Thanks for reading! As mentioned previously, this chapter begins the timeskip... and could really be considered The (Mis)Adventures of Goat: Part 2.
Six years later
"Mommy Mommy Mommymommymommy!"
Hinami feels a hand grip her face. Ayato groans next to her on the bed.
What time is it?
"Wake up."
Hinami feels someone climbing on top of her. She squints, trying to force herself out of her dream. Part of her still clings to it, to the feeling of a soft, comforting blanket wrapped around her. Mom and Dad were here. Playing with Ryouko, their grandchild, in the living room just beyond the bedroom door. Ayato crouched on the floor next to them, and when he turned to look at Hinami, he smiled.
But it was just a dream.
"The sun isn't even up yet, Ryouko," Ayato mumbles.
"But your phone's been singing for the past half hour," their daughter chirps.
"What?" Ayato sits bolt upright. Hinami's eyelids fly open. She clutches the blanket to her chest and looks at Ayato. Neither of us are dressed.
"I get to go to work with you today!" sings Ryouko, bouncing on their bed. "Since there's no school!" Her wild hair, dark like Ayato's, sticks out in tangles. She beams up at them, her nightgown askew.
"Ryouko," Ayato says. "Can you bring our phones here? And then go wake up your little brother. Mom and Dad will be right out, okay?"
"'Kay," sings Ryouko, scrambling off the bed. The moment the door slams, Hinami leaps up and grabs her robe.
Ayato rolls his eyes as he shimmies into a pair of pants. "That was close."
Hinami snorts.
"Here you go, Daddy!" Ryouko flings the door open, holding out Ayato's phone. "It's Uncle Kaneki."
Hinami raises her eyebrows. What's he calling about?
"Seven missed calls?" Ayato cringes.
Hinami takes her own phone from Ryouko. "Six."
"I win," says Ayato with a roll of his eyes as he dials. "Hey, Kaneki?"
Hinami scurries out of the room. Their son, now almost three, still sleeps. Akito's a much better sleeper even now than Ryouko's even been.
"I'm so excited," Ryouko gushes, prancing over to the window. "I get to visit Goat and see Mie and everyone else, and we can tell them all about school. I miss Goat when we're at school but I like school so now I'm going to miss school."
Hinami grins as she pulls out a dress for Ryouko to wear and tugs Ryouko away from the window. Books lie scattered on the floor, as Hinami's made a point to read to both her children every night. She's even written a few children's stories that Ryouko loves. Ryouko just finished her first year of school and will be turning eight in just a few months. She can probably choose her own clothes.
Even though Ryouko's a ghoul, she's been integrated into the classroom with human kids. Not that it's been easy, or that Hinami and Ayato haven't had fervent discussions about whether it's the best thing for their daughter. As members of Goat, they feel a responsibility to live out their principles of a society where humans and ghouls get along. But their daughter isn't a tool. She's their daughter.
Ryouko cried when parents took their kids out of her classroom or didn't invite her to parties, but she always has Nishino Mie at her side, and Amon Seidou, though Seidou can at least eat human food. Next year, Tsukiyama Rose, Urie Chiasa, Urie Isamu, Kaneki Yuki, Ui Masanori, Kusakari Joji, Arima Nozomi, and Takizawa Nashiro will be joining them at school.
Ayato appears and leans against the doorframe. Hinami urges Ryouko to get dressed and slips out. "What's going on?"
"Hide's picked up on rumors that a group of ghouls may be looking to recreate V," Ayato says. "Or may have already recreated it. They're organizing."
"What?" Hinami's brow pinches. Her pulse quickens.
"They say they're former associates of Kaiko's," Ayato adds, keeping his voice low. "So—"
Yikes. "Who's going to interrogate Furuta in prison?" Hinami asks.
"That's what we need to discuss," Ayato admits. "I'll get Akito up since Ryouko didn't do it."
"Thanks."
They look like every other family on the street in the morning, Hinami notes. Coffee cups clutched in both her hand and Ayato's, Ayato carrying their son on his hip and Ryouko skipping ahead and singing. We don't look like ghouls.
Her heart seizes as she thinks about some ghouls recreating V. Goat has to walk a precarious line, or risk turning ghouls against them. And with Ryouko attending school openly as a ghoul, and Mie as a half-ghoul… Hinami gulps.
