Chapter Twenty-One

Prodigals

Akemi flinched and realized that she was going to die, right now, aged fifteen, in front of her family.

Words stuck in Father's throat and Mother screeched and Maro flailed.

"Red light!" screamed Rio, throwing himself forward, diving with Akemi towards the ground.

Kairo stuck the knife straight in Rio's back. Her boyfriend's eyes scrunched shut, and he desperately clenched his jaw shut so he wouldn't upset her with his pain.

"Rio!" Akemi howled and wrenched the knife out of his back so he could heal. She scrambled onto her feet to see Kairo laughing. Anger flamed through her veins, demanding relief.

She hesitated.

She could kill him. He deserved it.

Anyone can become a killer, Uta had told her once.

"No!" Kannon launched herself out of the shrubbery, hurtling a stone that merely bounced off Kairo's back.

Kannon adopred her fiercest glare for the agent of V. She knew she had doomed herself, but she didn't care. She had to distract them, buy her family a few more minutes of life. Maybe Souta could save one of them at least.

And she could save Akemi, of all the innocents, from killing someone.

Mr. Bald circled close to her. Kannon wanted to dive for another stone from the koy pond, but he might kill her sooner if she moved.

So she stood there, defeated, as Mr. Bald twisted her arm and pressed her tight against him.

I'm sorry, kid. I tried. She refused to look at her stomach.

"No." Mr. Mustache easily took the knife and threw Akemi to the ground. He put his foot on her back for good measure. She winced.

"Kannon." Maro gaped at her.

Kannon tried not to vomit. Maro's hand – his hand. Just a second ago, he'd been whole. She jerked on instinct, and Mr. Bald tightened his grip. Every nerve in her arms tingled.

"Well, well, well." Kairo, ever unfazed, slowly pivoted to see the eldest daughter's struggling form. "If it isn't the prodigal daughter."

He waved a dismissive hand towards Akemi. Mr. Mustache removed his foot, and Akemi crawled back towards Rio. "This looks like even more fun."

Kannon slowed her heart. This was worth it. Akemi was worth it. But – our baby.

Rio was crying as he hovered over Akemi. "I'll protect you, I'll protect you, they can't hurt you, not the little sister."

Mother reached out her hand, and he bit at her. "I'll protect you!"

Akemi clutched him tighter. Her feral, wonderful boyfriend.

Everyone fixated on Kairo approaching Kannon, whose arms were roughly restrained by Mr. Bald. She avoided her parents' gaze, too afraid they wouldn't recognize her.

I'm doing this for you, for you.

Kairo stroked her cheek, and as she shuddered Kannon had to wonder if she'd slept with him, too. Possibly. She didn't remember every face, just most of them.

Kairo chuckled, and nodded towards Mr. Mustache.

He punched her straight in the face.

Kannon slumped against Mr. Bald. She saw the brilliant lights of hell. For a moment, she forgot how to stand. Warm blood trickled down her nose. Her right eye was swelling faster than a balloon filled with helium.

Mr. Bald forced her to her knees, and Kannon was too stunned to protest.

They missed my stomach. She could handle torture so long as they attacked her face.

A knee connected with her jaw in a sickening crunch. She wasn't sure whose.

"Stop," Father finally croaked.

Dad? Kannon lifted her eyes despite her growing dizziness.

"I thought you'd disowned her?" Kairo poked her nose. "Pity she couldn't disown you in return."

"They're my family," she muttered, or tried to. The words came out more like "Eh meh amlee."

Kairo bent forward, pressing his forehead against hers. "What was that? Family? And was Souta Washuu-Furuta not your family, too? I imagine if you hadn't betrayed him you'd have married him. Or was it your whorish past that did you in?"

Kairo grinned as shame flickered across her face.

Mom and Dad would be reminded again. They wouldn't care that she'd helped them. They'd just see her as the slutty alcoholic.

"No," said Maro, his voice muffled from the ground. "Didn't you tell me, Kannon? Don't be ashamed. It's your past; it's part of you now."

Kannon saw his bloody digits strewn before him and choked back tears. Even now, he was her brother.

Maro turned his face to an unnatural angle to meet her eyes. "I listened. I love you. If Mom and Dad want to know where my inspiration came from, it's you."

"Akemi admires you," said Rio, at the same time Akemi yelled, "Me too!"

"Don't hurt my daughter," said Father, his voice shaking. "Hurt me."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Kairo laughed and pinched Kannon's swollen jaw.

