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xdarkestdesirex · 4 months ago

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Calamity - Hide x f.Reader

Volume One

Calamity (n.) a great misfortune or disaster

You think you're just like every other 18-year-old girl: just starting college, living alone, and working at a cute cafe, except you aren't because you're a ghoul. Trying your best to blend into a world that isn't your own, and then you meet him. Hide. He's unlike anyone you've ever met, and you slowly fall for him. But will it ever work between the two of you? He's human, and you're not.

This is a Hide x female reader, and this fanfiction story will be based STRICTLY on the mangas, including the novels.

The plot of Tokyo Ghoul and the characters are not mine. They all belong to Sui Ishida.

I don't allow anyone to copy my story, publish it on other platforms, or alter it as your own.

This writing contains highly sensitive topics like violence, gore, mental illness, talk of suicide, death, smut, and other mature themes. Reader discretion is advised.

word count 10877

“Humans are thought to be at the top of the food chain… But some beings hunt them as food. These monsters feed on the dead flesh of humans. They are called…

Ghouls.”

-Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1 #001 Tragedy by Sui Ishida

——————————

The sound of the TV lofted through the brightly lit cafe. A news channel was showing an interview with a man named Hisashi Ogura, a ghoul researcher, explaining what ghouls are and how they act. I stood behind the coffee bar, dressed in my work uniform, which consisted of a cream blouse with a gray vest layered on top and a brown tie wrapped neatly under the collar and tucked below the vest. A brown skirt with two pleats in the front that hit my mid-thighs, shear tights covered my legs, and a pair of platform leather loafers adorned my feet. I blocked out the sound of the male voice coming from the screen on the wall and stared at two customers sitting at a table across from me. I noticed the one with dark black hair from his frequent visits to the cafe, but the friend across from him was someone I barely saw. He had short, dirty blonde hair with dark roots and gleamed as a smile crossed his face. The other boy’s cheeks turned dark pink, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the blonde was teasing his friend about when suddenly, the vibrant boy shot out of his seat and yelled out to Touka.

“Hey! Can you take our order?!” His giant smile grew, and he looked down at his friend and gave him a little shove.

“Sorry, (Y/n), can you take this?” The plum-haired girl turned towards me and walked away from the beaming boy. I sweat-dropped at the explicit rejection of my co-worker to deal with these boys and then made eye contact with the blonde. He sent me a small smile and a faint blush crept up on my cheeks. From the few other times he made a brief appearance in the cafe, I couldn’t help but be drawn to his bubbly, adorable appearance. I walked out from behind the counter, gripping my notepad, and sent them the best customer service smile I could muster.

“I apologize for my co-worker,” I bowed, “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have a cappuccino!” The bright boy turned to his friend, “What about you?”

“Oh, uh, I’m okay, thank you.” The dark-haired boy shyly spoke. He was always the quiet type when he came in.

“One cappuccino coming up!” I said, turning around to walk away, but someone grabbed my hand and stopped me. I looked to see who caught me, and it was the boy I admired from the coffee bar.

“Can I ask a question?” He looked up at me with beautiful olive eyes and a silly smirk.

“Of course,” I replied. My heart was beating quickly in my chest.

“What is that girl’s name?” He pointed over towards Touka. My face dropped, and I felt a strange knot in my throat. I don’t know this guy, but it’s still a hit to your ego when someone you’ve been silently crushing on asks about another girl. “I think she might be the girl my friend has a crush on.” He gestured to the boy next to him. Oh, that makes sense. I guess I worried for nothing.

“Her name is Touka.” I directed the answer to the dark-haired boy, “She’s lovely once you get to know her!” Touka would kill me if she heard me talking about her to a boy.

“O-oh, no, s-sorry!” The poor boy looked like he would burst from embarrassment, “My friend is mistaken! She’s not the girl I have a crush on! Though she is cute.” He trailed off and said the last part quietly, but I could still pick it up. Heh, he thinks she’s cute. I’m so going to tease her about this.

“WHAT?” The blonde looked taken aback, “I swear I was spot on with my guess.” He turned back to you, “Sorry about that!”

“It’s okay,” I said, chuckling. Finally, I broke free from the boys and returned behind the bar.

I grabbed a bag of espresso roast coffee beans and poured a small amount into our espresso grinder. It sputtered to life and poured the coffee grounds into the portafilter. Once it was filled, I pressed the coffee grounds down, compacting them into the portafilter, making sure not to pact them down too much. I placed the portafilter onto the espresso machine, put one of our mugs below it, and started it up. Slowly, the deep brown drops of coffee began to fill the cup, and the smell of brewing beans wafted through my nose. I inhaled the bitter scent and felt my body relax instantly. Coffee is the only thing I can relate to with humans, and the smell of it has always calmed my nerves. While the espresso was pouring into the mug, I grabbed a jug of whole milk from the fridge, poured it into a cup, and then placed it under the steam wand. Once I steamed the milk, I poured it over the espresso, topped it with foam, and drizzled a heart on top with caramel.

I brought the cup over to the blonde boy and sat the cup in front of him. Once he looked down at the mug, his hands shot up to his face, and he cooed, “Awww, you put a heart on it!” Instantly, my face turned a bright red, and I cursed myself for putting a heart. I was too proud of my coffee art to think about the embarrassment I would feel after bringing it over to him. He turned towards me, “What’s your name!”

“Oh, uh, I-I’m (L/n) (Y/n),” I bowed, “Nice to meet you.” I mentally facepalmed myself at being so proper.

“I’m Hideyoshi Nagachika, but you can call me Hide!” He reached out and grabbed my hands. “Do you have a boyfriend?!” WHAT? Did he just ask me that? I think I’m going to faint.

“N-n-n-no,” I stuttered out. I could feel the palms of my hands getting sweaty, and I only hoped he wouldn’t feel it, either. My whole body was on fire, and I could feel the eyes of other customers looking at us. Did he have to be so loud while being this direct?

“Could I possibly-”

“(Y/n)!” Touka called me, interrupting the blonde boy, “What are you doing?”

“A-ah! I have to get back to work!” I pulled my hands away from the blonde, ran over to Touka, and lowered my head in shame for getting distracted while working. Touka may be younger than me, but she can be scary. As I got back to work, I could hear the dark-haired male scold his friend for being obnoxious, and the words that fell out of the vibrant boy’s lips shocked me, “She’s cute.”

Touka stared at me angrily when the door opened, looking like she was also about to scold me. I took this moment to greet the customer and saw Rize walking through the doors. It made me uneasy whenever she came in, but I knew I could do nothing about it. She was a binge eater, and just thinking about the things she does to people makes me sick. But I still greeted her the way I do with every customer.

A few minutes passed, and I was back to standing behind the counter, cleaning up things lying around. I decided it wouldn’t be wise to go back to staring at the dirty blonde boy after our encounter, and I did my best to distract myself. The sound of a chair squeaking made my eyes snap, and I saw the bubbly boy leave his chair. “Good luck, dreamer boy!” He waved to his friend, sporting a bright smile, then turned slightly to look at me and yelled, “See you later, (Y/n)!” And then he walked out the door.

I patted my hot cheeks, trying to calm them down, and Touka stared at me for a second before rolling her eyes. “Seriously?” She leaned closer and whispered, “He’s a human.” Then, she walked away from me. Yes, he’s a human, and I’m a ghoul. There’s no way we could ever be together, but a crush has never hurt anyone.

——————————

These past few days, I couldn’t help but worry about Hide’s dark-haired friend, whose name I found out is Kaneki. Once the blonde boy left the cafe, I saw Kaneki interact with Rize and overheard their plan to go out on a date. It was coming up tomorrow, and I struggled to find a way to warn the poor boy. Just from looking at him, I could tell he was pretty weak, and he wouldn’t stand a chance against Rize. If he were at least a bit strong, maybe he would have the opportunity to defend himself, but even then, he probably would still fail. She’s a strong ghoul, and nothing gets in her way of feeding. There wasn’t anything I could do about it either unless I wanted to expose myself or Anteiku, and I would never do that.

My best course of action would be to follow them. I knew where they were meeting and what time, so I could just lurk in the shadows and ensure Rize didn’t do anything to Kaneki. It was settled then. Tomorrow, I will watch them.

Morning came, and I got ready for my day of spying. I wore a pair of black jeans and a band T-shirt with a pair of black Converse. I threw my (h/c) hair into a bun and tossed a black zip-up hoodie and a pair of sunglasses into my bag. Was I being too obvious? Most likely, but oh well. I didn’t want to stand out; I could blend into the darkness if they hung out at night. Before leaving my room, I grabbed the book on my coffee table and shoved it into my bag. I needed something to hide behind, just in case.

I arrived at the restaurant they were meeting at a bit after the time they stated to make sure I wouldn’t be seen by the two. When I entered, I got the waiter to seat me in a corner behind Rize’s back so she couldn’t see me. As I watched them talk, they seemed to be having a good time, and I could see the faint dusting of blush on the boy’s cheeks occasionally. Rize was a master disguiser when it came to being a ghoul; she knew how to blend in with humans, and it surprised me that she didn’t touch the food on her plate once. I’ve seen her pretend to eat before, so was she avoiding it right now because she didn’t want to spoil her appetite for later? I still wasn’t sure what I would do if she attacked him. I’m too weak to fight against a ghoul of her strength, and I couldn’t risk him knowing about me either. Maybe I could run into them? Tell her we had an important topic to discuss with her right away.

After following them around for the day, everything seemed okay. Maybe she wouldn’t hurt him today, and I can warn Mr. Yoshimura about her plans. It was nighttime, and the only things lighting the streets were a few lamp posts. I threw my hoodie on not too long ago and slowly watched them as they came to a stop. It was time to part ways, but Rize made up some excuse of being scared to get Kaneki to walk her home. Shit. She’s going to kill him. I was about to dart out of my hiding spot when I saw a group of girls walking in my direction. I noticed one of them as Touka and panicked, so I threw myself back into the hiding spot and watched as they slowly walked by. At this point, the couple I was stalking, for lack of better words, had disappeared. Once the high school girls were out of sight, I ran towards the alley I saw Rize and Kaneki walk down. Before I could even enter it, a loud bang rang through the area as steel beams came crashing to the ground. I fell backward and covered my face as the debris flung towards me.

This isn’t good. I quickly picked myself off the ground and ran towards the beams to see if the poor dark-haired boy was trapped in the destruction. It didn’t take long to see him poking out from under a beam, crushing him into the ground, and a puddle of blood surrounding him. Fear coursed through my veins, and I could feel the change in my demeanor. My eyes flashed red, and I suddenly felt a pang of hunger. I clutched my stomach and shook my head. Fuck. I did go past my feeding time with how busy I’ve been lately. I can’t let myself lose control now. Not after how hard I’ve worked towards controlling myself. Once I pulled myself together, I grabbed my phone and dialed the police. I couldn’t just leave him here to die.

——————————

After the incident with Kaneki and Rize, I stayed by to ensure the black-haired boy was still alive. I didn’t move him from his spot, scared that if I did, it would be the difference between him dying or not. When the police and ambulance arrived, I gave them my statement and asked to remain anonymous. I know doing that was risky, and I could’ve exposed myself by staying there. Thankfully, they didn’t prod me too much with questions but told me what hospital Kaneki was being transported to, which brought me to where I am now—standing in front of that hospital and questioning why I was even here. I wanted to check in on the poor boy and ensure he was doing okay, but I didn’t want to see him directly.

I took a deep breath and walked through the hospital doors to the front desk. A lady sat behind the counter and looked up at me impatiently, “How can I help you?” Her voice was monotonous. You would think they’d hire bubbly people to work the front desk at a hospital. This place is already depressing, and people like this lady don’t help the atmosphere.

“I just wanted to check the condition of one of the patients here,” I said.

“What’s their name?” Her hands were ready to type once I spoke.

“Ken Kaneki.” Her fingers started working her magic, but another voice spoke behind me before she could say anything.

“(Y/n)?” It sounded slightly familiar, but not enough for me to know who it was immediately. I turned around to see the bright, blonde-haired boy.

“H-Hide!” I should’ve expected him to come and check in on his friend.

“You’re here to check on Kaneki as well?” Looking at me puzzled, he scratched his head, “I didn’t know you guys were close.”

“Are you also a friend of the boy?” The lady behind the counter interrupted our conversation.

“Yes, I am.” The blonde boy's face settled into a straight line, a more serious look, away from the bright smile he usually wore when I saw him at the cafe.

“Then I’ll tell the both of you so I don’t have to repeat myself. Kaneki is in stable condition and doing well, but he’s asked for no visitors.”

I glanced over at Hide, and his eyebrows scrunched down. He looked disappointed and sad. I’m sure he wanted to see with his own eyes that his friend was okay.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I turned to face the boy beside me, “Can we talk?” He nodded his head.

He followed me out of the hospital, and we walked side by side in silence. I wasn’t sure where to start. I knew I couldn’t tell him that I stalked them cause I knew Rize was a ghoul, but I could at least explain that I just happened to be passing by when the steel beams fell. I’m sure he’s suspicious of me, and I wanted to clear my name.

“I know of a cafe we can go to if you’d like. I’ll pay.” I spoke.

“Is it Anteiku?” He lightly joked.

A small chuckle fell from my lips, and I shook my head, “No, there’s one right down the road that’s pretty good.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

The blonde boy seemed deep in thought as we headed towards the cafe, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty for his somber appearance. If I had stopped their date beforehand or pulled Rize away from Kaneki, then Hide’s friend wouldn’t be in the position he’s in, or if I had been strong enough to fight her. I gripped my fist tightly and cursed myself for being weak. Yes, I called the police, but I could’ve prevented him from ever getting hurt.

We made it to the cafe and were seated at a small table facing the window. I ordered an iced americano (something I could drink) and some avocado toast. I couldn’t eat the toast, but I’m good at pretending to enjoy food. I watch many videos on YouTube of people going out to eat, and I like to stay on top of food trends for people my age. Hide ordered a cappuccino and a piece of cake. Once our food and drinks arrived, I picked up the toast with my hands, bit right into it, swallowed it whole, and pretended to chew. Then, I sipped my coffee to wash away any foul-tasting food I ingested.

“So, why were you at the hospital to see Kaneki?” Hide questioned.

I sat down my food and dabbed my face with a napkin before responding, “I was there at the incident.” I decided to get straight into it.

“Wait, what?!” I guess what I said was the last thing he expected, given how his mouth hung open in shock.

“I don’t live too far from the area where it happened,” Which is the truth since I live at Anteiku and it wasn’t very far from the incident, “I was out for a late night walk cause I was feeling a bit stressed when suddenly these steel beams came crashing to the ground. I wasn’t close enough to be caught up under them, but the whole thing scared me. Then I remembered seeing two people walk towards where they had fallen, and I needed to make sure they were okay. So I started looking around. It wasn’t long before,” I paused for a second to take a deep breath. It wasn’t like I wasn’t used to seeing people in the state Kaneki was in when I found him. I've seen worse, but the negative thoughts from earlier came crashing back. A pair of solid hands lightly gripped mine, and I looked up to see the vibrant boy looking at me worriedly.

