Thank you for being patient, and I loved reading the reviews you wrote!

I'll answer a few of the questions I got while writing this chapter in the author's notes below.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it!

With Chie Hori being sent out on a mission to deliver a shipment of medical supplies and life support machines over to :re, Tsukiyama stood beside the bed housing his critically injured cousin. Beside Kanae's unconscious body was Tsukiyama's knight and the young woman's savior, Matsumae, who despite her agonizing injuries, was doing her best to perform CPR on the German ghoul.

"Stay calm Master Shuu; I'm sure Mistress Hori will arrive within any moment," Matsumae said in a calm reassuring voice, while performing chest compressions on Kanae. Even without her pressed-in eyes fully healed yet, Matsumae's medical education while attending university along with the experience she had under her belt while being in service to the Tsukiyama family made her an expert at providing medical treatment to the point where she didn't need her eyes.

Although Tsukiyama wanted nothing more than to hold his cousin's hand in a futile attempt to comfort her, he knew better than to interfere with Matsumae's work. Still, that didn't make it any easier to stand by while he watched his beloved cousin's life hanging by a thread. "Karen… I-"

Speaking her true name, Tsukiyama was interrupted by the sound of tires screeching just outside the coffee shop. Quickly standing up, the young ghoul felt his dread being washed away by the refreshing wave of hope that came over him.

"That must be Chie…! Please stay here with Karen, Matsumae! I'll make sure that you get those supplies!" Tsukiyama yelled out with gusto and determination in his voice, before reluctantly leaving Kanae's side to sprint down the upstairs hallways and toward the staircase leading to the main entrance of the shop.

'Hang in there, Karen! You're a strong woman… Just stay alive long enough, for-!?' Upon exiting the air-conditioned interior of the coffee shop to be brazed with the warm summer night air outside, Tsukiyama's heroic thoughts were cut short upon seeing the Rolls Royce that he knew belonged to the infamous Maliko Abe.

'... What in the world is she doing here?! What reason does she have to… Wait…?!' Tsukiyama thought bewildering to himself, after having swiftly opened the backseat door to reveal a short woman who was uncontrollably sobbing, a young transgendered man who shook violently with wide bloodshot eyes staring back at him, and lastly, the gruesome sight of Haise's mutilated body laying flat on top of blood soaked seat cushions.

"H-Haise…?!" Tsukiyama uttered out in horror, before quickly being shoved to the side by the coffee shop's manager, who came rushing to Haise's side.

"Son of a bitch…! Shuu! Help us carry them inside!" Touka shouted back with the authority of a military commander in her determined voice, as she carefully picked Haise up bridal-style out of the car.

With the chaos unfolding before him, Tsukiyama was able to keep his wits about him long enough to help Saiko and Mutsuki out of the vehicle before handing each qunix off to both Nishiki and Yomo, who promptly escorted them into the cafe.

"Yo, 'Fancy Pants'," Shirazu called out in a stressed voice, as he stumbled out of the driver's seat, "there's a chick in the passenger's seat! Be careful, she's hurt really bad!"

"Y-Yes, of course…!" Tsukiyama said with a quick nod as he reached down to open the front passenger's door. Having been unable to see who the woman was behind the tinted glass windows, it was to Tsukiyama's unpleasant surprise to realize it was none other than the same woman who had pushed him off of the roof.

To his satisfaction however, it seemed to Tsukiyama that karma had finally caught up to the One Eyed Owl. Eto wasn't breathing, and the dull look in her half-open eyes and the vast amount of blood stained underneath her mouth and nostrils made Tsukiyama smile sinisterly at her.

Although he took pleasure in seeing Eto being on death's door, Tsukiyama figured he might as well take the opportunity to finish her off while he still had a chance. Scooping her up in a bridal-style, Tsukiyama began to walk over to the entrance of :re, while silently waiting for the opportune time to 'accidentally' trip on the way back inside, where he'd plan to break her neck and make it look like an accident.

The way Tsukiyama justified it to himself, not only did she deserve to die, but by the looks of it, he'd be doing her a favor by putting her out of her misery. 'If she's not already dead… This bitch doesn't even have a pulse.' The ghoul chuckled quietly to himself.

However, just as he was a meter away from the opened door, it was then that Tsukiyama realized who had been keeping the door open. Looking at him with a knowing and disapproving look on his well-aged face, Tsukiyama's father stood at the door while locking eyes with his son.

