The race back to the cafe seemed like an undercover operation to the small group as they slid down alley ways and jumped from roof to roof. They could see doves on the grounds below running in the direction that they were coming from, shouting 'The report came from this way.' and 'Quick! Hurry!'.
"It's over here guys. Let's go through the back, it's probably safer."
Landing to the door before anyone else, Kaneki threw it open - almost off the hinges, pushing Rima inside first before ushering the others in after her. Once inside Kaneki made sure to lock and dead bolt the back door. It wouldn't exactly stop any doves from getting inside but it would give them enough time to get an upper hand.
As Bo finally let go of Ryo, she watched as Kanae was quick to jump off Nishiki's back and make way towards Tsukiyama as he set Choutaru down on a couch.
"Move out of the way! Let me see him!"Kanae shouted, pushing aside Tsukiyama as she knelt next to her brother. She didn't even care that she was ordering around a ghoul that could kill her in a heartbeat. All she cared about was her brother."His breathing gotten even more shallow! We need to get him to a hospital!"
"We can't take him to a hospital."Nishiki disagreed.
Kanae whipped her head around to glare at him, tears beginning to build up as she realised she was going to lose her brother for real."What do you mean we can't take him to the hospital?"She tried to put as much authority into her voice as she could to sound threatening, but her voice cracked almost instantly.
Nishiki breathed heavily out of his nose, trying to responded in a way that wouldn't cause Kanae to freak out anymore."I don't know if you guys know this but your faces have been plastered all around the city. Doves are looking for you everywhere. Do you really think they won't do anything when they see you guys in a hospital?"
His reason made kanae's shoulders slump."But he's going to die..."
Tsukiyama took off his mask and looked over to Kaneki."I'm sure Banjou could fix him up just like he did to that blonde dove."Rima's ears picked up at the mention of Banjou, and blonde dove, but she didn't say anything."We may get him there just in time. It's up to you, Kaneki-kun. Do you wish to risk going out there right now."
All eyes turned onto Kaneki, and Kanae stood up from off the floor. She pitifully made her way over to him tearfully, bowing her head.
"Please Kaneki.. you said you would save my brother - not for my sake, but for his... please don't let him die.."The tears she tried holding back fell as she realized her brothers life laid in the hands of a man that hated her.
"It's not safe for us to go out right now, Kaneki. You know by now doves are going to be crawling across the city looking for us."Nishiki tried to dissuade. He really didn't feel like being in the same room as a dead human, but he also didn't feel like dying by going out. He was still recovering from the fight with Eto.
"I don't know.."Kaneki finally spoke, his time low. He frowned when he heard Kanae choke back a sob.
"Kaneki-nii-san... we can't risk going."Bo agreed with Nishiki, knowing that carrying Choutaru would slow them down. It was a miracle they didn't get caught coming back to the cafe.
"Please Kaneki, please..."She held her hands together like she was praying for him.
This was tough. Both Tsukiyama and Nishiki were right. They could probably get Choutaru to Banjou in time to save his life, but would they even make it there. CCG Investigators were probably hiding around every corner, following Furuta's command to find and kill them.
Kaneki's eyes shifted over to Rima, seeing her eyes locked into Choutaru.
And then there's Rima. There was no way in hell he was going to put Rima's life back in danger. No way! And he wasn't going to leave her by herself again while he went and took Choutaru himself.
This was a lose - lose situation for him.
It was all down to saving Choutaru, or possibly killing himself, everyone else - including Choutaru.
"Dammit!"Kaneki suddenly cursed, his hands going to his hair.
"Kaneki-kun.."Rima whispered sensing his anxiety, and placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort."Calm down."
"I don't know what to do though. I don't want to risk going out there again."Kanae's clenched her fists and held back more tears,"But.. Choutaru.. I can't let him die either."
Rima nodded slowly, her eyes falling downward as she thought hard.."Then I'll go. I'll take him to Banjou. Just tell me-"
"No!"
"Kaneki-kun!?"
Kaneki shook his head."I'm not letting you leave my sight. You're not going alone."
"But all of this is my fault anyways. I can't let Choutaru die."
"No. I'm not letting you go."
Rima felt her face contort into anger, ripping her hand away from Kaneki's shoulder. Turning her body away, she began pacing back and forth. Her emotions were all in a twist, but she knew that Choutaru had to live.
Rima remembered fighting Choutaru last night, and she remembered feeling nothing towards his pain. Honestly, at the moment she still didn't really feel anything towards him being on the verge of death, or the fact that she inflicted it on him, only that she knew it was her fault and she had to fix it. It was a weird thing to explain. Rima didn't feel remorse for causing Choutaru pain, but she knew that she had to do something for him. Like she was obligated to do it for his life.
