The Quinx of Change

The Rushima Landing Operation has begun, and Hide is struggling to find his place, especially considering the two organizations he wanted to avoid also contain the people he cares about. With Hide's mental state deteriorating after seeing his former captor, and his friend overwhelmed by his former squad, what is Hide supposed to do?

"So where are you heading?" Hide asked Amon, seemingly conflicted about what he wanted to do.

"I don't know, but as an investigator, my goal will be to protect those from threats." Was all Amon stated before he seemingly jumped down, rushing towards the area he was insistent on going towards.

This left Hide to his own devices. What was he supposed to do? He had told himself that he wanted to remain away from the CCG and Aogiri Tree, yet he was in the middle of their drama.

"Hide-kun, I smell ghouls," Amber stated, and Hide merely nodded. He tensed upon Amber's statement, as he then knew he would find himself in quite the battle eventually.

"I know you do. There's a showdown happening." Hide replied understanding what the voice in his head was saying.

Hide merely looked on, before he spotted something of interest. He spotted what appeared to be Touka and Yomo approaching a part of Cochlea.

"Hinami." Hide exclaimed in shock, realizing that she was possibly still in there. This then raised the question. Was he to follow them? Would they recognize him? Only Yomo knew who he was underneath his scarecrow suit, so he was risking being assumed as the enemy.

There were a lot of questions Hide needed to ask. For one, where was he to go? Was he going to help at all? There was the risk of his kakuja bursting out, which was the last thing he needed.

Right now, he needed advice and fast.

Of course, his answer seemed to come when he felt a tap behind him, the sounds of someone approaching him. Hide turned around, and to no one's surprise, saw Itori.

"Gah, are you following me?" Hide merely asked and Itori laughed.

"Well with how much you disappear and move, someone has to keep a close eye on you, huh?" Itori remarked.

Hide sighed, "You know you don't have to. You've done enough for me." Hide stated.

Itori shrugged, "It's nothing, though I appreciate your occasional missions."

Hide sighed. In part of a deal to pay back for residence, Itori merely made him do some odd jobs, whether it was collecting information, or killing a certain ghoul, which he wouldn't mind as he could eat it, Hide didn't mind so much, as it gave him some form of safety.

Of course, this was further complicated by her allegiance to a mysterious ghoul organization dubbed the "Clowns."

Hide rejected any allegiance, merely stating that he only did this to pay for the hospitality in the Helter Skelter, nothing else.

"Very well," Itori stated after a bit. "So what do you plan to do?" She asked.

This is where Hide was stuck. "I don't know. A part of me wants to help Yomo and Touka, while the other wants me to check on the Quinx."

Itori looked at Hide, clearly knowing his previous connections to it.

"You know, you should be glad," Itori remarked.

"What do you mean by that?" Hide asked.

"Aogiri Tree, they are bound to fall by the sheer extermination operation by the doves," Itori stated.

Hide grumbled a bit at the mention of Aogiri Tree, that place was nothing but bad memories to him. Before a simple mention would trigger his, "defense mechanism." But now he was more in control. However, he would occasionally drop back to that level when in depth information was talked about.

"I see, but what should I do?" Hide asked Itori.

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied, sighing when Hide shook his head, "Nothing."

"What? Nothing?" Hide repeated making sure he heard her right.

"Yeah. Nothing." Itori stated. By how I see it, what happens will happen. You cannot stop it." Itori commented.

"Aren't you going to help Yomo?" Hide asked, somewhat shocked when Itori shook her head.

"Nope, I'm just going to watch as I always do," Itori remarked and Hide sighed.

It was here did Itori then got too close to Hide.

"Like you always do indeed. I have to help. My friends are all involved one way or another." Hide spoke, unsure of what to do.

"You're afraid of losing them," Itori commented and Hide nodded.

Hide for the most part began ignoring what Itori was saying, as he eventually decided to rush towards the building.

"Wait Hi-" Itori exclaimed but stopped herself as she watched Hide charge to who knows where.

"That boy never seems to amaze me with his movements." Itori chuckled as she continued to watch from a distance.

With Hide, it wasn't the fact that he could change anything. But rather the idea of seeing his friends again made him hopeful. In truth, he wasn't sure of his role in this, but he was going to help, regardless of what it did to him.

