Chapter 10

Author's Note:

I would like to thank my reviewers like always and it makes me extremely happy to know that so many of you who have stumbled upon this fic are enjoying it.

In response to bbymojo I would like to say the following. I too felt like there should have been more Hide in the anime which is why I have incorporated him a bit more into this story. If you would like to see a drawing of Morie's mask, I have actually drawn it three times and the images can be found in the link I posted at the end of chapter 6. Lastly, I don't really ship much and if I do it tends to be cannon ships. This fanfic is not a Kaneki/Morie paring but I can promise that their relationship is an interesting one.

At the end of this chapter I have some chemistry facts that I have used within this chapter. It has been a few years since I last touched a chemistry textbook so the information is basic and may not be 100% accurate.

The building was large, imposing even. Centred in a field of flat green littered with trees and shrubbery it stood. The black, reflective glass making up many of the windows contrasted with the cloudy blue sky behind it. A section of the building cut inwards and was filled with levels upon levels of polished glass.

Morie's stride didn't slow as she walked past the brick wall and sign.

As she walked, she eyed the many noticeboards that lined the path each filled with wanted posters for ghouls. There was one board for each ward clearly displaying signs for any ghoul that may be in that area. Many posters were repeated across each of the different boards.

She briefly stopped in front of the 20th Ward's board and scanned over them noticing the one for Hinami. There was a photo of the clothes she wore that day in addition to the police drawing that was done. A brief description of her sighting and appearance in addition to the bold words expressing the CCG's request of eyewitnesses. A scowl appeared on her face. The rest would be explained after her presentation.

Returning her expression to that of neutrality Morie continued to walk until she entered through the automated sliding doors and up to reception.

"Morie Masuda here for the 10 o'clock presentation and meeting," she stated handing over her CCG identification card.

The woman at the disk took the card with two hands and typed some information on her computer. Her eyes shifted from card to computer before she handed the card back. "Do you have your doctor's paperwork?" she inquired as Morie placed a file onto the bench. Reaching out she took the files and ducked into a room behind the desk. She soon returned with a smile. "Please take a seat. An investigator will be with you shortly to assist with the closure of the RC scan gates."

Morie nodded and took a seat at one of the couches facing the window. In her mind she went over her lines and ques and excuses she would have to make explaining her eyepatch. She settled on blaming Shirozumi for it. The lack of the mouse's appearance in addition to the CCG's pre-existing knowledge on the rodent would help convince them. If that failed, she could always play the fake 'I'm a woman and don't want people to see ugly injuries' card but using that would break her character in her eyes. Never before would she try to hide her cuts and bruises.

As she continued to think to herself her eyes picked up a pair of black-haired students walking down the entrance path, stopping every now and again to look at the noticeboards. Eventually they made it indoors where they too walked up to reception. Morie turned her body to get a better look at the two. It was one boy and one girl both dressed in their school's uniform. The boy's hair was messy like he had just hopped out of bed and his clothes seemed to match. The girl was the opposite. Her hair was combed into two neat piggy tails and her uniform was pressed.

As they turned around to take a seat after the girl filled out a sheet of paper the receptionist had given her, Morie knew who they were. The pair sat on the couch next to Morie and caught her stair. Their eyes widened as the girl elbowed her companion to turn their gaze away.

Morie had never seen Kaneki's hair so messy nor had she seen Touka wear glasses.

Kaneki slouched in his seat an arm holding his head. Touka sat with perfect posture, hands in lap. They soon struck up a conversation when the boy eyed the barricade of large machines. Each was a gate with a few fences between each one. Their appearance was like that of a metal detector within an airport but on each side there was a screen that displayed the time. Morie knew that the numbers displayed would change when a person walked through. These gates were RC scanners and Morie disliked them for a few reasons. The first was because she found them a nuisance whenever she had to go in or out of CCG headquarters. The second was because of what they stood for. Metal detectors were necessary for airports to prevent individuals from bringing illegal items into other countries. Morie thought it sad that humanity felt that they needed to use them not only here but in large incorporations too. After the conversation with Touka, Kaneki thought the same.

It was soon when a chipper woman sat in front of the two disguised ghouls and introduced herself as Ruisawa, a forced smile plastered to her face. Instantly upon hearing her overly high-pitched voice and the use of "cutest tipsters ever" everyone but her winced.