“It’s okay (Y/n), you don’t-”

“No, I have to tell you,” I cut the boy off and squeezed his hand in mine, “I saw Kaneki lying there. I recognized him from Anteiku and h-he- there was a lot of blood. I was sure he was dead, but when I checked for a pulse, I felt something faint. So I called the police immediately but didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t see the other person he was with, so I just sat there and stayed with him till help arrived.”

Hide rubbed his hands over his face, “I-I’m so sorry you had to witness what you did,” He looked up at me with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, “But I’m so thankful you were there to be with him and call for help.” His voice broke, “My best friend could be dead right now if it weren’t for you, so thank you.”

Having Hide thank me made all my emotions surface, and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I dropped my head into my hands to cover myself from the gaze of onlookers. Then I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and pull me into a hug. I nuzzled my face into the bright jacket of the dirty blonde boy, and he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. We both sat there crying while embracing each other. It felt good to have him be grateful to me, but I still felt guilty and don’t think that’ll ever go away. Hide offered to walk me home when we left the cafe, and I accepted it. We didn’t talk much during the walk, but the silence was comfortable. It was nice to have the company, at least. He tried to crack a few jokes to lighten the mood, and he succeeded with it. I couldn’t help but giggle whenever he said something funny.

Once we arrived at Anteiku, Hide cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. “I thought I was taking you home.”

“This is home,” I smiled at the boy, “I live in an apartment above the cafe. That’s how I started working here!”

“Oh wow! I didn’t realize people lived up there.”

“There are a few of us who live up there. Thankfully, there are only a few apartments, so I have fewer neighbors.” The blonde boy chuckled at my statement, “I guess this is where we part ways.” I whispered.

“I guess so,” Hide smiled slightly.

“Thank you for walking me back,” I said, walking up the steps to the door.

‘Wait!’ he yelled out. I stopped to face him once again. He rushed up the steps and got close to me. A fit of heat crept up my face from the sudden closeness. “Could I get your number?”

“U-um, sure.” If my face hadn’t been red, it would be red now. I reached into my back pocket, pulled out my phone, and handed it to him. He gave me his, and we swapped numbers.

“Thank you again, (Y/n), for looking after Kaneki.” He said one last time before leaving. I pressed my back against the wall and slid down once he was out of sight. I can’t believe that just happened.

——————————

It had been another steady day at the cafe, and I didn’t have any classes today, so I worked an entire shift from opening till 4 pm. Like always, I stood at the counter, waiting for Touka to return from school so she could swap me out. These past few days have been emotional and tiring, not to mention how I had to come clean and tell Mr. Yoshimura everything that happened with Kaneki and Rize. We spent the past few days reviewing the event in detail and ensuring nothing leads back to Anteiku. I felt terrible for putting our group in danger by exposing myself as a witness to the police and other ghouls by being there when Rize got killed. We had concluded that what happened most likely wasn’t an accident since so many people were after her. Meaning we must be extra careful and lay low for a while.

There have also been rumors floating around that the doctor who performed surgery on Kaneki used Rize’s organs as a transplant to save him. Mr. Yoshimura seemed concerned about this and asked us to watch for him. He feels like it could affect him in a way that we wouldn’t be able to comprehend. So I’ve been lost in thought over everything that’s happened, and my guilt has only grown. Mr. Yoshimura was kind and told me he was proud of me for saving the boy, and even though what I did was a considerable risk, I made the right choice. Even Yomo brought me coffee and an extra meal to spoil and make me feel better.

A small smile spreads on my face after I think of how Yomo cares for me. We’re not family by blood, but he took me under his wing when I was little. I was around 7, and he was only 23. Why did he look after me like I was his own at such a young age? I couldn’t understand, but he’s been like a father to me all these years. Being here at Anteiku has been a blessing; the people here are all my family. Without everyone’s help, there’s no way I would survive in this world. Many ghouls would struggle without the kindness of Anteiku and Mr. Yoshimura.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open, and an angry, disheveled Touka came storming through. Many customers glanced at her; some knew why she looked the way she did, while others looked at her with judging eyes.

“Hey, Koma, can you watch the counter while I check in on Touka?” I asked the male on shift.

“Of course, (Y/n)!” He smiled at me.

I quickly wandered back and headed up the stairs to Touka’s room. Knowing she would tell me to go away, I didn’t even bother knocking, so I just barged straight into her room. She whipped around quickly, looking at me with her signature annoyed look.

“Ugh, how often do I tell you to knock.” She said.

“What happened?” I asked as I sat down in her chair by the desk in her room.

“Why do you think something happened?” She huffed back.

“Because I’ve known you for a while, Touka, and you don’t try to hide it when something pisses you off.”

“Fine, an asshole was trying to push himself onto me on my way here from school, and then another asshole showed up. He was a ghoul as well, so I killed the old fuck trying to grope me, and I offered some of him to the other guy cause he seemed hungry. Then I noticed only one of his eyes was red, and he looked a lot like the guy Rize took on a date. I tried to get him to eat, and he refused. He looked at me with disgust before running away.”

I just sat there in shock over the fact that she told me all that so easily; I didn’t have to pry it out of her, and holy fuck… Kaneki is a ghoul now?!

“Touka, I’m so sorry some slimy bastard was pushing himself on you. I disagree with killing people, but he had it coming.” I paused momentarily, “As for the boy who looked like Rize’s date, you need to tell Mr. Yoshimura about him.”

“Why?” The plum-haired girl became defensive.

“He might need help.”

“He’ll be fine. If I had to figure out my way in this shitty world alone, he can too.” The young girl crossed her arms and glared at me.

“Touka, please just go talk to Mr. Yoshimura,” I begged the girl.

“I make no promises,” she said, walking towards her door and gesturing, “Now please leave so I can get dressed.”

I sighed and left the room, knowing there wasn’t much I could do. I’ll tell Mr. Yoshimura myself if Touka doesn’t talk to him by the night’s end. I returned to the cafe and let Koma know she was okay. Only a few minutes had passed before she made her way behind the counter, and I was finally free to go to my room. Walking down the hallway, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed a number I had yet to message. The phone rang a few times before a deep voice answered on the other end.

“Hey (Y/n)! This is a surprise.” His voice came through the speaker and whispered into my ear. Even talking on the phone made my cheeks heat up slightly.

“Hide, is this a bad time?” Before I asked the real question, I wanted to ensure he wasn’t busy.

“Nope! I just left class and am heading to a meeting for this school festival. We can talk while I walk!”

“I just wanted to check in and see how Kaneki was doing. Have you seen him lately?” I’m unsure if Hide knows he’s out of the hospital yet, so I have to see what he knows about Kaneki.

“Oh, yeah, he got discharged from the hospital a few days ago, and I took him out to eat as a celebration.” His voice didn’t sound as enthusiastic as before.

“That’s good. I’m glad to hear Kaneki is doing okay. How’s he doing… mentally?” I hesitated to say that last word. Dealing with trauma can be rough, but if he’s turned into a ghoul, then he must be going through something even worse.

“He did seem kind of out of it the whole time we were out, and he looked pretty pale. He couldn’t keep down any of the food he ate. I was worried about him, but he said he’s still healing.” So he couldn’t eat the food at the restaurant. I’ll have to tell Mr. Yoshimura this information and what Touka saw.

“It might take a while for him to feel normal again,” if he can even feel like that after what happened to him. “Thank you for updating me, Hide. I appreciate it.”

Once Hide and I got off the phone, I wandered down the hall to Mr. Yoshimura’s office and knocked on the door. I waited for his okay before I entered and sat in front of his large oak desk.

“What can I do for you (Y/n)?” He propped his hands on the desk and gave me his undivided attention.

“It’s about Kaneki. I told Touka to talk to you, but I don’t think it can wait.” He looked at me with deep, squinted eyes. “She saw him not too long ago and noticed one of his eyes was red. He looked hungry but refused the meat that Touka tried to give him.”

“So he’s part ghoul and refusing to eat.” The old man paused before continuing, “We need to contact him before the hunger consumes him.”

I agreed with Mr. Yoshimura, and we sat together and discussed ways to approach the dark-haired boy without scaring him off. We wanted to help him with this new way of life and teach him what it means to be a ghoul—if he’d let us, and maybe he could help us understand humans better. I begrudgingly told him about my encounter with Hide at the hospital and how we swapped numbers. I hoped to keep this secret, fearing Mr. Yoshimura would forbid me from talking to the vibrant boy. He didn’t fully agree with me talking to the human, but he didn’t say I wasn’t allowed to. Which I was silently thankful for.

We devised a plan for me to ask Hide for Kaneki’s number so I could personally check in with the shy boy. I would then message Kaneki, telling him I was the person who called the police during his incident and that I would like to meet up with him. From there, I would ask him to meet me at Anteiku and invite him upstairs, where I would lead him to Mr. Yoshimura’s office. We would then explain that we understand his situation and would like to offer him help. I wasn’t sure if this would work, but trying didn’t hurt. At least we would know that we reached out and tried even if he refused us.

Together, Mr. Yoshimura and I made our way down to the cafe. We wanted to gather everyone and meet about our possible new friend. Since it was the end of the day, the cafe should be locked up, and all the customers are gone. The only people left should be the other workers like Touka and Koma, and soon, Yomo would be returning from his patrol of the area. When we reached the cafe, the only person we could see was Koma mopping the floors. He told us Touka was outside taking out the trash. As we got close to the door, we could hear Touka’s loud and clear voice. She was yelling at someone, and she sounded agitated. The last thing I heard before Mr. Yoshimura opened the door was Touka saying, “You can die for all I care.”

Once the door was flung open, I saw the dark-haired boy kneeling on the ground. He had a green hoodie on with the hood pulled over his head. Tears were streaming down his face, and his left eye was red. He looked terrified, and my heart clenched as I stared at the poor boy. I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through. His world has turned upside down, and I could have prevented it.

“Touka,” Mr. Yoshimura’s voice cut through the tension. Kaneki looked up at the older man, and his eyes fell on me in the background. Without realizing it, I shrunk behind Mr. Yoshimura, trying to hide from the boy’s gaze. “It must have been rough,” The old man shifted his body and opened the door wider to invite Kaneki inside. As he walked past me, I kept my gaze on the floor. I didn’t realize how shameful I would feel for him to find out I was a ghoul. If he knew about my involvement when the beams fell on him from Hide, then I wouldn’t be surprised if he blamed me for what happened to him as well.

Touka argued with Mr. Yoshimura about letting the poor boy into Anteiku, but the older man shut her up by saying ghouls help each other. The plum-haired girl and I followed quietly behind the two men as Mr. Yoshimura led us to the secret refrigerator where we kept human meat for ghouls who couldn’t hunt independently. The grey-haired man grabbed a wrapped pack of fresh meat and handed it to the troubled boy. Kaneki hesitantly grabbed the package and stared at the raw human meat in his hands. His dilemma of what he would do with it was evident in his eyes, and I could relate to his feelings. There was a point in my life where I refused to kill another human so that I could survive. It drove me insane to the point where the hunger devoured me. I no longer knew who I was, and my sense of humanity disappeared.

I went on a binging spree, and the amount of blood I spilled that day was enough to last a lifetime. Yomo found me in hysterics and had to knock me out so I could calm down. When I awoke, I was in Mr. Yoshimura’s office, and he offered to help me. He told me that I would never have to worry about hurting another person. I was initially hesitant when they started to give me my meals, and it took a lot for me to finally give in and eat again. Ever since that moment, I haven’t killed another human.

“Please come back when you need more,” Mr. Yoshimura smiled at the boy. Kaneki thanked us for helping him and left quickly.

“I-I’m going to head to my room,” I said farewell, leaving Touka to glare at the older gentleman in the hallway. She was pissed, I could tell, but I wasn’t in the headspace to stay and explain what happened along with Mr. Yoshimura. He didn’t need me to help anyway. That old man always knew the right things to say.

The sun had finally set for the night, and I was starting to feel agitated in my room. Since Kaneki came by the cafe, I’ve been throwing a pity party for myself, and I needed to stop. I decided some fresh air would do me good and headed out of the cafe for a walk. I was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, with the hood pulled over my head and a pair of headphones shoved into my ears. Loud music blasted into my eardrums, and the cool night air nipped at my nose. My feet took me down the alleyway near Anteiku, where ghouls usually hunted at night, but I stayed clear of the feeding corners.

Being a ghoul, you knew whose turf was whose, and if you got caught wandering around an area you weren’t allowed in, a fight would break out. I’ve been in this area long enough to know which alleyways I could walk down peacefully and which I should avoid. The area my feet decided to take me was Rize’s old hunting grounds. With her being gone, I knew this area should be desolate. No ghoul lurking in the shadows scared that Rize might rip their heads off for being in her area, and no humans due to the high number of ghoul killings in this section. But my peace was interrupted the further I walked into the maze-like alley.

I stumbled across a ghoul named Nishiki Nishio holding someone against the wall while he ranted about having his territory disturbed. Gah. This prick. I’ve never liked him since we briefly met a few years ago, and if I ran into him, I would do my best to ignore him. I felt terrible for the hopeless ghoul he was threatening, and then I realized the ghoul he was threatening was none other than Kaneki. I stood there frozen, unsure of what to do, like the date situation all over again. But I’d be damned if I just stood around this time and didn’t interfere, so without thinking, I stepped forward.

“This isn’t your turf, Nishiki. It belongs to Rize.” I used the excuse of this area being Rize’s turf in hopes it would scare him, but when he cocked his head to look at me, all he did was laugh.

“Don’t be so silly, (Y/n). Everyone knows Rize is dead.” His manic eyes stared into mine.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s dead. Anteiku oversees the 20th ward, and if you want a hunting ground, you have to go over it with Mr. Yohsimura.” My voice was stern as I glared daggers back at Nishiki. He let go of Kaneki’s neck, causing the boy to fall to the ground and gasp for air. The tall brunette slowly walked my way, eyes glaring red and hands clenched into fists.

“I can’t stand you guys over at Anteiku. That old shithead pisses me off with his human-loving hippie shit.” He stops a few inches from my face, “This used to be my turf before that binge-eating bitch came into town, and now that she’s dead, it BELONGS TO ME.” He spat. I didn’t want him to see that I was affected by anything he was doing, so I tried to summon my inner Touka and held the meanest RBF possible.

��And I can’t stand pricks like you,” Maybe I summoned her too well because the next thing I knew, the tall brunette was lunging at me. I quickly dodged Nishiki’s attack and unleashed my kagune. My kagune was a koukaku type, otherwise known as the sword kagune, and it was released right below my right shoulder blade and warped into a sword-like figure around my arm. It almost looked like the kind of sword you would see in a fantasy video game, and not to fluff my ego, but my kagune is really pretty.

