Kaneki Adjusting

I return once more, and bearing good news! Since this is chapter 10, this will be the last chapter for probably a week or so, as I turn my attention back to my other stories. Leviathan will be updated twice, Backup Plan and Xenomorphic once, that way they're all kept at an even 21 chapters each.

Chapter 10 right now will cover episodes 3 and 4 of the anime, so that kind of gives you an idea of what to expect, but Percy's here too, so that gives you an idea of what not to expect.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or PJO

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"There's one thing to keep in mind: Anteiku is more than just a regular coffee house. It's a place for the Ghouls of the 20th ward to come together, a safe haven of sorts. Though there will be times when human customers come in as well, just as you and Hide did," Yoshimura said to Kaneki.

"B-but…I thought that Ghouls were supposed to hide themselves from the world? Why are we still serving humans?"

"Because we need to study them. Learn how to blend in to their society. When it comes down to it, humans are like living textbooks to us Ghouls. That said, I suppose the simplest answer is that I like them," Yoshimura said with a warm smile.

"Oh."

"Okay. Do you think you're ready to go downstairs and give Percy and Touka a hand?"

"Uh…yes sir."

Kaneki walked down the interior stairs of Anteiku, wondering just how exactly Yoshimura 'liked' humans. When he opened the door to the coffee house, he saw Touka at the cash register, and Hide talking to Percy.

"Wha-? Hide?" Kaneki said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Kaneki! Isn't it obvious? I'm here to thank Percy, since he was the one that found us after the accident," Hide said cheerily. Kaneki blinked, but when he briefly caught Touka's eye, he realized that the 'accident' was the cover story behind the fight with Nishio.

"Oh, yeah. The accident…"

"I guess he hasn't completely recovered yet," Touka said with a grin.

Hide seemed to accept that. "So buddy, how ya feelin'?"

Kaneki smiled. "Better now. This place has really helped me out."

"Well I'm glad. I heard Nishio is still in the hospital. We're lucky you found us when you did, Percy, or we would've had more than a few scrapes and scratches." The boy beamed, his eyes closing.

"Thanks again!" Hide called as he left Anteiku. After he was gone, Touka's cheery smile fell, replaced with a grim look. "Watch yourself around that guy, Kaneki. If he ever finds out about us, I'll have to kill him on the spot."

"But Touka-!"

"He already knows," Percy chirped.

"He what!?" The bell tingled, and Touka's switch was instantly flipped. "Hi! Welcome to Ant-Ryouko!"

"Hello, Touka, Percy."

Two females, clearly mother and daughter, walked in, soaking wet. Both ladies looked downtrodden, depressed, and haunted. Kaneki wondered what had happened to them, and in his thoughts, he almost missed Touka telling him to get some towels.

"I got it," Percy said, uncharacteristically serious. He placed his hands on either of the females, and suddenly, they were both dry. Only Touka seemed to realize what had just happened. The woman recovered, "Thank you, Percy. Come on, Hinami." They disappeared up the stairs.

"Are they Ghouls too?" Kaneki asked.

"That's Mrs. Fueguchi and her daughter, Hinami. We'll be looking after them for a while," Touka said.

"So, um…why are they here?"

"I'd tell you, but it'd take too long to explain." Before Kaneki could plead his case, Touka rounded on Percy, who had a strangely dark look on his face, before it cleared up. "And what did you mean by 'he already knows'!?"

Percy giggled mischievously. "Yesterday, when the Ancient One and Kaneki were talking up in Hide's room, and the Ancient One offered Kaneki a job here, Hide was awake and heard every single thing they said. So Hide knows that we're all Ghouls, and he hasn't told anybody yet."

Touka's mouth set into a squiggly line, her visible eye twitched, and her hair had somehow become frazzled. Kaneki's mouth was hanging open. Hide knew!? And he hadn't told anyone!? Was Hide going to sell Anteiku out!?

"I'm going to kill him," Touka began to storm to the door, but Percy appeared in front of it, arms wide. "No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am"

"No you're not."

"Move Percy! He'll rat us eventually, and you know that's something we can't have!"

"No he won't."

"What makes you so sure!?" Touka outraged.

