I've read the Tokyo Ghoul manga twice now and I must say I'm quite obsessed. This fanfic is based on an alternate storyline I've had a fascination with for awhile, so I hope I do it justice.

Enjoy Chapter 1!:)

These three walls have become my cage. Three walls and a fourth built of steel bars and no hope of escape.

My current residence is a prison created by the CCG called Quinx Penitentiary. It imprisons humans and ghouls alike, and every day I stare into the face of ghouls I imprisoned, helped imprison, hoped to imprison, or were imprisoned before I became a ghoul investigator. To see the tables turn on me is...horrific. Devastating.

I deserve this though, don't I? I'm not imprisoned just because the CCG said "hey, why not?" They have legitimate concerns, and legitimate reasons. They believe I befriended the notorious ghoul Eyepatch.

It's not true at all, but I can almost understand their unsubstantiated worries. I have been…intrigued by Eyepatch. CCG does not have to worry about me befriending the enemy though. Eyepatch intrigues me, but…I hate him. I hate him with all my being.

The scenery surrounding my cage is minimal. The huge room is two stories, and I'm placed on the second. Within this room are 50 cells, 25 on one side and 25 on the opposite side. On both first and second floors is one row of ghouls and one row of humans. Between the two sides is an open space, and looking down I can see the first floor. Looking straight ahead I can see every single ghoul imprisoned within this room.

I despise it, but I also take a certain satisfaction in it.

Serves them right.

I look to see one ghoul in particular, the one ghoul that makes my blood boil enough to jump out of my skin. Eyepatch himself was imprisoned here a few weeks ago for a reason I don't know, and since then he's been stationed in a cell directly across from mine. I try to ignore him whenever I can, but sometimes I can't help but stare. I hate him, and I'm intrigued by him. It's an obnoxious paradox I'd rather live without.

When my former partner Mado-san had been fighting Rabbit, Eyepatch was my obstacle, and when I finally found Mado-san he was drenched in his own blood, dead.

Eyepatch…you will never be forgiven.

But as he sits in his cell it's a stark contrast to eating and killing and letting Mado-san die. He is staring through the bars that encage him and his face is absent of expression. His white hair is a stark contrast to his black nails. He is so calm, so stoic. While I am often a raging tornado of emotion he is a serene log drifting downstream.

It makes me all the more curious of him, but it also makes me resent him. Because it's a lie. He is a ghoul, a murderer. Yeah, he seems calm. He's calm until he's sinking his teeth into your throat and calling you a snack.

Throughout imprisonment it's clear I'm not the only one that resents the One-Eyed ghoul. I've been locked in Quinx Penitentiary for months, and I've picked up on many things. One of them is, Eyepatch isn't exactly…welcome. Primarily because he's dangerous, probably more dangerous than we know.

A guard passes by his cell, spitting between the steel bars and landing directly on Eyepatch's cheek. The boy does nothing, and it makes me wonder what could possibly rile him up enough to retaliate.

The empty space between my cell and his is great, but I can still easily hear the guard's words. He takes the baton and hits Eyepatch between the bars.

"What the hell is wrong with you ya goddamned ghoul? Don't you say anything?"

In all the instances I've seen him, I've felt that Eyepatch tries to be a mere shadow amongst the walls. He doesn't want anyone to notice him or interact with him. He just wants to be alone.

Of course, because of his abilities and unique one eye, I doubt that'd ever happen.

One-Eyed says nothing, and the guard stops beating him and leans against the bars. I can't hear what he's saying this time, but I notice the responding twitch of the ghoul's body. I wonder what was said.

Eyepatch never verbally responds and the guard moves on with a smirk on his face.

The ghoul has bruises on his neck and arms, and because of his stunted RC cells (the ghouls get daily injections) they will heal just like a human's. Minutes pass. Apparently I've been looking at him for awhile, because his gaze flickers over to mine and our eyes meet.

Even far away I can see the pain in his eyes. Not the pain from a simple beating, but something…worse, deeper. Something not so easily repaired. It almost made me slightly curious.

Then I turn away from him, annoyed. I hate ghouls, and I hate ghouls like Eyepatch even more. He is acting like a sheep then slaughtering like a wolf. There is no dignity there. He tricks humans into believing he's calm, kind, safe. What a bunch of bullshit.

I look up, staring at the dull ceiling. I grit my teeth. Mado-san...if it weren't for this ghoul you might still be alive.

My thoughts are dark, and hours must have passed because I only look away from the ceiling when Besch calls out, "It's almost time for light's out, Amon."

