Hiraeth (A HideKane/ KaneHide multichapter fic)

Chapter 22

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

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ao3: Aeliia
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poor Kaneki

Kaneki didn't have a panic attack when he realized Hide was missing. He had more like five or six.

At first, when he woke up, he simply thought Hide had awakened before him. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence; Hide was actually an early bird. Seeing he wasn't anywhere in the house, though, he decided to call him on the CCG-issued cellphones they'd received some time back. No answer. He tried one more time with the same outcome.

It wasn't like Hide to disappear randomly like this. If anything, he would have left a note-probably one with a bunch of hearts all over it. Kaneki searched frantically for anything of the sort but came up empty-handed. A wave of panic coursed through his body. Calm down, you're probably overreacting. Maybe he went to work early or something and didn't have time to write a note. Or return your call. Or maybe he's out shopping and he didn't hear his phone. That has to be it.

And then he noticed the front door. The lock and handle were both busted. By what, he had no idea. But that didn't matter.

Something happened in the middle of the night that he didn't know about.

Rushing to pick up his phone again, he dialed Akira's number, his hands shaking as he pressed the buttons as hard as he could. It was too slow, she was too slow. Why the hell wasn't she picking up?

Finally, her voice came through the other end. "Akira Mado speaking."

"He's gone," Kaneki breathed, the words tumbling from his mouth. "He's gone he's gone he's gone and I don't know what to do I don't know what to do."

"Slow down. What's going on?"

He took a deep breath, his next words like poison in his mouth.

"Someone took Hide."

Kaneki and Akira sat in front of Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu. Akira explained to him what Kaneki had managed to relay to her-which wasn't a lot, as he was too panic-stricken to say much-and waited for his response. After a moment of contemplating, he sighed in annoyance.

"I can't believe this," he grumbled. "A twenty year old half-ghoul trained in combat that's supposed to be the CCG's new weapon. Kidnapped. It's utterly ridiculous. Are you sure you have your facts straight?" he asked Kaneki with raised eyebrows.

"I really hope not."

Kaneki had never wanted to be more wrong than he did then. He wanted to badly for Hide to burst into the room, laughing as he told them it was just a little prank to scare them. And then Kaneki would whack him for being so stupid and for making them worry and then hug him right afterwards.

But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Akira and Yoshitoki continued discussing their options. They suspected it was Kanou or, more accurately, one of his subordinates, who took him. "Who do we know that could be powerful enough to subdue someone with Hide's abilities? At the very least, if he couldn't fight, he could have at least ran," Yoshitoki sighed.