See the end of the chapter for the author's notes in regard to this AU. Thank you, and please enjoy!
Tears trailing down her cheeks, Hinami felt her legs carrying her against her will as the hooded man behind her grabbed tightly at her handcuffs while making sure that the barrel of the revolver he held in his other hand was pressed uncomfortably against the back of her head as he led her into the black van parked just outside her driveway. In the dead of night, the designated-ghoul neighborhood that she and her family inhabited lacked proper streets lights, so Hinami was left terrified with the dread of isolation hovering over her as she got closer to the open back doors of the black van. "G-Get up there, don't make this harder than it needs to be…!" The man ordered from behind her. Before Hinami could begin to get her foot up on the edge of the bed of the van, the shaking hand of the hooded man before her had accidentally jerk forward while trying to assist her into the van; causing her to fall flat down on her face. Laying chest down against the cold metal floor of the van bed in her pajamas, Hinami let out a soft choking sob as she felt the man's gloved hand pick her by the back of her collar before leading her to the van's metal separator that laid just behind the driver and passengers' seats.
Looking up within the dimly lit van, Hinami managed to use her shoulder to brush away her tears away so she could get a better look at the two silhouettes who sat beside her. Blinking away the remainder of her blurry vision, the horrified child felt a what little comfort she could get when the moment she realized that the two silhouettes who were sitting beside her were her father and mother, who had appeared to be tied and bound as well. While her mother, Ryouko had looked worse for wear, it was her father who appeared to have suffered the most out of the three. Pale skinned and falling into and out of consciousness, Asaki Fueguchi struggled to keep himself awake despite the six punctures in his stomach; indicating to Hinami to her dismay that the gunshots she had heard earlier weren't warning shots as she had hoped they were. Judging by the worried look in her mother's eyes and the fact that the bullet wounds weren't healing, Hinami feared that her father's kakuhou had been damaged; the organ of the ghoul that allowed her kind to create predatory extremities as well as being the organ to heal their bodies when damaged. Behind her, the man raised his revolver at the family with a hidden expression of hatred behind his hood that hid his identity. "J-Just stay there, okay?! I-I'll fucking use this thing again, okay?!" The hooded man screamed as he waved his gun at Asaki, who just stared back at him with a calm and weak expression.
Opening his lips, the father let out a small cough before mustering the energy to speak to the clearly shaken up man. "Why… Why are you doing this?" Asaki pondered with a professional manner to his words as he stared the captor into his obscured eyes. Taking on his stance through a professional outlook that the inner doctor in him was capable of rather than that of a pleading father who should have been begging for his family's life, Asaki sat patiently as he watched the man fumble around for his words.
"You… It's because you, God damnit…!" The captor choked out as he raised his free hand up to wipe away the beads of sweat that were drenching his forehead. "Dr. Fueguchi… You were one of the good ghouls… You had your family registered as legal ghouls, you weren't afraid to help both humans and ghouls with your m-medical expertise… Doctor, you were one of the most respected ghouls in your community… SO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FUCK THAT UP!?" The man screamed out in retaliation as he banged the butt of the revolver against the van, which caused the driver of the van to jerk his foot forward and step on the gas. "Shit… Hold on man, let me close the fucking doors first!" The captor announced back in frustration as he quickly reached one hand out to close both van doors while still maintaining the aim of his revolver at Asaki. "… Doctor, you were beginning to show humans that not all ghouls were bad… So, why the hell did you do it…?
Hearing what the man was saying, Ryouko's chocolate eyes conveyed an expression of utter confusion as she turned her head toward her husband's stoic expression while he maintained his gaze toward the grieving captor. "H-Honey, what… What is he talking about…?"
"I believe he's referring to one of my human patients, young Tiffany I believe her name was…" Asaki spoke coldly while ignoring the ever growing look of anxiety that was clearly creeping up on his wife's face while his daughter simply stared at him with her own look of bafflement. "… She was twelve years old, and had been diagnosed with a rare case of cancer, you see; she didn't have any known relatives on record-"
"BULLSHIT!" The captor screamed out as he once again hit the side of the van with an enraged snarl. Resting his hand on the side of the van's interior walls, the hooded man stared down at the floor of the van while trying to catch his breath and compose himself while Ryouko stared wide eyed at him. "She… She was fucking orphan, you monster… Her name was Tiffany… Tiffany Oohasi, and… She… My wife and I spent six months getting her papers ready; getting her room set up for her…!" As he struggled to say his peace to the unnerved ghoul before him, all it took for the captor to finally break down was the mere reminding thought of the young child's face, and the fond memories he and his wife had shared with her during the entire journey towards finally adopting her. No longer able to contain his sorrow, the man began to weep audibly as he raised his hand up to cover his face. "OH GOD…!"
