Chapter 26

Untitled. Part 6

Another week had passed since then. 20 days left until the end of this month. The three subjects had been following their schedule accordingly, they didn't revolt against the rules as well. But indeed, something changed in all of them, even if it was just a little bit. If there was a thing that was noticeable, their endurance increased considerably. For Kaneki personally, his body started to give tolerance for his lack of physical training before he came here. Whenever the boy woke up, he didn't feel hurt so much anymore.

It was 5:30 in the evening, near the time to undergo their last training that day. They were all staying in Shiki's room together. They had been talking about themselves and plans if they succeed in escaping this place.

"I've been living in Sakura Orphanage since I was no older than an infant." Nami told the other two boys about her origin. "I don't know who my parents are. The nurses are the ones that gave me my name." She shrugged as if it was a completely light matter to speak about.

"Do you… want to see them?" Kaneki asked out of curiosity. They were sitting together on the floor to strengthen their friendship and got to know each other, that's why Kaneki wasn't afraid to ask that simple matter.

"Who? My parents? Nah, not really. The nurses said I was left alone in front of the orphanage's door, crying so loud that the people inside could hear me." Nami laughed bitterly. However, she didn't seem to look that sad at all. "I mean, if my parents threw me away, why would I still wanna see them, right?"

"Well… you got a point. Your enthusiasm is admirable, Nami." Kaneki smiled. In his eyes, the girl was really bright and confident. She looked so fearless.

"Yeah, I can agree with him." Shiki agreed with a smile. "Your enthusiasm and positivity are almost unbelievable." He added. He shared the same view as Kaneki. The girl was indeed like the sun especially for these past weeks.

The pink eyed girl immediately blushed. She laughed awkwardly, but the two boys could tell she was happy.

"E-eh? Really? A-Ahahaha! Thanks guys! It's… It's the first time someone said that to me…"

"What? How is that possible?" Kaneki asked in disbelief. Shiki also raised his eyebrow questioning the truth.

Nami's round face turned solemn, yet she was still able to put up a sad smile. "My friends at the orphanage think that I'm a weirdo." She paused, "My overly positive attitude kinda makes them uneasy. I have this… lacking sense in understanding situations."

It was the two boys' first time to see her struggling in talking. She was trying to explain her problem as easy as she could. Saying that she lacked 'sense' in understanding situations seemed so heartless and made up, but Kaneki and Shiki both could tell that there was no reason for Nami to lie.

"Is that why you were so… normal, when you realized you got kidnapped back then?" Shiki asked.

Nami nodded. "I guess. I didn't even feel that afraid. I have a minimum standard of fear. Like, I'm not really afraid with ghosts, bugs, and unexpected bad situations."

"What are you afraid of, then?" Kaneki scooted his body closer after feeling slightly uncomfortable sitting for the past hour.

"I'm afraid… when I feel death is coming closer towards me." The girl admitted. "It's scary you know? Dying. That's why I was so scared the first time Louis shot us here and there." She was fast like a switch to change her expression then, "But when I knew that we have epic regeneration ability, I wasn't really worried anymore! Well, even though it's still scary seeing that gun pointing at you. Heheh…" She laughed awkwardly.

"Then how did you get kidnapped?" Kaneki asked again.

"If I'm not wrong… That guy, what was his name? J… B?"

"Yeah, him." Both boys nodded. Then they both looked at each other, realizing the fact that the man who kidnapped them all was the same.

"Well, the nurse suddenly called me that night, saying that there is someone who wants to adopt me. I didn't even know my blood type is AB." Nami shrugged again before she continued. "Then I don't really remember what happened before I woke up here."

"I see. That's humane enough so it's alright, I guess. At least you're afraid of something. " Shiki chuckled. "Being calm in unexpected situations is necessary."

Kaneki was almost overwhelmed. He wondered what these two had gone through. He thought, it was very unlike him. Kaneki was an orphan yet he still had a family. Even though that family didn't care for him the so much, he had never been in an awful situation where your life is in danger. Unexpected bad situation? It was only the time when the teacher noticed the whole class that there would be a japanese history exam a day before the exam. And that didn't even make the boy frightful in a slightest.

