As of July 1st, 2019; I am making an attempt to revise my previous chapters and change some content that I am not satisfied with, so please expect there to be change!

"One the 28th, part of the remains of a man's body was found on the street by the Takada Building." The voice of the man speaking on the television echoed through the coffee shop, and was loud enough to be heard by those merely passing by the quaint shop. "Fluid from what is thought to be a "ghoul" was left at the scene. Investigators are considering this the work of an "eater" type and are commencing a search of the surrounding area. There are fears of an "eater" attacking the city of Tokyo… But what are they actually like? Today, we will ask Dr. Ogura, a researcher who studies "eater" types."

"Heh, that's a sketchy-looking old guy." Hide commented as he had stared at the television with forlorn look. "Scary… The Takada Building's pretty close to here…" Hide stated as he turned back to face his fellow college freshman and best friend, Kaneki Ken. "You'd be eaten up in a second, Kaneki; a scrawny kid like you who's always reading incomprehensible books." If his love for literature had not overshadowed his opinion on himself, perhaps Kaneki would have taken offense to being called scrawny rather than giving attention to Hide's comment on what he thought of books.

"Wh… What do you mean, incomprehensible…?" Kaneki questioned with a cocked eyebrow and flat expression. "Hide, if you would just pick up a book, you might just get it…" Hide shook his head at the mere thought of reading, and let himself slump over on the table.

"It's no use; I'll just end up falling asleep after like, five seconds." Hide whined. Kaneki shook his head as he reached for his cup of coffee. Taking a sip, he exhaled through his nostrils as the warm-liquid of perfectly brewed coffee smoothly went down his throat.

"Anyway, I was just thinking…" Kaneki said as he put down his cup, "I've never once seen a "ghoul". Do they really exist? I mean, monsters that eat people… Seems fictional to me, if I'm honest."

"They must…" Hide muttered as he looked up from the desk at his best friend. "I've heard they disguise themselves as humans, and lie and wait… then suddenly they're there, things like that."

"Disguised as humans, huh…?" Kaneki mused aloud as he gazed around the shop. From the well dressed servers in white-collared shirts and black vests, to the surrounding patrons, old and young; they all seemed like suspects to Kaneki after thinking about what Hide had said. "Kaneki, maybe you're a ghoul!" Hide proclaimed loudly.

"Idiot. If I were a ghoul, I think you would be very dead, Hide." Kaneki patronized as he tapped his pencil. "You say "disguised as", but couldn't they just be "monsters in the shape of a man"?" Kaneki questioned as he begun to jot down a quick sketch of a detailed golem-equse beast on the napkin he had used as a coaster for his cup. "Something like this." Kaneki stated as he showed Hide his picture.

"I did one too, Kaneki." Hide grinned as he showed a goofy and poorly drawn depiction of Kaneki drawn on his napkin as well, which earned him a quick scowl from his best friend. Putting down the picture, Hide put on a coy look as he placed his finger on the handle of his empty cup and begun to slightly wiggle it back and forth on its plate. "You know, Kaneki… Let's talk about something besides ghouls…"

"Oh… Like what?"

"For example, which one's the cute coffee shop girl you were telling me about?" Hide slyfully spoke in a purposely loud voice. The shy bookworm let out a small yelp as he watched his best friend beginning to make a scene as he searched left and right around the room.

"You're shouting!" Kaneki scolded as he glared at his best friend. "Don't look around like that…" He whispered in a low voice. Spotting a potential candidate, Hide pointed his thumb in the back direction.

"Oh, is it her?" Hide asked. Looking over to where he was pointing at as cautiously as he could, Kaneki caught sight of the waitress with swept over bangs that covered half of her face.

"No, she's a waitress here. I was talking about a customer…" Kaneki explained, but still, he couldn't help but admire her nonetheless. 'Although, she's definitely cute…' He thought to himself.

"Excuse me!" Hide called over with a raised hand, which caught Kaneki off guard in his moment of checking out the young woman.

"Yes?" She asked as she quickly turned around to see the light duo-toned-haired young man standing up from his chair as he waved frantically at her.

