Kaneki was shouting in agony, and veins started to appear in several parts of his face. As he held his head and his legs that were shaking, his kagune sprouted out of his back, and his eye turned ghoul-like. Flashbacks of when he was fighting with Shinohara and Sachi appeared within his eyes. He broke from his nightmare to only be transported to a room filled with a pool of blood on the floor and what he saw in front of him made him quiver in fear.
There was two people-no, three and those two people were devouring someone. Not long after, they stopped eating the person, revealing ( Y/n )'s corpse, her hair disheveled and her black trench coat she always wore in battles, ripped.
" ( Y/N )!"
Since he was so focused on the dead body that was sinking in the blood, he was not able to realize that two people popped out of the pool of blood. Those people are Rize and Yamori, and they were climbing him. He screamed in terror again, not until he felt a hand pat his head and a hand shaking his shoulders.
" Kaneki.. Kaneki? Kaneki!" ( Y/n ) shouted worriedly as Kaneki finally woke up from his nightmare. He panted heavily and the ( h/c ) female just stared at him with concerned and anxious eyes, continuing to pat his hair, hoping that it would calm him down.
" ( Y/n )-san.." Kaneki whispered to only receive silence, "I was wrong. It wasn't me who was eating ghouls... I'm the one.. who was being eaten."
" Due to the frequent attacks made by well-organized group of ghouls, the Commission of Counter Ghoul has made the destruction of hidden ghoul bases a primary adjective. They are currently seeking more information," the news reporter reported as ( b/n ) turned off the TV and entered Touka's room that had several books on the table that were placed next to the sleeping female. He tiptoed quietly before he placed a jacket on top of the indigo-haired female and smiled, realizing the amount of effort she had put into studying.
Once the male was about to leave the room, he stopped once he saw a textbook right next to her that says 'Kamii University'. ( b/n ) flashed a small smile to no one before he left the room, remembering Kaneki, who would always stutter whenever he talked. Little did he know a certain brown-haired female was watching the whole scene.
The sky wasn't as bright as usual for it was winter. The orange, yellow leaves that were usually in front of the coffee shop disappeared and the atmosphere felt rather gloomy, but that didn't stop Hinami's mood. She was spinning around joyfully around the narrow streets and placed the usual chalkboard beside the stairs.
She flipped the board from 'closed' to 'open' and stretched, glad that her first commission was done, not until she was distracted when she saw Nishiki holding his girlfriend's hand. The brown-haired female was staring at the couple with curious eyes, as a green balloon got stuck in a naked tree that was standing right next to her.
***
" Are you sure you're asking the right person about this?" Nishiki asked as he stopped wiping the tables and looked at Hinami, who nodded at him.
" What's it like to fall in love with someone?"
" Well, it's not that easy to explain... It's hard to put into words. It's like.." Before Nishiki could continue, ( b/n ) sneaked up and punched his shoulders, powerful enough to make him move to the side a bit.
" You are too underage to do that," the brown-haired male exclaimed as Nishiki 'tched'.
" To answer your question, Hinami.. You feel like doing things for their sake and spending time with them. Simple things like that, I guess. I doubt any of this actually helped."
" No, I wouldn't say that. Thanks. ( b/n ) Oni-san, what about you? What is it like to fall in love with someone?" Hinami asked as ( b/n ) smiled awkwardly.
" Truthfully, I never actually fell in love but in what I see, he or she is someone that brightens up your life. He or she is someone you need in life that you will do anything to make him or her happy. Even if it costs your life, you are still willing to protect them at all costs. The love of your life is your top priority, and will always be. Sorry if it's not that clear,"
( b/n ) explained and rubbed the back of his head, chuckling to himself.
" Nope. It's nice listening to other explanations and thoughts! Thank you!" Hinami thanked and not long after, Irimi and Enji joined them.
" What's this? Talking about me? Once upon a time, the Devil Ape-" before Enji could continue, Nishiki interrupted him, no longer wanting to talk about him.
" Koma-san, please," he said and the door opened, revealing the ghoul they did not want to see at all, especially what he did with Kaneki.
" Ah, come.. right on in," ( b/n ) smiled, not until his smile became a frown after seeing Tsukiyama, who wore a pink suit, taking a deep breath with strange poses.
" The lingering scent of Kaneki-kun laced with the rich aroma of coffee in the air of this shop... The space in here, mingling with the ultimate, supreme epicurean delight, is truly.. El Dorado!" Tsukiyama blathered.
Everyone was staring at him, as if he was drunk, before Tsukiyama just flipped a bit of his hair and his face turned serious, " Is Yoshimura in?"
***
A O G I R I T R E E
11.17
" ( Y/n )-chan!!" Eto chirped as she swung her legs in the edge of the balcony with ( Y/n ), who was standing next to her, opening a bottle of water.
" Yes?" ( Y/n ) replied and looked at her, " Something wrong?"
