Chapter 4

== Never trust anyone...? ==

I... can't feel... skelecog... bleh.

I have no idea where do I put Blake in. I've got a place for Yang and Weiss but not the fanus... I don't know why.

Also I've decided I'm still gonna post every 3 days, just um... I'm gonna do it until I run out of content to post. My final examinations are final examinations you know.

Beacon Academy was an amazing sight to behold, especially during the night. The lights lit up dimmly suited the atmostphere of the marvelous school of Hunters and Huntresses. Ruby Rose walked casually through the pathways, her dorm being the place she was heading to. Her time at Anteiku was fun, and there she made new friends and people she could trust. Yoshimura was a kind-hearted ghoul who created the coffee shop in pursuit of harmony between ghouls and humans. Touka was two years older than Ruby, the same age as her friends at Beacon and was a high school student. She didn't want to become a huntress, rather staying in Anteiku than going out and risk exposing her ghoul nature.

The other staff were quite friendly too. One of them was Enji Koma. He had brown hair styled in a pompadour and a bulbous nose, and a very talktative and playful personality. He was also polite to Ruby and was proud to be an Anteiku waiter and takes much pride in his job. The other was Kaya Irimi, a waitress with long black hair who normally kept to herself, but had a kind and caring personality. Ruby described Anteiku as a big happy family, which all of them were happy to accept the term.

Ruby had taken a good inspection from the manager. Only one of her eyes were ghoulish. The manager deduced that Ruby was an artifical ghoul created by planting a ghoul's organs into a human's body, making a half-ghoul. Ruby tested her kakugan on a mirror several times, and found that it was quite cool to have one eye be ghoulish. She could call herself The Half-Ghoul Huntress once she graduated, silently fangirling at the thought people calling her by that title.

"Hey look, it's the Half-Ghoul Huntress! She's come to save us! Yay! Go Ruby! Defeat those Grimm!" Ruby said to herself as she made several gestures with her hands, mimicking what was going on in her imagination. Once ghouls and humans hopefully coexisted, she could be just like Glynda on the day she met her! "Can I have your autograph Ruby? Of course you can! Sweeeee!"

But most of all, the words Yoshimura used to describe her situation was what made her most happy. "You are both human and ghoul at the same time, thus you have a place in both worlds." Her dream of ghouls and humans coexisting was become reality, with her being the first support.

Ruby eventually reached her dorm, and looked at her scroll. "Nine forty, not that late into the night. My team must still be awake." Ruby thought to herself. They normally slept at ten, usually discussing about stuff such as Blake liking fish or sometimes even scrolling through their scrolls until it reached ten.

The red cloak wearer opened the door to her dorm. What she saw was the room light switched off and Weiss and Blake sleeping soundly at their beds, going against what she normally thought. Ruby tiptoed to her bunk and couldn't help but notice the mop Weiss had next to her bed. They cleaned up the mess she made, that was nice. As she was about to jump up to her bed above Weiss's, the huntress heard a sound from outside her dorm. Curious, Ruby instead tiptoed out of her dorm and peeked outside, seeing no one in the hallways. Concluding that nothing was going on, Ruby closed the door and turned around.

Walking right into Yang.

"Helloooooooo" Yang cheerfully, scaring Ruby. "Ahh! Yang don't do that!" The leader of the team said, shocked at the sudden appearance of her sister. "Heh, just wanted to care ya. Where did you go off to?" Yang asked. "O-Oh. I went to see a doctor, but after that I saved a girl from a freaky old man. I managed to m-make him run away, and the girl thanked me and introduced a coffee shop to me. Everyone there was great!" Ruby beamed. She couldn't tell anyone about the fine details that happened there, but the least she could say was how great the place was. "It's called Anteiku, and I wanna bring all of you there soon!"

"Ruby, I'm trying to sleep here!" An annoyed voice erupted from the sleep-deprived heiress. "S-Sorry Weiss." Ruby muttered apologeticly. "Well, what an adventure you got yourself into. Is your tongue fixed?" Yang asked Ruby, refering to the cleaned up mess. "You did make a lot of mess before you left. You sure your okay?" Yang pointed to the direction of the fridge, with some towels over the floor.

"Yeah! After I saved the girl, the coffee shop introduced me to red-colored cookies, and they help fixed my tongue!" Ruby sticked out her tongue, pointed at it for Yang to see. The blonde simply chuckled in return. "It's good to see your better, I guess it's time to sleep now isn't it?"