Morie listened in on their conversation as she held in her laughter. Touka took the charge when answering the questions thrown at her by Ruisawa. 'Kanemoto' besides her chimed in every now and again with nods, "mhmm"s and expanded details on the girl they supposedly saw a day ago near Kasahara Elementary School.

At the end of it all Touka inquired, "Because ghouls are way stronger than humans, do the investigators fight them with, I don't know, gun?" She knew full well what the answer was.

Ruisawa clapped her hands together. "Sorry, but I'm not allowed to disclose that kind of information but fret not for the Main Office recently sent some highly trained investigators here!" Her smile widened at the thought of the younger of the newly sent pair. "They are the ones who exterminated the mother ghoul so I am sure they'll find this ghoul too."

Touka forced a smile upon her face even though she was heavily resisting the urge to deck the woman across the head. "That's good to hear," she smiled before her expression darkened slightly. "It must break the investigator's hearts to have to kill such a young girl…"

The response was almost instantaneous. "Not at all," the worker sing-songed. Morie closed her eyes and let a sad sigh pass through her lips ready for the rest of the comment. "Their very existence is a danger to us all so the deserve to be exterminated." I was something Morie had heard enough times in her life.

Both Touka and Kaneki were taken aback by her words but Touka managed to force words of agreement out of her mouth.

Morie watched them get up ready to leave the building that left them so uncomfortable. Touka caught her glances again and narrowed her eyes just as Morie froze eyes widening as Touka didn't watch where she was going. Her right arm bumped into that of an elderly man walking into the building. Instinctively, she clutched her injured arm as the man apologised, offering a hand to help the fall girl back up.

Morie leapt to her feat and walked over to the scene. "Good morning Mr Mado," she dully greeted. She turned her head to look at Touka who had taken the investigator's hand to return to her feet.

"Ah, if it isn't Miss Masuda. Waiting for an investigator to get you through the gates?" he pondered out loud as Kaneki and Touka began to sneak away.

"Yessir."

"Good. Good," he spoke whilst thinking. "Those students, do you know what they were here for?'

"They were reporting a sighting of the Daughter ghoul," Morie deadpanned trying to hide not to jeopardise Touka's plans.

"You two," barked the man clad in white as he turned to face the disguised ghouls. They jumped at their sudden beckoning. "Your information about the girl intrigues me. I am Kureo Mado. I am in charge of that particular case. Would you mind telling me your testimony inside?" He gestured to an RC scan gate behind him. "It shouldn't take up too much of your time. Just five minutes is all that I'm asking."

"Surely there is not need to do that," Morie said noticing the hardened stares of the ghouls. "I heard their testimony. I can repeat it back to you."

Touka raised her hands up and forced a smile. "I'm sorry but we really need to get to cram school now."

Morie gritted her teeth as Mado grabbed Kaneki by the arm and turn him around. His eyes were wide in fright and his palms were becoming slick with sweat. She should have known he would target the weak link of the two. "I'll keep it short, so come with me." The boy tried pulling away his pulse quickening.

He was a single step away. A single split second before he crossed the boundary. Morie had speed walked over to the gate as Mado pulled him through.

There was silence.

The numbers flashed 170 and both Mado and Morie looked at them with curiosity. Mado looked defeated whilst Morie just bit her lip as her eyes narrowed in thought. She would need to talk to Kaneki later. Kaneki on the other hand regained his composure but his heart was still racing.

"Kanemoto, we need to go," blurted out Touka as she grabbed his arm. Together they jogged out of the building.

Mado touched his chin with a gloved hand and scratched it, confused.

A large man walked up to the duo. His short, black hair was neatly combed and a piece of cloth was taped to his right eye. A white coat hung on his shoulders. "Is everything alright here?" His voice was deep and manly.

"Ah," Mado gasped shifting his eyes to look at the man. "Well two students came in with some information. There was something off about them… I must be losing my touch." He shook his head, recentring himself.

Morie tapped her foot impatiently tired of standing around and looked at the newcomer. "Amon, I presume? Anyway, would you mind shutting the gate off for me? We have a meeting to get to."

The tall man gazed down at her. "And you are?"

As the eldest of the trio scanned a card to open a panel on the side of the gate, he informed Amon. "Moire Masuda."

