KuzuRe

by Remus973

Tokyo, Japan. After a devastating invasion took place, the city is restored to is former state. However, ghouls still lurk in the darkness, hunting for humans to feed upon. The Ghoul Countermeasure Bureau (GCB) creates an enhanced squad to exterminate all ghouls, once and for all. Leading the squad, they assign Haise Yashida, who possesses an effective, and very familiar, mutation.

15. Ch15

Hi everybody. Hope you're having a wonderful October. For me, well…I'm turning 34 this month. Huzzah… Well, enough about me. You came for the story, let's get to it. In this chapter, Shuu learns about Ichiro Yashida's plan for Kaneki. But not before seeing what Kanae has become. But when the X-Force arrive, so will a plethora of adversaries that will raise all kinds of at the final floors of Yashida Tower. Meanwhile, we see into both minds during the transfer…Get ready…because this is where hearts will break…

Chapter 15 – birth: My name is…

Shuu stood in shock over what he was seeing. Although the poison he received earlier began to wane away within his system, seeing Kanae in such a grotesque manner gave his mind and body pause. While Kanae, looking at the direction he threw Dr. Sarkissian at, says to himself,

"Mull…" (Garbage…)

Kanae slowly walked toward Shuu. This time, he acted in a way that was both familiar to Shuu yet there were hints that Kanae had changed somewhat.

"Master Shuu…"

Kanae placed her hand on Shuu's left face cheek.

"I know that I seem…frightful to you…but rest assured, I will never do anything to hurt you."

Shuu still stood, although it was the shock of seeing Kanae like this instead of the poison that now completely faded from his body.

"I'm just going to…take out the rest of the trash."

Kanae then gave Shuu a chop at his neck. Although it hurt him internally, Kanae had his reasons.

"I just cannot afford anyone to stop me…"

Kanae then searched for Kaneki on the floor. After about a minute of looking, she finally found him, laying on a medical stretcher. His forehead, laden with wires attached to a strange machine that seemed to be in the middle of a process. Nevertheless, Kanae summoned his kagune, ready to kill the target of his rage.

"You may punish me as you see fit…Master Shuu."

Before he started, Kanae took one good look at Kaneki, laying on the stretcher.

"Haise…do you know why a rose is beautiful?"

Kanae caressed Kaneki's face with his left hand.

"One must pluck it before it withers…and I want you to become a beautiful memory for Master Shuu…before you die."

At that moment, three Black Clan ninjas dropped behind Kanae.

"Here on behalf of Ichiro Yashida, no doubt…"

With his kagune out, Kanae instantly went on the offensive. He used his kagune to lift himself off the floor, giving the ninjas pause. As soon as he found the opportunity, Shuu finally moved from where he stood to get where Kanae found Kaneki. Shuu stood confused as to what was happening to him.

"The hell are they doing to you?"

He whispered to himself before another interruption arrived. He turned around to see both Milo and Matsumae.

"Matsumae…Milo…you've come back…"

Shuu saw that they were worse for wear. However, Matsumae interrupted Shuu.

"Master Shuu…we have to go-"

Just then, an explosion was heard. Matsumae remembered that she shut the door behind her when she and Milo entered. She soon found out to be the X-Force entering the room, although for now they seemed to ignore them. Milo exclaimed,

"We have to hide! Now!"

As they attempted to find a place to hide, the X-Force focused on the ghoul fighting against three Black Clan Ninjas as Urie commented,

"Is that ghoul part of Aogiri or Rosé?"

Shirazu then says,

"Doesn't matter. Akira, Urie, Deadpool. We're taking on that thing and the ninjas."

Those Shirazu ordered responded,

"Roger that."

Then he gives a different assignment to those he did not name yet.

"Mutsuki, Hisako, Yukio. Find Kaneki. Whatever he's strapped or trapped to, get him out of it. Yukio, you know the terrain. Take the lead."

"Right!"

"Scatter!"

As Akira went with Shirazu, she thought to herself,

"You're really stepping up there, Shirazu."

The X-Force led by Shirazu took both the ninjas and the ghoul inside the final floors, while the others led by Yukio eventually found Kaneki. For Mutsuki, their worst nightmare came to pass as they found Kaneki strapped to a machine that was also connected to Ichiro. For a while, Mutsuki stood aghast to what they were seeing. They fought hard to hold back the tears they wanted to unleash. Yukio saw the mental state Mutsuki was in and shook them to snap them out of it.

"Mutsuki, stay with me."

Hisako asked,

"Yukio, what is it?"

"I think Mutsuki is-"

Before Yukio finished, Mutsuki instantly ran to Kaneki and tried to get him to wake up.

"Senesi! SENSEI!"

Hisako broke Mutsuki off the unconscious Kaneki.

"Mutsuki, this is doing the opposite of helping."

"BUT WE HAVE TO GET HIM OUT-!"

"AND WE WILL…but panicking isn't gonna get us anywhere."

Yukio then says,

"She's right. Delta."

Both were confused at first until a holographic triangle appeared above the unconscious Kaneki. Yukio, however, seemed to know who she talked to.

"Good to see you again, Yukio. Despite how you were fired, I hoped you'd come."

"Thank you. Status."

A holoscreen appeared beside the triangle as Delta explained the process currently happening.

"The transfer is currently ongoing. Recently, however, it is slowing down."

"Slowing down?"

Asked Hisako.

"Perhaps it's due to unforeseen complications due to the fact that this operation is, for the most part, largely unproven?"

"How, exactly?"

Asked Hisako. Delta explained.

"The whole point of this procedure was to transfer Ichiro's consciousness to Kaneki's, but the mind he is attempting to transfer to has not been completely erased."

"You mean?"

"When the procedure of creating the Haise Yashida persona to erase Ken Kaneki's remaining mind after his prolonged resurrection, rather than performing its intended task, the persona integrated itself into the existing identity imprinted unto the physical brain. Ichiro Yashida wanted to erase years of established memories, believing that if the persona of Ken Kaneki could be delayed long enough to re-establish itself, by then…"

"Ichiro's neural patterns would already occupy the physical brain of Ken Kaneki, thus finally completing what he set out to do."

All three turned their attention to where someone spoke to them. It was revealed to be Sarkissian, only without her blonde hair. Yukio asked,

"The hell happened to you?"

"That."

Sarkissian pointed to the ghoul that the other half of the X-Force were currently fighting against.

"Hit me with its kagune. It was a bitch to heal from, but I have returned refreshed."

"How though?"

Asked Mutsuki.

"My mutant ability gives me the characteristics of a snake. If my injuries are not fatal, I can shed my skin and heal myself from an injury."

Yukio added,

"She can also produce natural toxins from her body."

"Who are you?"

Asked Mutsuki.

"My usual name is Dr. Ophelia Sarkissian, but you can call me…Madame Hydra."

Madame Hydra then spat some venom at Mutsuki, to which Yukio helped her to dodge by grabbing their arm and pulling them toward her.

"Thanks."

Madame Hydra then shot some venom at Hisako, but Hisako instantly produced a portion of her psionic armor on her left arm. On said left arm was a European-style shield attached to it, which protected Hisako from getting hit by the venom. Then, she manifested her right arm's psionic arm in order to grab Madame Hydra. Unfortunately, she leapt backwards in time before Hisako could grab her.

"Damn it, She got away."

Then, another crash could be heard as the next worst-case scenario happened. The One-Eyed Owl made a gaping hole in the north wall. She roared to make herself known. This made Kanae filled with fear, as well as the ninjas that were present. To make things worse, Harada appeared on the floor. He witnessed the One-Eyed Owl present as well, and it filled him with fear.

"Master Ichiro…"

The One-Eyed Owl looked around the room to see both Ken Kaneki and Ichiro Yashida connected together via some sort of machine she was unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, she understood this much.

"He's already started…"

The Owl leapt to where the procedure currently took place. Hisako says to both Mutsuki and Yukio,

"Yukio, go after Madame Hydra. Mutsuki, guard Kaneki's body. Work with Delta on how to stop the operation."

"Right."

Said Mutsuki with Yukio saying next,

"Good luck to you."

The Owl ran toward where Kaneki currently laid unconscious but got instantly sidelined when Hisako created another psionic arm to punch the Owl in order to stop it from getting to Kaneki. Hisako then yelled to the Owl,

"YO SHE-BITCH!"

Regaining its senses, the Owl sees where the giant fist came from.

"Let's go!"

Soon, Hisako manifested her psionic armor and became the same size as the Owl. The giant ghoul says to her,

"It takes more than that to kill me…"

Hisako responded,

"I've practiced my powers for someone like you. Wanna see they call me Armor?"

Armor tackled the Owl hard enough to create another hole in the wall of the combined floors. Soon, Yonebayashi went to where Mutsuki currently stood and talked to them.

"Mutsuki."

"Saiko? What are you doing here?"

"Danny told me that I can go ahead to you guys."

She then see Kaneki on the stretcher next to Mutsuki.

"Maman!"

Although she kept it together, Yonebayashi panicked at the sight of seeing Kaneki in such a state. Mutsuki sympathized with her and says,

"Delta is working on trying to get Sensei out of this."

"Who's Delta?"

"I think he's an AI. Like the one Iron Man uses."

"Yes…"

Said Delta, appearing before both Mutsuki and Yonebayashi.

"Although, in some respects, I am significantly advanced."

"R-Right…"

Said Mutsuki in a slightly nervous tone. Yonebayashi asked,

"Why are you a triangle?"

"I am the Greek letter for Delta, which looks familiar to a triangle."

Yonebayashi then asked,

"Can I change what you look like?"

Mutsuki then says to her,

"Don't try it. We can't afford to interrupt Delta from stopping what Ichiro is doing to Sensei."

"Although I am in the process of stopping the procedure, my holographic appearance can be modified without consequence."

"Really?"

Asked Mutsuki. Yonebayashi then asked,

"Where's your nearest computer?"

A giant holographic arrow pointed at where Yonebayashi could type. Delta guided Yonebayashi through the process.

"This is my default image."

"I got it."

Yonebayashi was instantly familiar to the interface, as it was no different from any profile image change for any online account. Saiko searched online for a particular 3D image of a video game character and selected it for Delta's new holographic image. After a minute of the program modifying it for use, Delta's holographic appearance has now changed. Now Delta looked like a character from the Halo series. Mutsuki asked,

"Saiko, who is that?"

"Delta. But I changed him to look like one of the Spartan soldiers from Halo. Delta's armor is a Mark V Spartan armor. But to be specific, it's a MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor."

Mutsuki stood speechless before Delta spoke again.

"If we are done, I have completed the assessment of the operation."

Mutsuki says to Delta,

"What is it?"

"What Madame Hydra said earlier was indeed correct. Ken Kaneki has not been erased, but subdued by the Haise persona Madame Hydra implanted into him while Kaneki was in the process of his delayed resurrection. She made good use of the time, and performed her task as Ichiro Yashida asked her to do."

"Is there any way we can stop the machine without hurting Sensei?"

"Well, the software is something I can effect on my end, but the hardware is something we need help for."

"What kind?"

Asked Yonebayashi.

"We will need the assistance of the one who made the machine as they are the one who know how to break it down without harming Kaneki in the process."

"Where are they?"

Delta proceeded to download the map of the entire floor to Mutsuki's phone. By looking at the map, they exclaimed,

"I knew this is three floors combined…but is it this big?!"

