Uta's POV:

I was just finishing up a meal when I was disturbed by a small boy approaching. I could smell it from a mile away what this boy was -- he was a ghoul. But he also smelled of salt; tears maybe? It was tantalizing. I stood up to greet the boy. Not too tall, maybe 5'4, 5'5 maybe. He was slim and weak looking.

"Who do we have here?" I said nonchalantly, "I don't believe I've seen you before." I tried speaking to him, but the boy was no longer paying any attention to me, but rather to the corpse that was lying on the ground at my feet. "You hungry?" I asked. No answer. What's this guy's deal? I reached down and ripped a piece of flesh off the sorry fellow I slayed earlier. "Here, come get it..."

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Kaneki's POV:

My eyes started to adjust, and I could now clearly see the man standing before me. He didn't look like anybody I had ever seen before. I guess you could describe him as goth, but it was more than that -- he was just plain eerie. His head was shaved on one side, the other side had long, black hair. He was wearing a black tank-top, and along his arms and neck was black ink. His eyes were red... a ghoul.

I took a step back, unsure of whether to run, or stay in place. Sure, the logical thing to do was run, but for some reason I didn't feel very threatened. I glanced down to his feet. That's a body, I thought. He killed it. He can kill me whenever he wants. I found myself staring at the corpse.

"You hungry?" He asked me. Hungry? Does he mean the corpse? "Here, come get it..." he tore a piece of the corpse off and held it out to me. I hesitated -- frozen in place. I sure as hell didn't want to eat it; it's a human! Like me... I'm human. Or, I was.

"Don't be shy," the man walked closer to me, "You look starved."

Him mentioning my hunger just reminded me of the feeling of my stomach collapsing in on itself. I clasped my hand to it, trying to ease the sensation, however all it succeeded in doing was releasing a violent growl.

The ghoul laughed and came even closer. He was now close enough that I could smell the fresh blood on him. My mouth started watering. "Eh? What's up with your eyes?" The man cocked his head to the side and stared at me curiously.

"W-what about them?" I tried to sound tough, maybe even intimidate him a bit, but my voice cracked and came out a quiet squeak. I swallowed my breath and met the ghoul's stare. I could hardly believe that I was standing face-to-face with a ghoul.

"They're strange," he touched the edge of my one normal eye with his index finger, and I blinked it shut in response. "Hehe, cute."

Cute?! What the hell is he talking about?!...

Before I was able to speak again, the ghoul shoved his handful of flesh towards my mouth. When it touched my lips, I wanted to both gag, and open my mouth and take a bite. However I surpressed my foreign desires and took a few steps backwards.

"Don't be stupid, eat it," the ghoul smiled kindly, "It's still pretty fresh."

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to eat it so badly, yet not at all. My chest burned wanting to taste the flesh and feel it go down my throat. Shakily, I reached up towards it and took the flesh into my own hand. I brought it up to my lips, and took a small bite. It was glorious. I suddenly became greedy and shoved the rest of it into my mouth, quickly swallowing it all.

"Woah, haha, settle down," the ghoul smiled, "What's your name?"

I stared up at him. My mouth hung open, as though I had forgotten how to speak. I felt like I had been taken over by a wild beast -- all I wanted to do was eat. I raised my arm high above my head and swung at him. My moment of strength, however, didn't last, as the ghoul was much stronger than me and grabbed my arm before it hit him. My eyes widened slightly. Fuck... he's gonna kill me. I readied myself to be hit, but instead, my arm was just placed at my side again.

"If you're still hungry, just ask," he said, "But first... your name."

I could now feel the sweat dripping down my temples. "Kaneki.. Ken Kaneki," I muttered my name.

"Nice name. I'm Uta. Just Uta. Now, you can go eat now," as soon as Uta gave me permission, I pounced onto the corpse and began tearing away at it with both my hands and teeth. I didn't care that I was making a cannibal of myself, I didn't care that my hands face and clothes were soaked wet with blood -- all I cared about was how amazing eating made me feel. Like the best remedy any doctor could prescribe. Tears of happiness burned the corners of my eyes.

"Hungry, aren't ya?" Uta asked, leaning over my shoulder, "Careful not to swallow a bone; it'd be a shame if you were to choke."

I paused in my feast and looked up at the ghoul who had helped me.

"Th-thanks," I managed to sputter out, "But... I should... I should go home..."

I stood up off the ground and wiped my hands onto my sweater, resulting only with the thick red liquid smearing all over myself. "You want to leave? So soon?" Uta sounded almost disappointed.

"Yeah.. it's late.. unlike you, humans have a bedtime."

"Human?" The ghoul sounded even more confused than ever, "Oh. We're out of time. Sounds like doves are around -- we gotta go." Uta suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me roughly through the alleyway.

"W-where are we going? What's a dove?" Shocked from the sudden movement, I could only gasp out the questions I had.

"Doves are the detectives that want us dead, and we're going to my house," Uta responded calmly despite the current situation. Is this what all ghouls are like?