It turned out that Kaneki and the purple-haired girl, Rize, did not end up going to the bookstore.
Instead, they went to the Big Grill and as they waited on their food they discussed Takatsuki Sen and his books.
"Kaneki-san, what's your favorite work by Takatsuki Sen?," Rize asked.
"Uh, it would have to be his debut book," Kaneki answered. "It was an instant best-seller, after all."
"A refreshing delicacy amidst all the clutter, you might say," Rize added.
"Yes, exactly!"
Kaneki was delighted to meet someone just like him. He had even thought about marrying her the previous night, but he declared it irrational, a thought influenced by his sleepiness as he had trouble resting.
He tried to continue but was cut off as he choked on his food.
"Are you alright?," Rize asked him with concern.
Trying to hide his embarrassment, Kaneki tried to change the subject. The first thing he laid his eyes on was her plate and he took that as an opportunity to do so.
"Aren't you going to eat?," Kaneki asked.
Rize covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, a somewhat pleasing polite gesture. "Actually, um, I'm currently on a strict diet."
Kaneki found this cute as well. A woman concerned about her weight.
She excused herself and went to the restroom.
Kaneki, whose nerves were on edge, wondered if he had done anything wrong to make Rize uncomfortable which inspired her restroom break.
And yet Kaneki was still mesmerized by how refined she was.
They had spent hours and hours sitting and chatting about books until they finally agreed that it was getting a bit late.
"Thank you for accompanying me tonight," Rize said to Kaneki outside the Big Grill.
"No, thank you," Kaneki replied. "I had a great time.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm a bit frightened to make my way home. My home is quite close to the recent incidents that have been occurring lately. Would you walk me home tonight, Kaneki?"
Finally! A chance to be the hero! Just like in the books!, Kaneki thought pleasantly.
He walked with Rize as they talked about the funny and sad and the sweet and the sour.
Kaneki couldn't help himself, he found himself falling rapidly in love with this girl.
Until finally they reached her house. As Rize began to walk away Kaneki somehow managed to gather his courage and ask Rize for another date.
A train passed by giving them both light as Rize turned around and looked Kaneki in his eyes.
"Kaneki?"
"Hai?"
"The truth is… you caught my eye."
She came back to Kaneki and laid her head on his chest.
Kaneki's heart beat faster and he hoped she could not feel it.
"I noticed you," she continued. "The way you were looking at me."
"Then you- you're saying…," Kaneki stammered nervously.
"Hai. I too have happened to fall head over heels for you."
She raised her head and nuzzled his neck.
Kaneki turned red and couldn't help breaking into a smile.
However, a red mist rose in front of him.
And it appeared to be coming from Rize.
It solidified into a spike which came forward, stopping right in front of his right eye.
Kaneki's heart beat faster than ever before, but this time from fear. Beat so fast that it seemed to hurt.
That's when Rize's eyes turned black, her irises red and she opened her jaws wide. As if to take a bite out of him.
Wait. She was—
Her teeth clamped down on the soft flesh between Kaneki's shoulder and neck.
Pain ignited in his shoulder and horror filled Kaneki and he suddenly seemed to be frozen to the spot in which he stood. His eyes widened with realization.
He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Rize pull away from him, blood smeared around her mouth. She smiled.
"How oishii," Rize exclaimed. She was no longer the Woman Kaneki wanted to marry. She was the one who would kill him.
Kaneki's paralysis broke and the books he was carrying to show to Rize dropped from his hand, the pages ruined with fresh wet bloodstains. He fell backwards and clutched his shoulder.
The zombie movies he had watched in those late nights with Hide could not come even remotely close as to how the deep bite wound made Kaneki feel.
Blood. He had never seen so much of his own blood before. The sight of it made Kaneki feel nauseous. Made him feel sick.
Kaneki shook as Rize spoke to him. "Kaneki… you want to know something I enjoy more than reading books? Would you like to know? Tearing apart the luscious organs of someone who isn't trying to escape from me is so enjoyable.
Kaneki wished he could scream but his lungs seemed to be compressed from lack of air.
"And that marvelous expression," she added. "Would you allow me to thrill myself even more?," she asked, leaning closer.
Her voice was filled with pleasure. Pleasure that Kaneki understood but could not match.
Suddenly, red tentacles erupted from her back. They were large. There were four of them. They had purple veins. They were… they were…
THEY ARE GOING TO KILL ME!
This was the thing that allowed Kaneki to bring himself to his feet and break into a sprint.
NO WAY! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!
Something tripped Kaneki, oddly reminding him of those horror movies he watched with Hide.
And then something dragged him toward Rize. Something he couldn't see.
Just like in the horror movies.
Suddenly he was hanging upside down right in front of Rize's bloody face.
"Tag. You're it," she said.
Kaneki's vision spun as she waved him once or twice and flung him like a piece of garbage.
Kaneki felt something snap in the side of his torso as he broke through a wall.
Something else inside his arm gave way as he landed on a hard uneven surface.
He shook as he tried to stand.
Boulders. He had landed on a pile of boulders.
"Kaaaaanekiiii-saaaaan," Rize called.
Kaneki got off the boulders, but when he made the awkward step onto the ground from off the last boulder his leg buckled and he fell to his knees.
He tasted blood in his mouth from a busted lip and from his bleeding nose.
He shrieked as he turned around to see Rize fly— literally fly— out of the cloud of gray dust behind him.
She wrapped her tentacles around him, hurting his broken ribs severely.
The pain was so bad that Kaneki was about to black out.
Until she stabbed him right through his abdomen.
The pain woke him up as fresh blood splattered on the dirty, dusty ground.
He tried to scream but choked on his own blood.
As the tentacle cleanly exited his body Rize smiled.
Kaneki hit the ground hard on his back. His head slammed against the ground and thankfully he lost consciousness.
"I'm going to gently scramble up your intestines for you now, okay?," Rize said. She noticed his eyes were closed.
"Oh. Dead already?," she asked nobody in particular. "Shame. I really did like you. You have just the right amount of fat. All nice and soft. A pleasure to eat!"
Neither of the two noticed the metal falling toward them. But when one of them did it was too late.
Rize managed to croak out a few more words that Kaneki was barely aware of before she died under the heap of steel beams and wreckage.
Kaneki slowly floated away in a sea of darkness.