Corie=28

Kaneki=23

More desperate than ever to find her uncle, Corie took to the rooftops each night and used her sensitive hearing and her heightened sense of smell to see if she could detect any familiar noises or scents that could lead her to where Eto might be keeping him.

Tokyo was a huge city so it was going to take a while and that was if her senses were even able to pick anything up.

If only Hinami was here. She would be able to do this a lot faster than Corie could. What Hinami lacked in strength, she made up for with her incredible perception. But it had been over a year since she'd seen the girl last. Corie didn't really know what she had been up to ever since the Owl Operation as their one meeting since then had been extremely short and incredibly vague. She just hoped she was okay.

During the day, Corie trained with Kaneki and soon enough, Amon joined in on their fights to get some additional training himself.

A couple weeks later, Touka decided to come down to the training area in the middle of one of their latest sessions.

And thus began one of the most incredible battles the world would never know.

For the first time, Amon was able to fight against a fellow ukaku. He and Touka had fought before, but it was entirely different when he had a kagune of his own.

It became very clear to Corie early on that this training session was a way for Touka to expel much of her built-up rage against investigators, Amon in particular. She'd never been one to release a grudge easily, so the fight was both cathartic for her and a much-needed kagune lesson for Amon.

One night, Corie raced down to Kaneki's room. "Kaneki!" she exclaimed, bolting inside. "I've got something!"

"What do you mean?"

"I picked up a familiar scent. It's weak, but it's the most I've gotten in two months. What if…what if it's him?"

"Then we're going to get him. Get the others."

Corie rounded up Touka, Irimi, Koma, Yomo, and Takizawa, and all of them followed Corie to where she had picked up Yoshimura's scent.

As they traversed further and further into the building, everyone on the lookout for possible floppies, they stumbled across someone familiar.

"You," Corie said softly.

The girl smirked, her one kakugan eye gleaming. "Father was right. You were going to come here. I'm afraid I can't let you go any farther."

"Wait a minute, there were two of you. Where's the other one?"

The black-clad girl clenched her jaw. "She's gone. The Doves killed her."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't want your pity."

"What's your name?"

The girl paused, confused that someone who had snapped her bone in half last time they'd come in contact was asking for her name. "Kurona," she finally answered. "My sister was Shirona."

"Those are pretty names."

"Stop it! Stop trying to act kind and innocent and like you actually care about me! If you could, you would kill me right now."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you hate my father."

"Kurona…Kanou isn't your father. Fathers care about their family. Did he show any grief or sympathy when your sister died?"

Kurona's face slackened. "…No. He didn't even try to save her."

"So why do you still insist on helping him?"

"Because he created me. He knows what is best for me."

"No, he doesn't. He knows what's best for himself. He will not hesitate to hurt you if it benefits him."

"You don't know that."

Corie turned to Takizawa, and the half-ghoul slowly walked forward to stand next to her. "Do you know who this is?" she asked.

"Should I?" Kurona demanded.

"His name is Takizawa. He used to be a Dove until Kanou got to him. Kanou sawed off his limbs and let them grow back repeatedly in order to strengthen his RC cells. He did that for months on end, and it was all against his will."

"No, you're-you're lying to me."

"I wish she was," Takizawa interjected. "But it's true. He'll do the same to you or worse if he thinks it will help his cause and make you stronger."

"No, Father would never do that to me."

"He can, and he will if you give him the chance," Corie said firmly. "But I'm not going to let that happen. Tell me where we can find him so we can stop these inhumane experiments of his. We have to."

Kurona sank to her knees in disbelief. "You're…lying…"

Corie took a few steps toward her. "I know what it's like to lose a sibling. I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone. It feels like you've lost an entire half of yourself. It must hurt that much more for you to have lost your twin. And Kanou sat here and let you grieve alone while he continued his experiments and killed more innocent people. He needs to be stopped or more people like your sister are going to die. Do you want others to feel the pain you're feeling right now?"

Kurona touched her chest which had begun to ache with sorrow and longing. "I miss her…" she said quietly. "She didn't deserve to die. It should've been me."

"Where is Kanou?"

Kurona pointed down the hall. "There. With more floppies."

"Will you help us?"

She extended her hand for the girl to take.

