Writing all day became Eto's routine. It was lonely, yes, but it comforting. When wrote about Juuzou, vividly describing his stitches and blood red eyes, she almost felt like he was still here. Like maybe, he still loved her.

It was an overcast day, and Eto had the window closed to keep out the chilly wind, but the curtains all w]the way open to let in as much light as possible. She was sitting in bed when she heard what sounded like footsteps on the stairs.

"Hello?" Eto said. She waited for a response, but the only thing she could hear was the creaks of the building.

She sniffed the air. She caught the scent of a human female, and a trace of ghoul. Eto narrowed her eyes and crept from her bed to the open door. She peered down the hallway, but saw nothing. She looked the other way, and at the same time, a woman came up the staircase.

"Who are you?" Eto snapped ferociously. The woman yelped turned and fled down the staircase. "Get back here!"

Eto ran after her, bounding down the stairs. The intruder exited the staircase at the third floor and bolted down the hallway, and made a sharp right. Eto was right behind her. The woman skidded to a halt when she realized that she had foolishly ran into a dead end, and she whirled around to face Eto, whom had backed her into the corner.

"Get away!" the woman said, attempting to me menacing. However, the way her voice shook when she spoke betrayed the fact that she was actually terrified.

Eto leaned back and crossed her arms, looking the intruder over. She had short, maroon hime cut hair. Her round eyes were the same color as her hair, and they glistened with unshed tears. She was pale and rather small, and Eto figured her to be in her early to mid twenties. She held a bundle of cloth close to her chest, and Eto could hear the heartbeat. It was an infant.

"What are you doing here?" Eto asked.

"I need a place to hide out!" the woman said, panicky tone to her voice.

"You're taking a baby to an abandoned hotel?" Eto asked, raising an eyebrow and pointed to the bundle.

"You wouldn't understand," she saod, hugging the baby closer to her.

Eto breathed in, and the scent of the child mingled around in her nose. "It's not your child, is it?"

"Yes it is!" she said defensively.

"You're not a ghoul," Eto said, jabbing her finger at the trembling woman. "The baby is."

The woman began to cry, and her shuttering sobs woke the baby, who began to whine.

"You won't understand!" the woman said. "You'll go to the CCG!"

"I will not, I promise," Eto said calmly. "Tell me the truth. Where did you get this baby?"

"She's mine!"

"No, she's not. She's a ghoul."

The woman took a shaky breath. "She's half ghoul."

Eto's heart lurched. Something about this situation felt all to familiar.

"What's your name?" Eto asked, eyes scrutinizing the woman clutching the half ghoul child.

"Kimi Nishino," she said. "And my daughter is Kotori Nishino."

"Well, Kimi, come with me," Eto said, turning around and beginning to walk back to her room. "It sounds like you have quite a story for me."

Kimi walked behind Eto back to the hotel room where the half ghoul dwelled, holding the bundle close, as if she was afraid Eto would rip her from her hands.

They entered the room, and Eto motioned for Kimi to sit on the bed, and she did so. Eto sat down beside her.

"Kimi, let me tell you something," The woman just stared at her with round eyes. "My name is Eto Yoshimura, and I am a half ghoul."

Eto detected a flicker of fear in her eyes.

"I can help you. You're baby needs meat. I can provide that. I can teach it to survive."

"You would help me?" Kimi said, eyes widening.

Eto nodded. "But I have to know the story."

Kimi sighed. "Alright. Well, I go to Kamii university. I had just lost my family in an accident, and I was alone and I kinda had no hope. Then, I met Nishiki Nishio. We started off good friends but, it wasn't long before we were dating. I— I found out he was a ghoul. I didn't leave him though, I loved him. He started working at a coffee shop after an, ah, incident. Everything seemed fine, but then one day he seemed all stressed and stuff. He came to my apartment that night, and he seemed fine then. We— we um, had sex. And then after he seemed all sad, and then he told me he was to dangerous, and that I was gonna get hurt. And he said it was over, and he left."

Kimi sniffled, wiping tears away.

"A couple weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I did some research, and I knew the baby was gonna starve so I—."

She broke into frantic sobs.

"I worked as a volunteer at blood drives," she choked out through the tears. "And I—I drank blood."

"That was brave," Eto said, placing her hand on Kimi's shoulder.

Kimi only clutched the baby tighter.

"She's going to be needing meat soon," Kimi said. "I don't know what to do!"

"Can I see her?" Eto asked, gesturing to the baby. She hesitantly handed the bundled baby to Eto. The baby blinked and stared up at Eto. She had caramel eyes and auburn hair. "Hello, Kotori."

"She needs food," Kimi said.

"Well, she's in luck, I'm going hunting tomorrow."

Kimi made no comment. "Why are you here? At this hotel?"

Eto sighed, and then spilled her and Juuzou's story onto her. Kimi stared at her with a shocked expression. Eto said nothing. Suddenly, the college student's expression changed to a determined one.

"If you help me, I'll help you," she said.

Eto looked at the human. Perhaps this girl was her unborn children's gateway to life where they would not have to live as outcasts.

"Alright."