Everyone else was going home, yet there he was, tucked in the corner of a putrid alley. Kaneki Ken remained crouched in the corner, his eyes downcast and bloodshot, while his hands cupped the both side of his head as he waited for the passing of the headache that plagued him. When his horrid desires struck again, a glob of saliva dripped down from his lips and hung in the air like spider silk.

He needed a moment to gather his thoughts. To draw his mind away from the horrific desires brimming inside of him. Every once and then, a set of legs would come and pass, only to followed by another set. Every once and again, a couple of drunkards would drunkenly lean on him for support as they slur nonsense in their fetid breath.

He kept his bloodshot eyes fixed on the floor through it all, all the while forcing himself to ignore the judging glance of every seldom passerby and keeping his cravings of human flesh under control. This two front war proved to be just enough to overwhelm.

In a crazed inner mantra, he reminded himself of who he was. He reminded himself repeatedly of his life as Kaneki Ken, the hopeful student at Kamii University. With fervor, he scratched and clawed in the landscape of his mind, digging deep into the soils of his conscious in search of anything he could use to cling onto whatever vestige of humanity that still remained within him.

He wished he hadn't wandered out of his home in the first place. Now he couldn't even trust himself to get home. At least not when there were still that many people around.

When the time seemed right, he pulled himself up to wobbly footing. His legs seemed to have fallen asleep from the long periods of inactivity. The amount of time he spent crying had also taken a notable toll on his stamina.

It must have been at least 2 A.M. in the morning. It wouldn't be long before the sun comes out again.

With a hand placed on his empty abdomen and his back hopelessly hunched over, Ken forged forward one painstakingly disoriented step at a time.

There was no time to waste. Soon, the streets would be populated with people again. The difference was, this time he wasn't sure if he could control himself.

He needed to get back to his apartment first. There would be plenty of time to figure everything out afterwards. He might even get in contact with the strange doctor again, and then he would ask him what he should do with his strange new predicament.

"Huh? Isn't this Kaneki-kun?"

He paused, unable to believe his ears. He certainly didn't expect to see her around in this juncture of the day.

The boy turned around to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, the green-haired author was standing there, just a few feet behind him, dressed in the same obscure fashion from the last time that he saw her. Her face was a look of welcomed confusion while her innocent prying smile remained curious for an explanation.

He really wished that she wasn't here at the moment.

"Just going for a quick morning walk that's all. Hehe." He laughed with strain. "I have an exam coming up and I was just studying for it."

That was what his excuse would be. He would maintain the charade of an ambitious, happy-go-lucky college student who was simply hoping to get in a good night of study before an important exam. This was all he was going to do. He was going to pretend that everything was fine until Takatsuki-sensei leaves.

His plans shattered at the same time that a blinding pain shattered his brain. The residuals of his unquenched headache.

Ken doubled over, hands clutching his head. He bit hard onto his lips to stop himself from screaming, drawing blood in the process.

The girl was on top of him the next second, asking him what was wrong as she reached to help him up. Almost instinctively, he shoved her away, albeit too roughly, as the girl stumbled backwards and flopped onto her buttocks.

When he regained composure over himself, there was a confused author sitting on the floor, eyeing with so much bewilderment that it made him think he had just killed someone.

"S-sorry." He stuttered out an apology, but didn't trust himself to go any closer.

He had never been more tormented by her presence. An irony that wasn't lost on him as he still remembered the nights that he spent praying about meeting her at a book signing.

Even as the girl sat on the floor, he couldn't help but foster a desire to rush her and pin her down. To control her, to dominate. The primitive desire to defeat and survive beckoned him, ordering him to bite anywhere that would make her squirm. He wanted to hear her voice scream. To watch her fight. Then, finally watch her resign over to him as he mark every last inch of her tender skin with his teeth.

It was like there was a devil in his head. One that constantly whispered in his ears and disciplined him with thrusts of its pitchfork. His brain must resemble crushed cherry by now.

Before he was aware of it, he walked forward. One step. Two steps.

"Kaneki-kun?" She called out for his name.

He ignored her.

Three steps.

"Are you alright?"

Four steps.

The growling of the stomach filled the air. Whatever tenseness the moment possessed was now destroyed. Ken stopped in his tracks, once again back in contact with reality. He quickly surveyed the surrounding, from the spilled content of a woman's purse, to the frightened author seated just a few inches away from him.

He realized what he just tried to do.

"Takatsuki-sensei, I-I…"

"No need to say anymore, young man." The green-eyed woman laughed as she helped herself up. "You must be hungry. I know some good restaurants that we can go to..."

She trailed off as she took a peek at her watch and frowned. "I don't think they are open at this time though."

"I do have some food leftover…"

Ken suddenly became very aware of the plastic container spilled on the floor. It was a fragrance that reminded him of his past. Something that reminded him of his mother and her magic factory of ovens and frying pans.

