It was strange how something that looked so bizzare could sound so humane, so mundane. Like a typical human girl. Her tone was characterized by an intentional high-pitched inflection, like a schoolgirl trying to sound cute to charm her seniors. Nonetheless, Ken felt a ghost of a shiver traveling up his spine. He was no more less confused of what to make of the bandaged midget in front of him than a few second ago.
When a few seconds passed and the mummy was still looking at him, he pointed a trembly finger to himself and checked to see if he heard her right.
"W-who me?" He asked with shaky breath.
The mummy nodded. "Yes. Who else?" She walked away and beckoned him to follow. "Follow me outside, won't you?"
He got up onto his wobbly legs, afraid of what the mummy wanted. As he left the room, his eyes crossed with Banjou's and they communicated their unspoken promise of secrecy. In a few days, they were going to get out of this dump together.
Ken followed her outside and turned corners after corners until they finally stopped in a dingy room.
She closed the door after them before turning to face him, her hands stripping down her hoodie then the bandages that concealed her. Coil by coil and strip by strip the bandages unraveled and dropped on the floor, all the while Ken kept his eyes fixed on the walls, too embarrassed to look.
"There's nothing to see over here. It is all covered up nicely." She called out. Her voice had lost its previous child-like zeal and transformed into one that sounded more familiar. One that reminded him of the voice of a certain author.
He turned his body slightly, a bit closer to facing her, but still largely looking at the walls. He wasn't sure if he should continue, out of fear of what or who he would see waiting for him by the door.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Ken. This is only the fourth time that we have met after all. I'm not giving up my chastity that easily."
Ken turned around, his lips slimmed into a thin unreadable line at who he saw.
"Hello Kaneki-kun." Eto greeted, a hand brushing away her liberated locks. "You ate my Pâté remember?"
"...T-Takatsuki-sensei?" He began, head shaking in perplexity. "Why?"
"Why does anyone do anything?" She laughed and quickly found herself a pair of seats by the corner. With a gesture towards the unoccupied chair across from her, she requested Ken to join her. "Here, have a seat. The higher-ups have sent me to give you the spiel"
Higher-ups. He noted. The hierarchy of the organization had become just a tad bit clearer to him. Takatsuki, the mummy, wasn't the one in charge. Not that he ever thought she was. The man with the red mask seemed more of the leader type.
Ken obeyed her and took a seat across from her.
"I really wished that you weren't a ghoul." Ken spoke suddenly.
She stared at him, dumbfounded to why he was telling her this.
Finally, she leaned back and heaved a sigh, her hands massaging her neck as if tormented by soreness. "Well, life isn't so great is it? This is something you will learn as you grow up, young man."
Something felt different — that much he could tell the longer he spent with her. The Takatsuki-sensei that he admired was not the one sitting across from him.
He wanted her to smile again, to joke with him, to not look at him with such a dismissive coldness. It was as if he was disposable to her, as if he was just another individual for her to go through the motions with until her next ultimatum.
The person in the room was not the ditz who appeared at the book signings. She was no longer the flippant author who would violate her editors requests, but a woman who had her eyes set on violating something far more grandiose. It was a duality akin to day and night, fire and ice, and sugar and vinegar.
Under the ominous atmosphere of the room that seemed to have little space for joviality, Ken found himself unable to breathe.
"I believe right about now, you're wondering what reason I have for calling you over."
"Yes...it has crossed my mind."
"Well, it is not anything too far-fetched or unreasonable. At least not anything you can't help with with the stuff you already have."
"What is it then?"
"I want you to join us."
"Join you?"
"Yup." Takatsuki nodded. "Join us, the Aogiri Tree."
"What reason do I have to do that?"
"You yourself have become a ghoul right?" She pointed to her left eye. "Just one, from what I have seen."
Ken's silence was all the answer she needed.
"In the steel-girder incident where two Japanese citizens suffered a construction site accident, there were two casualties. One of them was reported dead, and the other one was you."
"Yes. Your point is?"
"Let's just say things are not exactly what the doctor have told you."
Ken recalled the ghoul with the red mask saying something similar. "What do you mean?" He pressed.
"Oh? Are you interested?" Takatsuki raised a curious eyebrow. What quickly followed was a teasing grin. "It's a secret. Maybe I will tell you some other time."
Though the familiar flippancy returned, it felt different. Like a magic trick spoiled by the truth. Deep down, he knew it was just a superficial display.
He still couldn't believe that Takatsuki-sensei, the frequent subject of his dreams, his designated paragon of innocence and virtue, had been mingling with such barbaric ghouls the whole time. The ones that had brutally snatched him away from Anteiku, his sanctuary of peace and comfort. The lot that felt no remorse disrupting the lives of innocent civilians.
A part of him wished for Takatsuki to break down, to cry and confess that she had somehow been forced into this as well. But the vulnerability never came, not one crack could be spotted in Takatsuki's act. It was almost like she wanted this as well.
"Anyways," Takatsuki said, changing the subject. "We the Aogiri Tree wishes to create a world where ghouls can live openly and freely. A world where we no longer have to endure the prejudice of the public, a world where we no longer have to lurk in the lightless darkness. To this end, a revolution is necessary."
"A revolution?" He repeated.
"Yes. A revolution." She reaffirmed.
"In order for that to happen, we'll need to get rid of the primary enemy of us ghouls. I'm pretty sure you have heard of them as well."
"You mean the ghoul investigators?"
