In the split second Kaneki woke up, everything was fine.

It was very similar to waking up in the morning: for just a tiny fraction of a second, he didn't think anything. Didn't feel anything. Didn't know where he was. His brain hadn't yet turned on, and therefore wasn't capable of thought process.

And then that split second was over, and sensation crashed over him like a tidal wave.

The first and only thing Kaneki could comprehend was the pain. His head was aching like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull, his right leg was one throbbing mangle of agony, and every inch of his back stung as if he had been roasted over a fire. Kaneki coughed and felt blood spray over his lips; he realized that he must have some sort of internal damage as well, which would explain the horrible burning in his stomach. Unable to stop himself, he let out a strangled cry that faded into another round of coughing.

Despite this, none of these injuries truly concerned him. Already, he could feel the his body healing: closing wounds, fusing bones, growing new skin over raw patches of flesh. After a minute or two, most of the pain had faded, although his stomach still burned, and there was a strange, sharp pressure whenever he tried to breathe.

Once the pain had mostly dissipated, Kaneki was able to devote his thoughts to other things. For a few seconds, he struggled to remember what had happened prior to him losing consciousness. When he remembered it, the memory struck him like a punch in the gut. Anteiku!

Kaneki's mind went from calm to panicked in seconds. He had no idea what had happened to the ghoul-run coffee shop—for all he knew, the CCG could have slaughtered everyone there. How long had he been unconscious? How long had it been since the raid? Was anyone still alive? Why hadn't he been able to protect them?

Kaneki managed to reign in his emotions. He knew the answer to the last question, actually. He hadn't been able to see the fight to the finish due to his deadly battle with Arima. The details were hazy to him, but bits and pieces stood out in lurid detail: sudden blindness in one eye, pain so bad he felt like the inside of his skull had been reduced to boiling acid, the grim-faced ghoul investigator standing over him, blade aimed point-down at Kaneki's head. The rest of the fight was a blur of blood, pain, and a tirade of nonsensical words so tangled and snarled he couldn't even remember if he'd known what he was thinking.

At the thought of the fight, Kaneki frowned, remembering something. He blinked a few times to make sure, but that just reinforced what he was thinking: both his eyes were still intact. His head still ached, but more like the endings of a headache, and definitely not the acidic torture it had been during the fight. None of the other injuries he remembered were present, either, and he was fairly certain that his still-healing wounds hadn't come from the duel. Despite everything, he was alive and relatively well.

How is that even possible? Kaneki thought. Even if, by some miracle, he had managed to avoid Arima stabbing him the second time, there was no doubt in his mind that the first strike had gone clean through his skull. Could anyone recover from that, even a fast-healing half-ghoul? And even if he had healed, how had he escaped? How did I end up…?

Realizing he wasn't entirely sure where he was, Kaneki took his first good look around since he had woken up. What he saw surprised him. He was surrounded by leaves and branches, over, under, and all around, and—now that he stopped to check—his feet weren't touching anything solid. It was almost like…

Kaneki looked down—and immediately wished he hadn't. Protruding from his stomach was at least a foot of tree branch, smeared with blood from point to base. Suddenly, the still-present burn and difficulty breathing made sense.

Getting impaled through the stomach was no longer a new occurrence for Kaneki; it had happened more times than he cared to count. However, getting strung up like a piece of laundry was new, even to him. Hesitantly, he grabbed the tree branch where it protruded from his body. It took him a few tries to get a good grip—his rapid healing had left him weak, and the coating of blood had slicked the bark considerably—but in the end he managed to grab on. Digging his fingers into the tree, Kaneki flexed his arms and pulled.

Red-hot nausea swirled in a burning wave through his stomach. Kaneki inhaled sharply, winced, and coughed again, more blood trickling down his chin. He felt himself move forward an inch or two. Slowly, steadily, he managed to pull himself forward, only stopping to breathe when a rough edge scraped into the raw wound.

When he was only a few inches away from freedom, Kaneki stopped and took a deep breath. Grabbing the end of the branch in his hand, he wrenched up, taking it off as if it were made of styrofoam. Letting the branch fragment fall from his grasp, he reached behind him, grabbed the branch awkwardly between his hands, and pushed hard.

There was a final stab of pain, and then he was falling. Twisting midair, Kaneki took in his surroundings in a lightning second—ground rushing up to meet him, tree a foot away, another tree five feet across from him, more trees all around—before reaching out with his hand. Instantly, he touched rough bark and pushed away, going from a fall to a diagonal leap in less than a second. His aim was spot on: he hit the adjacent tree and used it as a kickstand to launch himself to the ground. Despite his best effort, the landing was too much for him. The instant he hit the earth, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to his hands and knees.

Kaneki made no attempt to get up; instead, he took a minute get his strength back, gulping down lungfuls of loamy, dirt-tinged forest air and spitting out the last of the blood in his mouth. The burn in his stomach was steadily diminishing—already, the wound was healing, stretching sinews in crossing arcs through the hole and weaving together. Once this heals, I need to figure out where the hell I am, what happened to Anteiku, and how I got away from Arima.

