Ayato was flying down the street away from his father, Arata. Arata was in hot pursuit in his kakuja form. Ayato trued himself around and flew upside down. He crystallized his ukaku wings and fired at his father. The shards had no effect against his kakuja armor however. They bounced off as if they were regular bullets. Ayato grunted in frustration as he attack had no effect. Arata caught up and the two of them were only a couple feet apart in the air. The clashed, striking each other with their wings. Only to strike their kagunes together and fly past each other. They both went for it again, clashing their kagunes together in an attempt to strike down the other. The third time Ayato threw a punch at his father. Arata caught him by the wrist. He spun the boy around vertically and threw him onto the ground. Ayato landed on a red car below, partially smashing it. Ayato looked up after being tossed to the ground to see his father coming straight down at him. Ayato moved out of the way as Arata landed hard on the car and destroyed it even further. Ayato landed on his feet and faced Arata as he stood back up atop the smashed in roof of the vehicle. "Dam you old man." Ayato cursed him. "How could you do this to you own son?"

"I take no pleasure in doing this." Arata responded dryly. "But I can not allow my own son to continue on with such madness. I am your father, and it is my responsibility to punish you." Ayato glared at him.

"Don't you give me that crap!" He lunged at his father. He collided with Arata and the two of the locked hands as they struggled to overcome the other. Both trying to wrestle the other into submission. "You want me to go live among humans like the rest of you, but tell me something. How long do you think this peace will last? Do you think after this you and the CCG will just be buddy-buddy? Do you honestly believe that they care about anything other than themselves? They call us monsters but who do you think the real monster is?!" Ayato questioned him rather aggressively.

"You're right. Humans can be cruel and merciless. They preach peace and understanding while slaughtering not only our kind but themselves as well. Some single people would do both and think of it as just." Arata answered.

"Then why? Why help the same people that would just as quickly hunt you down and burn you at the stake?!" Ayato near yelled in fury.

"Because we have to try." Arata answered his son solemnly. "If we do not, this cycle of hatred will only continue on and on. We have to at least try to coexist with the humans, even if the odds are against us, even if we will ultimately fail. We will at least try to make peace in this dark and twisted world." Ayato made an angry noise and glared back at his father.

"You may be my dad, but you have a lot to learn about this world." Ayato reprimanded him.

"No my son. It is you who has much to learn!" He suddenly crossed Ayato's arms, the right one over the left. He kicked Ayato's left heel inwards and used the position of his arms to throw him sideways. Ayato flew through the air as he was thrown and landed against the back windshield of a bright red coupe, cracking it from the force of impact. He tried to sit back up but Arata was upon him quickly. Arata landed on the trunk of the car and kicked Ayato in through the windshield. Ayato went is ass first into the car, his upper body and legs still sticking out. Arata then pulled him out of the car with his right hand. Grabbing him by the collar and hoisting him into the air. He then struck the boy across the face with a right punch, then again with a backfist in a quick one-two motion. Arata then threw his son to the right and against a wall. Ayato slumped to the ground, then managed to get himself back up. Arata was already ready to attack again. Ayato received a swift right punch across his face then a left jab. Arata then grabbed the boy's head from behind with both hands, pulling him into a clinch. Arata delivered a swift knee up into Ayato's stomach that knocked the wind out of him. Arata let go and Ayato leaned up against the wall, his head hung over the other way as he tried to regain his breath.

"This ends now!" Arata shouted. Ayato saw the final blow coming. He received a palm strike to his chest and was pushed into the wall of the building. There was a hole made where he was forcibly slammed into the wall. Ayato fell down in a sitting up position against the crater partially into the building. Arata released his kakuja mask, allowing his true face to show as he stared down in disappointment at his son. A group of soldiers from the CCG suddenly came rushing onto the scene, rifles ready in their hands.

"Arata, sir! We're here to help." One of the soldiers reported.

"At ease men, i've already dealt with my son." He responded to the man, then looking back down at the injured Ayato. Ayato finally managed to beam back up at his father in hate.

"Are you gonna finish this already?" Ayato questioned. Arata kept looking down at his son with those judgmental eyes.

