Day 2 of Toukenweek! Shironeki.
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"Don't you ever come back to Anteiku!"
Kaneki's eyes widened as those words left her mouth and he didn't have time to react when Touka delivered a punch to his face, sending him flying backwards to the floor. She jumped onto him, gave him 3 punches to the face and stopped at the fourth to rest her fists on his chest. "Why did you have to end up like this?" She whimpered, tears dripping onto his face.
He was shocked to see her crying because of him. As far as he had known Touka, she had always hidden her feelings deep within her and never let them out as they were signs of weakness. Even if he did see her weak side, it was only by accident when she was injured due to going after the doves. Yet, she was there sobbing and mumbling how much of an idiot that he was.
"T-Touka-chan—"
"Shut up! I don't need your 'I'm going to protect you guys' words! You can do that just fine if you stay with us! Just please...don't leave me... My parents, then Ayato, then you... I don't want to lose anyone anymore."
When you see a girl crying in front of you, the first thing you would do is pass her a tissue to stop her tears right? In this case, Kaneki didn't have any on him and used his fingers instead to gently wipe away her falling tears. She looked at him and he gave a sheepish smile. "If Touka-chan wants me to stay, then I will. I missed Anteiku. It feels truly home to be there."
She gave him a rough push on the chest to get off of him and he stood up as well. "Damn right you are. You belong at Anteiku, with us!" Touka shouted as she turned away from him and folded her arms. She acted strong but deep down, she was elated to hear that he would be staying and unconsciously she smiled.
Kaneki smiled. A rain drop landed on his face and he looked up to the dark sky. The raindrops started increasing and he grabbed Touka's arm, pulling her as he started running. "Run! It's raining!"
"HAH?!" The violet haired female was still flustered at him suddenly grabbing her but ran behind him as he pulled her along. The two ran all the way back to Anteiku under the heavy rain and even though they were soaking wet by the time they reached the cafe, they had a lot of fun together.
Everyone at Anteiku was surprised to see Touka back with Kaneki, holding hands but they couldn't be bothered as they ran upstairs to dry themselves and got changed into a fresh pair of clothes. They settled down onto Kaneki's bed and the white haired male glanced around the room. Everything in his room was left untouched and even the books on the floor was in the same position he left them. "I'm surprised that you guys didn't throw away my stuff after I left. It also seems really clean in here. Did someone clean my room?" He asked, turning to Touka.
Touka stared down at her hand where his hand's warmth lingered there and she blushed. Shaking off those thoughts, she answered him. "U-Uh I clean your room every week."
"Why?" His big grey eyes stared into her soul and she turned away, conscious of his stare.
"I-It's to prepare for you to come back. If one day you changed your mind, I wanted to make sure that it's ready for you to return to. A clean and tidy room. But I figured you wouldn't like touching your stuff that much so I didn't move your books—"
She wasn't able to finish explaining when he tackled her with a tight hug, arms wrapped around her torso. "W-Wha—" Her cheeks turned pink.
Tears soaked her t-shirt and she slowly relaxed her body. "Thank you so much... I really am lucky, aren't I? To have people who care about me."
"Of course. Everyone here cares about you. You're just too blind to see it." Touka snorted.
"Mm..." His voice muffled onto her shoulder and she let him cry until he was satisfied. Kaneki pulled back and smiled. "Thank you. Can you sleep with me tonight?"
Tonight. In the same bed. The violet haired female pushed away all the indecent thoughts away in her mind and nodded. She was sure he didn't have any vulgar ideas when he asked that.
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That night, they lay beside each other on the bed, with a few pillows in the middle to put some space between them. Kaneki hasn't been sleeping well these days, always waking up in the middle of the night screaming to nightmares of Rize and Jason. Feeling assured at her presence and grateful she agreed to stay with him, he fell asleep fast that night.
But the pleasant sleep was short-lived when he woke up at 3am, screaming and perspiring profusely. "One thousand minus seven is nine hundred and ninety three!" He grabbed his white strands and started to hyperventilate.
"Kaneki. Kaneki!" Touka shouted as she grabbed his wrist, making him look at her. "You're fine. You're okay! Take small breaths! Breathe in and out!"
He listened to her and soon he returned to his normal breathing, albeit still panting and shaking from the horrible nightmare. It was always the same nightmare; all around him was his own blood from the plucking of nails, hearing the sound of the centipede crawling in his ear and Jason asking him what was seven minus from a thousand. To make matters worse, Rize was always beside him, taunting him, saying 'you are not a human but a monster'.
Touka stared at the scared male before her and was at a loss of what to do to comfort him. Had he been like this since the torture? She was angry at herself for not being able to prevent him from being taken by Jason that day. She gritted her teeth and threw her arms around his trembling body. I'm sorry, Kaneki. It was all my fault.
His arms moved to wrap around her body and she stiffened at the foreign touch. Come to think of it, this was her first time being this close to someone of the opposite sex. She has never been interested in getting a boyfriend, even though Yoriko always encouraged her to get one, saying that it'll change her view on the whole world, that everything becomes colorful and enjoyable.
What are you thinking?! It's just Bakaneki!
He pulled away after a while, much to her disappointment and perhaps he sensed that, as he pressed his lips to hers. Feeling his warm and soft lips, a warm feeling blossomed in her chest and her arms pulled him closer, not wanting to be far apart from him. His eyes widened at Touka's bold action and Kaneki wished so hard for this to not be a dream and to be real.
They separated hesitantly and stared at each other for the longest time ever before the white haired male scratched the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry—"
She interrupted him with another kiss. He didn't hold back and returned the kiss with fervor.
"Kaneki. I like you and I want you to know that I will be by your side no matter what. Always. So don't leave me."
He knows what she meant by that. It's a promise.
His lips felt dry. "I like you too, Touka-chan... But are you sure you want to be with someone like me?" He looked at her, eyes lacking confidence.
She smiled. "Of course. I wouldn't have anyone but you."
Then Touka realized that she had just said something incredibly embarrassing and she flushed. But she saw that Kaneki was blushing equally as hard as her, and that somewhat helped reduce some of the embarrassment. "So? What's your answer?"
"Yes. Please take care of me."
"Likewise."
What they didn't know was that a few years later, he would forget about her.