I Am a Ghoul

Ken laid in his bed that night, unable to fall asleep. After they finished eating their dinner, his father went back down to the basement to finish disassembling the girl's body and clean up the remaining mess. He didn't even bother saying goodnight to his son like he normally would have, so Ken was sent to bed without even a kiss or a hug from his beloved father. The act made Ken's heart ache as he laid in his bed, feeling guilty for letting his dad down. After what felt like hours, he was finally able to start falling asleep, but then he heard his parent's talking with each other in the other room. He got up from his bed and pressed his ear against the wall so that he could listen better. And they were in fact, talking about him.

"Ichika, I feel like I'm letting him down…" Kenji said as he sat on the edge of their bed with his arms resting on his knees while he palmed his face with his hands. His wife sat next to him and with a sympathetic smile, grabbed a hand away from his face to comfortingly hold in her own. "Now why would you go and say something like that? He loves you with all his heart! He thinks the world of you! It's because of your efforts and sacrifices that he gets to live a comfortable, human life." She said trying to reassure him, but only earned a disgruntled huff. "But that's the problem! I catered way too much to his human needs that I failed in teaching him how to be a ghoul! This life we have may not last forever. If I can't get him to kill just to feed himself, how can I expect him to handle himself if he ever needs to fight against a Dove? Ken is too soft! And one day, I'm scared it'll get him hurt!"

Kenji wiped a stray tear from his eye to try and hide how distraught he was feeling internally. He loved his son more than anything, and the thought of Ken getting hurt made his blood boil inside of him. "Not to mention, he's a half ghoul. He's a rarity even among the rarest. Both the CCG and other ghouls are going to want to get a piece of him. If the CCG doesn't kill him right away, then they'll use him for experiments. And if another ghoul were to ever get ahold of him, who's to say they won't try to devour him to gain more power? There are the gourmets we also need to worry about here in the twentieth ward!" Kenji said as he balled up his fists while he spoke between gritted teeth. But then he took in a deep intake of breath to get himself to relax while he allowed himself to melt in his wife's arms as the started to hug him. "All I'm saying is, I'm worried about him. He needs to be able to kill if he wants to survive because that's what it means to be a ghoul. Other humans aren't like you Ichika. They're not all so understanding."

Ichika thought long and hard before she used all of her strength to pull her husband back down on the bed so that she could sit on top of him, while she straddled her legs around his midsection, which cause his face to erupt in a deep blush. "Kenji. He is YOUR son. You say it yourself every day that he shows great promise of being a powerful ghoul one day. Just don't try to rush him. He'll blossom when the time is right, you just can't try to force someone to be something they're not. Just let him live his childhood out a bit longer, and maybe try again with him when he's in middle school." She said as she leaned down to kiss her husband on the cheek while he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly. He smiled as he looked into his wife's beautiful eyes and stroked her cheek.

"You're right. God, I love you so much. I'm glad I didn't eat you back then." He said jokingly as he laughed. Ichika laughed in response, "Well I'm glad you were the first ghoul I met that night! If it wasn't you, I would have let another ghoul devour me for sure. You kept your promise and helped me find the will to live. You saved me back then… Now, are you going to continue to be a depressed dad or are you going to be my husband and treat me tonight?" She said as she winked at him. A mischievous smirk crossed his face as he rolled over to switch their positions and leaned down to kiss her passionately, which earned an adorable giggle from his wife. "What did you have in mind, my love?" He said as the two continued with their adult themed escapades.

Ken was still listening on the other side of the wall as he pulled his ear back and physically gagged. That last part was something that a child definitely didn't want to hear from his parents. But the other stuff that they talked about made his mind flood with thoughts and revelations. So that was the real reason his father brought that woman home with him? To try and help prepare him for the future? He had just thought that his father was mad at him for not being ghoul enough, but now he understood that his dad was just looking out for him with his best interests at heart. And it's not like what he said was wrong, Ken was in fact too soft. For the past ten years he lived like a human and was sheltered from the realities that ghouls had to struggle with every day. And he needed to get stronger so that his father would never have to worry about him ever again.

It was the next morning and Ken woke up at the early hour of 6am where he groggily got out of his bed and got dressed to meet with his mother in the kitchen. Ichika was standing by the sink preparing him a lunch box, not to eat, but to give the illusion that he did so that no one would question him while he was at school. "Good morning my little Ken! Did you sleep well?" She said enthusiastically, secretly happy about her and her husband's night of loving matrimony. But Ken knew the real reason his mother was so chipper this morning and had to stop himself from gagging in front of her and forced on a smile. "I slept okay." He said as he sat at his favorite place by the nook while his mom put down a plate of human flesh for him to eat. He looked sadly down at the plate, remembering where the food had come from, but aggressively shook his head. Now was not the time to feel bad! He needed to remind himself that this was the natural circle of life and there was absolutely nothing to feel bad about!

