Chapter 6

== Now, the hunt begins ==

Format. Stop. Breaking. Omg.

"Red like roses…"

Ruby found herself standing by a snowy Cliffside. A stone altar was seated by the cliff, with rose emblem engraved on it.

"Fills my dreams…"

The cold freezing winds breezed past the half-ghoul, her cloak flapping furiously within the chill.

"Takes me to…"

Red streak began to wisp from the ground, changing the colour of the snow from an icy white to a crimson red.

"The place you rest."

The change of colour eventually spread towards Ruby, engulfing the ground she stood on into bloodied snow.

This dream, it was familiar to her. She would dream of standing by her mother's tombstone, situated in a snowy forest by the Cliffside. Ruby would mourn in silence as she stared at the grave, remembering the dear mother she had for the majority of her childhood. Summer Rose was what Ruby considered the best parent ever. Her delicious cookies were the best things that one could ever taste, with all the love and dedication she put in being shown by the delicious taste of the treats. Her death took a hardship on her entire family, with Ruby, Yang and her father feeling lost in the moment.

"She's dead. Get over it." A familiar voice called to the half-ghoul, not an inch of sympathy in his tone. "Weakness claims those who fall for it, and you are being really pathetic to be mourning such a lost cause."

"What do you even know of my mother…?" Ruby responded to the rude voice without even moving her head in the slightest. "She always fed me, played with me and took care of me. Who are you anyway?" The half-ghoul questioned the person behind the voice, her fists clenching themselves in mild irritation.

The tombstone before her suddenly cracked, alarming the huntress. More cracks formed on it until the tombstone shattered open, releasing a beam of crimson light that shone into Ruby's eyes. She covered her right eye with her hand in time, but the left one was exposed to the magnificent but concerning glow.

As the light faded away, a man with red spiked hair, a red jacket over a black shirt that had black lines marked on it and black jeans with red lines flowing through. It was the person that Ruby encountered that changed her life forever. Razor.

"I'm your best friend, little red riding hood." The voice mocked, strolling towards Ruby. "I'm the guy who well, let you escape that weakness."

"You aren't real, you can't be. Your organs are supposed to be inside of me." Ruby stated without hesitation, denying the fact that the ghoul was right in front of her. "What do you think I am? A ghost?" Razor put his right index finger on Ruby's check as he traced it up towards her left eye. "You know exactly what I am, Ruby. I don't believe I need to state this again, do I?" The hallucination now placed his right palm onto Ruby's left eye. Immediately Ruby's eye started to sting, and she smacked Razor's arm away in retaliation. "You… You are me." The huntress stated as she reopened her left eye with the pain fading away.

Her left eye had transformed. It now glowed a crimson red as the pupil became blood red and the sclera of the eye turned black. The Kakugan, the eye of a ghoul, was present within the Huntress.

"Well you sure are smart for a child." Razor mocked, chuckling at the fact that the half-ghoul before him was not an idiot. "But I have this little thing now. How are you taking my appearance so well? You don't mean to tell me that I'm just a hallucination?"

"You are, Razor." Ruby retorted as her hands now balled into fists. "You tried to kill me, and even then I tried to keep you clean."

"And this is what I call the innocence of youth, ladies and gentlemen!" The ghoul turned his back to Ruby as he bowed towards a fake audience as if he was onstage. "It's ever so weak it makes my mind go mad, you know. I can never understand how worms like you are able to even aspire to become hunters and huntresses! It's all so foolish!"

"It's because we want to protect the ones we love, and keep everyone that would ever hurt us away!" Ruby shouted at the hallucination as her temper suddenly reached boiling point. "You'll never understand it!"

"Of course I don't understand it you little red weakling!" Razor retorted, a smirk on his face despite the harsh tone he was shouting with. "You think I even have an inch of sympathy for anyone? I'm dead for your freaking information."

"Then why are you still haunting me then? Go to wherever you're supposed to go after you die!"

"I'm already in hell, I'm just a hallucination. Did you not get the memo?" Razor spoke back with the voice being reduced to a calm but venomous tone, his words contrasting the statements he said earlier. "Mister Hallucination here just wants to tell you that everyone around you is going to die, get it? They are going to be slaughtered with their heads decapitated much like your pathetic mother over here." The ghoul gestured to the shards of rock where Summer's tombstone was supposed to be at, chuckling at how it was reduced to such a state.

"I'll protect everyone around me then. They aren't going to die! I won't let you kill them!" Ruby yelled at the chuckling hallucination as the kicked the snow by his feet in amusement. "I'm sorry but it's not me that's killing them. It's going to be your best friend." A white light suddenly engulfed Razor, with his body slowly but surely melting within it. "They are going to just be reduced to flesh and bones! Ashes to ashes as they say!" Ruby stood back as the ghoul's figure was reduced to nothing but molten slag, his once pride features faded by the light.

