Kaneki patted Amon's jacket down, pulling out a set of keys, and a key card, as well as his identification badge. He stood up straight, looking down for a moment at the man who had changed his life in so many ways in just a few weeks. When he thought about it, he didn't think Amon was a bad person. He had done bad things, there was no denying it, but it seemed that behind all the supposed morals and possessiveness, there was just a little boy inside, trying to make sense of the world around him.

He couldn't linger. Rize's expectant expression told him as much. Kaneki walked over to the door of the lab silently. Seeing a white coat hanging on a hook by the door, he slung it on over his Cochlea outfit.

Using Amon's key card on the door, he opened the door very slightly, peering out as inconspicuously as possible. There were no guards on the door, nor any in sight up and down the corridor. He knew that there were several CCTV cameras on the corridors though, with one at the very end pointing in his direction.

He didn't have much time. It was now or never.

'So, what's the plan, Kaneki?' Rize asked, as he started walking briskly along the corridor. She didn't run alongside him, but instead appeared along the corridor at regular intervals so she could call out to him as he sped past her. It was disconcerting. Every time she appeared part of Kaneki's brain told him that an investigator had appeared out of thin air ready to capture him.

'I get out, that's the plan,' Kaneki muttered, as he poked his head around a corner before checking to see if the coast was clear.

'Leaving your lover to bleed out in a laboratory, not the most chivalrous thing I've ever seen,' she said with a smirk, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

'Shhh,' Kaneki said quickly, as he stopped again to listen. He could hear voices on the other side of a door, as well as footsteps up ahead. 'Shit,' he muttered, looking around him quickly. He tried a door to one of the rooms, but it was locked. He sprinted down further, his heart rate picking up in his chest. 'Please, please,' he muttered, as he tried the next handle. It opened and he wanted to cry out with relief. He wrenched the door open and flung himself inside, shutting it with a snap.

He was in some small meeting room. There was a large table with several chairs, with a whiteboard and projector at the front of the room.

'Kaneki, calm it, will you? I've never seen someone looking more suspicious in all my life.'

'You don't have a life, you're not alive,' Kaneki said in reply, as he leant his head against the closed door for a moment and tried to calm his breathing.

'Ok, sorry, in my entire existence as a personified fragment of your psyche.'

Kaneki heard the footsteps and the voices getting louder and louder as he listened at the door, and then to his horror they stopped outside, only a few feet from where he was standing.

'Shouldn't we wait for Masuda-san?' a voice asked. Kaneki stepped hurriedly away from the door.

'Shit!'

'Shit!'

They both hissed simultaneously. The doorknob began to turn. Kaneki looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. Even Rize looked worried. If he was caught now, he would be chained to the wall 24/7, left in a cell to rot without being able to move, or maybe they would just put him down and be done with it.

The door opened a little bit, but stopped, the person's hand resting on the handle as she said, 'We'd better get started, we've only got the room booked for an hour.'

Oh God Oh God Oh God. There were no other doors, no windows. Kaneki was pretty sure they were underground here, after all. He couldn't very well hide under the table.

He did the only thing he could think to do and ran to stand behind the door.

Within seconds the door was fully opened, casting Kaneki into shadow.

Four sets of feet walked in.

'I really think we should wait,' a man said, still poking his head out of the room to look down the corridor. 'He's new to the division, after all.'

The woman huffed irately. 'I knew it. When the chief said Masuda was joining our division I just knew it would be a bad idea. He's always late, always bumbling. Half the time he can't even dress himself properly.'

'Yes, but he's a handy person to have in a fight.'

The lady hummed, before she said, 'We'll start with a recap of last meeting, then he has a chance to show himself without really missing anything too important.'

The man who was nearest to Kaneki agreed, and shut the meeting room door.

His eyes fell on Kaneki and he jumped immediately backwards. They both stared at each other for a long moment.

'What the…?' the woman said, who along with the rest of her colleagues, another man and a woman, was already seated at the table. Kaneki didn't recognise any of them.

'Who are you?' the man nearest said, looking Kaneki up and down. 'A doctor…?'

Kaneki smiled awkwardly, raising his hands in a placating fashion. 'No need to be alarmed, I just got the wrong room. Silly, I know…' he laughed nervously, scratching the side of his face.

