In the blink of an eye, I find myself in a completely different area.
The hot air seems to slowly burn my lungs.
Still holding Himiko, we're falling from a considerable height into the USJ's fire zone.
I take the chance to look at the massive place while positioning my Kagune so we don't splatter on the ground.
"Help me find the exit, Himi…" I say, having to lean close to her ear because of the wind noise.
She nods and lifts herself slightly on my shoulder, looking in the opposite direction from me.
As I search, I notice something peculiar, not far from us, a pair of gloves and boots are falling freely.
"..."
I understand what it is when the gloves seem to turn toward me, shaking frantically from side to side.
"Toru???" I don't wait for a response before wrapping her with my Kagune.
I use the other three to slow our descent against a burning building, then plant them into the ground and lower us gently into the middle of the street.
The buzzing I'd been hearing since the fall suddenly makes sense as Toru keeps screaming even after I set her down, it's a high-pitched, painful sound to hear.
"Toru-chan, we're already on the ground…"
Himiko places a hand on Toru's invisible shoulder, which makes her stop screaming, take a deep breath, and sigh in relief.
While Himiko helps Toru recover, I notice movement amid the chaos of the burning city.
"Kaneki-kun," Himiko calls, supporting Toru on her shoulder.
"Yeah"
I reply, quickly switching my Kagune to a half-and-half Koukaku and Rinkaku, forming a shield on one arm and using it to block a barrage of gunfire.
"Ha, you won't be able to hide behind that forev—huh?"
The villain's cliché speech is cut off as one of my Rinkaku tentacles wraps around his leg, lifting him into the air before hurling him away.
"AHHHHH!!!" His scream echoes into the distance.
I retract the Koukaku shield that was sharing space with two Rinkaku tentacles, keeping only the Rinkaku active, all four tentacles now out.
"There should be more of them around here. Did you find the exit, Himi?"
"It's that way," she points.
"Then let's not waste time here"
"Feeling better, Toru?"
The gloves give a thumbs-up in confirmation.
"Alright, let's go"
I pick Himiko up in my arms and grab Toru with one of my tentacles, then start leaping across buildings, avoiding getting too close to the flames, using only my Kagune to move instead of my body.
Himiko puts on her mask because of the smoke.
I hand mine to Toru, and we keep moving.
We spot a few villains along the way, and I deal with them the same way, throwing them into the air.
It doesn't take long for us to find the exit. As we leave the fire zone, we see the chaos unfolding in the USJ.
Clouds of dust rise from the other disaster zones.
Some students are still fighting on the staircase, and in the center, Aizawa seems to be in serious trouble fighting the dead-eyed man with the strange face and the pale skinny one covered in hands.
"Help the others. I'll head to the center and help the teacher…" I tell them. Himiko hesitates but knows it might be the best option.
"Be careful, Kaneki-kun…"
"You too, Himi…" I gently touch her face.
She places her hand over mine, and we slowly lean closer.
"Cough." Toru interrupts our moment.
She is… holding a candle.
Literally.
I have no idea where she got it...
─── ◆ ───
I dash toward the center of the USJ, where Aizawa is fighting.
He's being completely overwhelmed by the muscular man, pinned to the ground, the man seemingly about to start breaking his bones.
Avoiding the villains along the way, I keep running, using my Kagune to boost my speed.
When I finally reach him, I use all the momentum from my run to land a precise punch on his beak-shaped jaw.
The punch makes a thunderous sound... but I freeze for a moment when I see the creature completely unharmed, staring directly at me with those lifeless eyes.
I use my tentacles to pull myself away from the counterattack he throws.
Even without hitting me directly, the punch seems to cut my skin with the air it moves.
I jump farther back, pulling Aizawa with me using my Kagune.
He looks to be in bad shape, one elbow is badly shattered, and one arm is broken, besides being extremely exhausted.
"Kaneki… I told you not to get involved… but thank you..."
I set him down.
He manages to stay standing despite being heavily injured.
"This is unexpected… but it changes nothing. Nomu, kill them both," the hand-covered man commands.
"Watch out!" Aizawa shouts upon hearing the command.
He seems ready to pull me away, but I gesture to him, wanting to test something.
He hesitates, then accepts and begins moving out of Nomu's range.
The creature lunges forward at absurd speed, targeting me since I'm closer than Aizawa.
I activate my Koukaku fully this time, forming a shield that covers my arm with a blade at the tip.
The punch slams hard against my Kagune, which cracks slightly.
I'm sent backward but manage to keep my footing, dragged along by the force.
'Damn… it broke my Koukaku...'
The Kagune regenerates quickly, but taking damage like that is worrying. Maybe it's weaker because of the lack of blood, but still…
Nomu charges at me again.
'I need to slow this thing down…'
Nomu's punch thunders through the air.
I dodge to the side and slice his ankle with my Koukaku blade.
He stumbles slightly, but his head turns toward me with no sign of pain.
My eyes widen again as I see the cut regenerate rapidly.
The Nomu spins his body, throwing a rotating punch at me.
I barely manage to block it with my Koukaku, but I'm sent flying.
My body crashes into a tree, which breaks on impact.
I get up with some difficulty.
'Damn… something in my back broke… He's strong.'
My bones regenerate with audible cracks, but much slower than usual.
I straighten my posture and spit some blood to the side.
My Koukaku regenerates as well, but just like my bones, it feels slower.
I move back toward Nomu, who luckily is now fully focused on me, perhaps discarding Aizawa due to his injuries or because I'm closer. I'm not sure.
I circle the creature, trying to find some weakness while dodging its advances.
'Blunt attacks don't work. I can cut it, but it just regenerates…'
Aizawa joins me, having finished taking down and restraining some minor villains that could get in the way, despite his injuries.
"Sensei, how do we deal with this?" I ask during a brief moment to breathe.
"I don't know…"
The creature attacks us again. I help Aizawa dodge while having switched to my Rinkaku for greater mobility.
"Tsk, just finish them already, Nomu," the pale man speaks again.
Then Nomu suddenly increases his speed drastically, charging at us.
'It got faster!?' I quickly throw Aizawa away with my Kagune.
I dodge a punch that passes dangerously close to my head. This time, the pressure in the air actually cuts my skin from how close it was.
I try to jump away like before, but this time he grabs my leg, and then…
Crack!!
─── ◆ ───
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