By the evening, the vigil over Kaneki's bedside had cleared out. The city was still in chaos, and everyone was in need of able-bodied helpers. Someone had passed her a blanket and pillow to keep her somewhat comfortable through the night. Lost in a haze of exhaustion and fear, she barely noticed who it was.

While they left, everyone had said something along the lines of returning as soon as possible tomorrow. Touka knew that they'd be back. She knew she wasn't alone in this terrible waiting. But, she never felt more alone than that first moment by herself in the room, with Kaneki's breathing the only sound.

Soon after the sun went down, a knock on the door startled her most of the way awake again.

"Yes?"

The door swung open, framing the silhouette of a tall, trim young man with broad shoulders. "Are you…Touka Kirishima?"

"I am…" She wondered how anyone could have missed hearing about her at this point. "I'm going by Touka Kaneki now, though. Did you need something?"

"Is it true that you also go by Rabbit?"

Her hackles rose, suddenly wary that he had some axe to grind with her. He didn't sound angry, though. And he didn't make an aggressive move towards her. The halls, too, were a hive of activity that wasn't dying down anytime soon. She decided that she was safe enough.

"Yes, I was the Rabbit years ago. I know I did a lot of stupid things when I was younger and angrier. If you're here because I hurt someone you cared about, all I can say is I'm sorry."

He looked at her for a long time. Still not looking very angry, though. He mostly looked tired.

"I'm Takeomi Kuroiwa. I worked with…Investigator Sasaki. And I just married Yoriko Kosaka."

Touka was blindsided. For the first time, she was successfully distracted from the apocalyptic plight they had all found themselves in.

She looked over him—his wrinkled suit, his mussed hair. "I didn't recognize you…you look worse off than you did on your wedding day. Just a little bit."

"It's been a bad day." He entered the room, but left the door open.

She gestured to an empty seat near the bottom of the bed.

He didn't put on a show of hesitating, and instead marched right over and sat. "How did you see the wedding?"

She smiled at the memory. Glancing down at her husband, still comatose, she said, "He knew I wanted to be at the wedding. That I missed Yoriko. We watched from the hill above the church. It was a beautiful wedding."

He nodded, looking pleased that his wife's friend was there in some way. "Did Yoriko ever know?"

"That I eat people? No. I would never risk her safety like that. It would be cruel to make her choose between being my friend and following the law."

He looked at the wedding ring on his hand. "I thought so. I never believed she could be that deceptive. That she could keep something like that from me, and everyone else."

"Oh, I could never break her heart by telling her I can't taste her cooking."

He blinked owlishly at her a couple of times. "I won't lie. I don't know how to feel about you. My wife was nearly executed because of you."

Touka took a moment to breathe, figure out how to explain. "I once heard an investigator say you guys are taught that…we don't feel things the same way you do. Anytime we appear to be showing emotion or behaving like a human, it's an act. Is that true?"

He nodded.

She went on. "I've thought about that for years. There's no way around it. It's evil how well that works to…dehumanize us and keep us from talking to each other. I don't know how to prove that I mean what I say and I'm really feeling what I feel. I don't know how to prove that we're not that different from humans. Yeah, some of us are broken and have given in to violence, but a lot of us just want to survive."

Touka sighed and pulled the blanket around her shoulders, half for warmth and half for comfort. "Which is a long-winded way of saying that I really mean it when I say Yoriko was my best friend and I've missed her so much the past few years. I don't think I would have stayed in school as long as I did without her." She frowned. "Is she okay? Does she…hate me now?"

"After the dust settled, I retrieved her from the holding cell at the main office. I got her to my mother's house—she should be safe there for now. She sent me back to help." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Yoriko doesn't hate you. She's sad you were suffering. We didn't have time to talk about much else."

He looked at her with a level gaze. "I don't understand you ghouls. I'm glad you didn't put Yoriko at risk back then, but…if you were such good friends and you experience friendship the same way a human does, why wouldn't you tell her?"

Touka turned away and tried to be discreet about wiping away the tears that were building up in her eyes. "I always had faith in Yoriko, in her kindness. I was never brave enough to test that faith."

His eyebrows went up. "You were behind solo attacks on investigators while posing as a high school student, and you weren't brave enough?"

He was just interrogating her now, vetting her. Touka had the sense that she would have to win over Yoriko's protective husband if there was any hope of seeing her again. He'd spent the last couple of weeks scared out of his wits for his new wife, after all. He wasn't about to just let her meet with a ghoul known to murder investigators.

