It had been about 15 minutes from when they had engaged in battle, needless to say Ryoko was gradually becoming more exhausted each passing moment. These investigators were truly ruthless, if one hit you hard; the other one would hit you even harder. Kaneki seemed to be growing tired as well, and if this lasted much longer Ryoko was fearful neither of them were going to make it out of this situation. They desperately needed a way out, but Ryoko had nothing. She glanced in every direction and there was no way that they would be able to escape from these two. They were too strong.
Well, Ryoko had an idea but she was trying not to desperately not to act upon it. However, it looked like there wasn't going to be any other way out of this.
Before Ryoko could even say the words, Kaneki said them himself, "Ry you have to bite me-" She was surprised he had offered, but she knew that it was dire.
Ryoko obliges immediately, she was desperate and since Kaneki had offered she knew he was desperate as well. She darts towards her boyfriend after dodging the swing of the investigator called Ui's quinque. Ryoko yanks down his sweater revealing his bare skin. She stares at it momentarily thinking to how she had never really seen him shirtless before. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about trivial stuff like that, so instead of divulging further; she sinks her teeth into the exposed flesh, semi enjoying how Kaneki tasted. Why did he taste so different? Cannibalism was supposed to be disgusting, Ryoko had only heard bad things about ghouls who cannibalized. They said other ghouls tasted just foul. She continues to rip off a piece of his skin with her bare teeth and swallows it immediately. The new RC cells in her system seemed to ignite inside her quickly, it shrouded her body almost as if it were in flames.
Ryoko sprints towards the ghoul investigators; both of them looking quite a bit more alarmed than they had previously. She had no idea why, she could feel no difference in her kagune, and felt nothing grow or change. She charges at them, as Ui tries to fend off her kagune with his long staff like quinque. His partner went for a double attack on Ryoko while she was preoccupied holding her kagune against his quinque. Releasing a blast from her quinque, Ryoko thought she could
hear a slight giggle from Hairu. Ryoko manages to jump at the last second, and the impact of the blast that was meant for the female ghoul, hit her partner instead. Of course she rushes over to him, and the two quickly recover facing Ryoko again. As soon as they turned, Ryoko launched her Kagune at them; one of the tendrils wrapping around the girl, Hairu. Ryoko thought she smelled something delicious. To further inspection, she realized Hairu was bleeding from being hit by the kagune. Ryoko was so focused on the smell she hadn't noticed her mouth was watering. Everything else that ensued after that moment, seemed like a blur to her.
When she came to, it seemed like everything happened in slow motion. There were pieces she remembered, and even more that were blacked out. But what she knew was Kaneki was kneeling next to her trying to get a response. The look on his face was desperate, but there was also a hint of something else. Betrayal?
"R-Ryoko.." He almost sounds horrified, the only time she had heard Kaneki like this was whenever he spoke of the time Tsukiyama tricked him into being a meal.
The girl glances up at his familiar face, but there is only terror written across it rather than the loving look she was usually met with. There was no trace of love in Kaneki's gaze. Where were they? Ryoko looked at her surroundings realizing they definitely weren't in the alleyway with the investigators anymore. She glances down at her clothes, they're splattered with blood.
Ryoko peers up at Kaneki, almost wanting to turn away at the horrible look that seems to be boring into her soul, "What happened?"
"You don't remember anything?" He frowns as Ryoko shakes her head, Kaneki begins explaining stuttering a lot more than usual. "You took a bite out of my shoulder, and w-went after the investigators. Your.. your kagune changed. You grew, um, what looked like wings, and spikes out of your back. You went after the, uh, girl, I think you nearly killed her before her partner got a c-chance to get out of there. They stabbed you,
Ryoko. Right through the gut.. I thought you were dead. It still hasn't healed." Kaneki chews on his lip for a moment, his whole exterior changing. He looks angry, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Ryoko looks at him utterly confused, she has barely any recollection of those events. She glances down at her abdomen, where she sees that she completely missed her soaked shirt with a hole through it. She did get stabbed. And where was her mask at?
Kaneki almost seems to pout, "I just don't understand. You knew I was having such a hard time Ryoko. You didn't think it would be a good idea to let me know you were the same?"