"Hide is a good friend," Percy said simply.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, at the CCG

"This map shows the current status of the 11th ward. As you can see, they're starting to demonstrate organized movement. I hate to say it, but I think it's only a matter of time before we have a war on our hands. Well that's all I've got. I don't suppose anyone else has something to report?" Itsuki Marude finished.

An Investigator raised his hand, and stood up.

"Koutarou Amon. Detective First Class. I'll start with this," the Investigator pressed some buttons, and an image of the device that Mr. Mado found earlier came up on the big screen.

"I'm sure that everyone here is aware that three months ago, the 13th ward's Jason came into contact with an S-rated binge eater from the 20th ward. This was left behind at the crime scene." The image got bigger.

"And may I ask what this is?" Marude asked.

"We believe it's a Ghoul medical apparatus. That may sound far-fetched, but we analyzed it, and discovered it was made of Quinque steel."

"Oh really?"

"While Jason's objective is currently unknown, there is one thing we do know: ever since his meeting with the S-rated binge eater, all occurrences of binge predation gave ceased." Amon sat back down, his report finished.

"It sound like there's something smoldering in the 20th ward. I can see why you were head of the class at the academy, detective. Aren't you lucky, Mado? I'm sure having such a brilliant partner allows you more time to play with your toys," Marude poked.

"Yeah, yeah lucky me," Mado drawled. "I don't mean to be rude, but do you think we could hurry and wrap this up? I can think of a million more productive ways to use my time."

Marude leaned on his fist, elbow propped on the table he was sitting at. "I'd throw you out if you weren't such a good Investigator. Alright Mado and Amon; I'm putting you in charge of the 20th ward, understood?"

"Yes sir!" Amon replied.

Marude turned serious, "I want you two to be careful down there. The 20th ward is where the Kraken resides, and you can bet your ass you'll run into him."

"Oh come now," Mado waved off. "All the Kraken does is break some Quinques and a few bones. Hardly worth considering a threat."

"Even so," Marude's voice raised. "I can't help find it unsettling that the Ghouls of this once quiet ward are suddenly becoming active, and I fear it's a harbinger of things to come, but we cannot lose sight of our purpose here at CCG. It's our sworn duty to drive every last Ghoul out of Tokyo. No matter what trials we face in the future, that will always be our top priority! So let's get focused and get to it!"

"Yes sir!"

"This meeting is now adjourned. Dismissed!"

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Later that night

"So, Mr. Yomo…what exactly does 'food shopping' mean?" Kaneki asked nervously. Mr. Yoshimura had asked the eye-patch to go on this trip with the white-haired man, Yomo, and Percy had tagged along because he wanted to. Of course, that wasn't the real reason the young Ghoul was sitting in the backseat; he didn't want to see his mother the way she was.

Ms. Sally was getting worse, and Percy was getting scared. He was here to try and take his mind off of that.

Yomo remained silent. Percy suddenly threw his arms around the man from behind, making the car swerve a little. "Aw come on Uncle Yomo!" the boy whined. "You don't have to be a stick in the mud! Tell Kaneki where we're going!"

"Get off of me, or no blue coffee for a week."

Percy gasped, and slammed himself back into his seat.

Kaneki swore he saw a small smirk of victory on the stoic man's face, but then he blinked, and Yomo's face was back to looking like stone again.

A few minutes later, the trio of Ghouls had left Tokyo, and were making their way through the mountain. Eventually, they came across a stretch of road that ran along a cliff, and soon after found a parked car next to the guardrail. Yomo parked behind it, shut off the van, and uttered two words, "Get out."

Everyone did just that.

Kaneki leaned against the rail. "Whoa…we're so high up…"

Percy saw what he was doing and panicked, "Kaneki! Don't lean on that! You'll-!"

CREEEEEAK

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"…fall," Percy finished lamely, sweatdropping with a twitching eye.

Kaneki's survival instincts kicked in, and his kagune lashed out, digging into the cliffside and slowing his momentum. It wasn't enough to completely cushion his fall, but it dead prevent his insides from splattering everywhere. He sat up, examining his body with wonder. "I'm alive…"

"TALLY-HO!"

