Corie=27
Kaneki=22
The group from :re comprised of Kaneki, Corie, Touka, Irimi, Koma, Yomo, Tsukiyama, and their newest recruit Takizawa headed inside an old hospital that had been slowly decreasing in use due to insufficient funds.
Because certain activities happened in the basement of which only a select few of the staff were aware.
"Let's split up," Kaneki said. "We'll cover more ground. I can't be gone too long or the other investigators might realize something's up. Touka, Takizawa, you'll be with me. Koma, Irimi, Yomo, you guys take Tsukiyama and keep him in line. Corie, I know you're fully capable of handling yourself."
"Watch your back," Corie said. "If you need me, call for me."
Kaneki nodded and took off down one of the passages with Touka and Takizawa at his side.
Taking a deep breath, Corie maneuvered through a dark passageway, constantly alert for anything that might desire to harm her in her search for Kanou and her cousin.
Eerie groaning reached her ears and within seconds, the passage flooded with what she assumed were floppies. However, these creatures were much more advanced than the things they had battled on their last raid.
Corie unleashed her kagune and began fighting the multiple floppies, apologizing as she killed each one despite knowing their minds no longer registered anything. These innocent souls didn't deserve this fate. At least they could rest easy now.
Breathing heavily, she stood up amidst the carnage and tried to see if any of them were still moving.
Suddenly, something shoved her from behind into the opposite wall.
There was no way that had been a floppy. Floppies didn't have nearly that much strength. Well, none except for Amon but he'd been caged up separately and only released as a last resort.
Corie frantically turned around to see her newest adversary.
Her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.
A person with the eyes stitched open and the mouth stitched closed.
And then she realized who the person was.
"Oh, Kanae," she whispered as she removed her mask. "Who did this to you?"
Kanae attacked her with his sharp purple kagune, not bothering to answer her.
Corie quickly dodged the attack. "Kanae, I don't want to hurt you."
"Well, I want to hurt you," he said hardly, the stitches restricting his ability to talk properly.
While Kanae continued attacking her, Corie urgently asked, "Who did this?!"
"Why do you care?!"
"Look, I know we never got along, but that doesn't mean I ever wanted this to happen to you. Just tell me who did this!"
"It doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you like she wanted me to."
"Wait, did Eto do this?"
"The One-Eyed girl, she told me the truth about you." Kanae unleashed a flurry of strikes against her with her while screaming, "Töten! Töten! Töten! Töten! TÖTEN!"
"Kanae, stop!" Corie pleaded as she tried to dodge all of the strikes which was starting to prove incredibly difficult. She'd never seen Kanae so angry before. "You've been with her all this time? Tsukiyama's been so worried about you!"
Kanae's eyes widened and he paused in his attacks. "Master Shuu…worried about me?"
"Yes. He's here now. You can see him. He's pretty much back to his normal self."
"He's…better now?"
"Yeah. Ever since he found out that Kaneki is alive, he's been in a much better mood. He's even helped on a couple of our raids."
Kanae's hopeful look once again disappeared beneath intense hatred. "Kaneki! That STUPID BOY!"
Unable to hurt Kanae despite her dislike of him, Corie quickly ran down the passageway before either of them had the chance to kill each other.
Corie's head began to spin. Why would Eto do such a horrible thing to someone like Kanae? What had he ever done to her? Sure, he did some pretty questionable things for the Tsukiyama family, but all he ever wanted was for Tsukiyama to be okay.
She frantically searched for someone from :re to get some help since she'd never be able to fight Kanae without hurting him on her own. Tsukiyama would be the ideal choice, but she would take anyone at this point.
She started to round a corner but very quickly had to step back. "Oh, frack!" she whispered when she saw people who were most definitely not part of her group.
It was the Quinx squad.
"Oh, this is bad," she said to herself. "This is very, very, very bad."
What on earth were the Quinx doing here?! How did they know about this place? Why were they here now of all times?
If they all weren't careful, Kaneki would have his cover blown and they all would try to kill him. The CCG couldn't have a half-ghoul like Kaneki wandering around when he'd been working with them for over two years. That kind of knowledge in his hands was pretty dangerous for them.
Corie put her mask back on and quickly tried to find another path that didn't lead to Kanae or the Quinx.
"Yomo!" she called upon stumbling across the white-haired ghoul. "We've got multiple problems."
"What is it?" he asked.
"There are Doves here. More specifically, Sasaki's squad, the Quinx. I don't know how they found this place or why they're here, but we can't let them find Kaneki."
"What's the other problem?"
Corie faced Tsukiyama with a somber expression. "…I found Kanae. It's…it's not good."
Tsukiyama's face tightened. "Where is he now?"
"I don't know. Eto got to him and he's insistent on killing me to fulfill her orders. I was hoping…you might be able to talk him down. You're the only one he'll listen to."
