Hiraeth (A HideKane/ KaneHide multichapter fic)

Chapter 20

I do not own this story. It is written by Aellia on FanFiction.net. All credits go to her.

Ways to reach the author:
ao3: Aeliia
http://www.fanfiction.net: Aeliia
tumblr: memesbeforedark/sunshineboyhide
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Kaneki awoke to a feeling in his stomach he'd hoped he would never have to feel again.

Stumbling out of bed, he fell to the ground, arms clutching his abdomen tightly. It hurt like hell. The horrible pain began to spread throughout his body, and he slammed his fists on the floor as hard as he could repeatedly, hoping to distract himself from the white-hot fire raging within his very being. His head began to pound, spots swimming in and out of his vision. Only one thought ran through his mind.

Meat.

Kaneki gasped, releasing a breath of air he didn't know he'd been holding. Saliva trickled out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin. He had to find food. He had to find food or this hunger was going to consume him, was going to turn him into a ravenous beast incapable of coherent thoughts. He had to find some.

And he knew where some was.

Hide stirred, opening his eyes at the sound of movement above him. "...Kaneki?" he said, seeing Kaneki hovering above him. At first, he didn't register what was wrong, but when a large drop of saliva fell onto his face and he saw that Kaneki's kakugan was activated, his system instantly went into alarm mode. But he forced himself to stay calm. "Hey, buddy, are you alright? Okay, I need you to get off me so I can call Akira, and she'll bring you some food. Kaneki, you have to let go now."

Kaneki was gripping Hide's shoulders with all his might, causing Hide's body to tense in pain. "Meat...food!" he exclaimed. "I need it! Give it to me! Just one bite, just one bite..."

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream tore itself from Kaneki's throat and he fell back, clutching his head before bringing his face extremely close to Hide's. For the first time in his life, Hide was honestly scared of Kaneki. He was scared of what he could and might do.

Kaneki opened his mouth and Hide was sure that was it, he was a goner because he couldn't bring himself to hurt his best friend. He squeezed his eyes shut. The sound of teeth ripping through flesh made him cringe, but he was perplexed as to why he didn't feel any pain. He opened his eyes. Kaneki had bitten into his own arm and torn off a chunk. He begun to chew it, a pained expression on his face. While his kakugan was still activated, his eyes had lost their glassy, leering look.

Hide, dumbfounded, could do nothing but watch as Kaneki swallowed and lowered his head. He was shaking. "Hide...I'm so sorry," he whispered. Hide snapped out of his daze and pulled his friend close to him, embracing the other boy. Kaneki sobbed quietly against his shoulder as his wound healed.

"It's okay, Kaneki, it's okay," he repeated, running his hands through Kaneki's tangled hair. Kaneki's breathing was heavy, his chest heaving up and down. "I'm going to call Akira now, okay?"

Kaneki nodded into Hide's shoulder, and Hide reached for his phone on the nightstand and dialed Akira's number. Would she even be up at this time? He sure hoped so. It dialed four times, and Hide was about to give up hope when she finally picked up.

"Akira Mado speaking."

"Akira-san, we need your help."