"The First Class Investigator embarks on her first assignment!"

Erashi tapped her heeled shoe lightly, checking her watch under the dim glow of the streetlamp. Takashi glances at his superior while trying to supress his mirth. He was a junior investigator, yes. But obviously leadership was something new to the First Class. The glass doors of the building they were waiting outside open with a hiss and Kuramoto Ito steps out into the night followed by his squad.

"Ah, First Class Simmons, it's good to see you". Takashi raises an eyebrow and Erashi glares at him subtly. She tried to keep her surname a secret as much as possible. If too many people knew, then they might remember a particular paper article…

She holds out her hand and Ito shakes it gently. 25 years earlier, Kuramoto had been the same rank as Erashi. Being one of the more ordinary investigators, despite having been an Associate Special Class for 15 years he was an outstanding investigator, in a battle, more suited to support and defence than offense.

"I assume you have your files then? We've had a reports of a bandaged woman that fits the description of Eto Yoshimura being sighted in the vicinity of a large construction site in the 6th Ward. This is the 8th such report, and each time I went to pursue a lead, I'd end up with another cold case. The Owl just disappears".

"Well then it's about time for some fresh blood on the case isn't it Ito-san? Sorry, I forgot to introduce you to my new partner". Erashi raises a hand to Takashi. "Associate Special Class, this is Rank 2 Takashi, Academy Valedictorian, Takashi, this is Associate Special Class Ito. We'll be teaming up with Ito squad to chase down this latest lead". Takashi nods, and the two senior investigators begin discussing the finer points for their plans as the group moves down to the subway station.

Boarding the train, some time passes before they disembark at the 6th Ward Central Station. Once on the surface, they find themselves at a crossroads. Ito turns to Erashi, a pained look on his face. "Listen Erashi, there was something I haven't told you. There's been an Investigator killing at the Train Yard 3 kilometres to the south of the Construction Yard. I don't know if it's related to the Owl but I need your thoughts on this…"

He pulls a small plastic bag from his pocket and removes the bloodied garment with a gloved hand. Erashi stares intently at it. "If memory serves correctly… No… no it can't be her". Takashi raises an eyebrow. "What is it?" She passes the evidence back to Ito, disposing of her own gloves. "That material is from the robes of the Yasuhisa Sisters…"

Her young partner frowns. "Who are they? And how can you even remember something that happened years ago?" "The Yasuhisa's were once some of the most promising Academy students ever. But… Their father was killed and Doctor Kanou took guardianship over them as young children. He made them into One Eyed Ghouls". Takashi shakes his head disgustedly. "That's sick. To turn humans into ghouls is just… wrong. That's what happened to Chairman Amon wasn't it? It was completely different from the old Quinx Surgery".

Ito folds his arms and rubs his clean shaven face gently. "Indeed. There were many humans that were turned into One Eyes. Seidou Takizawa was killed by Ken-…. Another investigator and these Yasuhisa's were another failed experiment of Kanou. Special Class Suzuya killed one of them when he was a Rank 2 and the other sister, Kurona Yasuhisa joined her Kakahou with her dying sisters…"

Erashi raises a hand to her mouth, the reality of the story dawning on her. "They merged together?" Ito nods solemnly. "She completely assimilated Nashiro Yasuhisa into her body, developing another Kakugan and becoming extremely unstable and powerful. We encountered her during the Rue Island Extermination. Suzuya nearly got killed by her in that battle…. We all thought that Director Urie had killed her but apparently not".

Takashi nods slowly, looking at his notes before shoving them into his back pocket. "So Yasuhisa is the SS+ rated "Floppy", and she's killed an Investigator at the Train Yard? Are we going to check it out?" Ito grunts. "Not sure. It seems a little dangerous for a fresh First Class and her partner to handle right now… Maybe I'll send First Class Saiko over there. She's a Quinx after all".

