September 16, 2042*
Kotori: Good morning girls.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Morning...
After asking Shino, Yuuka and Miku whether they'll cooperate on her investigation or not, Kotori the entire night for their answers.
And the moment the sun rose us she entered their rooms demanding for their answers immediately.
Kotori: So? What will it be?
The three stared at her for a bit before giving their answers.
Yuuka: I actually didn't want to agree to this...
Shino: But what you said about Kaneki doing the same thing...
Miku: Onii-chan definitely would... Wouldn't he?
Kotori: That's right.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: If you're convinced that we're innocent... Then fine I'll cooperate.
After hearing their answers, Kotori made a satisfied smile.
Kotori: Good! Now then! Let's eat breakfast before we start our meeting.
Splash!
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Huh?
A pool of black good appeared beside Shino's and Yuuka's beds.
Kotori: Shino-chan, Yuuka-chan just jump into these darkness travel pools Miku-chan follow me to my room.
Shino & Yuuka: Why?
Miku: Why you're room?
Kotori: We'll be having breakfast in my room, and after breakfast we'll have our discussion.
Splash!
Steam~
The two blood clones in Shino's and Yuuka's rooms popped into puddles before turning into steam.
Shino & Yuuka: ... Well... I should go I guess...
Splash!
Shino and Yuuka then jumped into the puddles and emerged inside Kotori's room.
In Miku's room*
Kotori: C'mon let's go.
Miku: Okay...
Kotori and Miku then started walking to her room.
Kotori: Oh that's right, I've already told Mama about the entire situation last night.
Miku: Mama? What do you mean?!
Miku got worried after all the one Kotori mentioned was.
Miku: That's right, your Tohru-Mama.
Tohru, Kaneki's and Kotori's biological mother.
Miku: ...
Kotori: Don't worry she'll be joining us as well, actually speaking about Mama I'll go get her.
Kotori started going back upstairs to Kaneki's room to get Tohru.
Kotori: You know where my room is at right?
Miku: Nod
Kotori: Good I'll be there in a moment.
Miku walked to Kotori's room after she left to get Tohru.
Creak~
Miku: Oh... Hey.
Upon opening the door she was met with Shino and Yuuka who were both just sitting on Tohru's bed.
Shino & Yuuka: Hey...
The atmosphere was rather awkward between them, they were all very quiet.
Kotori: Looks like everyone is here!
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: !!!
Until Kotori appeared with Tohru in her hand and barely visible tentacles behind her.
Kotori: Sorry for frightening you girls, but anyways.
Wriggle~
She then moved the tentacles revealing plates with food for them.
Kaneki: Now then, shall we have breakfast?
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: !!!
Suddenly Kotori was replaced with Kaneki for Shino, Yuuka and Miku surprising them.
Kotori: Hm? What's wrong?
Shin: N-Nothing... You just... Turned into Kaneki for me just now...
Yuuka & Miku: Same here...
Kotori: Oh... Well... Let's eat already shall we? Here.
Kotori began giving them plates filled with enough food for them to eat.
Kotori: Now then. Itadakimasu~
After giving them their breakfast Kotori began eating.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: ... Itadakimasu....
Followed by the three girls who slowly ate their food, still depressed.
An hour later~
After an hour the four had finished eating and Kotori also finished washing the dishes.
And with all that out of the way, they were about to start talking.
Kotori: Alright I'm done. Now, shall we begin?
The four of them sat on the floor as Kotori talked.
Kotori: Good. I'll-
Glow~
All 4: Huh?
The sword containing Tohru had suddenly glowed a faint red light.
Kotori: Okay let's discuss this with Mama. Shino, Yuuka, Miku you three touch the blade.
Poke!
Thud!
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: !!!
After telling them to touch the blade Kotori touched it herself and her body collapsed.
Seeing her collapse made the three of them hesitant but ultimately.
Miku: Let's go.
Shino & Yuuka: Yeah...
Poke!
Swoosh!
They touched the blade and their consciousness was sent into the blade.
Tohru: Welcome.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: !!!
Immediately they were greeted by Tohru who was in front of them.
Tohru: Time to talk.
And she had a very fierce and intimidating aura surrounding her as she stared into them.
