The story is viewed in universal viewpoints. It contains the thoughts and switches perspectives of the main duo (Ryouko and Shoma), Hinami, and Kaneki.
Chapter 2 – Settlement
"Oh my…!" The 1st Class Investigator chuckles to himself, staring down at his new opponent. "I wasn't expecting that…" He admits. Mado closes his eyes and tilts his head to the heavens. Suddenly, he burst his eyes open and maniacally grins. "But I was expecting not to expect something so that doesn't count!"
Takahashi doesn't respond back, instead focusing on what he should do next. He doesn't amuse the investigator. What's with this man, he's insane! Whatever, he's disarmed. I can use that to my advantage. All I need to do is disarm his partner and they're powerless. Well…not literally but if it comes to that it's on him. Shoma then looks over to the 2nd Class Investigator.
Ryouko, still in all awe, then begins to speak. "You…"
"I've got this." immediately responds Shoma.
"…R-Right…!" Ryouko snaps to her feet, trembling. Her legs were dead from accepting her would be fate. She turns to Kaneki and Hinami. Her eyes begin to water at the site of seeing her child again. But she knows it's not the time to celebrate yet. She runs towards them.
Suddenly, one of the other investigators on the ground sizes the opportunity. "Oh no, you don't!" As he picks up his weapon and aims it at Ryouko.
BANG!
The Q bullet goes right through her heart, splattering her blood all over the wall.
"MOMMA!" Hinami cries in horror (Kaneki couldn't shield her from seeing that).
Shoma turns around and with his two remaining tails, grabs the two investigators and throws them against the wall, knocking them out.
Hinami and Kaneki run to aid Ryouko who is now on her knees from taking a bullet to the heart.
"You're gonna be alright!" Kaneki assures her.
She opens her eyes and looks at Hinami with tears in her eyes.
"Let's go home…" She manages with a small smile.
Hinami's cheeks turn red and her eyes become watery, but she nods her head and looks at Kaneki.
"Right!" The young girl says.
As they help her to her feet, Ryouko looks back at Shoma. "…Please…make it out alive." Shoma looks back at her. Both of their kakugans still actives. He gives her a nod. Ryouko deactivates hers and the trio books it out there.
"Don't think you'll get too far! I'll hunt you down to the ends of the Earth, I promise that!" Mado proclaims. The threat echoes fear in their hearts.
"Listen, kiddo" Mado tells Amon, but doesn't leave his eyes off Section. "You might want to draw your weapon, or else my arm won't be the only thing this devil dog takes today!" Devil Dog? Well that's a new one.
"Yes sir!" As Amon draws his weapon, Mado slowly backs off from Shoma, to prey the weapon off his severed arm.
Shoma is in disbelief. What's with this guy? I know humans have pain tolerance too, but this is ridiculous! Without another moment wasted, he charges at Amon, who is ready and blocks his attack. Mado comes into his blind spot and hammers his weapon into Shoma's back, but it's blocked by his kagune, severing his second tail. Shoma then takes the brief moment to kick Mado down the alley, but Amon pushes him back and smashes him with his quinke, crushing Shoma's ribs and a small part of his mask.
This is bad…
He grits his teeth. I hope you all made enough distance, because this is all the time that I could buy! Shoma faces towards Amon and prepares to charge at him.
Amon starts to shake. He just saw his Senior Investigator get his arm chopped of like a toothpick. Now he's facing him 1 on 1. Is this it? Amon thinks. Then he stops shaking and takes his stance. No! When the foe stands before you, FIGHT! Even if it cost you your life!
With that, Shoma and Amon take one last charge at each other. Both of their weapons respectively break (Shoma's final tail is severed). Times up. Takahashi runs past Amon and flees to the rooftops.
Amon takes a minute to catch his breath. Then he goes to Mado and realizes that he's still alive, but more pissed off then hurt. "Did you kill that bastard?" Mado demands. Out of all of the questions he asks me this?Amon shakes his head.
"No sir…he got away." He replies.
"Damnit." Mado gets himself up.
"Sir, we need to get you to a hospital!"