"Obviously!? Go to sleep!" The annoyed heiress yelled again, earning more chuckles from the sisters. During the whole time, Blake kept her ears peered. "Something's off", she mused.

The next day, Team RWBY attended their classes per usual. Ruby sketched pictures of a childish drawing of Professor Port, with Weiss scoffing it off as she tried to take down notes. Blake paid attention to class, reading her book when there was nothing to do, while Yang... was just being Yang.

Eventually they made it through classes, Ruby giving up on drawing, Weiss failing to understand why her professor constantly blabbered on about his stories, Blake continuing to read her book through Port's ramblings and Yang just sleeping. Team RWBY made their way after class to the cafeterria to have lunch, with Team JNPR across them. The two teams ate their respective meals. Jaune and Yang had Bacon and Eggs, Weiss with a red apple, Pyyrha and Ren eating salads and Nora happily looking at her pancakes. Blake had a can of tuna on her, which got the attention of Yang. "Finally going back to your instincts, eh?" She teased, getting an eyeroll in response.

Ruby didn't want to be the only one not eating, so she took out a box of red-hued cookies. "Woah, I knew you liked red but not that much!" Jaune said, noticing the redness of the snack. Oftentimes cookies did have different colour on it, being red raisins or some cream decorations to go, but not the entire cookie being red! "Yeah, A coffee shop in the 20th ward sells them. I think they just ran out of stock though." Ruby replied. "Out of stock!? That's quite the limited edition cookies you have there. Can I have one?" Jaune asked, standing up in order to grab one before recieving approval. "N-No!

You can't!" Ruby immediately slapped Jaune's hand out of the way before he could grab one, causing Jaune to recoil in pain. "Hey, what was that for? I just wanted one..."

Ruby was about to explain why when she felt a sensation in her left eye. Immediately, Ruby covered the eye with her hand, yelling in pain. "Ow ow ow my eye. Be right back I gotta go to the bathroom... Ow!" The girl quickly dashed to the bathroom, leaving both teams in confusion. "Okay what just happened?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence. "I'll go check on her." Yang said, getting up from her seat and following her sister. "Well EYE guess you can say Ruby has quite a problem. Right?" Weiss tried her hand at joking, but was turned down with five simultainous facepalms. "That was bad!" The distant voice of Yang yelled. The heiress chuckled to herself and muttered a simple "Whatever..."

Ruby quickly dashed through the bathroom door, making it swing back and forth from open to close. She looked in the mirror, and put her hand down. Her left eye was a kakugan. The pupil was blood red and the sclera became black, along with red veins along the eye. The eye of a ghoul. "Turn back to normal please eye, turn back to normal turn back to normal...!" Ruby pleaded for her eye to return to her normal silvery look. She couldn't let anyone see it, she couldn't!

"What's going on Ruby?" The voice of Yang sounded from the door. She just entered while Ruby had her kakugan on! Immediately putting her hand back to her ghoullish eye, she turned to her sister.

"Ahh! Nothing. It hurts, that's all. Nothing a little clean water can fix, right?" Ruby said nervously to her sister, hoping she could understand. "I thought you hated water in your eyes?" Yang replied, unsure of what her sister was going on about. "Come on let me see what's wrong with it."

"N-N-No! Don't!" Ruby backed away from her sister, hitting her back on the wall. "I-I'm fine! I can handle this! I don't want you to see me!"

"What do you mean? Ruby this isn't funny, what's going on!?" Yang shouted with concern. Her sister was acting up, and she wanted to know exactly what is going on. "Ruby, please. I'm your sister. You can tell me anything! You can even say that you got chili sauce in your eye, and I won't make fun of you."

"Y-You will hate me forever!" Ruby shouted frantically. The huntress recalled what Yoshimura had told her. "Don't let anyone know you are a ghoul. They report you to the CCG and you will be hunted down." She didn't want to take the risk, she would act and behave like a normal girl with a normal pair of eyes!

"No! I won't! Whatever you have done, I will not hold you against it. You can say you killed someone and I won't hold it against you. You're my sister Ruby, and you always will be. So please, what's going on with your eye?" Yang sympathised with Ruby. Her heart pained seeing Ruby react this way, and Yang pleaded to herself for her to stop. She would kill a million grimm if it meant saving her sister, and Yang meant it from the bottom of her soul.

"I-I-If I let you know... Will you... n-not let anyone else know?" Ruby stumbled. "I will not." Yang declared. With that, Ruby gave up the strength she had in her eye, letting it fall to rest.

"O-Oh my god R-Ruby!" Yang said, disbelief in her tone. Ruby gulped, was she going to reveal her to the CCG? Was Yang going to betray her? Was her life going to crumble from today onwards!?