"I can try."
"We need to find Kaneki and warn him about his squad being here then we need to get out of here. We can try to find information on Kanou later."
They all quickly attempted to find Kaneki before the Quinx did.
However, unbeknownst to them, they were already too late.
Kaneki just barely registered something being thrown from behind him. He threw himself around Touka to protect her from the blow.
A knife embedded itself into his shoulder, and he cried out in pain as he and Touka fell to the ground.
"Kaneki!" Touka exclaimed.
"So it's true," Mutsuki said lowly. "You really aren't Sasaki anymore, are you?"
Kaneki ripped the knife out of his flesh and tossed it aside. The wound quickly healed itself. "What are you doing here?" he asked without turning around. His face was hidden by his mask, but it didn't matter. They knew who he was.
"Maman?" Saiko said quietly.
Kaneki internally winced at the girl's heartbroken voice. He had never meant to hurt them like this…especially not Saiko who needed him so much.
"We suspected you were being less than honest for weeks now," Urie told him. "So tonight when you disappeared again without telling us why, we decided to follow you."
"You shouldn't be here."
"You know the rules. If you were to get your memories back, the CCG would have to eliminate you. Until backup comes, I guess we'll have to do the job."
Kaneki looked Touka firm in the eyes. "Run."
Touka glared at him. "I am not leaving you."
The half-ghoul sighed, knowing that it would be pointless to try to talk her out of staying with him. And if he was being totally honest, he didn't really want her to go. "Make sure they don't see your face."
"I know that, idiot."
Touka flipped her hood up to shield herself even more from the Quinx members. Releasing their large kagunes, Kaneki, Touka, Takizawa, and the Quinx squad prepared to battle.
Meanwhile, as the other half of the group searched for Kaneki, a flash of purple hair appeared at the end of the hall.
"Kanae!" Tsukiyama called running after the other ghoul.
"Tsukiyama!" Corie cried. She turned to Yomo, Koma, and Irimi. "I'll go after him. Find Kaneki and the others and get them out of here."
Corie quickly followed in the direction Tsukiyama had gone and soon found herself up on the roof of the building.
Tsukiyama stood in shock as he saw what had been done to the poor man who had worked for him and become one of his closest confidantes.
Unfortunately, Eto was there too.
She giggled and spryly hopped next to Kanae. Then she transformed into her terrifying ginormous kakuja form.
"Tsukiyama, get out of here!" Corie ordered. "Now!"
"Do you honestly think I'm going to let you face this thing by yourself?"
"She's my cousin! This is between us!"
"I can't forgive someone who did something so heinous to one of my beloved servants." His purple kagune wrapped around his arm. "I assure you that you will pay for this!"
"Tsukiyama, don't!"
With almost laughable ease, Eto knocked Tsukiyama into the far wall, causing a large indentation to appear in it.
"Master Shuu!" Kanae screamed. She furiously turned to Eto. "You promised you wouldn't hurt him!"
"I never make any promises," Eto giggled.
Tsukiyama stood up again only for Eto to knock him across the roof once more.
Corie quickly formed her kagune, but there were too many things happening at once that overwhelmed her and took away her clear head rendering her kagune essentially useless.
Even if she tried any attacks, her strikes would be weak and uncoordinated and she feared that would just make everything worse.
Kanae glared at her and began to fight her again. "You! You're the one who brought Master Shuu here! This is your fault!"
Corie quickly poured all her focus into her kagune so she could protect herself without hurting him. "Kanae, stop! Please!"
"You have always been in my way. You have always interfered when I was supposed to be the one helping Master Shuu!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how much being by his side meant to you!"
"Kanae…" Tsukiyama said weakly. "Stop…she isn't your enemy."
Kanae stopped mid-lunge and looked over at him. "…Master Shuu?"
Before he could say anything else, Eto brutally attacked him once again until he laid across the roof in a bloody lump. For all his amazing strength, even he could not defend himself against someone as powerful as the One-Eyed Owl.
"No!" Kanae cried. "Master Shuu!" He abandoned the fight with Corie and attempted to attack Eto. "I will not let you hurt my master!"
"Get out of my way," Eto replied calmly.
While Kanae was in midair, Eto knocked her into the wall even harder than she had with Tsukiyama.
"Kanae…" Tsukiyama said weakly.
Corie looked at her deranged cousin in horror. "What have you done? What has Kanae ever done to you? Why would you do something so cruel to him?!"
Eto pulled back half of her kakuja form to reveal her grinning face. "I believe you mean 'her'."
"What?"
Corie looked at Kanae in disbelief.
'Her'? Kanae?
"So that's why you care about Tsukiyama so much," she said. "You're not just devoted to him. You're in love with him."
