If it hasn't become apparent by now, this story is more lighthearted than the manga, but still, in future chapters, except there to still be tragedy. With that said, I want to thank you for the positive feedback, and want to let you know that I appropriate you reading this. You is smart. You is loyal. You're grateful. I appreciate that. Go buy your mama a house. Go buy your whole family houses. Put this story in a savings account. Go read this story for no reason.

In Kafka's most famous novel, the plot is about a young man who turns into an enormous insect. I read the story in 8th grade… And I can't exactly recall the details of it, but I do remember that during this time, I had tried getting Hide into reading, so we could form our own book club. Eventually, I made a breakthrough and had finally gotten to Hide to start reading, but not from the selection of novels that I had recommended…. No, in his younger days, Hide became fascinated with the superhero genre, and even had persuaded me into reading some of his comics… Which I myself had trouble getting into. I found it unbelievable that the main protagonist of his comics would always do good things just for the sake of being good. If it was me risking my life to save the day, I'd at least would want something out of it other than just someone's gratitude, but that would entirely erase the purpose of what it meant to be a hero I suppose. Maybe I wouldn't be cut out to be a superhero after all.

The rest of the drive seemed to pass by as the three of them sat in silence. Approaching their destination, the bright lights reflected from the nearby buildings shune in the night as they came near their destination. Angling his head just right, Kaneki caught glimpse of the three lit-up letters high above on the HQ that read 'CCG'. Taking a tunnel that led underground, Arima ordered both young men to stay put in the vehicle until further notice. From inside the vehicle, Kaneki and Hide watched two armored men marched toward Arima, who then in turn received a salute from both men. Had it not been for the thickness of the glass and armor of the vehicle itself, then perhaps the two best friends might have been able to eavesdrop on what the men outside were discussing amongst each other. When the armored men started to approach the back of the vehicle, Kaneki pulled Hide's wondering eyes away from the back window and shushed the curious young man to look forward. Holding his breath, Kaneki could feel the vehicle shake as the trunk slammed closed. Motioning for his shy friend that it was okay to look again, Hide pointed toward the two men carrying the Rize's body away before disappearing through a hallway. Due to the two men being too preoccupied with peeking through the side window, needless to say, when Arima opened the door, they both let out a yelp as they scrambled back to their seats. Looking back with in confusion, Arima was met with the incredibly forced smiles of the two young men. "You two can follow me now…"

After an extensive background check and filling out a stack of paperwork, Kaneki and Hide were allowed access inside. From there, Arima escorted the two to a room with three rows of tables and chairs lined up front and back to each other. Caught off guard by the sudden and synchronous squeaking of chairs, Kaneki jumped back with a yelp. Meanwhile, Hide was able to observe how everyone in the room stood erected with their backs straighten and their hands to their sides.

"Carry on." Arima spoke dismayingly as he waved his hand forward, to which then made everyone relax before taking their seats once more.

"What was that all about…?" Hide whispered to Arima.

"It's our way of showing respect to a superior."

"Must get old pretty fast." Arima neither agreed nor disagreed to Hide's statement, but rather just shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

From what Kaneki could tell, all the people sitting down in the classroom-like desks wore matching grey suits, while the important looking figures had on darker business suits in the front of the class, except for one, who wore a bright-pristine white formal wear. Standing at the podium was a an old man who looked to be in his late 60s. He seemed not to have any eyebrows and sported a bored looked that complimented his gruffy mustache and thin lazy eyes behind his glasses with oblong lenses. After taking it all in, it was then that Kaneki begun to realize that all eyes in the room were focused on him and Hide. "Have a seat over there." Arima ordered as he pointed a finger toward the far back-left side of the classroom. "I'll come and get you two when the brief is finished." With that said, Arima turned around to leave, but not before everyone stood up from their seats once more. When Arima left the room, it was then that everyone took their seats.

"As I was saying-"

"-I apologize Dr. Shiba, but may I have a moment to speak?" One of the important figures asked as he interrupted the older man. Dr. Shiba didn't bother turning his head at him, but rather just silently just shifted his eyes toward him for a moment before stepping down to exchange seats with him. "Thank you." Now that man was standing up, Kaneki and Hide were able to make out his features better. He was a slim middle-aged man with short black hair, and wore a rugged and abrasive look on his face. "You two," the man spoke as he pointed toward both Kaneki and Hide, "Stand up." The two friends exchanged confused looks with each other before awkwardly standing up from their seats. "Not only are you too both poorly dressed and not in uniform, but you have the odasity to show up late… How ballsy." The man muttered into the microphone before taking a deep breath in. "What are your names...?"