"Ichiro Yashida was very thorough in the design of the tower itself. He wanted this place to be where his greatest innovations can be stored. In case his company was in dire straits. He also designed the building in a particular way. For example, when your team ascended the building, did you notice that there were only hallways and stairs with only one elevator?"

"Yeah…"

Said Yonebayashi. Delta then responded,

"Well, that was by design. He wanted his scientific endeavors kept private so as to make sure no one could steal it. The rooms on each floor are divided so the vast majority space is kept out of sight."

Delta displayed how the floors worked according to Ichiro Yashida's wishes. A typical floor is kept hidden behind a wall that was slanted upwards for the stairs on the other side. And the pattern repeated itself, with the floor on top of the previous one being the same but inverted. Seeing this, Mutsuki asked,

"Seriously?"

"…He outsources his imagination onto his scientists."

"Right…I'm going. Saiko, keep an eye on Sensei. Make sure nothing happens to him."

"Got it."

Responded Yonebayashi. Mutsuki went to find the individuals that could stop the mind-transfer machine while saving Kaneki's life. Yonebayashi looked at Kaneki with worry, seeing him so lifeless.

"Maman…"

xxxxxx

Both the Owl and Armor crashed on the ground. During the fall, the recovering Investigators witnessed the fall of the large individuals. Suzuya recognized one of them.

"I think one of them was the One-Eyed Owl."

Arima replied,

"Indeed. And the other was Investigator Ichiki."

The Investigators talked amongst themselves about what they saw. Investigator Itou asked Investigator Arima,

"You think the X-Force made it to the top floors?"

"Most likely."

At that moment, Arima contacted Ui.

"Investigator Ui, do you read me?"

'Loud and clear, sir.'

"Status."

'Sir. I'm with my team, along with Investigator Furuta and the Iron Fist. He's finishing up healing Investigator Ihei from her fatal injury. He's already given Investigator Yonebayashi permission to join with her comrades.'

"I see…"

'But I also just saw Investigator Ichiki falling down with the One-Eyed Owl. Sir…'

"Say no more. Go to Hisako. She may need backup."

'Sir!'

xxxxxx

Armor did not feel any pain from the fall. The Owl, however, seemed a bit disoriented upon impact. Armor says to the ghoul,

"Feeling dizzy? Falling 20 stories will do that."

Initially disoriented, the Owl regained her focus on Armor.

"Don't worry. I recover quick."

(play Mega Mania – Brandon Yates, start at 0:12)

Armor got into a fighting stance.

"So, how do you want to start this?"

The Owl summoned her Ukaku kagune, which manifested as grotesque appendages attached to her back. For now, they took the forms of arms.

"How about a fist fight?"

The Owl stood upright and got into a fighting stance of her own. No more words were exchanged between the two opponents. Then Armor charged toward the Owl, and threw a series of swings, which the Owl managed to deftly dodge. During said dodges, she found an opening on Armor and gave a double uppercut with both her right arms. Armor stood surprised by the hit before tumbling backwards. The Owl taunted back.

"I honestly expected more from you."

Armor got back up and responded,

"You'll get more. That's a promise."

Armor then created claws on the knuckles on the arms of her psionic armor.

(skip to 0:41)

Armor charged toward the Owl once again and swinged her psionic arms again. Although the Owl dodged them again, the psionic claws were long enough to graze the Owl on its extra arms and even the left side of her kagune mask. The Owl then transformed her extra arms into blades. Kagune blades so sharp that they penetrated her psionic armor, which surprised Armor. The Owl attempted to pierce the core where Armor was but failed to do so. During a short break between attacks, Armor explained.

"The psionic energies surrounding me are a lot denser that the rest of my armor. Even if your swords can penetrate the rest of my armor, you can't get to me."

"Sounds like a challenge…"

The Owl then did something unbelievable and threw pieces of her kagune at Armor. Although Armor sliced away the pieces aimed at her, she sees some of the pieces landing in other directions. Armor says to the Owl,

"Your aim looked a little bit off…"

"Take a second look."

Soon, the detached kagune pieces acted on their own and grew long enough to entrap Armor's psionic limbs and lock them to the point that Armor cannot move. Armor struggled to move as she says,

"What the hell?"

At that moment, Investigator Ui arrived, alongside a portion of his squad to aid Armor. As soon as saw Armor trapped in some sort of vine-like kagune, he says to his squad,

"Aid Investigator Ichiki. She needs our help."

One of his squad mates asked,

"Against the Owl? We'll be killed!"

"Are you actually suggesting leaving her to die?"

Armor hears this and yells,

"DON'T COME CLOSE!"

Ui yelled back,

"UNACCEPTABLE! WE WON'T LEAVE YOU TO DIE!"

"You're not! Investigator Ui, remember what you experienced during the Shi'ar incident!"

Although he did not show it, he remembered the fear of seeing the real One-Eyed Owl ripping apart the imposter one his comrades once thought was the real thing. He swallowed his pride and gave the order.

"Remain on standby…"

As she walked closer, The Owl explained to Armor,

"Those are strong enough to hold down someone like the Juggernaut."

The Owl then got close to Armor to combine her kagune blades into a large sword that, suspiciously to Armor, looked surprisingly familiar to the Buster Sword.

"And now for the kill."

Said the Owl.

(skip to 1:37)

Unfortunately for the ghoul, Armor's armor turned blue and almost instantly shrank in size. This surprised the Owl as she tried to hit Armor but acted too late. Armor landed on the ground, to which The Owl tried to look at here Armor landed but felt further surprised to see that the mutant seemingly disappeared.

"Where did she go?"

The Owl then felt something impact the back of her kagune head. The ghoul turned around to see Armor in a smaller version of her usual appearance of her powers. It was blue instead of the orange color that her amor usually was in, and it appeared that Armor created some sort of arm cannon on her right arm made entirely of psionic energy.

"I could tell that you're into RPGs. Personally, I'm more of a platformer."

Armor then fired a couple more shots before the Owl acted to hit. Unfortunately, Armor proved herself faster than the Owl realized. Armor explained as she kept on shooting while dodging the Owl's attacks.

"My armor comes in three forms. The first is my default. This one…"

Armor dodged more of the Owl's attacks as her psionic beams not only hit the Owl, but there were clear indications that it caused damage that Owl cannot regenerate from. Something that made the Owl concerned.

"Is focused more on speed. And with practice…"

Armor got underneath the Owl and shot more psionic beams, actually hurting the ghoul.

"Much like when I'm not using my full armor, I can manipulate parts of it into any shape I can imagine."

Ui squad sees this and were impressed by what they saw. Unfortunately for Ui himself, he feared the worst.

"Please be careful, Hisako. The Owl is fiercer than you realize…"

Soon, the Owl summoned her kakuja for this type of situation. This brought up bad memories for Ui.

"HISAKO, WATCH OUT!"

Unfortunately, it was too late as the Owl starting shooting kagune projectiles. However, Ui noticed something decidedly different from both what he saw that night, and from what Arima described.

"The One-Eyed Owl's projectiles are somehow charged with some sort of…bioelectricity. Has her powers grown since that time? If so, how many of her own kind has she devoured?"

The Owl explained.

"My kakuja can fire a sort of kagune bullets. But I have eaten more ghoul to make them capable of penetrating groups of tanks."

Armor saw how the kagune bullets were almost as fast as her.

"I got no choice then…"

(skip to 2:46)

Armor then went into her third armor form. It bore a very familiar appearance to her psionic armor when the U-Men augmented her powers that caused her to lose control from before her time with the X-Men. Both the Owl and the Investigators stood with either awe or bewilderment as Hisako explained.

"This one focuses more on power…"

The psionic armor manifested spikes on its back, seemingly on its own.

"To be honest…"

Armor looked at the Owl straight in its one eye as her glowed with red psionic energy.

"I'm still working on controlling it myself."

The armor's hands then resembled bear claws and created glowing red eyes of its own as Armor went on the offensive in a berserker state of mind. Both the Owl and Armor exchanged powerful blows against each other, like wild animals attempting to kill each other. The Investigators that witnessed said battle worried for Investigator Ichiki, Ui most of all. Only when the Owl found an opening that the ghoul switched back to is kagune arms and extended them around Armor.

"GOT YOU!"

"Is that a fact?"

Said Armor in a tone of voice that made even the Owl nervous. Armor then did something that floored the ghoul and ejected herself from the very psionic armor she created. As she flew upwards, Armor gave the Owl the finger and yelled,

"SUCK IT, BITCH!"

The armor then began to shine ever so brightly. The Owl lets go of the standalone psionic armor, but said action proved itself futile as the armor exploded. The shockwave almost blew away the Investigators. For the Owl, this action completely obliterated her kagune shell.

(end music)

When the light died down, all that was left was a crater, with a naked green-haired woman in the center of it.. Ui was the first to uncover his eyes to see the aftermath of the fight between Hisako and the Owl.

"It's over…"

"Sir?"

Asked one of the squad as the other uncovered their eyes. Ui ordered them,

"Recover Investigator Ichiki."

They did as Ui ordered as he went to look at the woman in the crater. As soon as he got close, he knew it to be the Owl due to her kagune mask still on her.

"I have to kill her now…"

Before Ui could do anything, one of the Aogiri aircraft that Investigator Washuu warned everyone earlier appeared over Ui.

"Damn…not now!"

One of the side doors opened to reveal an Aogiri ghoul carrying a rifle. The ghoul began shooting at Ui, but the Investigator proved himself too quick to shoot at. However, Ui knew this.

"He wants me away to recover her…"

The aircraft simply hovered the woman as two ghouls descended from it. The one carrying the rifle kept his eye on Ui while the other recovered her. When that was done, the aircraft flew away from the area. Ui could do nothing but watch it fly away. Soon, two of his squad approached him to speak to him.

"Investigator Ui."

"Ichinose. Report"

"Investigator Ichiki is okay. Just unconscious from the fall."

"Good to know."

The other Investigator asked,

"Sir?"

"Yes, Investigator Nara?"

"Was that the Owl that Investigator Ichiki defeated earlier?"

"It seemed so. Unfortunately, some of Aogiri must've seen the battle from afar and acted quickly in case of the Owl's defeat."

After taking a moment, Ui then gave the order.

"Let's get everyone inside. It's a bit chilly here."

"Yes sir."

As Ichinose and Nara did as Ui order, he looked up at the top of Yashida tower.

"One enemy down…watch yourself, X-Force."

xxxxxx

While Yukio searched for Madame Hydra, she soon found, what seemed to be, another medical wing within the back half of the Tower.

"I never saw this before…"

Yukio kept her guard up as she looked around the room. It seemed no different from the others in the rest of she saw before when she used to be employed. Then she saw something familiar, yet shocking.

"…Mariko?"

Yukio sees the medical tube where Mariko was stored within. She whispered,

"How?"

"Because he can."

Said Harada as he made himself known to his former comrade.

"Master Ichiro showed me this himself…before his condition got worse. Although he managed to physically make her look as she did before she was stolen by Logan, the means to perfect a healing factor was lost to us."

"So that's why Ichiro wanted Ken…"

"That…"

Harada slowly unsheathed his sword.

"Is Master Ichiro to you."

Harada instantly got on the attack against Yuki, but Yukio defended herself. The two exchanged blows against each other. Harada was every bit as aggressive as Yukio knew him to be with a katana in hand, but she proved herself no slouch in swordplay as she blocked every attack Harada aimed at her. Although she knew one thing.