"Oh don't you worry, youngster, when you're as old as I am you'll know that this pain is nothing." Mado looks intensely at his right glove, knowing that his ring is still attached to it. "Let's go! We have some unfinished business with that demon." Mado smirks while clutching where his left arm should be. "Besides…" Mado looks at the wall where Ryouko's blood is splattered, and looks at the severed Kagune of Shoma on the ground. I think I hit the jackpot! Amon and Mado wake up the other two investigators and they all make it back to the CCG headquarters.
The sun begins to set. Shoma descends from the rooftops and makes it back to his shop on the far end of the 20th ward. Some trip, huh? He made sure he didn't leave a blood trail. After entering, he collapses and begins to recuperate. He grabs some flesh from his secret fridge and eats his meal. Shoma obtains his flesh from killing murderers, rapist, and molesters. He's not proud of it, but it's one way to live relatively peacefully. Besides he doesn't kill for fun, so he doesn't attract the CCG around his area. In fact, sometimes he overhears them talk about how a ghoul does the dirty work for humans. Shoma recalls back to the book store and the art museum. The young man that was with the girl, it seemed like they knew each other. Then it hits him. Wasn't there a coffee shop nearby? I heard it harbored peaceful ghouls in plain sight. Maybe I'll check it out once I-Urgh!(He felt a sharp pain as his ribs begins to reform)Once I recover. Just in case they still need help.
Meanwhile, Touka makes it to the coffee shop, where she finds that it is closed. Once inside, the place is dark, but she goes upstairs. The manager called everyone for a meeting, and she is the last one to show up. Once there she finds everyone besides Ryouko and Hinami. They all look down and depressed. "Oh hey…what's up?" after opening the door.
The old man is the first one to speak. He gives her a small smile. "Welcome back. Feeling better?" (Recently she's been beating herself up failing to kill Kimi, so she's been away from work). "Much better, thanks. I'm sorry for missing work." Touka replies.
"I understand."
Looking around, Touka asks. "So what's with all the doom and gloom?"
No one answers.
The manager is the one to speak again. "Well earlier today, the investigators found Ryouko. She was shot with a Q bullet - it punctured her heart."
Touka gasp in shock - then slams her fist against the wall. "God damnit…!" But then the real question hits her. "Where is she, did she make it?! And Hinami?! Please tell me they didn't get her too?!"
"No she's fine. Ryouko is resting in the next room and Hinami is sleeping beside her. According to Kaneki, another ghoul saved her and allowed them all to escape."
"What?! Thank goodness! The doves didn't see their faces, did they?" No responds (silently Touka gets the message: they saw their faces). She crouches down in agony. "I can't believe this, I didn't think things could get any worse!"
"It's too dangerous now, but when it calms down, I think it'd be best to move them to the 24th ward." Touka gets back up, ready to argue back. "You're kidding right?! That cesspool? There's no way they'll survive on their own out there!"
"Calm down."
"Why not just kill the doves and be done with it. They had it coming. Whaddya say, are you in Yomo?"
Yomo is currently posted up on the wall with his arms crossed. "Forget it. If we kill the doves in the 20th ward, it'll attract attention. They send reinforcement hell bent on revenge. They'll hunt us to extinction." Touka eye's widened in hopelessness. "But still-"
"Drop it, Touka!" He demands
The One Eyed Owl speaks up: "Sorry I have to agree with Yomo. We cannot make a move against the doves. As much as I'd love for that to happen, we have to think of everyone's safety."
"You're letting them get away with it? They almost killed one of own and you're gonna sit here and let it slide?"
"Almost, Touk-"
"Bullshit!" Touka protest back. "What's Hinami gonna think when she finds out…that you're too scared to take revenge on those who tried to kill her mother, right in front of her?" Immune to her raven glair, Yoshirmora simply states "The inability to take vengeance isn't caused for sorrow. If you truly want to pity someone, then pity those who obsess over vengeance and forget to live out their lives." Touka thinks he's just trying to be a smartass, "That's supposed to be a jab at me old man?" With that, she books it out the room.
Finally, Kaneki speaks his mind. "It's my fault, all of it. If Hinami had found Touka instead of me, her mother wouldn't be in this situation right now." But Yoshirmora places his hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't take the blame for what happen. It's not your fault. Right now I'm actually interested in the ghoul who saved you all. This could've been fatal if he didn't step in."
Kaneki actually smiles. "Right sir!"
