Kaneki stared blankly at his best friend across the table. He and Hide had, after school, gone to the café and he was currently listening to Hide talk about some viral video that had been going around their school. Since Hide was pretty much Kaneki's only friend, he hadn't seen the video.

"And then, he just STABS it! And jumps off the thing on to a roof! A roof! Like a two story jump, Kaneki!"

Hide said animatedly. Apparently one of the rebels had been caught on camera destroying a police bot and it had been posted on YouTube. The whole thing went viral, of course. Hide pulled out his phone and showed it to Kaneki, the video playing. It was exactly as he had said. A man with purple hair stabbed a robot and then jumped off it to a nearby building.

"What do you think?! Isn't his hair weird?!"

Hide looked at Kaneki excitedly.

It's kinda hot.

Kaneki thought. He bit his lip, knowing he can't say that to Hide.

"Umm, it's cool?"

He winced internally.

I just took my usual awkwardness to a whole new level didn't I?

Hide gave him a look that pretty much confirmed his thought. Kaneki checked the clock.

"Don't you have to get home soon? Since you cook dinner for your family."

Hide glanced at the clock, eyes widening comically.

"Shit! I do. Walk me home?"

Kaneki smiled and nodded. The pair stood up, grabbing their bags from the floor. Kaneki picked up the book he had gotten from the bookstore a week ago, holding it to his chest. Usually he would have had a book of this size finished in a few days, but he was going slow with this one. It was a murder mystery, after all. They walked out of the café, going the same direction as Kaneki had gone when he went to the book store.

"So, wanna explain the eyepatch? You've had since that construction accident."

Hide said. Kaneki froze. He knew he couldn't tell Hide about his robotic eye.

"Umm, well my eye got hurt and it's sensitive to light. So I'm keeping this over it until it heals fully."

Kaneki made up quickly. Hide accepted the explanation, nodding, but he didn't believe it and they both knew it. Fortunately, he didn't press Kaneki for a real answer. The boys continued down the street, chatting easily. Unnoticed by them, a man in a red cap followed them. The logo on his cap was that of the CCG's, the company that serves as the justice systems and owns, as well as controls the robots that patrol the city. He watched as the black haired boy with the eyepatch said good bye to the blonde boy and began walking home alone. The man slipped out of the alley and casually began to follow him. The boy clutched the book closer to his chest and the man's eyes narrowed. That book was his target. It held some very dangerous information, potentially. They hadn't been sure of which book it was, or even where it was, but thanks to this boy they had found it. Kamashiro Rize had been loosely affiliated to the rebel group that opposed the CCG. As soon as she had attacked the boy- an attempt to get the book, obviously- the CCG had known he must have it. Once they knew that, it was a simple matter if checking the hospital's online records to see who had been admitted that day, them matching the name they found with the book store Rize had worked at to find both the book and it's new owner. The CCG, being in charge of national security, had easy access to all kinds of information that would be closed to the public, like the hospital's records. Even if they resisted, well, the CCG had hackers. Of course, the name of the boy had not been given to him. Only the higher ups knew the details. He was only told thing for his missions on a need-to-know basis. All he needed to know for this was what the boy looked like. They didn't even give him the boy's address, leaving it to him to figure out. Fortunately, he was pretty skilled at that. He just needed to follow the kid back to wherever he lived, then break in. After that, the CCG had decided it would be too much hassle if the kid lived, so he was going to kill him and take the book. It's not like he would be too difficult to kill anyway. He looked like a uni student, and a nerdy one at that. The CCG would probably pin the blame for his murder on a local homeless person. That was the usual method. Kaneki turned the last corner before his building complex. He sighed deeply, ready to flop down on his bed and read his book. He was pretty sure there wasn't any homework due tomorrow anyway. Pulling his key out of his back pocket he unlocked the door. He walked through his flat, avoiding the stacks of books and schoolwork scattered haphazardly around the place. Pausing in the kitchen to get a snack, he made his way into his room. He lay down on his stomach on his bed, propping the book up on the pillows. He sighed again, crossing his ankles. The book was starting to annoy him. It was good, sure, but it just didn't live up to the expectations. He briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the weird comment Rize had made when he picked it out.

"Ooh, this is a good book! I've read it before, of course, but I'm pretty sure this is a special edition of this book, so it might be a bit different."

He sighed and shook his head. Here he was, thinking about the words of a crazy girl just because his book wasn't as good as he had hoped. Like, what, did he think his book was a cheap knock-off not even written by the original author that was only meant to be an imitation to hide whatever secret Rize seemed to think it might contain? Kaneki suddenly heard a loud bang from the front of his door. He heard the door hit against the wall and heavy footsteps enter. What was going on? His heart began to race wildly and he felt his vision shift behind the eyepatch. Pulling it off, he looked towards the door, hoping that his eye could see through walls and maybe give him an idea of what was going on. Unfortunately, it couldn't. He froze and backed up against the wall, waiting as the footsteps drew nearer. Finally, the intruder was in the kitchen. Kaneki carefully peeked out around the doorway, hoping they wouldn't see him. The man in his kitchen looked like a normal person, a cold expression on his face as he spotted Kaneki. He advanced on the scared boy, pulling a gun from his pocket.