"The power behind his attacks are nothing to scoff at. If I stay on the defensive, he will wear me out…"

Yukio, in small intervals, looked around her environment. Nothing seemed to be useful in her fight against Harada. Even if he did not use mis mutant ability, he proved himself the better swordfighter. Yukio knew she had no other choice.

"Forgive me…sister…"

Yukio acted as if she was going on the offensive against Harada.

"Got you!"

Harada performed a powerful sword swing aimed at her neck, but Yukio dodged it in time as she ran toward Mariko's tube. Harada feared the worst.

"No!"

Harada acted too slow for Yukio as she sliced a seemingly random power line from the tube to serve as a distraction. What happened next took both Yukio and Harada by total surprise. The image of Mariko began to fritz out, like a malfunctioning still recording. Soon, the image of Mariko resting within the tube disappeared. Dropping his sword, Harada touched the tube that used to contain Mariko with a look that embodied his state of mind. Fear, confusion, and anger consumed his mind as he yelled,

"MARIKO!"

Slowly, he began to break down crying at seeing his purpose of serving his master disappear before his eyes. Yukio felt the same sadness that Harada currently is experiencing. She cried as well. Although in the back of her mind she wanted Mariko to return as she was before she left Tokyo, she felt relieved for two reason. No laws of God and nature were being violated, but mostly, Yukio felt relieved that Mariko will not know how her son was sacrificed to bring her back. Something she did not want to go through. At that moment, another set of footsteps was heard. Both turned around to see Madame Hydra looking smug. Harada bellowed,

"Explain!"

"Easy there."

Madame Hydra held up her hands before saying anything further.

"You don't have to blow up just because-"

She then felt the sharp end of a katana touching her neck, but she did not bleed so far. It was Yukio who performed this action.

"Be clear…and concise."

(play Kamen Rider Gaim OST – Track 36)

After another moment of silence, Hydra explained.

"Obviously, we didn't revive Mariko. The process would honestly take about two and half decades to fully perform."

"So why do this?"

"It was for Harada."

Harada felt as furious as he looked crestfallen.

"Ichiro didn't want to lie to you…but the people that helped his company become what it is wanted to maintain your loyalty because…well, did you know that the Black Clan wanted to renounce their allegiance of the Yashida household?"

Although he struggle a little a first, Harada soon answered the Madame's question.

"Y-yes. It was during the Second World War. The Black Clan feared that after the war, the Yashida household would either lose Master Ichiro, the only heir at the time, after the war or that our country would suffer so much hardship that we would have to focus on the needs of the clan instead of the Yashida household. But When Master Ichiro returned and created his company, such concerns were set aside."

"Well, there's a reason for that. The Yashida household basically had no money."

Both Yukio and Harada were slightly surprised by this revelation.

"All the money went into companies that created everything for the, back then, Imperial War Effort. But sometime Japan lost the war, when the Americans occupied the country, during their rehabilitation program, a lot of Japanese companies that created weapons were dismantled. Their money, seized by the Americans. In a shocking turn of events, they didn't keep it. Rather they gave it to Japanese corporations dedicated to rebuilding the country. In an effort to get some of that money, Ichiro Yashida went to a…certain family that hid a portion of their money from the Imperial government during that time. Would you like to know which one?"

Harada then says,

"The Washuu clan."

The Madame replied,

"Exactly. The ghoul problem was still a thing even during the war, so the government allowed the Washuu men to be exempt from fighting in the war. But during the war, they…exaggerated their income requirements to maintain their offensive against the ghouls. Ichiro Yashida knew this based on what his few connections within the reforming government told him. Ichiro Yashida wanted some of the money the Washuus hid, and the Washuus wanted access to the clan of ninjas loyal to his family. So, a deal was struck. The Washuus would give Yashida the startup funds he needed to start this company, and he would send the Black Clan on assignments that the Washuus would order him to give."

Harada then felt something he had never felt before. The sting of betrayal, from the man and house his father, and his father before him, all pledged loyalty to. Only to find out that he sold his clan out to the Washuus, a family his clan had disdain for, for missions to satisfy those who possessed no honor or decency. What felt especially worse for Harada, he heard this from someone who took advantage of an old man's desperation.

(end music)

Harada knelled down as he felt a wellspring of rage erupting within him. So much anger came so much of him that it felt as if it filled up the core of his being. Said sensation made his chest feel heavy. As Yukio sympathized with him, Hydra concluded her explanation.

"Well, since the clan is all but wiped out, the Washuu clan now want something from Ichiro. Ken Kaneki."

Yukio then asked,

"Why?"

"Well it's about his DNA. It has the potential to change the current political landscape between the species."

"Political landscape?"

"Well the less you know, the better."

Yukio noticed that Madame Hydra currently held something in her left hand.

"Oh shit…"

Before Yukio can do anything, Hydra slammed the object she held unto the floor. The result was a sudden burst of smoke. After said burst, Yukio ran toward where Hydra last stood. However, Hydra remained hidden within the smoke. Yukio looked at where Harada was, and he still sat on the floor.

"Honestly…he had it coming…"

For one moment, Yukio remembered when she saw the cracks of Ichiro's façade of a caring man.

flashback

(April 2002)

Yukio stood in front of Ichiro Yashida in his office.

"Very well, Yukio. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Sir…I wanted to inform you…about Mariko."

"Mariko?"

"Yes sir…I've received a letter from her yesterday."

"You have?"

"The reason why I didn't inform you earlier was because…I was debating whether or not to inform the rest of the family."

"I see…"

After a moment of silence, Ichiro asked,

"And how is she?"

"She's living in Nagasaki. Specifically, near where the prefecture's forests are."

"The home…before the war."

"Yes master. She had hoped that enough time has passed that she could escape Shingen's sight."

Ichiro slightly groaned at the reasoning behind her actions.

"Sometimes I wondered where I went wrong with Shingen…but enough of that. Tell me more."

Yukio smiled as she continued.

"Yes sir. She married someone privately and even had a son."

Ichiro asked,

"A son?"

"Yes sir."

"…Who is the father?"

Yukio initially hesitated until she gave the name.

"Logan."

Now Ichiro stood surprised as soon as she confessed the name of Mariko's husband.

"How is she now?"

"Both she and Logan are together, and from what she wrote, Logan has proven himself to be a good father. But she also wrote…"

"Hmm?"

Yukio hesitated once again until she finally says,

"She's changed her name."

"What?!"

Exclaimed Ichiro.

"She now goes by Sayu Kaneki. Her son's name is Ken Kaneki."

After Ichiro paced his office for a while, he says to Yukio,

"From here on in…Mariko is dead to us…"

This news shocked Yukio as she replied,

"M-Master, surely-"

"Yukio, you keep this conversation to yourself. Furthermore, you will cease all future communications with Ms. Kaneki. From here on in…we will have nothing to do with them…"

Speechless at first, Yukio eventually responded,

"Understood."

Yukio exited Ichiro's office as she thought to herself,

"If he demands it…forgive me, Mariko…"

end

Although he focused on defending herself against Hydra's poison nails, Yukio thought about that time. Her feelings were this.

"I can't believe I allowed him to gaslight me for so long…never again!"

Yukio heard a series of footsteps coming towards her from a certain direction. The smoke became thin enough to see a thin silhouette of someone rapidly approaching her. Said silhouette became thicker as Hydra attempted to hit Yukio with her nails, but Yukio blocked said attack with her katana. She knew that Hydra was still around. So, Yukio spoke to her.

"Why is it that you know about what the Washuu's demand?"

"Let's say…I keep my ears open."

"Last time I checked, snakes don't have ears."

Yukio heard footsteps heading toward her, but Yukio blocked Hydra's attack again. She then spoke with Yukio again.

"It's called a columella. It's a type of inner ear."

"Nice to know."

"It's only a matter of time before this ends."

"Exactly."

Footsteps were heard again, but this time, Hydra stayed a little bit to exchange blows with Yukio. She proved herself agile and decisive with her attacks, but Yukio's technique and persistence denied her opponent the opening she sought. Hydra returned into the smoke again, although it seemed to get tinner the longer the fight went on. As such, Yukio stepped outside the med room and attempted to find Hydra within the floor. The floor housed many unfinished projects or storage boxes. As soon as the smoke cleared, Yukio says to Hydra,

"So just answer my question: why do the Washuus want Ken?"

"Well they don't want them. Another organization in partnership with them do."

"Another organization?"

"Vasuki. V for short."

"Vasuki?"

"I'd like to tell you more, but…"

Yukio spots a shadow heading towards her fast. She looks up to see Hydra descending toward her and instantly stepped aside to dodge her. Hydra and Yukio exchanged blows once more. However, Hydra noticed something about Yukio.

"I'm wearing her out. Wonderful."

Hydra leapt up and backwards to hide behind some of the storage boxes. Yukio heard the footsteps running away from her. As she ran after Madame Hydra, she started to feel tired.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to fall over?"

Soon, she found herself in the one of the Tower's power generator rooms. She stood in front of a large generator similar to those used in an electricity substation. However, her creeping exhaustion slowly consumed her.

"What is this?"

"The aftereffects of my smoke bomb."

Yukio instantly turned around as she faced Madame Hydra once more. Both her hands had extended nails so sharp that they were almost comparable to knives. She explained.

"It's specially made from my natural toxins. A special compound that starts off as innocuous as first, but the more you exert yourself, the more your body heat activates said compounds that eats up everything that give you energy."

Yukio started to feel a little short of breath.

"You can tell it's working, can you?"

Soon, Yukio kneeled down as the effects of Hydra's smoke bomb began to fully take hold. Hydra slowly walked around Yukio to unnerve her.

"Don't worry. It won't kill you. That's my pleasure."

Hydra then brandished her extended nails at the kneeling Yukio. Although Yukio attempted to maintain her calm state of mind by engaging in a breathing exercise, she still felt the effect of he smoke bomb. Hydra finished by saying,

"Before I finish you off, I'll share one more secret with you."

She held her right hand over Yukio like a guillotine blade before saying,

"Vasuki started off as their personal goon squad until Japan joined the Axis powers. After World War II ended, they were pretty much the Hellfire Club. But for ghouls. And whom they served…well here's a hint."

Hydra then placed her head near Yukio's left ear to whisper to her,

"Hail me-"

Then, something truly unexpected happened. Hydra got stabbed in the stomach. This surprised Yukio as well as she recognized the blade that stabbed Hydra. It was eventually revealed to be Harada, seemingly unaffected by the smoke bomb from earlier. Although she struggled, Hydra said,

"What the hell?"

Harada had an angry look on his face as he gripped his sword tight as she dug his katana a little into the Madame. Although she felt the internal bleeding within her getting worse, she says to Harada,

"Asshole. I'm on your side."

"No…"

Harada the lifted the Madame up with his sword alone and aimed her at the large power generator.

"You are on your side."

Harada then activated his mutant ability and used the tachyons he generated to launch Madame Hydra from his sword and unto the generator. Hydra screamed a most bloodcurdling scream as the electricity surged through her entire body until the fireworks eventually stopped. By then, Madame Hydra had already died. Her body, slowly becoming crispy as it stayed on the generator. Yukio slowly regained her health as she spoke with Harada.

"Changing sides already?"

"No…"

"Then why help me?"

"Because…I don't know what to do now…"

"Join us. Get revenge on Ichiro for lying to you."

"I…will not…"

"Why not?"

"I still feel…loyal to Ichiro…"

Yukio wanted to speak further, but Harada interrupted him.