Kaneki looked up at the outcry, and his eye widened when Percy's butt promptly sat on it with force garnered from falling from probably 100 feet up. Kaneki's arms flailed wildly, until Percy got up. Kaneki gasped for breath. "How-why-seriously? You sat on my face!"

"Oh stop you're whining. If I was a girl, you would've enjoyed it," Percy grinned with his eyes closed.

Yomo hopped down from above. "If you had sat on Kaneki's face as a girl, Touka would flay him alive." The Raven dropped the blue travel bag by Kaneki's feet. "Pack him up."

Kaneki blinked. "'Pack him up…' Pack who up?" then he saw the dead body about ten feet away, and screamed loud enough to make Percy sway. Damned hyper-hearing. Aunt Kaya had taught him how to use his hearing to track multiple targets at once, but the downside was that loud sounds had an extremely adverse effect on the equilibrium.

"Jeez, Kaneki. It's a dead body, not a zombie."

"People die here a lot," Yomo said. "For whatever reason, they come to this spot to give up their lives."

"You mean that…the Ghouls at Anteiku eat suicide victims?"

"Better than hunting down some poor human, and ruining a family with our own hands, wouldn't you say?" Percy shrugged. He grabbed the blue bag and walked over to the corpse. What happened next made Kaneki throw up.

"Alright, we need to compress him so he fits…so the legs need to be…" CRACK SCRICK…"broken at the knees…and the arms need to be…" SCRACK SCLICK…"broken at the elbow…and the head…there's not much the head offers…unless you like brains, so…" SQUELCH…"and we throw that away…"

Kaneki leaned over, and whatever he had in his stomach came flying out. He heard the sound of a zipper being undone, then the rustle of something being moved, then the sound of a zipper being redone.

"All done," Percy chirped, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

Kaneki felt his entire world perspective shift that night. Percy, sweet, innocent, little Percy…had just mutilated a corpse, defiled the dead, and stuffed a person inside of a bag with the same demeanor of one packing a bag with clothes. But the Eyepatch realized something else that night.

The Ghouls at Anteiku ate suicide victims, yes, but that made them scavengers, not hunters. Not murderers. They found already-dead bodies to feed those that didn't/couldn't hunt for themselves. Like Hinami, and Ryouko, probably even Percy (LOL), and…himself.

Yeah. A life with friends, a quiet job, and the lack of guilt over killing somebody for food…yeah, Kaneki could get used to this.

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"Touka, I would like for you and Percy to take Kaneki to get a mask tomorrow," Yoshimura smiled.

"What!? Why can't Percy do it himself? Why do I have to go, too? Tomorrow's my one day off," Touka grumbled.

"Because Kaneki would get lost on his own, and Percy is too young to go to that place without supervision." Bullshit, and both Yoshimura and Touka knew it. Percy could level that entire district. Sally's condition was steadily getting worse. Fever, coughing, barely able to eat anything…it wasn't like they could just take her to a doctor, and Mr. Fueguchi was busy right now with other issues.

"Because you liiiiiiike him," Percy cooed from behind the bar.

"What!?"

Kaneki also spluttered.

The youngest Ghoul whipped a book out from behind. 101 Ways to Tell if a Girl Likes You. Percy flipped through a bunch of pages, "Ah! Here it is. 'One way a girl shows attraction to a boy she likes, is by arguing against someone who suggests that she and the boy of her affection should spend time together. Also, the girl will often use derogatory words to describe the boy she likes. This is called a tsundere complex, and is most displayed between tomboy girls, and shy, quiet boys.'"

Percy snapped the book shut before anyone realized that he wasn't actually reading (the kanji were flying all over the place, dammit) and was just reciting something that sounded believable.

"So Kaneki, do you think Touka's pretty?" Percy asked. Touka huffed, crossing her arms and angling her body away from Kaneki, but her cracked open, and Yoshimura internally cackled alongside Percy at the thickly veiled hope in that lone blue eye. Kaneki spluttered, realizing the trap he was now caught in.

Saying no would get him punched in the face by an angry female Ghoul. Saying yes would get him punched in the face by an embarrassed female Ghoul. Kaneki internally moaned. Such misfortune!

"Um…well, you see-ah," Kaneki stuttered.

