"You know it's rude to walk in on a lady while she's eating, dear sir." Rize giggled and stretched, still covered in gore and blood as she leapt off of her pile of corpses and right in front of Kaneki, forcing him to stagger back.
"You do realize, we have a rule here against hunting and killing humans in this ward." Kaneki kept his stance firm, gathering as much strength as he can. The one eyed ghoul wasn't the best fighter, nor did he really like fighting in the first place. Still, defending his ward from threats was a duty he felt the ghouls of Anteiku was given to.
"Is that so? My, how silly of me not to realize it. I just get so hungry. I simply can't control myself." Rize cried out in mock despair, hugging her chest with a small frown. Only for her to open her bloody red eyes and two crimson rinkaku snaked out of her kakuhou from behind her back, aimed at Kaneki. "I don't know about you, but I think you smell absolutely divine." She giggled and her two rinkaku lashed out at him, causing him to leap back in surprise and his single sapphire blue renkaku shot out of Kaneki's back as it blocked another swipe from Rize.
"Ara, Ara~. Only one? Someone's been slacking off." Rize laughed as her renkaku slammed Kaneki into the building beside them and flung him out the alleyway.
She was brutal in her assault, unrelenting and cruel. Kaneki barely had time to block her strikes as she spun and kicked the boy across the street. He bounced a few times and Rize was right back on top of him, kicking back down as he bounced up, brutally cracking the pavement with his body.
Kaneki gasped in pain as the wind was beaten out of him. He went into a coughing fit as his lungs gradually regenerated after one of his broken ribs punctured and deflated one of the organs. Spitting out a glob of blood, the black haired boy gradually rose from the crater to face his opponent.
xxx
Up on the rooftops surveying the fight...
Eto Yoshimura was livid.
Watching her beloved Kaneki get knocked around like a tennis ball made her seeth in fury.
She was right.
Of course she was right!
Being raised by her father made her Ken-Ken weak. This wouldn't have happened if he joined Aogiri Tree years ago instead of the stupid cafe.
The proof was right in front of her after all.
"Eto, it's unlike you to get this worked up." Her white haired companion beside her commented beneath his half mask.
"Shut up, Tatara. Now's not the time." She growled in irritation behind her wrappings. "Ken-Ken needs to win." She mused as Tatara caught her eye the steel beams besides them.
"He's not going to get any stronger if you hold his hand, you know. Any intervention will hinder his growth." He reprimanded the one eyed ghoul, who didn't seem to be paying attention as she made her way to some construction scaffolding.
There was a resounding clang as fist hit metal. A huge dent in the support beam of the scaffolding caused the entire structure to creak and groan, then the whole thing to come tumbling down the skyscraper.
"Oops, my hand slipped~." Eto replied to Tatara in a sing-song tone, giving him a huge mischevious grin as she watched the scaffolding crash down onto the streets.
The white haired ghoul sighed in annoyance and turned to leave. "Why must you be so difficult?"
"You do some stupid shit when you're in love~" Eto giggled and skipped over to Tatara's side.
xxx
He was hers.
She was too powerful for him to even land a scratch.
She was getting closer, a dark and hungry smile on her lips.
Rize reached out to him...
...only for a steel beam to come down and slice her arm clean in half.
She screamed in pain from the sudden dismemberment,
Another pierced her body, straight through her head and cutting off her screams, another through her back.
Soon, a rain of steel beams came down, stabbing into the female ghoul and then some scaffolding came down, crushing her for one final insult.
Kaneki was stunned for a moment, staring at the wreckage, processing what just happened.
He was about to die...
But now she's the one who's dead.
Tears welled up in Kaneki's eyes as the weight of what just happened came crashing down on him.
You almost died! The voice in his head screamed at him.
"Kaneki!" The boy heard a voice behind him, and suddenly was envloped in a tight hug.
Tou...ka...
Was Eto right? Does Anteiku make you weaker?
No, of course not.
You probably could've stood your ground when you were younger.
No, I couldn't have! Rize was really strong.
That's all.
Isn't it?
Mr. Yoshimura can't possibly have made me weaker...
"You dumbass, you do nothing but make us worry." Touka repremended the boy as she buried herself in his back.
That's right...
His friends.
They didn't make him weak.
They gave him something to fight for.
He had a home to go back to. People who would miss him if he died.
He had to get stronger.
If not for himself, then for his family.
For Anteiku.
Smiling at his new resolve, Kaneki turned towards his friend, giving her a reassuring grin. "It's alright, Touka. I'm alright."
Grumbling with a slight blush, Touka weakly punched his back but remained laying her head on his back. "Next time you decide to take a walk, I'm going with you." The girl mumbled into his back.
"Are you sure you're just worried about me?" Kaneki teased his best friend, causing her to jump up and immediatly remove herself with a flustered stutter.
"N-No! I only want to go with you and make sure you don't get yourself killed." She reasoned, not before smacking him upside the head for some reason.
Grumbling at her blow, Kaneki got up with a sigh. "C'mon, Touka. Let's go home."
For the first time, in what felt like a long time...
Kaneki felt...content.