Here we are. The final chapter. What we will see a tour de force spectacle that will leave behind scars that will shape people, for all their lives. After this chapter, this book will be now closed. Another book will come, but not today, nor in the immediate future. I thank all the readers who have stayed with me to the end. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as I have writing it. Next time we meet, we'll be going in a direction of my own creation. Without further ado, the finale of Kuzuri.
Chapter 15 – Storm (part 3)
Yamori started to twist Kaneki's toes with the pliers he carried with them. Kaneki yelled in pain in response. Yamori enjoyed every minute of the torture done by his hands.
"Let me guess! You didn't count, DID YA?!"
He twisted more of Kaneki's toes until the flesh started to peel off. He kept going at it until he saw only metal bones. His fascination briefly came back before Kaneki's body started to heal itself.
"I've got a bucket here. I want you to fill it to the brim."
Kaneki struggled to speak at first.
"W…Wh…Why?"
Yamori stopped for one moment to listen to him.
"I…thought…mutants…tasted bad…"
"Hmm…well, it's really just for interrogation. You're right. You mutants really do taste bad. Just like that mutant who had Rize's kagune, right?"
Yamori stopped dealing pain to allow Kaneki the opportunity to talk more.
"So, how did he get Rize's kagune?"
"I…don't know. All I got are rumors."
"Hmm…tell me anyways."
"…The hospital she was in…some of…the staff… saw her… walk away."
"Why was she walking away?"
"Because…I tried to kill her."
Yamori then grabbed Kaneki's head.
"Why did you try to kill her?"
"Because…she thought I was food."
"She mistook you for human, right?"
Although it was hard, Kaneki nodded yes while Yamori held a grip of his head. Yamori then let go.
"Believe it or not, it's a common occurrence. Some ghouls look at a target and think it's an easy kill. Only to get a nasty surprise like a laser to the chest or some other power."
Yamori then slightly laughed.
"But I never thought that sort of shit would happen to her."
"I was her second time."
Yamori then grabbed Kaneki by the neck, choking him.
"Her second time?"
Kaneki explained what he meant while being choked.
"She met…a mutant here…in the 11th…thought he could…take advantage of her…she tried to eat…said prick…"
"Oh."
Yamori then let go of Kaneki's neck.
"My mistake. But goddamn, she tried to eat mutant flesh?"
Yamori then laughed so loud it echoed.
"What kind of stupid bitch was she?"
He stopped and asked another question.
"What happened to her after that?"
"I don't know."
Yamori readied his pliers.
"You're lying. You know what that means."
Yamori continued on until Kaneki lost consciousness.
"God…DAMN IT!"
He threw his pliers to the floor.
xxxxxx
Kaneki retreated into his mindscape once more. He hears footsteps heading toward him once again.
"Mama?"
"Sorry kid. Still me."
Kaneki looked up to see his father once more. His expression was one of disappointment.
"Don't look too sad about it."
"What do you want?"
"Is that anyway to speak to your old man?"
Kaneki stayed silent for a while. Logan then spoke about another topic.
"You know why that sadistic prick wanted you to count backwards from 1000, right?"
"Please enlighten me."
Replied Kaneki in a slightly sarcastic one.
"He wanted you to stay sane as he tortured you. Wanted you aware of every cut he gave you as you clung to every number."
"You seem to know a lot about torture."
"It's ain't the first time for me."
"IT IS FOR ME! You're just along for the ride because your enemies wanted payback. And I'm the one…who has to suffer for it."
"I never wanted you to."
"Then why'd you leave us?"
"You mean you?"
"I meant us! Me…and mom."
After a moment of tense silence, Logan asked Kaneki the question he was afraid to ask.
"What did happen to…Sayu?"
The mindscape changed from a bright white empty space to the apartment where Kaneki used to live when he and his mother moved to Tokyo. At first, the sudden change of scenery freaked him out, compounded by seeing his father there as well. He even remembered the setting of the table, down to the vase that held white roses in the center.
"Where am I…?"
"It's your mind. Mostly."
Kaneki continued to look around the apartment for a while longer.
"So, this is where you lived after I was…?"
Logan eventually found a familiar sight. As did Kaneki. They both find Sayu by herself, creating white roses and putting them into boxes. At first, Kaneki wanted to talk to her, only to be interrupted by a younger version of him returning from school.
"Hey mom. I'm home."
"Welcome home, sweetie."
Logan was surprised to see Kaneki being happy in Tokyo.
"Funny. I thought you could only be this happy back in…"
"Nagasaki. Yeah. That's where we used to live."
"Why'd you move?"
"I don't remember exactly."
The two see young Kaneki excitedly bringing out a book and showing it to Sayu.
"You seemed happy at that time. Guess leaving all those books for you proved itself to be a good idea after all."
Kaneki then looked at Logan with a surprised look on his face.
"That's right. I wanted you to love books."
"Why?"
"Honestly, I wanted you to have a better life than me."
He then looks again at the memory of the time he wanted to learn more complex words, and how his mother helped him.
"I remember this. Me and mom would drill over the pronunciations of any book I bring her. Until I could do it on my own."
The scene then changed to Sayu leaving Kaneki in the apartment all by himself.
"She left you all by your own?"
"She had work. She had a part-time job in an office building. But I guess it didn't pay much, so she had to work two jobs just to support the two of us. So much so, that she often came back tired."
Young Kaneki then went from the front door to a room full of books.
"What is this room?"
"Mom called it my reading room. It's where I would come to read my books. I actually loved it."
Both saw how much young Kaneki enjoyed the books that were left to him.
"This room was where I fell in love with reading."
"But weren't you lonely all by yourself."
"Not completely."
The doorbell suddenly rang. Young Kaneki went to the front door to answer.
"Who is it?"
"It's Hide."
Young Kaneki opened the door for his friend. Young Hide had with him a DVD set he wanted to share with young Kaneki.
"That's your friend?"
"Hide…"
Kaneki wanted to smile at this, but felt he did not deserve the right to.
"Sometimes he would come to my place and we'd watch anything he would bring me. He'd even bring me manga we could share. Come to think of it, it's how I would know Dragon ball."
"Is that right? Sounds like you didn't have much of a desolate childhood after all."
"I have her to thank. Mom was an incredible person. She worked hard to make sure that I would never go hungry. She got along with everyone, and she never lost her temper. I even remember what she told me."
Kaneki envisioned himself as his younger self when he looked back one of the lessons she told him.
"Ken, it's okay to feel sadness from loss. As long as you remember to stay kind, you'll always find joy."
He then returned to his current self, alongside his father. Logan had a smile on his face.
"Good to know that Sayu never changed."
"It's far better to feel pain yourself, than to inflict it on others. As long as you stay kind, you'll always joy again. That's what she always told me."
Logan sighed over the quote.
"Yeah, she was wonderful, like you said. But what she said to you is part of the reason why you're here. With him."
xxxxxx
Kaneki screamed in pain over Yamori inflicting pain on him once more.
"Good. You're awake."
Kaneki eventually stopped screaming.
"So, are you going to tell me more about what happened to Rize?"
Kaneki struggled to speak at first.
"Let me ask you a question first. Where do you think a ghoul gets their powers from?"
"…I don't know…"
"Then allow me to enlighten you. We're not mutants, first and foremost. Our powers don't come from genetics. So, having the organs from someone like Rize doesn't work like that."
"But…if that's true…THEN WHAT THE HELL DID HE TRY TO DO TO ME?"
"Who?"
Kaneki breathed heavily between sentences.
"Akihiro…Kanou."
"Oh, so you're the science project?"
"…What?"
"Yeah. I knew about his…experiments…but the thing is…I didn't know that he was moving on to…"
Yamori ripped off the flesh of Kaneki's right index finger. Which made Kaneki scream in pain.
"Mutants. Maybe he was curious as to what happens when you put the bits and pieces of a ghoul into a mutant."
Yamori cracked the joint of his right index finger.
"So, Kanou is with Weapon X, am I right?"
Kaneki nodded yes.
"Well, that answers a few questions. And I like them."
Yamori laughed menacingly for a while.
"The son of the Wolverine, a one-eyed mutant with the stench of the binge eater. Now, you're all mine."
Yamori then showed Kaneki something which made him fidget in his seat, despite being chained to it.
"Recognize this little guy? He fell out of you when you were knocked out. Just…"
Yamori inched the millipede closer to Kaneki.
"Crawled right out of your head."
Yamori laughed a little at how Kaneki shivered in fear.
"The Chinese red millipede. Nasty little shit, isn't he? Believe it or not, he likes being inside your head. You don't want to say no to this little guy, now do you?"
Kaneki pleaded with Yamori not to insert the millipede inside of his head, but said pleas fell on deaf, psychotic ears. As soon as Yamori inserted the millipede inside of Kaneki's head, Kaneki screamed in pain at first, only to laugh hysterically while still chained to his seat.
"OH BOY! LOOK AT HIM GO! THIS IS HOW I IMAGINED IT!"
Kaneki continued to laugh like a madman.
"YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU, RIGHT?! YOU WANT ME TO RIP YOUR HEART OUT RIGHT HERE AND NOW?!"