"You guys are awesome…" Kaneki said. "I would never be so brave like you both." He frowned.

Shiki helplessly gave a smile. His usual hard face softened when he heard his friend was being diffident. He never really believed that Kaneki was that weak. He was strong in several cases. Like, Shiki admitted Kaneki was smarter than the both of them. After all, Shiki and Nami didn't go to school. The white haired boy only studied from donated books at the orphanage. He only read what interest him, until one day he stopped.

"I usually got into a fight with some kids from the neighbors. I'm not exactly a good kid." Shiki began to tell his story. "The orphanage I was in, Shirozo Orphanage, it didn't really have that much children in it. Only 6. And… We also don't have so much money to take care of ourselves and keep the orphanage going." He sighed. "So we tried everything to get some money. We even stole and begging, just so it could somehow lessen our mother's struggle to take care of us."

"Does she know about it?"

"A week ago, she did. She was so mad at us. Really, really mad. Ahahaha." Shiki laughed over his stupidity, yet he sounded sad at the same time. "She said what we did was so unnecessary because she loved us all. She would take care of us until we're adopted. Until that day, that man, JB, came to our orphanage."

"A-and then?"

"He asked mother of our profiles. Specifically, blood type. I happened to be the only one with AB so he casually chose me. I refused at first. My reason was because I couldn't leave mother yet and also taking care of the others. I was the second oldest in there. Also, I was reluctant if that man I would live with would be able to help me with money and help Shirozo Orphanage." Shiki bit his bottom lip, hard enough to show his anger. "But they all insisted that I have to go. My brothers and sisters told me that they would be alright. Mother told me that I had done enough. I couldn't accept that but… I decided to take my chances." His little fist tighten on his knee, "My mindset back then was, if I got adopted, I would also be able to somehow lessen mother's burden. I could go to school, become successful, and repay my orphanage for taking care of me. But… But that JB drugged me out. Even though I was placing my hopes on him…"

Kaneki gulped down again. Hearing the white haired boy's story made him sympathize. He thought what happened to his friends were just as worse as what happened to him. He was starting to wonder, did JB literally pick the three of them on purpose? Did JB knew them since long before they noticed? Kaneki decided to stop there. He wanted to not thinking about that kidnapper anymore. The man had a job. The CCG probably hired him. Or maybe, he offered his service himself.

Stopping his train of thoughts and deductions, Nami called out to his name,

"How about you, Kaneki-kun?"

"M-me?" The startled boy widened his grey eyes.

"Yeah. Won't you tell us?" Shiki encouraged the awkward boy. He was curious to hear from him.

"Well… So I—"

Before Kaneki could continue, Nami's sharp yelp stopped his mouth from speaking,

"Akh!"

Her small hand went to grip the right part of her head, clutching it hard enough to dissipate the pain.

"Nami!?" Shiki immediately moved closer towards the girl. His eyes were glaring with worry. "Are you okay!?"

As quick as lightning, Nami recovered from the pain she briefly felt in her head. "I-I'm okay! I'm okay!" She convinced with her usual bright smile. "Geez! Did I really make you guys worried that much?" The girl grinned.

"R-really?" Kaneki was skeptical. If there was one thing he understood right about Nami, she was a pro at keeping up a good front whenever she was hurt.

"Yes, really! It doesn't hurt anymore. I wonder why that happened, though."

"Should we tell Kanou later?" Shiki said.

"Nah, no need. I bet I just didn't get enough sleep. Now continue, Kaneki-kun!"

Even though Kaneki wasn't so sure, he continued his hanging story about his aunt, his mother, and how he got here. Basically about just what kind of a poor life he had been living until now, and getting forced to be a guinea pig just made it even worse. It was kind of hard for Kaneki to tell his sad tale out. If possible, he wanted to have an amnesia about his past. If he became a guinea pig, might as well just start his life anew since the first time he got here. No past, no background. Kaneki had that thought for several times whenever before he slept.

"Well, that's weird, don't you think?" Shiki said after he realized something from Kaneki's story, "If we are all picked as an orphan or at least, literally don't have any family left, then why did JB kidnap you?" He questioned confusedly, "Of all AB type orphans out there in Tokyo, why did he have to get you?"

