Corie=27
Kaneki=22
After Amon's first kagune training session with Corie, the two of them stayed up all night in the coffee shop brewing cups of coffee until Amon made a batch that was actually somewhat drinkable.
Being with him like this reminded her of how her uncle had taught her and her brother all about making coffee when they first began working at the café. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago now. She had been an angry and traumatized 13-year-old girl who just wanted her parents back, and Reo really hadn't been much better.
But much like making a good cup of coffee, her uncle was patient with the two children and took the time to let them heal on their own while also making sure they didn't do something they would regret.
As she taught Amon how to make good coffee, she explained to him more about her relationship with Kaneki, what had happened to him after the Owl Operation, and how she had infiltrated the CCG in order to help him. She then told him that she and Kaneki were trying to find out more about Kanou and the One-Eyed Owl so they could put a stop to the creation of half-ghouls. She didn't tell him that the two Owls were her cousin and uncle because she worried that he might resent her which wouldn't be good as she currently was the only one with the time and desire to help him adjust to his new life. If he refused her help and tried to figure things out on his own, someone would end up getting killed whether it was himself or someone else by accident.
It was all clearly a lot for him to take in, and she tried to go slow, but he needed to know everything that was going on if he wanted to help both humans and ghouls.
When morning came, they cleaned up the quite large mess they'd made before Touka had a complete fit at the state of her café. Then they headed back down to the safety of the rooms below the building to get some sleep after their all-nighter.
Later that night, Touka came down to Corie's room and leaned against the doorframe. "I don't understand why you insist on staying down here."
"If he goes berserk again, I want to be the first to know," Corie answered.
"It's not like we couldn't take care of him. You could stay in the room upstairs."
"It's not safe for me up there. There's too many possibilities of someone seeing me. At least for now, it's better for everyone if I'm down here."
"Whatever."
"I could ask you why you decided to let him stay here. You hate Doves more than anyone."
Touka fiddled with the end of her short hair. "Guess even I'm not totally heartless."
Corie put her hand to her ear. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"It's the sound of hell freezing over."
"Oh, shut up."
Corie laughed. "Come here."
Touka walked over and sat on her bed next to her, her back against the wall.
"Are you doing okay, you know, with Kaneki getting his memories back and everything?"
"I guess…as much as I can be anyway. I don't really know how I'm feeling."
"Story of our lives. Hey, when did you first realize that you liked him?"
Touka smiled fondly, not even bothering to deny the claim. "After Ryoko died and I went after the investigators, the wound I received had started to bleed through the bandage you'd given me. Kaneki tried to help me clean it, and he told me that he would be sad if I died. That was all it took."
"That long, huh? I never would've guessed."
"When did you realize that I liked him?"
"I think I had a feeling after he was taken by Aogiri Tree. But I was sure when I came back from Brazil after…"
"After we thought he was dead?"
Corie began thinking about that night…the one night where she wasn't sure she had ever felt more devastated. "I must've replayed that night in my head a hundred times…wondering if I could've done something differently…"
"You did at least one thing right," Touka told her. "Even though you were supposed to be fighting investigators, you saved Takizawa. Imagine how our last raid would've gone if you hadn't done that."
Corie rested her head on Touka's shoulder. "I forgot how much I've missed this. I can't even remember the last time we just…talked."
"Yeah, I've really missed this too. But you know, you've been busy the last couple years. We both have."
Corie looked over at her. "You needed me. And I just up and left you."
Touka sighed. "We all deal with grief in our own ways."
"No, don't try to excuse it. You were hurting just as much as I was. I should've been there for you. I should've been there for both of us. When I left, I went back to the States so I could be as far away from here as I possibly could. It didn't even matter. I still didn't get out of bed for at least a week. I'm not sure I ever would have if my friend, Matthias, hadn't forced himself into my apartment. You know, he didn't know that ghouls could get drunk."
"You didn't."
"Yeah, I called Itori and she found us a ghoul bar near where I was living. We got absolutely hammered that night. It was nice to just…forget everything for a while, but oh man, that hangover was one of the worst experiences of my life. There is no way that a human hangover is worse than a ghoul's. Matthias came back and crashed at my place and we spent the entire next day lying on my floor because we physically couldn't do anything else. Well, except take turns puking in the bathroom."