Kaneki soon stopped laughing and started crying as Yamori hit the nail right on the head.
"Even if I wanted it, I can't die."
Yamori's enthusiasm stopped when Kaneki said that sentence.
"Why is that?! WHY?!"
"Because…no matter how… badly I get hurt, no…matter how serious any injury is, I…CAN'T DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE SO BADLY! BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE MY DAD GAVE ME THIS!"
Kaneki cried loudly for a moment before passing out once more.
xxxxxx
Kaneki was alone in the white room once more before Logan arrived once more.
"I heard your mom saying that once. It's not a good philosophy to live by."
"You don't get to judge!"
Kaneki's outburst mildly surprised Logan.
"Mom had to raise me all by herself…when you left us!"
Kaneki cried a little.
"Who are you to say that the way she raised me was bad?"
Logan grabbed Kaneki by the head and forced his son to look him in the eye.
"I'm your father, and the man who married her. Don't forget, I was there for you for a time."
Logan then let go.
"And the reason why it was bad is because you chose to blindly obey her word of 'wisdom.' Did you even give any thought behind those words?"
The scene then changed to the same apartment, but something was happening.
"Wait…"
Said Kaneki, with Logan asking,
"Who's she?"
"A woman who worked in the same office building as her. She would often come to her for extra cash."
Both see Sayu give some money to the woman in question.
"Why?"
"Mom felt bad for her. She always said that her job wasn't paying enough. That she was struggling with money."
Logan saw the woman having a smirk on her face as young Kaneki looked on.
"Hmm…This is what I was afraid of."
"What?"
"Your mom had a good heart, but I feared that she would be spotted by vultures. Like her…"
Kaneki then placed a blanket on her.
"You're tired. Get some rest."
His mom then looked at him and said,
"I'll be fine, Ken."
"But she wasn't, wasn't she?"
Kaneki then remembered another event in his life that he possibly repressed, or lost due to Weapon X suppressing his memories. He sees his mother beating him up. Young Kaneki pleaded with her to stop. Both of them were utterly surprised to see Sayu committing such an act.
"She…abused you?"
"No…no…this can't be true…IT CAN'T!"
Logan held Kaneki by his arms.
"Kaneki, listen to me. Listen…"
Kaneki broke it off.
"IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!"
"Kaneki!"
Logan then punched him in the face, which also woke him up.
xxxxxx
Just as Kaneki woke up, Yamori grabbed him by the head and displayed both Shu and Haru tied up and gagged shut.
"All the drawbacks and detriment in this world stem from a lack of individual ability. You may have heard that from a sack of crap, but that doesn't make those words any less true. It's a lesson to learn. You'll see."
Kaneki feared what Yamori had in store for him this time.
"Now I've been thinking. I've been going about this the wrong way. Mostly because of your mutant abilities. Don't get me wrong. I've thoroughly enjoyed subjecting your body to all kinds of pain. Forces me to be creative. But what I really want to rip apart is your mind. So, let's play a little game."
Kaneki breathed heavily in response.
"Oh little lovebirds! LET'S PLAY!"
Both Shu and Haru struggled while they were chained.
"You gonna pick who lives and who dies! HIM OR HER?!"
The panic Shu and Haru felt intensified.
"You don't owe them anything! Just choose! Say, you weren't holding out on them getting you out or anything, right? These weaklings, your lifeline out of here?!"
Yamori cracked his right index finger again.
"Truth be told, I already knew that these wimps were plotting to get you out of here. That's why…"
Yamori stepped away from Kaneki for a moment to bring out another gagged individual.
"I BROUGHT HIM!"
Kaneki, Shu, and Haru all reacted to Banjou chained and gagged as well. Yamori then laughed.
"YOU SEE, NO ONE'S COMING TO GET YOU! And if there are others, the rest of my buds will just wipe them off the face of the earth. We're currently at war, and we aim to win!"
Yamori then walked toward Kaneki and stepped behind him.
"Now, choose…"
Kaneki shuddered at the idea of playing Sophie's choice.
"Don't keep me waiting, or I'll kill the both of them."
Kaneki's fear still paralyzed him.
"Let me rephrase that…"
As Yamori cracked another one of his fingers,
"Which one of them do you want me to save?"
Kaneki looked at the two of them. Haru pleaded for her life, but the gag on her mouth made her word unintelligible. Shu, on the other hand, simply nodded at Kaneki.
"No…why…why do I have to choose?"
Kaneki whimpered as Yamori shook his head a little.
"Hurry. Time's a wasting."
"No! If I have to choose, then I might as well be killing them myself."
Yamori grew impatient with Kaneki.
"Just pick one! Come on! CHOOOOSE! It's easy! Him or her?! JUST PICK OOOOOONE!"
"Didn't you hear me?! There's no way I'm doing that! YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST!"
Yamori became disappointed with Kaneki.
"Fine. Have it your way."
Yamori then let go of Kaneki's head and walked toward Shu and Haru.
"I'll show how it's done."
Yamori then grabbed Haru by the neck. She screamed while her mouth was still gagged.
"SEE, IT'S EASY! YOU LIKE MY PICK!? WELL?!"
Shu struggled to speak up, but was unable to.
"Speak up! You can still save her if you want to!"
Kaneki shut his eyes and owed his head from the horror.
"SPEAK UP, KUZURI! SHE'S DYING OVER HERE!"
Shu then attempted to plea with Kaneki, however the act proved itself futile.
"LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!"
Kaneki looked at the horror show once again.
"THE GUY OR THE GIRL?! PICK ONE!"
Kaneki's mind was in an utter state of frenzy over what he saw.
"WHICH IS IT?! WHICH IS IT?!"
Kaneki then said something hat would stop everything that currently went on.
"RIZE'S DEAD!"
Yamori instantly let go of Haru when he heard Kaneki say Rize's name. He then took three giant steps toward Kaneki asked him about the context of his words.
"Say. That. Again."
"…She's dead."
"How?"
Kaneki looked at Yamori with a serious look on his face.
"She pissed off me one day…"
"Right. Then she walked out of Kanou's hospital. Then what happened?"
"I knew a mother and her daughter. Their last names were…Fueguchi."
Yamori gasped a little when Kaneki say that last name.
"Asaki's family, right?"
"Damn right they were. The doves started hunting them down…when you killed the father!"
Yamori then gave Kaneki a backslap to his face.
"More about Rize. Tell me!"
"She…appeared right in front of me after she had killed Ryouko…"
"And then what?"
"I fought her. She thought she had killed me…She wanted me to kill her."
Yamori grabbed Kaneki's throat.
"WHY?!"
"She…couldn't…eat humans…anymore…"
Yamori then let go.
"What?"
"When she ate a piece of me, I headbutted her in response. Must've…caused her to swallow by accident. Since then, she couldn't humans anymore."
Yamori stood utterly shocked to hear that. As well as everyone else in the room.
"She wanted me to kill her. Said she couldn't live to live as a freak."
Yamori leaned in close to Kaneki's face.
"Did you kill her?"
"…No. I spared her life. She couldn't live as a freak. That was my punishment for her."
Yamori visibly shook at his answer.
"But…then…how did she…?"
"A dove who saw everything killed her moments later. I asked him about Asaki Fueguchi. He told me about you…Jason."
Yamori then punched Kaneki like a madman.
"So, you think I killed Asaki, then?! IS THAT RIGHT?!"
Yamori continued to punch Kaneki.
"She ate a piece of you, and you made her into a freak! IS THAT RIGHT?"
Yamori stopped for a while to see the bruises left behind by the impact of his fists. Only to see them slowly fade away like they never happened. Kaneki then started to laugh.
"What's so funny?!"
Kaneki continued to laugh.
"WHAT'S SO DAMN FUNNY!"
"YOU!"
Kaneki's laughter started to recede when he explained why he started in the first place.
"At first, it was hell. Don't get me wrong. You put me through the worst. But when I started to talk more about Rize, you seem calm and patient. It's like you wanted me to say shit about Rize, right?"
Yamori stood speechless.
"Let me guess. She did something to piss you off, right? Let me tell you something, all right? Rize Kamishiro…was a self-centered, selfish bitch whose only talent was catfishing guys like you and me to do stupid shit!"
Yamori then had a small smile on his face.
"Then again, whatever she did to piss you off…you must've deserved it."
With a venomous tone, he asked,
"What did you say?"
"She must've thought you were a joke of a man to her. Well…not gonna argue on this."
Yamori felt his anger rising every second Kaneki talked to him in such a derisive manner.
"I bet the first time she saw you; she knew you didn't have what took to give her what she wants. Hell, I bet you couldn't satisfy anyone with that WEAK LANK WORM YOU CALL A DICK!"
Yamori punched Kaneki with rapid, powerful succession. In between the punches, Kaneki continues to laugh at Yamori. Shu, Haru, and Banjou all saw how weak Yamori seemed. Even though he was hurting Kaneki, the way he did so came from a place of desperation and inadequacy. Yamori just about finished beating up Kaneki. In a show of defiance,
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT YOU GOT, YOU LIMP, FLOPPY, ONE-EYED MONSTER?!"
