A Matter of Life and Death

A young man stood in the street, biting his fingers desperately. His face was twisted as though he were struggling to endure something, and saliva ran down his fingers. Everyone gave him a wide berth, apparently unwilling to get involved.

Louis watched from beneath his hood, bewilderment filling his heart.

"What the hell is going on... Why did Kaneki still turn into a ghoul?!"

Didn't I lure Rize away? They should have been separated that day! Did nothing change?

Or was it never the same day to begin with...

Ever since Rize had traumatized him that day, Louis had been extremely careful whenever he went out, avoiding deserted places wherever possible. After several months, he had finally found Ken Kaneki.

With the system's help, of course. It had told him there was a fight here...

Louis hesitated over whether to approach and offer some guidance, but it just didn't feel like the right moment.

"Last time, the system warned me that Furuta Nimura was approaching, but he never appeared at this point in the story. How could he..."

Louis suddenly stopped, a spark flashing through his mind.

In the original story, Rize was crushed to death by a steel framework, and then Doctor Kanou transplanted her organs... Could Kanou Akihiro and Furuta be connected?

Louis racked his brains, piecing together his scattered memories.

"Was Furuta Nimura the one who dropped that steel framework on Rize? Weren't they childhood friends?"

Only then did Louis recognize his own shortcoming. He had focused solely on the visible plot, when the real danger came from enemies lurking in the shadows.

I can't let Furuta and his people notice me before I find someone powerful to back me!

Otherwise, who knew what experiments that mad scientist Doctor Kanou would perform on someone with supernatural abilities like him?

Louis now understood just how urgently he needed a powerful backer!

Standing in the middle of the road, Ken Kaneki seemed to notice something and hurried away. Louis followed close behind. According to the plot, what happened next was crucial to securing a powerful backer. He couldn't afford to miss it!

It wasn't just Ken Kaneki. Even someone with an extraordinary ability to adapt would feel frightened, lost, and unable to accept suddenly becoming a man-eating monster, wouldn't they?

Watching Ken Kaneki rush into the alley where he would meet Nishiki Nishio, Louis shook his head. He used cold air to conceal his human scent, jumped onto a rooftop, and cautiously observed what was happening below.

Ken Kaneki was in a sorry state. Drool had already reached his collar, and he ran forward with anticipation and longing written all over his face, convinced there was food ahead that he could swallow.

There was indeed something ahead, but it wasn't the food he was hoping for...

Louis crouched on the rooftop, watching the two ghouls below and Nishiki Nishio steadily approaching from farther away.

If he remembered correctly, this ghoul was called Kazuo. He was even willing to share some of his food, which made him fairly kind by ghoul standards.

Unfortunately... this world was cruel by nature...

Splat!

With a contemptuous kick from a blond man, blood sprayed everywhere, and Kazuo left this world without suffering.

"So brutal to his own kind? Or is he using this to warn other ghouls?"

Louis watched the developments below coldly, without intervening.

He had only one goal: save Ken Kaneki at a critical moment, then put on an improvised performance.

After considering every possibility, he had concluded that the part where Anteiku took Ken Kaneki in offered his easiest and best chance of getting ahead.

Then a faint feminine fragrance drifted over, making Louis tense.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here...?"

Someone wearing a rabbit mask approached, unmistakable killing intent seeping into her voice.

Obviously, this was Touka... Louis knew exactly what someone as ruthless as her was capable of. She would do anything for her companions.

And Louis clearly wasn't one of her companions. Right now, she probably suspected he was an enemy.

"You're the young lady who worked at that coffee shop, aren't you..." Louis merely tilted his head slightly, putting on an inscrutable air.

"Hm?"

Touka Kirishima visibly froze, unable to believe the man before her had seen straight through her disguise.

Louis casually removed his hood, revealing his face, and continued.

"I recognize your scent, but don't worry... I mean no harm."

