Hiya! I'm back! thanks for all the interest you guys are showing my story! I'm sorry if tin seems slow-going, but i promise you, i have plenty of surprises in store for you guys! Anywho, i finished this chapter, so may was well share it, right? Please enjoy, and know that i only one the plot!

Yomo hardly recognized the monstrosity that had staggered through :Re's doors, so late at night.

It wasn't the stench of the blood that stained Touka's once-grey coat, nor the disheveled appearance of the younger ghoul. It was the sickly smile that twisted her stained face into a grotesque nightmare. A shiver ran up his spin, raising every hair on his neck. She almost reminded him of Rize… but he'd expect this of Rize.

On Touka, this madness was ill fitting and downright horrifying.

He was hesitant to move, as the demonic shell of the ghoul posing as his sister, raised her eyes to meet his, her Kakugan burning into his own coal eyes. She was holding back giggles, and failing to do so quite awfully. Soon, the giggles were full blow guffaws, their wicked sound reverberating of the walls of the dark café. Yomo's blood ran cold, in anticipation of what the next step of this insanity was to bring. She tried to speak though her laughter, but the sentences were choppy and illegible. He couldn't make heads or tails of what she was saying, until her laughter drawled to a slow halt, in which she remained passively silent for a moment. If Yomo wasn't a ghoul, he might not have even heard her whisper.

"I killed him" A single tear ran down her face, and she suddenly lurched forward.

His instincts kicking in, he dove forward to catch the young ghoul. She buried her tearful, bloody face into his shoulder upon impact and began to sob hysterically.

"I killed Him!" she cried repetitively "I killed Him! I killed him!"

He drew her closer, as her white-knuckled fists fastened their already impossible grip in his shirt. It was a vain effort to calm her down.

"I killed him! I killed him and ate him! I sucked the bones dry! And he wasn't even good!"

"Shh. Shh. It's over now. Shh." The silver-haired man coaxed quietly, rubbing soothing circled on her back as her wails turned into soft whimpers. Yomo let out a sigh as he let the tortured ghoul cry in his shoulder.

"You're going to be alright now"

He hated it. He knew that what Touka was doing was dangerous, towards herself especially, but she had implored him to trust her. Not that something as idle as a few words would stop her from doing what she believed to be right, but she needed someone to be her corner, and seeing as neither of them had anyone else, he knew that he had to give her what he had.

He'd help her stand until there was nothing left to stand for.

Touka scrubbed furiously with a detergent stick to get the last of the crimson out of her once-pristine coat. The wicker waist-bin held three emptied corpses of the blessed sticks, every last drop drained from each one.

She really wished that her inner beast would show restraint before it soiled her nice coat.

It had taken the greater part of the hour to get the blasted stains out, and Touka immediately washed the ashen jacket, before any other misfortune could befall its pure fabric. There was a soft rap at the doorway.

"We have a special guest today." Yomo informed. Sighing heavily, Touka swiftly headed for the doorway. There's only one soul they would let in this early before hours. At a table in then center of the floor sat a tall man, his hair dyed an inky black, his eyes and aura matching. Noticing her presence, the man sat up quickly, and cleared his throat.

"Touka-san"

"Amon. Good Morning." She smiled brightly. There was a time she would have paid any price to shred the ex-investigator to ribbons and promptly feast on the remains, but a lot had changed since Mado and his flock had come chewing through the 20th ward, killing Hinami's mother. The death of the old investigator may have haunted her, but she didn't regret putting that wretched being out his misery. Amon was a different man now, though.

Laughing to herself, she shook her head. They all were. Nothing could be the same anymore. Noticing the brooding mans hard stare, she smiled and looked directly into his coal eyes.

"Cup of coffee, Amon? No doubt Yomo's preparing breakfast, if you dare call it that." The older mans shoulders went lax, and he leaned back a little.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks"

Amon's eyes never left the baristas back, and guilt gnawed at his skull. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be alive, even, but definetly not here. His gaze intently followed the Rabbit; the Ghoul that had killed his friends, and his beloved mentor.