With tears sinking down her cheeks, Kurona took Corie's hand and stood back up. "I want him dead."

"So do we."

The group including their newest member continued down the hall until they came upon a large chamber filled with even more floppies. It was incredibly disturbing how many they had come across since their search for Kanou began and how many there probably still were around Tokyo that they didn't know about.

"Eto warned me that you were weak," a voice said from above them. Atop a balcony stood Kanou staring down at them with a cocky grin. "See how quickly you've turned away from your family."

"You are not my family," Kurona spat. "You let my sister die."

"She died because of her own weakness. It had nothing to do with me. If she had been stronger or better, she could've survived."

"Shut up!"

Kurona released her tentacled kagune, but Corie stopped her.

"Not yet," she said firmly. She looked up at the doctor. "What's in this for you? Why are you helping Eto?"

"It's a partnership. She brings me subjects for my experiments and I attempt to make more half-ghouls for her and Aogiri Tree." He smiled fondly at Kaneki. "You always were my greatest success. I've never been able to repeat your outstanding abilities on any of the others I've tried."

Both Kaneki and Takizawa felt sick as they were suddenly flooded with memories stemming from a direct result of Kanou's actions against them.

"I suppose now is the best time to try out my latest creation and see which of you is stronger."

All of the containers around them opened, releasing multiple floppies similar to the last bunch they'd faced. But one of them was not a floppy at all. It was a half-ghoul, ready to fight.

"Go on, Okahira," Kanou smirked. "Make Father proud."

This one wasn't like Takizawa or Kurona. His eyes were dead and soulless. Corie wouldn't be able to talk him down like she had the other two.

The half-ghoul known as Okahira released his kagune and began attacking them. Corie and Kurona faced him together while the others battled the other half-formed floppies.

Okahira was fast. Almost as fast as Corie.

Careful to keep her head clear, Corie stood still and flinched her shoulders. Her kagune whipped towards Okahira and knocked him off his feet and into the far wall.

Then she allowed Kurona and Takizawa to take her place while she fought off other floppies threatening to keep them from finishing the half-ghoul off.

The fight quickly came to an end with a disgusting squelch.

Corie was just about to go after Kanou when Irimi called her name.

She turned around and saw everyone looking at her with ashen faces filled with regret and sympathy. Her gaze fell on a glass case that a sheet had fallen from to reveal the contents inside.

Corie thought she was going to be sick.

Inside was her uncle's body.

She slowly went up to the case and lightly touched the cold glass that encased the man she loved so dearly.

Various tubes and wires extended from his back and flowed to another container.

He had already been an elderly man before, but it looked as if he had had another thirty years sucked right out of him.

He had been kept alive all this time for his kakuhou to be harvested and put into the floppies.

Horrified tears falling from her eyes, Corie slammed the glass with her kagune as hard as she could.

One side of the glass case shattered and Yoshimura's body slid out onto the floor along with all of the liquid now free from its casing.

She whipped off her jacket and used it to cover him. Every other person in their group followed suit and laid one piece of their clothing onto him.

"Uncle Yoshimura?" she whispered hoarsely as she held him in her arms. "Can you hear me?"

Her uncle's eyes fluttered open and he smiled weakly at her. Then his eyes closed again and his body completely stilled, unable to continue functioning after being released from the only thing keeping him alive.

Corie pulled him close and began wailing over his dead body. The hope she had once had that she might possibly be reunited with him had been ripped violently apart. Not only was he truly gone, but she had had to watch him die twice.

And she knew that was just what Eto had intended. It was all part of her plan to make her suffer.

Everyone stood back, allowing her to have her moment to herself with her last surviving blood family member or at least her last sane surviving blood family member.

"She knew," Corie choked out. "She knew that I wouldn't be able to save him."

She took a deep breath and stood up without bothering to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

With an eerily calm voice, she announced, "I am going to kill her."


Amon looked up when he noticed someone at the door. "Did you find out anything?"

Corie refused to meet his eyes as she swallowed nervously.

"What happened?"

She took a deep breath and finally looked at him. "Amon…there's something I never told you. The One-Eyed Owl…is my cousin."

Amon inhaled sharply.