He gestures to a middle aged woman of about 44 with luscious light blue hair. Saiko Yonabashi, while being a large woman in general had slimmed considerably since her Adolescent days. She converses quietly with Ito, then looks over to Erashi and winks. "Congrats on the promotion Erashi. I'll see you around". They watch her take three members of Ito's squad and Takashi scratches his head. "Are you sure she'll be able to handle a ghoul of that Calibre?"

Ito nods. "Saiko is stronger than most male Investigators, also her Kagune will give her an edge in any battle. We need to get moving, let's go". The Investigators stride off towards the Construction Site looming over them, not knowing of the hardships to come.

The raven flew expertly through the steel girders and landed deftly on the arm of the small dress wearing woman. A pink cloak was pulled up over Eto Yoshimura's face, but her single Kakugan stared down at the streetscape below. She sat alone today, Tatara having to attend his workplace as a high school teacher.

She smiles wistfully. Her life had been so fragmented since Kaneki died. She'd been brought to believe that her eternity was serving the One Eyed King, but the King had been gone for almost 30 years, and here she was still. She sighs. "What's the point of not aging if nothing happens anymore? The 23rd Ward is pointless to operate in, and Rue Island is a CCG Metropolis now… Damn that Kaneki. Why'd he have to leave me with nothing but a son that I had to push away?"

Her son… Kuzo had been such an unstable ghoul that Eto had disowned him, telling him to become a great investigator in order to curb his murderous tendencies. Eto chuckles. Here she was getting soft. Having a child tended to do that to people, even Ghouls. A slight shift in the pattern of the world below causes her to glance down. A group of white suited humans we approaching the Site, their briefcases pinning them as Investigators.

Cursing, she stands. Eto knew that in many cases her movements were reported to the CCG and they constantly launched Investigations in order to hunt her down. Even 30 years on, the One Eyed Owl still struck fear into people's hearts. The leading Investigator was Kuramoto Ito, she could tell that much from here. "Shit… I really don't feel like being discovered here… I might need to send out him"…

Ito stopped walking once they were all in the shadow of the buildings first floor. The tower only had 9 complete floors, so Ito assigned flankers and rear guards. As they crested the top the a stairwell onto the 7th floor, a scream from below causes everyone to spin around. Erashi raises a hand. "Don't act on it. If they're dead we can't help them by getting killed ourselves". The squad continues upwards, Ito nodding in appreciation to Erashi's leadership skills.

Finally, the investigators step out of the stairwell onto the 9th floor, steel and iron towering above them in a latticed network. Something crashes against the ground behind a wall and a Rank 1 Investigator draws his Quinque before approaching the wooden wall cautiously. Ito is about to call him back when something crashes through the wall, wrapping around the Rank 1 and tearing his torso from his other half.

As blood drips onto the floor, Ito acts, drawing his Quinque and slashing at the wall, the panelling sliding off the wall in a diagonal descent. Behind the wall stood a tall, robed man wearing a plain white mask with a large grinning mouth and two nose slits. Takashi swears and releases his own B rate Rinkaku Kagune. "A Ghoul! How can he even see with that mask on?"

Ito's hand is trembling. "That mask… It's the same as Noro's… But he's dead…" Erashi glances at him in alarm. "Special Class Noro?!" The Associate shakes his head vigorously. "No. Noro the ghoul, an SS~ rated monster that was nothing more than a dried out husk used by the Owl. But this guy… I don't know who he is…"

Erashi is trembling all over. "I know who he is… The Indomitable. That's what the old Investigators used to tell him. Special Class Yukinori Shinohara… Presumed dead after the 1st Ward attack 30 years ago…."

Shinohara was no longer in the world of the living. Of course, Eto had taken his body after they fled the CCG's Headquarters at the moment of Kaneki's death, and now he was nothing more than a puppet, used by Eto. He raises his Kagune and ferociously swipes at the investigators, taking both of one man's legs and decapitating a woman. As limbs and heads roll, Ito swears. "Everyone get out of here! I'll stay back and hold him off!"