A few seconds later the clock on the gate shut off and Morie stepped through it with a puzzled Amon watching her every move. Mado soon turned the machine back on afterwards.

The tall man followed her move as his visible eye filled with a flash of sorrow. "You were the one Kusaba invited to dinner…"

"Yes," Morie replied no emotion clearly visible in her voice or on her face. "After the meeting there will be a memorial service for him in the auditorium."

"So, I've heard," Amon spoke with sadness in his voice.

With a curt bow Morie excused herself from the duo explaining that she needed to prepare herself for the meeting before walking away into the meeting room. There were rows of white desks and chairs facing a pulldown projector screen. Off to the side was a wooden speaking stand equipped with a pair of microphones. Morie walked up to the stand to where a man was grumbling to himself as he fiddled around with cables to connect a laptop to the projector.

"Do you need help?" she asked as she put her backpack down, unzipped it and pulled out a USB stick.

The man huffed but gave the cables to Morie as she began identifying which cable fit into which part of the computer along with the USB. After opening a few menus and copying her PowerPoint into a folder holding all of the presentations for the meeting, the computer's screen was mirrored on the wall behind them.

"There you go. I should be last to present," Morie told the man before walking over to the side where a table had been set up to provide the investigators with drinks whilst they listened to the presentations. A water dispenser was on the table full of hot water ready to be poured out in addition to stacks of Styrofoam cups, plastic spoons, teabags and instant coffee. From what she could tell the CCG members who were already in the room mainly chose to have coffee as their preferred drink whilst black tea was the least popular. Due to only being able to taste coffee for the past week or so, Morie was quickly growing tired of its taste so she forgo the chance to drink it here choosing to instead have green tea even though it would be just like drinking hot water.

As she took a seat towards the front of the stand and watched the investigators enter one by one. Many of the male workers wore black suits and ties. Some carried their silver briefcases with them along with their white coats. She knew those people would later patrol the streets of Tokyo in the hunt for ghouls to slay.

Ten minutes before the meeting was about to begin a familiar figure walked through the door. His hair was cut extremely short with a matching triangular beard and he wore the standard suit that nearly everyone else was wearing. Upon seeing Morie he smiled at her and took a seat by her side. "Are you ready to present?" he asked as Morie sipped at her drink.

"You know I prepare well Mr Shinohara," she replied happy to see the man she knew from her childhood days. The man had held many classes during her time at the Academy and he seemed to be a rarity amongst investigators not only because of his skill but because of his views on ghouls. He actually listened to what Morie had to say most of the time.

"No Shirozumi today I see?"

Morie put down her cup and touched the eyepatch cover her eye before putting it back down in an act to allude to why she was wearing it in the first place. "No. It has been temperamental," she frowned. "If only I had more supplies…"

"You should get some more samples today after the presentation," he added. "So how have you been lately?"

"Good."

"Still as stoic as every I see." He let out a well-intentioned laugh. "I guess somethings never change." Shinohara paused for a second before saying, "Do you remember Rei?"

How could Morie forget Rei. A child brought into the Academy and raised by ghouls. Although never seeing the boy, she definitely knew about the rumours of him killing stray cats and shoving their guts into jars. It was like her fascination directed at dissecting frogs and mice but warped and twisted to include non-lab animals and no order. When she was younger, she thought that it would be an interesting conversation to have if she ever encountered him. "What about him?" she replied.

"Well for starters, he has changed his name to Juuzou Suzuya and starting next week he will become my partner."

Morie let out a whistle as the lights dimmed indicating that the meeting had started. The man who was trying to set up the projector was standing at the podium tapping a microphone to grab everyone's attention. "For those who don't know I am Itsuki Marude from the 11th Ward and I am in charge of the ongoing Binge Eater case. In this meeting we will be discussing the aforementioned Binge Eater case, the Gourmet case, the Daughter case and lastly the newly activated Rabbit case. Afterwards Morie Masuda will do her biannual presentation about her research."

Upon the projector screen behind the man showed an overview of a case. Scenes depicting the bloodied aftermath of the ghoul's killings and feasts were littered all over the place and labelled with the time and date of the incidents. He began outlining what his team knew about the case. What stood out to Morie was the fact that the killings from the ghoul seemed to cease around October 3rd.

Investigators took their turns discussing the different cases each with their own slides and information based on what they have discovered.