Looking at his face, Touka Kirishima finally remembered the customer who had come in for coffee that day. After considering him for quite a while, she removed her mask as well, revealing an incredulous expression.

"You... I remember you being human!"

How could a human smell her from so far away without showing the slightest surprise? And how could he identify her by scent alone?

Louis was a little surprised that Touka had taken her mask off so readily, but that wasn't good news. If he failed to gain her trust, he would never leave this damned alley alive.

"Who knows? Even I don't know what I count as anymore."

"Speaking of humans, if I remember correctly, that guy down there was one a few months ago too... Holy shit!" As Louis spoke, he glanced down, only to discover that the arrogant blond had raised his foot high and was about to crush the protagonist's head.

There was no time to explain. Louis spun around and plunged downward as several ice blades formed in his palm and shot out!

Ghouls seemed to have a special sensitivity to killing intent. The instant Louis dropped down, Nishiki Nishio halted his attack and retreated, and two ice blades buried themselves in the ground.

Louis flipped and landed firmly, gripping two crystalline ice daggers.

That was close... The whole story almost ended right there...

Gasping for breath, Ken Kaneki stared at the unfamiliar man before him.

Recovering from his surprise, Nishiki Nishio straightened and scrutinized the approaching... human with vicious eyes.

Although most of his scent was concealed, at this distance Nishiki Nishio immediately realized that the man before him wasn't a ghoul.

"A White Dove?" he asked coldly.

"I'm not."

Louis denied it outright, watching the man warily with his body tense and bent, ready to fight at any moment.

His opponent was an A-rated ghoul, after all. He couldn't afford to be careless.

"Hmph..."

Nishiki Nishio sneered. A blue tail kagune quietly extended behind him and wrapped around his right leg.

He's getting serious...

"Whether you're with the CCG or not, you've seen my face. You're not leaving here."

The moment he finished speaking, Nishiki Nishio bent forward and charged at Louis.

Holding one ice blade high and the other low, Louis charged as well.

Clang, clang, clang...

The sounds of ice clashing against kagune and fists striking flesh rang throughout the alley.

Slashing Nishiki Nishio with the daggers felt like stabbing a hardwood board. They could pierce his skin, but couldn't penetrate deeply enough to cause more damage.

Meanwhile, every physical collision sent a tingling numbness through Louis. His opponent was strong!

"Is that all you've got? Impressive for a human, but I'm still going to beat your brains out!"

Having gauged Louis's fighting ability, Nishiki Nishio seized an opening, kicked a dagger out of his hand, and punched him square in the face.

"Damn it!"

Bang!

Unable to dodge in time, Louis was sent flying into a wall.

His brains didn't splatter everywhere. Louis crouched on the ground and wiped away his nosebleed.

The punch hadn't smashed Louis's head open, but it had broken his nose and left him dizzy.

For someone with his type of supernatural ability, even his skull was much harder than an ordinary person's.

Nishiki Nishio's eyes widened even further.

"Are you really human?!"

Louis said nothing. He simply looked at the dagger beneath Nishiki Nishio and silently activated his ability.

With almost no warning, the crystalline dagger transformed into a conical pillar of ice, shooting up from the ground and knocking Nishiki Nishio into the air with a bang.

"Argh! Damn it!" Nishiki Nishio gritted his teeth and tried to adjust his position in midair. He was furious, but also astonished.

Louis wasn't finished. He instantly rushed beneath Nishiki Nishio, gathered a mass of unstable crystalline fragments in his right hand, compressed them to the size of his palm, and blasted them straight at Nishiki Nishio.

In his previous life, this attack had been even more powerful than a shotgun fired at close range. What would it do to a ghoul?

Crystalline chunks sprayed from Louis's right hand like buckshot, their recoil forcing him half a step backward as the shrapnel-like ice struck Nishiki Nishio.

Unable to brace himself in midair, he was blasted away. Several wounds of varying severity appeared across his body, and blood immediately soaked large patches of his clothing.

Yet the attack didn't seem to have put him out of the fight.