"Come, son… Bring the poor woman inside to be cared for; Chie's going to be here any second, and I'm going to need you to help me bring the supplies in for Matsumae and the rest of us to use," Mirumo said calmly in a warm voice, while giving his son a pleading look behind his eyeglasses. "Please son… I know she has a lot to answer for, but… Hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have been able to rescue Karen, Matsumae, and you."

The opportunity was right there for Tsukiyama, and it seemed to him to be perhaps the most tempting thing to him in his life. Eating gourmet food was one thing, but to Tsukiyama, the expression of vengeance being a dish best served cold was what filled his head as he stared down at Eto's pale and cold body.

"... She's probably already dead anyways," Tsukiyama said begrudgingly with a solemn and stone faced expression on his face, before making his father somewhat proud by reluctantly sparing Eto's life.

Wanting to throw what he thought to be Eto's corpse on the table closest to the coffee shop's inside trash can, Tsukiyama decided to make haste after looking over his shoulder to see Chie behind the wheel or a large white diesel truck driving down the road toward them.

The night of CCG's major operation had cut deep strike at the supposed image Urie had of himself, with his pride and ego having been shattered all within the matter of a single week.

Matsuri had demoted Urie the day after the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation, and his pay had been reduced to what could have been considered just under minimum wage for Tokyo. Living in poverty, Urie felt more like a slave to CCG than ever before; especially since his contract made it illegal for him to resign without prison time.

And by prison, Urie knew that meant 'Cochlea'.

His kagune had been scheduled for removal after Matsuri had used his weight within the CCG to request the investigator's immediate transfer into the Bureau Office, after being evaluated as 'no longer fit for duty'.

After being given that notice the morning after the operation, Urie had also been informed by the special class investigator with a vendetta that his team had gone missing the night.

According to what CCG had on record, and word of mouth after he had spent most of the week going through interview-after-interview, his squad members were listed as 'Missing in Action'. Matsuri even went out of his way to suggest that they were probably dead, and that they should start on a new project completely.

If all of that wasn't enough for Urie to handle, the news of Haise's death is what kept him up during most of those nights during the week after his life started to go downhill.

From what Urie had heard from the rumors that ran rampant in the Main Office during the day he was packing his belongings, all that the clean up crew were able to recover from the aftermath of Eto's kakuja were mere scraps of what remained of Haise and the Aogiri Tree's leader.

Before leaving the Main Office, Akira Mado had handed him an enclosed invitation for a funeral she planned; a funeral for Haise she had to pay out of pocket due to CCG refusing to help cover the costs, due to needing to pay for 'real investigators' funerals'.

'Ones with family,' as CCG had put it within their written response.

At the end of the week on a Sunday, Urie had reluctantly chosen to carpool with Juuzou to meet Mado in the cemetery. The cloudy summer sky above was covered in grey, seemingly like it would rain within any moment as Urie and Juzuou both walked over to the lone gravestone that had only three people preparing to pay their respects.

Standing by the closed casket had been purchased by the white-haired man standing beside her, Mado stared solemnly down at the marble container that held whatever remained of Haise's body.

Hearing Juuzou beginning to get congested from what Urie assumed to be him holding back tears, he watched as the unusually well-dressed young man raised his sleeved arm up to his face to wipe away his eyes before trotting faster ahead to where the casket was.

Mado silently gazed down with a saddened look in her eyes while Juuzou silently mourned for Haise's passing, the emotions that Urie felt while standing beside Arima and Ihei was a strange combination of catharsis and resentment.

While Urie felt saddened by the loss of his squad leader, he also felt his negative reservations about Haise coming to mind. Considering Haise to end up being far weaker than he had expected, Urie had wanted to blame Haise for being unable to save himself.

But the more Urie thought about it as he watched Ihei place a bouquet of flowers down on Haise's casket before gently kissing it, the more Urie began to fixate on his own weaknesses.

'If… I was stronger...I could have eliminated Noro fast enough to come to Haise's aid. I could have prevented this… I could have been a hero, and Mutsuki, Saiko, and Shirazu would have been fine.' Urie thought bitterly to himself, while feeling his hands beginning to clench up into fists. 'Haise shouldn't have been alone…'

Spiraling more-and-more into his own internal fit of self doubt and hatred for his not only own weakness, but the weakness of those who he had trusted, Urie had been so lost in his own unforgiving mind that by the time the priest had arrived to give his sermon, the funeral service had already come to a close.

