The Quinx of Change

As Hide accustoms to his new life away hiding both from the CCG and Aogiri Tree, he is conflicted with the upcoming events brewing around him. These include the sightings of some of his older friends who assume he is dead. What is Hide supposed to do, as he undergoes an interesting development through exclusively eating ghouls with Amon?

It was not the easiest life for Hide. It wasn't, due to him having to pretty much work over the top to make ends meet for himself. Considering how he went from being given a place to reside and everything, to now having to do everything on his own so quickly, it was a switchup.

The only nice thing is how nice Itori was.

Spending almost six months away from two major organizations. One who thought, for the most part, he was dead, and the other who wanted him for their sick experiments.

As a result, Hide was forced to find refuge in Helter Skelter, a bar Itori owned. Speaking of the girl, she was relatively nice and kind enough to let Hide sleep in the bar whenever she closed the shop. Though he always insisted he would go out on his own, every other not to hog the storetore, Itori insisted.

For the days when Hide chose not to stay near the Helter Skelter, he didn't know how he made it.

The result was at least a safe place where he could rest and find comfort when the weather became too uncomfortable. Much to his relief, Itori was right when she stated that this place was unknown to any of the two organizations, making Hide feel safer.

Whenever he went out, he always donned his scarecrow suit, at least for nighttime. His appearance, with his now shoulder-length yellow hair, was enough to at least fool the common folk, but whenever he spotted any CCG investigator, he was forced to hide.

Six months of hiding from the CCG and Aogiri Tree was incredibly difficult for Hide, who had gone to Uta's mask shop under Scarecrow to buy a multitude of custom masks. It got so redundant that Uta didn't mind letting the scarecrow stay around for a while, though Hide rejected, it and always returned elsewhere.

With Koutaru Amon, Hide occasionally met the individual black hooded man, most of the time during the night to discuss multiple goals. While most were relatively harmless, with Amon explaining his life in the CCG, sometimes it regarded around food. This became Hide's main source of food now, and much to his concern, but to Amber's delight, it was always ghoul flesh.

It was something conflicting to Hide. On the one hand, he was glad he didn't need to eat human flesh, as he felt it would be wrong, even though he was forced. However, on the other, Hide had developed certain problems in connection to eating ghoul flesh.

The first time it occurred was last month, the fifth meal Hide had as a one-eyed ghoul. Hide was chilling in Helter Skelter, serving some drinks, when he suddenly had a sort of mental breakdown.

He had thankfully excused himself from the scene and went underground, where to his shock his kagune began to go uncontrollably wild.

"W-what's h-happening..." Hide mumbled in pain as his crystallized wings began shooting out multiple projectile shards, and the left side of his face was covered with what appeared to be a spiky black mask, in the shape of a half-dragon, with a singular horn peeking out just above Hide's left eye. A red dot about a nail length in diameter glowing menacingly.

However, even his crystallized wings were looking different. Instead of the typical orange they radiated, it now had red vvein-likeshapes running through them, while smaller blue spikes seemed to be forming around Hide's crystallized wings. But it was Hide's fingers that looked the most bizarre. While his hands were still there, now covering them were enlarged claws, with a blue color radiating, with similar red veins protruding through them.

"Gah!" Hide exclaimed in pain, thankful that, one he was wearing his scarecrow costume, and second, he had successfully gotten down in the underground area, away from the crowd.

Hide was gasping for breath, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Look at you! In the process of getting stronger, you see what happens when you eat ghouls?" Amber told Hide, who was panting, as his mind was falling apart.

"I should've known this was a bad idea, what's happening to me?" Hide asked, as Amber merely laughed in the background.

"Maybe they'll tell you," Amber replied, and Hide wanted to ask who, until they saw three figures looking at him, staring at him in shock.

Hide immediately knew the figures as Itori, Uta, and Yomo.

"Damnit, out of all the people to come down here, it's you three?! I told you all to stay upstairs, let me run this course!" Hide shouted in pure agony, wanting them to get away. He could feel his mentality slipping, and he was doing his best to keep himself sane.

"He's an incomplete kakuja, look at those claws," Uta stated, while Yomo looked on in interest.

"Why does this ghoul look familiar?" Yomo asked himself, and Hide immediately flinched, thankful he was wearing his scarecrow.

"G-get away!" Hide shouted, unable to hold it longer.