Horrified at what was unraveling before her, Ryouko's bewildered stare once again returned to her husband's unflinching face. "Asaki, what the hell is he talking about… What did you do…?" She spoke quietly before being met with a long drawn out moment of silence as her husband continued to ignore her question. "Asaki, don't you dare ignore me…! Answer me!" Ryouko finally snapped as she barked out over the sound of the man's wailing.
Slowly turning his neck around to face his distraught wife, Asaki's glasses gleamed through the low lighting of the interior of the van as he stared at her with an unbreakable expression that forced a gasp to escape from Ryouko's lips."… A ghoul has his needs, and she wasn't going to live longer than six months." Hearing this, the man let out another wail of angst and more importantly, hatred. "It was a mutual agreement. I spared her the agony of what awaited her, and in exchange she gave me permission to do with her body as I sought fit… Unlike the other humans, she understood the true natural order, and was okay with-"
"-SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The man screamed even louder than before as he waved the barrel of the revolver at Asaki's face. "Who the FUCK agrees to that with a child?!" The captor screamed in a mixture of despair and rage as he gritted his teeth at the still calm and collective ghoul, all the while Ryouko held onto Hinami's curled up small frame as she felt her heart sink to the bottom of her chest.
"A… Asaki, you… You didn't…" Ryouko stumbled forth as she as slowly shook her head at her husband's seemingly apathetic face. Another cold chill ran down her back and up her chest as the image of the man she loved devouring a human child who had trusted him to care for her made the ghoul queasy. "You… You ate a child…? I… I-!" Before another word could escape from her mouth, Ryouko suddenly wretched audibly loud before vomiting onto the floor of the van with a feeling of disgust bubbling down in the bottom of her stomach.
Backing away from her mother after she had vomited, Hinami fumbled to maintain her balance with her cuffs still on her small wrists as she stared wide eyed at her father. Unlike his wife and the sobbing captor within the interior walls of the van, Hinami was the only one who Asaki gave a look of empathy to as he felt a wave of shame suddenly wash over his body. "Hinami… I'm sorry it ended up this way; I should have never done what I did…" Asaki said apologetically to his daughter before turning away from her gaze to look up at the captor. "… My family, they aren't responsible for young Tiffany's fate; please, allow them to return home safely."
Shaking his head at the ghoul, the captor let out a mournful chuckle as he stared back at him with a look of satisfaction and sorrow hidden behind the shroud of his hood. "You… You don't get it, do you?" The captor asked with a hint of pity behind his words as he quickly glanced over at the ghoul's wife and daughter. "You broke the rules, Doctor… You see, my group, the Sons of Tokyo, are a very pro-human group that tends to work outside the restrictions of the law in order to keep the natural order of things prevalent in our topsy-turvy world… Ghouls who play nice and follow the law are okay, because they eat the syntenic stuff and not us… But for ghouls like you, who think they're above the consequences and decide that it's okay to indulge themselves with forbidden fruit? Well… My group tends to favor more traditional and biblical punishments, so to speak; just to show others than we don't accept crimes against OUR natural order, so we make sure to that we set examples so that your kind upholds our standards." The captor explained with a small sense of pride in his words while making sure to inform the doomed family the reason behind their awaited fate. "So, please, sit down and just… Make this easy for me, okay…? Maybe the 24th Ward's judge will be more understanding if he knows you were obedient…"
Despite the fact that the man's argument to have them comply with their journey towards their judgement did make sense and even appealed to the doctor within him, the father in him knew that the chances of a group such as the Sons of Tokyo passing mercy on to his family was unfathomable. 'He's an upset human: clearly not capable of making the best decisions right now… My kakuhou is still in critical condition, and I myself am not in any condition to fight… Yet, for Hinami's sake, I must try… If there's a god out there, and you can hear this… Keep my family safe.' Making his peace for his own sake rather than that of his family's, Asaki curled his fingers into fist and flexed his legs as he glared at the man, who stared back at him with an uneasiness hidden behind his hood.