Feeling slightly more confident now that he had a plan, Kaneki slowly eased himself into a sitting position. Blood dripped down his stomach and pooled onto the grass, but he knew that in a second, the bleeding would—

Hunger.

Out of nowhere, a new pain sank claws into his stomach, so strong it forced him to fold over, gasping in pain. Hunger writhed and gnawed through his body like a thousand angry centipedes, leaving nothing but pain and hollowness in its wake. Pressing both hands tightly over the wound in his abdomen, Kaneki felt the repairs slow down and cease, leaving a hole the size of a golf ball through his stomach, surrounded by a wider patch of bloody, ribboned skin and muscle. New thoughts pushed their way to the front of his mind—hungry thoughts, a terrible craving for flesh.

Kaneki gritted his teeth and forced himself to concentrate, pushing his hunger to the back of his mind. I don't have time for this! He struggled into a kneeling position, sucking in wheezing breaths through tightly clenched teeth and desperately trying to ignore the hollow, chewing agony in his stomach. He knew the odds of there being anyone nearby were slim, and he had no time to stop and search. The only thing he could do was endure until he figured out where he was.

After a minute of painful concentration, Kaneki managed to stagger to his feet. Setting his jaw and tightly clasping his wound, he took a step forward. Then another. Every movement was torture, but nothing he wasn't used to. I can do this, he thought grimly. I can—

The wind shifted, carrying with it a faint scent. A faint, sweet, mouthwatering scent, one he recognized all too well. One that crushed Kaneki's already waning willpower to dust. Human flesh, somewhere not too far away.

The unraveling of reason was instantaneous. His hunger reared up like a feral beast, engulfed him, dragged him down into blood-tinged madness. The agony in his stomach became unbearable. He had to eat, and he had to eat now.

Like a shark scenting blood in the water, Kaneki whirled around and was off, making his way through the forest much quicker than his wound should have allowed. He ignored the pain shooting through his body, ignored the roots and uneven ground that threatened to trip him. He desperately needed food, and he knew that somewhere, some unlucky human was going to provide him with some...whether they wanted to or not.

Kaneki's travel through the forest passed by in a blur. Trees, grass, leaves and rocks blurred and ran together into a stream of earthen tones as he raced across the ground. He encountered no people as he ran, although there were several times where he thought he could make out voices and strange, bestial roars in the distance. One time, he could have sworn he spotted something black and hairy rustling in the underbrush, but it wasn't the source of the smell he was chasing, so he ran by without a second glance.

He couldn't say for certain how long he ran. Time faded away in a haze of hunger and bloodlust. After a while, the trees began to thin. The sky became more visible. He put on a final burst of speed, knowing without a doubt that the human was near—and suddenly, he saw it.

The forest opened up to a massive cliff edge, easily the length of a football field. The ground was covered in coarse, short grass right up to the edge of the cliff. The wind whispered across the ground, cold and light.

There was a girl (or at least, he was fairly certain it was a girl) at the edge of the cliff, facing away from him. She was small, and mostly covered by a red, hooded cloak. Kaneki found himself forcibly reminded of Little Red Riding Hood. Well, if she's Little Red Riding Hood, he thought deliriously, then I guess that makes me the wolf. He grinned ferally at the thought.

However, the weapon the girl held hardly belonged in a child's fairy tale. It was a massive scythe, made up of interlocking pieces of red and black metal. It was as tall as the girl and had a silvery blade longer than Kaneki's arm. Was it a quinque? He couldn't be certain, but he didn't think so—something about it didn't look quite right. Since they were derived from the kakuhou of ghoul's, quinques tended to have strange, shifting colors, or at least something other than flat silver. Still, the only weapons like this one he had ever seen were quinques. Better be careful.

Kaneki covered the distance to the girl quick and quiet as the casting of a shadow. She hadn't even heard him yet, she was small and frail-looking, and a blade like that, quinque or not, would be useless once he knocked it off the cliff. He could feel slaver build up in his mouth as he got even closer. She'd taste delicious, he knew it.

There was a small snap as Kaneki crushed a twig underfoot. The girl tensed, turning ever so slightly, but it was too late. He knew she wouldn't be able to escape, he was only a meter away from her, his hand was stretched out, ready to grab...

Silver eyes locked onto his, widening, and suddenly everything dissolved in a flurry of red.

Blinded by the sudden crimson cloud, Kaneki grabbed wildly, hands finding nothing but air. He skidded to a stop to avoid hurtling off the cliff, the red cloud dissipating around him. Letting out a growl of annoyance, he whirled on his heel, scanning the area desperately. There was no way a human could have moved that fast, and that girl was human. The way her scent was driving him wild with hunger was proof of that. Where did you go?