"Er… My name's Hideyoshi Nagachika."

"And… I'm Kaneki Ken, sir." Although they answered his question, they were both puzzled to see a look of disbelief on the man's face as his eyes shot wide open.

"You… Smartasses! When a senior investigator asks for your name, they expect to hear your rank and last name!" The man shouted as he slammed his fist on the desk of the podium. "I should have you two kicked out of this class and charged for insubordination and-"

"-Might I intervene, Special Class Marude?" The man who had asked Murade appeared middle aged as well, and had wavy black hair with high cheekbones and a faded goatee. Wearing a white formal suit, Kaneki instantly assumed that he was perhaps a cut of a different cloth, or so to speak, and seeing Marude's reaction only furthered that notion.

"... Of course, sir." Marude replied in a low voice as he walked back to switch seats with man, but not before glaring at both Kaneki and Hide. With the man who had spoken up at the microphone, Kaneki begun to fear that he was the one who would be to deliver the verdict.

"Kaneki and Hide," the man addressed in a surprisingly gentle voice, "neither of you have any affiliations with the Commission of Counter Ghoul, do you?" Knowing that his friend wasn't the best of public speakers, Hide patted Kaneki on the shoulder before clearing his throat.

"Nope, we're just students who were came here with permission from Mr. Arima."

"I see. Considering that you're not apart of this organization, might you be able to elaborate on why you're here?"

"Sure… Well, he really didn't give too many details on the way here, but he said he would drop us off home after this." Now intrigued, the man held his chin as he raised an eyebrow at Hide.

"And would you be willing to tell me how you came to meet Arima?"

"Well…" It took a moment for Hide to think about how he would be able to put into words on what had happened, considering how it seemed almost like a blur to him. Not that it was as traumatic for him as it was for Kaneki, but still, it made him feel uncomfortable just thinking about it. "My bud here, Kaneki, never went on a date before in his life-"

"-Hide…!" Kaneki scolded in a hushed voice as he turned to face Hide.

"-and he was really scared to go alone, so he had me follow him to give tips on what he should and shouldn't do." Quiet chuckles and jeers begun to spread between other investigators, which only worsened the embarrassment the shy bookworm was feeling. "Anyway, yada yada yada, it turned out that he was on a date with a ghoul, and he would have been her dinner had it not been for Mr. Arima and I to rescue him." At this point, it became apparent to Kaneki that Hide had transformed the memory from being tragic, into one that amped his ego.

"Rescue?"

"Yeah, I warned Kaneki to get away, which distracted her and gave him time to escape, but he fell back on his ass instead."

"Hide…! Shut up, you idiot…!" Kaneki pleaded.

"So then like, she leapt down to take a bite out of him, but I wasn't gonna let that shit happen! So what did I do? I'll tell you what I did: I kicked that bitch in the face, like BAM!" Hide exclaimed as he swung his foot up to imitate a kick. No longer could Kaneki hold back the cringe he was feeling, so he resorted in covering his face within his hands as he quickly took a seat. "Then Arima came and did stuff, I guess. As it turned out, Mr. Arima and I didn't just kill any old ghoul, but it was the same one from the news!" Hide declared as he put on a smirk. "You might have known her as the "Eater", but the only thing she ate that night was the side of the curb." Commotion broke out between the investigators as they spoke amongst each other, but the gossip was cut short as Marude stood up to give a death stare at the lower-class investigators in the room, which quickly prompted them all to be quiet. Although it was clear to him that the young man loved to stroke his own ego and had a somewhat vulgar side to him, it amused him.

"I see… I now suppose I know why Arima brought the two of you here in the first place." The man mused. "Allow me to introduce myself to the both of you then. My name is Yoshitoki Washuu; I'm the Bureau Director of this Main Office. It is an honor to have two brave young men such as yourselves here. You may take your seat now, Hideyoshi." All too glad to hear those words, Kaneki grabbed Hide by his jacket before pulling him down to his seat. "Dr. Shiba, I thank you for your patience. Please, continue on with your presentation." Yoshitoki then walked over to exchange seats with old man. Dr. Shiba adjusted his glasses as he lowered the microphone back down.