"..."

"That's so cooooooooooool!" Yang lunged in and hugged her adorable sister

"...What...?"

"When did you get a ghoul eye? Where can I get one? How do I get one? Does it itch?" Yang instantly bombarded Ruby with questions about her eye, with Ruby just... unable to react. "H-How are you so calm...? Aren't you going to freak out...?"

"Freak out!? Of course I'm freaking out! Your eye is like, the coolest thing one could have! You know those shows where the badass character has an eyepatch and he takes it off and everyone be like-"

"Okay okay I get it! You like my eye because it reminds you of your TV shows and Anime stuff." Ruby heard Yang fangirl over her shows one too many times, and this was one of them. What she was expecting was a freaked out Yang instantly discriminating Ruby because of her eye, but instead she got a freaking out Yang just adoring the awesome ghoul eye she had. "But really though, Yang.

Aren't you gonna um... freak out for me being a... um... Yeah...?"

"Nah. Your cool. I've never seen a Ghoul firsthand anyway and you're the first I've seen! How'd it happen though? You trip and fall, break a leg then got new glasses?" Yang joked, earning a pout from Ruby. "No it's not like that! It's something more... more um... more tragic."

Ruby started to explain the whole situation, how Razor tried to kill her, what the surgery turned her into, describing Anteiku for what they really were.

"Soooooo... Razor was a ghoul, he tried to kill you but got crushed by falling steel. You then had ghoul organs transplanted into you in order to save you, then realised you can't eat normal cookies." Yang repeated, getting the whole picture. Ruby nodded and Yang continued. "You found Anteiku, where you met the Touka girl, and they gave you these red cookies for you to eat?"

"Y-Yeah. That's the whole picture, sis. How are you taking this in so well?" Ruby's story should have made her sister at least a bit concerned about the fact that she could only eat humans, but the sister of the ghoul just grinned happily. "You're my sister, Ruby. No matter what happens to you, as long as you mean well to the world. I'll be here for you. So what if you can only eat human meat, I'd kill a million people to sate your hunger. I'll feel bad about it of course but as long as you still are you, I'm here with you forever."

Yang's speech made Ruby tear up a little. She would give up everything just for her The half-ghoul huntress embraced her sister in an affectionate hug. The sister of the half-ghoul returned the hug,

patting Ruby on the back.

"Thank you, Yang. Thank you."

The two sister came out of the bathroom and went back to their team. Walking to the table, they saw all of their friends had finished their food. Ruby's box went untouched as Pyyrha kindly made Jaune stop trying to take the cookies, much to the half-ghoul's appreciation. "So what happened Ruby? What's with the eyepatch?" Weiss asked the leader of her team, pointing at the medical eyepatch over Ruby's left eye. "Oh. My eye kept on itching and I hate washing my eyes, so Yang got my an eyepatch for me to wear! Kinda neat, huh?" Ruby replied in her usual cheerful self. "It's rather cringe-worthy if you ask me." Weiss stated, making Ruby frown for a few moments. "What? Honest opinion."

"Anyway, Ruby. Why can't I have those cookies? I'm not allergic to red or anything, but I'd like to try at least once of something so limited edition." Jaune pointed to her box, and Pyyhra gave the blonde boy an unamused stare, making him retreat his finger. "I would give you one, but it's only meant for me. It's... um..." Ruby tried to think of a reasonable explanation to give him. Thinking back, Ruby thought of how food tasted horrible to her, how she couldn't eat her beloved cookies and how Yang pointed out there was something wrong with her tongue... tongue... That's it!

"It's specially designed cookies meant for me to recover. I was admitted to a hospital not long ago, so sorry Jaune I'd rather you not eat those." Ruby looked at Jaune's face and see him no longer want to eat the red cookies. "Medical Cookies? No thanks... and no offense." Jaune replied, discouraged from the thought of eating medicine. "None taken."

"Sup, baddies." A duo of Yellow and Blue came up to the two teams, greeting them. Sun's choice of nickname earned a chuckle from Yang and a groan from Jaune. "Blondes." Nora muttered, getting looks from the three of them.

"Hi, Sun." Ruby greeted back the Monkey Fanus. "So um how you doing Ruby? I heard about the accident, it was really unfortunate..." Sun's words trailed off as he thought of his former friend. Razor Rivers was a good friend of his, and with him gone the monkey faunus felt terrible inside. He didn't let it impact him too much though. He had things to do and stuff to steal in honor of the sharp-witted friend he once had. Right now he was concerned with the one who saw him die, Ruby Rose. She saw him die firsthand, and Sun himself would break if such a thing would happen to him too.

