Full Summary:
Hide is a pharmaceutical prodigy student close to creating a drug that allows ghouls to create the enzymes they need to break down human food, but suddenly his life's in danger by a greed-corrupted CCG who (afraid they would loose funding and have to cut back higher ups pay and investigators jobs) are determined to assassinate Hide before he can finish his work. After a failed assassination attempt at Anteiku; Yoshimura calls in a favour from infamous ghoul Centipede and before he knows it Hide is trying to complete his life's work from an Aogiri Tree lab in a new ward with his (super hot babysitter) aloof bodyguard.
Authors Note:
Yo, I wrote this in like an hour. I was gonna write more until I actually introduced Kaneki but im a mean ol' ace. Hes gonna be first up in the next chapter though. Please kudos and comment because this is my first tokyo ghoul fanfic i need the support. Just a warning this is un beta'd. I'm going to edit the chapters before i post the next one so i forget the plot and what i wrote so i can detect spelling errors sooner
*edit*
Thanks to NytAhwuhl for helping me to edit this chapter ^^
ARTOD xx
XX
Hide rarely noticed the time when he was working. He was always in a constant surprise when his professor or a classmate would tell him to leave; and it appears today was no exception. "Hey!" The voice of his classmate Nishiki calls out. He sounds slightly annoyed with Hide, but really that was nothing new; Hide could get a bit eccentric at times. "You gotta leave. Now!"
"Just another hour or two, I'll be out by then."
"No Nagachika. Get out and go home."
Hide groans, but he knows he won't win this fight. Bitterly he sweeps up his mess of notes randomly into a folder and tucks away his multiple ghoul books into his backpack before lazily slinging it on himself. Nishiki nods to himself in approval as Hide drags himself out the classroom and stretches. "I'm so close to a cure." He tells to no one in particular. Nishiki's hand twitches on the handle, but he remains impassive at Hide's comment. Hide already knows Nishiki's a ghoul; Hell he knows who every ghoul is in the class. You don't just spend years of your life reading about the make up of ghouls and not learn how to pick up the biological signs. It's not like he's going to tell them that though, he'd probably end up on the 11pm missing persons report. For now he was a nuisance, but a tolerable nuisance.
"Oi Nagachika, head home. You don't know when a ghoul could strike you know." There was a small, almost invisible, predatory smile to Nishiki that any other person would have missed; but Hide wasn't just any other person now was he?
"Right, I hear ya loud and clear! Go straight home! Got it! Will do!" Hide waves off with the usual dazzling smile he does when he wants people to think he's an idiot. Nishiki rolls his neck side to side, Hide can tell his suspicions lowered now, and the two head off in opposite directions home. Nishiki to his girlfriend and Hide to his instant noodles and research.
Hide's walk home is uneventful. He knows where ghouls are likely to strike and when. The most dangerous part of his walk home was the stretch between the bushes and his apartment door. Even then he was still in no danger.
Unlocking the door he turns on the lights and flings his bag on his bed and his folder onto his desk as he walks into his kitchen to pull out another night's worth of instant noodles. He walks over to his old stove kettle and fills it with tap-hot water before placing it over the stove to heat up further. The few minutes he has while waiting for the water to boil are the only few minutes he allows for himself to just relax. He leans back against a bench and sighs, flinging his neck back and feeling the muscles stretch. Another content sigh slips out as he enjoys this moment of pure tranquillity. He thinks during this time. He thinks about things he'd rather be doing, like playing video games and watching horror movies. He thinks about why he's so invested in his research; and he thinks about why he's desperate for a phantom of his dreams to come home when he doesn't even know who this phantom is.
The kettle whistles, forcibly pulling Hide out of his thoughts and into his own reality. With repeated motions learned from numerous nights that repeat he pours the hot water into the cup expertly, he then takes the cup to his desk to work while he waits for it to cook. He forgets the thing is even there until his stomach growls out a protest 3 hours later at midnight and he looks up and remembers. It takes him about 8 minutes to eat the cold noodles before he throws them into the full trash can beside his desk and slouches over his research to continue.
Most people would have to wonder what research was so important that a college student in the prime of his youth would give up his nights for? Well Hide was this close to figuring out a medication that could help ghouls to produce the enzymes they lacked that restricted them to a diet of human flesh. He was determined to figure this out soon. If he could figure this out (beside the fame and fortune he could earn before he even graduates) then ghouls would be free to live their lives without the constant fear of being hunted down. Hide knew the CCG would need to remain, he figured some ghouls would refuse to assimilate and remain with the devouring of human flesh. At least ghouls may be able to have some legal rights within Japan, and possibly even the world, if he was successful. Yes. That is what motivated him. It was most definitely not the hope that his dream-phantom would reveal himself at the door one day if he did. That would be a ridiculous reason to give up almost everything except for work and human functions. Wouldn't it?