I stared down the angry male and prepared myself for another attack. He might be more robust than me, but I could severely injure him if I time my move right. As he dashed at me, I used my sword to slash a gaping wound from his right cheek down to his right hip. He yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground. Nishiki quickly pulled his body off the ground, cursing under his breath, and sent one last glare before sprinting in the opposite direction.

I let out a deep, shaky breath and fell to my knees. That was scarier than I thought it would be. I’m not the type of ghoul to get into fights or provoke others. Usually, I stick to myself and avoid others at all costs, and if I find myself in a sticky situation, then I’m getting my ass beat.

“W-what even are ghouls?!” Kanekis voice broke through the silence, “You guys kill humans and your own!”

“Kaneki-”

“YOU’RE SICK!” His yell pierced deep within me, and all the shame I felt my whole life was brought to the surface. He’s right; we’re sick creatures. Tears threatened to spill down my face, but I held them back.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Was all I could choke out. I stayed there on the ground and watched the dark-haired boy scream out in agony. His left eye was beating red, and his veins started protruding through his skin. He was suffering. Not just from the agony of being turned into a ghoul but from the ever-consuming hunger eating away at him. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

His head whipped to look straight at me, and his face contorted into disgust, “I could never eat human flesh!”

“Kaneki, I understand what you’re going through, but if you don’t eat-”

“I’ll never allow myself to become a monster like you! I’m a human being!” Tears flooded down his face, and his hands gripped at his hair, “A-and you, (Y/n), better stay away from Hide. I won’t let you ruin his life like Rize did mine!”

Hide? Did he tell Kaneki about me? Of course, he did. They’re best friends. But Kaneki is right; a monster like me should avoid Hide and all humans. Our worlds don’t mix. I pushed myself off the ground and ran away from the dark-haired boy before he could see the waterfall of tears cascading down my face.

——————————

A loud alarm jolted me from slumber. I rubbed my swollen eyes from a long night of tears, and a deep sigh escaped my lips. I wish I didn’t have to go to school today. The most sleep I got, in total, was around 3 hours. The thoughts swarming my head wouldn’t shut up, and at some point in the night, I let out an anguishing scream. This wasn’t a rare occurrence; unfortunately, I’ve had night terrors most of my life and would wake up screaming. Yomo came rushing in to see the stains of salty tears streaking my cheeks, and he quickly wrapped me in his arms and petted my hair. He whispered that everything was okay and that it was all a bad dream, but this time, everything that had happened was real. The long, white-haired male was able to calm me down and lull me to sleep. Now I’m awake again. If I let every night like this keep me from going to school, I would miss most of my classes, so I dragged my body out of bed.

I quickly washed my face, brushed my teeth, and beat some concealer into my skin to hide my lack of sleep. I decided to wear a cropped, long-sleeve top with thick stripes going across and torn fringes dangling from the bottom, along with oversized mom jeans and a pair of Doc Martins. My school bag was just a plain black crossbody tote, and I slung it over my shoulder, giving myself a once-over in the mirror before leaving my room. As I made my way to the cafe, I quickly stopped by the fridge and grabbed a few bottles of our nitro coffee. I will need all the energy I can get for a full day of classes.

I’m studying art at Kamii University, which thankfully means I only have classes for three days a week, and I get to bend my creative mind—sometimes. It was hard for me to focus on anything the teachers talked about or showed us, and I put little work into the lessons during class. By the end of the day, I slowly walked through the campus, made my way to one of the courtyards, and sat on a bench tucked under a tree. I leaned back, letting my eyes flutter close, and listened to all the noises around me. The chatter of people walking by, the chirp of birds in the trees, and cars off in the distance. Every sound flows together, creating a peaceful cadence. For a moment, the muscles in my body relaxed. I could curl up on the bench and take a much-needed nap.

“(Y/n)?” A deep voice calls out to me. Why, cruel world, must you rip me out of this peaceful moment? I open my eyes to see Hide and Kaneki standing before me. The blonde-haired boy flashed me his signature smile, and the dark-haired boy glared at me from behind his friend. “I didn’t know you went to school here!” His cheerful voice rang through my ears.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” I shifted my gaze to the ground and did my best not to seem interested in the conversation. After what Kaneki said last night, it felt wrong to interact with Hide.

“Kaneki, this is (Y/n), the girl who saved your life!” Hide’s statement made both Kaneki and me flinch.

“Hide, we should probably get going,” Kaneki tried to pull the vibrant boy away.

“Huh?” Hide’s olive eyes stared at his friend briefly and then drifted toward me. “(Y/n) would you like to join us?” He gazed softly at me, causing my heart to race. I’ve never had someone look at me with such gentleness like the way he’s doing right now. My heart fluttered and hurt at the same time. I wanted to accept his offer but had to turn him down. At least we haven’t grown too close to where doing this would be more painful.

“Sorry, Hide, but I should head home,” The sadness was evident in my voice. I stood from the bench and re-slung my bag over my shoulder.

“Did something else happen between you that I don’t know about?” The blonde gestured between Kaneki and me.

“What?” I nervously laughed. “I just have a lot of homework.” He looked at me with a questioning gaze, and I could tell he was developing theories.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hide flashed me a somber smile, “Hopefully, I’ll see you later.” The blonde boy started walking away, but Kaneki, still facing me, looked like he was internally fighting himself.

I approached the black-haired boy and whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay away from him.”

“(Y/n),” Kaneki’s deep silver eyes trapped me in his presence. They danced across my face, taking in every inch. I felt exposed like he saw all the terrible things I’ve ever done, and I was just waiting for him to spit another crude comment, but people keep surprising me lately.

“She’s coming with us!” Kaneki called out to Hide.

“Hu-What?” My mouth was gaping open and closing like a fish out of water.

Hide turned around to look at me, “Are you sure? You don’t have to join us if you’re busy.”

“No, it’s okay,” I shot Kaneki a thankful glance, “I would love to go with you.”

Hide and I walked alongside one another, and Kaneki trailed slightly behind us. I knew he’d stay back to watch me, so I made sure to be mindful of my actions. I wanted to show Kaneki I wasn’t a nasty ghoul like the few he’d encountered. He doesn’t ever have to worry about me hurting his dear friend.

We walked through the campus, and I must admit this is the first time I’ve been to the dorms. They were just as pretty as the main building, and I fantasized about what it would be like to live in the dorms: making friends, having a roommate, going to parties, and getting to be an ordinary college girl. That would be nice. On our way into one of the dormitories, Hide explained that we were going to an upperclassmen’s room to pick up a DVD from last year’s festival. The blonde boy then told Kaneki and me what setting up for the festival was like. It seemed like a lot of work, but how Hide lit up and talked excitedly made me want to join the committee. Maybe I should look into it anyway? Socializing would do me good, and I would spend more time with Hide.

We made our way in front of a door, and the vibrant boy exclaimed that we had finally arrived and flung the door open, revealing a girl straddling some guy’s lap. Her shirt was unbuttoned, exposing her breasts, and the boy’s lips trailed along her neck. But within the split second of Hide barging in, the poor girl screamed and jumped away from the guy she was sitting on. Quickly, she fixed her shirt and then ran out of the door. I instinctively slapped my hands to cover my eyes from the inappropriate scene in front of me. This is why we knock kids.

“Nagachika,” the two boys blocked my view of the guy in the room, so I couldn’t see who it was, but that voice sounded familiar, making my hair stand on end. “I really don’t like my territory being violated.”

“Nishiki?!” His name came out of my mouth before I could stop it. Great, why him?

“Oh? (Y/n).” He looked at me with his snake-like eyes.

“You guys know each other?” Hide asked.

“Unfortunately,” I glared at the brunette boy. He sat unfazed in his desk chair with a bandaid plastered to his cheek. I couldn’t help but smirk, knowing my attack was deep enough and still healing.

“Oh, well,” the blonde awkwardly scratched his head. “I guess I don’t have to introduce you two.” Hide then pointed towards the black-haired boy, “Kaneki, this is Nishio, Nishio, Kaneki.”

The tall brunette gets up from his chair and fixes his shirt. He takes a few long strides to Kaneki and stops in front of his face, giving Kaneki a chilling smile. “Nice to meet you, Kaneki,” Nishiki’s voice was dark, and I couldn’t help but tremble along with Kaneki. The poor boy looked like he was going to faint. He already didn’t like me because I was a ghoul and didn’t initially like the idea of me around Hide, so he must be freaking out now that another ghoul is in the equation. Especially a violent one like Nishiki.

Hide drew Nishiki’s attention by asking for the DVD for last year’s festival. The brunette started delegating areas for all of us to look at, and I felt like I’d gotten whiplash from the sudden threatening aura he gave to this now-normal college student he’s showing. It was weird to be in a room with Nishiki and not be arguing or having to defend myself. We spent about ten minutes looking for this green case that held the special CD that Hide needed.

“Oh, you know what? I took that disk home,” Nishiki said. Like hell, he took it home. He’s up to something, and I don’t like it. “It’s not too far, so we could head over there and grab it.”

“Hide, do you need it right now? Nishiki can always bring it to you tomorrow.” I looked at the blonde boy with pleading eyes, hoping he would understand what I was trying to say. Don’t go with him. It’s a trap.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Hide flashed us a bright smile, “You don’t have to come along.”

“I-I’m coming along!” Kaneki quickly responded.

“Yeah, I’m not leaving you alone with Nishiki,” I said bluntly. He already knows how I feel about him, so there’s no point in hiding it.

“What’s gotten into you guys?” Hide questions.

“I’ve been cooped up at home, so going out somewhere would be nice.” Kaneki’s reply seems legit since he has been home the past few days since he got out of the hospital, but it’s clear that he doesn’t want his friend to be alone with Nishiki.

“I don’t trust Nishiki,” I flatly said. Maybe Hide will change his mind about going if I’m honest about how terrible Nishiki is, or I could make him believe I’m uncomfortable and would like us all to go somewhere else, which isn’t entirely wrong. I got lucky last night with the hit I landed on him, and I doubt the universe would allow me to be this lucky twice in a row.

“Aww, (Y/n), after all these years, you still don’t trust me,” Nishiki says. He walks towards me and tries to wrap his arm around my shoulder, but I step to the side, brushing him off. That annoyed him, and he glared at me through his hooded eyes. His face will get stuck in a permanent glare if he does it one more time.

Hide slides between the brunette and me, an uncomfortable chuckle escaping his lips, “Well, let’s head out then.”

Nishiki and Hide chatted as we walked along the sidewalk while Kaneki and I sulked in the back. Well, Kaneki was the one sulking as I burned daggers into Nishiki’s back. We encountered a Taiyaki stand on our way, and Nishiki insisted we get some. Hide seemed happy to snack on something, and I begrudgingly accepted the treat. I had drunk all my coffee earlier, so I could not wash the vile taste down after eating the Taiyaki. Kaneki watched Nishiki and me with amazement at how we stomached the food. He must learn to eat and look like he’s enjoying it if he still wants to blend in with his friend.

“Nishio, how much further?” Hide asks the brunette.

“It’s just around the corner here.” The tall male walks up behind the blonde boy. Before I could react, Nishiki slammed his foot into Hide’s back, sending him flying into the wall ahead of us.

“Hide!” Kaneki and I screamed.

Without thinking, I released my kagune, and I rushed towards Nishki. He quickly dodged my attack and then slammed his foot on me. The sheer pressure of him stomping me into the ground broke the concrete beneath me. I could feel the snapping of my ribs, and I groaned in pain as I tried to wriggle my way out. He had me pinned.

“I won’t be going easy on you today (Y/n). We’re not by your precious Anteiku, so I don’t have to worry about those shitheads showing up to help you.” I should’ve known I won yesterday because he didn’t want to deal with Mr. Yoshimura or Yomo. “My strength can match Touka’s or even Yomos if I wanted it to, and right now, I’m just using 80%.” He pushes his foot even further into my body. Then he kicks my side, sending me tumbling across the floor. I really shouldn’t have turned down all those sparing sessions from Yomo. They could have come in handy right now. Even with the blinding pain shooting through my abdomen, I pull myself off the ground and take a fighting stance. I won’t give up until I can’t move anymore.

This time, I wait for Nishiki to come towards me, and when he gets close enough to try and kick me again, I swing my sword down at him and slash his leg. “You bitch!” He yells at me, stumbling backward. Oh good, I landed a blow. It wasn’t the leg his kagune wraps around, but it’ll kill his speed with how much he relies on his legs. It won’t give me an advantage, but It might help me. I could see the blood boiling inside him, and I prepared myself for his next move, knowing Nishiki would be full of anger. But nothing could’ve prepared me for the way he slammed his head against mine, causing the room to spin and taking advantage of my momentary dizziness to kick his kagune straight through my stomach. Blood trickled up my throat, and I choked on the thick fluid, spitting some up onto the brunette boy’s face.

“You’re so fucking weak.” Nishiki slowly retracted his kagune from my body. With a loud thud, my body collapsed to the ground. My vision was fading in and out, and a loud buzzing rang throughout my ears. I tried to pull myself together but couldn’t determine which way was up or down. The pain was so unreal my body almost went numb, but I could feel the warm liquid coat my skin. I could practically make out two blurry figures fighting against one another and hear a faint scream somewhere in the distance. My sense of self was slowly starting to come back. I lifted my head to see Nishiki hovering over Hide. Nishiki’s foot was lifted over the blonde boy’s head, and he slammed it against his face. I still couldn’t distinguish his exact words, but I knew he was taunting Kaneki. He slammed his foot down again.

“N-No,” I tried to croak out, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was more blood. I couldn’t let him hurt Hide. He could kill him without even meaning to. With the bit of strength left in my body, I hurried to fling myself over the vibrant boy, and once my body was over his, a heavy foot collided with my skull. Then everything turned black.

——————————

When I woke back up, I was lying in my bed at Anteiku, and the pain I felt in my abdomen was nearly gone. I dragged my sore body out of bed and hobbled into the hallway. A slight cramp sprang through my stomach, letting me know I hadn’t completely healed yet. My feet dragged against the floor, and I stopped before Mr. Yoshimura’s office. I tapped my knuckles against the wooden door and waited for the older man’s voice to float through, letting me know I could enter. He seemed surprised to see me out of bed and standing before him.

“(Y/n), what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.” Mr. Yoshimura’s voice was strict but caring.

“H-Hide, what happened to him?” My throat still felt raw, and the words tumbling out didn’t sound quite right.

“Here, I’ll show you.” Mr. Yoshimura held his arm out to me, and I gratefully accepted. He helped me walk down the hall to one of the empty rooms and slid the door open. On the bed lay a boy sleeping, his head wrapped up and tufts of dirty blonde hair sticking out the top. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, and my lips trembled.

“W-what happened?” I choked out.

“Touka was passing by and was able to stop the fight. She immediately called Yomo to explain the situation, and we quickly rushed to help. Then we brought everyone back to Anteiku.”