"Yes, well, I suppose I should take a step back and give a short summary of what we already discussed." Dr. Shiba stated as he pointed a small remote toward the screen behind him to track back to a few slides earlier. "RC cells, or "Red Child" cells, are cells that flow through both human and ghouls' veins, and can be pictured as "liquid muscle". In ghouls, RC cells are stored in a predatory organ called kakuhou, which then forms a kagune, which is comprised of the RC cells released from their kakuhou that have pierced through their skin. These cells are nutrients that ghouls need to ingest in order to survive, thus why they eat humans and even each other from time to time." Although Hide seemed to be already bored with the presentation, Kaneki, though somewhat disturbed, found the information to be interesting.

"If only I had something to take notes on…" Kaneki whispered aloud. Suddenly, a hand to the left of him shifted over a small stack of papers as well as a pen in front of him. "Oh! I didn't actually expect anyone to be actually be listening to me… Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" The investigator replied back. The investigator was a slim, bronze-skinned young adult with dark green hair, and even had matching green eyes to compliment his hair. Kaneki had found himself wordlessly staring at him for longer than he should have; he was wearing men's' clothing, but something seemed different. The way he spoke and even his overall features seemed very feminine to Kaneki, but he quickly brushed it off and scolded himself for thinking such rude thoughts.

"... I don't want to sound creepy, but what's your name?" Despite having been asked the question in an awkward way, the young adult gave a gentle smile back to him.

"My name's Tooru Mutsuki; I'm a Rank 3 investigator, so I'm pretty new here myself." Tooru chuckled softly as he introduced himself. "... I don't want to sound intrusive, but was it scary? Seeing a ghoul in real life?" Kaneki at this point was beginning to become more at terms with what had happened, and was just thankful that he was alive. So he was able to return a smile back at Tooru.

"I was frightened, yes… but the worst part about the whole incident was when I realized that she only spent time with me so she could… well, so she could attack me." 'Perhaps I'm sharing too much… I just met this person, and I don't think-'

"Oh my… That's right, you were on a date with her, weren't you?" Tooru asked with a concern look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset…"

'... Wow, I sound like a charity case…' Not wanting to give off the impression of a victim, Kaneki gave Tooru a reassuring and playful smile. "Don't worry, because… T-T-That don't kill me, can only make me stronger-"

"-I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer." The two young adults stared silently at each other momentarily before both simultaneously snickering amongst each other.

"-And that ends my presentation, are there any questions?" Kaneki and Tooru's playful moment came to an halting end. With the time spent goofing around, Kaneki had lost track of time, and by the end of the briefing, it was only then that he noticed only a handful of investigators remained in the class.

"Hide," Kaneki whispered in quiet voice, "where did everyone go?"

"Wow… Here I thought I was the one who wasn't paying attention." Hide chuckled to himself before patting his friend on the back. "Kaneki my friend, the reason why there's only a few of us left, is because the rest were told that they were free to leave."

"Oh… Why's that?"

"Because the old guy said that the experiment or whatever would be voluntary, and those who were unsure about it were free to leave."

"Experiment…?" Kaneki asked.

"Yes, to become a Qunix," Tooru answered with a shy smile. "I'm sorry if I distracted you, I didn't mean to."

"Nah, you're cool dude; Kaneki likes to pretend that he's really sharp, but deep down, he's just as easily distracted as me, if not worse." Hide explained.

"So, what is a Qunix?" Kaneki questioned Tooru, but not before batting an evil eye at Hide.

"I wasn't really paying attention either to the slideshow to be honest," Tooru admitted, "but I was told that a Quinx is a human with a modified Quinque installed in their body… It's a weapon made fashioned from a ghoul's kagune… That's all I was told before coming here."

"Well, luckily for you two, I was paying attention." Hide smirked as he pointed a thumb to himself. "So basically, Qunix are like ghouls, but they don't eat people, because according to that old dude's explanation, the RC levels of a Qunix should be underneath 1000, which the minimal level of RC cells found in ghouls… Or at least that's what he theorized."