"Let's think logically. If I fight the CCG they'll only want to fight more. So maybe if I stick with Yomo they could be the best for me. Or I could try and ally with the Quinx Squad? I don't know. I can't show my identity. This is bullshit!" Hide exclaimed in rage as he kicked the wall.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked himself before he heard the sound of gas enveloping an area. Hide looked down to see some investigator throwing what appeared to be RC gas grenades toward a group of ghouls.

Hide merely looked on, noticing the ghoul's resistance to releasing their kagune, probably knowing the effects of the gas.

"Damnit! Don't inhale it!" Hide heard a ghoul exclaim before they ran further into Cochlea. They weren't going to have a good time as the investigators were able to power through and attack the group.

Hide sighed, "Remember you're immune to it." Amber reminded Hide. "Blame your stupid RC storage and fluctuations."

Activating his kagune, his four orange wings sprouting out, he broke the glass nearby, jumping down and firing crystalline projectiles from the room down toward the investigators. The new flank surprised them as most collapsed from the barrage. He purposely made sure not to ignite them for the reasons they might realize it's Hide.

Hide jumped down, to take care of the other three who managed to remain standing. Slashing one with his crystallized wings, he swiftly made work of the remaining standing investigators. Using his speed to overwhelm them before they could react, Hide had successfully saved these ghouls.

Slowly walking towards them, unaware of the gas that was supposed to be hurting him, they noticed the look of confusion plastered on their face.

"Who are you? And why did you do that in the gas?" The main one with a gas mask asked.

Hide continued walking past the ghoul, motioning them to continue their trek to get further away from the gas. As if to show off, Hide had kept his crystallized wings open until he retracted them once they went further down.

"I'm Banjou, what is your name, ghoul?" Banjou asked once they made it a safe distance away from the gas.

However, Hide decided to wait quite a bit until they were secure enough so that the gas wouldn't cause any harm to them.

While he would've been fine in the gas, the others couldn't, and thus Hide decided to just follow them further into Cochlea.

"I am merely called Scarecrow, nothing else." Hide stated at last, as he noticed the strange looks, he was given. However, a reassurance from Banjou made them less skeptical.

"I see, so how were you able to activate your kagune in that gas?" Banjou asked.

Hide nodded, knowing that question would come up, "The RC control gas grenades are made up of the same compounds as that of RC suppressants. Due to my previous exposure to rc suppressants, my body had developed a high resistance towards it, meaning external rc stimuli are ineffective against me, and my kagune."

Banjou scratched his head, it was a lot to take in, "I see, that's quite the information, but regarding who you are, who do you work for?"

Hide shook his head, "I have no allegiances, I am simply a third-party observer who noticed the commotion."

Banjou looked at the scarecrow in a bit of confusion, but shrugged, "Well we appreciate your help in dealing with the doves back there, so we have no reasons to make assumptions towards you."

Hide gave a small smile beneath his costume, "Thank you." He stated as they continued their trek.

Despite Hide assisting with the doves above the gas, it was more of a blindfold they had, but as they encountered more investigators, Hide took a more back-stand approach. Knowing some investigators could recognize his kagune, it could cause an uproar if they put the connections together.

"Scarecrow, we could use some backup!" One of the gas masks stated, and Hide sighed, eventually realizing he would have to participate. Whether or not this would be detrimental to him, he would find out later.

"Hide-kun, now's the chance! Why hesitate? You are already known by the CCG, you are just delaying the inevitable!" Amber's voice echoed, clearly wanting Hide to follow through with the action.

"W-why, they don't know..." Hide mumbled.

"Of course they do. You're acting just like me. No matter what you do. The doves see you as a ghoul, and will exterminate you regardless, so act like the monster you are!" Amber encouraged.

Hide spotted two relatively average doves, and Hide knew that they probably would be killed if not by him, then by the others.

Hide sighed, "Alright Amber, you win." He mumbled as he activated his kagune yet again.

Banjou and the rest of the squad looked on in shock as scarecrows began to sprout wings, four of them all orange in color. The doves looked a bit terrified but maintained their stances.

That is, until Hide threw his crystalline projectiles towards them, piercing them across their bodies.

"Another!" One exclaimed as Banjou felt himself get overwhelmed, by three new investigators.

