Yup yup hello~! I know I'm kinda known for my Tokyo Ghoul crossover stories… And here I am, back with another Tokyo Ghoul fanfic! Except… this time, I'm doing an oneshot that is strictly within the Tokyo Ghoul universe. This also has heavy Canon Divergence, blood, gore, body mutilation, language, and all that jazz. It also takes place during the Tokyo Ghoul: re series. You won't understand anything unless you have read the manga and are up to date.
Erinnerst du dich mein Lied?
Sasaki Haise was a busy man. He was supposed to be one of CCG's sharpest fangs, the perfect weapon against ghouls. He was not supposed to question his actions or any orders, but follow them obediently and without complaint. Besides the fact that he lacked any memory of his first twenty years of life, or that he held a kind, caring face in front of others, he was blank. Empty, and void of anything.
But Haise here is also an excellent actor. Only those who held him to the closest of their hearts would have noticed the change. That day, after the Tsukiyama Raid, something inside Haise had changed. The gears had shifted, and there was something very wrong. Something about him just felt off.
That feeling didn't dissipate from Arima Kishou's heart. Of course, the Quinx Squad had noticed it too, but ever since Haise was promoted to Associate Special Class, they hadn't interacted at all. Even Akira was too caught up to visit him, and when she did, wary looks were exchanged between them. It was clear that she had heard word of Haise's change from Arima.
So when Arima requested a "spar", Haise wasn't surprised. He knew this was bound to happen, after all.
When Arima-san swiped at his neck with the hand with the box cutter, Sasaki knew to tilt his back downwards, chin facing upwards. When Arima attempted to use the slight slip in Sasaki's balance to kick him away, Sasaki knew to backflip and aim for Arima's blind spot with the tip of his shoes.
When that tiny blind spot was invaded and grazed Arima's cheek, blood flew. Sasaki knew to skid and twist his body sideways when Arima jabbed at his left side. Even the CCG's Reaper has an attack pattern, a little something that can be overturned.
He was also known for being able change his style mid-battle. So when Sasaki crashed into the wall by the kick that was hidden behind the jab, he wasn't surprised.
Haise was smart enough to pull on his "innocent face" and raise his hands in surrender when the box cutter was placed under his chin. He knew to take Arima's hand and stand up tall, and smile as if nothing happened.
He knew this routine all too well. The little flurry of fake smiles, forced happiness, mountain of masks he pulled on at 40 mach; this entire pretense sickened him.
That's why when Arima asked, he cupped his chin and said, "No Arima-san; nothing is wrong."
As if being forced to work for a company you hated wasn't wrong; as if playing with his emotions and desires wasn't wrong.
He knew who he was. Kaneki knew what he wanted, and the one person that could give it to him would refuse to do so. So he'll trick him; force Arima to grant his wish.
"Arima-san, after the upcoming Aogiri Raid… Will you promise to grant me one wish?"
"Of course I will. What do you want?" Arima had replied, a small hint of a smile lining his lips. It looked so awkward and foreign on his face, Haise wanted to laugh.
Kaneki, however, was irritated by it. He wanted to gut that man, to tear him open and watched as he choked on his own intestines spilling into his lungs. He'll laugh when Arima would try to scream, scratching at his throat as his eyes rolled back into his head.
Instead, he pulled on a thoughtful face and said, "I don't know yet. I just know that I want a wish to be granted!"
That so-called innocent voice that spewed out of his mouth disgusted him. All Kaneki could hope was that he could drop his façade fast. It was only a matter of time before he'll get it: his wish.
Arima finally let loose the smile he had been trying to hide; there would be a ruckus if word got out that the Reaper had emotions. He laughed and said, "Alright then. Tell me when you know, ok?"
Haise turned to leave but he stopped. He wanted to ensure that what he had in mind would work perfectly.
"You swear on your life you will, right?" He looked back, face dead serious. The atmosphere dropped downwards at a rapid rate, a cloud just happening to pass over the sun at that moment.
As the cloud finally shifted off the sun and it brightened once more, Arima stopped staring and sighed.
"I swear on my life that I will grant your wish."
Kaneki turned his back towards the door and let a slightly psychopathic smile escape.
"Thank you, Arima-san."
It was two weeks before the Aogiri Raid. Haise was to "pretend" that he had gained his memories back and had gone to Aogiri for revenge on the CCG. He would then distract the One Eyed King, or rather, the One Eyed Owl while the Quinx Squad sneaks in disguised as ghouls and take out them out from the inside. Mado Squad and Suzuya quad would then infiltrate from Building 3 and 5, and send the signal for mission commencement from Building 2 and 6.
Haise had no trouble with the plan besides the fact that he had to manage it without revealing to CCG his current situation and distract Eto. Eto would see through him right away, and there was the problem with the microphone hearing everything. He wouldn't be able to carry out his plan to gain his wish if he had CCG staring straight at him while he set everything up.
The Black Reaper is not allowed to fail. He can make mistakes though, and a little malfunction in the microphone that will be hidden inside his cheek wouldn't be questioned as long as he does his job, right?
Kaneki smiled. He leaned back on the chair and tapped the paper in front of him with the back end of his ballpoint pen. His mirthless smile faded as he pondered about what to leave in his will. Should he leave it blank, like how Arima does it? No, it'll make another reason for the members of the office to call him "the Black Reaper". He honestly wondered how that started. There was a catchphrase now, right? Something like "That's the Black Reaper, whose hair is as black as his soul."
