31 Chapter 37: and a show

Ken Kaneki was walking back home after another meeting with in his old ward. Unfortunately, while he had gotten plenty of information to return to Yoshimura, the greatest piece of intelligence to him had eluded him. Nothing of real importance had been found out about one Doctor Kanou or his apparent experiment to create half ghouls synthetically from normal humans. The only thing 2chan bear ghoul had for him was that the CCG had not found him in any of its raids on multiple locations connected to the mad doctor.

After the meeting was over, he decided to just walk home instead of riding the train. The night was a comfortable cool with a lovely evening sky above his head so he felt it was worth the time and effort to walk the distance. Besides if he got bored it would not be that hard to just take a ghoul shortcut over the tops of the buildings or through the tunnels underground. He smiled, waved at, and even incurred a little small talk with the people who walked by.

As he passed by a couple with their dog, the canine got between him and the humans before growling aggressively at him. The couple apologized profusely while he just smiled at them; ignoring the dog defending its masters from the greatest threat it had ever come across. While he waved at the snarling dog, his phone rang from an apparent call from Shiro. He answered but the voice on the other end wasn't his sisters.

His entire mood shifted. He walked off ignoring the spooked couple and their now submissive dog in order to find a safe place to talk. He turned into an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. He didn't want to risk even a single human overhearing him and getting the CCG involved in this mess. "What have you done to my sisters, Tsukiyama?" Ken then asked in a venom laced voice.

On the other end, Shuu's obnoxious laughter was followed by, "Non, non, Kaneki-kun. No need to be so emotional. Your dear Shiro and Kuro are perfectly fine. I don't have anything unsavory planned after all. Unfortunately, they can't come to the phone right now. They were feeling tired after our earlier meal, so right now they are resting in the other room."

"And what do you have planned then?" Ken asked. His entire mind raced as he tried to figure how, when, and why Tsukiyama had his sisters and how he could get them back. "Just a simple bet Ken. If you win, then you and your sister's can return home." Ken was quiet for a moment but then asked, "And if I lose?"

"I'll send a car to pick you up," was his answer. "Just follow the instructions they give you and there will be no problems. I hope to see you soon, Kaneki." With that the phone line went dead and Ken walked back onto the main street. He wondered how Tsukiyama knew where he was. Did the man slip a tracking device on him somehow? The car did show up like he said it would and Ken stepped into it.

The car begin to drive off. The driver handed Ken a thermos of something and told him, "Drink this." Ken held back the comeback he wanted to use and pulled off the top. The smell that came from whatever was inside the thermos nearly made him throw up right there. But still he did as was told and drank the vile mixture that he was pretty certain wasn't even fit for human consumption. He could already feel some of the effects from it. For one thing his Kagune felt sluggish inside his body. He also found his reactions slowed and his body felt tired and unresponsive.

The ride was pretty quiet. The driver just focused on driving, while Ken memorized the route. He was debating coming back and tearing the place apart when all this was over. Eventually they reached the restaurant. Ken stepped out, a little woozy from the poison, and followed the man. He was led to a shower and forced to clean himself off before putting on a fancy outfit. Once dressed, he was led to another door. To his surprise though, the other side of the door only contained two humans.

"Hello," said the man while the obese woman just ignored him. A bit confused, Ken stuttered a bit greeting the man, though the stutter was also partially staged as he automatically took on a weak persona out of habit for when he needed to make his opponents underestimate him or not appear suspicious. "I'm Kobachi, from the Shouei Company's magazine, "Tokyo Gourmet"," the man introduced himself. Ken gave a disarming laugh and answered, "Sorry I can't say I've read that one before." The man guffawed back at him. "Oh, I understand. It is a rather niche fan base magazine. And there probably not too many high schoolers like yourself who read it."

"I'm in college though," Ken mumbled under his breath. Did he really look that young?

"Though you must be well connected to know about such a place. I never even knew that this place existed till an acquaintance of mine invited me. Strange, I know of a lot of good places around Tokyo, but I can't believe that one existed in a place like this," Kobachi wondered.

Ken actually felt sorry for this man. He was pretty certain that he was brought here as part of the coming dinner show. Ken had been too a few scrapper shows in his old ward. Being a high profile ghoul meant he did have to rub shoulders with those in the elite of his ward. He had never really been much of a fan of them but at least the ones in the thirteenth had gotten people with a fighting chance, like yakuza or ex-police. After all for the, more, common crowd of that ward's customers, there was little interest in seeing some weakling being toyed with by a scrapper when they could and did do that themselves out on the streets all the time. They wanted to see a real fight; usually with large amounts of betting on the outcome. Sometimes they even gave cash rewards to the contestant if they survived and/or completed some set task or competition.

Ken told the man, "Yeah this place serves a real elite clientele and is pretty exclusive. Only a few people have the credentials to join. Honestly this is my first time here as well. I'm here to meet up with some family members who arrived a bit earlier than me." The man nodded while remarking, "I expected so. First time I've gone somewhere and been forced to take a shower and put on a suit. Still I wish they would hurry up and get on with the meal."