"Darnit..." Hide mumbled as he stepped between them, using his crystallized wings, the hard exterior the block the onslaught. He quickly turned his lower pairs into sharp-edged swords, clashing with the investigator's quinques.

Of course, Hide remained on the defense, while the others took care of them as he held them back.

"Impressive," Banjou commented. "I've never met a ukaku who can use their wings as an armored plate, almost like a kakuhou."

Hide shrugged, "It's what I found out, let's continue wherever." He stated as he and the rest of Banjou's squad continued their journey.

Their journey seemed rather mundane, Hide felt as he ran alongside the rest of Banjou's squad, not knowing what was going on. Perhaps that was the downside of being away from an organization. The lack of information he could gather. Though he had some information gathering after Itori had requested, they were usually non-significant, Hide felt.

"Hurry up, we're going to get left behind by Ayato's group!"

Hide's eyes widened a bit at that name. It was one of the ghouls whom Eto had referenced during his time in Aogiri Tree.

Hide growled a bit, before composing himself. He had never actually seen the individual, and thus cannot fault him for his situation back then.

"Is everything alright dude?" Banjou asked, hearing the growl, and Hide looked back.

"Oh, no everything's alright, let's head out." Hide stated, following the group and ignoring the confused stare from Banjou.

"We're heading towards the compactor room, let us hurry!" Hide heard someone yell, and in reality, it didn't make a difference. He was around a group who were headed in the same direction. He just needed to follow them and he'd be fine, just not get too far ahead, which was quite difficult considering he was relatively fast in comparison.

Eventually, it seemed that Banjou's group had found what they were looking for. Hide's eyes widened in realization at the number of familiar faces, thankful his face was hidden in his costume.

Touka, Hinami, and Yomo, were all here. Hinami was free it seems, and the similar boy-Touka was Ayato. Hide did his best to merely ignore him as he didn't want to be reminded of the torture he had gone through. Even Nishiki was here.

Hide could fondly remember hearing him mumble along the lines of, "Why am I involved in this shit?"

Nishiki, despite this, was involved greatly with whatever Yomo and Touka were doing.

It seemed that Hide wasn't the only one shocked, as Yomo also spotted the familiar-looking figure.

"You brought Scarecrow with you?" Yomo asked, composing himself when he had to call Hide scarecrow. He probably still wanted his privacy, and Yomo wasn't going to disrespect that in any way.

Banjou looked at Hide, who was staring at Yomo. "I didn't know you knew scarecrow, but it was more it found us." He commented afterward, realizing they had made it to the compactor room.

However, it seemed to be a bit too late, as Furuta had seemingly activated the compactor, killing many ghouls as they could just watch as they got crushed.

Hide seemingly looked on, thankful that Hinami was safe. She didn't deserve it. Okay maybe most of them didn't but some insane ghouls probably did.

Regardless he was looking at something he didn't want to, and it was the same for everyone else.

"This is priceless, you all tried so hard, and look where that determination got you, to watch these deaths! Oh, how tragic!" Furuta exclaimed in pride while sneering at the others.

However, just as it seemed that the compactor would continue, something erupted near the area. Something huge, and Hide could feel it. He could feel something building up, and it wasn't good. Was it his kakuja?

However, he soon got his answer when a ghoul seemingly crushed the compactor, in their kakuja form. This kakuja looked devilish and disgusting, Hide could describe. It had the usual blades and armor you would expect, but also a grotesque face, four blades sticking out of its collarbones.

Hide only watched as multiple bystanders, of those agents.

However, it was the next couple of statements that got Hide to switch his mind.

"What did Eto just do..." Hide heard someone comment, that name, Hide thought. That name, the cause of his torture, the Aogiri Base, the quinque. It was all coming back to him, and no matter what he did to hesitate, it was coming back.

"We better get out of here, while we still can, this is dangerous," Ayato stated but was interrupted by a deranged laugh, coming from the scarecrow.

Yomo's eyes widened in shock, probably knowing what was about to happen.

"You all go out, I'll distract her." Hide mumbled, but was loud enough for the vicinity to hear.

"Are you crazy? That's Eto!" Hide heard one of them mutter, it was probably Hinami, and Hide again laughed.

Suddenly, in a surprising display, Hide activated his kakuja. It was still incomplete and thus would put a strain on his mental health, but anything would help them to escape.