*Flame Pellets*

With an enraged yell, Hide fired his crystallized projectiles at the three, who easily jumped out of the way. The projectiles looked much bigger than usual, and he realized they were in the shape of small needle-like syringes. How fitting, Hide remembered from the first couple of days of torture when they tried to inject him with RC suppressants to cut him, only for it to now work.

That isn't to mention the flames each projectile had with it, making it more dangerous than the likes of other ukaku ghouls.

As Hide felt himself going back there, he suddenly began to laugh hysterically, alarming the three ghouls.

"What's going on..." Itori commented, clearly concerned, specifically how chaotic Hide was at the moment.

"He's losing his sanity; he must've eaten ghoul flesh for it to occur," Yomo commented, still trying to decipher exactly who this person was.

"What's wrong with the three of you, not wanting to play hero against the hungry dragon?!" Hide exclaimed, laughing maniacally before charging towards the three, spinning his body as he chucked swarms of projectiles around his surroundings. Making many of them cringe, he was losing it, and they would have to snap him out of it.

It was almost impossible for the three to dodge, considering the sheer amounts of fronts he was tackling, and so all three were hit partially, thanks to their movement skills. Still, they hurt.

"What the..." Yomo commented, watching scarecrow spin around and charge at random like a toddler experimenting with his body. But throughout this were weird mumblings and sayings, as if the scarecrow was talking to someone.

Throughout their entire time seeing a ghoul, they had never seen one as insane as this when it came to developing their kakuja.

"We must fight this ghoul," Yomo stated with a stoic look.

"Are you serious?" Uta asked, and Yomo's face said it all.

"His kakuja is incredibly dangerous, we must suppress him," Yomo stated, activating his kagune revealing two black wings in its wake.

Uta did the same, revealing his tail, immediately sending it towards Hide, who merely jumped over it, slicing it apart with his claws.

"Gah!" Uta bemoaned before regenerating it relatively quickly.

Yomo took his shot, firing his own set of crystalline projectiles, which Hide merely covered himself with his top wings, which managed to deflect them all before he fired his own towards Uta.

"Seems to be focusing on one of us," Uta commented after sustaining some shard damage from Hide's projectiles. They didn't particularly hurt, but the sheer amount of them made up for it.

Yomo nodded, deciding to go on the offensive, while Uta remained on the defensive. It wasn't the simplest nor easiest tactic as they were dealing with an insane ghoul, with an incomplete and partial kakuja, but their teamwork was phenomenal when the two weren't trying to kill each other.

Yomo struck Hide, with an electric bolt of lightning, which managed to go through his crystallized wings, which made Yomo smirk, at least something was going through those barriers.

Uta used this opportunity to attack with his lagune tails, striking Hide on his sides, but both were interrupted by Hide's lower wings, while his upper fired more crystalline shards towards them. Using this momentum, Hide used his claws to swipe at Uta, who retracted his grip off Hide quickly.

*Precise Bullet*

However, charging toward, Hide raised his dragon-like claws, and, with noticeable effort with his overall arm shaking, he fired what appeared to be a single projectile towards Uta, who was too close to dodge and found himself struck with the projectile on his leg, despite his best efforts.

"Ack!" Uta gasped, before trying to move out of the way, before tripping on his leg.

"What the!" Uta exclaimed in shock, before Yomo fired a bunch of his crystalline shards toward Hide, who while approaching a fallen Uta had forgotten his other opponent, and thus took some of the damage to his torso and face.

"Amber, sword, let's play, Eto..." Hide mumbled randomness, with those being the only words he could comprehend. Scarecrow quickly turned one of his wings into a crystallized sword, the flames engulfing them.

Yomo looked towards Uta, still on the floor looking at his leg, "Are you okay?" Yomo asked Uta, who nodded.

"I am fine, be careful of his singular syringe-shaped projectile from his claws, they act as a paralyzing stimulant." Uta cautioned, and Yomo nodded.

In truth, this ghoul fought very familiar to another ghoul, or at least he thought. This was d ghoul, with an incomplete kakuja, but the other closest reminder he got to this fighting style, those crystallized wings, the close combat fighting, and so on, reminded him of a certain orange-haired boy who'd come by his and Touka's coffee shop to give information regarding Kaneki and Hinami.

