Juuzou x Kaneki

~A Slightly Unpleasant Surprise~

"She did what?!" Hide exclaimed, you could hear the exasperation in his voice, even with his voice box, which didn't allow him to show much emotion in his voice. "She filed for a divorce." Kaneki replied keeping his nonchalant tone. "That was a rhetorical question Kaneki." Hide said glancing over at him. Kaneki had confused them from the start, he had taken them to a unfamiliar coffee shop, far away from the one Touka worked at, then sat them down and ordered drinks for them. Then he had started a totally normal conversation, until Juuzou pointed out that he was supposed to tell them something, to which he frowned at. What came next hit both of the unsuspecting boys very hard. Touka and Kaneki had gotten a divorce. Juuzou, guiltily so, felt a tiny bit happy, because he hated anyone who got to close to Kaneki. Mostly though, he felt angry with her, and sad that Kaneki was hurting. "Why?" Juuzou asked hesitantly. "She doesn't want our daughter to grow up around me. The people who say I'm responsible for the destruction of Tokyo... Touka doesn't want them around her, so she's sent me off. She doesn't even want my daughter to know me. So now she's found someone new. There was also a smaller bit, she said she found it weird how much I loved her, she doesn't like what happened that day either... I think- I think she blames me for what happened to the city too." Juuzou felt enraged, but he was determined to not let it show. What happened to Tokyo wasn't Kaneki's fault, he couldn't control it. The CCG were the ones who attacked them, they tried to hurt Touka. Kaneki lost control because of his love for her, and now she had rejected him. "I'm so sorry Ken..." Juuzou said. Hide perked up at "Ken" but said nothing. Kaneki's face looked unbothered, but in reality he was trying his hardest not to break down in tears right then and there. "That's alright." He said standing up to leave. He placed the money for the bill down on the table. "Oh," He said, looking down into Juuzou's eyes. "Here." Kaneki stuck his hand into his pocket, and taking it back out, placed a handful of candy on the table for Juuzou. Then without another word left the shop, leaving the other two to stare at each other in shock of the news.

A few weeks and several phone calls allowed Juuzou to figure out that Kaneki had moved into an apartment on the smaller side of Tokyo. About the situation though, Kaneki hadn't seen Touka in a month or two, and surprisingly no one was taking sides. Everyone who was friends with Touka and Kaneki were talking to both of them simultaneously, even Hide. Juuzou decided he wasn't ever going to talk to Touka ever again, unlike most of Kaneki's friends who couldn't see that Touka Kirishima was a witch {This is his opinion. I don't hate her okay? She's got to go if they're going to be together though.}. "Can I come over?" Juuzou asked him over the phone. Kaneki agreed with a hint of nervousness in his voice, and sent directions to his apartment.

A few hours later, Juuzou arrived in the parking lot of Kaneki's small place. The bus doors hissed open letting him off. He skipped up the stairs, and scanned the numbers on the doors to find 202. "There it is!" He thought out loud. He waltzed up to the door, and was about to knock when he heard a small sniffle from inside. "Ken?" he tapped lightly on the door. "Are you okay?" The doorknob let out a click sound, and the door swung open slowly. A white-haired figure stood in front of him, his eyes were a bit puffy and red, but his smile was wide and bright. He stuck out a hand full of candy and dropped it into Juuzou's front pocket. "Come in!" Kaneki moved out of the way, and Juuzou stepped into the tidy apartment. It was almost a little too clean, as if Kaneki had done nothing but clean all week. "Is it usually this tidy?" Juuzou asked. Kaneki gave a light chuckle, "No, it's usually pretty messy."

They talked for hours about the most random things, they sat on the couch facing each other in crisscross positions. They were only inches apart, and Juuzou felt tempted to lean in closer, but resisted the urge. As they continued conversing, Juuzou remembered what he'd heard through the door. He stopped Kaneki mid-sentence, "Ken, are you okay? I heard you crying." Kaneki stopped in his tracks being asked that  question. A few seconds passed, and a tear rolled down his face. Then another few seconds, and another tear, until he was silently crying with a blatant expression on his face. Juuzou's eyes widened, he didn't mean to make the other boy cry. "Ken?" Kaneki wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm pretty pathetic, sorry, I don't mean to be such a loser in front of you Suzuya." Juuzou frowned after hearing him say this, Shinohara had once told him that it wasn't healthy to not let yourself feel your emotions properly. He wanted Kaneki to be healthy, he wanted him to be okay, Kaneki needed to cry. "Cry." Kaneki stared at him confused. "Cry!" Juuzou said a bit more forcefully. Kaneki kept staring at him with a unreadable expression. Juuzou Darted forward into a kneeling position and grasped Ken  as hard as he could. Then, in the smallest whisper he said, "Cry, you need to." after a few moments, Juuzou felt Kaneki's arms wrap around his neck. Kaneki let himself cry, he could no longer resist sobbing. He'd lost the one who he cared about most, the one he thought cared about him too.