He started shoveling the flesh into his mouth, enjoying every bite before his plate was completely emptied. "Thank you for the meal!" He said as he clapped his hands together. Ichika giggled by her son's manners before she took the plate away from him to wash. "Well, somebody is hungry this morning. A mother does love seeing an empty plate, that means her child is going to grow up all big and strong!" Ken finished getting ready for the rest of the day and grabbed his lunch box from his mom before he made his commute to the school, and before he could exit the front door, his father stopped him in the hallway with his business suit on with himself having to go to work soon too. Ken stood there awkwardly in front of him as he stared at the ground. He knew the real reason why his father was upset with him last night, but that didn't change the sting he felt when he saw his dad's judging eyes as they looked down on him.

Kenji relaxed as he knelt down to pull his son into a hug. "I hope you have a good day at school today, Ken. And I'm sorry about last night. I put too much on you too soon. I hope you know that I'm not mad at you, so I don't want you thinking that. You know I love you, right?" He said in hopes that his son didn't loathe him for how he treated him last night, but Ken quickly reciprocated the hug which put the older ghoul's heart at ease. "I love you too, papa. I'll see you when I get out of school!" Said Ken as his face lit up in a bright smile which warmed Kenji's soul. The two said one more goodbye before Kenji watched his son take off out the door, and he sighed of relief. Ichika walked over to stand by his side and kissed him on the cheek. "See? I'm always right." She said to her husband who smirked in response. "Yeah. You always are. I'll see you later, honey." He said as he kissed his wife back before he too left for the day, leaving Ichika home alone to take care of the house.

Ken walked down his normal route he went on to get to the school, but he was walking blindly as he thought about how to deal with his weakness. How was he going to try and make himself stronger? And did becoming more of a ghoul mean that he could no longer pretend living his life as a human? These were the questions he couldn't stop asking himself, where he should draw the line between being a human and being a ghoul. Hide, his best friend, was only a few paces behind him as Ken walked completely oblivious to the others presence. And almost like it was a supernatural ability, Hide could tell that something was bothering his best friend just from seeing him from behind. "HAAAAAHH!" Ken heard as he tried to turn around but was tackled from behind as Hide wrapped an arm around his shoulder to turn Ken towards him, and the grabbed him by the shoulders roughly.

"What's with this mopey aura you got around yourself dude? It's not like you at all!" Hide said with a wide grin that always brought comfort to the young half ghoul. "Oh. Me and my dad got into it a little last night, but everything is alright now! Sorry if I seemed like I was in a bad mood." Ken didn't know how he knew that something was bothering him, but somehow Hide always seemed to know when he needed a little bit of cheering up. "Hey, Hide? Can I ask you a random question?" Ken said as he scratched his cheek while the two boys continued to walk to school together. "Yeah? What's up?" Hide said nonchalantly. Ken's face twisted into a solemn expression as he thought about how to word the question properly. "Do you think ghouls and humans will ever get along? Like they could learn how to be friends?" The question caught Hide off by surprise slightly, but he kept up with his large grin. "I don't know. That's a lot of thinking for someone with my mental capacity. But I'd like to think so though."

Ken sighed as that was the reaction he was expecting Hide to say. Of course his best friend wouldn't have put any prior thought into an answer for a question like that. "Hypothetically, if I knew a ghoul, I'd still probably be friends with them. Let's say you and me for example. If you were a ghoul, we would totally still be best friends!" Ken's ears perked up as he looked at his friend with astonishment. "R-really? Why?" Said Ken as he tried to hide his excitement. He had always thought about telling Hide his secret but always hesitated too because he was afraid that Hide would have started to hate him if he ever found out the truth. "Cause you're Kaneki! Even if you were a ghoul, I know you'd know never try to eat me. You just love me too much to do something like that! If you ate me, who would sit with you at lunch when you're all alone and by yourself?" Hide said teasingly as he watched Ken become a loss for words by his answer. Ken couldn't help but smile after hearing that. Hide just basically told him that even if he found out his secret, that they would still remain as friends, which was a problem that had been hanging over his conscious for a while now. The two continued to talk and play around before they finally made it to their school where they then entered the building to head off to class.

Back at home while her husband and son were away, Ichika attended to her regular duties as a housewife. "Man, it's so quiet here when the boys are away." She said she as she let out a deep exasperated sigh. She walked around the house, doing some cleaning as she vacuumed up the living room and then went to Ken's room to tidy it up a little until she heard the doorbell ring, which she found curious because she was pretty sure they weren't expecting any guests today. "I'm coming! Give me one second!" She yelled out, hoping the people outside could hear her. She put away the vacuum and wiped off her apron before she went to answer the front door. "Can I help you-" She said before she cut herself off after seeing two men standing at the doorway wearing black suits and holding aluminum briefcases. She gulped as she tried to keep her cool, knowing full well that the people standing in front of her were Doves. But why were they here? They had been so careful!

