sleep that Eto had denied him. Moving was their first priority but even she couldn't hold out much longer than he could without proper rest.
Reaching him meant traveling down the streets, a slow and difficult progress for both of them. The ghouls that passed them by had all wanted to know their business, ending with a refusal that could only be resolved with conflict. It wasn't easy but he had managed to hold back her just enough that no ghoul had to die because of her.
Eto served as his protector, keeping his safety ahead of hers by walking ahead and clearing the area before she gave the signal for them to proceed.
Between the breaks, Kaneki tried to speak with her but found it difficult when he realized that she wasn't a person that enjoyed meaningful conversation. Sen would, but not Eto who always answered with a negative remark.
Asking Eto she wanted to see his father again after 20 years of separation, was met was a reply that she really didn't.
Asking what she would write for her new books were met was a reply that it would be about a human boy that shared his first name. Her character, Ken, would never stop asking questions until ghouls ate part of his brain, making him unable to ask at all.
Asking if Eto and Sen were the same person made her stop, turn around, and stare at him until he apologized 100 times, before she looked the other way.
He stopped trying after that.
Kaneki never realized how useful Eto was to him until now. Her protection meant that he could still reach his destination indirectly if the one they were taking came to an overlap. Waiter's Hospital wasn't far from the mansion that Kanou was staying in, meaning that Kaneki could separate himself from her once he got close enough.
He didn't have to wait long before he would have his chance. It wasn't obvious but the repeated attacks were beginning to tire Eto. If it continued, she wouldn't be able to keep up with him if he decided to run.
Kaneki would have done that if some moral guilt hadn't held him back. She had risked her life to take him here and hadn't wronged him in any possible way. He wondered if it was realistic for her to have halted Yamori's torture but he was beside that.
Still, he couldn't ignore what was happening to Hide by relying on his "friend" to keep him safe.
He hadn't gotten any further updates from the figure until tonight with Eto fast asleep in the refuge of spaciously grown trees. Telling him that he had only received a message because it was suddenly "urgent."
It read, "I cannot relate to your current situation as of today, but I do know what has happened to your friend. I hope you are not blaming yourself for this, but he is in immediate danger. His upmost safety is as much as your concern as it is mine. "
Kaneki knew someone who used this type of voice, the words misgiving and apologetic but no less deceptive when you considered what he truly was: a person that looked trustworthy enough to be a traitor.
"This was just a mask he wore, he could have been a completely different person behind it, just like Rize". Kaneki thought.
"You were the "influential" that I met at Ghoul Restaurant. A friend of Shuu's before you betrayed him and went to Rize." The message he sent read, loath for having to say it.
The reply came slowly, "I know you have little reason to trust me, but if you give me time I can convince you".
Kaneki wasn't so sure, "You took Rize's side, the Clowns side, but never our side".
He didn't deny it, "It's true that I was on everybody's side but now I'm on yours".
That was impossible to believe, "If you've taken everyone's side, it means none of us can trust you."
The message he sent back was almost painful for Kaneki to hear, "I can only say what I said before, that your trust in me grows with time. But please understand that this was not what I wanted us to discuss. I need your help to save your friend so please listen to what I have to say.
"Maybe he's right, I haven't been this harsh on anyone before not even on my enemies." Kaneki thought guiltily.
"I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier, I should have listened to what you said."
"We must work together, even if you have to despise me for it. A name would be a good start. I go by Kaddo although you can also refer to me as "Kidder". "I already know who you are so there is no need for me to say it. But I go any further; there is someone I'd like you to meet, who would like to send his greetings over.
The voice was different from Kaddo's.
"Hello there, your name is Kaneki isn't it? I've heard a great deal about you and consider myself grateful to meet you in digital person as Suski. If you did not already know, I was the person that came across your lover. We shared a dance together although I would have politely refused her if I did not know she was already taken. It was something irresistible that brought us together and not love or interests.
Kaneki found it a bit uncomfortable having to listen through this and was grateful for the relief that came after.
"You were supposed to hand the phone back after you introduced yourself. There's more important matters that Kaneki and I have to discuss", an annoyed Kaddo said over the line.