"I-I'm okay. Let's not talk about me though, I've been through enough. It must be hard for you though, Sun. Razor must have been a good friend to you." Ruby sympathized with the Monkey Fanus, and silently hoped that he would turn out better than she was. "It's rough for me, but what can I say. Stuff happens. I've mourned his death with Neptune, and we've decided to continue on. We can't ponder about him forever, right? I've got stuff the freeload and boats to stowaway."

"It's nice to see your taking it well too, Sun." Ruby smiled. Razor must a really great friend to those who were not his food. Either that or the ghoul was just a master of deception. For her friend's sake, she hoped it was the former.

The two teams interacted with Sun and Neptune, discussing about stuff they would do in the future. Nora drank an entire bottle of pancake syrup all the while, muttering if the red-hued cookies would taste good with it. Ruby simply said she wouldn't recommend it, the cookies were made of special ingredients, and pancake syrup would have probably make it go bad.

Team RWBY towards their dorm after having their classes. They ended early today in preparation for the Investigator Assistance program which the heiress of the Schnees had signed up for. "You're

gonna become a dove!?" Ruby said, shocked at Weiss's plans. "Ugh, I said I'm not gonna be a dove you dolt! Why does everyone say that!?"

"Then why do you want to join the program?"

"Because I want to rid the world of the degenerates that are ghouls, but able to keep order and peace at the same time. Doves don't have combat schools."

"Um, you saying that means that you want doves to have combat schools, you know. That also means you want to become a dove." Yang added in, pointing out a fact.

"You know what, I don't even know why your questioning me. I'm gonna go to the program now. Goodbye." Weiss stormed off from her team, with Ruby having a scared expression on her face. Weiss wanted to be a Ghoul Investigator? What would happen if she knew of Ruby's secret? Yang noticed her sisters distress, and since they had nothing else to do, suggested something that would be sure to make Ruby cheer up. "Hey, how about we go to Ruby's new job place?"

"What? It's not my job yet... I think."

"Well, they did invite you to their place. How about it? Most classes are gonna be cancelled in preparation for the Vytal fesitval, so while we're waiting you can go earn some pocket money!"

"Now that you say it, it's not a bad idea. There is a problem though, I don't know the first thing of making Coffee."

"I can help you out. I used to have part-time jobs too, I can show you a thing or two."

"Really? Neat! Thanks sis!" Ruby thanked her sister and prepared to go to Anteiku, but before that she noticed Blake still reading her book. "Blake, want to come along?" Ruby asked.

"I guess so. What day is it today?" Blake replied, wondering about the time. Ruby check her scroll and replied the date back to the faunus with a bow. "26th of March, why you asking?"

"Oh! Sen Takatsuki's book signing event is happening today. Sure I can join you, but I'll be going off for her signature later."

"Awesome! Team RWBY lets go to Anteiku!"

"Hi everyone!" Ruby greeted the staff of the coffee shop. Touka and Yoshimura were busy cleaning up the place, and waved back to the half-ghoul. "Hello, Ruby. Who would your friends be?" The manager of the establishment asked, seeing two new face behind her. "These are my friends, Yang and Blake!" Ruby introduced. "Hellooooo. You must be the kind man who invited Ruby here. I'm Yang, her sister!" Yang greeted to Yoshimura, who smiled in reply. The manager turned to Blake, who nodded to him as her greeting.

"So you must be Touka. I've heard a lot of you from Ruby." Yang said to Touka in a friendly manner. "She told me all about you! Those red cookies sure were the bomb, weren't they?"

"U-Um, yeah. We don't sell them to anyone though, Ruby's just special." Touka replied.

"Wow that sure is nice of you." Yang leaned in closer to Touka's ear, as the whispered a warning to the raven-haired girl. "Please take care of Ruby for me, the red cookies are sure a smart idea for human flesh." The two words of Yang's sentence alarmed Touka. "H-How do you know..."

"Shush. I'm her sister, of course I know. Besides, she told me herself anyway. Please just make sure Ruby's safe for me. Thank you." Yang walked away from Touka back to the group, leaving the ghoul mildly annoyed that she knew of their secret. "I-I can't kill her sister just cause she knows." Touka told herself. Ruby would never forgive her if she did. "Besides, she is the elder. She should help Ruby along with this."

