Emily's Apartment, 7:27pm

"We're back!" Emily called out to the darkness as she flipped on the light switch and slipped her shoes off, "Sorry we're late. We got caught up with the Manager, but we're all in one piece you'll be pleas-"

"Emily." Ayato appeared out of the dark hallway and walked over to where she'd started unpacking the groceries she'd bought with Hiko and Isao, "I need to talk to you."

"What's up?" she asked placing a carton of milk in the door of the fridge.

"Alone." he said seriously. Emily blinked up at him, the way he said alone scared her. Something must have happened while they were out. She half turned to the other two males in her small kitchen,

"We've got this." Isao said with a smile.

Ayato took her hand and dragged her to her bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"Have you been using my laptop?" she asked curiously walking over to close the lid.

"Yeah, listen, while you were out Hikari came by." he began only for Emily to interrupt him, "Hikari? She was here? Why didn't she stay?"

"Just shut up for a second, will you?" Ayato growled and began pacing back and forth, "She was looking for you and since you weren't here, she asked me to give you a message. I think she's in trouble, like Aogiri-coming-for-her-ass trouble. She didn't tell me what was going on but I don't think we'll be seeing her again any time soon."

"We have to find her!" Emily exclaimed jumping to her feet but Ayato stopped her before she could even get started,

"There's more, Em. She gave me this." he said handing her a small folded piece of paper. Emily opened it and stared down at the numbers written hastily,

"I did some research while you were away, that's why I was using your computer. It's an address of an old house ready for demolition in the 21st Ward." Ayato continued, "It could be where she's staying, though I don't know why she'd give that information to me even if it was a bitch to figure out." Emily sat down on her bed and pulled out the cell phone she'd purchased earlier that day,

"I'll get Renji to look into it." she said dialing the number.

"You aren't gonna go yourself?" Ayato asked curiously. Emily met his gaze, "As you said, Aogiri is watching my every move. Going to the CCG and Anteiku was risky enough as it is, and if what you said about Hikari being in trouble with them, I don't want to help them track her down." Ayato rolled his eyes and blew strands of hair out of his face,

"Her life you care about." he muttered sarcastically. Renji answered before Emily had a chance to give a snide reply.

"Yes?"

"Renji, it's Emily. By the way, you'll have to memorize my new number." she said, "I need a favour."

"I have your old phone." he told her, "What do you need?"

"I need you to check something out for me. I'd go myself but..."

"Aogiri." Renji caught on quickly, "So, what is it?"

"Ayato, what's the address?" Emily asked and then repeated the series of numbers Ayato gave her to Renji.

"What's so important about this place?" Renji asked her curiously.

"I'm not sure. A friend gave us the address but didn't say anything about it." she replied. Renji was quiet for a while and for a moment she thought he'd just hung up on her.

"Alright." he said softly, "I'll have a look. I'll drop off your phone afterwards." The phone clicked silent and Emily tossed her new phone onto the bed beside her. What a waste of money.

"So...how was Eyepatch?" Ayato asked when the silence grew too thick. Emily fell backwards onto her bed, "That bad?"

"No...I just feel like I don't know him anymore. He's not the same guy Renji brought over months ago and I'm not sure who he is now." she confessed as she stared up at her ceiling. Ayato lay down next to her and propped himself up on one elbow,

"I know." he said, "Yamori did something really bad to him, Em, it made his brain snap. The guy we took from Anteiku could barely protect himself, there was no way that guy would have a chance to land a hit on me let alone break half of my body. But that day when he and the others came to get you - I saw the old Eyepatch in there. He's still there, Emily, he's just a little lost right now."

"How do you know all this?" she asked him, "And why are you even telling me this, you hate Kaneki."

"True, but he did come to save you." Ayato replied with a little grin, "And the reason I know what he's going through is because I went through something similar. I lost myself for years, even now I'm not sure who I am really but what I do know is that I like the guy I am when I'm around you."

Emily blushed and punched him lightly in the shoulder, "I think I like it better when you're all grouchy and swearing." she teased jokingly. Ayato rolled over, his arms either side of Emily's face, pinning her to the bed.

"You like it when I swear, huh?" he smirked and leaned down next to her ear to growl "Fuck." He moved to tower above her again, but she threw her arms around his neck, holding him down, and planted sweet kisses along the length of his neck. Ayato growled again, only this time it wasn't forced, and instantly pulled away from her.