"Wait, that ghoul," Yomo stated, eyes widening when he realized the scarecrow was charging towards Yomo, who had no time to finish his sentence, sidestepping a swipe from the scarecrow's wings.

"This ghoul is very familiar..." Yomo commented, dodging some projectiles from the scarecrow, careful in particular of the singular ones from his claws.

"Uta, doesn't this ghoul smell familiar?" Yomo asked, and Uta nodded.

"Now that you mention it, it does," Uta mentioned afterward seemingly taking in the smell the scarecrow was emitting. Knowing Uta knew ghouls the best by their smell, he had to use that to his advantage.

Yomo's eyes widened when he found himself right in front of those dragon-like claws, as sthe scarecrow successfully slashed Yomo's stomach. The pain from that slash was unlike anything Yomo had felt before. He had his stomach pierced by Kaneki before, and thus a slash wouldn't be worse.

However, a strange tingling feeling began to hit Yomo, "So his dragon claws are also able to paralyze, huh? Very well, I'll play your own game!" Yomo exclaimed, allowing some electrical currents to run through his wings. To his surprise, the paralyzing feeling was gone once Yomo had felt the electricity run through his body, as he began firing his orystalline projectiles towards scarecrow.

Normally, they could easily be blocked or deflected by scarecrow's crystallized wings, but Yomo had purposely infused them with electricity, and thus when scarecrow went to block them, he was instead met with a bunch of electrical shock, which made him yell in pain.

Yomo took this chance to charge the now injured scarecrow, using his speed, he attempted to grab the costume this ghoul was wearing. But Scarecrow recovered and was immediately on the defense.

He jumped high off the ground, using his wings to help with the height, before lashing his wings in front of him, a trail of flames spouting towards Yomo and Uta.

*X Flame*

Yomo just couldn't find an opening and grunted. The flames that came lashing towards them did not help whatsoever. "His damn wings are harder than normal ukaku's, and he has four of them, not to mention those claws that can paralyze," Yomo commented, looking down at Uta, who was now starting to get up, his paralysis weakening. He was lucky he managed to dodge those flames.

"What do you suggest we do?" Uta asked.

Yomo shrugged, "Merely simply, we have to keep his defenses occupied, release your tail , and purposely collide them with his wings, it'll leave him open with only his claws as the threat."

Uta nodded, "Understood." He turned to Itori, "Do you know what this ghoul looks like underneath his costume?"

Itori pondered, "Kind of, he had olive eyes, oh, and he also had dirty, but shoulder-length yellow hair."

The description was too much of a coincidence for Yomo, "I thought so." Was all he said, before he noticed Uta following his strategy, his four wings currently occupied with blocking Uta's tail kagune.

Yomo took this opportunity, to rush towards the scarecrow. He twisted his body, avoiding a strike from its right claw, grabbing his left hand, before tackling it on the ground, the scarecrow's headwear falling off.

Immediately after, Yomo gasped in shock, as his assumption was right. This person under the scarecrow was the person he thought it was. His fighting style, his kagune, and even the body descriptions made sense. Even with the half mask covering his left face, and the kakugan in his right eye, Yomo knew exactly who this individual was.

"H-Hide?!" Yomo gasped in shock, catching the attention of both Uta and Itori, the former was also surprised, while the latter was confused.

"So that's his name? Man, I didn't know I hired someone you two knew." Itori commented, laughing as she watched the commotion.

"Hide, come on, stop this. You're going insane!" Yomo pleaded, but Hide simply didn't listen.

"I don't suffer from insanity if I enjoy every minute of this!" Hide darkly stated, his mind taking its personality.

Smacking Yomo away and running off to get some distance, he lifted his hand.

*Pyro's Flame Orb*

Grunting as he backed up, scarecrow gathered his wings, and lashed them forward, the flames on his wings, producing a small ball of fire, that went out towards Yomo and Uta, who dodged.

"How do we stop this?" Itori asked, and Yomo quickly thought, but before he could he felt himself being knocked off.

"Uta! I thought you were holding him!" Yomo exclaimed.

"I can only do it for so long!" Uta responded. And could you blame him for trying to stall a flaming object, he was risking himself getting burnt.

Hide looked insane, that was normal, but even then, getting a ghoul out of their insanity and kakuja was something.

"I have an idea," Yomo stated, and just before Hide's dragon claws could strike him, he uttered a single word that got Hide out of his insanity.