The door then opened and a maid with a mask entered the room and offered everyone some coffee. Ken did notice that she gave him a cup from a different pitcher of coffee. Curious as to why he sniffed his coffee, despite the fact that the toxin had somewhat dulled his senses. He didn't smell anything wrong but when he passed the rather obese woman her cup he did notice a strange smell coming from her coffee. Meanwhile the man was critiquing the cookies that had been brought with the coffee that to Ken, seemed like colorful bits of cardboard.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity to the half-ghoul, the woman who had not talked to either of the other two, and the man who had spent most of the time trying to get Ken to eat a few of the cookies or talk about food, they were led to the final room. It was yet another room with a table but it also included a teppen. Once again the older man complained about waiting while Ken simply walked over to the table and sat down. He didn't even really react when the girl mentioned that the door was locked. He just watched Kobachi as he wondered out loud what the meal would be.

Finally it was time. A loudspeaker came on and announced that dinner preparation was ready. On cue the roof opened up; actually impressing the half-ghoul some. 'Wow, they really didn't spare any expense did they?' he thought, 'the arena at thirteenth was just some pit with seats around it but here they even put up an automatic roof just for the dramatic reveal huh? Rich ghouls really do have a flair for the dramatic.' As the roof opened up to the crowd that had attended the show, the voice over the loudspeaker said, "Today's dinner is these three people."

The loudspeaker went on to describe Kobashi and how he went to the gym. It even introduced the one who had brought him though to Ken, the ghoul just kinda blended with the crowd of fancy clothes and boring looking masks. The interesting part was when it went to the woman, who Ken realized he still didn't know the name of. Just like before it described her like the piece of meat she now was before this crowd but unlike before the one who had brought her here was not here.

In her anger, she started shouting, "Damn it! Show yourself, Souta! You promised you would marry me you piece of shit! … You were suspicious from the start! I'm going to report you! Stop hiding you fucker!" Ken immediately caught the name she stated and his eyes shot for the crowd. If he saw that clown in the crowd, then regardless of his current poisoning he'd jump into it and drag Souta back to the twentieth with him for a "friendly" conversation. But he didn't find Souta. Instead a demanding voice resounded throughout the room ordering the woman, "Silence pig."

All eyes went to a ghoul with a full mask with a simple silver design that actually made it look unique from all the other more gaudy masks surrounding it. It's only decoration around the right eyehole directing ones focus to that eye. "It just means you aren't worth his time. Nothing more than a pig at the slaughter. So do as a pig should and die," she said in a voice that Ken thought actually broke the human. Next she turned her eyes to him. He could feel her eyes upon him, as if studying him. Ken returned the favor; finding himself interested in this new ghoul till the loudspeaker introduced him.

"And today's main course… ghoul meat." Ken couldn't help but smile at the reactions of those present to the announcement. They were in a way cute. Apparently they were not too fond of cannibalism in this crowd. 'Not surprising I guess. People so fixated on taste and never once experiencing starvation wouldn't come to appreciate such a thing would they?'

With another introduction by the name of MM-sama, Tsukiyama stood up and got everyone's attention. Next to him in ornate chairs, the twins were still unconscious as more of the sleeping potion had been given to them to keep up with their fast regeneration metabolizing it at such a rate. "Messieurs and Mademoiselles, it is not unreasonable to be so bewildered. Ghoul meat is usually meritless since its coarse flavor is so displeasing to the palate." There were nods of understanding among the crowd as everyone tried to figure out where the man was going with this. "But I assure you this is not just some flight of fancy for the one before you is not just any ghoul but one worthy of interest. The SSS class, Eyepatch."

As he made the revelation Shuu used an over the top flourish to point to the half ghoul. Gasps and worried whispering spread across the room as many now feared being torn limb from limb by the one who sat before them. Even the two humans backed away from their partner in the arena who to them now appeared to be the devil incarnate. But before anyone could get up and bolt Shuu calmed the crowd down. "Don't worry my compatriots. I assure you countermeasures have been taken and he has been made to drink a potion to restrict his abilities. But as for why I brought him here, it was the scent he and his brethren held."

He brought out the sweaty towel that Kuro had used to dry herself off with after their earlier game and passed it out to the other ghouls present. "This is for everyone. Isn't it tempting? His scent, though being a ghoul, gives off a pronounced human scent as well. Added to the spice of his being a true titan in our world, a SSS, truly a fascinating dish. A new stimulus for the senses taste and smell. Surely an unknown flavor. So shall we enjoy our gourmet meal?" the audience cheered now while a gate to the arena opened up.

"Now let the dinner show begin. Today's scrapper has been provided by Madam A," the announcer stated as a large man thing walked in a get up that kind of reminded Ken of a BSDM outfit. The large man thing wheezed out a somewhat messed up greeting. "Then please enjoy the scrappers dismantling show," the announcer added. The scrapper slowly approached them. Ken noticed that it seemed to have a speech impediment.

