"T-Touka-chan is.. a ghoul..?"

Th-That can't be..! Touka-chan is..! Touka-chan is..!!

"You're lying! Touka-chan's too kind! And she ate my food!!"

The boy's pitiful eyes bored into my soul.

"She was faking it, Kosaka-san.. That's how much she cared about you.. She forced herself to eat it. And she didn't even puke it out like she should've.. She almost got killed because of her decision. She cared about you that much."

"T-Touka-chan can't be a ghoul!! She can't!!"

"Kosaka-san, you're aware of the Anteiku Raid a few years ago, correct? Touka-chan worked at Anteiku. She migrated into a different Ward to protect herself. Is that not the time your best friend went missing? Do you think that's just a coincidence?"

"B-But..!"

"Touka-chan is a ghoul. But that does not mean she doesn't have a heart. Yes, she has gone astray, but she is still your best friend, even if she's trying to distance herself from you.."

Touka-chan..? Touka-chan, a ghoul?!!

"I-It's not possible!!"

"Kosaka-san.. I'm telling you the truth. Are you not going to accept it?"

"No! Touka-chan's too kind to be a ghoul!!"

"... Kosaka-san, some ghouls ARE kind. Do you not understand that? Have you ever heard of the Eyepatch? Before he was.. well, before he went.. Before he got white hair, do you know about how he made an investigator run before he ate him? Eyepatch was.. merciful. And he was kind. There are plenty other examples I could give-"

"Touka-chan isn't a ghoul!! You're lying!!"

"... Well.. if that's what you think, then.. I guess I can't stop you. Here, my phone number. If you change your mind. I hope you do.. Think on it. Please. Touka-chan.. Touka-chan is really beat up.. over the fact that she can't see you anymore.. and you miss her, too, right? If you just accepted her.. if you just accepted her, you could see her again. And you guys could be friends! And.. and that would patch up.. the relationship you two made.. And Touka-chan.. and Touka-chan might.. have those ideals again. To.. To live peacefully with humans.. You understand, don't you? It's in your best interest – as well as everyone else in Tokyo. Kosaka-san.. Touka-chan can make it so that Aogiri falls. Or at least weakens." The boy sh*t up and left with that.

I looked warily down at the small piece of paper he'd given me.

I.. I need to call the CCG.. If that guy truly thinks Touka-chan's a ghoul, why didn't he report her? Is he a ghoul? Or is he one of those sympathizers?

I.. need to call the CCG.

-------------------------------------------------

Hide had told me to lay off reporting the ukaku ghoul who'd attacked him. He said to wait, until he got results with that Yoriko person..

I was wary though.

What if that ghoul hurts people in the meantime?

And how exactly is she so crucial in destroying Aogiri?

So many questions swarmed my head from that night, but I could answer none.

But I can't focus on that.

The Q Squad is being assigned a new case. Or, well.. we're investigating a report. Supposedly, someone came to this apartment, telling the inhabitant that her missing best friend was a ghoul..

Knock, knock.

Creak..

"Hello..?"

"Hi, I'm Haise Sasaki, with the CCG. Someone ca-"

"Oh! Come in, please!" she creaked the door open so that we could get inside.

------------------------------------------

"And the person he'd claimed to be a ghoul?"

"... T-Touka.. Kirishima.."

I blinked.

Touka? As in Touka-chan, the ukaku ghoul?

"I see.. We'll investigate. Um, what was your first name, Kosaka-san?"

"? Yoriko.. why?"

"So if we need any more information, we won't get mixed up with a relative of yours or something," I smiled politely.

Yoriko.. So, Sun's gamble..

Broke down.

--------------------------------------------

It was lunch time now. Mamman was at his desk, on his phone.

"Come on, pick up..!" he hissed under his breath. The person picked up, finally. "Ah! Finally! Hide!!"

"? Haise? What is it? Why are you-"

"Hide, what the f*ck is going on?!! What did you do?!! I thought you told that girl that if it broke down, you'd play it off as if you were insane or joking!!"

"... Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Kosaka Yoriko reported that some guy with orange hair visited her and started babbling about her missing best friend being a ghoul! That was you, wasn't it?!"

"...Probably. Unless some other person with orange hair visited her and told-"

"Hide!!" Mamman hissed sharply, "Stop babbling about needless things! I'm on lunch break, which means I can only talk to you for a limited time right now! I've been assigned to investigate both you and that ukaku ghoul. I know you told me to hold off until you talked to Kosaka-san, but seriously?!! Why didn't you tell me you failed to gain Kosaka-san? I could've repo-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on there, buddy. Calm down."