"Kaneki," She places her small hand on top of his gripping it tightly, a sad look in her eyes. She didn't understand why he was getting so angry, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."
He seems to accept this, because a more understanding look comes across his face. One that is a lot closer to the normal look she got from him, "You really don't know?"
"Know what?" Ryoko hisses this time, tired of the same question. She doesn't know if she's angry because Kaneki keeps asking or because she's worried about what it might be.
Kaneki just shakes his head as he pulls his cell phone out of his pocket. Ryoko nearly asks what he's doing, but shortly after his phone is facing her and she can see herself reflected onto the screen. Really sees herself. Ryoko, well, she looks like herself. Maybe a bit wilder. Her green hair is a mess of curly strands fraying out in every which way. The look in her eyes.. that, that was different. Ryoko had never seen herself in "ghoul mode". She had never thought anything of it. She knew what it looked like whenever someone's kakugan was activated, she had seen it on Ayato and countless other ghouls millions of times. But the look in her eyes, she had only seen maybe once or twice.
She couldn't stop staring at herself, whether it be because she thought she was imagining things or really couldn't believe it. Her left eye, was normal as usual, the golden amber color that she had grown fond of over the years. But Ryoko's right eye, was black with a bright red pupil. She stared harder, thinking that maybe if she tried hard enough her other kakugan would show through. It didn't. Nothing happened.
"What the fuck is happening?" Ryoko places her hand on her face, not feeling like she was in her own skin at the moment. There was no way this could be true. "I.. I'm a one eyed ghoul?" Her voice sounds quiet, very unlike her usual tone.
Kaneki looks at her with curiosity and pity, "You really didn't know."
Ryoko shakes her head, she hates that look. She doesn't know how to feel right now, how did this even happen? For reasons unknown, Ryoko burst into tears; this was different for her because she rarely cried like this. Was it because she was completely blind to what she had really been her entire life? Or was it because she couldn't accept it. There were so many thoughts racing through her head; she was beginning to cave into herself. And then Kaneki brought her back to reality. His arms wrap around her middle firmly, and he rests his chin on her shoulder nuzzling his head against hers lightly. Ryoko rests her hand on Kaneki's arm, leaning back into him. She was sat between his legs now.
"I didn't know Kaneki, I-" She can't seem to find the right words to say to him, she can't even imagine how he felt knowing this. "I swear. I had no idea."
Kaneki chuckles lightly, placing a kiss onto her cheek. "I know, Ry, I believe you." He tucks her hair behind her ear as she turns to face him, "Nobody ever told you? Haven't other people seen you with your kakugan? I just don't understand how you couldn't know." Kaneki frowns, and Ryoko can't resist the urge to place her forehead against his. She can see him smile before she closes her eyes.
"Me neither." The air that comes out, seems as if she had been holding it in, captive inside her lungs for ages; just waiting for the chance to escape. Relief washes over Ryoko, and she grins to herself mostly, "You're really good at calming me down and comforting me, you know." She finds herself giggling, "Almost too good."
Kaneki pulls away from her, both of them finally gazing at each other lovingly once more. "That's because I can't stand seeing you sad."
Normally Kaneki was a stuttering fool, but at rare times he would be like he was currently. There was always something that changed inside him, making him more calm than normal. Ryoko never found out what it was. She didn't know why, but she wanted to kiss Kaneki badly right now. So she leans forward, and Kaneki complies quickly, connecting their lips. Ryoko imagined they couldn't keep their hands off of each other from the dopamine being released, after the thought crossed her mind she also decided she read too many books. Whenever you find new love, all kinds of hormones are released and that was why new couples always seemed to stick to each other.
"Come on," Kaneki breaks off their short but sweet kiss, "We need to get back to the apartment. Maybe Ayato's there now."
Ryoko nods her head, but as soon as she tries to stand the weakness in her legs proves to be greater than she had imagined. She collapses, but thankfully Kaneki catches her. He doesn't say a word, instead he helps Ryoko onto his back and gives her a piggyback ride to the apartment. Ryoko felt so tired. She wasn't sure what exactly happened with the investigators but she knew whatever happened to her; it took out an immense amount of energy. She rests her head onto Kaneki's shoulder, seeing the corners of his mouth raise up indicating a smirk.
