A/N: It's almost midnight, so I didn't miss the due date for this chapter!

The next two days was rather chaotic. Lily spent her time putting in applications for a job she wouldn't have time for, spent time at the CCG filing papers, and thinking of a way to sneak out of the house on Wednesday. She was so busy she could barely study, and spent almost every spare moment cramming in study time. Sana had mentioned her worry, even going as far as to invite her to a slumber party, but Lily had quickly declined. She didn't think she had the mental capacity to do anything that made her uncomfortable at the moment. She felt uncharacteristically stretched, as if one move would cause her to break beyond repair. At first she thought it was just stress, thanks to her usual life being completely destroyed, but now she was beginning to think otherwise. Sleep wasn't coming to her the way it used to, she was constantly checking to see if her parents were watching her, and she was almost always nauseous. All very prominent signs of anxiety. Next depression would be knocking at her door, eager to join the culmination of unwanted emotions.

She reached out and grabbed her phone off her night stand and clicked it on, staring at the colorful screen. "It's due day."

She forced herself up and busied herself getting ready, throwing on her clothes, and quickly styling her hair into its usual buns. When she was all ready she grabbed her phone and typed out a quick message to Shinohara. Lily wasn't going to the school, instead she would be picked up two blocks down from it by Shinohara. After that she would hang around with the CCG duo until it was time for school to end. She would then go home, trick her mother into thinking she was staying home, and sneak out the house again. It was far from a fool proof plan, but as long as she didn't at strange Juuzou insisted that it would work. She left her bedroom, her bag over her shoulder as she went into her living room. Her father was, surprisingly, at the table and eating breakfast with her mother.

"Morning."

Her father looked up from his plate and waved his piece of buttered toast at her. "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

Lily kissed his forehead and grunted an affirmative before doing the same process with her mother. She then went to the kitchen and piled food onto her plate, she didn't think Shinohara would let her break for lunch, so she was going to stuff herself with as much food as she could. She went back to the living room and sat on the floor, next to her mother's legs. The TV was on the news, and some officials were discussing the rise in ghoul victims within their ward. She guessed it was the work of that binge eater that Shinohara and Juuzou were running after.

"The work of an arc-angel." Her father said, catching Lily's attention. "Our ward is utterly infested with sinners."

"It's such a pity though," Her mother said. "those poor families that can't even bury their loved ones." She put a hand on Lily's head and began to pet her like one would a cat. "Having nothing to put in the ground or keep in an urn is depressing."

"I know, but those people deserved it. Think of how many murderers, thugs, liars, and rapists," He spat the last word. "manage to get away with their sins? If the justice of this world can't make things better, then the brutal punishment of the Lord is what suits them."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Her mother tapped her head, Lily grunted in acknowledgment but didn't stop eating. "You filled your plate up too much, you're going to gain weight Lily."

"Let her eat, Clair." Her father leaned over the table and gave her his bacon. "You know how you were at her age. You always complained about your mother telling you to stop eating so much, and structuring exactly what you ate."

"Don't you have work?"

Lily shoved the last piece of bacon into her mouth before standing up. "I've got to go to school, I promised Sana I'd help her cram for a quiz today."

"Lily," She stopped and turned back to her father. "I expect you to look for jobs again today."

Once again Lily muttered an affirmative before going to the sink and putting her dish away. She turned on the water and waited a few seconds. When no one called for her she pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Shinohara. When the 'message sent' icon was displayed, she pocketed her phone and headed out the door, loudly calling out her departure before shutting the door behind her.

Lily slid into the backseat of the black car. She had driven with Shinohara before, but never for an all day affair. She pressed her legs together and curled her arms around her chest, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space.

"Thank you for coming," Shinohara said. "when you sent that message I didn't think you'd show up."

"I was just running late," She said. "it happens to the best of us." When Shinohara pulled away from the curb, Lily leaned back in the chair, some of the stress leaving her body. "So what are we doing?"

Juuzou twisted around in his chair, wrapping his arms around the chair and leaning forward. "We're going by the church."

"Isn't that an obvious place for a meetup spot?"

Juuzou nodded. "But it's also the place that most people can meet up at, before going to another location. The church is easy to find, and there isn't a lot of them, so you can't go to the wrong destination. Oh, and you don't look that suspicious if twenty people all meet up."

It always surprised Lily when Juuzou said something intelligent, she almost felt ashamed about it, but that feeling quickly disappeared when he threw something at her. She merely saw a flash of pink before she felt a sharp pain on her forehead and something thump onto her lap. Rubbing her forehead she picked up the small item and held it up. "Candy?"

"Don't you like sweets?"

