I do not own this story. It is written by Aellia on FanFiction.net. All credits go to her.
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ao3: Aeliia
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not sure how I feel about the way this chapter is written? idk I just feel like it could have been worded better in some places. well, anyways, the long-awaited interviews commence!
In the morning, Kaneki explained to Hide what happened when he went out to look for the abandoned apartment complex. After asking multiple sketchy strangers for directions, he finally found the bar Itori mentioned and asked if they knew where the apartment complex victim of a CCG attack was. The bartender told him right away when he said Itori sent him. He found it quickly and proceeded to scout out an empty room. Lots of ghouls lingered there, but none of them did anything more than stare nastily at him. Finding an unlocked one on the fourth floor, he went inside and made it look like they'd been living there for quite some time.
"I set out blankets, pillows, and left the backpack I took there," he said as he sipped his daily cup of coffee. "All in all, it looks pretty convincing."
The interview was the next day. Hide, as good as he was at hiding his nervousness, wasn't able to conceal it this time. It was obvious Kaneki was on edge as well.
Hinami sat down with them on the sofa. "Will Kaneki-onii-san and Hide-onii-san be okay?" she asked, looking down at her own cup. Sometime after his talk with Touka, Hide told the rest of the group what they were planning to do. Thankfully, they seemed to understand.
"Of course, Hinami! Don't you worry about us," Hide said, grinning and patting her head. "Your big brothers are strong, you hear?"
Hinami returned his smile. "Will we still be able to see each other?"
At that, Hide faltered. His smile became sad. "I'm sure we will eventually. We can't for a while, though. It would endanger you all too much."
She nodded. Hinami couldn't deny that she felt sad they were leaving, but she was happy for them at the same time. She understood the opportunity they'd been presented. "Okay," she said, doing her best to keep a happy expression on her face.
"Be safe when you do this, Kaneki," Banjou said, entering the room. "And you too, Hide."
"Thank you. We will," Kaneki replied.
There was a knock on the door a couple minutes later. Hinami opened it to reveal Touka, who greeted them and stepped inside. "If you two are going through with this," she said, "I have to at least beat you in cards before I don't have the chance to."
Much to her dismay, Touka wasn't able to beat either one of them until their final game, when she finally claimed victory. "Yes!" she exclaimed, throwing down the rest of her hand. "Now I can die in peace knowing I wasn't beaten by a bunch of losers who keep getting lucky."
Hide grinned. "It's not luck, Touka. What I have is pure skill."
Lie-all of Hide's wins had been pure luck.
"Keep telling yourself that," she replied, rolling her eyes albeit smiling.
Touka stayed over the rest of the day. Most of it was spent lounging around. Kaneki and Hide went over the questions they'd come up with once more, but ultimately ended up deciding it was better not to think about it right then. That day was about spending what little time they had left with their friends and each other.
After a while, Kaneki eventually retreated to their room, where he lost himself in a novel. Distractions were extremely welcome at this point; it was getting harder and harder to keep his anxiety at bay. He didn't want the others to see how much he was really stressing over it-especially Hinami. If it failed, he wasn't sure how she would be able to cope.
Touka would be devastated as well, but he knew she would be able to move on. While it would hurt her greatly, she'd push through and-hopefully-come out okay on the other side. He hoped Banjou and the others would fare without him. He was sure that, with Touka's help, they would be able to get on their feet. Maybe they could even help begin to get funding for a new shop.
Hide and Touka waltzed into the room together sometime later. "Hey," Touka said, walking up to Kaneki and lightly putting a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
Kaneki sighed and set aside his book, looking up at them. Hide offered him a melancholy smile while Touka stared intently at him. "Yeah, I'm okay," he answered. "It's you and the others I'm worried about. Are you're going to be alright?"
"Of course, you moron. Yomo and I will look after them. Don't worry about them right now. You should be more worried about yourselves," Touka huffed, putting her hands on her hips.