'Ogi-san,' said another woman carefully, talking to the man at the front. 'I think you should take a step back.'

Kaneki quickly looked around at the investigators. None of them had their briefcases, and he let out a slight breath of relief. If he could just get around the door without causing too much commotion…

Mr Ogi looked baffled, but then his eyes flicked down to take in the clothes Kaneki was wearing under the lab coat, and his eyes went wide with almost comical horror.

'Gh…ghoul,' he whispered, and then threw himself backwards towards the table, where he gripped it for dear life. The other investigators were so tense they looked like statues, not taking their eyes off Kaneki.

'Let's just all stay calm, alright,' Kaneki said, walking forwards.

'I'd get out of here right now if I were you,' Rize whispered at him desperately.

The woman at the head of the table wouldn't take her eyes off him, but he saw her hand inching surreptitiously towards her bag.

'She'll be alerting the entire of Cochlea!' Rize yelled at him, pointing at the woman theatrically. 'You need to kill them.'

'What?' Kaneki muttered, then pointing himself at the woman's hand he said quickly, 'don't move!' She did as he directed, and he saw her shake a little.

'They're going to sound the alarm. Kill them, now!' Rize cried at him.

Kaneki shot her a look, 'I can't kill them, Rize.'

Rize stopped pointing and looked at him pointedly. 'Inside-head-voice, Kaneki, remember?'

Indeed, all of the investigators expressions had moved from fear to incredulity.

'Fuck, FUCK,' one of the male investigators said in a loud whisper. He looked like he was the youngest in the group. 'This is why we should always carry our briefcases, even inside. If we had them now…'

'Shh,' hissed the woman.

'Look, I won't hurt you, just let me leave, alright?' Kaneki said, inching very slowly around the open door.

'Kaneki,' Rize said, walking up to him. 'You have to kill them. I'm sorry. They're going to get you caught, and then YOU will be dead. They will kill you, Kaneki.'

'No, we can't let you go…' Ogi said, but his voice sounded very unsure as it petered out into nothing.

'Quick, Kaneki! Quick, QUICK. They're going to kill you.'

Don't you know me at all? Kaneki thought, giving her a pointed look.

'I'm going, alright?' he said to the investigators. 'Don't chase after me if you know what's good for you.'

Kaneki walked forwards. He was so close to Ogi that the front the two of them could have shaken hands, but the man didn't move. Kaneki turned quickly now, about to make an absolute run for it, when another investigator appeared out of nowhere and ran forward to smash straight into Kaneki.

This investigator looked very young too. The top button of his shirt was undone and he was holding a cup of coffee that had sloshed onto the floor a little, the rest of it dripping down his fingers.

'Masuda!' Mr Ogi cried at him. 'It's a ghoul, it's a ghoul!'

'Kato-san! Call them, NOW.'

Kaneki stared at Masuda, who stared back at him, in complete shock.

'Oh God, no, no Kaneki. You can't leave them. They're going to catch you.'

Kaneki's whole body twitched at Rize's words. He had felt a twinge at the base of his back, where his kagune was hiding out of sight. Kill them. Kill them?

No. NO.

The woman was dialling the phone now, but weaponless as they were, all the investigators seemed unable to approach him.

Kaneki took a breath, then stepped forwards and pushed lightly at Masuda's shoulders. He stepped backwards and Kaneki walked out and around him. Now Masuda had his back to the other investigators, looking like he was about to faint.

'Please can you help Investigator Amon Katarou. He is lying unconscious in the lab room up there,' Kaneki asked Masuda, and he started to walk backwards down the corridor.

'Wh…what?' Masuda faltered. Anyone would have thought Kaneki had just told him the date of his own death.

'Amon Katarou is bleeding and unconscious in the lab room just down the corridor. He needs medical attention, alright?' Kaneki said, nodding as if to encourage Masuda to do the same.

'O-kay,' Masuda said very slowly.

Rize was standing beside Masuda, shaking her head. She looked disgusted.