"Yeah." She opened up the packet and popped it into her mouth.

The boy turned back around and sat properly in his seat. Lily wondered what his sudden change in attitude was. Only a few days ago he wanted her dead, and now he was acting as if the whole thing didn't happen. Juuzou was almost always eating something, and not once had he offered to give her a lick. She glanced over to Shinohara, who was casually talking to the hyperactive boy. He probably had something to do with it, maybe telling him to be somewhat civil towards her on this mission. Not that she intended to have the same courtesy, she wasn't prepared to forgive him just because they had to play nice. Juuzou had personally put her in danger, and even though she was relying on him that night, she had no intention of playing nice about it. On top of that, she wanted to be clear on their relationship. They didn't use very formal speech* with each other, and she cooked for him, she wanted to make it clear they weren't friends. Having a connection to the CCG would be nice in the future, but Shinohara was the less explosive of the two, and that immediately made him a better candidate.

Lily remained silent the rest of the way to the church. Juuzou would occasionally chatter about something, or Shinohara would turn up the radio, but she never joined in their bubble. When they drove up to the church Juuzou shut up mid-sentence and Shinohara turned the radio off. The air in the car shifted, and Lily felt like she was witnessing the metamorphosis of a butterfly. No longer were they the two, arguably sociable, investigators that she spent too much of her time with. Now they were men on the job, ready to take down a ghoul or any cannibals that wondered out of the church.

Lily scanned the narrow driveway that sat outside the church. There were no cars there yet, but she guessed her father had already came since the gate surrounding the church's property was open. Lily slipped her phone out of her pocket and furrowed her eyebrows when she got a good look at the time. It was nearly nine in the morning, and if she knew anything about Japan, most everyone capable of breathing was working or taking care of children. The church was really open during the day just for show, and to allow her father to organize papers or prepare his sermon. On Fridays he usually went to the hospital and read stories to the kids, but other than that his day schedule was usually empty unless one of the older members were sick or needed a hand with some chores.

"My Dad's already here." She said. "Do you have any prime suspects that'll attend this 'adult meeting'?"

"Not as of yet," Shinohara admitted. "but we hope that changes today."

Lily looked out the window again, the cars speeding by as everyone hurried about their day. "Hey, my Dad said something weird this morning." She pulled out her phone again and clicked onto the news section, bringing up the story on the binge eater. "He called the binge eater an arc angel. He said that it was because the eleventh ward is full of sinners that it's attacking."

Shinohara took her phone and glanced over the story before giving it back. "Does your father know who the binge eater is, then?"

"I don't know," She said, staring at her phone. "but I think I know. In the church there's always been three ghouls, and one of them is called the 'Arc-Angel'. Tsukada doesn't come to the church very often, but he was at the house recently. Do you think he's the one who's playing the binge eater?"

"Maybe." His gaze shifted back to the church. "We'll have to see where this investigation leads. I'll call the office in a bit and see if they can gather up any information on Tsukada."

"So Ri-chan did know the binge eater." Lily looked away from the window to glare at Juuzou. "I wonder what else you know."

"It's only a guess." She deadpanned. "If I did know, I'd tell you guys so you could leave me alone."

Juuzou twisted around in his chair again and leered at her from above. "But why didn't you tell anyone that a ghoul came to visit you. That's very suspicious, Ri-chan~."

Lily's eyes narrowed and she opened a mouth to retort, but Shinohara cleared his throat, making both of them stop. "Look, we have a few hours we'll be sitting here, let's try not to kill each other so early on, alright?"

"Fine." Lily moved to the other side of the car, and pressed her knees into the back of the driver's seat.

It was going to be a long day.

By the middle of the afternoon Lily was nodding off to sleep. The semi-warm late February sun streamed in through the window, her heavy breakfast had digested, and the boredom was finally getting to her. She snuggled deeper into her jacket and let out a big breath, eyes fluttering shut for a second. No wonder you had those shows where the cops drank gallons of coffee, staying awake while watching nothing was pretty boring. She'd dealt with long math equations that were more entertaining and engaging than the church. A sharp pain on her forehead and a low ping woke her up, she glared at the white haired culprit who was busy playing with the stitches under his lip. Lily slid down in her seat, rather unladylike, and grabbed a green wrapped loli off the floor. When she pushed herself up again, she caught a glance of two people entering the church's gates. "Hey-!"

"I see them." Shinohara took out a pair of binoculars and looked into them. "Looks like that young couple."

"Kitamuras." Lily said, popping the wrapper off the loli and giving it a tentative lick. A burst of sour lime wriggled through her mouth and made her lips scrunch up. "Sakura and Shinji. Tokyo natives that are cousins."