"Those attacks weren't brave. That was about lashing out to make investigators hurt as much as I hurt…and I regret it now. A lot." She shook her head. "And I wasn't posing as a student, I was really there to go to school. Ask Yoriko how much she helped me study."

She waved a hand at the hospital bed. "Do you know his story? How he ended up half-ghoul?"

Takeomi turned his steady stare onto his former colleague. "It wasn't discussed freely, but we were told he was the victim of Dr. Kano's experiments."

"He didn't know that he had been experimented on for a long time. After he got out of the hospital following his organ transplant, he was lost and confused about why he suddenly started craving human flesh. I think I was close to the first ghoul he ran into, in an alley somewhere in the 20th. I was ready to help him out, until he freaked out and screamed that he wasn't a monster like me."

"Hearing that hurts, even when it's true. It took me a long time to forgive him for those words, and he was a stranger back then. I think if I heard Yoriko say something like that, it would have destroyed me. Can you at least wrap your head around that…fear of rejection?"

He sat very still for a moment, carefully considering her words. Touka decided that she liked him. He was a straightforward kind of guy, and he listened. He would be a good husband to Yoriko.

"Yes, I think I can understand." He glanced again at the body in the hospital bed. "Yoriko said you worked at the coffee shop that was the center of the Owl Suppression Operation. And Investigator Sasaki was there as well? When he was known as Ken Kaneki."

"Mmhmm. Small world. It's strange to think about, isn't it? We have such a 'ghouls versus humans' mentality, and I think it's the same for you guys. But when we're just out living our lives, it turns out we're not on such opposite sides after all. Everyone just wants to hang out with friends over a cup of coffee."

"It is strange to think that Investigator Sasaki…Kaneki…knew Yoriko in a previous life." He started twisting the wedding ring on his left hand, an almost unconscious fidget. "My father lost his hand to the Owl during that battle."

"If your father fought the Owl, he killed a man who was like a father to me. And…I've heard about your Arata armor." She took off a necklace and tossed it to him. He grabbed it in midair, then examined the ring on the chain. In the low light, he could barely make out the words: -Arata-Hikari-.

"My father. He was great at reading bedtime stories and killing investigators. Of course, he was hunted down by the CCG because he was hunting them, but he was only killing investigators because he couldn't handle the death of my mother, who was killed by the White Reaper…There's so much bad blood in the past. We could go around in circles like that forever. I'm scared that when this is over, we'll go back to the way things were. I'm so tired of fighting, and losing people…aren't you?"

He looked a bit stunned by that question, as if he had never considered his feelings towards the fight itself. As if it was just the way things were to him. "Maybe I am. I'm not sure what breaking that cycle looks like after this, but we're living through a lot of historical 'firsts' right now." He stood up and handed the chain back to her. "There's something else I'd like to know. If you knew about the wedding, how much did you know about Yoriko's arrest?"

She winced as she put the necklace back on. "We did know about the arrest, and the date being set for execution. But we were also aware that it was a trap, designed to get to Kaneki through me. It could have worked great to lure me out—I can be kind of hot-headed. If circumstances were different, I would have gladly risked my life trying to save her."

Takeomi sat back down. "But you decided not to attempt a rescue? Why?" He was trying to remain calm and get answers, but some of the unresolved rage and confusion was creeping back. "How could everyone just turn their back on someone as good as Yoriko?"

"You didn't turn your back on her," she reminded him. "I don't know about everyone. I can only explain what I was going through. Sometimes in life, you have to make hard decisions to protect what you have. Thinking that you can save everyone isn't a strength, it's a weakness. And I had just realized I was pregnant."

He leaned back in the chair, clearly not expecting that.

Touka's words hung in the air. She let him sit for a moment, mind spinning furiously to integrate this new knowledge into his picture of what was going on behind the scenes. His eyes darted from the chain around Touka's neck to Kaneki to her stomach.

Finally, he spoke. "I…can see how that would change things."

Touka sighed. "This is going to sound cold, and I promise you that it's not because I'm a ghoul. It's…life experience that makes me say this, not what I am. But no matter what, I was in a no-win situation. There was no scenario where everyone lived. Except this one, I guess? But who saw it coming?"

She reached out to grab her husband's hand, lying limp on the bedcovers. It was cold and inhuman now, and what should have been a comforting squeeze filled her with desperation. That wild fear that he would never wake up hit her full force and she took a moment to rein it in. "The harsh truth is I had that to choose between an old friend and my husband and child…and I knew from experience that Yoriko was the loss I could live with."

"That is a harsh truth."

