Wicked

He loved the books so much, he was made to live in one. He didn't know a tragedy would suit him that much.

He sighed tired. He finally was done with cleaning the castle he had lived in for his eighteen years of life. Dragging his feet without any much energy left, he walked to the reading room which had been the only place he could be himself. He always felt he could escape to the wonderful worlds he read about, he felt he was a character in all those books. Despite being mistreated by the owner of the castle, his aunt the witch, it was surprising how books could make him happy.

He looked in the bookshelf wondering which book he'd read for, at least, the fourth time now, but his eyes stopped abruptly upon gazing a strange item in the stash. A new book. He opened his mouth in excitement as his eyes sparkled. There had been so long since the witch added a new book to her collection, so he felt his heart melt a little bit.

"There's enough time. She should be back in two hours." He murmured to himself after checking the clock on the wall. He always read in secret because he was forbidden to do so, and the witch was pretty severe with her punishments to publicly disobey her.

He grabbed the book quickly and made himself a seat onto the reading room's desk. He was intrigued by the book's title, it read The Flower of Death. The story was encapturing him, it was set on a futuristic city called Tokyo, in where existed entities called ghouls that only fed on humans. Such a tragedy.

The door opened behind him and his heart skipped a beat.

"What are you doing here, Ken?"

Oh, no, it was the witch. He gulped, turning his head slowly to face her, and when he did, she was calm, but he knew that was a scheme.

"You're reading my new book." She stated as she stood right behind him. He started to shake, he was scared. "Did you like it?"

He got confused at the interest. "Y-yes, I did." She walked away from him, playing with her wand.

"Then, live in it forever!" The witch pointed her wand towards him, and a beam of light shot him.

He screamed and protected his face with his hands, as if it would be much of a help. When he couldn't feel being pierced through his stomach, he opened his eyes. He wasn't hurt, and he was still a human, considering last time he was turned into a centipede. Catching his breath, he started to focus on where he was, but was temporarily blinded by several flashing lights on the top of giant towers, and trapped between a mass of people.

Uh, it wasn't Edo, his hometown.

Suddenly, everyone started to walk, dragging him along. "Move!" He heard people say while pushing and pulling him, making him more and more frightened. He tried to ask for help, but everyone just ignored his pleads.

"Please, help me." He whispered at the verge of sobbing. "Uh?" Now he was standing alone in something he could identify as a path, where an object with bright lights was moving towards him. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he would be wounded if he let it touch him, so he ran until he got to the closest sidewalk.

Okay, calm down now. He decided to explore that place to find a way back to Edo. There should be one, but that city was too much for him, it was completely new. Taking steps, the sky was getting darker and the pathways deserted. The buildings were getting smaller and the noises quieter, to the point that when he noticed, he was alone in a gloomy alley. Well, not that alone, there was a person walking a couple of meters in front of him.

"Um, hi." He said when he reached the person, whom was an elderly scanning him with his eyes. "Do you know how I can get to Edo?" The elderly smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, yes, young boy, follow me." He replied nicely, making Ken to drown in happiness. They both set off together, going straight for what he felt were hours. The alley turned even darker, and the young boy started to feel at unease.

"We've arrived." The old man commented, looking at the black haired boy mischievously. Ken took a couple of steps away from him on reflex. "It's no use to run away, youngster. You smell so delicious, I'll enjoy you so much!"

The old man leaped in his direction, with both his eyes turning black and red and something that resembled an armor coming from his left shoulder. Ken gazed in horror, paralyzed, only reacting when he was bitten in his left arm.

"You're so delicious! I want you all!" The elder yelled crazily approaching Ken, but he was stopped when he was stabbed in the stomach.

"This is my feeding ground, you old man." A boy with wavy hair stated angrily as the old man gagged in pain, and Ken saw that as his opportunity to escape, ignoring that that may be useless because the wavy hair boy may also try to kill him, since he had a tail coming from his butt.

What were those persons? He thought while running with all his might. It's like they were the monsters from the book he was reading. Did his aunt really trapped him in it? He could just read a little bit of it, but it wasn't a happy story. The pain felt way too real, there was real blood and there was a real piece of his arm missing, for it to be fictional.

He was starting feeling dizzy when he saw a girl coming his way, probably she'd help him.

"The shop is already closed." She said coldly, and Ken realized she was talking to him. He turned to see he was standing right in front of a coffee shop.

"No, I—" he stopped when he could finally see who was her. Bright blue straight hair, with bangs that covered her right eye, and her eyes were as bright as her hair. That kind of beauty he was sure he had read about before. "Touka?"

The girl gasped, completely taken aback. She was sure she hadn't seen him before.

"How do you know my name?"

So he was right. She was that beautiful girl from The Flower of Death.

"From a book?" He kind of asked, and she furrowed her brows. He knew she didn't believe him, but he was in so much pain that he didn't care about that. "Please help me. I-I don't know where I am, but I know I'm not home. I don't want to be here. This— this hurts so much."

She saw him sobbing helplessly, and she hardened her expression. He was none of her business, and he could go to hell crying if he wanted, but him knowing her name got on her nerves. It probably meant her identity was found out.

She ran her eyes through him. He was so scrawny and pale, and obviously weak, but her attention focused on his bloody arm.

"Who are you?" She demanded before killing him, as she did to everyone who knew her identity.

"I'm Ken Kaneki, I'm from Edo, please help me." His voice was getting weaker. The pain and the blood lost were talking their effects on him.

"No. You will die." Two wings came out from Touka's back as her eyes turned black and red. He cried desperately, he just wanted to go back home.

"Touka-chan, I think we should help this boy." A tall old man with a soft voice spoke from the coffee shop door.

"What?!" She yelled angrily. "He's dangerous, manager Yoshimura!" Yoshimura brushed off the comments, and gave Ken a warm smile and a tap on his shoulder.

"We'll help you, Kaneki-kun." Kaneki felt so happy and relieved that he just closed his eyes, and that was the last thing he knew. "Uh, he passed out." Yoshimura said when Kaneki fell to the floor. "Touka-chan, take him inside please."

"I can't believe this." She rolled her eyes as she lifted Kaneki. This could be the end of Anteiku, and the manager did not see that. Touka watched Kaneki's numb body resentfully.

"Weak human."