This gonna be a long one!

Chapter 25

Untitled. Part 5

Kaneki stood up from his position. He looked towards his kagune, seeing the foreign matter right before his eyes. It wasn't so different. It didn't feel so weird. But seeing the kagune sprouting from behind his back indeed made him feel terrified of what possibly he could do beyond this. He released it on instinct. Kaneki was afraid of the pain from that bullet. He didn't want to feel it again, and before he knew it he already released the kagune he tried to suppress.

"Interesting, really," Louis said amused, "This is only the third round. You all are real fast. I wonder what drove you to it, subject three?"

"…Pain," The raven haired boy answered, "I didn't want to get hurt and I… I released it out of fear…"

"Understandable." Louis shrugged. "You're not the first one to say that." The investigator lifted up his arm again, ready to shoot for another round. "But the real test starts now. I'm going to shoot randomly and you have to defend yourself for 15 minutes."

"Right," Shiki chuckled, "And we have to try to hurt you too."

"That wouldn't be so easy, subject one. I've told you, haven't I? Even with your kagune, I would still be able to hurt you. You're only ordered to defend anyway." Louis slightly tilted his long gun and his eyes showed a glint of playfulness. "Try not to pass out and fall so often."

Then it started. Louis shot Kaneki first, not once but twice. Using his lay instinct, Kaneki moved his kagune to deflect the incoming bullets, but he only managed to deflect one while the other grazed the side of his stomach. Kaneki gulped. That was close. He took a glance of where he deflected the bullet, it landed a few meters from his side.

Next shot were fired again towards the other kids. Kaneki watched them try their best to defend, and when Shiki said he wanted to hurt Louis back seemed to be impossible. When Kaneki saw those two being shot at, another bullet shot through him again. That really surprised him for it was too fast for his eyes.

It seemed like taking on three mutant children at once wouldn't be a problem for that man.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Shiki unceremoniously ran.

"Shiki!" Nami shouted to stop the brave boy. Nami was trying to be realistic, she didn't want to go into any unnecessary danger. She knew all of them were not experienced enough in fighting. Not like she was sure Shiki was the same, but he was definitely not strong enough to fight a CCG investigator.

With his usual stoic expression, Louis pulled the trigger and sent more than three bullets flying towards Shiki. The white haired boy could only deflect the first one, but he tried to evade the upcoming two bullets which he couldn't see. Both of his shoulders were shot in return.

"ARGH!" The boy helplessly fell down to the floor. Both of his arms were unusable because the joint that basically connected his upper arm and the shoulder were destroyed. The pain was overwhelming for him and he couldn't do anything but to wait for them to close up.

Nami yelped in horror. Kaneki quickly ran towards the wailing boy's side. When he got closer, he saw the boy cried for the first time that day. It must have been painful even for Shiki. They were just kids, and Kaneki wondered if the past subjects also suffered like this. The past subjects who had the same age as them.

"Y-You shot both of his shoulder joints!?" Kaneki asked. It was unbelievable for the dove to do it to a child. All of this illegal experiment nonsense had been unbelievable in the first place.

"There is a difference between being a fool and being brave, subject one."

Kanou's filtered voice that came from the mic startled the three of them.

"I didn't ask you to fight back. I only asked you to defend yourself for 15 minutes. You're a fool for thinking that you could fight Louis. Do you want me to shock you out again? I can do it even from here."

Shiki couldn't say anything in his defense. His shoulders were starting to heal, but was nearly not enough to dissipate the pain. Kaneki hardened his grip on Shiki's arm. It was maddening to stay in that place for a minute with a reaper shooting you enough not to kill you. Let alone 15 minutes.

"Continue, Louis."

As he stood up, Kaneki resolute to defend himself. He didn't have much choice but to follow the doctor's absolute order. For now and the next days when he could possibly turn into a failure, Kaneki would go along and play the doctor's game. He couldn't kill himself, the people here wouldn't kill them, and there was no way he would be able to escape. So in the end, there was no way out from this hell.

Then suddenly, Nami called out to his name.

"Kaneki!"

Kaneki shifted his face towards the girl.

"We can do this. We'll hang on." She was assured. Who knows, maybe she just had the same thought as Kaneki.

