Chapter 3: Awakening
Darkness. An endless, oppressive blackness surrounded him, thick and suffocating like an ocean pressing down on his chest. Somewhere within, there was pain—a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed with every shallow beat of his heart. But more than the pain was the eerie silence, a stillness that unsettled him, as though even his body were a stranger, unfamiliar and wrong.
And then, a flicker of light. It wavered, far in the distance, faint yet persistent, calling to him like a whisper.
With a gasp, Kaneki's eyes snapped open, his senses flooded by blinding white lights, sterile smells, and the quiet hum of machines. The harsh brightness hurt, making him wince, and as his vision cleared, he took in his surroundings—white walls, a narrow hospital bed, tubes connected to his arm. He could hear the steady beep of a heart monitor nearby, each sound amplifying his growing confusion.
"Wh-what happened...?" he murmured, his throat dry and voice raspy. His memories were fragmented, flashes of a familiar face in the dark, a sweet, lilting voice, then something sharp—primal, predatory.
Rize.
It hit him like a hammer, a surge of panic jolting him upright in bed. He remembered her gaze, the way it shifted from charming to monstrous, her hunger almost tangible as she whispered his name. He'd run, felt his pulse pounding in his ears, but… then there was the crash. The scaffolding. Metal beams falling, crushing. Darkness.
"Am I… alive?" he muttered, pressing a hand to his chest. His heart was beating, but something felt off, as though a strange weight pressed against his ribs, a discomfort that ran deeper than his bones.
"Ah, you're awake!"
Kaneki turned to see a nurse entering the room, a warm smile on her face as she checked his IV. "You're lucky to be alive, young man. You were found under a pile of metal beams; it's a miracle you survived at all."
Kaneki's mouth went dry. "Under… beams?" The events from that night still felt hazy, distant, like they were happening to someone else. He shivered, unable to shake the memory of Rize's predatory smile.
"Yes. The doctors performed an emergency surgery and saved you," the nurse continued, her gaze softening with sympathy. "You must have a guardian angel watching over you."
A guardian angel… The thought was laughable, considering he felt anything but blessed. He should be dead; he'd been cornered by a ghoul, of all things. But something about her words triggered a faint, unsettling feeling, a memory buried in the edges of his mind. In that moment of terror, when he was certain he was going to die, he'd felt a strange sensation—like an unseen force guiding him, urging him to move, to act. It had saved him, helped him run from Rize, even if only for a few precious seconds.
But then… the crash happened. So why was he still alive?
The nurse finished her routine checks and left with a kind nod, but the silence that followed was heavy, his thoughts racing.
A part of him wanted to believe it was just a fluke, a lucky accident that he'd survived. Yet something inside him whispered otherwise. There was a gnawing sense of wrongness, an instinctual dread simmering beneath the surface, as if his very body knew something he didn't.
Then a strange sensation prickled at the edge of his mind, faint but undeniable. A voice—or rather, an idea—surfaced, unbidden and inexplicable.
---
[System Alert: Host has awakened.]
---
Kaneki's body stiffened, his breath catching. Host? He glanced around the room, half-expecting someone else to be there, but he was alone.
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[Status Update: Host Condition Stabilized.]
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The words appeared in his mind as clearly as if someone were speaking to him, sending a chill down his spine. He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut, hoping to push the strange messages away. But when he opened them again, the sense remained, settling over him like an invisible presence.
What… is happening to me?
Anxiety crept through him, every instinct telling him to dismiss the voice. It couldn't be real. He was exhausted, stressed from the trauma. Maybe he was hallucinating. But just as he tried to rationalize it away, another message surfaced, more persistent, unyielding.
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[Mission Update: New Objective Assigned to Host.]
Objective: Understand your new condition.
Reward: Greater control over the abilities inherited from your donor.
Penalty for Failure: Increased instability.
---
A shiver ran through him. Abilities? Instability? These terms felt alien and out of place, yet something in him—a strange, deep instinct—responded to the words, as if they were a part of him.
The memories from that night clawed their way back into his mind, vivid and brutal. Rize's predatory smile, the way her kagune had unfurled, those deadly red eyes fixated on him with hunger. But then he remembered the way he had reacted, the sudden burst of speed, the agility he'd never had before. Had it been… this "system" guiding him?
With trembling hands, he reached for a small mirror lying on the bedside table. As he lifted it, he braced himself, unsure of what he expected to see. But what stared back was his own face—pale, exhausted, his usual dark eyes… and yet, in their depths, something felt off. His own reflection seemed foreign, almost unfamiliar, as though he were looking at a stranger.
He took a deep breath, the sensation prickling under his skin. Perhaps this "system" could answer his questions.
He closed his eyes, focusing, reaching toward the faint presence he sensed within him.
"What are you?" he whispered.
There was silence, a momentary pause, and then the response, cold and clinical.
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[System Guide: You have inherited ghoul organs from your donor. You are now a half-ghoul, a fusion of human and ghoul traits.]
---
Kaneki's heart plummeted. Ghoul… half-ghoul. His mind reeled, fragments of his life flashing before him—the books, his quiet college life, the coffee shop where he used to sit in peace, Rize smiling at him from across the table. All of it felt distant now, shattered by this horrifying revelation.
"No…" His voice was a choked whisper. He couldn't be a ghoul. Ghouls were monsters, inhuman creatures that fed on people. He was nothing like them. He was just… Kaneki Ken.
Yet the memories flooded back, unrelenting. The dark alley, Rize's grin, her kagune, his mad dash through the streets. And the crash—the scaffolding that had saved his life, ending hers in the process. He could still feel it, that terrible pressure, the agony as he lay crushed beneath the weight, barely clinging to consciousness.
And then, the darkness.
He shuddered, dread clawing its way up his spine as his thoughts spiraled.
"Why me?" he whispered, the weight of his words pressing down like a vice. He wanted to reject it, to tear out whatever strange presence was inside him, but he knew that would be impossible. The hospital staff had said he'd been saved by some "miracle," but now he knew the truth. His life had been saved… at the cost of becoming a monster.
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[Mission Update: Acceptance is the first step. Embrace your condition or risk further instability.]
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Kaneki's hand clenched around the mirror, his knuckles white. Acceptance? How could he possibly accept this? He had become something he'd feared his whole life, and the weight of it crushed him.
A quiet knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see Hide's familiar face peeking through, concern etched deep in his eyes. "Kaneki! Are you okay?"
Hide's voice, filled with warmth and worry, struck a chord in him, grounding him even as the turmoil raged inside.
Kaneki forced a smile, his heart aching with the weight of his secret. "Hide… I'm fine," he whispered, though his voice shook.
Hide stepped closer, his gaze searching. "You don't look fine," he murmured, placing a comforting hand on Kaneki's shoulder. "But whatever happened, I'm here. You're gonna be okay."
Kaneki's vision blurred, a painful warmth spreading through him. He didn't deserve Hide's kindness, not with what he'd become. But as he looked into his friend's eyes, he realized he couldn't let Hide know the truth—not now. Hide didn't deserve to be dragged into this nightmare.
"Thanks, Hide," he said quietly, mustering what little strength he had.
As Hide smiled back, a painful thought crossed Kaneki's mind. He was now a half-ghoul, a creature trapped between two worlds. He couldn't turn to Hide, couldn't let his friends or family know what he'd become. His life would never be the same, but for Hide's sake, for everyone's sake, he'd have to accept this darkness within him.
And with a steely resolve, he made a promise to himself: he would survive, no matter what he had to do.