AN: Bit of a more chilled chapter today to give some breathing room.
Hope you enjoy the chapter and please do leave a review or comment, and let me know what you think!
If you have any specific questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.
Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there are tons of others there, plenty of writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.
But yeah otherwise, thanks for reading and please do leave a review, or feel free to PM or find me on Discord, I am usually much better at answering those!
Also as a tag on when I have the time I am going to be dipping into some of my older chapters cleaning up the grammar and typos that I missed in the past.
Nothing major will change, just a bit of polished and minor editing.
But yeah, otherwise, please do enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or the MCU.
( - )
(Last Time)
"We landed near a town or city, and there was a letter in the groundkeeper's office," Kaneki shrugged. "I can't speak or read French, but I at least know how an address is written including that la France means France."
Holding back a sigh, Yelena nodded.
"Okay, Rouen, France. I can work with this." She said, giving him a contemplative look. "You know, if we get you a pair of glasses or something and some decent clothes, you could easily pass for a normal guy. Plus, for a murderous cannibal, you're surprisingly easy-going?"
"Err, thanks, I think…." Kaneki said.
He wasn't sure what the future held, but from what he could see he wouldn't be facing it alone.
( - )
Chapter 17
( - )
(With Yelena)
Biting her tongue in concentration, Yelena ignored the eldritch horror she could feel lurking about behind her and instead focused her full attention on the lock in front of her.
Narrowing her eyes, she tickled the last of the lock's pins and twisted both of the thin sticks of metal she was using to pick it.
With a soft click, the door unlocked.
"Thirty-five seconds. I'm getting slow." She muttered, using English for the benefit of her companion.
Rolling her neck and shoulders, she stood.
Her lockpicking skills had atrophied a bit over the years.
A few years back she could probably have picked a simple pin-tumbler lock like the one on the door in front of her in under ten seconds.
But nowadays it took her three times that long.
Pathetic.
Admittedly, and in her defence, she was using a safety pin and hair clip instead of an actual lockpicking kit.
But, still, the point remained.
She was rusty.
Personally, she blamed her deteriorating skills with old school methods like manual lockpicking, on her overreliance on technology.
When she had been running operations with the Black Widows, they had always used the most advanced and up-to-date technology available. Regardless of where the technology originated, be it America, China, Japan, Korea, or Britain. The Red Room pretty much had first dibs on anything they wanted thanks to the sheer number of moles, paid-off company execs, blackmailed scientists, and morally bankrupt contacts they had spread out across the world.
Her expression turned a little grim at that thought.
Despite having spent most of her life either training to be a Black Widow or actively working as one, she didn't know just how many other Black Widows were out there in the wider world.
But what she did know though, was that the Red Room, Russia's answer to SHIELD, had infiltrated every major government of relevance in the world at this point in some form or another.
Several of her fellow Widows, she knew, were married to high-ranking politicians in the G20 countries. Or, in one or two cases, were in fact high-ranking politicians themselves, who took whatever stances they thought were necessary to advance their careers and further embed themselves within the running of their chosen country.
One that she was aware of, even though almost certainly should not do, was that the Chancellor of Germany's wife was a Black Widow.
In America alone, she knew that there were several Black Widows involved on both sides of the political spectrum plucking at whatever stings they deemed necessary to guide national policy in the way they wanted. Similarly, the Red Room had blackmail material on several more.
Additionally, the Red Room had agents or contacts in every single large-scale weapons manufacturing company or technology company in the world. Plus they had influence over some of the largest media companies, both news and social in the world, which allowed them to spread misinformation and twist the truth as and how it pleased them.
Just like with the other clandestine operations in the world like SHIELD, HYDRA and AIM, the influence the Red Room wielded, even from the shadows, was truly terrifying.
Especially now that she was outside of the organisation and could actually feel fear once again.
Bizarrely, she felt her lips quirk up into a smile at that thought.
It had been a long time since she had felt pride in her abilities, or fear, or felt anything at all really, and because of that, her emotions were all over the place.
In some ways, she felt almost like a child.
Like she was experiencing these feelings for the first time.
Or like she had been asleep and lucid dreaming for the last decade, was only just now waking up to reality.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
But at the same time, it was far better than still being some emotionless automaton. An empty puppet dancing to the will of her puppet master.
Closing and locking the door behind her, she flicked the lights on and led the way into the nearby lounge area.
Groaning and stretching as she entered the plush living space, she twisted on her heel and collapsed backwards onto a nearby sofa.