“So Touka saved us. I guess I’ll have to thank her later,” I paused and stared at the serene boy lying on the bed, “Is it okay if I stay in here?” Mr. Yoshimura nodded and then turned around to leave me alone with Hide. I hobbled closer to the bed and kneeled on the floor beside him. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to the boy, “I’m so, so, s-sorry.” My body began to convulse as the tears came flooding out. I draped my body over the side of the bed and stayed lying there until I cried myself back to sleep.

I was woken back up by the sound of the door sliding back open. I whipped my head off the bed to see Kaneki standing in the doorway, tears also staining his eyes. A look of relief washed over him as he stared down at his friend, who was still alive.

“Kaneki,” My voice was soft, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” I flashed a small smile at him.

“(Y/n), I-I,” the black-haired male gripped his stomach and then glanced back at Mr. Yoshimura standing behind him. “I don’t feel hungry anymore…” Kanekis’s voice trailed off. “What did you do to me?” He asked the older man.

“There is only one way to eliminate a ghoul’s hunger, and I think you know what that is.” Mr. Yoshimura said matter-of-factly, “If you kept going down the road you were on, you would have killed your friend.” The old man’s usually closed eyes opened widely, and he looked Kaneki straight on, “Accept what you are.”

The poor boy hung his head, and the tears slipped past his eyes and fell to the floor, “I-I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You don’t have to,” I finally spoke, “Here at Anteiku, we get our food without hurting humans.”

“I-I, I just feel like I don’t belong anywhere,” Kaneki cried out, “I’m not a human anymore, but I’m also not a ghoul.”

“You’re wrong, young man,” Mr. Yoshimura said, resting a hand on Kaneki’s shoulder. “You’re both. You’re the only person who can exist in both worlds. So let us help you. We can teach you about ghouls, and you can teach us about humans.”

——————————

Hide’s POV

I woke up with an intense pounding in my head, and my body was sore. The last thing I remember was walking with Nishiki, Kaneki, and (Y/n), and then something crashed into me, knocking me out cold. There was a split moment where I remember fading back into consciousness, and something, no, someone, was covering my body. It was (Y/n), but it feels like a fever dream. I’m not sure if that was even real. I took in the room around me, and it didn’t seem like a hospital. Where was I? This is just a regular bedroom, but who brought me here? What even happened? I slowly sat up in the bed, my body aching in protest, but stopped mid-movement when I noticed a (h/c) haired girl slumped over the bed I was lying on.

Her cheek rested on her arms, and her back rose with a deep breath. Salty trails stained her face, and my chest tightened at the thought that she lay here crying till she most likely passed out. Gently, I reached out to her soft face and rubbed away the marks her tears left. She leaned into my touch, so I left my hand there, cupping her cheek. (Y/n), I can’t help but feel like you saved me today but hurt yourself in the process of doing it. My finger lightly rubbed against her skin, and I leaned down carefully, kissing her forehead. She’s been through a lot these past few days and deserves rest. Maybe I should get up and lay her in the bed?

Before I could do anything, my ears perked up at the sound of footsteps in the hallway and a set of male voices. One sounded more mature, and the other was a soft voice I knew by heart. Kaneki. He seemed worried, but the other male reassured him. The steps approached my room, and my gut told me I shouldn’t be awake yet. So I quickly laid back down and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. The door slid open, and a choked sob left the timid boy’s throat. Oh, Kaneki, he’s never been one to deal with hardships well. I could feel (Y/n)’s body jolt off the bed, and her sweet voice broke through the air. She greeted Kaneki and expressed how thankful she was that he was okay. It seems that whatever happened, we were all hurt badly.

The next few moments were challenging to stay still for, but they confirmed many things I already suspected. Kaneki is half-ghoul now, and in fact, everyone in this room is a ghoul except me. Honestly, it didn’t scare me; I was just relieved to know why my friend was acting differently now, and it killed me to hear him sound so broken. So lonely. He would be dumb if he thought I would stop being his friend because he’s different now. It also makes sense why (Y/n) acted weirdly with me. She’s scared to get close to a human, but I’ll slowly show her it’s okay.

The older gentleman had left the room to give Kaneki some space after their emotional conversation, and (Y/n) was about to go when Kaneki called out to her. “Wait, (Y/n),” my friend spoke softly. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harsh things I said to you last night.”

Harsh things he said? Did he say something rude to her? Was that why she didn’t want to join us when I first asked?

“It’s okay; it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before,” Her voice made me want to jump out of bed and pull her into my arms.

“It’s not okay, and I’m realizing that now. You sacrificed yourself to keep Hide safe when I could barely fight or keep myself together. You threw your body over him to protect him from Nishio.”

What?! So, I wasn’t hallucinating. She was covering me to keep me safe.

“Thank you for keeping my best friend safe,” Kaneki cried. This brought me back to the cafe where the (h/c) haired girl told me how she saved Kaneki. She truly is something else, isn’t she?

——————————

AN:

Hey everyone I’m just testing out this story here on tumblr! I’ve also uploaded it on Quotev! Let me know what you think!

I do plan on posting this story on Quotev first before anything else, so look for it there!

#tokyo ghoul #hideyoshi nagachika #ken kaneki #touka kirishima #hide x reader #hide #Tokyo ghoul x reader #tokyo ghoul manga #anime #fanfiction #x reader #smut #manga #hide nagachika #ghoul #yomo renji #Uta

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imagineanime2022 · 2 months ago

Text

Surprise You.

Hideyoshi Nagachika X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2046

Requested: @the-letter-horror-lover

Request: Please may I have a Tokyo ghoul headcanon of Hideyoshi Nagachika with a female reader who is a ghoul and certainly not human but she is a calm and a nice ghoul..she is the oldest sister of the Kirishima siblings (Touka and Ayato Kirishima)..and she attended her classes in college and took notes. She didn't take human lives..she only ate the human flesh of those who had passed away or had committed suicide or don't deserve to live *e.g. murderers..as mild as she may seem..she is a highly dangerous ghoul in the eyes of the doves and she is a skillful fighter. Overall though she is humane, noble, brave, heroic, protective, sweet, serious, caring, kind.

She was understandingly wary when she first met him..she heard of too many stories of humans selling out her kind to the Doves and she had one boyfriend before and look how that turned out! She did end up having to protect him from less than friendly ghouls.

Warnings: Talk of eating people, injuries, kidnapping, death

You had never been more relieved when Yoshimaru offered you a job and a place for Touka after she finished school. After losing Ayato to his anger at humans, you wanted to do everything to keep her safe, hoping to find a way to get him back to your family. You understood why he felt that way, you were distrusting and wary of humans yourself, you had seen many give over ghouls they claimed to have loved or held dear to them. You’d had a boyfriend yourself, one that you had ended up saving from a bad situation with some ghouls and you never saw him again, if fact that was the day that the CCG dusted off your case reports and tracked your current location.

You remember the first time that he spoke to you, he came in with Kaneki encouraging him to talk to a ghoul that frequented the Anteiku cafe. You had been at the counter when Touka took over they’re drinks, you had taken coffee over to Rize, another regular but to be honest you should have recognised the look of a ghoul that was hunting but you didn’t. You watched as Kaneki walked over to her and struck up conversation, you didn’t even hear Hideyoshi approach you so it did make you jump a little when he spoke to you.

“You're here every time that we come in but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at school with us.” Hideyoshi said. “That’s because I don’t go to school with you.” You said “do you want to pay or something?” “I mean I can but I actually just wanted to talk to you.” Hideyoshi shrugged as he leaned on the counter. “I’m sure you did.” You ran up the total for his drinks and gave him his total. “She’s your sister right?” Hideyoshi asked as he looked over at Touka, he saw confusion on your face and he smiled. “You look like her.” “Oh.” You nodded as you looked at Touka “she is my sister.” “I’m sorry that you both have to work here.” He said softly as you looked at him and frowned. “What?” You asked. “Well people our age don’t choose to work but it’s not uncommon, people her age don’t work unless they have to, so I’m sorry that you both have to,” Hideyoshi explained, it was then that you realised that he might be a lot smarter than anyone gave him credit for, he was goofy and bright but that hid the smarts that were underneath. “Nothing anyone can do to change it now, not when we were born to suffer his way.” You shrugged and he frowned as he looked at you. He didn’t say anything but you could hear the gears turning in his head before he settled for one sentence. “Hopefully that changes for you. My name's Hideyoshi by the way.”

The next time that you saw him, he didn’t see you, it was just before Kaneki had started working at Anteiku, you and Touka had been hunting when you found them, hunting was a broad term you didn’t hurt anyone living unless they were known murders, serial killers or worse, otherwise you would feed on already dead bodies. You remember seeing Kaneki struggling with the urge to kill his best friend, you had some human meat with you at the time so you threw it over and that distracted him long enough for you to get behind him and knock him out. You and Touka carried them back to the cafe after that. “What happened?” Yoshimaru asked. “Another ghoul had a run in with them, looks like he was trying to kill Hideyoshi but Kaneki stopped him.” You explained as you handed over Kaneki, who Yomo took up to a room to wait until he woke up again, while you followed Touka who was still carrying Hideyoshi “he lost control and almost ate his friend though, gave him some human flesh to calm him down and then knocked him out.” “What about the other ghoul?” Yoshimaru asked. “Injured but not dead, he’ll be fine after he eats.” You answered “he was too injured to follow us but even if he did, he would be easy enough to neutralise.” “You have done well, I will talk to Kaneki when he wakes about working here, for now clean up Hideyoshi and bandage him up, we’ll tell him he they were all in a crash, nothing fatal and he was the one that got off worse.” Yoshimaru ordered and you nodded. You easily cleaned Hideyoshi up and bandaged all of the wounds that he had, most of them were around his face and head. He didn’t wake in the time that you spent watching over him in fact you didn’t see before he left either.

Kaneki was working with you and Touka at Anteiku when Hideyoshi came in again. “Good you're here, I wanted to thank you for looking after me after the car accident.” Hideyoshi smiled as he walked over to you. “No need to thank me.” You answered softly as you looked at him, subtly checking over the wounds that you could see, they all seemed to be healing well. “Nishiki wasn’t here with us?” He asked. “No, he was awake when we got there, he wanted to go to the hospital, so we brought you both back here.” You explained. “Well thanks for helping me and Kaneki.” He shrugged “do I get to learn your name now?” “My name?” You asked. “Yeah, is that a problem?” He asked. “No… No, um, I-, My name is (Y/N).” You answered. “Nice to finally meet you.” Hideyoshi smiled. You wanted to let your guard down, he seemed so kind and gentle but he didn’t know what you were. The moment that he found out that you were a ghoul that would change, you were sure that it would.

Over the next couple of months Hide visited the cafe sometimes to see Kaneki but a lot of the time to come and see you. As Touka and Kaneki started to get closer you spent more time with Hide, you ended up learning more about him than you thought and sharing more than you wanted about your father disappearing and your brother following suit. Everything shifted after Kaneki was kidnapped, Touka started to retreat back into herself again and nothing you could do would help her. You refused to let yourself feel sad or lonely because it felt selfish. You weren’t as close to Kaneki as Touka or some of the others were, so you needed to keep everything running for when Kaneki decided to come back. Even still Hide would come by, most of the time to see if Kaneki would show up.

“How have you been?” You asked, he looked at you. “I’ve been thinking…” He said and you nodded fear gripping you as you waited for what he was going to say next. “I think I’m going to start working part time at the CCG.” “What!? Why?” You asked. “I just- it’s the only way that I can look for Kaneki, maybe if they find something then I’ll at least know.” He explained. After everything he told you, you knew why he was worried. With no family Kaneki was unlikely to have anyone looking for him outside of Anteiku and Hide. Not to mention none of you would be told if they ever did find anything because you weren’t next of kin. “Are you… Are you sure?” You asked. “Why are you so worried?” Hide asked. “I’m-” worried that you’ll find out about me and never want to talk to me again. “Worried that you’ll get hurt.” “No need to worry about that, I'm just going to work in the office part time.” He waved off your concern “I promise that nothing will happen to me.”

That was the last time that you spoke to him in person before the raid, you were fighting for your life when you caught sight of him in the multitude of humans running around, you were successfully knocking out the one that came at you. By the time that Hide found you, you were doubled over with your hand pressed to your stomach “(Y/N)!?” Hide rushed over, pressing his hand to your stomach. “You said nothing would happen to you… You could get hurt here.” You tried to joke but it just sounded like you were scolding him. “Come on.” He hoisted your arm over his shoulder as he looked around, everyone seemed to be knocked out or fighting so he moved you out of sight before crouching “I wish I could do more but I… Kaneki is here. I have to find him, I will come back to help you after.” “Alright.” You nodded, but he never came back, in fact that was the last conversation that you had before he died. Touka found you after the fighting settled and helped you back to the others.

Now he was standing in front of you again with a cover over the bottom half of his face, he went off with Kaneki first of course, you didn’t actually bother to approach him, sure that he wouldn’t want to talk to you especially not after it was finally confirmed that you were a ghoul.

You were up on the roof, it had been a while since you could just enjoy the sun “it’s really been that long?” The voice startled you, it’s slightly tinny undertone giving a clear indication as to who it was. “It’s been that long since I’ve been able to enjoy it.” You nodded leaning against the railing. “I never came back for you that night.” He said. “You were indisposed.” You reminded him. “I still worried, you weren’t someone who spent too much time in the CCG radio waves so I didn’t know if you were even alive after the raid.” He explained. “And then I got a look at my face and figured it would be better if I just left you alone.” “Your face?” You asked. “I…” He stopped as he looked down “I never regretted saving Kaneki the way that I did.” “That doesn’t mean that you can’t mourn what you l have lost.” You answered shifting your weight from one foot to the other. “So how come you never did?” He asked. “I…” You wanted to have some profound reason, but in all honesty you had lost so much that you were afraid, you started making excuses since your father disappeared and now it just felt like most of the problems had resolved themselves and there was no reason to mourn them anymore. “I’m glad that you are alive.” Hide finally said. “You are?” You asked. “Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked. “I spent so much time lying to you.” You finally looked over at him and the moment that you did you could see that he wasn’t angry at you, his eyes hadn’t changed he still looked at you the same way. “You never lied to me.” He said. “You never said that you weren’t a ghoul and I saw everything that CCG had on you, you never hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it.” “You give me too much credit.” You said softly, he moved forward for a second but then stopped. “What?” “I wanted to do something that I can’t.” He answered. “What?” You asked. “Kiss you.” He answered, you assumed that this had something to do with the injury that he was hiding under the mask, so instead you leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. As you stepped back you took his hands in yours wrapping them around your waist. “There are other ways to show that you care.” You said softly. “I’m not sure that you would feel the same after see what’s under here.” Hide muttered and you shook your head. “I would have said the same thing about you finding out I’m a ghoul.” You said softly as you pressed your forehead to his chest. “Humans can surprise you.” He tightened his hold on you. “Ghouls can too.” You promised “and I’ll be waiting to show you as long as you need.”