"And there's nothing you can do to stop it." Razor's voice echoed throughout the Cliffside as darkness began to claim Ruby's vision. "Good luck. HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA…!"His voice could still be heard despite Ruby's sight decreasing to nothing but black, the manic laughter all but gave Ruby a scar within her. Razor's threats cut deep into Ruby's heart, the morale she had before now bled like an open wound.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as she awoke from her dream. The events that happened there really put her on her toes. She found herself in the dark area of the meeting room, with a small blanket covering her frail body.

"Ruby! What's wrong!?" A concerned voice said as Ruby quickly panned to see who it was coming from. Yang was by the door , with the light shining from outside. "What happened? Are you okay?" Her sister asked, a concern face over her features. "I-It's nothing really, it's just a bad dream. Nothing much." Ruby quickly assured her sister, but the concern from her face never faded.

"You've been unconscious for the whole day. It's evening now." Yang stated as Ruby got up from her bed. She recalled the events that led her to this situation. They were following the hazelnut haired guy, then he kicked Hide and her… then Kaneki saved them but then he lost his senses, and the last thing she saw was Touka and Kaneki…

"W-Where's Hide and Kaneki!?" Ruby quickly asked as she remembered clearly what happened. Kaneki tried to eat Hide in a fit of extreme hunger, and Ruby wanted to know exactly what happened. "Follow me. I'll show you." Yang replied, as she gestured her sister to follow.

"Oh my… Hide!" Ruby followed Yang through the corridors to the room her blonde friend was located. Yang opened the door to the room where Ruby saw Hide bandaged up on the bed. "He's okay… Thank goodness." Ruby made a sigh of relief. Hide was still alive, and knowing that he was made the half-ghoul huntress calm down from major concern. "Before you ask, your other friend already woke up. The manager invited him to join Anteiku and now he's busy with him learning how to brew coffee." Yang stated.

"That's wonderful!" Ruby jumped in joy knowing how everything turned out. Everyone was okay, and Kaneki joined Anteiku! Now they could both work here as buddies, serving coffee and maybe having a coffee competition similar to the one the two sisters had. "I'm glad your fine yourself. I got here immediately when Yoshimura called me. I was so worried for you Ruby, don't ever do that again!" Yang grabbed and hugged Ruby with much strength, showing her sisterly love in Ruby struggling to find air. "Y-Y-Yang, too… tight!" She muffled out, notifying Yang and making her release her wounded sister. "Oh sorry Rubes, got a little carried away there…"

"You always hug me like that!" Ruby yelled back at her sister, stating the fact. "Eh, that's what sisters do." Yang replied with a smirk on her face, making Ruby stare back in childish annoyance. "I'm gonna go check on Kaneki on your behalf Ruby. Don't do anything stupid while I'm one floor below!" Ruby pouted at Yang's nonchalant tease, as the blonde sister made her way down the corridor.

Ruby looked back at Hide's room, taking a long glance at him. He was Kaneki's best and only friend, and the events that turned Kaneki into a half-ghoul had substantial consequences on his peers. The least Ruby could do was open the blinds of the room. She wasn't afraid of the dark herself, she just didn't like it. Ruby walked to the curtains and pulled the string that opens the blinds, releasing white moonlight into the room. The half-ghoul looked outside to see the dimly lit streets outside of Anteiku, with barely any people walking by. Ruby glanced into the moon as she found herself charmed by its appearance. The shattered moon of Remnant was quite a symbolic figure itself, a sign of what conflict could do to this world.

"This world of humans, ghouls and grimm... It just keeps getting worse and worse." Ruby told herself out loud as she had her gaze upon the shattered moon. "My dream of humans and ghouls coexisting in a harmonious world, I really hope it does come true." The half-ghoul huntress silently made a wish, hoping that fate would be kind upon her, and make it come true one day. "I wish humans and ghouls can live together happily." Ruby wished, putting her two hands together. "I really wish that one day we will be united to stand against our true enemy, the Grimm."

Ruby looked back at Hide's lying figure, and smiled. Things would get better, and they would live happier lives with each other. "You've been Kaneki's only friend until I came along." Ruby muttered to the resting blonde on the bed. "Thanks for being a great friend to him, and also thanks for matchmaking us." The half-ghoul giggled as she remembered how she met them, the childish act of the blonde sealed the fates of them together. Who would have thought that would happen?

"Bye, Hide." Ruby exited and closed the door on her way out of the room. With that done and out, the half-ghoul pondered on what she could do now. "Oh I know! I'll go see how Kaneki's doing with his coffee. I bet it sure is tasty!" Ruby made up her mind as she strolled towards the corridor.

Three figures stood at the top of a building, all wearing grey coats in the rainy weather that stormed.

"It's the rain lovely?" A man with grey hair and a hunched figure commented. "You know, precipitation does dull their senses."

"So this would be the perfect weather to work in?" A teenage girl with a long side ponytail said.

"Exactly!" Kureo Mado exclaimed. "It's no wonder you topped the program, Weiss. Only the best get to hang out with investigators such as us you know."