"What's going on?!" A nearby ghoul asked, noticing the strange figure that was a scarecrow.

The four pairs of wings had sprouted back, with the red veins and the blue spikes across Hide's back. The dragon-like claws formed around Hide's hands and fingers, the blue and red veins protruding through there as well. The half-dragon mask that no one could see due to the scarecrow mask itself, only the red glow from both the red dot and his kakugan were the only noticeable thing,

"A kakuja..." Touka exclaimed.

"It's incomplete, we better escape while we can. They both are lost causes." Yomo commanded, getting his group and Banjou's to escape while they could.

"Yomo shouldn't we help that scarecrow?" Touka asked.

"Do we know who Scarecrow is?" Yomo asked, clearly referring to Touka and Nishiki themselves.

Nishiki looked onwards, "I don't know, that kagune looks familiar to me…"

Touka, for her part, remained silent, "It does…"

Yomo could merely look on. He didn't care if Hide was discovered or not, but for Hide's own sake, he knew he wasn't ready to see them.

After all, the rest of them: were busy with their ghouls. With Kaneki now back, they had to help him as he was the new owl.

"We got Hinami, so I guess everything is fine, we should go back and see what he wants next." Nishiki mumbled, "The less I have to stay in this dump."

He was met with a slap from Touka, "Stop being lazy, there's still work to be done. For now, we can let that Scarecrow deal with Eto."

Eto seemed to be interested in the other partial kakuja, "Oh what is this, another one capable of a kakuja, though you are a bit different than me! You look like a poor man's dragon, oh well that's only for half kakujas like you!"

Hide chuckled darkly, as if his defense mechanism was kicking in. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, let's call it a fight between two monsters, Eto-chan!" Hide bellowed, loud enough for the remainder bystanders, not a lot, to hear.

Eto remained silent before laughing as well, "Oh, how I am surprised. To think that you out of all people have a kakuja! That's impressive Hide-kun!"

The name was out now, Hide knew, but he didn't care at that moment. He laughed darkly, his face crooked and his laugh maniacal, it was almost as if he was back in that torture room.

"Oh my, what is going on?!" Furuta had asked so dramatically, that it was getting on Hide's nerves.

He pointed to Furuta, "You! Get yourself out of this! This is between me and her!" He bellowed, only for him to laugh maniacally. Hide scoffed, before charging towards Eto.

Of course, Eto struck back, releasing her crystalline projectiles, the same that got rid of the most seasoned investigators and most of the V agents, Hide slashed them apart, with no difficulty whatsoever.

"What's wrong Eto-chan? You don't want to have your way with me? You had all this time during our week off in that room? What's wrong?" Hide asked, his deranged face not giving up as his kakuja was slowly fading his mental state.

Eto smirked, "I wouldn't call that my way, I'm only dealing with a nuisance, though you are worth more than a usual nuisance I guess, Hide-kun."

She then sprouted extra limbs off herself, releasing them towards Hide, who merely either dodged, deflected with his wings, or slashed them apart with his claws. Remaining on the defense was moderately easy, but Hide had to bring the pressure and show Eto his might.

*Flaming Pellets*

"Well, I'll show you, Eto-chan!" Hide said giggling as he fired multiple crystalline shards toward her, which she merely blocked, dealing negligible damage. However, Hide smirked as he closed the gap, using his speed to his advantage. He sliced a limb off with his claws before his wings caught another.

Hide grinned, looking right into the eyes of Eto, whose mouth was foaming, and whose teeth were sharp.

"What's wrong Eto-chan, I'm right within striking distance, why don't you show me what you are capable of?" Hide asked, his demented face not going away, his mental state from the kakuja severely shot.

Eto smirked, prideful that Hide knew she wasn't holding back, "Well then I guess I can't-" Before she could continue, however, a red tentacle struck out at Eto, creating a gash.

Hide gasped in shock as he took the opportunity to back away, his head starting to hurt as his kakuja continued its toll.

Once he did, he spotted Furuta, a kakugan in his right eye. The tentacle still striking right where Eto's kakuja was.

However, Hide had no conscious, as his mind was hurting, his kakuja was flaring out, and he needed to calm down, or else he'd hurt himself worse.

He had gone on his hands, mumbling, as if he was losing his mind.

"Hide-kun, get up, you know you want to fight." Amber's voice echoed as she encouraged Hide to get up.

