In This World So Cruel

Chapter 12 FINAL UPDATE

“While I was sleeping” said Haise “There were these two people, named Kuro and Shiro, that I met. Shiro mentioned a person named Hide and Kuro said to ask you if I wasn’t clear about anything.” While Arima knew exactly who Shiro and Hide were he had no idea who Kuro was and how he knew him. Deciding to be somewhat truthful he said “Shiro was a ghoul that I fought in the past. He is also the ghoul that your Kakuhou came from (That second part is the lie). I honestly have no idea who Kuro is though.” Haise put his right hand on his chin “But then how would he know you? Also why was he in my mind?” Arima sighed knowing that neither of them knew the answers and said “I’m sorry Haise I have no idea but I do know that you should go back to get some rest.”

Arima ran back to the lab to see what Dr.Ricana had to say about the rising RC cells. He walked up to a plain looking wooden door and opened it up. Stepping inside he could smell and almost feel the chemicals that filled the air and heard an excited “I’m over here!” to his left. Walking over while pushing the random curtains and tassels out of the way he finally stumbled upon a middle aged man with glasses sitting in front of a giant computer hooked up to multiple tubes that seemed to have strange liquids and blood in them. “So what did you call me here to tell me about?” Asked Arima intrigued by all the unique technology. When Dr.Ricana turned around Arima could see that while his hair looked a light brown in the back it started to turn white at the front. He looked like the normal nerdy scientist with some glasses to complete the look but one of his eyes were red and the other was green. He also had a small scar running under his left eye. “I came here to give you a theory”

Before Haise opened the door he braced himself for the mess that would be the apartment. After opening it a bit he smelt a disgusting smell and sighed mentally. ‘I guess this is what happens if you leave them alone for too long.’ Thought Haise dreading all the cleaning that needed to be done. As he opened the door and looked inside he noticed that the space was relatively clean except for a few games strewn about. Now Haise was puzzled. ‘I don’t see anything that would smell bad’ thought Haise with eyes scanning the area ‘but then why does it sme-‘ Haise’s eyes landed on the kitchen counter which had rice and sushi sitting on top of it. Seeing this Haise wanted to hit himself. ‘Of course!’ He thought ‘it wouldn’t smell bad to them because they can eat it but to me.’ Haise started sulking over the fact that he couldn’t eat human food before remembering how Arima seemed to be in a slight rush. ‘I wonder what that was all about?’ thought Haise before mentally preparing himself to clean up the sushi and rice.

“A theory?” asked Arima. When he was called down there he was expecting to get a new discovery on quinque technology or something of the sort not a simple theory. “Now now I know what you’re thinking Arima” Said Dr.Ricana in a casual tone “But this theory is about why Sasaki Haise’s RC cell count keeps rising.” At this Arima started to become interested. “Why do you think that they are rising?” questioned Arima wanting to know juts what happened while Haise was asleep. Dr.Ricana sighed knowing that of course he would want to know what happened to Sasaki. “You see here before he lost his memories here was his RC cell count.” Arima looked at the number on the screen. “6843” said Arima to himself remembering how he had been able to give him an injury on his cheek. “And here” said Dr.Ricana “is his starting RC cell count that we had found while exploring Kanou’s lab. “2021” said Arima aloud mesmerized by the information he was taking in. “Lastly here is Sasaki’s starting RC cell count.” Said Dr.Ricana ready to explain his theory. “3249” said Arima questioning why he need to know all these numbers. “So what if we considered them as completely different people and personalities that could possibly combine?” Asked Dr.Ricana excited to share his findings.

“What?” Said Arima baffled by the idea. Dr.Ricana sighed. “Okay to make this easier I’m going to call the original Kuro and the pre memory loss Shiro.” ‘Kuro and Shiro’ thought Arima before suddenly realizing that those were the exact names that Sasaki had said. Now realizing that Dr.Ricana might be completely right Arima started listening. “So assuming that they are different people if Kuro and Shiro would combine they would have a total RC cell count of 8864 which is Sasaki’s current count.” Said Dr.Ricana “But my theory is that Kuro and Shiro now live inside Sasaki’s mind hence why some days he will lose control.” When Arima thought about it the theory didn’t really have any flaws and everything made sense so this could actually end up being correct! “So using this theory I can assume that all three are slowly combining creating a ghoul that might be more fearsome than the one eyed owl.”