Yamori pushed the chair Kaneki was still chained to. The impact of the fall only irritated Kaneki. Yamori then stomped on Kaneki's chest, and pressed on it hard.
"Still want to talk shit? Well?! DO YOU?!"
Although he struggled to breathe, Kaneki still provoked Yamori by goading on his insecurities.
"YOU AIN'T BAD! YOU AIN'T NOTHING MAN! YOU'RE JUST A BITCH POSING AS A SADISTIC PSYCHO!"
With his anger reaching its breaking point, Yamori roared as he lifted the chair Kaneki was still chained to, and slammed his head to the floor, causing Kaneki's head to profusely bleed. Everyone heard and saw the giant splat, which made everyone fear for Kaneki. However, for Yamori, he did not hear the crack that was supposed to follow. He put the chair on its upright position. To his dismay, Yamori saw the wound repair itself. He yelled as the scream itself carried anger, frustration, and sorrow. Yamori knew that against this mutant, he could not win.
xxxxxx
Once again, Kaneki found himself in the same white space as before. He even found his father waiting for him.
"It's about damn time."
This time, Kaneki felt angrier with himself than with his father.
"If I didn't tell him about Rize, he would've killed one of those two."
"That, and poking fun at his flaws got you back here."
"With you."
"Yeah. Point is, don't feel guilty about it."
"But…what I said back there…"
"Was to save those two. Wallowing in guilt that you shouldn't even feel won't change anything."
Kaneki continued to feel sad. Even though he had no reason to.
"You want to know what's your problem is? You act complacent, static. You don't want to change because any exposure to chaos causes you to withdraw into your shell. Like a turtle afraid of the world."
Kaneki said nothing.
"Destiny is really nothing but a load of bull. It's just people continuing to be shitty to each other and not taking responsibility about it. Like your mom."
Now Kaneki felt anger toward him.
"Don't you dare…"
"And why the hell not? You're much made the same mistakes as her. If you only gotten a little street smart instead of just book smart, you'd never would've met that Rize bitch who made your life a living hell. The way you led your life, just flailing around, hoping someone would just love you like that!"
Logan snapped his fingers at the end of that sentence.
"It's no wonder that Rize bitch pretty much saw you as an easy target. You let yourself be that easy."
With his strength, Kaneki broke off the chains that bind him and proceeded to punch his father in the face.
"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT ABOUT ME!"
He landed another punch.
"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT ABOUT MOM!"
Logan then punched back.
"THEN WHY DID SHE BEAT YOU?!"
"SHE NEVER DID!"
The scene around the two of them then changed back to the moment when Sayu physically abused young Kaneki.
"No…No, I don't want to see this."
"You have to!"
"WHY?"
"What happened after that?! Show me, son!"
Sayu then just dropped to the floor. Young Kaneki reacted to this with absolute horror.
"MOM!"
He checks to see to see if Sayu was still alive. Then, with all is strength, he carries her to her bed. Young Kaneki feels the place where his mother hit her.
"I thought she would never hit me. I thought she loved me too much for that."
Kaneki then felt anger. The same anger he felt at that time.
"That lady…she changed her…made her into somebody who would hit me…That's what I felt at the time."
"What'd you do then?"
"I went to Hide the next day."
The scene changed from the apartment to the school playground.
"I remembered him telling me that his dad gave him a camcorder the other day. I asked him for his help."
"His help for what?"
"I told him about what my mom did to me, and I told him why she would do that. He was willing to help me. That's when we started to gather facts about the lady who asked my mom for money."
"What kind of facts?"
"Where she lived, for starters."
The scene changed again to the office building where she worked at.
"I remember going through mom's purse and looking for anything to see where she worked part-time. When I did, me and Hide went there to see if we got the place right."
Young Hide spoke to the receptionist.
"Excuse me."
The receptionist looked down from her desk and asked,
"Hello, boys. How can I help you?"
"We're looking for Sayu Kaneki. Is she here?"
"That depends. Who's asking?"
"This guy."
Young Hide pointed at Young Kaneki.
"And who are you?"
"I'm her son."
"Well, Mr.…"
"Ken Kaneki."
"Let me check…"
After checking the employee records on her computer,
"I'm sorry. She hasn't been here since yesterday."
"I see…"
"Would you like to talk to her supervisor?"
Both boys were curious as to why the receptionist would ask them that.
"Well Sayu is liked by a few of the employees here, and the supervisor appreciates what she does here."
Both boys accepted her offer, and soon went to the office of Sayu's supervisor. Upon arriving, he greets the two.
"Hello boys. Please take a seat."
As they did, he introduced himself.
"My name's Sho Uremeshi. I work alongside your mom. Which one of you is Ken Kaneki?"
"I am. He's Hide, my friend from school."
"I'm glad you're here, Ken. Is there…something wrong with your mom?"
"Because she's not here?"
"That, and when she comes here, she usually seems tired. Is there something…going on back home, Ken?"
After a moment of silence, Kaneki told Sho what he knew.
"There's this lady who asks my mom for extra money. She works some more just to help her."
Sho possessed a worried look on his face.
"Who is this lady, Kaneki?"
"She works here."
"She does? What does she look like?"
"Long brown hair, green eyes. That's all I remember."
Sho had an idea as to who he spoke about.
"Ayaka, right?"
"I…I think so. Ayaka Inoue?"
"You know her?"
"She's a…competent employee. Meets all her deadlines, but when she talks to her co-workers, she's a bit…abrasive."
Young Hide was confused by that last word us by Mr. Uremeshi. Young Kaneki clarified what it meant.
"Mean."
"Truth be told, I've suspected her of taking advantage of Sayu for quite some time, but I couldn't act on suspicion alone."
He then looked at the bag Young Hide carried with him.
"What do you have there, Hide?"
"Oh…it's a camcorder…"
"What were you going to do that with?"
"Well, I had an idea that if we knew where this lady lived, he could see if she's really as poor she says she is."
"Poor?!"
Both boys were surprised to hear such a reaction.
"She works here full-time, and makes almost as much as I do."
Kaneki then asked,
"But…why lie to my mom about being poor?"
Sho could see the dismay on Kaneki's face, and made an important decision.
"Let me help you two."
Both boys were confused by the offer.
"I get the feeling that something bad is going on, and I want to do something about it."
Young Kaneki asked,
"Really?"
"Of course. Sayu's too much of a good employee to be taken advantage of."
With Sho's help, both young Kaneki and Hide went to the apartment where Akaya lived. Hide commented on the state of the apartment complex.
"This is a fancy neighborhood. Wonder how much you have to spend to live here?"
As they entered inside, the three of them soon encountered the concierge.
"Excuse me. May I help you?"
Sho stepped forward.
"We're looking for Ayaka Inoue."
"Room 514, if I recall. She's also not here right now. Who are you?"
"I'm her supervisor, and I'm here to…"
As the adults talked on, Hide tugged Young Kaneki's shirt and whispered to him,
"Let's go to her place."
Young Kaneki, at first, felt apprehensive about the idea.
"Listen, we came this far. Let's finish it before something bad happens to your mom."
Young Kaneki eventually agree with Hide, and the two snuck their way into the building. The two decided to take the stairs to reach the floor for room 514.
"You two were quite determined."
"There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for my mom. We eventually found the room, and we were surprised to see what we saw."
As Young Hide and Kaneki reached the room door, they correctly guessed it to be locked.
"I got this, Kaneki."
Hide had with him inside of the bag he carried not only his camcorder, but also a set of lock-picking tools.
"How did you get those?"
"Trade secret."
Said Hide as he winked. After two minutes of lock-picking, the door unlocked.
"Kaneki, we're in."
Kaneki peeked around the corner of the hallway, serving as lookout until he heard Hide calling for him. Upon entering, they found Ayaka's apartment to be rather lavish. Everywhere the boys could see were expensive dining sets, shiny chrome appliances, a well-adorned entertainment set, furniture made for royalty, and no shortage of fine food and drink. Seeing all this made young Kaneki's anger swell up inside of him.
"That's when you knew."
"Yeah…a part of me knew she was lying to her, but I didn't have any proof. Until that day."
Young Kaneki felt weak at the knees. Hide did not notice at first as he was busy recording all the expensive stuff Ayaka possessed. However, when he finished, he sees his friend struggling with something.
"Kaneki."
He did not respond to his name being called.
"Kaneki. You okay?"
Hide sees Kaneki's eyeballs seemingly ready to pop out of his sockets as his friend breathed rather heavily. He recognized that his friend was experiencing anger for the first time.
"Kaneki, stay with me. We got all we need to make your mom believe you. And we even have her supervisor here. He can stop this. You've done enough. Let the adults take over."
Young Kaneki's breathing slowly smoothed itself over when Hide said what he said.
"Okay. Let's get out of here before that lady comes here."
Hide locked the door of the apartment before they exited. As they did, both saw Ayaka arriving via the elevator. She feared the worst as she remembered that Sayu did not report for work since yesterday. She ran for the boys as Hide yelled,
"RUN!"