"I'm not going to kill your daughter. Well, I probably am, but she'll be collateral damage. I'm going to do you a favor by taking your ghoul grandchild."

Mother gasped, and Father stared for a moment. When the words registered, he tried to shove his way forward, but another knife was drawn and Kannon shook her head violently. Tears streamed down her face.

I'm sorry, baby.

"I love you," Father whispered. "I'm so proud of you."

Kannon cried harder. She wished she wouldn't. She would like to embrace death stoic and solemn.

But she was scared and how could anyone remain composed after betraying their child for their father? Her father, who definitely wasn't proud of her, but cared enough to say what she wanted to hear before she died.

Kairo's corneas turned black, his iris red. An ukaku kagune slipped out from his shoulder blades.

"Please," Kannon begged, forsaking all dignity as his kagune traced her stomach. She tried once more to jerk free, but it was futile, futile…

"Forgive me!" Father pled, and Mother wailed.

"Ah –"

"No!" Attached to a toothlike kagune, Furuta threw himself between Kannon, Kairo, and a rain of RC shards.

Kannon stared up at him. "Souta."

"Hey," he mumbled as his limbs trembled and collapsed onto her. Kairo stirred, and his kagune slapped him down again. Mr. Bald rolled on the grass besides them, clutching his broken leg.

"Hey, you were supposed to save yourself instead," she murmured, pushing his hair away from his eyes. His blood and tears dripped onto her face.

Furuta flushed. "I know."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't." Kannon blinked back tears as Mr. Mustache hauled him away.

Despite his shredded back, Furuta clamored for her. Mr. Mustache yelled as his rinkaku impaled his abdomen.

"Don't cry. I love you. I – I don't care who you've been, you've also been the best thing in my life."

"That's precisely why I'm crying. It's beautiful, Souta. Just like you." As he reached her again, Kannon wrapped her arms tight around him.

He touched her belly with his fingertips. "The brat's alive?"

"Thanks to you."

He kissed her stomach, and Kannon had to laugh. "You realize we're in a precarious situation."

"Yes, so?"

"Where are all these kids' parents?" Kaneki asked. His heart constricted in his chest. I won't abandon my child. I can't.

"I'm their father," Uta said, watching the oldest girl intently. She still resembled Itori. And Sumi, somehow. His heart ached.

Yomo stepped forward to brush his arm against Uta's.

"What?!" Ayato yelped.

"This is my kagune. It still spawns life on occasion, even after over a hundred years." Uta spoke matter-of-factly. "I'm the original one-eyed king. Uta Washuu."

Hanbee shook his head. "I don't understand at all."

"Have we ever understood anything in our lives?" Ui challenged.

"Uh, no," Hanbee admitted.

"What do we do now?" Miza asked.

"We get back to the surface," Tsukiyama began, then halted. "Kaneki. You lead."

"You're better than me," Kaneki said, biting his lower lip.

"Oh, but one of you is king and one of you isn't," said Uta, eyes gleaming.

Kaneki swallowed. Tsukiyama, Banjou, and Hinami smiled at him. Chie snapped a photo, and the kids gaped at technology they'd never seen before. Yomo watched him solemnly. Ayato scowled, just like Ayato.

Ui and Hanbee waited, together with Miza and Naki and all the ghouls who plaed far too much trust in him, because they had no one else to trust.

He just wished someone could tell him what to do. What if he led them all into a slaughterhouse? There were kids here, after all.

"Let's go to the surface. We won't do much good down here," he said, glancing at the kids.

"We'll protect them," Yomo assured Kaneki.

"Wes don't needs protectors," the loud girl asserted.

"I lika yar hair." As the kids filed onto the elevator, one of the younger kids, a boy of about four or five, tugged on Ui's hand.

Ui colored. "Thank you."

"Where'sa yar other arms?"

"Long story." Ui colored. The boy had already wrapped himself around Ui's leg. He couldn't help but wonder how Hairu would react to this. She'd pick up the kid, probably, and accept that ghouls were their allies. Maybe she'd find the peace she'd never known in life.

He wished he could lift the kid, but he was still weak and missing a limb. He forced a laugh.

"Hey, kid, first we have to get on the elevator."

"Hello everyone! Greetings! Hello! We're freeing you all," called Hajime as he strode out of Hanae's tent.

"Who are you?" asked a little girl dressed in a simple white shift.

"The Oggai!" Another woman grabbed the girl and thrust herself before her.

Hajime started at the terror in her voice.

