Kaneki's kagune lashed out with a flash of light, but the tall man blocked it with his massive quinque. They both stared at each other with determined eyes. In a blink of an eye, the man swung his barrel from the side, but Kaneki disappeared instantaneously.

Kaneki reappeared on his other side, and tried to outrace his massive opponent, but the man turned around with trained efficiency, and blocked his sudden attack as well.

With his single kakugan emitting a red light, Kaneki pounced on him from the top, all four of his tentacles unpredictable.

The tall man slashed his quinque towards his kagune, but Kaneki blocked it with two of his tentacles, and slashed at him from the top with the others.

ARGHHH! The man coughed out blood as his shoulders were pierced.

Then, gritting his teeth, he flung Kaneki off of him.

"I will not lose with this quinque, because Akira personally enhanced and redesigned it for me. I can't very well let it get destroyed." The tall man murmured to himself through panting breaths, and with a smile, he pressed a button on the handle.

The huge mahogany barrel opened up, and red substances rushed towards the tip, and enclosed his arm. Two massive blades surrounded the handle

"AGHHHHH!" The tall man released a huge battle cry, and sped towards Kaneki.

Kaneki blocked his initial attack with his kagune, but immediately, he saw the man break his handle in two, and attach the broken end beside the handle. With a screech, the quinque split into two blades.

He swung the blades rapidly and precise towards Kaneki, and Kaneki tried to block each attack, but he was losing high ground.

Suddenly, he felt a scorching pain on his kakuhou as he felt two of his tentacles being sliced off.

Kaneki growled in pain, and jumped away.

Both of them were breathing heavily as they clutched heir wounds with their hands.

Kaneki thought of the first time that he met this man. He was crying and begging for the investor to stop, because he didn't want to be a murderer. Sighing, Kaneki realized how similar this man is to him. This man lost his superior, and Kaneki lost his best friend, Hide. They were both furious towards the each other for the loss of a companion.

"I really don't wish to fight you." Kaneki spoke with a bit of sadness.

"I'm afraid... that's impossible." The man replied with a tinge of remorse.

Kaneki looked pensive as he rested his hand on his eyepatch. Then, slowly, he removed it, revealing his right, brown, human eye, and his face.

"May I ask, what is your name?" Kaneki said in a low voice.

The man hesitated.

"Amon. Amon Kotaro." The man spoke in a controlled manner.

Kaneki closed his eyes to remember this name. It was the name of an opponent he respected greatly. It was the name of someone he must fight, in order to protect those he cares about.

They charged at each other again, each with a desperate battle cry.

...

"He really shows no mercy, doesn't he?" The one-eyed-owl said, laying on the ground and breathing hard.

Then, it barfed out an old man from its throat.

The old man was Yoshimura, veritably hurt from his battle with Shinohara, Juuzou, and the other elite ghoul investors.

"Ah... that was disgusting." The one-eyed-owl laughed, and then its body inflated, and popped, revealing the ghoul behind the enormous beast. Bandages floated around the ghoul.

Yoshimura stared at the figure with shock. Ukina?

The face of his wife looked down at him with a devious smile.

It wasn't Ukina. She had sandy blond hair.

"E-Eto..." Yoshimura faintly whispered. She looked like Ukina so much that he confused the two. Her eyes, her body barely wrapped in bandages, her nose, her mouth... Ukina never had that evil smirk on her face. He had never seen his wife look malign.

Then he noticed her eyes. Her left eye was that of a human, yet her right was a flaring kakugan, penetrating him with her gaze of criticism.

"Father~~~" Eto said in a singsong voice as her lips curled up.

Yoshimura was glad. He could at least see his daughter one last time...

... Although he knew that she wasn't here to save him.

...

Piles of blood dripped to the ground from Kaneki's stomach as he crawled his way towards the nearest building.

He tried to stop the bleeding with his hands by pushing them tight, making him grunt in pain.

He glanced one more time at Amon's lifeless body lying behind him, his quinque beside, and sighed.

He slowly pushed himself up with the wall of a building. Leaning against it, he dragged himself towards Anteiku, hoping to see that the others are safe.

After he finished walking a street, he glanced at his surroundings. Piles of corpses lay on the center of the street, both ghouls and man alike. This was clearly one of the main battlegrounds.

Then, suddenly, a barely moving figure caught his eyes.

He looked towards the direction, and saw someone with an ape mask.

Kaneki's heart skipped a beat.

It was Koma.

Kaneki limped towards his body, his other hand clutching his wound.

"Koma-san..." He whispered. Koma lay there unconsciously.

Then, a familiar face rested not a few feet away from him.

"Irimi-san..." His voice trembled.

The Devil Ape and the Black Dog both lay on the ground with a pool of blood around them.

He was too late. He couldn't save them in time.

Kaneki clenched his eyes and gritted his teeth to control his tears.

Then, he released a screech.

It carried infinite sadness, and indescribable hatred towards the gods above. He also loathed himself. Why couldn't he finish the battle with Amon sooner? Maybe if he got here a few minutes ago, he could have saved his two fellow Anteiku workers from the breath of Death.

Looking down again with gritted teeth, he shoved his face inside his hands.

If only he had been stronger...

Suddenly, he heard a giggle come from the building behind him.

That voice was too familiar. It was the voice of the goddess that he longed and desired to hear for several days in that dark room.

Multiple thoughts came at once: some about revenge, others about becoming stronger.

He looked towards the building where he heard the giggle, and he saw the front door open, with one kakugan staring at him from the darkness. Simultaneously, the kakugan disappeared.

Kaneki looked at his dead companions one more time, and began to stumble towards the front door.

It was extremely dark in here, very reminding of his days in the pitch black room.

He heard a small laugh come from his left.

Turning his head that way, he saw a kakugan floating in the air.

Walking closer towards it, he gasped.

It was a petit, attractive, young girl. Her entire body was exposed bare, except for the breasts and the lower areas which were wrapped in bandages. Long, green hair flowed down her back. As green as the trees and grass which sparkled a new beginning. As green as Spring, the season of giving life.

"T-Takatsuki-san?" Kaneki's eyes gazed wide as he saw the face of his favorite author. Memories of his childhood when reading "Dear Kafka" came back to him.

He was so sure that it was Eto, there was no doubt about it. No one else had that peculiar, teasing, giggle.

Kaneki's expression remained stupefied for a few seconds.

They're the same person...

Releasing another giggle, Eto slowly advanced towards him, her body getting closer and closer towards him.

Kaneki tensed.

"Ah... my Kaneki. I've missed you so much, my Kaneki." Eto said softly as she lifted a hand, and rested it on his cheek.

To be continued...