"I know…I'm an idiot for saying that…but it is part of the reason why…I'm leaving…"

Harada sheathed his katana as he walked away. Yukio could only look on as her former comrade turned his back on everything he used to believe in. Although she struggled, she walked back to the X-Force in their fight.

xxxxxx

The X-Force struggled against the ghoul that appeared before the Owl. Although Urie or Akira got some attacks in, its regeneration made it difficult to make any damage done to it stick. As Shirazu commented,

"Damn it. Everything we try to do to it; it shakes it off like nothing happened!"

Akira says to Shirazu,

"We just have to stick to it. Every ghoul has their limit. This one is no different."

Shirazu then shared an idea that just came to him.

"Akira, you and I go for a blitz. Confuse it. Urie, Deadpool, go for the neck."

"Roger that."

The team did as Shirazu ordered, Shirazu summoned his kagune missiles at the ghoul while Akira whipped at her target as to do her part. The ghoul jumped around, dodging their attacks. The distraction seemed to work as Urie and Deadpool managed to stay out of its radar long enough to go for a double attack as both sliced the neck of the ghoul. For one moment the team believed they achieved victory. Only to face another frustrating setback as thin strands of blood sprouted from the neck of the recently decapitated ghoul and extended to retrieved the head and placed it back on the neck. Although the ghoul said nothing, it thought to itself,

"I lost consciousness for a second. Did they use a sneak attack?"

Shirazu exclaimed,

"SHIT! What's it gonna take to kill this monster?!"

"Squad leader Shirazu, compose yourself!"

Shirazu paid his attention to Akira.

"Did you ever complain like this before?"

"Well…no."

"Well don't start! We are Investigators of the Ghoul Countermeasures Bureau. Even in the face of death, we do not falter. What's more, you are the X-Force! A team made for the purpose of defeating what is normally impossible to defeat! This ghoul is nothing!"

With renewed spirit, Shirazu recomposed himself and gave the order.

"X-Force…KEEP CHOPPING 'TIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!"

Deadpool was the first to act on Shirazu's orders.

"You heard the man!"

"That's what I want to hear, Deadpool!"

Exclaimed Akira. The team kept on the offensive against the masked ghoul, as they hoped their attacks would chip away it regenerative abilities. During said attacks, Kanae looked back on his past.

flashback

Bremen, Germany, 2007

A squad of GCB Investigators arrived in front of a mansion. One of the figures the head of the household recognized one of the Investigators.

"They're outside."

The Investigators talked amongst themselves before breaking into the mansion. Before such an event, The Husband talked to his family.

"My children, the time has come. You must flee to Japan. You will find safety at the Tsukiyama house, our ancestral bloodline. Our time in Germany…is done."

Then the husband spoke to his wife.

"Emma, take care of the children."

"I will…Abraham."

Emma then says to her children,

"Nathaniel, Arnolt…Karren. We have to go."

The three children packed whatever they could before going outside the mansion through a secret passage built within the manor. The only one who did not join them was Abraham. He stayed behind to set the entire manor on fire, leaving himself behind in the flame. As the Investigators stepped inside, they searched about a third of the place until a young Matsuri Washuu smelled smoke.

"Son of a bitch!"

He alerted his comrades with his portable radio.

"Alle Einheiten, evakuiert die Villa!" (All units, evacuate the mansion!)

One of the German Investigators asked,

"Washuu, was ist los?" (what's the matter?)

"Sir, ich rieche rauch der von oben kommt!" (Sir, I smell smoke coming from upstairs!)

"Rauch?" (Smoke?)

"Es ist möglich, dass die Ghule geplant haben, dieses Herrenhaus niederzubrennen, falls wir sie entdecken!" (It's possible the ghouls must've planned to burn this mansion in case we discover them!)

"Verdammt! Alle Einheiten, evakuieren!" (Damn it! All units, evacuate!)

Soon, flames encompassed the entire mansion as the Investigators silently cursed the ghouls for such a course of action. However, Investigator Washuu asked the leading Investigator,

"Sir, erlaubnis, den rest der gegend abzusuchen!" (Sir, permission to search the rest of the area!)

"Gute Idee, Washuu. Durchsuchen Sie die Räumlichkeiten!" (Good idea, Washuu. Search the premises!)

The Investigators all split up in order to search for the rest of the Rosewalds. As the family looked on seeing their home burn to the ground, Young Kanae felt the impact of the sight the most.

"I remembered what father said before we escaped."

One of the Investigators sees the family standing in front of the burning mansion.

"ICH HABE SIE GEFUNDEN!" (I FOUND THEM!)

The oldest of the children, Nathaniel, alerted their mother.

"Mutter, wir müssen gehen!" (Mother, we have to go!)

Whether sitting mesmerized or in despair, Emma did not move from her spot. She seemed so catatonic that she did not possess enough cognitive ability to act with urgency. Instead, she told her sons one thing.

"Run…"

Soon, Nataniel heard more Investigators heading to where they stood. With regret, he told his younger brothers,

"We have to go…"

Young Kanae asked,

"What about-?"

"WE HAVE TO GO!"

Yelled Nathaniel. As Young Kanae ran with his brothers, he looked as his mother seemed smaller the further away he got.

"It was most likely that mother died when the Investigators found her…"

The brothers kept on traveling to Japan, stopping only to eat. However, since they were ghouls, that meant a trail for the GCB to follow.

"The doves were pertinent in chasing us. It wouldn't be long before I lost both my older brothers to them…"

Soon, Kanae had nothing but the clothes on his back when he arrived in Japan. As he finally arrived at the Tsukiyama household, the servants that saw him guided young Kanae to Master Mirumo.

"When I arrived at the Tsukiyama house, I represented my entire family. I even changed my name to include all of them…in my new name."

Kanae introduced himself.

"I am Kanae Von Rosewald."

Kanae changed his name from Karren as he kept the K from his old name, but the other letters came from Abraham, Nathaniel, Arnolt, and Emma. As Kanae finally found a reason to keep trying to be an exemplary servant, one day he practiced sword fighting with Matsumae. Their sparring match ended with Matsumae saying,

"You have potential, but you may have to refine your technique. Maybe incorporate a dégagé into your flick."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"We'll have to end it for now."

"Ja. I have to help out in the kitchen…"

Kanae almost fell on the ground, worrying Matsumae in the process.

"Kanae!"

"…I'm all right."

Matsumae helped Kanae up and got him to his room to rest. As soon as Kanae recovered, Matsumae asked him,

"How long can you keep it a secret?"

"…As long as I can…"

"But it will become apparent…"

"What I do…is for the honor of my family…"

Matsumae then exited Kanae's room. Before she left, Matsumae said one more thing to Kanae.

"A lot of the servants already know."

"…They're not the ones I'm trying to fool…"

As soon as Matsumae left, Kanae rest for a little more until he was well again. When he made to the kitchen, Kanae found Shuu in front of the sink.

"Master Shuu."

Shuu looked at Kanae.

"Matsumae has told me of your skills."

Kanae felt at a loss for words.

"Well, it's to be expected. You have Tsukiyama blood in you. As such, I will be your training partner next time."

Relieved and delighted, Kanae replied,

"That would be wonderful, Master Shuu!"

Although it would be from afar, Kanae was grateful enough to pine for Shuu. Whenever he practiced piano, Kanae would play his violin from the garden in tandem.

"The memory of that Rose garden was still fresh in my mind…and my heart…"

Soon, Kanae got into a dark place in his memories. Memories of when the Owl psychologically tortured him to the point his mind broke surviving the untold and horrific things the Owl did to him. During such unspeakable acts of pain, the Owl did a word association game with Kanae as she made fresh stitches on his body.

"Death."

"Inevitable…"

"Humans."

"Food."

"House."

"Brick."

"Flower."

"Rose."

"Lie."

"Liar…"

Then the Owl said a word that made Kanae remember something he wanted nobody to know. Something that the Owl discovered during her torture on Kanae.

"Woman."

The Owl discovered that Kanae was a woman all this time. The only daughter of the Rosewald family. She pretended to be a male in order to uphold the pride of the Rosewald family. The Owl then asked Kanae,

"Did you want to be loved?"

Kanae then remembered the one time she wore women's clothing. She looked herself in the mirror with the dress on.

"I am so…scraggly."

end

Soon, Karren felt at the end of her rope as her regeneration slowly sapped away her stamina. Akira noticed this.

"Squad leader, the ghoul is getting sluggish."

"Awesome! X-Force, finish her off!"

Before that could happen, another interruption arrived at the most inconvenient time. First came the arrival of another ghoul. Different to the X-Force, yet familiar to Akira.

"No…"

Urie sees Akira's reaction and asked,

"Investigator Madou, do you know this ghoul?"

"Yes…or rather, I read the report of this ghoul. It was present during the mission at the 11th ward. Then during the Shi'ar incident."

"It must be strong then for it to survive both events."

"It's SS-rated."

Surprised, Urie asked,

"SS-rated?"

"Yes. Its name…is Noro."

Before Noro can attack the X-Force, another figure made it appearance. This time, it was a large suit of samurai armor. Primarily silver and chrome, it moved in a semi-robotic fashion. Deadpool exclaimed,

"Looks like we have a new challenger!"

Soom, the helmet portion of the suit revealed itself to be Ichiro Yashida. He seemed to be integrated into the armor itself. Akira then asked,

"Ichiro Yashida?"

Ichiro then unsheathed his sword, brandished it in front of both the X-Force and Noro.

"You are trespassing on private property."

Shirazu reputed by saying,

"Fuck that! We're getting Kaneki back."

Shirazu then summoned his kagune before finishing.

"By any means necessary!"

Urie thought to himself,

"Whoa. Where'd he learn that?"

Ichiro responded,

"He is mine to do as I please!"

Afterwards, Mutsuki made themselves known by yelling,

"THAT'S A LOAD OF FUCKING BULLSHIT!"

This caught the attention of not just the X-Force, but Ichiro and Noro as well. Urie noticed that Yukio stood beside them.

"Ken is your family, and you don't treat family like this!"

"HE IS NOT MY BLOOD! HE IS MY PATH TO IMMORTALITY!"

"You used to be a good man! But your fear of death has made you into a monster!"

Ichiro looked at Yukio for a moment before saying to her,

"You were a starving child when you thought that. That's…what it made it very easy"

The samurai helmet closed off as Ichiro began to go on the offensive. Shirazu the ordered the team,

"Scatter!"

The X-Force got into opposite directions to doge Ichiro's attack while Noro slipped into the background for his own reasons. Akira then asked Mutsuki,

"Mutsuki, how is Kaneki?"

"With Saiko."

"Is he still resting?"

Mutsuki explained what happened as they distracted Ichiro long enough for the rest of the team to reassemble.

flashback

Mutsuki initially felt taken aback by how far down and large the back of the building was.

"This place is pretty damn big…"

They soon focus on the task at hand.

"I need to find Yukio…"

After seven minutes of searching, Mutsuki found Yukio, slightly worse for wear.

"Yukio!"

As soon as they got close, Mutsuki asked,

"How'd it go with Hydra?"

"She's dead. But not because of me."

"What?"

"Harada helped me."

"Seriously? Why?"

"She pissed him off. I think that was enough."

"Is he still here?"

"No, but that's not important."

"Right. Let me help you get back to Kaneki."

"Thank you."

As they helped Yukio, Mutsuki asked,

"What did Hydra do to you?"

"She used her toxins to affect my body long enough for her to kill me. That's where Harada came in."