"Can I order?!" Hide shouted in a giddy voice. "I'll have a cappuccino," he ordered, despite not receiving an response back from the waitress. "How about you?!" Hide yelled as he looked at Kaneki, who was extremely embarrassed by his friend's sudden outburst.

"I'm fine, I still haven't finished mine yet..." Kaneki quietly replied.

"One cappuccino…" The waitress muttered to herself as she wrote down the order on her notepad. Just when Kaneki thought Hide was just simply ordering, that's when his best friend sprung forward with his dire question.

"Oh, excuse me, what might your name be?"

"Kirishima Touka…" She replied with an uncomfortable look on her face, which soon became amplified as Hide stood up to hold her hands.

"Touka… Do you have a boyfriend?!" Hide asked with a bluntness that would have made a bowling ball seem sharp. Watching the scene unfold before him, Kaneki could feel himself cringing internally as Touka begun to stutter.

"Er… ummm…." In a slight panic, Touka embraced the notepad close to her chest as she did a one-eighty degree turn away from Hide. "I… I don't!" She shouted as she ran away from Hide, who still had his hand outstretched toward his would-be princess.

"Hey!" Hide called out, but let out a sigh as his hand dropped to his side with much disappointment. "How lovely…"

"Hide, why you-! Stop that, you idiot!" Kaneki scolded him with a bitterness in his tone. "Don't do weird things! This shop is the only connection I have to that girl! What'll I do if we get banned…"

"All right, I'm sorry!" Hide apologized as he raised his hands up to his shoulders. "She was just so cute I couldn't help it!...?" Hide's explanation fell short as he noticed Kaneki instantly lower his face down as soon as the door to the coffee shop swung open. "What is it, Kaneki?"

"Look…" Kaneki whispered as he pointed his finger at the girl with purple hair and red glasses that wore a white dress near the entrance of the shop, "That girl… It's her." Upon gazing at her beauty, Hide's felt his eyes widen as he let out a breath of defeat.

"KANEKI!" Hide exclaimed dramatically as he swung down his hands onto his best friend's shoulders. "Sorry to say this, but… GIVE IT UP!"

"Wha…!?" Kaneki gasped out as he felt his heart drop. Hide retracted his hands, and gave a quick second look to see who Kaneki was thirsty for once more, before feeling his eye twitch.

"No matter what you do, a hottie like that is impossible." Hide explained with a frown across his face as he turned back to face his disgruntled friend. "I bet she'll transform if you take off her glasses…"

"Ugh… I… I know… That we wouldn't go well together." Kaneki sighed as he looked down once more. "I'm happy enough just seeing her. Besides… When she… When she meets my eyes, she smiles a little… If maybe she shares my feelings…" While Kaneki continued to admire the cute girl in his trance-like state, Hide just stared at him a blank expression.

"You're… You're kinda being THAT guy… It's creepy." Hide pointed out, which snapped Kaneki out of his love-trance stupper. "She's giving you a forced smile because you're starting at her suspiciously."

"D… Don't be stupid…" Kaneki muttered. Hide flashed a smirk before getting up from his seat.

"Well, I got to see the girl you were talking about. But I gotta go to work now." Hide announced as he stood up. "Good luck, delusion-boy!" Hide chuckled as he walked over to leave, but not before wishing his beloved waitress a goodbye.

'Gah, that guy…' Kaneki thought as he watched Hide flirtatiously say goodbye to Touka before exiting. 'I'll keep reading then.' He thought to himself as he picked up his novel. Try as he might, he couldn't focus on even his most recent purchase of books, but rather only on his crush staring at her own book. Despite her apparent beauty, the main reason Kaneki had found himself so attracted her was not her looks, but rather her taste in literature. Even there in the coffee shop, she was reading not just any book, but the work of one of his most beloved authors: Takatsuki Sen. Nonetheless, by chance, she happened to be reading the same title he pretended to: 'The Black Goat's Egg', which was Takatsuki Sen's seventh novel in the series. Summarizing what he had read so far in his head, he realized too late that the very lady he was admiring had her coffee in hand as she walked over to him. 'Gah… She's coming over here.' It was then that Kaneki failed to notice that his book had bumped into her at the edge of the table. "S-Sorry…" Kaneki apologized in a sheepish way, and was about to reach for his fallen book when he noticed her kneeling down to grab it.

