On the way back, Shiro Sakamaki clearly sensed it—several distinct ghoul scents had followed him from Anteiku.
They hadn’t made a move yet. The surrounding streets were still crowded, and they didn’t want to risk exposure.
First, he dropped Megumi Kato safely at her apartment. Perhaps due to her low presence, the ghouls had completely ignored her. Their eyes were only on him.
Once alone, Shiro deliberately veered off into a remote alleyway.
As expected, the ghouls followed, unaware of the trap they were walking into.
Originally, he had wanted to test his newly evolved lightning powers, but reconsidered. Thunder-based attacks were too destructive; they would likely obliterate the entire body.
He needed them intact—at least mostly—for experimentation.
So instead, he retracted the lightning and activated his Haki.
The ghouls, sensing isolation and opportunity, began to close in. It was time for them to strike.
Just as they made their move, Shiro vanished from their line of sight—only to reappear in front of one of them, his obsidian fist already in motion.
A single punch. The ghoul’s head exploded like a melon, painting the alley with blood and brain matter.
"Damn. Lost control again," Shiro muttered, lightly brushing off his coat.
The remaining ghouls froze. The one he had just taken out had been the strongest of them—and hadn’t even lasted a second.
Shiro looked up with a lazy smile. "Hey, mind doing me a small favor?"
One of the ghouls stammered, "W-What do you want?"
"I’d like to borrow your bodies."
A minute later, silence returned to the alley.
Shiro stood amidst a pile of defeated ghouls—eleven in total. Most were still alive, though missing limbs or severely injured. Only the first was beyond saving.
He flexed his fingers, satisfied. "Control’s getting better."
He picked up the dead ghoul’s phone and dialed the local police.
"There’s a body in an alley near 5th and Naka. You might want to check it out."
He hung up immediately.
Electric sparks crackled across his fingertips—then the phone disintegrated into ash.
From beneath him, his shadow pulsed, tendrils slithering across the ground, latching onto the remaining ghouls and pulling them toward him.
Simultaneously, black wings unfurled from his back—extensions of the same living shadow.
In a blur, he vanished from the alley, heading straight to Dr. Akihiro Kano’s underground laboratory.
Scene: The Doctor’s Domain
Inside the lab, Dr. Akihiro Kanou frowned over yet another failure.
Though the Organs transplant procedure had succeeded with Kaneki Ken, stable results remained elusive. Most subjects didn’t survive the operation.
His gloved hand trembled slightly as he removed the latest cadaver from the operating table.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
He glanced at the monitor and blinked in surprise—Shiro Sakamaki, standing at the entrance, dragging a dozen bloodied ghouls behind him.
Kanou made his way upstairs—but when the door creaked open, it wasn’t he who greeted Shiro.
A black-haired girl peeked out instead, her voice calm. "Um... who are you?"
"I’m here to see Dr. Kanou. I’ve brought some materials," Shiro said flatly, pointing to the unconscious ghouls behind him.
The girl’s eyes widened, but before she could speak, Dr. Kano appeared behind her.
"Nashiro Yasuhisa, go back to your room," he ordered.
"Okay, Dad," she nodded without question and disappeared down the hall.
Kanou eyed the ghouls in disbelief. "What... exactly is this?"
"Fresh stock," Shiro said. "Still alive, too. Mostly."
Kano didn’t press further and gestured for him to come inside.
The two descended into the lab, where Kano activated a hidden console. Walls shifted, revealing a row of life-support capsules.
"Put them in," he said.
Shiro complied, dropping each body into the pods without ceremony.
When they were all secured, Kano finally asked, "So. What’s this about?"
"I need a space to work. A place to experiment."
"Everything," Shiro said, eyes gleaming. "Let’s start with survivability, internal reaction rates... Maybe even consciousness modulation."
Kano didn’t reply, but Shiro wasn’t done.
"Oh—and start prepping test subjects for me. Animals first. Anything is fine, but if you can get sea creatures, even better. They adapt differently under stress."
Kanou stared at him, disbelief written all over his face.
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