"Thanks, but remember I'm here to help you with an investigation, I'm not going to become a full-fledged dove."

"But of course. The heiress of the Schnee has dedicated her life to becoming a huntress, and I'm sure nothing's going to change your mind now, is it?"

"Nope." The Ice Queen replied, getting a chuckle from Mado in return.

Weiss Schnee was the best student in the Investigator Assistance Program, which took the course of three days within Beacon Academy. Of the two hundred students who applied, there were only three did the best with Weiss being one of them. As a reward, the three were offered to venture to Vale as junior investigators. Weiss wasn't too keen on the topic, but accepted it anyway. The CCG needed all the help they could get in their war against the ghouls, and The Ice Queen herself wanted to offer some retribution to the foul degenerates.

"According to the 20th ward's branch report, there was a predatory incident involving a binge eater in this building three months ago. What's interesting is that eyewitnesses claim to have seen Jason and a red figure in this area as well." Kotarou Amon stated as he stood watch by a railing. "A Binge eater and Jason?" Weiss asked. "What could two S-Rated ghouls be doing here, and who was the red guy?"

"Well, it's hard to say. But I'm sure the three of them weren't co-ordinarily sharing a meal." Kureo Mado replied. Immediately, the old dove suddenly reacted. His eyes twitched as he looked back and forth for the source. "What is it?" Amon questioned his mentor. "Is there something on?" Weiss asked as well. Kureo quickly jumped off the railing and dashed on some big square metal platforms.

"Mister Mado!" The two of them shouted in concern at the mentor's rash actions. Their concern quickly faded when the mentor quickly picked up and held up an object for both of them to see. "Weiss was right! This weather is working in our favour!" Amon and Weiss looked up in satisfaction. Their mentor had found a lead to go on in the 20th ward. "The only downside to this rain really." Mado began, grinning in amusement of his thought. "We aren't able to hear the screams of death they will cry! Hahaha!"

Weiss smiled at her mentor's enthusiasm. She was willing to kill some ghouls herself. The Ice queen had killed hundreds of Grimm before during her time at Beacon, especially during the rigorous entrance exam she faced before with her team. Ghouls were going to be no different from Grimm, monsters who kill people.

"Come, let's get back to the CCG. I'm sure this will get them to let us patrol the 20th ward." Kureo said, eyeing the object he had picked up. It was medical equipment, sort of like a wrench. He wasn't an expert in biology but he could at least infer that it had something to do with limbs. "Jason must've used this to tear out people's limbs. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we did the same to him."

Weiss looked around as the two other doves were busy examining their find. There was still one aspect left unanswered: The red figure. The most probably scenario Weiss could picture was the Binge Eater and Jason having a confrontation, but for what purpose? From what she was briefed on, Jason usually worked alone. He had one grunt to rely on, but he usually didn't travel with him to places like this. Weiss thought deeply for a few moments as she inferred how the confrontation possibly turned out.

"Binge Eater was busy eating, and then Jason shows up. He probably tried to attack her but failed as the only bodies found were the corpses…" Weiss paused her train of thought when she thought of the bodies of the deceased. Only lowly ghouls would ever eat that. "Maybe Jason's attack was foiled by the red figure… so then he probably has some good relations with the Binge Eater. No evidence to confirm it though…"

The temporary junior investigator looked around the area. It was only the rooftop mechanisms that inhabited the area, the metal fans spinning around to cool the interior of the Aqua Building, and large generators that ran down long rows. There was nothing to go on, and a simple Ghoul Medical apparatus wasn't enough to satisfy Weiss.

Sighing, Weiss walked towards one of the generators and learned on it. It had a cool steel feeling despite being well, a generator. She glanced around the area when suddenly a red mark caught her eye. It was a symbol of sorts, some sort of red marking on one of the generators across the one she leaned on. Curious, Weiss made her way towards the marked generator to see what it was. Blood didn't last this long before drying out, so what was the mark?

As Weiss got closer to it, she could make out the mark much clearer than before. It was a stripe of red ink, with two black marks on it, giving it the look of a blindfold of sorts. "Hey guys, I found something!" Weiss called out to the doves. Kureo and Amon made their way to Weiss's location and saw from themselves the familiar marking. "Kureo, isn't that…?" Amon began, as the mark became more familiar to him.

"Yes… I know this marking." Kureo said, as one of his eyes squinted to allow his other eye to take a good look at it. "It's one of the marks we were briefed on before. The mark of the Betrayer… I wonder what he's doing here though?" Kureo questioned, having only been told that the ghoul worked in another part of Remnant." I thought he only hunted around in the Mistral region."

"Whatever he is, at least we found a new lead." Amon stated. "Good work Weiss. Now this will be sure to give us a good lead on the ghouls in the 20th ward." He commended the junior detective. Weiss mildly blushed as she was commended by the senior investigator. "I-It's nothing really." She replied.