"Mie!" shrieks Ryouko as they arrive at Goat's office building, still small and out of the way so no locals will suspect its location. Their daughter springs at her best friend, who hugs her back. Nishiki grins at them; Kimi's still working at the hospital.
Inside the entryway, Hinami finds Higemaru Touma whispering to a green-haired boy and a purple-haired girl. The twins, Isamu and Chiasa. "He's as tall as a mountain. Try to climb him."
"What are you doing?" Hinami asks.
Higemaru grins at her. Ayato covers his mouth to hide a laugh as Aura enters the building.
"Uncle Aura!" shriek both twins, racing to tackle him. Aura's hair falls back from his face, mouth open in sheer terror.
"Are you trying to get my kids killed?" snarls Urie as he bursts out of the stairwell. Nishiki laughs.
"It's okay," Aura pants, one twin on each shoulder. Despite his words, he looks pained.
"If you think this is bad, you haven't seen anything yet," Nishiki reports, rubbing the back of his neck. "Amon texted me that some of the other kids are taking turns having Hanbee swing them around to make them fly."
"It's true," calls Tooru, appearing beside his husband. "But it looks safe to me." He smiles at Urie and takes his hand.
"Irimi said she'd watch the kids today," Urie says. "Hey, Chiasa, Isamu, let Aura breathe." He winces. "While the rest of us talk."
They climb down, and Aura lets out his breath.
"Did you get a phone call at dawn?" Ayato asks Nishiki. Mie and Ryouko scamper ahead.
"Yep. Kimi was not thrilled."
Hinami sighs.
"Don't go," Akito pleads as they drop the kids off at a large room on the second floor, where Irimi has toys and games spread out. Yuki and Seidou chase each other around, arms windmilling. Rose sits in a corner, coloring a page, but jumps up when she sees Chiasa. Nashiro and Masanori, another pair of best friends, are already tearing the limbs off one of the dolls, because Masanori is the kind of adorable hellion who's going to give Ui and Hairu heart attacks by the time they're forty. Hirako calls Masanori karma. Nozomi and Joji try to read together, although soon enough Hinami suspects Nozomi will give up and make up a story to go along with the pictures in the book.
"We'll be right back," Ayato assures Akito. "We're just upstairs."
Their son's lip trembles. Hinami's heart breaks. Ayato gulps. "Akito—"
"You can't go!" He throws his arms around Hinami's legs, and Hinami remembers her parents—remembers Ayato's—
"They'll be back," Ryouko assures him, wrapping her arms around her brother. "Come on, Akito. Bing and Tsukuru are playing with trucks, you can—" She tugs him towards Shuu and Karren's younger son, and Hsiao, Saiko, and Shirazu's daughter Bing, whom Saiko and Hsiao had after Shirazu donated sperm to Saiko. Bing wears her hair in Saiko's signature pigtails. Joji's younger sister, Ruri, drifts off to sleep, and Nozomi's younger brother Shiono—who looks scarily like Eto—peers out the window, his friend Hiroto, Juuzou and Hanbee's adopted human son, next to him.
"No!" screams Akito.
"I've got him," Irimi assures, swooping in to take Akito from Ryouko. "Don't worry, Ayato, Hinami."
"Is he okay?" asks Hiroto, jumping away from the window, brow creased in concern.
"Of course," Irimi says, but Hiroto worries his lip.
I hate leaving him. Hinami swallows the lump in her throat as she heads out of the room, pulling Ayato after her. Her son screams and she can only cast a reassuring look behind her.
"He always settles down after a few minutes," Ayato mumbles, even as he looks as if he's struggling not to rush back in there.
Hinami nods.
"Welcome, Hinami, Ayato!" cheers Tsukiyama as they enter the conference room. Juuzou sits on the edge of the table, swinging his legs and eating a donut that Amon looks at with envy.
"Happy to have your kids on break?" teases Nakarai.
"I'm happy to be on break," Touka retorts as she sits back on the windowsill. She's got one year left of university.
"Bing still has two more years left before she starts school," Saiko says.
"I don't know how I'll stand it when she goes," Hsiao laments.
"I'll show up and threaten everyone," Shirazu vows. He co-parents Bing.
"Attention," Amon says formally, getting to his feet. Akira raises her eyebrows and gives Hinami a wave. "So as you've all heard—"
"Which of us volunteers to go talk to that nutjob?" asks Nishiki, leaning back in his chair.
