Freezer Room, Unknown Time

Tatara escorted Emily back to her room in silence. Hiko was sitting against the wall reading a tattered old Western novel, the cover had been half torn off but half of the cowboy's body was still visible. Hiko stood when he heard them approach.

"As a sign of good faith," Tatara said gazing down at Emily with those sharp crimson eyes, "I will give you one week to decide whether or not we kill everyone you hold dear." Tatara turned sharply on his heel and drifted back down the hallway. Emily wandered over to the spring bed feeling cold and defeated. These people were cruel and ruthless; they would do anything, step on anyone to get their way and Ayato was part of them. Why?

"I see you didn't take my advice, huh?" Hiko stated from outside the door, "I'm surprised he didn't kill you."

"He needs me." she muttered in response.

"Well that counts for something." Hiko said but Emily didn't reply. She leaned on her knees and hung her head trying to think. She could throw away her pride and dishonor her parent's legacy or lose everyone she loved. Aogiri knew where she worked, they knew Chloe and Toshio, about their families and knew enough to keep Akihiro and the other CCG guys alive. If they knew that, they would also know about her affiliation with Anteiku and Uta, Chou and Renji. Damn it. Damn it all to hell!

Scuffling noises of boots against dirty concrete made her raise her head. "Ayato-sama." she heard Hiko say and then he was in the doorway, sliding the metal door shut behind him. She was supposed to be indifferent to him, to pretend she hated him or at least didn't even know him. But instead she found herself moving towards him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his jacket.

"That bad, huh?" he asked softly as he allowed her to hug him tightly. Emily nodded slowly. Ayato sighed and held her away from him, "Did he tell you why you're here?"

"He wants Blue Lotus." Emily said immediately. Ayato's brow furrowed, clearly he hadn't be privy to the information,

"Why? I can't see what purpose it has for us unless Tatara suddenly wanted a change in profession."

"He said it was a stable foothold that would allow Aogiri to move in and out of the 20th without complication and when the time came, it would allow them to take it over without too much resistance from Anteiku and the CCG." she replied staring at the ground again.

"And you agreed to this?" he asked in disbelief as he lifted her chin to search her face for some clue that she was still the Emily he knew before, "What the hell, Emily?! What the fuck are you thinking?"

She slapped his hand away, visibly hurt from his accusation, as if she had a choice. Hugging herself, she slowly paced the length of the freezer, thinking. She had a week to make her decision, a decision that would end up destroying her either way and Ayato was making it sound like it was her fault.

He huffed and moved to the table where he leaned, hands in his pockets like normal. He watched her closely as she walked towards him, turned, walked to the other side of the space, turned and repeated the process. Blowing at hair that had fallen into his eye, he spoke again, "Don't give me the silent treatment, Em." he said, "Tell me what's going on."

"Why?" she asked stopping in her tracks and staring at him, "What can you do?"

"Why what?" he asked.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you pretending to be a hero all of a sudden? I know you, Ayato. You're not the nice guy, you're not the hero!" she yelled at him, "You're the..." Emily stopped herself before she finished what she was saying but Ayato wasn't willing to let her off so easily.

"The what?" he asked, eyes ablaze and jaw clench tightly, "The what, Emily? Go on, say it." He was angry and that made Emily more frustrated and annoyed. What right did he have to be pissed off? He'd voluntarily chose to join Aogiri, he hadn't been threatened, bribed or manipulated to join. He'd done it because he wanted to and for reasons that were completely beyond Emily's knowledge. As far as she knew, he was only there because it let him kill CCG members and humans without having the fear of repercussions. Ayato had selfishly cast away the people who loved him, those who still loved him for murder. And now he had the audacity to take an interest in her problems, to tell her that what she was or wasn't doing was the wrong path, to question who she called friend! He had left, he didn't get to act like nothing had happened between them.

"Say it!" he demanded when she didn't reply.

"The monster!" she screamed at him, letting out all her anger, sadness and heartache, "Who the hell are you to question my decisions when you almost killed your own fucking sister?! You chose this, Ayato! Don't ever forget that you chose your hatred over us!"

Ayato rose and stared down at her, a satisfied smirk on his lips, "And there it is." he said smugly. Emily glared at him, "There what is?"

"The truth. How you really feel. You may have said us but what you really meant was you. I walked out on you and it kills you knowing that even after I tried to kill you twice, how I treated you and abandoned you and you're righteous way of life, you still love me. Being here," he said gesturing around, not just the interior of the freezer where the air was getting hot and stale again, but in meaning the whole of the hotel where Aogiri had made its new base, "In this place and seeing what I really am is making you realize who you really are."