"We're loosing time."Tsukiyama spoke up. Having moved closer to Choutaru, he noticed his chest only moving one every so often. His skin was now an almost translucent white.
"Kaneki?.."Kanae begged.
Kaneki swallows down a lump as he looked at Rima's back. Why did it have to be Choutaru? Why did it have to be someone that he knew personally? Everyone but Nishiki and Bo was against them letting Choutaru die, but it wasn't like Kaneki wanted him dead. He owed it to him. Choutaru did keep Rima safe for him while they were apart.
"Ugh!"Kaneki groaned, finally giving in."Fine! But we have to move as quickly and as silently as possible. If any doves catch us.. it'll be over.."
Kanae let out a cry of happiness, falling to her knees."Thank you, thank you, thank you!"She cried at his feet.
Bo shook her head and crossed her arms. Ryo just studied the scene before him. His eyes were mostly trained on Rima.
Kaneki looked down at her with a frown still present."I just want you to know Kanae, Choutaru still may not make it."Kanae's ears perked up."Even if we make it there, his body might reject the procedure."
Her expression turn soft, and a sad smile appeared."Just trying is enough."
Kaneki turned to a quiet angry Nishiki, and a shocked Tsukiyama."Grab him and let's get going."They both nodded.
Turning again to face Rima, Kaneki walked up behind her - seeing as she had stopped pacing - and put his hands on her shoulders to gain her attention.
"Rima-Chan... I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't mean it."
Rima exhaled heavily and shook her head. She still didn't turn around to look at him."I'm not mad at you."
"Then why aren't you looking at me? We're leaving, aren't you happy?"
There was a moment of hesitation. Rima turned her head, but didn't look at Kaneki. Instead, her eyes locked into Choutaru's pale face.
"That's what I'm angry about.."
"What?"
*BANG BANG BANG*
Everyone jumped out of their skins, Kanae gasping quietly while all the guys took up defensive stances. Kaneki took a step towards the door as it shook again as whoever was on the other side started hitting it.
Kaneki gave Nishiki a side eyed glance to white the glasses wearing ghoul nodded.
"Who is it?"Nishiki called out.
"Wolf-sama! One-eyed king! Please let us in!"
Bo's eyes widened."That's the Twins! Kio and Keio! Let them in!"
Running over to the door, Bo unlocked the door and swung it open. Not even giving the twins time to react, she grabbed them both by the front of their shirts and yanked them inside. Stumbling over their feet the twins landed in a heap in the middle of the room.
Kaneki rose a brow."You Guys? Where were you guys at?"He question as they slowly untangled themselves.
"Yeah. How come you guy weren't at the fight? I didn't see you guys around anywhere?"Nishiki crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the two ghouls.
Kio was the first to gain courage under the intense stares of everyone.
"W-we were following you guys.. but when we reached the construction site place.. and w-we saw that huge ghoul.."Kio looked to his brother, his cheeks red."We ended up hiding.."
Tsukiyama couldn't hold back the chuckle that came out. Bo closed her eyes as her fists clenched and a tick mark formed on her temple.
"So you guys really decided to hide right when the going went tough, huh?"
The twins clutched onto each other as the young ghoul approached. A smirk formed on Ryo's face as he turned his attention on Bo.
"You idiots!"Bo yelled, giving the two brother a devastating punch to the tops of their heads."How dare you leave us!"
"We're sorry!"The twins cried as Bo kept delivering punch after punch on them."We promise we won't do it again!"
Nishiki tolled his eyes and turned towards Kaneki."Are we just gonna let the guy die still?"
Kaneki's eyes widened and he shook his head."No. Come on let's go!"
"Go where?"Keio wondered.
Tsukiyama was the first one out the door. Nishiki followed after him with Kanae on his back, with Ryo, Bo, and the twins following him. The last two to leave were Kaneki and Rima.
Kaneki grabbed onto her hand locking their fingers together. He was happy that she finally looked up to him.
"Come on. Let's go home."Kaneki offered Rima a small smile.
Rima blinked twice before stepping closer.
"Home?"
Kaneki nodded,"Yes.. home.."
At the Underground City Base...
After following a tunnel for awhile and coming out into a humongous opening, Rima's mouth opened slightly as she took in the sight. It was like what Kaneki had said - it looked like an underground city. Or the ruins of an underground city to be more correct. Huge mountains of scrap metals and trash filled a majority of the large clearing, along with the broken down buildings of what one looked like apartments.
"Woah.."Kanae muttered as Nishiki dropped her to her feet.