"Last time I saw him, he shot Kurona's kagune," Takizawa Seidou growls, cracking his knuckles. Kurona presses her lips together, seated on Seidou's lap.
"See, that's the thing," Yomo says. "It won't be a one-time thing."
"Excuse me?" demands Ayato.
"Knowing Furuta," says Juuzou, twisting strands of his hair around his fingers. "He's going to try to drag this out and get what he can from each of us."
"Yeah, we're all familiar with his manipulation," Ui says, arm tightening around Hairu.
Hinami swallows. She'll never forget Furuta grabbing Mie that day. Nishiki's face is already purple.
"I don't think any of us should spend too much time with him," Amon concludes. "We interview him two at a time, and we switch it up. No couples together, either; he'll use that to his advantage."
"His prison's a half a day north of here," points out Shirazu.
"Not anymore," Yomo says. Uta's eyebrows arch at his boyfriend's statement.
"We sent Arima and Eto to get him," says Juuzou. "He'll be imprisoned in a specially constructed cell inside what looks like an ordinary house a few minutes from here. And he'll be guarded by Eto and Arima, Naki and Miza, or Hirako and 0 Squad the entire time."
Eto beams as if this is a golden opportunity for her. Arima scowls.
"What if he doesn't even know anything?" demands Kurona. "He wanted us to take down V, remember?"
"I'd say there's little or no chance of that," Kaneki says quietly. "He knows something, even if he hated them."
"Having him nearer to us isn't exactly reassuring," Karren says, her chest heaving. She exchanges a look with Chie.
"I am using my skills to make sure we keep a very close eye on him," Chie says. "They told me yesterday. Sorry, Shuu, Karren. But with this—and with guards inside and outside the house in addition to Arima and Eto—he's not going to be able to escape that room. Not even through the air vent; it's too small for anyone besides a tiny child."
"And what's our strategy for questioning him?' Ayato asks.
Hinami crosses her arms, a chill rippling through her. Despite Chie's assurances and her complete confidence in everyone making the decisions, this is Furuta they're dealing with.
And he is never predictable.
"Looks like we're on for interrogating the bastard tomorrow," Takeomi says, smiling at Touka as everyone disperses. "Yoriko asked for you to call, by the way. Fuyumi won't sleep on her own and we're both exhausted because she kicks when she crawls into bed with us." Fuyumi is their three-year-old daughter.
"Sounds good," Touka agrees. "Or, you know. Tolerable. Kurona will cover me at :re during that time." She hopes that she can keep herself from ripping Furuta's head off. Although she does, ironically, have him to thank for Yuki's existence.
And he knows that. Touka grits her teeth. Furuta won't hesitate to use that if he can. Kaneki chats with Yomo and Uta, his brow creased. Over the past year, Uta's started to take more of a role at Goat, although his primary business is still working on his art.
"Um, other parents!" bellows Shirazu. "A little help?"
Touka whirls around. Shirazu thrusts his finger at Ui and Hairu. "Your son persuaded a few of them to climb on the roof!"
"What?" Hairu yelps. Ui groans.
"Fuyumi got hurt," Shirazu adds, and Takeomi's jaw drops in horror. "Not badly."
Irimi rushes into the office area, holding a sobbing Fuyumi. The child, who had Yoriko's light hair and her father's face, reaches for her daddy. Irimi's wrapped a bloody cloth around her leg.
"I'm sorry!" wails Yuki, sobbing. "It was an accident."
"Yuki!" Touka and Kaneki both shout, running past Irimi to their son, who bawls, his shoulders shaking. Kaneki presses their son against his chest.
"What happened?" Touka asks, gulping.
"I took them outside to play," Irimi says. "In the yard—Masanori decided to have a climbing contest when I went to push Tsukuru on the swings, and Fuyumi started to fall, so Yuki used his kagune to break her fall, but he also cut her."
Touka feels cold. This is exactly what everyone worries about with ghouls attending school with other children—accidents.
But Ryouko and Mie never needed to use their kagunes last year, and Seidou doesn't have one.
"It's okay," says Takeomi, crouching down to be at eye-level with Yuki. Kaneki turns his son's face to look at Takeomi. "You kept her from falling. It's okay."
"Masanori, what were you thinking?" Hairu demands, pulling her son into the vacated conference room. Ui follows. Masanori's lip trembles. Mischievous as he is, Masanori's a good kid at heart.
