June 14th, 12:24pm

Emily stared at the menu not really seeing what was written there. She was far too worried to eat. Her friends had all gone off to save Kaneki from Aogiri using the CCG raid as a cover. There was a very high chance that none of them would come back alive. She didn't know what was worse, the CCG killing them or Ayato having a hand in it. She purposely tried not to think about the CCG or anyone else killing him as well, but the thoughts crept in her mind regardless.

"What can I get you?" the waiter asked politely, pulling Emily away from her dark thoughts.

"Hmm... I think I'm feeling pancakes today." Chloe said causing him and Emily both to give her a weird look.

"Pancakes...for lunch?" Emily asked curiously. Chloe nodded and handed the menu to the waiter,

"Yep. I'll have the pancakes, with strawberries and cream. I'd also like a raspberry soda." she said with a wide grin.

"And for you?" he asked. Although Chloe had been pestering her about coming to this cafe for weeks, Emily just didn't have an appetite.

"I'll just have a juice. I don't care what kind." she replied quietly, handing the menu to the waiter. He repeated their order back to them, smiled and then disappeared. Emily sighed and rested her cheek on her hand, gazing out of the window at nothing in particular. She should have just told Chloe she was sick instead of being reminded of what her friends were off doing by the smell of roasted coffee beans. But Chloe had been so exited to go to the place her favourite author frequented.

"Hey, you know that waitress at Anteiku?" Chloe asked catching Emily's attention again, "The one a grade up from us?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Emily asked trying to sound uninterested.

"Have you ever noticed how much she looks like your cousin?" Chloe asked with a wide grin. Emily frowned - what cousin? She didn't have a...oh, right. She'd told Chloe that Ayato was her cousin when he'd stayed with her...but how did she know what he looked like?

"When did you ever meet him?" she asked curiously.

"A few weeks ago actually. I went to get your notes for History but you weren't home. I think he was looking for you too, he was standing outside your door. You know, he's kinda hard to talk to..." Chloe kept talking but Emily was no longer listening. Ayato had been at her apartment the day Kaneki was kidnapped. Why? What could he possibly have to say to her after a year?

Emily looked up to ask Chloe something but it was soon forgotten when she saw the news report on the TV screen behind her friend's head. Footage of the 23rd Ward - Cochlea Prison - and in giant kanji along the bottom of the screen read "COCHLEA ATTACKED?!". Emily's heart pounded, her breath catching in her throat as she strained to hear what the reporter was saying.

"...We've just now received word that out of the several hundred employees, only a small handful survived the disaster. Teams are still searching through debris inside the building for bodies of the victims but as of now the death toll stands at 257. Among those missing are..."

Emily shot to her feet as names rolled off the reporter's tongue, Hamada Masanori and his two sons, Akihiro and Isao among them. Chloe stared curiously up at her, having missed the report, surprised at her sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry." was all Emily said as she grabbed her bag and ran out of the cafe, almost crashing into the waiter as she went. She ran down the street, weaving in and out of crowds oblivious to the disaster that had just occurred, and desperately searched for her phone.

He picked up on the second ring, "Toshi? Toshi, I'm on my way."

"Emily?" Toshio's voice sounded distant and lacking any emotion to it, "...Cochlea was... My father and brothers..."

"I know." she said signalling for a taxi, "I know. I'll be there soon."

The taxi felt like it was driving in slow motion, they seemed to catch every red light and yet only twenty minutes had passed since Emily had left the cafe. Her mind was buzzing one hundred miles an hour - how could Cochlea have been attacked? Where were the missing people? Were Mr. Hamada, Isao and Akihiro alive?

...Was Ayato somehow involved?

Emily shook her head, no, she couldn't think of him now. It had been made abundantly clear to her by Yoshimura, Renji, Uta and Touka herself that Ayato was no longer the same. His time 'seeing the world' had only strengthened his hatred towards humanity and he had joined the Ghoul organization Aogiri Tree as a result. For her friends, her precious people, and herself, Emily couldn't think about him anymore. Especially not when Toshio needed her with him.

