The year flew by quickly.
Kaito and Hitomi turned six. On their birthdays, Kaito received a toy slingshot and Hitomi a sketchpad. Kaito was growing quickly, and he was soon a few inches taller than his twin.
Hitomi was all the trouble she had been at five and more. Her favorite things were anything sharp, Mister Naki, and her father's stitches. The white haired girl had taken to watching Juuzou twirl knives around, and it fascinated her. She tried herself, and if human steel could injure her, she would've been all cut up. Hitomi had latched onto Naki, and would mope on the weeks that they did not pay his mansion a visit. She insisted on sitting in his lap and giving him 'reading lessons'. Hitomi loved to put on a black leotard and tutu and spin around in the entry way of the mansion, and she would often set up chairs and put on a 'show' for Naki, her brother, and some of the servants. When Naki was looking at his clothing magazines, Hitomi had a habit of climbing into his lap and pointing at what suit she thought he should buy. Hitomi favored a black headband with a bow on it, and she would often insist on putting it on Naki's head, much to Ju San's entertainment. Naki was one of the few that the young girl was not hesitant to share food with.
Hitomi, however, did not share the same close bond with her father. She was interested in his stitches, and she often asked if she could have some to. The 'no' she always got did not please her. Hitomi did not talk to either of her parents often. She spoke to Eto more than Suzuya, but it was due to the fact that her mother was also her teacher. Hitomi was close with Kaito, and they talked all the time.
The twins spent most of their time at their shack in the woods. Nanami joined them there every day, and another somebody. Kimi, after Juuzou and Eto's wedding, had got back to being good friends with Eto. She allowed her daughter, on days she was not with Aogiri, to go pkay with Kaito and Hitomi. Kotori was shocked at first to find Nanami, but she soon agreed to be part of the secret friendship.
The twins were probably not the best of an influence on Nanami and Kotori. Kaito took pride in teaching the two girls his favorite game: Nanami would steal some money from her parents, and Kaito and Hitomi would bring clear fishing line. They would punch a hole in the dollar, and tie the fishing line to it. One person, usually Hitomi, would place the money on the sidewalk. The four kids would hide behind a fence and wait for their victim to lean down to pick up the money, and then one of the kids would yank it away with the fishing line. When bored in the woods, they would doorbell ditch nearby apartments. Much to Kaito's boredom, the three girls often took turns doing each other's hair. Nanami knew all sorts of braids and loved showing them to her friends. The group would collect flowers in the woods to bring home to their parents, and, much to the Kaito's dismay, the girls would often stick some of the flowers in his teal hair. The friends liked to sneak into the zoo and look at the animals, and Kotori, being the oldest, felt the need to act like the boss. The group took pride in being 'sneaky', and often snuck into movie theaters. When they were bored in the shack, they took to playing truth or dare and would you rather. Hitomi would often bring paper and crayons, and the kids would spend a lot of time drawing. Nanami brought her camera every day, and she filled it with photos of the woods and her friends. Kotori's favorite activity was no doubt scavenger hunts in the small forest. The woods was full of small animals, bugs, and worms. The kids enjoyed catching them, taking their picture, and then letting it go. Everyone was happy, even Kaito.
Kaito tried his best to follow what Ju San said, but he still could not bring himself to forgive his mother. He was not angry with his father; Suzuya had not even known that he was born. But Kaito could not ignore the way his father looked at him. There was a disapproval in the investigator's eyes, and it haunted Kaito. When his father looked at him, he did not see the three quarters human. He saw only the one quarter ghoul. He saw the enemy. Even though Eto saw things in more of a balanced light, Kaito hated her. He would lay awake at night, desperate not to sleep. Because when he drifted off, dreams of Miss Akashinshi's harsh slaps and kicks would wake him in cold sweat. And he blamed his mother for all of it. Kaito tried explaining it to Hitomi, and she urged him to try to forgive her. Kotori as well. The only person who would listen to him rant was Nanami. The black haired girl would sit and listen patiently and talk when he needed it, and Kaito was thankful he had that above all else. He was not particularly close with Kotori, but Hitomi was. Kaito preferred to stay in the woods, and his least favorite part of the day was going home to his 'judgy' father and 'heartless' mother. He did like Naki's mansion, not as much as Hitomi, but he did like it. Kaito enjoyed spending time with the servants and liked to help out. His favorite thing to do there was to weed the roses with Ju San. Kaito liked Naki well enough, but did not exactly go out of his way to spend time with him like his sister did. If he had a choice of who he got to spend time with, he would for sure pick Nanami.
Nanami enjoyed spending her time with Kotori and the twins. In fact, it was her favorite thing to do. However, it was also very stressful. Every day she had to lie to her parents about where she had been, and she felt awful about it. Nanami was pretty sure that her father would not find out, but her mother was awfully smart. Some days, she would worry herself sick. Nanami expressed her concern to Kotori, who offered gentle words in response.
