Do You :REmember?
Chapter 26: Sundered
Kaneki was racing towards the basement door. When the explosion had rocked the warehouse from below, he had completely lost focus on the battle around him, and his mind jumped to one thought alone: Hinami. All alone save for the younger Kirishima, nearly alone without the protection of her elder brother. Well, he was kind of worried for Ayato too, but it would always be his little sister at the forefront of his mind.
Hide had instantly read his thoughts and urged him and the rest of the team to go on without him. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in his best friend's fighting abilities. He would just always worry about those closest to him even without any apparent reason. Kaneki feared solitude, and he'd do anything to keep his closest alive. An aspect of his personality that would probably never change.
They were right before the door now, and Tsukiyama was killing off the last few ghouls who were insistent on following them. Mutsuki tugged the door open. "Sasaki-san, Tsukiyama-san, let's go!"
But Kaneki was still looking back towards the battlefield, searching in vain for a glimpse of a head of orange hair. "Hide, we'll come back! I promise!" he yelled.
"Monsieur Kaneki, we cannot waste anymore time!" Tsukiyama said, pulling Kaneki through the door after him. It slammed shut. Mutsuki slumped down against the wall with fatigue, panting and sweating.
Kaneki was silent for a time, staring down at the staircase that led downwards to the belly of Aogiri's base. Tsukiyama produced a candle, lighting it with a match. Kaneki stared quizzically at the odd lighting source.
"'Tis for atmosphere, Monsieur!" said the Gourmet.
Kaneki rolled his eyes.
Once Mutsuki had recovered some stamina, the three continued downwards. Arata's voice crackled over the earpiece - connection seemed iffy in these subterranean halls. "Kaneki-san, Team 2 and 3 have split up. Half of each team have gone to follow Ayato and Hinami, while the other half has gone to find Urie-san. Also, did you hear the explosion?"
"Yes. Team 1 is in the basement now to assist. Are any of you injured?"
"No, it was a distance away from where we were. But Ayato and Hinami may not be." Arata's voice turned hoarse.
"Understood. We'll investigate the explosion. With that kind of power it's probably Eto who caused it," Kaneki said.
Their conversation ended there. Tsukiyama was holding the candle aloft and leading them through the halls, which so far hadn't diverged into separate paths yet. It took them perhaps a hundred steps before they reached the first divergence. The halls twisted three different ways.
"Arata-san, we're at the first fork in the hallways. Which path did your teams take?" Kaneki asked through his earpiece.
Silence, and then - "Half went left to...and Ayato. Other...right," he said. Much of his speech was muted by static.
"Okay, we'll take the middle route," Kaneki replied. Hopefully Arata got the message.
The middle path took them to a closed metal door, and also another flight of staircases. Mutsuki tried the handle but the door wouldn't open. None of their ghoul senses could detect anything from inside, either. Kaneki rapped lightly on it. To his surprise, the door was composed of quinque steel, which makes a hollow sound when hit. He marked the door in his memory, then brought his team down the stairs.
At the bottom of the staircase they found themselves at the start of another long hallway, but this one was lined with many of the same quinque steel doors. A cloaked Aogiri ghoul was standing guard as well.
"Arata-san, there are ghouls down here!" Kaneki whispered over his earpiece.
There was no reply.
"Do we kill him, Sasaki-san?" Mutsuki asked.
"No, Mutsuki-kun. Do you not hear someone approach?" Tsukiyama said.
They flattened themselves against the wall of the staircase. The shadows cast by the dim lighting would conceal them, if they were still. A female voice rung out from the hallway in a commanding tone. It wasn't Eto, for Kaneki would recognize her girlish voice anywhere, but some other Aogiri Executive. And the only female Aogiri Executive was…
"Captain Ichiro!" Executive Miza scolded. "Where are your subordinates? Where are Jiro, Saburo and Shiro?"
"U-upstairs, Miza-san - "
"Upstairs? Doing what?!"
"Fighting off some intruders, Miza-san."
"Intruders?! Do we really need more ghouls than the thousand that are up there to fight off some intruders?" The famed Triple Blades let out an exasperated sigh.
"B-but Miza-san, they aren't just any intruders! It's Centipede and his friends!" Ichiro complained.
"Centipede?" Miza said. "Why would - hold on, do you smell something, Ichiro?"
Crap, Kaneki thought. We'll have to fight Triple Blades now.
"Mutsuki, Tsukiyama!" he said.
They nodded, and the three leapt from the shadows, startling two very shocked ghouls.
Despite himself, Shirazu was trembling slightly as he tagged along behind Yomo. The two reconnaissance members with them, Nishiki and Saiko, had gone on ahead, following the extremely faint scent of blood and some undetectable metallic sound Saiko had picked up with her acute hearing.
