Warning: Cannibalism, ghoulishness, Juuzou being Juuzou, Haise Sasaki being Badass Kaneki Ken. Ambiguous relationships between protagonists. Sparse torture. That's pretty much it.

Summary: Kaneki Ken spent eight years in Yamori's tender care. Scarred beyond belief by his experience at the hands of the most sadistic ghoul out there, there are more things than he picked up from Jason than his eating habits. Thankfully, Rank 3 investigator Suzuya Juuzou seems to be in the same predicament, so he won't be alone at CCG, riiight?

Author's note / Uninteresting rambling: Thank you for the reviews, so sweet *-*. Well here comes the second installment of Pain and Pleasure, whereby we learn more about sweet Ayato and Haise Sasaki's little games.


Chapter 2 : Descent into Madness [Or how to make a rebellious ghoul learn anatomy]:

Deep under the foundations of the CCG, there were several rooms. They had not been built by the CCG; they were already there before. All the CCG did was coat RC suppressant on the doors to stop the 'occupants' from wandering outside.

It wasn't a dungeon. It lacked the cold, damp, dreadful quality. No, they were just 'cozy interrogation rooms' as Sasaki so gently put. Each Associal Special class or higher was granted one room. They could use it any way they wanted to, they could even install a fuuton and sleep there for all the Director cared.

Of course, when he heard of it upon being promoted to Associate Special class two years ago, he transformed the 'interrogation room' into a 'playroom'.

That's where our protagonist was headed.

"Ayato-kun, I wonder how you've fared so far. It's been so long since we last saw each other, I hope you didn't die from loneliness..." A contemplative expression crossed his face as he descended the flights of stairs that lead to his personal room.

He opened the door to his room, dread at the pit of his stomach, and his heart nearly stopped beating when he laid eyes on the prone figure chained to the metallic chair. His eyes widened in fright.

"Ayato-kun!"

In his haste to check on the young boy, he forgot to lock the room as protocol dictated.

Sasaki swiftly unlocked the protections and unfurled the heavy chains from the frail body. He shook his head in dismay.

"What have they done to you? I left specific instructions that you were not to be restrained in any way. This room is our playroom, you shouldn't be caged like an animal!"

But Ayato still wasn't moving. He was really pale. Sickly pale. His hair had lost its glossy sheen.

He quickly carried him and gently laid him on a couch. He sat at the end of the couch his hand gently combing the boy's hair.

Suddenly, his hand was caught and he was pulled forward. Ayato's eyes snapped open and with a snarl he drove his sharpened nails through Sasaki's tender throat with his ghoulish strength. He removed his hand from the bastard's throat and kicked Sasaki from the couch. He would have gladly watched him choke to death, but time was of the essence.

"A-Ayato-kun...?" Sasaki wheezed, his hands weakly cradling his grievous wound.

Eyes wild and moves jerky, he ran toward the exit. Yes! He was a little lost at the sight. It was the first time he had left the room in two years. He saw a flight of stairs leading up, up, up!

Adrenaline coursed through his body. After two long minutes of climbing, he reached the top of the staircase. Liquid dread coursed in his veins. There was a door.

"Ayatoooo-kun?" The voice of the Devil called from below. "Are we done playing, already?" A chuckle promising ghastly tortures echoed. Ayato nearly wept.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He berated himself. You didn't think it would be that easy to flee from this hell? Well, guess what genius? Even if this fucker was too dumb to lock the door to your room, do you really think he would have been as careless as to forget to lock two doors?

He couldn't go back. He WOULDN'T go back. He'd die. He'd fucking die down there. And nobody would find his corpse.

"Aya-to-kun~" The voice sang. "Come, come, we have to play another game. This one is called Pick a Bone. I think you already know about it, riiiiight?" The demented voice called. He was around the corner.

Ayato's knees buckled. He fell to the ground in a sobbing heap. His jailor came to rest beside him, crouching. His hot breath tickled the dark-haired boy's ear.

"And it was such a shame too. The door was unlocked."