Kotori was happy spending time with Nanami and the twins. However, she sometimes did complain that she was a year older. Kotori had a close bond with her mother, and even though Kimi would always tell her what a great person he was, she harbored hate towards her father for abandoning her mother. Kotori was curious about the man, and sometimes she would ask Kimi about him. Her response was always that he was brave and smart, and that he would be so proud of her. Kotori, much to her dismay, had to get glasses. When she did, Kimi commented that she looked even more like her father now. Eto had convinced Kimi to let her half ghoul daughter train with Aogiri, and Kotori hated it. It wasn't that the training bothered her; in fact she was becoming quite skilled with her bikaku kagune. Kotori didn't like her teacher. Miza had been assigned by Eto to work with young Kotori, and the seven year old half ghoul protested it. Miza was bossy and not the most patient ghoul, always correcting her before she had a chance to correct herself. Not only that, but when other executives came to watch the training sessions, she would always ask about Naki. And when the blond ghoul himself was present, she hardly paid any attention to Kotori.
Naki did mind Miza flirting with him; probably due to the fact he did not even realize she was. Other Aogiri members and even his own gang members hinted at it, but they all had no knowledge of his relation with his favorite servant. Ju San and Naki's relationship remained a secret, Eto's attitude being one of the main reasons. Though Eto was now married, she still remained very possessive over Naki. The half ghoul would get angry when others, such as Miza, displayed romantic feelings towards the man. Eto did not hesitate to flirt with the blond ghoul, and she enjoyed messing with him like that. No matter who did what, Naki enjoyed spending time with his servant above all. He was so happy with her, and often wondered what had taken him so long. They often snuck out to the bench together for old time's sake, tracing their fingers over the names that they had carved ten years ago. And of course, he enjoyed bringing her up to his bedroom. He loved her with all of his heart, and he didn't know what he would do without her.
Ju San enjoyed loved every moment she got to spend with the blond ghoul. She knew she was lucky, she had loved him since she was twelve. Keeping everything a secret was hard, but she knew it was important. Ju San was happy for the most part, but the month she spend captured and blind haunted her every night, along with the Card's demise. The horrifying and gruesome memories plagued her dreams with guts and gore. Ju San knew she was responsible. The servant decided to add their deaths to the shelf of things that she would deal with later. However, she could not cram on the shelf a certain someone that made his way into her head far more often than he should. Ju San wondered what had happened to 'Scarf Man', and if he ever wondered about her. She was pretty sure that she had had no romantic feelings toward him, but that part of things was shoved onto the already crowded shelf. Ju San put away her mask, and did not leave the mansion. She overheard Naki and Eto discussing the disappearance of S rate Flower Crown, and it made her sweat. Naki had no knowledge that the woman he crawled into bed with at night was the ghoul that Aogiri was searching for. On days Naki was away, Ju San took to wearing the zebra striped scarf around the mansion. Ju Nana did not comment on it, probably because she was pregnant with Ni's child. Ju San offered her congratulations, but the black haired servant seemed more stressed out than happy. Ju San remained angry with Suzuya; he had dealt the final blow to the Cards.
Suzuya did not feel guilty. It was his job. Little did Ju San know, the white haired man was doing something to protect her. Juuzou obviously knew that she was S rate Flower crown, and he hid that from his wife. And Suzuya also knew what gang had kept Ju San captive. However, he decided that saying something would only cause trouble. Juuzou became close to his new partner, even though she took some getting used to. She was a bowlful of problems such as anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. And those were the emotional issues. Her body was a mess, with bad knees, a bad back, and a bad shoulder. When Juuzou asked how she even made it past the doctor's exam to be an investigator, she had responded that she had just not exactly told him all of her issues. Suzuya spent a fair amount of time with Josei, but trying to get her to leave her apartment was hell. As athletic as she was, the blond woman never had any motivation to get up and do much. But when she did get out and about, the two had a lot of fun. They shared the same dark, twisted humor. Josei was a complete klutz and was always breaking things, but Juuzou didn't really mind. He was shocked to discover how much foul language this innocent seeming girl used. It hurt Suzuya having to hide his family from his new best friend, but he did not want to have to do to her what he had done to Kiniko. The CCG had taken in Kiniko's eleven year old son, Ake, and Juuzou saw him often. The white haired investigator would do his best to push away the guilt, but the sad look in his doe eyes would gnaw at him when he was alone. Eto always had a way to cheer him up though. Suzuya found himself happier than ever with the half ghoul. Deep down, he knew it was wrong, but who was to judge love? Their marriage was not nearly as complicated as Juuzou feared it would be. In fact, the most difficult thing was handling the children. Though he loved them dearly, he could not rid himself of the thought that perhaps someday, he would be assigned to hunt them down.
The idea of her husband hunting down their kids scared Eto. But not as much as the fact that these kids needed human meat to survive, and no means of getting it themselves. Kaito and Hitomi had no kagune, making hunting difficult. She worried about their future, and wasn't sure how to bring it up to her husband. Eto was still searching for Flower Crown, who had seemed to go off the grid. There were rumors that she was dead, but then again, a body was never recovered.
'Scarf Man' often found himself laying awake at night. He wondered what had happened to Mesume; what the Boss had done with her. He wanted to know, he needed to know. His partner often reminded him that the Flower Crown ghoul was not supposed to be brought up, but he couldn't help himself. He regretted not kissing her, he regretted not spilling how he felt. Day after day, he felt more and more resentment towards the boss for taking her away from him, and furthermore, leaving him no means to find her.
Kanou and Kasu were quite pleased with their work. Seven out of the fifteen embryos had been successful and fully developed. They had seven healthy test tube children, who were hopefully going to be very powerful.