—- Touka's voice roared through the whole building like a thunderous storm. Not holding back a single concern. Behind the closed doors of Yoshimura's quarters, the conversation carried. Three stood within those walls yet only one, being Touka, expressed her beliefs. The young woman not allowing even a second of time for another to speak. Her anger fueled her. Having just witnessed her fears becoming reality. Now, she hadn't spoken these words exactly, but Valissa knew the truth of this matter. Otherwise, this wouldn't have been blown into such a disastrous situation. Perhaps this is jealousy…

Valissa kept her place in silence. Standing alone in the hall. An orange shade of the setting sunlight began to peek through the sheer blinds at the end of the hallway window. Shadows were cast upon the walls and floor. Funny how the simple things still captivated her. Having lived nearly her whole life set in darkness. Now coming out into the world. Finally able to see all she had been missing.

Still felt like she was living a dream these days.

She shouldn't be welcome here! What she did to Kaneki –

Lips unconsciously pulled up into a soft smile. Her tongue ran across her lips very slowly. Taking in the recent memory once more. Thick. Warm. How his blood tasted. It lingered there on the tip of her tongue. Quick reflections of her body – pressed so firmly against his. Lenient hands laying with a light touch to her waist. Holding her there. Almost welcoming her need. He hadn't minded. No. Valissa remembered his head angling so she'd have more room to...

…Feed…

While her body stood there in that hall, still grinning from her actions, Valissa's mind began to wander back to earlier years. How frightened she had been. Surrounded by stone walls. Never being witness to the light of day. Being forced to consume the flesh of Ghouls – people who may have been like Kaneki. Like the others.

Suddenly she felt sick. A twist in her stomach. Legs felt limp, and in a moment, she had fallen to her knees.

After living her whole life dreading her next meal, here she had been – savoring a live taste from a Ghoul, no, a man she had befriended. Those who had kept her captive, they wouldn't have cared any if the Ghoul they sacrificed had been kindhearted. Someone that others looked up to like Yoshimura. Rough tempered. Nothing would have changed their mind because all they wanted was to continue making their army of Devils. Any number of Ghouls could be sacrificed to achieve this one goal.

In a rush, her legs straightened back up and she ran. Desperately seeking a breath of fresh air. Valissa was in a panic. Feeling her body unable to truly catch up with itself. Even when she was outside, ten or so feet away from the building, she still couldn't bring herself to stop these harsh breaths.

Guilt.

It had rushed over her. Taking full control of her motion. Heart was racing. Legs shaking and it almost felt as if nothing would be able to calm her. Less than sixty minutes ago, she had given into the monster within. Dwelling inside. Someone she had wanted to keep caged up. It made her realize that being a Devil was never someone she could run from. There would always be that lingering voice at the back of her mind. Urging her to consume the flesh of those she'd consider friends.

In her past, she had a choice. Live or die. Valissa had chosen the harsh path of life. Taking bites out of fresh corpses. Feeling her teeth munch through torn organs. Drinking their chilled blood. All of it had been a cruel joke, but not once had she really considered who that Ghoul might have been. Never had she received the opportunity to meet one of them. To know them as a person. To see where her meal had come from.

If she had really known, if she had really understood the truth, then she would have easily refused to eat. Never becoming what she is now. Valissa would have died.

Tears began to well within her eyes.

Flashes of horror went through her mind. Imagining how she had just been feeding on Kaneki, but within her cell back at the prison. Hearing the guards give their orders. Kill. Feed. Don't leave a single trace.

What are you doing?

She crouched to the ground. Burring her face onto her knees. Arms keeping her locked into that position.

Crying over what they made you? Pathetic.

The wind seemed to have picked up at the last moment. A certain scent seemed to be dwelling within the air. Wasn't anything to do with her hunger. Nothing but a force. Nature showing a sign of strength.

Feeling this rising storm made her think a moment. Valissa had been created to rage war. To be the monster keeping people fearful of wandering the streets. Though she may seem innocent, lying underneath her skin was a true beast that could easily live up to the rumors. She had the power to concur – just like a force of nature. Though a storm was not created by the people of this world, she could still show her wrath. Either using a light drizzle of rain or bringing forth a flood or winds strong enough to lift a tree from its roots.