Kaneki's face was steeled. He furrowed his eyebrows, beads of sweat were visible on his small fair face. He nodded, and he shifted his attention back towards the dangerous investigator. Sounds of bullet shots echoed around the room within the next 13 minutes.

"Enough. Well done."

Kanou's voice sounded so angelic in their ears at that moment. That was the command that would stop Louis from pulling his trigger again. Their clothes by then had torn apart in a lot of places. Their breath was ragged in tiredness, Kaneki wasn't sure if his feet were still touching the floor. His vision was real close to blur out. Dried blood was everywhere, the evidence that they bleed even though their bodies were looking fine.

Louis looked like an emotionless statue where he stood without his gun. At last that weapon, which he called 'quinque', turned back into the metallic suitcase he carried around.

"Subjects will go to their assigned rooms upstairs. New clothes are already provided in your rooms to wear. Tomorrow you will come here again and do the same test. That is it for today."

Right after he finished his announcement, the door that locked them all hissed open. The stairs that lead them out of there was free to be accessed. They were finally let go from that hellish test, but that day wouldn't be their last.

"Finally…" Nami breathed out a stressed sigh. She felt her feet were starting to give out.

"…It's not over yet." Shiki muttered solemnly as he walked towards the stairs. Both Nami and Kaneki could tell that he was tired but the energy to snap out within the brave boy hadn't cease out.

The three of them walked out towards the stairs. Kaneki's eyes occasionally looked at the standing still investigator, he was afraid if maybe the man changed his mind and mercilessly started firing his gun at them again. But now that he saw it, the investigator looked like a doll without coins to operate him. Without his gun he wouldn't speak a single word. Maybe he only answered to Kanou, but Kaneki was too tired to think about it anymore.

Once they were upstairs, their personal nurses who took care of them for the past 4 days had already been waiting. Innocent smiles were attached on their faces as if they didn't know anything of what happened to them. Their new clothes were carried in their arms for them to change with.

"I thought… You're not taking care of us again?" Kaneki asked.

"We still do. Nami-chan and Shiki-kun, please follow your own personal nurses to your assigned room. Kaneki-kun, please follow me." Shizuku instructed them. Both Shiki and Nami didn't have much energy to comment or anything, and they did as they were told.

There were 5 rooms in total in that corridor. Three and two on each side, all seen through with glass. There was a single bed in there, a table, a chair, a clock, and a small cubicle in there for the toilet and shower and changing clothes. The cubicle was attached on the wall and the glass. A small metallic cabinet was also placed beside that place. Everybody could see each other, there was pretty much no privacy.

"This will be your room from now on. Every room is equipped with CCTVs, but no sound will be recorded. You can talk with each other in ease. There is a notebook and pen there for your entertainment." Shizuku told the boy behind her as she pushed the button beside of the room's door to open it. "You just have to push this button. There is no pass code or anything to open this door. You're all free to move within this area and the test room below. You can even… well, use the test room to train."

Kaneki really wanted to scoff there but he decided to just keep silent. Train? As if he had the will to do any of things that would encourage this experiment.

"The only rule is to not go inside each other's room after 6 PM. The glass has several holes in 3 spots, so you can communicate with each other. You can see where for yourself. However, the glass is kagune proof." Shizuku added as she let Kaneki in, "Also, The Binge Eater's room is locked. The only ones who can open it is Doctor Kanou or the nurses, which means the three of us."

Kaneki stood in the middle of that room. The temperature was cool, not too hot and cold either. The floor had the same material from down there, but no scratch marks. This all still felt too awful. He got kidnapped 5 days ago, forced to undergo surgery that simply changed what he was in one night, isolated for 5 days, then forced to defend his inexperienced self against bullets that could actually hurt him and possibly kill him. But now look at where he stood. He was provided with a room to sleep, eat, shower, and he didn't even know how long he would stay here.

"How long… will this experiment go?" Kaneki asked the nurse. "How long will we have to be forced to do things we don't want to do?" He added.

There was a long pause before Shizuku answered. "We do not know yet. However, it is definitely more than a month. Do not forget that there is still a chance for you… to fail."

Kaneki laughed bitterly as he looked at his side. Shiki was his neighbor, he stayed between him and Nami.

"What did you say about us if we become failures, Shizuku-san? We would become mindless monsters?"