Kaneki smiled. "Thank you, Touka. Really. I know this must be hard for y-"
"Save it," she interjected. "Enough with the sappy stuff. Let's just enjoy the time we all have left together." He nodded and rose from the bed. Suddenly, Touka pulled both Kaneki and Hide into an embrace. Wrapping her arms around both of them, she murmured, "Be careful, and stay safe."
They hugged her back and promised they would.
The day came to an end too quickly for everyone's liking. Touka, who ended up staying the night, crashed on the couch in the front room, while everyone else slept in their respective spots. Kaneki and Hide both laid awake for quite some time, neither speaking but aware the other wasn't asleep. Ultimately, they moved closer together, Kaneki tucking his head in the crook of Hide's neck while Hide wrapped his arms around him and intertwined their legs. They eventually fell asleep like that, and when the morning came, they were ready to face whatever the day was going to throw at them.
The CCG main office was much bigger than any of the district offices. As promised, there was a squad of ready investigators awaiting their arrival. Akira wasn't among them. Kaneki and Hide allowed themselves to be led into the building. All of the onlooking workers stood to the side, making way for them as they moved towards the elevator. Murmurs followed them. Hide tried to tune them out as best as he could, but some were hard to ignore.
"There he is-that's the one. How dare he show his ugly face in here."
"What the hell are the higher-ups thinking? This is insane!"
"The second they go crazy, I'm out of here."
"They're letting two ghouls just waltz in here? Who do the higher-ups think they are?"
"That Mado woman needs to be fired. She's going to get us all killed. She must have inherited her father's craziness."
The investigators escorting them were more forceful than they needed to be. They practically shoved them into the elevator when Hide and Kaneki would've been perfectly fine simply walking into it. It's not like they were convicts or something. But, then again, Hide understood their anger. He and Kaneki had hurt investigators-their colleagues-in the recent past. A little animosity was warranted.
The ride upwards felt slower than any Hide had ever been on. Finally, the elevator dingedand came to a stop, letting them out on the top floor. Hide and Kaneki were ushered out into a small room that looked like a waiting area. Seats lined both walls. They were sat down one seat apart from each other, an investigator in between and on either side of them. The three other investigators sat across from them, steely eyes focused.
The sliding doors opened a moment later, revealing Yoshitoki Washuu, the Bureau Director. "Nagachika Hideyoshi," he said, addressing Hide, "your interview will now commence." He turned and disappeared into the other room.
Two investigators stood and followed Hide into the room, leaving Kaneki with the other four. Kaneki shifted uncomfortably. He'd thought they were going to interview them at the same time; he hadn't expected to be separated. While he wasn't worried so much about Hide as he was himself, he hoped he would do alright.
The minutes passed slowly. Kaneki felt himself growing increasingly restless and impatient. The investigators with him seemed to be feeling antsy as well. One kept checking his phone. Another fiddled with the latch on her suitcase. They were probably hoping he'd try to make a move just so they could do something.
Kaneki listened hard to try to hear what was going on within the room, but he could only make out mumbles that made no sense. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened once again. Hide walked out, flanked by the two investigators who had gone in with him. He met Kaneki's eyes and tried to give him a reassuring smile. He was shaking slightly.
Yoshitoki Washuu came out once more as Hide sat down. He trained his eyes on Kaneki before stating, "Kaneki Ken, your interview will now commence."
Kaneki nodded, stood, and walkd after him as he went back in the other room. Three investigators followed him in. He quickly stole a glance back at Hide, who gave him a small thumbs up. One of the investigators beside him glared at him.
The extravagant room was excessively large for all the furniture that was in it, which wasn't much. A large chair in line with the entrance was near the back wall, and a man with long white hair and a beard sat in it. There were eight other chairs distributed evenly on both sides of him, in which seven people sat. The one on the right of the center chair was empty; it was probably for Yoshitoki Washuu. The one on the left was occupied by Arima, signifying his importance.
