ImmediatelyWriting's One Shots

#21. Tokyo Ghoul - Kaneki/ Hide) After The Higanbana Grew

Summary: It seems like only one day ago that Hide got a call that his best friend had almost died. In reality Kaneki's been stuck in a coma for over five whole years.

Fandom: Tokyo Ghoul
Ship: Kaneki/Hideyoshi
Genre: Angst, Comatose/Hospital AU

part of Shipbruary 2021!

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It seems like it's only been one day ago that Hide and Kaneki last spoke to each other. Hide remembers it exactly, the words he used when wishing Kaneki good luck on a date with a girl that seemed so out of his league that Hide was surprised to even hear he got her to go on a date with him. He remembers how happy he was, yet sad at the same time.

Hide didn't think he'd ever see his nerdy friend date anyone, he thought Kaneki would be single his entire life, just like Hide thought he himself would be as well. Somewhere deep down he wished for that, for the date to go wrong so they could keep living their single lives together. But when he pressed his hands together at night and wished for the date to go terribly wrong, he meant that the girl Kaneki asked out wouldn't eat properly or pick her nose or anything else that would turn Kaneki off. What Hide got instead, and what he didn't want to wish for, was a call around midnight.

They told him what happened, that a rusty pipe had caused an entire construction to collapse. It wouldn't have caused any harm if the street would've been empty when it happened, but it wasn't.

Kaneki had been standing right underneath the falling pipes.

All they told Hide was that Kaneki had basically been crushed underneath the weight of the rusty metal. More about his condition, they weren't allowed to tell Hide since he was neither Kaneki's parent nor other family. They just said Hide was the only person they could find in Kaneki's contacts, so they called him to ask how they could reach Kaneki's parents.

Of course, both Kaneki's parents had died a long time ago and Hide's basically all he had left, but the people at the hospital still refused to let Hide in the hospital for another six months.

He tried sneaking past the reception multiple times, but failed every single time. He even tried breaking in through a window which failed even more miserably than his other attempts.

Until, after keeping Hide far away from his best friend, they finally let him see Kaneki. But Kaneki wasn't even the same person anymore, as he laid there unconscious and non-responsive.

That was about four and a half year ago, and Hide hasn't been able to hear his best friend's squeaky voice or dorky comments anymore since that night when he wished for Kaneki's date to suck.

Today is like any other day, one where Hide's filled with regret and guilt. It isn't less than any other day, but he has learned to live with it over time.

Life goes on, he keeps telling himself as he wakes up to the same nightmare every single morning.

He gets up early, just about four or five hours past midnight, because it's not like the nightmares of that day will let him sleep properly anyway.

After putting on different clothes, he saunters to the bus stop on most days. Often he's still half asleep, but always carries a cup of coffee in his hand to wake him up before he goes to greet Kaneki.

He does this whenever he can, which is practically every morning before he heads to work.

He gets on the bus after downing what's left of his coffee and heads over to the hospital. Fortunately it's close, so Hide doesn't have to travel far to see his best friend, but if it'd been up to Hide he'd been taking care of Kaneki at home instead of leaving it up to the nurses who've already given up on Kaneki ever waking up for almost two years now.