"Yes. Simply monsters with no brain."

"And the three of us still have the chance to be like that because our bodies might reject the liver anytime around this month?"

"Yes." Shizuku walked inside closer towards the shorter boy. She handed out the new clothes in her arms. The design was no different than the tattered one that Kaneki was wearing. "That is the reason why this experiment had been going nowhere. It was hard to find the perfect subject. All of them before you turned into failures between this one month time. However, Doctor Kanou said that the three of you may have a bigger chance to survive."

Kaneki didn't believe that. What he believed was that Shizuku said that just to lift off his stress, anyhow. The possibility still scared him even though he didn't want to show it. She probably said that to the other victims before them three.

"I shall leave you now. See you tomorrow." The nurse bid her farewell.

Kaneki turned his head to where both Shiki and Nami stayed. Nami was even further away from his side. When he looked at them, Shiki was seen talking with Nami first. He couldn't really hear them from there, the voice was too low to hear. So he decided to change his clothes first at the toilet.

After he got out from the toilet with his new clothes, Kaneki only saw Shiki who was sitting on the bed. The white haired boy realized his presence, and he stood up from his bed to walk closer to the glass that separated his room with Kaneki's, where the 5 small holes for them to talk were made.

"Kaneki."

"What is it?"

As his face was hardened, Shiki said assured. "I was thinking about us escaping this place."

"What!?" Kaneki widened his eyes in an instant. What the gallant boy said to him was ridiculous. "That's impossible, Shiki. There is no way out of here."

The boy smirked. There was so much meaning behind that smile. "I don't mean now." Shiki shook his head, "I mean later, when we are strong enough to fight back."

Kaneki was taken aback by what he said. Strong enough to fight back? Kaneki definitely understood what that meant. Shiki wanted to actually went along with this. He wanted to master his kagune and to adapt with their new body. It somehow irked him when he realized Shiki said the same thing towards Nami before.

"Are you saying that you really want to go along with that doctor's plan?" Kaneki furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't understand why he suddenly got mad. "You want to keep on being tested and—"

"Do we have any fucking choice!?" Shiki cut harshly that it made the raven haired boy taken aback by his shout. "We don't! We don't have any choice but to go along! Right now, the only ones who have the most knowledge about us are the doctors here and they are the ones who know how we work and how things will go from here on out!" Shiki's furious yet determined eyes were still not wavered. "That's why I'm giving us an idea to fight back with our new gained ability. We don't know how to fight with this yet, but as the days go by, we'll figure it out. We will be able to escape from this facility."

Kaneki bit his lower lip. He was contemplating what he just heard. Shiki was right. If he really despised his situation so much, then he could, perhaps, use the power he had to turn the tables for them. So far Kaneki recognized Louis as the only one who was capable of fighting. He figured the other doctors only had their brains to count on.

"…Alright. If we do this together, we may be able to do it."

Shiki looked different then. He lowered his head, and his fist tighten as it glued on the glass. His voice shook slightly with suppressed anger, it was low but loud enough for the other side.

"I won't let them use us. I won't let them have what they want."

Immediately then Kaneki knew, he could count on Shiki more than he could possibly count on his weak self. He was sure that it didn't take Nami that long to agree with his plan and she probably as eager as Shiki. She was dead afraid at the test room, but Kaneki was sure she was brave enough to make a move. Kaneki realized he was the wimpiest of them all. But fully understanding what position he was in, he didn't plan to stay weak forever. He couldn't just give up. Moreover, he had two friends by his side to help him and each other.

So with that new resolution, Kaneki nodded his head, feeling determined to be strong.

The next day finally came. Kaneki woke up from his bed, feeling sluggish. His muscles were hurting in many places because he was not the active type who liked to do sport. The mattress on that room was also a bit harder than the one in the ICU where he was placed after the surgery, but comfortable enough. He took a glance at the ticking clock, it was 8 in the morning. Or at least that's what he believed. Instinctively he tried to look at Shiki and the furthest one from him, Nami. Shiki was already up, while Nami was still asleep.

"Good morning." Kaneki greeted from the holes.

