Rules of Engagement: BOOK 2 [Tokyo Ghoul: Female!Kaneki x Tsukiyama]

Chapter 21

"Indirectly," Hide amended, tilting his head.
"What do you mean?" Shuu started to ask, but Hide glared at him.
"My turn to talk, your turn to shut up and listen."
Shuu glared back but shut up.
"Ken probably told you about a guy named Ayato, right?" Hide prompted, and Ayato nodded. "I'm guessing she told you that they slept together consensually, right?"
Shuu nodded again.
Hide shook his head. "That's not what happened. Ken was closing up the coffee shop that night and she must have had a cup of coffee with someone. That someone slipped Rohypnol into her drink. Do you know what Rohypnol is?"
Shuu shook his head.
"It's a date-rape drug," Hide went on, calm but tense. "It's sort of like a muscle relaxant on steroids. If you take it, you're extremely open to suggestion. You do what they tell you to do. And you don't remember doing it."
Shuu was white with fear and possibly some anger. "And you're saying that happened to Ken?"
Hide nodded. "That's what happened. She doesn't remember it, though. The doctors said that her brain created an alternate memory to cope with the trauma. That's where Ayato comes in. Maybe it was him, I don't know. But he used to swing by to pick up Touka when she worked late. I met him a few times. He's really not a bad guy. I don't think he did it. But I also don't know who did, and neither does Ken, so her brain filled in the blanks and shoved Ayato into that memory. They used to be friends, but after that night...Well, they haven't talked since then. The doctors told Ayato what had happened, and they said he needed to stay away to give Ken time to recover, so he did, but...Ken didn't really get better, she got worse...She quit her job and stayed in her room...That's why I took her to your parties, to drag her out of her house...Only you two got into a relationship, and I think it triggered something for her."
Hide sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm kind of sorry that this happened and you got dragged into it, but...I just wanted to explain it all to you so you don't think Ken's insane. I heard about all the rules and everything. It's just Ken's way of trying to protect herself. So...cut her some slack, okay? She's my best friend and I hate seeing her hurt. I don't think you'd do it intentionally, but once the damage is done, there's no taking it back."
Shuu nodded, dazed.
Then Hide took Ken's phone out of his pocket from when he'd nabbed it from her room and handed it to Shuu. "Check the trash folder. Lots of deleted texts that you might want to see."
Then Hide got up, went into Ken's room, and closed the door.