A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to say y'all are freaking wonderful! Enjoy and please review!

P.S.: I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean for it to turn out like this! Forgive me!

Chapter 17: Family Reunions

Aelin sighed as Kaneki went all Deus Ex Machina on Ayato's sorry ass, Yandere-chan being knocked about like a ping-pong ball as 'Neki let out his frustrations on the unsuspecting ghoul. She finally stepped in as Kaneki loomed over over Ayato, discussing the different possible ways to half-kill someone. Despite her irritation at the blue haired teen for getting them into this mess in the first place, she couldn't quite bring herself to allow her best friend to snap half of the bones in his body. ...yet. With a put-out groan, she shoved Kaneki away from the Yandere, crouching down beside the Ukaku, pulling him to his feet with a grimace. Kaneki stared incredulously at her for administering Ayato aid, shooting her a betrayed glare.

"Oh, don't look so upset 'Neki. I let you curb stomp his ass, did I not? Anyway, I think it's about time I introduce the two of you. Yandere-chan, this is Kaneki, who's tied for first place as my Bestest Friend in the Whole Wide World. He's a Yandere too. Kaneki, this is my… actually, I'm not exactly sure what he is. Some weird mix of a psudo-bro, a student, and a freeloader. You two play nice, okay? I've got places to see and people to be."

She leapt away, her Kagune unfurling behind her to aid the ghoul as she made her way out of Aogiri and its surrounding property.

Kaneki glanced at Ayato questioningly.

"Doesn't she mean places to be and people to see?"

Ayato shook his head with a smirk.

"Nah, Kitsune always says that. When I tried questioning her on it, she pointed out that it's awfully hard to be a place."

"But that's not-"

"Try telling her that!"

Linebreak~

Aelin snickered at the befuddled face Kaneki had made at her butchered statement. Of course he would pick up on that, literature nerd that he was. Aelin slowed down as she approached a concrete bridge, an orange figure crouched on top with a pair of binoculars in hand. She landed silently behind him, and quickly wrapped her kagune around him, the tails holding him still and muffling his mouth as he shouted out in alarm. Hide began struggling, wriggling and gnawing on her kagune determinedly. Aelin let out a chuckle and spun the writhing human around, his face now inches from her mask. His eyes were blown wide with fright, and his breath puffed out in little gasps as his lungs heaved. She brought her finger in front of her mask to make a shush sign, and stepped back and loosened Hide's bonds when he nodded back frantically in agreement. A small smile touched her lips as she leaned back and tilted her head to get a good look at her panicking best friend, her humor hidden beneath the layers of ceramic preserving her identity.

"So, I heard that a itsy bitsy human saw that I associate with Aogiri, and that just won't do, now will it?"

Hide shook his head desperately, a single thought running wildly through his mind. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

"WAIT! Wait, I- I swear I won't tell anyone! I promise, pinky swear! Cross-my-heart and hope to die!"

Kitsune chuckled darkly. She did oh so enjoy playing these little games with her prey, though in this case she would have to eventually let the blonde go. That didn't mean that she couldn't have a little fun in the meantime, however.

"Oh, you'll be hoping to die, alright. And not tell anyone? I should hope not. Last I checked, deadmen do have a habit of carrying their secrets to the grave. Capiche, Sunshine?"

"I- I don't- I can't- wait… Sunshine?"

Kitsune hissed under her breath. It seems she slipped up, easily falling into her old nickname for her friend.

"I suppose the charade is up." She sighed. "And I was having so much fun, too… Oh well, you can't win 'em all." With a single motion, she slid off her mask, returning it to the strap inside her jacket, securing it to her person. Her bandana was shoved into the pocket of her pants, and the hat was simply held under her arm. She looked up at the human through her lashes.

"Miss me, Hide?"

Hide stared.

Hide's POV:

When Alli-chan had joked on the phone that she was a ghoul, Hide had brushed it off. Sure, that would explain a few things, and maybe was a bit more reasonable than his previous theory that she was a vampire, but… It was Alli-chan. She had never hurt him, and she was a giant softie for kids, and whined for hours whenever she so much as stubbed her toe! So he had ignored it, decided that she was making a joke in bad taste, and chalked up her knowledge of what he was doing as just her usual omniscience of all things related to him or 'Neki (further proof for his other theory, that she was instead an all knowing demoness come from the depths of Hell to seduce him. Yes, he was a college student with too much time on his hands, so sue him. A little imagination never hurt anybody!). When he saw that same ghoul, the one Alli had claimed was her, hunted him down, the little voice at the back of his head insisted that it was her, that she hadn't been kidding, that she was a monster, a liar, a killer. Hide once more squashed that little voice, refusing to acknowledge it. Because maybe Alli-chan was weird, and rude, and rough, but she would never hurt him, would never threaten him. Except she was. So he found it perfectly reasonable that his go-to thought was that things didn't line up. And could you really blame him for his thought-to-mouth filter being a little out of whack at the moment? He had thought he was going to be eaten, for god's sake. But at the end of the day, all that really mattered was that he messed up, big time.

"You can't be my best friend! She's not a murdering, traitorous, amoral monster!"

Yeah, he dun' goofed. And he had no idea how to fix it.

She recoiled. Flinched. Eyes filled with tears. Rivers of sorrow carved their way down her face. He held out his hand, in a plea for her to wait, come back. He didn't mean it, it was a mistake, he swears he doesn't care, she's the same person she always was, she-

-She was gone. And she wasn't coming back.

And for the first time in thirteen years, Nagachika Hideyoshi was alone. Friendless. Abandoned. Forgotten. And he hated every moment of it.