"Don't." he commanded, "Don't do that unless you're ready for the consequences." Emily sat up, moving with him and ran her fingers through his messy hair,

"I'll remember that for next time then." she said and kissed his nose before untangling herself from him. He was right of course, there would be a time when she would be able to give herself to him and fully become his and his alone. That time wasn't now. She had too many issues to resolve; telling Toshio was just the tip of the iceberg. And she still hadn't fully chosen a side, Ghoul or human. Her time was running out and she knew she was going to have to take a side soon.

10:00pm

Emily muted the TV and slid the green phone icon across her screen. "Hello?"

"It's Renji, I'm at the place..." he said, his voice echoing in the background, "You need to come here. Bring Ayato and Isao too."

"Isao?" she asked curiously - Ayato she could understand, he was supposed to be her baby sitter after all, but Isao had no affiliation to Aogiri. What would Renji have need of him?

"Just do it, Emily." Renji told her sternly and hung up. She frowned, he never spoke to her like that which only made her worry.

"He sounded angry." Ayato commented from his seat beside her, "I take it we're going then?"

"Yeah, tell Isao." Emily said, "Renji wants him to come too." Ayato did as she asked while she put on a hoodie and grabbed the mask Uta had made for her.

"Ready? Whoa..." Ayato said sticking his head in her doorway.

"Do you like it?" she asked holding the mask out for him to see better. He took it and gazed at the craftsmanship and design before putting it on her head,

"Yeah, it suits you." he said and gave her forehead a quick kiss. Together they walked out to where Isao was putting his shoes on.

"So why am I needed?" he asked sliding his arms into his coat, "I don't really feel comfortable going if Aogiri is involved. Had enough of them to last me a life time."

"I know, if Renji hadn't insisted I wouldn't bring you into this more than you already are, trust me." Emily told him, "But to be honest, I have no idea why he asked me to bring you."

Isao hummed to himself, "Well, I doubt he would bring you into trouble..." he glanced at Ayato, "Or more trouble than you're already in."

"Gee, thanks." Ayato muttered and dug his fists into his pockets, "Seriously, is everyone against me being with you?" Emily laughed as an attempt to lighten his mood.

"To my credit, you're stealing the light of my baby brother's life away. I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't give you shit for it." Isao added with his signature grin, "But from what I've heard, you've risked your life for hers so I can't hate you."

"Uh, thanks?" Ayato said unsurely, "I think..."

Isao elbowed Emily gently, "And here I thought I was the one to steal you from Toshi."

"Give it time." she joked and winked at him.

"Oi." Ayato growled, "Stop that." She glanced up at him, worried that she'd pissed him off with her teasing, but there was no malice on his face at all. Hiko had already left for his own reasons and probably wouldn't be back until morning from what Ayato had already told her, so Emily switched off the lights and locked her door behind her. The three of them, Ayato and Emily in their masks that Uta had made, while Isao wore a generic face mask from the convenient store down the road, headed off to find out what Renji had found in the building.

Just like Ayato had said, it was abandoned and decrepit. A big sign had been placed out the front saying that the building was a hazard and unsafe. Below it was another sign saying that it was off limits to the public. All the windows had been boarded up and caution tape had been plastered around every entrance. The tape on the back door, however, had been torn and the door was ajar. Ayato insisted on going in first to make sure Aogiri hadn't already beaten them to it and when he signaled that it was clear, Emily and Isao followed him.

Like the hotel where Aogiri had their base, there was broken glass and left over equipment scattered all over the ground. It was so dark Emily had to hold onto the back of Ayato's jacket so she didn't get lost - Ghoul senses were incredible.

"You guys see like this all the time, huh?" Isao whispered from behind her, "No wonder night raids are rarely successful."

"Eating people has it's perks." Ayato replied and Emily could only imagine the disgusted look on Isao's face. Emily was used to Ayato's dark humor by now so it rarely fazed her anymore. The trio came to an iron door wedged open slightly and Ayato motioned for Emily and Isao to stay put while he checked it out.

"So how long have you known him?" Isao asked quietly after Ayato disappeared inside the room.

"That's kind of hard to explain. I met him when we were still kids and my parents were alive. Then he kind of dropped of the face of the earth a few years ago, not even Touka, his sister knew where he was or what he was doing." Emily said, "Last year though he turned up again. I found him in an ally near my place, bleeding and about to die. Of course I had no clue who he was at the time."

"He was that bad, huh?" Isao asked catching on. Emily nodded, "And I'd kind of forgotten about him...don't tell him that though. Anyway I took him in, fed him, did what I could for his injuries and after a week he was gone again. That week...God it was a rollercoaster. Anyway, I didn't hear a single thing from him until Aogiri showed up."

"Huh..." Isao said thoughtfully, "From how close you two are I would have sworn you'd known each other longer."