"No. You are still my son, and I will not kill you." He began to walk away from his son and to the soldiers. "Take him into custody, lock him up in Cochlea." The soldiers did as tehy were told and went to take Ayato into custody. They hand cuffed him and made sure to suppress his Rc Cell ability. The soldiers began to march him away and they passed Arata. The two exchanged glances one last time before Ayato was hauled off. Then there was some loud thuds. Everyone looked down the street the other direction, back towards where Ayato was apprehended. A Vector Attack Craft came around the corner 2 blocks ahead of them. The guards all felt a wave of panic as the war machine started heading their way. Arata narrowed his eyes and began to formulate a plan on how to take it down. Before he could enact one however, a black blur zipped by. Chairman Washuu began running past them and straight for the machine at speeds that could only be described as superhuman. The Vector Attack Craft sent out it's single attack vector, but the Chairman was far too fast. He slid under it and dodge it with ease, when he began to slide under the machine he put his hands on the sides of his head against the the ground. He pushed himself up and kicked up and through the machine. He launched like a missile and pierced straight through the machine. When he came out the other side he stopped his momentum by grabbing onto the edge of the whole he just made. He brought himself back down upon the machine in a different spot, this time elbowing it straight into the ground. The enhanced strength provided by his kakuja quinque made the craft slam straight to the ground and even crumple up to a small degree. Tsuneyoshi jumped off the now inactive machine and landed in front of it. His hands fell to his knees as he took a moment to catch his breath.

"Forgive me, i'm not quite as young and spry as I used to be." He called out to the others. They all just stared at him awkwardly.

As he used to be? This guy just took down a VAC with his bare hands. Arata thought to himself. After a few seconds the Chairman stood upright and walked over to his men.

"Arata, weren't you with Shinohara earlier?" He asked the ghoul.

"I was." Arata nodded. "But he and a few others left. They've managed to track Kakuzawa down and they've gone to face him."

"Is that so?" The Chairman was surprised to hear that, but also glad. "Then it all rests in their hands now. I can only hope for the best for them."

Kouta sent his kagune out at Kanae again. She zipped about in the air and was able to skillfully dodge them. She flew low and made a b-line right for her brother. Kouta blocked her attack as her ukaku curved in at him, using his own rinkaku. He pushed her back ad she hovered back a bit farther, still using her kagune to fly. She flew at him once more, and this time he parried, moving around her and switching positions. She tried again and he did the same thing, this time they were back where they started but back to back. Kanae turned to her left with her foot raised and kicked her brother in the back of the head. Kouta went towards the ground face first. He stood back up and wiped the blood from his mouth. Lucy gritted her teeth at seeing Kanae hurt her brother like that. She stepped forward to help, unleashing her vectors.

"No!" Kouta ordered her, holding his arm out to his side in a motion for her to stay back. "Stay out of this. This is something I have to take care of myself." He told her with a dead seriousness. Lucy wanted to say no and help him out, she didn't want to see him get hurt. But she ended up reluctantly agreeing in silence. Stepping back and allowing Kouta to take care of things himself. Kouta ran at Kanae and aimed his kagune at her. He sent all four out to strike her from different directions. Right before they she was about to dodge however they backed off. It was a farce as Kouta instead came in swinging his fists. He threw a right punch which she dodged, then a left which she also dodged in the opposite direction as the first. Kouta then spun to his right and used the back of his fist to attempt to strike her. Kanae ducked under his attack, Kouta kept at it though. He used the continued momentum of his spun to try and punch her with his left hand again. Kanae blocked this time, holding her forearm straight up to block took hold of his wrist and spun his arm. She spun it down and made a full rotation, pivoting at the shoulder. She then threw him at the wrist and went flying forward. Kouta flipped into the throw however, and managed to land on his feet in front of her. He kicked straight back at her with his right foot. Kanae dodged it as she went in for a spinning sweep kick, aiming for the leg Kouta was standing on. She swept it from under him and he fell to the ground. Kouta got back to his feet quickly, seeing that Kanae had backed off a few feet.

