"Did I lose?"
The mummy stared at him, then looked away to let out a weak laugh. Acting as if that was the dumbest question he had ever asked.
"I have never heard of a winner waking up in a prison cell without arms or legs."
He acknowledged his stupidity with a curt nod and looked at his missing limbs pointedly. "When are they going to grow back out?"
"At a rate slower than what you have been used to."
"But," The mummy continued, "you should be lucky that you're even alive at all with the beating that you took."
"...I see." Ken stared at the bed, eyes distant and forlorn. "What happened after I blacked out?"
Eto sensed his gloominess but decided to tease him nonetheless. "Well. After you got your ass thoroughly kicked. Noro intervened and managed to save us from getting killed."
"Noro?"
"The ghoul with a smile on his mask."
Ah. Ken noted. The ghoul with the perpetual smile.
"You should have seen how cool he was. The masterful way he used his kagune to protect us. How strong he was. How confident he was."
By this point, Ken's back had adopted a disappointed slope.
"...But you were pretty cool too."
The boy's back straightened slightly. "Eh?"
"At least when you decided to come back for me. Maybe not when you ran away."
Ken noted that she seemed to be unable to give him a straightforward compliment.
"But no matter how bad things got, I never stopped believing that you would come back for me."
Ken's face flushed beet red and his heart felt like it could burst.
No, it already bursted.
Not only did it burst, it also released a swarm of butterflies that filled the interiors of his stomach. Not just any butterflies either, but butterflies with butterflies inside of them.
All because of the unexpected genuineness shining through the mask of bandages.
If he had hands he would be using them to cover his flushing face.
"Takatsuki-san…"
She glanced over. "I told you to call me Eto didn't I?"
"Sorry, Eto-san…" He corrected himself.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here mixed up with these people?
"I believe I told you already. One day, I just had an epiphany."
"I get that but…"
She cut him off.
"I think you would find this organization to be quite useful for you as well."
"Useful? How?"
"Akihiko Kanou." She replied. The name awoke something in him—emotions of uncertainty. "We're going after him soon. He's the one who turned you into a ghoul isn't he?"
"...Yeah."
"Who knows? Maybe he will be able to turn you back into a human again. Then you will be free of all of this. You can quit your life as Kaneki Ken, the ghoul and resume your life as Kaneki Ken, the college student. All of this will just be a bad dream."
He fell silent.
His voice was strangely steady when he spoke again. As if driven with a strange sense of purpose.
"I have been thinking that maybe I don't want to be a human again."
She looked at him, green eyes wide with surprise and imploring him to continue.
Ken's face reddened at the sudden attention placed on him. The stupidity of the words he wanted to say had thoroughly settled in inside his head, but he continued nonetheless, in spite of his better judgment.
"You might think it is stupid coming from someone who has only been a ghoul for a while. You might think me naive, ignorant or even uninformed but…"
"I get what you mean."
He paused to a pair of mischievous green eyes.
"Little Kaneki Ken has a thing for tentacles."
His face flushed in a deeper shade of red. "That's not it!"
"So kinky~~"
Ken gave up trying to argue and waited for embarrassment to pass him over. However, although it was largely at his expense, he did appreciate the author's attempt at humor in dark times.
"What's going to happen to us now?"
She revealed her ignorance with a shrug. "Tatara-san should come and visit us any moment now. What will happen next is anyone's guess."
It seemed like the situation really was as dire as he thought it to be. Not even Eto, who up until now had maintained a flippant disposition, had no idea of what would happen.
"Whatever happens. I promise that I will get us out of here."
Once again, the author stared at him as if dumbstruck. No words left her as her mouth parted silently and closed, parted again, then closed again.
At this moment, Ken was starting to worry he might have said something stupid.
"Wow." She breathed out after a while, and Ken felt himself relax. "I didn't know there was such a masculine side to you."
Her lips curled into a playful smirk.
"Brave and kinky. I think I just might fall for you."
Ken didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult.
The barred door of the cell creaked open, giving way to a man in a long white robe and his masked compatriot. Ken watched them as they approached, all the while noting that someone they looked even more intimidating and dangerous under the faint, yellow light.
If his jumbled brain served him right, these two ghouls' names were Tatara and Noro.
He instinctively tried to move over to Et, trying to go and protect her. But without arms or legs, he just wriggled to and fro uselessly on top of the bed sheet.
A swift kick to his face knocked whatever worry he had for others out of his head. He looked up shakily, towards the white-haired ghoul towering over him. Another kick to the gut left him breathless and unable to complain. An upward kick to the chin that snapped his head up and a kick downwards was strong enough to loosen his teeth.
His body jerked viciously to each violent motion of his captor's leg. By the end of the beating, every part of him felt like it was burning. Like the very surface of the sun was pressed against him.
The surrounding wall, ceilings, floors and bed sheets were all stained with his blood. Some long and wide, and some thin and short like tiny footprints.
What terrified him the most was not the amount of blood he lost, but the presence of his tormentor that still loomed over his body. He could still feel him there, standing on the bed that he sat. He could still feel the pair of soulless red eyes peering down at him. He could still feel the undiminishing threat of yet another beating.
"Your eyes look a lot better than it did a while ago. I would be lying if I said there were no growth in you."
Once again, he couldn't understand what was being said to him.
"Very well, you can join us in our mission."
Ken wondered why he would agree to such a thing. After all they had put him through, he saw no reason to assist them.
"It is a mission to unite ghouls bereft of their important someone. Should be right up your self-righteous alley."
He felt emptier still. The words the man said barely carried any meaning to him. He had been so hurt and confused that he became numb. Instead, he just stared blankly at the bloodstained mattress underneath him.
"...Ken…"
The boy looked slightly towards his left, towards the bandaged girl who had called for his name. She urged him to go along with the request with a nod.
He knew Takatsuki wouldn't just let him die. That Takatsuki would take care of him. The words left his mouth easily after that.
"I understand."
The man known as Tatara continued to peer at him, as if searching for tales of deceit. Then finally, he turned to leave.
"Very well." He had said and gestured for Noro to follow.
Noro, the masked giant, picked Eto up by the back of her hood before leaving the cell as well.
All that was left behind was Kaneki Ken.
"We'll come pick you up when you are ready to be of use at us." Tatara eyed him up and down, taking in every inch of his damaged body. "Give it a few hours or so."
Once they are out of earshot, Noro tossed Eto in the air. Sinews of flesh immediately shot out of Eto's stumps, twisting and intertwining until they form into defined arms and feet. She landed on the floor with a light tap, her bodies missing limbs no more.
"You happy now?" Tatara asked, not even bothering to look back as he walked ahead
"Perhaps." She answered as she stretched her arms and back. "It is quite tiring, pretending to be a good little girl. You have no idea how much it hurt to cut off your own limbs."
Sharp red eyes slid over to her lazily. "It is more tiring to go along with your every whim."
Eto caught up to him and gave him a playful slap on the back. "Well. Thank you for your cooperation."
"What exactly are you planning?"
She laughed. "Just let an author do her work."
"You have taken care of everything, I presume?"
"We have."
Eto smiled. "Is that so? I'm so happy~~~"