Hard to Find Kaneki x Auato

Chapter 1: Ayato

"Shit, shit, shit-"

Touka had past killed the poor thing. It was crushed under the repetitive weight of her foot, innards spilling from its shell.

"I think you got it."

"Will you remove its carcass?"

I smiled at her. "Sure."

Touka had asked me over to see her new apartment. She was very excited that she was no longer in the dorms. That I could understand. I hadn't been in the dorms for over two years, but everyone on campus knew they were just horrid. They were overcrowded and dank, hardly anyone chose to live there anymore. So Touka moved to the complex outside of campus.

I picked up the corpse of the obliterated cockroach with a paper towel, disposing of it in the nearby waste bin.

"You were supposed to be impressed. Now..."

"I'm still impressed," I reassured her, looking about the apartment. It had two bathrooms and two bedrooms along with an open living area and a sufficient kitchen. There was even a balcony. "It's much nicer than my place."

"Is it?" She swept her bangs behind her ear, short of breath due to her stomping.

"Yeah. I'm surprised you can afford it," I took a seat on the couch and she followed thereafter.

"Working at that coffee shop for four years helped. I saved up a shitload of money."

"I think I'm more impressed that you find time to work and go to school."

"Well, the life insurance, too. My dad wired it to me."

I nodded, glancing to my feet. Touka's mother had died about a month ago. Car accident. It had been tragic and even brutal as she described it. She never gave me the details and I never pressed for them. I offered to attend and even drive her to the funeral, but she insisted that it was fine. That it would just be her immediate family. Not that I would know who that consisted of. Touka and I had been close friends since the end of my freshman year, but she never spoke much about herself or her family. I suppose I didn't either. Hide was usually the conversation starter.

"And now I don't have to keep sneaking Hide into my dorm. That was fun for about five minutes," she rested her feet on the coffee table and sighed.

Touka had been dating Hide for...two months now? They were very happy together and I couldn't be happier for them. But it became tiring being a third wheel. They were always very polite, inviting me to go with them to the movies or out to eat. But I didn't want to intrude on what seemed like had potential to be a date. It wasn't all that bad though, I had other friends. I just missed my best ones.

"Has Hide seen the place?"

"Yup," she smiled in remembrance. "But I know you've been feeling left out lately. So you're stuck with me tonight."

"Oh! Touka-chan, if you want to see Hide it's really no problem."

"I already saw him today. Shut up and pick a movie."

A smile washed over my face. "Fine."

I rose from the couch and walked over to the television. There were numerous DVDs scattered about in a clutter on the entertainment center, but I also noticed some games among them. Blue cases for the Playstation 4. Odd. I'd never seen Touka play, and she had shown zero interest when Hide and I used to play together. And I knew it wasn't Hide's, he was an Xbox person. To the extreme.

"Touka-chan? Is this-"

I heard the click of a door from a few meters behind me. I turned around to check its source. A boy with long dark hair crossed the living room to the kitchen. He was clad in black, gold hanging from his ears and fingers. He retrieved an iced tea from the refrigerator, sipping on it in silence. Between the jewelry and tired eyes and sharp features, he looked like a model.