"How can I calm down?!!" Mamman hissed.

"Just calm down. Look, I really wasn't expecting Yoriko-san to deny Touka-chan's species. I'm sorry. But, if you could, can you-"

"I cannot hold off arresting that ukaku ghoul, if that's what you're asking!!" he hissed, "No way! That ghoul obviously doesn't hold our ideals to make Tokyo a better place! And I don't know why she's crucial to making Aogiri fall, but I'll find out once me and my Squad capture her!"

"Oh, come on, Haise!!" the other person whined, "She's not really a bad person! It's just that the CCG has destroyed everyone she cared about! You understand, don't you?"

"No, I don't! I DON'T understand why ghouls decide to murder people!"

"... Haise. Haise, calm down. Please. The CCG has killed people who were peaceful at the time. Have I ever told you about the Fueguchis?"

"The Fueguchis?"

"Yeah. The Fueguchis. The -er, Touka-chan was involved with that case. The mother ghoul lived by eating suicide victims – like me. She had a daughter. The daddy had been killed by the CCG. I don't know much about him, but the Fueguchis took it hard. ... The mother – Ryoko – had put the father's mask in a grave.. That's how she was caught. An investigator I knew.. He's righteous, but he.. He doesn't understand what's really right. He's been.. He's a normal investigator, let's just put it at that. He dug up the grave and connected the two – finally.

"That guy's partner – Mado – he killed Ryoko-san. ... You were there. You'd covered the daughter's eyes because that was all you could do at the time. You were new to the ghoul world- you didn't know how to fight. There were four investigators who'd seen the little girl's face. That little girl liked to learn. She was innocent. She'd never killed anybody. The investigators were intent on finding and killing the daughter. Two of the initial investigators died. You could say the one I knew died, too.. He's.. lost his sense of direction. Figuratively. Morally. You know? Mado was one of them.

"I knew his daughter," the person seemed to get totally off topic, "Geez, was she a handful. She's really intuitive. She hates wasting time. Haha, those were the days.. When it was just me, Amon-san, Mado-san, and Seido-san. I was still a rebellious little teen, intent on finding his best friend.. Haha, I was such a sneaky little traitor. Even better than that was when I still had that best friend by my side.." the person seemed to choke up a little, but you could still hear the smile on his face. "A-Anyway, I really did enjoy bickering with Mado-san. It was kinda fun trying to avoid her intuition."

"...Hide. You totally got off topic."

"...Right, sorry. What were we talking about again?"

"Never mind, Hide. My lunch break is almost over. I'm arresting that ukaku ghoul."

"Wha-?!! Haise!!"

"Don't you 'Haise' me!! That ghoul is going to attack people! You're lucky-"

The person whined, interrupting Mamman, "Oh, come on, Haisie! You'd break poor Yoriko-san's heart with that! Why do you have to arrest Touka-chan? You don't even know what ghoul she is~" the person teased.

"I'll find out."

"Wha-? Hey! Hey, Haise, don't you dare hang up on me, I-"

Beep.

MAMMAN'S SECRET GROUP PERSON IS A GHOUL?!! THAT KNOWS A BUNCH OF GHOULS?!! MAMMAN WASN'T REPORTING A GHOUL AS SOON AS HE—!!

BBEHJBAAHVHGJVFJKHGHK!!!!!!!

Thunk.

--------------------

"..Saiko. Saiko.."

"Unn.."

I opened my eyes to see Mamman. He had fear in his eyes.

"Saiko. Did you.. hear that conversation..?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. YOU'RE MAKING FRIENDS WITH GHOULS NOW?!!!"

"H-Hold on, let me explain!! You see, he.." Mamman sighed, "That guy certainly is strange. I'm not sure what to make of him yet either.. But he seems to be trying to make peace.. His goal is to-"

Ring~ Ring~

"-..is to make a world where humans and ghouls can live together peacefully. ... I'd.. really like that. Then I could.. stay with you guys forever. Even if we did kill all the other ghouls. There wouldn't be a chance that I'd be.. murdered after my duties. He leads a group. It has three ghouls, three half-ghouls, and three humans," Mamman announced as if recalling something someone else had said. "We're all assigned Wards, see. And we watch over the Ward's progress and try to lessen ghoul activity. It's.. I can't explain it well. Um, Saiko.. please don't report this.. I.. I was trying to.. to make sure.. ..."