"Got it. What did she tell you?"

"Quite a lot that we don't have time for right."

"Fine. We're almost back."

Soon both arrived at here Kaneki currently laid, with Saiko looking over him until she noticed both Yukio and Mutsuki arriving.

"Mutsi. Yuki. You're back."

Initially confused, Yukio explained to Mutsuki,

"Her name for me."

"Usually she only gives you a nickname is she values you."

Yukio looked at Saiko with a big grin on her face, confirming what Mutsuki just said.

"I'm all right now."

"You sure?"

Asked Mutsuki.

"Yes. Thank you though."

Yukio then asked Delta,

"What is the status of the transfer?"

"For some reason, it has ceased progressing."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. It could be Kaneki fighting for control in his mind, but we still cannot turn off the machine due to unforeseen consequences we can cause if we turn it off right now."

"Right…guess the priority is now…"

"No one touches the machine."

Saiko then notices someone entering the room. Someone terrifying.

"Mutsi!"

Mutsuki looked at where Saiko pointed and sees Noro entering through another entrance to the med wing.

"Oh shit!"

Exclaimed Mutsuki as they readied their quinque. As did Saiko, and Yukio with her katana Unfortunately, Noro proved himself stronger by summoning his kagune faster than the trio realized it. It was a bikaku that took on the form of a lamprey with a mouth at the front of it. However, Noro controlled his kagune differently that from what Mutsuki remembered reading in the reports they could get their hands on. The kagune split into three different directions, each of them holding the trio either down or on any nearby wall. Struggling at first, Mutsuki realized that there was no escape.

"Damn it…"

Mutsuki feared for the worst. However, Noro did nothing to either Kaneki or Ichiro. Instead, with his kagune still out, he stepped further inside the room in order for a couple more individuals to enter. Noro spoke to indicate as such.

"Please step inside."

The trio sees two short individuals entering the med wing. One regular looking and another with blue skin. Both possessed beards, but one looked a little nervous while the blue one looked irritated. The blue one asked Noro,

"Just to get things straight, you just want us to turn this off, right?"

"Correct."

The other one says,

"But it's still on. Not to mention it's still connected to those two."

He pointed to both Kaneki and Ichiro still laying on their respective stretchers. Noro then gave the regular skinned individual a USB drive.

"This should disengage and reverse the process."

Surprised, Mutsuki asked Noro,

"But…why?"

Noro turned his attention at the Investigator speaking to him. Mutsuki feared that the ghoul would kill them as they were helpless to do anything about it. Instead, further surprising the Investigators, Noro explained.

"We have plans for the Kuzuri."

Both Yukio and Mutsuki were shocked to hear Noro mention Kaneki's callsign.

"Before he left Japan, we had in with us for a specific purpose. Why though, only my leader ever knew."

Both Mutsuki and Saiko were clueless as to what Noro spoke about. Yukio, however, knew what Noro spoke about.

"However, since she's not here right now, she's ordered me to recover the Kuzuri."

Mutsuki asked,

"You mean the Owl?"

Noro then finished the conversation.

"I've said too much. Dwarves…"

Both Mutsuki and Saiko were surprised to learn that the two short individuals were dwarves.

"Get to it."

"Right."

Said the blue dwarf before speaking with, what Mutsuki and Saiko thought, his brother.

"All right, brother. Let's get to it."

"I'll handle the computer stuff. Much cleaner."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Both dwarves went to work on stopping the process. The blue dwarf inspected on the machine while the regular skinned dwarf typed in some commands on the keyboard. During their work, Saiko asked them,

"Are you like real dwarves from Svartalfheim, or the ones who suffer from terminal shortness?"

"Dwarves always suffer terminal shortness. But yes, Svartalfheim is where me and my brother, Brok, come from."

"Brok?"

"The blue skin one."

"Nice to fucking meet you!"

"Aside from his manners, he's alright. I'm Sindri."

Noro then says,

"No talking."

"R-Right. Sorry."

Sindri continued with his part. However, he encountered some difficulties.

"The hell?"

Noro asked,

"What's the problem?"

"The software is blocking me for some reason."

"That is due to me."

Said Delta as it made itself known.

"I cannot allow you to stop the operation currently taking place."

Brok exclaimed,

"The fuck you saying, you see-through son of a bitch?!"

"I meant what I said. I will not allow you to interfere with the operation. Not without proper authority."

"Well, guess that why I got this."

Said Sindri as he remembered the USB drive Noro gave him earlier. He soon found a USB port and inserted said drive. A little after, Delta seemed to glitch for a few seconds. Then got back to normal.

"Master access codes accepted."

"Master codes?"

Asked Sindri, to which Noro answered,

"One of our own managed to acquire this behind Shingen's back. Now reverse it."

"…Got it. Brother?"

"Just made some slight fixes to make this here thing capable of reversing the power. If you can do, then get it over with."

"All right then."

Sindri input the commands to reverse the operation.

"Commands accepted. Executing."

Said Delta as the screen now displayed the progress of the reversal process. A little after, both Kaneki and Ichiro entered a semi-seizure. Something which worried Mutsuki to no end.

"Sensei!"

They exclaimed, with Sindri saying afterwards,

"Oh boy?"

Brok then asked,

"The fuck's going on?"

"Well, these two individuals are…acting out on the beds for some reason."

Bork sees the two.

"Well that ain't good…"

Delta explained.

"It's their individual body's response to the operation being reversed. Since Ichiro was still in the process of transferring his consciousness to Kaneki's body, the stress of having all that becoming undone is having an adverse reaction to his body. Specifically, his brain."

"What's happening to their brains exactly?"

Asked Brok.

"Ichiro's body was slowly getting used to being an empty shell. Having his consciousness rushed back to his original brain is giving both his cranial and central nervous systems a sensory overload. Simply put, it's like turning back on an old factory building while it is in the process of being torn down."

"Well, call me a horse's asshole."

Both bodies continued to spasm until the process was fully reversed. When it did, only Ichiro Yashida woke up. And he did so with shock at first. But as soon as he saw Noro, what should have been anger got replaced by fear. Noro says to him,

"We know about you connection to the Washuus. Did you really think you could play both sides?"

Although he struggled at first, Ichiro said to him,

"Please…I need him."

"Too bad. She needs him more."

Ichiro then yelled,

"DELTA! PROTOCOL SILVER!"

"Affirmative, sir."

The medical stretcher started to act on its own as it started to drive away, faster than even Noro realized it. To which the ghoul retracted his kagune and went after the old man. The trio dropped to the floor when Noro let them go. Brok helped Yukio up while Sindri helped Saiko getting up.

"Thanks."

"Nothing to it."

Mutsuki got themselves up and asked Yukio,

"Yukio, you okay?"

"Yes. Let's go after him."

"Ichiro or the ghoul?"

Yukio recovered her katana and unsheathed it.

"Take your pick."

Mutsuki then says to Saiko,

"Saiko, stay here. Protect Sensei. And the dwarves."

Saiko gave a thumbs up as she replied,

"Got it."

The two chased after Ichiro. Soon they found where the stretcher stopped.

"He's here somewhere."

Said Yukio, with Mutsuki responding,

"Watch yourself…and keep an eye out for the ghoul as well."

"Got it."

After a few minutes of searching, both heard something start up on its own.

"You hear that?"

"Keep your guard up!"

Soon, they encountered a suit of samurai armor larger than either of them.

end

Akira felt a mixture of emotions within her, but the ones most prominent were: confusion, surprise, and relief.

"You said actual dwarves? Like from Asgard?"

Mutsuki replied,

"From what they told me…"

The two dodged a sword swing from Ichiro.

"They're from another place that's possibly connected to Asgard. Either way, my guess: they were captured by Ichiro Yashida. Possibly held hostage by Aogiri."

"You found a connection between Yashida Industries and Aogiri?"

"Apparently he must've struck some sort of deal with them. What kind, I don't know yet."

Akira thought to herself,

"Would Arima know about this?"

Ichiro took another swing at the two, but Deadpool blocked said swing with his twin katanas.

"Listen, I don't want to interrupt anything here but…DID YOU WAKE HIM UP?!"

"Sorry. Even though the operation was reversed, Sensei's still sleeping."

"Great…"

Ichiro got hit in the back by Shirazu's kagune missiles. Much to Deadpool's relief.

"Thanks!"

"We're not done yet-!"

Shirazu dodged an attack by Noro. The ghoul's attention, however, was on Ichiro.

"Ichiro Yashida, my master has demanded me…you pay for your insolence."

Ichiro got into battle position before saying,

"This is my company. NOT HERS!"

Mutsuki's guess of Yashida Industries and Aogiri gained a little more legitimacy at that moment.

"For now, I have a larger priority…"

Noro did something that no one, not even his own comrades knew, and detached a piece of his kagune and stuck it unto the samurai armor Ichiro currently donned. The detached kagune flesh proved itself so strong that it floored Ichiro.

"I-I cannot move. Impossible!"

Ichiro struggled to get himself out but to no avail.

"This armor was tested to take on the Hulk!"

"Guess that's something to look forward to…after this."

Noro turned his attention on the X-Force.

"X-Force…my master has seen what kind of power your team possesses…she ordered me…that if any of us executives should ever encounter you…"

Noro then began to move in such a way that invoked significant unease, and even fear.

"Eliminate…by any means necessary."

Soon, it became apparent that Noro was summoning his kakuja. It took on the form of a huge kagune mass that looked like a giant mouth on legs, with kagune tentacle with mouths of their own. Deadpool exclaimed,

"HOLY SHIT! THAT SOME SERIOUS FUCKING NIGHTMARE FUEL!"

"YOU TELLING ME!"

Exclaimed Brok, who was still inside the med wing close to the battle taking place but still saw everything. Deadpool yelled,

"CLOSE THAT FUCKING DOOR!"

"WILL FUCKING DO!"

Yelled back Brok. Shirazu then says,

"It doesn't matter."

Shirazu held his unopened attaché case containing his still unused quinque. Although the fact that he held it in front of them gave a promising indication to his teammates.

"Until Kaneki wakes up, we hold the fort."

Shirazu got what remained of the X-Force to renew their resolve and defeat Noro in order to protect Kaneki. With Saiko guarding Kaneki and both Iron Fist and Hisako out of commission; Shirazu, Urie, Akira, Yukio, and Deadpool all stood ready for whatever hell the ghoul had in store for all of them. At the moment, Shirazu thought to himself,

"Please wake up soon, Mr. Kaneki. We need you bad."

Soon enough, Noro got on the offensive and leapt above the X-Force. Shirazu exclaimed,

"Scatter!"

The X-Force did so and split into different directions. Noro aimed at Mutsuki and lunged his kagune tentacles at them. Thankfully, Mutsuki sliced apart the tentacle aimed at them into pieces. What impressed Shirazu was the speed at which Mutsuki defended themselves.

"Nice one, Mutsuki!"

"Thanks, squad leader!"

Urie sees one careening toward him and sliced it in half with his kagune arm sword. Deadpool, Yukio, and Akira not only sliced the ones going after them but went after the ones Noro regenerated after Mutsuki and Urie were done with, With his tentacles nearly depleted, Shirazu gave the order to both Mutsuki and Urie.

"Mutsuki, Urie, Deadpool, take out the rest! Madou, when I tell you to, finish him off."

"Roger that!"

Exclaimed the three of them simultaneously. Urie and Mutsuki sliced off the remaining kagune tentacles faster than Noro can perceive. As soon as they were done, Shirazu yelled,

"MADOU, NOW!"