The girl was standing not five feet away, scythe slung almost casually over her shoulder. Now that she had turned to face him, he could make her out more clearly—a waifish pixie with short, choppy red hair, dark as old blood at the top and lightening to a dull scarlet at the tips. She was dressed in red and black exclusively—a black dress with red tulle frills, hooded red cloak over her shoulders, black-and-red lace-up boots. Around her waist was a belt hung heavy with bullets.

Starving as he was, Kaneki couldn't help but notice that the girl didn't look scared, but confused. There was no doubt in his mind that his kakugan was clearly visible, turning his left eye into a nightmare of black and red. That should have been more than enough to alert this girl to his ghoul nature. Yet she was looking at him like he was nothing more than...well, a stranger who'd tried to sneak up on her.

Why isn't she afraid?

The girl shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Uh, is there a costume party after the test or something?" she said, voice full of the innocent squeak of someone who wasn't quite grown up yet. "Cool eye, by the way. You definitely surprised me, that's for sure. How'd you do it? Some kind of contact lense?" Shifting her gaze, she noticed the blood-soaked hole in his clothing and the shredded flesh underneath. Her expression immediately twisted in concern, eyes practically bugging out of her head. "Oh my gosh! What happened to you?"

Kaneki grinned lopsidedly. "I went walking in the forest by myself," he sneered, "and got my insides ripped out by the Big Bad Wolf."

Quick as a whip, he leapt at the girl, mouth wide open, sights set on her shoulder. The girl tensed and vanished once again, leaving a cloud of red in her wake. Once again unprepared, Kaneki leaned too far and collapsed to the ground, showered in small, leaf-like objects. Plucking one from the air, he held it close to his face for examination. No doubt about it—it was a rose petal. It remained in his hand for a few seconds before melting away to nothing, along with the rest of the cloud.

Kaneki pushed himself to his feet, getting more and more irritated with the nonsensical turn of events. Where did these come from? Am I hallucinating?

The girl re-appeared off to his right, slightly farther away than the first time, looking slightly more scared than she had been. Maybe he was hallucinating—he swore he saw more rose petals trailing from the edge of her cloak. "What's wrong with you?" She wavered, leveling her scythe at him. "You're not making sense. And how are you still up? You should be in a hospital!"

Memories of his last hospital visit bubbled up in Kaneki's mind, prompting him to chuckle, mad and raspy. "Don't you know?" he said brokenly. "Hospitals are where they make the monsters." He laughed again, ending in a cough that had him spitting blood. "They take you there and cut you open and mix you aaalll up inside."

The girl's eyes widened in fear, darkening from silver to the cold iron of storm clouds. Her hand strayed up the handle of her scythe, wrapping tight around a lever on the side. "What do you want?" She asked, barely containing the tremble in her voice.

Before Kaneki could answer, a voice called up faintly from below the cliff. "Ruby! You okay up there?" Another female, but older. "What's happening?"

'Ruby' twisted around for a split second, opened her mouth to reply. That was all the time Kaneki needed. He leapt one last time, pouring all his speed into the movement. The girl turned her head, but he had finally caught her off guard. He knocked her weapon to the edge of the cliff and grabbed her shoulders in a vice-like grip, sending both of them tumbling. When they slammed into the ground, by sheer luck, Kaneki wound up on top.

Pinning the girl's arms to the dirt, Kaneki looked down on her, leering. "No talking, now," he rasped, giggling hoarsely. "Wouldn't want anyone bothering us, after all." He tightened his grip on Ruby's wrists, eliciting a whimper of pain. "Now, you asked me what I wanted? I'll tell you. What I want...is you!"

Opening his mouth wide, Kaneki smashed his face into Ruby's shoulder and bit down.

Instead of sinking into flesh, his teeth hit something else, something flexible, but solid, like a layer of thick plastic. Ruby squealed in apparent pain, despite the fact that Kaneki was fairly certain he hadn't broken the skin. As quick as he'd bitten down, he pulled away, frowning in confusion. The girl's clothes weren't even ripped. What the hell?

Ruby seemed to be thinking the same, but for very different reasons. She stared up at Kaneki with wide, watery eyes the color of steel. When she spoke, her childlike voice was thick with disbelief. "Did you just… bite me?"

Kaneki ignored her and tried again, clamping his mouth down on the girl's shoulder. The invisible barrier was still there. He let out a muffled, exasperated shriek and bit down harder, but it was no use. No matter how hard he bit, the barrier stayed, bending under the pressure, but refusing to budge. Despite this, Ruby still cried out in pain. She struggled to break free of his grip, but her speed seemed to far outstrip her strength—she might as well have been lying still for all the good her struggles did her.

Kaneki straightened back up again, thoroughly confused, more than a little annoyed, and still very hungry. Ruby took advantage of this and tried to throw him off one last time, but he pinned her down easily. Switching both her wrists to one hand and making sure they were stuck to the dirt, Kaneki touched the the girl's shoulder, testing the cloth of her outfit. It seemed to be ordinary fabric. "Why don't you bleed?" He hissed angrily.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The screamed threat was all the warning he had. One second, he was sitting up, straddling Ruby's stomach and pinning her to the ground; the next, there was a bang, and what felt like a small meteor struck the side of his chest. Caught completely off guard, Kaneki was sent flying. He hit the ground, rolled a few times, then came to a stop and lay still. Knocked breathless, he wheezed in agony as his side blistered—whatever had hit him had been hot, and, by the feel of his chest, broken several of his ribs. Every breath made it feel as though his lungs were on the verge of being skewered.

