Do You :REmember?

Chapter 36: Falling

"We've just received reports live of another ghoul attack in the 10th Ward. Nakayama-san, what is the status over there?"

"Takigawa-san, I've just arrived at the scene and it is madness! Fourteen people are confirmed dead, and twenty-two more are being taken to the hospital - the CCG is currently trying to secure the area, but it doesn't look too good ー gah!" The camera tilted as the reporter jumped to one side, nearly getting struck by a stray Ukaku shard. A man in grey armour came running up to the reporter.

"You have to get out of here! The ghouls have already run this place over ー shit!" The investigator turned around just in time to parry off a masked ghoul.

"Takigawa-san! Do you see this! The ghouls ー oh no, they're everywhere!" The reporter ran off, and the camera dropped to the ground as the cameraman ran off after him. Blood splattered onto the screen, and then there was static.

"Police have confirmed that another entire squad of CCG investigators has been wiped out in the latest ghoul attack in the 16th Ward. The ghoul militant group, Aogiri Tree, has claimed responsibility for this attack. Witnesses say that five of the group's members had carried out an assault on the Mutekiya restaurant and declared the supremacy of the ghouls. Dozens of people dining at the restaurant were killed, and the three attackers fled after killing the investigators as well. The lone survivor of the attack is a waiter at the restaurant, who is now currently being treated at the hospital for shock and severe wounds. Muramoto-san, do you have an update?"

"Yes, Goto-san. The police have currently sealed off the area surrounding the restaurant, and soldiers and armed policemen are now patrolling the streets here. The residents I interviewed all said that they are scared, they don't feel safe, and hopefully the government will be doing something about it soon."

"This has been the fifth terrorist attack this month. Over a hundred people have died after a group of ghouls from Aogiri Tree carried out a surprise assault on commuters at Shinjuku station. CCG investigators were barely able to hold them off despite the recent development of new technology that was hoped to be capable of exterminating ghouls at a faster rate. The unknown leader of Aogiri Tree has put out a statement through the press:

'Aogiri Tree exists to create a better world for us ghouls ー a world where ghouls will no longer be oppressed, a world where ghouls can live openly and freely, a world where ghouls will take their rightful place at the top of the food chain. Join us, and you shall be part of a glorious new world order; oppose us, and you shall join the doves in their slaughter.

I only pray you choose wisely.'"

The TV screen went black. "I need a panadol...", Yoshitoki Washuu sighed as he ruffled through his mountains of reports. They were flying in from squads in every ward, reporting a new incident almost everyday. He had hidden the ones he didn't want to read in one of the drawers in his desk. He already knew what they were about, anyway.

It had been a hard few months for the CCG. Their numbers were being stretched thin, with the sudden increase in attacks led by Aogiri Tree. Investigators and civilians alike were being massacred ー there was only so much time before the CCG would be crushed into ruins.

Itou, Fura, Yoshimoto, Hachikawa… so many of the squads had died. The deaths of so many were scaring many of the younger investigators into resigning, fearing the threat of Aogiri Tree. Yoshitoki was irritated by their lack of resolve, but how could he blame them? Their seniors and classmates from the training academy were dropping like flies around them. It'd only be a matter of time before they were next.

Although the media only reported the larger massacres, Aogiri had in fact been carrying out many smaller, more covert attacks on the investigators. Yoshitoki was at a loss as to why so many of their squads were losing to small groups of Aogiri ghouls. For some reason, the organization had grown in power exponentially, and the CCG had been retreating more than actually fighting.

Even worse, the rampant attacks were fueling public resentment against them ー and he now had to deal with protesters outside of CCG HQ, all demanding that he step down from his post. Heck, did they think they could do a better job than him? One of the Ministers had deigned to come down and talk to him, but that discussion was more for propping up the government's image rather than actually helping the CCG.

Was it premature of me to declare war on Aogiri? he wondered. We have severely underestimated their true power. They have foiled our every move… and investigators are dying everyday. Because of me.

Yoshitoki slammed his fist down on his desk, rubbing his forehead in frustration. At this rate, my hair will turn as white as Arima's... he thought to himself. Right now, our only hope would be those two.

