His words hurt her, but Isa felt the same way. It was better if they had never met. A human and a ghoul? It was possible, but too problematic. It actually surprised Isa that Tatara was affected by all this. Once she guessed the truth, she'd thought everything was done for an act. Or, was it still an act? Was even the tiniest hint of sadness in Tatara's eyes just for the sake of Aogiri?

All she could do was stare into his eyes, wondering-suppressing her feelings. She knew she still had feelings for him-she just didn't want to let go.

I'm so foolish.

"Maybe...it would have been better if we never met," Isa finally said with a sad smile.

Tatara's gazed off into the distance, now emptiness filling his eyes. "We… I… Failed. Everyone's dead. My whole point of existence is no more," anger started showing in his voice. "All these years-all that I sacrificed, all my friends and my family. And now am I just to succumb-"

Isa put her hand on his shoulder, making him stop. He took a breath in and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. His brows were furrowed into an angry frown.

"It's over," he said. "Even...Eto is no match for the CCG."

Eto… Isa remembered they were childhood friends. A pang of sadness hit her, even though all the things Eto had done to her was still fresh in her mind.

"Live on," she barely whispered to herself, but was also meant for Tatara. It seemed like he heard her, since he just stared at her.

"I'm sorry, Isa…" He said, sounding like he had trouble apologizing.

She nodded sadly, forgiving him. She wanted to cry into his arms but just couldn't. A tear slid down her cheek and Tatara wiped it off, hesitating at first.

They stood together in silence for a long time.

"What are you going to do now?" Isa asked, breaking the grief-stricken silence between them.

"I smell Eto's blood…"

She didn't know what that meant, but slowly nodded anyways. "So then...I guess this is farewell, huh?" She met Tatara in the eye again, wanting to see him one last time.

He nodded.

"I see…" She took in a huff of breath. "Well, I'm pretty sure the CCG will be on to me now. I'll try my best not to reveal anything…"

He nodded again. "Thank you...Isa."

"It's hard living in a world like this, huh..."

There were sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. Their attention both shifted to the side, waiting in silence. Isa was frozen again, desperately wanting to take Tatara and run away, but she couldn't find herself to even break her stare from that spot where the sound of footsteps just became louder and louder.

"I always did love you," Tatara said.

To Isa's shock, Arima appeared from the corner, a long, sharp-pointed weapon in his hand, his blank expression towards the both of them. He stood still right at the top of the stairs.

Arima?

Isa felt Tatara's hand on her back, gently pushing her forwards. "Take her," he simply said to him.

Arima stood there in silence, waiting for Isa. She hesitated at first, wanting to stay...yet go at the same time. This is for the better, she kept on repeating to herself. She slowly walked away from Tatara, using all her mental effort to try to forget about him and keep on going. She heard Tatara's footsteps behind her, walking further away. Once she was right in front of Arima, she turned around to take one last look, but he was gone. She wanted to feel relieved, but she never felt that way.

Eto coughed out blood, panting. She tiredly wiped her mouth, falling to the ground.

"Ahh… How can this possibly be?" She grunted a laugh, amazed. "He's gotten more aggressive than ever." She coughed out more blood."

Is this really the end for me? Hahaha….

She smelled Tatara very close by. She smiled weakly at her friend, who picked her up in his arms and started to walk. She rested, looking up at the morning sky. The smell of bloodstain and ashes filled the air with a disgusting scent.

"We are not in vain. Kanou will...still continue," Eto said weakly.

Tatara didn't reply.

"As long as he continues...we'll never be in vain."

Atsuko...was it that I was supposed to die that day instead? The thought of Ina and Isa just reminded me of us. I wonder what you would do if you were still here. It smells awful…

What...was my mother like? Was she like yours?

It doesn't matter. In the end, we live two worlds, two separate minds, and two lives.

She smiled faintly, closing her eyes.

"No, it's over," Tatara said, closing his eyes.

Isa followed Arima quietly. She looked down the whole entire time, thinking about everything. What was now ahead in her life? What would it bring? She felt numb from it all. How long until all her scars would be healed? She couldn't help to wonder what Tatara was doing right then. She was a pang of sadness in her chest as she thought of him.

Maybe...it was better if we never met.

One last final explosion canceled her thoughts. She would have stopped walking to turn her head and see, but she continued on. Arima briefly stopped, though, staring into the distance where the bomb exploded.

Isa looked back at him, and there was gentleness in his eyes as he looked back at her. She knew what it meant.

"It's over…"

Thank you for all the kind and positive feedback and compliments, and favourites! Really encouraged me to continue writing and finishing this story. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it~

I already have a prequel for this story in mind, about Eto's and her friend, Atsuko's past long before the time of this fanfic. I already have the main plot in plan and now it's just a matter of writing it. If anyone is interested, i'll update this story once I publish it, notifying you all.

Thank you very much!