CHAPTER 6 Who told me Rabbit
A strong gust of wind blew through the open window, causing the curtains to flap violently.
The wind hit me full in the face, along with the warm sunlight that warmed my body pleasantly, almost as if telling me to get some more rest.
Unfortunately, I felt a stabbing pain behind my eyes that prevented me from going back to sleep.
It was a strange sensation, I reflected.
The pain in my right eye was an internal pain, while the pain in my left eye was coming from my brain, behind the eyeball.
Fortunately, both pains quickly faded as the seconds passed.
I also felt a strange throbbing on the right side of my body, right next to my heart.
Fortunately, it was only a dull ache, not particularly painful, but more of an uncomfortable sensation.
The slight pain behind my eyes disappeared as soon as I regained full consciousness, and thanks to that, I knew something had changed.
(Flying above my body, a mysterious purple thread pulsed as if it were about to disappear.)
It was like the first time I saw the world with "Intuitive Aptitude." Something was simply different, not just because I could see, hear, and smell better.
The colors weren't brighter, but sharper. I could distinguish the different brushstrokes of paint on the wall.
From my resting place, I could hear the voices of the doctors and patients in the distance through the thick hospital walls, almost as if they were right next to me.
And, of course, I could smell a wonderful aroma beneath the scent of the medications, something like a juicy steak cooked to perfection, but my brain and my powers told me it wasn't that, but something else... Tasty.
Also, a pain in my brain I didn't know I had disappeared.
That small pain was due to my "Intuitive Aptitude," I concluded after a moment of reflection.
It was a small side effect of my power; after all, the human brain wasn't designed to process all the information my power passively granted me, let alone the information I gained by actively using it.
That same power immediately informed me that my body had changed; not just changed, but adapted to the new, foreign organ inside me.
My power subconsciously guided my actions to achieve the best possible outcome during the operation.
That best possible outcome now beats heavily in my chest, causing me great discomfort.
The new, foreign organ, which was the Kakuhou, the muscle that served as a container for a ghoul's unique RC cells.
Thanks to that, a new heart beat in unison with my human heart, a ghoul heart made from Rize's Kakuhou, modified and adapted thanks to my unique power.
It beats heavily in my chest like an evil twin to my original heart, and as a result, I have that annoying discomfort in my chest; After all, I've never had two hearts beating at the same time.
"It'll just be a matter of getting used to it," I decided, feeling the rhythmic thump of the new, unfamiliar heart pounding in my chest.
I could feel how, from the new muscle, strange new veins extended like tree branches throughout my body, into my flesh and organs.
Some were even inside my bones and brain; with each powerful beat, something was moving, circulating through said veins.
It wasn't blood, as I should have thought, as it felt like a kind of sludge coursing through my body—not completely solid, but not liquid either.
(It was easier to focus on my new heart than on the pain and guilt the purple thread surrounding me made me feel, especially how far it reached, begging me to grasp it.)
The mysterious, non-Newtonian thing coursing through my new veins—"Something I never thought would happen"—filled my second heart and spread throughout my body.
"RC cells," my power whispers to me, seemingly using my power to enhance myself through the cells, forcing some kind of adaptation.
My muscles are much more compact, and I feel much stronger, even in this diminished state. I could feel my nerves much more receptive to my movements.
I could feel my body stronger, and my brain felt empty.
Not because I'd lost anything, but because I suddenly had so much more brain power.
I'd gone from having 8 GB of memory to 256 GB, a huge change, when in reality it wasn't just enormous.
It was actually a massive change, considering that the average human can barely store much less than 100 years of a lifetime's worth of memories and knowledge at their normal capacity, and I'd multiplied that sum 32 times.
Officially, I possibly possessed the greatest memory capacity in the universe, giving me a huge boost to my primary power, my "Intuitive Aptitude," which requires a great deal of processing to understand complex systems such as powers and natural or supernatural phenomena.
This, combined with my information retention capacity, is enough to reach its full potential.