Kaneki screwed his eyes shut, breathing in quick, shallow gasps in an attempt to hold back the waves of pain that threatened to drown him. He could no longer distinguish between what was hunger and what was damage—every inch of his body, inside and out, was in agony. Alternating spots of light and dark crowded his vision as he desperately tried to stay conscious.

It took him a moment, but Kaneki managed to open his eyes and look in the direction the attack had come from. Somehow, more people had arrived. Instead of just Ruby, there were now three more girls gathered at the edge of the cliff. They all looked older than the girl in the red cloak, and each one was stranger than the last.

There was a girl with long, moon-white hair not unlike his own, pulled into an elegant ponytail at the side of her head. The rest of her was as pale as her hair: porcelain skin, an ice-colored lacy dress and silver high-heeled boots, eyes like an arctic sky. Even the scar that ran through her left eye was a washed-out peach. She carried a silver fencing sword in her hand; instead of a normal hilt, the handle was set with a ring of glass vials, each one a different color.

Next to the pale girl was a girl who may as well have been her polar opposite. Other than her skin, everything about her was dark as ink: tangled black hair, a black corset and boots layered over lacy white underclothes, black bow on top of her head. Her eyes were the only thing that differed from her color scheme—a bright amber-gold that reminded Kaneki of the eyes of the cats he'd seen skulking in alleys. In her hand she clutched a blade like an elongated meat cleaver, dark as the rest of her, with a ribbon tied at the hilt that wound up her arm.

The final girl was definitely the brightest. A curly lion's mane of brilliantly bright golden hair tumbled down to her shoulders, framing a determined scowl and furious lavender eyes. Her clothes were all shades of gold, orange, and black: brown vest over a yellow shirt, black shorts, a brown skirt, black gloves, brown boots, and orange socks pulled up at uneven heights. Her lower arms were encased in bright yellow gauntlets.

"What did he do?" The blonde growled, glaring daggers at Kaneki.

Ruby, who at some point had retrieved her scythe, shrugged. "He tried to bite me, I think. He was yammering on about a bunch of random stuff, too. But he's hurt pretty bad. I'm not sure how 'there' he is."

For the first time, the three new girls seemed to notice the hole in Kaneki's abdomen and the slowly drying blood caked over his front. The three girls recoiled as if they'd just seen something rotting. "Pretty bad?" The white-haired repeated incredulously. "How in the world is he still alive?"

The black-haired girl started walking towards Kaneki, although she kept her blade at her side. "Wait!" The blonde protested. "What are you—"

"He's hurt," the black-haired girl replied, not stopping in her approach. "And I don't know if you can see from back there, but your punch hurt him even more. Either he won't use his Aura, or he can't. Either way, he's not going to be much of a threat." She made it to where Kaneki lay, kneeling down in front of him. She studied him for a few moments, then turned back to face her comrades, slinging her blade over her back. "He's still breathing, at least. But I'm pretty sure he's unconscious."

Kaneki abruptly realized that he hadn't moved since landing. I might be able to do this. He did his best to stay perfectly still, watching the girls through barely-opened eyelids.

The black-haired looked Kaneki up and down a few times, then inched closer. The closer to him she got, the more nervous she seemed to get. "Are you guys going to help me, or do I have to carry him by myself?" She called impatiently.

The blonde girl and Ruby took a few hesitant steps forward. The white-haired girl, however, stayed where she was, although she lowered her sword. "Should we really help him?" She said doubtfully. "I mean, Ruby said he's violent, and we don't even know him."

Ruby looked back. "Weiss, he doesn't even have a weapon. And we can't just let him die. We're supposed to be the good guys, remember?"

The newly named Weiss frowned. "Still…" She trailed off, unable to come up with an argument, but still unwilling to approach.

The black-haired girl, in the meantime, had been examining Kaneki's wounds. "Okay, we have to be careful," she said. "He's hurt pretty bad. This hole goes right through his stomach. It might just be best if…" She trailed off and reached her arms around the injured half-ghoul, awkwardly lifting him up into a semi-sitting position. Despite the pain that shot through his abdomen and chest like bolts of lightning, he stayed perfectly still as the girl leaned him against her body.

That was what Kaneki had been waiting for. The half-ghoul waited until his head bumped against the girl's shoulder, then opened his eyes. Instantly, Ruby and the blonde were on alert. "Blake—!" Ruby yelped, but it was already too late.

Kaneki bit down on the black-haired girl's shoulder with all of his remaining strength. For a second, he worried that the strange barrier would reappear, but luck was on his side. His teeth sank into flesh unobstructed, as easily as if it were water.