"Yes? Spit it out," Percy leered at the poor teenager. Kaneki took a deep breath, and closed his eye. When he opened it again, his optical organ was glazed over with some kind of emotion that Percy didn't recognize.

"I think Touka is a remarkable young woman. She's smart and strong, able to juggle her school life, and you, with almost effortless ease. I believe she has the skills to get into Kamii University, and handle anything that life throws at her."

Percy blinked, forming an O with his mouth. Yoshimura smiled. Touka blushed, "Idiot. J-just be at the station at 2:30 tomorrow, or I'll kill you."

"Caaaaan you feeeeeel the looooove tonight?"

"SHUT UP, PERCY!"

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2:30 P.M.

Next day

Kaneki was waiting at where Touka had told him to, a busy, crowded street, periodically checking his phone to stay on top of the time, wondering where the others were, when something small and light jumped on his back with a joyous shout.

Kaneki stumbled, yelping, before finally righting himself and the unwanted baggage on his back.

"Hey, Kaneki," the grinning visage of Percy appeared in Kaneki's vision. "Um, hi, Percy. Can you please get off of my back, I don't think I'm the best person to give you a piggy-back ride?"

"Nope. You're built like a stick, so this'll be the perfect time for you to start building muscle and stamina."

Kaneki looked at Touka for help, only to find none.

"If you drop him," the Ghoul warned with a narrow eye, "I'll kill you."

Kaneki resigned himself to be his friend's personal vehicle for however long it took to get to the mask shop. Why did they even need masks, anyway?

The walk was a long one, going from the bustling city, all the way to the red-light district. The pristine skyscrapers gave way to old concrete buildings, dressed in graffiti and old paint. Men and women dressed in suits and formal wear gave way to short skirts and saggy pants. Touka took all of this with a bat eyelash, Percy hummed to himself, but Kaneki was able to hear because of the proximity.

Eventually, Touka led them into an alcove on the side of a deserted street down some stairs—where Percy leapt off of Kaneki with a smile only a child could pull off—and opened the door to the HySy Art Studio. Checkered floor of dull-red and white, multiple mannequins adorned with a variety of masks, and glass cases with masks, and masks hanging on the walls, and dull light shining dimly above.

It seemed like a rather dreary place.

"We're here, Uta!" Percy practically sang. No answer. "You aren't sleeping on the job are you?"

The three looked around, Kaneki creeped out by the masks, Touka's eyes darting around to see if something caught her eye, and Percy seemed to be in a candy store. Kaneki moved over to the mannequin that was covered in a cloth, curious to see what was underneath.

He lifted the white sheet, and a blazing kakugan stared at him. "Boo."

The Eyepatch fell on his ass with a squeal. Percy cackled, and Touka smiled tiredly at the mask-maker crouching on the stool. "What are you doing, Uta?"

"Everyone needs a good scare now and then," the Ghoul answered.

"Hey, Uta!" Percy called from elsewhere in the shop.

"Ah, well hello there, Persia. I trust the mask I made for you is still in good shape?"

Percy's face fell. Touka giggled quietly. Kaneki was thoroughly confused. "It's Percy," the Ghoul grumbled. "But yeah; the mask is still going strong."

Kaneki leaned over to whisper in Touka's ear. "Who's Persia?"

Touka leaned over. "That's what we call Percy whenever I make him cross-dress. I showed some pictures to Uta, and he's always used Persia sense."

"Cross-dress?"

"Long story. I might tell you later," Touka then cleared her throat. "Kaneki, this is Uta. He'll be making your mask for you."

"Hello. I'm Uta."

"I-I'm Kaneki-"

Uta leaned in and started sniffing the half-breed. "You smell strange for a Ghoul." Kaneki leaned away, but the mask-maker grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. "I've heard the Doves are on the prowl. Shame, this used to be such a quiet ward, too." He turned his red and black eyes to Percy, who was busy trying on different masks. "You've been gone for quite some time, so I know you aren't the cause of this stirring. Perhaps it was Rize, or Tsukiyama; the Gourmet seems to be getting bolder recently."

"Pardon me, but…is the 20th ward better than the others? I wouldn't know."