Of both, I already possess one and half of the other. After all, by understanding how a computer works, my brain adapted to my power, so my processing capacity is higher than normal.
With all this, I can say I'm on the right track to fully utilize my primary power.
I also noticed that my body was in poor shape; I had lost approximately 15% of my normal mass, or at least that's what my power told me.
I felt small and fragile (even if I wasn't, I knew I could bend a steel rod with one hand), and I honestly didn't want to look at myself in the mirror.
The only good thing is that, at this point, all the damage I have is only superficial.
Although it looks bad, it's actually not as serious as it seems.
As I finished assessing my condition, I finally noticed the person next to me.
He was an older man with pale, aging skin, probably middle-aged, judging by his slicked-back white hair.
The wrinkles on his face deepened as he smiled at me.
He was wearing black dress pants and an olive-green shirt with a white coat over it. He was clearly a doctor, and at that moment, next to me, hung a bag of a mysterious semi-solid liquid on a drip. It was a peculiar red and white color.
But I was surprised when the mysterious liquid reached my veins through a catheter in my hand, something I hadn't noticed before.
The fluid began to flow through my body normally before growing at an alarming rate inside my veins.
That thing had a ton of RC cells that were starting to wreak havoc on my body.
I braced myself for the pain and to find a way to heal, but at that instant, as the unknown RC cells ran riot inside me, my new veins rapidly attacked the invading RC cells with incredible aggression.
I couldn't help but watch the situation with all my attention; it was like witnessing a micro-scale war inside me, and thanks to my "Intuitive Aptitude," I had a virtual commentator reporting everything happening in real time inside my body.
I already knew the human body was a biological warfare battlefield, but this was different.
My new RC cells didn't destroy the invaders; they devoured and assimilated them.
The foreign cells that entered my bloodstream were quickly annihilated.
However, the invaders that tried to enter my organs and flesh fought back a little more, causing pain and tremors in the muscles where they tried to harm me.
In the end, it was useless.
My RC cell veins pierced my flesh and organs, sealing the holes they made as they moved, and eventually devoured the enemy cells.
Honestly, if I didn't know this could have killed me before the surgery, I'd think it was some kind of live-action version of the anime *Cell at Work*, only inside me.
I can almost imagine my RC cells in plague uniforms hunting, killing, and devouring the poor invaders.
Within minutes, all the foreign cells were devoured and converted into more of my cells.
I couldn't help but think of those cells as cartoon zombies.
But the benefits of that biological warfare inside me were spectacular.
I managed to regain a staggering 3% of my lost mass in pure gains.
"That mysterious RC cell soup the doctor injected me with was truly something incredible and incredibly dangerous for a human." I couldn't help but frown at the thought.
The entire biological warfare inside me seemed to last for hours, but in reality, it only lasted less than a couple of minutes.
When I realized that everything inside me had culminated in a crushing victory for my new immune system, I turned my full attention to the doctor.
He was taller than I expected: almost 5'7", if I had to calculate.
He looked me straight in the eyes, and I could see him unhindered.
On his chest, above his lab coat, hung a small plaque with his name and title.
"General Manager Akihiro Kanou."
My eyes shot open in surprise as I tried to understand why he was there beside me.
And what else did he do to me while I was unconscious? At least I know why I healed so quickly.
He must have injected me with more of that mysterious bottled substance, which surely wasn't vitamins.
—(The purple thread twists in front of me, almost looking concerned)—I ignore him, concentrating on the moment.
But before I could think of a reason for his presence, he speaks, and if I didn't know what this old man was capable of, I would have been fooled by his false kindness.
"Well, it seems you've woken up," he says with a happy smile and continues calmly, standing to my right. "My name is Akihiro Kanou, and I'm the doctor who operated on you after your terrible accident."
"Are you feeling any discomfort or pain?" he asks with a kind smile, and I can only stare at him, trying to think of how to make the most of this new situation.