"Haise Sasaki," Kanae growled. "Ken Kaneki. They ruined Master Shuu and took away the man who cared for me and tried to reassure me when my family had been slaughtered. I hate him almost as much as I hate you! And after I've killed you, I will kill him!"
"Kanae, I'm so sorry. If I had known…"
Eto reformed her kakuja and picked Tsukiyama up in one of her giant claws. "I'm sorry, but the only one who is going to kill Corie Masataka is me," the kakuja growled.
Then she flung the weakened ghoul over the side of the building.
"MASTER SHUU!" Kanae screamed, getting up and diving after him.
Corie raced to the ledge. "Kanae!"
Falling the long way down to the ground below, Kanae wrapped her arms around Tsukiyama's waist protectively.
"Kanae…" Tsukiyama mustered out. "Let go…save yourself."
"Nein!" Kanae screamed. "Even if my body is smashed, even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will protect you! You mean everything to me! May I perhaps express a wish? I wish you had said my name. My true name. I don't care if you hear me. I'm not making this wish to you. I am screaming it to the world. My feelings. I am screaming it before my life ends. Oh, my dear Shuu. I've dreamed of holding you in my arms for so long. Vader, Mutter, meine Brüder, I beg your forgiveness. I beg for yours as well, Master Shuu. I've shamed you! I fell in love with you and I never had the right!"
"That's not true," Tsukiyama interjected with a sad smile. He gently put his hands to Kanae's face. "And no one will punish you…Karren."
Kanae…Karren smiled through her tears as she put her hands overtop of Tsukiyama's. She wrapped her kagune around him and flung him aside through the trees to soften his fall he would survive.
This life was cruel, Karren thought to herself as the ground came nearer and nearer. For I was unable to live as myself. This life was wonderous. Because I was able to die as myself. Is it bad…for me to be so happy?
Karren hit the ground with a painful crash that made Corie wince from her position against the ledge. She sank to the ground in despair at what she had just witnessed.
Kanae…Karren…
Corie felt so guilty for everything she had put her through in the past when the whole time, she was struggling just as much as her. If only she had known about her true feelings for Tsukiyama, she could've helped her work through them. She could've offered her support instead of fighting her all the time. She could've done so many things differently.
"You didn't even like her," Eto taunted from behind her, her face exposed from inside the kakuja as she laughed at her pain. "You have no idea what I have planned for you. When I'm done, you are going to be begging me to kill you."
"Eto…" she said softly. "I'm sorry…but please don't hurt anyone else because of me. Please."
With a maniacal giggle, Eto disappeared from the roof leaving Corie to wonder what other sadistic things she was going to do to her.
Corie stood up and looked over the ledge. Tears formed in her eyes at the sight of Karren's mangled body below that no amount of regeneration was going to save her from.
Had Eto really put her through all that…just to hurt Corie?
And if she was willing to hurt someone Corie had never even gotten along with, what was she going to do to all of the people Corie cared deeply about?
Was there anything she could do to stop her? Even if she left the country, Eto would continue slaughtering everyone until Corie had to come back to put a stop to it. And Corie had promised that she wouldn't just run when things got hard.
Should she just kill herself now before Eto could in order to spare everyone?
No, Eto might kill everyone anyway in anger that she hadn't been able to kill Corie herself.
If what Eto said was true and her uncle really was still alive, he was currently her only hope at getting out of this mess alive. He might be the only one who would be able to talk her down.
She had to find him.
Meanwhile, down below in the building, Yomo, Koma, and Irimi joined Kaneki, Touka, and Takizawa in the fight against the Quinx. While the Quinx were pretty good at holding their own, they were also very outnumbered against some very experienced half- and full-ghouls.
"We trusted you!" Mutsuki screamed. "I trusted you! And all this time, you've been helping them!"
Kaneki looked at Mutsuki calmly. "I did what I had to do. I'm sorry."
Saiko looked at him crushed. "First Miss Reina, and now Maman?"
"Whose side are you on?!" Shirazu yelled. "Was everything you've ever done for us just a lie?!"
Mutsuki threw one of his knives at Kaneki, but Kaneki easily deflected it with his kagune.
"We can't stay here," Touka said firmly. "We've gotta find Corie and Tsukiyama and get out of here."
"Go," Kaneki said. "I'll hold them off."
"I told you, I'm not leaving you. Either I stay here and fight with you, or you come with us."
Kaneki sighed. Why did this girl have to be so disagreeable? And why did he have to find that so endearing?
Using a move Corie had taught him, Kaneki threw one of his kagune tentacles to knock over each one of the Quinx members enough to stun them without hurting them.
That was their one and only window.
All of the :re ghouls quickly escaped from the room before the Quinx had the chance to regenerate and follow them.