"And…the other one, the one the CCG dubbed the Non-Killing Owl…is my uncle, her father." She noticed him look at her warily and quickly added, "I-I don't have a kakuja. I'm not like them."

Amon wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with this information. Corie had had plenty of opportunities to kill him so far and she hadn't, so he didn't think she had any ill will towards him. But to know that she was related to the monster who had slaughtered so many of his comrades?

Corie's bottom lip trembled as she took another deep breath. "Um…I thought my uncle had been killed the night of the Owl Operation, but I was wrong. He's been alive this entire time. Having his kakuhou harvested…for Kanou's experiments. And it was my cousin who did that to him. I wasn't able to prevent her from doing something so horrific to the man who helped raise me. Amon…you have his kakuhou. You're like this because of me. Because I couldn't stop them."

She got down onto her knees before him, bowing so low that her head nearly touched the floor.

With tears pouring down her face, she told him, "I'm not asking you to forgive me. I could never ask that of you. I just want you to know that I am so, so sorry. If you want to leave here and never see me or any of us again, I won't stop you. I'm sorry, Amon."

Amon awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He'd never really been that great with criers or women or especially crying women.

He wasn't sure how to process everything she'd said to him. He would've thought that someone in her position would revel in the idea of someone like him being turned into a half-ghoul. But then she'd always managed to throw him for a loop even back when he was human. Though it surprised him, it was clear she felt absolutely terrible about his situation especially now that she learned that her family was involved. She'd constantly done her best to help him adapt to it rather than taunt him or try to kill him for everything he'd done before this whole thing started.

With a sigh, he got down on the floor in front of her. "Corie," he said firmly, putting his hands on her elbows so he could lift her into a sitting position. "There's nothing to forgive. You can't be blamed for the actions of your family." Looking away from her, he added, "There's something I never told you either."

Corie wiped her eyes as she waited for him to go on.

"I never knew my birth parents. I grew up at an orphanage for twelve years. The priest who headed up the place was Donato Porpora. We all loved him like our own father. But when I was eight, I stumbled across him devouring a child. That was when I realized that our kind 'father' was really a ghoul and whenever a child was supposedly adopted, it meant he had been eaten. Even worse was when I learned that…he'd been serving me…appetizers."

He put his hand to his mouth, fighting down the bile rising up in his throat. He had never discussed this moment with anyone in his entire life. It was more difficult that he'd thought to talk about. He wasn't exactly sure why he chose to share it with Corie of all people, but something about her made it so easy to pour out everything he kept bottled up.

Corie bit her bottom lip. It was no wonder Amon grew to hate ghouls so much. Anyone would in that position.

"Even after I discovered his secret, he let me live. But at a cost. I had to start helping him. Eventually, the CCG found me and took me in and I started learning how to be an investigator. The point is…I don't want to be blamed for the actions of my father. So I won't blame you for the actions of your uncle and cousin. And if turning into a ghoul is what it takes for me to understand your kind and work alongside you, then it's what had to happen."

Corie met his eyes, having a new understanding of the investigator-turned-ghoul.

"Look…about Fueguchi and everything that happened with that case…" He faltered, that particular night still raw even after all this time. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive the ghouls who killed my partner that night, but…I understand why it happened. And I'm sorry. If I had known then what I know now…I never would've…"

Corie smiled sadly, painfully understanding how he felt. "I don't think I'm the one you should apologize to about that."

"I know. But I thought you deserved to hear it from me. If I ever see the Fueguchi girl again…I'll tell her the same."

She gently put her hand on his. "That means a lot, Amon. Really."


Corie looked around her, but there was nothing for miles.

"Honey."

She turned around and felt her throat tighten when she saw who was standing before her. "Mama?"

"Hi."

Her father walked up to stand beside his wife. "Hey, hon."

"Daddy?" Corie looked down at her feet in shame. "I'm…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect Reo."

"Baby, we were never mad about that," her mother said kindly.

Corie looked up in surprise. "You weren't?"

"No. You only feared that we would be. But we know you did everything you could. And we're so proud of how far you've come."

"Really?"

"They're right, sis."

Corie's heart lurched when Reo joined her mother and father. "Reo?"

