It was snowing. At first Kaneki thought that was cool. It really was beautiful . . . it made the world look quiet and perfect, as if nothing bad could happen, or if it did it was only temporary, because everyone knows about happily ever after . . .
Kaneki walked slowly, not feeling the cold. It seemed to be just before sunrise, but it was hard to tell with the sky all snowy and gray. Kaneki tilted his head back and looked at how the snow clung to the thick branches of the old oaks, and made the east wall look soft, and less imposing.
The east wall.
Kaneki hesitated when he realized where he was. Trapped. Then he saw the figures, hooded and cloaked, standing in a group of four in front of the open trapdoor in the wall.
No! Kaneki whispered. He didn't want to be over here. Not so soon after saying goodbye to Kuri. Enough was enough! She couldn't be dead! He didn't want—
The smallest of the cloaked figures turned around and Kaneki's internal argument scattered from his mind. It was Kuri! Only it wasn't. She looked too pale and thin. And there was something else about her. Kaneki stared, and his initial hesitation was overcome by a terrible need within him to understand. I mean, if it really was Kuri, then he didn't need to be afraid of her. Even weirdly changed by death, she was still his girlfriend.
He tasted the word in his mouth. Her last request. Girlfriend. Her last words. "See you later." She knew she would come back. She tried to tell him. Kuri was alive!
Wasn't she? Kaneki couldn't help moving forward until he was blocked by the wall. Kaneki held his breath, waiting for them to turn and see him, but no one noticed me. It was as though he was invisible to them. So he moved even closer, unable to take his eyes from Kuri. She looked terrible—frantic—and she kept moving restlessly, shifting her eyes around her like she was extremely nervous or extremely afraid.
"We shouldn't be here. We need to leave."
Kaneki jumped at the sound of Kuri's voice. She still had her sweet sound, but nothing else was recognizable. Her tone was hard and flat, lacking all emotions except a kind of animallike nervousness.
"You're not in charge of usssss," one of the other cloaked figures hissed, baring his teeth at Kuri. Kaneki growled. No one heard him. Even though the creature's body was weirdly hunched, he stood over her aggressively. His eyes had begun to glow a dirty red. Kaneki was afraid for her, but she didn't let him intimidate her, instead Kuri bared her own teeth, her eyes blazed scarlet, and she gave an ugly snarl. Then she spat the words at him, "Do the spirits answer you?" "No!" She walked forward, and the creature automatically took several steps backward. "And until they do, you will obey me! That's what he said."
The thing made an awkward, subservient bow that the two other cloaked figures mimicked. Then Kuri pointed toward the open trapdoor. "Now, we go quickly." But before any of them moved Kaneki heard a familiar voice from the other side of the wall, and was filled with dread. Hide!
"Hey, do y'all know Kaneki Ken? I need to tell him I'm here and—"
Hide's voice broke off when the four creatures, with blurring speed, rushed through the door after him.
"No! Stop! What the hell are you doing Hide?" Kaneki yelled. His heart was beating so hard that it hurt as he ran to the closing door in time to see the three of them grabbing Hide. To his chagrin he heard Kuri say, "He's seen us. Now he comes with us."
Kaneki's breath hitched with the sting of betrayal. Kuri! Why?!
"But he said no more!" The creatureyelled as he kept an iron grip on the struggling Hide. "He's seen us!" Kuri repeated. "So he comes with us until he tells us what to do with him!"
They didn't argue with her, and with inhuman strength they dragged him away. The snow seemed to swallow his screams.
Kaneki snarled and hit the opposing wall with his fist. He was weak! WEAK!
They were already gone, and he didn't know if he could bear to fight Kuri anyway. Kaneki needed to regroup and come up with a plan.
Kuri and Hide were Kaneki's responsibility. No one would interfere—because they would slaughter Kuri on sight.