Kaneki gave her a quick look, and then took off at a run, tearing down the corridor as fast as he could manage. He belted around a corner without slowing down. There were two guards facing away from him, patrolling down the corridor, and Kaneki pelted past them without a thought. They yelled as he bashed them in the shoulder, but within seconds he had rounded the next corner and was out of sight.

Then around him, the corridors went dark, and red lights started flashing. A loud alarm buzzed in his ears.

'I tollllllllld youuuuuuu,' Rize said, kneeling on the ground beside him with her ears covered.

Kaneki looked around desperately, and then saw a door marked staircase. He smashed open the door. It ricocheted off the concrete wall and almost hit Rize as she followed him. The air in the long tall concrete cuboid that held the stairway was much colder. Kaneki felt his arm hairs stand up on end.

Up or down?

'Down,' Rize said. She was standing down the stairs now, beckoning for him to follow.

Kaneki made to move towards her, but then he stopped.

'Kaneki, quick. There will be a sewer network or something. We can escape that way.'

'No,' Kaneki whispered. 'The roof. They'll trap me if I head down.'

He ran up and up and up. He didn't know how many floors he climbed before he reached a reinforced concrete door at the top. He whipped out his key card as fast as he could and pressed it to the lock, but it immediately flashed red.

'No, no,' Kaneki muttered, trying it again and again.

'It doesn't work?' Rize asked quietly, even though the answer to her question was right before her eyes.

'God DAMMIT!' Kaneki cried, and he threw the card against the wall, then clutched at his hair and sunk to the ground.

Rize didn't laugh at him, which he appreciated.

Rize was shaking her head slightly. 'They're going to exterminate you,' she muttered, like she couldn't quite believe it, then quickly her eyes shut up and she said, 'smash the concrete, Kaneki. Smash it!'

He looked up at her. 'I'm still half full of RC suppressants.'

'You're strong enough. You can do it.'

'I barely have enough strength to even form my kagune,' Kaneki said irritably. 'I'm not lying. Do you think I want them to catch me?'

Rize let out a growl that transformed into a yell, and she twisted around and smashed her fist into the concrete wall. Kaneki was suprised for a split second when she didn't leave a mark on the wall, or break her hand for that matter, before he remembered that she wasn't real.

She wasn't real.

'You should have killed them!' she yelled at him, her voice echoing through his brain. 'You should have eaten every last one of them and then you'd have enough strength to tear this entire building to the ground.'

Kaneki felt deep and utter loathing bubble up inside him, and he stood up, giving her the most hateful look he could muster. 'How many times do I have to tell you?' he yelled back at her. 'I don't want to kill people. I don't want people to die because of me.'

Rize sneered at him. 'Who do you think you're talking to, Kaneki? I know you. I know exactly what you're thinking. You don't care about these random people who you've never met. You only care about the people you love, the people who love you.' Her voice actually cracked a little 'I love you, can't you see that? I want you to live. At least Amon has that going for him. In his own twisted way he loves you too. He thought you were an idiot for giving yourself up to the CCG.'

'Don't mention him to me again. I'm done with him. He didn't love me,' Kaneki yelled. 'He just wanted to own me, to control me, just like you do.' He took a breath, wiping his mouth on his sleeve where he'd spat on his own chin. 'You think you know me, but you only see from your own twisted point of view. Of course I don't want to die, who does? But I hate the idea of killing people for the sake of it. If there's even the smallest change that I can take a different path, I will take it.'

Rize shook her head at him, sneering. 'You're a fool, Kaneki.' She stepped forwards towards him, sneering at him. 'You're such a god damn fool. We're both going to die now, and it's entirely your fault.'

Kaneki sank to the ground and pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head against them. The garish overhead lighting was giving him a headache.

There was a long moment if silence, intercepted by a low electrical humming noise and the faint echo of that laugh again.

'What's that?' Rize asked.

'What?' he snapped at her.

'That bulge in your pocket.'

Kaneki pulled his head up and looked down. He'd got used to the feeling of the slim object in the pocket of his Cochlea prison clothes. He pulled out the wallet that Suzuya had given him. It had been sat in there for days, just because he didn't have anywhere else to put it.

He flipped it open, and pulled out one thing after another. It was all his old documents, the ones he had lost, but there was one card that he didn't recognise, one that had the symbol of the CCG on it.