"Thank you for coming, everyone," Akira said with a slight smile on her tired looking face, as she stood by the gravestone where the casket had been already lowered into the Earth. "While I appreciate all of you being here, and for the financial help you've provided to make this possible... I have to admit, I'm actually pretty pissed off that only four out of the hundred or so invitations I sent out ended up getting accepted… You wouldn't believe some of the excuses I've heard."

"A bunch of assholes is what they are…" Juuzou muttered under his breath, which made Mado nod in agreement.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Suzuya... But anyway, since there's only five of us in total, I'd figured we'd meet up somewhere for dinner tonight. If none of you can make it, don't feel guilty about it; you've already done more than anyone else did." Mado said invitingly, before respectfully looking around to see if anyone would object or be attending.

"Count me in!" Juuzou blurted out with a lot of gusto and conviction in his voice, being the first of the five to speak up.

"I'd be honored to accept joining you for dinner," Ihei said in a far more gentler and quiet voice than Juuzou.

"... I'll come too," Arima said in his usually calm demeanor. "I insist also on being the one to pay for the bill as well, so don't worry about bringing any money tonight." The White Reaper offered with a gentle smile across his lips, while respectfully giving Urie a subtle nod.

Humbled by the man's respectful gesture of paying for his meal without explaining his reason for doing so, Urie did his best to push aside his emotions before locking eyes with Mado. "I'll be able to attend tonight's dinner as well (but not pay for it)."

Before Mado could reply to everyone expressing their eagerness to attend her dinner, Juuzou let out an uncomfortable chuckle before awkwardly shuffling over to Urie's side. Standing on the tippy toes of his black dress shoes, Juuzou ignored the odd looks he was receiving from the others as he leaned in closely toward Urie's ear.

"Psst…. Urie…!" Juuzou whispered obnoxiously loud enough for everyone to hear him clearly, despite him trying to speak privately to only Urie. "I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't think Mado's talking about meeting up at McDonald's or anywhere cheap tonight…! I know you're broke as a joke, but I can pay for your meal…! Just, get like, an appetizer or something cheap like a burg-"

"-Suzuya, we can hear you," Mado interrupted, as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest. "Arima already said he was paying for everyone's meal… Besides, I would have paid for dinner anyways."

Rather than looking embarrassed, Juuzou instead let out a sigh of relief before lowering himself back onto the ground. "Oh thank goodness…! I'm actually all out of money!"

Curious as to why Juuzou was offering to pay for Urie in the first place before claiming to be broke, Ihei raised an eyebrow before asking the young investigator, "How were you going to pay for Urie's meal anyways, let alone your own?"

"Probably go fish around in some water fountains for coins, or just pickpocket someone well dressed," Juuzou replied back with a shrug, which seemed to visibly bother Ihei.

While Juuzou and Ihei began to discuss the morality behind the methods that the young outlandish man had in mind when it came to getting a quick buck, Arima stared silently at Urie.

Watching the emotionally vulnerable and conflicted young investigator through his eyeglasses, Arima had one thing in mind that the other members of V and Washuu clan hadn't seen in Urie: absolute hatred.

Curling his fingertips against the soft white fabric sheet that covered his bare naked body, Haise was beginning to awaken again from what felt like the eighth time that morning. His entire body from head-to-toe had felt stiff, and each time he'd tried to stir up from his slumber, Haise ended up only falling asleep once more.

However, for every time he had awakened, Haise felt closer-and-closer towards being able to have control of his body once again. When it came time for him to be able to begin moving his hand once again, the sense of excitement and accomplishment that stirred within him faded away once he began to take notice of his surroundings.

Beginning to take notice of the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor that rested on the wooden bedside table next to him, Haise visually followed the white wire that broke off into smaller ones until he noticed that they led to underneath his blanket.

Slowly and carefully, Haise moved his arms out of the covers to peel back the blanket that covered him. Not only did he notice that his chest had several sticky pads connected to the EGK, but further down past his abdomen, he couldn't help but feel shocked to find that he had been connected to a catheter.