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xdarkestdesirex · 3 months ago

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Calamity - Hide x f.Reader

Volume Two

Calamity (n.) a great misfortune or disaster

This writing contains highly sensitive topics like violence, gore, mental illness, talk of suicide, death, smut, and other mature themes. Reader discretion is advised.

word count 13018

“Watching you ghouls pretend to be human makes me…”

-Tokyo Ghoul Volume 2 #015 Mother and Daughter by Sui Ishida

TW: TALK OF SUICIDE

——————————

It’s been a few days since Nishiki attacked us. Thankfully, everyone had healed, and Hide didn’t know what happened. We told him some driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel and crashed into us and that Nishiki was the only one who was injured badly, so Nishiki was brought to the hospital, and since we were only injured minorly, Touka took us to Anteiku. Since that day, we have offered Kaneki our full support, and he has finally accepted. So here he was, at the cafe, learning to make coffee from Mr. Yoshimura. They were in the back room, away from customers, so they didn’t disturb everyone with their lessons.

I held my place behind the counter as Touka was out on the floor taking orders and cleaning tables. Usually, we would alternate jobs with each shift, but I loved making the coffee, and Touka didn’t care for it as much. So she let me do it most of the time unless she didn’t want to deal with people. The door flung open, and I sent a gleaming smile towards the door, welcoming the new customer who had entered Anteiku.

“(Y/n)!” A loud, excited voice said. Hide came towards the coffee bar and sat right in front of me. “Is Touka here?” He asked me.

“She’s with a customer right now, but I can call her over when she finishes,” I smiled towards the bright boy.

“Could you? I want to thank her for helping us since I couldn’t before I left the other day.” When I first looked at the blonde-haired boy, I could feel his kindness oozing; these small encounters we’ve had so far have only confirmed that feeling.

“We were fortunate she was in the area. I mean, what are the odds?” It indeed was luck that brought Touka to that part of town. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if she wasn’t around. I don’t think Nishiki would kill us, but Kaneki was losing it, and he could’ve killed Hide or all of us if his hunger was that bad. And I was useless—a weakling who could barely fight back.

“Oh, and (Y/n), I would also like to thank you.” Hide leaned his cheek into the palm of his hand and stared at me with soft, caring eyes.

“M-me? What did I do?” I could feel the flushness overwhelming my face from how he looked at me.

“For a split second during the accident, I regained consciousness, and the only thing I remember was you throwing your body over mine.” Huh? Was he conscious during that part? He wouldn’t be here now if he knew of other things. “It’s embarrassing that I got knocked out so quickly.” The blonde sweat dropped, “I would’ve liked to be the one protecting you.”

“O-oh,” My eyes turned towards the ground, and I spoke softly, “I would gladly do it again.”

Looking back up, I saw the plum-haired girl glaring daggers at the male before me. She doesn’t like him, huh? Well, she doesn’t like that he’s a human. Nonetheless, I waved the dark-haired girl towards us, and she begrudgingly made her way over. Once she stood beside me, I told her Hide wanted to say something to her and then walked away to give them privacy while they talked. I didn’t want to be rude and welcome myself into their conversation, so I stepped aside to let Hide adequately thank Touka. But I still watched the encounter. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Touka seemed genuinely shocked that he was thankful for her helping us. I know deep down she has a soft spot for humans and wants to be accepted by them, but with the way this world is, it’s better to have a hard exterior.

When they finished talking, Hide approached the small table I was cleaning up and leaned back into one of the chairs with his arms crossed behind his head, flashing me his biggest toothy smile. He opened his mouth to say something when a voice called out.

“Hide!!” Kaneki says, “What are you doing here?” Kaneki makes his way towards us. It seems Mr. Yoshimura is satisfied enough with his coffee-making skills to send him out to the bar.

“I stopped by to see you in that uniform!” The blonde gestures to the dark-haired boy’s outfit. “You look great, dude!” Hide chuckles a bit as he looks over his friend.

“H-Hide,” Kaneki said, looking embarrassed for Hide to see him in his Anteiku uniform. “You should probably order something if you’re just going to sit there.”

“Oh, right! A cappuccino!” Kaneki took out his notepad, wrote down the blonde boy’s order, and walked away to start making his coffee. Hide leaned into me before I could follow the dark-haired boy and whispered, “Could you make it for me?” I chuckled and assured him I’d watch over Kaneki as he made the cappuccino.

Behind the coffee bar, I watched Kaneki nervously perform all the steps to make his friend’s cappuccino. Brewing the beans, steaming the milk, making the foam, and then decorating the coffee. He honestly did an excellent job with little direction from me.

“He better not find out,” The purple-haired girl says lowly.

“Huh?” Kaneki and I look at her with a confused expression.

“Hide.” Her violet eyes drift to the boy she mentioned, “He better not find out you’re a ghoul.”

“H-he won’t!” Kaneki swore.

“And you,” Toukas’s violet eyes turn towards me. “He better not find out about you either.”

“Touka, you know I’m cautious. He’ll never find out.” It’s painful to think about the fact that he could never know who I really am. I could get to know everything about him, but he could only understand parts of me and a fake me.

“If he ever finds out about us,” The young girl glares menacingly towards Kaneki and me, “I’ll kill him.”

“Touka,” I glared at the girl. “There’s no need to talk like that. He won’t find out.” I grabbed the coffee sitting on the counter and walked past the girl. Her words made my blood boil. We’re trying to live cohesively with humans, but it won’t work with her mindset.

I went over to Hide’s table and placed the cup before him. “Kaneki made this.” Hide pouted. The look on his face was quite pitiful, and I wanted to reach out, ruffle his blonde locks, and tell him it was okay. But I didn’t. Instead, I said, “He did, but I watched Kaneki to ensure he made it properly.”

The blonde boy grabbed the cup and took a careful sip. He seemed to hold the coffee in his mouth for a moment, taking in the flavors from the bitter bean and then swallowed. “It’s not as good as yours,” He sticks his lip out in a pout again, “And I was hoping for another heart.”

“I’ll make it up to you next time,” I say.

“I know how you could make it up to me,” The blonde boy suddenly took a serious turn. The joking tone of his voice was gone; he spoke sincerely, causing a chill to run down my spine. “Let me take you on a date.” His olive eyes stared into my (e/c) ones, trapping me in his gaze.

He wants to take me on a date? Like an actual date? With me? WHAT!? OHMYGOADDD.

“Yes!-” I mentally cringed at myself and cleared my throat, “I mean, I would like that.”

All I could think about for the rest of the day was Hide asking me out on a date. He told me he would text me with details later tonight. I wonder what kind of date he’ll plan. Hopefully, he doesn’t want to take me out to eat. I would still eat if we did, but I would hate feeling sick on our first date. Maybe I should tell him I would like to do an activity? Would it be too pushy if he said he would plan it? No, it doesn’t matter what he plans. I’ll be happy just to be with him. I can’t believe I’m going on a date with Hide!

Once the day was over, Touka, Kaneki, and I were in the back room of the cafe where Mr. Yoshimura put together a basic sandwich. He wanted to teach Kaneki how to fake eating food so that he could blend back in with humans, and then he could go out and ‘enjoy’ a meal with Hide again. The older gentleman took a decent-sized bite from the sandwich, swallowed it quickly, and pretended to chew and swallow again. The dark-haired boy stared at him in astonishment, wondering how Mr. Yoshimura could even stand the taste and texture of the bread. Or how the older man could keep a look of enjoyment on his face without showing a hint of disgust.

Mr. Yoshimura handed the sandwich to Kaneki, and I watched as the boy hesitantly grabbed the food. Slowly, he took a bite and tried to eat it but quickly doubled over, spitting the food onto the floor. He over-explained how terrible the food tasted, causing the rest of us to laugh at his dramatics. I grabbed the slice of food I’d never been able to enjoy, pulled Kaneki’s attention, and told him to watch me closely. Slowly taking a bite, I swallowed, chewed a few times, and then swallowed again. The whole time, Mr. Yoshimura went into more depth on how a ghoul should pretend to eat and what the rules entailed.

Rule one: always swallow the food immediately so you can’t fully taste it.

Rule two: pretend to chew for about 10 seconds, looking and sounding like you’re enjoying the food, and then swallow more obviously.

Rule three: don’t forget to throw up afterward so you don’t get sick.

While discussing how a ghoul pretends to eat, my mind drifts off to thoughts of my date. If we go out to eat, I feel like I’ll be too nervous to eat correctly and might slip up on how the food tastes awful. Maybe I should practice until then? It’s been a while since I’ve gone out and had to eat a full meal of human food. Usually, when it comes to eating, all I have to ingest is a few bites and not a whole plateful. If he took me to a restaurant, it would be rude only to eat a little. Not to mention how terrible I would feel for the kitchen staff if I didn’t take in what they cooked.

While I was lost in thought, the door to the cafe opened, and a mother and her daughter walked through. The mother had long chocolate brown hair braided to the side and wore a button-up blouse and a long floral skirt. The little girl had short brown hair and hid behind her mother. Her deep brown eyes lit up as they met my (e/c) ones.

“(Y/n)!” the little girl said excitedly, running towards me. I swooped the child into my arms, picked her up, and hugged her.

“Hinami!” I squeezed the young girl and then sat her back down, giving her a once-over, “Look how much you’ve grown!” I pretended to wipe tears away from my eyes. Hinami and her mom, Ryoko, haven’t appeared in Anteiku in a few months. They’ve been in hiding because Ryoko’s husband was working with a dangerous ghoul. It was nice to see their faces again. After greeting Hinami, I moved towards Ryoko and hugged her. The chocolate brown female has always been like an older sister to me, and I strived to be kind and gentle like her. After we pulled away from each other, Ryoko glanced at Kaneki and smiled at him.

“Are you new?” She said sweetly.

“Oh, yes, I’m Kaneki,” He bowed when greeting the mother. Then he turned towards the little girl and greeted her as well. Hinami stepped back behind her mom and hid from the dark-haired boy’s gaze. I couldn’t help but giggle silently at how cute the little girl was when being shy.

“Ryoko, let me walk you guys upstairs,” I said.

After saying bye to Kaneki and greeting Touka on our way out of the cafe, I took the mother and daughter to Mr. Yoshimura’s office. I didn’t stay around as I knew they probably had important things to discuss, and I also wanted to give them space for when they would eat. Ryoko didn’t mind being around others while eating. She loved sharing her meals with others, but Hinami was still shy and liked to eat alone. As I closed the office door behind me, my phone went off, and I glanced at the text on my screen.

Hide:

This new arcade opened up, and I would love to take you! Does Saturday at 15:00 (3:00 pm) work for you?

A smile graced my face as I read the message from the blonde boy. An arcade? I should’ve expected that from him.

——————————

After a long week of nerves and anxious waiting, Saturday had finally arrived! It was noon, and I had just gotten out of the shower and started my skincare routine. Cleanse, tone, serum, moisturizer, and SPF. When I finished washing my face, I applied a light layer of makeup. I’m not the best at putting on makeup, so I usually avoid it, but for occasions like this (or unless I look dead), I’ll apply a little bit: a thin foundation layer, a little concealer, some bronzer, and highlighter. Then, I brushed some mascara on my lashes and nodded at my finishing look.

I made my way back into my bedroom and opened my closet. What should I wear? I want to be cute, but I also want to be practical since we’ll be at an arcade. I opted for a tight-cropped, short-sleeved shirt. It was plain white with two black lines going down the sleeve and then a pair of black track pants with an orange stripe down the sides. Then, with the weather on the colder side, I grabbed my orange oversized puffer coat and finished the look with a pair of white chunky sneakers. I then threw my (h/c) hair into a half-up, half-down due and accessorized myself with some earrings, bracelets, and a few rings on my fingers. To complete getting ready, I applied deodorant to my underarms and sprayed perfume over myself. The clock read 13:30 (1:30 pm) when I was ready. Great, now I have to sit here and wait for an hour and a half.

To waste time, I sat nicely on my bed, not wanting to mess up my outfit, and scrolled through my phone while it sat on the charger. The next thirty minutes went excruciatingly slow when my phone dinged with a text message. It was Hide saying he was impatient and on his way to Anteiku. He’s lucky I got ready early.

When I stepped out the cafe door, the bright boy standing at the end of the stairs greeted me. In return, I offered the bubbly boy a slight wave and walked towards him. He wore his usual yellow and black track jacket, a plain white tee underneath, and light-washed jeans. The only thing missing was the orange headphones around his neck.

“(Y/n)~” The cheeky boy’s gaze took in my form, “You look so adorable!” Hide’s slender fingers pinched my cheeks, and I quickly swatted away his soft hands. My eyes lightly rolled at his dramatics, but a smile blossomed on my face nonetheless. I did feel cute today and secretly catered my outfit to something I thought he would like. Since the blonde boy is more bubbly, likes bright colors, and gives sporty vibes, I chose something that slightly portrayed those things but also dressed in a way that screams me.

“And you’re a dork,” I retorted. The blonde boy’s face scrunched together, wrinkling his soft features, and threw a hand over his chest.

“You don’t think I look sexy!?” Hide gasped.

“Sexy!?” The word tumbled out of my mouth. I’ve never looked at him in that light before. My (e/c) iris takes in the male before me. His blonde locks fall just above his neatly shaped eyebrows (does he wax them?). Hide’s hair never seemed to lay neatly; it looked like he ran his fingers through it and styled his hair by messing it up. I love how Hide’s round olive eyes pop out underneath his blonde locks and the crinkles that encase his orbs whenever he smiles. Oh man, don’t even get me started on his smile. How his slightly plump lips draw up to his cheekbones, creating the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Then you have his soft yet sharp jawline-

“Uh, (Y/n)?” Hide looked at me as he scratched the back of his head. Oh shit. I totally just stood there staring at him while thinking about how gorgeous he was.

“I-i-i-i’m so sorry!” I quickly averted my gaze to hide my burning face.

“So I take it you don’t think I’m attractive?” His tone was soft, but there was a hint of something I couldn’t quite pick up on.

“N-not at all!” I whipped around to look at him while flailing my arms, “I think you’re very attractive!” My hands slapped against my face. Embarrassment overwhelmed my body, and all I wanted was to crawl into a hole where no one could see me. Soft fingers encircled my wrist, pulling my hands away from my firey skin. My eyelids were anchored down as I refused to look at the blonde boy (if I can’t see him, he can’t see me, right?).

A deep chuckle erupted from Hide, and I could feel his warm breath kiss my cheek. “Cute,” he whispered. My eyes flew open upon hearing Hide’s voice. I stumbled backward, realizing how close the blonde was to me.

“R-right,” I tried to pull myself together, “We should get going!”