"... So what you're saying is that this hasn't been tested before?" Kaneki questioned with an uneasy look on his face.

"Yup."

"That explains why the brief was so short…" Kaneki muttered to himself. "Is it too late to back out…?" To Kaneki's surprise, Hide gave him a shocked and confused expression. Gripping the sides of the bookworm's arms, Hide shook Kaneki in an attempt to knock some sense into him.

"Back out?! What are you, crazy?!" Hide shouted, which made the remaining investigators and the doctor stare at his direction. "Kaneki Ken, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! The next time some ghoul or anyone wants to mess with us, we can beat their asses! We'll be heroes! Imagine it! You'll get girls like crazy! Plus, heh heh…" Hide chuckled as he a sly smirk formed on his face. "... Plus… With the cash we get from agreeing to do this, we can finally pay off our loans…

"-Hide! You can't just agree to- wait, what?" It took Kaneki a moment to process the last thing Hide had said, and in that moment when he finally registered what he had said, all fear and confusion became overshadowed by an unreal sensation of disbelief. "How much money did he say?"

I admit, if I had observed the situation from a third-point perspective, it would be easy for me to say that I was an idiot for signing the waiver that was passed around the class. Had it not been for the fact that the preparation was already set, and the surgery would be conducted immediately after, then perhaps I would have changed my mind. While we waited for our turn, Hide and Tooru took my mind off any reasonable concerns I should of had about what I agreed to. Before I knew it, Dr. Shiba had me lay down on my stomach and waited for the sedatives and painkillers to kick in before I went under the knife.

In the weeks that followed, we were hospitalized and tested on. The tests were painless though, and were mostly comprised of Dr. Shiba recording results from a monitor and simply just asking how we were. The exercises conducted differed depending on each person, and were based on what Quinque frames were implemented into our bodies. Ironically, Hide's Quinque frame was created from Rize's kakuhou. As for me, Dr. Shiba didn't exactly know who's kakuhou was used to create my Quinque frame, but he did tell me that the Quinque frame was considered to be a prototype, and that I should have considered myself lucky to be its first user. In the weeks up until our release from the hospital, I went back to living just like how I always had, other than my appetite increasing noticeably more than before.

Finished paying off his loans, Kaneki was more than delighted that he was able to pocket some of the money left over from the compensation he'd received from the CCG. Wearing light clothes such as his checkered hoodie and white slacks, he had decided to take in the beauty of afternoon by walking down the scenic route through the park. Not soon through his walk, he heard a jingle-sound coming from his side pocket. Opening up his phone, he looked down and read a text message from Hide with the subject reading 'Hooray for not being (as) poor! (^O^)'.

'Let's go to Big Girl! Invite Tooru. I forgot his number. My treat.'

"Big Girl!" Kaneki spoke aloud to himself as he held the phone to his face.

Big Girl was an American-Style restaurant. Hide and I loved their hamburgers more than thing… In addition, there were lot of cute girls on their staff… So whenever there was a special occasion, Hide and I would head over there. To us, it was like the promised land of Canaan in the old testament- our very own paradise… So after calling Tooru, I found out that he didn't even know where Big Girl was, or what they served, so I told him that I would wait for him at the park, and we would just walk there together.

After receiving a very flirtatious welcome from the staff, the three friends were seated inside the 50's decor-styled restaurant in a booth. Sitting across from Kaneki and Tooru, Hide had came dressed in a new name-brand black polo shirt. "You're already wasting your money?" Kaneki asked in a patronizing tone. "We just got paid a couple days ago, Hide."

"Kaneki, this isn't a waste; it's an investment!" Hide shot back with an over confident smirk. "This is a Ralph Lauren polo right here! I'm telling you Kaneki, it's not even going to be fair on how many girls I'm going to get with this." Hide said boastingly, to which Kaneki then gave him a sarcastic smile as he crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure even that waitress from the coffee shop won't be able to resist your charms now." Hearing this, Hide's face lit up in excitement as he revelation and hope flowed through his veins.

"Oh. My. God." Hide muttered to himself as he looked down for the first time to truly behold the beauty and power his polo really had. Just then, a temptress in a retro-styled apron approached their booth with a notepad and pen.

