Kaneki clutched his head and groaned in pain, what little reason he had dwindling further. His field of vision narrowed until it could hold only two people. The kagune behind him slammed hard into the ground, propelling his body toward the bandaged woman at tremendous speed.
But suddenly, a lightning-fast knife-hand strike loomed in his vision. The rampaging Kaneki froze for a fraction of a second and took an almost direct hit, his charging body abruptly thrown off balance and hurled into a nearby wall.
"What has become of you..." Shachi stood with a grim expression. Rather than pursuing him, he held his striking hand in position and kept the other behind his back.
Then the lingering pain in his hand made him frown. He raised it, only to find a bloody bite wound still dripping blood.
What kind of fighting was this? When attacked in the face, he hadn't tried to dodge or defend, or even trade blows. He hadn't even bothered to maintain his balance.
Instead, he'd chosen to... bite a chunk of flesh out of his hand?
Shachi frowned, the wound on his hand healing rapidly. Within seconds, it had vanished.
"..." Fresh blood trickled from Kaneki's mouth. He raised his head, his gaze passing over Shachi to settle on Kanou Akihiro in his white coat. Some of his reason seemed to return.
He remembered why he had come here.
"Dr... Kanou..." Kaneki murmured, looking at that familiar figure.
"It's been a while." Kanou Akihiro looked at Ken Kaneki with considerable interest, intrigued by his current state.
"Now that you've come here, there's no need to keep hiding so many things."
"You were once human, and now you've become a powerful ghoul. To reach this level through your own strength after leaving me is truly remarkable..."
Kanou