"Are you sure it's safe to be here?" Her companion, Kaneki asked behind her as he too entered the lounge. As he entered, his mismatched eyes shifted over the expensive, well-decorated lounge and the adjoining kitchen-diner, before moving back to Yelena expectantly.
"Da, it's all good," Yelena replied easily, shifting her position to make herself more comfortable. "This place is an Airbnb, a place people rent short-term for weekends and shit. The neighbours will be used to strangers coming and going at random. And yes, before you ask, I checked before we came, and this place is still available for booking. So, we won't be getting disturbed anytime soon."
It had only taken her a few minutes of searching on the internet after they had broken into the cemetery groundkeeper's cottage to find the place.
Most of the flats in the apartment block were short-term rentals, and those that weren't were mainly used as second homes for people who worked in the city but generally lived elsewhere during the weekends.
The apartment block essentially had a transient population, and those who did stay here long-term probably didn't bother to keep track of who was who, and instead trusted the building's security system to keep out the riffraff.
She smiled at that thought.
She suspected that those very same tenants would probably never sleep soundly again if they realised just how pointless their high-end security system really was. Even a petty thief with only a fraction of her skills could break in if they had enough motivation too.
Shoving that thought away, she watched as Kaneki turned away from her and headed for the kitchen.
"You want coffee?" Kaneki asked as he started looking through the cupboards and found some coffee that a former resident had likely left behind and some cups.
"You drink coffee?" She frowned.
Considering what she had seen of the superhuman cannibal so far, she had not expected something so… mundane from him.
"I thought you 'd blood or something." She continued, her shoulders tensing and eyes fixed on his back as she waited to see his reaction.
"That's a vampire," Kaneki said dryly as he turned to look at her, his placid eyes locking with her own. "And I'm not a vampire, I'm a ghoul."
Yelena felt a shiver run down her spine.
Odd colouration and creepy black veins aside, his actual eyes looked more like those of a tired officer worker than of a serial killer.
It was both disarming and terrifying at the same time.
How could such a monster hide behind such a calm and peaceful façade?
She knew she was good at hiding her true intentions.
She was a social chameleon who could adapt to almost any and every situation, tailoring her smile, body language and words to suit her needs. She could hide her killing intent behind a flirtatious smile and slit a throat without batting an eye.
But compared to him, she felt like a rank amateur.
Shoving down her discomfort at just how inhuman her companion truly was, she forced a cocky smile to spread across her face.
"Yeah, well you eat people, vampires eat people, it's basically the same thing," She replied blithely.
"Except vampires aren't real," Kaneki shot back, his attention no longer on her as he instead turned back to the kitchen counter as he put a kettle of water on to boil and then started using a hand grinder to grind his purloined coffee beans.
"You'd be surprised," Yelena smirked, her response slightly more genuine now as she saw him look back at her in genuine surprise.
Considering her previous thoughts, it was odd to see such a human response from such an inhuman being.
"Really?" He asked, his eyebrow-raising as he paused his grinding to look at her.
Yelena shrugged in response.
"Probably. I mean, considering there are aliens, superhumans, mutants and magic, it really wouldn't surprise me if there were vampires, werewolves and zombies too," She replied honestly. "The world is far crazier than people think."
Kaneki hummed.
"I suppose when you put it like that." He acknowledged, "But still vampires? Like, was Dracula a real person?"
"Vlad the Impaler was a real person, and for all we know he actually was an immortal, bloodsucking parasite and Bram Stoker wasn't full of shit when he used him as a template for Dracula," Yelena shrugged.
Her general knowledge was pretty good considering just how much information had been shoved into their heads during training. It was a prerequisite for infiltration, being able to talk about a whole variety of topics, from history to politics to pop culture. But at the same time, she had never truly thought about it. That knowledge had been a tool, nothing more. Not something she could show off, or something over which she could debate about with friends. Not even over something as silly as whether vampires were real.
"So, coffee?" Yelena pressed on, quickly pushing her intrusive thoughts away and moving the topic back to him and away from her realisation that a stupid conversation about vampires was probably the first normal conversation she had had in well over a decade.
"Yeah, I drink coffee," Kaneki nodded. "It is the only thing I can drink really aside from water… and well…"
"Blood?" Yelena inquired, her lips twitching up into a teasing smile despite her inner wariness.
Kaneki didn't need to reply. He didn't need to, as she could see the answer to her question written across his normally placid features.