Shiki nodded and gave a little smile. Kaneki went to the small cubicle to do his morning routine which he had before his life was normal. Take a shower, brush his teeth, then change his clothes with the same one he wore yesterday. After looking refreshed out from the shower, he walked out from the toilet. Then, he saw Nami was seen sitting on the chair. She seemed to be writing something on the thick notebook that was provided for all of them.

Kaneki wanted to greet her. However he was too far from her, so there's no way Nami could hear him. As he was fidgeting idly in the middle of his room, Shiki came out from the toilet with his hair that was backward spiky now downward and dripping with beads of water. His towel was covering his shoulders for him to use as his hair dryer.

It was 8:25. The three of them didn't know what to do. The nurses hadn't visited them yet, so no instructions were given, even from the speakers. Kaneki was thinking maybe there wouldn't be any training today, and yes Kaneki decided to call it a training rather than a test. Then suddenly, there was a voice from the speakers and it startled him.

"All subjects please go to the test room."

That was Kanou's voice. A voice they had to definitely follow, or else he would electrocute them on the spot.

When he remembered that Kanou said they mustn't be late for more than 5 minutes, Kaneki immediately stood up from the edge of his bed. He saw the others did the same. He walked towards the door and opened it. Kaneki walked closer towards Shiki then the both of them approached where Nami stood in front of her room. The stairs down was the nearest from her room and the door towards The Binge Eater's prison.

"Hey, guys!" Nami greeted with her bright smile. Seeing that made the other two couldn't help but to smile as well. They really thought they wouldn't be able to smile like Nami did anymore, but her presence sure felt like a sunshine. Her cheerful attitude was odd. "Are you ready to…? Well, you know. Another session with the gaijin?"

"His name is Louis, isn't it?" Kaneki reminded the girl and lightly laughed. Deep inside he was glad he was still able to laugh like this.

"Yeah, I guess. I don't remember his name at all. I hate that guy." Nami huffed. They way she was mad was really childish but cute at the same time. "How could he shoot us calmly like that? We're friggin' kids! Unbelievable."

"Come on, we don't want them to get angry down there." Not wanting to waste any time and really didn't want to get any more trouble than he already had yesterday, Shiki walked ahead on his own.

The other two followed him. As his barefooted steps were echoing down the stairs, Kaneki was thinking if maybe he would get his shirt torn up again. Well it probably would. Even in the middle of walking to an another painful test, Kaneki still had the unnecessary time to think that it was such a waste to keep on providing them with new clothes.

The white space of the room still felt foreign for Kaneki. This whole room didn't give so much comforting atmosphere. There had to be a lot of horrible things happening here. Knowing that made his skin crawled uncomfortably. He saw Louis, the investigator from yesterday, had already been standing in the middle of the room. His posture was menacing already. It only took that suitcase to transform into a dangerous killing weapon that shot them countless times the day before.

"Good morning, subjects." Kanou greeted casually from the observation room.

The children looked up, not surprised by the doctor's hypocritical face that was looking down at them like toys. In return, they only gave him a sour look.

"Oh boy, how scary. Did you children had a nightmare?" Kanou asked with a smirk, even knowing full well the reason that it was him.

"Cut the formalities and get on with in." Shiki barked.

"Very eager I see! I like it. You two also need to follow subject one's example. But no so fast, tiger." Kanou chuckled. "I have an announcement. Your agenda from today until the end of this month is to keep on training in this room with Louis, for an hour. 3 sessions everyday. 8:25 to 9:25, 12:00 to 13:00, and 18:25 to 19:25. That makes 3 hours everyday. I will call you from the speaker when it's time to go down."

"Is this training still considered as a test?" Kaneki asked.

"Nothing we do to our subjects in this facility not considered testing, Kaneki. This is a part of the test also. We have modules and it may change considering your status. The flow and the succession of this experiment rests in your shoulders."

Kaneki gulped. He looked back towards Louis, he was still standing there without a word like a statue. He really stayed silent the whole time. Not even a smirk was formed on that stoical long face. The other two were also getting ready in their own position. They knew standing together in one place wouldn't do them any good.

"One last thing. This time, you are allowed to try to fight back. Louis, start."

Under his command, Louis's quinque transformed into its true form, ready to shoot some more again.

"Try to hurt me." The dove said before he pulled the first trigger that day.