They raced up to the roof where Corie had last gone while looking for Tsukiyama and Kanae. When they arrived, they found her on her knees by the ledge of the blood-covered roof looking hurt and dazed.
"Corie!" Kaneki exclaimed as he raced to her side.
"Tsukiyama…" she said softly as she pointed to the grouping of trees next to the building. "Help him…"
He turned to Yomo, Koma, and Irimi. "Go down and find him!"
Without hesitation, the three ghouls jumped off the roof and used their kagunes to make it down to the trees quickly and safely to retrieve the injured member of their party.
"Did you find Kanae?" Kaneki asked.
Closing her eyes, Corie wordlessly pointed to the ledge.
Kaneki looked over to the ground far below and made out Kanae's smashed body on the pavement. He winced and turned away.
Touka slowly kneeled next to Corie and gently touched her shoulder.
"It's my fault," Corie whispered. "She died because of me. Eto did all of that to her just to hurt me." She looked up at Kaneki desperately. "We have to find my uncle. He's the only one left who can stop her."
"Mr. Yoshimura is still alive?" Touka said in disbelief.
"I don't know. Maybe. I hope so."
Corie walked into the Tsukiyama household.
It was oddly and uncomfortably quiet.
She could hear quiet opera music playing as she neared his bedroom. When she entered, she saw Tsukiyama sitting against the wall with his hand over his face.
Corie slowly slid down against the wall to sit next to him. "I'm…I'm sorry about Kanae. Um, I mean Karren."
Tsukiyama didn't say anything.
"I've…I've never seen you like this. I guess I always thought that you only cared about yourself and your ridiculous appetite. But…you have feelings just like the rest of us." She gently put her hand on his. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save her. I'm sorry my cousin did that to her."
Tsukiyama took his hand away from his face, but he still didn't say anything.
"Did…did you know?"
"Of course I did," he finally spoke. "I just didn't let on that I did because I knew how important it was to her to keep it a secret. But maybe if I had just taken the time to show her that it didn't matter…"
"I wish I'd known. Things could've been so different."
"It appears we're both going to live with regrets, mon amie."
Corie sighed. She had never wished for Tsukiyama to be wrong more than she did in that moment.
"Look, I'm also sorry that I was always so rough whenever I came to see you," she added.
Tsukiyama gave her a pained smile. "Someone had to do it, darling. I'm sorry too. For not…trying."
Corie never thought she would hear Tsukiyama apologize to her. Under different circumstances, she probably would've teased him for it.
But now, all she could do was sit in silence with him as they listened to the mournful opera music fill the quiet space left behind by a devoted servant and friend.
That night, Corie tossed and turned in her bed, whimpering and crying out in pain. The noises woke Amon next door who had already been having trouble falling asleep.
He slowly got up out of bed and exited his room to peek inside Corie's.
It was clear she was in the throes of a terrible nightmare. Should he wake her up or would she be mad that he came into her room without permission? Would she even want to know that he had seen her like this? Would she hurt him if he woke her up when she was so agitated?
Before he could come to a decision, he heard another door open down the hall and he quickly hid around the corner.
A young man with white hair briskly stepped inside Corie's room.
Is that…Eyepatch? Amon thought to himself.
He slowly inched towards the room again, careful to make his footsteps silent.
Inside the room, Kaneki gently took Corie into his arms and allowed her to slowly ease herself out of the nightmare.
"It's okay," he said softly. "You're not alone. I'm here. It's okay."
Corie clutched onto him as she tried to catch her breath, using his touch to pull her out of the dream and into reality.
Amon wondered what the two of them had been through tonight. Corie had not been her usual charming self and it was pretty disconcerting since not much ever seemed to faze her. Whatever she'd gone through had shaken her to her core.
She'd explained to him previously how Eyepatch had lost all his memories and only recently gained them back though he was feigning that he was still Haise Sasaki in order to get them the information they needed. But tonight, she'd told him in very few words that Eyepatch would be moving down here in another one of the rooms with them. Amon guessed that he only did that because his cover had been blown at the CCG.
What would they do now without their informant?
"How…how the tables have turned," Corie panted with a somber smile. She fell back against the bed exhausted but very much awake. "I don't know about you, but I really don't feel like sleeping. Wanna go train for a little while?"
"Sure, as long as you go easy on me."
"Don't worry, I'm too stressed out to go full strength tonight."
When he heard them getting off the bed, Amon quickly returned to his own room before he got caught eavesdropping.
He listened as the loud main door at the end of the hall slammed shut, signaling the two of them were gone.
He took a seat on the bed and ran his hands through his short black hair.
Seeing that kind of interaction between two ghouls…seeing Eyepatch's tender voice and his gentle touch…seeing how comfortable the two of them were with one another…seeing their relationship with his own eyes…
There was…so much more to ghouls than he had believed.
