Centipedes in my ears

Chapter 3

"You already fucking told me half. Why not the rest? To much of a mamas boy to break Rize's rule?"

Touka knew it was wrong to taunt the boy. She just couldn't help it though. Everything about him was infuriating! That and implying that she was weak. This kid just drived her mad.

"Good point. If you introduce yourself then I'll do the same. You'll see."

"Fine. I'm Kirishima Touka. Happy now?"

"Very! Now let's see, the name Rize gave me is Kaneki Ken. She says it's a good name. But, while I was in Cochlea-"

"They let you out of Cochlea?!"

"No I escaped a the day before yesterday."

"How the hell did you get here that fast?! Especially when you looked like shit!"

"I ran here. As I was saying, in Cochlea they named me Mukade."

"You're the SSS-rank ghoul Mukade? I don't believe you. There's no way in hell that he's actually real, much less you."

"Believe what you want."

They stayed quiet for the rest of the train ride. But then, a problem arose. The Rc detectors installed in the first four wards. Touka could see the obvious worry from Kaneki when they stepped off the train.

"Relax. They're pretty shitty scanners. Only work when a ghouls on the higher end of the average."

She pushed him forward a couple steps before he stopped. The scanners were near the exit, which was a little over 10 meters away.

"If I go any further, they'll go off. You don't understand. My Rc count has risen way above average. They never let me anywhere near the scanners at Cochlea, which are designed for powerful ghouls. I don't even have to be under them to set them off. Last one I did was ten meters away from me."

"Bloody hell. Fine, follow me to the bathroom over there. "

She dragged him over to a small bathroom and brought out something Kaneki was very familiar with, an Rc suppressant. His eyes widened in fear and his body began to shake. Why did he have to do this again? It just hurt so much! Just injecting it into a ghoul was a form of torture.

"How do I put this in? The manager handed it to me before we left, but literally gave me no instructions. How the hell am I supposed to inject this?" Touka mumbled to herself.

"You inject it through the membrane of my left eye. Please, just make it quick!"

It was then Touka began to notice Kaneki's state. The poor boy was curled up in a corner, not even caring the floor was dirty. He was shaking. It was then it was then it donned on her: Rc suppressants were used in his torture sessions. Oh shit!

She slowly walked towards the shaking boy. Making gentle cooing sounds as she went. She still didn't quite like Kaneki, but she wasn't mean enough to torment him further. She lightly grabbed his chin and tilted it upwards. She then brought her other hand up and positioned it so she could pierce the membrane with the needle. She was slightly surprised when it when through, but she quickly finished the job.

"You okay now?" Touka asked.

"Give me a moment. It doesn't hurt anymore - hasn't for years- but it's just what it implies."

After a few minutes they were able to leave. They both passed through the scanners undetected. No further problems gapped on their walk to HySy. After the luckily uneventful walk towards the mask shop, they entered it.

"Uta-san? Hello?" Touka yelled out.

Kaneki had began to browse the masks that were displayed. One of them was covered by a sheet. Kaneki, ever curious, pulled off the sheet.

"Boo." The man under the sheet said.

"Oh, hello. You're not a mask, so why are you pretending to be one?" Kaneki asked.

"That's Uta. He's going to make your mask. Why were you under the sheet Uta?"

"I wanted to scare him. It didn't work."

Uta got up and walked over to Kaneki and Touka. He began to sniff Kaneki when he was close enough. "You smell unusual."He gave the boy a couple more sniffs before standing back up.

"Sit over there, I'll get you measurements."

Kaneki followed to where Uta had pointed. He sat down on the stool provided as Uta began.

"Any allergies?"

"No-"

"What about rubber or metals?"

"They're fine-"

"You want a full faced one?"

"Um-"

"It's your first one; maybe a half-mask, instead."

"Okay."

"Care for a snack?"

"No thanks. I don't eat humans."

"Ah, so you're a cannibal. Interesting."

With that, Uta began to ask a few personal questions. Kaneki really didn't see a point in them, but he answered them anyways. Uta said it was for inspiration, so Kaneki just went along with it.

After he was measured, Kaneki and Touka began the walk back to the train station. The Rc suppressant had yet to wear off for Kaneki, so he was again able to pass through undetected. The ride to the 20th Ward was yet again uneventful.

When they got back to Anteiku, Rize still had yet to return so Kaneki went and sat at an open table. The café was quiet at the moment, so he just stared off into space. Thinking of nothing and just letting himself relax. After a few moments like this, the shop began to get busy once again. All the tables were quickly filled.

"Hey, you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure."

Kaneki looked up and saw a younger guy with blonde hair and dark roots sitting down in front of him. It seemed the other did the same as Kaneki. His eyes had widened slightly when he saw the white hair and black nails. He quickly got it under control though and feigned ignorance to the obvious Marie Antoinette Syndrome in front of him.

'So he's an observant one. I'll have to be careful.'

"I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, but you can call me Hide."

"Okay Hide. I'm Kaneki Ken."

Hide began to talk to Kaneki while he drank his coffee. The strange thing was, Kaneki was actually beginning to enjoy talking to the sunshine incarnate within minutes. His warning thoughts from earlier were quickly forgotten for the moment as he talked to the blonde.

They talked about almost everything. Very quickly becoming friends. When Hide had to go, Kaneki became sad. He really didn't want the other to leave. At least Hide promised to return at around the same time tomorrow.

Kaneki had a feeling that if he continued to talk to Hide, that he wouldn't want to loose him. There was something special about the other. Hide made Kaneki feel like he wasn't broken. That he was unstable, bordering on the edge of insanity. That he was actually worth something.