Chapter 46: a dark reunion

"Wait, so you guys are working on creating synthetic me… human flesh for ghouls to sustain themselves on instead of hunting humans?" Ken immediately asked while Hide took a closer look at the whiteboard behind her. On the board was a bunch of simple explanations, formulas, graphs, and drawings giving a very simplistic overview of the project. Maria smiled at him with a playfully smug face and replied, "Yep. We have been working on this for a few years now. Still haven't come out with a workable product but I know that if we keep it up we will eventually figure it out. Science is always progressing forward after all."

"It's brilliant!" Hide suddenly exclaimed. "I mean yeah, I don't get how it works but the important thing is that if this works, it could change everything." He then turned to look Ken straight in the eyes and said, "If this succeeds then it could be possible for ghouls to be accepted in society or at least not be hunted for simply existing. It could open a whole new door for human-ghoul relations. To something better." Hide flashed his teeth at Ken in one of his trademark smiles. Seemingly content with his vision of such a future.

But Ken bit his lip at the idea. To him, a person who had not just lived through but contributed to the darkness that was ghoul society, this sounded like nothing more than a fantasy. A happy fairy tale mothers could tell their children so that they could have hope for a future that would never come. Even if it did work and synthetic meat was possible would that really fix everything. What about the festering hatred and loss that both sides had occurred over the centuries? Or the small fact that many ghouls were tied to some part of the Tokyo underworld in some fashion; from working for organized crime to simply dealing in stolen goods and robbery. Some sins couldn't simply be forgiven just because the person could live properly from now on. Justice wasn't that simple. If it was, then it wouldn't have been the reason that his family was destroyed all those years ago.

Ken looked down at his booklet again. The exact same as the one Hide was now leafing through. He noticed the title included the CCG and their maximum security ghoul prison by name. So he asked Maria, "The CCG is funding this right? Why would they care about this? Wouldn't they be more interested in investing in say, a poison to kill ghouls with a single breath or some super bullets to shoot them to death?"

Maria's face became slightly more down casted as she scratched one of her elbows nervously. "Yeah, the CCG is the main backer for this project. With the rest coming from some interested private individuals and corporations or from other government organizations like the health bureau." Maria turned from the boys; looking over the whiteboard. "There are various reasons to support this project actually. For some its simply the thrill of research. Even if this doesn't lead to anything of practical use, they see it as something interesting or fun to do. Others, like the director here, are more into it for the notoriety and possible fame for succeeding in something no other research has been able to do before.

As for the reasons that major backers are supporting us, there are probably three primary reasons.

The first are those who, like me want to use this research as a way to bridge the gap. Maybe so that ghouls will finally be allowed to the right to live and walk around openly. Or maybe simply so that we can lessen the death toll from ghouls who don't want to kill. These backers' and researchers' goal is to create a suitable substitute for human flesh for ghouls.

The second reason would be those who want to use the research for other fields. After all we are getting into some high level biology and clinical chemistry so we are bound to make discovers that could make impacts in the other research projects. In fact, the largest backer after the CCG is a pharmaceutical company looking into our research for anything they can use in their project to create a treatment for ROS or RC over secretion disease. Controlled replication of RC cells is part of our research actually. And we have at least one ROS expert here working on mimicking the disease in order to replicate the damn things. Its surprising how hard they are to create in a lab."

Maria took a deep breath before turning to face Ken and Hide again. "The last group, led obviously by the CCG, is interested in using this research for help them in their work of eliminating ghouls from the country. They see this as a both a way to easily get food for their dungeon and easy cheap way to get the ingredients to mass produce things like quinque steel and RC suppressants. There is even talk that this could let them mass produce quinques. The things they have stashed in their silver briefcases to fight ghouls. Since a lot of their useful equipment is made either from farmed ghoul flesh and blood or from highly inefficient and expensive artificial procedures, they are jumping at the bit for something that promises them cheap production. Some feel that this could allow them to mass produce enough quinques to supply not just the burea investigators but even the police or hand them out to the citizenry. So that anyone could defend themselves in a ghoul attack."

