Yo, it's been a good while since I last updated and because of that, I must say that I'm sincerely sorry. There have been a lot of things in my life that has caused me to not be motivated to write this story. I've had the first half of this chapter done for a while now and I just didn't want to work on the second half for whatever reason.

Why? Mainly me not wanting to write this story. I've been focusing on college a lot, other projects as well, some really good video games came out (Monster Hunter World and UFC 3 mainly), and if that wasn't bad enough, some emotional problems led me to not feel like doing anything in terms of writing for the past couple months. Also got a particularly annoying and entitled review from a certain guest (it's the most recent one from when I'm writing this AN) immediately after that really helped to sour my view on this story as a whole.

Now that I've mentioned the fact that my overall view of the story has soured, that takes me to my next point and I really do feel like this story isn't my best work. After reading some of the reviews and doing a lot of introspection regarding this story, I feel like it's in major need of work and isn't representative of what I can do as a writer currently.

When I go through and read this story in its later chapters, I can physically feel myself getting lazier and lazier to the point where I don't even the setting in any way; the dynamic that exists between Kaneki and Blake makes up the entirety of the story, leading to a lot of the other characters not getting the amount of time they deserve, which leads to bad character development; and my plot is getting rather convoluted even for me.

See, I don't want any of that in a story I write. Not one that represents me as a writer. So, that being said, I would like to formally announce that this story is being discontinued. Now, before the few of you who still care about this start to feel sad or something, I am going to create a new version of this story. It's called re and should be posted immediately after this chapter is, so check it.

Anyways, read the rest of this chapter with a heavy, but hopeful heart because new days and second chances are coming.

Mandatory Disclaimer: I own nothing that is copyrighted.

-Chapter 20: Metronome-

Cinder glared at the young man sitting on the bed in front of her. Ken Kaneki, possibly Haise Sasaki, but definitely the person she'd ordered killed and tossed from a Bullhead. Neither of them had spoken a word after initial reintroductions, even when he stepped into the room, uninvited.

"So…" Cinder, finally having gotten fed up with the stagnation that their mutual silence had caused, broke it. "I assume that you've come here for a reason?"

"Oh, right down to business then?" Kaneki asked with a slight mirth in his voice, though it was very clear that he was being rhetoric with that question. "And here I thought I was going to be able to exchange pleasantries with the woman who asked to have me killed."

"…How did you—?" Cinder began to ask after a short bit of silence as she knew she never uttered a word about her planning his sudden "departure" from the group to him specifically.

"—I figured it out on my own," the young man cut her off before she could finish, which made the hair on the back of her neck bristle in irritation. "It wasn't a hard conclusion to draw at all, especially when you take into account the fact that Neo clearly doesn't hate me enough to do something like that on her own volition."

"Hmph," the terrorist leader huffed back in reply, before furrowing her brows sharply. "I'll accept that reasoning for now. Now, get to what you wanted to speak with me about. You of all people should understand by now that I'm not one who likes to have her time wasted by pointless things."

"Oh, I believe I understand that lesson very well," the pace of Kaneki's voice quickened as it gained a certain edge to it, though that was to be expected given what the both of them were implying. Then, suddenly, a grin that was more fitting on Neopolitan's face appeared on his, which took Cinder aback slightly. "Why exactly do you think I haven't gotten to that yet? Because I like making idle chitchat with someone like you?"

A growl threatened to escape from Cinder's throat in response to the very obvious jab, but she forced it back down before it could escape. After that, she was very seriously beginning to rethink her idea of using the young man to help bolster her plans. The boy seemed to be more fit dead with his head on a pike.

Still, the terrorist leader had more self-control than that and reminded herself that the young man sitting across from her was a serious asset that she could use to further her goals and so, she swallowed her pride and decided that she'd tolerate his obvious attempts to rile her up for now. She deserved this much, after all. To think that he'd treat her any other way, after all, she did to him would've been presumptuous and, worst of all, naive of her.

"No, of course not." Still, Cinder wasn't about to let Kaneki walk all over her because she thought he'd be useful in the future. Far from it. "So, how about you get on with it instead of wasting both of our time?"

The smirk on Kaneki's face only seemed to widen at her counter attempt, but instead of countering back, he simply cocked his head to the side and replied with, "Alright then." He then proceeded to lean a forward in his seat, intersecting his fingers together as he did so, and continued on with explaining what he was doing in her dorm room, "You want to know what I'm doing here?"

The young man then looked off to the side momentarily, presumably to look over at Neopolitan, who was off sitting in that direction. Cinder really didn't know considering she didn't follow his gaze over to where he was looking as she found it to be a bad idea to take her eyes off him given their history.