His mind began to race, and the heart monitor began to become more frantic as he realized that he was connected to several pieces of life support machines ranging from IV's to a tube that caught his saliva.

Removing himself from each piece of equipment as painlessly as he could, Haise ignored the mess of tubes and wires he left behind on the bed as shot out of bed in a disoriented panic. However, the one-eyed ghoul didn't get very far once he was out of bed.

Having not used his legs for a period of time, Haise immediately came crashing down onto the floor without having the reaction time needed to catch himself. Groaning to himself, Haise laid there against the cool wooden-floor of the bedroom with his exhaustion slowly creeping back onto him.

Unable to pick himself up from the floor, time began to lose all its meaning to Haise as he remained on the floor for what seemed like hours, dazing in and out of conscience while seeing visions of a fourteen-year old girl with brown hair sitting down with a book in her small hands within the room before him.

While he watched the apparition of the girl reading the book that looked extremely familiar to him, Haise was snapped back into reality by the sound of a door opening and shutting loudly behind him.

"Maman…?! Maman! MAMAN!" Feeling Saiko practically hopping on top of him, Haise felt himself being crushed underneath her bone-breaking hug as she profusely began to shed tears of joy. "Maman…! I-I can't believe it…! Y-You're finally up…! I-I…I'm sorry Maman…!" Saiko said with a flustered and embarrassed look on her face, after realizing that the man she was on top of wasn't even dressed.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed of seeing him naked; after all, she was the one who saw his body the most, since she was the one giving him sponge baths. No, what embarrassed Saiko wasn't the fact that Haise wasn't naked, but the fact that she hadn't thought to dress him yet.

Without even bothering to ask why he didn't just wait for someone to help him out of bed, Saiko helped Haise back onto the corner of the bed to have him sit down while she made her way to the bedroom's oak dresser. Opening the bottom drawer, Saiko took out a folded pair of underwear, a black turtleneck sweater, some slacks, socks, and a white trench coat before returning to Haise.

"Maman, I'm going to help you get dressed now, okay? I'll try to be gentle, but let me know if I'm being too rough, okay?" Saiko said slowly, before beginning to slide each article of clothing onto Haise as professionally as she could, all without trying to manhandle him too much.

Having been silent while his groggy mind was still trying to comprehend what he was doing in a bedroom that didn't recognize, it took Haise a few minutes to take notice that Saiko wasn't wearing her usual assortment of garments.

Or at least, what he figured to be a difference from her usual wardrobe, since Haise was finding it a bit hard to remember what she exactly used to wear.

Instead of some baggy clothes or her CCG uniform, Saiko wore a white buttoned-down shirt with a maroon ascot around her collar. From what Haise could tell, the only article of clothing that Saiko kept from her CCG uniform was her black slacks that were obscured by the apron she wore around her waist.

Her blue hair was noticeably more neat and groomed, and was kept in a tighter array of pigtails. Lastly, not that Haise would ever point it to her, but she looked a bit… Rounder at least than what Haise remembered her being.

"Saiko… What's with the outfit?" Haise asked quietly, before realizing just how dry his mouth and tongue really were after speaking for the first time in what felt like ages.

Saiko gave Haise a confused stare while silently repeating back his question to herself under her breath before suddenly looking as if she remembered something. "Oh yeah! Silly me, I almost forget that you were in a coma for six months…" Saiko chuckled nonchalantly to herself.

Without realizing just how much of an impact her words had on the horrified man sitting down before her, Saiko lifted her apron a bit to show Haise her new shoes before doing a lackadaisical ballerina twirl in front of him. "Looks nice, right?! Super comfortable, and I usually keep my game on me so I can play it during my breaks!" Saiko said proudly with a happy grin on her face, before reaching down into her apron's pocket to showcase her portable video game console.

"Six… Six months…?" Haise whispered out in a quiet gasp, as he stared wide-eyed at the oblivious young girl. "... Saiko, where…? Where are we…?"

Upon hearing Haise's question, Saiko took a break from showcasing her work outfit before staring back at him with an inquisitive look in her blue eyes. "Oh… I guess you really didn't hear any of what I told you while you were asleep, huh?" Saiko asked with a hurt expression on her face that Haise wasn't perceptive enough to pick up on.