His squadmates follow the order and sprint out of the room quickly. Soon, only Erashi and Takashi were left. Ito glares at them while deflecting Shinohara's Kagune desperately. He was having a hard time staying alive. "What did I just say?! Get out!" Erashi suddenly draws Ginkui and slices off the Kagune that was about to remove Ito's legs with practiced ease. She'd been training since her bout with the Director.

"Associate Special Class, I can't do that. You're suited for support, so please attack when I make an opening. Takashi, stay back and draw his attacks to the left. Can you do it?" Takashi nods immediately and moves cautiously to the left, drawing Shinohara's deadly Kagune towards him but he swiftly rolls beneath it and pins it to the ground.

Ito hesitates, then nods. He steps back, readying himself. The stance came naturally to him and seemed to calm him down. Erashi sighed in relief before turning back to her opponent. In a grave voice, she begins intoning the appropriate first contact procedures as she slices a Kagune down the middle, flicking Ginkui against Shinohara's masked face before leaping back and letting Ito deliver a crushing slash to the shoulder, destroying flesh and muscle.

"First Class Erashi engaging ghoul as a part of Associate Special Class Ito's squad. Identity confirmed as Yukinori Shinohara. Status, Deceased and attacking with killing intent. We will now exterminate the SS~ rated ghoul "Turned". She activates Ginkui's transformation and the essence of the ghoul Noro oozes out, gouging out flesh and bone of the Undead Shinohara ghoul. He staggers to one knee, Kagune thrashing wildly back and forth in a protective circle around him.

Being dead before Eto worked her magic on him unlike Noroi who had been alive, his body hadn't developed into a Rinkakku Ghoul like Noro had. This Undead ghoul was a Koukaku, and his body was deteriorating rapidly. Erashi arcs Ginkui over her head, Shinohara's head being consumed and the headless corpse dropping to the cement floor. She sighs. "Extermination… complete. Shinohara-san will now rest peacefully forever…"

A sudden weariness comes over the three investigators at once. They pant, staring breathlessly in amazement at each other. "How the hell did we just take down an SS~ Rated Ghoul like that? IT was amazing!" Takashi stands and rolls his shoulders. Ito offers a hand to pull Erashi to her feet, grinning. "I don't know. But I'm certainly not feeling as invincible as I did thirty seconds ago… Come on. We need to meet up with the others. The Owl clearly isn't here anymore. She left Shinohara behind to lie in wait for us".

Erashi looks up, her above average vision singling out a raven sitting upon one of the highest girders over 100 metres above their heads. The Owl must have seen them approach, and it seemed as if she'd been using this place as a haunt for a long time. She kicks herself mentally. Damn. We were so close to the Owl! She motions for Takashi to follow her down the stairs. "That was some amazing work distracting the ghoul Takashi. I'll be mentioning this in my report. You might find yourself becoming Rank 1 in quite a short time at this rate". She smiles. All three of them had just earned themselves the prestigious Double White Wing Medal, an award most Special Class's didn't achieve.

Eto slammed the door to the apartment she shared with Tatara closed and crashed onto the sofa, wiping her warming brow. She'd barely escaped the site unnoticed behind Shinohara as the Investigators had encountered him. She'd felt it. He was dead now, for the second time. Oh well, he was merely a tool…

"Those fuckers caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting visitors…. I guess I lose that vantage point then… Not too many places that high up in Tokyo left for me to use… Dammit where's Tatara when I need him. He's been away a lot more recently… Wonder what he's up to?"...

It was dark in the subterranean tunnels of Tokyo's 24th Ward. Nothing could be heard in the oppressive silence of the ancestral home of Ghoulkind. Humans rarely sought this place out, and those that did either left again or never returned… Tatara pondered these things as he entered the wide tunnel and strolls down its length.

A drop of water splashes onto the ground in front of him, prompting the ghoul to look up warily. He wasn't supposed to be here… but he had to do this. Continuing onwards, he comes to a cleverly hidden doorway that most ghouls didn't know about. It led into even deeper parts of the labyrinth. Stepping through the doorway, Tatara enters a cold, dark hall of marble. This was one of V's abandoned meeting places.