Shino: H-Hey Auntie...
Yuuka & Miku: H-Hey...
Tohru: Hm...
Smack!
Tohru: Ow!
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: EHHH?!
Suddenly Kotori smacked Tohru's head which surprised the three girls.
Kotori: Mama! Didn't we talked about not scaring them?!
Tohru: Sorry, sorry I couldn't help myself. Yo girls welcome back.
Surprisingly Tohru wasn't very hostile or even mad at them despite knowing that Kaneki was hospitalized.
Miku: Eh? Are you not angry at us?
Tohru: Well I was when I learned that you girls were responsible for my Kaneki-chan getting hospitalized but after Kotori-chan told me the things you said to him in your memories.
Kotori: Mama also found your actions off, so she is rather curious than angry.
Tohru: Ahem! Yeah that's right. Though I am very upset about what happened to my cute baby, Kaneki-chan.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Eek!
Tohru: But finding out that you girls said something so out of character, I decided not to come to any conclusions yet.
Shino: ...
Tohru: I mean seriously! The cute Childhood friends, and step-sister of Kaneki-chan saying they hate him out of nowhere? Isn't that strange or even suspicious?
Kotori: It definitely is!
Tohru: See? Even Kotori-chan agrees! So for now I'm not going to believe in the "truth" that you girls saw because it may not even be the real truth.
Seeing how kind Tohru was being to them, Shino couldn't help feel very guilty.
Step!
Stepping forward she faced Tohru and said.
Shino: Even though we are the ones who have hurt Kaneki? Even though we left him for someone we didn't even know? Even though we almost got him killed?
Yuuka & Miku: Shino/Shino-Oneeechan...
Kotori: Shino-chan...
Shino: Those things really are the truth... They really did happened... What if? What if what we said really did happened? What if those feelings fo hatred shown in our memories our real feelings? Our true selves?
Shino began to doubt her feelings for Kaneki.
Thinking that the horrible things herself, Yuuka and Miku said we're from their true selves.
But with a warm and gentle voice, Tohru asked.
Tohru: If that were true, then why are you three crying right now?
Miku: Huh?
Drip~
After Tohru's question Shino, Yuuka and Miku began shedding tears.
Yuuka: Why? Why am I crying?
Shino: We shouldn't be crying...
Tohru: Why? It's normal to cry when you're hurt, and isn't that how you three are feeling right now?
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: ...
Tohru: I know you three don't hate my son, if it were to be the case then you wouldn't be so feel so guilty for hurting him.
Shino & Yuuka: Auntie...
Miku: Tohru-Mama...
The three of them couldn't say a word, her kindness was so much for them.
Tohru: If you want to cry right now, then do so I'm here for you girls.
Kotori: And so am I!
Tohru: See? Kotori-chan feels the same.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Sniffle... WAAAAAAAAAH!
And so Shino, Yuuka and Miku began crying.
Hug!
Tohru and Kotori then gave them a hug to comfort them.
A few minutes later~
Shino: Sniffle~ I'm sorry for acting that way, Auntie...
Tohru: It's alright, it's alright. Well that confirms it, isn't that right? Kotori-chan?
Kotori: Yup! These three don't hate Kaneki at all.
Yuuka: But what about our memories?
Miku: Yeah...
Kotori: Well we have no idea, that's why we're going to investigate it.
Tohru: That's right, we can start now too. So please cooperate.
Miku: We already agreed to it earlier.
Tohru: Good! Kotori-chan, let's begin!
Kotori: Okay!
Flash!
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Argh!!!
In an instant the space that they were in was covered in a bright white light.
And as the girl's eyes adjusted, a building came into view.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: Mato High?!
It was Mato High.
Yuuka: What are we doing here?
Kotori: We're going to do an investigation, obviously. Oh look just in time.
Swoosh~!
Memory Kotori: GUUUUYS!
Another Kotori appeared out of nowhere and pass right through them.
Miku: Wait isn't this?
Kotori: That's right, what you're seeing now is a memory of yesterday.
Shino: Wait but wasn't this when we were sneaking in?
Tohru: Oh my i didn't expect you girls would go to school this early. Oh well, so why this memory Kotori-chan? And most important who's memory is this?