" ... What are you thinking about, eh? Ayato? Kaneki?" Eto said, her lips sliding upwards.
" Nothing much," she sighed and rolled her eyes, "Eto, speaking honestly, do you think I should start avoiding wearing.. a mask?"
" I would love to see you not wearing that because I think you look hella pretty but... for your safety, I personally think you should keep it on."
" Thank you for your answer, I really appreciate it."
" Don't thank me, I mean- you asked for it," she laughed and grabbed her shoulders, " But ( Y/n ), you know, sooner or later you will no longer need it. I mean... you did evolve and change, I doubt that they can actually detect your face."
The ( h/c )-haired female remained silent, trying to digest what Eto had said. And she was right. There will be this one time where she must let it go, and in fact, she was overestimating CCG's power.
" You're right. Sorry..."
" What are you sorry about? Pfft- you did nothing wrong!"
' It's been so long, yet the first thing I do start slugging him,' Touka thought frustratedly,
' Being rough and saying all those things probably just made it harder for him to come back... Just study!'
After Touka groaned and slammed both of her hands to her desk, ( b/n ) came in, holding a cup of coffee, a face of worry spread across his face.
" It's to boost up your energy," ( b/n ) said and flashed her a small smile, placing the cup on her desk, " Don't give up."
Touka gasped at first but later on, a small smile was started to form and she actually did want to hug him but maybe he would feel uncomfortable with it. She shrugged it off and nodded at him instead.
***
" What the hell happened to you, Kaneki?" The ( h/c )-haired female gasped in surprise after seeing the small bruises on his cheeks as if he was punched. She then grabbed his chin and gently patted the bruise, " I'll help you. Please, come in."
The male obeyed her and went into her small apartment. She then opened her locker, which revealed a small aid kit, and opened it, taking a bandage and a tiny bottle of alcohol. She poured a small amount of alcohol into a cotton and dabbed his cheek. He flinched after meeting contact with the white, fluffy cotton but he wouldn't want the female to have a hard time dealing with him. And so, he remained still, even though it stings.
" What happened...?" The female muttered and stared at his dull, grey eyes, " Did you get into a fight?"
" Yes, I did."
" With who?" She placed the bandage on his cheek and was about to pull away, not until he held her wrist to stop her from moving, " Kaneki?"
" ( Y/n )... the pain doesn't matter right now, I have one question for you," he slowly let go and looked down, " How... no, what... what is love to you?"
" It's a joke if I can be honest," ( Y/n ) said without any hesitation and smiled sadly at the male, who was surprised with her unanticipated answer, " It's like a curse. If you love someone so much, you will eventually lose them and you can never let go. It's best being alone, don't you think?"
"..."
" What about you? Do you like someone?"
" I don't know... maybe I do."
" She must be a very lucky girl then. You're a very special person, and you're powerful," she continued to smile, " Just like how you made my world interesting and beautiful like a painting. And that's how I like you, you're one of the first people to ever start a proper conversation with me, some wouldn't."
He had a small, pink blush on his face after hearing her compliment, and because of that, he looked down and bit his lip, not wanting her to see his very flustered face.
" But I hope you didn't get the wrong idea. There is a difference between the word 'like' and 'love'. You're a friend, and nothing more. I don't think we'll be anything more than that either."
" Sir, we have doves," Irimi said with a serious tone, and Yoshimura nodded in return.
Yoshimura placed a sandwich of three on their table, and the playful white-haired boy widened his eyes, excited to taste it. In front of the two CCG were cups of drinks and other foods that looked extremely mouthwatering that everyone who tasted once would love to eat it again.
" This looks super tasty!" The white-haired CCG then grabbed a piece and ate it.
" This is quite a chic, handsome shop you have here," Shinohara grinned and took a sip of their signature coffee.
" Thank you very much. So then, you said you needed a word with me?" Yoshimura asked with a worried expression.
" O-Oh, yes. Kaneki... Kaneki Ken-Kun. He used to work here, didn't he?"
" Yes."
" Do you know what he's been up to?"
" We haven't seen or heard anything since we lost contact with him two months ago. I don't know if this will be of any help to you or not but I understand he had recently undergone an organ transplantation. Apparently, he wasn't doing very well."
" Um.. you seem familiar. Have you and I met before?" Shinohara suddenly asked as Suzuya continued to chew on the sandwich, looking at the old man, not sure what's going on.
" I'm not sure. Have we ever met?"
" I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else. We're grateful for the help. Let's go, Juuzou," Shinohara exclaimed as he took out his wallet and placed the money on the table.
" Thank you. That was delicious," Juuozu thanked him and stuffed the sandwich to his mouth.
" The coffee.. was quite good," Shinohara said before he departed the door, a frown starting to form on his lips. Once he closed the door, he fixed his tie and his face turned serious," We'll be back."