Tokyo Ghoul:reBIRTH
The first thing Ken Kaneki noticed when he woke up was a rather heavy feeling on his chest, and the strange unfamiliar, yet comfortable warmth that enveloped his being. He blinked rapidly as he opened his eyes, trying to get adjusted to the light. "Mnrgh... Where..." he wondered aloud as he looked around. It appeared to be some kind of luxury suite, judging from all the expensive furniture lying around. Perhaps he was in a hotel?
Looking down, he saw that, until reaching below his shoulders, a black blanket covered him, and a familiar mass of green hair was laid atop his head, resting on a pair of slender arms. "T-Tooru?" Kaneki stuttered as he slowly lifted himself up, not wanting to wake the young boy. Despite being a woman, she requested that she be treated as a man, so he abided by her request. 'Wait, where's Ginshi?' he wondered, looking around as he noticed the blonde's presence was not among them. 'More importantly, how did I wind up here?'
"Finally awake, are we?"
Kaneki's eyes widened when the door opened to reveal a rather familiar looking man. After all, it was rather hard to forget someone you had just nearly killed... twice. "N-Nishio-senpai!" Kaneki cried out in relief. Unfortunately, this action caused Tooru to begin stirring from his sleep, evident by the small movements in his head. "S-Sasaki... senpai...?" he muttered sleepily as he lifted his head, rubbing his left eye to get rid of the gunk.
"You're friend's pretty dedicated." Nishiki grinned as he walked over to him, Ginshi following out from the door behind him. "He's been at your side since we brought you here."
"Eh?" Kaneki blinked, clearly not expecting that. In all honesty, he couldn't remember how he-
C-centipedes... crawling... in my ears...!
Memories snapped back into his head, a familiar pair of demonic tentacles resembling centipedes lashing around. "...What the hell did I do?" he muttered, rubbing his temples as he felt a dull pain from his head. "It's so fuzzy... I can't remember anything from after..."
"After you nearly killed me again?" Nishiki asked, earning a nod from his half-Ghoul friend. "Well, apparently, from what I understand, you went crazy with your Kakuja and took on two Top-Class Doves and three Second Class Doves, one of them being one of your subordinates, apparently, and I quote in the words of Ginshi-kun over here, 'A self-centered asshole with a stick rammed up his ass'."
Kaneki sweat-dropped, chuckling nervously. 'That's a pretty harsh way to describe Urie, Ginshi...' he thought before Nishiki continued. "And after that, CCG decided it was time to get rid of you, but looks like you got two loyal friends who risked their necks out for you." A smile spread across his face. "Seriously, you really a pain in the ass, no matter where you go, huh Kaneki?"
"H-hey..." Kaneki weakly tried to argue, scratching the back of his head. "Not my fault I'm cursed with bad luck."
"Kaneki?" Tooru repeated, tilting his head. Ginshi also looked confused as he looked at his teacher. "Is that a nickname of yours, Sas-san?"
"Er, no... that's my real name." Kaneki tried to explain to them the best that he could, despite the small gaps in his memory. "Haise Sasaki was just the name CCG gave me. My real name is Ken Kaneki. Nice to meet you all... again."
"So then..." the green-haired Quinx thought deeply, crossing his arms over his chest alongside Ginshi, though what they were thinking about was beyond him. "...Kaneki-senpai?"
"Ken-ken?"
Nishiki tried to stiffle his laughter, but was failing horribly. Kaneki sweat-dropped again, his eyebrow twitching, though it was mostly at Ginshi's attempt to make a new nickname for him. "You know, you can just stick with what you've been calling me up until now, okay?"
"Sounds easier." Ginshi agreed. "I mean, we've practically known you as Haise Sasaki for most of our lives, so..."
"Mm!" Tooru nodded his head, smiling in agreement.
"So..." the One-Eyed Ghoul said as he looked over at Nishiki, their faces turning serious. "What have I been missing the last two years?"
"After the battle in the 20th Ward, the whole group's been broken apart."
Nishiki informed the Quinx, who were new to the group, about what they had been doing before all of this, even about events that he had not been present for, such as the murders of Hinami's parents. He also brewed up some coffee for them to drink, handing out mugs as he explained the current situation.
"I haven't seen the manager around yet, but I'll take a guess and say he's not in Cochlea?" Nishiki asked as he handed a black mug to Kaneki.