He remembered Mom and Dad, shoving him back into his room, sacrificing themselves for him…and the terror he'd experienced because of ghouls was now experienced by a toddler ghoul because of him.

Hajime froze.

"The name's Mayazumi. We're here to rescue, not hurt you," Mayazumi said, nodding towards Hajime.

"We're working with them!" Shio bounded out, his eyes wide and innocent and completely Shio.

The woman smiled tentatively. At once Hajime realized they had needed Furuta after all. Someone had to to convince these poor brainwashed idiots.

Poor, brainwashed idiots…He wondered if this was how Akemi viewed him.

"We don't need rescuing. We're good here! We don't kill here!" A little boy ran up and kicked Yusa in the shins.

"Don't kick him!" Rikai grabbed the boy. "V might be planning to slaughter you all. Director Washuu himself sent us!"

"V is guarding us," said a teenaged girl timidly. Her developing figure was poorly covered by her shift. She eyed Sakura's uniform with envy.

Hajime assumed she was one of the bred ghouls, who probably desired to fight like her half-bred siblings but couldn't because V was disgusting. He swept off his jacket and – with a burst of pride at his six-pack – handed her his jacket.

He was acting like Akemi's brother. She would like him for this.

The girl's eyes widened. She hesitated to take it.

"Please, we're trying to help," Rikai pled. More and more ghouls and half-ghouls approached, but she saw no agents yet.

"This is pointless!" cried Keiko. "We're kids! We can't convince anyone!"

"We have to try," Sakura shot back.

"I know," Hajime said softly. "I know we're scary. We're killers, trained just like your half-ghouls."

"Half-humans," insisted Hanae.

"Let me finish!" he fumed, and Shio covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Hajime was forever Hajime.

"We're the same as you. But we don't hate you anymore. We're here because we care about you and ourselves. We're trying to save you." Hajime clasped his hands. "The girl I love is a human and she'd hate me if I hurt any of you. She wouldn't even let me kill Kaneki Ken. So I can't kill any of you or I won't win her heart."

Most of these fools stared at him blankly. The teenage girl, however, put his jacket on.

"What a childish speech," said a raspy voice. A cloaked agent strode around another tent.

"Better that than a dying adult," Yusa said dryly. Hajime felt a rush of jealousy that he hadn't thought of that line.

"What about a dying child?" Another V agent appeared, wielding a giant koukaku quinque.

One of the women pressed a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

No, no, no – this was all going wrong. Hajime took a deep breath. "Dude, you know we Oggai can kill you."

"Oh, we know. We're the ones who agreed to your creation. You've been our tools all along. Even now." Another man came around Hajime's left, kakugans shimmering.

"Now?" Shio fumed.

"Yup. See, Director Washuu is painfully short-sighted. Vengeance on his daddy, salvation for his whore, salvation for all the whores here. But we've never been after the useless ghoul breeders here. They don't know anything about using their full potential. You all, though – you Oggai – you know everything." The man – Hajime only now realized they were all male – threw back his head to laugh.

"And here you walked straight into a confined space. Even smaller than the 24th tunnels. I couldn't imagine anything better." Dr. Kanou strode forward.

"What are you talking about?" Yusa knew Furuta hadn't left them on purpose. He trusted Furuta for one thing, and one thing only – Kannon.

"You're the bait. Dragon will still happen." Kanou sighed. "So I suggest you all sit down."

Hanae glanced back at her tent. She inched backwards.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Kanou jerked his fingers, and three more V agents poured out of the tent.

We were followed! Panic exploded in Hajime's heart. They had to have known Furuta left, then. What exactly where they planning?

"So sit down, get comfortable. None of you are leaving."

"And here," Ayato said with a grin, "I thought I was the worst parental material among Goat. I didn't realize more CCG officials had joined us, though."

Ui scowled at him. "Black Rabbit."

"That rabbit's dynamite," Ayato quoted loosely.

"How the hell did you have time to know that reference?" Ui exclaimed.

"Oh, you think ghouls are so different from you, all we focus on is survival? No movies? No stories? No pleasure?" Uta rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mr. Ethics."

"What'sa movie?" asked the kid clinging to Ui.

"Nothing you can see," Ui said quickly. Kaneki caught his eye and nodded.

They exchanged a brief smile. Ui felt his respect for Sasaki growing again.

"What's your name, kid?" Ui asked.

"They don't have names," Ayato said. "It's a new concept for them. They think of a new name every day."

"Does Kishou sound nice to you?" Uta asked the boy.