Ayato's eyes widened. A ray of light pierced the dark staircase, and for a second, Ayato could see it. Life was buzzing out there, CCG investigators laughing around a coffee machine, clerks taking declarations from witnesses. And the sweet, sweet exit.

It was the reception hall of the CCG. Only a hundred feet separated him from this hellhole's exit.

"You just had to... push your luck."

The door closed with a huge bang, sealing his doom.

"No..." His distraught voice amused Sasaki greatly.

He tried to reach for the doorknob. He was that close to being free, too!

"Argh!" He shouted when he felt something stab into his knee.

He turned to see the cause of the pain, and sure enough, Sasaki's Kagune was piercing his muscle.

"Come now, Ayato-kun, we have lost enough time as it is."

He was slowly dragged by the ghoulish appendage. Dragged further down. Deeper. Ayato's hands tried to find some crevice, some hold to resist the pull. But he was too weak, and there was no foothold.

"Please..."

"Please what, Ayato-kun?" Sasaki smiled gently, coming to a stop. He watched the resigned boy over his shoulder.

"Please... Be gentle with me," He said pitifully. He was not above begging. Anything to escape the torments his jailor would no doubt put him through.

"Don't worry, Ayato-kun. Don't I always take good care of you?" He smirked then resumed walking, dragging the squirming boy to his playroom.


They were back to Sasaki's room. Ayato arms were bound by thick ropes which forced the appendages into an upright position. He was blindfolded of course; Sasaki always did it during the torture sessions. He would only remove it when it was over.

"I must admit this look suits you. You, the high and mighty Kirishima Ayato, bound and blindfolded. At my mercy. My plaything, really. It's nearly erotic..." Sasaki licked his lips.

"What do you want?" The black-haired boy whispered brokenly.

"Oh, how you wound me so! Don't you remember all these nights spent together in this room. Don't you recall how I used to come here, every single night. I'd think of a bone and I'd write it on a piece of paper which I then folded. You had to guess which one I had picked. For every wrong bone you named, I'd break a bone in your body, until you spoke the correct name, or until the correct one was broken. Starting from your toes, then up and up and up. Well guess what? After all this time, I want to play it again~"

Violent shakings shook Ayato's frame. "Please..." Tears were soaking the fabric. He couldn't take it anymore.

Sasaki shook his head and heaved a sigh.

"Ayato-kun. I already told you that 'No' and 'Please' were not bones, you should have known it by now. Too bad..."

Crack!

"Aaaaaaaaaargh!"

"Ah, this melodious sound. It's been a while, hasn't it? Didn't you miss these fun hours spent together?"

"You... fucking... psycho...!" He ground out.

"And that's what I love about you. You never lost this fighting spirit of yours. Well, I never went hard on you either, to be perfectly honest. After all, we're playing here, riiiight?" Mismatched eyes watched the squirming boy greedily.

Ayato tensed when he felt hands touch his face. What did this fucker have in mind? Surprisingly, he felt the cloth being removed from his eyes.

"Alas, I didn't come here to play. Not really, anyway. This appetizer was just for old times' sake." He chuckled at the younger boy's put-off facial expression.

Sasaki's hand went to his inner pocket, but instead of drawing a weapon from there, he retrieved a photo. He brought it to eye level, letting Ayato see who was on this picture. His eyes widened in panic.

"That's right Ayato-kun. You know how... disappointed I was, when I heard that you lied to me?"

Ayato shook his head, "I never lied to you-"

"Shush" Sasaki silenced him, his index across the younger boy's lips. "Yes you did. You remember, the question I asked you, after one of our playing session?"

Ayato watched him suspiciously. He asked so many weird questions, 'Do you have a girlfriend? Do you always brush your teeth after dinner? What's the name of that bone? Which organ does what?' and other such bullshit that he couldn't remember them all.

"I asked you the following question. Do you have any living relatives. You told me you didn't."

"My parents are dead." He shook his head. He had a bad feeling about that.

"But your sister isn't right? What a sweet big sister. Did you know she was looking for you?"