"My mind, I'm losing it..." Hide mumbled, only for Amber to laugh.

"And why do you say that?" Amber asked.

"I cannot control myself; I'm acting insane, I'm saying weird things to my captor..." Hide mumbled again, clearly feeling his sanity roll away.

"Well, you're asking the right person, I had a kakuja as well, though even I'd admit it's a bit different from yours," Amber stated.

"H-how?" Hide asked, "How can I have a different kakuja from you?"

Amber sighed, "Psychological reasons, we have different strengths and the likes. If you like dragons and birds, you'll turn into one probably."

"But I never mentioned, dragon-" Hide's eyes widened in realization. He was digging deep into his mind, only to find exactly what he was looking for. One of his favorite songs during his time in Cochlea, it had referenced dragons and birds a ton.

"Remember that song while you were in Cochlea? Your most played song? Well, when you got the Quinx surgery, I guess you could say you got some inspiration. Not to mention your time in that room, I heard you mumble the lyrics to that song." Amber reasoned, and Hide did find that it made sense.

"But the fact that you could remember shows you are not losing your mind," Amber stated.

"Huh?" Hide asked. "What?"

"If you were able to find some distant memories from those times now, then how can you lose your mind?" Amber asked.

It was something Hide didn't know the answer to, now that Amber had caught something. "I don't know." Amber laughed at his response.

"You can't lose your mind unless you have a disease, if you remember what you fight for, then you cannot lose it." Amber had reasoned, as Hide felt himself getting back up.

While using his kakuja still hurt, he was beginning to feel himself get more concentrated on his mental decisions. Of course, it still was almost impossible, but he could hold back, just barely.

"Remember, you can't lose your mind, even with this kakuja, every ghoul goes through it," Amber concluded, and just like that, Hide had gotten up, though he was in better mental shape, he was still struggling and fighting for his sanity.

"What's this, you decided to get on your feet? Well, I hope you were praying to your god because look at how beautifully carved your Eto is!" Furuta exclaimed, and Hide looked to see the mutilated figure that was Eto.

Hide's eyes widened, "Is she-"

Furuta chuckled, "Oh of course she is, she's a tough cracker! See you later!" Furuta exclaimed, but Hide wasn't done with him.

"Hey, Furuta!" Hide exclaimed, and the man turned back.

He spotted the scarecrow looking at him with his typical face, unaware of the deranged eyes and crooked smile he was giving.

He watched as Hide's kakuja dissipated, his wings returning to orange, as his claws disappeared.

"Oh, it seems you ran out of energy for your kakuja, oh well!" Furuta exclaimed, before he felt something, and dodged, barely avoiding the projectiles Hide had sent his way.

"How are you not tired?" He taunted, watching as Hide was breathing a bit too fast.

"You!" Hide exclaimed as he charged Furuta, avoiding the red tentacles that were attempting to slice him up.

*Fiery Drift*

The tentacles, which Hide could tell were exactly like Kaneki's attempted to wrap around Hide, which he swung his body around, his wings damaging them.

The main problem it seemed was that like Rize's kagune, was the regeneration. However, it was an issue Hide himself was fine with, as his regeneration was improved due to Eto.

He had the flames of his figure evaporate with his figure, making Furuta confused, which gave Hide the perfect opportunity.

*Pierce Flash*

Jumping behind, he ignited his flames again, this time towards his wings, as he slashed his wings across from Furuta's side. The actual flames themselves were bright enough to temporarily blind Furuta's vision, which made him cover it quickly before he was able to see again.

"Ack! What a powerful attack!" Furuta complimented, before he smirked, eyeing Hide, and bringing his tentacle to hit Hide.

So, when the tentacle managed to pierce through Hide's defenses, hitting his thigh, he did not flinch in the slightest, instead using this expectation to his advantage, slashing Furuta's face with his crystallized wings.

Furuta merely watched in slight shock as Hide's regeneration was rivaling that of Furuta's. It wasn't as fast, but it was noticeable for Furuta to comment about.

"And why are your regenerations that fast?" Furuta commented, only to hear a pained laugh from Eto.

"That would be my doing." She smirked in pride, watching her "creation," stand up to Furuta. It was just like she wanted, someone to treat her as a superior, even though Eto herself admitted this Hide fellow was unique.

