Chapter 6: Kagune

".. I can't believe this.." Touka was seated on the end of the couch, her pale face showed discomfort from Yoriko's cooking, which had sent her straight to the restroom earlier.

Kaneki stood on the opposite side of the couch, his face pale more so from the news I had just dropped on them.

Hinami was seated next to Touka, a couple drawings of shapes from different perspectives in front of her. However, her attention was cast down at me along with the rest.

I was seated in front of the three on the opposite end of the coffee table, with pencil in hand, and a stack of paper in front of me.

"Yeah, when I woke up I had already been.. well, a ghoul." I tapped my pencil against the paper in thought, recalling the events of waking up in that underground facility.

"But that's.. Who the hell does he think he is, meddling with lives like that?!" Touka stood up, having lost her composure. "Being a ghoul isn't some fucked up lab experiment.. It's who we are damn it!"

"There's two others who were there." I begun sketching out accurate enough sketches of Kurona and Nashiro. "Kurona and Nashiro refer to Kanou as their father, so they'll be at his side to protect him." I finished and slid the sketches in front of them. "If you see the two of them, do not engage in combat. They have combat experience from their time at the CCG's Junior Academy."

"So this place.. You know where it is?" My eyes shifted from Touka to Kaneki, who looked uneasy.

"I do, but.." I knew if Kaneki or more likely Touka were to attempt an attack, they certainly wouldn't survive. "We shouldn't engage them. I told the manager as well, so if you really must know, it's up to him."

Touka gritted her teeth as she sat back down, composing herself. "Damn it all.."

I'm sure Touka's worries were set on Yoriko, probably worrying on her potentially disappearing and ending up as another test subject. There had been missing people reports scattered on the fronts of stores and street lights along the way to the apartment.

"So how the hell did you escape?" Touka's question had definitely been laced with distrust, which wasn't good for my situation.

"I had been sick from the surgery, or rather.. getting accustomed to the RC cells in my body. I believe it has something to do with the fact I had none to begin with, which Kanou had never seen before."

"Uhm.. What is an RC cell?" Hinami questioned, her head tilted to the side.

"Oh, they're what make up your kagune. They also help to heal your wounds at a super-human pace." Answering Hinami, I pointed to my back. "They're stored mainly in the kakuhou; the base where your kagune comes from. It's the reason why ghouls need to feed off humans, because they can't produce them on their own."

"Ah, I see."

"Anyways, Kurona and Nashiro had left to meet with kanou upon his arrival, which gave me a chance to slip out. The place is like a maze, so there was trouble finding the exit. I was able to make it out undetected."

"Seems a little convenient that you just 'managed' to escape without trouble." Touka was still skeptical. Not good, but there's not much to do about that for now.

"It left me uneasy at first, like someone was going to jump me as I got out. But I made it this far without any trouble.. besides some stray ghoul getting territorial outside Anteiku's alleyways."

"He has been dealt with. How do we know you aren't just here to cause trouble?" Touka's eyes narrowed as she studied me.

"I.. I don't have any sort of way to prove that to you. All I can offer is my life to be taken if you see fit."

"Hmph.." Touka closed her eyes and crossed her arms, seemingly put a little at ease.

"Touka.." Touka's eyes drifted to Kaneki, who had a contemplative look on his face. "I'd like to begin another spar soon.. The other day with the CCG, I was barely able to fend off one of them. I need to get strong enough to protect everyone."

Touka stretched her arms out above her head as she stood up. "Alright, but don't expect me to go easy." Touka's gaze fell on me. "Oi, have you ever been in a fight before?"

"I haven't. I never had a reason to.." I scratched the back of my head and shrugged off the nervous feeling I had. I knew this was going to lead to a painful learning experience.

"Tomorrow, after your job training. You'd better not expect me to pull my punches." The smug look on Touka's face scared me a little.

"Huh, so you actually are more capable than you look." I was surprised, followed by confused if I should take offense to what Touka said. I focused on pouring the hot water in gentle circles into the grounded coffee beans.

A day had passed from visiting Touka's place with Kaneki. When I had arrived, Yoshimura had fitted me with an Anteiku uniform, before making the needed adjustments to fit properly.

