"Damn it, why would Tsukiyama..." After reading the letter, Nishiki Nishio slammed his fist into the floor, unable to quell his anger. "This is a complete disaster! Why did this happen?"
"Tsukiyama's after me. I'll go rescue Miss Kimi," Kaneki said, worried and blaming himself.
"How could I possibly sleep while Kimi's being held hostage..." Nishio's voice was weak but resolute. "I'm going too..."
The two left the coffee shop. Shortly after they departed, two more people pushed open the door and emerged.
"Hey, that story you told Kaneki earlier... was it true?" Touka watched Kaneki and Nishio recede into the distance, her face expressionless.
"I never knew Nishiki cared so much about a human."
She was referring to the story Louis had told earlier about Nishio and his sister.
"I don't know the details, but that's roughly what happened." Louis masked his scent with cold air while covering his entire face in ice crystals.
Just thinking about facing Tsukiyama gave him a headache. If he won, everyone would be happy. If he lost, he'd be an extra course on tonight's menu.
"..." Touka said nothing more and followed the pair's scent.
Inside the church, a young girl lay unconscious on her side atop a table at the far end, surrounded by candles. A white cloth covered her eyes, and her hands were tied behind her back.
Wasn't this the very picture of a candlelit dinner?
"Yes, just like this... a solemn, sacred setting, the most exquisite way to dine..." Shuu Tsukiyama had been waiting here for quite some time. His eyes brimmed with excitement, because tonight he would finally taste the food he'd been dreaming about for days.
"Tsukiyama! Let Kimi go!"
An enraged voice suddenly rang out. The entrance doors behind him flew open, and two people stormed inside.
Shuu Tsukiyama turned around. Seeing Nishiki Nishio accompanying Kaneki, he looked thoroughly displeased. "Nishio... I don't recall inviting you..."
But the thought of the feast he would soon savor instantly dispelled his irritation.
"Bastard, give Kimi back..." Fighting the intense pain in his abdomen, Nishio advanced step by step, determined to take Kimi back.
"Sorry, that's impossible..." Tsukiyama seemed to disregard Nishiki Nishio entirely. Even as Nishio approached, he continued describing his supreme dining ritual.
"This lady is the seasoning for tonight's dinner, so Kaneki can savor her at her most delectable."
"Huh?" Neither Nishio nor Kaneki could make sense of the pervert's words.
Shuu Tsukiyama's voice grew louder, as though he were proclaiming some magnificent feat to the world, and his expression became increasingly savage. "Put simply, while Kaneki eats her, I'll eat Kaneki... Ahh~ Just thinking about it excites me!"
Nishiki Nishio said, "Bastard..."
Kaneki said, "Pervert."
"Pervert?" Shuu Tsukiyama abruptly appeared in front of Kaneki and hooked a finger beneath his chin.
"You're the one who drove me to this, Kaneki... You must take responsibility, understand just how delicious you are, and then let me eat you..."
"Bastard!" Seeing Tsukiyama rush over, Nishiki Nishio immediately threw a punch. But he could barely stand in his current condition. How could he possibly be a match for Tsukiyama?
As expected, Tsukiyama easily blocked the punch, then effortlessly grabbed Nishiki Nishio and flung him away, smashing a swath of wooden chairs.
Afterward, he even blew Nishio a kiss. "Just rest over there."
Seeing Nishiki Nishio knocked down, Kaneki clenched his fist and swung at Tsukiyama. But his punch was as feeble as a child's roughhousing, and Tsukiyama easily dodged it.
With a casual kick, Tsukiyama sent Kaneki flying into a mass of tables and chairs...
At this point, facing Tsukiyama was still far beyond Kaneki.
Meanwhile, the two who had slipped into the church through a second-floor window amid the chaos were observing the fight below.
"Can you handle him?" Louis cautiously glanced at Shuu Tsukiyama through his mask.
[Shuu Tsukiyama, S-Rank Ghoul, alias: Gourmet, troublemaker, overall combat power: S-]
He had probably been neglecting food and sleep to research the ultimate dining ritual for eating Kaneki. His combat power had actually dropped a little since a few days ago.
But...
Louis glanced at Touka.
[Touka Kirishima, S-Rank Ghoul, alias: Rabbit, overall combat ability: A+]
Eating human food weakened a ghoul's body...
In the instant his attention wandered, Touka seemed to find an opening. She unleashed the speed of an S-Rank Ghoul and vaulted down, moving so fast she was like a slash that sliced across Shuu Tsukiyama's eyeball.