'There's the humanity I know. Always go for the easiest most violent method.' Ken thought. He was knocked out of such thoughts by Hide when he punched him in the arm rather hard for a human. "Don't be such a downer Ken. Sure some people probably don't like the idea but there are plenty who do to. You should see the amount of fanart and fics for some high level ghouls. Eyepatch probably already has terabytes of the stuff on him. Of course people would be willing to give peace a chance. Ghouls deserve to live too. Its common decency. Only a real monster would want to continue this slaughter when peace is possible right?" Ken nodded. But a small part of his mind whispered that it didn't want this either. To give peace a chance and let bygones be bygones with the people ruined his happy little world as a child. Was he a true monster then?

Maria cleared her throat. With both Ken's and Hide's attention back on her, Maria began to explain the actual program. Despite almost falling asleep a few times during the rather more technical parts of the description, they both listened to the entire description. At the end Maria asked, "So ready to see the lab?"

Back at Anteiku, the two Kaneki twins were on break. There weren't many customers currently so they both sat down at one of the empty tables finishing up a nice cup of Anteiku's best to enjoy. Shiro took in the enticing smell before taking another sip. She just wanted to rest and relax right now.

The sight of her mother's book had been a slightly harrowing experience. Though she was happy that they now had a copy of it and it brought back so many happy memories, it also brought with it thoughts on that dark night and the fact that they had never truly been allowed to mourn their family. They had heard from others that there were CCG personnel by their family grave for months after the raid in the hopes that the children would miss their mother enough to come to her final resting place. She also remembered the plotline of this story and a part of her wanted to blame their mother for the CCG discovering them. She had heard their big brother blaming himself but that didn't explain everything about the raid. If it was just him then the CCG probably would have just sent some lower ranked doves. And not as many. They had to have suspected something beforehand to feel it necessary to send an entire assault team after a single family of ghouls.

Shiro shook her head to clear these dark thoughts away. She wanted to only think about the happy memories. Like Kuro seemed to be. The black haired copy of her was still smirking happily while looking over the harlequin romance cover of said book. Her grin was already becoming annoying enough for the white haired girl to seriously wonder about just smacking it off of her face. Kuro took another sip as well, finishing her cup of coffee, before her face suddenly turned grim and she then asked her sister, "Do you think… that mom and dad… would be happy? With how we have lived? What we've done? They wouldn't… be… disappointed in us? Would they?" Currently, only other ghouls were in the café so Shiro and Kuro didn't need to watch their words.

Shiro didn't answer immediately. The question had taken her by surprise. Kuro never was rather forward times after all. She tried her best to truly rebuke her sister's fears. She found herself unable to have a definite answer though. Shiro eventually said to Kuro, "Of course they would. We haven't done anything we should be ashamed over. We only did what we had to. To survive. If it's anything, it's the doves' fault for what we did. We wouldn't have had to do any of that stuff if it wasn't for them murdering our parents." But she couldn't ignore the kernel of doubt that still weighed in her mind. It must have shown in her face or her words as her sister only gave her a sad smile and replied with a sad little, "Is that so?" before lowering her head.

The girls were saved from their morose thoughts when the manager placed two fresh, piping hot cups of coffee made by him personally on the table for them. "Manager?" Kuro asked; confused by what's going on. The old man warmly looked down on the two girls and pushed them each one of the cups. "Sorry you two. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I must say that is something I wouldn't expect to hear asked in the middle of my coffee shop. Quite the heavy conversation to have in public." Shiro looked around and noticed that everyone was peeking at them with either interest or pity in their eyes. She panicked. Now afraid that they had done something inappropriate. "Sorry Yoshimura. We didn't mean to upset the customers. Talking about something so personal here was a mistake." Kuro as well added, "Sorry for bringing it up. I won't do it again."

But Yoshimura only waved them off. "Don't worry about it. I think it's better than just bottling up your worries and fears. Do so is like a poison for the soul. If you don't face it eventually it will consume and destroy. So go ahead and talk about it." Kuro smiled a bit at the man. Just having him there made her feel better. She wondered if this was what it would have felt like to have had a grandfather on their father's side of the family. "But if I may, could I express my opinion on what you just asked?" Yoshimura requested. Both girls nodded as they reached for the cup he had given them. A cup from him was a great gift indeed.