"Can you not?" Yomo muttered. He paused. "Wait. Arima got his title from somewhere."

"I likes," said the boy with a giggle.

"Okay, we'll call you Kishou," said Hanbee, patting the child's head.

"Eto figured me out, and I handed the title to her lover, CCG's spy," said Uta. "In a nutshell."

Yomo looked sickened.

"I'm sorry," Uta added with a sincerity he rarely possessed. "I know what he did to you."

Yomo nodded. "Apology accepted."

"Some things," Tsukiyama said, glancing towards Ui, "can't be atoned for, but we can move past them."

Ui nodded.

"Here we are!" Banjou stopped the lift. "We're back at the tunnels."

"Let's all head to CCG," Kaneki said, woodenly.

"You're doing great," Tsukiyama whispered.

Kaneki stepped off the lift, and suddenly his phone rang.

"Apparently this too is a service spot," Chie said with surprise.

"Yusa?" Kaneki frowned. His face paled.

Tsukiyama grabbed the phone and pressed speaker.

"Hello Kaneki," said a voice Ui had only heard in passing. The voice that had led him to confront Furuta, the voice that had led him to capitulate his ethics for Hairu.

"You." Kaneki waited. He refused to even speak the name of Akahiro Kanou.

"I'm in a fantastic little sunny garden, under the Washuu Estate. I've got your little Squad Zero friends here, and their Oggai cousins, and about two dozen wenches with children." Kanou cackled. "If you don't come here to greet your old doctor, I'll slaughter every last one of them."

"I'd like to see you try!" Hajime hollered in the background. "Ow!"

"I mean it," Kanou growled. "We have more than enough V agents. And then I'll go after your pretty wife."

The phone clicked.

Kaneki shook. Touka-chan. Not Touka. Not Yusa, Rikai, and Shio. And even that brat Hajime. They're just little kids.

"What wife?" Ayato whispered, but a jab from Hinami's fingers silenced him.

Furuta leapt to his feet and swung his balled fist towards Mr. Mustache. The incapacitated V agents writhed on the bloodied grass, which now looked like a modern art version of a horror Christmas painting.

Prying herself off the grass, Kannon caught him with her shaking, weak hands.

"Don't, please. Don't return his violence."

"You're always my better half," he said wryly, lowering his fist.

"And you're mine." Kannon winked, and he dared to believe her.

"So tell me." Furuta crossed his arms with his typical feigned confidence. He surveyed the Sato family. Horror washed over his face at Maro's mangled hand.

"V doesn't mess with meaningless people, even though they hate me," Furuta said as Kannon leant against him. "What do you have on them, parents? I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Sato?"

The two dumb jerks just stared at him.

Akemi pried herself from Rio's arms to launch herself at Kannon. "Thank you. I'm so sorry. I don't know why – I was so angry –"

"You're human – or, really, a person. Now you understand Rio even better." Kannon looked at her without judgement.

Akemi smiled with relief.

"Maro –" Mother wept as she cradled his hand.

"I still have some fingers. I can still trail him and take pictures," Maro replied weakly, mustering up a smirk for Furuta. He knew the maiming was worthwhile, because everyone was alive, but he hated it all the same.

"Guess you won't be dueling me for your sister's honor anytime soon," Furuta said. "Not that she isn't already honorable."

Maro choked. "She is."

Kannon shook her head as Dad approached her. She stared at the shiny grass. "Father."

"I love you, and I'm sorry," Dad said, his voice trembling.

Furuta nearly gasped. What he wouldn't have given to hear Tsuneyoshi say those words? Even as he murdered Dad, he might have stopped if his father had said such to him.

He was so happy for Kannon. He almost felt sorry he'd called her dad a dumb jerk.

Kannon began to cry again. "I'm sorry, too."

"You apologized long ago. I'm the one who refused to forgive." Father stroked her hair and pulled her close to him, like he had when she was little. "And yet you still risked…your child to save us. You've become a good woman."

Kannon threw her arms around him. Her mother approached and extended a hand to Furuta. "Thank you, sir."

"You don't hate me for being a ghoul?" Furuta asked. "Or, well, there's a long list."

"We don't hate you." Dad pulled away from Kannon to face Furuta. "You love our daughter."

"That's great," said Furuta, clasping his hands together. "Because we're getting married."

Maro and Kannon turned to face him.

"Oh! We are, aren't we?" Furuta spun around and dropped to his knees, then up on one. His hands trembled. "Please say yes."

Kannon tried not to laugh too hard. "As soon as possible."