Kaneki being her responsibility was something she expected, given that she was the only one who knew of his unique situation thus far. The manager only knew the bare details, and she would guess that the old ghoul was too smart to share this information with anyone. 

Kaneki Ken beating his head against the wall into a bloody pulp was never what she expected to come from this situation. Stabbing him again was always an option. Yet, Rize always saw herself as being one above the violence, with the violent demeanour only serving to punctuate her point. However, with Kaneki being violent and unreasonable, her words don’t seem to mean much to the young man. 

“Kaneki. You may hate ghouls, but you are a ghoul, instead of hurting yourself and denying your own existence. Try to simply live.” She attempted to implore. However, she always did forget that not everyone lived and let live like her.

His banging didn’t stop. Perhaps it only worsened, morality and the realisation that he had committed murder seemed to weigh upon him endlessly. It was an unspoken agreement that both of them honoured. The murder was not to be mentioned. The corpse was still in the bathroom. The blood was still on his shirt. The entrails were simply drier and smelled much more pungent. 

Time was supposed to wipe away the sin, instead it only seemed to reinforce the existence of the sin. 

“Rize-san, if I can’t die, I can’t refuse to participate in death either? Do you not see the cruelty?” this was almost a plea. To die so he would not have to be part of death.

A slap echoed across the room.

“Get over yourself.” An angered look on his bloodied face was all she could register. Yet the indignant tone seemed to shock the youth into submission.

“You feel sorry for yourself and want to die. Why didn’t you, Jason gave you a way out.” she paused. Hoping her message would sink in. 

“How could I simply resign when I had something to live for?” he shot back, almost instantly, this time with much more fervour in his tone. 

The accusation rung in the air. 

“Ghouls aren’t worthy of life then.” she stated, almost rhetorically. 

Then understanding dawned on the young man, however retracting his words at this point would be far too late.

“I’m sorry.” he said solemnly.

The deafening silence simply permeated the air for the time being, almost reminding the whole universe of the tension that exists in moments of emptiness. Then with a thundering whisper, it broke. 

“No, no you are not.” her anger was almost permeable, yet this was not the anger that flashed across the heavens, letting all know of its presence, it was a simmering feeling disappointment. 

What followed surprised the half ghoul even more than the anger itself. “Then die for all I care.” he heard much more clearly than he would have liked. 

She left. The door shaking on its hinges due to the strength that it was slammed with.

—

The gall he had, with which he mocked her. It was infuriating. Every scrap, the hunger, the danger, the despair. She finally had a life she wanted, abundance, splendour, companionship? Instead he claims that she is not worth anything that she had fought for inch by inch to obtain. 

It is exactly the poverty of the ghouls and supposed superiority of the humans that infuriated her. Being born into an assortment of safety and wonder, never having to worry about going hungry. 

Yet a voice in her head, a quiet voice, compared to her anger in the very least. It keeps reminding her that he has no way of empathising or even understanding her pain. Just like she has no way to understand and empathise with his. 

What she was missing whilst she walked was the orange haired stalker who was determined to find out more about his friend. 

“Rize-san!” he shouted, “Wait! I need to ask you about Kaneki” however, she paid him no heed. Like any nuisance, hopefully he would leave with time. Instead he simply got louder and much more persistent.

“Rize-san! I won’t tell anyone. I promise” this time she paused, looking at him with the coolest expression  he had ever seen. 

“and what do you know?” her stare showing no tolerance for this conversation before it even saw the light of day. 

“But it wouldn’t be alright to speak of this here.” He pointed to the other people conspiratorially. However, his following statement surprised her by the extent of the information he wielded,. 

“I saw what happened at the elevator”

All her doubts were erased, now the choice of whether or not someone or something else needed to be erased summarily dawned on her. 

Yet, that thought died as quickly as it was born, the old man whom she knew the boy sought made sure of it. Even from a distance, his authority only served to make her life much more confusing and difficult, perhaps it was a necessity. After all, one cannot simply live in joy and bliss all of the time. 

–

Arima was going over the reports of ghouls for the ward, since he temporarily stationed himself here. His responsibility being a major priority. His secondary purpose known only to himself was also a major motivation for scouring even the lesser known wards for a worthy candidate. 

Thus, when the report of a missing person in one of the local apartments came in for this ward. He was surprised, wasn’t that the same building in which a victim of a local ghoul attack had lived?

“Takizawa. I’m going out to investigate” he stated calmly

“Yes! Of course! I’ll notify Houji-san.” the young subordinate stuttered out to the legend.

This order of business would need to be resolved soon, and Arima had a creeping suspicion that things were not as they seemed. 

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