A/N: This one is sort of a Kaneki x reader too, since the reader was with him, instead of Haise. The reader's a mother in this one!
This was requested by: @YanskieLuixx, I hope you enjoy!
"Okaa-san?"
You turned your head at the small child standing at the door way, clutching a picture frame in his tiny hands.
"Yes, Kei?" You answered, giving him a soft smile, motioning him to come closer if he wanted. The child did so and placed the picture frame on your desk, where you were working on your most recent book. It was a talent you had picked up after meeting Ken, after deciding getting some sense knocked into you and stopping your insane killing habits.
"Who is the boy hugging you?" He asked, placing a sticky finger on the glass covering the cherished picture.
"That's your dad." You said, holding the picture to his eye level. "It's Kaneki Ken!"
"So that's why my name Kaneki Kei and not (L/N) Kei?" He questioned. What a bright child, just like his dad.
"Yes. Your dad and I spoke about it, and we decided that you resembled him most, hence your last name."
"Was he a nice boy?" He asked, trying to take every detail of his father and memorize them.
"A very nice boy. A lot of people liked him and miss him a lot." You said, smiling.
"If he was nice, why did he leave?" Kei asked innocently.
"Because... Because he was forced to. If he had the choice, I'm sure he would have stayed, honey." You explained, stroking the kid's jet black hair. In all honesty, you weren't even sure if he was still alive. You heard some rumours, but you weren't sure. Even if Ken was still alive, was he really Ken anymore?
"I wish he had the choice." Your son spoke, (e/c) eyes looking up to your own.
"Me too, baby. Now come, I'll cook you something for lunch, how about it?" You proposed, getting up from the desk and stretching before picking up the four year old boy.
"But you don't like the food you cook!" Kei said, worried. "What are you going to eat?"
"Don't worry, mommy doesn't need to eat a lot to stay very strong. You, on the other hand, are still a growing boy! And your brain needs food to stay as smart as you are!"
"I'll eat lots and lots to stay smart, Okaa-san! I'll make you proud!"
You chuckled at how determined your son was. Just like him...
"I'm already proud of you, Kei."
••••
"Come here, baby. We're going to play hide and seek." You cooed, trying to calm yourself down. You smelled them, they were coming and you needed to leave as quickly as possible.
"But mommy, who's the seeker?" Your son asked as you picked him up, going for the back door and planning to escape through the garden.
"The people in the white coats, dear. If mommy gets tagged, you need to avoid them, okay?" You said before stopping once you spotted them, the wooden door you were planning to go through completely destroyed. Just like your hopes of saving you and your son. Maybe they'd let him go if they learned he was a natural half-ghoul...
"Please, don't hurt Kei, at least..." You pleaded, attempting to hug your son closer to your body. "He's a natural half-ghoul, he doesn't need to eat flesh, I never fed him any, I promise..." Your voice cracked once you spotted four other investigators behind him. You knew you were strong, but not strong enough to take a whole quinx squad...
"They didn't tag you yet, Okaa-san." He spoke softly. "You can still win."
He's right. Don't knock it 'till you try it, right? You can't win if you don't fight. . .
"Listen." You spoke to the group. "I know I was reckless in the past, but I was a teenager. I regret taking the lives I've taken. Please, I just want to live my life with my son. I don't kill anymore, I promise..." That was the most pathetic thing you ever said. You knew they wouldn't show pity. You just had to try.
"It's just our job, we're sorry." The leader spoke up. His scent made tears spring up into your eyes. His facial traits had changed a bit, but that was expected. The last time you saw him, he was still a lost teenager, torn between the two worlds...
"Ken..." You breathed. The pudding haired male seemed to tense up at the name. Maybe he was still somewhere in there, even if they brainwashed him... "You're back... I thought you were dead, I thought Arima had killed you!" You couldn't stop the smile appearing on your face. Your son looked back at the man before him, then his squad, and the weapons they were carrying, then back to his father.
"Why is daddy trying to kill us?" He asked, making all of you look at him in shock.
"Kei, baby, they're not going to kill you." You said, looking back at them to make your point. "You're going to live, Kei."
Ken looked at you with a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry." He repeated, clutching his quinque with a shaky grip. He was yelling at him not to kill them, but this was his job. He had to, or letting the two of you go would raise suspicion in the CCG, Arima wouldn't be happy.
"Sassan... That's a kid, you can't just..." A blond man with sharp teeth said, looking at the two of you with pity. He knew your son would be scarred for life if they just murdered you right there and then. He had troubles as a child too, he didn't want to be the reason another child would feel the way he felt. Plus, ghoul or not ghoul, that kid had a good reason to murder all of the CCG afterwards, they had taken both of his parents away, no?
"Those are ghouls, Shirazu." A purple haired man beside him said, although he sounded like he was choking his words out. Yeah, Urie knew the two had to go, but this felt too familiar to him. Way too familiar, and no matter how much he'd try to push the feelings away, he felt awful.
