Kaneki x Touka [Touken] One Shots

Books

A big thank you to @-back-in-black for helping me to write the first few parts!

This is for Day 1 of Toukenweek, focusing on Kuroneki! This is also posted on my tumblr & AO3.

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Oh, c'mon, Touka-chan. Just give it a try." The black haired male whined, showing her the book. "Please?" He begged, giving her the puppy face.

The violet-haired female sighed. "Fine, but why?" She grumbled, looking at him with her brows raised.

"I want us to have something more to talk about." He explained.

She gave another sigh and looked at him with a "why?" type of face.

Although he noticed, Kaneki brushed it off and pulled her to his room upstairs. He sat down on his bed and patted the space beside him. Knowing what he meant, Touka walked over to the bed and sat down. "Alright, what're we reading here?" She asked, looking at the book in his hands and noticed the title: "The Black Goat's egg."

"Oh, this book...again?" She asked tiredly, sighing. She rested her head on his shoulder and her fingers played with each other.

"I thought we could start with a book I enjoyed very much to see if you'll like what I read." He explained whilst trying to fight off a blush that appeared on his cheeks after realizing the close proximity to her. Ever since they started dating, she has had no qualms about being very close to him at times even though this was her first relationship. Compared to her, Kaneki was a mess as he started to perspire and stumble on his words. "T-then, let's start."

Though he has read The Black Goat's Egg numerous times, he can't help but still be drawn into the book's world as soon as his eyes landed on the first word. Finished with the first page, he got distracted as Touka laid her head on his lap and started playing with his bangs. "Erm, Touka-chan? You're supposed to be reading..."

"Got bored after the third sentence. I really can't see myself getting into books." She trailed off as she stared at the book's cover, thinking how people could be interested in these boring books but kept her mouth shut, knowing that Kaneki wouldn't let her insult his favorite books. "How about this, you read to me and I'll ask whenever I don't understand something."

Kaneki found the idea good, as he would be able to immerse himself in his book and get Touka interested in books so he agreed. He flipped back to the first page and cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, there was a..."

It started off good at first, with Touka asking him whenever he read an unfamiliar word that she didn't know the meaning of, and asking him what happened next or what it meant. Her questions gradually died down as her eyes drooped at the sound of his soothing voice. She always did love his voice. Kaneki only noticed when she stopped asking questions totally and took away his book to reveal a sleeping beauty underneath. He let out a sigh as he smiled and moved to press a kiss to her forehead. She furrowed her eyebrows, letting out a groan in the process as she cracked open her eyes.

"Ah sorry. Did I wake you up?" He blushed, hoping she didn't notice what he had just done.

Her cheeks warmed as she touched her forehead with a hand. "I know what you did." She mumbled and laughed as she watched his pinkish cheeks turn red.

This was the first time he did something like this. Touka is usually the one initiating contact, as Kaneki was too shy to do so. Even if he did, it would only be something small like holding hands. They haven't done any hugging or kissing yet and it's already been a month since they started dating.

"If you did that every time we read books, I think I would start liking books." She teased with a grin.

His face was as red as a tomato and he exclaimed, embarrassed at her statement. "Touka-chan!"

Later that day, Kaneki managed to get Touka to finish the book, with him giving her a kiss every time she finished one page. Despite the means, he was still happy that he is now able to talk about books with her.