"I... Cough, cough." My throat feels completely dry.
He quickly offers me a bottle, which I take without thinking.
It was some kind of tea, but the flavor was different; it wasn't bad; it was just more intense.
My tongue perceived nuances of flavor like never before, a sour lemon taste that was too strong and with too little sugar.
I noticed my second heart beat faster for an instant, and my RC cells inside me surrounded the liquid before it reached my stomach, but they didn't do anything to it, letting it reach its destination.
Apparently, I can eat normally now because my RC cells no longer generate the enzyme that prevents ghouls from eating conventional food.
That's good to know, I guess, but I still don't know if I need to eat human flesh.
I don't think that problem can be solved so easily.
For now, I console myself with the double blow to my chest, because although it makes me uncomfortable, it confirms that my plan wasn't in vain.
(I don't know how I almost messed up when I fought Rize.) Dr. Kanou seems to notice, and his smile widens slightly.
"Ms. Astrea, please remain calm, but in order to save you, we had to resort to..." He pauses for thought. "I guess you could say drastic measures."
"She was severely injured, so we had to perform emergency surgery. Unfortunately, we couldn't find her family, so we operated without their consent. I sincerely apologize." He shrugs. The worst part is that he seems sincere. "Luckily, everything seems to have gone well. Unfortunately, the organs I transplanted were from a ghoul."
"What?" I don't even have to feign surprise. I really don't know what's going on. "What did she say?"
"What's going on? It wasn't supposed to be like this. He should have left me in the dark and simply watched my movements from a distance for a while, without admitting that I'm his guinea pig."
(And even more so because I'm trying to ignore the purple thread of the half-formed bond, while also ignoring the devastating hunger and pain that arise from that incomplete bond.)
"I transplanted the organs of the young woman who was at his side during the accident." His smile spreads. "I'm afraid we had to do it to save her. It was easy, really. It seems your friend had no family, or at least none that we could find." I can't help a shiver of anger when he dismisses Rize as nothing.
"Now let me explain how this will work," he says, and I decided to kill him the first chance I got.
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That same afternoon, I left the hospital, bowed to the doctors treating me out of courtesy with a forced smile, and as soon as I was out of sight, I punched the wall of the building next to me hard.
"BOOM!" I ignored the pain in my hand and the crater it made as I thought about what he said.
"The bastard's trying to control me, trying to manipulate me," I hissed, ignoring my broken hand, which was flooded with RC cells, healing in a split second with a loud crunch as I adjusted my fingers. "Like a fucking guinea pig."
"If I were a normal person, I'd be trapped in his hands, dominated by the situation, haha." A laugh escaped me. "How... funny, trying to force me to depend on him like I was his puppet."
"But even so, I still can't kill him. Unfortunately, he's still useful enough to not kill, but at some point, he'll cease to be." This time, when the thread of purple light passes through my vision, I don't ignore it because even now I can feel it.
I can feel her pain, her hunger, and the desperation that fills the bond, as clearly as the sunlight hitting my body.
"(The one I know she doesn't feel)"
She's suffering.
And I can't do anything, but I still carefully gather the thread to lovingly tie it to my wrist.
The thread that represents our bond only stretched a couple of meters around me before I placed it on my wrist.
Unfortunately, the tip leads nowhere, and if I want to reach Rize, I need to be an obedient guinea pig until the doctor guides me to her.
The thread is only a representation of the bond in my subconscious, so I can't use it as a compass to reach my wife.
(That's why I absolutely refuse to call my partner anything else) But it's okay.
I know Rize won't die; she'll undoubtedly suffer, but I will save her without fail.
"And when she does, the good doctor's usefulness will have come to an end." My fury doesn't diminish, but it becomes cold, calm, and calculating. "Canon is already dead, so whatever I do, my knowledge of the manga's events no longer matters, but my knowledge of the characters, on the other hand, may still be useful."
I take a deep breath and continue walking. I need a plan to save her, and I need another one to strengthen us.
