Shattered Glass | Ayato x Oc x Kaneki |

【4】- 𝕂nowing

🇰aneki stooped forward, "she was your what?"

Raven nodded tersely, "my late mentor," she repeated.

Kaneki stooped his back, a hand reaching to shield his head, trying to process this sudden information all at once.

Raven soaked in his actions, distress clearly displayed by him.  Her brows crinkle, "what's wrong?" she asks, not bothering to veil the concern etching her features.

His hands smear through his hair, momentarily ruffing his snowy locks back. His grey eyes glaze over to the void-haired woman beside him. 

"Rize -- Rize Kashimiro," he checks, only earning another nod.  A hissed sigh blows past his lips as his eyes shut, trying harder to run the process through his mind. 

His eyes then open, directed at Raven.

"Raven... of all people, why her?" Kaneki sighs through his question.

Raven tightened her fists, mindlessly shooting them up. "because... she was the first person to reach out to me when no one else would even bat an eye." 

Kaneki furrows his brows, "wait, what do you mean "reach out to you?"" he quoted. 

Raven passed a sigh, letting her eyes roll. She sank back down into the smooth blankets that clothed the bed. Her eyes drift to her entangled fists that were placed comfortably in her lap.  The bed dips, signifying that Kaneki sat back down next to her. 

"As a child, I grew up in an orphanage. I discovered on my own that I was a ghoul. I ran away when I was eight. I knew I had to, after letting my hunger get the best of me." The side of her mouth curls in a sarcastic manner.

"I ate someone after I discovered her dead. She had committed suicide, and I just dove into her. Well... I only ate her arm, but then it backfired on me the next morning. There were so many suspicions aroused as to why her arm just went missing after committing her death. So that was when I knew I had to get out of there. For a while, I just... struggled on the streets."

A dry laugh escapes her.

"Until I met her, and then she took me in. She showed me how to survive better, and had this decent apartment we could stay in. Of course, I was at first... bewildered by the way she ate. She'd just gorge, and she was actually trying to show me how to live properly. Well, she thought it was living properly, I just rolled with it, I guess. Other than being my mentor, she was my best friend, until that accident that you spoke of. I found the site with that yellow tape the police use."

She shrugs, "so after that, I was alone. Aside from the few humans I befriended at school, I was entirely alone. Defending my wards from trespassing ghouls didn't really count in my book as giving me company."

The moment she finishes her sentence, both of them quietly hum a chuckle. 

"After Rize passed on, I realized that I took on her ways without intending to. And from there on, my heart grew cold towards anyone as a result. I stopped caring about humans and started to be inconsiderate. So when you told me that humans deal with the struggles we deal with, it opened my mind up a bit."

A small smile lifted Kaneki's lips as he laid a supporting hand on her thigh, leaning toward her a bit. "Well, that's good then. I'm glad I could help." 

Raven flashed a small smile back before letting her eyes fall to her lap, hands still entangled together in the same spot. Raven found herself shifting glances between her limp hands and the foreign yet genuine smile that was small on Kaneki's lips.