Chapter 21

Kureo Mado proposes moving to a quiet room deeper inside the building, promising to keep it brief. Touka fumbles for excuses, dreading that reaching such a room means crossing the Rc Scan Gate. Ignoring her, Mado pulls Kaneki along, and Kaneki tenses, certain the machine will pick up the Rc signature of his transplanted organs. With a sly grin Mado shoves him through, yet the gate stays silent, and the two visitors slip out of the headquarters unharmed. Kaneki puzzles over why nothing triggered, guessing his human components may be the reason.

When Koutarou Amon appears, Mado admits he was sure the pair were ghouls but could not get the gate to react even after dragging Kaneki across it. Although the funeral of Ippei Kusaba was underway, both men skipped it to squeeze in a little extra work. Mado speculates that Kusaba's death ties back to the parent-and-child ghoul case. Over dinner, Yasutomo Nakajima grieves for Kusaba and reminds Amon how deeply the young man had looked up to him. Amon lightens the mood, telling Nakajima to buy him dinner next time on Kusaba's behalf.

Back at his apartment, Amon throws himself into a punishing workout, silently vowing to avenge those who died shielding others.

Mado forces Kaneki through the Rc Scan Gate, and it fails to detect him, hinting that his half-human physiology sets him apart from ordinary ghouls. Amon and Mado skip Kusaba's funeral to keep working the case, and Amon commits himself to avenging fallen investigators, a resolve that sharpens his role in the ward's conflict.

Bearing the title Aitō, meaning Condolences, this twenty-first chapter came out on March 1, 2012, and belongs to the third volume. The mournful title reflects both the aftermath of Kusaba's death and Amon's grief.