The walk to the arcade wasn’t long since it wasn’t too far from Anteiku. I kept my eyes on the ground as we walked since I was still steaming from our interaction only moments ago. We approached an old brick building with a neon sign reading ‘Joysticks.’ The windows were tinted black so that you couldn’t see anything happening inside. Every muscle in my body tingled with excitement as I stared ahead, and a weird knot formed in my throat. I remember this feeling from when I was a child. My earliest memory was at an arcade, and the only happy one of my parents before they died. I swallowed the lump as it tried to push its way up my esophagus. Hide’s large hand grabbed my own, giving me a slight squeeze, and he flashed me one of his sweet smiles. Together, we walked towards the building, and Hide pushed the door open, revealing the maze of arcade games.

“Woah,” Hide and I said in unison.

The only lighting inside the building was the bright lights of the games and the black lights hanging above us. The carpet was black, with bright neon colors in the shape of stars littering the ground. My eyes took in everything around me, and a deep nostalgia washed over me. I couldn’t help the giddiness in my stomach and began to jump up and down. My comprehensive, childlike eyes met Hide’s, and I could tell he felt the same way.

“I’m going to get us a playing card!” Hide yelled so that I could hear him over the loud music and games. As he went up to the counter, I continued to look around. They had Pac-Man, racing games, Guitar Hero, newer VR games, and a lot of others. When Hide returned from buying a card for us, he dragged me to one of the car racing games. I sat in the chair next to the blonde boy and pulled it forward to press against the peddle below my feet. Once Hide swiped the card on his machine, he leaned over and swiped the card for mine, and together we pressed the start button. After choosing what car we wanted and the route, we began the race. My fingers gripped the steering wheel before me, and I slammed my foot on the gas.

I did my best to keep my car on the road, but to no avail; I crashed it every five seconds. On the other hand, Hide was a pro and sped through to the finish line, winning first place. My jaw dropped to the floor as the screen flashed with a new record, and he could input his name into the accomplishments board. The blonde slumped back into his seat and looked at me smugly. He thinks he’s hot shit right now.

“How about we shoot some hoops?” I say, getting out of my seat. I made my way over to the basketball hoops, and Hide followed close behind me. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s swishing balls. We began the game when the buzzer went off, and I quickly grabbed ball after ball and threw it in the air, and each one landed through the net with a swoosh. I guess those years of playing basketball against Yomo have paid off.

“Well, damn,” Hide ran his fingers through his hair, “I didn’t take you as a basketball girl.”

“I actually hate sports, but my guardian made me play growing up.” Calling Yomo my guardian still feels weird because I feel like he deserves the title of dad, but even after all these years, I still can’t bring myself to call him that. When my parents died, I was alone for a few months until I stumbled across Yomo. He told me his life was rough before I came along, and he got into a lot of trouble, but when my younger self showed up, I became his new purpose. I saved him, apparently, and he saved me. But even as a young child, I never wanted to replace my father, and that’s the only reason Yomo is Renji to me or my guardian when I talk about him to others. If Hide wanted to ask me questions about my guardian, he refrained from it, and I appreciated him not delving into my past when all I wanted to do was have fun.

We moved on to a few other games where we competed against each other or had to work together to move on. My stomach hurt from how much I’d been laughing, and my cheeks were sore from all the smiling I’d been doing. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun with someone in a long time. Spending time with Hide has been amazing, and I don’t want this night to come to an end. If I could freeze time at this moment, I would.

Hide was getting hungry, so we decided to take a break. I offered to buy Hide’s food since he paid for our game card, but he refused to let me pay. He wrestled my card out of my hand and gave the gentlemen behind the counter his card while holding me back. If I could show my true strength, I would’ve pushed Hide out of the way, but I didn’t want to scare him. We grabbed some water on our way to an empty booth, and I slid into one side, and Hide slid in right next to me. He was so close that our shoulders were squished together, and I could feel the blooming of roses start to form on my cheeks.

Hide leaned back against the booth with his hands crossed behind his head, a signature stance I noticed he takes often. His eyes were softly closed for a moment as if he were taking a second to relax. Then, a yawn escaped his plump lips, and he stretched his arms to the side. One arm fell beside him, and the other gently wrapped around my shoulders. Did he just pull that cliche move? I was amazed by how he pulled it off, but I also didn’t mind the touch it brought. I gently leaned into the side of Hide and lightly rested my head on his shoulder. He looked down into my (e/c) iris with his soft olive ones. A flicker of surprise flashed through his orbs but quickly changed into adoration as he looked at me, snuggling into him.

These past few weeks have been tiring, and the warmth from the blonde boy relaxed my tensed muscles. The lids of my eyes fluttered close, and I inhaled his scent deeply: amber mixed with sandalwood and a hint of cinnamon. The smell enveloped me, and the thought of his scent rubbing off on me from being so close lit a small fire in my stomach. As ghouls, we’re very sensitive to smells, and rubbing your scent onto your partner is a way to let other ghouls know they’re taken. It’s almost like a form of claiming. Before I knew it, I was falling into my instincts, and I rubbed my head into the crook of Hide’s neck. I felt him tense below me, as the boy whose arm was holding me close wasn’t sure what I was doing, but he quickly relaxed and traced his fingers up and down my arm.

The waitress cleared her throat at the sight of us pulling me out of my trance. I quickly pulled away from the boy and tried to create as much room between us as possible. A basket of fries, mozzarella sticks, and a few different sauces was set before us. I faced the wall to my side, trying to hide the embarrassment enveloping my features. Realization hit me as I thought about what I was doing. I was rubbing my scent on him, trying to stake my claim. Ugh, that’s so embarrassing. What if a ghoul passes by us and thinks we’re together? Intimately. Wait, what if a ghoul accidentally mistakes him for one of us because I overpowered his scent with mine?

Soft fingers gently gripped my chin and turned my face to look into those round golden eyes. Hide’s face was inches from mine, and his soft features gazed at me tenderly. His orbs flickered down to my lips for a split second and then found their home back into my (e/c) ones. My breath caught in my throat at the moment’s intensity, but I didn’t dare break away from his stare. It felt as if we were the only ones existing in time. His thumb caressed below my lower lip, and I subconsciously parted my lips.

“You don’t have to be shy,” Hides’s voice was low and husky. “I like the affection.” This time, his thumb trailed along my bottom lip, pulling it down slightly before releasing my face. A deep sigh fell from his chest, and he turned his attention to the food before us. I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the loss of touch. The tingling sensation from his thumb lingered where it once was, and my body erupted into a bundle of excitement that could be mistaken for nerves.

Hide didn’t pressure me to eat any of the food he ordered but did offer to let me take a bite a few times. He didn’t question me when I refused, and I thankfully got away without eating anything. I didn’t want to excuse myself for throwing up and ruining my makeup, and I didn’t want to risk having stomach pains. I wanted to enjoy this date to the fullest without anything hindering me.

We returned to the games when he finished his food and continued playing all we could. We played an air hockey tournament, and it ended in a tie. It was very heated as we hit the puck repeatedly, trying to sink it into the other goal—a lot of screaming, laughing, and maybe a few flying pucks. Towards the end, Hide gave the puck a brutal hit, and it flew towards me and slammed into my knuckles. Thankfully, for being a ghoul, it couldn’t do anything to harm me, but Hide felt terrible. He went to the counter and asked for a bag of ice, and when he came back, he gently held it against my hand.

“I feel bad ending the date this way,” he said, holding my hand with the ice.

“There are still some points on our card to play a few more games,” I stated. Unfortunately, we were getting low on funds, so the date was ending, but it didn’t have to end on the wrong note.

“You’re right,” He gleamed towards me, “And I know just the way to make it up to you!” He set the bag of ice to the side and ran towards one of those crane machines full of plushies. Hide swiped the card on the machine and positioned the crane over a plushie. The blonde male pressed the red button, and the claw descended. It gripped onto the plushie and slowly lifted it. Hide and I cheered as we watched it carry the plushie closer to the hole, and then it dropped right outside of it. We stared at the machine in disappointment, and then Hide swiped the card again. He tried a few more times before finally succeeding and grabbed the plushie from below the machine.

“For you, my lady,” He bowed, holding the toy towards me.

“Why thank you, sir,” I faked a courtesy and then grabbed the plushie from the vibrant boy.

Hide used up the rest of our points on the claw machine, and we decided to save the card to use it in the future. That way, we could gather more tickets and buy a big prize.

The night’s cold air whipped around me as we left the arcade. I hugged my coat tightly while clutching onto the plushie Hide won. My (h/c) hair flew behind me in the wind, and Hide and I walked side by side. Our fingers brushed against one another, sending electricity through my arm. A sudden urge of confidence overcame me, and I slowly intertwined my fingers with the dirty blonde boys. He accepted my small embrace and squeezed my hand in his. We slowly made our way to Anteiku and stopped just outside the building.

“Thank you for today,” I said, looking up into his olive eyes, “I had a good time.”

The sun was setting in the far sky, painting the earth with beautiful oranges and pinks. The hue encapsulated around the bright boy before me, painting him in a golden glow. His blonde locks shimmering like gold, and his olive eyes looked like a pot of honey. Hide’s soft skin glistened warmly, becoming the epitome of golden hour.

“I had a good time as well,” Hide said, reaching for my other hand. We stood on the sidewalk, staring at one another and holding each other’s hands. Then suddenly, I was pulled forward, and my body was pressed to the boy’s hard chest. His arms wrapped around my back, and he lifted a hand to pet my hair. “I’d like to take you out for another date,” his voice whispered against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

My heart hammered in my chest, and I slowly wrapped my arms around the blonde boy, reciprocating his hug. I inhaled deeply, taking his scent into my nose, and relaxed into his warm embrace. I can’t believe he wants to take me out on another date so quickly. I pulled back slightly, embracing Hide, and looked at his beautiful face.

“I would love that,” I spoke softly. Hide’s soft hand held my face for the second time today, and he leaned down towards my face. My eyes fluttered closed on instinct as I waited to feel his lips press against mine. A soft, warm feeling bloomed on my forehead, and my eyes fluttered open as Hide pulled his lips away from me. A soft blush covered my cheeks at expecting him to kiss me, but the fact that he only planted a kiss on my forehead made my heart beat even faster. He’s being such a gentleman.

“Oh, (Y/n), Hide,” a voice drew our attention to the side. A dark-haired boy and a plum-haired girl were walking towards us. That’s right. Touka took Kaneki to Uta’s shop today so he could get a mask made. Hide let his grip go of me but kept one of our hands intertwined.

“Hey, man!” Hide smiled towards his best friend and waved energetically.

I glanced bashfully toward the ground as Touka looked between the male and me. Kaneki’s eyes also glanced at our intermingled fingers, and I could sense the disapproval from both parties.

“What are you guys doing?” Kaneki asked.

“I took (Y/n) on a date!” Hide lifted my hand with his and waved it towards his shy friend. A small giggle fell from my lips as it seemed the blonde boy needed to convince Kaneki that he was indeed on a date with me. “Did you guys go on a date?” The vibrant boy cocked his head to the couple opposite from us, and the two choked from Hide’s statement.

“Not even!” Touka scuffed as she stormed past us and up to the cafe door. Kaneki rubbed the back of his head, and his cheeks tinted with a soft pinkness.

“Well, I better get going,” The dark-haired boy began to walk away.

“Kaneki!” Hide called to his childhood friend. “Let me walk with you!” The blonde turned towards me and planted another kiss on my cheek, causing my skin to light on fire. “I’ll text you!” was the last thing he said to me that night as Hide chased after Kaneki.

——————————

A few days had passed since my date with Hide, and the boy kept his word and texted me as soon as he got home. We texted a lot, and I found myself distracted by my phone. During my shifts at Anteiku, I became impatient and counted down the minutes of my breaks, but then my breaks flew by as I talked to the blonde-haired boy.

Today, I was at university, tapping at my desk while listening to my professor’s lecture, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I quietly pulled it out to see who had messaged me, and a smile bloomed on my face as I saw the text was from Hide.

Hide 🌞

Do you want to hang out with Kaneki and me after classes?

(Y/n)

I would love to! 🥰

I quickly texted back and shoved my phone back into my pocket. There were only thirty minutes until this class ended, and then I would spend time with Hide! It’s good to hear that Kaneki is with him because I know he’s been avoiding the blonde boy a bit.

As class ended, I made my way through the courtyard and towards one of the cafes on campus. The sun was shining brightly, but the air was cold. I wore beige high-waisted pants that flowed right above my ankles, a cropped cream sweater, and a long plaid coat that hit my calves. A pair of brown low-cut boats adorned my feet, and my cross-body tote was slung over my shoulder. My (h/c) hair flowed around my face, and I pushed the left side behind my ear. As I approached the cafe, I spotted the pair of boys I was supposed to meet up with. I raised my arm to wave at them as I approached.

The two boys sat outside at a cute round table, and three cups of coffee sat before the boys. I grabbed the empty chair between the two and slid it out to take my seat. A deep puff of condensation escaped my lips as I relaxed into the chair.

“I hope you don’t mind; we already ordered our coffees,” the dark-haired boy said, pointing towards the paper cups on the table.

I reached forward to grab the cup that hadn’t been claimed yet. My slender fingers absorbed the heat from the hot coffee inside. I slowly lifted the cup to my face and inhaled the sweet aroma before taking a small sip. The liquid burnt a little as it flowed down my throat, but I didn’t care as it warmed up my insides. After a few sips, I look at the blonde boy to my right. Hide was dressed up more than usual, and I could feel a slight tingle on my cheeks at how nice he looked. His dirty blonde hair was naturally unruly, but he wore a button-up shirt, a dark brown button-up coat, and light denim jeans. It was odd to see him in something that wasn’t his usual bright attire, but Hide looked good no matter what he was wearing.

“(Y/n)! Doesn’t Kaneki look better lately?” the bright boy asks me. I turn to look at the dark-haired boy. My eyes scan Kaneki, and I can see his skin’s normal color flourishing like before his incident. He hasn’t eaten much, but his special ‘sugar’ cubes help soothe his hunger.

“He is!” I smile at the shy boy, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Kaneki.” A dusting of blush covers the half ghoul’s face, and he stutters out “T-than-”

“Um… you’re,” a girl with an a-line haircut approached our table. “Hide, right?” She looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d seen her.

“You’re Nishios girlfriend?” Hide’s olive eyes looked the girl over, “How can I help you?”

The brunette girl rummaged through her purse, pulled out a DVD in a green case, and held it out to the dirty blonde. “This is from Nishiki. I came to drop this off for him.” Hide’s slender hands grabbed the DVD from the girl. His eyes scrunched in confusion, and then his mouth formed the shape of an ‘O’ when he remembered what the DVD was for. As the brunette turned around and started walking away, the blonde boy shot out of his chair and yelled to the girl, “What hospital is Nishio at? We would like to visit him, but-” Before he could finish what he was saying, the a-line-haired girl ran away. I cringed for the boy, who was blatantly ignored, and the blonde rubbed the back of his head, questioning if he did something wrong.

So she’s dating Nishiki? If she’s been in contact with him since our fight, she must know he’s a ghoul, and I know the brunette is human with how she smells. “She might still be shy about us walking in on them,” I said as the blonde boy sat back in his seat.

