Kaneki had an epiphany.
"Rather than a person who hurts others, become the person getting hurt." His mother's voice rung in his ear when he had lost consciousness a few minutes after Yamori had stuffed a centipede into his ear.
Rize had appeared in his mind long after and she had mocked his mother's ideology. His mother had ended up being the person getting hurt so much that she overworked herself and died due to her selflessness. Rize made Kaneki angry, but more than that, he'd realized that she was right. His mother had chosen both sides and lost herself to provide for her sister who is less than deserving of her concern, causing a great price of her life in return and left Kaneki in the hands of his horrible aunt.
"She wasn't kind for choosing both you and her sister." Rize had said, "She was simply weak."
Kaneki was like his mother.
But he didn't want to be like her anymore. He couldn't forgive and forget forever. He couldn't possibly forgive someone like Yamori. Someone takes lives at the expense of his entertainment. People like that must be punished. They shouldn't be given an ounce of kindness or compassion for their actions.
Rize carries on, "If the Aogiri grows in number, it won't be long until they gain power and demolish every ward. Including the 20th ward." She steps closer to him, an ever present smile on her face, "You know who's in the 20th ward, right?"
"Anteiku...." Suddenly it's getting hard to breathe, "Hide."
"Right. Your friends from Anteiku and your precious Hide will fall into the hands of the Aogiri, is that what you want, Kaneki?"
He grits his teeth. "No...no. Anyone who takes the only place I belong..." Kaneki meets Rize's eyes, "I won't forgive them."
"Now you're getting it!" Rize lets out an enthusiastic laugh, "So what are you going to do Kaneki?~"
"I'm going to be a ghoul."
"I..like what you did with your hair."
Kaneki looks up from where he had zoned out after the hug, lips perking up a little bit at the comment. Hide never fails to make any situation seem lighter...
"White's a great look on you." Hide adds, his hand automatically forming an awkward peace sign and he almost shits himself in embarrassment. It's worth it though when Kaneki lets out a little chuckle.
But the loud commotion from outside drags them back into the reality and as quick as it had came, Kaneki's smile dropped and his gaze turned hard. Hide's eyebrows crease in worry, but he decides that they'd better leave this place then catch up with one another, as much as he would want to do that now.
"Let's go."
Kaneki leads the way outside the doors and they break into a sprint through the empty halls which seem to ring with every crash and explosion coming from the war out front.
But as they ran, it struck Kaneki as hard as a knife as he realized that Hide was here in this dangerous ghoul filled hell. The main person he is trying to protect is the one who had risked his life coming all the way here. Shit, does that mean he....
"Kaneki, look out!" The light haired male didn't have time to process the words and Hide (idiotically) jumps in front of him to shield him from an incoming kagune, which sends him flying against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Hide!" He shouts, angry eyes setting on the ghoul in front of them. It was just one of the many members of the tree and none of the main leaders, so he allows himself to relax a bit, since he's feeling a lot more tense now that Hide is with him. The opponent charges recklessly, giving Kaneki an opening for him to send a harsh kick against their stomach with ease, causing the ghoul to crash through the wall and disappear.
"Hide?" Rushing to his friend's aid, he stills a little when he feels the blood pooling by the side of the blond's head. He's unconscious. He picks up the limp body and rests him against his back in a piggy back stance and proceeds to continue his run, desperate to leave this place.
He pauses when he almost runs into a group fleeing from the left corner and his eyes light up in recognition of the man who led the group. "Banjou!"
The said male's eyes widen as he catches the sight of him,"Kaneki?" He gives him a once over, noticing the chilling change in appearance and aura. "You're alive?"
"I defeated Yamori." Kaneki simply says as if it were the simplest thing to be able to kill a powerful ghoul such as Yamori. Before Banjou could talk though, he continued, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're escaping. The Aogiri captured me and my guys and locked us up with a few other people, ones that I used to govern when I led the 11th ward." Banjou's eyes darken, "The CCG is here and the Aogiri is planning to kill us too so it'll be better for us to leave as soon as possible."
"Okay, you don't have to worry, I'll protect you." Kaneki declares with a smile.
Banjou noticed how sorrowful it felt.
"Excuse me, Kaneki-san, but why are you carrying a CCG member?" One of the people from the group questions, eyes wide in confusion.
"Eh?" He was so busy with all the thoughts rummaging in his head that he hadn't noticed that Hide was wearing their uniform. He refrains from jumping into conclusions though, only answering, "He's my best friend."
"You're best friends with a human?"
He smiles, "Yes. He came to save me. Althoughe got knocked up a little bit."
They carried along after that, no one dared to speak upon the absurd situation of fondness over a human.
"Banjou, I hear something." One of the gas-mask wearing ghoul whispers and everybody halts.
Kaneki gets into a protective stance, for he had heard the sound of light footsteps too. "Get behind me." He says calmly, keeping his grip on Hide tight.
"Kaneki?" A familiar voice greets him instead.
"Nishio-senpai?"
The orange haired ghoul lets out an inaudible gasp, because he too is shocked by the difference of the male, appearance and aura-wise. He furrows his eyebrows, "Who the hell are they?" He motions to the sea of people behind Kaneki.