"It's weird, I know. And believe me, I never intended on doing this to Toshio." Isao held his hand up,

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Em." he said, "Even a blind man can see he really cares about you. He'd be stupid not to. And about Toshi, you should tell him the truth about who you are, who he is, me, Aogiri...everything."

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Emily replied unsurely. Isao squeezed her shoulder, "Trust me, I know my brother. He won't hate you for keeping your life a secret and he'll understand, even if it means losing you. He just wants you to be happy, it's all he ever wanted from day one."

"Great...now I feel even worse." Emily muttered earning a short chuckle from Isao.

"Emily..." Ayato's voice echoed out to them, "You need to come here..."

Taking a deep breath, Emily clutched Isao's hand and stepped into the room. She could hear Ayato and Renji talking quietly to each other from somewhere within but she couldn't place where.

"...Totally unexpected." that was Ayato's voice.

"Mm. The friend you gave you this, did you know she could do something like this?" and that was Renji. Emily frowned as she let Isao lead her closer to them.

"Honestly, no. I always thought she was weak but if she had the balls to do this..."

"Do what?" Emily asked, "What's going on, I can't see a damn thing."

"Hang on, there's a light switch over here. Let's hope the power's still on." Isao said and let go of her hand breifly. Electricity zapped into life and several lights flickered on only to burst from disuse. Two of them, however, remained lit and provided just enough light for Emily to see. Ayato and Renji were standing side by side in front of her, both with their backs to her and looking down at the ground.

"So, what is it?" she asked, Ayato held his hand backwards to her for her to take. She did and squeezed in beside both men. The thing they'd been looking at and discussing was a skinny, dirty human covered in a brown blanket.

"Aki?" Isao gasped as he too joined them. He pushed past Ayato and knelt beside his brother, "Akihiro?" The body moaned and his eyes fluttered open, "Isao? Am I dead?" he wheezed. Isao wrapped his arms around his older brother tightly,

"No...No..." he said through tears, "You're alive. God, you're alive."

"Oh...good." Akihiro said and his disorientated gaze found Emily, Renji and Ayato.

"Emily?" he asked, "That's funny, I had a dream about you. Yeah...I was in this cage and you were outside of it, calling to me. And there was another guy there..." Emily dropped to her knees in front of him, ignoring the debris and dirt digging into her knees.

"It wasn't a dream, Akihiro. I was there...I'm so sorry." she said. Akihiro smiled weakly at her, "Don't be sorry."

"We need to leave." Ayato said touching Emily's shoulder. She nodded, understanding. Isao sniffled and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his jumper.

"Can you stand?" he asked his brother. Akihiro shrugged, "I can try."

"Put your arm around me." Isao said and helped to lift his brother to his feet. Renji moved to Akihiro's other side for added assistance and together, the five of them left the building and headed out to where Renji had parked his car.

"I'll take him to the hospital, they'll contact your mother and brother." Renji said after he and Isao had placed Akihiro in the backseat, "You three should go home for now."

"Thank you." Isao said to Renji.

"Don't mention it." he replied with a shrug, "Oh, here." Emily took her phone he'd handed to her and clutched it to her chest. It sounded stupid to say she missed it, but she did. Getting a new phone was a total hassle. They waited until they could no longer see Renji's tail lights before walking back to the apartment.

"What were you and Renji talking about before?" Emily asked as they walked.

"Hikari, actually." he replied, "I never imagined she could've been capable of freeing him but this would explain why she's on the run from Aogiri now."

"Tatara wouldn't just let something like this slide, would he?" Emily asked trying to be hopeful but she knew a man like Tatara, a person who almost killed someone just for talking, would never let this blatant act of insubordination go.

"No. Although whatever he has planned for Hikari will be nothing compared to what he'll do to me if he ever found out." Ayato said and stopped, put his hands on Emily's shoulders and turned her to face him, "Which is why you have to be careful who you talk to now. Uta and Renji he'll pay no mind to, he knows you're practically family. Hell, I'm sure he'd even let you get away with Anteiku too. But Doves, going to the CCG HQ...you can't do that anymore. No matter how careful we are, Tatara will find out and he will kill me, Hiko, Isao and probably Akihiro just make his point."

"I know..." Emily said, "I won't go there again, I promise." She meant it, she wouldn't go to the CCG headquarters. But that didn't mean she wouldn't meet Investigators outside of it if she needed to.

What to expect from the next chapter:

- More Hide

- More Kaneki

- Emily finally telling Toshio - the truth? Maybe...

- Arima makes a comeback

- Touka vs. Ayato (again)

Plus more Uta and Renji cuteness of course.