"Oh just try living somewhere else for a bit," Uta's eyes got bigger. "You can spend the night here if you like. Might even see some cannibalism. That's always fun."

"I-I think I'll pass, thanks."

Uta let go of Kaneki's shirt. "Sit over there, and I'll take your measurements."

Kaneki did as he was told, and Uta pulled out a large sketch pad, and began asking question after question. Most of the answers were no, but one question almost made Kaneki fall off the stool.

"Do you see Percy as good breeding material?"

Kaneki choked on his saliva. "Hell no!"

Uta scribbled something down. "Nice, nice, because Touka would kill you if you said yes."

"Everything okay over there?"

"Yes, Persia. Go back to being a fashion model."

"Stop calling me that!"

Uta casually squatted down, a mask sailing over his head and shattering against the wall. "You'd better be able to pay for that; it was one of my favorites."

"Bite me!" CRUNCH. "Ow! Touka!"

"What? You told me to."

"No I didn't! It was a figure of speech!"

"Whatever. Hey, try on this princess mask. It just matches perfectly with your personality, Persia."

"Fuck you!"

SMACK "Language. Little girls are not allowed to use such filthy words."

"ROAR!"

"Are they always like that?" Kaneki asked in disbelief.

"No," Uta said as wrapped a tape-measure around the teenager's head. "Usually they're a lot more toned down, but I suspect that with the Death Angel being the way she is now, Touka is doing everything she can to distract her baby brother from reality at the moment."

"Huh? Death Angel? Baby brother?"

"Oh, you don't know? Sally was once a SS-rated Ghoul known as the Death Angel, who led a gang called the Angels of Death, about thirteen years ago. She held the 20th ward in an iron grip for eighteen months, occasionally butting heads with some rival gangs."

"Woah. And that's Percy's mom?"

"Yep, and no, Touka is not Sally's daughter, niece, cousin, or anything really. It's just that Percy and Touka have been with each other for so long now, they've gone on to fit the roles of 'doting, overprotective big sister' and 'childish, cute little brother' perfectly."

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Leaving HySy Art Studios, Percy saw that the sun was almost gone, shared a look with Touka. The Rabbit saw the look in her brother's eyes, and sighed. She got down on one knee, and placed a hand on top of Percy's hair. "Just promise me you'll be careful, alright?"

Percy just grinned. Touka found it infectious, and grinned as well. She ruffled his hair a bit, before pecking his forehead. "I love you, bro."

"Love you too, sis!"

Then the Kraken was off, zigzagging between the sides of the buildings, disappearing over a rooftop to parts unknown.

Kaneki was trying to make sense of what just happened. "Where did he just go?"

"None of your business." Touka was back to being cold again. "Let's go. With the Doves snooping around, it's not safe. And I'm not going to get caught out here with you as my wingman…or wingbitch in this case."

The insult was just enough to take Kaneki's mind off of why Touka was letting Percy roam free when she just said it wasn't safe.

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Meanwhile, in an alley

"Let's go, Amon. We'll check in another alley." Mado said, after cutting down a couple of Ghouls.

"Yes, sir." Koutarou said.

However, as they turned around, they saw that a Ghoul dressed in all-black had alighted atop of the pipe running across the alley. This Ghoul had a certain mask, cut to look almost like coral with a couple of eyeholes. Amon felt his pulse increase from fear and nervousness, while Mado's pupils dilated from exhilaration. "Well…if it isn't the Kraken! And where have you been for the past four months?"

"What do you two think you're doing, screwing around in my ward?"

Amon looked to his mentor for instructions, and Mado waved his hand forward. "Show him the thing, Amon. He might be able to help us."

Amon had long ago realized not to question his mentor's insane ways, quirks, and mannerisms, and pulled out the evidence. "Have you ever seen something like this before?"

The Kraken cocked his head, and Amon clenched his Quinque case a little tighter.

"Yeah. I've seen something like that before. Now why are you asking about it?"

"We believe that it has some connection to Jason, who we believe is somewhere in the 20th ward."

"Jason? As in the 13th ward's Jason?"

"That's correct."