A week had passed since the second training. That made it 27 days more to go to pass the vulnerable time turning into failures. Kaneki's nurse said that in this one month time, a lot of past subjects failed to pass it. That's why the experiment hadn't created a prized result. An ideal one-eyed ghoul. To be honest, Kaneki always woke up in insecurity. He felt restless every night, afraid if he would turn into a brainless monster. That was something even more worse than death.

However, within this week his body was starting to accustom with the harsh training. He really didn't want to call it that way. He preferred the term torture. The boy was fucking shot with a shiny gun in many places of his body. It wasn't like he was numb to the pain, of course it was painful. But somehow it lessen, and he was already used to the feeling of regeneration. His body that used to feel sore after bed now not anymore. Probably because he spent 3 hours everyday to move his body around, dodging bullets, getting hit, kicking, controlling his tentacle. It was really exhausting.

The food that he had to consume was now sent to him only once every two days. Kaneki realized that a ghoul didn't have to eat everyday to survive. The flesh they consumed could be their energy until the next days. Slowly he was getting a grasp of how a ghoul lives. Sometimes he also wondered where on earth the CCG had stocks of human flesh.

It was 13:30, half an hour after the second training that day. He didn't wash his hair this time for wanting to save up his shampoo even though he knew his personal nurse would certainly replenish his needs in those things. He was sitting on the chair, writing notes on his notebook. Yes, Kaneki wrote down notes from his training, if there was something notable. He saw that Shiki also did the same thing. Well, Kaneki told him to. He said it could help them in the future. Nami? She used her notebook for drawing instead.

"A ghoul can survive for more than a week after eating a full human body, exactly 2 weeks for maximum. Only 5 days if just eating a limb…" The raven haired boy mumbled as he read his notes again. He was replaying what Shizuku told him this information when he asked after he came back for the training.

That suddenly made him wonder. He really almost forgotten her existence. The Binge Eater.

"…Right. Our donor. Why 'The Binge Eater'…?" He asked to himself. With that in mind, Kaneki walked closer towards the glass to talk to Shiki who was sitting on his chair. The table was facing the glass, and Kaneki could talk to Shiki without having the white haired boy to stand up to face him.

"Shiki." He called out. When Shiki heard his voice, he tilted his head up to see the one who's calling him. His tanned hand stopped writing.

"What is it, Kaneki?"

"The Binge Eater. Our donor who's currently imprisoned beyond that door."

Shiki raised his eyebrow, "Yeah? What about her?"

Kaneki shifted his gaze to the other way first before he uttered his question. "Do you have any idea what makes her like to eat so much?"

Shiki's face twisted somehow into aggravation.

"I don't and I don't really care honestly."

"No, it's just, I really do think that The Binge Eater is different. Her eating disorder I mean."

Shiki scratched the back of his neck then stared at the curious boy with his sleepy-gaze. "Why do you care? What makes you suddenly asked me that?"

"I'm just afraid because we have her liver, her eating disorder could get into us somehow."

Shiki scoffed. He shook his head as he stood up from his chair, then walked closer towards the glass where Kaneki stood behind.

"Then let's just hope it won't. We have something more important to worry about. Turning into failures."

Kaneki flinched over the other boy's gaze that was sharp like daggers to his eyes. He was right. The possibility of their body rejecting the alien organ was still fifty-fifty for the next 27 days. He could turn into one minutes after now, tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Kaneki had decided to forget about it but thanks to Shiki the thoughts flooded his fragile mind again.

"Y-you're right. Sorry to bother you."

"It's okay."

With that Kaneki walked away from the glass. However, thanks to Shiki his mind wasn't at peace. He decided to open the door and walked out to the corridor, striding his way to Nami's room.

"Nami, may I come in?" Kaneki asked for permission after he knocked her door.

"Come on in!"

He heard her cheery voice nice and clear. Kaneki pushed the button beside the door and it hissed open for a way.

"H-Hey, Nami." Kaneki greeted with an awkward smile. He was starting to think maybe he was indeed being weird, and he didn't need to ask anything and even bother to ask his friends.

"Hey to you too, Kaneki-kun. What's up?" She asked with her pink eyes wide in eagerness. She was curious over his business to visit her. Well, not like Nami cared if he didn't have any reason at all. If he only came to say 'Hey' to her, she wouldn't mind. Nami thought Kaneki was cute with his almost-skittish attitude.