"..." I thought it over. "Okay, Mamman."

"Wha-?!!" he seemed surprised.

"I'll join this group. Is that okay?"

"... Well.. Well, as long as.. he's okay with it.. which I'm pretty sure he will be.."

"Okay then."

Auh.. I want to.. be with Mamman and the others forever..

I WILL NOT ALLOW MAMMAN TO BE KILLED *^*

----------------------------------------------------

{Uh, yeah.. somehow, all of these kind of stories I have.. have Saiko invading Haise's secrets because of her curiosity.. and that's normally where the story breaks down.. So, I made it so that the suspense is still lasting..}

Knock, knock.

Creak..

"? Who are you?"

"We're investigators with the CCG. It has come to our attention that you are a ghoul, Touka Kirishima."

Her eyes widened, and she backed up. She got out her kagune, and I thrust towards her to capture her.

{ ;-; I swear, I did not plan this, people.}

---------------------------------------------------------------

We had found her mask in her room.

The Rabbit.

Which explains why Hide thought she could help break Aogiri- she was a leader in it.

Somehow because of this, we were all promoted.

...

I really felt guilty getting promoted for this..

------------------------------------------------------------------

Knock, knock.

Creak..

"Ah, Eyepatch! Come on i-who's that?"

"This is my coworker. She wants to join."

"... What are your views on ghouls and humans?"

"? ?"

Just like with me, he changed the question, "Do you think humans and ghouls can live in peace, and would you work hard towards that end?"

Saiko glanced at me before replying, "Yes! I want to live with Mamman and the others forever and ever!"

".. Alright then. What's your name?"

"BUGGIE! *^* "

"..Great. Not sure why you'd like to call yourself that, but I love individuality!" he gave her a thumbs up.

So we entered.

---------------------------------

Saiko had been given 10 and 17 at the end of the meeting. She'd also gotten a white flag rather than a red one.

"Hey, Mamman, why did you get a red flag, and I got a white flag?"

"I have yet to figure out what those flags mean, Saiko. But I'm just going to warn you, watching over Wards is busy work.. You'll have to get off your butt."

"Hai.." she replied, depressed.

"Eyepatch," Hide walked up to me. "You hung up on me. Can we speak privately now?"

I sighed.

Hide had been trying to get me alone for a while now, to speak. I suppose I do owe him a private talk.. He's still allowing me here, and he even allowed Saiko to join.

"Fine. But you should know the damage is already done."

"...Yes, I heard," he mumbled, his eyes seeming to darken. "Follow me."

"Can I come?" Saiko asked.

"She heard the conversation and everything, Sun," I clarified.

"...You need to be more sneaky, Eyepatch. Fine, she can come with." Hide led us up the stairs. I felt the others' eyes intent on us, curious and predator-like.

---------------------

Eventually, we reached the door, and Hide let us in. He closed and locked the door behind us. He walked over to the bed in there and sat on it.

"Why did you hang up on me, Haise?"

"I was at lunch; I didn't have the time to wait for you."

Hide sighed and laid back against the bed.

"Plus, why didn't YOU tell ME the conversation broke down?"

"Because I honestly thought Yoriko-san would change her decision as long as she thought about it. But I guess she's as brainwashed as the rest of the world," he scoffed. "'Sucks. How come she didn't realize how much Touka-chan honestly cared for her? It wasn't fake. How come she didn't get that? Why did Yoriko-san call the CCG on her own best friend...? I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" Hide shot up, bashing his hand against the bed, his kagune doing the same behind him. My eyes widened, and I put my arm in front of Saiko, watching him cautiously. "How is she not as close to Touka-chan as I was...?" Hide growled under his breath, his kakugan flaring, "She had her own ghoulfriend to protect, and she failed! How could she just throw away her friendship like that?!! F*ck her! I can't believe she betrayed Touka-chan! As if Touka-chan wasn't hating the human race enough! Why? Why does everyone try to f*ck plans of peace up? F*ck it all.."

I slowly retreated my arm from in front of Saiko, but I didn't dare speak.

"...I would like to be alone," Hide murmured, barely above a whisper, "Please leave me alone."

"..." I took Saiko's hand and left the room.

I could've sworn I heard Hide sob, "Why does it all crash down, Kaneki? The ghouls leave humans for their human's safety, and now a human is lashing back out at the ghoul.."