The two went instantly went for the stairs as Ayaka ran after them. She soon lost sight of the two of them, and went for the elevator. As both young Kaneki and Hide ran down the stairs, Hide asked,
"She looked surprised to see us."
"Yeah, and?"
"I thought she'd recognized Mr. Uremeshi at the front desk."
"Yeah, you're right. Do you think she took the elevator?"
"Definitely, but I remember the back way out of the building."
Both boys agreed take said path to the back entrance of the building. As they made it to the first floor, Ayaka seemed to be nowhere in sight.
"I think we made it. Let's head…"
Hide saw Ayaka attempting to grab Kaneki from behind.
"Kaneki, behind you!"
He sees Ayaka, reached for his right pocket, and threw a key at Hide. As soon as Ayaka gabbed him Kaneki said to Hide,
"Get to my mom! Tell her everything!"
Ayaka covered his mouth as to discreetly smuggle him to his room. Unfortunately, she saw Hide run far from her.
"I knew Hide made it to my mom with Mr. Uremeshi's help. But she was so pissed at me. She tried to scare me into talking. Even her boyfriend joined in."
"But you wouldn't say anything."
"And that got him angrier. He even did this…"
Ayaka's boyfriend used a large kitchen knife to scare young Kaneki, but nothing seemed to faze him. Logan commented on how Ayaka did not react to this at all.
"Usually seeing a kid being presented a sharp object in a threatening manner would make her say anything."
"She did not care if I would get hurt. Which I was."
"What?"
Logan saw Ayaka's boyfriend give a flesh wound to young Kaneki's right cheek.
"By the time he was willing to get serious, my mom arrived to get me. And she as so pissed…"
The door to Ayaka's apartment started making loud, thumping sounds. At first, Ayaka was annoyed by it, only for it to turn into fear when she saw Sayu attempting to break it down.
"Shit, it's her!"
"Who is?"
"HIS F***ING MOM!"
The door then completely broke open as Sayu arrived with a ferociously angry look on her face.
"Kaneki, are you okay?"
"They cut me."
Sayu then looked at Ayaka.
"Look, it's really his f-"
Sayu grabbed Ayaka by her hair and slammed her face into a nearby wall at least six times. Alongside her was Sho, who was there to confront Ayaka for her behavior toward Sayu, only to be utterly shocked at the sight of Sayu committing such a wonton act of violence. Then, when Sayu let go of Ayaka's hair, she then kicked her while she was down. Sayu topped for a while to see the apartment Ayaka lived in. Her anger slightly rose as she felt so stupid for allowing herself to be made a fool of by such a selfish woman. Then, she faced Ayaka's boyfriend, and the knife that had some blood on.
"Put. The knife. down."
Ayaka's boyfriend dropped the knife, stepped away from Kaneki and waited to get to Ayaka's side. Sayu looked at Kaneki, ran toward him and hugged him very tightly.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I did this-"
"I know, Kaneki. I know…"
Sayu cried over feeling guilty for making her son go to this length for her sake. She proved herself to be a horrible parent to allow something like this go so far. She allowed herself to be used, and her son had to be the one to get her to see the truth.
"I had my mom back. The way I remembered her."
"I think it's more like you helped her see the truth. What happened after that?"
"Mom took both whatever money that lady had on her, plus a waffle iron."
Logan felt slightly weirded out by that detail.
"She got it for me. Mr. Uremeshi later called the cops and told them about the two of them kidnapping me, which technically they did."
"I ain't arguing."
The two laughed for a bit. Logan then asked,
"And after that?"
(play Eyes Closed – Kamen Rider Kabuto OST) [use Vimeo]
"Mom got a week off. She used the first two days for sleeping, and the rest were used for taking me to the amusement park and making all kinds of food that I loved. I even had a newfound appreciation for waffles."
The scene changed once more with Sayu looking at her son eating waffles at night.
"What happened next was something…"
Kaneki had tears flowing from his face.
"I never wanted to forget."
Sayu hugged young Kaneki ever so tightly.
"Ken, I'm sorry."
"…You don't have to be."
"I have to."
Sayu began to cry.
"I hit you, and that's something a good mama is never supposed to do! You even put yourself in danger because of me! I never should let that happen."
Sayu cried some more as she held Kaneki.
"Ken, I promise never to let something like this happen again. That's my promise, okay?"
Young Kaneki sunk in a little further into his mother's embrace.
"Okay…I love you, mom."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
Both men see the scene play out. Kaneki then said,
"From that day on…I promised myself to never let anyone prey on my mom like that again. She was exactly as I thought she was, but I let a bad person take that away from me."
"So, you took action to protect her."
"Only because…"
Kaneki continued at the memory of his mother embracing him ever so affectionately.
"I didn't want to lose this. This love…that I thought I would never feel again."
Kaneki's tears streamed from his face even more so.
"So…why did I…kill her…?"
Kaneki kneeled to the ground due to the realization that after this memory would come the day when Weapon X would take him. Logan kneeled down alongside him.
(end music)
"Hey. Stay calm."
"How could…"
"Because! It may not have played out as you thought it was."
Kaneki stopped crying for a while longer due to the logic behind his father's words.
"You mean…"
"Your mother's murder? When did it happen?"
"About a couple months later…"
The scene changed once more.
"I was in my reading room. I came back from school a couple of hours ago. I heard the door open and my mom called out to me."
Young Kaneki was too preoccupied with a book to hear his mother.
"Ken, I'm home! What'd you want for…"
She suddenly screamed for a while, which caught young Kaneki's attention. At first, he was scared to open the door, but he reminded himself that his mom was in danger. The loud splat he heard from his side of the door prompted him to open it. What he saw next devastated him. He sees his mother, dead on the floor, blood bleeding from her head, eyes still and lifeless. He sees two figures, wearing all black clothes that covered even their faces. One of the figures carried the murder weapon. It was the waffle iron.
"I…didn't kill her."
"No. It was them."
Young Kaneki felt a resurgence of anger that rose so rapidly, it felt like a volcano erupting from inside him. His rage surged throughout his small body. He breathed heavily as his mind attempted to process the scene in front of him. He looks at the two people who took his mother from him, and snarled like an animal. This prompted the larger figure to bring out his revolver and shoot every bullet his gun possessed. Young Kaneki seemed to fall over dead. The other figure was revealed to be Ayaka.
"You idiot! Why the hell did you shoot?!"
The other figure was revealed to be her boyfriend.
"I thought he was going to go wild on us!"
"He's a f***ing kid! What the hell was going to-?"
The boyfriend had a horrified look on his face when he saw young Kaneki rising from the floor. Ayaka sees it as well.
"M-M-MONSTER!"
Young Kaneki gave a feral yell as his bone claws emerged from his small knuckles and he charged toward the couple who murdered his mother. Ayaka's boyfriend reached for anything to stab the kid with, but young Kaneki got to him first by stabbing him in the leg.
"MY LEG!"
As the boyfriend kneeled down in pain, young Kaneki then kills him by stabbing his head with his bone claws. Ayaka screamed in horror over the death of her boyfriend. Young Kaneki set his sights on her as he sped his way toward her, jumped as high as he could and stabber in the stomach. Ayaka stumbled to the floor, awaiting the death blow that would come from the son f the woman she wanted to get payback from. Young Kaneki screamed a little before he eventually killed her by stabbing her entire body with his bone claws. When she breathed no more, young Kaneki yelled as a sign of victory.
"You've avenged her."
Said Logan, with Kaneki responding,
"Didn't matter to me."
Young Kaneki regained his senses as he looked at his mother's lifeless body. He slowly began to cry to the reality that stood in front of him.
"I lost the only person who ever loved me. I was sure back then that when she would be gone, no one else would love me like the way she used to again."
The door soon opened once more. Young Kaneki saw a group of men being led by someone he would soon know in the future.
"All right, guys. Leave no trace. I want this place spotless."
Both men silently snarled at the sight of Victor approaching young Kaneki.
"You come with me, little guy. We'll know exactly what to do with you."
The scene then turned one last time into the white rose room. Kaneki was still crying. Logan attempted to comfort his son.
"I want to fully tell you that it honestly wasn't your fault."
"What's stopping you?"
"We don't have that much time."
"No…"
xxxxxx
Kaneki woke up back to reality once more. He sees Yamori breathing heavily for some reason. He then looks at Banjou, unconscious for some reason. Then, someone who worked for Yamori suddenly barged inside.
"BOSS!"
Yamori looks to see one of his subordinates entering his interrogation room.
"The hell is it, Naki?"
"Boss, the doves are frigging close to owning us!"
Yamori was shocked to hear such news from his right-hand man.
"What?!"
"At first, we had this, but then they got some help from out of nowhere!"
"Who are they?"
"The X-Men! THEY'RE HERE!"
Yamori grabbed Naki by the throat.
"Are you telling me the truth?!"
"Y-YE-YES!"
Yamori let go of Naki's neck.
"What's more, some ghouls from Anteiku are here as well. They're killing us off, helping the doves."
"They must be here for him."
Both Shu and Haru looked relieved that help was coming. Yamori bit the nail on his thumb for a while before giving the order to Naki.