The next day, Shoma makes his way to the coffee shop. Here it is. This is not too far from where everything went down. As he approaches it he notices a sign. Closed? Oh man maybe word got out and they're keeping a low profile now. Suddenly he senses another ghoul's presence; It's strong, insanely strong. To his right he sees an old man with grey hair smiling softly at him. "Good Morning." The Old Man says. "Good Morning, Sir" Shoma responds back. "It seems that you're looking for something? Or someone?" He was there in plain sight this whole time? This man must be the owner and regulates what goes around on this side of the 20th ward. "Yes I am." Shoma doesn't even try to sugarcoat it, this man is clearly not someone you want to mess with. "Please come in." as The Old Man opens the doors to Antekui for him.
Once inside, Shoma looks around. This is a nice place, I'm not really into coffee, but one day I might check this out. Yoshimora takes him upstairs to the conference room, where Kaneki is sitting reading a book. Shoma immediately recognizes him. Kaneki's expression turns into a twist of familiarity and confusion. "Hello…um have we met?" Kaneki ask. "Well, yes, but not formally" Kaneki stands up and shakes his hand, "I'm Ken Kaneki." "I'm Shoma Hatakashi, nice to meet you."
Kaneki looks at Yoshimora, who is smiling. He puts two and two together. "Are you…the ghoul who saved Ryouko from the doves?"
Shoma nods.
"Wow! Thank you, thank you so much!"
"My pleasure."
Yoshimora then speaks up. "I want to thank you as well. You saved all of from a tragedy." Shoma humbly turns to him and bows. "Ryouko and her daughter, Hinami, are resting in the next room." Shoma looks up and freezes. Can this guy read my mind or something? The Manager just smiles. "They'll wake up soon, I'm sure they would like to see you. Will you stick around this area?
"Yes."
"Good, well I have things to do so feel free to do what you please, you will always be welcomed here." Yoshimora departs, leaving Kaneki and Shoma in the conference room.
"Wow it seems that The Manager likes you a lot!" Kaneki says in excitement.
Shoma turns back and smirks nervously. "Yeah, you could say that."
"So, what are you going to do until they wake up?" Shoma thinks as he looks around the room. "I think I'll stop by the art museum nearby. I haven't seen it yet because-" He cuts himself off and awkwardly pauses. Idiot, why would you say it like that? Kaneki takes the hint. "Oh right, yeah. Figures." Rubbing his neck as he starts to sweat a bit. Shoma sees this and changes the subject before it gets any worse. "Well I'm off, I'll be at the museum if you need me." Kaneki nods, and Shoma begins to leave. "Wait, Sir! Umm…" Shoma turns back to face him with his eyebrows raised. "Could I tag alone with you?" Shoma just stares at him. Why not? "Sure, you ready?" "Yeah! Let's go."
At the museum, Kaneki looks around and is completely fascinated at the place. "Wow this place is amazing! I should come here more often." Shoma examines Kaneki and looks at him. "Hey Kankei…" he starts, looking up and down at him. "So…are you a…ya know?"
"Oh uh, a guy?"
"…a ghoul."Shoma's face turns pale and covers his mouth, trying not to grin.
Kaneki's face turns red from stupid embarrassment. "Oh right! Well, yes but actually no. You could say I'm both." Shoma thinks about it. So that's why I couldn't sense your presence in the alley that day. "I see, sorry asking about your personal business." "No, it's cool." Another question begs at Section's mind. "Were you the young man that was in the steel beam incident?" Kaneki nods his head. So it's true, a one-eyed ghoul. "Makes sense."
After a bit more site seeing and buying some collectibles, Kaneki and Shoma leave the store and head back to Antekui. But Shoma changes plan. "Alright, well I think I'll head home and comeback tomorrow. It's getting late and I need to get back to my business." "Oh uh okay great, see you tomorrow." With that Shoma sets off for home.
Once Kaneki is alone, he hears something break in the kitchen, and goes to investigate it. There he finds Touka, on the ground bleeding…
Back at CCG headquarters, 1st Class Investigator Mado is at his office. "My, this is turning out lovely!" Right now in front of him is a weapon. "I hate to gloat, but there's a lesson here on the virtue of mercy: It's only value is to your foe." As Mado thinks back to his encounter with Section. "I'll draw them out like moths to flies…!"
