Kaneki sits within a subway, looking down at his thin body as he held onto the strap that kept him up. His skin pale, and his blue veins quivering. Who am I, he thought to himself. Because he wasn't Kaneki anymore. He had lost who he once was.
What am I, he thinks-day descending into dawn. A woman holds a newborn baby, struggling to escape from Kaneki. Eventually, she and her child were disintegrated by the arm of flame that leapt from Kaneki's back. Kaneki ate the remains while sobbing.
When did I truly change, he ponders, sitting at his desk and sketching down a detailed drawing of a half skeleton mask with an eyepatch and nails coming out of the Halloween, he was going to dress up as either a skeleton, or frankenstein- so why not make his new identity a mix of the two? Besides, As a ghoul, everyday is practically Halloween. The rest of his life will be spent deceiving and feasting on humans; trick or treating.
The day he died may have been the day he physically changed. But that day was not where everything went wrong. No, everything went to shit from day one, from birth he was no longer truly free, truly human. Kaneki walks out of a mask shop, holding the half skeleton mask identical to the one in his notebook.
Kaneki wall jumps within an alleyway, making his way to the top of a building and placing his mask on his head. Kaneki stares down at the city of Tokyo, from flashing lights to racing cars on the highway. From this moment forward, Kaneki had finally accepted who he was. He had accepted that he was a-
"Ghoul. A symbiotic organism created artificially from the genes of the dead mixed with the genes of a scientific accident known as the kagune. Kagune are organic flame that only Ghouls can spawn. Theoretically, if a Kagune is implanted into the dead, they'd become a ghoul, and can only continue living by feasting on the remains of other corpses. However, this is no more than a theory, of course. Furthermore-" The teacher spoke at the front of a classroom.
"Mr! I have to go to the restroom!" A blonde with scruffy hair that looked like someone rubbed their hand with it, wearing a contrasting yellow jacket and red headphones, said as he raised his hand.
"Very well, Hide. Be quick." The teacher replied.
As Hide walked to the back of the classroom, he approached Kaneki and smiled.
"Welcome back to school, K….."
He mouthed the word Kaneki. For some reason, this word was inaudible to Kaneki's ears. Instead of Kaneki, he heard his true name. His ghoul name.
Eyepatch.