With a furious swing of her quinque, Fueguchi, Akira split Noro in half. The X-Force hoped the ghoul died on the spot, but Noro's regeneration dashed such hopes. Akira says to the team,

"I've read reports about this ghoul. His regeneration is part of the reason why he's survived so many Investigators that went after him."

Noro completely healed from their attacks as Akira continued.

"He's rated-SS, but his growth potential indicates that he's maybe beyond that. What makes him especially dangerous is his unpredictability. He can act like you don't exist and leaves you alive, or he can leap above and kill his target…even before his victim realizes it."

"Damn…makes me wish I could fight Jean Jacket again…"

Responded Shirazu. Urie then says,

"Yonebayashi could help make a difference in taking him down, but we need her on Kaneki."

Akira replied,

"Agreed. My quinque is nothing to laugh at, but we need something with more power. Something that ghoul can't heal back from."

"Release me."

Said Ichiro, to which the X-Force shifted their attention to him.

"My suit is made of a synthetic adamantium, making it impenetrable. My sword is made of the same material, with the added bonus of heating up to temperatures that slice any metal. Including vibranium. Release me, and I will forgive your Bureau for this…transgression."

Shirazu spoke on behalf for the team.

"Stick it up your ass, old man. We're taking him down our way."

Urie puts him aside and whispered,

"I with you on that, but our hasn't given any…positive results."

"Not yet."

Shirazu lifted his attaché case containing his yet unused quinque.

"You feel ready?"

"Doesn't matter. We live after this. No matter what."

Shirazu opened the case in hand, after saying to Mutsuki,

"Mutsuki, Deadpool, Yukio, hold him off."

"Roger that!"

Said the three simultaneously. As the three attacked Noro, While Shirazu readied his weapon, he remembered his conversation with Dr. Chigyo about his quinque.

flashback

"Hey doc?"

"Yes?"

"If I decide to use this quinque…what's it gonna be like?"

"Well, Nutcracker, the quinque that is…it's a special kind of weapon."

"What kind we talking about?"

"It's not like those based on a sword, spear, or projectile kind. Rather, this one possesses properties that enable it to expand on command. It can also, like Nutcracker's kagune, separate parts of itself. With the correct stimulus, of course."

Shirazu took a moment to fully think about what the doctor just said. As he tried to wrap his head around what Chigyo told him, his thoughts went back to a memory of his childhood. One of the few good ones he can recollect.

"Like a Hoberman sphere?"

"A what?"

"It was one of the few toys my old me ever bought me when I was a kid. It's a ball that when you pull it, it gets wide and becomes a big ball with hexagon holes in it. And when you squeeze it, it becomes a sort of spiky ball."

To his amazement, Shirazu gave Chigyo a clear example of how the Nutcracker quinque works.

"Yes. That's…within the parameters of how your quinque works. As soon as it is reinforced with the hardness of a kokaku, it could be the strongest quinque to date. Perhaps even surpassing what Arima currently possesses."

"Whoa, really?"

"Absolutely. The genius of it is at first, it looks like a simple sharpened short pike, but when you stab a ghoul with it, it expands. And when it does, it splits the ghoul apart into pieces."

end

Shirazu found the opportunity to stab Noro as he aimed for the space above the large mouth. As he stabbed it, his quinque did as it was designed to, and split Noro apart into so many gory pieces. Such a sight made the X-Force cheer as the ghoul was spread all over the floor. Deadpool yelled,

"FUCK YEAH SQUAD LEADER!"

"You damn right…"

In another twist of events, the scattered pieces of Noro began to move by themselves and amass into a fleshy pile. Deadpool then exclaimed,

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?! We tried stabbing him, cutting into him, and hell, EVEN BLOW HIM UP! WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE TO KILL THIS FUCKER?!"

Shirazu then summoned his quinque and jumped above the revived mass that was Noro. As he attacked the ghoul, he thought to himself,

"Shit! I have to finish this monster off! I don't, they die!"

Shirazu landed on one of Noro's giant tentacles and ran to land on the next one. His hope was to launch every kagune missiles into Noro's gaping mouth.

"I can't let them die. Or my sister too! I need more! MORE POWER!"

Then Shirazu felt something inside him. Something that felt as if it wanted to grow but was being held back. Shirazu focused on where he was, but wanted to run more as if he felt his body responding to his desire for more power.

"MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!"

At that moment, when Shirazu leapt over Noro, his kagune grew into a stronger form of itself. It resembled a moose horn with spikes on it.

"FUCK YEAH! MORE POWER!"

Shirazu fired his kagune missiles with great enthusiasm. The resulting explosions were leagues more effective than before, as Urie noticed.

"His missiles…they have more power to them. Has he broken through the frames? On his own?"

Such a discovery shocked Urie that it jolted his legs enough for him to get back up. When Shirazu ran out of missiles, he then did something that was considered more impossible than what he did before and detached his kagune from his back with his own bare hands. The result was a larger explosion that not just splattered Noro into pieces, but said pieces burned away into nothing. The fires that came after the explosion burned away the kakuja mass that surrounded Noro until only the main body remained. For the first time, Noro was driven to a corner. For the first time, in a long time, the ghoul felt fear for his life. His last strike was aimed at Shirazu, but the smoke from the fire made it hard for him to see whether or not his attack landed. And Shirazu, feeling the adrenaline rush that came with his kagune evolving freely of his own free will, did not feel anything hitting him. Instead, he yelled to Urie,

"URIE! KILL HIM!"

Summoning his kagune, Urie replied,

"Got it!"

And rushed toward a defenseless Noro. Exhausted to do anything, Noro accepted his fate and says to himself,

"I'll see you on the other side…Eto…"

Urie sliced Noro into many bloody pieces with his swift, yet fierce multiple slices of his kagune arm sword. The X-Force all sighed relief as one of the most power ghouls within Aogiri finally died by their hands. However, they admit that most of the credit belong to their squad leader. To which Akira asked,

"Shirazu, where are you?"

Soon the smoke cleared, and the X-Force see Shirazu lying on the floor for some reason. Mutsuki exclaimed,

"Shirazu!"

The team all went to his side as they discovered that a large portion of the left side of his body was chopped off. Shirazu bleed profusely. Although his regeneration was at work, Akira feared that it was too late for him.

"He's lost so much blood…"

Shirazu opened his eyes to see the team all around him.

"I…took a nasty hit…"

Shirazu laughed a little before continuing.

"Must've happened when I was above the freak…"

Urie told him,

"Just save your breath, Shirazu."

"Damn it. Heal faster!"

Although Shirazu's self-healing was at work, the team still feared the worst for him.

Urie then says to him,

"We'll focus on getting you out of here. There's a med room nearby."

"It's not made for someone like him."

The team turned their attention to Ichiro, seeing that the kagune flash that trapped him at first beginning to solidify, becoming brittle in the process.

"My med room work for, at best, for mutants. Your friend will die here."

Instantly mad, Urie exclaimed,

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Soon, Saiko got out to see what was happening. She saw Shirazu on the floor and feared the worst.

"Shirazuki!"

She ran toward him and asked her comrades,

"What happened?"

Yukio explained to Saiko.

"He defeated Noro, but the ghoul gave him this wound. And…"

Urie then says to her,

"Don't you dare…"

"I'm sorry…but Ichiro is right."

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Urie stood up and yelled,

"DON'T FORGET, THIS ALL STARTED BECAUSE THAT DEATH-FEARING FART YOU SERVED MADE ALL THIS HAPPEN! WE LOST A LOT OF OUR MEN BECAUSE OF THAT MAN!"

Yukio felt the weight of her guilt.

"And now because of him, our squad leader is dying, and Kaneki's brain was almost hijacked by that asshole!"

Urie pointed at Ichiro.

"And you…you were a part of all this from the very beginning. You could've talked him out of this bullshit, sabotaged him at any chance you had…Instead, you took part of all this. ALL THIS I BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"I KNOW!"

Yelled back Yukio as she cried at her role of the events of tonight. At that moment, Shirazu then says,

"Hey…why aren't you guys saying anything?"

The team instantly worried. Some of them spoke to Shirazu at a rapid rate. Only Akira, Deadpool, and Yukio that the end was near for Shirazu. He says to his friends,

"Haru…if I die…let her go…for me…"

Urie says to him in a frantic voice,

"What are you talking about? You just killed a rated-SS ghoul. Y-You're gonna get a big ass bonus for this! This…THIS WAS YOUR ACHIEVEMENT AS SQUAD LEADER!"

At that moment, Shirazu stopped breathing. Silence filled the room as the X-Force looked at Shirazu's now-lifeless body. Urie wanted to say something, but Deadpool spoke first.

"He's dead, Jim."

Urie shuddered before tears flowed from his face. He screamed in anguish, with Saiko following afterwards. Mutsuki was slow to do so at first but cried for Shirazu all the same. Akira, Yukio and Deadpool had sad looks on their faces, seeing one of their teammates die in front of them. At that moment, Ichiro finally broke apart the brittle kagune flesh, and stood in front of the X-Force. While brandishing his katana at them.

"I will say this much…he died with honor."

With a spiteful tone, Yukio says to Ichiro,

"What do you know of honor?"

"I fought for my country. I bled for it. I still do."

"All you've done…is run…from the inevitable."

On his last straw, Ichiro heated up his katana and swung his sword at the vulnerable and tired X-Force. However…

SNIKT!

What stood in the way of Ichiro killing the entire team…was the leading Investigator of the X-Force, now donning completely black hair. Mutsuki whispered,

"Sensei?"

xxxxxx

(One hour earlier)

Kaneki felt as if he was drowning in a raging sea. The deeper he went into the water, the more he felt a sort of oppressive pressure crushing his entire being.

"I…can't breathe…"

Soon, Kaneki opened his eyes to see his great-grandfather, young again, and choking the life out of him. Although he struggled, Kaneki managed to ask,

"Why?"

"I gave your father a chance to live an ordinary life, and I would take his immortality."

Ichiro continued to choke Kaneki. As he felt that he got close to said goal, he says to Kaneki,

"Your father once said that an immortal life wasn't worth living."

His grip on Kaneki's neck tightened as he finished.

"It is the only life worth living!"

At that moment, his grip on Kaneki's neck loosened as someone truly unexpected arrived to save him. It was Logan, his claws out and stabbing Ichiro in the back and lifting him by said claws.

"Get your hands…OFF MY SON!"

Logan then threw Ichiro off his knuckles. Kaneki saw his dad as he remembered him.

"Come on. Unless you want him here forever."

Kaneki replied,

"Right."

SNIKT!

With his claws out, Kaneki readied himself against Ichiro. While Ichiro got himself up, he says to himself,

"This…this cannot happen…so much was done to PREVENT THIS!"

Ichiro manifested silver-colored samurai armor around his person. Kaneki then realized,

"We're in my mind…"

"Well yes and no…"

Replied Logan before continuing.

"Ichiro here is trying to erase ya so he could take over your body."

"Seriously?!"

"I know. Sick freak. We gotta push him back."

Ichiro then charged toward the both as he swung his sword like a madman.

"Get ready!"

Ichiro leapt up for a downward strike but both Logan and Kaneki got out of the way to dodge said strike. Ichiro divided his attention between the two mutants as both Logan and Kaneki attempted to end Ichiro with their claw swipes, but Ichiro blocked their attacks with sword techniques that proved his skill with a blade but made it that more difficult to land a hit on him. As Logan remarked.

