Acting on Her Own

"Prevent trouble before it happens..." Back home, Kaneki began recalling what Louis had once told him, his face filled with anguish.

"I got there too, but I couldn't help at all. If Lou hadn't made it in time, what would I have done...?"

Just as Kaneki was blaming himself, his phone suddenly rang. It was an unfamiliar number. He hesitated for a moment, then answered.

"Hello?"

"Is that you, Kaneki? After what happened today, the manager got me a phone." Louis sat cross-legged on his bed, holding his brand-new flip phone. Yomo had gotten the number from somewhere.

"Lou?" The voice on the other end sounded surprised.

"Yeah. I was just thinking, knowing you, you're probably feeling pretty miserable right now, aren't you?"

Kaneki said, "Sorry, I didn't help much back then... If only I'd understood what you meant sooner..."

"Just as I thought. You always like to brood over things alone, even though you have so many reliable friends."

Louis shifted into a more comfortable position. "Besides, didn't you protect little Hinami? Why say you didn't help? In that situation, I couldn't have looked after two people."

"A stone has its uses, and a diamond has its uses. Put either in the right place, and it can shine. Ah... of course, I'm not saying you're the stone and I'm the diamond."

"What I mean is, one person can only do so much. Don't overthink it, Kaneki."

"This is the number I'll be using for now. If you need anything, you can contact me anytime."

At a hospital, Kureo Mado sat on a bed, his right hand wrapped in bandages. His severed limb had been reattached. With his left hand, he sketched the Ice Mask on the paper in front of him, his face consumed by obsession.

Someone pushed the door open and walked in.

"Amon, at least we know that Ice Mask isn't a Rinkaku type." Noticing someone enter, Kureo Mado spoke instinctively. Work seemed to be the only thing on his mind.

"Mr. Mado, the two newly arrived Ghoul Investigators have temporarily taken over our duties while you recover," Koutarou Amon said dejectedly. The operation to take down Ice Mask had been a complete failure.

It was precisely because of this incident that headquarters had begun taking Ward 20 seriously, sending two Ghoul Investigators as reinforcements to guard the ward alongside Mado and Amon.

"Taken over... Don't worry about that, Amon. There's always something we can do." Kureo Mado was a little surprised, but he didn't seem to take it to heart.

Seeing that Kureo Mado hadn't lost his fighting spirit, Amon undoubtedly felt relieved and began reporting the information he had gathered.

"Jason seems to have returned to Ward 11. We've now confirmed that Ward 20 has the SS-rated Devil Ape, along with the S-rated Gourmet, Gluttony, and the newly classified Ice Mask. One SS-rated ghoul and three S-rated ghouls."

"But since the last incident, they've all gone into hiding."

"Hmm..." Kureo Mado nodded. "Based on past experience, continuing the search would probably be a waste of effort."

"In that case, we'll keep investigating the small fry, one by one... Sooner or later, we'll reel in someone big." Kureo Mado sketched a mother and daughter.

"These two seem to have a close connection to Ice Mask. Perhaps we can start with them."

"Oh, Mr. Mado." Amon lifted the case in his hand. "We found your Quinque in the river. The equipment department said they can make further improvements to this Quinque, Fueguchi..."

The incident seemed to have come to an end, but that wasn't quite true. Over the past few days, someone had been repeatedly staking out the CCG's Ward 20 branch.

Those are the ones... Wearing a hood, Touka appeared to be looking at her phone, but she was actually watching Amon and his group emerge from the branch, her gaze venomous.

This time, she was acting on her own. She hadn't told anyone else.