Shaking his head with an even more confused look in his eyes, Haise frowned a bit before swallowing back the dryness in his throat. "I'm sorry Saiko, I can't recall what you said to me… Come to think of it, I… I can't remember anything past, um… Six months, so... I… ," Haise trailed off, before needing a moment to collect his thoughts; much to Saiko's dismay.

"There was… Wait… I, um...," Haise muttered quietly to himself, before slowly trailing off again into a moment of disheartening silence; in that very moment, it finally dawned on Haise that he couldn't recall any specific event of his past. "I… I'm sorry Saiko; I can't… I can't remember anything."

Breaking his concentration, Haise's grey eyes shifted over to Saiko, who had her mouth covered by her hands. Although she wasn't allowing herself to cry like she used to, Haise could tell that the young girl was tearing up silently while her face began to grow redder.

Without any hesitation, Saiko rushed over to wrap her arms around Haise before bringing him closer to her body to hold him in an embrace. However, rather than crying out to voice her woes to the one-eyed ghoul, Saiko instead reached up with one hand to gently rub the back of Haise's head while trying to comfort him without letting her emotions overshadow his.

"It's going to be okay, Maman…! We're going to take care of you… You'll… You'll be okay," Saiko said in a hushed whisper, and remained still while Haise looked over the top of her head to stare silently at the silhouette of that same young girl from earlier.

Finding it hard to focus on her with both eyes, it didn't take long for Haise to figure out that he could see the ghost-like silhouette with only his right eye; the same eye that had been destroyed by shrapnel six months ago. Closing his left eye, Haise stared hollowly at the young girl reading a book that read 'Monochrome Rainbow' on its cover, while being unable to understand the melancholy he felt stirring within him.

The phantom image he saw before him lasted only for less than thirty seconds, but not before the young girl smiled directly at him with a friendly expression on her face as she faded away.

"Saiko… We're in a coffee shop… Right?" Haise asked with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, as he lowered his gaze back down to lock eyes with her surprised expression. "We're in an upstairs loft… This place… It's called, um… Ant… 'Ant-something', right?"

"You almost got it right, Maman… Good try though; Saiko's proud of you still!" Saiko said with a wide grin, before reluctantly letting go of Haise to take a step back. Giving her ex-squad leader some space, Saiko whipped her eyes one more time on her sleeve before taking in a breath to compose herself. "Let's... Let's go you looking presentable, Maman."

Downstairs in the main entrance lobby of ':re', Touka stood before her two present waiters with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "Eh…? What could be taking that girl so long?!" Touka asked aloud in a frustrated voice, as she craned her head over to where the staircase resided.

Taking pride in his blonde locks of hair that he had styled similar to before getting it all shaved off, Shirazu decided to take advantage of the free time they had before opening up the coffee shop to fish out his comb from his apron.

"I'm not sure boss… Did ya' want one of us to go check in on her? Make sure she's not talking to poor ol' sleepy Sassan again?" Shirazu offered, while using his cellphone's rear view camera as a mirror while combing his thick lockets of hair to appear more professional.

Bothered by not only the fact that Shirazu had involuntarily offered him up to check up on Saiko rather than just doing it himself, but by the fact that he was still casually referring to Haise as if though he weren't in a coma, Mutsuki scowled at Shirazu before speaking up to him.

"Quit saying that, Shirazu. You shouldn't make fun of Saiko for talking to Haise… It makes her feel better," Mutsuki said with a frown, which made Shirazu soon regret what he had just said.

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that!" Shirazu yelped out in a slightly panicked tone, while feeling his face beginning to grow red. "I'm not making fun of Saiko for talking to Haise everyday…! I'm just, you know…" Shirazu trailed off, before quickly realizing that not only was Mutsuki and Touka now giving him dirty looks, but so was the green-haired woman sitting at a nearby booth as well.

"I-I… Okay, okay, fine... I'm sorry, I guess..." Shirazu apologized while feeling his entire face practically glowing with embarrassment.

While Mutsuki and Touka seemed somewhat content with Shirazu's short apology, Eto wasn't impressed to say the least.

"What are you sorry for, child?" Eto asked sternly, like a mother would sound if she were scolding her child. Earning a smug smirk from Mutsuki and an amused chuckle from his boss, Shirazu resisted the urge to hide his face behind his palms while being made a fool of. "Go on Ginshi; use your words properly like a gentleman would."