Hide managed to scrawl half of a formula theory down at 2am before he collapsed onto his notes and fell asleep atop his own desk, as usual.
XX
"He just won't stop!" A sharp voice hissed to the table. "Bribes are useless, threats are useless. He must be an utter idiot!"
"If he continues and is successful, I can tell you now it's not my pay getting docked." Another voice grumbles amongst the others.
"Fuck your pay, I'm not tossing any of my people to the street!" A fist now smacks the table.
"My children may have to go to school with those-those-those things! They would be protected!"
The voices of the people from the table are yelling all at once now. Honestly it's giving the newcomer a headache. She grits her teeth and walks up to the table, pulls out a gun, and fires it into the roof. Plaster falls to the ground as the voices silence themselves. She's happier now, a small smile creeps up her face. She has their attention now, and their fear. Good.
"I have a solution to all your snivelling and whining." She sneers and throws blank paper onto the table, a knife rolls out after them. She can see the table is now confused. Some are whispering to others if they knew her and how she got in, thinking they can't be heard by her. "I'll make this simple for all you seat-warmers. I'll kill the boy. For the right price of course." She smiles cutely now, sticking her tongue out the side and giving a little wink and giggle. The table's faces pale and she knows she has had the desired effect. She's hired.
XX
Hide's alarm blared at him from across the room, beside his bed. He moans a little as he gets up to turn it off and he's filled with a sudden relief he lives alone. Nobody should ever know sleepy Hide is the seductive Hide, like ever! In his opinion that is.
He saw on the alarm it was 10 am. He started to panic. He had class in 10 minutes. Throwing on the closest things he could find and collecting his belongings as fast as possible he was out the door and running as fast as he could towards the university.
Hide ran out into the street knocking over people and calling out an apology with his charming smile behind him as he ran. He only really stopped when he was running past Nishiki's workplace and saw him working. The two had class, so what the hell was he doing working?
Nishiki himself had looked up and almost dropped his tray of empty coffee cups when he saw Hide. "What the hell are you wearing Nagachika?" He hisses at Hide's apparel. Hide finally looks down to see what he's thrown on. An embarrassing Christmas jumper he got as a gift from his mother 2 years ago, a shirt of some American band he liked in his senior year of high school, grey track pants he wears as pyjamas when the nights are cold and he can drag himself to his bed, two odd socks, and- Oh god! He's wearing sandals over top of those two odd socks.
"I'm late for class." Hide puffs out as he tries to catch his breath. It's the only reasoning he could give at the moment. Nishiki looks up to the sky and groans.
"Nagachika, its a Sunday. We don't have a class on Sunday." Nishiki then gives a look towards Hide. Something in his cold, frozen heart cracks at the fashion disaster of a happy boy, and probably making the biggest mistake of his life offers to make Hide a coffee, his treat. Stars light up in the blond boys eyes, like a puppy. Hide never expected Nishiki "Go home Nagachika" Nishio to do anything but give seething looks towards him. Hide eagerly accepts and soon he is seated and resting at a table waiting for a caramel latte.
Only a few minutes later a waitress with long black hair hands him his drink. Her smile is blinding and Hide is already having alarm bells ringing in his head. "Enjoy your drink sir." She giggles before disappearing out of his sight, between other customers. It all seemed wrong to him. The colour of his latte was off, and the speed was too fast considering the amount of other customers waiting before him. What disturbed him the most however was her smile. It was the same smile he gave to people when he wanted to distract people from something.
He's been staring at the drink for 5 minutes before a purple haired waitress glides up towards him with a proper looking caramel latte in hand. She's clearly weary, but still trying to wear a customer service smile on her face as she pulls up to Hide. "Here's your dri-Oh!" She looks from the drink towards Hide. "You already got it." It's more of a statement than a question and she seems about ready to pull back and leave before Hide on instinct tries to tell her about the odd waitress.
"Yeah, I got it from the waitress with the long black hair and brown, freckled skin. She seemed… happy." The purple haired waitress frowns now. "It looks odd to you too doesn't it?" Hide pushes on and the waitress nods, before she picks up the other latte and brings it to her nose. Her eyes widen and she tells Hide not to drink anything from that cup before she gets her manager before she rushes off.
Shortly the purple haired waitress returns with an elderly man, who Hide assumes to be her employer. "Hello sir," He nods, Hide can't see the old man's eyes but he's frowns. "I'm Yoshimura, the owner of Anteiku, and I apologise firstly because your latte appears to be poisoned."