THUD.
The phone slipped completely out of his unfeeling grip, tumbling through the air and slamming heavily against the kitchen floor tiles.
He didn't even look down at it. He couldn't.
His wide, unblinking eyes were locked entirely on Kento's pale face, his own face draining of every single drop of color until he stood there as white as a sheet, completely frozen in the middle of his crumbling world.
From the floorboards, completely ignored, the tiny, distant speaker of the phone cut through the suffocating silence.
"Hello? Kamitani?" Dr. Nagachika's voice echoed through the line, sounding distant and confused on the other end. "Are you there? Hello...?"
The voice calling from the fallen phone sounded impossibly distant, as though it belonged to a world Mr. Kamitani could no longer reach.
A lifetime of reason collapsed in a single heartbeat. The Shield of the Court, the man who had spent his life defeating chaos with logic, stood utterly defenseless before a fate that neither evidence nor argument could overturn.
Fourteen hours ago, he had thanked Kami-sama for answering the prayer of a Selfish Father.
Now he understood.
The shadow had never stopped walking.
It had merely waited... until it reached his son.
Everything he had built—every certainty, every promise, every quiet belief that his family had escaped the darkness—crumbled without a sound.
There was no courtroom left to stand in. No verdict to challenge. No miracle left to bargain for.
And all Mr. Kamitani could do was stand there, unable to move, unable to breathe, watching his world quietly begin to fall apart.
"Dad?"
Shido's voice cut through the heavy silence, thick with a sudden, sharp frown. He was still kneeling on the floor, his arms tightly locked around Kento's trembling body.
He looked up, his eyes darting from the cracked screen of the phone on the tiles up to his father's completely ghostly, frozen expression.
"Dad!" Shido called out again, louder this time, his throat tightening. "Dad... what's wrong? Say something!"
Down on the floorboards, the phone speaker kept crackling uselessly. "Hello? Line's completely static... Kamitani, if you're messing around—"
Mr. Kamitani didn't hear it. His soul was completely locked away.
Beside the counter, Kento let out a ragged, agonizing series of sounds.
"Hah... hah... urgh..."
His left hand was pressed desperately flat over his lower ribs, his knuckles turning white through his school shirt as his entire body shook with shallow, desperate pants.
He couldn't lift his head, his vision blurring as he fought for a single clean pocket of oxygen.
A few feet away, Kashima was still completely breaking down. His hands were clamped hard over his ears, his body hunched into a tight, defensive ball against the cabinet.
"K-... K-Kami... s-sam... j-just..." he stuttered out, his voice a broken, trembling wreck of nonsense as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out the entire world.
"Kashima! Look at me, please, just breathe!"
Hori was right beside him on her knees, her face wet with tears as she gently reached out, her hands shaking as she tried to anchor him.
"Everything is fine! It's going to be fine, please!"
"Huh...?"
A sharp, shallow breath finally tore through Mr. Kamitani's chest, snapping him back into reality. The suffocating fog in his mind cleared just enough for him to realize the kitchen was still spinning.
Bzzzz... Bzzzz...
The phone on the floor vibrated sharply against the tiles, the screen flashing. Mr. Kamitani blinked heavily, his lawyer instincts forcing his numb fingers to move.
He leaned down, picked up the device, and pressed it to his ear. He didn't even notice that he had instinctively grabbed a stray strand of his own black bangs, twisting it tightly around his finger as he stared blankly at the wall, his voice flat and exhausted.
"Yeah... Kaneki. I'm here."
A pause followed as the voice on the other end shouted a sharp, irritated question.
"My phone fell..." Mr. Kamitani muttered. He didn't offer a formal apology; their Thirty Years of shared history didn't require one. "It slipped out of my hand. Calm down."
Another pause. Mr. Kamitani listened as his Oldest Friend spoke from the other side of Tokyo, the tone on the line switching from annoyance to professional concern.
"I'm at home." Mr. Kamitani answered quietly, his eyes slowly drifting back down to the floor where Kento was panting against Shido's shoulder. "Yeah. In the kitchen."
The line crackled again as Dr. Nagachika explained the situation from his side—revealing that Hori had actually called him first, frantically mentioning Kashima's state.
Suddenly, Mr. Kamitani's entire posture went rigid. The exhaustion vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp seriousness.
"Yeah." Mr. Kamitani interrupted, his voice dropping into a low murmur that echoed off the kitchen floor. "I know about that."
Words are never heard exactly as they are spoken.
They pass first through memory.
Through fear.
Through guilt.
And by the time they reached Kashima...