The black and white checkered floor was beginning to make Kaneki's head spin slightly, so he kept his eyes trained ahead on the man in the large chair. Even from a distance away, he radiated power. All eyes were on Kaneki as he was led to the seat about twenty feet away from the line of chairs. Sitting down, two of his escorts took their places on either side of him, while the remaining one stood behind the seat.
Once Yoshitoki took his rightful place, the man in the middle spoke. "Kaneki Ken," he stated, voice booming. The acoustics in the huge room were incredible. "I am Tsuneyoshi Washuu, chairman of the Commission of Counter Ghoul. Your evaluation will now begin. Everything you say and do will be recorded from now on." He narrowed his eyes before telling him, "Choose your words carefully; this will determine whether or not you will be allowed to become a ghoul investigator."
And whether or not I'll be allowed to live, Kaneki finished in his mind. He was about to begin wondering how Hide had done when one of the people sitting shuffled his papers and stood.
"Kaneki Ken, do you fully admit to being the ghoul both known as Eyepatch and Centipede?" he questioned.
"Yes," Kaneki answered, trying to steady his wavering voice.
"I will now read out a list of all known crimes committed by the Centipede ghoul recorded by the CCG."
The list seemed endless. Kaneki felt himself growing smaller with each wrongdoing listed. "Do you acknowledge committing these crimes?" he concluded. Kaneki replied yes, he did.
"During the CCG raid on the coffee shop, Anteiku, in the twentieth ward, is it correct you were involved in a battle with First Class Investigator Amon Koutarou?"
"Yes."
The next question hit him like a brick wall.
"Did you kill First Class Investigator Amon Koutarou?"
"...No." He really hoped he hadn't.
"Are you aware that his body is missing and he has been presumed dead?"
Kaneki's eyes widened. "N-no, I..." The scrawling of pens on paper as he stuttered was the only thing he heard. "I didn't kill him. I didn't-I couldn't have. I didn't want to kill him..."
"So you are pleading that you fought him, but you did not kill him. You were the final ghoul Amon Koutarou was assigned to confront. His radio cut out in the middle of the battle. Can you explained what happened in this battle?"
So they were trying to gather as much information about missing investigators as they could. Taking a deep breath, Kaneki began, "I came upon the squad and Amon and I engaged in battle. I didn't want to kill him, so I broke his quinque in an effort to get past him. But then someone in a car drove by and delivered him two other suitcases. One was armor, the other looked like an upgraded version of the quinque I had broken. He became much more powerful after that.
"I tried to lose him by running around different streets. He followed me. We fought more and I sliced off his arm with my kagune, but he threw his quinque at me and it pierced my stomach. I remember not being able to heal, and then someone-Hide-picked me up. I can't recall anything afterwards. But I didn't kill him," he concluded, hoping that if Amon had bled out, he wouldn't be faulted. The odds of that were low, though; something else had to have gotten him. Bodies didn't vanish into thin air, and they had been in a pretty open space where, if he had bled out, someone would've been able to find him.
The questioner waited for the sound of writing to cease before he continued. "What is your relationship with Nagachika Hideyoshi?"
Kaneki bit his lip. There was no way in hell he was admitting to these guys that he and Hide were a lot more than friends. He would keep it at the friend part. But would telling them they were in a relationship increase their chances of not being locked up forever? What if they had asked this same question to Hide and their stories didn't line up? "I've known Hide since I was a kid," he said. "He was my best friend. He was always there for me, always picking me up. He still is. I trusted him to speak my mind for me. I didn't really have any other friends as I grew up, but that was alright. Hide was all I needed."
"When you discovered he had been turned into a ghoul, what was your reaction?"
He hesitated. "I was...worried. Scared, even. I didn't want him to have to go through what I'd been through."
"And what exactly have you been through?"
Oh, boy. This was going to take some time. Kaneki decided to start from the top, recounting from when he was attacked by Rize all the way up to the point they were at now, making sure to leave out any details concerning Touka, Hinami, and the others. He eloquently spun a tale of how he'd been kidnapped by Yamori-or Jason, as they knew him-when he was out walking around one night. He told them of his ten day torture and how that changed him. He explained how he resolved to get stronger, how his goal had consumed him, and how Hide helped bring him back.