A voice suddenly echoes throughout the hall. "You made it… Good". A figure drops down from above, landing lightly before Tatara and he bows. "Lord Tatara, I have done as you asked". Tatara nods gladly. "Thank you Isai. I'm glad that things can still be done efficiently these days". The ghoul named Isai nods. "The men are all gathered in the next hall down. What do you wish to be done with them?"

Tatara hesitates. He'd asked Isai, who was an Ex-member of the Aogiri Tree from years past, to gather as many ghouls from the old organisation as possible. Investigators had been going after Eto in increasing amounts, and he feared that she might be being attacked at this moment. "Tell them to mobilize in the tunnels beneath the 23rd Ward… We're clearing out the rouge ghouls from Cochlea…"

Isai nods in appreciation. "That's good… If we establish ourselves in Cochlea, the CCG's attention will be drawn away from the 6th Ward". Tatara nods. "Exactly. Even without the objective being protecting Eto, Aogiri has lain scattered and dormant for too long. It's time that the CCG's period of easy conquest come to an end". He looks around the empty hall. "Ever since V disintegrated, Tokyo's wards have been rampant with ghoul strife. Rouges and Weaker ghouls are now roaming the streets. Aogiri will replace V as the undercurrent of the city. We must!"

He shakes Isai's hand before promptly leaving the hall. He had to get back to Eto. Nico, an ex-acquaintance of Yamori and member of Aogiri Tree, had come to him the day before saying that he and some associates of his had encountered Doctor Kanou in Cochlea. Tatara needed to be wary. Kanou was too much of a Wildcard, even after all these years…

Uta lounged upon a sofa shoved into the back end of the Helter Skelter, a laptop set up on the coffee table next to him. As he checks through his emails, he frowns, about to say something to Nico when Roma and Itori enter the bar. Itori crashes next to Uta and gives him a peck on the cheek. "You'll never guess what I fished from the CCG's Database today!" She goes on to explain how she'd heard rumours of the CCG's old hard drives still being operational in their old 1st Ward Headquarters.

"I was able to hack into the new network, and I know exactly what's going on right now. They're investigating the One Eyed Owl, Kanou and an Extermination Force was recently sent to the mainland…" Nico raises an eyebrow. "China? What on earth for my dear Itori?" Itori winks at him, blowing a kiss. "Well, apparently they found out about that Ghoul Sanctuary. Noro Schneider and Hiyori Arima are leading the raid at this moment".

Uta nods thoughtfully, eyes glancing at the email he had received from an unknown ID. "The Sanctuary didn't offer us shelter when we asked for it almost 40 years ago. I personally don't care what happens to those guys. What I'm more interested in is this strange email I've got here…" He opens it, and scans the contents. "It's a link to some sort of livestream. Let's see if it's region locked. It isn't…"

A video comes up on screen and they stare intently at the scene playing out before them in silence. Suddenly, Uta begins to shake. Roma looks at him in alarm. "What is it?!" Uta smiles, continuing to shake more intensely. "Don't you feel it? The excitement?. This…. This is unexpected. I didn't foresee this Roma! It's beyond my control and it excites me because I've never been surprised before!". Uta does a little jig, while Itori continues staring at the live video, mesmerized by the momentous event before her own eyes. Ken Kaneki was back among the living, and he was in Sanctuary, facing a young investigator…

"Their struggle will be seen by all!"

End Tokyo Ghoul: Crimson 05

Next time: Red Child

A/N: Hey guys! :D

Hope you're this story so far, it's taking a lot more thought in order to include the appropriate amount of content in each chapter so I'm sorry if updates aren't as swift as they could be OwO.

Remember to rate and review :X It lets me know that you're enjoying my work, and any feedback is good feedback! That's all I've got for now. Peace

~Deathbringer