"I've revealed enough that you need to hear the rest. What Hide went through wasn't an examination, it was an experiment, research done on both ghouls and humans".
"So none of Kanou's experiments willingly volunteered to be half – ghouls?"
"I'm afraid not, most were deceived through offers that weren't honestly marketed, which was the likely case for your friend."
"But these are still people, people don't do this to other people!" Things were different for ghouls who held no qualms for killing each other.
"You naïve child," Kaddo whispered under his breath.
There was an explanation, "You can call them people, human, or anything that you want if you think they'll be safe. But by the time the experiment is done they'll be ghouls themselves".
"I can't let my friend go through what I did, you don't think it already happened do you?"
"No, Kanou has been too afraid of Rize to engage in his "activity" lately. However he's also getting information on the days that Rize wouldn't be active. That's when he will perform, which is why we must be able to reach your friend before then."
"What if I can't make it there in time?"
"You must! What difficulty have you run into that has made the excursion inaccessible?"
"I'm being taken into Kanou's mansion right now by an escort, although I wouldn't have been able to make it this far without her".
"Can you escape?"
Kaneki looked at an unconscious Eto.
"I could but I won't get very far, Rize's half ghouls haven't left us.
"You can't defend yourself?"
It was hard to admit, "No"
"Can you at - least run?"
"Yes, I think I can."
"Send me the name of the your street, I will tell you how to proceed."
~ Touka ~
Once the last ghoul had fallen from her blows, Touka was barely able to support herself. She and Ayato weren't half ghouls but would be indiscernible from a dead one which was why they were still being hunted.
This was Rize's fault for letting her people get out of hand, she never told them to hunt existent ghouls, but that didn't stop them from doing so anyway.
Touka wasn't even sure if Rize even led them anymore. Most had their loyalties divided, forming new groups and leaders. It wouldn't be long before she lost her control over them would be lost for good and what would she do then?
She had stirred more trouble in the wards then she had before her days of binge eating.
Ayato was in superior shape until a ghoul had broken some of his bones again, causing him to suffer a breakdown until Touka managed to feed him.
They couldn't survive another attack but neither could they remain.
It was something she would never forgive herself for doing, but they needed to secure someone's home. Staying out in the open would mean their deaths for long.
Ayato wasn't reluctant to the idea at first but agreed when he told her that they could spend an entire day resting.
The homeowners they met had all mistaken them for fugitives and turned them down. Most saw them as orphans (which they were) and offered them food and water instead of comfort.
They were about to give up when a figure wearing a mask had not only opened the door but also urged them inside without a word. Touka and Ayato stood in discomfort, a little too late to turn back.
Untouched food had been left on the table, ghoul food that could only be for them. This hospitality was rarely seen from other ghouls, the exception being Yoshimura, which only furthered their distrust.
The host however, had seated himself and already helped himself to the dishes set in front of him.
Touka and Ayato slowly did the same, their body still tense.
It was difficult to trust a person who wouldn't show his face, but neither would it be polite to ask the person to reveal himself. The only thing she could tell was that he was a man although a frail one at best.
Tipping a glass of fermented blood wine at them, Touka did the same. Ayato, disinterested in the exchange had rested his head on his hands and looked away.
Touka nudged Ayato with her elbow until he half-heartedly did the same.
Touka and Ayato found eating difficult, Touka was dimly aware that the man had been watching them take each bite and Ayato had noticed the same. The fare was not lacking, everything had been prepared to suit there tastes and was more then enough to keep them full for another several weeks.
"The drink didn't kill them, neither did the food, so it must be in our sleep," Ayato thought.
The separate rooms that were provided were spacious, clean, and tidy. Touka and Ayato didn't recall asking to stay overnight, which only made it more disturbing.
"First he reads our thoughts, next he'll be granting us wishes," Ayato scoffed to himself.
After the figure had left them, Touka had suddenly forgotten to express her gratitude. So she made the decision to step out of her room to thank the mysterious person, only to realize that he had left the house.
"Don't bother, he's likely deaf," Ayato told her which earned him a glare.
He hadn't returned the next early morning with more food and something else.
He had retrieved Touka's mask.