I watched as she shook her brother violently, to wake him up, and the minute he looked up at his sister, he held her tightly. He didn't let her go. That's when I realised i had separated siblings. I had put Miza through the pain I had gone through. I let go of Hinami's hand and crouched down.
"I am so sorry for everything I've done, but I cleared out everything they have on you all." Soji looked at me and laughed.
"So, you with us now?" He asked.
"Yeah." I nodded. "I am."
"Ayato?" Touka shouted. I looked up and watched as she ran out of the house. She stopped half way when she saw Hinami standing there.
"Hinami?" She whispered, tears filling her eyes rapidly.
"Touka-chan." She ran past me and threw her arms around Touka.
"You did a truly beautiful thing." Ayato whispered from beside me. "Even if you lied to us all again." He walked off into the house, gesturing me to follow him so I did. He led me into an office and sat me down.
Tsukiyama walked in and sat down on the desk.
"I could smell you a mile away." He crossed his legs and nodded at me. "It's good to have you back."
"You can't say anything. Please." I pleaded, staring at him as I sunk into the overly cushioned leather chair.
"Your secret is safe with me you little minx. You had me worried." He propped his head in his hands and just sat, silently staring at me.
"As much as I like being stared at..." I muttered sarcastically. "I have to tell you now, kaneki is back and he's helping his friends on one last mission before finding me."
"Wow." He looked at me in shock. "You actually succeeded in something. That's a shocker."
"Oh come on. I've succeeded in stuff before."
"No. Never. This is the first time." He clapped for me before standing up abruptly. "Father." He bowed down, which peaked my interest, so I turned around in my seat. A man with circular glasses and a well groomed mustache, stood at the door.
"Shuu." The man bowed his head back. "And who might this lovely lady be?" He looked at me and held his hand out.
I stood up and attempted to shake his hand, but he kissed the top of it. He wasn't flirting, he was just... proper.
"That's taiga. The girl from the auction." Tsukiyama said from behind me.
"Ah. 'The' taiga." His father nodded approvingly.
"Does my name come up a lot then?" I asked retrieving my hand.
"Yes. My son speaks fairly highly of you. You seemed to have sparked an interest with Shuu." He took a deep breath through his nose and nodded. "I can see why, or at least I can smell why." He nodded at me and smiled.
"I have a guard willing to be fed off of if you are feeling peckish?" He inquired.
"Eh, no. I'm good thanks, I think I'm going to go find my niece and just relax."
"Of course, and please. Make yourself at home. Any friend of my son's is a friend of mine. I'll have one of the servants show you to an empty room."
"You are very kind." I smiled awkwardly and walked out of the room.
Hinami was still with Touka, so I guess I was alone for a while, which could give me time to take this all in. I turned around and bumped straight into raiden.
"Oh!" I shouted, trying to keep him from seeing my face.
"I'm really sorry. Ayato told me to come and find you."
"Oh. He did, did he." I turned around and saw Ayato smiling at the awkward predicament he had forced me into.
"I can remember when we met, because they way you smelt was mesmerising."
I looked up and raiden was smiling, tears filling his eyes.
"What?" I asked nervously.
"I know it's you and the last time we saw eachother was awful and when I thought it was the last time, I beat myself up about it, so the fact that you're alive and-"
"-okay, I'm going to cut you off right there." I covered his mouth with one of my hands to put an end to his rambling for a minute. "I cannot deal with the sappy hellos and all that jazz right now. I would be happy to just go on like nothing ever happened, but I'm not emotionally equipped to deal with this. If you want to do something nice, that isn't giving me a hug, find me a birthday candle and some matches, without asking questions." I moved my hand and he nodded. He ran off to try and find what I had requested and honestly, I wanted to just die. I wasn't depressed or anything, but death seemed more appealing then all of this touching and happy talk. It was repulsive and I would rather crawl into a hole and die.
I sat in my room with the lights switched off, holding a birthday candle and a box of matches. I struck a match and lit the candle.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Taiga. Happy birthday to you." I sang to myself quietly. I blew the candle out. "Make a wish." I whispered sarcastically. "Twenty years old." I shook my head and walked over to the window. I looked up at the stars and laughed. "If you could see me now sis. I've made such a mess." I sat on the windowsill and rolled my eyes. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I'm confused and alone."
"You're not alone."
I turned around and Hinami stood at the door. "Raiden told me about the candle and I saw the date on the calender. Happy birthday." She sat on the bed and smiled.
"Thanks." I looked back out of the window, towards the stars.
"Mum would be proud. A few years back, you were a lone Wolf. You had just come to anteiku and you were stirring up trouble right left and centre. Now, you're fighting for a cause she died to protect."
"She died protecting you, not her cause."
"I'm old enough to understand that we both could have gotten away. She died proving that ghouls feel love too. It's the reason Akira's father died. It got to him. Making me an orphan got to him, and he lowered his guard."
"Your parents would be so proud of you."
"Yeah. I know." Hinami joked.
"Hinami!" Tsukiyama shouted, bursting in the door. "Taiga. Both of you, come on. There's a car waiting to take us."
"All of us?" Hinami asked.
"Yourselves, hide and Yuki."
"What's happening?" I asked.
"CCG have launched an attack on this house. We have to leave."
"No." I shook my head, remembering kaneki said he had one more mission to do before finding me. He could die if I don't help him.
"Take Hinami and go." I looked at tsukiyama and back at Hinami sadly.
"It's kaneki, isn't it?" She asked.
"I'm sorry mimi."
"Don't ever apologise for trying to save someone you love." She kissed my cheek and hugged me tightly. "I'll go, this way you won't have to worry about me, but you better come and find me after you survive this."
"I will." I nodded and watched as Hinami ran off.