"I have been preparing nonstop for this day." She told him without any emotion. "You will not win." Kouta gritted his teeth and his jaded sister. He rushed towards her with his kagune. She shielded herself against all four of his kagune with her right wing. She swiped his kagune out of the way and flew at him, slashing him with her left wing. Blood shot out right above his stomach as he was slashed there. He bent over in pain and coughed up a bit more blood. Kanae turned around and slashed his back with her right wing this time. Kouta arched his back in response to the pain. Kanae kept at it. She hit him across the chest next, then across the lower back, in the left arm, and finally right above the back of his knee. Kouta fell to the ground after her swift barrage of attacks, his kagune retracted back into his body. Kanae was now standing to where his back was turned, between him and the rest of his allies. She had her back turned as her brother fell to the ground. "Just like that." She taunted dryly. Kouta sent out on of his lower rinkaku tentacles and whipped it at Kanae. She jumped and did a back flip through the air. She landed on Kouta's back, roughly slamming against him and forcing him totally to the ground. She stepped off her big brother and to his left. She stared down at the defeated Kouta, who lie there panting. "You should really be grateful brother, I don't have to let you live. We could use any ghoul we want for Lebensborn II. So be a good big brother and just stay there."

"No!" Hinami suddenly shouted out. Kanae looked over to see Hinami's rinkaku swiping horizontally. Kanae skillfully ducked under it, keeping herself a mere foot above the ground as the kagune passed over her. Kanae then stood back up to see the other girl had stepped forward, her eyes not ghoul eyes and her two kagune were out. "I won't let you hurt onee-chan!" Hinami told Kanae fiercely. Kanae stared back at the other girl with an apathetic look.

"How nice. It seems you found a replacement for me." She observed, feeling even more betrayal from her brother.

"No... it's not like that." Kouta told her weakly as he lie there.

"I was thinking about letting the rest of you live for taking care of my two targets. But now I think i'll kill you." She pointed to Hinami. Hinami glared back at Kanae. Kanae went to take a few steps closer, but she felt something grab her. Kouta managed to turn himself sideways and had his upper torso lifted off the ground. He grabbed hold of Kanae's left leg.

"No... damn it, don't you dare hurt my friends. You're still my little sister."

"Hmph." Kanae made a noise of disgust. She kicked back and up with her right leg, hitting Kouta in the face and causing him to release his grip. He fell to the ground once more. She began to walk closer to her new opponent, her ukaku wings still out. Hinami readied herself for a fight, glaring at Kanae. Before Hinami was about the make the first move however, someone's hand blocked her from above her to the right. She looked up to see Tsukiyama holding her back.

"Mr. Tsukiyama?" She asked confused.

"Now now Hinami, let's not do anything too rash here." He told her, waving his finger as he did so.

"Are you going to be my opponent instead, Shuu Tsukiyama?" Kanae asked.

"Oh my, you know who I am?" He asked smiling and holding his palm to his chest.

"Shuu Tsukiyama, alias 'The Gourmet'. Rank: S-Class, type: koukaku user, age: 21. Former owner of the ghoul restaurant MM." She recited to him perfectly.

"My, i'm honored." He replied.

"I told you I prepared for this. That included doing my homework on my opponents." She told him.

"Hmm, so it would seem. But here's a word of advise young mademoiselle, don't rely just on that." Tsukiyama advised her with a grin.

"What are you talking about?" Kanae narrowed her eyes at him. Tsukiyama chuckled to himself.

"Your brother means a lot to me as well. Do you really think i'd let him come to a fight like this without a trick up his sleeve?"

That was when the stoic Kanae lost her composure. She was suddenly surprised and tried to turn around to her brother. It was too late that. A pair of pincers suddenly caught Kanae at the waist, and for the second time she was chopped in two. The others all watched in shock and horror at seeing something suddenly kill Kanae like that. Kanae's upper half spun through the air, and she got one glimpse of what it was that killed her. Coming out of Kouta's back she saw what looked like two lower halves of a centipede. The left side of his face was now covered by a half kakuja mask. The human side still exposed hat a pure white eye, and an expression of utter rage. his single Kakugan was now moved to the center of his face. I see, so that's what you've become. Kanae thought to herself in hey dying moments. You monster. With that she closed her eyes one last time and died before even hitting the ground. The other member's of Kouta's team all just stared at him, save for Tsukiyama who had helped him.

"Eyepatch, he's a..." Amon tired to find the words but was too stunned.