"You're willing to destroy a family and call it peacekeeping? Have you ever thought that there might be ghouls out there who hate having to do the things they do to survive?" You said, almost in a scolding tone. You turned your eyes to Ken, begging him to let you survive. "You, out of all people, should know... We never asked to be flesh eating monsters! Yes, some of us take pleasure in destroying human lives and ripping families appart, but we're not all like that! Most of us despise the ghouls who kill humans for fun! And have you ever considered that some humans in the CCG are like that too? Are you aware of how many pacifist ghouls you've murdered without knowing? How many loving parents you killed?" You recalled the death of Fueguchi and anger flowed through you like a crashing wave.
The three were speechless while the two members behind them kept silent, although you could see the blue haired girl behind 'Shirazu' was close to tears.
Kei looked up at you, stroking your cheek as an attempt to calm you down. You smiled at the child, impressed to see that he wasn't upset, just worried for you. You looked back to the man who once loved you.
"You're willing to kill your own son?"
That did it. Haise let go of his weapon, listening to him and letting the two of you live. He couldn't help but feel affection for you, too. Plus, it was his son, and the poor kid already went through enough, lacking a paternal figure for three years...
You jumped at the loud noise Ken's quinque emitted once it hit the wooden floor and watched as he slowly approached you.
"Sasaki, what-"
Ken cut off the purple haired male. "She's right. Maybe she's done bad things in the past, but she regrets them. And I'm not going to kill my son."
"How do you even know he's yours?" 'Shirazu' asked, suspicious as well, although he couldn't ignore the uncanny resemblance between the two.
Haise didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the small child, who simply stared back, convinced that Haise was his father. He could see the resemblance. Other than his (e/c) eyes, he could see that Kei looked like his spitting image, just with completely black hair. And he smelled like a half ghoul, too.
Ignoring the quinx behind him, Ken walked up to the two of you.
"Daddy?" Kei asked hopefully. "Are you back?"
"Hey, Kei, right?"
The child nodded, letting Ken speak again.
"I'm sorry, I lost my memory." He spoke. "My name's Sasaki Haise."
"But daddy was Kaneki Ken..." The child said in confusion. You decided to help Sasaki out.
"Sometimes, when people lose their memories, they have to change their names." You explained.
"Does that mean he doesn't have memories of me?" The child asked worriedly, yet he didn't seem like he would cry over the matter. What a strong kid.
"I'm sorry." Sasaki said once again, his eyes going from his child, to you. "We'll leave you alone, but you need to leave Tokyo."
His words surprised everyone in the room.
"But what about you?" You asked. "Letting ghouls escape like this isn't exactly a smart thing to do, no? You could get punished."
"Was that speech for nothing?" 'Shirazu' asked. "Just consider yourself lucky that Sassan's letting you go."
Ah, yeah, you sounded like a total hypocrite just now, didn't you? You really should just thank them and bolt out of here with Kei, but what about Ke- Sasaki?
As you looked at him, Sasaki shifted uncomfortably. He was getting more restless, begging him to let him talk to them, asking him to let him take over, but even if his intentions were nothing but good, Haise knew he'd lose complete control and might have to be taken down if he did.
"You two can take the front door, there won't be anyone there." He explained. "We'll say you knew we'd be waiting at the back door and fled the other way."
You nodded, hugging your child closer. "Thank you, Sasaki Haise."
"One more thing." The male then put his hand on your shoulder and the other on Kei's head. "He loves you both very much." He spoke, before setting his eyes on the child in your arms. "Your father loves you very much, and he's very sorry that he can't run away with you both. He wants you to be brave and make your mother happy while he's gone."
"When will you come back, dad?" The kid asked.
"He doesn't know, but he hopes he'll see you one day, when you're all grown up. Ken's..." The name felt weird on his tongue. "Ken's proud of you, Kei-kun."
Haise then looked back at you. "I really don't when we'll see each other again, but he says you need to let go."
You unwillingly nodded. You didn't want to let Ken go, especially when he was still there, somewhere inside Sasaki's mind... But, if he needed you to do it, you would. For his sake.
With that, you left the quinx and escaped your home, fleeing from Tokyo.
"Do you really think you'll see them again, Sassan?" Shirazu asked, feeling sort of bad for his mentor. He just learned that he had a family, just to have them run away the very same day. It must be tough.
"I hope so. I'd like to be there for my son." He said, ignoring how he muttered 'technically my son' in his head.
"I can't believe we'll have to keep a secret this big from the CCG." Mutsuki finally spoke, still bewildered by what they had just witnessed and learned.
"We can do it, I'm sure!" Haise exclaimed, his optimistic self back. "We're doing it to save a family!"
His family.
ALTERNATE:
Ken walked up to the two of you.
Haise: *stomp stomp stomp stomp*
Kei: Daddy?
Haise: do i lOOK LIKE YO-