The sensation of blood splashing over his tongue was like a lungful of air to a drowning man. Kaneki clamped down harder greedily, taking the biggest mouthful of flesh he could, not even caring that the girl's blood was off, bitter and sour under a mask of human sweetness. 'Blake' cried out in shock and pain, shoving him away. The action was a mistake—although he fell to the ground, a chunk of the girl's shoulder tore away with him. He swallowed it whole before he even touched the earth.

Kaneki hit the ground, but hardly felt the impact that jolted his body. New energy flowed through his body and limbs, the pain finally diminishing as the hole in his stomach closed up. His abdomen was still wounded—both his front and back were missing a chunk, as if some clawed beast had gouged out a handful on either side—but he'd stopped bleeding, and it wasn't quite as painful as it had been. His ribs realigned, bones tentatively shifting into their proper places, but not healing completely. The one thing that remained unchanged was his hunger.

Kaneki managed stood up, blood trickling from his mouth. The victim of his attack had fallen to her knees, hissing in pain through her teeth and grabbing at her shoulder as if to cram the falling blood back into her body. She shouldn't have bothered—already, the shoulder of her shirt and her upper arm were dripping with red. Both Weiss and the blonde rushed to the dark girl's side and adopted combat stances, the former with her sword pointed, the latter with her fists raised. Ruby, who was currently attempting to stem the bleeding in Blake's shoulder, stared at him in horror. Her eyes travelled from newly-shrunk wound in his stomach to the scarlet trails of blood on his chin. "What are you?" She whispered, horrified.

Kaneki lazily reached up a hand and wiped away the blood that streaked his jaw. As his hand left his face, he folded his thumb over a single black-nailed finger and pressed down hard. The crack that split the air made all four girls flinch.

"What am I?" Kaneki mused, mouth tugging into a grin. On a whim, he summoned his kagune. Four long, blood-red tentacles peeled away from the small of his back and unfurled like flower petals. The four girls blanched, eyes widening in unison. The effect was almost comical; Kaneki couldn't help but giggle.

"To tell you the truth...right now, I'm starving."

It was only once the fight got underway that Kaneki realized it wouldn't be as easy as he thought.

He took the initiative and attacked first; darting forward and lashing out with his kagune. Even injured, Kaneki was a fast fighter—the blood-red protrusion sliced through the air with an audible swish, more than fast enough to land a hit. However, somehow, all four girls reacted fast and jumped to avoid it—even the injured Blake. By the time the dust cleared, all four were standing, no worse for the wear.

They shouldn't have been able to dodge that so well...Maybe I underestimated them.

Ruby put a hand on Blake's uninjured shoulder. "Blake, get out of here. Go and get Pyrrha and the others. Tell them not to worry." She lifted her scythe threateningly. "We can handle this guy."

The dark haired girl nodded and ran towards the edge of the cliff. Kaneki grinned and leapt, jumping high in the air and landing directly in front of her, blocking her escape. The landing sent shots of acid through his stomach, chest, and legs—he simply ignored it, too wrapped up in the moment to care.

Blake had just enough time to flinch and skid to a stop before Kaneki attacked. His kagune shot out and wrapped around the shocked girl—one around her legs, one around her waist, one pinning her arms to her sides. "I may not be a good cook," he said, "but I don't think food is supposed to run away after one bite." Before she could so much as begin to struggle, he tossed her, hard, off the end of the cliff. She didn't even scream; completely silent, she tumbled head over heels through the air and out of sight.

The rest of the girls looked on in horror. There was a fraction of a second's pause, and then the blonde snapped. She took off towards Kaneki as fast as she could, screaming a challenge and cocking back her fist.

He was ready. The girl lead with a raised fist, so as she approached, he fully expected a punch. However, she twisted her body and switched to a kick at the last second, catching him by surprise. Reacting fast, Kaneki raised a hand and blocked, swiping the girl's foot to the side and rendering her off-balance, if only for a second.

Thankfully, a second was all he needed. Kaneki followed with an upward swipe of his kagune, catching the girl full in the chest and launching her high into the air, directly towards the edge of the cliff. Fairly certain that the blonde was out of the picture, he eyed the remaining girls. They all had blades, but since he doubted they were quinques, the odds of any of them being able to hurt him were slim. He'd just have to move fast, and soon enough—

A bang from overhead derailed his train of thought. Distracted, Kaneki looked up just in time. A blur of gold and brown filled his vision, and he had time only to leap to the side before the blonde hit the ground, knocking a crater in the dirt and sending up a massive cloud of dirt, stones, andloose grass.

Kaneki landed in a crouched stance, sucking in a quiet, pained hiss as the fast movement tugged at the wound in his abdomen. The blonde was up, somehow perfectly okay after a fall that would have at least stunned most humans. Before he could process what he was seeing, she threw three lightning fast air-punches, one after the other. Each punch was accompanied by a bang and a ball of fire hurtling towards him, issued from the gauntlets on her arms.