"Yup. The hooligans in the ugly coats with their ugly briefcases."
"And only by slaughtering all those who oppressed us, can us ghouls take the first step towards our ideal world. I mean, how else are we ghouls supposed to survive in a world dominated by humans?" She gave him a challenging smirk and an equally provocative point of finger. "Unless you have something to add?"
Ken found himself faltering underneath Takatsuki's expectations, his eyes quickly becoming downcast as he lowered his head to avoid meeting the author's gaze. Out of his newfound nervousness, he started to wring the fabrics of his pants.
Then suddenly, his grip loosened and he looked up, his eyes sporting a rare spectacle of steeled resolve. "No. There's another way." He stated as if his words were the absolute truth.
His audience, the green-maned author, leaned forward with a hand under her chin, curious to hear his reply. "Let's hear it then."
He pointed to his eye, the one often frequented by the colors of darkness and anger. "I was once conflicted about who I am, being a stranger of both worlds. But when I was at my weakest moment, I was taken in by a ghoul. Under his care, I learned to live as a ghoul and interact as a ghoul." He paused to check to see if the author was still listening, when he saw that she was, he moved to finish his speech. "There are ways for ghouls to coexist with humans peacefully, such as eating the bodies of the deceased…"
An incredulous scoff conveyed the author's disagreement. "Peaceful coexistence? The old man from the coffee shop sure did a number on you."
Surprise followed by annoyance were the expressions on Ken's face. "You mean the manager?" He scooted back, slightly defensive after his proposition was ridiculed. "He was the one who took me in. Why?"
The woman broke into a resetting cough, signifying the return of a more serious demeanor. "I would disregard the things he said. The ramblings of a senile man can be quite dangerous...especially to those who listen."
She leaned back on her chair and stretched, making herself comfortable before she elaborated on her assertion. "What he's doing is similar to ordering people to take painkillers. It dampens the problem but does nothing to solve the underlying issues. What he advocates is avoidance. It's a workaround born out of the fear of tackling the issue head on."
"Takatsuki-sensei…" When Ken spoke again, his voice was soft and dejected, no longer possessing the steeled resolve that it once had. Still, out of this whirlpool of confusion, disappointment and sadness, he managed to birth a new question. "Are you familiar with the manager?"
"Well, let's just say he's an old acquaintance."
That seemed to be the end of that discussion, at least Takatsuki made sure it was as she transitioned into another attempt to sway him to her side.
"So?" The woman prompted. "What do you say? Won't you join us?
"Why me though?"
"Let's just say you got something that I wanted."
"Like what?"
"You wouldn't know even if I explain it to you. It is not that important."
It caught Ken's attention that Takatsuki's manner of speech was characterized by vagueness. She was always careful to never reveal too much information, just enough to catch his attention.
At the end of each of their dialogues, he still had all the questions, and her, all the answers.
"Ever since you became a ghoul, have you ever lost someone close to you, Kaneki-kun?"
His mind immediately flashed to Ryouko, Hinami's mother.
"By the look on your face, I assume you have." Takatsuki surmised.
He fed into her suspicions. "And what if I have?"
"Why do you think it happened? "It's the fault of others" would be your first response, no? I, too, used to think like that, until I realized that it was an entirely selfish line of thinking." She paused and twirled her hair. "By thinking that, I have shed all of my responsibilities and instead projected them onto others. Sure, other people are at fault as well, but am I really as innocent as I liked to think?"
She was fast to answer her own question. "I believe the answer to that question is a "no". As I have sinned as well. I have commited the sin of "weakness". It was my fault that things that I held dear to me were taken away because I couldn't protect them."
"You see, Ken, I had an epiphany. Just like how you will many times in the futures. And through the many epiphanies that I have had in life, I have come to realize one thing. And that is, things aren't meant to be left alone."
As her monologue came to a stop, she stopped twirling her hair as well. She stood up, smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles of her red dress before heading to the door and pulling it open.
"Anyways, now that I have showed you my face, my fate is at your mercy. You can walk out of here and go alert the proper authorities if you want. I won't stop you."
Ken sat still, unsure of how to respond.
She took a step out the door, then another, then she stopped and twirled around to face him. "Say, you are friends with Banjou right?"
Ken blinked dumbly, surprised to why Takatsuki would decide to bring that man up suddenly. When he caught up to the woman's line of thinking, he sat there frozen with a churning stomach.
"Your conversation...I overheard it." She revealed. "Normally, we wouldn't mind letting them leave if they asked nicely. But their attempt to conspire against us did leave a rather sour taste in my mouth. I'm sure Tatara-san won't be happy to hear that the people that we took in out of the goodness of our hearts will in turn bite our altruistic hands."
Ken could feel where the conversation was going. There was no need for the woman to continue spelling things out for him. The writing on the wall detailed an unspoken ultimatum, just like the ones that he had feared. If he refused their invitation to join them, Banjou's group would be killed.
"But…I suppose I can help you."
Ken blinked again, surprised by this development.
"Excuse me?"
He could sense the woman resisting an eyeroll. "I said I will help you."
"Why?"
The author's smile was unreadable. "Because I like you, Kaneki-kun."
A/N: Posted this a while ago. Figured that it sucked so I took it off. In my defense, I left it up for like three days. I considered rewriting it but once I re-read it, I thought it was pretty decent for the most part. Anyways, I decided to alter the ending a tad for reason. Let's keep things amiable for a while.