"A kakuja." Shinohara finished. "It doesn't look like a complete transformation, but that's definitely a kakuja."

"What?! Since when is he a kakuja?" Kakuzawa shouted from the catwalk. After he shouted that, Kouta sent one of his centipede tails up at the catwalk. While he did not hit Kakuzawa directly, Kouta did break the section of the catwalk Kakuzawa was on. Kakuzawa came crashing down with the metal catwalk he was standing on. There was a loud crash as man and metal came crashing to floor below. Kakuzawa lived through it, however his left leg was broken. Below the knee it was twisted outwards as he was face down on the ground. He grunted in pain and tried to get himself up. He managed to get himself on his rear to sit, but when he did so he saw a horrifying sight. Kouta was now standing over him, giving Kakuzawa a looked of both madness and rage. Before Kakuzawa could begin to beg for his life, Kouta made good on his promise. He threw Kakuzawa back face down and took hold of his head. "AAAAHHH!" Kakuzawa shouted in pain and Kouta began to pull violently. Muscles could be hear stretching as Kouta tried to tear the man's head off. After a few seconds with it, there was a snap as Kakuzawa was forcefully decapitated. Kouta held the head up and glared at it in rage, wishing to further continue punishing Kakuzawa.

"Kouta-" Nana tried to approach him and question his sudden outburst of intense violence. When she tried however, Yoshimura stopped her the same way Tsukiyama had stopped Hinami. Nana looked up to the old man to see his kakuja mask was gone, and he was giving her a pained and sorrowful expression.

"Don't, you can't get close to him right now." He told her. Nana gave a confused look up to him. "The transformation into the kakuja form puts the person through a great metnal strain. Given Kouta's past, that can't lead to anything good."

"Wha-what are you saying?" Nana wanted to try and deny it.

"He's saying that isn't Kouta anymore." Shinohara confirmed it. Kouta would only help to prove the point further. He suddenly titled his head back and opened his mouth wide. He fell to his knees and bent over Kakuzawa's headless corpse. He suddenly began eating it, right in front of the others. They all looked in shock at what he had become. Crunching and chewing was heard as Kouta went at the body like an animal. Losing all sense of himself in his new transformation. For all his friends, it hit them hard. None of them wanted to believe it, but it was right in front of them. None of them were as affected by it as Lucy. She knew it was wrong, she knew Kouta was still in there somewhere. She didn't want to believe that this person before them was the same boy she fell in love with all those years ago. The same boy that eventually forgave her for murdering his family, and then begged her to stay with him.

"No... you're wrong!" Lucy suddenly ran ran forward.

"Wait!" Kuro tried to call out to stop her. It was no use. She went about half way between the others and where Kouta now was.

"Kouta..." She called gently. Kouta stopped eating the body and his head popped up. He quickly snapped around and faced her, his single kakugan focused on her. Tension rose as they were all unsure of what he would do. "Do you remember me?" She asked.

"L-Lu...cy." He managed to get out, his voice now gargled.

"Yes, that's right." She smiled and took a step closer. Kouta bent down once more and clutched his hands to either side of his head.

"Father... Kanae..." He said to himself. Lucy took another cautious step closer.

"Kouta-" He popped his head up and glared at her.

"Unforgivable!"

Lucy froze.

Those were the words she never wanted to hear, the ones she was afraid of more than anything. She couldn't bring herself to move as Kouta lunged at her. "Kill!" He shouted as he made a pass for her. He swung both of his kagune at her from each side. Lucy was only saved when Bando suddenly jumped in. He grabbed her and rolled out of the way. Both of the centipede kagune passed over his head. He landed with Lucy in his arms a few meters away.

"What are you doing just standing there you idiot?" He cussed at her. Lucy awoke from her trance when she saw Bando had saved her. The same man that not long ago would have killed her one sight now just saved her life.

"Bando? Was all she could manage to say.

"Don't mention it." He knew what she would mean. He let her on her feet and turned back to Kouta. "Hey! You have just officially gone off the deep end!" He yelled to the boy. Kouta laughed, unsettling him and everyone else. Kouta tiled his head back as far as he could to look at Bando. He had a mad man's smile on his face.

