When will you return? [ Kaneki X Touka / Touken ] (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Two

Touka just stood there looking at Kaneki, her voice caught in her throat. She didn't think he would've been able to hear her land. "I, uh,." Was all Touka could manage to say as she stared at the ground.

"Well, what is it?" Kaneki asked harshly but still melancholic.

"I.. I miss you," she replied, slowly walking towards him.

Kaneki wasn't sure what her motives were for approaching so he raised his arm in defense and braced himself for the punch he was most likely going to receive. Except there was no punch, no pain at all. Just the comforting feeling of two arms wrapping around him. Touka was hugging him, and it was the last thing he would've expected out of her. Still, after momentary shock he returned her hug. He looked down at her to see tears forming in her eyes. Touka noticed he saw her about to cry and quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry I punched you.. Then started beating you up." She said while still hugging Kaneki tightly, "And yelled at you to never come back to Anteiku."

"Touka-chan.." Kaneki started but was quickly interrupted.

"Please come back, everyone at Anteiku misses you." Touka mumbled, but it was still loud enough for him to hear her, as she buried her face in his neck.

Kaneki felt awful after he heard how sad Touka sounded, for leaving, and that he knew he couldn't go back yet. He let his arms fall to his side and slowly stepped back from the hug. Touka also let go, leaving them staring at each other in silence but Touka didn't mind, although she enjoyed hugging him it finally gave her a chance to clearly see him up close after so long. She noticed how much more mature he looked since he went to Aogiri. He was a lot more muscular and the innocent baby-ish look to his face was gone. She hated to admit it but he looked a lot more attractive. He was no longer the nerdy boy she met a few months ago. Despite the fact that it was only about thirty seconds the silence felt like it was lasting hours. Kaneki noticed Touka staring at him and blushed a little, wondering what she could be thinking. "Touka," As he said her name she was snapped back to reality. "...I'm sorry, I can't." Kaneki finally answered her, "I can't come back to Anteiku."

Touka felt her heart sink, her facial features dropped into sadness, and her eyes started to tear up again. Kaneki saw this and immediately felt even worse. "Why...?" She asked, her voice shaky, "Why not, darn it!" She was angry now, raising her fist as if threatening to punch him, "I go out of my way to find you out here and... And you.. you don't even have the decency to think about it! It's just that "you can't". Is there even a reason or do you not even care at a-"

He cut her off, "Touka-chan I'm sorry, but I will tell you that I do have reasons." Kaneki said solemnly and looked away, "And yes, I do care. I miss you too, and everyone else back at Antieku."

Anger still boiling inside Touka she lunged her raised fist at him. Kaneki quickly brought his hand up to stop it, "So this is it, huh? Just like this evening, you're gonna beat me up again. You know you're going to regret it if you do, just like last time."

That was enough for Touka to realize they were reliving what had just happened. She lowered her fist and collapsed into a sitting position on the ground. Kaneki sat down beside her. "I'm sorry.." She said barely audible, "But your reasons for not coming back can you at least tell me?"

Kaneki sighed "Alright, but it's not like you haven't heard it before. I still need to get stronger, so I can protect you," He answered and cracked his finger out of habit, "Besides, you and I both know Aogiri would probably target Anteiku if I left because they know that's where I would be."

"Y-yeah, I guess. Do you really need to get stronger though? You seem strong enough as it is, why can't you just come back?" Touka asked sadly, although she already knew the answer.

She looked devastated, it pained Kaneki to see her like this but he knew he couldn't come back, not yet anyway. "I'm sorry Touka-chan, but I don't have a choice," Kaneki said softly and pulled her into another hug.

Touka felt her face grow hot as he hugged her. "Why am I blushing?" Touka mentally asked herself, "No, there's no way he made me blush. Theres just a sudden hot breeze." She denied it and pushed the thought out of her mind.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "What were you doing out here anyway?" Touka asked him slightly pushing herself away from the hug and scooted backwards just a little, "Why aren't you wherever you stay at with Aogiri sleeping?"

"I couldn't sleep, had too much on my mind so I decided to go for a walk," Kaneki answered.

Touka instantly felt bad. "It has to do with me beating you up doesn't it?" She slightly chuckled trying to make light of the past incident.

"Kind of, yes. I miss you too you know, and all I got out of you was a punch in the face," he lightly smiled at the sound of her laugh.

"It was more than just a punch in the face, I completely beat you up. Don't make me seem weak." Touka joked feeling a lot happier.

"Yes, yes, Touka. You completely destroyed me," Kaneki said sarcastically and playfully rolled his eyes.

Touka smiled, a real smile. For the first time in a while she felt content. "Hey, Kaneki. Can we meet up again, sometime? It was nice finally getting to talk to you after so long."

"Sure," Kaneki smiled because he was hoping she'd ask that exact thing, "but it'll have to be pretty late again. I can't just leave during a raid or something, and if Ayato finds out he's gonna be mad at me, and who knows he might start attacking you again."

"You and I could easily beat him," Touka said.

"I know I know, but I don't want to start a fight. Besides I couldn't bring myself to kill your brother..." He answered.
"Go ahead and kill him, he's a total jerk." She muttered, "but I need to get going, it's really late."

"Alright, I'll meet you here same time tomorrow, right?" Kaneki asked.

"Right," she confirmed and quickly hugged him one more time, "Bye Kaneki." She called while she ran off.
Kaneki waved, "See you tomorrow.."

(A/N)  Sorry about the delay, I've been having writers block. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out fairly soon. Thanks for reading,