"Welcome to Big Girl! What can I start you off with today?" Kaneki and Tooru watched as Hide's smile faded into a frown as his eyes shot open wide. "... Sir?" Clenching his fist on the tabletop, Hide took a moment to collect himself before turning to look at the girl with black hair and thigh socks with a stern look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Ohashi…" Hide said apologetically in a low and serious tone. "We must keep this at a professional level, for my heart beats for another…" Hide declared in a melodramatic voice. Standing there with a confused look, the young woman looked toward Kaneki and Tooru for help.

"She's our waitress, Hide..." Tooru informed the egotistical young man in quiet and polite tone, "I think she just wants to know what we want to order."

"Oh." Hide spoke flatly. "Erm… I'll have a hamburger with a fried egg on top with a cup of water, or whatever..." It took a moment for the waitress to comprehend what she just had witnessed, and even as she wrote down his order, she continued to stare at Hide with a dumbfounded expression.

"... I'll have a big burger, ma'am, with a glass of water, please." Kaneki ordered as he tried his best to break the awkward tension of the situation.

"Um… Kaneki, I don't know what to get." Tooru admitted as he held the menu out in front of him.

"That's right, you never ate here, huh…?" More to himself than Tooru, Kaneki spoke quietly to himself as he looked through the menu as well. "Well, this place is pretty well known for hamburgers, other than that, they have other things if you don't like hamburgers."

"If you say the hamburgers here are what they're known for, then I guess I'll have the same thing as you then." Tooru said in conclusion to his order.

"Uh… I'll be back with your food." Wanting to get away from the group, Ohashi did a quick one-eighty turn away before taking a fast-paced walk into the kitchen. The three of them sat in silence before all falling into a fit of laughter.

"Oh wow, you guys are a riot!" Tooru snickered. "Are you two always like this?"

"Unfortunately!" Kaneki said with a laugh as he wiped a tear from his face. "Oh God, Hide, you freaking scared that poor waitress!" Hide showed off a confident smile before standing up to take a bow.

"Thank you, thank you; I knew that overpriced course in drama was so worth it!"

It wasn't long until the reluctant waitress came back with our food, and quickly ran back to the kitchen as Hide winked at her. I've always liked hamburgers, and the hamburgers at Big Girl were especially juicy and savory… But just staring at the food, I already could feel my mouth beginning to drool as the steam of the food entered through my nostrils. Wanting to make sure it wasn't just me acting weird, I looked up to see that I wasn't the only one enticed as greatly by the food. Almost somewhat scared on how much of an effect that a simple hamburger had over me, my hand trembled as I picked a piece of with my chopsticks. When I placed the chuck into the sauce and into my mouth, my eyes shot open wide as I chewed. I had always loved hamburgers, but never have I ever experienced such a divine taste in my mouth before. Almost in a primal urge, I dropped my chopsticks to switch over to a fork as I took another bite. Everything from the fried tofu, to the vegetables, and especially the hamburger became an explosion of taste that filled my mouth with pure ecstasy with each bite. No longer even having the patience to use a utensil, I begun to pick up my food with my hands to devour everything on the plate within minutes. After I had finished, I looked up to see Hide with sauce around his face and fingertips as he licked the side of plate, while Tooru sat with redden cheeks as he did his best to wipe the crumbs off of his white collared shirt. Needless to say, we left a good tip for Ohashi.

After they had finished eating, Hide left to go to his part-time job, which left Kaneki and Tooru with each other's company. It was still daylight outside, so Kaneki offered Tooru to go to the park with him. Although Tooru was smiling as they walked through on the bricked path, something felt off to Kaneki. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just… I never ate something like that before." Tooru admitted.

"Yeah, I ate there before, but that hamburger was probably the best thing I've ever had in my life." Kaneki said with a chuckle, but when he looked at Tooru, he only saw concern on his face as his smile slowly turned into a frown.

"That's not what I meant…" Tooru sighed as he stuck his hands into his side pockets. "My parents, god rest their soul, taught me manners and proper dining antique, and I never had the urge to eat something that bad before… I don't know what I'd expect, I mean, we did turn into those things now: Qunix." He muttered bitterly. As Tooru came to a complete halt, Kaneki turned around to see him facing down at the ground. "I know it's too late to back on my decision but… I'm sorry, you must think poorly of me…"

I never was really good at giving affection. After all, I was usually the one that needed cheering up. Perhaps it was years of being influenced by Hide, but never had I ever felt the need to comfort someone who needed it as much as Tooru.