"You should really be an investigator dear." Mado stated. "You'll be sure to enjoy killing ghouls as much as I and I'm sure you can defend your father's legacy by becoming an investigator rather than a huntress."

"Hmm." Weiss thought about the offer. She truly did want to defend her father's name and company, since she was going to be its heiress. Ghouls have always harassed the Schnee Dust Company, always infiltrating their transportations on both Train and Air travel. The White Fang also did so too, but she couldn't really kill fanus now could she? "I'll consider it, but know that my ideals always lie to my name." Weiss answered.

"I hope make your decision with haste, young lady. The ghouls of your ward are getting more restless by the day, and it's our job to deal with them." Amon stated. "Remember, you'll never know who could be a ghoul. What if your teammates happen to be one?"

"Nonsense! My teammates can never be ghouls. I've seen them eat regular food, especially one who enjoys cookies so much." Weiss retorted, irritated by the senior investigator. "Though… Ghouls are not limited to just humans right? Fanus could also be ghouls too right?"

"You're not wrong. Fanus can be ghouls too. There's a renowned bull ghoul fanus that had plagued the 14th ward before, but he was taken down long ago. He was one of the commanding generals for the White Fang too, as we found out." Amon explained. "Most nicknamed him The Jeff of the ward."

"Ugh, Ghouls in the White Fang as well?" Weiss said annoyed by this new concept. What was worse than fanus and ghouls attacking your family's company for ages on end? The both of them combined, as White Fang executives. "Sigh. Ghouls just make me so mad."

The three of them looked up to the sky to see the dark evening night, with Remnant's broken moon shining brightly down onto the city of Vale. "It's getting late. You should return to your Academy Weiss." Amon said. "We thank you for your assistance in this investigation."

"You're welcome. Goodbye." Weiss stated as she began to walk away from the two doves.

"You know, she'd really be useful in the CCG." Mado said. "Such a young little girl defending such a large company, really makes you wonder if there are more youngsters like them too."

"I know. If the heiress of Schnee began fighting back, I'm sure the company won't be raided as much." Mado replied. "She's really determined. I hope she does join us."

The two huntress sisters walked back to Beacon Academy from its entrance, the older one heaving in a big yawn. The younger one saw the action, and she yawned along with herself. Yang and Ruby were both really bummed out by the events that happened. Ruby's friend along with herself were attacked by that Nishki Ghoul, with Kaneki going insane from food withdrawl, and Yang rushing over to Ruby once she got the memo of what happened. All in all, Ruby should be the one heaving the big yawn, not her sister. The half-ghoul was pierced through the chest by that Hazelnut haired ghoul…

Ruby touched her chest, feeling the big hole in her stomach not even being there. The regenerative properties of her Ghoul traits had benefits it seems, and Ruby sighed in relief. She didn't want to return to her dorm with her insides visible, with the thought of her teammates reacting to it and possibly freaking out making her giggle. She couldn't let them know, for she was sure they wouldn't be so accepting as her big sister was. The elder sister in question stretched her arms and forearms, while yawning at the same time. She sure was taking this whole ghoul thing very lightly for some reason. Ruby didn't want to question it though, being happy that she wasn't even yelled at after being discovered.

"Man, how do you put up with eating human flesh though?" Yang asked as she started a conversation between the two sisters. "It personally makes me sick, and that Kaneki guy sure didn't like eating it either. What's your secret sis?"

"H-Honestly I'm not that okay with it myself…" Ruby replied, twiddling her thumbs. "But I guess life just makes things happen to you. You'll never know what the next day will turn out, and that next day sure didn't bat an eye, right?" Ruby pointed to her left eye, the one that had the kakugan within. Yang chuckled at Ruby's attempt at making a pun, and the younger huntress hoped that she would say it's a good one. "Heh, lame pun." Ruby hope was demoted into a childish frown. "Leave it to the experts, Ruby!"

Sighing, Ruby took out one of her Red-Hued cookies and took a little bite out of it. "So that is human flesh, right?" Yang questioned as she eyed the cookies, with Ruby slowly nodding in agreement. "Yeah really how do you even get through with eating that? I'd like to try one but… it's flesh, so nope."

"I try not to think about it. The cookie look really helps too." The half-ghoul explained as she took another bite out of it. "There was this guy called Yomo that worked in Anteiku, and Yoshimura said that he invented these cookies. He quit before I joined though, so it really is a bummer I couldn't meet the maker of the ingenious delicacies!" Ruby raised her packet of cookies to Yang's face, which the blonde looked at in mild disgust.

"Now that I think about it, which I don't like to, yeah it is kind gruesome. But the same can be said to chilli dogs and the burgers you eat ever so often now, honestly." Ruby described, making her sister think back into her delicious burgers. "Flesh isn't… that bad to me though. I am a ghoul so I can't say for you, but maybe you could try one?" Ruby offered, with Yang raising an eyebrow. "Try it once for me, like how so easily you've accepted my condition."