The taller man of the two spoke first, being the senior, while his junior stood behind to watch the process. "Are you Miss Ichika Kaneki? Sorry for the sudden intrusion, but we have some questions to ask you." He said, faking his sincerity. But Ichika knew they were here for more than just to ask her questions. They could have done this over the phone, so they must have come for good reason if they actually took the time to make a house call. "Yes, that's me. What is it you needed?" She asked the two detectives. "My name is Kohe Morikawa and this young man behind me is named Shoji Dake. We both work for the CCG and have reason to believe that you are in allegiance with the ghouls." After he said this, Ichika could feel the blood leave her face as her heart started to pound in her chest. This was indeed the day they had been dreading for so long and she didn't expect it to have comes so soon.

"Excuse me? Why on Earth would you think that?!" She said to the older man as she quickly became agitated by his accusations. "We have reports that you have been spotted with a ghoul child. Which leads us to believe that you are familiar with the enemy. The fact that we have multiple eyewitness accounts to these claims have given us enough reason to put you under arrest as a suspect to being an ally with ghouls. So, please don't make this difficult." Kohe said as he nodded to his partner who quickly stepped up and grabbed Ichika, and forced her hands behind her back as he placed handcuffs on her wrists. "This is ridiculous! I have my rights! You can't just arrest me like this! What gives you the right to come to my home and make these false claims?!" She yelled as she struggled but was no match for the two men who overpowered her.

"Miss Kaneki. Please. We don't want to hurt you, so just come with us willingly. If you have nothing to hide then you will be back at home in no time." Ichika sighed as she finally gave in and allowed the Doves to escort her back to their car with all of her neighbors watching as they gossiped. And even though she was about to go to the doghouse, all she could think about was if Ken was going to be alright, and if somehow, they hadn't figured out that the ghoul they saw her with was none other than her son. 'Kenji, if you can somehow hear me… Get to Kaneki and make sure he's safe!' She thought to herself before they forcibly placed her in the back seat of their parole car and took off to the CCG headquarters.

Kenji was sitting at his cubicle in the office he worked at, only having been at work for a couple of hours. But he had a hard time focusing on his job as he a bad feeling nagging at him since he left to go to work this morning. It was almost like a ghoul's intuition to know when something bad was about to happen, and he had been having that feeling all day. His phone rang in his pocket, and normally they weren't allowed to take private calls at work, but he couldn't help but answer the phone thinking it was somehow related to his sixth sense. On the other end was his neighbor who seldom called unless it was an emergency. "Yes? Miss Hanabi? Is something the matter?" He said as he listened to the woman who was his wife's friend, as she frantically raved on the other end of the line. "Kenji, thank goodness you answered! I just wanted to let you know that your wife was arrested about half an hour ago! It looked like Dove's which is just crazy for me to even fathom! I don't know what they want with her, but I thought I should be the first to let you know."

Kenji's face immediately became pale after finding out that Ichika had been arrested by the CCG. This was by far the worst-case scenario, as ghoul sympathizer's, even if that person wasn't actually guilty, can be sentenced to death. The CCG did not take this situation lightly and were even considered enemies to mankind by most people, as they ruled over the public with an iron fist to keep everyone in line. Even if Ichika could prove her innocence, he wouldn't be surprised if they still used her as an example to instill fear in the hearts of other humans to make sure they didn't align with the ghouls. "Thank you for telling me, Miss Hanabi. I'm going to leave work right now!" He said as he quickly hung up and stood from his desk and hastily made his way for the exit, not even bothering to tell his boss that he was going to leave early. He had no time for that! But first thing's first, if they were able to get to Ichika, then they probably had their sights set on Ken next. He didn't to make it to the school first before the Doves did.

Ken and Hide were sitting in the playground of their school, away from the other students while Ken intently read his favorite book with Hide sitting beside him eating a cookie he had snuck into recess from lunch time. "Man this is really good! Are you sure you don't want some Kaneki? I even snagged an extra one just for yooouu~" Hide said with a mouth full of cookie as he tried to hand Ken the other one, who only smiled sheepishly before he nicely declined. "No thanks, Hide. You know my mom doesn't let me eat stuff like that. She's a big health nut." He said as he turned his attention back to his book. "Your mom's crazy for that, you know. She's so whack that she only packs you carrots and celery for lunch. Who doe's that? A kid needs sweets everyone once in awhile or we'll go crazy! You're too nice of a kid cause, if my mom did that to me I'd probably throw a big tantrum." Hide said as he fit the rest of the cookie in his mouth and swallowed it before washing it down with strawberry milk in a juice box.

Kaneki chuckled at his best friend who acted like his goofy self, before their teacher walked up to stand in front of them as he looked at his teacher with confusion. "Ken, you're going home early today. Your father is here to come pick you up. Come with me and we'll go to the classroom to collect your things. Say goodbye to Hide!" His teacher said with a warm smile, but he instantly felt worried. His dad had never come to pick him up early from school before so his mind could only buzz with different scenarios as to what would be the reason why. Ken stood up and started following his teacher back to the classroom, all the while looking back at Hide who also had a bad feeling because of his supernatural ability to sense other people's emotions. "Kaneki, I hope everything is okay with you…" Hide said as he sighed before he stood up to go and play with the other students now that Ken was gone.