"For crying out loud… Yes, Miss Yoshimura," Shirazu said reluctantly, before lowering his hands down to his sides to make his tomato-red face visible for the world to see.

"... I am sorry Mutsuki for my inappropriate behavior. I should have been more sensitive, and I'll do my best to improve on my behalf… I hope you can forgive me," Shirazu apologized in the same tempo one would have when reciting a memorized mantra before bowing down at the waist.

Playing along for his own entertainment and to return the gesture, Mutsuki resisted the urge to laugh as he bowed before saying, "Thank you for the apology; I forgive you." Mutsuki said politely, before looking up at Shirazu to smile a friendly grin at the young man.

Seeing Mutsuki's good natured attitude about the whole ordeal, Shirazu couldn't help but smile back before letting out a snicker; which quickly led to Mutsuki cracking a laugh as well.

Staring past her shoulder, Touka took note of the proud smile Eto had on her face as she watched Shirazu and Mutsuki laugh with one another.

Returning Touka's gaze with a friendly smile, Eto's focus returned to the large booklet that the half-ghoul had been using ritualistically since her awakening.

Seeing how Eto used to be a prominent and well established author, Touka had always found it ironic that the half-ghoul had been stricken with crippling dyslexia ever since she first woken from her coma. A part of her still felt pity for Eto, despite what she had done to Kuzen in a past life.

"Okay, okay, that's enough fooling around, you two," Touka said with a good natured smile on her face, before going back to the subject of where Saiko was. "I'll tell you two what… I'll go upstairs and check up on our girl, if you two watch the…"

Before Touka could finish giving her instructions out to her employees, she along with every pair of eyes in that room immediately turned their attention over to the two pairs of footsteps coming from just the corner of the staircase.

Dropping her booklet onto the table, Eto immediately stood up with a shocked and excited look in her grey eyes. Adjusting her red-rimmed glasses to make sure that her vision was correct, Eto felt her jaw drop slightly at the sight of Saiko walking down, hand-in-hand, with the man who she had heard so much about.

"Kaneki…" Touka muttered under her breath, as she felt herself nearly losing her own balance at the sight of the familiar young man carefully treading down the steps of the staircase.

His legs shook, and had it not been for Saiko escorting him and catching him when he did begin to stumble, his entrance would have looked a lot less sentimental, and a lot more like him falling down a flight of stairs.

Without even noticing it at first, tears had begun to pour down the corners of Touka's eyes. Raising her hands to her mouth, the young woman stood still and began to profusely wipe her eyes on a nearby handkerchief she had swiped from the table closest to her.

Watching from behind the coffee shop manager, Eto couldn't help but smile sweetly at the sight of Mutsuki and Shirazu sprinting towards Haise before practically tackling him to the ground.

Shamelessly, like children of a sailor reuniting with their father coming back from sea, Mutsuki and Shirazu bawled loudly and messily into Haise's trench coat, and wrapped their arms around him and each other.

It was then that Saiko finally allowed herself to break down into tears of joy, and clung harder than ever to Haise, who appeared still somewhat out of it, just like how Eto was when she was in his shoes a month prior.

Sobbing silently into the handkerchief that she kept against her nose and mouth, Touka quickly rushed over to the coffee shop to shut the blinds of the windows, and made sure that the 'closed' sign was facing outward toward the sidewalk outside before turning her attention back to Haise.

As she watched Touka running back over to join in on the group hug, Eto couldn't help but feel a bit awkward as she stood away from the group. It wasn't that she didn't feel happy about seeing Haise awake. In fact, she felt more than a bit joyous at seeing the qunixes and the manager being able to take comfort in seeing the young man amongst them again.

She might have felt excitement for finally being able to meet the man she heard so much about ever since she had woken up, but more than any other emotion she felt dwelling inside of her as she and Haise locked eyes with one another, Eto felt an avalanche of guilt and shame crashing down on her.

It was a feeling that never felt easier for Eto whenever she had anyone from her past who she had apparently wronged in the past. The worst part of it was that Eto couldn't even remember what she had to apologize for until after they'd make it abundantly clear what monstrous atrocities she'd committed to them.

Unlike the others who she had already said sorry to, Eto felt her heart ache as she smiled softly at the young man who was surrounded with friends. Nonetheless, she forced herself to approach the young and newly awoken man before mustering up the courage to speak.