"She was...?" Then Ayato mentally beat himself. Stupid! You just admitted that you had a sister!

"Don't worry, I knew about her all along. I found a picture of you two in your room, at Aogiri's former headquarters. Sentimental, aren't we ? I just didn't know where she lived. 20th ward, huh? A waitress at a café. How nice..."

"If you touch her, I swear I'll-" His mouth was forcefully shut by Sasaki. He grabbed the boy's jaw and brought him closer, a deadpan expression on his face.

"You'll watch her shout and beg as I treat her with the same tender love I've shown you," Ayato closed his eyes. Images of their sessions were still vivid in his mind.

"Or... You can leave this room, and join me during my investigations."

Ayato's eyes snapped open. Surely he had heard it wrong. A gentle hand caressed his cheeks.

"Of course, there are certain... conditions... that must be met in order to proceed like this." Sasaki release his jaw. Ayato nodded slowly. Anything to be out of this room.

"First rule concerns your identity. You're too young to be a freshman, so instead you'll be my little brother. Haise Ayato; aspiring doctor. Don't you think it has a nice ring to it?"

"Aspiring doctor? But I don't know jack about medicine!" He defended himself, a little panicked.

"Ayato-kun. What are the names of the bones of the hand?" He spoke tersely, putting Ayato on edge. Would the game start again?

Immediately, Ayato answered, "Interphalangeal joint, metacarpophalangeal joint, dist-"

"You see," Sasaki interrupted brightly, "You know a lot more about medicine than you think!" He smiled happily, and for once, Ayato had nothing to say.

What was there to say? He knew the human body nearly as well as a true doctor.


End of chapter 2.

Preview: Chapter 3: Anteiku

"Ken-kun!" Touka greeted happily when she saw the black-haired young man enter the café. "And this is...?" There was a black-haired boy standing silently next to Ken.

"Touka-chan, this is my little brother, Kaneki Ayato," Ken introduced.

Touka's eyes widened when she saw him. A-ya-to...?

However the boy didn't seem to recognize her. He bowed his head politely.

"Nice to meet you, Kirishima-san. My name is Kaneki Ayato. I heard a lot of things about you from Nii-chan," To Ayato, it felt he was swallowing something really sour, but he kept his face impassible. Remember the rules, he told himself.

"How old are you?" Touka asked, trying to find a trace of her brother in this polite young boy.

"I'm thirteen," Touka's eyes widened. The same age as him!

"Ayato-kun," Ken's hand patted his Ayato's head, "why don't you tell Touka-chan about your aspirations?"

"Yes!" He shouted. It was so enthusiastic even Ken was surprised, "I want to become the best doctor in the world. Did you know that there are 206 bones in the human body, including 24 ribs? " He asked enthusiastically, "The rib cage is comprised of all the vertebrae except the lamprey, " He began anew.

"Haha, that's enough. You wouldn't want to bore Touka-chan, right?" Ken's hand massaged his scalp, 'Good boy,' Ken whispered low enough that only Ayato heard him.

Touka looked a little sad. There was no way this young boy was her brother. He looked too polite and cultivated to be her Ayato. The boy never went to school; there was no way he could have known or remembered such complicated things.

"What a coincidence, my brother has the same name as you," But then again, Ayato was a common name.

"What a coincidence indeed," Ken spoke softly, "I'm sorry about your brother. If there was any way I could help..."

She shook her head sadly, "Don't worry, Ken-kun. I'm sure we will find him someday,"

"He might be closer than we think," Ken said, patting his brother's head.

Ayato grunted. At least, like this, he would keep his shitty aneki safe from the monster currently petting him like a dog.

What had he done to deserve this?


End of preview

Final note: Well, this short chapter was not really action-packed. It was just an insight on what happened to Ayato. I could have gone the torture route, but finally, I'm more satisfied this way. After all, with Sasaki, Juuzou, an enamored Gourmet and a disgruntled Ayato, things can only go wrong... Riiight? Oh, more about Juuzou and Sasai's daily life next chapter.

As usual, review if you liked or if you want to criticize the content!