The taxi finally arrived at Toshio's apartment building and, after paying the fare, Emily rushed inside. Toshio was standing in front of his kitchen window, his hands behind his back, while his mother openly sobbed, bent over on the circular table in what served as the dining room. Toshio turned around when he heard the door open and close. He wore the same expression Uta wore, blank, emotionless, but his eyes were full of sadness and the light had vanished from them. He was an emotional wreck on the inside and Emily knew it.

"Hey." he said softly as she took off her shoes, "Are you doing okay?"

"That's my line." she told him as she quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I still can't believe it." he said into her hair. Emily nodded, she had experienced the same feeling.

"I'm sure your father and brothers will be fine." she told him earnestly, "They're all incredibly strong." She felt Toshio sighed sadly,

"I want to believe that, but with all that's happened recently in the other Wards and Investigators getting wiped out all over the place I can't help but to think the worst."

Emily didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something comforting, something that would help him change his mind but false hope wasn't what Toshio needed. Besides, he knew the dangers Investigators faced, men and women died all the time in the line of duty. But to think that people close to her, people she knew and laughed with could be those victims...

There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Aogiri had been behind Cochlea's attack. She glared at the window behind Toshio. Despite the fact she was supposed to stay neutral in the affairs of Ghouls, she couldn't just sit back and let Aogiri do what they wanted. They'd kidnapped her friend, made her family risk their lives just to get him back and now they had taken away her boyfriend's family. Someone had to stop them.

But she was just a lone human girl, there was no way she could stand up to an entire Ghoul organization filled with S, SS and SSS-rated Ghouls and live. She would be squashed like an ant before she could even do anything.

2:52pm

Emily held Toshio's hand securely as they sat on his bed watching the news. Nothing much had changed since the first report several hours ago but they were still finding more bodies and more survivors. Several S and SS-rated Ghouls had managed to escape in the chaos as well, that was worrying.

"Why do you think they did it?" Toshio asked sounding less like a teenager and more like an Investigator.

"Maybe they're trying to increase their ranks?" she supplied with a shrug. Toshio hummed thoughtfully and bit his bottom lip, squinting at the TV as he thought. "Maybe...but then why bother fighting against Marude-san? What's the point in leaving more than half of your manpower behind to fight when you could just leave and attack with your full power?"

"You think the two are connected?" Emily asked catching onto Toshio's thinking. He shrugged and tried to play it off, "Who knows. Up until a few weeks ago I would have laughed at the thought of Ghouls working together to over throw the CCG."

Emily gazed at him out of the corner of her eye - Toshio had been the one to tell her about Aogiri and about Marude's plan but she still had no clue how he'd found out. His father and brother's couldn't have told him - it would have had to have been someone higher up, but who? As far as she knew, he didn't know anyone that high up who could have been privy to that sort of information.

"Toshi!" Mrs. Hamada cried, yanking open his door and clutching the house phone tightly. Both Emily and Toshio looked up at her in shock, waiting for her to elaborate on what had made her burst into her son's bedroom in such a flurry.

"They found him!" She cried, fresh tears streaming down her face, "They found Isao!"

8.32pm

After receiving the phone call that Isao, Toshio's second oldest brother, had been found alive and immediately taking to hospital after having substatial injuries to his body, Mrs. Hamada, Toshio and Emily had rushed to see him. However when they arrived, the doctor had told them that he'd been taken straight to surgery and they wouldn't be able to see him for a few hours at least. He did promise to keep them up to date as much as possible. So now Emily was sitting in a cold, plastic hospital chair while Toshio paced back and forth in front of her, chewing his thumbnail, and Mrs. Hamada tapped her finger rapidly against the plastic arm.

For a long, long time it seemed as though the world wasn't moving and time had stopped. They were suspended in that hallway waiting forever. Emily had tried to stay calm for Toshio, but as each minute ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace, her anxiety became stronger and stronger. She was worried about Isao, she feared the worst for Akihiro and their father, and she still hadn't heard anything from Uta, Renji or Yoshimura on how Kaneki's rescue went.

And then, just as she was about to go give Renji a call, the surgeon walked towards them. He was still dressed in his scrubs and was drying his hands on a crisp white towel. Mrs. Hamada stood up straight away, all the colour had drained from her face again. Toshio stopped pacing and stood with his mother while Emily took her place behind them.