After collecting his things, Ken made it to the front office where his father was sitting in one of the chairs as he tapped his foot vigorously. "Papa? What's wrong?" Ken asked his father, who upon seeing him, ran over to his son's side to hug him tightly. "It's so good to see you Ken! I was so worried about you! But we have to go now… Your mother is in trouble and I need to take you somewhere safe." He said as he grabbed Ken's hand and started walking with him back to their car. Ken continued to ask him questions while his father ignored him until they were safe in the privacy of their vehicle. "Papa! Tell me what's going on! You're scaring me!" Ken said with a tremor in his voice. "What's wrong with mama?!"

Kenji looked at his son with sadness in his eyes before he started the car and pulled out the parking lot. This was the time for him to not sugar coat what was happening with his son who needed to understand the importance of what he was about to tell him. "You mother has been arrested by the CCG. Somehow, they found out that she has a connection with ghouls. I don't know who told them, but she's at their headquarters right now probably being interrogated by them. So I'm going to go in and rescue her, but before I do that I need to take you somewhere safe where they can't get you." He said as he continued to drive while zooming through traffic.

He pulled the car into a construction zone and headed to a more secluded part of the area. And with Ken's hand is his own, he led the boy to an all too familiar building that was dear to both him and Ichika's hearts. It was the abandoned building in which their precious Ken was born in. They headed inside the concrete mass as they walked up to the top floor where he finally let go of Ken's hand as he checked their surroundings from the window to make sure they were in the clear, and sure enough, they were. "Okay, good. We weren't followed." Kenji said with a sigh of relief as he walked over to a duffle bag he had brought with him and pulled out an all-black outfit with a mask that looked like a spiders face which had two giant red orbs as eyeholes for him to see through, surrounded by six smaller eyes that framed around the forehead part with two giant mandibles in place where the mouth was. Kenji quickly changed outfits from his suit and tie into a black leather turtleneck which showed off his midsection and black leather pants with black combat boots before he slipped on the mask to hide his identity. Ken looked in astonishment at his father's new wardrobe, having never seen him wear something like this before.

Kenji then pulled out a satellite phone from the duffel bag and handed it to Ken, who took it from him. Kenji then knelt down to look at his son in the eyes through his mask, and even though Ken couldn't see his father's face could tell that he had on a very serious expression. "I need you to stay here. Hold onto this phone, I'll call it after I get your mother so you know when we're coming back to get you. Once we're back all together we're going to leave this district as soon as possible! Tell me you understand!" Kenji said with a very serious tone as he put on his strict father act. Ken felt his heart sink having the situation finally sink in. Did this mean that he would have to say goodbye to Hide? The only friend he's ever had? "But papa… What about Hide? I can't just leave my best friend!" He yelled at his father who slapped him across the face.

"KEN! LISTEN TO ME! Your mother is in danger! I'm sorry about your friend but we don't have time to say goodbye! Now please, just be a good boy and listen to your father…" Ken lifted a hand to his cheek which was now red as his bangs covered his eyes and he nodded in response. "Yes sir, I understand…" Kenji sighed as he started to feel bad for striking his son and then patted the young boys head. "Thank you, Ken. I'll be back. Just stay put until I come back to get you." Ken nodded his head one more time before his father released his Kagune and sprung out of the window, hopping from roof top to roof top on his was towards the CCG headquarters. Ken looked out the window and was astonished by his father's strength. It was always a rare sight to see his father in his ghoul form, and Ken couldn't help but marvel at him. "Please make it back safe… I love you both." He said before his eyes started to feel tight and he fell to his knees crying, the stress finally getting to him.

Ichika sat in an interrogation room tide up to a chair, with her face hurt as blood trickled from her lip. She spit on the floor as she glared at the interrogator in the room who was wiping her blood off their knuckles onto a white cloth. The woman dove walked over to her and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back as she put her face in front of Ichika's who continued to glare at her. "You're pretty tight lipped for a woman. Most men would be spilling their guts right about now. If you weren't so stubborn I wouldn't have had to rough you up as much as I did. Now stop lying, we know that you are in cahoots with the SS rated ghoul, Arachnid! We've been following your trail for the past ten years so we were already close to finding you. It just took a couple more phone calls from witnesses to give us the missing pieces. NOW TELL US WHERE HE IS!" She said as she slugged Ichika across the face one more time, this time knocking out a tooth with Ichika spit onto the ground.