Yang put her hand to her chin for a moment to think of how exactly she could deny her sister. "I'm sorry sis but I can't eat that. It's cannibalism you know, and honestly that's-" Her speech was cut off by the cute adorably big and wide eyes her sister gave her, with a sad sniff to contemplate the look. Ruby was giving Yang the cute-look, and nobody could resist it, even if it was you needing to eat some guy's flesh. "I-I-I…" Yang tried to deny her sister, for eating flesh for her was wrong on so many different levels, but the irresistible and unbelievably huggable look Ruby was giving her made her unable to reject her cute sister.

"I… Fine fine I'll try it, but I won't like it! It's disgusting on like ten levels you know…" Yang gave into Ruby's offer, with the half-ghoul rejoicing in the air. Handing the elder sister one of her red-hued cookies, Yang held it arm's length away. "This is… ugh. Can I not eat this? It's disgusting on like twenty levels now."

"But Yaaaaaaaaang, you agreed! You are a lady of your word, are you not?" Ruby teased her sister, making her frown in regret. With an extremely heavy and regretful sigh, Yang broke a piece of the surprisingly crunchy cookie, and tossed it into her mouth.

"Sooooooooo Yang, how'd it taste?" Ruby asked. The half-ghoul herself was honestly expecting her sister to turn green and immediately spit it out, but her sister did something completely else. After somehow being able to resist the urge of thinking about exactly what she was eating, she gulped the cookie after it had been on her tongue for a good ten seconds. "You wanna know how I feel?" Yang began, making Ruby look at her with both her big eyes in curiosity and mild disbelief.

"I feel that the maker of this cookie really really could work as a ghoul baker in the future. This cookie tasted nothing like puke, it tasted just like bacon!" The half-ghoul's jaw dropped as she heard her sister say that. All in all Ruby just wanted to see the face of her sister puking as a little innocent prank, but in the end Yang actually could tolerate eating human flesh, let alone say it was acceptable. "What." was all the half-ghoul could muster up as a comment. "Are you serious?"

"Nope. Excuse me as I vomit my guts out." Yang began spat wildly around as she tried to get her taste buds to go neutral, wiping her tongue with her hands. "…Eww…?" Now Ruby was just confused. Exactly what was her sister doing just now if she was spitting it out here?

"Don't ever remind me of this." Yang stated as she cleaned her hands from a tissue in her pocket. "In all seriousness though, other than the fact that I could now be considered a cannibal, that cookie really tasted just like bacon, without any salt. You know how much I love bacon with salt, right?"

"Hmm. Okay then I'm glad you well, um… liked it?" Awkward as she sounded, Ruby was at least glad her sister was so accepting. "If only the others could be this accepting of my condition. Yang's only doing this cause she's my sister, so Weiss and Blake may not take this well at all…"

"Well let's get back to our dorm. My back still hurts." Yang said, with Ruby nodding in agreement.

The two sisters got back to their dorm as Yang immediately jumped onto her comfy bed. "Ahh, sweet sweet bed. How much I missed you."

"Where have you two been?" Weiss asked, irritating at the late timing the sisters returned at. "It's ten'o'clock, really really late. Where did you go, and why are you still wearing that eyepatch?" Weiss's questions pushed on with Ruby muttering in attempt to form an explanation.

"Whoa chill Ice Queen, chill." Yang said in attempt to calm the irate heiress down. "We just had to deal with some stuff at the coffee shop, no biggie."

"Coffee shop? You mean Anteiku? What is with you all and Anteiku anyway? All of a sudden after Ruby got into her little accident you two suddenly decide to work there. What's the deal?" Weiss questioned the elder sister, with Ruby looking at the argument, gulping a little. "Was the coffee shop involved in Ruby's accident or something, such as saving Ruby's life?"

"Um, actually…" Ruby began, nervous on how to explain the situation. "T-They did save me in a way… Anteiku u-um… called the Ambulance to where I was at, so they kinda um, did save me." The half-ghoul hoped this would be enough to sate Weiss's questions. She really didn't want her to find out about what truly happened. "Since then, I was invited to work in the shop and I agreed to it. Yang joined in to look after how I worked there."

"Y-Yeah! Ruby's never worked a part-time job before, so why not I teach her the ropes?" Yang added in, making Weiss raise an eyebrow at the whole ordeal. "So you're telling me that you've decided to work part-time as gratitude for them saving you, and that's what you're gonna be doing for the rest of the free days we're having?"

"E-Exactly Weiss! See you're so smart, I knew you'll figure it out!" Ruby quickly reassured. "How's your investigation thingy going on anyway? I heard you've become a junior detective, like Harrison Jones!" The half-ghoul quickly changed the subject before Weiss could peer into the whole Anteiku business.