"Oh? The Black Goat's Egg…" She muttered to herself before standing back up with the book in her hand. "This is interesting. I was just reading that too… Do you like him? Takatsuki?" She asked, to which had nearly caught Kaneki at a lost for words.

"Y-Y-Y-YES! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TAKATSUKI SEN!" He shouted, to which the young woman just smiled at. Calming himself down, Kaneki brought his fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat. "I… um… I love mysteries!"

"Ah, so do I!" As the two begun to hit it off, over the table counters near the cash register, Touka watched wordlessly at the scene. With the ruckus and hormones coursing through the coffee shop, neither Kaneki nor Touka had noticed the mysterious man outside with white hair and a suitcase walking by- taking a quick notice at the bookworm's romantic interest before continuing on with his way.

Outside, underneath the blue skies and through the hustle of the afternoon streets of the city, Kaneki and Hide sat down together for iced tea for Hide's lunch break. "Eh? So you're going out with that girl... I guess people do get lucky sometimes…" Hide mused aloud before taking another sip through his straw.

"Yeah… Her name is Kamishiro Rize." Kaneki said as he cletched his fist in a determined manner. "This time, we're going to give each other novel recommendations! It's my first outing ever with a girl… but it's a dream-bookstore date! Hide… My heart has been deeply touched!"

"I don't really understand the appeal of a date in a bookstore, but… Whatever, go and have fun!" Hide smiled as he gave a thumbs up. However, that's when Kaneki looked up with a sheepish smile as he lowered his fist.

"Actually… Erm… I was going to ask you for uh… a favor." Intrigued, Hide leaned forward as he set his elbows down on the table.

"Oh? What kind of a favor would that be?"

"Because I've never been on a date before… and I really like this girl… I was hoping that you would be able to help me not mess this date up." Hide's face lit up as he held his hand up to his mouth.

"Kaneki Ken! Are you asking me, Hideyoshi Nagachika, to be your wingman?!"

"Not exactly…" Kaneki said as he began to twiddle his thumbs. "I would like this to be a rather intimate date; one where we would be able to share our feelings with other." He explained before taking a quick sip of his tea. "I was thinking more on the lines of you overseeing the date from a distance; hiding inconspicuously through the crowds as you give me tips on what to do and what I'm doing wrong." Kaneki knew his request was odd, and perhaps even creepy to a degree. Had it been anyone else, surely they would have declined. However, the thought only furthered interested Hide.

The next day, both Kaneki and Rize had agreed to eat at a bistro located downtown. After they had gotten their table, it wasn't long until Hide followed suite. Sitting down, Kaneki placed his cell phone on the table near his plate as he sat across from his date. "Excuse me for a one second…" Kaneki apologized as he quickly picked up his cell phone.

'Are you able to see us?' He messaged Hide, who seconds later replied.

'Ya, im a few tables over to ur right.' Putting his cell phone back at its spot, Kaneki looked over Rize's shoulder, careful not to make it obvious as he watched Hide give him a quick wave.

"So Kaneki, what is your number one recommendation?" Rize asked in an attempt to make small talk, to which the shy bookworm was more than happy to converse back as he twirled his alfredo with his fork.

"Hmm… Takatsuki Sen's debut work maybe?" Kaneki replied as he picked up to the fork before stuffing his mouth with the noodles.

"Oh, 'Dear Kafka!' That trick with the letter really got me. Speaking of Takatsuki, his short story collections are really interesting too. Like Monochrome Rainbow…" Memorized by her cleavage, the sudden vibration of his phone caused Kaneki to jump in his seat as he let out a muffled gasp. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh…! No… Um… Hold on." Looking down at his screen, Kaneki felt his face beginning to flush at what Hide had sent him.

It read, 'lol, stahp looking at her boobs XD!'