"Go… to… hell!" Ichika said as she lurched forward to headbutt the woman in the face who stumbled backwards in pain, while clutching her head. "You little bitch!" She said as she rose her hand up to strike Ichika one more time who flinched back, until the building shook when an explosion occurred in one of the lower floors. The lights in the room started blinking red as an alarm started sounding. "CODE RED: There is ghoul activity within the building! All available personnel please report to the fourth floor! The SS Rated ghoul, Arachnid, has been spotted in the building! I repeat! We are under attack by an SS rated ghoul!" The interrogator sucked her teeth as she walked over to grab her quinque and was about to leave before she heard Ichika start to laugh. "What's so funny?" She said to Ichika who just continued to laugh. "What's funny is that you're about to die! You made a big mistake bringing me here! You should have just let us live our lives in peace!" Ichika said as she continued to laugh, but the interrogator walked over to her and karate chopped the back of her neck, knocking her out. "That's about enough of you."

Kenji swiftly made his way through every floor, efficiently and swiftly disposing of every Dove that came his way. He was so focused on finding Ichika that he wasn't tempted to stop and eat the bodies he laid to waste in the path of his destruction. "I got you now, Arachnid!" Said a larger looking dove who came charging at him with his quinque that looked like a spear, but Kenji quickly ducked underneath the blow and used one of his tendrils to strike the spear, breaking it in half and using another one of his tendrils to stab the man through the heart who released a scream before Kenji tossed his dead body to the side, which splatted loudly against the wall. "Ch… Stop getting in my way, you bastards!" He said as he continued running until he got a whiff of Ichika's sent and turned down the hall where the smell was coming from and found the cell in which they were keeping his wife.

"I finally found you." He said as he used four of his tendrils to dig into the thick steel door and pull it off its hinges as if it was nothing. He walked inside and saw her slumped in the chair she was still tied too and rushed over to her side, failing to notice the interrogator who hid at the side of the door and stabbed him in the back using her quinque. Kenji let out a scream as he turned around and slammed his tendrils into the woman's side who gasped for breath as her body was flung into the wall, her skull smashing open as she made contact with the concrete. Kenji glared at her dead body while the wound on his back started to stitch itself together, before he turned his attention back to Ichika as he untied her unconscious form and held her carefully in his arms. "Sorry it took me so long, my love. Let's get out of here." He started walking out of the cell until he realized that the entire floor was now filled with CCG agents who all had their sights set on him. With his wife in his arms, it was going to be a lot harder for him to get through the thick crowd without injuring her further. 'Sorry, Ken.' He thought to himself. 'It's going to take me a little longer to make it back to you after all.'

It had been hours since his father had left him alone in that cold abandoned building, and Ken's mind was wracked with worry if he was ever going to see his parents again. "What am I going to do? Papa… Mama, please come back!" He said as he cried into his knees as he huddled in the corner of the quiet room. If only he could talk to Hide right now, he knew that his best friend could help him calm down some. Except he wasn't here to do that for him. Until he remembered about the satellite phone he still had that his father gave him. "I can call Hide with this! I think I still know his number from when he gave it to me. This way, I can tell him my goodbyes at least." Ken said as he started dialing Hide's number into the phone, waiting patiently to see if his best friend would answer. But unbeknownst to Ken, Hide was facing his own problems right now.

Back at Hide's home, he was sitting in the living room with his mother on the couch with the two Doves that were at Ken's house earlier that day. Hide gulped, nervous about what was going to happen next. Kohe leaned forward with his partner sitting next to him, with his eyes intensely staring at Hide who started to sweat. "This is very important, boy. We have reason to believe that your friend Ken Kaneki might be a ghoul. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you? From what your teachers have told us, you two are always together. That means you two probably tell each other everything. So has he confessed anything to you?" But Hide wasn't about to tell them anything. Ken has never actually told him but Hide always knew the truth. Since they first met, he knew there was something special about the other boy. And the longer they knew each other, his suspicions about Ken being a ghoul confirmed all on their own from how he observed the way Ken talked about ghouls, or the fact that he never ate his lunch at school.

"No. He never told me anything. And there's no way that Ken would be a ghoul! He's too much of a goody two shoes! I can't even imagine the kid eating someone!" Hide said defiantly as he crossed his arms, but his mother nudged him to get him to show some more respect. "I see… Well, if he hasn't openly told you that he is a ghoul, can you tell us anything about his behavior?" Hide was ready to lie one more time before his mother spoke up for him. "I don't think I've ever seen the young man eat one morsel of human food before. He's been over for playdates many times and has always found some kind of excuse to skip out on snack time or when I made lunch!" Hide's eyes grew, shocked that his mother would just out Ken like that which made him start to get angry. "That's because him mom has him on a strict diet! He tells me that all the time!"

Kohe tsked his tongue before he spoke once more. "Ghoul's are clever creatures, son. They're taught from a young age how to lie and manipulate people to hide their true natures. The fact that your mother can confirm to us that he has displayed strange behavior is reason enough for us to believe that he is in fact, a ghoul. I'm sorry." Hide stood up and slammed his hands onto the coffee table as his face became beet red. "I'm telling you he's not! Kaneki is not a ghoul! So stop saying that!" Shoji, who has been sitting next to Kohe, picked up his phone that started to ring. "Yes? Dake speaking?... Hmm, I see. I'll let him know. Thank you for the heads up." He said as he hung up the phone and tapped his partner on the shoulder. "Arachnid has attacked headquarters to rescue Miss Kaneki. Safe to say all of our suspicions have been proven right." Kohe smirked, finding the situation to become more interesting the deeper things get. He hasn't gotten an assignment this interesting in the twelve years of service he's had as an investigator. A ghoul rescuing a human is unheard of, and he speculated what was the true nature of their relationship, let alone how young Ken played into all of this.