Valissa had to remember why she took the job with the CCG. To get revenge on those who had done this. To aid a community fighting a threat that worried both human and Ghoul alike. There was a certain job to do, and so far, she had been nothing more than a light breeze. The woman had to herself up. Regain composure, then try to find the strength to get things done. Feeling guilty for what she was isn't the right emotion to express. Instead, it should have been anger. Using what they made against them.

She didn't exactly know where to start, but Valissa vowed to herself that she'd bring some form of peace.

"What are you doing out here?" Like a flash of lightning, Valissa stood back up, finding no one other than Kaneki himself. Standing there staring down at her – kindness behind his single showing eye. Mixed with an expression of concern. "You should come back inside. Supposed to be a bad storm tonight."

Without much thought, she responded by shaking her head. "Thanks for the warning, but there's actually somewhere I need to go." Just like that, Valissa had an idea. Starting from the very beginning. If they, she and her comrades at the CCG, are going to find clues, there was no better place than the prison where she had originally been kept. She believed that if any place could give off some new heading, it would be there.

After explaining this quickly to the other, he gave no choice in the matter. "Then let's go."

Valissa sat in silence as she could hear the train clinking along the railroad tracks. It was a new journey for her. Usually, she'd walk, or join someone in a cab. But a train was something she found the be rather fascinating. Unlike anything she's had the pleasure of experiencing yet. And next to her, someone that was helping her through this new life: Kaneki. Her eyes peeked to the very corner of her gaze. His silhouette facing forwards. His vision half covered so maybe he wouldn't catch her staring. Observing. She didn't understand how he could still be sitting next to her when what happened… "Kaneki…" Before she knew what she was doing, Valissa began to speak. The train wasn't crowded, but her tone was low so those who were around wouldn't hear.

His gaze turned to face her. First impression; calm. It's as though, even after all he's been through in life, there wasn't a sing worry. That's something to be admired, but the young man took that attention away with a soft smile.

Valissa, her head turned back. Hanging low. "I have to apologize for what happened. There wasn't any control I had. Like, I lost myself completely… I hurt you, and I'm so sorry – " She planned on continuing this apology when her hand suddenly felt a warming sensation. Heating her flesh. This wasn't painful. Only soothing. When her eyes moved very slightly to the right, there, just to her side – Kaneki had laced his fingers into hers.

Speechless.

"Don't apologize," he said. Tone as calming as it could ever be. Kaneki gazed down at her and Valissa could immediately feel the sincere honesty behind his following words. "I've been there. I know what it's like to lose control even though you're fighting so hard to keep it. There are some mistakes I've made that I wish I could forget, but there's something I won't do, and that's let you go at this alone. No matter what it takes, I'll help you through this."

As if on cue, the both of their heads turned to the sound of clapping. The train cabin was no clear of any life – aside from theirs, and a larger woman now seated across from them. The widened smile on her face had Valissa's spine-tingling with fear. That expression, it looked as though it hurt her to be smiling so wide. Her eyes nearly popping straight from her skull. Draped in all black from head to toe, minus her fiery red hair pulled back into a bun. Her eyes like a burning emerald.

Kaneki immediately stood up. Sensing something about this woman that Valissa could not. Aside from the appearance straight from a nightmare, there wasn't anything she took as odd.

Wait…what?!

Her eyes…

There it was. Took a moment for the woman to reveal her true self. The white of her eyes changing to a burning red. Irises turning midnight black. These eyes… they were… just like hers.

"That really was a beautiful speech you read there, boy. Giving hope to a doomed soul. How lovely." She spoke as though she were a snake. Slithering her sss's. Tone almost at a whispering volume. A tad louder. "Don't give me that look now." Her hand waved at Keneki's defensive stance. Clearly not worried in the slightest. In fact, other than those few words, she no longer directed any attention towards him. Only Valissa.

That gaze… I don't like it.

"I see you've found a friend. How cute."

Speaking as though she knows Valissa. There was no memory in her mind of who this woman was, or what she might want, but she herself started to grow a small ounce of confidence. Narrowing her eyes at the individual. "Sounds like you know me, but who the hell are you? Think I'd remember someone that looks like absolute crap such as yourself." An attempted insult.