"Kaneki," Yomo stated, that one word, just one word, with six letters. But it held so much meaning for Hide.

So much determination, so much history, so much waiting, and so much enthusiasm. Upon that word being spoken, Yomo was hoping it could help snap Hide out of his insanity. However, it wasn't enough.

Screaming in agony, scarecrow, or Hide rather began to scream as he stared down at Uta and Yomo, the flames across his wings reaching his claws and feet, as he began to lash out, punching and kicking.

*Flaming Arena*

Throughout the entire area, flames began to circulate Hide's claws and kicks, as he was attempting to burn both Uta and Yomo. Perhaps due to his kakuja state, he was capable of. Yomo and Uta knew that had to find a way to properly subdue Hide.

Yomo took the opportunity to strike Hide while he was distracted. Whilst he might risk getting burnt, it was like him where his foes risked getting electrocuted.

With that, Yomo charged towards Hide faster than he could realize, as he was too busy trying to hurt Uta. A quick slash to the unprotected side of his head from Yomo's kagune was all it took to make Hide falter.

Uta took the opportunity to then lay his damage onto Hide, which eventually managed to knock him down.

Hide's face mask allowed him to take some hits from the right side of his face, though for now, it left his left side vulnerable. Still half protection was better than no protection.

Hide's figure stopped, a mere millimeters away, and in a beautiful orange light, Hide's kakuja began to disappear, even his mask, as his face was now totally exposed, and even Uta looked on in shock.

They had been told Hide was dead, after a series of incidents which got him brutally wounded by Noro. Now, they find him alive after six months, working for Itori, with an incomplete kakuja.

"How does he have a kakuja?" Yomo asked, looking at the unconscious Hide.

Itori sighed, "It seems you two know him, he requests that he always has his full scarecrow costume on when he's in the crowd, to protect his identity."

"What do you mean, protect his identity?" Yomo asked.

Itori shrugged, "Well apparently from what he told me, he was being hunted by Aogiri Tree, and presumed dead by the CCG."

"Well, he was presumed dead by us after we had heard," Uta commented. He had heard from a saddened Touka and Yomo about Hide's supposed passing during a fight with a very powerful ghoul named Noro. "Will you be telling them of this?"

Yomo sighed, "We will see."

It did seem that while Uta was saddened, it ultimately was not true, and a case of false classification.

"Why is he hunted by Aogiri Tree?" Yomo asked as he fixed the scarecrow costume fully onto Hide.

"I wish I knew but he has yet to tell me. As for the CCG, I had heard they put a ghoul named Scarecrow on the A-rated ghoul, so he is being hunted by the CCG." Itori stated.

That confused Yomo, so Hide was pretty much a ghoul, but how, and why is the CCG turning their backs on a former ally?

"What was the description the CCG provided?" Yomo asked.

Itori read, "In the costume of a scarecrow, he is exactly what he looks like, I won't bore you with descriptions, other than the fact that they have his height as 5'8", weighs 62 kg, you know the likes. It is stated that while he doesn't kill or hunt humans, he is deemed dangerous due to his ability to hunt down ghouls and possibly have a kakuja. As a result, while no investigator has fought him, his abilities prove dangerous and remarkable skill in its kagune."

"Huh." Yomo commented, "Even though he hasn't killed a single human, seems very fishy. Why would they put a former ally?"

Uta shrugged, "That beats me, all I knew was that he was a part of that human weapon squad."

"Quinx Squad." Yomo corrected.

They merely remained quiet, before Yomo got Hide covered up in his scarecrow suit.

"Put him upstairs, you'll see the door if your eyes are good, and remember his wishes. Don't reveal himself to the world. He is wanted for all the wrong reasons." Itora reminded Yomo, which surprised the latter at how serious Itori was.

Once they made it to Hide's temporary bedroom, avoiding the weird glances of the other ghoul customers, they plopped him down.

"I still have a lot of questions, why is he a ghoul now?" Yomo asked. "I mean when I trained him, he was a Quinx, his kakuhou was restrained."

"Maybe the restraints were destroyed?" Uta proposed.

"Huh?" Yomo asked.

Uta then remembered something, "It is said that a Quinx who frames out, when their kakuhou breaks the barrier between it and the rest of the body, the RC cells will flow through their body, turning them ghoul-like. If this happens, they are to be treated as S-rated ghouls."