"So Ruby, do you want to start work today? I can show you how to make delicious coffee." Yoshimura asked the half-ghoul. "U-Um, I don't know actually. Yang wanted me to start work today so-"

"So she will! Don't worry I'll show you how to make Coffee. I've done it before anyway!" Yang interrupted her nervous sister, forcing her to begin the work today. "Y-Yang!" Ruby cried at her sister for doing the decision making for her. "Excellent! I don't think you can work here yourself though." Yoshimura said, implying Yang's non-ghoul status. Touka however, quickly went up to the manager and whispered something in his ear. "Oh! Maybe we do have a spot after all. Want to join us?"

"Sure!" Yang said instantaneously, earning a surprised look from Blake. "You really want to work here?" Blake questioned. This was the first time she was here herself, and assumed it was Yang's first time too. "Ahh, No sweat. Besides, I can guide Ruby along!" The blonde replied, giving a grin and a thumbs up. Ruby could only mutter her sister's name once again. "Yang..."

"How are you taking this so well..."

Ruby and Yang were given the basic tour around the shop. Upstairs was a food storage and a meeting room, and some living quarters for homeless ghouls to sleep. They were also shown the basics of how make coffee by Yoshimura. Ruby's first coffee was a disaster, unfortunately. Even Yang couldn't handle the bitterness of it. The elder sister's one was created much better however, with The manager complimenting that it was one of the best he had ever tasted. The skill difference between the sisters spurred fierce but friendly competition between the two, with them trying to win one another.

They held a short contest just for the two of them, with Blake and Yoshimura being the judges. They had to make five cups of coffee each and the winner was the one who make the highest quality cup. In short, it was easy to guess who had won.

The half-ghoul sighed, her sister won her in all five coffee cups. "Don't worry Ruby, with enough determination and sweat, you'll be better than me in no time!" Yang encouraged, earning a pillow to the face. "Hey, I'm just trying to help. Where did you even get that pillow from?"

Eventually Blake had to leave to get to Sen Takatsuki's signature event. Waving bye to the cat fanus, Ruby and Yang had a little chat with the staff.

"Are you guys comfortable with me knowing of you're whole secret?" Yang asked nervously to the manager of the establishment. She had a feeling that if anyone knew of the shop's secret, they would be silenced for good. "Don't worry, young lady. It's illegal to withhold information of ghouls in the first place, and since you're here to protect your sister." Yoshimura gestured to the half-ghoul next to her. "It seems fine to me, isn't that right Touka?" The manager questioned the raven-haired waitress.

"I'll be frank. I'll kill anyone who knows of our secret, but you're off the hook. I owe Ruby anyway." She explained, earning a grin from the sister of the half-ghoul. "That's awesome! I knew you'd be a great friend, isn't that right Ruby?" Yang put her shoulder over Touka, who looked unamused by her casualness. The half-ghoul nodded in response.

"Now, It's getting late and it would be best that the two of you returned back to your home. I would want to speak to Ruby for awhile though. Is that alright with you, Yang?" Yoshimura inquired. "No problem sir. I'll see you back in Beacon sis!" Yang waved to her sister goodbye before heading out the door.

"Beacon?" The manager repeated. "Is that the academy you study at?"

"Yes sir. I'm the leader of my tea there actually. Beacon's a fun place too!" Ruby replied happily.

"Hmm, I have an old friend teaching there. Would you mind if I tell you of your condition? I'm sure he would understand." Yoshimura asked the huntress. "Um, sure I guess. There are some doves there doing a program though..."

"Doves in your academy? I know I'm not going there." Touka mused, rejecting the thought of ever attending it. "Why not? Like I said it's a fun place!"

"I don't want to fight grimm and attract attention to myself, and speaking of attention. Ruby, would you mind taking the trash out for me? It's part of your new job!" Touka teased with a grin over her face. "Hmm... Fine. You're gonna owe me more later!" Ruby said as the exited through the frontdoor. "There's a shorter way at the back, you know!" The raven-haired ghoul shouted, making an unamused Ruby reenter the shop and go through the backdoor. Yoshimura simply chuckled over the whole event.

"Ahh, I miss my youth."

Ruby walked through the backdoor of the building towards an alleyway. The dumpster was located there, and she was tasked in throwing out some rubbish. Ruby struggled as she carried a big green bag all the way there. "This thing's really heavy..." She muttered. What was even in this stuff?

Reaching the dumpster in the alleyway, Ruby was about to open it up when she smelt the smell of something... delicious. "What's that delicious aroma in the air... It tastes just like mom's cookies..." Ruby was lured to that appetising smell. The half-ghoul wasn't too hungry herself, but that smell was just too good.