"I don't think that… I think you're pretty great." Kaneki reassured as he hugged Tooru. Surprised by the sudden affection, Tooru let out a small gasp of surprise. Sudden shock soon shifted subsided, and instead the softhearted actions of the bookworm became welcomed. Staring up into the clouds above, Tooru's vision became impaired through the gentle tears that silently ran down the side of his cheeks.

"...Kaneki." Tooru spoke out softly as he kept his focus up at the clouds. "Do you… Do you really see me as your friend…?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"

"... I… I just wanted to make sure…" Tooru whispered as he let out a deep sigh of relief. "... I never had a friend before."

Hearing Tooru say that, made me recall the time when I had first met Hide. Hide had noticed me when I wasn't able to mix with others in class, and became my voice throughout our childhood. Seeing Tooru reminded me a lot of myself back then.

By the time it took for Kaneki to walk Tooru home and to get back to his own apartment, it was dark outside. Laying on his bed, Kaneki put his book to the side of his mattress as he tuned into the news. "Due to the predatory ghoul incident that happened near the Takada building, people are unable to hide their unease at the thought that the city of Tokyo is being attacked. Today we have an expert from the Ghoul Research Division, Dr. Ogura, to give us more information."

"Ghouls, you know, do not need to consume a large number of meals a short time. They can survive perfectly well for a month or two on one dead body… But there are many ghouls who eat a number of people like this for mere pleasure. Make no mistake, these are nasty creatures. Now, it may be that the ghoul is afraid of the investigation department and is hiding itself. Normally, ghouls lead their lives among us in human shape."

"Wish I knew that earlier…" Kaneki muttered to himself as he continued to watch the researcher give his expertise on live television.

"Oh, I see… Can't ghouls be satisfied with ordinary food?"

"... You're in that seat and yet you know nothing."

"I never realized how much of a jerk this guy really is… Wow."

"Ghouls are unable to digest any nutrients of non-human origin. This is said to be the result of a particular enzyme they have. Furthermore, because the structure of their tongues is different from our own, food feels very uncomfortable for them. Salads tastes unripe, and meat and fish taste disgusting, it seems. In front of people they may be able to eat and endure it, but… After eating, they are stuck with a powerful urge to vomit."

"Oh God… No wonder Rize was so messed up," Kaneki smirked to himself as he let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Clearly she never experienced the steamy and succulent taste of a Krabby Patty." 'Thank goodness Hide didn't hear that… If he knew that I watched that dumb cartoon, he would teaste me so much for it…'

"My Doctor, you looked like a ghoul yourself for a second."

"I know more about ghouls than the ghouls themselves. Hahaha-"

"Shut up already..." Kaneki childishly muttered at the television before reaching over to the coffee table next to him to grab the remote. "Off you go!"

"-hahahahahaha-"

"What." Dumfounded, Kaneki pressed the power button on the remote once more, but with no result. Trying again and again from different angles, Kaneki continued to tap repeatedly on the remote controller with the same fruitless results.

"-hahahahohohohaHAHAA-" The sounds of Dr. Ogura's laughter only served to frustrate Kaneki. Quickly turning over the remote controller, Kaneki placed his finger on the sliding piece of the battery compartment. A loud cracking noise caused Kaneki to jumped back in his bed. Looking down, Kaneki felt his eye twitch from the sight of the lower part of his remote controller shattered into plastic and electronic scrap.

"What the…" Even his finger had snapped the both batteries in half, and just as he had suspected, the batteries were empty.

"-WAHWAHAHWAH-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kaneki screamed as he rose to his feet on top of the mattress. Having had it with the man's obnoxious laughter, Kaneki grabbed what was left of his remote controller and chucked it at the television. What had happened next, to put it simply, was an expensive mess. Kaneki fell back on top of his mattress in horror as he watched what was once a remote controller pierce not only through the television, but clean through the wall. From the view he had on the bed, Kaneki stared in disbelief at the tunnel he had accidently created that ran through the wall and all the way through the entire building. Although the screaming and shouts of his neighbors were deafening, only one word ran through Kaneki's head.

