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"Do you want to tell your parents what you did?" prompts Juuzou.

What you did?

What… the kids did? Amon frowns and looks down at his son. What did they do? The boy's shaking. Akira's brow pinches.

"No?" offers Masanori in answer. Ui's eyebrows draw together.

"No?" asks Juuzou, spinning around to frown at him. The pink-haired boy takes a step back, looking up at Ui and Hairu in terror.

"I'm sorry!" shrieks Ryouko. "We didn't—he—"

"What are you talking about, Ryouko?" cries Ayato.

Amon's head spins. His son bursts into tears, and Amon doesn't understand what the hell is happening.

"We just wanted to ask—him—a question," sobs Ryouko. "And then—he was nice—"

"I stole the suppressant—he said he wanted—to be human like you with your medication!" wails Nashiro.

He—Furuta?

Our—kids?

Our children helped Furuta escape?

How? Why? What the hell?

"What?" yelps Seidou. "Nashiro—you didn't—"

"He was a clown," sobs Yuki. "He was nice."

Even Uta's jaw hangs open in shock. Yomo covers his face.

"Were we not clowns enough for you?" Itori shrieks.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" demands Hsiao.

"Not your daughter," Juuzou reminds her. Saiko heaves a sigh of relief. Shirazu pats Bing on the head.

"I knew though," admits Bing, sticking her thumb in her mouth. "We all did."

"Shit!" curses Shirazu.

There's a crash. Amon spins to see Kaneki on the floor, apparently having fainted.

"Wake up!" yells Touka. "You don't get to do this to me, Ken! Wake the fuck up!"

"You said a bad word!" gasps Yuki, appalled.

"I'm sorry!" cries Seidou, looking up at Amon in fear. "Daddy—I'm—"

Chaos erupts. Urie rages while Tooru yanks his knives out, Kurona rushes out of the room claiming that she needs some air, and Tsukiyama and Karren gawp at Rose. Takeomi shakes his head, and Urie turns purple.

"They said they were just asking questions!" insists Fuyumi, and Yoriko starts sobbing. Takeomi almost drops his daughter in shock.

"I hacked in and froze the cameras," Rose confesses. "I thought—I didn't think it would be—they were still recording but you wouldn't be able to see it on the screen at the time—"

Chie can't even take a photograph. Her skin looks gray.

"They're just kids!" exclaims Mirumo.

This can't be happening. Amon feels like he can't breathe. My child helped the monster who had tried to kill us all numerous times escape prison? My sweet son?

Akira shakes her head. "Seidou—you—"

He huddles in on himself, crying. Amon grabs his son. "Do you understand what you've done?"

His son can't even look him in the eyes. He tries to shake his head, and then nod.

"Come here," Amon croaks, voice breaking as he pulls his son closer. I love you. No matter what.

But my God, you are in so much fucking trouble.

"Did he hurt you?" Tooru cries out, grasping Chiasa's shoulders.

"No, he was actually pretty fun," admits Chiasa. "He braided my hair. And Nozomi's."

"What?" shrieks Urie.

"This can't be real!" shrieks Naki, clutching his skull and bawling. "Joji—you wouldn't—"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Miza cries.

"I didn't think he would hurt you!" sobs Joji. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"We have to find him," Akira declares. Her fist curls. "And kill him."

"Get in line," Urie says grimly, holding his son while Tooru holds their daughter, now that Aura's removed the knives from Tooru's hands. "I'm going to make that bastard pay for this."

"I'll help," chirps Higemaru.

"Are you mad at me?" whimpers Masanori.

"I'm not thrilled," Hairu replies, blowing out her breath. Ui rocks back and forth, looking as if all his bones have dissolved into jelly and he's about to melt onto the floor in a puddle.

"You're a kid," Ayato tells his daughter. "You didn't—he—that—" His kakugans emerge. Hinami's follow suit.

"I will tear his limbs off," vows Nishiki.

"We do have kill on sight orders," Touka says as Kaneki finally sits back up, a blotch on his forehead and a look of horror on his face.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" bawls Yuki.

"Is this really happening?" demands Hirako, rubbing his forehead. Shio, Rikai, and Yusa all stand next to each other, wearing identical expressions of bewilderment.

