Our father left us that night when he had just finished telling us a bedtime story. I was the first to fall asleep. Only Touka had seen that our father walked out the door leaving just the two of us together, alone and afraid. We were young ghouls at the time. Father had told us to blend in with the humans by laying low. He wanted us to live like humans too. So he cooked human food, feeding it to us even though our bodies rejected the food that wasn't very appealing for ghouls.

I was always weaker than my older sister, hiding in her shadow. I knew that she was stronger than me both physically and mentally. And that's how I made the promise with my father to protect Touka.

When I had woken up the next morning, Touka's arm slung around my hip. I moved her arm aside carefully, not wanting to wake her up. I didn't hear any footsteps or the sizzling of a pan frying breakfast. I only heard my sister's soft breathing beside me. Slipping out the blanket of warmth and making sure that Touka was still tucked in the blanket that we shared, I walked out the bedroom to be greeted by the cool slick air that came from the slightly opened window.

I peered into a work room which I would always find my father writing first thing in the morning. "Father?" I called out but was only answered by the silence that I continued to hear until I heard a door open.

"Ayato, what are you doing?" Onee-san rubbed her eyes and looked at me. I looked down avoiding eye contact.

"Where's Dad?" She asked with worry in her voice.

"Not here… he's not here," I repeated. My hands trembled and I balled up my shaking fists. My sister kneeled in front of me and clasped my right hand. It was warm as she took it. I looked up at my sister who was squeezing my hand, reassuring me that everything will be alright, my vision a bit blurry because of the tears that started to dwell in my eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you," Touka whispered in my ear before wrapping her arms around me, embracing me in order to make me feel better.


Father still hasn't come back for almost 2 years. No would have suspected even a bit that we were ghouls but that changed when I had assumed that the doves killed my father. Whenever I tell my assumption to Touka, she always says the same thing, "Don't say that. You never know because Father will come soon." Touka repeats the same thing over and over again as if she just doesn't want to admit that he's dead. I don't want her to keep believing that father still lives.

Touka and I have been living somewhat okay these past 2 years without Father. We had managed to get scraps of food, finding what we can. I still can't help Touka hunt at night because I feel as I am still too weak as if I wasn't meant to fight alongside my sister. "Touka?"

"Hm, what is it Ayato?" She looked at me with the same despaired expression that she wore ever since father disappeared.

"I'm weak right?" I held the hem of my gray shirt. Tightening my grip when there wasn't a response, I proceeded talking, "I'm not meant to fight. Useless garbage like me shouldn't even live-" I was cut off with a slap across my face. Stunned with the sudden movement, I touched my scorching cheek which stung with the light touch of my finger.

My older sister placed both of her hands on my shoulder and turned me to face her straight in the face. Her stern expression made me feel a bit guilty for saying what I had just said.

"Don't ever say that kinda shit," Touka said through clenched teeth, "You're supposed to protect me like what you had promised to dad. Please, don't say that."

Taking a deep breath, she stood up and took my hand leading me to the front door. "Come on, you can help me today," she turned to me and smiled. It's been awhile that I saw my big sister smile like that without actually it being a forced one.

Later that night, I trained with Touka. She was like a mentor for me, teaching me how to use my kagune. I noticed that she only had half of her kagune. The Ukaku was the kind of kagune that the both of us had. It had taken me several attempts to finally bring out my kagune. Touka showed me a few skills that you could do with the kagune; shooting shards and growing the wings to be big enough to protect yourself with.

One night, I woke up to hear someone sobbing. I looked over to find my older sister with tears streaming down her face, softly crying to herself. Her hands kept clenching on their own, trembling as her eyes were tightly shut. Her breathing then calmed down after a while. I couldn't tell if it was just a nightmare or it was something else. So I didn't want to wake her up. I don't want to stay like. I don't want to be weak anymore. Father's words kept running through my head. I want to get through this together with her, only wanting to protect the only person I have and love.


I snuck some meat into the inner pockets of my jacket, saving some for my sister. I tightened the jacket around me and climbed up the steps to the apartment. Before I could even touch the door handle of the front door, it flung open revealing Touka with bed hair and a fist coming right at me.

My eyes fluttered open and I coughed when I felt that my lungs were being crushed. Touka simply sat on top of my stomach. "Eh? Sis, could you get off me?"

"Nope… unless you tell me where've you been? But first, what's in your pockets?" Touka raised a brow and her finger tugging on the zipper.

"Fine, fine. Here," I opened up my jacket and showed her the limbs I brought home. Her eyes widened at the food.

"You did what I think you did, huh."

"I wanted to prove to you that I don't always have to rely on you. I need to do things on my own too. So I thought to myself that father was a man that wanted a strong family to stick together. Yes, I went outside to get food for you."

Tears started to fall on my shirt. "Look who's all grown up now," Touka chuckled as she pinched my cheeks.


Thank you guys for reading my first Tokyo Ghoul one-shot. I'm sorry it wasn't really long or if you expected something more from this. I originally wanted to write a TG fanfic about Kaneki x Touka but then I thought what about something more tragic like Touka and Ayato's past. So I decided to write this. I hope you guys enjoyed this and look forward to my future fanfics!