...they no longer sounded like Mr. Kamitani's voice at all.
'I know about that.'
Kashima's eyes snapped wide open, the pupils shrinking into tiny pinpricks of pure, unadulterated terror. The blood completely ran cold in veins.
'No... no... no... He knows... Mr. Kamitani knows... He knows about Father... He knows what happened to Asuka...'
His greatest fears, his heaviest regrets, and the suffocating guilt of his father's actions rushed into his brain all at once, paralyzing his thoughts.
Mr. Kamitani, completely unaware of the psychological bomb he had just dropped, kept his eyes on the wall, speaking directly to the speaker.
"Are you coming over here to take care of Kashima yourself?" Mr. Kamitani asked Dr. Nagachika, his tone sharp and decisive.
"Or do I need to take care of him here?"
That was the absolute breaking point.
"NO!!! NO, PLEASE!!! NO!!!"
Kashima completely lost his mind. A raw, terrifying shout tore out of his throat as he began slamming his back against the cabinet, thrashing wildly, his face twisted in pure, desperate panic as he screamed out his protests into the room.
Hori let out a loud, terrified gasp, her hands flying to her mouth in utter disbelief.
"Kashima?!"
Mr. Kamitani's eyes snapped toward the noise, the complete weight of the boy's agonizing screams cutting him off mid-sentence.
Realizing the situation had entirely devolved into chaos, he didn't wait for Dr. Nagachika's reply. He instantly clicked the button, ending the call, and dropped his hand.
"Damn it, Kashima! Calm down!" Shido yelled across the kitchen, his voice laced with a tense, irritated panic as he tried to shout over Kashima's deafening screams. "Please... you're making it worse!"
SMACK.
A weak, trembling hand slapped directly against Shido's shoulder. Shido paused, looking down in shock.
Kento had used every ounce of his remaining strength to hit him, his green eyes glaring up through his sweat-soaked hair as he let out a shallow, breathless mutter.
"H-He..." Kento panted. "...don't yell... at him..." his teeth gritted in agony.
"Hic... w-what..." Hori's voice broke into a heavy, wet sob, a ragged gasp tearing from her throat as she stared at Kashima in complete disbelief.
"Kashima... what is wrong? Please, look at me... hic... what's happening?!"
"Hori! Move back!" Shido shouted loudly across the kitchen, his voice straining under Kento's weight.
"Just leave his side and give him some space for a second! He'll be normal in no time, just let him breathe!"
But the room was completely surrounded by Kashima's terror. He remained like a tight ball, his fingers clawing into his hair as his eyes remained squeezed shut, a non-stop stream of broken, panicked noise pouring from his lips as he thrashed against the wood.
"No... please... hic... I didn't mean to..." Kashima choked out, a ragged sob splitting his voice as his fingers dug into his scalp. "Don't look at me... please! Just... stop... STOP IT! No, no, NO!!!"
"Dammit..." Shido cursed under his breath, his face twisting into a sharp, irritated frown as he blindly reached into his own pocket. He pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering uselessly over the glass.
'It's becoming too messy... everything is spinning out of control...' He snapped his head up, his throat tight.
"DAD!"
Mr. Kamitani didn't answer Shido immediately. His sharp eyes were locked onto the troubled girl and the weeping boy. He took a heavy step forward, his voice low but commanding. "Hori. Stay back."
With an uncharacteristic, heavy movement, Mr. Kamitani bent down on his knees over the cold floor, lowering his tall body right into the center of the chaos. He reached out a hand toward the trembling teenager.
"Kashima. Look at me. What is wrong? Do you need medical assistance, or do you want everyone to leave you alone? Talk to me."
"Kashima... please... hic... talk to us..." Hori wept openly, her hands shaking violently as she clutched at the fabric of Kashima's shirt, begging him through her tears.
But Kashima didn't answer, his head shaking back and forth as he buried his face deeper into his knees, his chest heaving with silent, agonizing sobs.
"U-Ugh... hic... hiuuh... cough... waaaah..."
"Kento, can you walk?" Shido asked in a low mutter, looking down.
Kento gave a weak, shallow nod against Shido's shoulder, his gritted teeth catching his lower lip.
"Alright." Shido muttered. He shifted his weight, tightly supporting Kento's body under the arm as they began to walk slowly, step by agonizing step, across the kitchen toward where the others were clustered.
"Dad!" Shido called out again, his voice dropping into a tense, hard line.
"Should we just go to the hospital? Look at them... their condition is worsening by the second."
Mr. Kamitani let out a long, heavy sigh. He turned his head slightly toward Hori, forcing a tiny, reassuring smile onto his lips to keep her from completely fainting.