"You see that flamethrower to your right?"
Naki looked around to find the flamethrower in question.
"I see it."
"Bring it to me. Now."
Naki grinned as he believed that his boss would be doing something grotesque with it. He liked it when he gets to witness what horror deals to his enemies.
"On it."
Both Shu and Haru struggled to get free of their bonds, only to fail. However, the sounds of said struggling would soon wake up Banjou. Although still bound, he struggled to get free as well. Nevertheless, Yamori still got what he wanted, and proceeded to give Kaneki one last act of cruelty.
"You see this thing? This is a weapons prototype that my boys stole from a Stark Industries warehouse. I know it may seem like an ordinary flamethrower, because if it was, you'd be in horrible pain but bounce back like it never happened. This one is special. Stark made this to be three times as hot as an ordinary one."
Naki laughed menacingly at that last part.
"That's right. Did you know that order to properly cremate a dead body, you'd have to…"
Yamori pulled the trigger on the gun portion of the flamethrower to demonstrate both the power and heating temperature it was capable of.
"BURN IT AROUND 3,000 DEGREES?!"
Both ghouls laughed while Shu, Haru and Banjou feared the worst. Kaneki could feel the intense heat from the short burst alone. Yamori then took two steps back and aimed the flamethrower at Kaneki.
"GET BACK FROM THIS, MUTIE!"
Yamori pulled the trigger and burned Kaneki. Kaneki started to scream in pain over being burned alive. The screams horrified the three ghouls who wanted to free him, but for Yamori and Naki, this brought them nothing but pleasure. For Kaneki, this was pain unlike anything he ever felt before. His skin slowly turned into ash every second the fire consumed his physical body. His senses in overdrive before the fire burned off the nerves that made him feel the pain of being burned alive erased by the shearing flames. Eventually, he died. Seemingly for good. His neck suddenly turning limp, his face expressing no emotion at all. Yamori pulled the trigger a couple more times to burn off any skin left on the corpse until there was only metal-coated bones left.
xxxxxx
(play Guts – Berserk OST)
Kaneki found himself in his mindscape once again. However, this time proved itself different. He found himself ankle-deep in snow. He looks around to see both a lake in front of him and a forest behind him. He stepped forward toward the lake's edge. He sees himself in the reflection of the water. He was shocked to see his hair become all white.
"You've changed your hair."
He heard his father, and looked around, only to see him right behind him.
"Personally, you pull it off nicely."
"Where are we?"
"Turn around and look up. You may like what you see."
Kaneki did what his father suggested, and found himself glad that he did. Above him were the Northern Lights. A rich tapestry of atmospheric colors, caused by the disturbances in the magnetosphere when interacting with solar winds. The ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents resulting in what Kaneki was seeing with his own eyes. He looked on with awe and a mix of emotions that compelled him to shed a tear due to witnessing a wonder of nature. Logan placed his hand on his shoulder, gently suggesting him to sit down on a nearby log and soak in the marvel.
"Beautiful, ain't it?"
"Yeah…Where are we?"
"Lake Minnewanka. I used to come here when I used to wander the Canadian wilds back in my heyday."
"Used to wander?"
Logan sighed as he would tell his son his experience with Weapon X.
"This was in-between my escape from Weapon X and when Charles sent his X-Men to find me."
Kaneki slightly gasped when he heard his father say what he went through himself.
"Don't act so surprised. You have my memories as well. All because of those sick bastards who thought of us as nothing more than things to be used and thrown away."
Logan looked up at the colored night sky.
"Honestly, I wanted to spare you the same fate life gave me. But I died."
Kaneki felt slightly shocked to hear that from his father.
"The only traces of my existence…lie in you."
Logan possessed a sorrowful look on his face, to which Kaneki saw. This prompted him to feel the same sadness as well. He then looked up at the sky as well. Both men felt a small measure of comfort, reveling in the natural spectacle.
"I…wanted to take you and your mom here. I wanted the whole family to see what it was that kept me…human, more or less."
"Whole family?"
"Yeah. Your big sister as well."
"Big…sister?"
Logan placed two fingers on Kaneki's forehead, which showed a memory from his father's point of view. It showed him defending a group of children in a forest against a gang of marauding mutants. He stood his ground, but he was weak from a debilitating disease which made his body weaker, as well as his healing factor becoming ineffective against major wounds. One of children proved herself to be just as brave as he was, as well as possessing the same mutant powers he had. Eventually, Logan was dealt a killing blow so severe, that he was practically on death's door. He then spoke his last words while gently stroking the face of the brave girl. The girl was crying at the man who valiantly protected her and her surrogate family. Crying at the man who was her actual father, kicking the bucket right before her eyes.
"So this is what it feels like…"
The memory ended right there. Kaneki cried as he saw how his father died.
"Hey now. Don't be so sad."
"Why shouldn't I? The reason why you weren't there…was because somebody took you away from me…and mom…"
Kaneki cried a little more.
"She missed you. She said I was brave like you were, and that was why…she didn't say anything…Maybe she knew…maybe she didn't…but we missed you…I missed you…"
Logan hugged Kaneki tightly.
"I know."
Kaneki returned the hug. Logan did his best at holding back some tears of his own, feeling the need to appear strong for his son.
"You're…gonna have to go back…"
"No, dad…please…"
Kaneki held on to his father as long as he could.
"I don't want you to…"
"I'm sorry…Hopefully, after what you gotta do…you'll find safety again. When you do, your big sister will be there as well."
Slowly, everything turned white as Kaneki knew that the environment around him composed of a mix of memory fragments and figments of his imagination.
(let music end on its own)
xxxxxx
Both Yamori and Naki laughed at the corpse of Ken Kaneki. They mostly laughed at how his entire skeletal structure was completely covered in metal. Banjou, Shu and Haru all cried at how they were helpless to save his life, as well as the sorrow that awaited Kaneki's friends who came here to save him, only to be too late to do anything. Yamori then said to Naki,
"Holy shit! He told me the metal on his claws covered his entire body. Telling is one thing, seeing it is totally something else."
"What do you want to do with it, boss?"
Yamori took a moment to think about what to do with the bones.
"I'll take them as a trophy."
"And what about these three?"
"Roast them. Let them share his fate."
The two sadistic ghouls laughed as Banjou, Shu, and Haru almost faced the same death that Kaneki suffered through. That would soon be avoid when something absolutely unexpected happened.
SNIKT!
"BOSS!"
By the time Naki warned Yamori, it was too late. The right arm of the skeletal remains of Kaneki moved by self to stab the arm that Yamori held it by. Yamori yelled out in pain before letting go. All witnessed the skeletal remains of Kaneki moving by itself. Then, they see Kaneki's body regenerating by itself. It proved itself to be somewhat of a horrifying sight. First, the nerves grew out of his brain and spread all over its body. Naki asked Yamori,
"Boss, how is this possible?"
"The one-eyed freak could grow back flesh I cut off! What I should've gone for was the brain, but…!"
As soon as the nerves were done, next came the organs.
"That skull of his is covered in that metal."
"Can't your kagune go through that?"
"If that metal is anything like quinque steel, nothing short of vibranium can cut through it."
The organs finally finished re-growing themselves. Among them were the vocal cords. In that moment, Kaneki screamed in pain over his body regenerating itself. The process was not only slow, but painful as well. Kaneki gave a guttural scream, which sent shivers down everyone's spines. Yamori and Naki looked on in horror while Banjou, Shu, and Haru looked on in sorrow. The muscles reforming themselves did not take as long, and gave the added benefit getting Kaneki to stop screaming. Lastly, as soon as the muscles finished regenerating, the skin was the last to complete itself. His physical appearance stayed the same, save for a couple of differences. His hair, originally black, now became white as snow. His fingernails became black as well. Kaneki growled for a moment before facing everyone in the room. His ghoul eye activated as his sights were laser-focused on Yamori. There was one other important fact that almost everyone put to the wayside. Yamori burned the clothes Kaneki had on before he temporarily died. As such, he wore only his birthday suit. Haru looked away in embarrassment. While Naki's inadequacy began to manifest within his mind. Yamori, on the other hand, felt an emotion he had not felt since being captured by the Investigator who tortured him for amusement. Fear. Fear that temporarily elevated when Kaneki performed a very loud, primal yell. One so loud that everyone within the whole area of the shopping mall could hear it.
xxxxxx
The fight between the GCB Investigators, Colossus, Iron Fist, and the One-eyed Owl paused for a brief moment as soon as they all heard a primal yell.
"What was that?"
Asked Amon.
xxxxxx
Both Touka and Ayato covered their ears as they were in close range of the yell. On an instinctual level, Touka knew who it was.
"Kaneki…"
She immediately rushed to where the yell originated, but Ayato kicked her hard enough for her to go backwards against her will.
"You and I ain't done!"
xxxxxx
The X-Men were wrapping up exterminating the Aogiri ghouls on the south area of the shopping mall when they heard the yell. They all stood still as they all had a pretty good idea on who it was.
"Don't tell me that was…?"
Asked Cyclops with Beast replying,
"If it was, it would seem that the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree."