When Amon stepped up to discuss Rabbit Morie could tell it was put together quickly at the last minute. There were two photos on the slide. The first showed the place where Ippei had died once the body had been removed and the second was that of a crystallised, red shard belonging to the ghoul. As Morie stared at the photo of the shard she couldn't help but think it was gorgeous. Not only was it red but there were hints of yellows and purples hidden within it as well. If she didn't know better, she would think it to be a precious gemstone but nonetheless it still belonged to the wanted S rank Rabbit. As the man talked, she could hear the fury in his voice even though he kept it steady.

As Amon walked back to his seat Morie walked to the stand and opened her PowerPoint. She inhaled deeply and smiled as she spoke. "First of all, I would like to thank the CCG for their ongoing support and request that they continue to support my future endeavours." She bowed deeply before returning to an upright position. "For my presentation today, I would like to discuss the research I conducted on kagune and how RC cells bond to form the different types and how certain ghouls have the ability to use electokinesis in addition to solutions to decrease the amount of deaths in Japan caused by ghouls."

Tapping on the spacebar of the laptop Morie switched to a page with a basic breakdowns of the four different types of kagune; ukaku, koukaku, rinkaku and bikaku. "I will skip ukaku for now and will instead focus on koukaku kagune." A diagram showing how the RC cells link together appeared. "Much like the tetrahedral composition of carbon in diamonds, koukaku RC cells form extremely sturdy structures. The weakness of their decreased speed comes from how densely packed the structure is. When comparing this to the highly flexible rinkaku it is clearer to see.

Rinkakus are the equivalent to graphene when discussing their properties. As the most mouldable their single layer cell structure allows the layers of RC cells to slides smoothly over one another hence their flexibility. However, because of the layers, the bonds between them make rinkaku easy to break.

The tail-like structure of the bikaku extends from the coccyx at the base of the spine and the structure of its RC cells make it a good balance between offence and defence which is why it is most for beginner quinque. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my hands on a bikaku sample to examine so I can only base my conclusions on research papers already written by the CCG and my prior knowledge. It should be stated though that many bikaku users have only one kakuhou which makes their kagune a single entity.

The last type of kagune I will discuss today is the ukaku kagune. This type of kagune comes in many different forms as its structure is the least stable which is why users generally have low stamina. The structure is unstable for a couple of reasons but the main one is the energy which is stored within. Projectiles are fired from the kagune due to pressure which builds up. This pressure compresses the cells closer together before firing them at the desired target. In rare cases ukaku users have been known to produce electricity from their kagune. This develops due to the RC cells moving into an excited state and has only been seen in Arima's Narukami."

Morie then clicked to another slide displaying a graph detailing the number of deaths caused by ghouls in each ward. She began repeating the speech she rehearsed with Hide whilst adding new bits of information that she gathered from the prior presentations to further explain her statistics.

As the last slide came into view Morie took a deep breath. This would be the part where most people in the room would discard her opinions. "I propose that instead of killing any ghoul we find on the street the CCG should enact a program which allows ghouls to eat those who have already died." She pointed to the graph on the slide. "Globally 800,000 people commit suicide each year. With just 800,000 bodies 45,000 ghouls would not need to kill live humans for food. If we add those who die in hospitals to the number of bodies, we can use to feed ghouls that number dramatically increases."

Her audience was taken aback by her proposal. Some members were deeply scowling. Flashes of deceased family members and friends came into their mind. It was such blatant disrespect to treat their corpses as mere food for the ever-present menace growing in their society.

"Even donating blood can help prevent human deaths caused by ghouls hunting for food. Further research can also be done to create artificial food for ghouls like I have done with the creation of the RC tablet which is currently being tested on a laboratory mouse.

As many of you know a single ghoul usually eats 18 bodies a year. If we can sustain that ghoul off those who have already died that is 18 lives we would have saved. Please consider this as a potential solution to the issues humanity is currently having." With a bow of her head she finished the presentation and returned to her seat. Shinohara looked at her with concerned yet understanding eyes.

As the lights slowly began to turn on again the starting presenter approached the stand. After acknowledging Morie's presentation he continued to remind everyone that the memorial service for Ippei Kusaba would be held in the main auditorium in half an hours' time.

Once the man excused everyone from the room, they started to leave one by one. Some of the looked back at Morie as they left the room, their faces contorted in disgust. She was used to this. All the CCG really cared about was how they could better exterminate the ghoul race rather than actually aiming to create better relationships with them and from what she could tell, certain groups of ghouls thought the same way.

As Shinohara bid his farewell Mado walked up to Morie's seat an expression of creepy glee upon his face. "I must say that your experiments are paying off but you can't possibly think that feeding all the dead to the ghouls will solve everything do you? They will simply be able to multiply more thus increasing the number of corpses the population will have to consume. Nonetheless," he beckoned for the girl to follow him. "Come. After your presentation I gather that you do not intend to go to the service? We are going to retrieve some supplies."

At the mention of supplies Morie smiled. Grabbing her belongings and putting the empty cup in the bin she followed Mado through the pristine hallways of the building. There weren't many individuals walking besides them. Morie suspected that was due to the service although she felt no need to mourn those already gone.

As the two of them approached a metal sliding door Mado took out a card and slid it along the card reader mounted next to the door. A beep was heard before the door slid open. The coldness of the room was made apparent as soon as the two of them stepped inside.

The place was barren and lifeless. Everything but the floor was constructed a polished metal which amplified the coldness of the room. A large wall constructed of draws faced Morie each labelled with a small slip of paper indicating what was in each draw. In the centre were a set of operating tables covered with clear plastic.

Mado walked up to one of the draws and pressed a button on the side. It popped open. Using the handle Mado completely pulled out the draw. Inside was the body of a ghoul stripped of their clothing and their head. Placed near the feet was a head frozen in a sad smile framed by brown hair which had been cut short when her head had been completely sliced off.

"The Mother ghoul, correct?" asked Morie keeping her face straight as not to reveal her inner thoughts.

"Perceptive like always." Mado lifted a limp arm. "Unfortunately, I am unable to give you parts of the kagune or the kakuhou but surely a sample of muscle shall suffice along with a copy of the medical notes, no?"

Morie nodded unable to verbally agree as her stomach twisted with the idea of facing Hinami. She needed that sample. Without it she couldn't conduct her research or feed Shirozumi.

"Wonderful! Do you mind helping me carry the body onto a table?"

She placed her hands on the side of the metal tray holding Mrs Fueguchi's body and on the count of three she lifted it onto the closest table. With Mado's instructions she retrieved a bone saw hanging from a wall and cleanly cut off an arm below the elbow. A narrow plastic box was placed on the table for Morie to use and she put the arm inside.

"Take as much as you need from the body. It will be disposed of later today," explained Mado as he oversaw Morie's actions.

Closing the lid on the container Morie denied taking anymore. Her bag would only just be able to hold the arm and as she thought she could imagine Hinami's distraught face in her mind.

"Suit yourself."

The two of them worked together to put the body back into the draw and clean the blood off the saw and table. The whole time Morie remained silent until she bid the investigator goodbye by a turned off RC scan gate and headed out the front door.

Wind blew the hair surrounding her face around wildly as she began her long a walk home. With every step the image of a smiling girl flashed in her head and knowing that she was carrying around the remains of her mother made her heart sink. Eventually, she had to wipe away the tears threatening to pour from her eyes.

With confidence in her stride Morie definitively decided that she would make it up to the girl whom she showed a small section of the world to.

Author's Note:

_moto: So, in this chapter Touka calls Kaneki Kanemoto to hide his real name. Moto (本)is a common suffix that means origin when added to the end of people's names which is why Touka removed the "ki" from Kaneki's name and replaced it with "moto". I think it should also be noted that Kaneki's "ki" is the kanji for tree (木) which is one stroke away from "moto".

Carbon formations: When talking about RC Cell structures Morie compares them to different carbon structures. Carbon is a common element which can be used to make many things such as coal, diamonds, graphene and graphite. Although being made up of the same element the compound structure of each is very different and it is the structure which gives them their different properties. Diamonds for example have a tetrahedral formation which means that for each carbon atom two more carbon atoms are attached to it. Graphite is molecules are arranged in hexagonal layers that sit on top of one another.

Excited State: This is the term used for when an atom, molecule or nucleus receives more energy than its ground state. An example of an excited state can be seen with fire. If you place certain compounds over fire the fire will change colour. That is due to atoms moving into the excited state.