Black Box

The battle had been going on for some time now and the two involved were the same, yet different. Atop the dragon-shaped kagune, it shook and withered whilst they fought, one for life, the other for death.

Kaneki Ken and Arima Kishou.

'I know it won't be easy,' Kaneki thought, summoning a thorn-like attack in the form of a prison, 'But!! Try to dodge this!'

Arima hopped off the ground, diving in between the entanglement, sliding, and landing on his feet. When he surveyed the area, Kaneki had vanished.

An empty cornfield.

"!"

Suddenly, those same thorn-like tentacles clawed out from the ground, surrounding Arima. He swifty cut one down, but a face of shock was plastered on his face. The piece he cut spoke whilst severed, "I…Win."

Kaneki appeared above him, and he tried to use his quinque as a defense, but it was shattered by Kaneki's attack.

As he stumbled back to his feet, his lifeless eyes met his lifeless blade, a fraction of what it once was.

"It's over," Kaneki said out of breath, continuing, "I've destroyed your quinque. And in your condition…"

Arima stood tall, unaffected by Kaneki's words. He readied his blade, "the battle," he began, resulting in Kaneki twitching, "continues until the enemy falls."

He dashed towards Kaneki, who sent more attacks, but were ultimately cut down.

With his damaged quinque, Arima sent his arms upwards, and slammed down onto Kaneki's arm.

"I should've known." Kaneki forcefully pushed Arima off of him, gathering some space before charging in.

'He's right. He can fight just fine even with a damaged quinque.' Kaneki thought, extending his kakuja, an evolved form of kagune, and sent as many flying towards Arima for as long as possible.

'But if he insists on fighting…I will incapacitate him further.' Arima continued slicing every attack whilst Kaneki thought of a plan, 'should I attack his legs…? Immobilize him? His arms…?'

Abruptly, Arima appeared before him, stabbing Kaneki through the stomach.

"The battle's already been decided. We don't have to do this…anymore," Kaneki glanced up at Arima, continuing, "IT'S POINTLESS."

Arima took the quinque out of Kaneki's stomach, guts flying into the air.

"So you have no intention of killing me?"

"...No…"

Arima tilted his neck back, looking up into the sky as the kagune they stood upon had surrounded him, like leaves falling from trees, "...I've lost then." He accepted. "Eighteen years. I've been an investigator for eighteen years. Not once have I been at a loss against an enemy, until now."

Kaneki continued looking forward, directly into his teacher's eyes.

"I'll ask you one last time. You're certain you have no intention of klling me?"

"My decision will not change."

Arima's lips curled, "all right."

Blood splattered from Arima's neck.

He had slit his own neck.

Kaneki hurriedly ran to the man he aspired to be, "What are you doing!" He roared, his eyes wider than ever-before as he caught Arima.

"I've been waiting…" Arima coughed up blood.

"Sir-"

"Listen to me, Kaneki…I never had much time left…the end just came sooner than expected. Me…Hairu…and Furuta…The investigators chosen from Hakubi Garden are not human. We are failures. Mixed bloods. Half-humans." The darkness in his eyes got dimmer.

"Half-humans? What is…"

"My right eye. I'm sure you know that I can barely see anything out of it." His vision began to fade, yet the outline of Kaneki's face made him continue, "glaucoma. A common condition. Yes…For the elderly."

The color drained from Kaneki's face, leaving behind a pale mask of astonishment, "e-elderly?" He trembled.

"Those from the Garden age more rapidly. I'm about to lose sight in my other eye too. My time was just around the corner.

'Investigator Arima never jokes around,' he thought, scarily.

"Do you know what happens when a child is born between a human and a ghoul?"

Kaneki remembered an encounter he had with somebody some time ago. He knew the answer, but chose to lie and said, "one-eyed ghouls. They become half-ghouls?" Kaneki hid under the facade of his own hair, even if Arima could not see his face.

"Not at all," Arima replied, "cases like the one-eyed owl are rare. Their children are not that different from human children. They don't necessarily possess kagune. They can eat human food. What's different is their slightly heightened physical ability and…Their abbreviated life expectancy."

The sparkle in Kaneki's eyes had dulled, replaced by a haunting emptiness that mirrored a storm-laden sky devoid of stars, "wh…Why? Why would anyone…"

"Who knows? I can't say for certain but becoming human somehow may have been…What Washu(V) wanted."

The concern washed over Kaneki's face, "The Washu family…The heads of the CCG are ghouls?" He spoke, then thought, 'Kuzen decided to work with a certain ghoul organization. The ghouls Mr. Yoshimura partnered with was the Washu family?'

He remained silent for a few moments, cradling Arima's neck, "what is it you want from me, Investigator Arima?"

Painfully, Arima looked into Kaneki's eyes, "I need you to be the one who killed me, Kaneki Ken. As for what I want from you…you'll find that out soon enough."