The former Investigator nodded. "After the Owl Supression Task Force learned about the existence of both Yoshimura-san and the One-Eyed Owl, he was designated as the Non-Killing Owl. According to the reports that were delivered by Special Class Investigator Arima, the One-Eyed Owl devoured Yoshimura-san."
"Meaning, he's either dead or captured." Tooru said, following their conversation. "But, if it is the latter... what would Aogiri want with him?"
"Yoshimura-san is one of the only two SSS-Rated Ghouls on record. Aogiri must have some sort of interest in him. Either that, or the One-Eyed Owl wanted to rescue him and regurgitated him somewhere else."
'Though I hardly doubt that's the case.' Kaneki added mentally.
"So, what about Banjou-san and his group?" he asked Nishiki.
Unfortunately, the man sighed. "I've got no idea. They've dropped off the radar. Either they're lying low, or they don't want to be found. Either way, they're missing, but I do know they're alive... to an extent." Kaneki sighed, at least happy to know Banjou and his friends were alright. Even still, he was slightly worried about what was happening in the world.
"Anyway," Nishiki continued. "Touka and Yomo are doing fine, they're actually working at a coffee shop in the 1st Ward, and it pretty much acts the same as Anteiku." Kaneki couldn't help but smile, both in nostalgia and in relief. "Oh, and Touka wanted me to tell you that she was going to kick your ass when she sees you."
Almost instantly, that relief suddenly turned to fear as Kaneki started to shake, his body trembling and his face sweating profusely. "W-what?!" he cried in panic, sinking into his seat. "Why?! What did I do?!"
"Oh, I dunno..." Nishiki said sarcastically, shrugging his shoulders. "Didn't tell us you were alive and kicking in the last two years? I mean, seriously, we heard you met CCG's Reaper. Speaking of which, how the hell did you survive? Last I heard, any Ghoul that met that scary son of a bitch winded up six feet under."
That was a question Kaneki had no answer to. His mind had been so fragile, so broken from the revelation that Uta, one of the people he had come to trust and see as a dear friend, had been the one to set him up. Uta had done this to him, he and whoever else was involved were the ones responsible for turning him into an artificial One-Eyed Ghoul. On one hand, he hated Uta, but at the same time, thankful. After all, if they hadn't dropped those steel beams atop Rize, then he would probably be eaten alive.
Even still...
"I don't know." Kaneki confessed, looking down into his mug. "The last thing I remember about that fight was Arima-san stabbing out both of my eyes. Everything after that is just a blank. The last thing I remember after that is waking up in CCG's medical ward..."
'...as Haise Sasaki.'
"Well, just give it some time." Nishiki advised as he took a swift drink of his coffee before continuing. "Tsukiyama as seen better days, that's really I can really put it. Ever since you left to stop all that fighting in the 20th Ward, he's been a helluva wreck. Hell, I don't think he even knows you're alive."
"I still don't get why you let someone creepy fucker like that join your group, Sas-san." Ginshi said, scowling. "I mean, didn't this bastard try to eat you while you were eating Nishiki-san's girlfriend like he wanted you to?"
"Hey, Tsukiyama isn't THAT bad a person!" Kaneki tried to argue for his friend's sanity and preferences.
He was met with intense stares and silence.
"...Okay, maybe he is a bit creepy, but he is trustworthy to an extent."
"Whatever." Nishiki sighed as he continued. "Anyway, don't ask me why, but his servant, Kanae or whatever the hell is name is, he really doesn't like you very much."
"Oh come on!" Kaneki complained, throwing his arms into the air. "What did I do to piss someone off this time?!"
"I don't know the full story, but from what I know from this chick named Chie..."
("Chie?" Ginshi whispered, his eyes narrowing as a hand came to his chin. "Wait, ain't she the chick that wanted Sas-san's underpants?")
"Kanae blames you for the Gourmet's current condition."
("Eh?!" Tooru's eyes widened, his cheeks burning red in embarrassment. "W-why would she want the underwear of someone she's never met?!")
Kaneki sighed. "So he hates me for making Tsukiyama for the way he is now..." he surmised, earning a nod. "Wonderful..."
("Beats the hell outta me!" Ginshi whispered back. "She said it was for her role model, or whoever the hell wanted it!")