What the fuck?!

Shocked as he was, Kaneki was able to dodge each blast, although the first one was so close he felt his skin blister as it passed. The third one he jumped straight over, ribs burning all the while, pushing himself with his kagune and winding back a punch. He reached the girl and struck; however, she dodged to the side and responded with her own punch that he just barely avoided.

The two traded punches and kicks, ducking, dodging, and attacking with monstrous force. With his injuries, Kaneki would have been in trouble, save for one thing: while the girl's punches were powerful, and more often than not accompanied by a blast of red-hot force, she lacked superior speed and agility. He was able to dodge or block each hit, and even land a few of his own, although they were few, far between, and didn't seem to do much.

However, his advantage didn't last long. Good fighter or not, Kaneki's injuries were slowing him down. When the girl launched a punch towards his face, he only just barely got out of the way—he felt the skin on his face burn as it passed. Knowing he had to end it quickly, Kaneki twisted to the side, ducked, and uppercutted the blonde square in the chest.

She flew backwards and tumbled a few times, but managed to stick a hand against the ground and drag herself to a halt. Kaneki took that opportunity to run forward, leap into the air, and slam his kagune down in a cage-like formation around the girl. She grunted in pain as the edges of the red protrusions grated against her skin and locked her in place. Somehow, she didn't bleed, but Kaneki didn't stop to dwell on that.

He was about to close the empty space and crush the blonde when a red blur materialized in front of her, faster than even he could track. There was a flash of red and silver, and something struck his kagune with a clang.

The blow couldn't pierce the protrusions, but it did knock Kaneki unsteady, forcing him to land heavily on the ground. The instant he touched the earth, Ruby was on him, so fast he could hardly track her, twirling her scythe in a strike that would have taken his arm off—had the blade been able to cut his skin. True to his earlier guess, the blade was not a quinque, so although his clothing was slit open along his shoulder, the skin underneath was fine.

The same couldn't be said for the girl's weapon. It rebounded off his body with a harsh metallic clang, knocking a bruise into Kaneki's shoulder, but leaving with a tiny dent in the metal. Ruby staggered from the recoil, backed up, eyed the dent in her weapon with horror, and actually teared up. "Guys!" She cried. "I think his Aura's working again!" She darted back, out of striking range, and lifted her weapon, showing off the damage.

The other two girls stared. "That's not Aura," Weiss said.

Kaneki had no idea what Aura was, or why these girls seemed to think he had one, but he was not going to stand idly by and wait for them to finish talking. Seeing that Ruby was distracted, Kaneki crouched and ran towards her, kagune trailing behind him. By the time she realized he was coming, he had already leapt, whipping two tentacles towards her side.

Surprisingly, the young girl was able to counter—with reflexes worthy of any ghoul investigator, she swung her scythe and managed to block the attack. He took advantage of the girl's lowered guard and tried to use the other two tentacles to jab under her ribs. However, she managed to block that as well. Kaneki frowned and attacked, striking to the left, then the right, then back to left, then straight down the middle as he flipped backwards and away. Each time, the girl was able to block him with her weapon, the blade dancing from hand to hand so lightly he started to wonder if she was really as young as she looked.

As Kaneki landed from his flip, he looked up just in time to see the girl slam her scythe blade-first into the ground and pull a lever on the side. There was a white flash of light and a bang like a gunshot—startled, Kaneki didn't react until a hot bolt of pain lanced through his already bruised shoulder. Hissing in pain, he staggered back, hand gripping his shoulder tightly as blood pooled and dripped beneath his fingers.

They don't have quinques, but they have Q-bullets? In their weapons? What the hell?

Kaneki glared at the girl, let go of his shoulder, and leapt, using his kagune for extra height. Taking aim, he fell into a kick, but Ruby blocked him with her scythe, so that he ended up standing on it. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned forward, grabbing the scythe to keep his balance, and flipped over the handle. Shoulder and chest howling in protest, he completed the flip and brought both his heels down—hard—on the girl's skull. Without waiting to see the effect it had on her, he used her head as a springboard and kicked away, flipping back and landing on his feet a good distance away. Once he landed, he looked to see what condition Ruby was in.

Even though his injuries kept him from fighting to his fullest, the kick should have been more than enough to crack the girl's head open; knock her out, split the skin, something. And yet although she fell backwards and hit the ground with a cry of pain, she was up in a few seconds, seemingly not injured.

Maybe...is she a ghoul? Even if she can't use her kagune, her eyes would have changed by now...But how else could she be that sturdy?

The memory of the strange invisible barrier resurfaced. That's probably protecting her, but what is it? How do I break it?

Clenching his jaw, Kaneki folded his thumb over his middle finger and pressed down, cracking the joint with a sound like a snapping branch. I'll just have to keep attacking.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, shaking her head like she was trying to get water out of her ear. The white-haired girl stepped out from behind her and shot towards Kaneki, moving so fast that she practically skated across the ground. In seconds, she reached him and drew back her sword, aiming a stab at his stomach that he reflexively avoided. However, his injuries were starting to seriously slow him down—the blade nicked his side, slitting his clothes and cutting just deep enough to trace a line of blood across his skin.