"Please," He emphasized, "it has to be you."

Kaneki shut his eyes. He wanted to run from reality. But just like Arima, he accepted what he had been given, "okay…I killed you."

Arima's eyes tightened as he raised his hand up into the world, "thank you. I…I…" he opened his hands, the beauty of the world escaping him, "I never wanted it. A life of taking others' lives." Tears began strolling down his right eye, "I feel like I finally have something to leave behind."

The one who sought death more than anything.

"S-Sir!!!" Kaneki cried out, his eyes swelling up.

And as the dimness between the mirrors faded, Arima uttered his last words.

"H…Hai…"

Was the reaper himself.

An investigator, as well as some children, appeared behind Kaneki, "Is Investigator Arima…Dead?"

Kaneki did not look back, hovered over Arima's body, "yes. I Killed him."

"I see." The investigator said, his head under a hoodie.

"Investigator Hirako, if you come any closer, I'll-!"

"I'm not here to fight," Hirako interrupted him, kneeling down, and taking his hoodie off. He looked down at Arima, his neck wound apparent, "you're a bad liar."

"Squad leader," one of the kids said, "may we say goodbye to Investigator Arima?"

"Sure."

They huddled around his corpse, consoling one another as they cried whilst Kaneki and Hirako stood off to the side. "They're children from the Garden. Kisho Arima was a beacon of hope for them."

"Investigator Hirako, what about you?"

"Me?" He solemnly looked outwards, "I'm just a subordinate," he tossed his hoodie back over his head, "Come with me. We're getting out of Cochlea. By Arima Kisho's orders…Squad Zero will aid in Kaneki Ken's escape."

"That was the plan from the beginning , wasn't it?" Kaneki bit his lips, but then showed a smile, asking, "Investigator Hirako. May I say goodbyes to Investigator Arima too?"

Hirako looked at him for a few seconds, then held his hand out, "he wanted you to have this…"

His claw-like hand grabbed it-that being a small object in the shape of a horse, "I never got to see him wear it.

Kaneki sat down next to the body, reciting a quote, then thought to himself, 'the man who killed me. The man who gave me my name. The man who entrusted me with his hope…Investigator Arima, you are my teacher and…My father.'

"I was blessed."

********************************

Twenty minutes later.

"So, you died Arima?" In the muted glow of the twilight, the teenage kid emerged from the shadows, a solitary figure with an air of mystery enveloping him. Medium-long black hair cascaded in unruly waves, framing a face that bore the weight of experiences far beyond his years. The inky strands seemed to absorb the fading light, casting a shadow over eyes that burned like embers — a fiery shade of red that hinted at tales of resilience and inner turmoil.

A faint, guarded expression dwelled in the depths of those red eyes, revealing a well-guarded soul that had weathered storms yet retained a glimmer of strength. The scars, far from marring his appearance, added a layer of complexity to his presence, a visual testament to the battles fought and conquered in the labyrinth of his past.

His clothing, a mix of dark hues and worn fabric, echoed the resilience mirrored in his scars. The red-eyed teenager moved with a quiet grace, a blend of caution and confidence that spoke of survival instincts finely tuned through hardship. In the dance of shadows, the scars on his arms and face became a roadmap of his journey, a silent autobiography etched into his very skin.

He poked at the dead man's cheek, then suddenly, multiple investigators appeared.

"You! What have you done to Investigator Arima!"

"H-HEY! I know that guy! That's Watanabe Kenshin! He's Arima's disciple!"

"So you killed your own teacher then did you!? Get after him!"

"Wait, I didn't kill him." Kenshin pleaded, but they did not listen. They each opened up their suitcases and brought out multiple quinque's.

"Listen to me, why would I kill my own teacher?"

"Kill him!"

"Damn it!" He whispered to himself, "so be it!"

A cracking noise resounded from his back, two crimson wings appearing.

"He-He's a ghoul!"

Before Kenshin could react, he felt the presence of many others, 'that's over fifty people!'

He fluttered his wings, pushing off the air, and into the sky, 'wind manipulation!' he thought to himself, flapping his wings unusually fast.

"U-UGH!" The men groaned as the air got harder to breath and the wind pushed across their skin.

Then, an army of people arrived, and the investigators communicated to one another that this man murdered their coworker.

"Fuck o-!" Kenshin looked to his right whilst still in the air.

An investigator.

"Kuagh!" Kenshin felt his back hit the ground, as if a train ran him over.

"Shit!" He yelled and took off into the sky again. As he got closer to the roof, he wrapped his wings around himself, and spun rapidly, breaking a hole through it.

"Get back here, coward!" One of the old men shouted.

Kenshin was unscathed, but for whatever reason, he was avoiding a fight, despite his true nature.

Putting his wings behind him, he took off at a massive speed.