"So you believe that the S-rated Jason is somewhere in my ward, and I've allowed someone like that monster to roam freely? Here's a theory: Jason was only here for the Binge Eater, and now that I've killed the Binge Eater, he's up and left for another ward." The Kraken stood up, easily balancing on the pipe. "I'll give you one warning. Leave my ward, take your investigation elsewhere, or I'll come after you."

The Kraken leapt off the pipe, zooming over the rooftops and into the night.

Amon let loose a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He put the evidence back into his interior pocket. "So…that was the S-rated Kraken? What was that all about, Mr. Mado?"

The Investigator started walking away. "Kraken fancies himself somewhat of a vigilante around these parts. As laughable as that is, he has a track record of fighting off Investigators who are fighting Ghouls, and putting down some of his own species who are causing trouble."

"Do you really think he killed the Binge Eater, sir?"

"Oh, he most likely did. The amount of attention the Binge Eater was attracting probably forced his hand. I also believe that he's just finding out about Jason being in town, which raises the question of where in the hell he's been recently."

"What do we do now, sir?"

"We take a quick break in our Investigation. Now that Kraken has a scent, you can be sure that he'll be looking for Jason, too. The amount of noise that'll make will undoubtedly lead us to our target, and once the dust settles, you and I will finish off whichever is left standing, and add two new Quinques to the armory."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning

Everything was running smoothly at Anteiku. Percy, Touka, and Kaneki were handling tables, while Kaya and Enji handled the bar. Hinami and Ryouko entered, "Good morning everyone! I hope you all have a great day!"

"Hinami!" Percy zoomed forward at inhuman speed, and the Ghoul-girl's eyes lit up, "Percy!"

One collided into the other in a monstrous hug. Everyone smiled at the cute little display, while Kaneki was highly confused. Just how many people did Percy know!?

"Alright you two, that's enough. You can play together later. Percy, you have work. Hinami, you have your studies. Come along now," Mrs. Fueguchi smiled. The children disentangled with a pout, and the ladies disappeared up the stairs.

Then the good mood was ruined when Percy's nose detected a scent that made want to kill something really bad. The bell tingled, and a man in a red suit with blue hair walked in. The man spread his arms wide, and took a very deep breath, "My, my, what an aroma…"

He stood regularly again, running his hand over his eyes, before holding it out to the side. "All of a sudden I feel…much more relaxed."

Percy's eye twitched. "You have some really big balls, coming into Anteiku, you Gourmet fag."

Touka was too angry to chastise her little brother, as were Enji and Kaya, but Kaneki was once more confused, and a little horrified with Percy's language. You don't just call somebody a fag! That's just so insensitive…

"Oh come now, Percy, it was just an honest mistake, if I had known that the Death Angel was your mother-" Tsukiyama was cut off by the Kraken grabbing him by the lapel, and bringing them almost nose-to-nose.

"You. Tried. To. Eat me!"

The Gourmet chuckled nervously. "All water under the bridge, mon chéri. Now, this is a place of business, not an arena."

"Oh yeah?" Percy curled his free-hand into a fist. "Then how about a knuckle sandwich with a side of foot-in-your-ass, on the house?"

"Easy Percy," Kaya said. "Calm down, and let's see what he wants."

Percy wanted to blow a hole through this asshole's head, but he listened to his Aunt Kaya nonetheless. Tsukiyama coughed as he stood back up, straightening his clothes out. He sniffed a few times, "Is Yoshimura around?"

"No. If that's all you came for, then the door is right behind you."

Tsukiyama ignored Percy, and locked his eyes on Kaneki. "My, who's this sweet morsel?" the Gourmet glided over to the frozen Eyepatch. "You're new here. What's your name?"

"Um…It's Kaneki,"

"Oh?" Tsukiyama leaned in close, taking a whiff. Kaneki freaked out. "Se magnifique."

"Quit smelling him like he's a girl, and either order something, or get the hell out," Percy growled.

"You lack so much tact, mon chéri." Tsukiyama placed a hand on Kaneki's shoulder and leaned in close, his blue eyes narrowed like a serpent's. "I look forward to trying some of your delicious coffee. Give Yoshimura my best."