She thinks about what he said. How was there no one that told her she was a one eyed ghoul? Ryoko knew she hadn't activated her kagune around many people, but she definitely used her kakugan. Every time she ate, and many other times. And then she thought about Ayato. There was no way in hell her best friend didn't know about this, so why had he kept it a secret from her? Furthermore, where the hell was he! Ryoko's anger was bubbling inside of her at this point, Ayato had caused them to have a run in with the CCG and he hadn't informed Ryoko she was a one eye. He had a lot of explaining to do.
As soon as Ryoko and Kaneki enter the apartment, they are met with the image of Hinami and Ayato sitting on the wooden floor of the apartment. The new addition to the family, Ichiro, was amongst them purring and rubbing himself against their legs. The only thing that kept Ryoko from kicking Ayato's ass was the fact that Hinami was here, and Ryoko was stuck on Kaneki's back.
"Kaneki, Ryoko! You're back!" Hinami jumps off of the floor, rushing towards them shortly realizing that there's something wrong with Ryoko.
Ayato had a smile on his face until he turns to see us, "W-what happened?"
"Kaneki.. can you take Hinami home?" Ryoko asks calmly; Kaneki sits her down on the couch. She winces at the impact, damn her stomach really hurt!
Kaneki places a soft kiss onto her forehead, speaking lowly. "Call me if you need me to come get you," He grabs Hinami's hand and turns to smile at us. "See you later, Hinami, tell them bye."
"Bye! It was nice to meet both of you, I love your cat!" She waves, Ayato and Ryoko returning it. The two walk out of the apartment.
It's silent for just a moment before Ayato rushes over to Ryoko's side, trying to figure out what the source of pain was. Ryoko swats his hand away from her. She was so angry, she couldn't help the glare that she was giving to her best friend. She truly felt as though he betrayed her. How could he keep something so huge hidden from her? It seemed like everything they had was a lie.
"Ryo," Ayato's face is full of worry, he nearly looks scared. "What's going on?"
"Where have you been Ayato? I said one hour."
"I'm sorry Ryo, Naki asked if I could stay for a little longer and I didn't think it would hurt anything-"
Ryoko stands up, immense pain flowing throughout her entire body. She's not physically incapable anymore from exhaustion, but damn where she got stabbed hurts. "You thought it wouldn't hurt anything? We went looking for you because I was worried. We ran into two CCG investigators! And you know what sucks? I don't even remember what happened. I scared Kaneki so bad he looked at me like I was a monster!"
Ayato seems overwhelmed with all of this information, he's trying to speak, "Ryoko! I'm sorry I didn't know-"
"You didn't know. Of course you didn't. Just like you didn't know I was a one eyed ghoul, right?" Ryoko's words slither out of her mouth like venom, "That was the worst part Ayato. Kaneki thought I lied to him and betrayed him. He thought I kept one of the biggest secrets about myself from him, just like you did!" She can't help but cry, she was really on a roll with that today anyways. "You betrayed me. You betrayed my trust. And worst of all, you betrayed our friendship."
"Ryoko," The look in Ayato's eyes is self-loathing, he absolutely hates himself in this moment and it is blatantly obvious. "I couldn't tell you." His eyes sting, and they sting bad. Ayato definitely wasn't the crying type, but he could feel his already watery eyes overflow. "I didn't want you to find out like this."
"You didn't want me to find out at all did you!" She screams at him everything that she had been previously suppressing unleashing at that moment; she was suddenly breathing heavily while rubbing the liquid out of her puffy eyes.
Ayato shakes his head vigorously, standing on his own two feet facing her dead on. He's crying right along with her, "No! It isn't like that, I made a promise!"
"You kept something huge about me, from me, Ayato. Whoever you're keeping that promise for must be a lot more important than me!"
"Nobody is more important than you!" Ayato yells back, feeling more frustrated than he ever has in entire life. Ryoko doesn't seem to be budging. "Nobody will ever be more important than you," He grabs her hand, and her amber eyes stare back into his. But they were so cold.
