I Won't Leave Again (Touken)

Chapter 8: Night

Kaneki went to his room to grab his cell phone; he wanted everyone in his group to gather at Banjou's place. He dialed and heard a familiar voice. 

"Who is it?" 

"It's Kaneki" 

"What! Man we thought you were dead!!" Nobody thought to let them know he was alive apparently. 

"You thought a little too quickly. I want everyone gathered at your place in half an hour" 

"Will do, see ya soon!" He hung up. 

 Kaneki entered the café and made his way towards the exit before Nishiki cut him off 

"Where are you going? You're not leaving already are you?" 

"After speaking to the manager and Touka, I've actually decided to come back. I have some business to take care of" Roma dropped a cup and all the customers stared at her. Nishiki sighed. 

"Well that's great to hear" He then started mumbling. "Maybe Touka will do some work now" 

"What was that?" 

"Nothing that concerns you, be careful out there" 

He gave a Nishiki a suspicious look. 

"Alright I'll be back soon" and with that he headed out the door.

With his classic green hoodie on, Kaneki made his way towards Banjou's apartment. He was excited by the prospect of coming back to Anteiku, particularly about working with Touka again, but the thought of the CCG recognising him and coming after them still worried him. He put it out of his mind as he reached Banjou's apartment. He buzzed in the door and quickly heard Banjou's voice. 

"Who is it?" 

"It's Kaneki" 

The door buzzed open. As Kaneki swiftly made his way to Banjou's room and knocked, he opened to see the whole gang waiting for him. 

"Man you actually are alive!" Banjou exclaimed grabbing Kaneki in a bear hug. Tsukiyama nearly fainted at the sight of him. 

"My sweet Kaneki lives! Enorme!" He came towards Kaneki with open arms but was quickly stopped. 

"I've told you many times under any circumstances, do not touch Tsukiyama." Tsukiyama pouted. 

After finishing the rest of the greetings, Tsukiyama, Banjou, and the others gathered around a table. 

"What's with that look Kaneki?" 

"There's something I want to announce" 

"Announce?" Banjou blurted out. 

"I want to disband our group" Kaneki spoke calmly as he gauged the room. He continued. 

"My overall goal is still to one day make peace between ghouls and humans, but right now" He smiled to himself "I need to make peace with some other people, so I'm returning to Anteiku to get my life back in order. You all may do as you wish, but you'll be acting without me from now on" 

Everyone went silent. Tsukiyama spoke first. 

"Kaneki, I am your sword. I'll not act on my own but if you have need for my services you'll know where to find me" He winked and trotted out of the apartment. 

Banjou smiled at Kaneki, "Hey man whatever you want to do, we're still loyal to you for everything you've done. You also know where to find me if I'm needed haha if I can be any help that is" 

"You've always been helpful Banjou, but take some time to relax for now, try to enjoy life a bit you know?" 

"Yeah alright man" He shook Kaneki's hand "Contact me anytime alright" The other ghouls nodded in agreement; they were all loyal to Kaneki. 

He stepped out onto the sidewalk noticing had gotten dark. He'd been away longer than he was intending. Kaneki looked up at the bright, beautiful moon and the stars in the sky, a picture of Touka came into his head and he smiled.

"I'm coming home"

Back at Anteiku

It was nearly closing time; Touka sat near a window looking out onto the street. Nishiki was washing glasses getting annoyed by her. 

"You know if you're just gonna sit there and do nothing you could help" 

Touka didn't respond. He got really annoyed. 

"Oi, as tough as you pretend to be, you really are quite a pathetic girl you know" This got her attention. 

"Excuse me? I'll show you how tough I am when I shove my foot up your ass you chauvinist pig!" 

"Wahh where's Kaneki? I miss Kaneki haahaa" 

Touka's eyes went black as she nearly unleashed her kagune right there in the cafe; luckily nobody was around as it so late. 

"Ding!" The door opened as Kaneki finally walked in. He gave Touka a smile, but she quickly looked away too scared to look back. 

"Sorry I'm late, but it's done. I disbanded my group for now" 

"That's great man" 

"Yeah I think I'm gonna head upstairs and rest a bit if you don't mind.. good night" With that, he left. Touka was suspicious, she waited around for a bit before heading off herself. 

"Sweet dreams" Nishiki snickered sarcastically making a heart with his hands. 

"Fuck off, shitty Nishiki"

Later that night

Kaneki lay in his bed thinking about his decision to come back. 

"Yeah I made the right the choice it feels good to be back" 

His eyes started to feel droopy when he heard a light knock on the door. In only a white t-shirt and black shorts he got out of bed, his white hair messy from lying down, and answered the door. To his surprise, it was Touka, she was wearing a light purple v-neck shirt and shorts. She looked really cute, but had a frown on her face and a pillow in her arm. 

"Ohh h-hey Touka what are you doing here?" He tried to fix his hair as he blushed. He was cute when he was flustered. 

"You were unconscious for three weeks and you've only woken up today. I'm staying in here on your couch tonight to make sure you're OK" 

He was flattered. 

"Umm thanks haha, ahh OK yeah come in" He moved out of the way and allowed her access closing the door behind him. 

"I just changed the sheets you can have the bed if you want" 

"The couch is fine thanks" 

"You Sure?"

 "Yup"

 "OK..... I'm gonna go freshen up."

She nodded. 

"Why is she realy here?"He thought.

"Does she care about my health that much?" He couldn't help but grin. Touka laid down on the couch trying to get comfy while Kaneki was in the bathroom. She claimed to want to be near in case something happened and while that was partially true, she had another motive. She wanted to make sure he didn't try to leave in the night. She wanted to trust him, but she didn't know his motives for sure. He came back into the room noticing Touka on the couch. 

"Need anything?" 

"I'm fine thanks" He crawled into his bed and stared at the ceiling. Silence. 

"Well good night Touka" He finally spoke awkwardly. 

"Night" 

With that, Kaneki fell asleep, Touka however stayed up trying not to fall asleep right away. After a while, she felt safe thinking that he would stay and closed her eyes falling asleep almost instantly as exhaustion finally took over.

About 2 hours later, Touka woke up and looked towards the bed. He was gone.