“I guess that makes sense,” Hide’s eyes drifted to Kaneki. The dark-haired boy was rubbing his chin while staring off into space. “Kaneki,” the blonde pulled his friend from his thoughts. “Don’t stress over it!” Hide flashed a smile towards his best friend.

We sat until it was time for Kaneki and me to head to work. Hide hugged me goodbye, and I couldn’t help but take a deep breath of his scent before pulling away. Then the blonde waved towards Kaneki as we parted ways. The dark-haired boy and I walked in silence for a few minutes until he broke the silence.

“So, you and Hide?” Kaneki’s voice was low.

“Huh?” My (e/c) eyes widened, “W-what do you mean?” The heat started to blossom on my cheeks.

“Do you like him?” The black-haired male turned towards me and stared deeply into my eyes. A serious expression overtook his face. “Answer me honestly.”

I glanced towards the ground and inhaled the cold air before speaking, “I do like him.” I lifted my head and stared into Kaneki’s dark grey eyes, “And I promise you, Kaneki, that I will never hurt him.”

The end of the day was nearing, and Kaneki and I were starting to clean things up. Then Mr. Yoshimura appeared behind Kaneki, scaring the poor dark-haired boy. I didn’t pay much attention to their conversation and continued to clean up, but my ears perked up at the sound of Yomo’s name coming out of the older man’s lips. I whipped my head around to see Kaneki looking panicked and put two and two together.

“Are you sending him on a food run with Renji?” I asked while walking towards the two males.

“I am,” The old man answered.

“I’ll go with them!” I said while setting a few mugs into the sink.

“Really?!” The dark-haired boy looked at me, and it seemed a wave of relief washed over him, “That would make me feel better, to be honest.”

Once Kaneki and I closed the cafe, we headed outside to wait for Yomo to pick us up. I don’t think Mr. Yoshimura warned him about me coming along, so seeing his surprised face will be fun. It’s been a few years since I’ve gone on a food run with Yomo, and that’s because it was getting hard for me to see all the dead bodies. I felt bad for the people we took because they must’ve been dealing with something terrible to decide to kill themselves. Sometimes, when collecting the dead bodies, I would think about whether what they did was intelligent. Maybe I would have been better off if I had made the same choice as them. Then, I wouldn’t have to suffer in this cruel world anymore, and I wouldn’t be a burden to those around me. Thinking that way wasn’t healthy, so I had to tell Mr. Yoshimura I couldn’t do it anymore. Going on this food run makes me a bit nervous, but knowing that Kaneki will feel more uncomfortable in this situation (and with him being around Yomo) made me want to be there for him.

A sleek dark grey car pulled in front of us, and a monotonous Yomo stood out of the vehicle. The tall male cocked his head to the side as he stared at the two of us. Yomo’s face didn’t give away any of his thoughts, but I could tell he was concerned with me being here. I didn’t tell him why I wanted to stop doing the food runs, but I’m sure he came up with his theory, which probably was correct.

“Renji!” I decided to break the tension by calling out to my guardian and rushing towards him to envelop the man in a hug. I smooshed my face into his chest and wrapped my arms around his broad back. The stone man sighed in defeat and lifted a hand to pat my head.

“(Y/n)...” The silver-haired man glared down at me.

“I’m here to help Kaneki!” I tried to reassure my father-like figure. He wouldn’t argue if I told him I was there to help someone. Yomo knows that I would do anything for someone, especially a ghoul, to make sure they didn’t have to suffer or feel the way I’ve felt.

“Come on,” The stone-like man spoke deeply and slid into the car’s driver’s seat. I followed after the male and took my spot in the passenger seat as Kaneki slid behind us in the back seat.

The drive was quiet, so I tried to loosen the atmosphere by turning on the radio. Only to receive angry eyes glaring down at me before turning the radio off. I huffed in response, slumped back into my seat, and stared out the window at the night sky. Renji is an old fart, and he likes to kill anything fun. My (e/c) eyes shift to the car’s rearview mirror to check on the dark-haired boy behind me. His eyebrows knitted down into a frown, and he anxiously bit down on his lower lip. What could I do to make him relax? This would have been much easier if only Yomo hadn’t given such scary vibes.

“Don’t worry, Kaneki!” I turned to look at the shy boy, “Renji may look like a heartless man, but he’s just a big ol’ teddy bear on the inside.”

“So, y-you two know each other well, then?” The dark-haired boy questioned.

“I had the displeasure of raising her.” Yomo stoically spoke.

I playfully hit the male who was driving, “Hey!”

“I’m joking,” the silver-haired male reached over and ruffled my hair. “I’ll never regret taking you in.” Yomo broke his straight face with a small smile as he glanced my way. I could feel the wetness gather at the edge of my eyes, and a warmth blossomed in my chest.

“You’re getting sappy, old man,” I said while holding myself together. I’m an emotional person whenever it comes to Yomo. He is the person who changed my life and cared for me when no one else wanted to.

We pulled up to a looking point on the edge of a cliff. It was dark outside, and the view overlooked the beautiful mountainside. The cool air flew around us, and I took a deep breath of the clean air. Yomo’s voice floated through my ears, but I didn’t quite pick up what he was saying. Then I heard a loud screeching sound of metal, and the next thing I knew, Kaneki was falling down the cliff side. I made eye contact with the older male, confused about what had just happened, and when I finally realized that the poor half-ghoul had just fallen from an extreme height, I jumped down after him. My feet slammed against the ground as I landed in an almost superhero-like pose, and an ear-piercing scream rang through my ears. The dark-haired boy jumped towards me and clung onto my arm while hiding behind my body. In front of me, where Kaneki was standing, lay a mutilated body.

The sight wasn’t pretty since the man who was lying on the ground had body parts pointing in ways they shouldn’t be, and because of the impact, some of his insides were now on the outside. After a few seconds, Yomo came crashing down, also striking a hero-like pose, and casually walked towards the two of us. The older male threw a duffel bag towards us and demanded that we put the deceased man into the bag.

“S-so, you guys decided to eat suicide victims?” Kaneki spoke from behind me, “That way, you don’t have to hurt anyone?”

“I haven’t made any decision,” Yomo said, making his way over to another body on the ground, “I still kill to eat sometimes, and so do Touka and a few others. I only do this because Mr. Yoshimura asked me to and for those who cannot kill.” The sliver-haired male glanced my way while he spoke. Once he stood in front of the other dead body, Yomo put his hands together and did a quick prayer before collecting the body into the bag.

“Kaneki, you can watch me for today,” I lead the frail male towards the deceased body he first encountered. I leaned onto my knees next to the male’s body, put my hands together like Yomo, and said a prayer. I always ask for the person’s soul to move on peacefully, and I also ask for forgiveness for taking their body without their permission. Then, I slowly collected the body and shoved it into the bag. Sometimes, they don’t fit in the bag, and you unfortunately have to break some of their bones to get them to fit. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do any of that to this poor man, and I got him in the duffle with no problems. Kaneki looked pale the whole time, and I wouldn’t blame him if he threw up.

After collecting the bodies, we returned up the cliff and threw the bags into the car’s truck. This time, I let Kaneki sit in the passenger seat and took my spot in the back seat. We headed back towards Anteiku when Yomo pulled the car to the side of the road and got out to approach a figure on the sidewalk. When he came back, I could see that the person he was with was Ryoko. She entered the car and slid into the spot next to me. The mother looked down at her lap with a sorrowful face. I approached the woman I looked up to and grabbed her hand. She looked at me with a soft smile and squeezed my hand back.

When Yomo entered the car, he started lecturing Ryoko about being out alone and how dangerous it was since the doves were looking for her. The brunette’s face turned more sad looking, if even possible, and I felt terrible that she had to deal with all of this after losing her husband. She’s been through a lot and can’t even mourn in peace. Ryoko wants to be vital to protect Hinami, but I think tonight is the first time I’ve seen her look sad. Whenever the mother stopped at the cafe with Hinami, she looked held together and didn’t seem to be mourning. Ryoko did an excellent job at being strong in front of her daughter, but it’s also good for her to let her emotions out. One day, I hope to be the kind of mother Ryoko is to my future children.

——————————

A few days had passed since I did the food run with Kaneki and Yomo, and it was finally my weekend. I was heading towards the shopping center in black leggings, an oversized crewneck, and chunky sneakers. My hair was slightly greasy, so I had on a beanie to hide the evidence and keep my head warm from the cold air. I didn’t do much to present myself besides adding a little concealer to my face, as usual, and since I wasn’t planning on meeting up with anyone, I went with cozy vibes today. It’s been a while since I went shopping, and I felt I deserved to treat myself. I’ve been saving up my money and have extra to do some retail therapy.

While walking down the sidewalk, I had my headphones in and ignored the world around me. So when I felt a pair of hands slam down on my shoulders, I was ready to turn around and punch whoever dared sneak up on me. My body relaxed when I turned around, and my (e/c) eyes met a pair of olive ones.

”What the hell, Hide!” I yelled at the boy as I clutched my chest. “You scared me!”

A soft pinkness crept up on the dirty blonde's face, and he scratched his head as he said, “Sorry when I realized it was you; I couldn’t help myself.”

When I fully registered that Hide was next to me while I wasn’t looking my best, I started feeling self-conscious about my appearance.

“So,” the vibrant boy reaches out and grabs my hand with a bright smile. “What are you up to today?”

“I was heading towards the shopping centers,” I tell the male who’s gleaming at me.

”Can I join?” Hide asks.

”I don’t mind, but it might not be fun for you.” I squeezed the male's hand and pulled him toward my direction.

”Why do you say that?”

“I’m going to be trying on a bunch of clothes.” The blonde boy swallows a big gulp and stares in my direction.

“I think I’ll love this date,” Hide’s usually pale face turns two shades darker, and I playfully punch the male in his shoulder.

”Get your mind out of the gutter,” I turn my face to look away from Hide to keep him from seeing my equally red face.

We walked the rest of the way to the mall while holding hands. It felt like we were a real couple, and thinking of us that way made my heart flutter. We browsed the aisles and began collecting a pile of clothes once we got to the store I wanted to look at. Anytime I tried to hold onto a piece of clothing, Hide would snatch it from me and keep it in his arms. The blonde also grabbed tops, bottoms, and dresses for me to try on. The idea of him wanting me to come out and show him each outfit was enough to keep my cheeks blushing while we shopped. Hide and I went to the dressing rooms when I decided I had enough clothes.

“Hello!” The dressing room attendant greeted us, “Follow me!” The lady led us to the back, unlocked a door for me, and wrote 6+ on the whiteboard that adorned the front of the door. “You can only bring in 6 items at a time, and if there’s anything you don’t like, it can go on this rack here.” Then she turns towards Hide and says, “And your boyfriend can have a seat right over there,” She points to a few luxury chairs across from the rooms.

Once she walked away, I grabbed my first six clothing items from Hide and entered the room the lady opened for me. Since the items I grabbed were things I picked out, I didn’t step out to show Hide. I left the dressing room, put most of the clothes onto the ‘go back’ rack, and then approached a pouting blonde to grab more clothes from him.

”You didn’t show me,” Hide dramatically stuck his lip out as far as it could go.

”Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you wanted to see what I picked out too.” I started grabbing another group of six from his arms.

”I want to see all of it!” The blonde said excitedly.

”Okay,” I laugh at the boy and head back to the dressing room to change.

As I wore the new outfit, I examined myself in the mirror and stepped out of the dressing room. Hide’s face lit up as he saw me approach him.

“Do a spin!” The bright boy moves his finger in a circle while his eyes rack over my body, taking in my outfit. It’s nothing special right now, just a basic shirt and jeans, but as I turn around, I’m overly aware that he’s taking every inch of me with his olive eyes. It goes on like this for a while: I try things on, show Hide, and he tells me everything looks good on me; even though that's questionable, I appreciate the confidence boost.

In this group of clothing, I brought an exquisite black dress into the dressing room with me, something you would wear out to a fancy date. This dress doesn’t require a bra, and as I slip it onto my body, I can already tell it fits me like a glove, but I can’t reach the zipper properly. I stand in the dressing room for a few minutes, staring at myself in the mirror, bite my lower lip, and call out for Hide, who is patiently waiting on the chair outside the room. I can hear him respond, and it takes me another second to get the courage to say my following words.

”C-could you help me with this zipper?” I sputter out. It doesn’t take a second to hear a knock on the door, and if I weren’t overwhelmed by embarrassment, I would have laughed at how quickly he responded. I slowly pushed the door open while holding the front part of the dress to my chest to ensure it stayed in place and wouldn’t reveal any more body parts than I already had on display. The dress was short as it was barely long enough to cover my ass, and my boobs were already popping with cleavage as I held the dress up since it was strapless. Not to mention, my bare back was exposed as I turned around to have Hide zip it.

The blonde gently pushed my hair over my shoulder, causing goosebumps from the subtle touch. Hide’s breath grazed my neck, and I instinctively shivered from the sensation it caused. Hide then ran his soft finger down my spine, causing my back to arch and a gasp to escape my lips. “H-hide!” Flustered was an understatement as my whole body flushed the shade of a tomato, and a weird knot began to form in my abdomen.

“Sorry,” Hide’s voice was dangerously low, “I couldn’t help myself.” The blonde then grabs the zipper and pulls it up with ease. When the dress is secure on my body, I finally drop my arms to the side and look at myself in the mirror. It looks stunning. It shows off my figure perfectly. Hide’s strong arm wraps around my waist and pulls me against his toned chest. My heart races as he lowers his head to whisper, “You look stunning.”

”T-thank you,” It’s hard to function appropriately with him pressed against my back. “Could y-you unzip it for me?” Hide then grabs the zipper again and pulls it down slowly. He’s dragging this moment on longer than I would like, but I also don’t mind it at the same time. I might be embarrassed, but I enjoy how my body lights on fire from his touches. Once the dress is unzipped, the male closes the door behind him, and I dress back into my regular clothes. I only had a few more pairs of clothing to try on, and for the rest of the fashion show, all I could think about was how he dragged his finger along my spine.

Out of all the clothing we picked out, I only loved about ten pieces, and I would have bought the dress if it wasn’t so expensive. Also, where would I even wear it? It’s not like I go out to any fancy restaurants or events. But Hide grabbed the dress from my hands before I could place it on the go-back rack.

”I’ll buy it for you,” The dirty blonde says while draping the dress over his arm. My jaw drops open, and I try to grab it from his arms.

”There’s no way! It’s too expensive!” I protest.

”I don’t care,” Hide smirks down at me and walks towards the checkout line.

We stop in a few different shops and joke around together. I didn’t know shopping with someone could be this fun. Usually, I do these things on my own as I just want to get in and out, but when you’re with someone you enjoy being around, it makes everything more exciting. After a few hours, Hide and I are exhausted, and we decide it’s time to leave. Being the gentleman that Hide is, he carries my bags for me, and I hold onto one of his arms as we walk. Little droplets of water begin to leak from the sky, and then suddenly, it’s pouring down on us.