"So... what about Hinami?"
At the mention of the name, Nishiki's body became cold, and the grip on his mug became tight like a vice.
"Nishio-senpai..." Kaneki pressed, anxiety beginning to grow alongside his fear. "What about Hinami-chan?"
There was still no answer. It was nothing but silence until Nishiki sighed heavily. "Hinami-chan... is a member of Aogiri Tree."
Hinami-chan... is a member of Aogiri Tree.
The words fell upon Kaneki like a sack of bricks, the weight hitting him full on. His eyes became wide, disbelief and shock washing over him. No... that... that was impossible. Hinami-chan was so sweet, she could never hurt a fly! There would be no way she would join Aogiri! There was just no way she would!
She would never...
"From what I know about the bastards I kicked the shit out of..." Nishiki continued, seeing Kaneki's obvious distress. "She's an executive, gathering information and using intelligence to benefit them. She's often working with Touka's shitty brother, Ayato."
'Ayato...' Kaneki thought, his hands shaking as he shook his head. "God dammit..." he muttered, unable to believe the sudden revelation. 'Hinami-chan... why are you in Aogiri?'
Ginshi and Tooru were beginning to grow uncomfortable with the worry and anxiety, along with the depression that their teacher was displaying, and decided to quickly change the topic. "So, uh, Nishiki-san..." Ginshi said nervously. "Do you know what Aogiri is up to right now?"
"No, unfortunately." Nishiki shook his head. "Although... I did hear from one of their members that apparently they're gonna be playing security detail."
At this, Tooru leaned in, interested. "Security detail?" he asked, curious.
Nishiki nodded. "A couple of weeks from now, there's gonna be an auction taking place. The one who runs the show is a Ghoul called Big Madam, and believe me, she's as sick as they come." The Bikaku Ghoul looked over at Kaneki. "As I understand it... Big Madam has lots of connections. Word on the street is that she has information that CCG wants, and I mean BAD."
Kaneki raised an eyebrow, looking up while wondering what sort of information this Ghoul has. Now that he thought about it, he had heard about her from Tsukiyama at one point in time, one of the ones that provided the Scrappers alongside Madam A. Perhaps the two had a connection?
He momentarily thought back to Hinami. When he thought about it, perhaps it was for the best. Sure, CCG was their enemy, but if Hinami was with someone as strong as Ayato, especially considering his classification now, the chances of her being hurt were low. 'All I can really do is hope she is okay...' he thought sadly.
"...Do you know how we can get into the auction?" Kaneki finally asked, looking at his friend straight in the eye.
Nishiki smiled, seeing the burning resolve he had long thought forgotten in his left eye. "Well, naturally, like any high-class guest, you're gonna need an invitation from the ones running the show, but if you're working with Big Madam's handyman, then that's another story."
"Her handyman?" Ginshi asked curiously. Nishiki nodded. "Nutcracker. She helps select the items that they're selling off. Basically, she runs a human trafficking business, finding the humans that seem the most entertaining or delectable to Ghouls."
"Wait, Nutcracker?" Kaneki frowned almost instantly when he heard the name, a hand coming to his chin as he tried to recall the information hidden away in his head. "I think I recall that name before in an ongoing Investigation report... If I remember right, she earned that particular nickname by crushing her prey's testicles and then drinking the fluids."
"HUH?!" Ginshi cried in shock, his hands instantly moving to his nether regions. Tooru looked vastly disturbed this information, looking a bit green in the face while Nishiki looked amused at their reactions. "Lively bunch, aren't you?"
"If we can get Nutcracker to get us a job inside the auction..." Kaneki said, clasping his hands together as he put his coffee mug down. "...we can get close to Big Madam. If what you're saying is true, then she has access to information that CCG obviously wants, probably related to Aogiri and maybe even the One-Eyed Owl."
"Sounds about right." Nishiki nodded in agreement before smiling. "So, I take it we're busting in?"
Kaneki nodded before a thought came to him. "Well, before that... there's someplace I want to visit."
Nishiki wondered when he was going ask. "Where's the coffee shop that Touka-chan and Yomo-san run?"
-Chapter END (6) Welcome Home-
-Ken Kaneki's Group (re-established)-
Members: Ken Kaneki (Leader), Nishiki Nishio, Ginshi Shirazu, Tooru Mutsuki