Over the next half hour more people began coming to the church, but none of them went inside, instead they stood around the outside of it. As the people poured in, Lily would give facts about them, things that sounded more like salacious gossip than anything to work with. By four o'clock, over thirty people were crowded in the small parking space. Some people had brought cars, while others had walked up, clearly coming from a bus or train. Her father eventually came out, a hat on his head and his coat on. They milled about a bit longer before her father went over to a station wagon and slipped into the driver's seat. Everyone else began to follow, piling up in cars and carpooling to their destination. Her father's group pulled out first, and the other cars began to follow behind him at a moderate pace.

Shinohara started the car. "Alright, both of you buckle up."

Lily did as she was instructed, while Juuzou seemed to sputter back to life. "Where do you think they'll go, Shinohara-san? Can we fight them? I brought plenty of knives, maybe I'll finally get a quinque!"

Half way down the road the cars split up on separate paths. Shinohara followed the one that her father was driving, making sure to keep at least two cars behind. By now Lily had woken up a bit, sitting up properly and even leaning forward so she could see better. They began going past the shopping plazas and into the neighborhoods, just to loop back around and head towards more shopping plazas. The eleventh ward was pretty large, but she hadn't realized how many twists and turns there were until now. "Where do you think he's going?"

"Each of the murders had happened in a public place, as if it was mean to cause a scene." Shinohara said. "So I'm not entire sure where they could be going. So far we've found bodies in a barber shop, a nail salon, a cafe, a few sushi shops, a book store, and more recently a classroom."

Lily's lips became a firm line at the last one. It made sense to kill someone and leave the body in a classroom, it was guaranteed to get you attention, but why on earth would her father do it? He had his own child, he knew what she would think if she found a body by accident, it was bound to leave her traumatized. Unless that's what he wanted to do? What better way to bring people to faith than to instill fear, especially in impressionable young children, and adults that wanted nothing more than to keep their children safe. In a world where humans had only the CCG for protection, anyone thinking that a ghoul was close to their children would do anything to either get rid of the ghouls, or get on their good sides so as not to attack their precious children. Her stomach knotted at the thought and she gripped her skirt. Her father was playing a dangerous game. Before she only wanted her father stopped for her own ambitions, but now it seemed like he needed to be stopped, the man was going utterly insane.

The car suddenly jerked to a stop. Lily peered out the window again, finding them in the middle of a strip mall. There was a few clothing boutiques, a flower shop, and a toy store. A few of the stores were closed, but for the most part everyone was busy and open for business. Her father slipped out of his car and causally walked with the other occupants of his car. It almost looked like a family going out and enjoying themselves in the late afternoon, maybe even picking up ingredients for dinner. However they took a sharp turn and went up to the toy store, and an elderly lady unlocked the door for them.

"Shinohara-san..."

Shinohara unbuckled his seat belt. "We're going to go check it out, you go straight home, understand."

Lily nodded, already halfway out the car as soon as he gave the command. "Alright, do you want me to come back?"

He shook his head. "No, we're going to meet up at Juuzou's house and review the facts. Don't be there later than eight o'clock, alright?"

Lily nodded before easing out the car and running down the road. She could feel the weight of the entire day on her shoulders, and she almost felt like she had met someone new for the first time. She knew her father was messed up in the head, how else did you justify worshiping ghouls, but this was just sickening. It was like those cheesy shows that had someone tailing your partner, just to see if they were actually cheating with on you or not. What else was her father hiding from her? She maneuvered onto a crowded street and began to slow down, her chest hurting from doing an unfamiliar exercise. By the time this was said and done, would she even want to call this person her father?

She dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out her wallet, counting out the few bills in it. She had just enough money to get a taxi and get to her house in enough time that her mother wouldn't be suspicious. She waved a hand around with one hand, and began typing out her mother's number with another, preparing herself to ease into her lie.

Review Replies:

AlwaysRunning9: She's books smart, anything outside of that and she's an idiot. I'm glad you like her though.

Tamilia: I have no idea as to why your review didn't show up when I was writing the 13th chapter, I'm so sorry I didn't reply to your review. I'm glad you like the story idea and the characters! I also hope you enjoy this new update.

Translations:

Formal Speech: Lily is referring to the fact that neither of them use proper speech. A lot of words and phrases have a different way you would speak them, if you were speaking politely or casually. She also never refers to Juuzou as 'Suzuya-san', 'Juuzou-san', or even Suzuya. She went straight for his first name and never adds and honorific, that would mean that you're very comfortable with the person. Likewise, Juuzou always refers to her as Ri-chan, a childish nickname that is by no means professional. If you were to listen to them then, you'd think they were good friends.