"I know you fought your hardest to protect me. But it was my turn that night to protect you, and I did. About Kaneki, I'm really glad you guys have each other. I didn't want you to be alone, and I always hoped that you would have someone to look out for you."

Corie ran up to her family and hugged them all tightly. They hugged her back and sank down to their knees.

"I miss you all so much," she cried. "I don't know what to do without you. I need you now more than ever."

"I'm sorry we can't be there," her father told her. "You need to find strength in your allies and work with them to overcome this challenge."

"This never should've happened to you," her mother added. "I love my brother, but I am not going to let my daughter continue to pay for his mistakes."

"There's only one way for this to end," Corie said. "I need to kill Eto. She's too far gone for me to pull her back."

Her mother held her daughter's chin in her hand. "Stay strong, my beautiful girl. We love you so much. Don't ever forget that."


Corie awoke with tears pouring down her cheeks. She sat up in her bed and wiped her eyes.

After what she had experienced in Cochlea while under the effects of Jiro's toxin, she had been thinking about her family a lot and wondering if what she had seen was true. Now she understood how ridiculous those fears were and finally had some much-needed closure.

She slowly eased herself out of bed and made her way down the hall to Kaneki's room. Once there, she saw his door was open and he was gone.

He was probably out either training or coming to terms with what they had found tonight or trying to find out where Kanou had gone. She hoped he wasn't alone. If something happened, they might not know until it was too late.

She then walked in the opposite direction until she was in front of Amon's closed door.

After a slight moment of hesitation, she quietly knocked on it.

Amon answered it, looking as if he hadn't been getting much sleep either. "Everything okay?"

Corie crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't sleep."

Amon sighed. "How about I make you a cup of coffee?"

Corie smiled a little. "Hope it's better than the last time you tried."

"I think I'm getting the hang of it."

The two of them went up the stairs to the closed coffee shop. Corie took a seat at the counter while Amon went about gathering ingredients.

She watched him intently, internally giggling at how serious he was about making a simple beverage.

Once he finished, he placed a mug in front of her, awaiting her reaction.

Corie picked it up and slowly sipped it. "It's still not perfect," she remarked. "But it's a heck of a lot better than before."

A small smile crossed his face.

"What's this?" Corie teased. "Did the ever-stoic investigator just crack a smile?"

"I'm not a robot."

"No, but you are the most straight-faced person I've ever met. You realize we've known each for five months now and this is the first time I've seen you smile?"

"I haven't exactly had it easy."

"Neither have I. What's your next excuse?"

"I usually don't have reasons to smile."

"You don't need a reason, you egghead."

"Did you just call me an 'egghead'?"

"Yes, I did."

"No one's ever called me an 'egghead' before."

"Maybe not to your face."

Amon leaned onto the counter in front of her. "How do you do that? How are you so…positive all the time?"

Corie looked down at the mug in her hands. "…You have to find reasons to keep living. I'm not saying it hasn't been hard to do that. After I lost my brother and later when I thought I lost Kaneki, I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to really smile again. But after some time away from Japan and training in a bunch of other countries, I was able to focus on the things I still had like my uncle and Touka and the rest of the people at Anteiku. And now that Kaneki's back in my life, I have to be there to protect him when he needs me. What do you have, Amon?"

Amon looked towards the window. What did he have? Why did he continue living? What was the purpose anymore?

"My old colleagues at the CCG," he answered. "I want to protect them."

"Good. What else?"

"The comrades I've found here like Eyepatch and Rabbit."

"You might want to start calling them by their names."

"Right." He looked at her for a long moment before adding, "And I have my teacher. Who I have come to greatly respect."

Corie smiled bashfully at the compliment. "Teacher, huh? Aren't you, like, ten years older than me?"

"For your information, I am only 31 years old."

"Oh, so only three years older than me. Maybe if you weren't constantly so serious, you wouldn't look so old."

Corie laughed when he looked completely and utterly offended.

Meanwhile, Kaneki had just returned from his nightly training with Touka and really needed some coffee. He ran his hand through his hair as he came up the stairs but stopped when he heard voices. He peered around the corner to find Corie at the counter while Amon stood behind it fixing up some coffee for both of them.

Wait a minute, was Amon actually…smiling?

With a small smile of his own, Kaneki returned downstairs.