"Just-" Ryoko is in an abundance of tears as she pulls her hand away from his grasp, just seeing her sad made Ayato's heart swell with even more sorrow. Ryoko rarely cried like this, and it was his fault. He had truly hurt his best friend. "Just go Ayato! I don't care where. Just fucking leave."
Her words stung, but he knew exactly why she was so angry with him. He didn't get a chance to explain himself, and he definitely didn't feel like he deserved one anyways. So he did exactly as Ryoko demanded, and left.
Nine months. It had been nine months since the last time she spoke to her best friend, if she could even call him that anymore. It was a stupid thought, but Ryoko always imagined what if she had, had a child in that time. He wouldn't even know. However that wasn't the case and there wasn't a moment he wasn't on her mind, he was always there. Ryoko couldn't even reach out to him and ask how he was doing. She had made it this way though, and now she was suffering the consequences of her actions. Every time she even saw Ichiro, who has way bigger than how Ayato would remember him, was just a reminder of her lost purple haired friend. Ryoko had initially recovered from the CCG confrontation, but she definitely hadn't recovered from sending Ayato away. Not to mention during the battle she had apparently broken the mask Uta made her. He was disappointed she broke it, but of course happily made a new one. Ryoko was sure he made the ears a bit bigger this time to spite her.
Ryoko still didn't know how it was that she was a one eyed ghoul, but she was trying her best to find out any information possible. She really had a shitty day back then, it seemed like she lost a lot. But the past eight months haven't all been bad, in fact, they had been surprisingly good. Ryoko and Kaneki's relationship was going strong, both of them never tiring of each other and growing even closer than before. Kaneki finally talked Ryoko into working at Anteiku with him considering Ayato wasn't a reliable source of money anymore. And the most surprising thing to come out of that was, Touka and Ryoko became friends. They realized how much alike they were, and shortly after Touka also realized Ryoko and Kaneki really cared for each other and she didn't want to intrude on it.
Ryoko even grew close to Yomo and Yoshimura, they always asked her to go for runs with Yomo; a clear sign of trust from the two. Tsukiyama Shuu, the gourmet ghoul who had previously tried to eat Kaneki, was even someone who she had grown close with. Tsukiyama was easy to talk to, and whether he wanted to talk with Ryoko because he enjoyed her company, or because he wanted to get closer to Kaneki she didn't mind. Ryoko really felt like she had a family for the first time in her life, but there was always that one thing missing. And she knew exactly what it was.
"Daydreaming again? About your boyfriend?" Hide chuckles putting emphasis on the word boyfriend. Ryoko glares at him as he sits on the stool in front of the bar, he was here so much Ryoko thought about putting a sign on it that said 'property of Hide Nagachika'.
Ryoko scoffs at Hide as she wipes the inside of a coffee cup, "No. I was thinking about how I just read this really detailed book about how to get away with a murder."
"Aw Ryo," Hide frowns; Ryoko winces at the nickname every time he uses it but she can't seem to tell him to call her something else, "Come on! I was only joking."
"You should know better by now, she'll tear your head off if you bad talk Kaneki." Nishio laughs from behind her, he was supposed to be washing the dishes.
Ryoko side eyes Nishio, "Damn Nishiki, I try to tear your head off one time and you just won't let it go."
"No," Nishio shudders remembering the incident not so long ago. He had said something bad about Kaneki's haircut, and it was a bad day for Ryoko so it hadn't ended well. "You're scary when you're angry. Where is Kaneki anyways?"
Ryoko shrugs her shoulders, "No clue right now." She sets down the cup she's been drying for what seems like forever, "Him and Hinami went to see Sen Takatsuki, and then I think he said something about having to finish a really important essay, I think?"
"Doesn't it get hard? You know, him being at university and you being here. You guys were inseparable for like six months," Hide asks, lazily resting his head on his hand. He looks tired as well, exams must be coming up soon for Kamii. Ryoko knew Touka was cramming upstairs in her room as well.
Ryoko shakes her head, a small smile forming on her face, "No. Not really, we still spend a lot of time together."
"Yeah, as soon as they get home they're like rabbits fu-"
"Nishio!" Ryoko yelps, turning around smacking him in the back of the head with her fist. He lets out a loud groan, "You don't know anything about what Kaneki and I do in our free time."