"A straightforward sneak attack from behind."
Touka landed and confidently rolled her shoulders, looking ready for a serious fight. "I'll break your bones good and proper so you can't eat, Tsukiyama."
"What dreadful phrasing, Miss Touka." Yet Shuu Tsukiyama merely wiped the blood from his eye with a handkerchief, and it had already healed. A scratch like that meant nothing to him.
"It didn't do anything!" Kaneki's eyes widened in shock. He knew how strong Touka was, so why...
Louis was beginning to understand. High-level ghouls possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities. Wounds had to be deep enough, and more injuries had to be inflicted before the previous ones healed. Only then could an attack cause meaningful damage.
"Touka and I aren't particularly close. Rushing down there might only make things worse... Should I rescue Nishio's girlfriend first..." Hearing the fighting below suddenly intensify, Louis didn't dare poke his head out. Mainly, he really didn't want to fight Tsukiyama.
A standard S-Rank Ghoul with a koukaku exceptionally strong in close combat-even a sneak attack might fail. And once he set his sights on someone...
As Louis remembered it, Tsukiyama had lusted after Kaneki for four whole seasons.
Just then, as the sounds of fighting stopped, the smell of blood rose along with Kaneki's scream.
"This is it! The finest delicacy in the world!"
Tsukiyama suddenly screamed in frenzy. A hole had been torn in Kaneki's abdomen, and blood stained his jacket red.
Shuu Tsukiyama had already taken off his suit jacket. His eyes instantly turned a ferocious red, revealing excitement he could barely contain.
"Bastard!" Touka extended her ukaku on one side and attacked Tsukiyama. But for some reason, Louis felt that she was considerably slower than when she had fought Nishiki Nishio.
Sure enough, Tsukiyama's koukaku blocked most of her attacks. The rest only left shallow flesh wounds that healed instantly.
Shuu Tsukiyama smiled faintly, as though reminiscing. "Touka... When I first met you, you were so beautiful, so strong. But now..."
Tsukiyama casually blocked a kick, then his speed abruptly surged. The kagune wrapped around his arm took the shape of a steel blade and pierced Touka's body with a wet thud. "Eating inferior food has reduced your strength to this..."
Blood trickled from the corner of Touka's mouth. Her abdomen had been pierced, and the wound wouldn't heal. She clutched her stomach and knelt on the floor, unable to muster any strength.
"Kagune are like engines, and human flesh is like gasoline... You... are too weak..." Tsukiyama shook his head in disappointment and turned toward Kimi Nishino.
"How much longer are you going to watch?!" Clutching her stomach, Touka suddenly swore through gritted teeth.
Shuu Tsukiyama and Kaneki both froze.
Was someone else here?
An eerie chill suddenly filled the church. The temperature plummeted, and sharp crystal shards actually began forming out of thin air around Shuu Tsukiyama.
"What the hell is this..." Startled, Tsukiyama abruptly extended his kagune from his back and wrapped it around his right hand, its tip taking on the shape of a blade. Clearly, this was his first time seeing such a bizarre form of attack.
"Ice Spikes!" Hidden from sight, Louis clenched his hand. Cold air surged toward the floor, and in the blink of an eye, several ice spikes erupted, thrusting toward Shuu Tsukiyama from four directions.
Tsukiyama leaped into the air and swung his right arm, using his koukaku to slice the suddenly appearing ice spikes in half.
"So brittle..." Feeling the ice spikes' hardness, Shuu Tsukiyama immediately realized he'd been tricked. Even a direct hit from an attack of this caliber wouldn't leave a scratch on him.
But the ice spikes weren't meant to cause damage. Their purpose was to force Shuu Tsukiyama into the air, where he had no footing, and bring him closer to Louis.
"I've been waiting for you!" Gripping the blue-white Ice Blade he had painstakingly formed, Louis lunged at Shuu Tsukiyama, who had no leverage in midair.
"..." Facing this suddenly appearing enemy, Tsukiyama didn't dare be careless. He focused all his attention on the figure wearing an ice mask.
Yet he had forgotten the crystal shards filling the room around him...
"Converge!"
Under Louis's control, the airborne crystal shards shot forward, striking Shuu Tsukiyama's back like bullets. Blood instantly stained his shirt, and he lost his balance.
At the same time, a blue-white Ice Blade came slashing in from the front.
Before you continue