"Still," She continued, changing the subject to avoid awkwardness. Once she knew him a little better and got a better read on his disposition she might return to the matter. "Why coffee of all things?"
"I don't know," Kaneki shrugged. "I wasn't born this way, and when I became a ghoul, it didn't exactly come with an instruction manual."
He was once a normal human, Yelena noted.
Kaneki was not as cautious as she had anticipated.
Or rather, he was not as well trained as she was when it came to deflecting and keeping secrets.
"You might be surprised," she said after a moment, once again pushing her thoughts aside and focusing on the present conversation. "But I do get that."
Kaneki by the sounds of it was a human that had been turned into a monster.
She, meanwhile, had been a little girl who had been turned into a monster and was now free and once again trying to be human.
Kaneki tilted his head to the side curiously, his expression was unreadable, even to her.
"I wasn't born an assassin," Yelena continued, choosing her words carefully. "I was an orphan who was taken in and turned into a mindless killer against my will. Now, I am free of whatever it is they did to me and well… I do get it, what you are going through that is…, sort of."
Kaneki continued to look at her for a moment, before nodding. "Different, but similar."
With that said he finished grinding the coffee and set about making up his drink.
His movements, she noticed, were easy and relaxed, yet also very precise.
Watching him closely she could see his shoulders untensing as he worked, and a slight smile started to play across his face.
It looked less like he was just making coffee at this point, and more like he was going through some kind of comforting, therapeutic ritual he had done a thousand times before.
Catching her looking, Kaneki's lips quirked into a smile.
"I used to work in coffee shops," he said after a moment. "The first was in Tokyo, not long after I became a ghoul. The people there found me when I was at a low point. They took me in and helped me… live. The second was in New York. I was alone, and they gave me sanctuary. Working there was… nice. It gave me a sense of normality and stability."
She felt her eyebrows raise at that admission.
"So, by night you are a bloodthirsty, superhuman cannibal and by day you're a mild-mannered barista?" She drawled with a bemused smile. "You are a very odd person."
"Yes, probably," Kaneki nodded.
Putting down his cafetiere, he picked up his steaming cup of coffee and took a sip, his eyes closing a soft sigh leaving his lips.
"Good?" She asked.
Lowering his cup, he smiled. "Adequate."
"Hmm," She hummed, "Is there any other food in the kitchen?"
"I didn't see any," He replied.
"I'll just get a takeaway then," She shrugged as she pushed herself up to her feet. "I take it you're not hungry?"
"Not for the moment," Kaneki said after a moment. "I don't normally need to eat much. A large… meal… would usually satiate me for a few weeks. But that tends to change depending on what I'm doing. So long we don't get drawn into another fight, I should be good for a while at least."
"Good to know," Yelena nodded.
And honestly, it was somewhat comforting to know that she wouldn't have to watch out for him getting hungry in the middle of the night and mistaking her for a midnight snack.
Joining him in the kitchen, Yelena forced herself to relax, despite being so close to him, as she instead started digging around in the kitchen draws for a takeaway menu.
At this point, there was no point in stressing.
After all, she already knew that she was completely at his mercy.
If he wanted her dead, then she was dead.
Taking another sip of coffee, Kaneki continued to watch her as she rootled through the draws.
Coming up empty, she let out a frustrated sigh.
"Ah fuck," she cursed. "There's nothing here."
"There were vending machines downstairs," Kaneki suggested.
"Yeah, but I want proper food, not fucking crisps or chocolate," Yelena grumbled. "Fuck it, I'll go out and get some food. We need to go out anyway."
"We do?" Kaneki asked as he lowered his cup onto the counter. "I thought the plan was to lay low for a while."
"Yes, it is," Yelena grumbled, "But unlike you, I need proper food. And on top of that, we need new clothes, so we pass off as normal people and not homeless people. Plus, this place is only temporary. It'll do us for a night or two, but then we'll need to move and to do that we'll need transportation and money."
"Okay," Kaneki said. "So, what do we do first?"
Yelena looked back at him. "We get some disguises and then steal some money. We'll need to keep it lowkey though, so you can't just rip an ATM off the wall and help yourself. After that, we can borrow a vehicle, swap the licence plates with another car, and then head to Paris. Once we get there I know of some people that can sort us out with some fake IDs."
"Sounds easy," Her companion said.
"Crime pays," Yelena shrugged. "But before anything, I need food and you need a shower."
"A shower?" Kaneki asked.
"Da, you smell like shit," She replied bluntly.
