Chapter 1- The horse you rode in on

On an overcast day, along a dirt path, in the land of Jepen, a horse trotted along, carrying a boy of nineteen years draped in a slightly worn brown hooded cloak, the only visible part of his body being his pale hands gripping the horse's reigns. He had made his way down this path after seeing a signpost that pointed him to a town called Noveinheim. He knew of this place. It was a tourist town, being just outside the outskirts of a larger city, many came to get rest after long journeys. There one could find merchants, Inns, brothels, and pubs.

Though, it was anything but a nice place. Here there were no shortage of thieves and swindlers, all waiting to take from the weary travelers hoping to find some sanctuary. Still, it was a place to rest his head without worrying about being mauled by the monsters that lurked in the wilderness. He would stay a night, look for a job, and when he had what he needed, be on his way.

The boy looked up, noticing a wooden archway with two oil lamps on either side. The arch read 'Noveinheim' carved into it and painted a dull green color. The horses hooves soon became more audible, moving from dirt to stone as he entered the town.

It was not his first trip here, he used to live as a beggar here for a short time when he was younger. He had been good friends with one of the Inn keeps, but now he doubted that the man would recognize him. He doubted even more that the old man was still alive.

As he made his way further into town, he kept his eyes on the alleyways. Anyone who was smart would do the same, this is where the thieves lived, waiting to single out weaker prey. They were cowards, but no one would stop them. A few cowards with a dagger is stronger than a hero without one.

The boy then pulled on the reigns of the horse, forcing it to slow its pace and eventually come to a halt. He looked to his left and, as he had expected, found the Inn which he was looking for.

After guiding the horse to the stables, he made his way to the Inn lobby, hoping to find a room. The sounds of drinking men could be heard, merriment, and a faint wailing as well, he paid it no mind. The first thing he looked for was the receptionist. He slightly frowned when he found a young woman, he had hoped the old man would be there. Coming up to the counter, he dropped five coins.

"I'd like a room." He told the woman, whom of which was about to nod off.

Her eye's fluttered a bit as she looked up to the boy, his face obscured a bit by the hood. She then gripped a quill and placed it in an open notebook. "Name please." she asked expectantly.

"Ken Kaneki." He replied, watching as she began to scribble it down. "By any chance would you happen to know if Hendrick still owns this Inn?" he inquired, his voice monotone.

The woman didn't even look up to him when she answered. "No, I'm sorry, but he died a few years back, his son-in law inherited it." she explained then put the quill back into the ink container. "You'll be taking room seven, just down the hall to the left." she informed him and handed him a key which he tucked into his pocket.

Kaneki's frown deepened slightly. That's a shame... He was kind of looking forward to seeing the old man again, but he had a feeling this was the case. He adjusted his bag over his shoulder and looked around. "You know of anyone looking to hire?"

"Well..." began the woman, "The pub just down the street is looking for a new bartender."

Kaneki shook his head. "That's not the kind of job I'm looking for." he explained, moving his cloak a bit to reveal a sword at his waist.

He noticed the woman's eye's bulge a bit and saw her swallow. "Sorry, haven't had anyone inquire about such a position."

"Mmm." he acknowledged and walked away from the counter, aware of the woman watching him nervously.

He saw men drinking and enjoying themselves at a bar area that had not been there when last he came, some with whores, others by themselves. The alcohol offended his nose and it was threatening to make him vomit. Quickly he turned away, making his way to his room, which was, thankfully, on the other end of the Inn.

As he was walking to the entrance of the hallway a familiar scent caught his nose. Not alcohol this time, no. Ghoul. He told himself, looking over to the source. It was a small girl with short brown hair, crying into her forearms. He was about to make his way to his room, when he saw her lift her head, revealing a tear stained face and saw her sniff the air.

Damn. Kaneki cursed and began to walk down the hall, hoping to escape her before she caught him. But then he felt a hand tug on his cloak.

"Mister." the girl spoke, in a frail voice. "You're one of us, right?" she asked.

Kaneki sighed, turning to face the girl. "Aye." he replied. He saw a look of relief on her face for a moment as her eye's lit up. She was seemingly here by herself, which was dangerous for a young girl such as her, even if she were a ghoul.

