Chapter 87

Nico makes himself at home inside Helter Skelter, and Kaneki wracks his brain over what the man could be scheming given his ties to Aogiri Tree. Nico waves off the suspicion, insisting he never actually joined the organization and only ever went along with it for Yakumo Oomori's benefit, caring nothing for its aims. With the CCG having leveled their base, he simply dropped in on Itori to kill time.

Kaneki stays wary and mentally runs through ways to wring the truth out of him. Hoping to earn some trust, Nico volunteers a few morsels about Aogiri, explaining that Rize Kamishiro and Kanou are both central to what the group wants to accomplish. Seeing that none of this rattles Kaneki, he raises the subject of the One-Eyed King. Itori cautions Kaneki not to swallow freely given information whole, but he shrugs it off, reasoning that even a rough picture of the enemy is useful. If he could just reach Kanou, he would understand Aogiri, which means clearing away the two escorts and taking Madam A.

Before he leaves, Itori mentions a ghoul in a rabbit mask who has been slaughtering investigators, and the news leaves Kaneki without a word. Elsewhere, Arine and Niharu are backed into a corner by that very ghoul. The two never manage to ready their quinques before Rabbit wipes them both out.

Nico disavows any real loyalty to Aogiri and feeds Kaneki intelligence on Rize, Kanou, and the One-Eyed King. Kaneki firms up his plan to eliminate Madam A's guards and capture her. The chapter closes on the rabbit-masked ghoul obliterating investigators Arine and Niharu.

Set in the ninth volume, the chapter goes by the Japanese title 噂話 (Uwasabanashi), rendered in English as Rumor. It seeds two threads at once: the mythology of the One-Eyed King and the murderous debut of the Black Rabbit.