Touka's rough voice chimes in, "They watch wheel of fortune together and try to see who can solve the most puzzles. Nothing interesting."
"Touka!" I glare at her; she flashes me a bright smile acting as if she did nothing wrong.
Hide rolls his eyes, "You and Kaneki are like an old married couple. Normally people our age are doing what Nishio was going to say." He glances over to me, "Unless you guys are just really good at hiding things from us." Hide seems to think of something that disgusts him, "I just got such a bad mental image."
They all find themselves laughing at Hide, and Ryoko smiles fondly at all of the people in front of her. This one of the things that she loved so much. She was always surrounded by them, and it made her so happy to have people in her life who she cared about. But every single time she thought about it, she knew she would trade this life to have Ayato back. She missed him so much, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Touka was here because she was switching out shifts with Ryoko, which Ryoko was thankful for that because she was tired of drying coffee mugs. She loved her friends, and she almost enjoyed the job but it was quite boring at times. Ryoko was also pretty sure she would be okay with never seeing another cup of coffee ever again. As soon as she walks into the other room to hang up her apron and grab her things, she's met with a pair of arms around her waist.
"You look so hot in your uniform," He murmurs lowly into her ear, Ryoko can't help but grin.
"Oh yeah?" Ryoko turns around wiggling her eyebrows at him, she pecks his lips quickly. "If you like a girl in uniform you'd love to see me in my track suit. Especially when I get all hot and sweaty, so sexy. I'd do me."
Kaneki begins laughing with Ryoko, "You're ridiculous. Just let me compliment you."
"Yeah, yeah whatever I'm sorry." Ryoko waves her hand dismissing the subject; she gathers her things and heads towards the exit with Kaneki. He follows behind her as they walk towards the door heading outside.
"Bye Nishio, Touka, see you guys tomorrow," Ryoko waves at them, and Touka waves back while Nishio only grunts.
Hide starts whining, "Why didn't you say bye to me?"
"Because I know you're just going to come with us," Ryoko says rolling her eyes as the three of them head outside of the coffee shop.
Hide continues to whine to Kaneki as the three of them travel down the familiar sidewalk, Ryoko is in her own world as of now. For some reason Ayato was weighing heavily on her mind today, she almost wanted to check to make sure he was okay because she only got feelings like this when something was wrong. She was trying extremely hard to brush off the feeling that something bad was going to happen, it hadn't even really been about Ayato. Ryoko just felt uneasy all day long.
"You okay?" Kaneki latches his hand onto hers.
Ryoko doesn't say anything, she just nods her head. If she spoke Kaneki would surely know that there was something wrong. He must have accepted the answer, because he went back to trying to talk Hide out of entering a burger eating contest or something like that. All three of them were heading towards a festival that was going to be in town for a few days. It was for New Years since it was going to be here soon, it was mid November right now. Kaneki's birthday was coming up as well. Last year on his birthday, they weren't speaking so Ryoko didn't get to bother him with all kinds of birthday surprises. She was determined this year.
When they arrive at the festival Hide immediately starts running around in what seems like a thousand different directions, the amount of energy he had always amazed Ryoko.
"Ah well look who we have here! The always dear Kaneki, and of course accompanied by the lovely Ryoko. Oh, and the red head boy." Tsukiyama's silk voice is recognizable as ever as he makes his way over to us, he has a few ghouls watching over him but if Ryoko weren't a ghoul herself she wouldn't have noticed.
Ryoko thought she could hear Hide say 'Hey!' but ignored it; she faces Tsukiyama smiling widely at the newest purple haired male in her life, "Tsukiyama! Always a pleasure."
"What are you two lovely young people doing on this fine evening? Enjoying the festival?" He raises an eyebrow.
Kaneki nods his head, tightening his grip on Ryoko's hand. Ryoko always knew Kaneki hadn't totally gotten over the fact that Tsukiyama wanted to eat him. "Yeah, just wanted to see how it was. What are you doing here?"
"Just got bored, decided I'd go do something that sounded like fun!" Tsukiyama laughs loudly, it always caught Ryoko off guard when he did that. Tsukiyama was a very handsome man, and his laugh was hard not to fall in love with as well. She thought that might be another reason Kaneki wasn't too fond of when Tsukiyama was around, Ryoko couldn't help but gawk at him. "Anyways, I'll leave you two alone. Have fun."