The surgeon looked exhausted; he was an older gentleman with short grey hair under his cap and had warm brown eyes. He gazed at each of them one by one until he finally gave them a kindly smile, "The surgery was a success. He's stable, but if you want to go see him I must insist you go one at a time. He won't be awake but he can hear you."

For not the first time that day, Mrs. Hamada broke down in tears and threw her arms around the doctor, hugging him tightly. Toshio's own relief was much more subtle, a small sigh and his shoulders dropping slightly. He half turned back, a smile planted on his handsome face, and reached for Emily's hand. She gave it willingly and returned his smile, although concerns still plagued the back of her mind.

Emily was the last one to see Hamada Isao that night. Toshio had told her to prepare herself for the sight, but despite it being sobering and emotional to see Isao lying on the hospital bed attached to beeping machines and tubes sticking out of him, awkwardly waiting for him to open his eyes and show her his signature cocky grin, Emily didn't feel quite as shocked as she should have. Isao was covered in a white blanket from his shoulders to his toes but he had bandages up and down his arms and one covering the right side of his face. Sheepishly she approached the bed, gazing down at his face wondering what to say.

I'm sorry was the first thing that came to mind - Ghouls had done this, Aogiri in particular. Men and women she had pledged her life to help even if they were hellbent on obliterating humankind. She had never thought that someone she knew, someone she cared about could have been hurt by them. She couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible.

What if was Toshio lying there instead of his brother? How would she feel? What if it was Chloe? Closing her eyes she moved away from the bedside and went to the window to gaze down at nothing below. She was being selfish again, wishing that there was a way Aogiri and other Ghouls could leave her friends and loved ones in peace even though it was impossible. Mr. and Mrs. Hamada, Akihiro and Isao were all adults capable of making their own decisions. They were all Investigators, they knew the risks of their jobs. How was that any different from walking the streets in the 3rd Ward alone at night and being attacked by a Ghoul? Or better yet, how was that different from being attacked by a human? Humans being murdered and eaten by Ghouls was so common these days, she sometimes forgot that humans also killed humans and it wasn't even for survival.

Behind her, Isao stirred in his sleep, moaning something incomprehensible. Emily half turned to face him, waiting to see if he was just sleep talking or actually waking up. He frowned and made the same moaning noise, he looked like he was having a bad dream and she was reminded of when she found Ayato asleep on her balcony moaning in his sleep and craving physical contact. She slid her fingers around Isao's hand, "Isao-san." she called softly in gentle tones, Isao's frown deepened and his lips parted as if he were trying to form words he didn't know, "It's Emily, you're safe now."

Isao's face softened as if he could hear her talking to him in his sleep. His hand twitched under hers and his breathing returned to normal. Maybe it was a terrible, horrific thing that had happened to him and countless others, maybe he had seen things that haunted him in his sleep and would have to live with that for the rest of his life, but at least he still had his life. He was safe and alive. Emily decided then that she would stop thinking of him as a martyr in this war between Ghoul and human and instead view him as a survivor. He was one after all.

June 15th, 7:30am

Emily stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Her neck hurt and she couldn't feel her arm. The three of them had spent the night at the hospital waiting for Isao to wake up and Emily had fallen asleep in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Beside her, Toshio was resting his cheek on his hand still fast asleep. Mrs. Hamada was no where in sight but Emily figured she wouldn't be too far away. Yawning and stretching, she decided now would be the perfect time to give Renji a call and demand an update.

He picked up after her second attempt, "Hello?"

"Jeez, would it kill you to just pick up your phone and send me a text message?! I'm going insane with worry!" She snapped at him, earning a few interesting looks from patients and their visitors sitting outside the hospital.

"I'm sorry. We've just been...caught up." he replied apologetically. Emily let out a breath and all her anger went with it,

"Is everyone alright? Did you get Kaneki-san back? What happened?" she asked in succession.

"Yes. Sort of. A lot." Renji replied in his usual stoic tone, "But it'll be easier to talk in person. Where are you right now?"

Emily pouted at the ground - of course he could tell she wasn't at home. "I'm at Kanou General. You heard about the attack on Cochlea, right?"

"Yeah."

"Toshio's brothers and father were there. His eldest brother and father are still missing, but Isao got admitted yesterday." she confessed to him. There was a silence from Renji's end and she wondered whether she'd put him in another awkward position. But instead of saying anything about it he simply said, "I'll come get you." He hung up before Emily could respond.