"They're prisoners trying to escape." Then he tilts his head, "What are you doing here, senpai?"
Nishiki takes a second to toss something at him, which he catches easily. His eyes grace on his beloved mask.
"I'm here to save your ass dipshit." Nishiki had joined the party by the last minute because he ultimately owed the white haired boy for that whole fiasco with Tsukiyama a while back. "Let's get out of this place."
"Does that mean Touka an the others are here too?" Kaneki asks as they sprint past the halls.
"Yeah. Although I haven't seen that damned woman anywhere. Irimi said that she thinks she had a run in with some CCG member who had left their troop before I left to sprung into action. I figured she would've been done with them by now."
Kaneki stops in his tracks, registering the words. CCG members don't leave their troops and wouldn't have ventured so far into the building. Unless that "CCG member" was Hide which it probably is. Touka had gone off with Hide to find him but where is she now? They must've gotten separated. He feels a cold chill run up his spine because he knew somebody would've met her along the way.
"Touka's in trouble."
"Huh? Kirishima's probably fine, a CCG member would be no match against her troublesome ass on a one-on-one."
"I need to go find her." Kaneki ignores Nishiki's words, instead halting to place the unconcious Hide in his arms, startling the glasses ghoul for he hadn't noticed that Kaneki was carrying him this whole time.
"Nagachika? What the hell is he-" The sentence is left unfinished when the other gently hands the unconscious body over and Nishiki looks at him like he's grown two heads.
"I need to go after Touka. I'm leaving Banjou and the other's to your care, Nishio-senpai. I trust you and your strength."
"Wait a damn second brat—" But Kaneki had already started to run off.
"Please don't let anything happen to him." He says before he disappears the way they came from.
"Tch. Dumbass." Nishiki sighs, adjusting Hide against his back. He turns to look at Bamjou, "You and your crew are under my care now. I will get you out of here."
Kaneki trusts him. They trust him. He will not let them down.
Although Kaneki felt touched that his friends from Anteiku came to save him, he couldn't help the thought of being a burden for he's the reason they're jumping into a battle they didn't have to enter. His goal is to protect them because he is the one at fault for bringing the bad luck for everyone he meets - because he's both a human and a ghoul. Just when he decides that he'd risk it all to protect this place he belongs, they had done it for him instead.
Kaneki doesn't want anyone to die for him anymore.
Rather than a person who hurts others, become the person getting hurt.
His senses lead him to a staircase pretty near from the place Yamori kept him hostage.
He could smell the scent of Touka's blood which mingles with another as he ascends the steps. The avid sound of her shouts of pain rings in Kaneki's ears, notifying him that he's going the right way. He finally puts his mask on.
He pushes door leading to the rooftop and is met with the sight of Touka lying in a pool of her own blood, kagune mangled, given the impression that it was bitten off and Ayato slowly making his way towards her. Before he could land the hit, Kaneki swoops in and carries her out of the range of the attack, startling Ayato.
"I'm sorry, Touka." He whispers, holding her limp body in his arms. "This is my fault."
"...Kaneki..?" Touka murmurs weakly, the white hair completely catching her attention, "...What the hell did they do to you...idiot." Then her eyes flutter close as she slips into unconsciousness. He drops her off a few meters away from where a pissed off Ayato stood.
"Huh, you've changed, haven't you? I thought you would've been dead by now." Ayato glowers, watching Kaneki approach him calmly. Then he bares his teeth, "But that doesn't matter anymore, because I'm going to kill you!" And in a swift motion he spins and fires the spikes rapidly, all of which Kaneki easily avoided, pissing off he purple haired teen even more.
"Scum! You're going to die!" Then came another shower of spikes some of which had cut along Kaneki's skin. He remains unbothered though, remaining calm and collected, spinning away from the hits and blows.
Ayato smirks, "What's the matter? Let's see you fight, eyepatch!" He spins out another attack, only to be dodged once more, "C'mon and kill me, half-assed bastard!"
"I can't do that." Kaneki simply states.
"Haah?!"
"If I do, Touka will be sad. You're the only brother she has." He avoids another furious blow, "Even if you're a member of the Aogiri, and you've hurt Touka, I cannot kill you."
"Bullshit. I honestly thought you changed." Ayato grumbles, "But clearly you're still the same naive little shit!" Then he finally charges, heading straight for the kill with immense speed.
But Kaneki was faster and Ayato felt it before he saw the kick sent right into his stomach, sending him flying back.
"So therefore, Ayato , I will only beat you half to death."
—
a/n; i'm sorry for the slow updates ;; i feel like the work in this one is really shabby and sorry if there r any typos, i wrote this all in one go w/o proof reading ;;
also this ayato vs kaneki is one of my favorite scenes in the manga and i absolutely HATE how the anime didn't include the part where kaneki "half-killed" ayato by breaking 103 of his bones and giving him an anatomy lesson while doing so LMAO
one of the coolest op kaneki scenes ever and the anime didn't do it justice 💔
anyways thank you for all your support :) ! stay safe and always wash ur hands >:(