Touka laughed lightly. "I don't drink, so I'm afraid I don't know what it's like."
"Ugh, don't ever do it. I don't think it's worth it. It didn't really help much either. Nothing did really. Not even running all the way over to the States." She ran a hand through her hair. "I always do that. When things get confusing and overwhelming, I run. I did the same thing when Reo died. My uncle had lost a sister and a nephew and instead of being there for him, I ran away."
"You left to get stronger so that nothing like that would happen again."
"Maybe it was like that at first. But then it became an escape so I didn't have to deal with the pain. After Kaneki was taken and tortured, I left rather than help him through the aftermath of that kind of ordeal. And after we thought he was dead, I just left and abandoned you and Hinami."
Touka gently took her hand. "But instead of leaving when you found out what had really happened, you fought harder than ever."
"Look, I know you never really agreed with what I did," Corie told her. "But you have no idea how much I appreciate you still having my back when I really needed you."
"I wanted to help you, believe me. But I also just wanted him to be happy. When he came into the coffee shop for the first time, he seemed okay. So I decided to just leave him be. Even though it killed me to do that."
"I wish I was that strong. I thought about coming back all the time after that night. But every time I tried, I suddenly couldn't breathe. It's honestly a miracle I even came back at all."
"Corie, you are strong. You basically tortured yourself for a year just so you could look out for Kaneki. I could never have put myself through that."
"I could never tell him this, but…what if he really was better off not remembering? It hurt me so much to find out that he didn't know who I was that…I never really stopped to think about how much I might be hurting him."
Touka sighed and leaned her head back. "Do you know that the first Sasaki came to :re and drank some coffee here, he started crying?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think…neither of us were right and neither of us were wrong. Things like smell and taste can bring back memories that have long since been forgotten. That first sip reminded this dormant part of him of that feeling he got when he was at Anteiku. He may not have remembered me or you, but he did remember how he felt when he was around us. We made him feel safe. You made him feel safe. Not even Arima could make him forget that feeling.
"Corie, you could've run when you found out what had happened to him. But you didn't. You stayed so could you protect him even when he didn't know who you were."
"And look where it almost got me."
"He's alive now because of you. Regardless of whether I agreed with you or not, he might be dead if not for Lightning. Not only that, but you managed to talk Takizawa over to our side. That's huge. None of us would've been able to do that. And that's all because you decided to intervene three years ago."
"But he was brutally tortured because I helped him."
"We both know that would've been happened to him if you had intervened or not. Because of you, we have another ally. One like Amon who now knows what it's like to be an investigator and a ghoul."
Corie sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "You're right. No more running. I promise that I'm going to stay and fight. No matter what happens."
"Good. Because we're gonna need you. You're the only one who can really connect with these guys. Just like you did with Kaneki."
"Touka…when I was in Cochlea, one of the things I regretted most was not telling you how much I appreciated your friendship."
Touka gave her a small smile. "I knew."
Feeling a little suffocated in the small room after reliving so many painful memories, Corie took the secret exit and went through the tunnels until she was outside. Keeping her face covered with her hoodie, she bounded up the walls and landed on the roof of an especially tall building where she was out of sight of the citizens but could still see the beauty of Tokyo at night.
Corie sighed as she let the wind whip through her hair. Thousands of people went about their daily lives below her, oblivious to all of her daily struggles to simply stay alive.
Her stomach growled, signaling that she hadn't eaten in a long time, and she considered going on a hunt. It had been such a long time since she'd been able to seek out her prey rather than rely on the supply at :re, and as disturbing as it may be, there was something darkly thrilling about hunting a living human.
"Feeling hungry?" a sickly-sweet voice purred behind her.
Corie turned in surprise, wondering who could possibly be all the way up here. Her eyes widened when she saw a girl dressed in bandages and a pink hooded dress.
"Eto," she said softly.
"Hi," Eto giggled. "It's about time we meet…cuz."
"I've been looking for you for months. Why…are you just showing yourself to me now?"