She looked down at the inhuman hand she was clutching. In another life, he'd wear a wedding ring on that hand. Ghoul weddings were uncomplicated: you just bite down. Maybe sinking your teeth into someone you loved was off-putting to humans, but something about it—the savage simplicity, the blood, the trust required to bare your neck—spoke to that primitive, ghoulish part of her that she usually ignored.

Human weddings, though, were full of words. She'd been thinking lately on some of those words. Yoriko and Takeomi had said vows about being there for each other for better or worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health. Touka probably would have promised the same thing to Kaneki, if she'd had the chance.

The first time she'd heard that line, she'd made a vague assumption that the better times would be the healthy and the rich times, too. Looking back, though, their time down in the 24th ward was desperate and hungry and uncertain. It was also one of the best times in her life. Certainly, the most meaningful.

Nothing in life had come easily to her; she had to grab hold of every scrap of joy that had ever come her way. She'd never worked harder to find happiness than those dark days, and she'd never been happier than looking down at her wedding party, leaning against Kaneki's shoulder.

Here she was again, standing at his side in sickness, but the joy of him surviving—of so many ghouls surviving—meant that this would be remembered as one of those "better" times.

She smiled at the man across from her. He'd shown some real fortitude, too. "You and I, we've stuck with our spouses for better or for worse. Even though it sounds like both our marriages started with a whole lot of 'worse.' I think we've both done the best we could, given the circumstances."

He wasn't quite expecting to find common ground with a ghoul like this, but he thought on her words. "You may have a point. I always—"

His phone rang suddenly, startling them both. He fumbled blindly in his pocket for a moment before answering.

"I'm fine. I meant to call earlier, I'm sorry. It's been a difficult day." He smiled at whatever he was hearing from the other end of the line. "I know, but I don't want you to worry."

Touka watched him in silence, knowing in her gut who he was talking to. His eyes flicked to hers and he set his mouth in a determined frown.

"Listen, can you switch to a video call? I can show you why I was so late checking in."

A jolt of adrenaline hit Touka, and she was sure that the fearful, wide-eyed look she shot Takeomi made her look like a startled rabbit.

He pulled the phone away from his face to smile at the screen. "Hi," he said in a gentle voice.

"Hi," came a familiar voice from the other end. "What do you mean? What did you have to show me?"

He tried to motion for Touka to come take the phone, but she sat frozen. He ended up standing and walking across to her again, to press the phone into her hand.

"Takeomi? Is that a…ceiling?"

He nodded to Touka. "I'm taking a leap of faith right now. Your turn."

The urge to hide was strong. At the end of the day, though, Touka was not one to hesitate. Controlling the shake in her hand, she lifted the phone to stare into the camera.

She thought she knew how bittersweet it would feel to see her best friend again, but she was swamped by the emotion. As soon as Yoriko processed who she was seeing and gasped, tears began rolling down Touka's cheeks. She clapped her free hand over her mouth to hold back a sob.

"Touka?! Is that you?" Yoriko looked like she might have lost a little weight from her ordeal, or maybe she had just gotten a little bit older, but she was alive and she was healthy. She was sitting on a bed in what must have been a guest bedroom, leaning against a wall.

"Yeah," Touka choked out. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get this emotional."

Takeomi had backed off and was reading some notes left on a table near Kaneki's bed, trying to be unobtrusive. Out of the corner of her eye, Touka still caught him raising his eyebrows at her statement.

"I can't believe he found you! But what are you doing with Takeomi at the CCG offices? They arrested me out of nowhere on trumped up charges, saying you were a ghoul I was harboring! Did they get you too? Was it all a lie to arrest us for some reason? I'm just so confused…"

Touka cut in to her friend's frantic babbling. "I'm not under arrest. I'm fine, we're here helping the CCG. But…it's true. I am a ghoul."

She tensed up, waiting for Yoriko's response.

On the video, Yoriko grew sad. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she found the words. "But…how? You ate all the food I gave you. I keep running through everything in my head and I don't understand."

Touka blinked and, with an ease that was second-nature, let RC cells flood her eyes and change them to the characteristic red and black of a ghoul. She couldn't meet Yoriko's eyes in the video chat, so she just stared at her lap. "I knew how much effort you put into your cooking. I always made sure to eat it."

"Oh," was all she could say.

She caught Takeomi stiffening up in the periphery of her vision, though he tried to hide it. All things considered, he was very relaxed about being alone in a room with her. The red eyes were probably pushing it.

"I think I'm freaking out your husband. I like him, by the way. He seems like a solid guy." She glanced at Yoriko onscreen to smirk at her. Her heart sank when Yoriko flinched at coming face-to-face with a man-eating predator.