"You claimed you heard 'Rize.' Who is Rize?"
"She was known as the Binge Eater."
The others began whispering to each other. "Quiet," the chairman ordered, and they ceased talking.
"Is she still alive?"
"...No. She was being kept at Kanou's lab, and he was making other half ghouls with her. But she was killed during it." Lie; Yomo still had her locked up, but he wasn't about to tell them that.
"Was Nagachika Hideyoshi one of the half ghouls made by her organs?"
"No, he would have my kagune if he were. He was probably made with two different ghouls, but there's no way to know who."
After telling what felt like his whole life story-which it wasn't, it was only really about a little more than a year of his life-Kaneki thought they'd have everything they needed. The person questioning him nodded at his final answer and sat down. Then another stood and took over the interview. Well, they called it an interview, but it was really more of an inquisition.
"Have you ever lost control of yourself?" the new interrogator asked.
Kaneki rubbed his chin. "Only when I'm starving," he answered.
"And what happens?"
"I..." There was no use in lying. They'd seen what he'd done and just how powerful he was when he was crazed. "I hurt people. It doesn't matter who they are, I hurt them. It's horrible and I hate it, because the ones I'm trying to protect ultimately get hurt, even if it's not directly by me. I can't stop myself. Only when other people remind me what I am is when I gain control again."
"And what are you?"
Kaneki looked the chairman directly in his eyes as he spoke his next words.
"I'm a human."
The chairman raised his eyebrows, amused. Before the interrogator could ask his next question, Kaneki continued. "I'm just as human as any of you. What happened to me was a tragedy, and I can't change it. But that doesn't mean I can't live normally. I can control it. I will control it. If you give me-us-a chance, I promise you, it will be the best decision you've ever made. I know I've...I've done things in the past. If you decide I'm unusable, at least take Hide. He's hardworking, intuitive, perceptive, and the kindest, most caring person you'll ever meet. If he isn't human, then no one is."
"You consider yourself human? You-a creature who kills and eats people?" the chairman questioned.
Kaneki nodded, never breaking eye contact. "My body may not be that of a human's, but my mind is. I've never once harmed anyone for fun; that would be inexcusable. Humans turned into ghouls-we're the bridge between the worlds. Ghouls and humans both misunderstand each other. Humans hunt down ghouls, who kill because they have to survive. Most don't even want to hurt others, but they have to eat. Most ghouls that kill humans out of spite kill them because their friends and family suffered the same fate. This endless cycle of hate will never be broken unless something changes. While I'm not going to deny that there are some insane, sadistic ghouls out there that need to be eliminated, not all of them are like that.
"If the cycle is ever going to be broken, there has to be a change made. No change comes without risk, though. Hide and I are the risks you'll be taking. By allowing us to join the CCG, you'll be potentially endangering your workers. I understand your wariness. But I can guarantee you that Hide and I, while we may be ghouls, would never hurt anyone here on purpose. If it's me you're worried about, Hide can keep me under control." Kaneki felt slightly embarrassed as he said the last part, but it was true.
After that, the questions became more general, like what were his strengths and weaknesses and where did he see himself in a few years. Kaneki had enough dark humor to want to reply "Hopefully not in Cochlea." But he didn't, for fear it would be taken the wrong way. So, instead, he answered that he would like to perhaps become a mentor to investigators in training if they accepted him. As predicted, they also asked where they'd been living for the past months. Kaneki told them they had been camping in the apartment complex the CCG had raided sometime back in the twenty-fourth ward. They didn't question what room, though, leading Kaneki to hope his answer was believable enough.
Eventually, the chairman rose from his seat and walked over to where Kaneki sat. Kaneki sat as still as possible, keeping his eyes trained ahead, as he looked him over. He jumped in surprise when the man put a large hand on his shoulder. The chairman stood there for a moment before he retracted his hand and went back to his chair. "Kaneki Ken, you are dismissed to go to the research facility," he stated. "The interview is now over."