"Don't worry, Hori. Everything is under control."
He adjusted his posture, his voice steadying. "Call your father right now. Tell him to hurry directly to the Hospital nearest to this house."
"O-Okay..." Hori spoke through a fresh wave of tears, her fingers fumbling blindly with her phone screen. "Is there... hic... is there anything else...?"
Mr. Kamitani didn't answer. A grim, heavy expression settled deep into the lines of his face as his eyes scanned Kashima's trembling body—the complete, irrational terror rolling off the boy in waves.
Then, his eyes shifted over to Kento, looking at his son's violently pale face, the sweat soaking through his collar, and the way his hand was still clamped tight over his ribcage.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the kitchen for one single heartbeat.
"I've seen enough." His voice was quiet.
"WE'RE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL."
Hori finally brought the phone to her ear, her voice cracking as the line connected. "Hello? Dad...?"
That was the exact trigger.
"NO!!!"
A loud scream tore out of Kashima's throat, so loud and sudden that Shido and Kento froze mid-step, their feet slipping slightly on the floorboards a few steps away.
"What the—"
Mr. Kamitani's head snapped up, his wide eyes completely shocked by the raw violence of the boy's reaction.
"I'm not going to the hospital!!!" Kashima screamed, his back slamming violently against the cabinet as he tried to push himself through the solid wood. "I'm not going anywhere!!! No!!! Stop it!!!"
"What the hell is wrong with him?!" Shido yelled, his irritation flaring through his panic as he tightened his grip on Kento. "He's completely losing it!"
"K-Kashima...! P-Please... h-hic... d-don't scare me...! W-What happened...? E-Everything's okay... I-I swear...! P-Please...!" Hori wept loudly, her phone dropping to her lap as she reached out again.
Mr. Kamitani remained frozen on his knees, his mind running a rapid, terrifying calculation as he stared at the boy's blown-out pupils.
'The hospital...?'
'It's just a hospital.'
'So what are you actually afraid of?'
Words passed through the dark fog of Kashima's hyperventilating mind, fracturing into terrifying images.
'Hospital... no, no...'
'Hospital is surely a trap to ask questions.'
'They'll find out... they'll ask me... everything will come out...'
'They'll ask where I was... they'll ask about the car... they'll ask about...'
"Kashima—" Mr. Kamitani spoke loudly, trying to pull the boy's drifting consciousness.
"What is the matter with you? Calm down. Is there something... is there something you need to tell me?"
"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!!" Kashima shouted, his voice splitting as he shoved his hands against his face, screaming into his palms. "I-I DON'T KNOW...! I D-DON'T KNOW ANYTHING...! J-Just... j-just leave me alone...! E-Everyone... p-please... g-get away from me...! G-GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"
"Hey! Stay still!" Shido shouted across the room, his own nerves snapping from the noise. "You're going to hurt yourself!"
"Kashima, listen to me..." Mr. Kamitani commanded, his voice booming over the chaos, firm and unyielding. "It is fine.
Everything is alright. You are safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you. Just calm down so we can talk peacefully."
Kindness has a cruel way of exposing guilt.
The gentler the voice...
The louder the conscience becomes.
The screams stopped instantly. The kitchen fell silent, broken only by Kashima's ragged breathing.
Hot tears rolled down his frozen face. His body refused to move. He could only stare at Mr. Kamitani in complete, unfiltered disbelief.
'H-He knows...'
'H-He's... s-saying it so calmly... h-he's saying I'm safe... b-because... because he knows everything...'
'F-From the very start... t-this whole time... h-he knew it...'
'H-He was... p-pretending not to know... h-he was just... waiting... waiting for me to break...'
'N-No... n-now... n-now I'm... I'm surely going to jail...'
"N-No..." Kashima whispered, barely managing to force the sound past his trembling lips. "N-No... n-no... n-no..."
"Relax, alright? Everything is okay," Shido muttered, trying to the sudden drop in the room's energy.
But Kashima was already gone.
"I-I'm... s-sorry... s-sorry... I-I..." he breathed, unable to finish a single thought, his body moving on pure, blinding survival instinct.
"KASHIMA?!" Hori shouted.
"Where are you going?!" Mr. Kamitani reached his hand out, his body shifting forward to grab him—
"N-No...! D-Don't...! D-Don't stop me...! I-I... I h-have to...!" Kashima cried, his voice breaking apart as he suddenly threw his entire weight forward into a wild, blind run, desperate to flee the suffocating lights of the kitchen.