Within the next few hours, his custom quinke will be made from Ryouko's Blood, Her Husband, and from Shoma himself…
As the sun begins to set, Ryouko gets out of bed. She's exhausted and her head is throbbing. She looks around to see Hinami cuddled around her. Without waking her up, Ryouko removes herself from her daughter and sweetly plants a kiss on Hinami's forehead. "Sleep well dear, I'll be back." Then she falls out the window, landing on the ground safely, and heads to her husband's old workplace. Hours later, Hinami wakes up and smells a familiar scent…"Momma?"
A few minutes later, Touka steps into Hinami room. The raven haired girl hasn't been there for her lately, and wants to make up for lost time. When she opens the door, her heart sinks. "Hinami? Ryouko?" No response. As Touka walks in it becomes quite apparent that no one is in the room. Then she sees that the window was open. "Oh no!" Touka runs out the room and into the hallway, where Kaneki bumps into her. "Oh sorry Touka, whatsup, why are you-"
"Hinami and Ryouko are gone!"
"What? Where are they?!"
"I don't know but we need to find them quickly!"
"Let's go then!" And with that, the two ghouls set off to the streets of the 20th Ward.
Ryouko finally reaches her destination. The widow manages to find a picture made by Hinami (The drawing was Hinami with her mother and father). Ryouko then hugs the picture tightly to her chest, as tears begin to stream down her eyes.
"I kept my promise." A voice calls out to her.
Ryouko opens her eyes but isn't afraid. She heard that voice before. She looks up and sees Shoma, in all black. She recognizes his emerald eyes and black hair. It made her feel warm hearted again…like before. "Yeah, you did." (Shoma made it out alive). Looking back at the ground, she begins to speak. "I had to get something for Hinami. Since she was there when everything happened, she knows that her father was killed." Shoma takes a knee by Ryouko. "I understand, do what you need to do. I don't have the best words for this but if there's anything that I can do just let me know." Ryouko smiles at him. Shoma's face lit up and smiled too. For the first time in a long time, Shoma actually smiled…again. "Thank you, you've done more than enough…um…" "Shoma" he replies. "Shoma Takahashi."
"Ryouko Fueguchi"
Shoma loved the sound of voice. It was so smoothening and sweet.
"Right!" He stands up and offers a hand to Ryouko, she slightly blushes and takes the helping hand. "I stopped by the shop and met Kaneki. He's an…interesting fellow. I've never seen anyone like him." Shoma chuckles to himself at the thought of his interaction with him from before. Ryouko laughs at the site of seeing him hold his bearing. "I was going to wait until you and your daughter woke up but I decided to head home for the day…I figured I'd just stop by tomorrow and…" His voice trailed off at the last phrase, because he realized how he was sounding again, like they were already a family.
"Of course, you'll always be welcomed. And please, call me Ryouko." That phrase warmed Shoma's heart. You will always be welcomed. Just like what Yoshimora said.
"As you wish, Ryouko."
Ryouko felt her spirit lift at the sound of him saying her name.
"Well, I should probably get goi-" Suddenly she gasp and drops the drawing.
"Are you okay?! What happened?" Shoma asks.
"It's…my husband…I smell his scent!" Shoma looks at her in confusion. He takes a moment and brings out his ghoul senses and it snaps in his head. "You're there too, what's going on…!" But then Shoma puts it together. He didn't kill those investigators, and they probably made a new weapon from all of their DNA from the alley. "Shit" Shoma curses to himself.
"I need to get back to Hinami…oh no…Hinami…! She'll smell my scent, thinking I'm there with her father!"
"I'll go with you. If we meet her before the doves do she'll be fine, I promise."
"You don't have to do this."
"It's my choice."
Ryouko doesn't find the words for a response. Instead she leans in and buries her face in his chest. Shoma is stunned and wasn't expecting that, but gets the message and wraps his arm around her waist. Ryouko looks up and glazes into his eyes. He's…quite handsome…and his touch is gentle yet strong.
"Let's go!" He whispers, "Yes!" they both begin to run but Ryouko falls in pain. I haven't fully recovered…! Suddenly, Ryouko feels that gravity stop acting on her as Shoma swiftly picks her up. "No worries, just save your energy for your daughter." Ryouko smiles, holding on to him tighter as she closes her eyes. The duo departs for the confrontation at the sewers.