One-Eyed Princess! Tokyo Ghoul Story!

Chapter 17: Loyalty

Before Niyo leaves the building with Arima and Koori, she pretends to have to go to the bathroom, but it is just an excuse to look for Furuta. She takes the long way to the bathroom while keeping a keen eye on her surroundings. Surprisingly she passes by nobody. Niyo has a temptation to curse at herself, but is it really her fault? She sighs and decides to turn back. There is no way she is going to find anyone this late at night. How stupid of her to think Furuta would stay here. But why wouldn't he?

Niyo walks by a door to a room. She pauses when she hears muffled speaking coming from inside. She gently places her ear against the door and listens. It sounds like the person in there is speaking on a phone. What really surprises Niyo is that the voice is familiar. Her heart sinks when she recognizes him to be Furuta. She is sad because he did not stop by to say hi to her or anything. Why is he in there anyway?

"She does not suspect a thing, yet," Furuta says while hopping on a table in the room.

Niyo frowns when she gets the feeling that the 'she' Furuta is referring to is her.

"Yes, I will continue to spy on her. She's easy to fool."

Niyo nearly gasps out loud. Wait a minute, did she really hear that? Did she really hear Furuta just say he will spy on her, and that she is easy to fool? Niyo clenches her hands into fists. She wants to slam open the door and ask Furuta what is the meaning of this, but she just stands still and continues to listen to Furuta on the phone.

"But seriously, do I really have to see her every once in a while? She pisses me off," Furuta whines, making Niyo sad as ever. She cannot take it anymore. She steps away from the door and runs off to find Arima. However, she struggles because of the tight bandages around her. But she does not care about the pain anymore. She trusted Furuta. He helped her many times. Was it all an act? Who was he talking to on the phone? Who is he following orders from?

Niyo holds back her tears when she reaches Arima and Koori. She tries to put on her best 'normal face' and manages to fool Koori, but Arima spots something wrong right away. He does not ask anything though. He merely turns and walks out of the CCG building. Koori and Niyo follow without saying a word. It is awfully quiet between the three when they walk home. Everyone is too tired to speak. It has been a long day for them. For Niyo she was just daydreaming, but what really shut her down was Furuta's conversation on the phone. Niyo inhales deeply but as quietly as possible. This method keeps tears from forming. It only works for minor sad situations. In this case, it is hard to keep away her tears because this situation is more than sad. It's traumatizing.

When Arima and Niyo reach home, Niyo charges to her bedroom and shuts the door. She jumps on her bed, burying her face in her pillow. She begins feeling self-conscious about herself. What does Furuta really think of her? How does Niyo piss him off? It's usually him that inflames her.

The door to her bedroom opens. Niyo lifts her head and sees Arima standing by the door. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"..." Niyo sits up slowly. "I don't know how to explain it to you."

"Try," Arima says and sits next to her on the bed.

Niyo makes sure her hair covers her face before she comes right out and says it. "I love Furuta." There is a long silence. Niyo predicted this would happen as it already did when she told him she only 'liked' Furuta. "I know what you're going to say. I cannot be with-"

"He treasures you more than anyone, Niyo. Understand that."

"...You're lying." The memories of Furuta talking on the phone discourage her belief of ever having a good relationship with him anymore. "I get the feeling he's...faking..."

"I'm not lying. He loves you too."

Niyo kind of knew this, but she looks surprised anyway. "But what if he's just pretending?"

"I would've spotted that."

It's true. It is easy for Arima to spot certain things, but this time Niyo still doubts him. She knows what she has heard and can't possibly act the same way she was when she stayed with Furuta. "Yes, yes you're right." Niyo pretends to believe in Arima. She just wants to sleep it off, and hopefully tomorrow she will feel better. "I...think I should rest."

"Don't think about it too much, or you'll go gray." Arima stands up and walks out of the room. When he closes the door, Niyo immediately rampages silently.

She rips off the tight bandage around her head and throws it across the room. Tears fill her eyes as she takes the next one on her arm. Not caring if she hurts herself, she gashes it off with her nails and tears it into pieces. Niyo weeps silently and holds back her snivels as she noiselessly traumatizes.

From outside the room, Arima stands next to Niyo's bedroom door, listening to the rips and tears of the bandages. "Niyo, you don't understand..." he says quietly.

Niyo takes the last bandage and rips it into countless of pieces before falling onto her pillow again. She closes her teary eyes, letting the teardrops fall on the soft white pillow. Even now she still wonders where Furuta's loyalty stands. It's either with Niyo's or himself.