Maybe it was a final flare before death.

Maybe it was fate—or misfortune—tugging his strings.

Mortally wounded, Kaneki Ken somehow, miraculously, tumbled and crawled his way to the end of that familiar street lit by warm yellow lamps—the familiar "Anteiku" sign cast a faint, gentle halo in the night.

"I'm safe… as long as I can reach that place—"

A last spark of wild joy burst in his eyes. He used what little strength he had left and threw himself at the shut shop door. Even if he fell, he would crawl inch by inch. It was his only hope.

But just as his fingers were about to touch the handle—

"Tsk, tsk. This is as far as you go~"

A foot came down—right on Kaneki's hand.

"Urragh!!"

Ice flooded his veins. Kamishiro Rize had stepped up in front of him.

And then—

FWASH! FWASH! FWASH! FWASH—!!!

Without warning, several blinding, high-powered white searchlights flared from both sides of the street and the rooftop opposite, like swords of judgment. In an instant the entire street—especially Anteiku's doorway—blazed as bright as day.

The glare stabbed into Kaneki's already blurred vision, blanking him out and freezing him in place.

Rize, right behind him, squinted against the sudden light, her kakugan narrowing. She halted on reflex, raising an arm to shield her eyes.

What is this?!

Alarms screamed in her head. These weren't ordinary streetlights.

When her eyes adapted and she peered through her fingers, even she—an SS-rated Binge Eater used to doing as she pleased—froze where she stood. The cruel, delighted smile on her face turned to stone.

Both sides of the street were packed with black vans. Their doors hung open. One after another, investigators in the CCG's trademark white coats emerged from the dark, silver briefcases (Quinques) in hand, silent as ghosts—so many their ranks seemed endless.

The Doves encircled Anteiku in absolute silence, not a gap anywhere. Their faces were hard, their eyes razor-sharp, like hawks locking onto prey.

Worse, among them she felt several auras so powerful they made even her heart jolt—Special Class Investigators, and more than one, their Quinques radiating lethal intent.

The CCG's main force… why are they here?! Surrounding Anteiku of all places?!

Before Rize could make sense of the sudden turn, a voice boomed over a loudhailer into the dead-still street—cold and commanding.

"Ghouls inside, listen up! This is the CCG! You are surrounded!

"Immediately cease all resistance. Hands on your head. Come out and surrender!

"Repeating: surrender at once!"

The command echoed down the empty street, brooking no argument, steeped in killing intent.

Rize was stunned. The Doves' target… is Anteiku? How do they even know about this place? And why now of all times?!

She glanced at the figure frozen in the glare—Kaneki Ken, drenched in blood, barely clinging to life—then back at her own snarling kakugan and the rinkaku lashing behind her. An absurd thought flashed through her mind: are they here for this kid… or for me? But this much firepower?

While her doubts tangled—

Creak.

Anteiku's heavy wooden door swung inward.

Yoshimura Kouzen stood at the front. The eyes that usually smiled shut were now fully open, filled with a gravity—and a flicker of barely veiled fury—he had never shown before.

Behind him, Touka Kirishima, Renji Yomo, Kaya Irimi, and Enji Koma filed out one by one. Every face was drawn tight, bodies coiled for a fight. They had heard the commotion and the shouts.

Even for the seasoned Yoshimura, seeing the army-like encirclement outside made his pupils contract sharply.

And when their gazes cut through the blinding lights and landed on Kaneki—mangled and faint at their doorstep—and on Rize not far behind him, kakugan feral, rinkaku whipping, her body still spattered with fresh blood—

In an instant, all their questions found an answer in their hearts.

Her.

That reckless Binge Eater.

Her rampage must have drawn the Doves. And now she had led them right to Anteiku's door! Maybe she'd even leaked Anteiku's information on purpose?!

Rage—molten and overwhelming—surged through Touka and the others. They stared at Rize with undisguised killing intent and loathing.

She was the one who shattered the 20th Ward's peace. And now she would drag Anteiku into ruin.

Pinned under those hate-filled stares, Rize opened her mouth on reflex to defend herself—"N-no… it wasn't me—" But any words sounded feeble now.

The scene said everything: a notorious Binge Eater standing between a victim and Anteiku's threshold. It was the perfect accusation.

"…Haa." Yoshimura drew a long breath, tore his gaze from Rize, and looked past her to the CCG forces arrayed like an iron wall. He knew it no longer mattered whose fault it was. Whether Rize brought them or not, the Doves were at the gates, and Anteiku's secret was fully exposed.

Only one path remained.

Despair spread among the Anteiku crew like a cold tide.

Across the street, several Special Class Investigators, their presence towering above the rest, stepped forward from the CCG ranks. Their icy eyes swept over Yoshimura, over Touka and the others, and finally fixed on the feral-eyed Kamishiro Rize.

Killing intent crashed in the air like a tangible cold front.

The battle was a breath away.