"Firstly, It's Sherlock Homes. Harrison Jones is a Duststone character you dolt." Weiss began, with Ruby raising her lips in curiosity of the new knowledge and also being relieved that Weiss went on with Ruby's change of topics. "Secondly, I'm a junior investigator and not a detective. I'm one of those people working in the CCG that hunts ghouls you know." Yang and Ruby were shocked at this revelation. Weiss actually became a ghoul investigator!? "But I thought you didn't want to be an investigator!" Yang called out, concerned for her sister. "No I don't. It's called junior for a reason, and I'm just helping them investigate the Binge Eater incident that happened some time ago." The two sister quickly sighed in relief upon hearing the full explanation.

"Third, Sherlock Homes is a detective and not an investigator. I really hope he was one in the past though. Who knows how many ghouls he could have put down?"

"U-Um, so yeah. Nice jobs we all have eh? One question though, where's Blake? She's been missing for the entire day now." Yang said, pointing over the empty bed the cat fanus used to sleep. "That is something we should be concerned about… I'm too tired to care about it right now." Weiss replied. "Blake's been moody lately anyway, all into her Egg of Black Sheep or whatever it's called. She'll be back to normal tomorrow and I'm sure she'll be sleeping here once we wake up."

"If you say so, Miss Queen of Ice." Yang said, making Weiss simply sigh in return. "Let's all hit the sack. It's been a long day for all of us hasn't it."

"Couldn't agree more sis."

"I suppose so. Goodnight."

The next day, the two sisters walked up the stairs to their workplace. There they saw a blonde boy talking with a raven-haired girl and a black-haired boy with an eyepatch by the counter as they entered the shop.

"So then I said, would you like prefer me over a book?" Hide asked, as they noticed the two sisters enter the shop. "Hey, Ruby! Who's the hot chick behind you?" The blonde boy changed subject as he noticed Ruby and Yang. Kaneki raised an eyebrow at the choice of words his friend chose to describe the newcomer.

"That's my sister, Yang. She's working here with me now since the… yeah." Ruby replied. "Hello everyone! My name's Yang Xiao Long and I'm sure to make this place burn to the ground!" Yang said, enthusiastically pumping her fist in the air. Hide chuckled at the joke as other two staff of Anteiku deadpanned at her statement. "Well there's someone else who isn't as down as the ground! I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, but that's a mouthful, so call me Hide!" The blonde introduced to the fellow blonde, as they both shook hands.

"I'm glad the both of you are okay after the accident. Good thing Touka found us in time, am I right?" Hide said, with the two half-ghouls looking confused. Their confusion turned into an act when Touka quickly elbowed Ruby and kicked Kaneki. "Yeah! I guess they both haven't recovered fully yet." Touka replied, as Ruby and Kaneki rubbed their sore spots.

"It's a good thing too. One moment too late and I couldn't be sitting here right now. Nishki's at the hospital unfortunately, and I gotta go take my leave now." Hide took out his green raincoat as he wore it to prepare for a storm brewing outside. "I'll see you guys later, Bye!"

"Bye, come again!" "See you later." "Bye Hide!" "I'll be sure to hide from you later. See ya!" Touka, Kaneki, Ruby and Yang said as the blonde left the store, with Yang chuckling at her own pun. The other three deadpanned at the pun, with Ruby face-palming as well. "What? Too good to pass up?"

"I have to warn you. Don't let Hide know you're ghouls." Touka stated. Ruby and Kaneki nodded as Yang just nonchalantly took a seat by one of the tables. "Of course, Even I won't let him know." Yang replied, positioning herself comfortably on her chair. "Neither of us will." Kaneki added.

"If he does find out, I'm not holding back. I'll kill him." Upon hearing this statement, the other three immediately reacted to this statement with Kaneki spilling a coffee in shock and Ruby putting her hands to her mouth. "B-But Hide's our friend! We can't kill him!" Ruby responded in shock. "Yeah. You even let me live, and by now I should be a criminal for withholding ghoul information." Yang added in.

"I'm not letting another person find out about us. I can't take that chance anymore, and even I debated to myself whether to kill you or not." Touka stated, implying her last sentence to the blonde. "You know you can't kill me one on one. I can't cut through you but I can still punch the living daylights outta ya!" Yang retorted, standing from her seat and walking towards the ghoul waitress, the both of them tensed up in this situation. "I'm here to protect Ruby, this I swear. If you're gonna kill me you'd better have a good reason."

"Guys, guys!" Ruby shouted as she shoved the both of them aside to cool off the conflict before it begun. "I don't want us to fight over this! Hide's not going to die even if he finds out! He's Kaneki's best friend since childhood and would he really turn him in to the CCG?"

Touka just grunted in annoyance as she walked back to the counter. "I… Do not want to take that risk." She muttered as she looked at the coffee mugs by the counter. "I can't take that chance. I just can't."

"Don't worry Touka. Hide's not the kind of person to tell on people." Ruby reassured, putting her hand on Touka's shoulder. "Friends are there for each other, and if you had a human friend, would he or she really betray you after all the happy times you've been through?" The half-ghoul's words made the raven-haired ghoul enter a deep thought. "Yoriko…"

"Even my team has had some problems in the past, especially with our friend finding out one of us was a fanus." Ruby explained. "She ran away when she revealed she was one and we spent twelve whole hours searching for her but we eventually got our team back together, so don't be so pessimistic. Not everyone will call out ghouls, especially if they've had a good history in the past."