Never in a million years of his miserable life did he ever imagine himself grateful that she did.

The saying was true, that you can't understand someone until you've walked a day in their shoes, and now that he was walking in a ghouls shoes, he felt like absolute shit. After the initial shock of becoming what he despised, he had asked many questions, to come to terms with the transformation. Touka-san and Yomo-san had been patient, and readily helped him, answering each question with complete, and in most cases, brutal honesty. He knew all about their suffering. Hell, he was experiencing it first hand. He'd been trained in combat for the majority of his life and he was scared shitless. It was hard to even think about living a life like this. His heart sunk as he noticed a repeating trend with most ghouls.

"What about your parents, Touka-san?" he had asked her once.

He never forgot the look on her face. It was soft, peaceful;, but so fragile, as if a gust of wind could draft through the door and blow her away like ash on a mountainside.

"Killed, when I was young" was all she had said. He couldn't bring himself to press the matter any further. He wanted to ask so much. About Anteiku, and about Centipede, but that delicate look had struck a fear into him. He knew she was no piece of delicate china. If anyone could take care of herself, it was Touka-san. But that look had made him realize that these topics were rooted within her hear, and he didn't want to be the one to rip them up.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a steaming, aromatic cup of coffee.

"Here you go. One Café Romano, as you usually take"

"Thanks, I appreciate it." His eyes sunk to the table just in front of the now-seated woman. A heavy air hung over them as he tried to materialize what to say.

"Hide's doing well" Touka, the savior she was, brought the conversation to a start.

"Thank god. I owe him my life" Memories flashed in front of his eyes, causing the hair on the back of this neck to stand and his spine to shiver. The last think he wanted was to think about what happened then. He saw Aoigiri tree in a new, even more malicious light. He sipped his coffee, the warm brew washing his pallet and cleansing his mind. Damn, Touka-san was good at this.

"Will he be discharged soon?"

"Well, if he's feeling good, why would they keep him? Let's just hope he isn't found out until then" the ghoul tilted her head, flashing him one of those priceless smiles. It wasn't that Amon had developed an infatuation with the younger woman. He hadn't the head for romance. What he felt for Touka-san was a deep admiration of her strength and person, even after all this hell on earth had put her through. Not to mention what she was putting herself through now, to protect :Re, and the helpless ghouls like him.

Yomo had impeccable timing, because just as the last of his Romano was gone, he came out baring a package. Amon had accepted the parasol and bid a good and easy day to the two experienced ghouls. As he left the Café, he flipped the 'OPEN' sign on the request of Touka. The morning air was fresh, and the ex-dove pulled up his hood as he started down the sidewalk, package tucked away in the bosom of his long, dark coat.

"It's just down this way! The coffee there is so good it made Sassan Cry!"

"Wait, I didn't cry!"

"Those were big, fat teardrops on your face"

"Mutsuki! You're not helping!"

"What, Mamaan was crying over cup of coffee? Really?"

"Could we please just-"

The white and black haired man paused as a tall, hooded figure passed him, his hair jet black, and his eyes shaded to match. It caused him to double take.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just… It's nothing, let's just keep going"

He could have sworn he'd seen that face before.

Life was hardly a fairytale. Any ghoul knew that. It was a lifelong struggle, which required killing and eating people you didn't want to harm just to survive. The part that scared Touka Kirishima was the fact that it was getting so easy. To watch the blood drain from their body, and the light fade from their eyes, it was terrifying.

She didn't want to lose herself.

She didn't want to lose what she had.

That's the whole reason she was doing this. She only hoped that she didn't take it to far. She had no time to feel fear. Too many people depended on her now.

Yomo, Hide, Amon, they all needed her. They needed her, and dammit, if she was going to do something, now had to be the time.

She knew Kaneki was lost to her, but she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

The cafe's front door swung open once more.