"Bannndo..." He chimed. "Let's take a walk on the beach Bando." He laughed to himself. "Twist and cut five fingers with pliers. Grab a knife and take his skin. Go on a date to the bookstore and have your insides gently scrambled." He chimed along as if it were to a tune. "What's a thousand minus seven, minus seven, minus seven, minus seven, minus seven."

"Of all the ghouls i've ever seen, this one is by far the craziest." Shinohara commented to the others. He then faced Yoshimura. "Yoshimura, you know what we have to do." The cafe owner gave a pained expression to Kouta, feeling sorry for what the boy had become.

"I can not ask my employees to turn on their friend." He replied. "But I will not stand in the way of what you have to do." He turned to the hole in the wall. "Come, let us leave this to the investigators." Yoshimura began to depart the room. The staff of Anteiku all gave sad looks at Kouta, upset that this is what he had become. They silently walked out of the room, along with Yomo and Tsukiyama. The group of people that had followed Kouta and Lucy followed them. Lucy was the last to leave, looking back as the four investigators prepared to do battle with Kouta. His half revealed faced glared at the investigators. Lucy turned from them and left with the others. When she stepped outside, she heard Yomo begin to speak.

"We should head back and regroup with the others." He suggested.

"I agree." Tsukiyama backed him up. "After all this excitement I-" He was stopped when he was suddenly slammed against the wall of the factory by an unseen force. Lucy shoved him back with her vectors, then approached him and grabbed him by the collar.

"This is all your fault!" She yelled at him. "Why would you do this to Kouta?"

"Me?" He asked in a defensive tone. "Please, this was Kouta's idea. He came to me with it."

"I don't believe you." She shot back. "Kouta would never do such a thing."

"Under normal circumstances you'd be right." He agreed. "However, he overheard a certain someone plotting against you after this was over." He eyed Kurama intently. Kurama looked a little shocked, everyone turning their heads towards him. Lucy glared at him with an intense curiosity.

"You.." She let go of Tsukiyama and faced Kurama.

"But Papa why?" Nana questioned him, feeling a little hurt he was plotting against them.

"I did what I had to." He defended. Suddenly air and dirt from the ground began to circle around Lucy, he powers flaring up.

"I should have killed you from the start." Lucy stated coldly, preparing to attack. With his goggles still on, Kurama could see her vectors starting to come out. He was only saved when Yomo stepped in the way, trying to keep Lucy in control.

"Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves." He told her. "There's nothing that can be done anymore. We need to regroup and aid in the efforts with the rest of our forces." Lucy started to calm down and her vectors powered down.

"Agreed, we should be assisting our forces elsewhere." Kuro agreed. "Let's move." The group of them ran off and spread out to help their forces elsewhere in the city. Only Lucy was left standing there. She turned back to the building and wondered what to do.

Back inside, the four investigators were going toe to toe with the berserk Kouta. Amon and Shinohara were both engaging him aggressively, trying to keep him busy while two others would attack from each side. Kiyoko and Juuzou both attacked him together with their quinques. Kouta arched his kagune up in the air to block their attacks, then snapping his kagune forward at them to counter-attack. The two investigators side stepped the attack. Mado managed to get an attack in with her bikaku whip. She cracked Kouta in the face from a distance as he was distracted by Kiyoko and Juuzou. Kouta's head snapped back and blood dripped from a slash down his face. It began to quickly heal however, and he made a b-line for Mado. Shinohara tried to stop him, slashing horizontally and spinning around as he tried to slash Kouta. Kouta jumped over his attack, doing a front flip through the air and landing behind Shinohara, just out of his range. Kouta continued on his path to Mado. Amon stepped in to intervene. He blocked Kouta's attempted attack on his partner. Kouta then backed off as quick as a flash and was gone.