"Then, would you hear me out?" She asked, hopeful. "I'm in need of help." she explained, "I-I was separated from my mother and father, our village was ransacked by men, wielding weapons made of Kagune." she explained, her eye's threatening to spill tears once again. "T- they told me, that if we ever got separated to meet them-"

"I don't work for free. Find someone else." Kaneki told her bluntly and continued on his way.

The girls was speechless for a moment, watching his back as he walked away. Kaneki was certain he'd gotten rid of her, but ,once again she, tugged at his cloak. "I- I can pay you!" she told him, pleading.

Kaneki smirked, "Oh really? Then show me the coin." he told her, certain that she had nothing to offer.

Quickly, the girl stuck her hands in her pockets and took out ten coins. "Here," she told him. "It's all I have." Her eye's were pleading to Kaneki, practically begging him. But, he wasn't so easily bought.

"I'm sorry, girl, but that's not enough for my services, that wouldn't last me two days." He spoke as he tried to once and for all rid himself of her.

"If you take me where I'm headed, there will be food!" she told him, gripping his cloak tighter.

This stopped him, It had been too long since he'd last had anything substantial to eat. He hadn't passed a single person on his travels and a town like this was too densely populated to make a move. He peered over his shoulder back at the girl. Her eye's were leaking tears, but her face was determined. "Please," she asked, "I beg of you."

Kaneki paused, weighing his options. There was little pay involved and there was no way to be sure that what this girl said was even true. But, if he stayed here, he faced the same problem and was surrounded by people who would kill him if he were found out. Humans individually may be weak, but a whole town of them would be troublesome.

Kaneki sighed. "What is this place called?"

The girls face lit up and she jumped up and down in excitement. "S-So you'll help me!?"

Kaneki nodded.

"Anteiku!" she told him, "It's a village of our kind just a few days out from here! They have plenty of food, I promise, you won't be disappointed!"

Kaneki shrugged his bag of belongings off his shoulder, paying no mind as it thumped on the wood floor. He looked around his temporary residence. It was to be expected, A desk with a mirror to the left of the door, a lantern hanging next to it. There was also a window that overlooked a courtyard outside, children playing about around a fountain. More renovations... The only thing lacking was the extra cot that normally came with these rooms. Damn.

Looking back over his shoulder, Kaneki eyed the girl. "I'm taking the bed." he told her bluntly, moving towards it. If she'd wanted to protest, she didn't, she just nodded and looked around for a place that she could fall asleep relatively easy.

Kaneki then grabbed for his cloak, removing it and tossing it to the girl. "If you get cold, use this." He told her.

The girl smiled. "Thank you, sir!"

Kaneki didn't pay attention to her, instead he began to remove the light armor that he wore beneath his cloak, setting it in his bag. He didn't look, but he could feel the girl watching him. It must have been a surprise to see just how many weapons he carried. A multitude of throwing knives strapped to his chest on a sash, the straight sword he had holstered on his hip, A miniature crossbow that he rested on his back. He was armed to the teeth really, not to mention his Kagune. In the end all he left on him was a loose black undershirt and some baggy trousers.

Kaneki then began to notice a stench. It wasn't a pleasant one either. Not as offensive as alcohol, rather it was himself. He hadn't had a proper bathing in far too long. He frowned once more and turned to look at himself in the mirror. His white hair was greasy and his face was dark with dirt. Filthy... Luckily for him, this Inn had a bathing house, even better; it was non gender discriminatory. A slight smile graced his lips.

Looking over to the girl he caught her attention. "I'm going to get clean." he told her, "You stay here and don't open that door for anyone."

She nodded.

Kaneki paused, looking at her. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Hinami Fueguchi." she replied.

"Have you told anyone your name?" Ken asked.

"No..." she answered, "You were the first person to hear me out."

"Good. Then don't open the door for anyone who doesn't know your full name." Kaneki ordered, "Even if they sound like me."

Hinami cocked her head a bit to the left. "What?"

Kaneki turned back to the door. "Nothing, just don't open the door to anyone who doesn't call you by your full name." He twisted the handle and opened the door slightly, "And don't leave." he added. With that, he left Hinami alone in the room, pretending not to hear her get up and sit on the bed.