Ryoko and Kaneki wave, Ryoko was always sad to see him go. He always felt like he was intruding, but she didn't really mind his company. Tsukiyama was one of the more intelligent people that Ryoko knew, it was easy to talk to him too.
"Wait!" Kaneki yells, "Tsukiyama, come on, why don't you walk around with us? We already have Hide with us anyways it's not really a date."
"Tres Bien! I'd love too," Tsukiyama quickly turns back to join us.
Ryoko was so happy Kaneki invited him to come along she outright kisses his cheek, he wasn't really one for PDA so of course his face heated up instantly. He looks away from Ryoko bashfully, heading over towards Hide to see what he was gazing at. Ryoko hears Tsukiyama snicker under his hand as usual, she thought he might like it almost as much as she did when Kaneki was flustered. She looks towards him, always having to look at an angle considering Tsukiyama was a lot taller than she was. He places his arm around her shoulders bringing her close to him.
"How have you been? Is Kaneki dear treating you well?"
Ryoko folds her arms across her chest moving in a tad closer to Tsukiyama, it was freezing outside. "Of course. I've been alright,"
"Ah," Tsukiyama grins happily down at her, the two of them heading over to a booth that seemed to be full of flowers. "I have news for you," Tsukiyama says as he pays the man behind the counter for a single rose. He hands it to Ryoko, "For you ma chérie-" Ryoko can't help but smile up at him thanking him for the rose, them parting from each other walking side by side instead. "One of my men have found a source saying they knew of a father who had twin daughters. But the twist was that he was a ghoul."
"Okay that doesn't explain why I am a one eyed.." Ryoko frowns up at Tsukiyama, but he still has a smile on his face.
"Ah, ah, ah. Always so eager. This is where it gets interesting," Tsukiyama tisks at her, waving his finger in the air disapprovingly. "The father was a ghoul, and the mother was a human."
Ryoko's eyes go wide at the news, "You think I'm one of the twins?"
"They're both said to have dark green hair resembling that of jade." Tsukiyama slowly twines his fingers through Ryoko's hair gently, "And they said the twins got separated shortly after. One was given to a ghoul in the 24th ward, and one stayed here in the 20th ward."
"Thank you Tsukiyama, this helps a lot,"
He pats Ryoko's shoulder, "Anything for you dear. I'm sorry I couldn't find out more."
"What are you two doing over here?" Kaneki interrupts them, Hide following behind him chomping down on some sort of candy Ryoko was sure he hustled Kaneki into buying for him.
Ryoko grins at her boyfriend, locking their arms together. "Tsukiyama bought me a rose, you've got some competition for tonight."
"Well I would've rather bought you that instead of getting Hide his candy he just had to have," Kaneki groans disapprovingly. Hide always thought he absolutely needed something at least 15 times a day.
At the end of the day, Kaneki had bought Ryoko a really beautiful necklace that he said matched her eyes. She thought he might be trying to show up Tsukiyama, but he also looked really invested in what he was saying. Tsukiyama had dropped everyone off at their houses, leaving Kaneki and Ryoko at her apartment. Kaneki and her were sat on the couch watching television before they went to sleep now.
Ryoko was half asleep herself, but Kaneki seemed to be really into whatever TV show they were watching. She was thinking about what Tsukiyama had said. Somewhere out there, Ryoko had a sibling.
"Oh! How was meeting Takatsuki?" Ryoko asks, jolting herself awake. She hadn't gotten time to ask Kaneki.
"It was nice," Kaneki laughs a bit, "It was so weird. I thought it was you for a second honestly, her hair color was exactly like yours. Even in the face you looked similar, but she was wearing glasses and her hair was a bit more untamed. Very cool lady though, she was really interested in my name," He shrugs his shoulders, "I wish you could've gone."
"Yeah me too," Ryoko mutters lowly. Kaneki focuses his attention back to the TV show. Someone who looked exactly Ryoko. It couldn't be.. Could it?
Ryoko didn't sleep well at all that night.