"It seems we've got more work to do. Come on Shoji, let's go regroup with the others." They both stood up about to leave when the house phone started to ring, to which Hide walked over to answer it. "Hello?" He asked the other person on the opposite end of the line. "Hide? It's me, Ken. I really need to talk to you." "K-Kaneki?!" He said shocked, not realizing he said that out loud before he covered his mouth. But it was too late as the investigators retook their seats and told him to put the phone on speaker. Hide glared at them but did what he was told too and put it on speaker for them all to listen. "Sorry, I know it's random for me to call you at this hour. I just didn't know what to do. My parent's are missing and I'm starting to get really worried. Can we talk for a little?" He said, his voice on the edge breaking.

Shoji looked over at Hide as he crossed his arms. "Try to get him to meet up with you. We need to pull him out of hiding. If you don't, we will arrest your entire family as being ghoul sympathizers." Hide looked at his mom in disbelief wondering how she could just let them threaten their family like that, but she too was on the Dove's side. "Do it, Hideyoshi!" He gritted his teeth, having no choice. "Say, let's meet up instead… I kind of wanted to talk to you too and I think it would be better if I did it in person. Think we can meet up at the park? The one by your house?"

On the other end of the phone, Ken didn't know how to respond. He promised his dad that he wouldn't leave, but he had been gone for so long that he thought maybe it wouldn't hurt if he was out for a little bit. He'd be back before his dad even noticed he left. "Yeah, that sounds fine by me. I'll see in about half an hour. I'll meet you at the usual spot underneath the big tree by the creek." Hide agreed and then hung up, feeling disgusted with himself for helping to set up a trap for his best friend. 'There… Are you happy now? You guys just made me betray my best friend!" Kohe walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You might have just betrayed your friend, but you did your country a great service. This will not go without reward, I promise you. And thank you for your wonderful hospitalaty Misses Nagachika. I hope you all have a wonderful night." He said as he tipped his hat to them before they finally left to head to the park to ambush the young half ghoul.

Ken had already left the abandoned building, and mimicking his father, used his Kagune to swiftly leap from the building to building to make up time. If he had walked back to his house from where he was, he wouldn't have made it to the park in time to meet up with Hide. He finally made it to the park in about thirty-five minutes, and landed in a discreet part of the park to let his kagune disappear before he walked to where they were supposed to meet. It was pretty dark outside as it was already nighttime, and he couldn't really make out the figure that stood underneath the tree, but he just assumed that it was Hide. "Hide! I'm here! Sorry for the wait- Uhm… wh-who are you? Where's Hide?" Kaneki said as he was finally close enough to see that the person was in fact, not his best friend, but two Doves who held aluminum briefcases. DOVES! Kaneki mentally screamed to himself.

"Sorry son, your friend's not coming. But we can play with you instead." Kohe said as he walked up to Ken with a sinister smile while he tried to back away, but accidentally tripped over his feet as he sat on the floor trembling. Kohe looked at him and his eyes widened in shock when Ken's Kakugan activated, revealing his one red and black eye. "Oho! Now what do we have here? I have never seen something like this before! Now it all makes sense! Your mother must have shacked up with the Arachnid! A ghoul and a human having a child together… the guys at HQ aren't going to believe this. So what does that make you? A human? A ghoul? Or, somewhere in the middle? Some kind of freakish half breed?" The closer the Dove's got, Ken could feel his adrenaline rising as his kagune activated all on it's own and lunged forward to strike Kohe. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" But Kohe, being a veteran with plenty of battle experience, quickly released his quinque and deflected the tendril and cut it in half, causing it to dissolve.

He then swiftly ran forward and pulled Ken into a headlock, subduing him. "You've got some spunk, kid! It's a good thing you're young, cause if you were a full grown ghoul I might actually have some trouble with you. You are the Arachnid's kid after all. He didn't earn his SS rank for nothing." But then he screamed in pain as Ken bit into his arm, pulling off a big chunk of flesh with caused him to let the small boy go. Ken didn't even think about trying to fight again, he just wanted to run away. But he didn't get far before he felt something sharp stab into his leg causing him to fall over in pain as he cried out loudly. "MAMA! PAPA! PLEASE, SAVE ME!" He said as he tried to crawl away, but Shoji walked over to him and stepped a foot onto Ken's back, causing him to become immobile. "Keep screaming for your mommy and daddy! If they come, then we can dispatch of all three of you at once! Our bonus for this job is going to be huge!" Shoji said as he released a cynical laughter that made Ken's blood curdle.