Ridiculous. Those petty pet names and jokes centered on him will fade when he finally takes hold of his wish.
Kaneki was suddenly hit with a thought. Yes, that would be what he'll leave in his will. He flipped the pen so that the point faced the paper and he wrote in thin little letters what he wanted to leave.
Now that was out of the way, he can focus on convincing Eto to work with him. It should be easy, seeing as how Eto loves him to the point that she'll risk her life, reputation, and dignity just to see him fight that day. All he had to do was pull the right strings, and he'll finally be free.
Eto would understand. Just as she had said that day, she is much like him. Her ideals just happened to be vastly different that his.
Kaneki gathered a couple folders from the shelf on his left. He pulled on the face of "Haise" and left for a meeting that he cannot be late to. Haise would not be late, right? The Black Reaper would definitely not be late.
When Kaneki was being escorted down the winding maze of corridors of the Aogiri Base, he considered how Eto would react to his appearance. That woman was so unpredictable, yet easy to read at the same time. It infuriated him. He supposed that he was the same, though; maybe even worse.
Kaneki believed that he had gone down five flights of stairs before he had actually reached the "Throne Room". What a fancy name for a run-down room in an abandoned CCG facility.
As he was shoved through the rusted doors to this "Throne Room" he was tempted to drop the ten masks that he was flipping through currently and behead those two arrogant escorts now. Let me rephrase, he wasn't tempted to, he proceeded to.
Kaneki let out a sadistic smile as their heads rolled by his feet, their faces in mid-scream. Blood stained the floor in colorful splotches. He picked one of the heads up, holding it as if it was a rose and plucked the eyes out. His expression turned sour and he discarded the rest of the head behind him.
"Awww~! You've barely spent five minutes in my Throne Room and you've already killed somebody," She mused. Her green hair flowed out behind her as she let her hood down and unraveled top layers of her bandages.
"I suppose I should get used to it; that brutality of yours is what I find so amusing about you… Ka-ne-ki-kun~!" She drawled out, her hands perched underneath her chin once again.
"Cut the crap, Eto," Kaneki coldly regarded her, "You know what I'm here for and I expect results."
She smiled tenderly, as if she was looking at some nostalgic picture. She countered, "And I believe you know what will happen if you don't satisfy my conditions…right?"
"Of course. I assume we have a deal then, Ms. Takatsuki?" Kaneki's smile was curt, the calculating kind of curt that would piss off any arrogant leader.
Eto's lips parted and formed into one of the creepiest of smiles. Kaneki wasn't fazed by it, Tsukiyama's are most definitely worse.
"Deal."
Kaneki stood in a very gory room. Blood stained to the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Intestines streamed from the ceiling rods in which they were hung. Heads had somehow found its way to the corners of the room, their spines sticking out of the stumps. Some unfortunate human's lungs and ribs were sticking out in one corpse's body; another having its limbs grotesquely twisted.
Kaneki thought that it was a beautiful masterpiece that he was honored to have personally crafted.
He smiled as he lifted his bloody red glove to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. His footsteps resounded as he passed through this lavish room, so the other side and to meet his dream.
"Arima-san," Kaneki calmly said. The CCG's Reaper was the last one alive, besides, of course, the painter himself. Arima was sweating. Fighting head on with Kaneki in a spacious room was one thing, but it was undeniably much harder when he had to care for his teammates' safety as well.
"Arima-san," Kaneki repeated once more. His voice was filled to the brink of happiness, his eyes wide with childlike innocence. Childlike innocence that was nothing more than a well-crafted façade.
Arima flinched. Kaneki's tone of voice unsettled him greatly.
"Kaneki, please don't make me do this. Come with me to V; be our King!" Arima relaxed his stance ever so slightly. His guard was however brought up as high as ever, preparing to pull a fluke.
"But you promised to fulfill my wish," Kaneki said, not even trying to hid his pain ah Arima's words. He stepped forward and grabbed the sharp end of Narukami with his gloved hand. The quinque was in it changed mode, so it would be fatal, Kaneki thought.
"Arima…," Kaneki softly said, "I'm sorry for this"
And the blade pierced his heart.
Arima entered the hospital room of his favorite student. Akira, the rest of the original Qs Squad, and the members of :Re trailed in after him.
They put in fresh flowers into the porcelain vase beside the bed.
"Hey, Bakaneki…" Touka started. She subtly wiped away at the tears threatening to spill over before she continue on.
"Wake up, Bakaneki… You don't have to sleep anymore. Your second wish has come true."
Hey~! I'm almost done with midterms and since I'm in a really good mood, I decided to finish this up! I still have History and Spanish though…*silently sobs*
Omake: Merci
A man and his rat,
is as drab as that!
Lethal doses,
awkward poses.
With hearty tones,
he drops the stones.
Mercy-
Mercy what?
Scattered Roses and a Shameful Hurry,
What a Desperate Little Flurry!
The rat is stopped,
his heart hopped.
Merci-
Merci?
S'il vous plaît, merci!
"I'll give you your Merci, monsieur"
He falls.
The explanation about the story and the poem will be posted as the next chapter. If you see 'Completed' on the top, don't be fooled because a thorough explanation is to be expected in around one to three weeks later. The Omake was not one of my better poems. The good ones will be posted as Omakes for Our Last Hope so feel free to skip it over.