Don't Ever Let Go [A Touken Fiction]

Chapter 8 : Broken

A/N: hello~~~ you know who I am. Here's chapter 8~ and this one's gonna be the turning point, don't miss it~~:D

Kaneki walked downstairs, even more like a zombie. He'd been kneeling in front of Touka's room for over one hour, and when he got downstairs, everyone seemed to understand the circumstance, and no one spoke. He went to the staff room and asked for leave. After that, he went home.

"Ken? What's wrong?" Asked his mother when he got home. He closed the door and obliged himself to gave his mother a smile. "E-Everything's f-fine. I just had a little quarrel with T-Touka-c-chan." His voice cracked, and he looked away from his mother and went to his room.

"Oh god, Ken has a broken heart." His mother muttered. She made a cup of hot chocolate and went to Kaneki's door. "Ken? May I come in?" His mother asked, knocking the door. He didn't answer. "I'm coming in." Said his mother, and she went in the room and closed the door.

Kaneki was in his bed, covering himself with his blanket, groaning. "Ken, what happened?" Asked his mother softly. "N-Nothing...." He groaned. His mother placed her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him shaking, crying.

She lay down and hugged him like he was her newborn baby. She said nothing, the only thing she did was patting his head gently and hugging him. She remembered, the last time she hugged him like this was when his father, her husband, passed away. "Ken, it'll be fine. Mommy will always be with you." Said Kaneki's mother. Kaneki stopped shaking. His breath became slow and peaceful, and he fell asleep. His mother smiled, and fell asleep as well.

After that day, Kaneki and Touka never talked to each other again. They still hung out with Hide and Yoriko, but they just wouldn't have conversations. Nothing seemed to have changed, but actually, everything had changed. Kaneki talked less than before, he was still the top in his class, but he became gloomy, depressed, sometime even a little bit hysteric. He still hung out with Hide, but ever since Hide and Yoriko became lovers, he seldom did that. Hide and Yoriko tried to help the two, but whenever they mentioned that, Kaneki would act like he was deaf and dumb, and Touka would just tell them she didn't want to talk about that. Hide and Yoriko were worried. Touka and Kaneki were disappearing from each other's heart, and Hide and Yoriko didn't want that to happen, so even though the two never wanted to talk to each other after that day, they were still making every effort to get those two into a conversation. But they never succeeded. And three months passed, the semester was over.

"So Touka-chan, what do you plan to do during the winter vacation?" Asked Yoriko. They were at a cafe. "I don't know, maybe I'll just stay at Anteiku and spend some time with Hinami-chan." Said Touka, drinking her coffee.

"Oh, sounds nice, but wouldn't that be a bit boring?" Said Yoriko. "Yeah, maybe." Said Touka, looking at the street. It was snowing, and there were a lot of lovers standing under trees, sitting on benches, cuddling each other.

"What do you think Kaneki will do?" Asked Yoriko. Touka's eyebrow twitched. "I don't care." Said Touka coldly. "Touka-chan... he needs you, you know that." Said Yoriko. "Ha? Why does he need me? If he really needs me, he'll say that three months ago!" Said Touka, raising her voice.

".....I'm sorry...." Said Yoriko, looking down at her coffee. "....Sorry, I lost control..." Said Touka. They continued on chatting, and left after about fifteen minutes.

"Kaneki, you sure you don't wanna come?" Asked Hide. They were standing in front of Kaneki's apartment. Hide said he'd throw a party at his house tonight, and Kaneki said he didn't want to go. "Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks, Hide." Said Kaneki. Hide nodded and walked away. Kaneki sighed. He wanted to go, but he didn't want to see Touka. He was afraid, he didn't want to screw things up again. He decided to keep distance between her and himself. He just wanted to watch her from far away. He got back home.