"Damn it!" Nishiki Nishio got back up, both kakugan wide with fury. Though his injuries looked serious, he still seemed capable of fighting Louis to the death.

Louis's head was still spinning. Seeing that Nishiki Nishio could keep fighting scared him badly.

"You've got to be kidding. More? If this keeps going, I'm going to die here!"

He hadn't come here to risk his life...

What if I don't even have the strength left for my improvised performance afterward...

Suddenly, Louis remembered Touka Kirishima was still above them. Would she... step in to save a human like him...?

At that thought, Louis clutched his head, staggered a couple of steps, and fell beside Kaneki, making a convincing show of it.

Life is a stage. It's all about acting!

Please save me!

"What a joke... All bark and no bite. Was that your last attack?" Seeing that Louis could no longer resist, Nishiki Nishio gave a vicious grin.

"I'm going to rip your whole arm off!"

He raised his right leg high, about to crush Louis's skull.

Lying on the ground, Louis broke into a cold sweat and fought desperately to keep himself still.

Bang!

Nishiki Nishio went flying again. This time, it was none other than Touka.

Louis secretly brought up Touka Kirishima's favorability panel.

Touka Kirishima, current favorability: 10

"I still have questions for him." Touka's eyes had turned into fierce kakugan as she faced Nishiki Nishio.

"Besides, since when did this become your hunting ground? We're the ones who manage Ward 20. Anteiku."

"Huh? One after another tonight... You're really pissing me off! Why should I take criticism from those Anteiku bastards who just sit on the sidelines?"

Nishiki Nishio was furious now, and a few exchanged words were enough to bring them to the brink of a fight.

The tension between them instantly became explosive, but Louis, who knew the script, wasn't worried. He knew the outcome perfectly well. Touka, rated A+ or even S, would naturally take Nishiki Nishio down almost instantly.

That's what you get for hitting my handsome face. Watch my big sister beat you to death, you bastard.

Lying on the ground, Louis quietly watched the two of them, eager to see just how fast an agility-focused ukaku ghoul could strike.

Many of the ghouls he had fought before hadn't even been able to extend their kagune, leaving Louis short on experience with this sort of battle.

But...

Through his barely opened eyes, Louis saw Kaneki's face drawing closer and closer, his drooling mouth opening wider and wider. He was both frightened and helpless.

I believe in you. You definitely won't bite me.

He secretly froze his wounds with his ability to stop any fresh blood from flowing, doing his best to reduce the temptation for Ken Kaneki.

"Hmph, come on!"

The fight seemed to have started over by Nishiki Nishio.

Louis watched the two through narrowed eyes.

Two blindingly fast figures flashed past. In an instant, not even a tenth of a second, Touka opened several wounds across Nishiki Nishio's body!

Louis could barely make out Touka's movements. Her sheer speed and technique almost made him spring back from the dead to applaud.

[Ding~ Ken Kaneki's favorability +5]

"Hm?"

What's going on now?

Louis cautiously peeked at the person beside him. Kaneki, who had just been leaning toward him ready to take a bite, was now kneeling in place, muttering painfully to himself.

"I'm sorry... You were hurt so badly saving me... And now I'm..."

"..."

The battle between the two ghouls was also drawing to a close. There hadn't actually been any further exchanges. Nishiki Nishio had simply finally noticed all the wounds covering his body. After two fights, he could no longer bear the strain.

"Damn it!"

Nishiki Nishio tore a chunk of flesh from the human corpse nearby before fleeing in panic. Touka didn't stop him.

This isn't how it happened in the original, Louis thought, guessing that he had worn Nishiki Nishio down somewhat.

Seeing that Touka was about to turn around, Louis hurriedly shut his eyes completely. His mind raced through all the possible situations that might follow.

Whether I live or die depends on tonight...

Louis sank into thought...

One second.

Two seconds.

Seriously, buddy, could you swallow a little more quietly, Ken Kaneki...?