Hide pulls me to the side of a building so we can find shelter under the awning of a shop. Thankfully, I always carry an umbrella in my bag, so I pull it out and pop it open. It’s not the most extensive umbrella, so we have to squeeze together so that it covers both of us. We rush towards the cafe, and I swap the blonde for the shopping bags and hand him the umbrella. I can’t let Hide walk back home in this rain. Hide kisses me on the cheek goodbye, and I run into the cafe. Being on such a high from the day, I didn’t even notice as I made it upstairs that the cafe was closed and no customers were littering around.

Yomo stood with his back against the wall and approached me with a more severe look than his regular face. “We need to talk,” the silver-haired man spoke softly.

“Let me set these bags in my room real quick,” I said as I approached my door. I didn’t even bother entering my room; I just opened the door and threw the bags on the floor in front of it. “What did you need to talk to me about?” I asked Renji.

”Follow me,” the stone-like man says, walking towards another door leading into Anteiku’s meeting room. I follow behind the man, and when I enter the room, I can see everyone, except Touka, sitting around with sad faces.

”What happened?” was the first thing that escaped my lips. From the way everyone looked, I could tell it was something terrible. My eyes landed on the dark-haired male, whose eyes focused on his fidgeting fingers. Kaneki’s skin was deathly pale, and I could tell that whatever happened truly scarred him.

Mr. Yoshimura turned to face me and told me the devastating news, “Mrs. Fueguchi was killed by ghoul investigators.”

“What?” I stumbled backward, and a pair of arms grabbed me from behind. Yomo held onto my body to make sure I didn’t collapse to the ground. “Ryoko, i-is dead?!”

“I’m so sorry—“ The silver-haired man couldn’t finish his sentence as I pushed him aside and ran out the door. Tears flowed down my eyes, blurring my vision, as I ran outside into the rain. My clothes drenched within seconds, but my feet wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t entirely sure where my body was taking me, and I couldn’t think straight at the thought of Ryoko being dead. She was like my older sister, and Hinami, oh god, Hinami. Both her parents are dead now. Why is this a fate that so many ghouls meet? Kids don’t deserve to grow up without their parents.

People stare at me as I run past them, whaling like a maniac, but I don’t care. There’s a place where my body seeks comfort, and I will find it. Through my tainted vision, I spot a familiar blob and sprint towards it, calling out to the one thing that could calm me down. The male turns around to face me again with a surprised look as I slam into his arms, causing him to drop the umbrella I gave him earlier.

“(Y-y/n),” Hide’s arms wrap around me and stroke my hair, “What happened?” I sob into the male's chest, but at this point, it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re both soaked from the rain.

”She’s dead!”

——————————

Hide brought me to his apartment, where he gave me a change of clothes and let me use his shower to warm up from the rain. The hot water that pelted against my skin felt nice, but it couldn’t wash away the pain I was feeling on the inside. After about 20 minutes of just soaking in the heat, I decided it was time to get out. Hide gave me one of his T-shirts and sweatpants, and I slowly pulled them onto my body after I dried off. Both items were large on my frame, and I had to pull the drawstring in the sweatpants to keep it on my hips. I then wrapped my (h/c) hair into a towel and exited the bathroom to see the dirty blonde resting on his couch in an outfit similar to mine, and his damp locks drooped in front of his round olive eyes.

Hide patted the spot next to him, and I slowly made my way next to the blonde on the couch. I didn’t even bother leaving room between the two of us; all I wanted at this moment was to be held, so I snuggled under the male’s arm and into his side. Hide wrapped his arm around me and squeezed me close. His fingers drew circles on my arm, and the heat radiating from his body helped my muscles relax. After a few minutes of laying on the couch in the dirty blonde’s embrace, he lifts me to sit before him and removes the towel from my head.

“I’ll be right back,” Hide kisses the back of my head and enters the bathroom. When he emerges, he has a brush in his hands and retakes a seat behind me. Slowly, Hide starts to brush my hair, careful not to hurt me or snag the brush on potential knots. How he’s caring for me causes overwhelming emotions to envelop my body again, and tears trickle down my cheeks. Hide just continues to brush my hair, planting a few kisses on the back of my head every once in a while, and when he finishes, he places the brush on the coffee table. The blonde’s soft hands grip my arms, and he turns me around and pulls me to lie on his chest. We stay on the couch in silence as he rubs circles on my back and showers me with soft kisses. All I do is cry on and off for hours until my body tires itself out, and I fall asleep.

When I woke up the following day, I found myself in a bed I was not familiar with. However, the scent of the owner that lingers on the blankets is one I’ve grown fond of. I buried myself deeper into the bed and reached around to see if said owner was lying next to me. To my disappointment, there wasn’t another body close to me, but I guess the courteous thing would be to put me in bed and for him to sleep elsewhere. The door to the bedroom cracked open, and Hide poked his ruffled blonde hair through to check on me.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Hide’s morning voice was more profound and raspier than usual, and if I weren’t so depressed right now, I would be able to appreciate the sexiness of it. The blonde pushed the door open all the way and entered the room. “I can make us breakfast if you’d like?” I subconsciously cringed at the thought of food. The last thing I want right now is to ingest something that tastes terrible and makes me sick.

“Thank you for offering, but I don’t feel like eating right now,” I say, inching further into the bed. Hide doesn’t argue against me eating; instead, he crawls into the bed beside me. We lay there for a while, snuggling with each other when a knock sounded on Hide's door. The dirty blonde male groans and peels himself from me as he makes his way towards his front door. I stayed in bed, listening closely to see who was at the door, and I could hear the faint sound of a worried male. Was that Kaneki? I slowly got out of bed and made my way to where the voices were, and as I got closer, I confirmed it was indeed the dark-haired boy.

“(Y-Y/n)?!” Kaneki called out as I appeared behind Hide. Then, from behind Kaneki, a stoic male emerges into the apartment, and suddenly, I’m enveloped in a rib-shattering hug.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” The silver male questioned, “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry, Renji.” I pressed my face into the male’s chest. “I just needed to get away.” Another moment passed before Yomo released me. He looked around where we were, and his eyebrows dropped into a scowl once they landed on Hide.

“Who��s this?” Yomo glares daggers at the blonde. And how Hide is glaring back at Yomo, I’d think he’s jealous. If a male like Yomo burst into my apartment and hugged the girl I’ve been on a few dates with, I would also get the wrong impression.

“Renji, this is Hideyoshi Nagachika, we uh, we’re dating?” I say the last part as a question because I wasn’t sure how to introduce the blonde male to my guardian. Dating is correct because we’re going on dates but not together, and I didn’t want to introduce Hide as just a friend because he is honestly more than that to me.

“Dating?” Yomo’s eyebrow twitched at the information.

“Hide, this is Yomo Renji, my guardian.” I introduced my father figure to Hide, and the blonde’s face fell into shock and then panicked. Hide reaches out, shakes the older male’s hand, and nervously laughs as he tries to introduce himself properly. Yomo doesn’t say anything to Hide as he glares daggers.

“(Y/n),” Renji looks at me, “Grab your things, we’re leaving.”

On the way back to Anteiku, Yomo lectured me about boys and how they’re all animals. I rolled my eyes and said I could handle myself as an adult. It also helped to have Kaneki in the car because he defended Hide and told Yomo how he’s a good guy and respects women. My mind flashed back to the moment we shared in the dressing room, where he ran his finger on my back, and all I have to say is that was very disrespectful (the good kind). A slight blush creeps up on my cheeks while thinking about his touch, and unfortunately, Yomo sees my flustered face. Let’s just say the silver-haired male started steaming out his nose. The whole time I was growing up, I was never interested in boys, or at least didn’t show it, and I had never liked a boy before, so Yomo hadn’t seen this side of me.

A few moments of silence pass as the mood shifts severely due to the events a day ago. We might joke about trivial things, but we are all deeply hurt. A large hand reaches over to me and squeezes my thigh.

“I’m sorry, bubs,” Yomo says quietly. Tears again start spilling down my cheeks, and I use the end of my sleeves from the crewneck I wore yesterday to wipe them away.

“How’s Hina? I choke out.

“She’s resting at Anteiku. We’ll be taking care of her from now on,” The silver-haired male explained. I wasn’t surprised that Anteiku would take her in; it was the obvious choice, which meant I could watch over her.

“Touka was extremely upset when we told her what happened. She wants us to go after the Dove that killed Ryoko. Would you help keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t do anything rash?” Yomo asked.

“Of course, I’ll watch over her.”

——————————

A few days have passed, and I’ve been watching the plum-haired teenager closely. She’s been patrolling around the city on the lookout for certain doves, and I’ve been following from a distance to figure out what Touka could be planning. I know she’s going to attack them, but when and how? While walking down the sidewalk, I approached two males ahead of me and overheard them talking.

“The only big one we had recently is the binge eater case.” The one with slick black hair and glasses said. Binge eater? Is he talking about Rize? “I wish the main office would take it off our hands. They’d solve it so quickly.” The male continues talking. They have to be ghoul investigators. There’s no doubt in my mind about it. Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling erupts throughout my body. I can sense something terrible about to happen, and in a split second, I’m pushing the male in front of me, yelling at him to watch out. A sharp pain jolts through my back as I fall to the ground on top of the black-haired male with glasses.

“Kusaba!” The buzz-cut male yelled out to his friend.

Touka stood, towering over Kusaba and me, in her ghoul uniform. I could feel her deathly glare behind the rabbit mask as she scuffed and ran away. I looked down at the disheveled male who was pinned under my body. His glasses that sat neatly on the bridge of his nose were now crooked, and his hair that was slicked to the side fell in front of his eyes. A pink hue dusted across the male’s cheeks, and he averted his eyes from my figure that pressed against his chest. Realizing the scandalous way I laid on top of the male, I quickly pulled myself off of Kusaba and reached down to him.

“Are you okay?” I ask. He takes my hand, and I help the male off the ground.

“I-I’m fine, thank you,” The male with glasses bows towards me.

“Kusaba! Nakajima! Are you-” A tall, buff male yells as he runs towards us, and once his teal eyes land on my frame, they widen. “You’re hurt!”

I reach around to feel my back, cringing at the pain when my finger brushes against the gash. When I pull my hand away, I see crimson smeared on the pads of my fingers. My (e/c) eyes shift from the blood-staining my hand towards the taller male, meeting his deep teal orbs, “I’m okay, don’t worry!” I do my best to flash the large gentleman a convincing smile. Any sane person would be freaking out or crying in pain after getting wounded by a ghoul. Touka didn’t mean to hit me, but I’d rather get a scratch on my back than this guy possibly dying. But I also can’t have them getting suspicious of me. It doesn’t matter if I just saved one of their own; once they find out I’m a ghoul, I’m dead.

“Amon,” That Nakajima guy called out to the tall male, “That ghoul. It was the rabbit.”

“The rabbit!?” The guy, whose name is Amon, looked at his colleague in shock. “You’re a fortunate girl, do you know that?” He then turns towards me, “That you got away with a scratch.” Amon motions for me to approach him, and I slowly move toward the tall male. My body shook involuntarily once I was in front of the large male. This Amon guy is fucking huge. He towers over me by about two feet (a bit exaggerated), and his shoulders are so broad I doubt my arms could wrap around him. He twirls his finger, and I turn around so Amon can look at my back.

“You’re going to need stitches,” The male says sternly, “I’ll take you to the hospital.” And before I could protest, another voice appeared.

“(Y/n)?” The deep voice made a calmness wash over me, and my body relaxed, “Shit! You’re bleeding!” The blonde figure runs towards me and grabs my arms, positioning me so his olive eyes can look over my wound. “What happened?” Hide’s voice was laced with concern. His toned arms pulled me closer to his side as he glared at the three males standing around me.

“Oh, you know, playing hero again,” I shrug.

“(Y-),” Hide was cut off by the tall, dark-haired male,

“Again? Have you seen a ghoul before?” Amon questions.

“No, this was my first encounter with a ghoul, but,” I look towards the blonde male, trying to figure out how to explain my past escapades.

“She saved my life after I was hit by a car,” Hide explains to Amon. The tall male looked toward me with a straight face, and it was hard to read whatever lay beneath. You’d think I’d be used to reading stony expressions from being raised by Yomo, but everyone’s poker face is different.

“She needs to get to the hospital and have that wound taken care of,” The large male states.

“I’ll be sure to get her there,” Hide assures him. The blonde gently wraps his arm around my waist, being sure not to touch the gash, and we turn around to leave.

“Wait!” the male with glasses calls out to us. Hide and I pause and look back at Kusaba. “T-thank you again for saving me!” He bows deeply and then shouts again, “C-could I possibly get your number!?” My mouth hung open in shock, and I was about to refuse politely, but Hide beat me to it.

“I’m her boyfriend.” The blonde boy glared at the other male, and I couldn’t help the deep shade of red from blooming on the apples of my cheeks. Hide just said he was my boyfriend. Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming. Was he serious about that? Or was he just saying it to keep Kusaba from getting my number? I was pulled out of my thoughts when Hide started to drag me away from the other males.

“Hide?” I look up at the blonde.

“Yes?” He looks deeply into my (e/c) eyes.

“D-did you mean it when you said you were my boyfriend?”

“I did.” Hide’s olive eyes looked at me with an emotion I hadn’t seen before. His marble-like orbs seemed to hold the world within them. “Tell me if I’m overstepping any boundaries,” Hide rested his soft hand against my cheek, caressing my skin. “But, I’d like to be your boyfriend.” The blonde’s voice dropped an octave.

“I’d like that too,” I whispered. A wide smile grew on the vibrant boy’s face, and the next thing I knew, his lips crashed into mine. He held me close, gripping my hip as our lips intertwined. We only pulled away to catch our breaths, and he rested his forehead against mine.

“I’ll take you to Anteiku.” The blonde smiled.

——————————

Nakajima: *Hits Kusaba over the head* You idiot! They were clearly together!

Kusaba: *Crying* How was I supposed to know!?

AN:

So I saved Kusaba, who we only got to know in the manga for a few pages, and yes, this is important for the plot of this story. I’m stopping this chapter before the end of volume two and carrying it on to volume three because, wowza, this got pretty long. Also, HIDE AND (Y/N) ARE DATING NOW! Don’t come at me for them getting together so quickly. I need this fast pace for my timeline to work as planned. Even though they’re dating now, it doesn’t mean their relationship will be hella fast, but this is no slow burn. Buckle up and enjoy the ride! OH! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the arcade date, and the little impromptu date at the mall!

Read on Quotev first!

#tokyo ghoul #hideyoshi nagachika #hide x reader #hide nagachika #ken kaneki #touka kirishima #hide #tokyo ghoul x reader #tokyo ghoul manga #anime #fanfiction #x reader #smut #manga #ghoul #yomo renji #uta

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