"Aaaahhh!"

Before Kaneki Ken could even react, a tearing, indescribable agony exploded in his right shoulder!

His vision was instantly splashed red with a spray of warmth!

He stiffly lowered his head in disbelief—

He saw… his entire right shoulder, along with part of his collarbone, was gone!

A huge, mangled gash yawned there, splinters of bone and severed vessels starkly visible!

Blood gushed out like a flood through a broken sluice!

And the one who did it—was Kamishiro Rize!

Right now her mouth was chewing a great chunk of blood-soaked flesh, still faintly twitching!

Her lips stretched to an inhuman angle. Bright red trickled down her chin, staining her white dress!

What shattered Kaneki's soul most were Rize's eyes!

No longer that gentle violet—

but blazing, hellish red kakugan!

Four purplish-crimson, barbed tendrils—her rinkaku—thrashed behind her like living vipers!

A ghoul!

She's a ghoul!

That gentle, cultured Miss Rize was a man-eating monster!!!

"Ah… aaahhh—!!!"

Terror and pain at last ripped through his throat. Kaneki screamed, a keening so shrill it barely sounded human!

He staggered back, pupils pinched to needle points in sheer horror!

Run!

He told himself to run, but his legs betrayed him, trembling, going weak.

"Delicious… too delicious!"

"This pure emotion and fear—they're the finest seasoning!"

Rize swallowed greedily, a sickly flush on her cheeks. Her kakugan burned with ravenous hunger.

"Don't run, Kaneki-kun~ Let's… become one~!"

Like a cat toying with a mouse, she sauntered toward Kaneki, who had collapsed from pain and fear and was trying to crawl away. The four rinkaku writhed behind her, carving dangerous arcs through the dim night.

…

Kaneki dragged his broken, bleeding body across the cold ground in despair, leaving a horrifying smear of blood behind.

Death's shadow washed over him like an icy tide, while Rize's delighted, cruel chuckle clung to his fraying nerves like a curse.

"Hehehe… run. Run a little faster~ Make it more fun for me~ my dear Ka-ne-ki-kun~"

Cold fear wrapped every inch of him like viscous slime, seeping into every nerve. The agony in his right shoulder had gone beyond mere "pain"—it was the horror of life being ripped out of him.

Warm blood kept pouring from that gaping wound, soaking his clothes. It clung sticky to his skin, then flung off as he moved, dotting the ground with a broken trail of dark red.

He could feel his life racing away with it. His vision blurred; his ears rang. His lungs pumped like a torn bellows, dragging in hardly any air. Every breath tasted of blood and scraped him raw.

"Run… a little faster, Kaneki-kun~"

That delighted, cruel, nightmare voice kept pace just behind him. She wasn't even trying to catch up—like a seasoned cat, savoring the mouse's futile struggle.

The whoosh of rinkaku slicing the air whispered like the Reaper, reminding Kaneki exactly where he stood.

Why?

Why is this happening?

That gentle Miss Rize who talked literature—the beautiful presence he admired—was actually… actually…

"Pff!"

His scrambled thoughts and racking pain made him stumble hard and crash to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

He tried to climb back up, but blood loss left him limp and powerless.

Just then—KRRRK!

A teeth-aching screech of twisting metal sounded overhead!

Kaneki looked up on reflex—

Atop a nearby building under construction, the cable securing the rebar suddenly snapped—whether from age or something else!

Several thick steel rods, coldly gleaming, broke free like giant serpents and came screaming down right where he lay!

Death had never loomed so close!

Survival instinct crushed pain and fear—Kaneki found a final burst of strength from nowhere and hurled himself aside!

KRRR-BOOOM—!!!

The rebar slammed into the spot he'd just occupied, biting deep into the ground and blasting up gravel and dust!

The thunderous impact left his eardrums buzzing.

Heart pounding as if to burst from his chest, Kaneki lay there gulping air.

His relief lasted only a heartbeat.

"My, my, that was dangerous, Kaneki-kun~"

Those dogged footsteps and that lilting laugh behind him yanked him back to reality.

I can't die!

I absolutely can't die here!

His scrambled brain clung to one last thought—go back! Back to Anteiku!

The manager is there, Tohka-san, Yomo-san… they're good people—they'll save me!

It's safe there!

That thought jabbed his heart like a final shot of adrenaline, propping up his shattered body.

He didn't even care about direction—clinging to a ragged sense of bearings and a stubborn will, he stumbled and crawled, rolling and lurching toward the Anteiku of his memory.

Blood drew a long, despairing trail behind him.

Rize hopped lightly over the scattered rebar. Watching Kaneki's staggering retreat, the red in her kakugan flared, a cat-and-mouse cruelty in her gaze.

"Oh? Choosing the more interesting route… Trying to scurry back to that phony little haven before you die? Hehehe… how adorably naive~"

She didn't hurry.

She kept on him with the same elegant, merciless stride.

She savored the chase—the pitiful hope a prey squeezes out in the very depths of despair.

~~~

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