"I want to know what your intentions here at Beacon are." The moment those words came out Kaneki's mouth, Cinder's own opened to strike down the demand, but he cut her off before she could finish. "Before you say anything, I don't need to know anything specific. I just want to know what's going to happen to Beacon when everything's all said and done. You can even ask me a question of your own when you're done answering mine if it would make you feel better."

Cinder didn't respond to the proposed deal immediately. Instead, she mulled over it in her head, pondering her options. It was true that he wasn't asking for much in the long run as telling someone the end of a story before they've even read a line of the book rarely gave up any important plot details—it just ruined the surprise—and surely, Kaneki already knew that what she and her group were planning didn't bode well for Beacon's future, so he probably already knew what to expect. It was actually pretty likely that this entire confrontation was meant to confirm whatever suspicions he had. Yet, there was something about what was happening that bothered her immensely and was keeping her from accepting. At least not outright.

"What would you plan to do with the information if I were to give it to you?" Cinder asked guardedly. "Even the tiniest bit of information could tip you off to what we're planning so, knowing that, why would I give it to you without a guarantee to secrecy, or at the very least, some sort of compensation?"

If the young man sitting across from her finally took notice of his lack of leverage in the situation, he certainly didn't show it, countenance-wise. Instead, he simply let out a quiet huff through his nostrils, glanced over to where Neopolitan was, then right back at Cinder and smiled to himself lightly.

"Well, if that's the case," Kaneki stood up as he spoke, "then I think that our business here is done for today." He then proceeded to make his way to the door without saying anything and was gone, out of the room a second later.

Cinder let out a sigh and put a hand to her temple once she saw that Kaneki was gone. Massaging that part of her head to relieve herself of the sudden onset of a headache, gaze being firmly planted on the door the young man left out of, she began to wonder about how she was going to deal with newfound liability that was Ken Kaneki.


When Blake pushed open the door to Kaneki's room, it was safe to say that she wasn't in the best mood at all. She had just gotten finished with a rather…annoying conversation, though it would probably be more accurate for her to call it an argument, with her teammates that went about the same lines as the one she got into last night with the very owner of the room she was walking into.

Why can't people understand that I can take care of myself? The Faunus asked herself in her frustration, letting out a silent sigh as she did so.

It was just so irritating. What possessed them all to think that a little lack of sleep was going to do her so wrong? It wasn't even like she had gone that many nights without sleep in the first place. Two, adding the most recent one last night. A couple of nights without sleep and suddenly she's on a 'witch hunt that could only lead to her own self-destruction'. She honestly didn't know what the problem was.

"Hey, Blake?" The sound of Kaneki's voice brought her out of inner ranting and back to reality, where it turned out that she had been standing in an open doorway for an unknown amount of time.

Turning her gaze towards where the voice had come from, said Faunus found a certain boy with monochrome hair sitting back, cross-legged in a chair that stood right next to the one that she sat in all of last night–the two looking completely identical to one another. He had an open book in one hand, his left, and a porcelain cup in the other. Given the bitter and slightly acidic aroma that was wafting off of it, she assumed that it was coffee.

Just from the look on his face, Blake knew what Kaneki was going to say so she decided to cut him off before he even began, "I'm fine. I just got caught up in a passing thought."

Instead of fighting her claim like she fully expected him to, Kaneki simply nodded his head in understanding and put his cup down on the desk behind him, before then reaching over to pull the chair next to him out from under his desk. Blake couldn't help but blink owlishly at the act.

"What are you…?" the Faunus began to ask, but eventually trailed off when she saw the smile that formed on Kaneki's face as she spoke.

It was light, small and contained a lot more negative undertones than it did positive ones, but most importantly, it was the kind of smile that simply said, 'I may not agree, but I understand', and that was enough to knock all the words out of her lungs.

"Look, um," Kaneki's lips made a bit of a smacking noise as he separated them to say something, but stopped himself, probably to think his next words over, "I know that I wasn't very supportive of what you're trying to do last we time talked…and truth be told, I still don't agree with how you're choosing to go about it at all, but after some thinking, I've decided that it's better to let you make your own decisions and live with those consequences than to nag you with what I think is right."

When he finished with his rather long explanation, Blake could only stare and wonder what exactly was going on. Not even twenty-four hours ago, this was the same person who had vehemently tried to coerce into forgoing her search for information and go to bed, and now he was literally pulling out the chair for her to sit down and begin. Sure, he had mentioned that he still didn't agree with what she was doing and added in a bit where he all but confirmed that he thought she was going to crash and burn, but to go from staunchly arguing the complete other side of an argument to how he was acting now… What exactly happened to him between now and the time she saw him last?