"Er… Ah…" Trying to take change the subject, Kaneki looked around for anything to take his mind off what he had been focusing on; that's when he caught glance at Rize's plate. "Is that sandwich all you're going to eat, Rize…?" To Kaneki, it looked as though she had only taken a single bite, and even that was an overstatement.

"Oh…" Rize murmured as she placed her hand over her mouth. "I've been eating too much lately… Umm… I'm sort of… on a diet…" She explained, to which Kaneki just stared at her with a bewildered look. Not wanting to further make the situation awkward, Rize stood up from her chair. "Excuse me, I'm going to the restroom…"

"Oh… Yes, go ahead!" Kaneki smiled, but as soon as she turned to begin walking over to the restroom, he let out a small sigh. "She's not fat at all, though… girls…" He muttered to himself as he took another bite of his noodles. In a quick pace, Hide ran over to him, with a smirk on his face. "Hide?! Go back before she returns!"

"Kaneki, you're a real ladies' man." He said jokingly as he patted him on his shoulder. "Keep it up, and you'll get that happy ending." Hearing that, Kaneki's blush returned fiercer than ever as he hid his face in his hands.

After the talking in the bistro, the couple had spent the rest of the day at the carnival. With Hide's guidance, Kaneki sailed smoothly through the date with Rize, to which in his eyes turned out to be a major success. Under the starlit night, Kaneki and Rize walked down the back alley of a series of apartment buildings, with Hide following the couple through the shadows of the night. "You're type AB, Rize? I am too, you know.".

"Really? What a coincidence." Rize said with a smile, to which soon was followed with a blush as she looked down. "Our reading choices too… and we're the same age… We sure have a lot in common, don't we?" She said as she turned to look at Kaneki, who couldn't help but smile back, despite his shyness. Somehow, to him, it felt like a good thing. Distracted with his own thoughts, Kaneki failed to notice the other two young women that walked past him, one of them being the waitress before. Stopping to look back, Touka wordless watched as Kaneki and Rize made their way down the alley.

"What is it, Touka?" The other girl with a auburn bob-hairdo asked as she turned around to see her best friend looking back. Not wanting to worry the girl, Touka shook it off as she turned back forward to face her friend.

"Oh… Nothing… Wait…" Listening carefully, the waitress looked over her friends' shoulder to see a familiar face running up toward them.

"Touka~!" Hide called out as he approached them the same goofy smile as before. Much to Touka's dismay, she let out a groan as Hide closed the distance between them. "Fancy meeting you here at this hour!"

"... What do you want?" Touka asked as she glared at the happy-go-lucky college student.

"Oh nothing, just wanting to… Who's your friend?"

"Thank you for today, Kaneki."

"No, it was my pleasure… I had fun too!" Kaneki said with smile. He gave a slight awkward look as he gave a quick glance over shoulder before looking back at Rize. "Well, I live in the other direction, so…" Expecting that the moment to either exchange numbers or simply just part ways, Kaneki found it odd that Rize simply just stood there silently as she looked down.

"Umm… My house is a little bit before the Takada Building street..." She stated with a slight nervous tone behind her voice, to which Kaneki had a feeling to where this conversation was going. "Recently… there was an incident there."

"Oh… Er, the "ghoul"..." Kaneki commented as he felt himself beginning to frown from the thought of such a creature lurking in the dark.

"Yes… I've been worried about it ever since… and I'm scared walking home alone… I think about it so much that I can't even sleep at night…" Even Kaneki was beginning to be freaked out as the expression on Rize's darkened.

"-And then everyone started shooting fireworks at Hide." Kaneki chuckled as he finished recalling an incident in grade school.

"Oh that's mean!" Rize laughed as she shook her head. "Sounds kind of fun though…" Seeing how talking about his best friend was lighting up the mood greatly, Kaneki used the subject of Hide as a way to motivate him as he walked her home.

"Now I think of it, I have one of Hide's drawing in my bag…" Kaneki mused aloud as he begun to rifle through the papers in his bag.

"Drawings?"

"Yeah, when we were watching the news about the "ghoul"." Kaneki replied. It was only a matter of seconds before the familiar sketches from earlier popped out of the binder he kept. "There it is." He announced as he showed Rize their art. The instant she saw them, she gazed in awe. "They're our composite sketches of the "eater"."

