Hide walks alone in the woods searching for Kaneki, he is worried that he might be injured, but Hide wants to desperately see Kaneki, he has a bad feeling about him, and he wants to confront him with more than just feelings. It seems our esteemed friend Hide has fallen in love with Kaneki, but Kaneki has changed and lost his human side. Hide, after searching for hours in the lost woods of the 11th ward that had been destroyed, he sees Kaneki.

"Kaneki! Wait! We need to talk!" Hide looks with desperation in his eyes and Kaneki continues to walk away from Hide because he knows he can't be with Hide as a friend anymore, for now he left his human side away and became a sadistic ghoul. Hide catches up to Kaneki and grabs his arm and then screams with his eyes filled with tears.

"Kaneki! You're okay... I'm so glad..." Hide pauses for a moment as he tries to gather up his courage.

"I love you... Kaneki" he says faintly so Kaneki wouldn't hear, but just as fate has it for him, he heard it. Kaneki stands there in silence, he wonders what came over Hide, but he needs to get away or else he will be hunted as well. Kaneki didn't want that.

"Leave Hide, you must go" Kaneki rushes him away quickly, Ghoul Investigators soon flood the entire area surrounding them and Kaneki grabs Hide away and they flee to an abandoned building complex in the middle of town, it seemed away from other ghouls so they are safe for now. Hide cowers in fear and in embarrassment because he is indeed in love with his best friend, he wants to help him as best as he could. He just wanted Kaneki to notice him and hopefully return his feelings. Hide looks at Kaneki and sees Kaneki is trying to keep an eye out.

"Kaneki, we need to talk" Hide starts to get flustered as he really wants to be with Kaneki right now.

"Not now Hide, not until we are fully safe from them" Kaneki says softly, Hide knew the old Kaneki was still there, the one he knew and had loved. Hide looks into Kaneki's eyes and says to him.

"Kaneki, we need to talk." Hide takes a quick breath and says "I had always loved you and even if you don't care right now I need to say this to get my feelings out of the way, I love you and always will and I really really REALLY hope you can return these feelings and please, please, stay with me by my side and protect me. Please Kaneki, I will help you however I can, I just never want to lose you, ever" Hide says softly and grabs Kaneki's arm as Kaneki stands there, Kaneki leans in to kiss Hide and says to Hide.

"Right now Hide, there's no time for this confession. I will listen to you later, but for now I need you and me to be safe from them." Hide touches his lips in awe because he was able to tell Kaneki how he felt and Kaneki kissed him on the lips. Hide was willing to cooperate, for now.

Later on that night, as everything had seemed to have died down in the 11th ward. Hide is sound asleep, happily sleeping in fact. He was starting to believe he can be with Kaneki. But as fate would have Kaneki left that night, he didn't want to risk injuring Hide if he was caught. Kaneki took Hide into an abandoned room in the complex and placed him on a bed and gave him blankets so keep him warm. Kaneki truly loved Hide, but it was not meant to be for these two. Simply because of their different beings. Kaneki - who was now a ghoul - and Hide - who is a human - it all sounded obsurd to Kaneki, so he didn't try to fight anything anymore. He just had to leave Hide and let him rest so that way he can escape in the morning, because if the investigators find him, they wouldn't harm him. He wasn't a ghoul, so they have to spare him, right? At least, that's what Kaneki told himself. If Hide ever told the investigators he knew a ghoul, they would take him in for interrogation. And Hide isn't the best at that kind of stuff. So Kaneki left and hoped nothing would happen, but before he left, he kissed his forehead goodnight. He hopes one day humans and ghouls can co-exist so that way that can be together. Kaneki will have to fight for that change though- even if it meant never seeing Hide again. He had to make this decision right now, so he vowed to change the world around him so that way they can be happy. Kaneki promises to himself that he will live for Hide, and only for Hide. A few hours have passed since Kaneki's departure. Hide is still flustered by Kaneki kissing him.

But then investigators show up, they seem really angry. They scream out at the apartment complex. "Whoever is in there, show yourself now or deal with the law!" but Hide didn't want to show himself, instead he woke up and ran away to find Kaneki and join him in his endeavors. Kaneki walks the streets alone with him being on the down-low so no one notices him, he wears a black wig and an eye patch again like he used to look when he worked at Anteiku. Kaneki no longer lives at his place, he moved to a more secluded area. Away from Hide, away from Touka, and Uta, away from everyone in general. Kaneki didn't want to cause any issues to any of his friends. All he can do is fight and live for not only himself, but for his friends and everyone around him. Kaneki sees Hide trying to find him, Kaneki gets slightly mad because he wants to protect him.

He mutters to himself "That idiot. What is he doing?" Hide screams Kaneki's name to find him. He really wants Kaneki to show his face to Hide again, he can't stand to be away from him. He grows more attached to him than he ever should. Kaneki grabs Hide from a dark alley that Kaneki was able to reach without being noticed by anyone, and hold Hide's mouth shut so he doesn't scream. Hide panics for a moment, but realizes by the warmth of the hand that is touching his face, he knows it's Kaneki.

"What on Earth are you doing here Hide?!" Kaneki says in a tone of discontentment. "I want to be with you no matter what, wherever you go-" Hide starts to say but becomes more flustered and discouraged. "I want to always be there, yes I am human but I love you! I want to be there when you cry, or when you long for someone, I want to be that one and only person Kaneki! So instead of trying to run away from all of us how about you accept our help?! I just want to be with you because I love you so much Kaneki, you don't know how much it hurts..." Hide says while crying in his eyes a bit. Kaneki is frozen, speechless, he still is experiencing the human emotions he once felt. He wants to be there for Hide no matter what, but he keeps thinking to himself 'what if I eat Hide? I can't dare to imagine the pain of eating the one I love... I've nearly done that before, I can't let it happen again...' Kaneki looks into Hide's eyes and sees that there's no way Hide will just leave him alone, not without a fight or an argument of sorts. He wishes he could just go away so Kaneki can figure out how to make his plans work, but Kaneki can't let that happen otherwise Hide will expose himself to the investigators.

So Kaneki ultimately takes Hide with him, "Fine, you can join me Hide. But you have to stay on the down-low otherwise you might end up in a bad issue for both of us, I want to protect you as much as I can." Kaneki says gently while looking into Hide's eyes.

"Really?! Kaneki... I-" Hide cries tears of joy as he hugs Kaneki, he knew he loved Kaneki from the start. Kaneki hugs him back as if he's relieved he is with him. Kaneki then leans into Hide and then Kaneki's lips touches Hide's as they embrace each other for they have found out that they had love for each other, two beings who shouldn't love, are in love.

Will these men be able to prove to society Ghouls and Humans can co-exist?

Or will this end in tragedy?

Now this my friends is only the beginning of what is to come for these fellow lovers.