"If I had known you guys were hiding down here..."Bo shook her head. Ryo lingered by her side but look back to Kaneki.
"You said there were more people down here... where are they?"
"Banjou!"Kaneki called out, using his free hand that wasn't holding Rima's to cup around his mouth."Banjou! Quick, we need you!"
"Bakaneki!"
"Onii-san!"
"Touka-chan. Hinami-chan."Kaneki greeted the two girls as they suddenly appeared out from behind a pile of scrap. Rima's eyes widened and she took a step back as far she could with Kaneki holding her hand as they approached. Hinami ran full force into Kaneki's chest, hugging him tightly as Touka stopped infront of them."Touka-chan, where's Banjou at?"
Touka nodded in greeting."He's back down in the cellars with Kimi-san."
"Kimi is still here?"Nishiki didn't bother waiting for a reply. He took off in a lazy jog, disappearing where Touka and Hinami had appeared.
"Why?"Touka added.
Kaneki turned toward Tsukiyama, nodding his head towards where are the building were."Go bring him to Banjou. Tell him to do everything he can to fix him up."
Tsukiyama nodded."Of course."
"I'm going with you!"Kanae exclaimed, blindly following after the purple haired ghoul as he went behind Nishiki.
Bo turned toward Ryo."Lets go find a place to sit and talk. You have a lot of explaining to do."Grabbing onto Ryo's sleeve, she began dragging him toward the small 'city'.
That now left Kaneki, Rima, Hinami, and Touka.
Feeling Rima trying to step away, Kaneki turned his attention into her, tugging her back gently. She looked up at him cautiously.
"What are you doing back there? Let's go see everybody."Kaneki's voice was sweet, and now that they were back in the safety of their hideout, he relaxed his shoulders.
Touka's eyes widened as she looked over at Rima."Rima? That's you!?"She raised a hand to cover her mouth.
Hinami's ears perked up and she lifted her head from Kaneki's chest, her eyes widening as she looked up at Rima's surprised expression.
"O-onee-chan?"Hinami stuttered, a few tears building up.
And faster then lightening, Hinami was clutching onto Rima's waist, her head resting against her chest.
"Oh onee-chan! You don't know how happy I am that you're here! I've cried every night hoping that onii-san would find you and bring you home. I was so scared that something bad had happened to you! Tsukiyama-San kept saying you weren't going to come back, but I knew he was just teasing me! Touka-Chan always has to hit him to make him shut up! I knew onii-san would find you again!"
Hinami didn't even try to hold her tears back as she cried into Rima. Her hands had clutched onto the back of her shirt, and she didn't look like she wanted to ever let go.
Rima's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and she looked to Kaneki for help. The only help she got was him covering his mouth as he laughed.
Biting her bottom lip and looking up, Hinami's soft, tears brown eyes looked into Rima's marble blue eyes.
"Onee-chan? Aren't you going to say anything?"She sniffled.
It was a second before Rima could find the words to reply.
And it wasn't what they were expecting.
"You.. you've gotten so tall Hinami-chan.."
Hinami, Kaneki, and Touka all looked at Rima as she looked at Hinami. The dead silence made Rima look up and frown.
"W-what?"Rima complained, her cheeks red.
All three of them burst out into laughter. Touka walked up to Rima and placed a hand on her shoulder. She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye.
"It's good to finally have you back Rima-chan. It's been long passed due."
Rima's eyes softened and she placed a shaky hand on Hinami's head."Yeah.. it been way to long.."She agreed.
"Come on then. Let's go meet everybody!"Hinami giggles. She stepped back and grabbed onto Rima's other hand, and began dragging her towards the city.
Rima turned and looked at Kaneki again as he let go of her hand, walking behind them with Touka. He only laughed some more as Hinami began talking 90 to nothing, the two disappearing.
Touka kept even pace with Kaneki as they followed the two, crossing her arms lazily over her chest.
"She dyed her hair?"She questioned.
Kaneki rubbed the back of his neck."Yeah.. it threw me off too."He agreed."Makes her look a lot different."
"She seems a lot different too... a lot more reserved."Touka pointed out.
The smile Kaneki has dropped."Theres a lot of stuff that happened to Rima-chan these past few months.. a lot of stuff we don't know about.."Kaneki's mind went to Rima and how she was when he first found her. He didn't want to say anything to Touka about it though.".. and it's been awhile since we've all been back together.. I could see why she's being quiet."
Touka nodded slowly."Well, if anything, I'm glad she's back. It felt lonely without her."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Our little group feels complete with her."
"Our family."Touka corrected with a chuckle.
Kaneki copies her chuckle."Yeah, Sorry. Our family."He smiles softly.
"Come on. Let's go catch up."