20th Ward, Kanou General Hospital.
In the inpatient wing, Nurse Taguchi looked a little troubled as she spoke:
"Apologies, but Mr. Kaneki says he doesn't want any visitors. I'm afraid I must ask you two to leave."
Uesugi Ryu and Nagachika Hideyoshi were each holding some get-well gifts and a few books that Kaneki liked.
Upon hearing this, Nagachika Hideyoshi's expression turned a bit gloomy, his brows furrowing in confusion.
After all, he and Kaneki had been childhood friends. There was no reason Kaneki would refuse to see him, at least, there shouldn't be.
"Kaneki... what exactly happened that day?"
Nagachika Hideyoshi wondered silently.
Uesugi Ryu, on the other hand, wasn't particularly concerned. He curiously glanced past the nurse into the hallway, as though looking for something.
"In that case, could you please pass these on to Kaneki for us, miss Nurse? And tell him, no matter how many times he refuses, I'll still keep coming!"
Nagachika Hideyoshi gave a cheerful smile.
Nurse Taguchi found herself in a good mood at his bright, polite demeanor. Smiling in return, she replied,
"No problem. I'll make sure he gets them."
"Perhaps Mr. Kaneki is still feeling unwell. Please try again another time."
Nagachika Hideyoshi nodded and thanked her. Then he turned to Uesugi Ryu.
"Let's go, Ryu. That guy Kaneki's probably still brooding in secret. Seriously, how unlucky can you get, to get caught up in something like this?"
Uesugi Ryu hadn't spotted Kanou Akihiro anywhere in the hospital. Most likely, the guy was on cloud nine right now. After years of experimentation, he'd finally achieved a successful case.
With Kamishiro Rize's organs transplanted into Kaneki, the boy's injuries were surely healed by now. But Kanou wouldn't let such a chance slip away, the data from the first successful artificial ghoul would be priceless.
He probably talked Kaneki into staying hospitalized for longer. After all, the hospital itself was his property.
"Hide, I'll be counting on you to keep visiting Kaneki from now on," Uesugi Ryu said with a hint of concern.
"No problem, Ryu. By the way... did you hurt your left hand?"
Nagachika Hideyoshi casually glanced at Uesugi Ryu's gloved left hand and asked offhandedly.
"No. Just part of the job."
Uesugi Ryu raised his left fist and gave a small flex to show it was fine.
Nagachika Hideyoshi crossed his arms behind his head with a sigh.
"Sheesh. You two really ditched me at school. I've been bored out of my mind, anyway, let's go grab some coffee. I'm curious about what an Investigator's job is like."
Uesugi Ryu checked the time on his phone, it was still early.
"Sure. I was hoping we could all meet up, but I guess this is how it turns out."
...
Inside the hospital room, Kaneki Ken lay back on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.. He looked like he had lost all will to live.
He had woken up... and discovered that he could no longer be considered human..
Nurse Taguchi entered the room, placing the items she just received beside his bed.
"Mr. Kaneki, these are from your two friends. Do you still not feel like eating?"
"That's not good. If you've lost your appetite, you could try the snacks your friends brought."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she was afraid that someone else might overhear.
Kaneki gave a small nod and turned his eyes to the bedside gifts from Uesugi Ryu and Nagachika Hideyoshi.
A few books caught his attention.
Among them, he picked up the top one, "The Black Goat's Egg".
...
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Nagachika Hideyoshi looked genuinely surprised.
"Nagachika, you're so interested in ghouls, have you ever thought about working in a related field?"
Hide blew on his steaming cup of coffee and replied coolly, "Nah, just pure curiosity. A guy like me would probably get eaten the second I got close."
He chuckled and added, almost self-mockingly.
Uesugi Ryu said nothing but smiled faintly. Inwardly, he thought:
"Yeah right. You're gonna go so far for Kaneki later, you'll even join a bloody ghoul hunt. I don't believe you for a second."
"Actually," Uesugi Ryu continued, "I've thought of a good way to identify ghouls."
His lips curved in a sly grin.
"What is it?" asked Nagachika Hideyoshi, intrigued.
And he wasn't the only one, Kirishima Touka and Koma Enji behind the bar suddenly pricked up their ears. After all, they were in a ghoul-run coffee shop.
To talk about how to detect ghouls here, this guy really had no fear.
"Ghouls can't eat human food, right? So just give them something that's really disgusting to normal people."
"Since they try so hard to blend in, they memorize how food is supposed to taste and will just parrot food reviews without knowing better."
"If they say it's 'delicious'? Boom. Ghoul."
As he spoke, Uesugi Ryu suddenly grinned as if recalling something amusing.
Nagachika Hideyoshi twitched slightly, not quite getting what Ryu found so funny, but he couldn't deny the method made some sense.
"You've got a point. Ryu, you really are a ghoul investigator, huh!"
Behind the counter, Kirishima Touka's face darkened instantly and her hand tensed involuntarily.
Crack!
A cup shattered in her grip.
Both Ryu and Hideyoshi looked toward the sound. Touka quickly lowered her head, pretending that it was just an accident.
Koma Enji sighed and looked over.
"Careful, Touka-chan. Did you hurt yourself?"
Touka, still staring at the ground, muttered under her breath, "Damn it!"
Her chest burned with rage. She had already disliked Uesugi Ryu for being an Investigator, and now he had hit a nerve.
His joke had cut right into her weak spot!
At school, she'd always lived in fear of being exposed..
Uesugi Ryu, amused, said teasingly,
"Kirishima-san, you don't look too well."
Seeing where this was going, Koma Enji quickly stepped in.
"She probably stayed up late studying again, Touka-chan, didn't you?"
Touka nodded silently. The two of them quickly played along, smoothing things over.
Ryu hadn't meant any harm. He was just playing around, it felt like fun to him.
Nagachika Hideyoshi remarked with a sigh,
"Touka-san really is so dedicated. Studying and working, its impressive."
After this, the mood gradually settled down, and the coffee shop returned to peace.
Uesugi Ryu chuckled to himself for a good while, his spirits were clearly lifted.
"Oh, by the way, Hide, that was just a joke. Don't try that in real life. If they find out, you'll get eaten."
Hide sighed, rubbing his forehead. He'd thought that after a few weeks away, Ryu might have grown more mature after becoming an Investigator.
Instead, it was the same laid-back, mischievous behavior as before, still, the conversation had at least lightened his mood a little.
After finishing their coffee, the two of them left and headed home separately.
...
Back in the now-empty café:
"That bastard! He didn't even bring a case! Let me go kill him!"
Kirishima Touka stormed toward the door, her eyes burning with murderous intent.
"Touka-chan!"
Yoshimura Kuzen's aged voice stopped her cold.
He stood sternly behind her.
Touka froze. Her chest heaved up and down as she struggled to calm herself.
"Why?" she protested, "He's an Investigator! If this keeps up, we'll be found out!"
Yoshimura Kuzen gave a long sigh.
Koma Enji, still calm, added:
"Which is exactly why... we have to keep up the disguise. If an Investigator is harmed here, then everything will be over."