The Boy // Tokyo Ghoul // K. Kaneki {They/Them Reader}

A Best Friend. // Chapter Three.

"Oh c'mon! You know it's just jokes!" He huffed.

Ken laughed at my exchange with the two idiots, which caught my attention. I turned towards him with a smile, happy to see him doing well after last night's fiasco.

"I missed you, you idiot." I said as I walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and leaned my head against his chest as I hugged him close.

I didn't want to just talk to him normally like he hadn't been gone for an entire week and explain to the Idiots that I saw him last night, so I pretended as though this were the first time I'd seen him since the day he was at Anteiku before the accident.

"Yeah, missed you too." He said while hugging me tightly against him. "Thanks for last night too. I feel a lot better." He whispered the last part into my ear so that I was the only one who could hear it.

I could already hear the Idiots behind us working up teasing remarks on our 'reunion.'

"Don't even start it." I said while turning around and pointing a finger at the both of them, my eyes narrowing just slightly.

They both jokingly stood at attention and gave a salute before breaking out into laughter. Unable to stop myself, I giggled a bit too.

"Oh! Hey! I've gotta go pick up some materials from Nishio after school. He's an upperclassman, kinda snarky but he's okay." Hideyoshi began. I laughed at the last bit.

"He's not just snarky, he's a dick." I said with a smile on my face. "But yeah, he's okay."

"Anyways." Hideyoshi looked at me and rolled his eyes. "Do you guys wanna come with?"

"Yeah, sure." Ken replied with a small smile as the four of us began to walk.

"Oh, I can't. I have to babysit after school." Kai said and waved at us as she began to walk towards her own building.

"Yeah, I can come." I smiled at Hide and Ken, standing between the two as we walked.

School went along as normal, the end of the day coming by a bit quicker than usual now that I have something to do afterwards. Ken and I met up with Hideyoshi as we were walking down the sidewalk.

We exchanged greetings before Hide started to lead us to Nishiki's. We'd walked about half way across campus before any of us said anything again. Hide being the first.

"Hey, Kaneki?" He started, catching both of our attentions. "I don't mean to pry, but are you eating right?"

Ken and I both tensed up at the question, though Ken visibly more so. The three of us stopped walking and Hide looked down at his feet.

"You're looking a little pale... You're gonna have to eat better if you wanna stay healthy." Hide said, sounding somewhat sad. He then began walking forward again.

"Uh... Right. Okay." Ken replied, still in shock that Hide had noticed.

"Can't get anything past Hide..." I whispered to myself as I started to follow behind the male once more.

We finally reached the building that Nishiki was in around five minutes after that conversation, the air around us awkward and tense.

"Thanks for coming along. I think you're really gonna like him." Hide said, looking towards Ken.

"Who? Nishio?" Ken questioned.

"Yeah, who else?" Hide laughed.

We all began the trek up the stairs, me internally complaining the entire time.

"Like I said, he can be snarky but he's cool. He's got this dark, mysterious vibe. It's... Hard to explain." Hide said.

I laughed a bit and sighed softly before hearing something inside of the room. My eyes widened as I listened a bit more — heavy breathing and a female voice.