When morning came around she knew she had a day full of cleaning up around the apartment since she wasn't working today. Kaneki wasn't going to be here. Ichiro was proving to be difficult, chasing after the broom and mop every time Ryoko slid the tool across the floor. It was overall a long day, and she couldn't wait to go pick Kaneki up. On the way to the shop the only thing that was on her mind was Sen Takatsuki. Was this her long lost twin sister? It seemed so surreal, just months ago Ryoko was a regular ghoul living a boring a life. What the hell had happened?
As soon as she steps into the shop, she immediately knows there's something wrong. Tables and chairs are scattered about, there's dried blood on the counter and all over the floor. The windows broken, and everything is just an absolute mess. Ryoko could hear voices speaking, so she rushes towards where they were being emitted from. She finds everyone in the conference room. Everyone except for one person. Touka, Nishio, Hinami, Irimi, Koma, Yoshimura, Yomo, and Tsukiyama. Everyone except for Kaneki.
"Ryoko.." Touka looks in her direction with sad eyes, everyone is staring at Ryoko now. "I'm so sorry."
"Where is he?" Ryoko's voice is suddenly not her own, it's once again laced with anger.
"Aogiri attacked us. They took Kaneki with them, Ayato knocked me out there was nothing I could do." Touka sounds so broken.
"We're going to go rescue him, don't worry we have a plan. They're planning a huge attack on the 11th ward where their main hideout is," Nishio speaks up.
Ryoko is angry, and heartbroken. She had missed Ayato for all these months, and he just came in here and took her boyfriend? "Ayato knocked you out?" Her fists tighten, her fingernails digging into the skin on her palms. "Ayato knocked you out, and he took Kaneki."
Ryoko doesn't say another word before she begins running, she can hear everyone calling after her telling her to wait. She knows they have a plan, but they're just going to have to catch up because there was no way Ryoko was going to let Ayato get away with this. She finds herself sprinting towards the Aogiri hideout in the 11th ward. She knew it was a long, long run but if she took a few buses she would be there soon. The CCG already had large trucks heading that way, Ryoko saw many of them driving past her while she was waiting on the bus.
"Just hold on a bit longer Kaneki," Ryoko spoke softly to herself, "I'm coming."
Kaneki was in absolute pain. Every single part of his body felt as though it was on fire. Yamori, the ghoul that had previously attacked Ayato all those months ago, was now standing before Kaneki ripping off body parts repeatedly. He had said Kaneki's regenerative abilities were just too delicious for him to pass up. Kaneki had been counted back from 1000 in increments of seven, something Yamori had made him do. He was in pain, and the only thing he could think of was Ryoko. Was she okay? Where was she? Hopefully nowhere near here.
Banjou, a ghoul Kaneki had just met today when he busted into the shop roaring about Rize, had befriended Kaneki feeling as if it was his fault Kaneki was here. He told him that he planned to get Kaneki out of here while the ghouls of Aogiri were busy with fighting CCG. Apparently they had planned a huge attack to take the ward. When Kaneki was with Ayato earlier, it was as if Ayato was trying not to even look at Kaneki. Kaneki should have been mad at Ayato, but he looked depressed and as if he weren't really wanting to have anything to do with the situation. He had even told Kaneki he was sorry. But it didn't matter now, because every time Yamori pulled off a finger, or a toe from Kaneki he felt himself being pushed further and further towards the edge. Kaneki was about to break, and he knew it.
Ryoko arrived at the hideout that was already swarmed with CCG agents and Aogiri ghouls fighting each other. Before she did anything else she put on her mask, and pulled the hood of her black jacket over her head. Ryoko snuck through the battle almost effortlessly, heading towards where she knew headquarters was. Ayato had told Ryoko everything she needed to know about Aogiri, because if he ever needed her for something then she knew exactly where he would be. Ryoko made it to where she remembered Ayato had labelled HQ so long ago when he drew out a map of the 11th ward hideout they had.
What she saw when she entered the room, almost made her faint. Standing across from her wrapped in bandages that were slowly but surely falling off of her body along with dark red cloak that was hung around her shoulders, was a dark green haired girl. A sinister smile was on her face.
Eto perks up immediately whenever she sees Ryoko, and in a voice resembling a serpent she cooed, "Siiiis. I've been waiting for you."