Kotori smiled and replied.
Kotori: Miku-chan.
Shino & Miku: Miku/Me?
Yuuka: Wait why are we looking at Miku's memory?
Kotori: Just watch carefully.
Following Kotori's words they all watched as Miku's memory began showing her perspective.
Memory Miku: Huh?
Memory Kotori: Is there something wrong?
Memory Miku: There's some weird guy staring at us over there.
Shino: This was where Miku saw something before we went in.
Yuuka: Yeah but why?
Kotori: Pause.
With her command the memory stopped moving forward.
Kotori: Alright Miku-chan is pointing now, and...
After pausing the memory Kotori looked at the direction Memory Miku was pointing at.
And as she and the rest looked at the direction where she was pointing at.
All 5: !!!
Miku: That's the guy!!!
The saw a strange individual that was covered in black smoke.
Shino: That's the guy you saw?!?!
Miku: Yes... There's no mistaking it, that's the person I saw yesterday.
They were all shocked after seeing this, Kotori then allowed the memory to continue.
Kotori: Proceed.
Memory Shino: Umm...
Memory Yuuka: What are we supposed to be looking at?
Memory Kotori: There's no one there Miku.
Miku: He disappeared!
Kotori: I see. So Miku-chan did see something it could be related to what happened to you girls and Kaneki-chan.
Yuuka: That's kind of a stretch.
Kotori: It could be, but the fact we saw something means that there's some strange things happening.
Miku: Wait...
Just then Miku remembered something.
Flash!
And the memory moved forward to when Shino, Yuuka and Miku were heading up the stairs to the rooftop.
Memory Miku: !!!
Shino, Yuuka, Kotori & Tohru: What?
Kotori: Pause!
After seeing memory Miku's reaction, Kotori paused the memory again.
Tohru: Hey what was that about?
They saw memory Miku suddenly looking tense at the stairs.
Miku: When the three of us were heading up to the rooftop, both my arms felt an ice-cold chill and the way it felt... It was like two hands were trying to hold onto me.
Kotori: Two hands?
Tohru: Could it be?
After hearing what Miku said, Both Kotori and Tohru suspected.
Tohru: It could be that some spirits were trying to stop you girls.
Kotori: It's most likely the same spirits that are trying to heal Kaneki right now too.
Yuuka: Wait what makes you think that?
Kotori: Don't you remember? I told you that the spirits said "it wasn't them" these two spirits are probably with you girls at that time and was trying to warn you of something.
Shino: Warn us? But I didn't feel anything.
Yuuka: Same here, but why Miku?
Kotori: That's because you two never encountered a spirit, but Miku she had a spirit watching over her for a long time.
Miku: Me?
Kotori: Yes our older brother, Hinata-aniki, was watching over you since he died.
Miku: !!!
Miku was surprised after her dead brother was mentioned.
Kotori: I went in contact with him using Mama's guitar when you got kidnapped, and you met him as well remember?
Miku remembered how she suddenly heard Hinata's voice which helped her.
Miku: So you were the one who summoned him?
Kotori: Yes. But that's not the point, the point is you can sense spirits a bit better than normal people and probably interact a bit more as well.
Miku: Meaning?
Tohru: Those two spirits were trying to warn you, and from the looks of it...
Tohru gazed at the door leading to the rooftop with a worried look in her face.
Tohru: The answer may lie in what happened when you girls got to the rooftop, so let's see-
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: !!!
Shino, Yuuka and Miku stared all sharing the same shocked expression after realizing.
Shino: Remember...
Tohru: What?
Shino: I don't remember.
Yuuka: Same here! I don't remember what happened when we got to the rooftop.
Kotori & Tohru: Huh?
Miku: That's right! The only thing I remember was we entered through that door, and the next thing we got out and we were satisfied after practicing our apologo to Onii-chan!
Both Mother and Daughter were shocked upon hearing this new information.
Tohru: Are you girls certain you don't remember?
Shino, Yuuka and Miku shook their heads showing that they really don't remember.
Tohru: Kotori-chan.
Kotori: On it! Proceed!
Panicked Kotori unpaused the memory.
They watched until Memory Shino, Yuuka and Miku had all went through the door.