"It's also weird when your aunt told you to wait in front of the school and wait for a man to pick you up. She must have known about JB since who-knows." Nami added. Clearly that was something else that had been going on since Kaneki's kidnapping. Knowing those facts and flaws, he began to wonder about what in the world was the relationship between his aunt and JB?

Right before they knew it, the voice from the speaker startled them all. They were too focused talking that they didn't take a look at the time.

"It seems like your conversation is really fun that you kids didn't bother to check out the clock." A sarcastic female voice that was belonged to Akane made them all check the ticking clock right away. It was six past one minute. It had already passed the time to visit each other's rooms.

"Oops. We'll continue this tomorrow, guys!" Nami quickly stood up. "Thanks everyone. Let's do our best for today's last session!"

"Mm. Better get ready." Kaneki also stood up.

"Thanks, guys." Shiki bid them good bye as they were walking out of his room. The moment Kaneki passed through the door, Shiki sighed, standing up to sit on his bed. He took a glance at the clock the second time. 28 minutes until the last session.

"Getting a little swift on your feet now, subject 3." Louis praised as he dodged an easy attack. His green eyes were locked on the boy's kagune and feet, realizing that he indeed made some progress.

"R-really?" Kaneki's big grey eyes looked up onto the investigator's face. His own was sweating very much but his body hadn't strained enough to make him tired yet. He didn't realize the change in his own ability to fight and move around like this. He left that up to Louis' analysis.

"Yes. You also applied my advises from yesterday. A quick learner indeed."

Kaneki felt weird then. The stone-faced man praised him, saying positive things about his progress. That was actually a first for him. Kaneki knew he still resented that man so much, but really, Louis was their combat teacher as well. The boy had almost forgotten that he didn't come here in his own will. Then with a slight tint of blush on his cheek, Kaneki looked down to the floor and said,

"Th-thanks…" His voice was almost quite.

"Next, subject 2." Louis called out to the only girl. They were doing a one on one spar so it'd be easier to look at one's progress.

Nami gulped before she walked towards Louis. She passed through Kaneki, swapping place with him. The girl was ready to give her all, determined to get a little praise too from the man. After all, she had been there a pretty long time already. Nami didn't exactly want to forget where she came from, but truth to be told, she had been wondering if she might find a purpose there.

"Ready when you are." She jokingly taunted once she finally stood short in front of Louis.

Without reply, the green eyed man put up his gun, one second away from pulling the trigger. But suddenly, he halted when he saw the girl hissed, clutching the side of her head really hard.

"KUH!"

"!" Louis widened his eyes and lost his focus. He automatically looked up towards the observation room, looking at the master of the experiment. He saw the doctor's face was full of concern. His grey eyebrows were furrowed, and his jaw tighten quite nervous.

But suddenly, Louis was pushed by a hard kick on his back. The next thing he heard was the girl's triumphant laugh.

"HAHAHA! I fooled you, didn't I!?" She grinned.

"N-NAMI!?" Both Shiki and Kaneki gaped their mouth in disbelieve. Did she really do that on purpose? Faking pain on her head? Deceiving the strong Dove in a spar? The same thing just happened in Shiki's room. Did she fake that one too?

"Is she serious…? That kid." Shiki tutted. Feeling kind of stupid for worrying.

"No, Shiki. There's no way she faked that…" Kaneki whispered somehow sounded not confident enough, "There's no reason for her to do that when she talked with us." He shifted his eyes to look at Shiki who still had the word 'worried' written all over his face.

"Well… That's true but… How about this time?"

"That… I don't know. But she seemed to be in real pain. I hope she's really okay. Considering our situation as subjects, something like that worth our attention." Kaneki turned his attention back to the front. The two continued their spar restlessly and the raven haired boy could tell Louis was somehow a bit agitated more than ever. Maybe he was slightly annoyed for being tricked like that.

As Louis dodged her attacks, his green eyes were focus on her expression, looking for any anomalies. He hated for being tricked with a cheap one like before, but to be honest he wasn't sure either. That wasn't the first time he had seen it happened to the kids.

"Did you really fake it?" Louis bellowed.