"Come in," Arima said as he continued staring at a lab report. Someone shuffled in through the door. "Glad you could make it, Haise, and I'm sorry for the sudden call, even though I had asked you to take a break."

Haise scratched his head and laughed, "It's alright, Arima-san. With all the stress on the higher-ups, I'm sure they want our mission report soon. I'm done reading through the ten reports on my side, by the way. Did you find anything?"

Arima raised an eyebrow. Seriously, the ten reports had the total thickness of a dictionary, and Haise finished them in half a day? Quite amazing. Arima and Haise had just come back from another scouting trip around the Aogiri base to prepare for the next part of their mission, and after returning from headquarters, Arima had instructed Haise to rest for a bit while he continued scanning through the reports.

"Yes. I think I have an inkling about what Kanou is doing in his lab and I would like your opinion on this," Arima said as he handed the report over to Haise. "For a long time we have known of the existence of Rc stimulants, and now with the reports from both Amon Koutarou and your subordinate, Urie Kuki…"

Haise scanned through the pages. His face lit up with understanding. "Aogiri's been using those stimulants on their own members!"

"That's what I was thinking about. Little research has been done by human scientists on Rc stimulants, since we don't have much use for them apart from rare medical treatments. The ones we have are weak and hardly usable in combat.

But we should have thought about the alternative: that Aogiri has developed a more powerful version of the stimulants. What if Aogiri packages it into a drug, and has it injected into the bloodstream of their soldiers? Their Rc counts would surge and their kagunes would be much more powerful. I wouldn't put it past Kanou to develop such a drug," Arima said.

"That seems possible. But there must be some side effects. I believe that this drug causes them to go berserk, as seen from the reports of attacks. The area would be completely covered with blood," Haise suggested.

Arima nodded grimly. Right now, the lower-ranked members of the CCG were spread thin across all the wards, holding both day and night shifts to prevent as many attacks as possible. Meanwhile, the stronger members were either spread out with one in each patrol group, or sent on scouting and infiltration missions to either find areas with weak protection or discover as much as possible about Aogiri's ranks. From what they had found out so far, Aogiri's higher ups have remained the same, but their manpower had increased drastically due to many ghouls being eager to join in their crusade against humankind.

Arima and Haise currently had their most dangerous mission yet, and the CCG were relying heavily on what they brought back. Their ultimate goal was to infiltrate Kanou's lab and gain as much knowledge on their research as possible, and to destroy the rest of the lab after. This should stop the deaths on our side, once and for all, thought Arima.

"Let's start the next phase of our mission."

Kaneki gagged again. "Man, it stinks here! Be glad you don't have a ghoul's nose, Arima-san." He was dressed in his full-black combat suit, even with his mask on, but the smell of the sewer was everywhere. "It's worse than eating a buffet..."

"Haise, stop complaining. We're almost there," Arima instructed, quinque at the ready. They had silently followed an Aogiri Tree guard into the sewage pipe, and Arima had taken him out with one quick swipe of IXA so they could rummage through his belongings. After weeks of scouting, they had realised that some of the higher-ranked guards were keeping maps on them, since their bases kept moving around. They also realised that only selected offense groups in Aogiri were being given the Rc stimulants. Most of the guards they had attacked did not manifest mutated kagune, and so probably didn't have the drug.

They continued walking through the sewers, boots splashing through the muddy water. The tunnels were unnaturally quiet, which was unnerving. They kept their senses alert, and constantly checked the map for which direction they should take. The ghoul who made this is pretty bad at drawing, thought Kaneki. It's so hard to read!

"Ah!" Kaneki jumped back and lashed out his Rinkaku, puncturing the ghoul that jumped out at them from the shadows. Kaneki tried pulling back his kagune only for the ghoul to latch on. He winced as the Aogiri soldier bit into into the tentacle, and Kaneki shoved him away with another.

Three more ghouls emerged from the shadows, grinning wildly from behind their masks, their kagunes pulsing rapidly behind them. These are mutated kagunes… they've taken stimulants!

