Kaneki, consumed by hunger, contemplates eating his longtime friend. What led him to this point?
Why did he end up fighting Touka so fiercely?
To save Kaneki, Touka personally fed him a piece of lean meat. However, even after eating, Kaneki refused to acknowledge his identity and even called Touka a monster. Enraged, Touka beat him mercilessly, leaving Kaneki utterly defenseless.
Touka warned Kaneki that if he so disliked admitting his nature, he should try going hungry for a couple of meals.
Kaneki was petrified.
Only when an unnamed manager appeared did Touka relent.
The manager took Kaneki into the shop and gave him a small gift.
After Kaneki left, the manager explained to Touka why they had saved him. Months ago, the steel beam accident that had occurred involved Kaneki and Rize. The doctor, acting on his own initiative, had transplanted Rize's organs into the surviving Kaneki.
Such a half-human, half-ghoul case was rare, appearing only once in a century. Kaneki was unique, but he also had to endure the agonizing hunger of a ghoul.
The next day, on campus, Kaneki and his long-lost friend finally reunited. Hide, worried about Kaneki's prolonged absence, was relieved. Their bond had been inseparable since childhood.
Hide then took Kaneki to meet a senior for study materials.
However, fate intervened cruelly. The senior turned out to be the ghoul with glasses who had nearly killed Kaneki before. The man did not expose their connection but greeted him warmly.
The man with glasses then mentioned that the materials Hide wanted were at his home and invited Hide to come along to retrieve them.
Kaneki immediately recalled the events of the previous night. Fearing for his friend's safety, Kaneki urgently offered to go with them. The man with glasses feigned reluctant agreement.
On their way home, the man with glasses bought snacks and offered them to the two.
Kaneki, now a ghoul, felt sickened just by the smell, let alone the thought of eating. How could this ghoul eat snacks so casually? It was unbelievable.
As Kaneki pondered this, the man with glasses suddenly kicked Hide, shattering him.
He then launched a surprise attack on Kaneki, believing Kaneki intended to consume his friend to satisfy his insatiable hunger. But how could Kaneki be such a monstrous brute?
The man with glasses opened Kaneki's abdomen with a single punch. Such a weak ghoul held no interest for him. He shifted his gaze to Hide, took out the snacks he had just bought, and prepared to enjoy a more delectable meal.
He even intended to trample Hide to taunt Kaneki.
Helpless, Kaneki charged forward with his schoolbag, an act of overestimation. He was kicked back eight meters and then had his head repeatedly slammed down. Despite the overwhelming power difference, Kaneki bravely pressed on for the sake of the infant, but all his attempts ended in failure.
Bored, the man with glasses revealed his kagune, preparing to finish off the person beneath his feet with a single blow.
At this moment, Kaneki began reliving memories of his childhood with Hide. Red kagune instantly appeared behind him.
The man with glasses recognized the kagune as Rize's. It was almost time to end this. Rize reappeared, her words seducing Kaneki to devour his friend before him.
Despite Kaneki's desperate resistance, the devil's whispers resonated deeply within him, an unbearable temptation for any ordinary person. Just then, another unnamed beauty made her entrance.
Touka stated that if Kaneki truly ate his friend, he would live forever in regret. This was the inevitable fate brought about by a ghoul's hunger.
When Kaneki awoke, he was lying in the coffee shop, and Hide was resting peacefully in a bed.
Seeing the lingering bloodstains in his mouth and the sudden disappearance of his hunger, Kaneki implored the manager to tell him the truth.
However, there was only one way for ghouls to escape hunger. If Touka had not intervened then, Hide would have already died.
Upon learning the truth, Kaneki broke down. He felt he was neither human nor ghoul, and there was no place for him in this world.
Thus, Kaneki Ken joined Anteiku. After they left, Hide also opened his eyes, likely startled by the manager opening the curtains.