"Don't tell me you don't want to accept the fact that you're tricked by a cute guinea pig like me, Louis-san?" The girl said before she thrust her kagune sharply into the man's head. She wanted to put a hole on his annoying long face.

Louis ducked and with fast steps he was behind the girl's back, now talking closely behind her head.

"I do hope you're joking because you wouldn't like what I'm about to tell you about that head pain. It might be a sym—"

"I said I was joking!" Nami used her kagune again to slash him and then she used her feet to kick the man's shin. Another futile attack. She felt like the surprise attack she did was something so precious to remember.

"…Defend."

"!" Not really sure to thank his forewarn, Nami quickly used both her kagune and small arms to defend her side and received a hard kick from the Dove that successfully sent her quite far away. "Gah!" She landed ungracefully with a loud thud.

"Learn how to land back on your feet, subject two."

"Aww… That hurt!" Nami hissed. After she stood up again, she rubbed her poor right hand after feeling it throbbing for a second. "Did you really have to kick me that hard!?"

Kaneki had been keeping watch on their spar for minutes. He was analyzing how Louis moved, how Nami fought, and how he'd be able to get better on what he lacked. He was thinking about these until he looked up to the observation room, surprisingly found that Kanou's face was frowning. Usually, he would smile in satisfaction, happy to see his precious guinea pigs fighting and shedding limitless blood. But now was completely different.

The practice had finally come to an end with usual torn up shirt. They were exhausted, but the nurses were already there ready with their bottle drinks.

"Good job." The speaker spoke aloud with the old man's voice. "Ah, before you go back, Nami."

The three subjects automatically looked up even though it was only the girl that he called.

"What is it, Doctor?" Nami asked confusedly.

"Stay here for a while. We need to talk. Kaneki and Shiki can go ahead. Good night."

"Wait," Shiki didn't just want to go back. Something was wrong and the boy didn't want to be oblivious over what's wrong. Especially something to do with his friend, "What's wrong with her? Why are we not included?"

Kaneki really didn't want to be stubborn and stay but he found himself reluctant to go back too.

"It's nothing really. I only want to give her a piece of advice from my own perspective. This is the first time a female holds on this long."

The two boys looked at each other, changing skeptical thoughts between their eyes. They wondered perhaps that headache faking got something to do with it. But before one of the boys protested once again, Nami said,

"It's alright guys! Stop being so worried all the time. This will only take a moment. Go on ahead!" She said cheerfully with her optimistic grin.

"…Alright." Kaneki unwillingly nodded. The two boys walked upstairs, leaving the girl behind.

It had been ten minutes since then. Shiki was writing on his notebook about what he lacked in the spar. He was beginning to think whether or not he should train independently in the training room below. After he finished his notes, the boy looked up and saw Nami was walking towards her room. Immediately he stood up and walked closer towards the glass that separated them.

"Nami!" He called out.

The girl was looking down on her feet before she was called. Shiki couldn't read her expression before she flashed off her usual smile.

"You're not asleep yet, Shiki-kun?" The girl asked.

"What did he tell you?" Shiki asked to the point, "Was it something bad? Is there something wrong with you?" The white haired boy was definitely worried. He believed that what happened to Nami with her headache was something worth to get some attention from her fellow friends. None of them had gotten any headache so far or even internal pain, except for Nami.

"There's nothing wrong, Shiki-kun." Nami said, "Doctor only gave me some advices. Some minor checkups too. I'm perfectly fine! Hahaha!" She laughed aloud.

"Is that so… That's good." The boy smiled gladly. "Well, good night then."

"Wait, don't tell me you're awake just to wait for me?" Nami exaggeratedly gasped.

"N-No! I didn't! I was writing on my notebook!" Shiki cursed himself for stuttering. "I was… as usual, taking notes. Like what Kaneki does."

"Pfft. That's real cute. He's even asleep in there. Anyway, I'm going take a brief shower. Good night." The girl walked inside her toilet, bringing her new clothes to wear to sleep.

Feeling embarrassed, Shiki facepalmed himself and went to sleep. Kaneki was asleep already, didn't even bother taking notes. He needed to go to sleep too. The boy could feel the fatigue was crawling on his legs and back. With lazy steps, Shiki crawled onto his bed, pulling in the blanket, and proceeded to sleep.