"Don't… Don't do it." The captor said pleadingly as he raised his revolver and aimed down this iron sights at Asaki, who was in the process of slowly rising to his feet. His eyes, a once cold grey stare, became blackened and void like while his pupils became a slightly bioluminescent red; signaling to the man that his kakahou had been activated and he was ready to strike hard. "Don't… Don't make me do it…" The man pled once more, but his words once again fell on deaf ears. Despite the confrontation and tension that was being held between the two men, Ryouko found herself unable to focus on what was going on around her. Silently activating her own kagune, Ryouko tucked Hinami against her chest while making sure to scoot her away from the pool of her bile as she cocooned herself and her daughter within a pale-tan barrier of her own creation. Within a blink of an eye, Asaki had rushed over toward the captor and bit hard into his forearm while shoving his cuffed hands into the man's stomach. Letting out a gurgled scream, adrenaline kicked into the hooded man's bloodstream and granted him enough momentary strength to headbutt the ghoul away before being able to kick him further back; tearing the flesh of his arm off while gutting himself in the process as Asaki held onto the man's intestines as he stumbled back toward Ryouko's kagune.
Six shots, the entire chamber of the revolver was emptied into the ghoul in a matter of a couple seconds. Covering her daughter's ears as Hinami let out a scream, Ryouko was thankful that she couldn't watch as the first bullet flew into Asaki's chest. A red bloody cloud of mist exploded from the back of the ghoul's rib cage as chunks of blood and bone landed on his wife's kagune. As Asaki fell over with a gushing wave of blood dripping down from his lips, the second stray and rushed shot that was fired from the revolver shattered his glasses seconds before causing his left eye to burst into a gooey mess. Hunched over screaming while his eye bleed profusely down his cheek, the third and fourth bullets that were hastily fired from the man's revolver tore through Asaki's neck and caused a sudden spraying burst of blood to erupt on to the already injured man. Before the captor's legs were able to finally give out, through his tunnel vision, the man was able to fire the last shot directly into Asaki's forehead; destroying his skull and sending chunks of skull, blood, and grey matter splattering against Ryouko's kagune and the interior of the van. Left as a mangled body, Asaki's body fell backwards and laid on the floor beside his wife while Hinami's screams filled the van just as the injured man collapsed with his back against the side of the van's interior wall.
Six shots, six rounds, that's all that the man's reliable firearm could hold in its chamber; so needless to say, when the captor heard the booming sound of glass shattering and the tires screeching over the sound of the mourning daughter screaming out for her loved one, confusion overwhelmed him as he had one question on his mind as the front of the van came steering directly into a tree: 'Where did the seventh bullet come from?''
Seconds before the front of the black van became crushed as if though it were made of paper mâché, Ryouko with the power of her motherly instincts, hugged Hinami tighter so that she could use her own body to cushion the impact for her daughter. Flying against the side of the van, Ryouko's kagune-covered body made a dent into the side of the van's interior while the captor let out a muffled wail as Asaki's corpse flew forward into him and slammed the back of captor's head against the black tinted rear windshield; spider webbing the entirety of the reinforced glass panel while staining it with blood as he collapsed in to a jumbled mess. "S-Shit…!" The captor slurred out as the sound of his ears ringing drowned out the sound of another car pulling up beside the road where the van had crashed. Seeing nothing but stars in his eyes, the captor clumsily kicked off the mutilated body of the ghoul off his body before rushing to his revolver that laid near the large pale-tan kagune that shielded Ryouko and Hinami away from the captor. Having been an experienced shooter, the captor didn't need to rely on his eyes that were currently being strained by the concussion he had as he tried to reload his firearm. However, such a feat didn't matter, because the moment the captor tried to place the first round into the chamber, his hand dropped the gun after the weight of such a small firearm became too much for him to bear. Due to disorientation from the massive blood loss he was experiencing, the captor could only stare up at the ceiling with his hands covering his ruptured abdomen as he heard the van's back doors being pried open. With a sudden gust of the cold autumn night's wind brushing over his already pale and numb body, the man didn't wasn't able to put up a fight as he felt two hands grabbing him by the ankles before his body was dragged outside toward the bleak darkness.
