more hidekane fluff for our ever-healing souls

this isn't gonna be a oneshot but it's not gonna be long maybe 2 or 3 chapters? idk we'll see. idea was from a prompt on tumblr and it looked fun to write so here we are

enjoy B)


"What do you mean it's still not in?"

The woman behind the counter looked at Hide with a bored expression, obviously not concerned about his problem. Hide was desperate to see a movie that some asshole had forgotten to return for two weeks. This wouldn't have been a problem if it were already on Netflix, but, of course, Netflix picked this movie to take fifty years to upload. So, the only option Hide had left was the last video store in Tokyo.

"Sorry, check back tomorrow."

Thoroughly annoyed, Hide trudged away from the counter before spotting some Skittles on a nearby rack. His yearning for candy overcame not wanting to deal with the rude worker, so he went back and paid for them. A guy carrying a DVD case entered just as he handed her his money. "Have a great night," she said monotonously. Hide rolled his eyes at her and stepped away from the counter to open his Skittles, allowing the other guy to move past him. He looked around his age. His black hair was messy and damp from the light rain coming down outside. Hide caught a glimpse of his eyes; they were a brown much lighter than his own. Almost mocha.

"I'm here to return Love Actually," he said quietly. His voice was small and timid, as if he were afraid of the woman working. Hide was so absorbed in observing the guy that he didn't even realize that was the DVD he had been looking for.

Hide hung back, watching the exchange, excitement in his eyes. Finally, he was going to get to watch it after all this time! Hide was a sucker for romantic comedies, and Love Actually was said to be a good one. He had been devastated when he didn't have time to see it in the theater, and he had waited long and hard for this moment.

The woman picked up a scanner and scanned the back of the DVD case. "Two weeks overdue," she stated. "That'll be an extra 1400 yen."

The guy sighed and dug through his pockets. A look of what could only be described as pure terror spread across his face when he came up empty. "I-I don't—"

"I'll pay for it," Hide spoke suddenly. "Also, I'd like to rent it." Hide could tell that the guy wanted to protest, but he didn't give him a chance to. "So how much will that be?"

"2100 yen."

Pulling out his wallet, Hide dumped the contents on the counter. The guy looked away shyly, seeming to shrink. After counting out 2100 yen—which only left him around 300—Hide pushed the money towards the woman, who handed him the DVD. "Finally!" he exclaimed in excitement.

"Thank you…" the guy mumbled.

"It's cool, dude. Nothing big," he replied. "I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, by the way, but most people just call me Hide."

"Kaneki Ken."

"Nice to meet you, Kaneki." Hide grinned. He thought if he ever met the person who had neglected to turn in the DVD for so long he would mouth off to him, but he found Kaneki to be an oddly likable person who did not deserve that. It could have been the fact that he seemed so quiet and fragile and Hide didn't want to hurt him, but it also easily could have been because he was incredibly cute.

Hide decided it was both.

They found themselves walking out the door together. Being a believer in justice, Hide decided that Kaneki's actions did need to have some consequence. Hell, the guy didn't even have to pay the late fee! "So, Kaneki," Hide began, "since I've been waiting for this DVD to come back in for two weeks"—Kaneki seemed to shrink once again in embarrassment—"I think it's only fair that you should have to watch it with me sometime. Are you free tomorrow?"

Kaneki chuckled sheepishly. "Is this some form of punishment? I'm sorry, but I hardly even know you."

"Then we can get to know each other at my house while we watch it," Hide replied, still smiling.

"Ah, u-um…yeah, okay," Kaneki eventually responded.

"Great! So, what time could you come over in the evening?"

"Whenever is okay."

"Let's call that six, then," Hide said. "Do you have a phone?" Kaneki nodded. "Here, I'll put my number in it." Kaneki fumbled for it in his pockets, a blush rising on his face as he placed the phone in Hide's hands. Hide entered his contact information into it and handed it back to its owner. Kaneki's reactions to even simple things were strangely adorable. Hide couldn't help but feel happy. It took all of his effort not to hug the smaller boy then and there. He was a very physical person, and he wasn't sure how Kaneki would take that.

They walked to the subway together. Upon discovering that they were both headed in the same direction—the twentieth ward—Hide felt even happier. He was even happy after they had parted; Kaneki's stop was the third, while Hide's was the fifth. He waved to Kaneki through the windows of the subway, grinning when Kaneki gave a shy wave back. The train departed, and then he was gone.

Hide loved meeting new people, but he couldn't remember a time when he had felt this ecstatic about someone new. He was practically bouncing up in down in anticipation for tomorrow when Kaneki would come over. Crap, he really needed to clean up. His flat was a mess, and he got the feeling that Kaneki was a cleanly person.

Eating the last of his skittles, Hide balled up the wrapper and shoved it in his coat pocket, shifting his headphones around his neck. His stop came soon later, and he skipped home with merriment in his step.

His house was worse than he thought it was.

Somehow, it seemed as if the mess had doubled in size than when he had left for the video store, which, of course, he knew was not possible. He was just now seeing the full volume of the mess. Bottles and cans of assorted sodas littered the floor of the small flat, along with various clothing items strewn haphazardly. Stacks of useless papers and books sat on the desk Hide never used, and there were plates and bowls on every surface that wasn't the floor.

Hide hadn't realized how bad it had gotten. In the past, he had been more organized and his room in his parents' house was generally tidy, for the most part. Being on his own, he forgot to clean up after himself. That was something his mom had always done.

Well, he was paying the price for his unkemptness now. He had less that twenty-four hours to make his house Kaneki-worthy. Hide planned to leave a few things here and there to give it that homey feel; he wanted it to be clean, but not look like no one lived there.

After fifteen minutes, Hide realized it was going to take him a lot longer than he thought it would. Rounding up all of the clothes proved to be a strenuous task; he didn't know how he managed to lose a pair of boxers in between the couch cushions, but he had. Then there was the task of folding them and putting them into their correct drawers. He didn't think Kaneki was going to rummage through his personal stuff, but, just in case, everything was going to be neat and tidy.

Once the clothes were taken care of, Hide moved on to the dishes—his least favorite thing. Hide would be amazed to meet someone who despised washing dishes more than he did. Touching the slimy food chunks that fell off of plates never failed to make him gag, and he always felt extremely dirty afterwards. "I'm doing this for you, Kaneki," Hide said to no one as he gathered as many dishes as he could carry and took them to the sink. He picked up a plate and began to scrape the stuck-on food into the garbage disposal. "Oh my god." He gagged.

Thirty painful minutes later, all of the dishes were finally ready to go in the washer. There were so many that Hide had to set some aside and run a load later. Hide then turned to the actual room and began to tidy up the furniture. Over the months, he had acquired quite the collection of useless junk. Some of it was pretty cool, like the tiny miniature Ping-Pong table, but pointless. He decided the easiest way was to make a keep and throw away pile. While most of the things ended up in the keep pile—hey, he had paid hard-earned money for those things—a few things he decided he could part with.

Hide then straightened the furniture and removed anything that looked out of place. He decide to keep the stack of papers and books on his desk so that it looked like he had been doing some hardcore studying or something school-related to impress Kaneki. He got the feeling Kaneki was a studious guy.

Finally, it was all clean. Hide was pretty proud of himself for accomplishing as much as he did, and for good reason. It had been a wreck.

Hide placed the DVD of Love Actually next to the DVD player so he wouldn't misplace it. He stayed up a couple more hours playing video games with his friends online and then went to sleep.