Ghouls. Today's world is full of them. But where did they begin? What are their origins?
Twenty years ago, in the small town of Onsen in Hokkaido, near the forest, there were ghouls. A far cry from what they are today, an atavism if you will.
It all began with one man, Yoshimura. When the ghouls began to appear, he was the center of it all.
It was he who built the house in the woods, a safe haven for them.
But that's skipping too far ahead.
The ghouls were born when another ghoul didn't finish his meal. Left alive, the ghoul fluids and residue would create a new ghoul. In order to propagate the species, early ghouls could turn humans.
In the heat, they were normal humans. But when it got cold, ghoul instincts took over, and they fed on humans. Younger ghouls had no consciousness, but the older they got, the more coherent they were as ghouls.
They could live a long time changing that way, but the ghoul in them got stronger and stronger until eventually, they were all ghoul, and could never return to the human world.
But Yoshimura was sympathetic, directing them to feed on the convicts so they would not harm their friends, and, more importantly, be discovered.
You see, no one knew of the existence of ghouls. It only happened for one season, and, thanks to Yoshimura, any disappearances were easily explainable.
But then there was that woman…who did NOT turn into a ghoul.
Kurisuta Hikawa changed everything.
Xxx
Kuri would always remember the day she was nearly eaten.
There was a saying in Onsen, 'Stay away from the woods from dusk till dawn, lest you be eaten.'
But Kuri was six years old. Six year old girls are bratty and don't listen to anyone.
Kuri was in the backyard on the swing, singing a song from a Disney movie.
It was starting to snow, and Kuri had gone outside without a jacket. I jumped off the swing, intending to go inside, when she saw them.
Ghouls.
Three ghouls at the edge of the forest. At that point Kuri didn't know what they were. They all had weird masks on, and an intimidating aura.
Oh, and they were all looking at Kuri like she was delicious.
Stumbling, Kuri tried to run, but fell to the snowy earth. The ghouls lunged.
Kuri was in and out of consciousness. But there was one ghoul with a toothy mask that kept back, staring at her. After a few moment of feeding, the toothy ghoul attacked the others.
Kuri didn't know what was happening. Her ghoul (she already thought of him that way) was throwing all of the others off her with some sort of weapon coming out of his back.
After a moment, he came over and pulled her back to the swing set. Then he screamed.
After that, all was blood and darkness.
Xxx
Kaneki never remembered anything from his winter ghoul days. It didn't matter how much time passed. He didn't WANT to remember eating humans.
But there was one thing he DID remember.
Tiny hands, reaching for him, from a pool of blood. Chewing sounds from his fellow ghouls.
A wave of disgust, reeling back. Then a flash of hot, protective anger. Maybe so hot he got his human brain back.
He still didn't know.
But he knew he couldn't just let them kill and eat a little girl. She was so small and helpless.
Back then, he didn't know he was dooming her.
But when Yoshimura explained that she was going to become a ghoul, Kaneki was…apprehensive.
It was horrible, yes, but she would be here. With him.
He was being selfish, and he loathed himself for it, but he wanted to see her again. He longed to fill his last days of humanity with companionship, instead of looking for friends in his books.
The other ghouls avoided him—the ghoul who hated ghouls. They thought he was being pretentious, rejecting who he was. But the way he saw it, he was being human.
And so, after the attack, he waited.
And waited.
Kuri never arrived.
Xxx
Kuri remembered the first days of being a ghoul very clearly.
The way the cold made her shudder and growl. The way human scents made the saliva pool in her mouth. The taste of blood.
But she never ate a human.
Instead she burned.
After being savaged, she was in the hospital until the summer. Eating human food was a struggle, especially when it got cold, but she pushed through it.
When Kuri was finally able to go home, she ran straight into the forest. She knew that was where she needed to go, where she belonged.
She saw him there, the toothy ghoul. It was like he was looking for her too.
He looked at her and beckoned.
And of course, Kuri followed.
But she lost him in the woods. And she lost herself as well.
Collapsing on the forest floor in the hot sun.
It burned and burned, and she could taste blood. But she had no strength.
She tried to stand, but the sun beat her back into the ground.
Her vision blurred. She thought she saw someone, but she blinked and they were gone.
After a little while she woke up in a cold bath at home.
But the longing didn't go away. Neither did the taste of blood. Or the streak of white in her hair.
But she returned to her life, despairing of ever seeing her ghoul again.
And then, just like that, he was watching from the trees.
Xxx
Kaneki waited for her. She never came.
So naturally, he went out looking for her. Maybe she had changed and gotten hurt, tho it was a bit warm for that.
He found her stumbling through the woods.
It was a good thing he had worn his mask, so she recognized him with black hair.
He tried to lead her to Yoshimura's, but she was too weak and he accidentally left her behind.
When he found her again, she was near death.
Was he this fragile as a human too? He hoped not.
So again, he picked her up and brought her to the backyard, ducking out before anyone could catch him.
But after that, he couldn't just leave her alone. Part of him wanted to watch to make sure she didn't eat her family…but then there was the other part, that just wanted to see her again.
This was getting dangerous, especially when he started to remember going there as a ghoul. She could get eaten!
But Yoshimura encouraged it, probably hoping it would get him to accept his ghoul.
No chance of that.
And so it went, ten years of eye contact.