"Let's move, X-Men."
xxxxxx
Naki stepped forward in order to fight Kaneki.
"I got this, boss!"
Naki ran toward Kaneki, but was unprepared at just how much of a difference, in terms of power and abilities, there was between him and the one-eyed mutant. Kaneki grabbed Naki by his face and slammed him to the floor so hard that Naki lost consciousness. He had to kneel in order to do so effectively. Then, as he rose up, Kaneki looked at Yamori once again. He could see the terror on Yamori's face. It made him grin in a way that mocked Yamori. This made the white-suited ghoul angry.
(play Unravel - TK from Ling Toshite Sigure)
"I'LL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!"
Yamori summoned his kagune and slammed it to where Kaneki stood. Only to miss due to the mutant's speed as Kaneki instantly got behind Yamori, leapt and landed on his shoulders, and choked Yamori with his arms.
"Chew on this, bub."
SNIKT!
Kaneki stabbed Yamori in the back a couple of times before leaping off. Yamori felt a deal of pain, but brushed it aside to regain his composure.
"Just as I thought, you're nothing more than a bitch."
"Watch it, or I'll…"
"Kill me? Torture me? Burn me to death? Nothing you do has any power over me."
Yamori aimed his kagune at Kaneki as it lunged itself to where he stood. Kaneki moved with swiftness as he kicked Yamori on his right shoulder. And yet, Yamori grabbed the leg that Kaneki kicked him with.
"Got you now!"
Kaneki grinned at how predictable his enemy acted. Kaneki twisted and mangled his leg on purpose to deal a powerful blow to Yamori's head. The resulting action made Yamori slam unto the floor while Kaneki's twisted leg fix itself.
"Like I said before, nothing you do has any power over me. Never did in the first place."
Yamori slowly got up as summoned the full form of his kagune. It took the form of armor-like flesh as it slowly encompassed his upper body. Banjou, Shu, and Haru feared for the worst.
"I'll kill you…I swear it! I'll kill you. KILL YOU DEAD! I'LL EAT YOU UP TIL YOU CAN'T GROW ANYTHING ANYMORE!"
Kaneki smiled as he considered Yamori's threat as an empty one.
"Tall order, bub."
Yamori's kagune now covered his whole left side as snarled while also attacking Kaneki with his kagune. The two traded blows as Yamori swung his oversized kagune at Kaneki, missing with every strike. While Kaneki retaliated with swift and precise kicks on any part of Yamori's person. Kaneki eventually got in close enough to stab Yamori with one of his claws. This hurt Yamori, but it also made him angrier with the one-eyed mutant. So much so, Yamori grabbed Kaneki, and flung him to the furthest wall of the interrogation room, in the hopes of dealing permanent damage. The injuries he incurred left him tired and beat. For one moment, he as sure of victory. That's why it's called a moment.
"Seriously? One powerful pitch from your ghoul arm to kill me?"
Yamori felt fear once again when Kaneki spoke to him.
"Bitch, you're gonna have to do better than that."
Yamori growled at the sight of Kaneki shrugging off his best attack.
"Watch me. I'll show you how it's done."
Kaneki bared his claws by taking a kung-fu stance. Yamori changed toward Kaneki, only to feel the full force of Kaneki's foot to his face as he got close. Yamori swung his kagune at Kaneki, only for his attacks to be deflected by Kaneki's metal claws. The claws even chipped away at the fleshy exterior of his kagune. Kaneki leapt backwards to maintain distance as the two jumped all over the interrogation room as they fought. Kaneki made sure that the fight never touched Banjou, Shu, or Haru, who was still covering her eyes as she did not want to see Kaneki fight while also naked. Yamori kept up with his tenacity and anger, but Kaneki's speed and precision slowly made short work of Yamori's kagune as the final claw slice tore Yamori's kagune in two. Kaneki then finished the fight by hitting Yamori with a kick so powerful, it created a crater underneath where his foe laid. Kaneki slowly walked toward the hulking ghoul and stabbed in the back once more. This made Yamori yell out in pain. As Kaneki looked down upon his enemy, he said to him,
"Count down from 1000 by seven."
Yamori growled for one moment before Kaneki stabbed him again, this time in the left leg.
"This is only gonna get worse from here, bub."
Kaneki stabbed him from behind the more Yamori did not do what Kaneki demanded of him.
"Ultimately, you're ain't getting shit from me, but I want to hear you count backwards…"
Yamori yelled out in pain when Kaneki tabbed him in his upper thigh.
"from 1000…"
This time, both sides of his chest.
"by seven."
Lastly, the chest, one inch close to his heart. Yamori shortly reverted back to his old self from before he was tortured to the point to insanity.
"993…986…"
Yamori continued to count down, but the pain became unbearable to cope with. He began to weep for his life.
"Don't even try to appeal to my humanity by crying."
Yamori's last words were this.
"Please…spare me…"
"Like I said…"
Kaneki retracted the claws on his right hand, but kept it as a balled fist as he gently laid it on the back of Yamori's head.
"You ain't getting shit from me."
SNIKT!
(end music)
Yamori died as soon as Kaneki's claws pierced his brain. His eyes still secreted tears.
"Coward to the bitter end."
He then stood up in order to free Banjou, Shu, and Haru. He freed Banjou first.
"You okay?"
As Banjou soothed the rope burns on his wrist, he countered with a question of his own.
"Me? What about you?"
Kaneki stood silent for a while before giving his answer.
"Ask that another time."
"Okay…"
Kaneki then went to Shu and Haru in order to free them. He noticed that Haru's eyes were closed. As soon as he freed Shu he asked,
"What's with Haru?"
"Kaneki, you have no clothes on!"
He took a look at himself. He then calmly said,
"Oh shit, you're right."
Just then, Naki woke up from being unconscious. He felt a little groggy before his vision restored itself. By then, he sees the corpse of Yamori and feels emotionally devastated by the sight of it.
"BOOOOOOOSSSS!"
He rushed over to its side.
"Boss! Wake up! WAKE UP!"
He cried uncontrollably before looking around to see who was responsible for Yamori's death.
"YOU! DID YOU KILL HIM, YOU F***ING EXHIBITIONIST?!"
Kaneki felt a little embarrassed over being called out for his nudity.
"What of it?"
Naki growled as he charged toward Kaneki while summoning his kagune.
"I'LL KILL YOU FOR-!"
Naki would soon be interrupted as Kaneki grabbed Naki by his mouth, forcing him to shut up, and being slammed to the floor once again. This time, he retained consciousness.
"Give me your pants. I don't want my friends prancing around in their underwear while escaping from this place. But I don't care about you. So…"
Kaneki brandished his claws near Naki's face, and give him a small cut.
"Pants. Now."
"F**k off!"
Kaneki sighed over Naki's reply.
"Okay…"
Kaneki then slammed Naki's face to the floor repeatedly until he lost consciousness once more. He then flipped him over, undid his belt, unzipped his pants, took both the pants and belt off Naki, and put them on his exposed underside.
"Haru, you can open your eyes now."
Haru did so, relieved to see Kaneki covering the area that exposed his privates. Banjou then asked Kaneki,
"So, you gonna meet up with your friends from Anteiku?"
"That's the plan. What about you? Can you even stay in the 11th ward?"
Banjou looked down for a while after being asked that.
"I don't know…"
Kaneki then gave Banjou a suggestion.
"When this is over, head for the 20th ward. Go to Anteiku again, but this time, talk to Yoshimura. I'm sure he can give both you and your people sanctuary from Aogiri."
Banjou was touched to hear Kaneki give such helpful advice.
"Thanks, Kaneki."
"I gotta go now. I got to go see if my friends are really here."
xxxxxx
Touka held her ground against Ayato, but she felt the need to talk her brother out of being part of Aogiri Tree.
"Damn it, Ayato! Can't you see nothing good can come from this group?! SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU IDIOT!"
Touka shot crimson crystals from her kagune, but Ayato deflected them as he air-tunneled toward her.
"And cozy up to the humans like you? No self-respecting ghoul would ever do that!"
Ayato landed in front of her and struck her with a swift and powerful kick that pushed Touka back in mid-air.
"I bet you get off of it…"
Ayato instantly stepped behind her and delivered two punches as she was still in mid-air.
"DON'T YA, SIS?!"
Ayato then leapt up and kicked Touka into the ground. Nishiki felt the need to help her, but still could not move due to his injuries.
"They're healing, but not fast enough."
"Playing nice with the humans, pretending you're not a monster…"
He kneeled down next to her.
"Your wings are useless! LET ME CLIP THEM OFF FOR YOU!"
Ayato began eating Touka's kagune in a wild and brutal manner. This caused her enormous pain as she screamed in response to what was being done to her. By the time Ayato finished, Touka seemed dead. Ayato spit out a piece of her kagune out of his mouth.
"You taste disgusting."
Touka writhed under the pain of having her kagune being eaten. Ayato grabbed her head with one hand and pressed it against the floor where she laid.
"Understand this, Touka. You need power to get anything done in this world. The weak only exist to be fodder for the strong. This is why I won. This is why Dad died."