That made sense, except for some major points, "Well then, there are two points contradicting that. One, why is Hide only A-rated, and two, why was he considered dead? He is stated to be dead, so they probably do not know of Hide's identity beyond scarecrow."

Uta and Itori could only listen, as Yomo was probably the one who knew Hide the best, at least in the time he got to know the guy.

"This is a weird development," Itori commented, Uta nodding in the background.

"So do we try and reintegrate him or-" Yomo shook his head at Uta's comment.

"He must learn to control his kakuja as if we take him in, he will be found. He is best safe here as it is unknown by both the CCG and Aogiri Tree. Once he learns to control and use his kakuja, then we can allow him to integrate with us. It will be a tricky process, however."

Uta nodded, "Indeed it will be."

"How did this happen?" Yomo asked, still rather confused at the whole situation he had gotten himself into.

Itori and Uta looked at him, just as confused, and wishing to give him an answer.

"Well, he seems to have calmed down, we'll head out later, we're not sure if Hide will remember this or not," Yomo stated after a bit of silence went down, looking at Hide, or Scarecrow's sleeping figure.

Itori shrugged, "I guess I'll notify you, but I didn't even know you knew him."

They merely nodded in response before leaving. Once they left, Itori looked at the sleeping Hide in question, clearly intrigued by what had occurred and learning about what this person had gone through.

"You've certainly become quite the interesting person in a matter of hours, Hide," Itori stated, chuckling as she went down to the main scene in Helter Skelter.

Even though she was intrigued by the developments of the boy she had hired, she still had her own business to run.

…

"Hide." Hide groaned as he felt himself being pushed.

"Hide." The voice was louder, definitely female, but there was something off.

Wait, that's it.

Hide woke up, and spotted Itori above him, her chest again way too close for comfort. Yep, way too close for comfort in his opinion.

"How do you know my name?" Hide asked, a bit surprised as he realized the strange fact.

Itori chuckled, "Let's just say you had quite the night." She mentioned, and Hide's face turned white and red.

"W-What…"

"The amazing time together," Itori smirked, knowing that she was making Hide freak out.

"Wait, how-"

Itori chuckled, as she made herself more comfortable around Hide, "Well, it started with some drinks,-"

"Wait, what, please tell me we didn't-" The worst assumption was getting to Hide's mind, and he was hoping that everything that he was assuming was true.

Hide was interrupted by a playful slap from Itori before she pulled herself even closer to him, her chest and cups pretty much on his face. Yep too close again, "Oh my goodness, you thought that? We're not humans, we cannot drink alcohol!"

Hide's eyes rolled back as he was gifted by the heaven that was Itori's chest.

Hide then snapped back and chuckled to himself somewhat, "Oh right, I forgot." He said, feeling like an idiot.

"It's fine, it's not every day someone becomes a ghoul the way you do. I mean I know a couple, but whatever." Itori stated, "It's a hard transition."

"But wait, what happened to me then?" Hide asked.

Itori chuckled, "Oh, you lost your mind when you activated your kakuja, Yomo and Uta helped subdue you."

Hide flinched, "Yomo and Uta?" He asked, a bit nervous.

Itori nodded, "You didn't tell me you knew them."

Hide sighed, "I did, but they thought I was dead." He stated, looking down again.

Itori chuckled, "They said the same thing, though I don't know if they are the type to say anything."

Hide shrugged, she had a point, "You're not that far off, Yomo doesn't seem like the type to tell stuff without reason."

"What time is it?" Hide asked, not sure.

"It's almost ten at night, you took quite the injuries so you needed rest. Yomo electrocuted you pretty much." Itori mentioned, and Hide groaned.

Itori merely nodded, "Indeed, well now that you are awake, you do have some visitors, from yesterday."

Hide looked up, "What? Yomo and Uta?"

"You have to talk to them, they helped you after your outburst," Itori mentioned, and Hide sighed, knowing she was right.

So, he got up, making sure his scarecrow costume was on, besides his headwear, before he realized it was, meaning Itori knew who he was through his costume. Guess he should've seen that coming, he muttered before he went down, to see the two figures.

They seemed to have not changed much, and while their face seemed in disbelief, they knew better that Hide was indeed alive after all those months.

"It's been a while, Hide," Yomo stated, and Hide nodded.