"Sorry, kid. The CCG needs that book of yours and we can't exactly leave you alive."

Kaneki whimpered in fear and pressed himself farther into the wall as the barrel of the gun alined itself with his heart. Weren't the CCG the good guys? Aren't they the ones protecting us? The man suddenly was thrown to the side by a punch that came from the kitchen. Another man stepped out into the room. Kaneki blinked in surprise. It was the guy from the video earlier. There was no way he could ever forget that purple hair. The man grinned, looking at his fist. It was bloody from hitting Kaneki's assailant.

"Are you okay?"

Kaneki blurted out. It then, of course, occurred to him that the newcomer could just as easily be trying to kill him also. The purple haired man glanced down at his hand.

"Oh, I'm fine. This is his blood."

The man gestured to the assailant, who lay crumpled in a heap on Kaneki's floor. The man staggered to his feet, glaring at the other. A nasty looking gash was on the side of his head. Kaneki stared at the wound. How on earth had the purple haired man managed to do that much damage with one hit?

"Who the hell are you?"

The man growled, clutching his head. The purple haired man grinned brightly and showed his fist to the other.

"I'm Tsukiyama."

Tsukiyama shifted his hand slightly and Kaneki saw something catch the light. It looked like... his knuckles were made of metal? Judging by the other man's expression Kaneki guessed he had seen the same thing. Looking closer, Kaneki realised that was exactly the case. The force of Tsukiyama's punch had ripped the skin over his knuckles, but instead of bone, he had metal poking out. Tsukiyama flexed his hand, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the blood off his hand. It wasn't bleeding at all. Kaneki's eyes widened as he realised the bone structure of the hand must be entirely metal, which would explain why he could do so much damage with just one hit while not taking any himself as well as why he was helping in the first place. He must be one of the rebels who had mechanised body parts.

"What do you guys even want with me?"

Kaneki asked, his voice shaking.

"I told you, I'm going to kill you. And this pathetic rebel. I might get a bonus for him. I need that book you got from the other bitch, Kamashiro."

The thug growled. Tsukiyama sighed.

"Oui, you have a book of much importance, mon cher. So I think I will deal with this man first before I deal with you."

Kaneki blinked uncertainly. The word choice of Tsukiyama left it kind of ambiguous.

"Before I deal with you."

In this situation that could hint at violence, but it was said with such a cheery tone Kaneki couldn't tell if he was trying to be nice or if he was just flat-out insane. Or maybe both. Either way, he made sure to move as far back along the wall as possible. If this kept up, Kaneki might seriously just fuse with the wall. The thug got back up, hoisting his gun and taking a loose aim at Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama frowned and squinted at the gun. Kaneki gasped as the color of his eyes changed. The white gained a grey steely glint and the irises shone a mechanical red. The same as Kaneki's left eye! Tsukiyama then put his hands up, palms facing outward as though it would stop the bullet. When the man fired, Kaneki looked away, expecting to be splattered with blood and then killed. Instead, however, all he heard was a dull clang of metal on metal. Looking back up, he realised that Tuskiyama's hands, which both had the metal bones, had stopped the bullet in its tracks. Tsukiyama had used his eye to determine exactly where the bullet would hit when fired and then blocked it accurately and easily. The tug seemed to realise this too, albeit several shots later. He grimaced and turned his gun on Kaneki, only to have Tsukiyama immediately jump in front of him. Tsukiyama head on charged the assailant, pulling his fist back to deliver a crushing blow. The man flinched away and tried to block. Unfortunately for him, steel is much stronger than bone and a sickening double crack was heard as Tsukiyama's fists collided with the man's arms. The man whimpered in pain and his arms fell limplt to his sides. Tsukiyama raised his hands and brought them down in a double chop onto of his head, splitting it easily. It made a sickening sound, like the hollow crunch of an overripe melon. Kaneki felt his stomach lurch at the sight of the man's brain peeking out of the top of his skull. He felt his vison start to get hazy and he sank to his knees with a groan, praying to any powers out there that he wouldn't throw up his lunch. His vision got hazier and hazier as he slid down to the floor. He felt his eyes drift shut and tried to fight off the urge to sleep, but to no avail. His body relaxing, he slumped on the floor, out cold. Tsukiyama noticed him faint and smiled to himself. Poor kid. He had certainly had a wild day today, huh? Tsukiyama excused himself to use the bathroom to wash his hands of the man's blood. He then opened the window in the living room and dumped the body outside, giggling at the splat noise it made as it hit the pavement.