"Where is Kanou's lab?" Arima asked calmly. Kaneki side-glanced at Arima with a (done) look. Did he really just casually ask Aogiri ghouls to give them directions? The ghouls only cackled, and the one who Kaneki had punctured leapt at him to bite off his Rinkaku. Kaneki dodged and slammed the ghoul into the sewage walls, extracting his kagune before he tried to rip it off again. "I guess they really lose their control after taking the drug!"

Arima ducked as one of the ghouls swung its kagune at him, and he countered with a quick jab of IXA through the ghoul's torso, but as soon as he removed his quinque, the ghoul's flesh regenerated almost instantly. "hUmAn sCum!" it screeched, lashing its green Bikaku about, and then four red Rinkaku tentacles speared the ghoul through its Kakuhou. The swollen organ fell to the ground, and the ghoul fell limp against the wall.

"We have to kill them with one hit, or they'll regenerate," Arima said, and Kaneki nodded. Normally, the two of them would have little problem fighting lowly Aogiri henchmen like these, but the stimulants had made them faster and stronger, not to mention their augmented kagunes. Kaneki fended off attacks with his Rinkaku, then stabbed the ghoul before him with Nutcracker's Koukaku. Meanwhile, Arima was fighting with both of his quinques, stunning the ghouls with the bolts from Narukami, then finishing them off with IXA.

After a while, four ghoul corpses lay on the tunnel floor. Kaneki panted as he leaned against the tunnel wall. "We better destroy the lab before Kanou develops a perfect drug. These guys are easier to beat when they don't have control over their actions."

They continued moving, following the map the best they could until they reached a thick steel door. Behind it would undoubtedly Kanou's lab. But as Kaneki stepped up to the door, he felt a shiver run through him. It was- something felt strange to him. "Arima-san, how difficult was it for you when you infiltrated Kanou's other lab?" he asked.

Arima crossed his arms. "I see what you mean. I barely escaped with my life, but this almost seems too easy."

Kaneki and Arima were two of the best investigators in the entire CCG, and they had been careful to not alert the guards, but to only encounter one patrol along the way? Very suspicious. When you've been an investigator for long enough, certain things just tingled you the wrong way.

"It's a trap," Arima sighed.

"But we don't have much choice, do we?" Kaneki balled up his fists. "The Director did say they were counting on us..."

"I suppose not. Stay close to my side, Haise, and be careful. If they've prepared an ambush, they may not be expecting the both of us to be here."

Kaneki nodded, then motioned for Arima to step back so that he could slam his Rinkaku through the steel doors, wrenching them open.

The lab was empty.

"Well… that was unexpected," said Kaneki.

"Haise, grab any documents you find quickly. We need to leave before anyone returns. I'll go to the computer and-"

All of a sudden, an alarm began blaring. Another set of steel doors closed behind them, and the lights turned red.

"What in the..." Arima started before a deep rumbling sound filled the room, which was starting to shake. Kaneki stumbled and dropped a few sheets of paper he had picked up from one of the tables. A loud crack reached their ears, and the both of them glanced upwards. A large fissure was running up the wall and onto the ceiling, and concrete was dropping down on them from above. "Haise, quick, grab anything you find!" Arima yelled while he jammed an external drive into the computer, hoping that he had enough time to extract the data.

Kaneki's kagune were lashing about the lab, trying to salvage any documents under the rumbling ceiling. "Arima! The ceiling's going to fall on us! We need to go!"

"Just a little bit more!" he yelled back.

Kaneki ran to the steel doors and slammed his Rinkaku into them again. Damn it, they're quinque steel! Cracks ran up the walls around the door, and he backed away from them as rocks fell in front of him.

"Arima, we're locked in! We need to- Arima, above you!"

His mentor looked up, and his eyes widened. Kaneki raced towards his mentor as rubble rained down on them from above, and he dived towards Arima as the older investigator tugged the external drive out from the computer. The red lights turned off, blanketing the lab in darkness.

And then there was silence.

A/N: [Kato] We're revived from the dead :)))

[Aelin] I woke up at 7 and went back to sleep, then woke up to write this :D

[Kato] Sorry for any weird discrepancies but we will try our best :'D Thank you for all the comments/favourites that pushed us to continue writing this story! 3