"You didn't tell anyone about my whereabouts, have you?" He asked, and they shook their head.

"We assumed because you were staying low after your presumed death, that we shouldn't say anything," Uta replied, which made Hide sigh briefly, at least knowing that they weren't going to expose his existence, yet.

"Thank you, for the kakuja and that." Hide stated, and again Yomo shrugged.

"It's fine, though to see you alive in that state was certainly surprising, to say the least," Yomo commented and Hide sighed.

"How are you still alive? Everyone thought Noro killed you." Uta mentioned, and Hide knew he had some explanations to do.

"Alright I'll tell you, but you cannot notify anyone of who I am, got it?" Hide stated, and continued when he saw them nodding.

"Alright, so as you know I was a member of the Quinx Squad, essentially we fought Noro, and I sustained a bad wound to my stomach. It was so bad that when I was sent to the medic, they assumed I was dead and threw me in a transport vehicle. However, I was still alive because I had eaten a chunk of Noro beforehand, which allowed me to regenerate quickly enough for the wound to not be fatal." Hide stated, which caught them off guard.

"So, you're a cannibal," Uta commented though it wasn't a question to his credit.

Hide shrugged, "I guess so if I have a kakuja, right? But anyways the vehicle I was in got attacked by Aogiri Tree, and long story short," Hide took a deep breath, not wanting to remind himself of that, "they needed me so they could see what the Quinx were, so they did stuff to me. They removed the frames separating my kakuhou from my body, which effectively turned me into a ghoul. Now here I am."

"What kind of stuff did they do to you?" Itori asked but immediately regretted that question when Hide turned his head down, remaining quiet.

"Um, Hide?" Yomo asked, but he kept his head down, his face unusually bleak, and his eyes, couldn't be seen due to his yellow hair blocking them.

"Wait, why is your hair brighter?" Yomo asked, trying to decipher something.

"Why is your hair white?" Hide asked, uncharacteristically in a more deranged way. He looked up to face Yomo, a crooked smile on his face, as his pupils dilated.

This surprised Yomo, as he thought Hide was going insane due to his kakuja, but no signs of an outburst. Yomo couldn't say anything, as he was more shocked at the sudden change in Hide's personality.

"You'll have to do your way if you want answers from me." Hide concluded, before putting on his scarecrow face mask and leaving the room, relatively quickly, while the shock filled the atmosphere of the three remaining individuals.

"That was strange..." Uta commented, and Itori sighed.

"Perhaps mentioning that puts a strain on him or something."

"It's almost like a defense mechanism, almost immediate like he was coping from something," Uta mentioned, and Yomo's eyes widened, the uncharacteristic change in Hide, almost felt familiar.

"It couldn't be..." He muttered, Uta, staring at Yomo.

"What can't?" Uta asked.

Yomo looked down, "Remember what I told you about Kaneki? His personality changes when he is taken by Aogiri Tree?"

Uta and Itori nodded, "His hair got so white, it looked unusual."

Yomo nodded, "Hide's hair has gotten brighter as well, almost as if it was in the process of turning white, with the personality change, whatever happened to Hide, must've been similar to Kaneki." He stated.

They merely looked at Yomo, and while they knew something was up, they didn't exactly know.

"Looks like we have a lot of answers to find," Itori stated, a smile returning to her face, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, but whenever Hide is with you, do not mention Aogiri Tree, or at least their base, it may trigger something in Hide," Yomo warned, and Itori nodded.

With a sigh, the two began to head out, in the opposite direction to where Hide had gone.

Speaking of him, Hide was now walking across the street.

With not much, Hide went his own way, not knowing what to do, he was losing it. The mention of Aogiri Tree affected the guy, who had been tortured there for a week by Eto.

Hide smiled at the thought of her, wondering what she was doing. With a determined look, Hide decided to walk back to the base. He would give them a piece of his mind, except for Eto-chan.

Hide chuckled as he made his way towards the base, before stopping, and realizing that it would probably be better at night.

But still, he felt a desire to go back there for some reason. He would've done it, if it wasn't for a small paddle boat he had spotted. Hide's mind softened a bit, as he eventually decided to make his way elsewhere.

It was ironic, that once he was close enough to Aogiri, and Rushima, he had turned away, Amber would've called him a coward, but rather he realized he just needed to get away from them. It was a bad influence. Then there was the revelation that Sen Takatsuki, Kaneki's favorite author was a ghoul. The thought of Kaneki was what brought back Hide's personality, as he began to frantically get away from this area.