The first one to really react was Kobachi who started laughing. Ken wondered if the man had gone mad. "I see, this is an event restaurant. When I went to France with Torimura, we visited a restaurant like this. You can enjoy both the food and the excitement of the show. I must admit it's so elaborate that I almost believed it for a second. I guess the customers are supposed to be considerate and cooperate." Perhaps, due to talking, he caught the eye of the scrapper, who yanked him down and positioned his saw over the now delusional man's arm. The whole arena was soon filled with the screams of the man, the sounds of flesh giving under the blade, a childish song sung by the scrapper, and the pleasant scent of blood. The announcer came on to comment on the quick dispatch of the first participant.

The scrapper then slowly approached the other two. The woman maneuvered to have Ken between her and their attacker. 'Using me as a shield. Not a bad strategy I guess,' Ken noted. He then had to jump to dodge as the saw came down and crushed the table and chair where he had been. He didn't know if it had some quinque material or if the suppressants would be powerful enough to weaken his body enough to be harmed by normal weapons. As such he couldn't just ignore the saw like he would normally. As he landed he grabbed a couple pieces of the broken furniture and tried to stab through the man's arm. But the improvised weapons didn't go in too far and the man was able to backhand Ken away. Of course the ghouls cheered this spectacle on.

But the scrapper soon changed his focus and decided instead to attack the girl. She dodge him though and turned out to be an amazingly fast runner for someone of her size. "I was in track and field back in high school. Even went to the interhigh tournament," she bragged. "I can do this much still." The crowd soon filled with jeers and calls for the scrapper to hurry up and tear them limb from limb. As they did though, no one noticed the one employee checking his watch. They did notice as she fell though; now victim to a paralysis drug. The announcer commentated, "It appears that the poison has taken effect. Don't worry though, we will wash her stomach out." The scrapper began another silly song as he grabbed the woman and shoved her on the teppan. As he watched, Ken overheard some of the ghouls complaining about not cleaning her off before cooking her.

'Che, what a nitpicky thing to complain about. Food is food. I will never understand these gourmets,' He idly thought before the scrapper's attention returned to him again.

Ken dodged as the scrapper tried to rip off his head with an overhead swing. He dodged again and again the scrapper's attacks. He found himself trapped and unable to run while waiting for his body to process the earlier poison. 'Shit, I wasn't paying attention and I let myself get caught in a corner,' Ken lamented. He tried to kick the man but the concoction he had been forced to drink made it too weak to do much damaged to his foe and the move made him vulnerable enough for the scrapper to yank him to the ground and try to saw off his limbs as well. It stung when the blade broke the skin. But the bladed didn't get that much farther. His flesh still had enough strength to resist the saw and break it. But the scrapper just threw it away and yanked him up by the neck; trying to strangle him instead. He struggled but his mind started to fog up and his heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears. He was starting to think that he really would die here but then he caught sight of his sisters. One of them started to twitch a bit.

With renewed resolve, he dug in himself for anything, any power he could use to win. He let out a desperate scream of fury and determination as his single kakugan appeared and one rinkaku fought through the toxins still in his body and impaled his opponent who dropped him in pain. The crowd began to scream and murmur. Once again fear was overtaking them but this time it wasn't just fear of the ghoul with the name Eyepatch but the even scarier presence of a One Eyed ghoul. Just the idea that one was in their presence chilled the bones of many here. The voices and panic began to fully awaken the two girls who opened their eyes and slowly, drowsily began to take in everything around them.

But unlike the rest, Tsukiyama was not afraid. In fact he was excited. Such a rare treat. He had to have it. He had to have it all for himself. Before anyone else noticed, he dove down to the arena and stabbed Taro in the back. "I apologize everyone. It seems I have brought something unsightly for the dinner tonight. So how about instead," He ripped his way through the scrapper and smiled at Ken. Ken brought his one current rinkaku up to defend himself at this but Tsukiyama turned the crowd and said, "this one? I wonder what this scrapper's meat will taste like." His question seemed to calm most of the ghouls but still many wanted to see this abomination killed anyway.

But two more jumped into the arena. Kuro and Shiro leaped down two and took up defensive positions by their brother and unlike him, they were now able to unleash all of their Kagune. The crowd, not being a very brave bunch, cowed from the twins aggressive stances and angered faces that to them almost appeared to be filled with fangs. Shuu came over to them with his hands up in disarming pose and a smile on his face. "Sorry, my dear friends. I only meant this as a petty joke. Nothing more. Things only got a bit out of hand. I hope you can forgive me."

Ken smiled back. "A petty joke is all?" Before Tsukiyama knew it, the younger man had appeared in front of him and launched a powerful punch into his jaw; throwing him back. "You really need to get a better sense of humor… then…" and with that Ken started to black out. His two sisters rushed to him and grabbed him before he could hurt himself by crashing onto the floor.