"Um… I just wanna ask."

Nami tilted her head. "Hm?"

"The Binge Eater, what do you think makes her eating disorder?"

"Eating… disorder? Is she like that?"

"Do you remember when we visited her beyond that door? Doctor Kanou said that the foods aren't up to her standard. Like, her quota is even bigger than that."

"Hm… I guess he did say that."

"He did. The thing is ghouls don't have to eat everyday to relief their hunger. We only need to eat once every two days, but The Binge Eater needs to eat everyday, with our portion. And even with that she's still in a brink of starvation…"

"I see…" Nami then shrugged as she played the pen in her fingers. "Then… what does it have to do with us?"

"It's…" Kaneki paused when he gulped a big lump in his throat, "I'm just afraid that we might be able to have that disorder, considering we have her liver inside us…"

"Well," Nami used her pen to tap her small chin as she looked up to the ceilings, "Maybe yeah. But so far we don't have that disorder right? Or are you starting to feel that way, Kaneki-kun?"

Kaneki shook his head, "N-no! I don't. Thanks anyway, Nami."

"You can just ask the doctor later on our third session, right? Or maybe Shizuku-chan?" She smiled brightly. It was the only advice she could give.

"Yeah. I'll do just that. Thanks, Nami. Sorry to bother you."

"No problem! You know that you can come anytime to play with me and with Shiki too. It's boring here." Nami sighed then she propped her chin on top of her palm. "Maybe I'll go to your room next time?"

"Ahahaha, sure. Why not. Well, I'll hit the sack for now… Bye."

"Bye!"

With that ended, Kaneki returned to his room and turned off his room's light. There wasn't any satisfaction in asking the two of them. However, he decided to ask Kanou later on their third session today. Then curiosity hit him. Kaneki wanted to see the famished ghoul once again. He almost forgot how she looked like and that made him want to see her again even just for a minute. Would she sit still quite in her cell by this time? Kaneki doubted it. Not wanting to brainstorm anymore, he rested his mind and stopped talking to himself, until he drifted off to sleep.

18:23

"Ah, I see." Kanou spoke from the mic. The question he received from the smart boy made him happy. This was really interesting. No subjects before Kaneki had ever asked him anything like this. They were either didn't really care or oblivious. "That is a really good question, Kaneki-kun. A really good one. Well, the answer is no. Her behavior wouldn't affect your mental health at all. We have tested on that from the past subjects. The liver only changes your inner physics and metabolism. Nothing else." He answered proudly.

Now that he understood, there was nothing else to worry about anymore. Kaneki noted to make sure he also wrote that piece of information later on his notebook. The investigator whom he met frequently everyday had been standing patiently in the middle again like usual. And it still confused the boy, how on earth the man didn't speak outside of holding his weapon? For the least, he always spoke so little. Just like a controlled doll.

"I got shot around 25 times this afternoon, same in the morning. I have to improve my speed somehow…" Kaneki mused as his grey eyes were kept focus on the dove. He gulped down, trying to swallow a lump of nervousness which he hadn't be able to shove away completely whenever he was down there.

Louis activated his quinque, his stance changed right away to fight. That was the cue where the three children released their kagune, changing the other eye to red, and focused to try to stab the opponent.

"Begin."

With that Shiki dashed ahead from the other two. His small feet ran at its highest speed, a rooted single red tentacle on his hips danced behind him. Shiki had never succeeded on giving a single blow to that arrogant man. His stoic face never failed to annoy him so much, but it became his will to actually throw a stab on his stomach. At least his arm. Then Shiki almost forgot that the investigator was a human. He wouldn't regenerate like the three of them.

The bullets flew past him, two out of four grazed his cheek. He was starting to be able to read the bullets but they were still to fast for him to see clearly. Shiki kept running until his distance was close enough with the dove for his kagune to work.

Even though Louis was a far-range fighter, he was also able to fight in mid-range. Avoiding the incoming amateur kagune attacks was child play for the half-foreign man. His sense was also not questionable for him to be able to avoid Kaneki's incoming attack from behind his back.

"Kuh!" Kaneki gritted his teeth.