Yoshimura place a hand on both of their shoulders as they both sipped the delicious brew. He waited for both of their eyes to be upon him before he continued. "I feel that you two have nothing to worry about. No parent could truly be upset at their children for doing what they had to do. I feel that your mother and father would understand. In fact, I feel that they would be proud of you three."

"Proud of us?" Kuro asked with hope in her voice. "Of course they would. You three have seen the darkness of our world and turned away from it. Even now you try to live your lives as best and peaceful as possible. It would have been so easy for you two, as well as your brother, to have allowed yourselves to wallow in that darkness forever and become monsters. Instead you have fought it. And, though it may be too bold of me to say, when I look at you and how you two have grown such much in these last couple years you've been here, into such beautiful young ladies with bright futures ahead of you, I can't help but find myself proud of you as well." Both girls started to cry. They hugged the older man who held the both them like grandchildren. "Thank you, Yoshimura-ojiisan. So much."

Ken found the tour interesting. He didn't understand half of it. Even with Maria's "easy to understand" explanations. Still what he did understand was fascinating. It seemed that they were close to their goal. But they had been stuck here for the last few years actually. "So the RC cells are the primary problem with your synthetic flesh program?" Hide asked as they walked to through the lab. "Correct," Maria answered. "The damn things are a pain to replicate synthetically. For some reason we can't copy how the body does for some reason. Hell, we still aren't sure if ghouls have greater amounts of RC cells due to naturally growing them faster or if they get them from the humans they consume. And while some experiments, both ours and those from other organizations have been able to grow human flesh in the lab in small amounts. But without the RC cells added to them, it's like wax fruit. Looks tasty but no substance. It's gotten bad enough that one of the labs in America shifted its focus to creating a chemical blocker for the enzyme that doesn't let them process human food. Though I hear they are having even less progress then we are there." Hide frowned a bit. "I see," he replied. "What if you…" and he began to discuss with Maria things that made Ken's head spin. So he decided to look around again.

All the people working here looked serious. He wondered if they could really do it and what that would mean. Would Anteiku be necessary anymore? But from what Maria said, they were in danger of losing CCG funding. 'Of course they wouldn't be willing to waste money on something for the benefit of ghouls.' Other people were walking around the lab as well so Ken didn't react when he heard the clicking of high heels behind him and the steady flump sound of men's loafers coming towards them. The two walkers stopped at their little tour group with the woman stating, "Maria. There you are. I got a bit worried when you we didn't find you at your work station." Maria then answered, "Jeez calm down mom. You don't have to be so much of a worry wort. I was only giving my friends a tour of the lab. And before you ask, I've already had them sign the release forms and everything."

It was here, that the half ghoul felt his blood run cold. Maria had just called this person mom. Then that would mean… Ken slowly turned to face the two new arrivals. He immediately recognized Setsuko and felt his already cold blood freeze. He had to control his heart beat and force his breath to stay natural. For the first time since that horrible night he found himself in the presence of the woman who had lead that assault that night. That had ordered his mother to be ripped apart by that man so long ago. That had fired at him and his sisters when they were just children. That had murdered his father in cold blood. Perhaps she was even the one who had request his father's kagune be turned into that abomination that humans call a quinque.

Setsuko looked at the two boys. The blonde one was obviously Hide. Her daughter had talked about him a lot. Enough to make her parents want to meet this Hide that had captivated their daughter to such a degree. Though from what she had said, the boy sounded talented and intelligent. Setsuko was thinking of recommending the boy to the chairman for possible employment if he proved to be as good as Maria said. With the issues in the 13th and 11th wards and the growth of Eyepatch they could certainly use more talented people. At the very least, it would be funny to see Maude having to deal with such an unprofessional young man if he worked for Section II. But the other boy caught her full attention when she looked over him. She didn't know why but he looked frighteningly familiar. Something was ringing warning bells in her head. She smiled at the two boys and raised her hand to the two of them. "Hello there. Thanks for looking after my daughter. I am her mother, Setsuko Takahashi."

Hide immediately grabbed her hand and shook it with vigor. "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am. The name is Hideyoshi Nagachika. But you can call me Hide if you like." Ken did hesitate for a second before he shook her hand. A fact that Setsuko did notice. "My name is Ken Kaneki. I met Maria through Hide. I didn't expect to meet her mom when we came here today."