I refuse to let something like this happen again.
The only good thing about my conversation with the Doctor was that I gained detailed information about his findings on my new anatomy.
"(No doubt he informed me of this as a form of intimidation.)" I think as I watch people walk by. "He's probably thinking something like, "He believes you, and therefore I can destroy you.")
"Damn," I say, as I feel my two hearts.
My original heart and a secondary one that keeps my RC cells moving, a unique type of Kakuhou that mobilizes all my RC cells, strengthening my entire body at all times, unlike normal ghouls.
"The idiot only sought changes in my ghoul side and ignored my human side." He smiled when I closed my eyes, and I could almost see it.
TUUM-TUUM
My human heart beats at a slow rate, but it's much more powerful than normal, and thanks to that, blood circulates much more quickly.
That alone improves the transport of oxygen and nutrients throughout my body while giving me greater endurance, less fatigue, and better physical recovery.
Those improvements only occur in my heart, and the progress is already significant.
The best part is that the improvements aren't over yet.
Even right now, RC cells continue to change my body, adapting it and improving it in every way from my nerves and muscles to my durability.
RC cells are being guided by me and my knowledge of anatomy thanks to my "intuitive aptitude."
I can only smile at the stupidity of the doctor by discarding basic humans by the most evolved Ghouls.
"Idiot, simply came to a conclusion and took it as true, without bothering to investigate more." I put my hand on my right chest and massaged it gently. "I have the smallest breasts I still don't recover at all."
"I will look for something to eat tonight." I did not hesitate; After all, this life is not just mine. "Hold on a little more, Rize, I'm going for you."
Por desgracia, no fue hasta un tiempo después que noté los efectos secundarios del vínculo.
Among them, the feeling of overwhelming possession.
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Upon returning to the apartment, I quickly closed all the doors and windows to undress quickly.
While doing so, I opened the refrigerator and grabbed all the prepared food: three hamburgers and a couple of instant soups, which I quickly prepared.
I tore the full-length mirror off the bathroom wall while the meal was being prepared, only to place it in front of the bed.
I didn't like what I saw at all; my ribs were clearly visible on my torso, my thighs were much thinner, and even my cheeks were sunken.
The muscles I had built during the week of preparation were gone.
By then, the meal was ready, and I wasted no time eating.
Once again, my ghoul heart pounded for a moment, but it let the food reach my stomach in peace.
My body began to digest the food quickly and efficiently.
According to my watch, I felt like I had digested the entire meal in less than 10 minutes.
The results are slow but steady.
All the calories, nutrients, and carbohydrates were quickly converted into biomass.
Not enough to reach my full potential, of course, but still, my ribs weren't as visible anymore.
With a grimace, I ignore my physical condition.
I'll have time to appease my narcissism later.
For now, I've proven that eating normal food will indeed help me regain my health, but something tells me human flesh would be a much easier and more efficient way to do it.
Sighing, I decide that for now I should focus on the reason I brought the mirror into my room.
I need to check my Kagune.
"The main reason I decided to become a ghoul was because of their RC cells. I already knew they were amazing, and the enhancements to my body confirm that, but I wasn't prepared for how incredible they were."
My right eye slowly shifts, not wanting to lose control.
I feel the sclerotrine change color, and I watch in fascination as, instead of turning red, my pupil struggles to retain its blue color.
To my disappointment, it fails and after a few seconds it changes color, but it's a good sign that I can change my color palette.
(But now I know what a treasure they are; my 'Intuition Aptitude' was working at full speed, giving me more and more information about my new body.)
The veins of my Kakuhou glowed all over my body beneath my skin, a deep red color I don't really like.
"I'll find a way to change it later," I decide.
(Originally, RC cells can bend or contract an indeterminate number of times, allowing them to condense a large amount of mass into a small space; in this case, a ghoul's Kakuhou, these same characteristics give them their non-Newtonian abilities, which can be as hard as steel, but also possess incredible mobility, almost as if they were liquid.)