Kaneki didn't really mean anything by 'anyone who sounds like me', He was just trying to scare her into keeping the door closed. He smirked to himself a bit, thinking of how nice it would feel to get clean.

Hinami was walking down the road to her family's cottage, She'd just grabbed some pretty purple flowers out in the meadow and she wanted to show her mother. She wasn't quite sure what they were called, but she knew that mother would love them.

Suddenly, the cottage started to catch fire, starting on the roof and quickly spreading. Hinami dropped the flowers and took off towards the house, trampling them. As she ran, she began to notice that the closer she got to the house the fire spread quicker and quicker. She could hear her parents calling out her name, so she ran faster.

The heat, however, became too much to bear and Hinami stopped moving. She would've died from the heat before the fire even touched her. Hinami fell to her knees and began to weep into her hands. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried out, her screams muffled by her hands.

Suddenly, a chuckle filled the air and a man stepped out from the fire. His hair was long and white. He was hunched over and had the craziest of expressions on his face. In either of his hands he held the severed heads of Hinami's parents.

The young ghoul let out an awful angusihed scream as the severed heads of her parents called out her name one last time. "Hinami!"

The young girls eye's snapped open and she sat up, covered in sweat. "Wake up!" she heard an annoyed voice call to her. She ignored it, clutching at her pounding heart. It was a dream..? She asked herself, too terrified at the idea that it may not be to ask it aloud.

"What's the matter?" Her new companion asked her, draping his Cloak over himself once more.

It was a dream... She thought to herself, relieved. "Nothing." she answered, "Just a nightmare."

The older ghoul turned away from her and pulled his hood over his head. "Come on, we're leaving."

Hinami looked down and noticed that she was in bed, covered in tussled sheets. She looked back to the stranger, confused. "I thought you were going to sleep in the bed?"

He was silent for a moment. "I slept elsewhere last night."

"How'd you get in here then?" Hinami asked.

Her companion simply replied by holding his key up with a single finger.

When they stepped outside, Hinami noticed that it was barely dawn. The streets were lit by a faint orange light creeping on their rooftops and the flow of the street lanterns. She tugged at her escorts cloak. "Why are we up so early? It's barely the morning."

"We're beating traffic." he told her and began to walk to the stable. There the stable boy was lying on the ground, crashed through the doors, a black mark around his eye. The older ghoul knelt down to check on the man, placing a finger to his neck, looking for a pulse. He waited a moment, then without a word stepped further into the stable.

Hinami walked towards the unconscious man, knelt down, and tried to shake him awake. Eventually the man came to. Looking around in surprise.

"Are you alright, mister?" she asked him.

The stable boy rubbed the back of his head. "Not really..." he replied, groggily. He then paused, removed his hand from the back of his head a bit and jumped to his feet. "Oh, damn!" he cursed aloud. "The horse!" he called, spinning around to see a man in a cloak starring at him. He recognized him as the owner of the horse who was stolen.

"S-Sir!" he practically yelped, "I-I-I'm sorry, a group of drunkards came by, started talking to me about the horse in the back. Suddenly I was being jumped, they must have taken your horse..." he explained.

"Wasn't my horse anyways." Hinami's new companion told the stable boy, as he started to walk towards another. "But," he began, strapping a his belongings onto the back of it, "since you lost my horse, I'll be taking a replacement." he explained calmly as he pulled the horse out of the stall by the reigns. The horse struggled a bit, but eventually realized that it would get him nowhere.

"S-Sir," the stable boy started nervously, "I can't let you do that." he took a step forward, hands slightly raised.

Suddenly there was a blade tip pointed at his throat, brought out faster than the man could see. "You don't have a choice."

Hinami put a hand to her mouth as she watched the standoff. Eventually, though, the man backed down, getting out of the white haired strangers way. The ghoul then holstered his sword and threw himself on top of the horse, trotted up to Hinami and pulled her on as well, setting her in front of him.

He, then, shook the reigns and the horse began to walk, leaving the stable boy and the Inn behind as they went on their way.

"I'm sorry about this!" she called to the man.

(Authors Note: Thank you for visiting my story! Hopefully, instead of writing your review, telling me that Kaneki is out of character, you read this. I know Kaneki is acting out of character, it's how I intend to write him for this story. Anyways, once again, I thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter. Thank you!)