A pâté, The boy noted as he stared past the container's translucent surface. By all accounts, it looked like a regular pâté. Yet, it promised none of the usual nausea he had suffered.

In the background, Takatsuki's voice carried on. "...But I think they have rotten away by now."

"No. It's okay." He said suddenly.

"Really?" The author asked, surprised. "If you say so…"

With reluctance, she rummaged through the contents of her spilled bag until she came upon a pair of plastic wrapped dumplings. "Well, I bought these awhile ago. Not sure if they are still good."

But by the time she had held her dumplings up as an offering, she was already too late. The boy had already helped himself to her pâté.

"But that is..." The woman started to object, but stopped herself when it seemed like her concerns would fall on deaf ears.

Having wolved down the last slice of the pâté., Ken gave the plastic container a thorough lick before he set it down. When Ken was finished, his headache and hunger had diminished, but in their place came embarrassment and confusion.

"Haha. You were like a dog." Takatsuki teased as she bent over to pick up her now-emptied container. "Didn't expect someone like you to act like that. I have to say I expected you to be more prim and proper."

"S-s-sorry." Ken stammered with a blushing face.

"No. It's all good." Takatsuki responded with a dismissive wave. She then shut the cap over the container, producing an audible click. "You must have been real hungry."

"Yeah. Sorry." Ken apologized again.

"Like I said before, you don't have to worry about it. I understand that college kids run on tight budgets."

"I see…" Ken smiled, then as if not knowing how to end his sentence, he added a quick "Thank you" to express his gratitude.

Takatsuki grinned from ear to ear, seemingly relieved that they were finally out of the cycle of apologies and dismissal. She patted the boy on the back, whacking him hard enough to leave the child breathless for a brief moment. "See? That sounds a lot better than "sorry". We're making progress, young boy! Hohoho!"

He chose to not comment on her weird laugh for the moment. Takatsuki's words did make him feel a lot better about himself. However, there was still one thing that bothered him.

"Regarding the pâté?" The boy took a cautionary step backwards. "D-Did you make that?"

"Uh-huh." Takatsuki's smile remained unfaltering. "Why are you asking? Did it not taste good?"

"No. No. Not at all." Ken denied. "It did taste good."

Almost too good, even. Unlike the burger that he made earlier, her food did not make him want to vomit.

"Why are you eyeing me like that?" Takatsuki asked, shuffling a bit nervously under his gaze. " I'm not going to give you my secret recipe. We have only met thrice, after all."

"Y-yeah. I guess it was rather foolish of me to even hope."

When Kaneki Ken made it back to his apartment an hour later, he immediately hopped onto his laptop. He researched information about ghouls until he passed out.

She didn't expect to see him this soon. The last time they met was a couple of weeks ago...

Or was it a couple of months?

Honestly, she had forgotten.

But yet there he was, wrapped up in the dark roots of her tree.

He was brought here by the Black Rabbit. In a way, he reminded her of the main character of "Alice in Wonderland." Both of them had followed a rabbit down a rabbit hole, or in this case, the rabbit hole of a ghoul's world—a world of rapidly degenerating peace and sanity.

Still, even as the boy was shoved in front of them, she still couldn't help liken him to a flower that bloomed in a battlefield. In a world of cynics and charlatan, of sullied minds and bloodied hands, the boy was almost beautiful in his bizarre optimism.

In an instant, Tatara skewered the boy with his hand and in the next he discarded the boy like garbage. As Ken writhed in pain at the wound in his abdomen, Eto couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

She had no idea when she started to find other people's suffering amusing. But when she did, she couldn't stop.

When the boy's met her own, she averted her gaze a bit to the side. Perhaps, she did feel a little bit of guilt for not helping him.

She surveyed the quarters of the refugee from her position by the door. The place was rather cramped and rundown and reeked of ghouls that couldn't be bothered to take care of their personal hygiene. The floorboards were creaky and looked as if they had the integrity of a floor of straw while the cracked and discolored walls appeared to be as flimsy as a block of chalk. She was almost afraid to take a step inside out of fear that the ground would give in at her weight.

A frightened audience had been watching her ever since she pushed open the doors of this dingy room. Which was fine, she liked being feared. After spending a portion of her life hunted by everyone else, this role reversal felt good.

As the saying goes, those who fight monsters…

She cut off her train of thoughts once she realized she was being too soapy. She thought she had already abandoned such victim complex a long time ago, alongside other things.

Indeed, she wasn't a tragic heroine of a novel. At best, she was a supporting character. A mere stepping stone in the protagonist's growth. Someone waiting to be forgotten.

When she finds her king, she was planning on stepping down. Her age was catching up on her after all.

"Ken-san~~~~~~" She sang, poking her head inside the room, her mummified head bobbing over to one side. "May I speak with you?"

A/N: Time sure flies, doesn't it. I can't believe that it has already been a year since I last posted. Anyways, I made some edits to the second chapter to make things flow smoother. Have a good day.

Btw, no idea why this is showing in the top of the list when I actually deleted a chapter.