Turning a corner, Ruby saw what she would rather have not see. It was a corpse, and there was a ghoul eating from it. The ghoul noticed her presence and immediately was alarmed, growling in response. "Woah woah, I'm not here to take your um, dinner. Just make sure to clean it up afterwords..." She said, wanting him to not be so aggressive to her "I'm just throwing out the trash... Nothing to see..."

"Y-You... Aren't you a human...?" The hungry ghoul said to the huntress. "U-um... I'm not, not anymore... I can confirm it, watch." Ruby demonstrated by willing her kakugan to activate, making her left eye turn black and red. "Just one eye, don't ask why." Ruby giggled a little in her thoughts as she realised that sentence rhymed.

"D-don't disturb me then. I... I haven't eaten in a long time... This is my first meal." The ghoul said, ensuring his food would not be taken from him. "Don't worry. You just make sure to clean up that meal up after your done. See ya!" Ruby walked away from the feeding ghoul, feeling somewhat conflicted. She should have been angry at the fact that he just killed someone, but at the same time she understood what he was going through. A ghouls hunger could only be sated for so long, as she had been through. Instinct would take over if left prolonged, with Ruby already been through it once. Thinking of killing in broad daylight was bad for her and everyone around, and Ruby was glad he would only kill one while in control then kill ten when berserk.

The half-ghoul returned to her bag of trash, sighing while looking at it. The weight was going to kill her, hopefully in a non-literal sense. Dusting her hands, Ruby was about to carry it again when a figure rammed into her trash bag, falling down as a result. "Hey! That wasn't nice..." She said to the figure, upset at the torn trash bag. The figure, someone in a light blue jacket, turned around, and Ruby got the shock of her life.

It was the boy with dark hair Ruby talked with in the coffee shop yesterday, Ken Kaneki. What made her surprised was the his eyes, or rather his left eye. It had a red iris and a black _, much like what Ruby had. He had a gruesome expression, as if he was desperate to take hold of something. "R-Ruby?" He said, surprised to see her friend around these parts. "U-Uh, sorry gotta go!" Kaneki got up and continued to run on, befre. "W-wait! Where are you going to? Kaneki!?" She shouted, but the boy kept running. He turned a corner, and Ruby realised that he was going to the corpse! The hungry ghoul would be mad at the boy, and Ruby had to stop them!

The half-ghoul dashed to the location of the corpse, and saw the boy staring at the hungry ghoul with his meal. "Get away, kid. I-I want this meal, and y-you're not having it!" The ghoul said to the boy, angered at his presence. "H-Hey now. Calm down, Hey u-um... Kaneki? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked him, trying to ease the tension. "Miss, get this kid away from my meal before I kill him! I'll really kill him if he stares at me any longer, this I swe-"

"Boom."

The ghoul's head was sent flying to the side by a forceful kick to the head. He was decapitated instantly.

Ruby and Kaneki were shocked at this, and the two of them looked up to see a slim young man with messy hazelnut hair with thin glasses. "Tresspassers, always on my hunting grounds. Hmm?" The ghoul looked at the two kids before him. "I've never seen you before. For that matter, what's wrong with your eyes? That's disgusting." The half-ghouls looked at the full ghoul, unable to react. In a sudden burst of speed, the ghoul grabbed the two of them, holding both of them at chokepoint. "You're both tresspassing. Tresspassing my feeding grounds. You should know what happens when you do that, right?"

"I-I didn't know... I just happened to be... passing through!" Kaneki explained, gasping for breath. "D-Ditto! I... I was trying to stop him from... getting h-here!" Ruby explained franticly.

"Oh really?" "Well, let me ask you this. If you see your lover lying naked on the street broken and humiliated, and you her with find another guy with his pants ankles down, and he says he was just passing through. Would you believe him?"

"I... I... We..." The two tried to reply, but the need for air was overtaking their voices. Kaneki struggled to get the ghoul's hands off him, while Ruby tried to reach for her weapon. "I would kill the bastard, that's why I'm going to kill the both of you. You've trespassed onto my property, and this is simply your punishment."

"N-No... I'm not letting you... kill... either one of us!" Ruby's hands managed to take hold of her weapon and pulled the trigger, firing a bullet on the wall behind them. It would seem like a completely missed shot, but the momentum gained from it was what Ruby wanted. The ghoul was knocked off, releasing the half-ghouls as they fell to the floor.

