“Ha...ahaha...hahaha...”

These were the pathetic laughs of a boy who had truly lost his mind. Of course, anyone would if they were starving...but what Kaneki Ken was currently experiencing went far beyond any kind of human torture.

Since joining with Rize and becoming this monstrosity, he hadn't been able to stomach even a lick of regular food. The thought of a burger with fries like he'd commonly get with Hide made him want to vomit. He'd tried time and time again to eat as he had before, but he could never hold it down. He was left with his stomach turning in knots because he needed something.

Something to fill this horrendous emptiness that felt like it was consuming him from the inside. A black hole...

Somehow...he'd ended up with your photo in his hands, clutched shakily between fingers with nails chewed down way past the quick. Surrounded by ruined cartons and spilled goods, along with various pieces of furniture he had split and torn apart in his unbridled rage, Kaneki let a trembling fingertip stroke along the image of your face.

“[Y/N]...”

He breathed out your name, maw hanging open, and before he knew it he was drooling. It disgusted him and yet he couldn't stop himself. He hadn't left the house in days and yet as soon as he saw you he remembered how...soft you were. How...good you always smelled. How...tender...

Just one bite and everything would be alright-

“Kaneki!?”

Sudden banging on the door made him flinch and snap his head around like some feral animal. Without his eye-patch on he freely let his Ghoul eye glow beneath his mop of black hair, glaring right at the door to his apartment. You were knocking out there, waiting to come in. Here he was...in his worst state...almost biding his time because he knew...

He knew he'd given you a spare key.

“I'm coming in, Kaneki!” you called out, before pushing the key in and turning it. The door unlocked and swung open, letting you inside. You were immediately greeted by darkness, along with a smell that was a little stale. It was like this apartment hadn't been aired in a while, and that made sense considering how Kaneki had sealed himself up in here like some kind of ancient emperor.

“Hello?”

There was an odd scuttling noise as you walked in following the door being shut, and you shivered a little at the sound of it. You couldn't spot Kaneki, but maybe there were rats about...

“...Kan--”

You froze. Down between your feet, amidst the crackling plastic bags and papers you had stepped on, you saw a photo lying there. And as you leaned down to pick it up, you swallowed thickly. It was a picture of you, a polaroid oddly enough, and one you couldn't recall having been taken. Most people used their phones, so you felt like you'd have remembered someone being more old fashioned.

Especially Kaneki. Admittedly you crushed on him a bit, so you tended to notice what he got up to. That was why his sudden disappearance after getting out of the hospital had made you so worried. It could be a kind of depression he was going through, and so you had wanted to try and help him out in some way.

Too bad you didn't realize the spider's web you'd wandered right into the center of. Too bad you didn't even notice him slowly rising from behind his couch and crawling up over the top of it, until it was too late.

“AH-!!”

With an abrupt screech you were knocked down to the carpet, a heavy weight hitting your back and pinning you down. Immediately trying to get away, you felt two hands seize both of yours and slam your wrists down flush with the floor. Trapped stomach down, you tried to turn your head and say something:

“K-Kaneki is that--!?”

-Only to feel somebody's heated breath dusting the side of your neck, desperate words filtering into your ear.

“You....don't know how long...I've been waiting...”

“K-Kaneki!!”

It was him. It was definitely him, but the way his voice was wavering so much...and the fact that he had thrown you down like this and was now basically sitting on top of you...

...Whoever he had turned into while being stuck in here, you didn't recognize him.

Cringing and closing one eye as you felt his wet tongue lick a line up from your collarbone to your jaw, you stammered:

“P-please...I-I don't know what's going on with you, b-but we can talk about it!!”

“Talk?” Kaneki paused, before then exhaling and letting out a slow, dark chuckle in the process. “Aha...no, I don't think so...because there's no time...”

No time!?

“...I can't hold back anymore.”

Kaneki gave in completely. You were his friend, his beloved, the girl he wanted to date and marry and live with forever. You were perfect, in both aesthetics and personality. You were everything he had ever dreamed of finding in another person.

But...he was just so damn hungry.

“AHHH! NO- AGH--!!”

Kaneki suddenly plunged his teeth right through the angle between your neck and your shoulder, digging his canines into your flesh and relishing the taste of your blood. It was as sweet as he had imagined.

When you screamed and squealed and tried to get away from him he only gripped you harder. He didn't care that he was tearing you apart bit by bit, nor that the splattered cerise had marked his precious photograph of you that was still lying there among the mess. He was no longer thinking rationally.

In his new and twisted mind...in his undoubted insanity...this was only the natural order of things.

He loved you so, so much.

So much...he simply couldn't resist.