Shit.

"Damn dude, that's impressive!" Hide complimented with a whistle. Sitting on his friend's living room couch, Kaneki sat with a devastated look on his face.

"No, it's not impressive, Hide! I'm homeless because of that now!" Kaneki argued back in a whiney voice. Letting out a groan, Kaneki pulled the blanket that Hide lended him over his head as he fell flat on his side. "This sucks…" Holding his chin, Hide stood silently as his best friend laid on the couch in defeat.

"Ya know… I read somewhere-"

"-You don't read."

"... Okay... I HEARD somewhere that ghouls have enhanced strength, agility, and all sort of junk… And seeing how we're Quinx now or whatever… That would explain your strength, I guess." Despite the obvious fact that Hide was just assuming that, Kaneki had to hand it to him that at least answer made some sense. But laying in his own shame, Kaneki didn't care about what powers he had or didn't have; all that mattered to him was the fact that the apartment had spent months worth of pay on was no longer his.

"God damnit…"

"Geez Kaneki, you're not really acting like your old self right now…"

"So what? Are you going to kick me out?" Kaneki sassed back from within the confines of his fluffy fortress.

"No… I was going to say that maybe you should eat something." Hide suggested as he sat beside he curled-up friend. "I won't lie, I got pretty pissed off earlier when I stubbed my toe today… But then I ate a candy bar, and now I feel fine." Seeing his friend lying beside him quietly, Hide cautiously reached over to take a peek underneath the pink blanket, but jumped back in his seat as Kaneki tossed the blanket over him. "Where are you heading?" Hide asked from underneath the pinkness of the blanket.

"Not only do I need a moment… But turns out, I'm not me when I'm hungry." Kaneki said with a smirk. "I'm going to the corner store to get some candy, do you want anything?"

"Umm… Yeah, could you get me some chips?"

"Sure thing! I'll back… Keep the front door unlocked please."

The walk over to the corner store had me thinking a lot about what I had gotten myself into. Not just the whole being homeless fiasco, but what led me to having such power. Hide was right, it could only be the result of that experiment, but still, why then? Was it because I was angry? Did my emotions somehow have a link with this thing inside me…? Well, there wasn't a point in worrying about it now; I would just have to give Dr. Shiba a call in the morning to set up an appointment or whatever doctors like him do.

I felt sort of guilty only buying one bag of doritos for Hide, while I had bought myself an entire bag of funsized twix and snickers. Oh well, I would just have to share with him if he asked. But not my butterfinger; nobody better lay a finger on my butterfinger.

Wanting to get back to Hide's apartment so he could enjoy the rest of his night with his candy, Kaneki had decided to cut through an alley. Normally, he would feared what resided in the night, and especially within the weeks that had followed his encounter with Rize. However, he found himself free of any worries as he casually walked down the dark and enclosed area with a plastic bag full of treats inside. Flipping out his phone, Kaneki begun to text Hide that he was on his way back, but before he could send the message, the sounds of a old man whistling pervertly brought his attention away from his phone. "You're showing of a lot of leg."

"Hey-"

"Why don't you come with me?" Raising an eyebrow, Kaneki looked up from the screen of his phone to see a rather large old man with slicked back hair holding the wrist of a short-haired woman. "Let's have some fun."

"Wait…" Closing his phone to put it back in his pocket, Kaneki approached the two with a bothered expression. "Let go…"

That voice… Her face… That girl… She was the one Hide was talking to in the cafe… What was she in a place like this?

"Huh?" The old man murmured as he turned to face Kaneki. "What are you looking at?" Although he knew what he wanted to say, Kaneki felt himself at a lost of words as the man confronted him. "Hey, you… you! Hey! Hey! Don't ignore me… Don't..."

"Um… Could… Could you please leave her alone?" The man looked as though he was about to punch the younger male, but when he got closer, he let out a scream. "What?!" Kaneki yelped as he took a step back from the panicked man.

"What's with your eye? Disgusting!"