Clearly not offended in the slightest, the woman let out a thunderous laugh. "That's what I always loved about you, Valissa. That quick tongue of yours. Ahh, yes. I remember it so very well. Tell me, do you remember that time it was nearly ripped from your skull for being so disobedient?" Now, the smile was gone off the woman's face – as was Valissa's confidence.

Yes, she remembered that time very well.

Being a Devil, one perk would be the ability to regenerate within seconds. It did not matter if her arm had been cut off. Give it an hour, and it'll be right back. Exactly as it was. Full and functional. Blood, bones, tissue and all. That was something she knew, but what came along with this ability was the pain. Yes, she could rebuild herself, but she'd feel every agonizing moment of it.

At the age of thirteen, or around that time in her life, Valissa let her fear take over one evening. She began refusing to eat. Only speaking out when spoken to, but these replies were nothing short of furious. No longer did she want to put up with this torture. With wanting to go home, Valissa hoped that if she disobeyed them enough, they'd let her go as a failed subject.

That… was a laughable idea.

They did not let this go on past a single day. Cloaked figured took the young girl down in the lowest cellars where they held no mercy. Beating her senseless. Breaking bones. Tearing into her thigh and pulling tendons from her very body. Torture that no normal being would be able to handle for more than a second without dying – but she, with her Devil body, kept up. Even though she so badly wanted to pass. Maybe she wouldn't be exactly free, but at least she would no longer have to put up with this.

Now, cutting her tongue… yes, it would have grown back too, but it taught her a lesson. If she were to keep running her mouth, they'd make this living permanent. Constant torture – as if that wasn't what they were doing to her already. Valissa remembers that as the day she felt the most paid. The most agony. Begging them to kill her…and they wouldn't.

"Seems as though my bet on you will still carry out." By now, as Valissa pulled herself back into the current reality, the woman's grin was back. "Let us make a deal," she continued. Her face wearing that painful expression again, but her tone was far more serious. Kaneki – silent. "Valissa, you come with me, and I'll make sure that no one hurts you. That is so long as you keep making me money." The game…

"That's enough." The woman's face became blank as her gaze shot to the only other there on that train car. Now, she rose up to stand. Her figure round but Valissa knew to never underestimate someone based on their appearance. This woman may not look like much. They still shouldn't let their guard down. "The sound of your voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I suggest keeping quiet before I give you a reason to scream."

… Kaneki….

This was a side to the young man that she hadn't seen. Valissa couldn't see his expression, but based on how the woman reacted, she could tell this wasn't going to be good. He meant those words. That much was clear.

This is where that 'don't judge based on appearance' thought came in because, in less than a second, that larger woman moved with one step – her arm motioning in a way as if she were swatting a fly. Kaneki sent flying to the other edge of the train car. The breaks of said trail already beginning to shreeeeeek to a sudden stop. Valissa looked back from the place Kaneki was quickly recovering to find the woman right before her. Reaching her large clawed hands outwards.

Luckily, in that second Kaneki was back – charging the woman to knock her on her back end. Away from them for only a second. "Come on," he said. Leaving no choice for her mind to catch up, his hand took hers again. There was no plan other than to get out of there. Civilians were growing curious. Peeking through the window of the train car doors. Trying to get a glimpse of the action within. Being who he was, Kaneki didn't want any innocent life to be lost. They had to get out of there. Quickly, because the woman was getting back on her feet.

Peering outside, the train was just barely crossing a steep bridge. Since they had been heading out to the countryside – to the prison, they knew this part of the course was involved. Didn't expect to be met with such a conflict though.

Valissa glanced at Kaneki as that grip on her hand grew tighter, and when he looked back, the words out of his mouth left the next moments of her life all to chance. "Do you trust me?"

All the while, the woman finally managed to get on her feet again. Her hair ruffled and smile definitely gone. Replaced by sheer rage. Stomping her overgrown feet straight in their direction.

Having barely moved her head in a nodding motion, Kaneki then moved. Kagune spewing from his back – just in time to smack that woman feet back again, then towards the door of the train. Pulling them apart with little to no effort. Then… he pulled her along. No time. No choice.

They jumped – hundreds of feet down, a rapidly flowing river.