"W-Why you little red riding hood... You really want to die that badly?" The ghoul was pissed off at huntress, his kills denied by the defiance of the girl. He would show them who owns this turf. "T-This place... This place doesn't belong to you at all!" Ruby yelled. "The ghouls at Anteiku manage who gets these grounds, and y-you aren't claming this alleyway for your own!"

"Huh!? Really? This was my feeding grounds in the first place. That purple haired binge eater is dead, and I'm simply claiming back what's mine. The brats at Anteiku just keep getting worse and worse... Whose teaching you this anyway, arrogant bitch!?" Ruby readied her weapon, unfolding it into a giant red scythe at the aggressive ghoul. "Get behind me, Kaneki." The huntress told him, as she positioned herself in a battlestance. "Insulted by a pathetic youngster with big stupid weapon, know your place kid!" The ghoul charged at Ruby, ready to strike at her. Ruby fired onto the ground beneath her, sending her flying above the ghoul. Doing a frontflip, Ruby landed gracefully behind the confused and angered ghoul. Before he could turn around, Ruby fired a shot behind that sent her flying to the ghoul, scythe poised to slash.

"Yaaaaaaaah!" Ruby battlecried as her scythe made contact with the ghoul's back. What happened after made Ruby lose her momentum, sending her tumbling to the wall. The blade of the scythe merely scratched the shirt of the ghoul, and the blade itself was bent sideways. "W-What!? My Cresent Rose!" She cried horrified. "I-I can't fight without my weapon!"

"Hah! Haven't you heard? Pathetic weapons like that can't even scratch me!" The ghoul mocked. Ruby backed away as he approached her, ready to kill. "Maybe you should get something that can even cut me!" The ghoul charged once again at Ruby, helpess without her weapon.

"How about this?" A blur zoomed past the half-ghoul, sending the ghoul flying back. "W-What... Who did that! Oh, It's you. Touka." The raven-haired girl stood in front of Ruby, guarding her from the aggressive ghoul before them. "Hello, Nishki. You know these aren't your ground anymore." She said, intimidating the ghoul before them. "I don't need another lecture! Rize is dead, this is my turf! You brats don't have to go picking over every single thing, so how about you all just fuck off!" The two of them charged at each other, ready to reap.

Touka leap at a speed Nishki couldn't react to, cutting him with her ghoulish nails. He tried to counterattack, sending his elbow at the raven-girl's head, but she ducked in time and landed more scratched to his chest, and off with a punch to the chest. Nishki was sent back, holding his chest with his arm. "Tsch. Nothing but papercuts." He mocked at Touka's strikes. "Is it?" The girl replied. Nishiki looked back in realisation, as blood gushed out from the c uts he recieved. "You wanted something that could scratch you. Can I cut you up next time?" Touka said, angering the territorial ghoul.

"Grr, You damn women!" He cried, retreating from the scene. "T-Thank you, Touka. You saved me." Ruby was helped up by Touka, grateful for her help. "How did my scythe break? It cut through a giant nevermore before!" She asked the ghoul, hoping to understand. "I'll tell you more when we get back, but know that normal weapons cannot cut through Ghouls." Touka replied, glancing to Ruby's dented Crescent Rose. At least it wasn't completely shattered.

The two of them heard the pants of the boy in the blue jacket. Kaneki had just witness a fight over three ghouls, just to claim rights for feeding grounds. He himself struggled towards the arm of the human corpse, laid there all the while. Touka seeing it, took the arm and looked at Kaneki. "You want this?" She said, the boy slowly reaching out for the arm. He stopped himself with his other arm however, with tears dropping from his eyes. "You're not eating?"

Kaneki made no response, still panting and sobbing over the whole ordeal. The flesh tasted to good, but he couldn't, no. He wouldn't bring himself to eat it. "Then again, your eye is just like Ruby's... Wait a minute..." Touka's eyes widened in surprise as she realised who he was. "You're the one that was with Rize... Why weren't you eaten...?"

"Um, Who is Rize?" Ruby muttered, unsure of the name that was being said. The Nishki ghoul even said that she had taken his hunting grounds, so who was she really? "Rize is the binge eater, a ghoul who eats humans for pleasure and not survival. One of her prey was this kid here... His eye though..." Touka explained, unsure of what happened to Kaneki. Did he encounter the same things Ruby had?

"P-Please, help me." Kaneki muttered. "I-I know you may not believe me, but I'm human. But the meat... I want to eat that..." Kaneki reached out once again, but it down with his other arm. "I want to eat it... so bad, but I can't... I can't eat that. If I eat it, I-I..." Kaneki paused, attempting to voice out the words he wanted. The meat smelt so fresh, but if he ate it... "I won't be human anymore!"