"K-Kashima!" Hori gasped, scrambling to her feet so quickly she nearly stumbled. "W-Wait! P-Please...! D-Don't run...!" She rushed after him through blurred, tear-filled eyes, acting on nothing but instinct.
"Kashima, stop!" Mr. Kamitani lunged after him, his long arm stretching out to cut off the boy's escape.
"Dammit!" Shido snapped, instinctively twisting his entire body as he saw Kashima charging straight toward them. "Will you just stop running already?!"
In that one split second of pure human chaos, the rigid support under Kento's shoulder weakened. Shido's balance wavered as he flinched.
"S-Shido..." Kento breathed weakly, instinctively reaching out as his balance gave way beneath him. "...careful..."
Kento's knees bent.
"Ugh...!"
His green eyes rolled back slightly as his body pitched toward the hard kitchen tiles.
SLAM!
Kashima collided violently with Shido's turned shoulder. The impact was ugly, loud, and entirely uncoordinated, knocking Shido backward and bouncing Kashima's running body just enough to change his direction by a single foot.
"Hey—!" Shido grunted as Kashima crashed into him.
"I-I didn't mean—!"
"I know you didn't!" Shido shot back. "That's the problem!"
As Kento fell, his vision blurring into darkness, his right hand shot out into the open air out of pure instinct—'Something...' 'Please... just... something...'—a dying reflex to catch anything, a cabinet, a shirt, a wall, to stop his face from smashing into the floor.
His numb, sweating fingers clamped shut against a passing piece of flesh.
It caught a wrist.
One heartbeat.
"...I'm coming straight home..." A voice echoed violently inside Kento's ears. It was distant and completely foreign, sounding as if it were vibrating from the deep dark depths of a well.
Kento's eyes widened in complete confusion.
"Huh...?" he weakly muttered under his breath, his whole body locking up instantly in mid-air.
"...Always."
The second whisper hit his mind like a physical blow. His senses fractured completely. He tried to look toward his right, trying to find where the phantom sound was coming from, but his legs completely gave out.
BAM!
His body crashed heavily onto the hard kitchen floor, entirely defenseless.
"Kento?!" Hori's voice screamed through the room, her hands flying to her mouth in pure, instant terror.
"Kento!!!" Shido screamed right after, his voice cracking into absolute panic as he scrambled down onto the floorboards.
"Hey! Look at me! Are you alright?! Where does it hurt?!"
Mr. Kamitani's head snapped over instantly, his face turning pale as he moved forward.
"Kento!"
But Kento wasn't looking at them. His eyes were wide, desperate, and filled with sudden, stinging tears as he crawled backward against the floor. He began looking here and there, staring frantically at the empty corners of the ceiling, his lips trembling violently.
"What the hell..." Kento muttered, his breath hitching as he gripped his own head. "What the hell... what was that...?"
Shido dropped heavily on his knees right beside him, his hands shaking as he grabbed Kento's shoulders to stop him from moving.
"Kento, Hey! Are you with me?! Tell me where you are hurt!" He waited, his chest heaving, desperately staring at his brother for a single response.
Kento opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
The voices had drowned out the world.
A few feet away, the silence grew heavy.
Hori slowly turned away from Kento, her footsteps cautious and trembling as she walked up toward the other side of the room.
"K-Kashima...?" she whispered, her voice shaking. "What... what is wrong with you...?"
Kashima just stood there.
He was standing perfectly still in the middle of the floor, not saying a single word. He wasn't crying anymore. He wasn't screaming. He was completely frozen, his head tilted slightly downward.
He looked entirely hollow. Haunting. Like a doll whose strings had been completely cut in the dark.
Hori backed away a single step, her face twisting into pure fear as she looked back toward the center of the kitchen. "M-Mr. Kamitani..."
Mr. Kamitani immediately stood up from Kento's side, his expression grimmer than it had ever been.
He walked quickly toward the silent boy, bending his tall body down slightly to force himself into Kashima's line of sight.
"Kento, talk to Shido, don't close your—" Mr. Kamitani started to command, but the sentence completely died in his throat.
The words turned into a sharp, choked gasp.
"What in the world..." Mr. Kamitani breathed, his face twisting into complete, pure shock.
Kashima's eyes were wide open. But they didn't blink. Not even once.
The boy looked as if he were completely gone—utterly removed from the present reality of the bright kitchen around them.
There was no emotion left on his pale face. No fear, no panic, no human expression at all. He was just standing.
Just staring blindly at a single dark knot in the wooden floorboards, looking right through the solid wood as if he were watching an invisible world burn.
----