Toshio was awake when she returned to the waiting room. In his hand he held a steaming disposable cup of coffee but he still looked sleepy. His hair was disheveled and he gazed at everything as though he wasn't quite seeing it. It was cute.

"Hey." she greeted him taking her seat again.

"Hey." he replied slightly dazed, "Where'd you go?"

"I had to make a call." she replied, "So I was going to go home to shower and change my clothes. Do you want me to grab anything while I'm out?" Toshio blinked at his coffee for a moment. Emily wasn't sure whether he was thinking or if he hadn't yet comprehended anything she said.

"Toothbrush and toothpaste." he said finally, "My teeth feel furry. It's gross." Emily couldn't help but smile at him; she'd always known him to be incredibly switched on and perceptive. She'd never seen him moments after he'd woken up and it was like a puppy.

"Alright. I'll be back soon." she told him standing up again. He nodded, gave her a small wave and a half smile and went back to staring at his coffee. Renji had just pulled up by the time Emily made it to the front of the hospital. After a quick visual inspection, she was satisfied that he was fine. Physically at least.

"Do you mind if we go to my house to talk? I need a shower and stuff." she asked him as he drove.

"That's fine." he replied turning the car around and heading in the direction of her apartment. They drove in silence for a while until Emily couldn't take it any more, "So what happened?"

"We infiltrated their base with success and didn't really run into too much trouble. Using the raid as a cover worked well in our favour. But..." he said trailing off as they stopped at a red light. Emily looked up at him, his knuckles were white on the steering wheel, the only sign he was angry.

"But?" she asked softly wondering what had made him that emotional. Renji took a breath,

"Nishiki and Touka ran into trouble." he told her. Emily's breath caught, he had said that everyone was okay! Did he mean that or did he just say that to keep her from worrying too much?

"They're both fine, Emily." he told her feeling her distress.

"Then what kind of trouble do you mean?" she asked unconsciously clutching her jeans.

"Ayato." Renji replied as the light turned green. Emily's heart seized at his name. She had known he was going to be there ever since Renji had told her that he was part of Aogiri. She just hoped he would be busy doing something else, something far away and not trying to kill her friends.

"What..." she began unsure on whether she wanted to know the details, "What happened?"

Renji shook his head, "I wasn't there and Touka didn't want to talk about it. What I know came from Nishiki. He said that Ayato met them on the stairs heading up to the roof. His sole aim was Touka and would have completely ignored Nishiki if he hadn't stepped in to defend her. He doesn't remember much after that but when he came to, he was surrounded by four Aogiri members. Ken turned up right on time and killed them. When they made it to the roof, Touka was wounded badly on the ground and Ayato was about to deal the final blow."

Emily was quiet as she absorbed this information. Ayato's sole attention was on Touka? Why? Why was he so obsessed with fighting her?

"Wait, Kaneki?" Emily asked, "Wasn't he kidnapped?"

"He managed to break free. According to Nishiki, he and Ayato fought and they ended up on the floor below. He didn't know what happened during that time, but Ken was the one to walk away." he replied stopping the car and shutting it off outside Emily's apartment complex. She was frozen - Kaneki had fought with Ayato? How was that even possible? She hated to say it about someone she liked, but Kaneki was weak. She remembered just how strong Ayato was when he fought against her stalker. He had been injured and weak then, yet he'd still managed to kick Goro through a wall. Who could tell how much stronger he had gotten over the past year? There was no way Kaneki could fight or win against Ayato. No way. And yet...

"Emily," Renji called. She looked up into his steel grey eyes and found them compassionate, "There's a chance he could be-"

"Please don't." she begged, the words tumbling from her mouth in a hurry, "Please...Don't say it."

Renji clasped his hand around hers and squeezed in an attempt to be comforting. She couldn't deal with this right now, not when her boyfriend's family were still missing. She couldn't bare more heartache. She couldn't even hear the possibility that Ayato might be...could be...No. She wouldn't even think it.

Renji eventually coaxed her out of the car but she didn't remember unlocking her door, walking to her bathroom or even undressing and yet she found herself sitting on her shower floor letting the warm water run down her back and over her head, clutching her knees to her chest.