Regardless, he began rowing away from the area, before he looked up, and saw a strange, but familiar face.

"Mutsuki..." Hide said to himself, as the two caught each other staring at each other, though Hide continued to row away.

"What's an A-rated ghoul doing here alone? Is he connected to Aogiri Tree?" Mutsuki pondered.

"Well, why is he rowing away from Rushima then?" Mutsuki asked himself again before he shrugged and continued onwards, leaving Hide, in his scarecrow suit to continue his trek.

Hide sighed in relief, at least knowing that one of his friends was doing alright, it seems. He wondered how the rest were, Urie, Shirazu, Saiko.

"Kaneki..." Hide mumbled to himself as he continued onward. The trek wasn't that bad, considering Hide's strength as a ghoul now. He realized he could do tiring things for humans as easy or normal for ghouls.

It did somewhat make him glad before he assumed that there merely were positives and negatives to being a ghoul. But the increased stamina and strength was a definite positive for once tiring activities.

While Hide's life had changed for the worse, it wasn't something he regretted. He had saved the lives of his comrades, and he would have done it again, even if it killed him the next time.

He had heard of the whereabouts of the others in the Quinx Squad. Looking back at it, he was glad he had done what he did. Knowing someone could've easily died in that situation, and that Hide had not only prevented it but also his own by eating a bit of Noro, it was enough to keep him going.

The fact that Shirazu could still see his sister, helping her with the medical expenses, with the rest of the squad, he was happy, even though he couldn't see it.

Eventually, however, he had found ground, and to his surprise had found himself quite the ways from both the CCG and Aogiri Tree. But what made this spot interesting was the scenery. Hide could see the building tension between the two.

It was evident, and Hide himself was surprised to have not realized it by now. He was so caught up in his drama, trying to stay away and avoid capture, that he had been unaware of the world outside of him.

He spotted a tall figure, with his signature black hoodie.

"Amon." Hide called out, the figure looked back and saw a scarecrow, whom he knew as Hide.

"Nice to see you here as well, scarecrow," Amon stated, and Hide chuckled. He had learned of his rating on the CCG, and with Amon still feeling a connection to the bureau, still called ghouls by their given name. Hide was no different.

"Indeed, what is going on?" Hide asked Amon, who noted the commotion going on, from Cochlea to the CCG, and Aogiri Tree.

Amon sighed, "There's a lot of stuff happening, a major investigation that will probably be more dramatic than we've seen in quite some time."

Hide looked on, noticing the sheer amount of preparation. While they were small, he had an idea of what was going on.

In the scenery, he was with Amon, with his kagune-like arm out.

Hide looked at Amon's face, trying to decipher what he wanted to do.

He once saw Amon, his eyes giving the look of justice upon the world he was in. Now, he was kicked out, no longer in it. What could he possibly be seeing?

"Has it already begun?" Amon asked.

"What has?" Hide asked.

Amon pointed forward, "Look."

A.N / So this goes up to chapter 66 in the Toyko Ghoul: re manga, just before the Cochlea raids and the Rushima Operation in the likes. I am having a tough time deciding whether or not I should do other POVs, or if I should stick to Hide's as he is the main character I want to focus on. I did say Arima would play a role, and he did. For Kaneki, well you'll expect to see more of him through Yomo and the likes.

Precise Bullet: The user launches a single bullet shrouded by fire to strike at the enemy. Incredibly precise, making it hard to aim originally, but is quick, and costs little RC cells. If the user has a kakuja, it can paralyze the surrounding limbs of the enemy it struck.

Pyro's Flame Orb: Another projectile move that has the user create a flaming orb/ball before launching it out. Upon impact, the flames spread a bit. The move costs below-average RC cells and is easily avoidable due to the trajectory of the move. The move however can be useful to strike down those attacking from afar.

Flaming Arena: Spreads the flames across to the user's hands and arms, allowing the user to burn the enemy upon contact with a punch or kick. The move's usage of RC cells depends on the length and duration the user keeps the flames intact. Otherwise, it can damage enemies stuck within an enclosed space.

Flame Trail. Igniting Storm. Smelly. Red Rain. Flame Body. Shapeshift. X Flames. Flaming Pellets. Fiery Drift.