Tᴏᴋʏᴏ Gʜᴏᴜʟ Rᴇ:Cᴏᴅᴇᴅ

Break

"You bastard. How dare you involve him in this." Kaneki growled in a hushed voice so he didn't alert Hide.

"Oh so this is my fault huh? And how do you figure that? I was fine with just hanging out with him but then your little half breed ass had to go and violate me by trying to hunt on my feeding ground."

Kaneki sneered and took a step forward but was stopped by Tsukiyama. "Your feeding ground? Surely you jest Nishio, it was taken from you by Rize the moment she moved to this ward. If it belongs to anyone, it belongs to he who has her kagune."

Now it was Nishiki's turn to be confused. "The hell are you taking about?"

"I've only heard rumors of it but the proof is standing right next to me. Kaneki here was made into a half ghoul using Rize's kakuhou. This 'ghoulification' surgery was first brought to my attention a year ago by some of my informants only for it to be confirmed by Kaneki's new state of being and 'The Manager'."

As they continued their conversation, Kaneki removed himself and found his way to Hide's room where the latter had just finished putting on a shirt. "Trying to get a peek? I knew you wanted me."

"W-What?!"

"Relax man, I'm just kidding. What's up, you all getting along out there?"

"Yeah...Tsukiyama and Nishio are talking right now so I just left."

"Oh man, I hope he doesn't run your new bestie off. He is kind of an asshole if you couldn't already tell."

"Shuu isn't my best friend, alright we just met in the alle- hospital. Sorry, it's been a confusing day."

"I can tell. You wanna talk about it?"

There was so much he wanted to say to his friend. He wanted to tell him about why he'd been avoiding him. What he was now. Who Shuu and Nishiki were. But he couldn't, telling him all of those things would put him in grave danger and if something were to happen to him, Kaneki knew it'd be all his fault so he chose not to.

"No I'm fine. Just trying to get back into the swing of things after all that's happened is all."

"Yeah I know it can't be easy and for what it's worth, I'm sorry about Rize. I know you really liked her."

"Yeah she was...she was something." A bloodthirsty monster hellbent on devouring the flesh of men who tried to pursue her.

"Well we better not keep them waiting or they'll think we really are back here getting freaky."

"Oh god no, you're too pasty for me anyway."

Hide chuckled and wrapped an arm around his friend and walked with him back to the living area. He'd missed him so much.

Tsukiyama and Nishiki seemed to be having a pleasant conversation and smiled when the both of them came back.

Shuu was the first to speak, "So Nishio and I have been talking and we feel we should go on a double date."

"Don't phrase it like that you idiot, I have a girlfriend and these two dopes will get the wrong idea. He means we should all go to a cafe."

"Quite right, there's one a couple blocks from here that has the absolute best coffee. Better than Kanae's even."

"Wow really? After having it last night I find that hard to believe. Hide you wanna go?"

"Sure, I'm always down to hang. Plus I wanna get to know my replacement a little better."

"My dear Nagachika I could never replace such a specimen as yourself."

The group made their way too Tsukiyama's car but decided it'd just be best to walk since it was only a few blocks away. While Kaneki and Hide conversed, Nishio took this time to really speak to Tsukiyama.

"So, what's your deal? Normally you've already devoured your prey at this point so what's so special about him?"

"As stated previously, he is one who walks in both worlds. The perfect combination of man and monster. Natural half ghouls are already a rare breed to begin with so when I found out one was just roaming the streets, I just had to get a taste. But a meal of this caliber needs to be prepared just right with the proper seasoning and sides. I want to devour Kaneki while he eats his best friend."

"That's pretty sick man, and how are you gonna make him eat him? He seems to genuinely care about that sap."

"Ah but my dear Nishio he hasn't eaten since the surgery and as you know a ghoul can only go a month or so before going insane with hunger. Kaneki still believes he's human and therefore won't eat flesh so I'll just wait until he's at that point and then it's dinnertime."

"Whatever floats your boat."

Kaneki finished explaining how he would now be working for the Tsukiyama family and that he'd be moving to the estate.

"So you get to live in a fancy pants mansion while I'm stuck in a crappy ass dorm? What's next, you gonna marry him?"

"It's not like, Tsukiyama is just a friend who only wants to help. And after everything he's done for me it's the least I can do."

"Hey I get it man, he's cool but I just don't want you doing anything out of obligation. You're already weak and soft spoken so I don't want you getting taken advantage of."

"I can protect myself Hide..."

"Sure you can...because it's always been you alone against the world right?"

Kaneki opened his mouth to reply but Hide had already walked ahead of him and started bugging the others.

Kaneki looked down and kept up with them at a much slower pace while his thoughts ran wild in his mind. His stomach grumbled a little when he caught a whiff of people passing by while enjoying each other's company. Something he'd wished he could experience right about now.

"Yeah...always me alone..."