"Damn, he's fast." Amon commented as Kouta gained some distance. He ran around the investigators, circling them like a hawk over its prey. He lunged at his aunt next. He brought one of his kagune down overhead. Kiyoko rolled backwards to dodge it. The second one came around to her right. When she got to her feet after rolling she turned the end of her Brynhildr down and blocked the attack. Kouta's now immensely increased strength sent her sliding back a few feet, but she still managed to hold back his attack. While she was held there, Kouta sent his other kaguen he used to strike first to try and strike her from behind. Shinohara jumped in and saved her, blocking the attack with his Demon Yamada and holding the back end of the blade. Kouta tried to scissor the two investigators in but it was no use. He was then hit in the face and below his left ribs with the two knives. Kouta recoiled his attack in response. He looked up on the catwalk to see Juuzou now up there, holding a knife between each finger. He laughed as he threw them with skill and precision at Kouta. Kouta was much faster than before however. His kakuja form gave him enhanced speed and he managed to dodge the the second set thrown at him. Juuzou threw more in front of him which Kouta was able to spin around and dodge.

"Boy, this is fun. I haven't had this much fun trying to hit a moving target in a long time." Juuzou cheered with delight. He tossed all the knives he was holding in one wide barrage of attack. Kouta jumped over them and above the catwalk Juuzou was now on. He brought his kagune down near Juuzou in order to take him down the same way he had done to Kakuzawa. Juuzou was quicker however, and managed to outrun the falling metal catwalk. He held his arms out and laughed as he did so, almost as if it was some sort of game to him. Kouta then amanged to get ahead of Juuzou, and knocked the catwalk out in front of him. Juuzou could do nothing as the part her was on began to fall from under him. The metal fell down faster and soon he was in mid air. He thought he was going to hit the ground and break both of his legs. Instead, there was a quick blur as someone caught him in the air and saved him. The next thing Juuzou knew, he was in Shinohara's arms. Shinohara set the boy back down on his feet.

"That was a close one." Shinohara sighed with relief that Juuzou was alright.

"Special Class Shinohara, you saved me." Juuzou was surprised.

"Of course I did. Someone needs to look out for you out in the field." He smiled down at his partner. Juuzou was surprised by this act of kindness at first, something we not at all familiar with. He gave his partner a warm, heart-felt smile back. They were then reminded that they were currently in the middle of a fight. Kouta came down upon Shinohara and elbowed him on the top of his head. Shinohara gave a brief look of surprise before his eyes rolled back and he fell down face first, knocked out right there. Juuzou's smile vanished as he watched his partner get take down.

"Special Class Shinohara!" Kiyoko yelled as she now rushed in. Kouta sent both centipede kagune at her. She held the blade of her sword sideways to block. Kouta moved in quick to attack with his fists. He punched her in the stomach, stunning her and taking her into the air a bit. He then hit her again with his left hand and sent her even higher, then again with his right once more. He finished his combo with a roundhouse, lifting his right leg high and kicking Kiyoko in the ribs as she was in mid air. She was sent off spiraling and landed against one of the production lines. She was too beaten to get back up. When Kouta was focused on her, Juuzou rushed back in for a sneak attack from behind. He held three knives in each hand and intended to use them, to get back at Kouta for hurting the man that just saved him. When he went in for the kill, Kouta suddenly vanished in a flash. Juuzou was surprised to see Kouta suddenly, vanish and had to time to process that Kouta was now behind him. Kouta hit him from behind with one of his rinkaku and sent Juuzou flying forward. He landed face down farther away.

Mado was more successful with her sneak attack. She stabbed her koukaku sword straight through Kouta below his shoulder. Kouta yelped in pain and held his head back. The wound clsoed up around Mado's sword and she was unable to remove it. Kouta lashed out against her, hitting her with his kagune too. Mado flew threw air and tried to stabilize herself, flipping with it and trying to land on her feet. She landed at an awkward angle however and sprained her ankle. She fell down from the pain and hat to sit down. Kouta went in to finish her off while she was injured. Amon jumped in the way again and pushed him back with his kagune. Kouta slid back a few feet.

"NO!" Amon shouted. "I already lost one partner, I won't lose anyone else!" He stated fearlessly as he was about to engage the kakjua Kouta. Mado was shocked to see him so suddenly defensive. "Mado, you stay back. I'll take care of this." He told her. Amon readied himself and Kouta glared at him. Amon was going to have to take on this powerful, now SS-Rank ghoul all alone. But he had to do it, he had to protect Mado. He would not allow his partner to die in the line of action again while he went on to fight another day. He prepared for an intense battle.