Huddled with her daughter, Ryouko felt her heart and mind racing as she stared wide eyed at the top of her daughter's head for comfort. Doing her best to put aside her own mourning, Ryouko held her breath and listened over the sound of Hinami's soft sobbing until she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her slowly. "Who… Who's there?" Ryouko choked out from behind the protection of her kagune. "Please… We don't want any more trouble…"
Vulnerable and fearful for her daughter's life more so than her own, Ryouko was hoping for comfort in her savior's voice, perhaps that of a kind soul who would be more than willing to help her and her daughter. Unraveling her kagune just enough for her to peek through the cracks of her self-made barrier, standing before her was a young man of average height and an athletic build. Dressed in an expensive looking black formal clothing, the young man wore his designer-brand dress shirt with his collar frayed and his top buttons open as he stared down at her with a stoic and serious expression that gave the ghoul even more anxiety than what she already had. "Good evening, my name is Kaneki Ken; rest assured, I am not here to hurt you." The young man spoke politely yet sternly as he stared down at the startled ghoul before looking down toward the mangled corpse at his feet. "This man... Was he important to you?"
Only being able to take a quick glance at her nearly headless husband, a small squeak escaped from Ryouko's throat before she looked back up at Kaneki with a look of devastation on her face. "That's… That's my husband…!" Ryouko choked out before burying her face into the palms of her hands. Although Kaneki was visibly unfazed by this revelation, he did the best with what he had and decided to use his large oversized fur-collar long coat to cover the mutilated corpse for Ryouko's sake. Seeing this from the corners of her vision, Ryouko continued to hold Hinami's head against her chest before slowly allowing her kagune to vaporize into the cold air while she lowered her hands from her face to watch Kaneki kneeling beside the covered body.
Taking out a black rosary necklace with a diamond crucifix at the end of it, Kaneki brought up to his lips and closed his eyes as he muttered a quiet prayer over Asaki's body. Tapping his head, shoulders, and chest in the motion of a cross, Kaneki whispered a quiet 'Amen' before standing up to his feet. "Ma'am, I am sorry for your loss; truly, I am… But in the meantime, you should not return to your home if you can help it; those pigs who fight under the banner of 'Sons of Tokyo', will be returning to that address… Unless it is worth dying for, leave your worldly possessions behind you." Kaneki explained with a clear underlying tone of caution in his voice. "Tell me… Do you have anywhere else to go? If it is not too far, I can take you there."
Hearing Kaneki's offer was the only thing that had made Ryouko feel a slightly happier in her current state. With a clear goal in mind, Ryouko would be able to secure herself and Hinami's safety for the time being within the protection of her friends. "I… I do. It's in the 20th Ward, umm… Anteiku, it's a cafe; they'll be able to help me…" Although she found herself unable to feel anything else other than fear of future and confusion from what may come, the gesture of kindness shown to her had brought with it a small smile to her face, despite the overwhelming tragedy that she had incurred moments ago. "Kaneki, was it…? T-Thank you Kaneki, I…" Although she had so much more to say to him, she found herself trailing off after what she had said what she wanted to say the most. Ryouko found herself falling into a silence that was met with Kaneki extending his hand out for her to hold. Although her husband's body was covered, Ryouko made sure to advert Hinami's eyes away from the scene as Kaneki led her by hand and made sure she and Hinami were safely out of the van before quickly closing the doors behind them. Stepping across the dusty area near the tree where they had crashed just off the shoulder of the freeway they were on, Ryouko held onto Kaneki's hand while making sure to keep Hinami close to her as he led them toward his black sports sedan. Just as Kaneki opened the backdoor for them and led her into the comfortable leather interior in the heated backseat, Ryouko caught a small glance of a blond young man equal to Kaneki's stature who appeared to be hovering over the captor's laid out body on the side of the road. Wanting to forget that night entirely, Ryouko chose to simply cover Hinami's eyes as she reluctantly let go of Kaneki's comforting grasp to make room for Hinami to set beside her.
With the two ghouls buckled up and huddled in each other's grasp, Kaneki closed the door behind the mother and daughter before squatting down near the closed window where Ryouko sat to give the older woman a comforting smile. "I want you to stay here; do not leave this car unless you are in immediate danger and it is safer to do so rather than stay. I will return shortly…" Kaneki instructed kindly, and although the tear-streaked cheeks of the ghoul were an obvious sign that she was in not in a talkative mood at all, Kaneki was able to at least get a nod from her before deciding to make his way to the back of his car. Popping open the trunk, the young man quickly unbuttoned his shirt and undid his belt before changing into the sleek black battle suit that covered his entire body from the jaw down. With his used clothes bundled up and tossed over next to the duffle bags of weapons and ammo he kept stored in his trunk, Kaneki reached into the side of the compartment where the tire jack was stored to retrieve his disguise: a half mask with a horizontal-zipper in the middle in the shape of a gums and teeth while a single black and square-shaped special-vison device in the shape of an eyepatch was strapped to it. Covering his right eye with the electronic eyepatch, Kaneki zipped up the half-mask to cover the lower half of his face before opening a duffle bag to retrieve the armor-padding for his battle suit along with the belts that were needed to carry his desired weapons and ammunition. Taking out his phone and turning on the selfie-camera, Kaneki adjusted what he needed before feeling satisfied with his full-armed battle suit. "Bellissimo…!"