"This crusty old bastard is not letting up."

Just then, Kaneki felt some sort of twinge in his mind. Something that distracted him from the fight to regain control of his body.

"What is it?"

"I'm…feeling something…something is…calling for me?"

Logan knew what he meant.

"I'll keep him busy. Go."

Kaneki listened to his father and followed this feeling as a door appeared in front of him. Ichiro sees this and yells,

"YOU WILL NOT DENY ME-!"

Ichiro felt something pierce his lower stomach. He soon discovered that it was Logan that performed such an action.

"I ain't done with you asshole."

Logan then took out the claws that pierced Ichiro's stomach and proceeded to punch him in places where Ichiro was vulnerable. Finally, Logan pushed him back in order to buy his son time.

"You're staying right here. Where I can see you."

"What do you think you can accomplish?"

"Giving my son time to regain a part of himself. Something you tried to shove down his throat."

Ichiro knew what he meant, and he started to laugh.

"I made Haise as a way to suppress your son."

"Yeah well, for better or worse, he's a part of Ken. And he has to recover him to get back."

Kaneki went into the further recesses of his mind to look for the part of his mind that Madame Hydra created to erase Haise.

"Part of me doesn't want to go there…but Haise is a part of me. I don't think I can function without him."

Kaneki found himself in a hallway of doors. Each of these doors were mental manifestations of his brain functions. From memories to regulation of typical neurological functions, Kaneki searched for the one that led to a part of his subconsciousness that held what Hydra crated within his mind.

"Here it is…"

Kaneki found the door that held behind it The Sunken Place.

"I have to do this."

Kaneki opened the door to see the space that held, the closest thing he'll experience to pure nothing, the Sunken Place. Although he did not directly experience diving into such a place, he acted on a subconscious reflex and clutched his chest with his left hand.

"Here goes nothing…"

Kaneki dived into the Sunken Place. As he dived further in, every part of his body told him to turn back. He pressed on. The encompassing darkness awakened some primal fear within him. Kaneki pressed on. Every part of his mind, heart and soul told to stop and reverse course or else he will lose everything about himself. Kaneki still pressed on. Until finally he found Haise. Even in the deepest darkness Kaneki has ever known, he still found Haise. He then proceeded to wake up Haise.

"Haise. Haise! Wake up."

Kaneki proceeded to slap him multiple times before Haise finally got out of his catatonic state. He panicked as he still saw he was still in the sunken space.

"No! NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! PLEASE LET ME OUT! PLEASE!"

"HAISE!"

Haise soon found himself facing himself?

"No…no…"

"Haise, listen to me."

"I know you…"

"Yes. I am the primary personality. The one that this body belongs to."

"Then…why?"

"Because…you're a part of me. Ichiro may have commissioned your existence, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a part of me."

"A part…that's all I am…just a part…"

Haise began to cry. Kaneki had a feeling why.

"I know this body belongs to you…and you have done a lot of good. I mean, you're an X-Man. Someone who saved the world. By all rights…I should be okay with you getting back your life…"

"But you lived as well. You made a family for yourself."

Tears continued to stream on Haise's face.

"And you've a little bit of good yourself. In the few moments where I saw what you saw, you spared someone I cared about for quite some time."

Haise knew Kaneki was speaking about Hinami.

"Haise…I have to go back…otherwise…everything I love…will be lost."

Although he hesitated, Haise knew that he was an aspect of Ken Kaneki, an aspect of an individual that he knew belonged to people that need him. People that can help in in the days to come.

"…Fine. I'll come back."

Suddenly, the darkest depts of the Sunken place instantly blew away as now, nothing but light surrounded the two of them. Kaneki hugged Haise as the final act to become one person once more. As Kaneki completed the act, he felt something snapping him back to reality. As he slowly regained consciousness, he heard Haise speak to him.

"Please…don't let anything happen to them…"

Kaneki knew Haise spoke about the X-Force. As he woke up, Kaneki looked around to see himself in some sort of hospital room. He also sees Brok and Sindri standing near his bed. He asked them,

"What happened?"

Brok explained,

"…One of your friends just about died taking down a really strong ghoul."

Kaneki slightly reacted to hearing one of his teammates having just died. Brok, however, says,

"Thought that would get a bigger reaction outta you."

"Maybe it's the shock of the news…"

Said Sindri. Kaneki soon got up from the stretcher and says to the two,

"You might want to get out of here."

"Best idea I've heard all night! Let's get the fuck out of here."

Brok walked into the other door that led to the rest of the tower. Before joining him, Sindri says to Kaneki,

"May our paths meet again."

Kaneki replied,

"Likewise."

As Sindri followed his brother, Kaneki went to where his team needs him.

xxxxxx

(Now)

Kaneki looked at the Samurai armor in front of him and thought,

"It looks mostly the same…"

He then looks at his team behind him.

"I know what happened…I got this…"

Akira then says to Kaneki,

"Okay. Go for it…"

Although she still felt sorrow for seeing Shirazu die in front of her, Saiko whispered,

"Maman…"

Ichiro then says to him,

"Damn you, Haise! Why do you continue to defy me? YOUR BELOVED GREAT-GRANDFATHER!"

Kaneki then pushed back Ichiro's sword with his claws, which caused the large samurai to stagger for a while. This gave Kaneki the opportunity to cause damage to the armor as he leapt up to match Ichiro's current height. Although it was a graze, his claws pierced the upper section of the silver samurai armor. Such an action shocked Ichiro as he faced Kaneki. Kaneki then says to him,

"My name…IS KEN KANEKI!"

Kaneki charged toward Ichiro and began to slice away the armor. Ichiro thought to himself during when he was defending himself,

"How?! This is synthetic adamantium! Is it that much weaker than the real element?!"

Reminding himself of his size, Ichiro grabbed Kaneki with one hand and began to run toward the roof of the tower. How though is what scared the X-Force. With a mental command, Ichiro activated the rocket boosters that were hidden in his back until recently. As the boosters slowly started up, Ichiro says to Kaneki,

"Very well. You have decided to reject me. Now I show you the pain that comes with the consequences!"

The rocket boosters now became fully ignited, lifting him upwards. He held the hand in which he held Kaneki forward to make him feel the pain of being drilled through a steel concrete ceiling. Witnessing such an action, Saiko panicked as she yelled,

"MAMAN!"

Deadpool then got and says to Akira,

"I'm going after him!"

"So am I!"

Said Yukio while getting up. Akira says to the both of them,

"Go. Help him anyway you can."

xxxxxx

(Play Countdown - Rush)

Both Kaneki and Ichiro made it to the roof of the tower as Ichiro threw Kaneki to the floor. As he landed, Ichiro then says to him,

"I offered your father mortality! Everything I did to prolong my life made my body unsalvageable! ALL BECAUSE HE REFUSED ME!"

As Kaneki got up, he responded,

"YOU DID ALL THIS BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID OF DEATH! Not his fault that you were too much a bitch to face your mortality!"

"THE FUCK YOU SAY?!"

"YOU HEARD ME! YOUR NECROPHOBIA WAS PART OF THE REASON WHY SHINGEN GREW UP TO BE A FUCKING FAILURE OF A MAN! Guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree!"

Now fully anger, Ichiro charged Kaneki with katana forward. Kaneki stood ready. As Ichiro got close, Kaneki swiftly stepped aside to dodge Ichiro's attack and made a claw swipe to his right shoulder. Said attack destroyed the right shoulder guard of Ichiro's samurai armor and made his right shoulder to bleed profusely. Th armor reacted to this and sealed Ichiro's wound with a sort of automatic wrapping.

"You'll find that I'm not so easy to kill."

Kaneki refuted,

"I'm not the one who tried to pull off an Andre Hayworth on his own blood!"

"Who?!"

"Get out!"

"WE'RE ALREADY OUT!"

"No, it's a horror movie!"

"There's a horror movie about what we're doing right now?!"

"Sort of! That part about you transferring your consciousness from your body into mine? THAT SHIT IS FROM A HORROR MOVIE MADE IN THE LAST DECADE! OONE OF THE FIRST VICTIMS IS CALLED ANDRE HAYWORTH!"

Ichiro then lit up his katana as it started to heat up.

"Good to know!"

Ichiro yelled as he swung his sword. Kaneki dodged it, fearing that Ichiro's katana in its current stage may do serious damage to him.

"I better not risk it…"

Ichiro notices this as he kept swinging his sword at Kaneki. He explained,

"You are keeping your distance from my sword. That is because my sword is made from the synthetic adamantium my company has made. At heightened temperatures, it can slice through its original counterpart easily."

Ichiro got close enough to Kaneki that he made for a stabbing attack for his right arm. Kaneki deflected it with his left claw. However, such an action sliced off all the metal claws on his left hand. Kaneki yelled in pain when he felt his left-hand claws being sliced off by Ichiro's katana.

(end music)

xxxxxx

Deadpool and Yukio arrived to see the fight currently going on. Both were shocked to see Kaneki not just in pain, but the claws on his left hand sliced off for reasons unknown to them.

"What did he just do to him?"

Just then, Deadpool heard his smartphone ring.

"FUCKING ROBOCALLS!"

Just as he was about to shut down his phone, Delta spoke to him.

"I wouldn't do that."

"The hell?"

Delta appeared on Deadpool's phone.

"As I was about to say, Ichiro Yashida created an exosuit. Half of it was modeled after the Iron Man suits recorded in media outlets, the other half after his ancestral armor of the family…alter-ego."

"Alter-ego?"

Asked Deadpool to which Yukio explained.

"The Silver Samurai."

Deadpool shifted his attention to Yukio.

"During the Sengoku era, a major figure known as the Silver Samurai was known as one of the strongest samurai that served the emperor. In the few times that he fought against the daimyos that did nothing to quell the instability, it was said that the Silver Samurai left little survivors. The ones that did…he let them go to spread the word of his power. When the era came to an end, the Silver Samurai was given wide swaths of land and the power to go with it. That was how the Black Clan ninjas swore their oaths to the Yashida clan."

During when Yukio explained to Deadpool about the Silver Samurai itself, Kaneki still kneeled down in pain over losing one of his claws. Ichiro says to him,

"Surrender now…and we can try again…"

Jus then, Ichiro saw something that surprised him. Kaneki's left claw grew back. As did the metal surrounding it. Stunned by this, he asked,

"How?"

Kaneki got up and says,

"It's because the metal that's boned to me…it's a special version that's linked to my healing factor."

Such a statement floored Ichiro.

"This metal was bonded to me when I was 10 years old. Against my consent, mind you. It grew with me as I grew up. Now, it's linked with my body. And since my body can heal any damage done to me, it makes sense that this specialized version does as well."

Ichiro growled in anger until he says,

"Fine! I'll just aim for the head!"

As Ichiro continued his attack, Deadpool spots something very familiar to him. It was the ghoul that he fought with the X-Force earlier.

"Oh shit."

"What is it?"

Asked Yukio.

"We got company."

Yukio unsheathed her katana as she says,

"Nothing interrupts Kaneki."

Deadpool then unsheathed his twin katanas as well.

"Right…"

Both headed for the ghoul. As they blocked its path, the ghoul says to them,

"Out of my way…I have to kill Haise…for master Shuu…"

Deadpool says to it,

"Not gonna happen."

Yukio then spoke to the ghoul.

"This is Kaneki's fight. You do not interrupt."