And really, he did.
He smelt like blood, sweat and rotting flesh.
It was nauseating.
Looking down at himself and taking in his filthy clothing, Kaneki nodded.
"Okay," he said, before finishing his coffee and heading for the bathroom.
Watching him go, Yelena smiled.
He still terrified her, yet the more she spoke with him and observed him the more at ease she felt.
He wasn't as unstable as she had initially feared.
Instead, he seemed quite calm and easy-going.
Even when she pushed boundaries and prodded, he just rolled with it.
It made her feel slightly more confident both about sticking around him and that they could actually succeed in creating new lives for themselves.
Not that she was planning on sticking around him for all that long.
After all, once she had gotten him sorted she would go and find her sister, Natasha.
Her gut twisted at the thought.
The same sister that had knowingly abandoned her to her fate.
She wet her lips.
She still didn't know what to think of Natasha.
Her emerged emotions still felt raw and new.
Part of her wanted to hate her older sister for leaving her.
Another part wanted to break down and cry about all the shit that had happened to her.
It was annoying.
Tightening her hands into fists, Yelena exhaled loudly.
She needed to pull herself together.
Now wasn't the time to have a breakdown, nor was it the time for her to go on a spiritual journey and 'find' herself.
No, instead it was time for her to actually use all the skills that had been drilled into her head and actually sort her life out.
Once that was done with that, and she had a bit of stability, only then would she decide what to do next.
Whether that was reconnecting with Natasha, killing her, or just going on a rampage against the Red Room, she wasn't sure.
But either way, it would have to wait until she had a clearer head and was in a more stable position.
For now, she had a debt to a certain cannibal to fulfil and her own shit to sort out.
Nodding to herself at that, she headed back to the couch and flopped onto it.
Her eyes shifted down to the dirty, jumpsuit she was wearing.
She also needed to sort out her own clothing too.
After all, if they were going to pretend to be some high rollers who were living it up in a posh apartment, then they at least needed to look the part.
Closing her eyes at that thought, she lay back against the soft cushions and started planning out her next moves, even as she heard the shower turn on in the next room.
She could make this work.
She had to.
( - )
(With Kaneki)
Walking down the street arm in arm with Yelena, Kaneki felt distinctly uncomfortable at all the attention they were receiving from the crowds of locals and tourists they passed.
Or rather, the attention Yelena seemed to be receiving. After all, he was just wearing some grey jeans, black and white checked pumps, a maroon zip-up hoodie, a supposedly fashionable jacket, a baseball cap and some sunglasses. He just looked like an average run-of-the-mill guy, especially after Yelena had thrown a bottle of black hair dye at him and told him to use it.
Just like she had suggested, he was flying under the radar.
He was dressed smartly, but not in an attention-grabbing way.
By contrast, Yelena had chosen an attention-grabbing green dress, knee-high black boots, a grey, knee-length designer coat and sunglasses. She had also done her thick, blonde hair up into an intricate braid, and was wearing make-up to accentuate her already natural beauty.
She basically doing the opposite of blending in.
Where he looked like an average nobody, she looked like she had just walked off the front page of a magazine.
She was drawing attention, which by proximity was also drawing attention to him as she had also elected to hold onto his arm like they were dating as they walked down the street.
"I thought the idea was to avoid detection," Kaneki muttered as they continued down the high street. Occasionally they stopped as and when Yelena wanted to look through a random shop window at some inane tat.
"It's called hiding in plain sight," Yelena replied lowering her sunglasses as she looked up at him with a coquettish smile.
He looked away.
Thankfully it was the middle of the day and sunny, which meant that the fact they were both wearing shades wasn't all that remarkable.
"Those who try to act inconspicuous often end up drawing more attention to themselves than if they had just acted normal. Those who act confident though, like they don't have a care in the world or nothing to hide draw attention, but they don't draw suspicion. At the moment we just look like a couple of tourists looking around at the shops. Worth a passing glance, but otherwise forgettable." Yelena continued quietly as she went back to looking through the shop window at the knickknacks within.
"That makes no sense at all," Kaneki shot back.
"And yet it works," Yelena countered confidently. "Just trust me."
"Hmm," Kaneki hummed.
They'd been in Rouen for nearly two days now.
The first one had been… awkward.
After he'd had his shower the night before they had put the door on the latch and had headed out into the city.
A bit of subterfuge later they had broken into the backroom of a clothing store and outfitted themselves with a new wardrobe – he'd been left carrying the bags.
