Kaneki x OC | A Twist Of Fate

three

We reached HQ without much of a problem, we were lucky not to encounter any CCG on the way back.

As soon as we arrived, I took Dakota with me to seek out the higher-ups.

Before long, I found Tatara, standing on a balcony on one of the upper floors, overlooking the city.

"Tatara"

Tatara turned to face me, his face looked confused and slightly annoyed as if I had disturbed him.

"What do you want?" he asked, eyeing up Dakota.

"I've brought a potential new recruit. I didn't want to trouble Eto with it" I responded coolly. I wasn't afraid of Tatara. I wasn't really afraid of anyone after what happened with Jason. No one would ever be able to hurt me like that again.

"But you decided to trouble me with it" Tatara murmured. "Fine. No doubt Eto will be fine with this, she's taken quite a liking to you, although I have no idea why"

I nodded. "Thank you"

I grabbed Dakota's wrist and pulled her away from the balcony and into the warmth of the building.

"He was creepy" she chortled.

"Shh"

"So that's it?" Dakota asked. "I'm an official terrorist?"

"It would seem so"

Dakota

"So that's it?" I asked Kaneki. "I'm an official terrorist?"

"It would seem so" the white-haired boy replied softly.

Even though I kept repeating the 'terrorist' thing, I didn't mind all that much. I'd done much worse things in my life than join up with an organisation such as Aogiri, as had most ghouls. It's all we could do to survive. I would probably never say it out loud but I was sort of grateful to Kaneki for offering me a place here and having faith in me.

"So are you gonna give me a tour?" I said cheerfully, linking arms with Kaneki. I realised how much taller than me he was. His skin was cold to the touch, but not an uncomfortable kind of cold. It was the kind of cold that cooled you down on a hot day. The perfect temperature.

Kaneki looked down at me, surprised, rose dusting his cheeks. Maybe I was being too friendly.

"There's not really much to see" he responded. "We move around a lot"

"I see" I nodded. "So where will I be staying?"

"Uh..i'm not sure"

I scowled. "What a great host you are"

"Do you ever stop whining?"

"Nope"

"Huh" Kaneki chuckled. "I'll find you a spare room somewhere"

Kaneki and I walked in silence through the corridors. We strolled past many existing members of Aogiri, most of them wearing red cloaks. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by some of them. I wasn't used to being around so many people all that once.

I wouldn't say I was a super strong ghoul, not one the CCG would be wary of, but I did know how to take care of myself. I'd survived this long, and outlived many ghouls, and even more humans, that I had killed along the way.

The white-haired boy and I arrived at a room that was relatively plain, just a bed and a cheap, flickering lamp and a few possessions.

"This is my room," Kaneki said. "You can wait here while I go find you one"

"O-okay"

I waited until Kaneki had disappeared from sight until I started snooping around.

There were a few Polaroid photos of people I did not recognise from around Aogiri, a pretty girl with short purple hair, an older man, a younger girl with a brown bob. I felt bad for looking at Kaneki's personal belongings but I was so curious. It was just in my nature. I was kneeling on the floor looking at the photos when I noticed a peculiar looking object under the bed.

I shuffled over and pulled the object out. My eyes widened.

It was a mask, dark and leathery with a worn feel to it. Its scent was the same as Kaneki's. There was an eyepatch on the beautifully made mask and detail around the mouth which made it look like there was no skin there. The design was finished with a zipper on the mouth and a strap for the back of the head. I thought to myself how it would be nice to have a pretty mask of my own.

I had no doubt about it, the soft, kind-eyed, kind of boring Kaneki Ken was what the CCG called and SS-rated Ghoul! The eyepatch. He was super dangerous, even my anti-social self-had heard about him.

"Hey, I found you a-"

The white-haired boy stopped in his tracks when he saw what I was doing and his expression changed.

"What do you think you're doing?" he spat.

"I was just-"

"I don't care. I trusted you to stay here whilst I went and did you a favour and you decided to look through my stuff?"

He seemed angry, and for some reason, I felt hurt.

My voice went quiet. "Kaneki, I-"

"Just get out Dakota" he replied stoically. "Your room is three doors down to the right"

I stood up shamefully and exited the room, feeling embarrassed and shocked that my new friend reacted the way he did. Maybe I should have thought before I looked through his things. I was really bad at thinking before I did stuff, that's what always got me into trouble.

I reached my room. There was a mattress on the concrete floor and a single candle lit up the room. It wasn't homely, but it was better than being homeless like I had been for so long. I owed Kaneki a lot, and I felt bad for upsetting him.

I took off my jacket before folding it up and placing it on the ground carefully. I lay down on the mattress and stared at the ceiling for a while, looking at the spiders living up there and wondering if they would crawl into my nostrils whilst I was asleep.

Eventually, I closed my eyes.

...

I woke up to the sound of talking outside. I stretched as I got up from my mattress, which seemed awfully hard, and put my jacket on. I walked down the corridor as I yawned, passing Aogiri members who were chatting and training, as I headed towards Kankeki's room. I thought about how I could make it up to him.

I stood in the doorway of the white-haired boy's room to see that he wasn't there. His mask had gone too. I frowned.

As I turned back into the corridor I saw Ayato with his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Ayato!" I called out.

He seemed to recognize my voice and spun around with a scowl on his face.

"What?"

"Do you know where Kaneki is? I can't find him anywhere" I asked.

Ayato's scowl turned into an amused and sadistic smirk.

"Poor you" he laughed. "Eyepatch has been sent away on a job for Eto. Didn't he tell you? He might not be back for a few days. Good luck surviving around here without your boyfriend, princess"

I watched the purple haired man as he walked away with a smug look on his face and I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. I felt so alone, I was in such a new environment than what I was used to, I had no idea what to do next.