On the side of the road, Hide knelt beside the fatally-injured man while pulling down the yellow-stitched brown scarf he usually used to conceal his identify while also making sure to take off his brown leather-brimmed sunhat and his glowing yellow electronic-sunglasses; he knew the man was going to die very soon, so the least he could do to earn his trust was give the man a face to look at during his final moments. Kept warm underneath his own brown reinforced battle suit that had a black cape draped over his back and brown-leather cloth around his armor with straw stitched into the ends of it, Hide felt sympathy for the man who felt cold as clay underneath his touch as he tapped his fingers against the side of his cheek to wake him up. "Hey… I need to ask you a question before you uh… You know." Hide muttered in a low voice as his brown eyes gazed up and into the dying man's hidden stare.
Letting out a soft fit of laughter that soon ended with a sudden gush of blood foaming at his mouth, the captor shook his head in disbelief at the young man who he found to be so naive. "Why… Why would I tell you anything…? You're in no position to have power of me…! I'll be dead before… Before you get the chance to torture me…" The man argued with a slight hint of satisfaction in his otherwise quiet and raspy voice as he grinned weakly at Hide's calm and collective face. "The Sons of Tokyo… Will make things right…"
"I understand that your group, the Sons of Tokyo, have something planned for tonight too, huh? From what I can guess, you were on your way to deliver those ghouls to an isolated place, for a reason that doesn't interest me to know." Hide said abruptly, which made the captor's grin fade into a weaken frown the moment he watched Hide's lips curl into a comforting smile. "I'm only interested in saving the captured people who unless you can help, will die tonight." The young blond man explained as he waited for the captor to reply.
"No… Those ghouls, and ghoul sympathizers… They're evil, th-they need to die…"
"Tell me, that little ghoul girl you had stowed away in the van… Do you think she deserves to die as well?" Hide argued, which made the man beneath him let out a small gasp before falling into silence. "You were going to deliver her to be hurt, weren't you? Is that you really want? For children to be hurt?"
That word, 'children', made the captor think back to Tiffany, and the bright smile she had on her face when he and his wife first met her at the orphanage. Her silky black hair always seemed to gleam the most in underneath the brilliance of the sunlight, and the absolution in her eyes portrayed a warmth that always ignited the man to continue on with the tedious paperwork and the expenses that came with the process of her adoption. He fell in love with her, and even though he was never able to legally claim her as his own, he knew that she was his daughter, and if God were kinder, he'd give her the world at the drop of a hat. What would Tiffany think of him now?
"… They're going to meet up at the scrap yard over in the 24th Ward tonight at eleven…. They'll be armed with guns and will be patrolling around the gate entrance mostly… If you can sneak through the tunnel system underneath… I'm sure you'll be able to get the drop on them if you go can lockpick your way there…" The man spoke weakly, and after seeing the sudden expression of surprise on the younger man's face, the proud father decided to go out with a confident smirk on his lips as he his hearing and vision began to fade away. "…I… I have no reason to lie, nor… Nor do I have regrets… Tiffany…" With the last word being the name of his would-be daughter, the man felt a comforting embrace of peace shroud over his body as drew his final breath.
Remaining knelt beside the body of the deceased man, Hide simply stared down at the visible smile on the man's face. "… Shit." Hide muttered to himself as a sigh broke out through his lips. After taking a few moments to get his thoughts in order, Hide secured his mask, hat, and sunglasses back to on his face and head before standing back up to make his way toward Kaneki, who stood near beside his sports sedan with his arms crossed over his chest as he patiently waited for the young blond man to make his way to him. "They're going to meet up at the 24th Ward's scrap yard tonight at eleven. He suggested that we go through the access tunnel to avoid being surrounded." Hide informed briefly as he stood across from his best friend. "He… He actually wasn't that bad of a person; I could tell."
Not caring for what method Hide had used to extract the vital information, what Kaneki had heard was good enough for him and he made sure to pat Hide on the shoulder to signal him that he did a good job. "Excellent, but before we go there, we're going to need to drop off those two at some place called Anteiku; ever heard of it?" Kaneki asked with a curious tone.