Furuta merely looked at Hide, releasing his four tentacle kagune, as they all made their way towards Hide. Hide quickly looked around, finding the switch, which was what he was looking for. Quickly hitting a switch with a projectile, the lights turned off.

"What?!" Furuta questioned, as Hide planned his next move.

*Midnight Bane*

Hide dodged the attack, whilst the darkness covered his tracks, as numerous flaming-like figures began to surround Furuta, which mimicked Hide's own.

Furuta growled, realizing Hide was fighting back. As a result, he swung his tentacles around, flinching as they each got burned by the flames, and being pelted by Hide's flaming pellets.

Furuta was able to see the direction of the pellets to launch his tentacles towards Hide.

Hide merely dodged the tentacles to the best of his abilities, before jumping high. Landing on a nearby platform, he fired more crystalline projectiles, only for Furuta to twirl his kagune around to block them all.

*Guard Shroud*

Furuta sent his four tentacles towards Hide, who merely closed his front flank with his wings. They collided, with no side taking damage.

Hide then jumped from one platform to the other, trying to rain down projectiles, which pelted Furuta.

"This is getting rather tedious if I say so myself," Furuta commented with fake yawning, which only made Hide angrier. It was clear that Furuta's attempt to provoke Hide.

"Well." Hide spoke, "Let's crank up the heat." He smirked, as he glided down to the ground, grabbing a tentacle of Furuta's knowing he would've taken advantage of this apparent vulnerability.

Furuta first tried to get Hide off by simply slashing his tentacle, but Hide blocked it with his wings whenever.

The second attempt was more successful, as it involved jamming his tentacle in the wall, which forced Hide to jump off, towards Furuta's figure.

Now close to each other, Hide struck Furuta, with a slash to his chest, before punching him in the face.

"Getting desperate, aren't you?" Furuta commented, and Hide shouted back in anger.

He backed up, using his fiery drift to increase the distance between Hide and his foe at the moment.

*Flame Trail*

He lashed both of his bottom pair of wings down, causing two sets of flames to sprout out of Hide's vicinity, straight out towards Furuta, who dodged.

"Is that all?" He asked, clearly taunting him, but Hide was doing this to restrict Furuta's movement, and it did seem a bit effective, considering the space they were in.

*Smolly*

Hide first put his wings together, before strategically launching his smelly next to where his flame trail was, which left another area unusable for both of them. He even put Eto under it to protect her, until it evaporated. He knew that Eto would be smart enough to not touch the flames.

Twisting his lower wings into blade-like shapes, Hide continuously sliced Furuta, while Hide felt his own body get slashed.

They were essentially trading blows in this exchange, but Hide had the disadvantage due to his "slower" regenerative abilities.

"I'm ending this," Furuta faked a yawn, once they split apart, he combined his four tentacles to one specific point, before charging.

Hide looked on, turning all of his wings into blades before charging similarly.

*X Flames*

They both eventually struck each other, their kagune's piercing through their skin and back out, both coughing blood, which mimicked the battle between Kaneki and Takizawa.

Hide had the tentacles pierce through his right chest, while Furuta had Hide's kagune strike his left shoulder, right thigh, right arm, and left ribcage. They both had injured each other drastically and thus collapsed simultaneously, Eto watching in shock, the smelly dissipating, as Furuta was also suffering from burn marks, from Hide's attack.

"Yes! Exquisite! This is the battle end I wanted, thank you for this scarecrow!" Furuta commended as he began to walk off.

Hide looked at Furuta, who merely chuckled despite his injuries. Surprisingly they both got up, but whereas Furuta danced away, albeit with a limp, as he was still in regeneration, Hide looked in confusion, calming himself as his right chest healed.

Hide shook his head, looking at Eto, who was just staring up. Hide sighed, taking his time breathing to calm him down.

"See you, Eto-chan." Hide said at last before he went off, his way, unsure of what to do now. He had helped the people he could help, and that was it.

Hide quickly looked on, trying to hear anything other than Eto.

Eventually, he heard the faintest of battles going on. Hide sighed, guessing he could see what was happening right here and now. However, he decided against it, after hearing the screams of others.

It was one thing going recklessly in a room, it was another injured and tired, as Hide's body was still recovering, not just from the battle with Furuta, but also from the mental stress of his kakuja.