"Mama." Yuki holds out his arms, and Kaneki shifts away so Touka can embrace her son. He smells like the soap Touka uses to bathe him at night since he was a baby. Her heart aches. Why are you growing up?
"The wannabe clown's here," Juuzou announces as he saunters past. "Yomo and I are off to interview him."
"The clown?" asks Yuki, prying his head off Touka's shoulder. His tears vanish. "What clown?"
Oh dammit. Nishiki snorts, and Touka scowls at him. Yuki has a long-running love of clowns, and Touka can't figure out why.
"Not a nice clown, Yuki," Kaneki tries to explain.
"But all clowns are funny," protests their son, cheeks flushed.
Uta ducks behind Yomo, covering his mouth. His shoulders shake with laughter until Mutsuki levels his gaze at Uta. Uta quiets.
"Sorry, buddy," says Hide, grinning at Yuki. "This clown isn't like the circus clowns we went to see last month."
Oh right. I forgot about that. Touka sighs. Kaneki glowers at Hide.
"I don't care. I want to see the clown," Yuki insists. Ayato looks as if he's about to faint. He clutches the desk behind him. Akira's jaw hangs open.
"No," says Touka. "But in a few weeks, I'm sure Uncle Hide won't mind taking you to see the circus clowns again, okay?"
Yuki's eyes light up. He clutches Touka's arm. "Will you come with us? You and Daddy?" He flashes his biggest, silliest smile at Kaneki.
"Um—" Kaneki gulps. "Sure."
"Of course," Touka says weakly. Goddammit.
Seidou cackles now. Kurona kicks him. He doesn't stop.
"I could do your makeup like a clown," Uta offers. "Yuki."
I can't decide if you're trying to be helpful or a troll. Touka narrows her eyes.
"Yeah!" exclaims Yuki, bouncing up and down. Touka pulls away, dragging her hand through her hair.
"Mine too!" shrieks Seidou—Amon and Akira's Seidou. "And Isamu's!"
"I'm out," moans Urie. He buries his face in Tooru's shoulder. Sunlight glows outside.
"My mom says clowns are stupid," says Nozomi, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"I think they look scary," declares Hiroto, holding his arms up for Juuzou to lift him up. Juuzou obliges, and Hiroto rests his head on Juuzou's shoulder.
Kaneki cringes. "Well, it'll keep the kids occupied while we work. And keep them from climbing the roof."
"I can handle it," Irimi assures them. "Koma, you're helping me corral them though."
Of course, later in the afternoon, after Touka's returned to :re, Kaneki sends a video from work of the kids, all with clown paint on their faces—except for Rose and Chiasa, to what Touka surmises must be Urie's intense relief—rushing around the office pretending to scare their parents. And Hairu, because she's the best at screaming and pretending to faint. She's definitely got some bruises, Touka thinks, noting a worried Ui hovering in the corner of the video. Even Nozomi gets in on the fun, which Eto will not be pleased about. Hiroto apparently got over his fear of clowns, because Juuzou and Hanbee are laughing hysterically at his makeup and he's grinning.
Are they going to get any work done there this summer? texts Yoriko.
Touka rolls her eyes, Kurona working on baking some treats for the café. The smell is still hideous to Touka; she doesn't know how Kurona can stand it. They better. This is not the time when they can be slacking off.
When the holidays end, Yuki's going off to school. Touka's already told him story after story about how much she loved school. But she remembers kids being cruel too, and everyone will know Yuki's Kaneki's son.
"I can't protect him," Kaneki lamented just last night.
And Touka knows how he feels now. She doesn't know how to teach Yuki to defend himself without resorting to the violence and denial she used as her sword and shield.
A sense of unease settles over Touka as she texts Yoriko to set up a time to call. The clown makeup is cute and funny, not scary.
But the clowns were scary. And V was even more terrifying. What exactly does Furuta know? And what will he put us through before he tells us?
We've worked so hard to build this world.
I'm not letting anyone tear it down. Touka clenches her fist.
The worst part is, knowing Furuta, if he manages to use this to tear it down, it'll be because he'll play them all, ignite just the right fires, hurt them where it matters most.
Of course, last time he tried to do that, he failed. He gave Touka one of the best gifts of her life. She smiles as she looks at the background on her phone—a shot of Yuki giggling in Kaneki's lap.
You'll fail again, clown. If anyone's getting played this time, it's you.
Up next: Kimi makes some scientific progress and Uta is surprisingly good at placating hyperactive children.