"It's not like I haven't made coffee before. When I first started, I'm sure it tasted terrible.. Still, my dad drank it before he headed off to work." I smiled slightly, feeling a little homesick. "He must be worried sick.."

"I'll be the judge of that. Let me have a taste to see if your cup will be customer satisfactory."

"Alright, coming right up." I removed the coffee filter and poured a cup for Touka, confident that it wasn't going to be terrible.

Touka picked the cup up, eyeing it carefully before raising the edge of the coffee cup to her mouth.

I watched her take a sip, doing my best to pick apart her initial reaction to the taste. Yet she didn't seem to react at all.

Touka set the cup down and nodded. "Not terrible.. You're about equal level to Kaneki's cups."

"I'll take that as a pass." I smiled, only to receive a raised eyebrow from Touka.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there, trainee. I still need to show you where we keep the packages, and then you'll need to wait for your uniform."

"Packages?"

"Yeah, the meat.. Oh, wait.." Touka realized quickly I wouldn't be familiar with what she meant.

I sighed, forcing myself to not react too badly. I knew this would be coming, but preparing for it was a little difficult. "It's fine.. I mean.. I'll be fine."

Touka stared at me for a moment, seemingly a little confused by my reaction, before motioning me to follow.

Heading to the back room, Touka stopped in front of a refrigerator. Without a word, she opened it and stepped aside, allowing me to see the contents of the fridge.

My eyes scanned the contents; there was around twenty paper packages, each about the size of a book. The smell that faintly reached my nose was pleasant, which made me uncomfortable since I understood the contents of the packaged contents.

"You're.. taking this quite well, compared to Kaneki's reaction." My eyes drifted away from the packages and focused on Touka, who was giving me a curious look, almost like she was studying me.

I stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. I couldn't tell her I already knew because I had read this in a manga.

"Why aren't you at all afraid? Your whole life was just snatched away from you.. Ever since we met you, you've been so calm.. It's really irritating." Touka's glare dug daggers into me, my eyes drifted back to the fridge's contents.

"I never said I wasn't afraid." My eyes focused back on Touka, her glare melting away into a confused stare. "Of course I'm afraid. Everything has changed, and I'm terrified. But.. I can't let that hold me back, otherwise I'd break a promise I made a long time ago."

Touka's face relaxed, eyes studying me once more. She kept silent.

"I can't let fear control me. I have to keep looking forward, and eventually I'll find my way."

".. Hmph."

I closed my eyes and sighed heavily, relaxing my tense shoulders. I then opened my eyes and gave Touka a soft smile.

"I'll be fine, I just need a little time to adjust. It's okay to be afraid, that's what it means to be human."

".. Whatever. Here." Touka handed me a package from the fridge, which had a date written down on it.

"Lucky you, it's fresh. Kaneki and Yomo brought it back a few days ago. Training is concluded for now, so go change and meet back here in an hour, after we close up shop."

I nodded, looking up from the package towards Touka. She seemed to be in deep thought about something, before turning and heading out to the front of Anteiku, leaving me alone in the back room.

I only realized how hungry I actually was after I looked down at the package, but the thought of what it was made me want to feel sick about it. I'd have to eat human flesh in order to survive, but how could I bring myself to do this?

"I know I have no choice.. so it'll be best to do it now.. Please, forgive me."

After an hour passed like Touka had said, I stood in the back room, waiting for her and Kaneki. There was a sweet aftertaste leftover in my mouth, and the mild discomfort of hunger had ceased.

"I feel a lot lighter.."

"Oh Akihito! How did training with Touka go for you?" Kaneki's voice pulled me from my thoughts, my eyes trailed up to see Touka and Kaneki standing in front of me.

"It went well. Touka showed me where the supplies was, and tested me on my to make coffee. Afterwards I had a.. meal." My jaw tightened a little in discomfort.

Kaneki nodded in understanding, his discomfort showing through his averted gaze.

Touka didn't even make eye contact with me as she brushed past me, pulling a door open to reveal a short hallway. Kaneki and I followed her, before she stopped to pull up a trap door at the end of the hallway.

