| abstract | - At an unknown time in the past, a young Kuzen meets with several hooded ghouls in the 24th Ward. He greets one of them, a man named Noroi, and proceeds to entrust his infant daughter Eto to him. Noroi smiles and greets Eto. In the present, Takeomi Kuroiwa sees the mummified face behind Noro's mask. He then tends to Mutsuki, who has come to after being knocked out in the battle. Mutsuki awakes to find his squadmates tending to a griveously injured Shirazu. Urie tries to calm him down while mentally analyzing his wounds, worried that they will not heal in time despite reassuring him otherwise. As Shirazu's condition worsens, he calls out his sister's name. Saiko and Urie desperately call out to him. However, Shirazu reveals that he cannot hear them and realizes that he is slipping away. Knowing he is going to die, he leaves a final request to his squad: to let his sister die when he passes away. In a final attempt to keep him conscious, Urie talks to him, saying that with the reward money from killing Noro, he would be able to afford his sister's treatment, and that all the credit will go to Shirazu. However, his attempts were to no avail as Shirazu finally succumbs to his wounds and dies. Urie and Saiko breakdown in tears, as Mutsuki looks on in shock. As the rest of the CCG are cleaning up the aftermath of the battle, Matsuri Washuu arrives with several investigators behind him. Ignoring the gruesome spectacle before him, he immediately requests every investigator with the capacity to fight to follow him to battle the One-Eyed Owl, including Kuroiwa and Urie. Griefstricken by Shirazu's death, Urie angrily asks if seeing all the deaths around him does not faze him at all. Washuu coldly confirms this, and leaves with several investigators. As he leaves, he tells Urie his judgement of the investigator was mistaken Meanwhile in the rooftop, Haise dodges Eto's projectile attacks. He inquires the purpose of Eto's presence, to which she replies that she was passing time by watching how the situation would unfold between Kanae, Tsukiyama, and him. As Haise continues to dodge her attacks, he recalls the wish Yoshimura entrusted to him to save his daughter. He relays this memory to Eto, who laughs at the notion, calling Haise sweet. In a brief moment, Haise leaps towards Eto and slashes her kakuja, severing the head and missing her real body. Eto, now exposed, calls Haise a kid. As Haise jumps to higher ground, he asks Eto why trash like her should be saved.
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