"Why were you looking for me?"
"Well, for one, I…wanted to know where Dr. Kanou is. I thought you might know."
"He doesn't matter."
"Yes, he does. He can't keep trying to make half-ghouls. It's inhumane."
"What's inhumane is what the CCG did to you when they captured you."
"How do you know about that?"
"I know everything about you. Like how the CCG tortured you for information you'd already given up."
Corie shook her head. "I would really prefer to not talk about my time at the CCG."
"Aw, is it still a little raw for you?"
"You could say that. Eto, I…I've wanted to meet you for so long. I'm really glad you came to find me."
"Don't flatter yourself. You think I came to find you because I like you?"
Corie had been prepared for Eto to hate her, but the words still stung. "I'm…sorry. For everything you've been through. I never meant to hurt you."
"But you did. Why did my father abandon me and raise you? He was supposed to be mine."
"You have every right to be furious."
"He didn't even tell you about me!"
"I know. I wasn't happy that he kept you from me either. But it's not too late to fix things. No matter what, we're still family."
"I don't have a family."
"Yes, you do. I'm 27 years too late, but I'm still here."
Eto removed the pink dress and let several of the bandages fall from her body. Corie's eyes widened when familiar long green hair fell wildly around her bare shoulders.
"You…" she breathed. "You're that writer."
"Surprise!" Eto laughed, her mouth stretching into a wide, eerie grin.
"That day we went to the signing, you knew, didn't you?"
"Of course I did. How disrespectful that my own cousin didn't know who I was and couldn't even be bothered to read my books. It took all of my control to not kill you right then and there."
"You wanted to…kill me?"
One of her eyes gleamed red and black as she continued to grin. "Corie Masataka, I hate you. You stole everything that belonged to me. And so I'm going to steal everything from you."
Corie clenched her jaw. "Eto, I don't want to hurt my family, but I will do what I have to do in order to keep the people I care about safe."
Eto laughed. "You think you're a match for me? All that fancy traveling and training you've done will get you nowhere when up against me. You see, strength can only get you so far. Intelligence and imagination are what really matters when forming your kagune and more importantly, your kakuja. But you don't have one of those, do you?"
"Kakujas are not worth the price of your soul."
"And that's why you are weak. After I have taken everything from you, I am going to kill you. And trust me, I'm going to make it really slow."
"This isn't what your father wanted. He wanted us to save you."
Eto giggled again. "If he wanted me saved, he shouldn't have given me up in the first place. He can rot for eternity for all I care. But did you know that dear old dad is still alive?"
Corie swore her heart stopped beating for a moment. "That's not possible. I…I watched him die."
"You can try and save him if you'd like, but I'm not giving any hints. Enjoy the time you've got left, cuz, because I am going to make the rest of your short life hell."
Eto disappeared from the roof in a fit of maniacal laughs.
Corie sank to her knees in disbelief, unable to catch her breath.
Was her uncle…really alive?
Panicked, hurt, and confused, Corie retreated down into the tunnels as if blocking out the rest of the city would somehow help things make sense.
When someone lightly touched her shoulder, she jumped a foot in the air and nearly knocked the person clean out. She looked up to find Kaneki standing before her.
"Sorry," he smiled awkwardly. "I didn't mean to scare you." His brow furrowed in concern as he knelt down in front of her. "You're as white as a sheet. What happened?"
Corie swallowed thickly. "…Eto found me."
"What?! What did she say? Did she hurt you?"
"No, it's just…she hates me. I can't say I wasn't expecting that, but it's more than just resentment. She wants to kill me, and I don't think she's the kind of person to say that flippantly."
"Don't worry, I won't let her lay a hand on you."
"Kaneki…Eto Yoshimura…and Sen Takatsuki…are the same person."
"…What?"
"There's more. She said my uncle's still alive."
Kaneki's eyes widened. "But…I thought he died during the Owl Operation."
"So did I. And I know she could be lying…but what if she isn't? What if he really is still out there?"
"Then we'll find him. I promise."
Kaneki wrapped his arms around her protectively, wishing that he could take her pain on himself.