Besch is my cellmate. He's young, probably around my age. He has dark circles under his eyes, and he begins coughing. I don't know what crimes Besch committed, but he doesn't belong here. He belongs in a hospital. He's sick, has been ever since I met him in here.

Quinx Penitentiary doesn't care though, and that's what pisses me off the most.

Besch was right, soon it's lights out and the fluorescents are all extinguished. It's almost completely pitch black, and I find my bed through the dark. I crawl onto the top bunk and beneath the thin covers. For the little-to-nothing I've done today, I'm exhausted, and sleep takes me easily.

XxXxXxX

Each day has the same monotonous, carved-in-stone schedule. 8am are ghouls' daily injections. Anytime between 8 and 9:30 inmates' mail is delivered to individual cells. 9:30am is group showers for one-half of the inmates. 12pm is lunch. 2:30pm is free time outside in the courtyard, and immediately after is the second shower time at 3:30pm. 6pm is dinner. Light's out is 10pm.

Right now it's 2:30 and I'm outside in the courtyard. It's an open space of grass the guards let us out to. It's free time we're provided and an hour long. There's a makeshift basketball court, a few weights in one corner of grass, and some bleachers. But most of the grass area is an empty field.

Every time I come out here I wonder how it ended up this way. The sky, the clouds, the fresh air—I used to take so much for granted. Now my freedom has been taken and I'm stuck here for as long as my sentence demands: two years. How long have I been here now? Three months, maybe four? Nothing.

I look to my left, and look through the huge fence separating one grass field from another.

Because of the vast difference between human and ghoul, even within the courtyard there is a large dividing fence between us. The ghouls receive RC suppressant fluid injections, but they still have an innate desire to kill, to eat, and the humans that run this prison have certain regulations in place to keep us apart.

Their side of the fence looks exactly like ours, and the building opens to let the ghouls into the courtyard. I notice Eyepatch is the last in line, his body still bruised from the beating he received from the guard. He quietly moves to the least populated area, and I roll my eyes, sauntering away to sit on a bleacher.

Some humans in this prison have a fascination about ghouls and obsess over their mere existence (I acknowledge it could have developed merely through the boredom of imprisonment). Three humans beside me, two men and a woman, are talking about ghouls. I barely turn my head to the right, listening in.

"I swear, I heard a guard talking about it the other day."

"Damn if the guard said it then it must be true."

"But there's no way. It could kill one of us."

I'm no longer discreet. I turn to them and poke one of them on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but may I ask what you're talking about?"

The woman nods, excited to repeat the news and spread the gossip. "There are some ghouls in this facility that are said to demonstrate 'good behavior.'" She does the quotation marks. "If it keeps up they're considering moving them one-by-one to the human side. Apparently there's an overflow of ghouls and they don't have enough cells to keep them all in."

I'm surprised and absolutely horrified. "So to resolve that they're going to move ghouls to our side?"

One of the men is equally distraught. "It's horrible. They'll kill us..."

He's not wrong, but he didn't help my knowledge base. I turn back to the woman. "What do they deem good behavior?"

She shrugs and twirls a strand of hair along her finger. "Someone who hasn't had an infraction or any privileges removed within the last six weeks. At least, that's what the guard said."

I grit my teeth. I am disgusted it's come to this. The ghoul:human ratio is high as it is, but there's so many ghouls that they have to move in with the humans?

This...this won't bode well.

I ask one more question. "If…If somehow this first ghoul they send acts well on our side, and he doesn't hurt anyone…" I'm scared for the answer. "Do you think the higher-ups will send even more ghouls to our side?" Without my quinique I can't protect everyone. Goddamn it.

All three look down, shrugging. Their worry is clear, though. If the ghouls are trusted enough to live in human cells, it's only a matter of time before their hunger emerges…and they kill…

The woman speaks. Her voice is shaking. "L-Let's…Let's just hope i-it doesn't come to that."

I nod and stand. There's not much room in the courtyard, but I need to take a walk.

As I walk I turn and watch the ghouls' side of the courtyard. They're loud, rowdy, and many are fighting. I notice Eyepatch is doing none of these things, merely looking up at the sky. There's something odd twinkling in his eyes.

I've seen him do it before. I wonder what he thinks about.

I turn away and look down at the ground. The ghouls are dangerous, evil, an abomination. If they are allowed on the humans' side people will get hurt. There's no telling what they could do.

I walk faster and clench my hands into tight fists. Oh how far I have fallen. People are going to be killed, by ghouls, and there's nothing I can do about it. For once, there is nothing I can do about it.

I pass the basketball hoop, and I punch it as hard as I can. "Goddamn it!"

That completes Chapter 1! :D It was relatively boring, so I apologize for that. We'll get more Kaneki next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed!