Sniff sniff~
Riku twitched his nose. Under the cover of night, in the shadowy depths of a dingy alley, the scent of human flesh wafted through the air.
"Mmm, smells like a yakiniku feast," he muttered.
For ghouls—creatures straight out of Tokyo Ghoul—nighttime was prime hunting season, and the city's maze of alleys was their shuryōba (hunting ground).
Unlike Riku, who was more of a yōkai in this cyberpunk world, ghouls didn't fear sunlight. They hunted at night to blend into human society during the day.
In other words, in this world, your classmate or coworker could secretly be a ghoul, sneaking out at night to feast on human flesh like a villain from a shonen anime.
Riku activated his optical camouflage, his body shimmering before vanishing in a ripple of colors, like a ninja using a genjutsu.
After turning two corners in the alley, Riku stumbled upon a scene that made his stomach rumble.
One ghoul was chowing down on a human, while another knelt nearby, seemingly waiting for scraps like a loyal retainer.
"I'm Kazuo. Haven't eaten in ages. Sorry, I can only share a little," the feasting ghoul said, tearing off a chunk of flesh and handing it to the kneeling one. Surprisingly nakama-like for ghouls.
The human corpse on the ground stared up with wide, lifeless eyes, probably wondering how he ended up as tonight's bento.
"That kneeling guy… he's not a ghoul or a human," Riku thought, leaning against the wall at the alley's corner, his eyes narrowing. "Could he be…?"
Just then, another ghoul approached from the other end of the alley, sniffing the air and glancing curiously toward Riku's spot.
Riku tensed. Ghouls had sharp noses too, it seemed. His camouflage hid his form, but not his scent. Yabai, he hadn't accounted for that.
The newcomer, a brown-haired guy with glasses, strutted in and—BAM!—kicked the feasting ghoul's head clean off. It flew past the kneeling ghoul, landing near Riku's feet.
Unlike Riku's kind, a headshot like that was usually fatal for ghouls—unless they were some kagune freak.
"Don't just eat in someone else's shuryōba," the glasses-wearing ghoul sneered, all swagger and yakuza vibes.
He turned to the kneeling figure. "New face, huh? Why's only one of your eyes red? Gross."
His words sparked a memory in Riku. He racked his brain, trying to recall old anime plotlines.穿越 (time-travel) or not, he hadn't gotten a memory-boosting cheat like some isekai protagonist, so remembering every detail from every anime was tough.
"This cocky guy… is he Nishio Nishiki?" Riku mused. If so, this must be right after Kaneki Ken's surgery, when he was turned into a one-eyed ghoul.
WHAM!
Nishiki grabbed the kneeling ghoul by the throat, hoisting the blue-hoodie-wearing figure against the wall with one hand.
Riku got a clear look at the young guy's face: one left eye with a black sclera and blood-red iris, the right eye human. Definitely Kaneki Ken, the one-eyed ghoul. Black-haired Kaneki was harder to recognize without his signature white locks.
Sniff sniff~
Riku's nose twitched again. Another scent was closing in fast—from above, probably the rooftops. "Nishiki, Kaneki… then the one coming must be the heroine, Kirishima Tōka, right?"
"You barge into someone's shuryōba without permission—you know what happens next?" Nishiki taunted, looming over a terrified Kaneki with all the bravado of a shonen antagonist.
Poor Kaneki, a regular college kid just weeks ago, was way out of his depth. He looked ready to pass out from fear.
"S-Sorry! I didn't know! I was just passing by!" Kaneki stammered, choking under Nishiki's grip, desperately trying to appease the ghoul.
"Passing by? If your girlfriend was lying naked over there, and some half-naked dude was shouting 'I didn't do anything, just passing by,' would you believe him?" Nishiki grinned wickedly, tightening his hold. Kaneki couldn't even respond.
Riku's mouth twitched at the analogy. Oi, Nishiki, tone down the weird Japanese netizen vibes, will ya? Good example, but maybe don't use it again.
"Who's there?!" Nishiki snapped, whipping his head toward Riku's corner.
His nose had been picking up a strange presence nearby, but he couldn't see anything.
"This shuryōba's yours now, Nishiki?" a girl's voice cut in before Riku could respond. She dropped from a nearby rooftop, landing effortlessly from a five- or six-story height like a kunoichi.
Ghouls had physical abilities far beyond humans. Compared to Riku's yōkai-like kind, ghouls had an even more overwhelming edge over humans—normal weapons couldn't even scratch them.
In Demon Slayer, regular folks like Tanjiro could fight back against demons with an axe, at least doing some damage. But against ghouls? Humans were helpless. Normal blades left no mark, like swinging at a mecha.
"Tōka?" Nishiki dropped Kaneki and turned to the new arrival.
Riku glanced over. Purple hair, purple eyes—Kirishima Tōka was easier to recognize than black-haired Kaneki.
"I already know Rize, that glutton, is dead. This shuryōba was mine to begin with—Rize just stole it," Tōka said, glaring at Nishiki.
Facing her challenge, Nishiki's impatience was clear. He didn't care that after Rize's death, her stolen hunting grounds were split among weaker ghouls. This was his turf, and he was taking it back.
Tokyo's 20th Ward was managed by the Anteiku café, but Nishiki had no interest in listening to that bunch of "weaklings" boss him around.
The two clashed almost instantly, but the fight was over in a flash. Nishiki, an A-rank ghoul, was no match for S-rank Tōka. He swung and missed; she dodged effortlessly and sliced him up with a dozen cuts from her ukaku kagune.
Riku watched from the sidelines. These ghouls were no joke. Tōka's speed was insane, her ukaku kagune giving her explosive bursts of power.
After chasing off the cocky Nishiki, Tōka turned to Kaneki, who was struggling to suppress his hunger for human flesh.
Kaneki's desperate battle against his own craving—wanting to eat but refusing to give in—hit Riku right in the feels.
He could relate, though he had it easier. His Limit System kept his mind stable; all he had to fight was the hunger. Kaneki, on the other hand, was sprawled on the ground, sobbing, on the verge of a mental breakdown from his body's instincts.
"You not gonna eat?" Tōka asked, picking up an arm from the corpse and offering it to Kaneki. But when she got a good look at his face, her expression shifted. "Wait, you're…"
Kaneki recognized her too. He was a regular at Anteiku, where Tōka worked as a waitress, sipping coffee and reading.
"Please! Help me! I don't want to eat people! I'm human!" Kaneki begged, his voice raw with desperation. He didn't want to become a monster. If he ate human flesh, would he still be human?
But his body betrayed him. Drool dripped, his hands twitched toward the flesh, his brain screaming at him to give in.
"If you don't have the guts to eat, I'll help you!" Tōka said, ripping off a chunk of meat and moving to shove it into Kaneki's mouth.
Vrrr!
Riku activated his Sandevistan, his body blurring as he shot forward, thermal katana raised.
Splurch!
Tōka's hand, still holding the flesh, flew into the air. She stumbled back, clutching her wrist—now empty.
"Hey, onee-san, I think he gets to decide whether he eats human flesh," Riku said, standing protectively in front of Kaneki, a grin on his face as he pointed his thermal katana at Tōka.
"What… what kind of monster are you?!" Tōka's kagune eyes flared, her teeth gritted as she glared at Riku.
A severed hand or foot was no big deal for a ghoul—she'd regenerate in no time.
"I'm like this kid here. Kindred spirits, you could say. So, sorry, I can't just stand by while you force-feed him human flesh," Riku said, holding off on attacking further.
Another dangerous presence was lurking nearby, watching from the shadows. If Riku's memory was right, that had to be Yoshimura, the "Non-Killing Owl" and Anteiku's manager.
(End of Chapter)