"Sadly, yes," Shinohara answers. "Yes, it is."

A roar rips through the room, and Amon turns to see Eto's kakuja form emerging and Eto racing towards the window. "No, Eto!" shouts Arima, trying to grab his wife. "You can't tear through the streets of Tokyo!"

"I will kill him!" vows Eto. "Bake him into a pâté—like he did to Shiono—"

"What?" shrieks Shiono. Nozomi clutches her little brother.

"Your namesake," Eto spits.

"I'm sorry!" Nozomi yells. "Please don't—you said you would still love me—"

Arima lets go of Eto, whirling around. "You're not to blame."

"You're not," agrees Eto, her kakuja form dissolving. Her lips pucker as if she's going to be sick.

"I knew too," mumbles Hiroto, looking up at Juuzou and Hanbee with his eyes bright. Hanbee bursts into tears. Juuzou hesitates, and then crouches down, opening his arms up. Hiroto dives into them, sobbing.

"We have to find him right away—who knows what else he knows?" Karren shouts. Emma shrieks and she bounces her even as Shuu's kagune emerges and wraps around one arm. With his other arm, he pulls Rose close.

"No, Daddy, don't hurt the clown!" Yuki protests. "He—"

"Hurt Naki and Miza and could have killed you!" barks Kaneki.

"Daddy—" tries Masanori.

"Daddy has to hurt the clown," Ui tells his son, glaring down. "Daddy is going to kill the clown."

"So is Mommy," declares Hairu. "I'll help you, Eto."

"Do you hate me?" wails Masanori. "It was my idea."

Ui blanches. "Of course I don't hate you—I'd never hate you."

Seidou's tears soak Amon's shirt. Akira's crying too, now. That monster hurt my family again. Amon grits his teeth. He needs to be wiped out.

"Sorry I didn't say anything," whispers Isamu. Urie gulps.

"I didn't think it was dangerous," admits Hiroto. He looks up at Hanbee, who pulls him into an embrace too. Juuzou's hand rests on Hitoro's head.

"Okay," Juuzou says. "Mirumo, baby-sitters, servants, whatever you are, I want you to take care of the kids—everyone else, you can see your kids soon, but I want to play the videos for you first."

"My son's staying here," Akira snaps.

Now all the recent nightmares make sense. Amon's stomach churns. How could we not have pressed the issue?

Am I as bad at parenting as Donato?

"Fine," says Juuzou, and he clicks on the large TV in the corner. "Hanbee, shut the drapes."

Hanbee obeys, casting sympathetic glances at the kids. His hand brushes Nashiro's shoulder as Seidou holds her. Kurona comes back into the room, face ashen and covered in sweat.

The cameras weren't capable of recording sound, but through the footage from day that man threw curry on Akira, Amon can see five of their kids slipping into Furuta's cell through the air vent. And Yuki hugging him.

"I've never seen that expression on Furuta's face before," Uta comments. Everyone glowers at him and when he sees the next day's footage, which includes Yuki painting clown makeup on Furuta's face, Uta grows pale. "I had no idea that was what he wanted it for!"

Touka groans. "Yuki—"

The boy just cries. "He was funny. He was nice. He paid us attention."

Those words hit Amon in the gut. He sucks in his breath. Have we been too distracted this past month?

The next footage comes with Furuta braiding Chiasa's hair, and Urie looks as if he could go full kakuja again. Furuta takes Nozomi's hair next, and Arima is so enraged he starts hissing.

"I had no idea," whispers Irimi. "I never would have let them do that treasure hunt if—"

"This is bad," Takeomi moans. Urie scowls even deeper.

The footage from Furuta telling them about their parents' sins—at least that's what Amon presumes it is—makes Amon's head smart in pain. Watching all of the kids break down, the moment they heard what they'd done—we're so sorry, too.

Why?

Where did we go wrong?

They're still here, Amon reminds himself, his son warm against his side. They're all still here and still okay.

We'll make sure it stays that way.

He just never imagined he'd have to interrogate his own son.

"Why are they going down the wrong path?" whispers Ayato. He still can't believe this. "I don't want them to repeat my mistakes!"