For a split second, Kaneki could only stare at the cut. So some of them have quinques, but they can't recognize a ghoul?

Kaneki realized that he could no longer be so careless. Anticipating the next attack, he jumped left, twisting mid-air and just avoiding Weiss's blade as she swiped it right. The instant he landed, he struck with his kagune, managing to land a blow straight to the girl's abdomen. For all intents and purposes, she should have been finished right there—with the way he angled the hit, his kagune should have gone straight through her stomach and out the other side.

However, Kaneki may as well have struck a mountainside for all the good his attack did. Weiss flew backwards and hit the ground, completely winded, but not bleeding at all. In less than a minute, she was up again, looking much angrier. The ground glowed beneath her feet, and as he watched, stunned, a glowing blue symbol superimposed itself onto the grass.

Weiss shot across the ground so fast Kaneki could hardly follow. Reacting on instinct alone, he leapt straight up, pushing his kagune into the ground for height—he had barely left the ground when the girl struck at the space where he'd been not a split second before. However, the ground glowed again—at this close a range, Kaneki could see it was some sort of circular insignia—and miraculously, the girl leapt just as high as he had.

Kaneki could do nothing but stare as Weiss reached eye level. She twisted, placing herself parallel to the ground, and bent her legs. The same symbol from before appeared behind her, and she pushed off of it, as if it were a solid surface. Going so fast Kaneki could hardly see her, she shot by his side, dragging her sword across his waist where she'd nicked him earlier and carving a deep, bleeding gash. So deep was the slash that he could have sworn he heard the blade scraping against his spine.

Before Kaneki could so much as react to the pain, the girl was back, zooming by his right and dragging a matching slash into his skin. She flipped mid-air and landed gracefully on the grass before blood could even begin to flow.

But flow it did. Thick, sticky scarlet poured from either side, falling through the air like crimson raindrops. Mind hazed with pain, Kaneki lost awareness of his surroundings—next thing he knew, there was an all-too-familiar bang. There were one, two, three seconds of nothing, and then a tremendous and scorching impact directly to his chest. His already broken ribs were knocked out of place, and his remaining ones snapped like dry twigs.

Kaneki fell, fell, and fell, down through fire and blood and excruciating pain. His last thought before the hard ground knocked him into darkness was what he must have looked like—a burning body falling to Earth, like some kind of morbid shooting star.

"What can we do? He's starving to death!"

Kaneki couldn't seem to open his eyes. Every part of him ached, a slow, steady agony that pulsed with the erratic beating of his heart. Just hearing people talking made his insides burn with hunger. He tried to move, but even if each movement hadn't made him feel as though his bones were breaking, something strong at his wrists and ankles kept him pinned.

"Did you try an IV drip?"

"The needle won't pierce his skin! We've broken three already!"

They were mocking him, that was it...torturing him by putting food just out of reach when they knew how hungry he was. Cruel, sadistic bastards, all of them. Didn't they know, didn't they understand how painful starvation was to a ghoul? It felt like his stomach was being ripped inside out.

"What? How is that possible?"

"I don't know!"

"Dammit! What about a feeding tube? Did you try that?"

"He threw up everything it sent down his throat!"

"What are we going to do? If we can't find something he can eat, he's going to die!"

The constant talk of food was too much. Kaneki's rage boiled over and, with one swift yank, he ripped his right arm loose from its restraint. The action sent a sickening crack of pain through his wrist, but it was worth it if it meant he could get up and find food. However, it alerted the voices talking.

"What the hell?!"

"Quick, sedate him!"

There was a hissing sound somewhere nearby. Too late, Kaneki felt the plastic mask strapped tight over his mouth and nose. He desperately tried to rip it off, but his one free hand hung, useless and broken, from his wrist, and his fingers wouldn't respond to his frantic attempts to grab. The air he was breathing turned to lead and oil, heavy and thick and cloying. Oozing through his body like toxic sludge, it filled his lungs, weighed down his eyes, and dragged him back into unconsciousness.

"What the...what are you doing with that? Where did you get that?"

"Don't ask. Professor Ozpin said to try feeding it to him."

Kaneki couldn't even comprehend what the voices were saying anymore. His hunger had become the only thing that was real—burning, clawing, devouring him from the inside. It hadn't been this bad since those terrible first weeks after he had become a half-ghoul. He'd tried to break free again, but whatever was holding him down was much stronger this time. If this was their plan, holding him until he starved to death, he wished they'd just kill him outright and end it quickly.

"Is he insane? What makes him think that that will work?"

"He wouldn't say. Here, move over."

"Wait! Don't do—!"

Someone removed the mask from Kaneki's face and held something to his mouth. The instant the scent of blood hit him, his hunger took control. The sweet taste of human flesh flooded his mouth, and Kaneki lost himself to his starvation.