After escaping the CCG headquarters, a greatly wounded Kenji leapt on the rooftops with Ichika in his arms who had finally regained consciousness. She stared up worriedly at her husband who coughed up blood which she could see spilling from the bottom of his mask. "Kenji, your hurt really badly!" She yelled to him while he continued jumping. "I'll be fine, my love. I just didn't anticipate them to send the whole god damn building after me. Heh, I guess they must really want me dead." He was trying to make his way towards the abandoned building thinking that's where Ken still was, when he heard a familiar voice off in the distance which he could detect using his acute sense of hearing, causing him to stop moving. "What's wrong Kenji? Is it more Doves?" But Kenji hushed his wife as he focused on where the scream came from, until he heard it again and let out a gasp. "It's Kaneki! They got Kaneki!" He yelled as he redirected his path towards the park where he pinpointed where the screams were coming from. "Don't worry son! I'm coming!"

Ken winced in pain because of the cuts that were all over his body. He knelt on the floor on his hands and knees like a feral dog, as he managed to get Shoji off of him with the help of his Kagune, and using the best of his abilities was able to fend off most of the smaller Doves attacks, but not without receiving injuries himself. Shoji guarded his partner as Kohe started bandaging the wound that Ken had given him which was bleeding profusely, and finally stood up on his feet and grabbed his quinque back in his hand that was sitting on the floor next to him. "Let's hurry up and finish this. Once he's out of the way we can focus all of our energy into finding his parents." Shoji nodded in agreement as his sword started to transform and turned into a bow and arrow. "This way we don't have to get too close to him! Say goodnight, little half ghoul." He said as he pulled the string of the bow back, ready to release an arrow. Ken, starting to feel weak and with his leg still hurting, had no energy left to try and dodge it and shut his eyes tightly when the arrow was set loose. He thought to himself after having lost all hope, that this was the moment that he was going to die.

But the arrow never did end up piercing him as Ken picked up the familiar scent of his father's Kagune and opened his eyes to see his father standing in front of him with the arrow in the clutches of one of his tendrils, which he snapped in half. "Papa!" Ken said as he tried to stand up, but quickly fell back down, but was caught by his mother who held him tightly while crying tears of relief. "Thank god you're still alive! You stupid boy, why didn't you just stay where it was safe?!" She said as she nuzzled his cheek with her own, Ken felt guilt rack up in his chest as he started crying too. "I'm sorry mama…" Kenji stood in front of the two Doves and using all eight of his tentacles, started attacking them from all sides. "If you want them you're going to have to get through me. Take Ken and run, Ichika! I got this!" Ichika quickly scooped Ken into her arms and started running away with Kenji trying his best to fend off the Doves, but because of his wounds, was having great difficulty.

"Mama! Stop! I can still fight! Let me help papa! If I don't he'll die!" He said as he started squirming in his mother's arms, but she held on to him tightly. As he watched his father fight over his mother's shoulder, his eyes widened in shock as his father was riddled with arrows in his body but he was still fighting on, despite the fact that he was now mortally wounded. Ken had had enough and jumped out of his mother's arms and started running back to try and reach his father, not noticing that Shoji had his bow aimed right at him again. Kenji noticed however and tried to stop him but was halted by Kohe who came down on him with his giant sword, which caused Kohe to have to use all of his tendrils to hold it back, leaving Ken open for the attack. "KEN! GO BACK!" But Ken didn't listen and reacted too slow as Shoji released another arrow which Ken saw flying at him, and he was prepared to get shot when his mother unexpectedly grabbed him from behind and switched their positions, getting struck herself right in the back where her heart is.

Ken's eyes widened in shock as he smelt his mother's blood and watched as her lifeless body hit the ground. "M-mama?" He said as he sank to his knees and tried shaking her awake. "Mama, please… Get up!" But she laid on the ground unmoving which caused him to scream out in agony. "ICHIKA! NO!" Kenji said as he lost all control and was able to sever Kohe's hand that held onto the sword, causing the man to stumble back as he gripped his arm that was now missing a hand. Kenji rushed over to his wife and son and scooped his wife's body in his arms as he removed his mask, revealing his face with his red and black eyes crying bloodied tears. He stroked her cheek which was already starting to get cold and held her tightly to his body. "NOOOOOO! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL I SWEAR IT!-" But in the middle of this heartbreaking moment, Kohe had quickly recovered and retrieved his sword, and stabbed it right in the middle of Kenji's chest which made blood erupt from his mouth and splattered on Ken's face as he slumped over losing consciousness. "Papa!" Ken yelled as he grabbed his cheeks while shaking uncontrollably. This couldn't be real! This was not happening!