"At least we caught them young," Hinami offers. Ryouko's asleep in the daycare room, and they're all gulping coffee as they try to track where Furuta might be headed. Ayato hasn't felt despair like this in years. It's black, sticky, like tar.

"I can't believe this," Kaneki ekes out. "Should we have discouraged his love of clowns?"

"I don't think that would have made a difference," Touka points out as she sidles up next to him. "They said they wanted to ask Furuta a question about why he was responsible for their existence."

"Which he didn't even answer, and that's the one thing I'm thankful for," Ayato says with a scowl.

"Calm down," Yomo advises. "You two have made plenty of decisions that have been more or less agonizing for me."

"Can confirm," Uta says. Itori smirks.

"Hey!" Ayato shouts. Touka scowls.

"He manipulated them," Hinami says. "They're just kids—they think the world is a lot more innocent than it is." Her voice breaks.

Ayato buries his face in his hands.

"Explaining this to the prime minister should be fun," Kaneki says blankly, staring at the wall. His coffee cup sits steaming in his hands, but he can't raise it to his lips.

"Drink," orders Touka. "Please, Ken."

"Did you guys remember to take your medication?" asks Hide, prying himself away from the computer and rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah," Ayato mumbles. A ghoul, trying to eat like a human.

Is it really any different than a diabetic taking insulin to survive, or Tooru taking psychiatric medication? We just want to be better.

He wonders what his father would think of this. He'd probably be thrilled to be able to live peacefully, eat human food, and never have to hurt anyone.

But the world still hurt his daughter.

"We need to find him," Kaneki croaks, finally moving the coffee cup up to his lips. He chokes.

"Don't die, please," Touka requests.

"Not trying to," Kaneki answers, honestly for once. Touka leans her head on his shoulder.

"What made you do this?" Hinami questioned earlier, Akito asleep on her lap.

"I just wanted to see for myself if he really is as evil as you said he is," Ryouko replied, tugging on her pigtails.

Oh God, Ayato thought. She is definitely my child.

"Did they feel lonely?" wonders Hinami. "Because we've been so busy?"

"Maybe," says Ayato. "I mean, some of them have said as much, but they also should learn that they can't be the center of attention a hundred percent of the time."

"Fair enough," Hide acknowledges.

"I'll go check on them," Hinami says, prying herself to her feet.

"So will I," Ayato says.

"Banjou's on his way," Touka reports. "Thankfully. Another set of eyes."

Ayato takes Hinami's hand as they head down the stairs and into the small daycare room, now covered in blankets in makeshift beds. Mirumo smiles tiredly at them, reading in a corner. Hinami heads over to Akito, and Ayato notices Ryouko stirring, blinking up at him. "Daddy?"

"Hey sweetheart," Ayato says, dropping down next to her.

"Did you find him yet?"

"No," Ayato says, smoothing her tangled hair, his hair, as he pulls her against his chest. "But we will."

"Why did he lie to us?"

Ayato grits his teeth. Because he's a two-faced bastard psychopath who only want to use people to feel good about himself and you walked right into his trap because you're too good of a person. "Because he's desperate," Ayato says instead.

"He seemed to know what he did was wrong."

"Maybe," says Ayato, heart pounding. "But that doesn't mean that he cares."

"Huh?" Ryouko squints.

I care. "I'm ashamed of… the things I did when I worked for Aogiri," Ayato says bluntly. "The things Furuta told you about."

"Oh." Ryouko sniffles. "He won't hurt you, right?"

Ayato hesitates. "Ryouko, he'll probably try."

Tears stream down his daughter's cheek. Ayato wipes them away. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are," Ayato tells her. "And I forgive you. Like Uncle Kaneki forgave me when I worked for Aogiri."

Ryouko curls herself up against him, clinging to him as if she's afraid he'll leave, as if she's afraid Furuta will drop down from an air vent and kill him right here.

I won't leave you, Ayato thinks, remembering his own father. No matter what happens, no matter what you've done.

"Why couldn't we have had a dumb child?" wonders Seidou.

"Hey!" Kurona jabs him with her elbow. "You can't say that, Seidou!"

"At least we know she'll get top scores in school," he continues, even as he feels sick inside. Nashiro really didn't understand the gravity of what she was doing. None of the kids did.