Both of dove and half-ghoul stared at each other. One knowingly afraid while the other only instinctively suspicious. Setsuko was trying to figure out where she had seen this boy. While Ken tried desperately to figure out some excuse to run away from someone who in his mind was the monster that lived in your closet. A hand tightened on her quinque's handle and the boy's back straightened to allow an easy release of the kagune. It came close to a fight right then and there if Maria had not intervened.

The human girl jumped on top of the two boys in front of her mom and rapped her arms around their shoulders in a friendly manner. "Of course they are familiar. I've shown you a photo of both of them. You aren't going senile yet are you? I didn't think you were that old." Maria's mom relaxed a bit as her attention was redirected to her daughter. I small blush on her cheeks as she snarked back, "Of course I'm not going senile. I'm only in my forties. Besides I'm young in spirit." Maria rolled her eyes at her mom. "Oh. Really."

Setsuko cleared her throat in an attempt to change topics. "Still, I would like to learn more about your new friends. I want to know who my daughter is hanging out with and if they are a good influence on you." Maria looked more than a bit miffed at her mom. "Ken and Hide are great. I'm not into bad boys anyways. Don't tell me you're going to look them up with your CCG connections. Like you did back in high school!" Setsuko shook her head. "No, no. I'm not going to force a background check on you friends again. Look I'm sorry I did that and all the trouble it caused you back then. I just want you to be safe alright?" Maria nodded in agreement. "Good. I know. How about they come over for dinner. They can meet the whole family. Please. I just want to know you're ok."

Maria thought about it for a second before turning to her friends. "Is this ok with you two?" she asked. Hide, after looking at Ken nervously, agreed. Ken shot a quick look at the one who had taken everything from him one last time before he also agreed; afraid that saying no would look suspicious. After that they all began to leave. Maria promising to tell the two of them what day to come over to her home.

As Ken walked home, he thought about what had just happened. He had met Setsuko Takahashi. He had escaped detection but still had to agree to eating dinner with her and her whole family which was probably filled with more doves. He needed to prepare fast. First was figuring out if he should tell his sisters what had just occurred.

Around the same time the four of them were leaving the lab, two others were looking over the facility from a distant vantage point. "So this is the place?" Alice asked her new acquaintance. The bandage covered ghoul kept looking at the buildings. "Uh huh. It's here that you can get your revenge on those who took everything from you. You see that place is researching how to make more weapons for the CCG. Just think about it. If they succeed here, they could mass produced hundreds of your sister's kagune to be used to slaughter us all. And not only that but two of the Takahashis, the same family that stole the last place you belonged, are involved in this research." The idea made Alice's stomach churn in disgust. That humans would disgrace her sisters kagune so. She remembered the last time she had seen it before the doves had attacked. Their apartments heat had broken down and her sister had slept with her that night. Using the Kagune like a living heated blanket.

Eto turned to her and smiled through her bandages. "Makes you just want to tear it all apart doesn't it?" she asked. "Ah," Alice replied. But then a cold smile grew on her face. "And if I can make the Takahashi's pay for what they did to me, then all the better. I want to hear their screams and feast on them while they beg for mercy. It's their fault after all. Everything. Everything is their fault." She started to giggle darkly as she envisioned it.

Eto, amused, turned back to the lab when she realized that someone was coming out. "Hah, there they are. Those two girls right there. And is that… Ken-kun?" she asked, now excited at this turn of events. Alice jumped forward to look at targets. But she did ask, "Ken-kun?" Eto giggled at her question and pointed at the boy with black hair in the group. "That's Ken right there. But you probably know him better by his CCG label. Eyepatch." Alice's eyes went wide. "Eyepatch?! What the hell is he doing here?! And with them?!"

Eto simply shrugged. "Who knows. Perhaps he has his eyes on them as well. After all it was a Takahashi who lead the raid on his family and killed his parents all those years ago. What do you think Alice-chan?" Alice slammed her fist into the ground. "Don't fuck with me! I won't anyone have them! They're mine! I will make them regret ever challenging me!" Eto giggled again as she wrapped her arms around the other girl. "That's right Alice. They are all yours. Show them your power. And just as a ghoul should, rip them apart."