"Wow Kaneki! That's really good!" She complimented before looking down to see the other sketch. "Hide's is…. interesting…" After he put the drawings back, Kaneki begun to walk forward. It was only a few yards until he realized that Rize wasn't following, but rather just standing still. "But it's mysterious, isn't it? That what started you and me walking together like this was a Takatsuki novel. Very mysterious…" Suddenly, she ran forward to dig her head into Kaneki's chest, which instantly lit his cheeks ablaze with red. "Kaneki… The truth is, I noticed." Lifting back her head from his chest, she looked up with a seductively innocent smile as she stared into his grey eyes. "I noticed… You were watching me. Kaneki… I too-"

"-Kaneki! Get away!" The couple became frozen to the spot, and looked behind them to see Hide running toward them at high speed. Kaneki groaned in embarrassment and turned back- ready to apologize to his date as well as provide her with an explanation. However, he turned to see Rize with a horrifyingly angered expression as she stared at Hide. What sent chills down Kaneki's spine however, were her blackened eyes that both sported red pupils. Falling back, Kaneki begun to crawl back in panic as Rize locked her eyes on him. It then became clear to both Kaneki and Hide that she was the "eater".

"No one likes a spoiler to an ending!" Rize screamed as she leapt down with the intentions of taking a bite into Kaneki's clavical, but instead was met with a swift kick in the face from Hide, which only stunned her, but it was enough time for Hide help Kaneki to his feet. "You… You must be Hide." Backing away, the two friends felt their hearts racing in their chest as Rize took step after step toward them. Although they both knew that should have turned away to run, they were both too fixated on the four tendrill-like red appendages protruding from her lower back. "You know… This makes me shudder. Here I was, fantasizing about how this date was going to end like a scene from The Black Goat's Egg… But what I should have been fantasizing about from the very beginning was making my own sequel to Takatsuki's work… The truth was… I WATCHED YOU TOO!" Seeing the tendrils shooting toward him and Hide, Kaneki shut his eyes tight as he tried to prepare for what would certainly be his certain demise. However, instead of getting impaled like how he had feared, the sound of clashing metal broke out instead. "... What the hell?" Rize muttered to herself as she saw a onyx-like barrier set between her kagune and her would-be prey. In an instant, a tall man dressed in a white suit and black mock-turtleneck leapt up to severe her kagune. All she was able to do was let out a gasp as the man's black barrier transformed back into a lance-like quinque which bore the marking of the legendary human himself, the CCG's Reaper. Before his feet even made contact with the floor, the man had impaled her through her forehead with the black quinque before decapitating her with an electrical quinque. Kaneki and Hide watched in absolute shock as the lifeless ghoul collapsed onto the floor. The man simply looked at the impaled head for a few seconds before sliding it off his weapon and on to the ground. Both Kaneki and Hide cringed at the loud sound of Rize's skull cracking as the investigator stomped down. As though it was nothing, the man turned around to face them.

"... Ghouls… They're real?!" Kaneki asked in a hushed but loud tone.

"Yeah, wow… Thanks man; you saved our lives." Hide thanked. Arima stared at the two for what seemed like forever before turning away to stare back at his latest kill.

"... You two don't mind helping me carry this to the trunk of my vehicle, do you?"

"Of course…" Kaneki whispered as he swallowed back the lump in his throat. Despite being disgusted to hold the very body of his potential-romance, Kaneki was willing to help the very hero who had saved him. "Thank you… If it hadn't been for you then… I don't even want to think."

"... I'll drop you two home… You two are in college I take it, and you're probably rather short on funds." The man stated..

"Hey man… After what we just saw, I don't think being broke is much of an issue for us anymore." Even being in the very situation that involved witnessing a death as well as seeing a real-life ghoul, Hide still had managed to reply in a joking tone; which brought a small grin on the man's face.

"... We'll talk more in the vehicle."

I'm a college student who likes to read, like you could find anywhere. I'm not the protagonist of a novel or anything… but… if, for argument's sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role… It would certainly be… Interesting.