"Damnit… Well, I might have lost my hand but if that's all I lost to finally kill this bastard then it was a worthy sacrifice." Kohe said as Shoji walked up to stand next to him. "The SS rated ghoul and his whore of a wife are both finally dead! No doubt the higher ups are going to give up a big promotion for this one! That's one more SS off the record books!" Said Shoji as he knelt down to look at Ken in the face who was in total shock. "Think I can take care of this one, Shoji? You already got the main guy we were after; I at least want to finish off the small fry." Kohe just grunted as he walked over to retrieve his hand that laid by the tree. "I don't care. Just make it quick. I'm starting to feel woozy over here." Shoji licked his lips as he reverted his bow back into a sword and grabbed Ken by his shirt collar, who didn't respond as his bangs covered his eyes.

"Well, this was fun but the game is finally over. Say bye bye little ghoul-" But he couldn't even finish his sentence as he felt his head become severed from his shoulders, as he watched with terrifying eyes as he saw the world spin around him before his brain finally died, and his head rolled across the floor to land by Kohe's feet. Ken stood up, and unlike before had a murderous aura around him. Instead of unleashing just one of his tendrils like he had previously, he let loose all four and stared menacingly at Kohe with dilated pupils as the veins around his Kakugan grew deeper on his face. "You little shit! You've been holding back this whole time haven't you?! I should have finished you off when I had the chance!" Kohe yelled as he charged at Ken and started swinging his sword at him, but Ken was fighting completely different than he was before. Just like his father's fighting style, Ken used his tendrils to help him maneuver the battlefield as he used two of the tendrils to keep him elevated in the air while he deflected and attacked with the other.

"DIE YOU DAMN DEMON!" Kohe said enraged as he swung his sword one more time, but Ken severed his last remaining hand making him drop his sword and spit out blood as he felt the kagune plunge into his gut and lift him up in the air and then repeatedly started slamming him into the ground over and over. With barely any consciousness left, the bloodied and dying Kohe tried crawling away from the rampaging young ghoul, but screamed again as he felt his arms and legs get stabbed and pinned to the ground by Ken's tendrils. Ken stood over him and stared at him with hatred written all over his face. "You killed my mama and papa. So that means it's okay for me to you kill now, right?" He said with a monotonous tone. Kohe looked over his shoulder at the monster that stood over him. "What the hell are you?! You're the craziest ghoul I've ever met in my life! You're a monstrosity!" Ken just smirked as he chuckled. "It takes one to know one." He said as he removed one of his tendrils from Kohe's body and plunged it into his head, finally killing him.

Ken stood there for a moment while he breathed rapidly as it started to rain. And even though his body became drenched, and he started to feel cold, he couldn't care. He couldn't feel anything inside of himself anymore and it was like nothing could bother him. "K-Ken…" He heard from behind him. He looked back and gasped as he saw his father move slightly to roll over on his back. "Papa!" Yelled Ken happily as he ran over to be by his father's side, as he grabbed his hand. "Ken… I'm not going to last much longer." Ken's eyes widened as he squeezed his father's hand and started to cry. "N-No! You'll be fine! You'll heal, you always do!" He said in desperation, trying to get his father to admit that he was going to be alright, but Kenji just shook his head. "Not this time buddy, they pierced right through my heart and I've lost too much blood. I'll die soon. I just wanted to let you know… Ken, this is not your fault. Don't ever think that."

Ken continued to cry as he leaned over and placed his head on his father's chest who weakly started stroking his son's hair. "Ken, to be a ghoul means to eat. You must continue to eat and grow stronger. I want you to… to eat my flesh, after I die Ken. Eat me and gain my power. This way, I will always be a part of you, making sure that you're okay." He said as he gritted his teeth. Kaneki shook his head as he buried his face even deeper into his father's chest. "Papa, I can't! I won't do it!" He said between hiccups but Kenji grabbed Ken by the cheeks and forced him to look at him in the eyes. "Son, that is my last dying wish. Please respect your old man and do this one last thing for me. Please… I love you son. Me and your mother loved you so much…" Kenji said as the light began to fade from his eyes and his hands fell down to his sides as he died. Ken looked in horror as he accepted that his father was no longer with him and tilted his head back to release a devastating screech.

But he did what his father had told him, and slowly but surely started eating his father's flesh, crying the entire time he did so. As he ate, it was like he was transferred into the recesses of his mind and found himself standing in the middle of a field of white flowers. Another version of himself stood in front of him, but instead of his black hair, the doppelgangers hair was white as Ken's silver eyes stared into Black and red ones. "Do you know what you are now, Ken? Are you ready to accept the answer?" The white haired version of him asked himself, to which Ken nodded. "Yes. I'm ready." Ken said as he raised his arms out wide to embrace his ghoul half. The white haired boy smiled as he ran over to his human half, each footstep turning the flowers a crimson shade of red as he jumped onto Ken, pushing him down onto the ground as he started eating the human half of himself, turning the entire field of white flowers into red. Back in reality, Ken finished eating from his father, as his hair turned from black to white. He stared straight forward with the rain washing away the blood that dripped from his mouth, his one black and red kakugan blazing like fire. "I am a ghoul."