"Good morning… You must be Haise Sasaki," Eto said nervously as she bowed before the young man as a sign of respect, to which he clumsily bowed back. "I've heard… Many things about you."

"You're, um… You're the One Eyed Owl… Right?" Haise asked with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, while being completely ignorant of the sudden shift of tone in the room. What was once a happy reunion transformed into uncomfortable silence, as all eyes turned towards Eto.

Swallowing back a lump in her throat, a chill ran down her spine after having heard the one name that made her more uncomfortable than anything else. Licking her lips and slowly beginning to nod, Eto took a shallow breath and an elongated sighed before barely even being able to nod.

"Y… Yes. I… I suppose I am the 'One Eyed Owl'," Eto said with a feeling of disgust beginning to already set in her stomach, before pressing on. "Or, um… At least that's what I've been told… I want to apologize if I've wronged in the past…"

Arching an eyebrow, Haise closed his eyelids momentarily to help his focus while trying to recall whether or not the woman before him had actually wronged him or not. While he could only partially remember the names of those who he had met face-to-face thus far, Haise still could remember how he felt about them, even if he couldn't exactly recall any reason why he felt that way about them.

"Oh, um… That's okay; I don't think you did anything bad to me… I mean, I don't feel like you did, at least," Haise said promptly with a gentle smile spreading across his face.

His answer had caught Eto off guard, and hadn't been something she was expecting in the least bit. "Oh? Is… Is that so?" Eto asked nervously with an unsure look in her eyes, before feeling a small smile spreading across her lips.

"Well now… That's… That's a relief…" Eto said, before beginning to tap her foot up-and-down in anticipation for what his answer to her next question might be. "Sasaki, I, erm… I would like it if perhaps you and I could take a moment this morning to talk over a cup of coffee; I've been looking forward to speaking with you."

Having heard what sounded to be more like a date than a meeting, Saiko and Shirazu turned to look at each other with wide and shocked expressions on their faces, before turning their attention immediately toward Haise, to see how he'd respond.

Mutsuki and Touka were also awaiting to see how Haise would respond, but with reasons that differed from the child-like excitement that stirred within Shirazu and Saiko. They wouldn't admit aloud, but both Mutsuki and Touka were silently beginning to feel worried.

Worried not about Haise rejecting the half-ghoul's offer, but worried about him accepting the offer.

The room was again silent as Haise appeared to be visibly deep in thought, while Eto felt her palms beginning to grow sweaty in anticipation for what he'd might say next.

'Why am so worried…?! It's just coffee… What if he says no?! Oh God, I'm going to look like an idiot…!' Eto thought nervously to herself, as she felt beads of sweat on her forehead already beginning to form underneath her tangled and messy green bangs. 'Oh my God, he's opening his mouth… I… I hope he's nice about it…!'

"I'd hate to ask this, but… What's 'coffee'?" Haise asked curiously with an uneasy smile on his face, while looking at the looks of disappointment on the faces of Saiko and Shirazu, while obviously not noticing the sighs of relief escaping Mutsuki and Touka's lips.

It certainly wasn't the answer anyone was expecting, that was for sure.

Haise and Eto both still have pieces of bullets and shrapnel still lodged in their heads, it seems.

To answer a few questions…

Furuta did in fact destroy the computer containing footage of Luna Eclipse after he downloaded what he wanted.

Touka is still going to be a major character in the story, and so are the Qunix Squad. I'll also go further into why she along with Mutsuki were nervous about Haise agreeing to have coffee with Eto. If it wasn't obvious enough already, that is.

It'll be explained later how Ihei, Matsumae, and Kanae survived later, don't worry!

Tsukiyama wanted to kill Eto, like how I wrote, and was going to before his father stepped in. Had it not been for his father being there, and for the fact that Kanae was still alive, Tsukiyama probably would have killed Eto.

Touka's character will be expanded a bit to seem less like a damsel in distress, and Mutsuki won't be tsundere like she was in the later chapters.

It'll be revealed why Shirazu, Saiko, and Mutsuki are working at :re, and why CCG hasn't pursued them.

Urie will be a major part of the storyline, and his antagonistic goals will make more sense than Furuta's.

Well that's it for now! Thank you for the reviews, and for reading this story as well!

Thank you, and have a great day!