"Kill..." Kouta managed to get out. "I am.. A GHOUL!" He was about to attack.

Before he could do that, Amon saw Lucy lunge at Kouta. She grabbed him around the neck and tackled him to the ground. Kouta was too late to stop her, and she two of them slid a foot. Lucy was now on top of him, Kouta glared up at her. His two kakuja kagune went above her and were poised to strike from above.

"Lucy!" Amon shouted, trying to get her to move before Kouta killed her. He was about to, his kagune were readied to do it. But something stopped him.

"Stop it!" Lucy pleaded, shaking him and slamming him and slamming him against the ground. "Stop it, stop it, please stop this!" She continued to plead through frantic tears. "No more, no more!"

Kouta's kagune stopped as they were readied above her. They suddenly began to retract and disappear. Amon watched in surprise as Kouta suddenly began to calm down and cease his attack. Kouta's mask began to dissolve, the pupils in his eyes returning. As his mask began to dissolve away, his expression was now a blank stare.

Is this what it's come to? He thought to himself. The vivid memories of him doing the same to Lucy all those years ago ran through his head. Him frantically pleading for her to stop killing, the blood of his sister still on his face. The two of us switching places in this. Why did it come down to this? Lucy continued to beg and cry for him to stop and revert back to his normal self. Kouta reach up with his right arm and pushed her off to his side. She was now sitting next to him, tears still on her face as Kouta began to sit up next to her.

"Kouta?" She asked, wanting to make sure he returned to his normal self.

"Lucy... i'm so sorry." He apologized. "I don't know what came over me. I just wanted to protect everyone, and then..." He suddenly began to choke out sobs. Kouta leaned his head in towards Lucy and rested it on her right shoulder. "Lucy, help me." He cried into her. Tears fell down his face and onto both of them as he began to regret what he had done. Lucy, put her hands around the back of his head and held him like that. Kouta continued to cry into her, the only comfort he could find at the time. Kiyoko started to get back up, and she looked over to the two of them in awe. Lucy had calmed Kouta down, and now he was crying. Amon and Mado just watched them, nothing more they could do to help. The only sound in the room for awhile was Kouta's grief as Lucy held him close.

A few hours later, and the battle was over. The entire enemy forces all lay dead throughout the city. There was much destruction all through the northern front, but humanity would continue on. Kakuzawa was dead, his army was defeated. Ayato was in CCG custody and would be held in the Ghoul Detention Center in the 23rd Ward. Two armed CCG men were walking him into the back of an armored truck, the sole prisoner of this affair. The doors were closed behind him after he was put inside the truck and it speed off into the early night. Soldiers were still busy and rushing around, trying to get a count of how many were lost, moving the dead, and debriefing their superiors. Kouta was sitting down in parking lot against one of the unmarked SUV's He had a blanket wrapped around him, and Lucy sitting beside him. Kouta reflected on his past decisions, and what to do with his future.

"Hey, there you are." His thoughts were interrupted when Touka approached them. Kouta gave her a pained look, then stared back down at the ground.

"Touka... i'm sorry." He said weakly.

"Hey, don't be like that. We're all just glad you got out of there alive." She told him. "That was a pretty stupid thing for you to do though, you know that?" Kouta didn't answer her.

"Kouta." Yoshimura now approached him too. Kouta looked up to the old coffee shop manager. "We're all just glad safe. Please, don't be too rough on yourself." He told the boy.

"It seems like you had quite and interesting day." Kouta was now greeted by the Tsuneyoshi Washuu, the CCG Chairman. Kouta stood up when he approached. Kotua saw that Shinohara was behind him, a bandage on top of his head.

"Yeah, you could say that." Kouta replied.

"First you enter a battle for the fate of humanity, then you are forced to kill your reanimated sister, then you become a kakuja. Sounds like you've been through quite a lot." Kouta looked down, feeling a bit disheartened.

"I'm really sorry, for everything I did." Kouta apologized.

"What's done is done, the important thing is we won today thanks to you. You have my gratitude, along with the rest of my men." Tsuneyoshi thanked him. "But I have to ask, what will you do now? Will you go back to Kamakura now, or continue to live in the 20th Ward?" Kouta continued to keep his head down for a moment to think. "It is alright if you can not answer, I do not blame you."