Touka looked back up after contemplating what Ruby said. She did have some good points, and Touka silently wished that if she was caught by her best friend, she would understand. "Maybe your right. Thanks for the encouragement."

The four waiters got to their places, with Touka by the entrance podium and Ruby and Kaneki at the counter. Yang returned to her seat however, wanting to relax in the good ole Coffee Shop. The blonde looked outside the windows to see a storm kicking off, rain droplets falling from the sky. "What a relaxing weather to be sleeping in." She muttered.

The doors to Anteiku opened, and Touka immediately responded to it with politeness. "Hi! How can I help you!" She greeted, before seeing who the ones by the door were.

"Hello, Touka." A brown haired woman greeted, with a young striking similar girl standing behind. The woman had a side ponytail with three flowers adorning it, and she wore a pale pastel dress tied to the waist that was braided with an orange belt, along with a pale yellow sweater and a red scarf. "Ryouko!" Touka was shocked at seeing the familiar face, quickly ordering the other waiters to get towels. "Ruby, Kaneki, get some towels quick!"

"On it!" The two of them replied as they rushed upstairs to get towels. Yang however just continued to sit at her seat, waving at the newcomers. The half-ghouls quickly returned with several towels, with Touka quickly handing a piece to Ryouko, the mother wiping the hair of her daughter to dry. "I didn't want to trouble you…" The mother said. "Don't be silly. You're welcome here." Touka replied.

"Give me a new towel, quick!" Touka commanded, with Kaneki handing one over while being startled by her sudden shout. "Thank you very much." Ryouko said to the kind waiter, as she received the towel from him, handing the used one back. The half-ghoul waiter panned down to see her daughter looking at him, and Kaneki smiled in return. She looked back down however, giving Kaneki a confused face.

"Where's Yoshimura?" Ryouko asked, with Touka pointed to the door by the counter. "He's inside." The waitress replied. Ruby couldn't help but notice the cute girl by the mother's side. "Hello there." Ruby walked over and greeted the daughter, as she looked at the half-ghoul huntress. "I'm Ruby, what's yours?"

"H-Hinami." She said. Ruby extended her hand out to the daughter. "It's nice to meet you." She said as Hinami hesitantly extended her hand out. They shook hands, with a big cheerful grin on Ruby's face, and a little sincere smile on the daughter's.

The two newcomers went up to Yoshimura's quarters, and the trio looked at each other with concern. Yang was still chilling at her table, however. "They're ghouls, aren't they…" Kaneki muttered up. "That's Mrs. Fueguchi and her daughter. We're gonna be looking after them from now on." Touka replied as she tossed a used tower to Kaneki, who stumbled to catch it. "It's probably a long story how they got here, huh." Yang commented, earning a nod from the raven-haired waitress. "Why don't you tell us how they got here?" Kaneki muttered, hoping to know more of them. Touka slammed a tray onto the counter in irritation. This guy here just asks too many questions.

"You're getting on my last nerve. You can't do anything right you know?" The raven-haired girl retorted. "I'm well aware." The half-ghoul replied.

Touka sighed as she cleaned the tray she had on her. "Whatever. So did the manager have a talk with you about the box carriers?" She asked the others. "The who?" Kaneki innocently muttered up, earning another sigh from Touka. "I think she means the doves." Ruby whispered to him, making Kaneki even more confused. "Doves? Who are they?" Yang walked up from her seat to answer his question. "She means Investigators." Kaneki still didn't understand this at all. "What are Investigators?"

With her patience long gone from the idiot's constant questioning, Touka yelled back at Kaneki. "Did he or did he not talk about you about the guys in suits with overly large briefcases!?"

Weiss paid close attention to the briefing she was invited to, with Mado and Amon sitting by her sides. This was her first time being invited to such a place, and the heiress had to keep her image up. She looked at the representative giving a summary on the holographic screen with a coloured map being shown behind him.

"This map shows the current status of the eleventh ward." The representative said, as Weiss gave her fullest attention. "As you can see they are demonstrating organised movement. I'd hate to say it, but I think it'll be a matter of time before we have a war on our hands."

The heiress quickly took down the note on her scroll, with Mado chuckling at the girl's dedication in her efforts. "Well that's all I've got. I don't suppose there's someone else with something to report." The representative stated. Seeing the opportunity, Weiss raised her hand up high for him to see.

With his attention caught, Weiss stood up from her seat as she began to introduce herself. "Weiss Schnee, Junior detective under the Ghoul Investigation programme." She began. "Keep cool Weiss, you got this. Just say whatever evidence we collected at the Aqua Building and state it with confidence and inspiration." She told herself. This was her first time being here, not to mention sharing the evidence they collected, and the first impression was everything for the heiress.