The recorders capped their pens and shuffled their papers. Kaneki remained seated, not knowing what to do, as the eight people walked past him and out the door. He made eye contact with Arima, who gave him a small nod. While he wasn't exactly sure what that meant, it couldn't be bad to have the strongest investigator in the CCG nod at you.
"Let's go," the investigator on his right side said to him, motioning for him to stand. Kaneki gladly obliged, eager to stretch his limbs. They led him out the door. He stole one final glance at the chairman upon exiting the room. He couldn't tell, but beneath his beard, Kaneki thought the tiniest of smiles rested upon his lips.
The first thing he noticed in the waiting room was that Hide was no longer there. "Where's Hide?" he asked almost frantically as a wave of panic hit him.
"He was taken to the research facility already," one of the investigators replied. "We'll be escorting you there as well."
Kaneki nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Hide was okay-for now. Surely if they didn't accept them, they would let them see each other one last time before being locked away in Cochlea forever. They had to; it would be cruel to not.
He hoped everything would work out.
The research facility was large and rather intimidating. Hide took a deep breath before entering with his three escorts. He hoped Kaneki was doing alright in questioning. He felt like he'd done fairly well. He hoped this wouldn't end up like high school; back then, more often than not, he was certain he'd aced a test and ended up getting a B or C. Understanding the chapter perfectly throughout the entirety of it led him to believe he would do well on the test, but that was never the case. He was simply not a good test-taker.
There was no one in the spacious entrance room, save for the receptionist. He and the investigators crossed the room and signed in. "I have a memo from the central office," the receptionist said. Reading off a paper, she told them, "Nagachika Hideyoshi is to be seen in laboratory 224. Investigators are to stay with him while being examined. If a situation arises, Nagachika will be subdued and the examination will then continue. I'll show you to the lab."
The receptionist stood and ushered for them to follow her, her heels clacking on the hard floor as they walked. The many halls of the facility they went through were long and wide, and they all looked the same. Doors with numbers lined the sides of the walls-entrances to labs. It reminded Hide very much of Kanou's own facility, and he shuddered involuntarily, not eager for what was to come.
Finally, they stopped before a door numbered 224. The receptionist scanned a key card and the door unlocked and opened, revealing a large lab room. In the middle of it was an operation table, which was surrounded by people in white coats. The receptionist left. Hide felt a sudden sense of dread come over him.
"Please sit down on the operation table," one of the scientists instructed him. Hesitant, Hide stepped into the room and walked over to the table before hoisting himself up onto it. "Remove your shirt and pants."
Taking off his clothes in front of random people was definitely noton Hide's to do list for that day. Complying grudgingly, he handed his clothes to the man, who pulled a bag out of his coat and sealed them in it. He then placed it on a nearby table. The others stood by, waiting for their instructions.
"I'm Doctor Chigyou, head researcher of the CCG Laboratory Division," the man, Doctor Chigyou, said. It was then that Hide recognized him; he'd been the one to give Amon new quinques during his fight with Kaneki. "We are going to be inspecting your body. If you do not comply at any given point in time, we have orders to subdue you. It's in your best interest to not fight." Hide nodded even though he would never try anything. "Please lie down now."
As he laid flat on the operation table, the others began to move about, getting their tools ready. Hide winced as a needle was stuck into a vein in his arm. A mask was then placed over his mouth and nose. "Inhale," one of the scientists told him. He took in a deep breath, feeling an unfamiliar tingling sensation in his nose and mouth as he did. They were giving him some sort of gas. Within a minute, Hide's mind was fuzzy and his thoughts were clogged. He couldn't move, couldn't think. All he could keep doing was breathing the special gas as sedatives and Rc suppressants coursed through his bloodstream.
The last thing he saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was Doctor Chigyou standing over him, scalpel ready to cut open his newest specimen.
And then the world went black.