He'd admit it, he was scared. Who wouldn't be, in the very depths of Aogiri Tree's main base? What if he died? Then Haru wouldn't be able to get the treatment she needed. The white-haired Ukaku beside him was some comfort to him, with his stoic silence and air of self-reassurance, but that'd do nothing if they had to face off with one of Aogiri's top ghouls. And what about Urie? A long time had passed since they had received notice that he was missing, and even then, he could have been captured days before that. Shirazu didn't know what to think if his squadmate was dead. They had fought a lot when he was still around. He couldn't take that arrogant attitude of his. And that one time he called Sassan a ghoul - not that it wasn't true, now that he thought of it - but oh did that bastard make him so mad!
But then again, Urie was still his squadmate. He hated to say so, but he had trusted the bastard. He knew Sassan cared a lot about him, as he cared for all the Quinx. If Sassan could be so kind to the pain-in-the-ass Urie Kuki was, then, well, he could be... nice to his fellow Quinx too. Sometimes. Bah, he'd save the idiot, then kick him in the face afterwards for all the trouble he caused them.
Nishiki's voice went on over his earpiece. "Seems we've stumbled upon something pretty bad. The real shit, if you asked me, so get your shit over here quickly."
He and Yomo hurried over to Nishiki's and Saiko's position, where they found the two kneeling against a metallic door, with Saiko pressing her ear against the door's cold surface. They joined the two on the floor. Shirazu crept up next to Saiko and pressed the side of his head against the door too. He strained his ears, listening for the slightest disturbance but couldn't pick up anything at all. Saiko, in contrast, had her eyes widened, and they only grew wider as the seconds ticked by. Shirazu grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
"What? What did you hear?" he asked.
"T-t-t- Shirazu!" She fell into his arms and started crying.
"Sh-Shhhhh!" He hissed at her. Nishiki growled. "Get your shit together, lady!"
"I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "B-but Urie…"
"What? What about Urie?"
"He's inside….and being...I could hear his screams, Shirazu!" she said croakily.
"Is...is there anyone else inside?"
"I don't think your shitty friend could torture himself, now could he?" Nishiki drawled.
Shirazu glared. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Shirazu slammed through the door and stormed in, ignoring Nishiki's frustrated shout to wait.
Urie was stuck to a metal table with knives pierced through his shoulders and knees. A doctor with his creepy surgical mask was hovering above him, syringe in hand, while a ghoul with a long ponytail of purple hair stood in the corner, his back towards them, standing guard next to a pushcart of surgical instruments.
The ghoul spun his head completely around. A one hundred and eighty degree turn.
"Why the fuck does this world have to be filled with you shitty idiots?!" Nishiki groaned.
"Save it," Yomo scolded, as they backed slowly away from the ghoul, his kagune emerging from his back.
Triple Blades Miza narrowed her eyes, her three distinctive Bikaku blades pointed threateningly at them. "Centipede," she greeted coolly. "What are you doing down here?"
"Ah, well, you didn't happen to hear an explosion, did you?" Kaneki asked.
"Of course I heard the explosion!" she spat. "You caused it, didn't you? How many of our ghouls have you and your traitorous ghoul squad killed?"
"A hundred and twenty-seven, but we didn't cause the explosion," he said.
"Then who did?" When Kaneki didn't answer, she stabbed her Bikaku towards him, and he leapt away.
"We don't know. But it wasn't us," he said again. Mutsuki had his own kagune out, while Tsukiyama's was wrapped around his arm. Kaneki still hadn't used his yet.
"Monsieur, what are you thinking?"
"You'll see, Tsukiyama-san," Kaneki told him. He turned back to Miza. "We don't know but - we suspect it's Eto."
"Eto? You must be kidding me. Why would she try to blow up her own base?"
"I had thought you could tell me."
Miza seemed to pause for a moment. He knew it! Bless Hinami and Ayato for their information gathering, he thought. Battles that could be won without bloodshed would always have the best results.
Miza was quiet for a while, jumping back to give her opponent distance. "She... wouldn't. She's our leader!"
"Mmhmm, so why is your base so precariously near the hell of all ghouls?"
"..."
"Aha, you're not so blind. You are just pawns in her plan. Did she even tell you executives, the people so high up there, the leaders of Aogiri, her plan? She doesn't trust any of you." Tsukiyama and Mutsuki had already retracted their Kagunes, seeing where this was going.
"But I've been her subordinate for years!"
"So had Ayato, and my guess is, she's trying to kill both Hinami and Ayato at this very moment."
Miza was shocked, firstly with the news that Ayato and Hinami had joined forces with the CCG, but furthermore so that Eto would dare hurt Ayato, their dedicated subordinate whom Tatara had invited into the organisation, and Hinami, a resourceful and sweet girl who shone with loyalty.
She fixed on Kaneki a determined gaze. "I'll lead you to them."