Kurona moans. "Do you have to be like this?"

"Frankly I appreciate that he's trying to make us laugh," Amon remarks, staring into his coffee cup like it's a dark void he could plunge into. "Because otherwise I feel sick."

Akira sighs.

"I'm not even mad at them," Juuzou states, absently folding a paper airplane as he squints at a screen. "I can't be. They're kids."

"If you have to tell the prime minister—assuming we don't find him in—oh, how long do we have now?" says Seidou. "I'll take the blame."

"No, you won't," Akira shoots back, leaping to her feet and slamming her hands down on her desk. "Kuro, your husband is a—"

"Seriously, Seidou?" Kurona asks, her eyes narrowed and her face cloaked in midnight's shadows.

"They aren't going to lock up children," snaps Juuzou. "Get real, Takizawa. I consider them to be victims, too. Whether you did it or they did it, our reputation is shot anyways. And lying isn't going to help."

Shinohara's gaze finds Juuzou from across the room.

Seidou gulps, clenching his fists. I just want to protect her. He adores Nashiro—he and Kurona have been teaching her how to play soccer, and she's already reading. She likes to cook like her mother.

I love her more than I've ever loved anything or anyone, and I'm so afraid.

Hanbee approaches, handing Juuzou a sandwich. "Thanks."

Hanbee nods and settles down at the desk next to Juuzou.

"Honestly," says Amon, wincing as he shifts in his seat. "I'm the last one who can ever condemn them, considering what I did with Donato. What I helped him do." He swallows. "I should talk to Seidou about that more. I don't know if Furuta told him that."

"Maybe you should talk to all of our kids," says Seidou, rubbing his skull.

"I think it's a good idea," Kurona says quietly.

"I can help too," Juuzou says. "Considering what Big Madam had me do. Don't worry, I won't give graphic details about what she did to me, but they should know that being manipulated by ghouls doesn't mean you're cursed forever."

Hanbee puts his hand on Juuzou's shoulder. Juuzou bites into his sandwich, aggressively chewing.

"Donato did love me, though," Amon whispers. "Whereas Furuta's kindness was likely just a farce."

"The fact that he loved you has seldom comforted you," Akira reminds him.

"Oh yeah." Amon sighs.

"Maybe we can get Tooru to help, too," Akira says. "Speaking of another child manipulated, except by the CCG this time."

"How comfortable would he be with that, though?" Seidou questions.

"I mean, they already know the worst of it," Akira says. "Thanks to Furuta."

"He'd probably do it," Kurona says. "He loves those kids, and he doesn't like to hide things anymore."

"How are you all feeling?" calls Kimi as she walks by.

You were supposed to interview us today, Seidou remembers. See how the medication's treating us. Guess that's not happening now.

"Fine," says Kurona. "A little hungry, but not as in, like, I want to eat Seidou hungry. Well, at least not in the cannibal sense."

Oh my God. Seidou turns scarlet. Kimi snorts and Juuzou's eyebrows fly up in disgust.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that," Akira says, plucking a cat hair off her suit.

A text lights up Seidou's phone. He checks it. Seina?

He's only seen his sister a few times over the years. She's never forgiven him for eating their parents, and she shouldn't. She's never even met Nashiro, though he did show her pictures last time he saw her two years ago. He texted her earlier in the night, warning her that there were threats made against them and she should be careful just in case. Okay, so it wasn't exactly the truth, but it'd get the point across.

Is this related to the anti-ghoul rally downtown tomorrow? she asks.

"Is there an anti-ghoul rally downtown tomorrow?" Seidou asks.

"Yep," Juuzou says. "Great timing."

"Yeah, ex-fucking-xactly," snaps Seidou.

"I don't think getting lynched is Furuta's priority," retorts Akira.

"No, but if he meets up with V—imagine an attack there," Seidou says, heart pounding.

"We've had no intelligence to suggest that," replies Amon.

"It would fit with their strategy," Seidou counters.

"Are you relying on intuition?" Akira demands. "Where's Chie? I need to remember this moment."

Seidou scowls at her.

"It can't hurt to have a few people there," allows Juuzou.

Up next: V attacks.