"Don't talk like you know me, Ayato. You know nothing about me." she snapped not willing to admit that he was right, she did still love him despite everything he'd done. But he was wrong about her, she knew who she was.

"That's where you're wrong." he said taking a step towards her, "Just what the hell do you think I've been doing for this past year? I do know you. I know you better than that human boyfriend of yours. He thinks he knows you; Ishihara Emily, the good girl next door studying to be a doctor. I wonder what he'd think if he ever found out about your secret life and the people who try so desperately to keep hidden. I bet that CCG breeding in him would kick in, don't you?"

Anger boiled within her as the realization that Ayato had been keeping tabs on her all this time, that he knew about Toshio and his family. Before she could regain her composure, Emily's fist was flying towards Ayato's face, "Leave him out of this!" she hissed.

Ayato was faster than her, he dodged gracefully, grabbed her fist and twisted her arm around, pinning it between her back and his chest. Emily struggled in his hold, twisting and thrashing wildly, hoping that she would be able to get free. But it was useless, Ayato's grip on her was like iron. She was powerless to stop him, just as she was powerless to do anything about her situation.

"Stop it." he told her, tightening his grip as she continued to try and fight against him, "Stop, Emily." Finally getting sick of it, he grasped her shoulders hard and spun her to face him, "Jesus Christ, stop already!"

Emily dropped her head to his chest feeling totally defeated, mentally and physically. For the first time since she could remember, she cried. She cried for Chloe, for Toshio and his family. She cried for Kaneki who had his innocence stolen away from him. She cried for Touka having another person she loved leave her. She cried for Renji, Uta, Itori and the others at Anteiku. And finally she cried for the loss of her mother and father, allowing herself to feel the pain of their absence that had been crushing her for years.

She sank to the ground in Ayato's arms feeling helpless and weak. She couldn't do anything to stop the pain, her own and those she loved. She couldn't fight against those who wished to hurt them or take them away. She couldn't protect herself. She was just a weak, easily broken human after all. Emily always had to rely on others for support, her mother and father, Uta, Renji and Yoshimura, Toshio and Chloe, Kaneki and now Ayato. She couldn't even live on her own.

"Before," she said, her voice raspy from crying so much, "You asked whether I agreed to help Aogiri...I haven't decided. Tatara gave me a choice." Leaning back she gazed up at Ayato who was still holding her tightly, "Do it or else everyone I love dies."

"You haven't decided?" he asked after a moment of letting the gravity of what she said sink in. If Emily had been a good person, the decision would have been easy to make. She would have agreed as soon as she saw those men in the prison below them. She would have put their lives before her own needs and desires. But she wasn't a good person, at least not in the way she pretended to be. Ayato sighed and pulled her closer to him once again,

"Do you remember what you told me when I was staying with you?" he asked softly, "You said that creating the ultimate safe place for Ghouls was your parents' dream, right? I never told you this but I think that's a load of shit."

Emily pushed out of his hold again and stared at him waiting for him to elaborate, "What I mean is I don't think that's what your parents wanted at all. You're the only one I'll ever tell this too but the only thing parents wish for is for their kids to grow up well and be happy. My dad..."

The Ayato Emily was looking at wasn't the Ayato she knew. He wore an expression that she had never, ever seen him wear before. It was sadness, vulnerability. For the first time since she'd known him, he looked like a lost, sixteen year old boy. "The day before he got himself killed, my dad made me promise to protect Touka whenever she was in trouble. That idiot always gets in trouble somehow. Anyway," he said shaking his head, "What you've told me about yours reminds me of my dad. He wanted to live in peace with humans too. Huh, I guess that's why I hate that Eye-Patch guy too..."

Emily blinked up at him, trying to understand what he'd just told her. She thought she knew exactly who Ayato was, but it was apparent that she really had no clue. "Basically what I'm saying," he said catching her look, "Is that if your dad was anything like mine, he'd want you to protect the lives of others, not let people like Tatara slaughter them over a building and an idea."

"When did you get so philosophical?" she asked trying to ease the tense mood with some light teasing. Ayato half grinned back at her, "I guess you could say that Kaneki knocked some into me." He stretched backwards and leaned against the side of the bed with his hands behind his head. Emily leaned against him feeling tired. So much had happened and it had only been a few hours. She hoped every day wasn't going to be this hectic while she was here, she didn't know if she'd be able to keep her sanity.

"Do you know when I can leave?" she asked quietly. She felt Ayato shrug,

"My guess is, as soon as you give Tatara news he wants to hear, he'll send you home with an escort to make sure you don't go straight to the CCG and tell them what's going on." he said, "Although if I know you, and I do, the CCG wouldn't be your first stop. You'd go to Yomo or Uta, right?"