"I... I've made up my mind." Kouta spoke up. He looked the Chairman dead in the eye with complete seriousness with what he said next. "I want to join the CCG." This caught the others around him by surprise when he said that. "Because if the CCG is really learning to live and work with ghouls now, then I want to help. I want to use my powers to help people from now on."

"Well now, there was an answer I was not expecting." The Chairman replied. "But if that is what you wish, I see no reason to deny you of that." Kouta smiled at the old man. He then turned aroudn and offered a hand down to Lucy.

"How about it Lucy, will you still stay with me like you promised?" He asked.

"Yes." She reached up and took his hand, using his help to get to to her feet. "I want to come with you. I want to join the CCG too." Kouta smiled at her and she smiled back. The memory of their first meeting warmed both of their hearts in that moment. Now the two of them would become CCg Investigators in order to try an help reform the CCG in order for humans and ghouls to live together.

Three years later...

Rank 1 Investigator Lucy was standing over the body of ghoul victim in a park. She was currently dressed in black business attire with a black trench coat over it. The victim was a woman in her early 20s, she had her torso removed, leaving only her limbs and head. A sight that would make even a few investigator's stomachs churn, but not Lucy. She had grown up with this kind of violence, it was nothing new to her. Even when she started working as a Rank 3 Investigator after joining with Kouta she was unflinching at the levels of brutality she had seen. There was definitely a change from a few years ago too. More and more ghouls were being brought in alive or rehabilitated and taught how to live peacefully with humans. the 20th ward was still the safest spot, having a ghoul attack rate of 0% now. That ward was now considered a safe haven for ghouls trying to blend into human life, and a large number of them moved in after the battle three years ago. Lucy and Kouta still lived there, but in their own apartment now. The others had went their separate ways after the battle. Nana moved back in with the others at Maple Inn, explaining that Kouta and Lucy were staying in Tokyo to further help out. Kurama and Mariko moved into a house together in Kamakura. After all those years he would finally be the father to her that she deserved. Bando became a freelance mercenary, working for all sorts of people all over the world. No one knew what happened to Kuro after the battle. She rejoined the rest of the forces at Saseba and nothing more was heard on that front. Kouta and Lucy would often visit their friends at Anteiku, keeping close with them. For the first week of every June, the two of them would go down to visit everyone at Maple House, stayign there for that week. It was the one week where they all felt like a family shared stories, laughed, and all had a good time.

But now Lucy was out where the cruel reality of the world was facing her. A this was the 5th victim that had been torn apart in such a manner. meaning there was another feral ghoul loose somewhere in the city.

"Another one huh?" Lucy looked to her right to see her partner, First Class Kouta standing next to her. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, with a beige trench coat open overtop of that. The natural dark brown color in his hair had fully returned now and he was a bit taller than he was three years ago.

"Yeah, this makes the fifth victim to be torn up this way." She told him.

"The Torso ghoul. He's becoming quite a problem."

"First Class, Rank 1!" They heard a voice call from behind. Rank 3 Tooru Mutsuki came running up to them. He was a Quinx, and human-ghoul hybrid created in the CCG's lab. Kouta and Lucy served as mentors to Quinx Squad, and had become close with the whole squad.

"Hmm, what is it Tooru?" Kouta asked. Tooru needed a moment to catch his breath.

"It's Rank 3 Urie sir, he and Rank 3 Shirazu believe they have found Torso and are in hot pursuit." Tooru reported in. Kouta sighed.

"Those two again? I guess we better go help them out." Kouta replied with a sense of irritation. He began to walk off as Tooru ran away to the car they arrivied in. Lucy took one last look at the victim.

Hypocrite! Her inner voice cursed her. It was something she had not heard in a long time. You know you're only helping humans who hunt down what they consider monsters. Just like they did to you.

I know that. She respond within her own mind. I've even experienced they brutality humans have inflected upon such kind. But I want to help Kouta, so i'm content here. It's not a perfect dream, but it's my place in this world. She looked down at the small metal band on her ring finger. Lucy then turned away from the scene to join her fiancee and Rank 3 Mutsuki to go aid Q Squad in the Torso investigation.