~from Kaneki's POV 2nd person~
(Y/n) stepped out from behind the door, and her name died on your lips. She's so different, you were thinking. Her hair was white now, and her eyes, usually kind, were now seemingly apathetic behind the butterfly mask Uta had made for her. What did they do to you? Is this all my fault? And worse than that, you actually asked yourself, Is that my sister? For one horrifying moment, you looked at her and had to wonder what type of monster she was to have killed all of those ghouls, especially the one in that room...There was a new distance between the two of you, to the point where you couldn't even understand her anymore, and that thought terrified you. She's my little twin sister! What am I thinking? I don't care what she's done. She's always going to be my little sister, no matter how many people she kills or how much trauma she's suffered because I couldn't protect her. Whoever she is, I will accept her always. "(Y/n)!" you cried out, turning towards her, but in that moment, Ayato seized the opportunity and used his kagune to slam you to the ground.
"Where do you think you're going, you twig? I'm not finished with you yet, not until I snap you in half," he growled, stabbing you in the chest with his kagune.
You blinked, trying to make the black spots go away, but it was no use. I've lost too much blood..."Touka," you coughed out, blood staining your lips. "Take (y/n)...and get out of here."
"Kaneki!" she yelled, angry and scared all at once, but in the time it took for her to take a single step towards you, Ayato was already thrown off of his feet. He flew roughly 10 feet through the air before regaining his balance and skidding back on his feet, upright and pissed. Did Touka do that? No, she couldn't have. Then...?
Standing in front of you was (y/n), her kagune out. Even though hers was almost the exact same as yours, her kagune looked a touch more feminine, reminding you of butterfly wings. She spread it wide, as though shielding you, and tilted her head, watching Ayato.
"It's no use," you whispered to her. "Hurry, and get out of her while you still can. There's no way you can beat Ayato," you were in the middle of saying, but then she completely skewed your expectations. Ayato shot dozens of razor-blade sharp bits of kagune at her, but she calmly deflected them all, taking special care to make sure none of them hit you. Touka was far enough out of range where she was unaffected, but you believed that (Y/n) would have shielded her, too.
When Ayato saw that he wasn't making any progress that way, he ran forward, ready to overwhelm (y/n) with his superior strength, but she leapt around, dancing like the butterfly she was, never hesitating or staying in any one place for too long. While Ayato was constantly twisting and turning to keep up with her, she was landing the occasional hit, each in areas that would kill a human. When Ayato recognized that he would never be able to match her speed and overpower her, he waited until she was at least twenty feet away before he turned and shot parts of his kagune at you.
You closed your eyes, expecting to feel pain, but instead, you just felt a drop of something land on your forehead. You opened your eyes hesitantly to find (y/n) standing before you, her white shirt turning red. You were confused until you touched your forehead, and that's when you realized that, with no time to block Ayato's attack towards you, (y/n) had shielded you with her body, taking all of the shots in her abdomen, and some of her blood had sprayed onto you.
"No," you said, sitting up. "Why? Why is this...Is this my punishment for being weak?"
For the first time since you'd seen her, (y/n) turned to Kaneki and gave a small smile. "There's nothing wrong with being weak. I'll protect you, Kaneki. So don't worry."
"But...but you! You're bleeding!" you said, gesturing towards her, and she just looked down, the half-smile fading as she shrugged.
"I'm fine. I had something to eat before this. See?" she said, lifting up her shirt just a little so you could see the holes in her stomach filling back up with flesh.
Something to eat? you wondered, thinking of the man in that room who looked as though there were bites taken out of him...but I don't care about that. If eating some evil ghoul means that (y/n) is alive, then I can't let myself be dragged down by trying to hang onto my old sense of morals. Above all, the two of us have to stay together, and I'll sacrifice what I have to in order to keep that.
While you were debating your moral code, (y/n) turned back to Ayato, her face blank and her eyes dark yet expressionless. "The weak one on here is you," she said in a soft voice that carried. She began attacking Ayato, holding even with him even as she took steps towards him. "What was that you said earlier? That it's the place of the weak to be crushed by the hands of the strong?" She was now only three steps away from Ayato. "Prepare to be crushed." Her kagune batted his away with almost laughable easiness, and without his defense, she was able to approach him easily.
"Crushed by the hands of the strong, huh?" he repeated, laughing darkly as if to reluctantly admit his defeat. "Quite a sense of irony you have there." At this point, she had her hands around his throat, ready to suffocate him, but she didn't move. Instead, she slowly withdrew her hands, turned her back to him, and walked back towards you.
"The weak survive because the strong lend a helping hand, not a hurting hand, Ayato," she said as she paused before continuing onward. Ayato scowled, sent a final glare towards Touka, and disappeared into the night.
"(Y/n)," you whispered, forcing yourself to sit up even though you were sore and aching. "I can't wait to get you back to Anteiku where you'll be safe."
"Wait," she said softly, looking away into the skyline of destruction. She turned back to you, her head tilted and her white hair framing her face as the wind blew it. She ran her hand through some of it to stop it from hiding her eyes as she looked at you with an unreadable expression. "I'm not coming back to Anteiku."
"What?" Touka asked, and you looked over at her in surprise, as though you'd forgotten her presence. "What do you mean, not coming back? We all...we all put our lives on the line, (y/n). For you. We want you to come back with us. You belong at Anteiku, with all of us." When (y/n) didn't respond, Touka took a step closer. "(Y/n), if you don't come back to Anteiku, where will you go?"
The whole time Touka was speaking, (y/n) was looking directly at you, and she still was, her gaze steady. "I'm going to Aogiri."
"What? Are you crazy? (Y/n)! Wake up! What, did they brainwash you?" Touka asked, sounding desperate as she drew even closer. Now, she was about fives steps away from (y/n). "They...they tortured you! How can you...how can you go back to that?"
But (y/n) didn't seem to pay attention to what Touka was saying, or if she did, she wasn't letting it show. "I'm going to Aogiri," she repeated, and you bit down on your teeth, frustrated and exasperated.
"Why is it...that we can't ever just be together?" you asked, meeting her eyes. You were crying, but you didn't care. "I'm sorry that I wasn't a really good brother in the past. I didn't think of you enough. I should have realized...how lonely you were, how alone you always were...Why didn't I help you?" you asked to no one in particular, but you were still looking right at her. "When they took you...I couldn't believe it. I'd always taken you for granted, that you'd be by my side, but then you were gone and I didn't know what to do. I can't stand being separated from you, (y/n). Maybe it's because we're twins, or maybe it's because I'm your older brother and even though I'm weak, I still want to try to protect you." You paused. "Why do you always have to be alone? Why can't you let me stand by you like you've always done for me?"
Silently, (y/n) let the hand that had been holding up her hair drop. Her hair hid her face and eyes from both Touka and you, but you didn't need to try to read her facial expressions to understand what she meant when she held out her hand.
You pushed off the ground, holding your left hand over your right side to lessen the bleeding, and accepted her outstretched hand with yours.