"Probably. Do you know who'll be baby sitting me?" she asked curiously, hoping that it would be Ayato but she doubted it.

"Who knows. With Yamori and the Bin Brothers dead that doesn't leave a lot of us executives, not that there were many of us to start with. And I'm not exactly high on Tatara's list of trust worthy people right now - the fact he trusts me in looking after you here is kinda astounding actually but he's probably testing me. If I can't handle you then I've totally lost my place." he said.

Emily frowned and looked up at him again, "Why doesn't he trust you?" Ayato half grinned again and scratched the back of his neck, "Uh well, he wasn't pleased I got my ass handed to me by a 'synthetic half-breed trash' but what really sealed the deal was when a group of guys under my command ran off with said trash."

"They left with Kaneki-san? Wait, was one of them kinda bulky with a weird curly beard thing?" Emily asked curiously.

"Sounds like that moron Banjou alright. That idiot...How he managed to control the 11th is beyond me." he replied, "Anyway because of that Tatara thinks I'm not as strong or capable as I was. I mean, I can't even control my own underlings."

Emily leaned her head back against his shoulder and stared up at the bright white light in the ceiling, "Well you have changed, that's for sure. Everyone told me that you'd become more dangerous after you left and after what you did to Touka, I believed them. But I think you've changed again in the past few weeks too."

"Nah." he replied, "You saw how I was in the meeting the other day. I hate to say it but if you'd tried to do anything I would have beaten you senseless. Woulda felt like shit for it and groveled until you forgave me, but I would have done it. I haven't changed, but at least while I'm alone with you, I can show you the sides I can't show anywhere else."

Emily was silent. She didn't know what to say to that. The past year had definitely changed Ayato, he never would have acted like this before and Emily was still trying to get used to it. It was nice to be able to sit with him like this and talk, but it conjured up those feelings she had locked away. Turmoil, confusion. There was no denying she still had feelings for him and from the way he was acting, she felt it safe to assume that he still had feelings for her too. But what would become of them in this place?

"Listen," he said breaking into her thoughts, "I don't care what I have to do, but while you're here, I'll make sure nothing like this," he brushed his thumb underneath her blackened eye, "Won't ever happen again. I'll keep you safe, Emily. I promise." Emily smiled, deciding that for just this moment, she would forget about everything else, all her questions, all the conflicting, troublesome emotions she felt, and just enjoy this rare moment with the man she loved. With a content sigh, she snuggled closer to Ayato and closed her eyes, breathing his scent and warmth in.

June 26, 1:52am

Ayato was patrolling along the hallways of the old hotel Aogiri had secured as their new base. He was gazing out of the broken windows at the overgrown car park below for signs of activity when Naki rounded the corner and saw him.

"Ayato-senpai~!" Naki called and Ayato groaned instantly.

"What?" he snapped in annoyance. Naki stood before him, his hands thrust into the pockets of his white jacket and a grin that reached his ear, "Heard you're looking after that human bitch."

"No shit." Ayato replied turning to face the car park, he thought he saw something move in the bushes just outside of the perimeter.

"Heh, what she taste like? I bet she's tender and juicy, probably sweet too at that age..." Naki kept talking but Ayato was distracted by whatever was outside.

"I haven't eaten her." he replied distantly.

"Haaahh?!" Naki exclaimed in surprise, "Why not? I totally would if I were you. Unless...Oi, you ain't, ya know, into her?"

"What was that?" Ayato asked leaning forward to get a better look at whatever was running across the car park.

"Ya know, smitten, infactuated with," he nudged Ayato's bicep, "Are you slippin' her the d-"

"Shut up!" Ayato hissed covering Naki's mouth with his hand, "What the hell is that thing?" The thing Ayato had been watching was now making a direct B line straight towards the hotel but then just as it reached the wall, it stopped and turned back, running in the direction it had just come. It was fast and too big to be a cat or a dog and its shape was undefined so he couldn't tell whether it was a person or not. Ayato watched until he was sure it was gone before releasing Naki.

"What ya think it was?" he asked peering out of the window again. Ayato shrugged and turned to go back down the hallway,

"Dunno." he replied, "By the way, it's infatuated, moron."

"Who you calling moron, asshole?!" Naki yelled but Ayato just ignored him. He had a feeling that whatever that mysterious creature was doing, it had something to do with Emily which meant that wouldn't be the last time they'd see it.

Just a short little update for now.

The ending of Root A had me messed up for a few days. The feels!