Touka cried a little as she struggled to breathe properly under the pain. Ayato slowly got up and walked away from her older sister. Touka then said three words that irritated her little brother bad.
"Help me…dad…"
Ayato summoned his kagune once more to deal a deadly blow to Touka.
"How sad can you be…Calling for him like that…Dad isn't here, Touka…JUST DEAL WITH IT!"
In Touka's mind, she flashbacked to the worst day of her life. She remembered when her and Ayato, back when they were kids, stayed with the elderly woman next door when their father did not come back for two days. On the third day, the elderly woman arrived with two men behind her. She then grabbed a handful of human food and shoved it down Ayato's mouth. When he spit it out, the elderly woman now possessed a hateful look on her face after it was revealed that the children next door were actually ghouls. She yelled out for her dad, only to be told by the men that they were the ones who killed him. On that day, her kagune manifested. What happened afterwards was a long and hard life spent running and hunting for humans to feed upon. She lost herself in the intensity of her memories that only one thought came to her mind.
"Please…somebody…save me…"
At the moment where Ayato shot crimson crystals from his kagune, Kaneki rushed to her side in the nick of time and got her out of the way. Touka saw who was it that saved her.
"Kaneki…"
From afar, Hide looked at the scene with a pair of binoculars.
"Kaneki…"
He then spoke to her while Ayato stared daggers at his back.
"Hey. You okay?"
Touka did not say anything at first.
"You had to go through all this for me. I'll take full responsibility from now on."
"You're…such a…idiot…"
Ayato shot some crystals at Kaneki. When they landed, Kaneki did not react much to it. The crystals then lopped off his body and his wounds began to heal themselves.
"What the hell?"
Nishiki was surprised to see Kaneki being nonchalant to being shot.
"Kaneki, you hurt?"
Kaneki then placed her beside Nishiki.
"I'll be fine. Watch over her, Nishiki."
Ayato then said to him,
"This ain't going to go down last time, mutie."
Kaneki face Ayato and said to him,
"Keep telling yourself that, breadstick."
Ayato growled as he shot crystals from his kagune.
"AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?!"
Kaneki was too fast for Ayato's crystals to hit.
"Not my fault Yamori sucked at his job!"
Ayato kept on shooting at Kaneki, but the shots were too slow to hit the mutant. By the time he realized it, Kaneki snuck up behind Ayato.
"You're Touka's only brother. So, I'm not gonna kill you."
Ayato scoffed at Kaneki's sense of mercy.
"You think I want your compassion, mutie?"
The two then traded blows while Ayato went on talking.
"You're no different from all the other pussies at Anteiku!"
The two finally got into a standstill with each other. During this, Kaneki elaborated on his previous statement.
"I never said that I would make you pay for earlier."
"Damn you…"
xxxxxx
From atop a bridge far from the battlefield, Eto and Tatara looked on from afar.
"My goodness, he's survived one of the most horrible ghouls he had within our ranks."
"Too bad Charles Xavier is there."
"Yes. It sure is."
Large swaths of birds flew from the battlefield for some unknown reason.
"I think it's about time this already ended."
"Yeah…"
"How many do you think we're gonna lose?"
"Probably 200 of our forces."
"Well hopefully, the doves will lose more. And if not, then for the sake those 200 lost, we may have to do some killing of our own."
"You may be right, Eto."
xxxxxx
Ayato started to receive one of the most brutal beatdowns of his life. Kaneki proceeded to whale on him with little chance for retaliation. Whatever windows of opportunity presented themselves, it only made things worse. Ayato then took a large step backwards, leapt up into the air, and fired crystals from his kagune at Kaneki. As much as it hurt him, Kaneki held his ground against the barrage, and when it was over, his body healed like it never happened in the first place.
"Hey breadstick, I know your secret."
"My secret? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you know what it is. I know why you joined with Aogiri Tree."
Ayato grew further angry with Kaneki.
"Bullshit! There's no way you could know that!"
Ayato fired crystals once again, but this time, none of them landed as Kaneki sped out of the way and stood right in front of Ayato's face. Kaneki gave a knee kick to Ayato's gut.
"I'm trying to start a conversation. So, do us both a favor. Stop acting like an angsty little shit, and just listen."
"Damn you…"
Ayato gave another kick, but Kaneki somersaulted backwards in a big way to dodge it.
"You're trying to protect something, ain't you? Something that matters to you?"
Ayato expressed shock as Kaneki hit the nail in the head.
"I could tell that you had every chance to kill me, but since my mutant powers makes that almost impossible, you went for the next best thing. Breaking me."
Ayato growled at what Kaneki thought of him.
"Are you so afraid of humans and mutants that you'd side with terrorists to protect what you give a damn about? Cause that's gonna blow up in your face one of these days, and when it does, it's not gonna be pretty."
Ayato loudly growled before replying,
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
"I know enough to know that if I was in the same place you are right now, I'd make that same mistake as well."
Just then, a large kagune tunnel appeared out of nowhere. It landed between where Ayato and Kaneki stood apart from each other. Ayato knew who it belonged to.
"No!"
Noro's kagune then grabbed Ayato and went back to him.
"Noro! I had that bastard."
"No, you didn't."
"What'd you say?!"
"Yamori is dead."
Ayato was surprised to hear the news.
"What?"
"Because of him."
Noro pointed at Kaneki.
"You have no chance against that mutant. This battle is over."
His alarm clock started to ring. Then, loud roars could be heard before everything around them started to shake. Kaneki went to Nishiki to carry Touka.
"Let's get out of here."
"Kaneki…what happened to you?"
"Don't have the time or the will to tell."
xxxxxx
"Hank, what happening?!"
Asked Scott in a worried tone.
"My best guess. Aogiri Tree must've placed explosives beneath the area's most structurally vulnerable spots."
"You don't mean…?"
"This whole place is going down!"
Just then, Kurt sees the blackbird heading toward them.
"I think our ride is here."
xxxxxx
The One-eyed Owl could see that Aogiri Tree must have planned for this to happen. He waits for the opportunity to escape as parts of the building started to crash near the parking lot top. One such debris almost landed on both Iwao and Shinohara. Thankfully, Piotr was nearby to prevent that from happening.
"Are you alright, comrades?"
"Thanks, Rasputin."
"Da. We must escape. Aogiri Tree must've planned for this."
Shinohara nodded in agreement. Iwao then spoke to Amon and Hirako.
"Amon, Hirako. Find some shelter to hide to. Me and Shinohara will catch up as soon as we remove these Aratas."
"Yes sir."
Danny asked Piotr,
"Piotr, shouldn't we try to find Kaneki?"
"I have good feeling he has already been found, Daniel. We must escape for our lives. You go ahead."
Danny nodded in agreement.
xxxxxx
Banjou led his people out of the building, but encountered a gated entrance.
"Crap. Hang on. I think I can…"
Just then, the gate was sliced apart by Tsukiyama, with Yomo and Uta joining him shortly.
"Hey. Are you with…Ken Kaneki, by any chance?"
Yomo answered his question.
"Yes. Do you know where he is?"
"I think he was looking for you guys."
xxxxxx
Numerous GCB soldiers and some Aogiri ghouls ran like hell escaping from the collapsing building. Some did not make it. Marude gave the general order.
"All units! Evacuate! GET OUT OF THERE!"
xxxxxx
The shopping mall, which served as the base for Aogiri Tree, eventually collapsed into ruin. Nishiki commented on the explosion that took place.
"This is messed up."
Just now, Kaneki felt something penetrating his mind. Although it did not hurt, the sensation still disturbed him.
"What is…is there somebody…?"
Kaneki…
"Who is this…?"
Nishiki saw Kaneki grabbing his head with one hand for some reason.
"Kaneki, what's up?"
"Nishiki, get out of here. Take Touka with you."
"Sure."
He then sees Kaneki walking toward the crumbling building.
"Hey. Where you going?"
"Something's calling for me."
"Kaneki!"
xxxxxx
As the building was still collapsing, Suzuya saw two ghouls with white suits laying down. One was dead. The other, unconscious and pants less. He dragged the both of them for his own reasons while humming. He had a carefree expression while everything fell to pieces around him. Meanwhile, in another part of the area that was still in the process of being destroyed, Yoshimura looked on at the lengths Aogiri Tree would go to eradicate the doves, with Irimi and Hinami looking on in the open. A few moments later, Hinami sees somebody running toward them.
"Look!"
Irimi takes a closer look to see Daniel Rand running toward them.
"Danny!"
She ran toward him as well until the two embraced on another. She then asked,
"Where's Kaneki?"
"Piotr said that he may have been rescued already. We need to find the others without the GCB finding us."
Just as Danny finished, Hinami saw Nishiki arrive with Touka on his back.
"It's Nishiki. He's got Touka with him."
"We need to get out of here. It's not safe anymore."
Danny asked him,
"Did you see Kaneki?"
"Yeah. He was heading toward there."
"Why?"
"He said something was calling for him. I didn't hear anything."
Danny had an idea as to what may have called his student. Or rather, who.
"Mr. Rand?"