The five of them then made their way up to the door.
Tohru: Alright let's see what happened.
But as Tohru reached out to open the door to the rooftop.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!
All 5: ARGHHH!
A loud screeching sound came out of nowhere so suddenly.
Swoosh!
Kotori, Shino, Yuuka & Miku: WOAH!
The loud screech was strong enough to undo their connection with Tohru and kicking them out.
Kotori: Mama?! Are you okay?
Tohru: [I'm alright, but what was that?]
Kotori: I don't know... But I knew it... We don't know the full truth.
Crack!
Now that her suspicion of not knowing the full truth was confirmed, Kotori's eyes turned red and black.
Kotori: There was something or someone who messed everything up!
Kotori became angry, and a faint fiery red hlow lit up in her eyes.
Her mother immediately understood how she was feeling and gave her a command
Tohru: Kotori-chan.
Kotori: I understand.
But Kotori didn't need any commands.
Kotori knew what to do.
Shino: Argh... What happened?
Miku: Eh? Kotori-Oneechan?
Yuuka: Kotori-san?
Upon regaining composure Shino, Yuuka and Miku saw how furious Kotori was.
Kotori: You girls. Stay here for the time being, I've already notified the school that you'll be taking a few days off.
After saying this, Kotori walked to the door with her mother in hand.
Shino: Wait where are you going?
Kotori: I'm going to investigate the school, I might get some leads there. For your girl's safety stay here, news about Kaneki-chan's condition must've spread by now.
Miku: But-
Kotori: You were already hurt enough, besides... You can't face Sachi-chan, Chi-chan and Natsuki-chan.
Hearing their names, Shino Yuuka and Miku didn't push any further.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: W-We understand...
Kotori: Good. Use my computer and play some games, there's also a camera over there in the corner of my room I'll be using it to watch over you girls.
Shino, Yuuka & Miku: ...
Kotori: Well then, I'll be preparing to go to school now.
Creak~
Slam!
Kotori then angrily slammed the door as she left her room.
Miku: I can't believe it...
Shino: What could have possibly happened when we entered the rooftop?
Yuuka: Yeah. I'm a bit glad there's a possibility of us not being completely responsible for what happened to Kaneki... But it doesn't change the fact that we were involved...
Miku: And worst of all those three...
After Kotori left them, they had another thing to worry about aside from Kaneki.
Shino & Yuuka: Yeah...
Their friends.
Meanwhile in Sachi's home*
Hachi: Hey Sachi... Please come out... C'mon let's talk!
Sachi locked herself in her room after returning home, refusing to talk to her own parents.
Sachi: ...
Meanwhile in Chikao's apartment*
Chikao: This can't be happening... Why would you guys do this?
Just like Sachi, Chikao locked herself in her apartment staring at a picture of herself and all her friends while crying.
Chikao: Sob~ I thought we all loved Kaneki..
Meanwhile in Natsuki's room*
And as for Natsuki...
Natsuki: Lies... Everything was a lie...
She still couldn't believe that they had lied to her.
Natsuki: I understand why you did it Kaneki... But them? If they really wanted to apologize and fix things between you, they should have faced you properly and even if they couldn't they should've told me... Yet they used me and they've hurt you...
She could forgive Kaneki since she understood he did it to protect his friends and he wanted them to get along.
But those three including Sachi and Chikao had betrayed her trust and she wasn't sure if they have truly seen her as a friend or not.
Natsuki: Stare~
She then stared at the gift given to her by Miku when they first both became "friends" the Knight Rider belt toy.
She got up from her bed and walked to it.
Grip!
She then grabbed it and raised her hand before yelling.
Natsuki: I DON'T NEED SOMETHING THAT REMINDS ME OF THAT FAKE FRIENDSHIP!
She wanted to break it, but she couldn't.
Natsuki: Sniffle~ Damnit... Why?
Even though she hated Miku now, she couldn't bring herself to break it.
Natsuki: Why can't I bring myself to break it...
She may not know it anymore, but the friendships she had with the rest of the Higanbana girls.
They were all real.
Meanwhile~
Kotori: So this is the spot huh?
And Kotori was going to do everything in her power to fix it.