"I'm sure everyone remembers the incident involving the well-known Jason and an S-Rated Binge Eater from the 20th ward." Weiss stated, breathing in and out to keep her cool. "A rusted tool was left behind at the crime scene." The screen behind the representative showed a rusty wrench-like apparatus, as he pondered over the tool. "And may I ask what that is?" He replied.

"W-We believe it's a ghoul medical apparatus, and though it may not look like much." The heiress paused to take a deep breath to shake off the nervousness she felt. "It may not look like much… b-but after analysis, we found it's made of Quinque steel."

"Is that so?" The representative replied. Now Weiss began to think about what she should say. She stated the facts but what was she going to say next…? Fortunately for her, Amon noticed her sudden pause, and quickly raised his hand to have a turn to speak. The heiress noticed it, and quickly ended her statement. "That is all. Thank you." Weiss ended, before sitting down and allowing the more experienced investigator to take over.

"Kotarou Amon, First class detective in charge of the Junior Detective here." He introduced. "There was also a symbol found at the site, it being the mark of the ghoul known as The Betrayer." The screen showed the red marking, with two black spots to make it look like a sort of blindfold. "Interesting. The Betrayer in the 20th ward as well…" The representative thought out loud.

"While Jason's and The Betrayer's objective is currently unknown, there is one fact that we do know. Ever since the encounter with the S-Rated Binge Eater, all occurrences of Binge Predation have suddenly ceased." Amon ended off, returning to his seat. "It sounds like somethings stirring up in the 20th ward. I see why you were the head of your class at the academy detective." The representative commented. "And also you, Junior Detective. You've got a good partner on your hands, so you should feel proud of yourself." Weiss smiled in happiness at being complimented by the representative. This was going better than she expected. "You even are lucky to have Mado on your side, am I right? Now you've got a lot of time to play around with your toys."

"Yeah Yeah, I'm so lucky." Kureo Mado nonchalantly replied. "I don't mean to be rude but could we please wrap this up? I have better things to do with my time."

"Heh, I'll kick you out if you weren't such a brilliant investigator." The representative joked. "Alright. Mado, Amon and Weiss. You three are in charge of the 20th ward. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!" Weiss and Amon replied. Kureo just sat by his seat, tapping his fingers on his briefcase in boredom.

"I find it unsettling that the ghouls of this once quiet ward are suddenly becoming more active. I can't help but think it's a harbinger of things to come." The representative stated to the occupants of the meeting. "But we cannot lose sight of our purpose here in CCG! It's our sworn duty to get rid of every last ghoul in Remnant. No matter what trials we face in the future, that will always be our top priority! So let's get focused and get to it."

"Yes Sir!" All the occupants of the meeting replied.

"Alright, this meeting is adjourned. Dismissed!"

"Thanks for saving my image, Amon." Weiss thanked as they along with Mado walked through the corridor of the CCG Headquarters. "It's nothing really." He replied smoothly. Weiss blushed a little at the cool demeanour he had. Amon was unwavering, dedicated and handsome to add to it.

"Thanks to the two of you, we're free to investigate the 20th ward." Kureo stated with a devilish grin on his face.

"Indeed. Unfortunately the marking, and this." Amon replied as he raised up the rusted wrench-like object sealed within plastic. "Are our only leads."

"It's enough." Mado replied, raising his hand to his face. "You see, we've caught one end of the thread already."

"All we should have to do is root the ghouls out." Weiss stated for the mentor in his stead. "And I'm sure it wouldn't be long before we reach the end of it."

The grey-haired investigator chuckled at the girl's statements. "Oh you take the words right out of my mouth, dear. The 20th ward will be ours to roam." He said, complementing the junior investigator. "You know, even if you decide to become a huntress, eventually you might get a good enough reputation to excel beyond others."

"Oh really? Thanks!" Weiss thanked sincerely. Within her mind though, she was secretly scheming to herself. "This is great! Soon with the CCG on my side. I will gain the allegiance of the doves. With them to back me up, I'll become unstoppable when I finally conquer Remnant! BWAH HAH HAH!" The heiress evilly schemed to herself as she thought of the possible future to come. "Is there something going on, Weiss?" Amon asked, looking at her with confusion. Why was she looking like a mad scientist you would see in kids movies?

"Oh? It's nothing." Weiss replied as she snapped out of her trance, however she quickly returned to it as she left it, scheming once more within herself. "The Binge Eater, Jason, The Betrayer and the Gourment! It'll be fun watching them run before us! We'll be unstoppable...! MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAA~ " The two white-haired investigators unknowingly chuckled together in union, simply making Amon raise an eyebrow at his colleagues.

"It's going to be fun with these two." The first class investigator & Supervisor of the Junior Detective thought to himself. The journey ahead had just begun.

End

Next chapter i'm posting is the FINAL chapter I have pre-written. After that, I'm out of content. After my examinations I'm gonna return to writing, so I hope you'll bear the wait.

If I suddenly go on Hiatus even after my examinations, then i'm sorry.