After which, they'd then dropped their new clothing off at the flat and gone to a bar where he'd been left standing awkwardly at the bar while Yelena had swooped around liberating several bar-goers of their wallets and purses before then leaving. Which in turn left him alone, and had ended up with him shuffling his way through the bar to the exit, even as those around him gave him pitying looks. It was like they thought he'd come to the bar with a partner, only to be stood up.
The looks of pity and barely hidden amusement had made his skin crawl.
After that they'd headed back to the flat, stopping at a shop en route to get some groceries and other essentials using a stolen credit card and some careful manoeuvring to avoid looking at cameras. And then it had been off to a takeaway, where he'd had to stand outside with the bags to avoid the vile stench of the human food within. Before finally, they'd headed back to the flat.
Only for them to then realise that the flat only had one bed. Which meant he had ended up sleeping on the sofa, even as Yelena took the bed.
An uncomfortable night later, and they were off again. Only this time to acquire more money, plus to scope out some prospective vehicles.
He'd essentially felt like a third wheel the entire day, very much outside his comfort zone as Yelena led the way while he followed along like a lemming holding the bags.
"So, when do we leave?" He asked.
"Tomorrow morning, early," Yelena said, once again starting down the street, a bright smile on her lips as she pretended to laugh at something he had said.
He hadn't said anything funny.
"Okay, so if we've got money and new clothes, why are we still out here?" He asked, following her lead as she guided them to a nearby café.
He smiled as his sensitive sense of smell picked up the aroma of fresh coffee beans in the air.
"Because I'm casing out the different shops," Yelena said. "The pocket change we got from the bar will only take us so far. All the cards will have been cancelled by now, and I could only get so much cashback from them in the shops. We'll need more money for when we get to Paris if we want new papers."
"Can't we just get the money there?" Kaneki asked.
"We can if you don't mind pissing off the criminal underworld based in Paris," Yelena shot back dryly. "The same criminals that we want to use to sort our papers. No, crime in Parish is controlled. If we go in and start causing trouble or messing up the order of things, we'll get a lot of attention and a lot of enemies."
"And Rouen isn't the same?" Kaneki asked.
"There is a criminal element and gangs here, but they're nothing really," Yelena shrugged dismissively. "They don't have the same power or influence as those who control Paris. Besides, we're not going to be hanging around here long enough for them to track us down."
"Then why not just get money off them, instead of robbing shops?" Kaneki asked.
Yelena's lips curved up into a cheeky smile.
"That's the plan. I've not been walking us all over the city centre looking for just any business to rob. I'm looking for the ones that are probably laundering money, and so will have a lot of loose cash available for the taking." She said, flashing him a bright smile before then turning and talking French to a nearby waitress. Who smiled in turn, before replying in the same language and gesturing for them to sit at one of the tables inside.
"Oh," Kaneki said as he entered the cosy little café and sank into a seat. "So have you found one?"
"Da," Yelena nodded, "But not just one, but three and we'll be hitting all of them tonight and then leaving the city at dawn before they even know what's happened. It should give us enough to get to Paris and find us a safe house. It'll also pay for a bit of anonymity and get the papers we need too, and hopefully quickly."
"Okay," Kaneki said after a moment.
It'd feel a lot better to rob criminals than some average everyday shop owners who were just trying to make a living.
"Good," Yelena nodded, before with another smile she turned and spoke French to another waitress who came over to their table.
Allowing his attention to drift as Yelena and the waitress chattered away in the unfamiliar language, Kaneki quickly found his attention drawn to a nearby TV screen.
The sound had been turned off but the television was still displaying images with French subtitles, even as yet more text in French ran across the banner at the bottom of the screen.
Focusing on what was being shown, Kaneki quickly recognised New York.
The city it seemed had finally been cleaned out, and by the looks of it teams were being sent in to find the remaining survivors and to start stabilising buildings.
Watching closely, he couldn't help but grimace as he saw the state of the city.
Most of Manhattan was in ruins, dozens of once gigantic skyscrapers were now little more than mountains of rubble and metal girders.
But worst of all was the vast fields of cloth shrouded bodies with thousands of people milling around looking for their loved ones, even as others were shifted to gigantic cities of tents where tens of thousands of refugees from the city remained while they waited for buses to take them to other cities and other refugee camps.
It was a grim sight to see.
"Hey!" Yelena's voice suddenly interrupted.
He looked over.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"Coffee," He replied bluntly.