He sensually slid his hand off of Kaneki's shoulder. Tsukiyama walked out the door, saying some things in fluent French. "Ciao then. So you soon…my sweet Kaneki," he said under his breath as the door shut.

Percy rounded on the Eyepatch, kakugan blazing. "Unless you want to end up as little chunks of seasoned meat all over another Ghoul's plate, you will stay away from Tsukiyama," then he stormed up the stairs.

Kaneki was pale and spasming, caught completely off-guard by the hostility his little friend displayed just now, and his green kakugan. "W-what just h-happened?"

Touka looked worriedly up at the ceiling, before following after Percy. Kaya's eyes darkened, and it was Enji that answered.

"A few years ago, Tsukiyama came in here, and did the exact same thing to Percy as he did to you. We all told Percy to stay away, but he didn't listen. He found out why the hard way. He met up with Tsukiyama later that day, and they got to know each other better. To Percy, Tsukiyama was a nice, caring, individual, so when he invited Percy to dinner, there were no objections.

"See, Tsukiyama is part of a Ghoul sect called the 'Ghoul Restaurant.' It's just a fancy name for a bunch of Ghoul's that think they're high-society, and get a real kick out kidnapping humans and Ghouls, and putting them in an arena with one executioner or another. Once the human or Ghoul has been killed, the chefs flay up the corpse into a five-star meal, and serve it up."

Kaneki was an interesting shade of green right now.

"That almost happened to Percy, except his mom came barreling through the roof before anything could happen. Percy locked himself in his room for days after that, embarrassed at what had happened, angry at himself, and really upset that he had to be saved. He doesn't like having to be saved."

Kaneki nodded, filing that away for later. Next question: "Why was his kakugan green? I thought every one was supposed to be red."

"Percy's a special case among Ghouls, and that's as much as you're going to get out of me, greenhorn. So if you want to find out, I suggest you ask Percy yourself, just don't expect anything positive; he's pissed off right now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few days later

Kaneki really hated the fact that he was a real gullible guy. Against all warning and advice, he had fallen for Tsukiyama's ruse, and now he was about to be flayed alive by some fatass by the name of 'Little Taro.' A misnomer if there ever was one.

Kaneki had managed to draw out his kakugan, increasing his strength enough to where he was able to land a solid blow to the behemoth's chin, but that was the extent to his power. The drugs in his body prevented him from using his kagune, and he was so tired right now.

He looked up, seeing Taro raise his oversized saw/cleaver blade high.

'Percy…I'm sorry I didn't listen to you…'

BOOM

A blur ripped through the domed ceiling, crashing down behind the mutant man…who split in half with a shower of blood. The crimson liquid washed over Kaneki like a flood, making the half-breed queasy. The last thing he saw before he fainted like a bitch, was a boy dressed in an all-black ensemble, with a coral-like mask on his face…

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The Kraken slowly swiveled his head around, taking in the terrified visage's of all the 'high-society' Ghouls. He heard the things they whispered, and it almost filled him with savage glee. Almost.

"The Kraken…"

"Guardian of the 20th ward…"

"S-rated…"

"Why's he here…?"

"What's going to happen here is simple: Kaneki leaves with me, all of you go back to your pathetic lives, and delusions. Failure to do so will result in you being my next meal, got it?" His distorted voice carried all over the restaurant, heard by all. A black-and-green tentacle slid out from under his jacket, and tenderly wrapped around Kaneki's unconscious body.

The Kraken stared at the open-mouthed form of the Gourmet. "If you come after this boy, Tsukiyama, I will devour you."

Then the Ghoul was gone in a blur.

As the others scrambled away in terror like cockroaches under a rock, Tsukiyama's teeth grinded together, the lone eyehole in his mask shrouding his eye in shadow. 'Damn you, Percy! Your damnable mother robbed me of you, and now you've robbed me of Kaneki! You will pay—I'll make you pay! Just wait and see, boy, just you wait and see…'

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OOOO, ominous, very ominous. As promised, episodes 3 and 4 of the anime.

Also as promised, this will be the last chapter for awhile, as I'll be working on my other stories. Fret not, however, as we're all aware that when I push myself I can crank out almost daily chapters, so I'll probably be back on this by next week.

Fav, Follow, and Review!