Kaneki had chosen to go alone. His intent was set, he wanted revenge—no, justice—for Kuri. For everything.
He cracked his knuckles. This would be painful for him. He knew that, but he had no choice but to move forward.
The rumors; they couldn't be true—there was no way Kuri was alive. He had watched her die. That was what he knew to be true.
Kaneki walked into the lab; finding it had been difficult, but not impossible. Something called him. Something that had been with him since his transformation. Rize, maybe?
Kaneki stopped when he heard voices. He hid around the corner.
Three hooded figures. Two were those girls, Shiro and Kuro. The third was facing away from him. They were speaking in murmured tones, and Kaneki couldn't hear.
The third figure stiffened, and turned—
Kuri!
Kaneki had been pondering, if she was alive somewhere, and killing people like they said; could he be with her again?
Kaneki smiled to himself. The answer was a resounding yes. He didn't care what she was doing, what she'd done. She was 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!
Kuri 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. 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 could swear they were making eye contact, even tho that was impossible. A small smile graced her lips, then was replaced by a look of sheer terror.
She turned to the others. "We need to leave. NOW."
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 can't boss us around." Kuro snarled at her. "We are Father's children. We are superior."
"No, sister." Shiro spoke up. "She has the blood of the progenitor. The Lady Priestess is our future leader. Father calls her the Queen."
Kuri's blush made Kaneki smile. "Stop that. It's not what I want."
Kuro snorted. "That hardly matters "Queen"." She mocked. "In any case, I don't bow to you, Kuri."
Kuro hissed, leveling her kagune at Kuri. Kaneki growled. No one heard him. Even though Kuro's body was weirdly hunched, she stood over Kuri aggressively. Her kakugan glowed a bright red—a one-eye, just like Kaneki.
What happened next made Kaneki's heart stop. Kuri whirled and her wings flared from her back. But they were an ukaku kagune now! There was no mistaking what Ayato had had! Something about them was off though. The feathers were still apparent, but razor sharp.
Suddenly she turned her wings inside out, upside down. The result was a centipede like kagune surrounding her body. She snarled, her eyes turning a bright, glowing red. Both eyes—and it was different from a kakugan, brighter, and the whites of the eyes remained.
"Do you recognize me now?!" Kuri spat at the twins. "You don't have to bow; but you understand now, ne? You MUST obey!"
To his shock, Kuro and Shiro jumped back, curled into bows instantly subservient. Did she have some strange effect on ghouls? It wasn't working on him, that was for sure.
"Now. We go." Kuri pulled back her kagune and led them for a door he could swear hadn't been there a second ago.
Suddenly a knock came from the door above them.
Kuri turned in an impossibly swift, feral motion. "I'll go. Get down to the lab."
"We are coming…" Kuro said.
"…we need to eat." Shiro finished.
Kuri snarled derisively and headed upstairs.
Kaneki followed at a safe distance.
A voice came from the front door. "Hey, I'm looking for Kaneki Ken. I saw him near here."
Kaneki froze in shock and horror. HIDE!
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 creature yelled as he kept an iron grip on the struggling Hide. "He's seen us!" Kuri repeated. "So he comes with us until the Master 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.