"Yes, but what kind of coffee?" She asked.
"As long as it's a black coffee, I don't mind," He shrugged.
Rolling her eyes, Yelena nodded all the same and turned to relay his order.
Turning back to the screen, Kaneki frowned as he saw an unfamiliar, moustachioed old man in a green army outfit with lots of medals start to give an interview in front of what he thought was Capitol Hill in Washington.
"Right, all sorted," Yelena said cheerfully.
Kaneki hummed for a moment, before looking at her.
"Can you tell me what is happening?" He asked, nodding at the French text on the screen.
Raising an eyebrow, Yelena looked at the screen and concentrated, her eyes flitting back and forth as she read the repeating text.
"The guy is called General Thaddeus Ross. I'm not all that familiar with him, but I do remember that his file said he was a hard-core patriot, and very radical with his ideology. As for what he's saying…" She paused and frowned. "He's calling for a nationwide test for superhuman powers and a mandatory conscription of those with abilities. He also wants all those with powers to be registered with the government so they can be called up for military service and serve their country. All to make sure America is defended the next time aliens want to invade."
Her frown deepened.
"He's also calling on the Avengers to lead by example, and for all those with powers to willingly submit themselves for registration and military service. He also is talking about their being superhuman threats both from within and outside America's borders…." Yelena trailed off, wetting her lips. "He keeps claiming he has evidence that justifies the need to register those with powers. And is calling on all those with abilities to do their civic duty to America."
"So he wants to create an army of people with superpowers?" Kaneki summarised.
"Da," Yelena muttered. "But it won't work. They tried in Russia, and they got some, but most went into hiding and started fighting back against the government. It caused chaos and guerrilla warfare. Neighbour reported on neighbour. In the end, a lot of people died."
Kaneki turned his attention back to her.
"Yeah it got covered up, we're good at that kind of thing," She smiled wryly, before with a sudden brighter smile she turned and greeted the waitress as she brought over a tray with two coffees and some freshly baked croissants.
Taking his cup of black coffee, Kaneki took a sip as Yelena quickly helped herself to a croissant.
She looked practically gleeful as she wolfed down the first croissant.
"Oh damn, these are good," Yelena moaned happily. "I've had them before, but I never realised just how good they were."
"They are nice," Kaneki nodded nostalgically.
He'd always liked sweet stuff when he was a human.
It was something he missed.
The sweetness of blood paled in comparison to that of refined sugar.
"Do you want one?" Yelena asked brightly.
"Do you want me to throw up all over the table?" Kaneki answered blithely.
"Not particularly, I don't want you to make a scene," Yelena responded just as casually. "Don't you miss food?"
"Every single day," Kaneki said promptly. "But there is no going back."
"If there was a way though, would you take it?" Yelena asked, taking a bite of her other croissant, and once again visibly relishing the taste.
Kaneki narrowed his eyes.
Yelena grinned in response, there were pastry crumbs scattered across her face.
"Well?" She prompted.
"I don't know," Kaneki answered honestly. "I'm not the same person I used to be, and I'm glad I'm not."
"Were you really that bad?" Yelena asked, her head tilting to the side.
"In some ways yes, and in other ways no," Kaneki grimaced.
He didn't like thinking of the person he had once been.
Both out of shame of who he was now and disappointment of who he was then.
"Well, that's cryptic," Yelena said rolling her eyes.
"Would you go back to living in ignorance, knowing that everything would be easier? Or are you happier now you're free, despite life being much harder now you're aware?" Kaneki frowned.
The smile slipped off Yelena's face in an instant. "It's better to die free than spend your life as a prisoner."
Kaneki grimaced and took a sip of his bitter, bitter coffee.
No truer words had ever been said.
( - )
AN: Yeah I decided this chapter was needed to calm things down a bit, and add some normalcy, plus to flesh out some characters. It was a breather chapter.
As I had planned previously, the next chapter will occur after a time skip.
I think it is about time to kick up the pace and move things along.
The next chapter will have a POV from the Avengers, which again I was hoping to do in this chapter. That POV will give insight into wider happenings and where the story is in the MCU timeline.
It will also pick up with Kaneki and Yelena and start off some the next arc.
Hope you all stay tuned and enjoy.
If you are hankering for more Tokyo Ghoul though, please do check out my Tokyo Ghoul/ My Hero Academia story, 'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stranger'.
Either way, thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to PM me or find me on Discord.
Catch you later.
Greed720.