A lot of days had passed and finally 4 days left until they could be free from the vulnerable days of becoming failed subjects. They had undergone total changes. Having to work on hard training everyday made their bodies stronger than ever. They became less tired easily, their stamina capacity also became a lot more. What they lacked were only the abilities to be as strong as what the CCG desired. Now, the three children were walking their way to their usual morning routine.

"Only four more days to go, huh?" Kaneki said. Without he realizing it his steps had became more confident and fearless than the first days he came here, "What do you think will happen to us after that?"

"I don't know. I doubt they'll release us just yet." Shiki shrugged. He stretched out his arms as he walked, making it a habit since he became confident and agile in his moves.

"What do you think Na-N, Nami? Are you okay?" When Kaneki turned his head towards the girl, she was hissing silently as she clutched her head with her hand.

The girl immediately put away her hand and laughed awkwardly, "Y-yeah!? Ahaha! I'm okay! I'm alright." She shoved the matter away. "Maybe they will change our routine, I guess." Nami guessed. Her wavy hair was tied in a ponytail, swaying gracefully behind the nape of her neck.

"I hope they can let us out even for a minute. I miss the sun…" Kaneki said.

"Hey, don't speak like that. You sound like you like it here." Shiki chided. "You're supposed to say 'I hope they're letting us see the sun so we can use that chance to run away.'" He corrected.

"O-oh right! What am I saying…"

"Haha! You're silly, Kaneki-kun." Nami laughed.

Once they had arrived in the training room, as usual, their trainer was there waiting for them.

"Morning, Louis-san!" Nami greeted casually. The man only nodded.

"Good morning dear children." Kanou spoke from his usual place. "Only four more days to go. You don't have any idea how nervous I've been lately! I really hope I don't need to find anymore of you. A lot of money we spent just to pay that man who found you guys."

"Whatever." Shiki scoffed, "I, for sure, don't wanna be your trophy."

"Oh boy, Shiki-kun. When will you possibly start to be kind to me?" Kanou sneered.

"Never. Why don't you stop being annoying, Doc?" Shiki threw away his gaze from the glass. Without anybody's order, he released his kagune, ready to fight and release some steam. "The three of us will make it through this stupid experiment."

"Hahaha, I admire your determination. Do you like it that much here, Shiki-kun?"

"Let's just begin already!" Shiki barked.

Kaneki could only laugh awkwardly, really found it amusing for Shiki to be able to speak daringly like that to the doctor. If the doctor really admired him, then Kaneki was too. He admired his courage and the will to survive. It was something that drove him to survive this trial too. Kaneki was really glad having his friends around. It made him feel not so alone, even though the boy still missed his best friend. He wondered how he was doing now.

"Begin, Louis."

As if the coin was inserted, Louis activated his quinque. The shape of gun replaced the deceiving look of a suitcase, glowing with neon green light and readily pointed at the three subjects. Louis then noticed something different when he was focused at their eyes. They were looking fearless.

"Let's go!" Shiki shouted. Immediately they all ran together, splitting their ways to surround their only target with their identical kagune already sprouting from their hip.

From these days, Kaneki had known something new about his kagune. It could outstretch itself, making it two times longer than his height. He intended to use this ability to bring Louis on his knees and make it into his favor. The raven haired boy was faster than before, the after effect of running and dodging every day. His instinct was honed enough to make him an average ghoul.

With precise timing, Kaneki jumped in the air, rising his single tentacle to attack the man from the air. Before today, making himself jumping high in the air with a gun pointing at his face was a bad idea. He really couldn't move his body there at all. But now, somehow he could use his enhanced ghoul ability to dodge in the air. He did just that.

"Hm." Louis hummed. Now he realized he couldn't take this as easy as before. "Not bad."

"!" Kaneki widened his eyes. Unexpectedly, Louis shot faster beyond what Kaneki was ready for, and the boy wasn't capable to dodge again before his feet touched the ground.

Thankfully, his friend got his back.

