Amon's Justice

Chapter 5

For one brief moment, all was still. Kaneki was frozen in hesitation, as Hide waited expectantly for him to react. Meanwhile, Amon was dumbstruck. As he stared at Kaneki's kakugan, the only thing to cross his mind was:

Huh. An eyepatch. I guess the mask makes more sense now.

Then, the moment of peace broke. Kaneki tried again to scooch away from Hide, and, hissing in pain, moved to the other end of the couch. Hide leapt to his feet.

"Kaneki, stop. You're hurting yourself!"

"No, really Hide. Stay away. Please." He clutched his sides, crumpling in on himself until his figure appeared much smaller. One hand came up to his face again, but this time to cover his left eye (the kakugan). He was so obviously ashamed that Amon couldn't help but gape at him.

"Kaneki, what—" Hide, for the first time ever, seemed at a loss for what to say.

"Nagachika, I'd listen to him and back away if I were you. Hungry ghouls don't distinguish between packaged meat and the human holding it."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"It's true," Amon insisted.

"I don't want to eat." said Kaneki's muffled voice.

"What are you talking about Kaneki? This is the only way for you to get better!" Hide actually seemed angry now, if not desperate. Though Kaneki's eyes widened in surprise at Hide's unusual forcefulness, he didn't respond. Bad move.

Hide moved closer, to both the ghoul's and the investigator's dismay. He stood in front of Kaneki, eyes blazing, and held out the package. It hovered practically under the ghoul's nose, which twitched as the smell filled his nostrils. The hunger on his face was unmistakable, yet still the ghoul did nothing but look away. Stubborn ghoul. Why would he refuse? Kaneki's knuckles were white from gripping the sofa cushion at his sides. I've never seen anything like this. Well, except...

Amon thought back to the first time he'd seen Eyepatch eat, and his shoulder twinged from the memory. He shuddered. He's putting up a valiant effort now, but if this is at all like last time then this is going to end with him eating. And it might not be the packaged meat. Perhaps this called for a different tactic of persuasion. Amon walked over to his quinque.

"Kaneki, You must know you can't last forever. If you don't eat what's in that package, you're going to end up eating one of us. And it probably won't be me, because I have this," He nudged his briefcase forward with his foot. "That leaves Hide."

The two looked over to Amon in surprise. Kaneki seemed mortified by what he said, and started muttering vaguely in defense: "No, that's... This isn't about– I would never... I can't eat it, not now." The words seemed more directed to himself than to anyone else in the room. Meanwhile, Hide was merely confused.

"I'm surprised you're taking my side, Investigator Amon. I had a feeling you wouldn't be a fan of this."
Amon flushed. "No. I'm not okay with this at all. But right now it's unavoidable. He needs to eat, and not just so he can heal but for our sake too. What I don't think you realize, Kaneki, is that right now you're not deciding whether or not you will eat; you're deciding what / who you're going to eat. By turning away that package you're putting me and Hide in danger." (He spoke faster now.) "So don't pretend you're doing this for him out of the goodness of your heart like last time!!!"

oops. He hadn't meant to say that last part. He also hadn't meant to shout it. The ghoul stayed still, but uncertainty had come to fill his face. It was a relief to Amon, because the concern seemed to replace the hunger. For now. Amon pressed on:

"The package or Hide, Kaneki. You choose."

Another painfully long pause took hold of the room. Amon could faintly hear the ticking of Hide's clock on the wall behind him. Oh God. This is bad. I think I was wrong about him; otherwise it really shouldn't take him this long to decide... Kaneki looked at Hide, then down at the package, then back up at Hide, eyes glinting with desperation. Hide held his gaze with a somber look. Somber doesn't suit him. Finally Kaneki spoke:

"I'm sorry, Hide."

Amon's eyes widened in fear. Kaneki reached up to his best friend and took the package out of his hands. His voice wavered:

"I'm sorry. I never wanted you to see me like this."

He didn't even bother unwrapping it.