Although it was tired and disheveled, the ghoul summoned its kagune and attacked both Deadpool and Yukio. Albeit very sluggishly as Deadpool remarked,

"If you can't deliver, why even talk a big game?"

Soon more ghouls arrived. Deadpool recognized one of them.

"Whoa…is that…?"

It turned out to be Shuu, slightly worse for wear but intact. He was soon followed by Matsumae and Milo, both looking not just ragged but on the verge of collapse. Matsumae says to Shuu,

"Master Shuu, please stay…"

Matsumae could not finish the sentence as her fatigue overwhelmed her senses. As was Milo. Shuu then says to her,

"No…in this state Matsumae, you can't even protect yourself."

Shuu then summoned his kagune and brandished it at both Deadpool and Yukio.

"This is my battle."

Deadpool replied,

"Actually…the only battle happening is the one behind us…"

Deadpool then began to remove his mask, which not just shocked Yukio but the ghouls as well. Shuu recognized the man behind the mask.

"Wait…you seem familiar…"

"We never officially meet…I'm Hideyoshi Nagachika. I'm a childhood friend of Kaneki."

Shuu felt a measure of relief.

"Matsumae, Milo…we're among friends now."

Floored by this, Matsumae asked,

"Master Shuu, are you sure?"

Shuu asked Hide,

"What about her?"

"She can be open."

Yukio then asked,

"Deadpool, do you know them?"

"Well…yes and no. He knows Kaneki before Ichiro abducted him when Kaneki was in a prolonged healing coma."

Shuu snapped his fingers as he says,

"I knew it! He wasn't truly dead."

"Drop the act. We bought the fact that died. I only knew that because of her."

Before Shuu could speak, Yukio asked,

"Again, why are we on good terms with them?"

"Because he helped rescue Kaneki when he was kidnapped by Aogiri five years ago."

"I see…but then what about that?"

Yukio pointed to the ghoul that attacked earlier.

"Good question. Shuu?"

Shuu then explained,

"She's with me."

This shocked not just Matsumae and Milo, but Karren as well.

"Her name is Karren Rosewald. She's a servant of my house but…she went missing a long time…but let me talk with her…"

Bot Deadpool and Yukio stepped aside to allow Shuu to talk to Karren. What shocked Karren in her current state of mind was the fact that Shuu knew her real name instead of the one that she cultivated for nearly all her life.

"Master Shuu…"

Shuu carefully approached Karren as he felt that whatever was done to her, it still had an effect on her state of mind.

"Karren…it's me."

"I know…but…why are you calling me that?"

Shuu knew that he called Karren by her real name instead of Kanae.

"I've known for quite some time. I remembered that the Rosewald family had two sons…and a daughter."

Karren shook with fright.

"When you came to the mansion, calling yourself Kanae, I imagined it was due to you wanting to honor your family. I can understand that."

Karren replied,

"You…do…?"

"Yes…even though I came here with the intention of rescuing Kaneki…the price was too great. Before I realized it, it cost us everything…because I played the obsessed fool who couldn't let go. I played the asshole who sacrificed his family for someone who was, in reality, a passing fancy."

Both Matsumae and Milo became disheartened when they heard Shuu talking about himself in a disparaging manner. Matsumae thought to herself,

"No…you mustn't think about yourself like that, Master Shuu."

Shuu continued.

"And now my mistakes are what has destroyed the Tsukiyama family. For all that my father has given me and for what I inherited, it was proven to be wasted on me."

Matsumae and Milo felt the sting of Shuu's self-berating. But none felt it more so than Karren.

"And the results of my failures are why we're here. This is living proof of the fact that I was never worthy of this family…"

At that moment, Karren did something truly unexpected to everyone watching. She slapped Shuu in the face. She then ripped apart off the twine that previously shut her eyes and mouth as to indicate of her regaining her sanity.

"Don't you dare…TALK SCHEISSE ABOUT YOURSELF!" (SHIT)

Matsumae wanted to punish Karren for hitting Shuu. But two reasons stopped her. One was fairly obvious, but the second one: she actively stood back to let her talk sense into Shuu in a fashion necessary to snap him out of his self-inflicted spiral of negativity.

"You are not to blame for any of this! Everyone is here because we believe in you. WE LOVE YOU SO VERDAMMT MUCH THAT DYING FOR YOU IS NO QUESTION!" (DAMNED)

"But…you went missing for so long on my behalf…we had no idea where you were. WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Karren now felt the tables were turned. She initially struggled to confess.

"…The One-Eyed Owl."

The fact that the Owl had her hands on Karren filled everyone listening. Karren confessed what the Owl did to her.

"The Owl spent her time…torturing me. Breaking my mind to the point where I became her willing puppet. She ordered me to kill…Kaneki, knowing that I would fail…"

Karren started to cry as she told the hardest truth she ever had to admit.

"I…wanted to kill him for you, Master Shuu. I did so…because I believed that you would never accept me as I am."

"Why would you think that?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

What Karren just said further floored everyone listening.

"I loved you since I first saw you. But I knew my position as your servant…as well as being part of a fallen family made everyone around me, at the time, feel as if I were some sort of parasite that was taking advantage of the master's kindness. But I took it…because of you."

Shuu felt something for Karren at that moment.

"You gave me a reason to live. You made me feel I matter when no one wanted to have anything to do with me. Even though I was to be your servant, I made peace with it. As long as it meant that I held a place in your heart. But…as the years passed, I saw you being close to people that you've acted as if you've been close to them all their lives. I remembered feeling terribly jealous about that. Including that…photographer girl you were friends with."

"Chie Hori?"

"JA. Everytime I see her with you, I WANTED TO PUT HER ON TOP OF A STOVE AND BURN HER ENTIRE BEING!" (YES)

Karren breathed heavily after saying that. Shuu then replied,

"If it makes you feel any better, he once told me that she was asexual."

Karren's jealously cooled down when Shuu said that.

"Wirklich?" (For real?)

"Ja." (Yes)

Karren stutter for a little while before continuing.

"…even so, I had more problems inside me. So much so, I believed that even if you wanted to fall in love with someone…why would it be me?"

Shuu took a while to search for the right words that summed up his feeling toward her.

"Because…I always found you beautiful."

Karren now felt stunned herself as Shuu called her beautiful.

"I wanted to befriend you first because I believed you needed someone in your corner. I still am…but as time passed, I began to question myself about my sexuality. When I entertained the idea of being gay, I thought that it was an opportunity to finally wanting to be close to you."

Hide thought to himself,

"Dude, I don't think it's gonna go the way you want it to go if you go that way…"

"But…once I learned that sexuality is a spectrum, I decided to go anyway I want to, but I will do so with commitment. And right now…"

Shuu placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I want to be with you forever."

Karren now felt elation in her very being.

"I love you as well. I want a life with you, whatever it may be."

Both Matsumae and Milo cried in joy for both Shuu and Karren. Karren cried as well, having her feelings returned to her. However, such a moment of bliss was cut short as Ichiro's recent sword slash missed Kaneki. What made this sword slash different was the fact that it had the function of producing an energy beam in the shape of a blade. Although Kaneki dodged it, the blade slice headed toward where everyone currently stood. Kaneki yelled,

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Although the sword beam narrowly missed Karren, the resulting collateral damage caused the part of the roof floor to instantly crumble. She saw her world tilting on its side, slowly realizing that he was falling. Shuu yelled,

"KARREN!"

As she fell, the world seemed to slow down around Karren. She became lost in her thoughts.

"Er liebt mich ... und das ist meine Belohnung dafür ..." (He loves me…and this is my reward for it…)

Shuu tried to go after Karren but was held back by Hide and Yukio. Matsumae and Milo could not do anything in their weakened state. Matsumae cried as she began to hate herself for her weakness.

"Warum um mich weinen? Alles, was ich getan habe … hat dazu geführt …" (Why cry for me? Everything I have done…has led to this…)

Although she initially accepted her fate, the part of her that felt joy of hearing Shuu loved her back fought back.

"Nein...NEIN! Ich will nicht sterben! ICH WILL NICHT STERBEN!" (No…NO! I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!)

At that moment, Kaneki dived after Karren and grabbed her hand, in between digging one of his free claws into a nearby wall to hang on to. Karren looked up to see the one who saved her.

"Sorry about being late."

The sun began to rise as Karren saw the one who saved her. She wanted to say something, only for Kaneki to say first,

"My friends call me by my name. You can call me Kuzuri."

Then Shuu extended his kagune toward the two.

"Karren! Grab it."

Karren looked at Shuu, which started to make her cry as she saw him attempting to save her. Kaneki then says to her,

"I'd do what he says. I got a fight to go back to."

Karren reached and grabbed Shuu's kagune. Once both his hands were free, Kaneki climbed back up to the roof. He soon sees both Hide and Yukio distracting Ichiro long enough for him to rescue Karren. He says to Shuu,

"Stay here for a while longer."

"R-Right."

As Shuu held Karren, Kaneki ran back to his fight against Ichiro. He leapt up as he saw an opportunity to cause serious damage at Ichiro. As Hide and Yukio continued to fight against Ichiro, he says to Yukio,

"This is how you repay me?!"

Yukio dodged another attack from him as she responded,

"You have no loyalty of your own! Because of your disregard for people, you broke Harada's heart!"

"He was a good dog…but that was all he was!"

Ichiro went for another attack against Yukio but got distracted when five bullets bounced off his chest armor. He looked at Hide with his two Desert Eagle pistols out. Ichiro laughed a little as he says to him,

"You thought that would work?!"

"No. But I got your attention."

Ichiro then felt something pierce his chest. He looked behind him to see Kaneki performing said action. He struggled to speak as blood began to fill his throat before spewing it out.

"You…"

"Are a dead man."

Kaneki kept on stabbing Ichiro in his chest until he could no longer stand. As Ichiro fell, Kaneki instantly got off him. Face down, Ichiro finally was defeated. At that moment, Delta appeared on Yukio's phone.

"Ken…"

Kaneki heard his name being called as Yukio put her phone in front of him.

"He's still alive."

"Still?"

"Barely. He could leave Ichiro on his own. Whether by his wounds or cancer, he's done."

Kaneki was in thought until he came to a decision. He flipped the armor face up to face Ichiro. With his claws, he pried off the metal samurai mask and helmet. Kaneki exposed Ichiro's bloodied face as he now looked pitiful. As pitiful as the day he got into the well to hide from the nuclear fallout. At that moment, Ichiro then says to him,

"What I did…I did it because…I was scared…"

"I know…"

"Do you? Do you know what it's like? To live with a curse that you can never get away?"

"All I know is this: If you had any honor in you…"

Kaneki then stabbed Ichiro in his exposed neck.

"You've should've killed yourself back then."

Ichiro drew his final breath as Kaneki withdrew his claws from his neck. He then looks at his friend.

"Hide?"

"Hey man. Long time."

Kaneki felt at a loss for words.

"I know…we have a lot to talk about…"

Done…for now. I hope you've had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it. Seriously intense in places. I wanted to write more to flesh things out, but honestly…I need to start the hiatus so that I can resume my IRL work. For those who waited patiently, I thank you for that and your devotion. I even had an idea of creating a side story of how Hide became Deadpool. Even have a name for it: Deadpool - Gaiden. Base it somewhat on the first Deadpool movie. Maybe for another time. Right now, the hiatus will end around late summer of 2024 with the start of Arc 2: clamation. I will see you all again by then. Happy holidays in advance from me, stay safe, relaxed, rested and remember…

Kuzuri will return.