"Eye?... What are you talking about?" Kaneki muttered to himself quietly. Ignoring the man's ranting and screams the best he could, Kaneki reached into his pocket to pull out his cellphone. Using the screen as a mirror, Kaneki leaned in close to inspect his eyes. "Right eye checks out okay… As for my left eye-"

In my reflection, I could see what the man had been under duress about. Instead of being it's usual grey color, I was shocked myself to see what had become of my left eye. The sclera was white, but the iris was red. A wave of stress soon overtook me as I came to the conclusion that what I was seeing was surely a side effect of being a Quinx. Having different eye colors… Grey and red… Wasn't actually as bad I first thought. The more and more I looked at my reflection, the more I felt a smile spread across my face as I admired my new look.

"Hey… That's pretty good!" Kaneki chuckled to himself as he felt his wave of stress wash away. "I gotta take a pic of this!"

"Get outta here! YOU MONSTER!" The old man screamed at him from the top of his lungs.

"Fine, geez… But first… Let me take a selfie." Kaneki declared in a high pitch voice as he raised his phone in the air with the camera pointed on him. As Kaneki adjusted the angle of the shot, he couldn't help but notice two red lights emitting from behind the old man. In a flash, Kaneki quickly took the picture before dropping the cellphone as he spun around.

"Wh-What…?" With his heart beating against his chest, the old man took heavy breaths. His eyes slowly shifted to left to see Kaneki's arm outstretched and holding the wrist of the very young woman who he had tried scoring with. When he caught glimpse of her black and red eyes, the old man let out another scream as he fell forward on the ground. Kaneki then turned to face the old man with a stern expression.

"... It would be in your best interest to "get outta here" yourself..." Having seen more than enough of his fair share of midnight horror, the old man stood clumsily up to feet before scrambling away from the two young adults.

"Monsters... You're all monsters! MONSTERS!" His screams faded away as he retreated, and soon his cries became out of earshot.

As much as I wanted the old man to get what he deserved, I couldn't bring myself to stand by while he was murdered. Besides, even in his old age, perhaps he would grow to be wiser from this encounter, and learn not to go around in the dark with such perverted interest in mind. Now that I was so standing so close to the girl, I got a better look at her face. There was no denying it, it was the very same girl that Hide had talked to, and she was a ghoul nonetheless. I felt a wave of dismay pass over me as I pictured how things would have ended if she did agree to go on a date with Hide.

"You… Why weren't you eaten?" In a sudden transformation of emotions, Touka's rage disappeared as she got a better look at his face. "Eh… So Rize… But… Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the guy whose selfie you ruined... Also, you might know me better as Hide's friend."

"... Hide?" Touka repeated back aloud as the name rung off her tongue. It didn't take long before the image of the egotistical young man's goofy grin popped into her head. "Oh… Oh. Him." She muttered with an unimpressed facial expression. "... Let go."

"Oh… Yeah, sorry about that." Kaneki apologized as he released her wrist. "I know little about ghouls, forgive me if I'm incorrect but… I hope you're not too upset about me rescuing that perverted old man; I can give you a snickers if you want." As much as she wanted to punch him in the face, Touka decided against it for the time being, and instead took a step back to take a deep breath in.

"... It's fine, I'm not even really hungry to be honest. Besides, old man meat's gross, right?"

"I wouldn't know; I never had an old man's meat in my mouth." Kaneki jokingly shot back, which earned him a slap across the face. "Sorry… I deserved that."

"You're goddamn right you did." Giving his cheek a quick rub, Kaneki squated down to pick up his phone, and flipped it opened to finish what he had started texting.

"And… Sent." Putting his phone back in his pocket, the two stood there silently in the alley for quite some time before one of them mustered enough courage to speak up. "So, uh… I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, sure… Cya then, I guess." With those awkward words exchanged, the two parted ways and carried on to do their own separate agendas.

I wasn't sure what I did really counted as me doing anything heroic. In reality, I just didn't want see an old man die next to me. But even so, as I made my way to Hide's apartment, I couldn't but feel proud of myself; which I wasn't sure was a good thing or not. It wasn't like I saved a saint or anything, but I'd like to think that my actions made a difference in the old man's life. Then again, as the common saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Who knows, in a week or so, he may disregard what happened and try the same trick with some different girl. I may not be a superhero, but I'd like to think of myself as a pretty nice guy who likes helping others; and that was good enough for me. But for now, I would be able to rest easy for the remainder of the night with Hide and my bags of candy.

I really wanted a snickers by the end of this chapter.