Touka let her eyes return to their normal, human-looking state and watched her friend. There was no screaming or name-calling, but Yoriko was still unsure of what to say to an old friend with a secret that changed everything. And there was a sad, almost pitying look in her eyes that Touka didn't like at all.

Haltingly, Yoriko spoke up. "What have you been doing all this time? Where have you been?"

"Oh, I just opened up my own café in a new part of town and kept my head down for most of that time. I ended up here because, well, my husband's involved in some current events."

Yoriko squealed. "A husband?! You actually found someone who'd put up with your bad attitude?"

"Shut up, I'm not that horrible."

"You are before you've had your coffee! Who is he?"

"Do you remember the time I was sick, so you dropped food off at my apartment? When I opened the door there was some guy in an eyepatch standing behind me. Him. That guy."

Yoriko gasped. "I remember that! I was so mad you had a secret boyfriend. But also kind of proud of you."

"He was never my secret boyfriend! He was just…this wimpy little human that stumbled into the ghoul world and I got stuck with the job of keeping him alive."

Takeomi's head shot up—he looked shocked that anyone would ever describe his former colleague as "wimpy."

Touka continued. "If you told me back then that I would marry him, I'd probably punch you and ignore you until you took it back."

They both laughed and it felt so comfortable it was almost like old times for a moment. Touka had finally rediscovered that feeling of closeness with her dearest friend, of walking with her down the halls of their high school together and feeling at last like she wasn't on the outside of the world she yearned to be a part of.

Wiping a tear of laughter away from her eye, Yoriko sighed. "It's just…you're you. I was scared that if it was true, if you were a ghoul, that my friend from school was just an act you were hiding behind. But you are my friend."

Touka took a shuddering breath. "You don't know how much it means to hear that."

"So…how long have you been married?"

"I just got married a few weeks after you did, actually. I saw your wedding from that hill nearby, by the way. It was beautiful."

"Thank you!" Yorika grinned. "I wish you could have come."

"Me too. Things have been complicated for a long time, but maybe one day soon when…" Touka sighed. "I don't know."

"I know what you mean. I guess I shouldn't be making you homemade dishes anymore, huh?"

Touka thought she might as well tell tell Yoriko before her friend heard it from her husband. "Actually…If you're in the mood to bake some cake, I need to eat human food at the moment. I'd really love some of your cake."

"I…sure, I can do that. But why? I thought…" She hesitated, confused anew.

"Um, because I'm pregnant with a half-human baby…" The ghoul braced herself for the news to hit.

On the screen, Yoriko stared slack jawed for a long moment before narrowing her eyes and counting on her fingers. Unlike her husband, she realized very quickly how suspicious the timing of Touka's recent wedding versus that announcement was.

Any way she did the math, it must have been a shotgun wedding. "Touka, how could you?"

The ghoul couldn't help but laugh. "Do you really need me to explain? It's not that complicated."

Yoriko started laughing, too. "No, I'm just gonna pretend I'm mad at you but secretly I'm proud again."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Takeomi—still eavesdropping—looking very perplexed, clearly missing all the subtext of what the girls were talking about.

Touka flipped the phone's camera around to catch his expression. "I don't think he understands what's going on."

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain it all to you later, sweetie!"

Flipping the camera back around, Touka just stared at her friend with a small smile on her face. "I've really missed you, Yoriko. I'm sorry I stayed away so long."

Her friend sent back a sad, pixelated smile. "I missed you, too. More than you know."

Touka yawned, then, and the sleepiness she was holding at bay started creeping up on her.

"You're tired," Yoriko yawned in response. "I'll let you go but you have to promise to actually stay in touch!"

"Of course!"

They said their goodbyes and Touka handed the phone back to its owner.

Takeomi stood as he began his own chat with his wife. On his way out of the room, he glanced back at the half-asleep ghoul.

She was fussing over her unconscious husband, making sure his blankets were properly tucked in, but paused and turned away to wipe the tears out of her eyes. She noticed Takeomi glancing at her. "Thank you," she mouthed.

He nodded, then headed down the hall to find a more private place to continue his phone call.

This was actually the very very first thing I tried writing, because I felt so robbed of not seeing Touka and Yoriko get an angsty BFF reunion. Then I had so much fun I kept writing :) I waffled a bit on what to say about Yoriko and Takeomi's wedding vows since you only get to see them walking down the steps after, but that scene seems to me like it has all the visual language of a standard church wedding so I ran with that assumption.