Asked Hinami when she wanted to know what Danny was thinking.
xxxxxx
At another building west of the collapsing battlefield, two striped-masked females, one wearing a black cloak and the other white, looked on at the chaos from afar.
"It's over now."
A male voice spoke from behind them. It was eventually revealed to be Akihiro Kanou stepping from the shadows.
"Kuro. Shiro. Let's go."
As the two walked on, Kanou looked at the flames that burned on.
"We'll see each other again, Kaneki."
xxxxxx
Nico looked at the burning remains of the shopping mall.
"Look at that. My love nest is burning to the ground."
A ghoul wearing a suit and a clown mask said to him,
"At least you got to see it one last time. I know you were busy with the manhunt, but we thought you forgot about us."
"How can I ever forget about my darlings? Sorry I was out of touch, but now I'm back and better than ever."
Nico then took out a clown mask and puts it on.
"You know what they say about clowns…we get the last laugh."
xxxxxx
Piotr carried both Shinohara and Iwao on one arm each.
"Thanks for the ride, Colossus."
"After taking off the Aratas by force, we didn't have much energy left."
"I am always to be of service to you, comrades."
Both Hirako and Amon followed behind the three.
"Still, the Owl got away."
"Do not despair, Shinohara. You showed him that you were not man to be trifled with, let alone dismissed."
"What I can't believe is all this turned out to be nothing more than a trap for us."
"Da. You are right, Iwao. It caught all of us by surprise. I can only hope that my old friends managed to get the job done, and escape before the destruction happened."
Just as they almost out of range of the smoke and dust, Amon saw a white-haired individual walking toward the burning wreckage.
"Hey!"
"Amon, what is it?"
Asked Hirako.
"I just saw someone walking toward the fire."
"What'd you say?"
Asked Shinohara with Amon saying afterwards,
"I'm going for him."
"Let him go, Amon."
Said Piotr to everyone's surprise.
"Mr. Rasputin, you can't mean…"
"A cold and mighty wind will come soon to put out the fire."
"How can you tell?"
"Just got call from old boss. He's taking care of him now."
At first, the Investigators were confused by Piotr's words, only for them to come true. A large gust of wind blew through. And it turned out to be cold, as he said. While some of the GCB forces were too occupied by their injuries to care, others did not feel such a wind blowing by due to blowing some of their own.
"Damn it! Where are my casualty reports?!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Marude, but half of our forces are dead."
Marude growled at how much of the GCB lost their forces due to this unwelcome development.
"Damn that Owl…"
xxxxxx
Kaneki soon made to the spot where the voice that spoke to him told him to go. This voice was different from usual. The cold wind eventually died down. After that, he would soon be approached five individuals. Two were a man with a visor covering his eyes, a black woman with white hair, a thin dark-blue furred individual, a built blue-furred one, and lastly a paraplegic with a British accent.
"Hello, Ken Kaneki. Do you know who I am?"
Kaneki took a moment to look though his father's memories.
"Professor X."
"Yes. More accurately, my name is Charles Xavier. I am the leader of these individuals you see before you. And like you, we are mutants."
Charles briefly spoke to Kaneki via telepathy.
"Kaneki, do you know why we are here?"
"The threat of Aogiri Tree will most likely stay for quite a time before the GCB could effectively end it. We like to offer you a place among us."
"Did Yoshimura talk to you about this?"
"Professor, may I?"
"Go ahead."
Scott then spoke to Kaneki.
"Yes, he did. Via Piotr Rasputin, he was able to communicate his intentions to him. Kaneki, we know what you went through here."
Scott then asked Charles to communicate with him via telepathy.
"We also know about how Anteiku is a sanctuary for ghouls who don't want to kill humans."
Kaneki now felt nervous.
"Please Kaneki, do not be afraid. We had the opportunity to know them before we came to rescue you. This secret stays with us."
Kaneki now relaxed himself. Scott furthered explained their offer for Kaneki to stay at the X-Mansion.
"Kaneki, we want to help you. Not just because you're Logan's son, but also we X-Men never refuse to help a mutant in need."
"Cyclops is correct. Come with us. We'll gladly help you in any way we can."
Kaneki took amount to consider the offer. At first, he hesitated due to leaving behind the people who cared about him. On the other hand, he did not want to put them in further danger. He loved them too much for them to suffer vendettas like the ones he had to suffer before.
"Before I go, there's someone…I just have to say goodbye to."
xxxxxx
Hinami listened to what Touka asked of her.
"Okay."
She ran off in search of Kaneki. Little did Hinami know; he would appear in front of Touka while she was recuperating. He stood silent for a while, leaving Touka to do the talking.
"Glad you're okay. I like the hair."
Kaneki remained silent for a while longer.
"You might want to change it back though…you can't show up for work looking like that. You're gonna stick out like a sore thumb."
"…Yeah, I think this might be permanent."
"Really? Well, that sucks."
"How the hell do you think I feel? I look like an anime protagonist from the early 2000s."
Touka was shocked to hear Kaneki crack a joke in a moment like this. Even more surprising, she honestly thought it was funny as it got a laugh out of her. This made Kaneki smile a little.
"Touka…I'm leaving…to join the X-men."
"…I know."
Kaneki kneeled close to her and hugged her.
"Thank you…for giving a damn about me…even though I probably gave you some crap about it."
(play On my own - Katherine Liner)
He then got up and walked toward close to the edge of the lake in front of the both of them. After a moment passed, Kurt arrived to pick up Kaneki and teleport him to the blackbird. But not before waving Touka goodbye and saying,
"He is in good hands."
As soon as the two disappeared, loud jet engines could e heard nearby. Touka looked up to see a sleek jet flying into the sky, away from her. She reaches her hand up, only to grab nothing. She began to feel a certain kind of emptiness when Kaneki left. Hinami was there as well, seeing Kaneki go away, seemingly for good.
xxxxxx
Kaneki sat at the back of the jet interior, alone in his thoughts and memories. He first remembered what started his journey. The date with Rize which ended in tragedy and disaster. Turning into a ghoul for two days before fighting with Nishiki forced him to try something fatal to others, but not to him. Yoshimura offering him a place in his coffee shop before showing how ghouls blend in with human society. Learning not just how ghouls live, but also ways to better himself, thanks to the Iron Fist. How his Shifu helped him defeat Tsukiyama and rescuing the girlfriend of the ghoul who tried to eat Hide just to spite him, and how he returned the favor by helping Daniel Rand defeat Yen Lo Fei. He even remembered what Po Shen said to him.
flashback
"You're a little like your shifu. You got the heart of a champion…"
end
He even took it upon him to remember Ryouko and how she tried to save her, only for Rize to return and ruin it. How his encounter with the doves left a bad taste in his mouth, in every way possible. Whether it was hunting down Hinami or how Amon basically called him a wannabe hero in his face after facing Weapon X. Kaneki looked back on how regaining his past gave him a new level of pain before making the rogue mutants feel what he felt in a spectacular fashion. And lastly, how Aogiri Tree attempted to break him, but thanks in part to his father, pulled through and defeated the sadistic coward to put Kaneki through hell. He knew that he could only stay that strong because he found people who cared about him enough to make him feel as if there was honestly something to live for. Kaneki wondered if he would find something like in the X-Mansion. In America. Hank then said to everyone,
"We're here."
Charles then said to Kaneki,
"We're here, Kaneki. Come take a look."
Kaneki took the offer. Although it was nighttime back in Japan, it was midday in America.
"Woah. How did we get here so fast?"
"The blackbird can go Mach 8. Makes flying from Tokyo to New York one in matter of minutes. I should know, I built it."
Said Hank, explaining to Kaneki about the jet. He then makes the jet descend unto the basketball court, but the court slowly split open as the jet landed in the underground hangar. All exited the jet. Kaneki was impressed to see such a facility underneath a lavish-looking school.
"So, how do you like it, Kaneki?"
Asked Charles.
"It's…impressive in real life. The manga doesn't even do it justice."
"Ah. So, you've read our…exploits?"
"Yeah. Back in middle school."
Charles smiled a little.
"Kaneki…there's someone I'd like you to meet."
Kaneki followed Charles to the elevator. While that happened, Scott decided to make a call to Emma. However, she did not answer. Storm noticed this and asked him,
"What's the matter, Scott?"
"I'm…trying to reach someone…but she's not answering…"
Both Scott and Kaneki made it to the mansion interior. He sees a number of children around.
"Students?"
"Yes. I hope they won't be a bother to you."
"I don't think so."
After some more walking, both stopped in front of a room dor. Charles knocked on it for an answer. The person in question was a young woman. She seemed older than Kaneki. She had a slender figure, long black straight hair, had black lipstick on, and wore a black t-shirt with a logo and a black leather skirt.
"Hey professor. What's the…"
She then looked at how as beside the professor. She stopped speaking as she looked at Kaneki with unexpected emotion. Kaneki felt the same as she was the girl that his father said goodbye to before he died, but older. Charles then said to Kaneki,
"Kaneki, this is your older sister. Laura."
He then turned his attention to her.
"I told you, Laura. I would find…your little brother."
Kuzuri will return.