The sterile, lifeless air of the hospital hung heavily as Haise Sasaki walked through the brightly lit halls, his footsteps echoing softly. Beside him, Akira Mado kept her usual composed demeanor, her sharp eyes scanning the environment as though anticipating trouble. Ahead of them, two CCG investigators stood stationed at the door to a private room.
"This is where she is," Akira said, her tone brisk. "Her condition is…peculiar." She hesitated, glancing at Haise. "You should prepare yourself."
Haise nodded but didn't respond. His thoughts churned as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The sight that greeted him was unsettling. Rize Kamishiro, the ghoul who had haunted his fragmented memories, lay in a hospital bed, her once vibrant, predatory presence now reduced to a fragile, pale figure. Her hair clung to her damp forehead, her breathing shallow, and the faint tremor in her hands betrayed her weakness. The room was guarded, with two investigators posted inside and machines monitoring her vitals, but even they seemed uneasy in her presence.
"Her human body is failing," a doctor explained as he adjusted the IV line connected to Rize's arm. "We've discovered she's not digesting human food properly, though her RC cell levels remain at human standards. It's unlike anything we've seen before. The CCG is conducting further tests to determine how a ghoul could become…this."
Haise stared at her, unease curling in his stomach. Her face—so familiar, so intertwined with the part of him that felt both his and not his—sent a chill down his spine. He stepped closer, drawn by a pull he didn't fully understand. As he studied her, her eyelids fluttered open, revealing dull, lifeless eyes that nevertheless found his.
"Kaneki…" Her voice was a rasp, barely audible. She grabbed his wrist with startling strength, her thin fingers cold against his skin. "If you want to be human again," she whispered, her lips curling into a faint, eerie smile, "you must follow the white rabbit…to the Red Queen."
Haise froze, his breath hitching as the words sank in. "What…what do you mean?" he asked, his voice trembling.
But Rize didn't answer. Her hand slackened, falling limply back to her side as her head lolled against the pillow. Her shallow breaths filled the silence, and the room seemed to press in around him.
Akira stepped closer, breaking the tension. "We're trying to figure out how this transformation happened in the first place. The fact that her RC cells remain at human levels is unprecedented. If we can uncover the cause…"
She trailed off as the door swung open suddenly. Christy rushed in, holding a case containing vials of blood samples. Her eyes met Haise's, and there was a flicker of urgency in her gaze.
"I think I'm close to a cure," she said quickly, her voice filled with restrained excitement. "With these samples of Rize's blood, I can—"
A violent beeping from the machines cut her off. Rize's vitals spiked as her RC cell levels surged on the monitors. The air shifted, charged with a sudden, overwhelming intensity.
Rize's eyes snapped open, glowing crimson as her body convulsed. Before anyone could react, she lunged from the bed, her movements unnaturally quick. The sound of snapping restraints filled the room as she barreled toward Christy, her fingers outstretched, a predator unleashed.
The chapter ended there, with the room erupting into chaos.