"Anteiku, huh? Um… Ye-Yeah, it's some café in the 20th Ward; it's more so for ghouls than humans though, so uh, I can't say I've been there myself." Hide replied with a thoughtful look that was hidden behind his disguise as he looked over at the car to see the concerned look of Ryouko staring back at him through pleading eyes. "… They saw your face, didn't they?" Hide asked with a sudden sense of dread washing over him as he turned his attention back to Kaneki's grinning mask. "You're not going to, you know…" Hide muttered as he put his hand into the shape of a gun before bringing his fingertips up to the side of his head before mimicking the gun going off against his tempol.
"Don't be ridiculous; if I had the suspicion that they were going to expose my unofficial identity, one that's not even real, out to the world, then I would have made sure they never left that van." Kaneki shot back with a low tone to his voice as his grey exposed eye glare slightly at Hide before quickly relaxing. "… Hide, as my friend, I must tell you this: I do not plan on leaving a single one of those bastards alive. I will also be the one to pass judgement onto those the Sons of Tokyo have taken the liberty to round up; I am certain not all of them are innocent themselves… Tell me, does this bother you? Will you still stand by my side, even when the world deems me as evil?" The question Kaneki had just asked was one that Hide had heard plenty of times before, and it never got easier to answer.
Taking his hat off for a moment, Hide took in a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his thick locks of hair before sighing. "… Well shit, Kaneki, you really know how to kill an already fucked-up mood, don't you?" Hide asked jokingly as gave a sarcastic and sorrowful chuckle while shaking his head in disbelief. "… I'll be there to help you, of course dude, you're like my brother, man… Just promise that when we get there, our priority is to save the people who they've captured first, okay?"
Although Kaneki found himself pinching his chin with his index finger and thumb as he nodded during Hide's terms and agreements, the promise his best friend was wanting him to make was one that conflicted with his own agenda; and Hide knew this. Nonetheless, after a few seconds of consideration, Kaneki finally let out a soft sigh before extending his hand toward Hide. "... Very well, Hide; I promise you this: We shall make the captives our first and utmost priority. After that, I shall have you lead them through the tunnel system and toward freedom; I will stay behind to do what must be done."
Staring down at the extended hand before him, Hide found himself at an impasse with the man who he considered his best friend. Despite his efforts, Hide figured that this time wasn't going to be any different than the last instances of him trying to get Kaneki to take a pacifist approach; it always ended up Kaneki going by himself to do what he wanted anyway which usually ended with him getting hurt. The counter offer Kaneki was offering to him was far from perfect, but at least felt somewhat relieved with the knowledge that his best friend had at least respected his request. However, that didn't matter to Hide, because he knew just as much as Kaneki did that he wouldn't leave his best friend alone to take on whatever dangers could be facing them. Grabbing onto Kaneki's gloved hand, Hide gripped his hand firmly as he shook on the agreement. "... Deal." Hide replied back in a low voice while Kaneki let out a small throaty laugh.
"Excellent… Come now Hide, there's work to be done." Kaneki mused with a satisfied hum as he felt heart pumping in excitement and anticipation for what was to come. It wasn't the act of killing that excited him; to Kaneki, the real excitement came from the idea that he was one step closer toward accomplishing his dream of crushing his enemies and taking control of the immoral and corrupt metropolis that was Tokyo.
Or at least, that's what he always told himself.
That is the end of Chapter One: hell is where i dreamt. So here some key differences from Tokyo Ghoul and Conquistare:
1) Ghouls and Humans exist in a society where humans are first class citizens who have far better lives that are built off the back of ghouls, who are seen as second class citizens who are protected under the law, just as long as they're registered.
2) Due to the social class differences and abundant poverty within the ghoul community, gangs are a huge issue that prey on humans. To combat this, CCG regulates and protects its citizens and combats gang violence while serving as the primary authoritarian figure for Tokyo. In the grey areas where CCG can't operate under the law, Sons of Tokyo is an extremist human-supremacist group that terrorizes the ghoul community and apply their own ideology to maintain their interpretation of the natural order.
3) Characters and their backstories may be vastly different or similar to the canon. For example, Kaneki is a lot more aggressive and confident in the beginning, and also borderline homicidal.
4) The reason why Kaneki spoke in Italian in this chapter will be explained later.
5) Kaneki is human.
That about does it for now, please feel free to leave a review or send me a message if you have any recommendations or suggestions. Thank you, and have a good day.