He scrambled to his feet and held it to the concrete door desperately.

There was a very long second as the door seemed to catch up with itself, before there was a loud click and the flashing of a green light.

'That chaotic little shit,' Kaneki muttered under his breath, as the image of the grinning young investigator flashed across his mind.

He ran through the door and let it close behind him.

The night air was amazing. Kaneki relished the feeling of the cold air against his skin.

The stars were almost entirely consumed by the lights of Tokyo that stretched out before him. Rize's mood had changed completely. She ran ahead of him, shouting out into the night with glee, the bright city lights illuminating her silhouette.

'We're out. WE'RE OUT. I can't believe it.'

Kaneki listened to the door click shut behind him, but despite that he could still hear that laughter. He had a feeling he knew who it was.

Kaneki let the card and wallet slip out of his hand onto the concrete roof. His old university ID card caught the light, the photo of who he used to be staring up at him. He'd never seen anyone who looked so alien.

Rize laughed, her hair whipping this was and that on the breeze.

'I'm not afraid,' Kaneki muttered, still staring at the stranger lying on the ground.

'What?'

'I don't need you anymore,' he said softly. 'I don't need to cling to who I was in the past, who helped me in the past.'

'You're mumbling, Kaneki.'

He looked up at Rize. He believed that she did love him, in her way, and she was a part of him. But now he was the one in control. Amon, Rize, Yamori, even the old Kaneki, the one who let others push them around. They could all crawl away and die.

'You heard me,' Kaneki enunciated, meeting her eye, 'I. Don't. Need. You.'

She walked forwards, coming right up to him, and delicately she trailed a finger down his cheek.

'I know you don't, baby. But having a helping hand from someone with their head screwed on can't...'

'You're not listening,' Kaneki cut in, stepping backwards.

'I can hear you, clean as a whistle.' She reached up a hand to touch his face again, and he knew what he had to do.

Kaneki stepped forwards, and in one movement he wrenched at Rize's arm and bit into her shoulder.

Flesh ripped from flesh. Sinews snapped and blood wash gushing as Rize howled in pain.

'No, Kaneki! No!'

She wasn't disappearing and reappearing now. She was rushing forwards as he backed away from her, her heels clicking on the floor. Kaneki raised her disembodied arm and threw it off the roof.

'No... no...'

Rize was crying, actually crying. When he turned back around she was kneeling on the roof, but her disembodied arm had appeared again, held with her working one. Her blood was seeping into her shirt from her gaping shoulder.

'Don't you get it?' Kaneki cried at her. 'Have I not been able to get through to you after all this time? All I want is for you to leave me alone.'

She paused, then almost comically she pointed at him with her lifeless hand, but even as she did so she was backing away, as Kaneki prowled forwards, watching her.

'You need me, Kaneki.'

Kaneki shook his head. 'All I need is myself.'

'I am you!'

Kaneki felt his hand shake a little. She looked so pitiful, and for a moment he wavered in his resolve.

'Yes, that's it! Can't you see, Kaneki? I'm a part of you.'

'Down there, you were... You're a bad influence on me. You're sick, and twisted, the way you see the world, it's...'

'You need me, Kaneki,' Rize spat, all traces of her amusement gone. 'You need me, even if you don't think you do. I'm the one keeping you sane.' She rushed forwards, brandishing her severed limp at him as if it were a weapon. She tapped it against the side of Kaneki's head.

Kaneki sneered at her, feeling the hateful amusement written across his own face. 'I believe,' he said softly.

'What?'

His smile grew wider. 'I believe in myself now. I don't need you.'

The lights of the city of Tokyo down bellow twinkled as if they were a thousand spectators lighting the night with their applause.

Rize stepped back, shaking her head. She let her hands droop.

'You believe, huh?' she said, and the venom was practically dripping from her mouth as she spoke. 'I exist, Kaneki. I exist. Just because I don't have physical form, just because I don't have a brain of my own, doesn't mean I don't exist.'

'You're right. You exist.' Kaneki walked forwards, stopping when his nose was inches away from hers. 'I'm just stronger.'

He picked her up and threw her off the roof. It really had always been that simple.

I should have said, thanks for the new reviews :)