"Not so fast, Louis-san." Nami smirked. The bullets that were shot was deflected by Nami's kagune fast enough that it made Louis almost lost his focus due to the surprise. "Kaneki-kun!"

"Hyaaaah!" Kaneki sent a heavy forced attack from above and Louis had to use his long barreled gun to defend himself. Now that both of his hands were occupied, Kaneki yelled,

"Shiki!"

The moment his cry became the Dove's warning, Shiki had hit him with his kagune. Everything seemed like going in a slow motion for them. Shiki's kagune was in contact with the man's left rib. For the first time since they had come here, the subjects were finally able to hurt the strongest being of the basement.

Going back to the reality, Louis growled as he were pushed 2 meters away. The hit wasn't that hard but Shiki was pretty sure it gave out some pain.

"How was that, huh!?" Shiki helplessly whooped. "We did it, guys! We hit him!" He exclaimed happily as he put his attention back to the other two.

"No, you hit him, Shiki-kun. You did it!" Nami exclaimed. She was happy for all of them too.

"I wouldn't be able to do it without us working together, right? We did this together. We're getting stronger." Shiki confidently said. He was sure and determined to pass through this test. Of course, he was still not forgetting his original mission to escape from this place. Nevertheless, he was happy enough to show the Dove and the scientists above what the three of them capable of. "Did you see that, Doc!? We did what you wanted!" He said as he pointed out his index finger towards the window.

The doctor in return, clapped his hands with Kaneki didn't want to admit he was kind of proud. After all, he had done things that were supposed to be what he wasn't capable of weeks ago.

"Very… very well done, children." Kanou said. The other scientists and the nurses also clapped together. "We are so proud of you. However..." Kanou paused. Kaneki began to feel nervous about this. "It seems like… one of you… won't make it through."

What Kanou said stabbed the children like dagger. Horrors were projected in their eyes, widened like a ping pong ball.

"What... What do you—" Before Kaneki could ask what the doctor meant, a horrifying scream echoed throughout the room.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

"NAMI!"

The girl that stood behind them was clutching around her body, falling on her knees, screaming as her kagune was moving unpredictably around the air behind her hips, followed with another new tentacle sprouting slowly.

"NAMI! NO!" Shiki yelled as he ran quickly towards the girl.

"SHIKI!" Kaneki tried to stop the boy for not getting too close but Shiki's panic and fear got the best of him. Kaneki jerked his head up to see the doctor, feeling furious and angry yet he seek his help. However, the moment his eyes laid upon them, upon the people inside of that little observation room, he realized that all of this was going to be a part of something he despised.

"STAND BACK!" Nami screamed the moment her kagune tentacles that now had become two attacked her own friend unwillingly. Even her voice that once sounded cheery and cute turned different and sounded like a beast. With his honed reflect Shiki jumped back before that kagune hit him, but he didn't intend to stay back too long. When Nami lifted her face up, Shiki could see that her face was almost taken over by red streaks that were coming from her jaws. "DON'T GET TOO CLOSE BEFORE I—UAAAAAGH!"

"NAMI!" Shiki shouted again, trying his best to get her back to her senses. "YOU CAN FIGHT IT! PLEASE!"

Amidst of the hell breaking loose, Louis was still standing on the sideline, watching them with his gun equipped in his hand. He looked up towards the observation room, meeting eyes with the doctor. What the doctor did was a straight line on his chipped lips. The next thing he did was talking to the mic,

"This is what happens to a failure. Subject two, Nami, has failed on becoming our ideal subject."

"Then what are we supposed to do!?" Kaneki asked, "We can't just kill her! She's our friend! There must be something you can—"

"If there were something we can do then the three of you wouldn't be here, subject 3." Kanou's voice turned heavy and angry having to say the obvious truth, "She has to die."

A/N:

I'VE FINISHED MY NATIONAL EXAM SO I'M FREE FOR 5 MONTHS YO! PLS WISH ME LUCK FOR FAST UPDATES! SORRY SO SORRY FOR THIS LATE UPDATE OMG.

And also, I'm sorry for the sloppy story telling about Nami but I did this because I wanted to speed up a little and quickly focus on Shiki and Kaneki. I'm making up for the late update with 5000+ words :')