"Down here." Touka said, stepping down onto a ladder and making her way down.

Kaneki followed, familiar with this route. I followed down after him.

"What a big place.." I said as the three of us stopped in the middle of a large room, with multiple branching paths and huge concrete columns around us, keeping the place from collapsing.

"Yeah, just don't head too far, or you'll likely never find your way back. This place was built by ghouls a long time ago, to hide from the world above." Touka said, a few steps ahead of me and Kaneki.

"Kaneki, have you been training on your own time?" Touka asked, turning her head over her shoulder.

"Yeah. Recently I've been running at night. It actually feels pretty good to move my body around."

"Uh-huh.." Touka stopped and rolled her sleeve up, swinging a fist into Kaneki's gut without any warning.

"Guhck..!" Kaneki crouched down, holding his stomach has he gasped for air.

"You still need more muscle. The surviving doves will be refining themselves, and be getting ready for their countermeasures. They're going to be even more dangerous.. I also.. have to get stronger.." Touka mumbled to herself.

"Kaneki, you'll be fine since you have Rize's kagune. Akihito, I have no idea what sort of kagune you have, so.. I'll be showing you how to use it properly."

"I'd rather not rely on the kagune, if possible." Kaneki stood up, as if he wasn't in pain a mere moment ago. "I believe I shouldn't use a power that I can't control. The way I am now, I can't help people with it. I just break things and hurt others. I'd only regret it, since all I want to do is help others.."

I looked over to Kaneki, before feeling a sudden pressure slam into my gut.

"Ack!" I fell backwards and clutched my stomach in pain, just like Kaneki had.

"What, you plan to fight barehanded?" Touka completely ignored my pained grunts.

"I'll just fight like you did against Nishio." Kaneki said, imitating some sort of attack. "It feels like it won't cause any unnecessary injuries."

"Hmph, what a waste. You wouldn't be able to do anything like that without being able to do a backflip."

".. A backflip?!"

I picked myself up slowly, holding the throbbing spot from Touka's attack with my right hand. I looked over to Kaneki.

Touka looked down towards me. "You're the same as him. I'm surprised I didn't break anything there." Touka said, turning away from us to continue down the walkway.

I sighed and stood up straight once the pain had numbed a little, and followed behind Kaneki and Touka.

We stopped in a large area, which would give us a lot more room to move freely.

"Kaneki, stand back. I'd like to assess Akihito the same way as I did for you." Touka said, stretching her arms out behind her head.

I looked over to Kaneki, who visibly paled and took a few steps back. I knew where this was headed, so I had to release my kagune right away. Otherwise.. I'd have something broken.

I focused back on Touka as she began running towards me. She jumped up, so instinctively I ducked as she swung her leg in a horizontal kick. I jumped back a few steps, only for her to close in on me and sweep my legs out from under me with another kick. I fell onto my side, only to be met with her stepping onto my arm.

"If you fight like that, you won't even be capable of fighting a ghoul child." Touka said, applying pressure onto my arm. I attempted to pry her foot off my arm, only to get kicked in the chest, leaving me breathless on the ground.

"You might die here actually.." Touka muttered, kicking me once again, sending me flying a few feet, right into a concrete column.

I coughed as I attempted to stand and recover, I felt like I got a few fractures from those attacks. I looked up to see Touka, her eyes a deep black with two red iris. The veins around her eyes became visibly much more red from the RC cells flowing through them.

I focused on the lower part of my back once more, feeling the rush of RC cells through my body, only for Touka to show a shocked look a moment later.

"But.. That's.."

"That's the same as mine..?" Kaneki's voice could be heard, cutting off Touka.

I stood up straight, the pain numbing quickly as two rinkaku tentacles were at my sides, emitting a gentle red glow through the patches of hardened black RC cells.

"I'll give you a warning," I began, a slight grin reaching my face, "I can get pretty competitive, so I won't be holding back either."

Zef here,

Helloooo! This chapter came a little late, but I really wanted this chapter to feel right. I rewrote it twice actually, just to make sure it was up to my standards for myself.

Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for reading another chapter!