The chain attack didn't stop there. Nami who was running from behind Shiki now was on the air after jumping on the white haired boy's back. She span her small body in the air to deliver more power in her single tentacle to attack the human below. Again, easily Louis dodged that, moving his body to the right of the tentacle where it hit the floor then turned his body slightly to attack the boy behind him with his gun.

"Shit!" Shiki didn't see that coming at all and got his shoulder wounded.

"A bit different than before, but not effective enough. How many times do you kids want to use the same trick?" Louis asked boringly. They had done this for so many times that he was able to read their plan easily.

The moment Nami landed on her feet, her reflex was not quick enough to avoid the incoming bullet from Louis' gun. The man hit the same spot as Shiki's. Seeing that, Louis' didn't forget about Kaneki. But the moment he turned his focus to the last boy, he had already been running towards him with angry eyes, kagune ready behind his back.

Kaneki yelled out loud as he unleashed his attack which was not fast and precise enough. As Louis jumped to side to avoid it, he shot Kaneki to his shoulder just like the other two.

"No progress at all." Louis shook his head disappointed. He let his guard down for a moment there, and Shiki took the slim chance. Louis' green eyes went wide when a kagune was attacking his feet. If he wasn't trained enough for it, he would surely trip over that. He didn't but jumped way backward from the kagune. Now that was surprising.

"Y-you almost had him…" Nami said in awe. She also didn't expect Shiki to do it.

"Tch…" Shiki tutted. It wasn't enough after all.

"Interesting. I didn't really see that coming. You weren't able to move when you're regenerating before this, subject one." Louis pointed his reason to be surprised. However, his expression remained stoic.

"Heh, why don't you just admit that I actually make some progress, or perhaps you're the one who's slower?" Shiki smirked as he held his shoulder. It was indeed still hurt, and he did pushed himself a bit there. Even Kaneki who saw that was surprised too.

Louis shrugged then blink. A lame taunt. He was not such a weak-minded man who would fall into insults and stupid ego.

"You do make a little progress, but not even close to average. You're still an infant as a ghoul, weak and hopeless. The two of you as well." He pointed out blandly, not beating around the bush.

That really somehow aggravates Shiki. He hated it to be called weak but he wasn't one to deny that. He was indeed powerless in front of the man who was on a whole new level. Louis was a grown-up, unlike himself who was still considered as a child even though he wanted to believe that he was mature enough.

Kaneki understood this very well. He wouldn't deny what the investigator said. He didn't even feel offended at all, because he was weak even before all this. For the bookworm boy, him running here and there, trying to kick and punch, and even have a regenerating ability? He felt super human already. However, that wasn't enough. The standard that was demanded was set higher than what he felt. The subjects had to be strong to be the CCG's ultimate weapons. After all this ended, they had to work for them. His powers were things Kaneki didn't ask for, he never even thought the possibility of having it. Now he had to live with that power, with a new identity as a one eyed ghoul.

"That's why we're trying here." Kaneki stood up after his fall. His wounds were now closed up. He was ready to fight again. His furrowed eyebrows were sharpening his determined eyes. Their spirit made the observing man smiled behind the glass yet they didn't know that.

"They are promising, aren't they?" Kanou said to anyone in particular in the small observation room. There were the three nurses there and two other doctors standing with him.

"I'm still not sure, but they aren't bad at all." Shizuku commented.

"I'm still skeptical." A female doctor gave her opinion. "We've been doing this for 16 years and never succeed. The Binge Eater's kakuhou is hard to control. Watching them still haven't showing any irregularities so far makes me nervous." She added. Her slanted eyes behind her glasses were focused on subject one. "But subject one is quite promising indeed."

"Ever since the mock test, subject one hasn't shown any revolt." The said subject's nurse said.

"Of course. He knows what's best than getting a painful electric shock." Kanou scoffed. He saw the three subjects were busy fighting the investigator. They were like flies fighting a tiger, swarming him with weak attacks. But it didn't really matter for Kanou. Past subjects did this too, and none of them survived the test until the end of the month. Maybe if there was such a thing as God, it needed to be chosen by Him.

A/N: Bless Ishida Sui. I don't hate him so much anymore. HINAMI-CHAAAAAN! THANK GOODNESS YOUR BIG BRO IS BACK :'D

YOUR FOLLOWS, FAVORITES, AND REVIEWS ARE SO MUCH APPRECIATED ;_;