Ruby could only tear up a little as she watched Kaneki's ordeal. She had been through this before, and the acceptance of being a ghoul was the hardest part she could ever face. "If you're so hungry, eat it then." Touka offered the arm to the sobbing half-ghoul, and his eye widened open when he saw the tasty human arm by him. He controlled himself however, quickly smacking the arm away.

"N-No...! NO...! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Kaneki cried his heart out, rejecting everything that had happened to him. "T-There's no way I can eat something like that. What is this, What is it like being a ghoul...? Killing humans, killing fanus, even each other! I'm not like that... I'm not like that...!" The half-ghoul rejected it all. He was no way in earth he was one of them. Kaneki shouted his lungs out, his final stand on what he was. "I-I... I AM A HUMAN!"

"K-Kaneki, I know how you feel. I... I was a human before." Ruby voiced out her experience, hoping it would give Kaneki the motivation to eat. "I... I also rejected the thought of eating human flesh. But eventually, I accepted it. I accepted that I have become a ghoul, and I really do hope you do too..."

"T-Then... Then you can't be a human either!" His words broke Ruby's heart in this state of rejection. "I will not eat it, I will not eat human flesh! I AM A HUMAN!" Kaneki cried out. Ruby could only watch as he sobbed furiously. The half-ghoul huntress looked down to the ground. He was right, she wasn't human anymore... One fact remained in her head though, Kaneki wasn't human anymore either.

"Well, if your gonna be foolish unlike like my friend here. I believe you could use some help." Touka walked over to the corpse and pulled out an arm, spewing blood onto her face. "If you don't have the courage to eat, then let me give a hand." The raven-haired ghoul quickly slammed the arm into the unaware Kaneki's mouth, pushing him up to the wall. "Eat it up. Eat!"

"Touka!" Ruby could only watch the struggle. Kaneki had a whole hand in his mouth, and Touka had just forcefully stuffed it in his mouth. "I said eat!" The ghoul said, pushing her hand up the boy's mouth. For a quick moment, Kaneki gulped in some blood from the hand and felt like a whole different person. "It tastes so... so good... NO!" Immediately, Kaneki smacked away Touka's hand and ran to the side, puking the hand and some of his stomach acids out. Ruby felt like hurling as she watched him puke. She had puked out too many cookies as well before.

"H-How could I eat a fellow human's flesh...!? I'm not like you, I'm not even close to any of you! I'm different from you monsters!" Kaneki cried, causing Ruby's heart to sink lower and Touka to get more pissed off. The ghoul kicked the half-ghoul up and grabbed him by his hair, slamming his head onto a metal conditioner. She then brutally punched Kaneki over and over again, causing his own blood to spew out of his mouth. "Touka! Stop!" Ruby shouted, unable to bear witness to the abuse. Touka continued to beat him up, kneeing him in the stomach and threw him onto the wall.

Kaneki grunted in pain as he fell to the floor. Ruby dashed to him and helped him up. "Kaneki..." she muttered, as she supported the half-ghoul for him to lean his back on the wall. "P-Please, help me Ruby. My entire life has been turned upside down..." He muttered in distress. "Ever since... Ever since the date with Rize..."

Ruby put her hand on her mouth in shock. Rize was the purple haired woman!? "That, didn't went well in the end..." Ruby thought. "Kaneki, listen. I know, it's really hard for you to accept this." The female half-ghoul spoke to the fellow male half-ghoul. "It's just that, this world isn't a fairy tale. What we have become is what we have become. Don't think of your condition as a burden, think of it as a benefit. You're just like me now, a half-ghoul. We are the bridge that can make the dream of Humans and Ghouls coexisting come true!"

"B-But human food, and t-that arm... I can't..." Kaneki still brought up some points. He could no longer taste the delicious taste of Hamburgers in his mouth, nor could Ruby taste regular cookies in that matter. "It was hard for me just as well. I can't eat my mom's cooking anymore, no matter how hard I try, so please Kaneki. You're my friend, so get a hold of yourself, as I have." Ruby's words sparked a new hope within him. He was not alone in this ordeal, and now he had someone he could trust with this.

"Well said, Ruby." Yoshimura said as he walked towards the three of them. "Correct me if your name isn't Kaneki, but please come with me."

"Come on, let's go Kaneki. You'll be safe with us." Ruby said, helping Kaneki to get up on his feet and helped him follow the manager.

"T-Thank you, Ruby."

End

Let's make a tragedy less tragic now shall we.