When he finally woke up for good, Kaneki was alone, and his hunger was finally gone.

Blinking, he sat up, realizing that the restraints that had held him earlier were gone. He was stretched out on a cot, covered in a cool sheet. The room around him was white and clinically clean—a patient's room of some sort. He swallowed with difficulty. His mouth and throat were bone dry and tasted vaguely sweet, as if he'd been eating handfuls of icing sugar. Looking around slowly, Kaneki saw a glass of water on the bedside table, as well as a neatly folded pile of clothes. He lifted an arm, but realized that it was obstructed. He blinked and stared—his right arm was wrapped in a clean white cast.

That drew attention to the rest of his body. His bodysuit was gone, replaced by a powder blue hospital gown. Kaneki looked himself over, noticing the brace around his chest, the tight bandages around his stomach, the padded gauze at his sides. He contemplated them all for a moment, mildly amused, before setting to work stripping them off. The cast gave him the most trouble—he stared at it for a full ten seconds before giving up and bashing it hard against his knee until it cracked.

Kaneki peeled the last of the plaster off his arm, grabbed the glass of water, and downed it in one gulp. It was as he placed the glass back on the table that he suddenly remembered what had happened prior to him passing out. Parts of it were fuzzy, but enough was clear for him to realize that he'd been caught. His blood ran cold.

Kaneki looked around the room. Is that where he was now, CCG headquarters? Was he already in a cell in the infamous Cochlea prison?

The thought had no sooner entered his head than he dismissed it. The room hardly looked like a prison cell. It was too furnished, too...open. Besides, he doubted ghouls at Cochlea were left glasses of water when they got injured. However, that didn't change the fact that someone had brought him to this place, and that same someone was most likely waiting for him to wake up. Right now, getting out was top priority.

Kaneki swung his legs around the edge of the bed and pushed himself to his feet. His legs were a little shaky, but otherwise held his weight. Taking a few slow steps to get his balance back, Kaneki made his way across the room and tried the door.

Locked.

They'd locked him in. Kaneki looked warily around the room, examining every detail, every shadowy corner. Was that a camera glinting on the shelf? Was that mirror really a mirror, or a panel of two-way glass? Was someone watching him, even now, walking around the room like an animal in a new pen? Now that they knew he was awake, would they come in? He had no idea why he was still alive, but could only guess that whoever had brought him here wanted something from him.

Well, they won't get it.

Kaneki flexed his arms and legs a few times, before grabbing at the clothes that had been left out. They were plain and clean, just a white shirt and black pants, but they would do. He dressed on autopilot, running through his situation in his mind. All of his injuries seemed to have healed now that he had eaten, although he couldn't remember where he had found food. Breaking out would be difficult, maybe even impossible. But he had to try—

There was a faint creak behind him as the door slid open.

The decision was made before he was even aware of making it. Kaneki pivoted on his heel, leapt, and snapped his foot out towards whoever had entered the room. The person who thought they could sneak up on him was in for a surprise—

Instead of flesh, his foot hit something thin and hard with a thwack. Kaneki froze, foot still held in the air, and looked at who he was currently attacking. His foot had been blocked by the edge of a black leather riding crop, which was currently being held by an austere-looking woman. Her platinum blonde hair was tied back in an elegant bun, which, with her stern chartreuse eyes, crisp blouse, and pressed dress pants, gave her the immediate look of someone who demanded respect. The only thing that ruined this visage was the cape she wore—dark purple, cut to look like a jumble of arrows at the ends.

The woman glared at Kaneki, who stared back for a second before cautiously lowering his foot. The woman glowered and, never lowering her crop or taking her eyes off him, spoke. "This is why I decided to come with you," she said.

Someone stepped out from behind the woman. It was a older man, dressed from head to toe in various shades of green: green coat over green vest over green shirt and green pants. Even the silk scarf on his neck, held in place with a small silver cross, was green. His hair was rumpled and grey, and glasses were so crooked, they looked like some sort of abstract wire sculpture. In one hand he held a mug of what smelled like hot chocolate; in the other, a long black cane with a silver globe on the top.

"A fact I am truly grateful for, Glynda," the man said, never taking his eyes off Kaneki. "However, I'd like to speak to this young man alone."

The woman seemed scandalized. "Professor—"

"That will be all," the man cut her off. "If you'd be willing to wait outside the door, I promise, I'll alert you if something goes wrong."

The woman huffed, lowered her riding crop, whirled on her heel, and exited the room, closing the door behind her with just a little more force than necessary.

Kaneki watched her leave before refocusing on the man. He isn't armed, he mused. Taking him down wouldn't be much of a challenge. If it turned out he was armed, I should be able to break down the door to escape. Either way, I'll be able to get out if things turn bad.

The man regarded him, face impassive, eyes alight with a benign curiosity. He lifted the mug he held to his lips and took a long drink before speaking.

"Now that you've calmed down a bit, why don't we talk?"