KITSUNE

➖ Permeation

DURING THE DAY, IN THE MEETING ROOM OF AOGIRI'S HIDEOUT, TATARA, NORO AND AYA BREWED NEW STEPS IN THEIR CAUSE. Aya sat on the window frame just as she always did. Noro stood by her side – looking outside of the window to see the sun slowly falling to the other side; soon to be hidden behind the towering buildings. Tatara was sitting in the corner of the couch, his legs open wide and his arm resting on the back rest. Eto was not with them, which was not something unusual. She had a life, an identity outside of Aogiri – and none of the people in the room could tell anyone.

"Dr. Kanou demands more test subjects." Tatara spoke. "He wants the Owl and he wants ghoul investigators."

Ever since Dr. Kanou begun to work for them, Tatara has been having conversations with him. Aya didn't wish to have another conversation with Dr. Kanou – she had been avoiding Tatara every time he went to him since she knew Tatara wanted more of her. He wanted to prepare her for taking Aogiri under her leadership – if anything was to happen to him, it was up to Aya to take his position.

"Ghoul Investigators?" Aya repeated. "Won't any human do?"

"No, he believes Ghoul Investigators have more sustainable bodies for his experiments."

"Mmm...That can be acquired easily." Aya let her feet fall down off the window frame and she faced Tatara. "But what about the Owl?" She questioned. "How are we going to get that Owl?"

"Eto will work that one out." Tatara answered.

"Okay...." Aya jumped off the window frame. "I'm gonna go seek out valuable candidates for Kanou's mad experiments." She said as she already made her way towards the door.

"No, you won't."

Aya came to a halt and she spun around with clear irritation in her eyes. "And why not?"

"Because he has other plans for you."

He. The One Eyed King. He has been hiding behind Aogiri's creation and allowed Tatara and Eto to lead the massive group of ghouls. But just because he was not present in their operations – or Aogiri didn't know he was present – didn't mean he didn't participate in them. He had his voice and he spoke. And he too participated in decisions.

"And he wants to see you."

"Why?" Aya questioned.

Tatara took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Can't you just go?"

"I don't need him to lecture me about my mistakes."

That's all the One Eyed King has been teaching her. He would lecture her each time she let herself be carried away – she was surprised he didn't wonder about her right after the battle in 11th Ward. She was not supposed to fight Ryuu Tsukino and she was no supposed to kill any of his men. But she did, she made noise and the One Eyed King did not want her to make noise. But Aya couldn't live in silence – she couldn't play marionette as he wanted of her.

Without anything else to say, Aya turned once again towards the door and this time she managed to leave. Tatara let out another sigh and run his hand through his white short hair. Noro, as always, was speechless. He had nothing to share other than the loyalty and commitment for Aogiri Tree and its cause. Aya moved as far as away from the room for meetings and went somewhere where she usually forgot all her problems.

Through the quiet hallways of Aogiri's hideout, Aya took the turn in Ken's room with a smile on her lips with attempt to hide the little annoyed expression she had a second before. But as soon as she entered the room, she was faced with an empty room. There was presence of Ken Kaneki. The couch was empty. The shattered pieces of the window were cleaned up. The coffee maker was on the table with white paper sitting next to it. Aya approach the paper that stood out of place.