Regardless of how he saw it, he had to keep himself calm and relaxed as he had overwhelmed himself in multiple ways. If he had done what he had done prior, he could hurt himself if he had continued.

As Hide listened on, he was unaware of the look Eto was giving him.

"Hey Hide-kun," Eto stated after a bit.

Hide looked at her, seeing a weird look she was giving him, "hello Eto-chan."

It was relatively weird, there was no façade, or one-sided superiority, where one was being tortured, and the other being the torturer.

"So, it's dead," Eto stated, which confused Hide.

"Whose dead?" Hide asked.

"The one-eyed king. He's dead." Eto stated, and Hide shrugged. He didn't know who the one-eyed king was, but if it held significance to Eto, then it was whatever.

She looked beaten, both physically and mentally, her body had taken quite the beating from Furuta, and her face said it all. It didn't have the sort of Eto look.

"Why did you do it?" Hide asked at last.

"What?" Eto asked not knowing what he meant.

"Why did you torture me? Why were you with that doctor?" Hide asked, being more thorough.

Eto sighed, "To destroy this current world. The cycle of how fear resorts and empowers those. With the one-eyed king gone, it'll be seen as a beacon of hope for everyone,"

Hide looked at Eto, "Wait, is the one-eyed king-" Eto nodded confirming what Hide thought,

"So, you knew him? And he's dead?" Hide asked.

"Yes," Eto replied. "The one who killed him will be the new one-eyed king."

Hide looked down, it was quite the situation.

"Sen Takatsuki." Hide stated, and Eto looked up, before smiling, grinning at the scarecrow's statement,

"So you saw the announcement, then," Eto stated.

"No, I was going insane from my kakuja, I had heard through mummers." Hide mentioned and Eto smiled.

"Well, you certainly have good intuitions," Eto commented. "Even during those times of torture."

Hide nodded, "It was a hard time, where it brought out the worst in me temporarily."

Eto chuckled, "You know Dr. Kanou had a similar view to me. To see a world where ghouls and humans could coexist without fear."

Hide looked at her, "Well regardless of his intentions, his actions are sick."

Eto chuckled, "Even during these times you still have a sense of morality,"

Hide nodded, "Well regardless, I'm here to watch over those I care about."

Eto smiled, "perhaps your brain is too thick. Even when you know the consequences of being the protective barrier of a friend, you still will go out of your way."

Hide shrugged, "That may be so, but it's something I'll do again."

Eto smirked, "I'd expect that from an answer like you."

Hide didn't know what to say, what was the purpose of this conversation exactly? Hide wasn't sure, but if this acted like a sense of composure and conclusion with Eto, then so be it,

As Eto gave Hide a small smile, she then turned her side, spotting something.

The next statement shook Hide to his core,

"Hello, Kaneki, it's good to see you after a while."

Hide gulped, he was in for some serious shit as of now.

A.N / So will Hide and Kaneki have their await reunion earlier, or will it be stalled for other external reasons? Just for a tracker this goes up to chapter 86, last of volume 8. As for the other characters, I will probably have the inclusion of the Quinx Squad, but I cannot promise that. See you soon.

Pierce Flash: The user brightens their kagune to the point of temporarily blinding the enemy if they are looking towards the user. Then, the user will strike out with their kagune, hitting back. The two-part move uses quite the red cells, but the flash is capable of hurting multiple enemies while offering the user and their allies room for the offensive.

Midnight Bane: Only works if it is night, or if the surrounding is dark. If struck, the user will dodge and create replicas of their image in the form of flames. The darkness will act as a blindness to impact the enemy's mind, as they are surrounded by the flames of its enemy. In a strong counterattack that uses considerable RC cells, the enemy can break through the mimics but will suffer burns in doing so. Kind of like a nighttime double team in Pokémon.

Guard Shroud: A defensive option that has the user put their kagune in front to take the damage. The kagune will be shrouded by flames. Whilst simple and uses little rc cells, there are multiple tiers of the moves, that span with a wall of flames in front that can block projectiles, to a flanking defense from the flames.

Precise Bullet.

Pyro's Flame Orb.

Flaming Arena.

Flame Trail.

Igniting Storm.

Smolly.

Red Rain.

Flame Body.

Shapeshift.

X Flames.

Flaming Pellets.

Fiery Drift.