The veins glow brighter and brighter, and with a pop, they emerge from my body, weaving shapes around me.
But I ignore them all except the ones on my back.
With a tug on the incomplete bond with Rize, I manage to recall the memory of the sensation of a Rinkaku.
Little by little, I feel the veins in my lower back merge and form a thick tail.
-(But RC cells are different from what I expected. They're not just inert material. They grow, adapt, and eventually evolve, as shown throughout the anime. Of course, the most well-known example is the protagonist himself, who went from being an ordinary human with a Rinkaku to possessing a centipede-like Kakuja and then to the enormous dragon, not to mention the mass of a normal Kakuja. Not to mention a Kakuja like *One-Eyed Owl*, which should be physically impossible to have inside a human body. Of course, another wonderful example of RC cell evolution is a normal Ukaku, albeit from a semi-ghoul, which then evolved into a Kakuja with a full biological suit of armor.)-
With a shaky sigh, I tense my muscles, trying not to see the unified mass of veins behind my back.
For a single second I feel the bioelectricity of my body move through the Kagune and I am rewarded with a false Rinkaku extending from my right hip, a tentacle almost two meters long and a disturbing red, moving fluidly almost like water but without losing its shape.
But it's false; after all, a true Rinkaku is a single muscle, while mine is composed of countless veins.
(That's why I wanted RC cells. If they grew like that in a single world, I couldn't help but think about how they might evolve in other realities with many more nutritional options.)
Calmly, I feel my muscles once more, and this time not just one Rinkaku extends, but eight more, each the same red as the first, moving hypnotically behind me with their semi-solid forms.
(I wanted them as force multipliers, and I got more than I asked for. After all, what do you think you get when you mix evolutionary cells with an ability that allows you to learn and use anything, from supernatural powers to advanced technologies?)
This time I don't focus on controlling my back muscles or my Kagune; this time I just wish, and my Rinkaku obeys instantly, stopping abruptly without a ripple.
With another thought, I will them to move, and they do.
Regardless of the direction, my Rinkaku obey, and I realize I now have complete control over them.
My kagune is completely under my control.
So, with a smile, I gather all my veins together and they merge into a single, massive tail.
While it looks cool, it's not really that useful, as I feel almost instantly without all the veins inside me.
They're not just decorations; these veins live inside my body, passively enhancing my muscles and reflexes.
While they don't weaken me too much, not having them inside my body certainly makes a difference.
I'm left with only one option.
I was already planning to look for other ghoul organ donors, but now it's become a necessity.
"I need to get the other types of kagune," I grimace in the mirror, seeing myself even more gaunt without the veins on my body.
To have them all, I'll need Rio and Hinami Fueguchi.
With them, I could stabilize the use of all four types of kagune and, in doing so, use them without dying or destabilizing my body.
That said, all that remains is to devise a plan of action.
The obvious thing to do is to save Hinami's mother, thus gaining her trust and the opportunity to study her Chimera Kagunes.
Afterward, I must be present at the escape from the Cochlea ghoul detention prison.
Where I must find Rio before Eto and examine him on the spot.
If that doesn't work, I will devour him on the spot regardless of the consequences.
"While I admit things can change, after all, I'm not so arrogant as to think the world revolves around me." All this time, I haven't taken my eyes off my naked body, and for the first time, it wasn't to see my beautiful figure, but to see my veins running through my body.
With a sigh, I throw myself down on the bed and hug the thread on my wrist while I try to get some sleep.
My body is still exhausted from the healing, but I find comfort in feeling the hunger and pain coming from the thread diminish considerably before I fall into unconsciousness.
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Chapter six finished 🥳
Sorry for the delay. My phone died, so I ended up buying a new one.
And well, I had to rewrite this entire chapter and the next three. 😅😅😅
My fingers hurt, but the good thing is I hope to update more often this week now that I have a new phone. 😃