守りたい // hidekane

08

Lip quivering, Hide started to sweat excessively as a substance he quickly recognized as blood trickled down his arm. He almost dropped the package due to both shock and nausea, but he knew that it would make a mess and clearly this was something Kaneki didn't want anyone to see. He sealed it close and hid it inside the covers again, leaving no traces of him ever finding out about it whatsoever.

His stomach bubbled with anxiety, thoughts swarming around as he washed the red liquid out of his arm.

It was obviously human flesh, it was obvious from the way it looked, and the foreign smell as well. Sure, he didn't pull it out and observed it closely, but really, he only needed one look to know. But what really was the main concern was why? Why would Kaneki have a parchment of human meat in his bedroom? Where did he get it from? What was he planning to do with it? Sell it? Eat it?-

He tried to relax himself, he would find the answer to that soon. It's no doubt that Kaneki wouldn't say anything about it because if he would, then Hide would know by now. And, suddenly questioning him about it might make his friend uncomfortable, plus, Kaneki would find out that Hide had been snooping around and he won't like that. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he tried to assess the situation. Hide's heart was pounding, because of the same person, but for a different reason.

"Hide?" Kaneki had awoken from his slumber, he rubbed his eyes and stood up from the cushion. There was no sight of the strawberry blond boy anywhere and it was eerily quiet. "...Hide?" He repeated, louder this time. He looked around for a small memo or any note that his friend would've left, he knows Hide wouldn't have gone off without leaving a cute message behind. He stumbled off towards his room, his heart banging out of his chest. What if Hide got kidnapped or something? Or worse, what if Hide found out? The thought made Kaneki's stomach scramble in a not-so-good way, kinda like what Rize had done to him a few days ago. "Hide?!" Kaneki shouted, literally started scampering around, looking for his friend. Tears welled up in his eyes and his throat tightened when he realized that Hide was gone, without a goodbye note, without a trace left. He ran towards the kitchen with little hope.

"Hi-"

"Woah, woah, woah, Bakaneki!" Hide exclaimed as the ravenette bumped right into him, "What's the rush? You need to wazz or some-" He stopped when he saw tears running down Kaneki's face. Cautiously, he envelops the boy into his arms, running his fingers through Kaneki's hair.

"Hey...what's wrong?"

Nothing. Hide got nothing out of Kaneki. It wasn't that he was forcing him to, it just really worried him to see Kaneki obviously all hung up something and all Hide could do was comfort the breaking boy. He was getting tired - for Kaneki's sake.

"I'm fine Hide, I just had a small breakdown." Once again, the ravenette's fingers rose to his chin. Hide's lips almost twitches into a frown, Kaneki has been lying way too much nowadays.

"Right." The blond murmured, "Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right Bakaneki? I'm just sorta worried about you." Seeing that the said boy's demeanor changed and he was lost in his thoughts again, Hide took a turn, "But hey, if you say you're good, then you're good, righty? I believe you!"

Kaneki's eyes widen in surprise, he gave his friend a small smile, "Y-Yeah.."

"So..why don't we go around again for a change? I mean, I ditched school so might as well have fun!" Hide grinned, "Oh my God Kaneki, you're making me miss school! I'm morphing into a rebel bad boy like you!"

"Wh-Wha?! You were the one who said you didn't want to go to school...Hide.." The other sulked, earning a giggle from his friend.

"I'm bluffing, let's just go now, shall we?"