It was true that she didn't want to know if Ayato was dead, but part of her knew she needed to find out. She would never be satisfied until she knew. She could deal with all the emotions she felt once she had found out the truth. But there was only one person who knew first hand what happened, only one person she could ask.

Drying herself and dressing, she wrapped her hair in a towel and headed out to where Renji was sitting on her couch, sipping coffee. "Where's Kaneki-san?" she asked him. Renji didn't look up,

"I don't know." She ask on the arm chair closest to the door,

"What do you mean you don't know? Isn't he at Anteiku?"

"No. He left. I don't know what happened to him but he's not the same Ken who came to us. He's different somehow. Whatever they did to him, it broke something inside him." he replied.

Emily's hope faded and so did the uneasy, nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had convinced herself she needed to know what happened to Ayato, but she was unsure how she would feel if her fears were confirmed. If Kaneki reported that Ayato was dead, how would she feel about the one who killed the man she loved? The one person she felt the closest to in the entire world, the one who walked her path beside her. How would she feel about him?

After picking up a packet of toothbrushes and some toothpaste from the convenience store, Renji took Emily back to the hospital. Neither had spoken a word to each other since her apartment. Her mind was a mess with questions that were unanswered and fears that had yet to be confirmed or denied.

"If you want to find Ken," Renji said as Emily climbed out of his car making her stop and lean down to hear him, "Find Tsukiyama. He was with Ken when he left and he'll know where he is."

"Thank you." she said earnestly and gave him the best smile she could muster.

"Just be careful, Emily." he said before she closed the door. He was always telling her to be careful but never gave her any context of what or whom she should be careful of. In this case did she have to be careful of Tsukiyama, Kaneki or the truth? Was it all three? Who knew, but now she had a lead.

Toshio was leaning against the wall outside Isao's bedroom when Emily finally found him. He looked much more awake than before she felt and smiled when he saw her. "There you are." he said extending his hand out to her, "Good news, Isao's awake. Are you okay, you look pale?"

Emily tried to return his smile and nodded, "I'm fine." she said and then his words caught up with her, "He's awake?" Toshio jerked his head towards Isao's room and pulled her with him,

"Come and see." Isao was lying against several pillows listening to his mother talk softly when they entered but turned to smile at them when he heard the door close. He was still weak and looked like death but at least he was awake and responsive now. Emily's smile was real, perhaps the first real smile that day, but it mirrored Isao's in its weakness. Something, even in the state he was in, he managed to pick up.

"You doing okay, little sis?" he asked when Toshio and his mother stepped out for a moment, leaving Isao in Emily's care. She nodded and held his hand tighter, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Heh," he tried to laugh but it ended in a cough and a groan, still he smiled, "I don't doubt that. There's something else though, isn't there?" Emily searched his eye, begging him to see it so she wouldn't have to say anything. Isao flipped her hand over and laced his fingers between hers, weakly squeezing, "It'll be okay, you know that right?"

"I should be the one saying that to you." she confessed trying hide behind humour, "How're you feeling?"

"They've got me dosed up on so many pain killers, I can't feel a thing. Aside from having half my face in darkness, I'm pretty good. Considering..." his face darkened dramatically for a moment. Emily assumed he was remembering what had happened two days ago. She felt terrible again. Isao had gone through something traumatic and she was worrying about her own problems again. How insensitive could she be?

"Anyway, the doctors say I was out for two days and no one will tell me anything. Have they found Akihiro or Dad?" he asked snapping out of his memory. Emily shook her head, "I'm sorry, we haven't heard anything either. They're still searching though and I'm sure they'll be with the survivors." Isao closed his eye and exhaled slowly, sinking deeper into his pillows.

"I see." he said before going quiet. Emily unlaced her fingers from his and moved to the other side of the room to sit down, letting Isao sleep in peace. She rested her cheek against her fist she watched him, he looked so at ease yet sad at the same time. She couldn't begin to imagine what he was going through and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Emily knew that the time to choose a side was rapidly approaching but for now she decided she was going to do her best to support Toshio, Chloe and Isao through this whole catastrophe; a catastrophe that her other friends and Ayato seemed to be at the centre in. Tomorrow morning she would go to Itori and find out where Tsukiyama was.