As if reading her mind, the half ghoul let his smile grow a fraction larger and turned his eyes to look off towards the cup in his hand, or rather, what it held inside of it, stating, "Me bringing up my own failures last night and my meeting with Cinder earlier today, all brought back some memories. Even reminded me of a scenario a lot like the one we're in now."

Blake, not really knowing what to think about the all too convenient explanation given to her, blinked at Kaneki in disbelief, before then asking, "Really?" When he hummed back in affirmation, the Faunus proceeded to ask, "Do you mind telling me what exactly brought all this on? I know that you said that it was because of some memories, but…to change this much in such little time…" She crossed her arms over her chest in discomfort and shifted slightly where she stood. "I mean… It hasn't even been a day, Kaneki."

Aforementioned young man simply let an amused huff out through her nostrils and smiled at her.

"Yeah, I guess I should've anticipated getting a response like this," Kaneki mumbled to himself quietly as he lowered his head and scratched at the side of his neck with his scaled arm. "My bad."

Out of all the responses she had gotten from Kaneki, that was the one Blake didn't want to get the most. She could at least work off reactions like unwarranted aggression when it came to pushing forward a conversation. Being understanding and owning up to the mistake he made didn't carry that same sort of momentum. It was sort of like competing in a relay race and the teammate that ran before she did get to you last and also tripped right as they reached her. What in the world was she going to be able to do with that?

Of course, letting the conversation die there was an option for Blake to take as they could easily exist in each other's presence without saying a word, but she strongly felt that everything that they were discussing before it all came to a halt was something that they should probably discuss now.

Opening her mouth to do just that, the cat Faunus tried to say what was on her mind when she was suddenly cut off by the man she was talking to standing up all of a sudden and moving towards her. She half expected to do something as he continued to close the distance between them, but that expectation soon died when his body moved past hers, just close enough to where their arms brushed against one another as he passed.

"H-Hey!" To say that Blake was surprised by the move would be an understatement, the stutter in her voice said as much. Never in her time knowing him did she know him to be the sort of person to just brush a conversation off like that for no real reason. "Kaneki, I wasn't done talking to-"

"-I'm just going to get some fresh air." Coming off as colder than ice, Blake found herself almost flinching at the response. Stopping at the door as he opened it, Kaneki glanced back at her over his left shoulder and stared at her with a single grey eye-an eye that was void of all emotion. A smile crossed his lips but the Faunus couldn't bring herself to believe in it. "I'll be back in a little bit. Don't worry, you can say whatever you were going to say when I get back."

With that, the door was closed, the boy was gone, and the conversation felt truly over. That made Blake feel powerless.


A crack sounded through the air as Kaneki glared at the copycat standing right in front of him, breathing heavy and erratic as his knuckles continued to rest in the hole in the concrete wall that he had created by driving his fist into it several times over. He was enraged, livid. Every part of his body wanted to pounce on the figure before him and tear him apart for his transgressions. If not for the fact that he wasn't even real and his teeth would pass right through him, he would've for what he just did. It was a good thing that he had dragged himself to a secluded area behind the school, deep into the thick brush that surrounded the academy, because if someone were to see him in his current state, he was sure that he'd come off looking like a feral animal.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just-" He began, but was almost immediately stopped by the doppelganger in question.

"-Oh, quit you're posturing already." Haise's interruption felt like a left hook to the body as it knocked all of the wind out of Kaneki's sails in an instant. "You know that you need me and besides, you and I both know that you didn't have time to talk to her."

"Still-!"

Before Kaneki could finish, his doppelganger shushed him mockingly and looked over to his left, saying, "Hey, quiet down, she's here." As if waiting for the mental construct to say that, a light blared off to the ghoul's right, drawing his attention towards it immediately and stunning him into silence. "You wouldn't want her thinking that you're crazy now, do we?"

Before Kaneki could even respond to that, the light soon went from a bright white that scathed the eyes to a dimmer grey somehow, and then, as if being shaped by the hands of an unknown, all-powerful being, the rays of light started to bend and take an oblong shape.

The half ghoul could only stare at the object in a mix of awe and confusion as a booted leg suddenly emerged from the pool of dark light and after that boot came the rest of the body. And, upon seeing who it was, Kaneki tensed.

"Ah, Raven, it's nice to finally see you again…" Once again, just like they had back during his conversation with Cinder, words that were not his own began leaving his now smirking mouth. "Or do you still prefer that I call you mom?"

Chapter End.

This is done now. Bye. Love you all.