a/n: i havnt written a fic in over 3 yrs Forgive Me (and from those of u who know me from my harvest moon phase….im so sorry)

summary: its just moments where they show they care abt each other in canon bc im super! Rusty! I don't do titles either usually I just put vague captions or an emoji but since that's unacceptable have an obvious one

Also I wanted 2 post this on ao3 originally but since its by invitation im just like…..lol No :)

Pls lemme know what u think! This is super short but it took me 4 hrs to write bc I succ

EDIT: changed the title bc it was real bad

Words: 1,306

it's the little moments that bleed through

Hide's slim fingers fumbled inside the vending machine, groping for the coffee can that had clanged down seconds ago. Skin registering cool metal, the hand which they belonged to pulled it out. The blond stared intently at the drink—100% black coffee. He wondered if Kaneki had suddenly decided that he liked bitter things and the feeling of its taste invading his tongue. Maybe it's just that college is taking a toll on him and the absence of his usual teaspoon of sugar with a side of milk was improving his chances of survival.

Unfortunately, Hide's intuition was almost always correct, and right now it was telling him that maybe Kaneki is a ghoul. Scratch that, Kaneki is definitely a ghoul. He got a feeling that the girl—Rize, he remembers—was a ghoul too, but seeing Kaneki get nervous over his first date just made Hide want to let him go out and have fun with someone who wasn't himself for once. Apparently, letting Kaneki enjoy himself with someone else was bound to result in a series of unfortunate events (and only now did it occur to Hide that his drawing was basically foreshadowing, dammit).

All he could do now was wait until his (very suddenly eyepatched) best friend could trust him with his secret. And he'll wait months, years, decades even, if it's for Kaneki.

He stood up and walked to a nearby flight of stairs, pulling at the tab until he heard it pop. Settling himself on a step, he let the hiss of the drink mingle with rustling leaves and the screeching of assorted insects, feeling the cool breeze brush against his face.

To Ken, Hide thought to himself, and took a sip.

"It's bitter."

"There is no way I'm making your noisy friend a drink." Touka said, her work smile quickly replaced by her usual frown. Not bothering to give Kaneki time to reply, she walked off and started busying herself with measuring beans, leaving him to whip up the cappuccino himself.

"It's not like I expected you to…" Kaneki weakly replied.

Finishing off the beverage with a heart, Kaneki surveyed his work. His latte art couldn't possibly compete with Touka's, but it wasn't as if Hide would actually notice that he made it (besides, paper has been and always will be his first and foremost medium for art). Kaneki was also sure the blond would let slip the slight dribble of coffee down the cup's side (he would forgive Touka had she really done it anyways), and so after adding a teaspoon he quickly made his way to Hide's table.

Having set the saucer down, Kaneki watched as Hide gingerly took it in both hands and raised it up, smiling rather cutely at it, awestruck. Kaneki left him to bask in the cappuccino's glory as it was clear that he would be appreciating it for quite a while. He rejoined Touka at the counter and watched Hide take a picture of it with his phone. Kaneki wondered if he would react the same way had he known that his best friend made it instead of her. Maybe Hide would even take a selfie of the two of them, add about a hundred filters and then a cheesy hashtag.

"Be sure he doesn't find out." Touka said, snapping Kaneki out of his reverie.

"It's fine…I did an okay job so he won't notice I made the cappuccino." He replied. Well, the cat's expression wasn't up to standard, but it did the trick.

Touka lowered her voice. "Not that," she said, busying herself with the cashier. "That you're a ghoul."

"Ah…oh yeah." Idiot. Kaneki mentally scolded himself. You're lucky she can't yell at you here.

"I don't know what the manager is thinking," she continued, pausing to face him. "But taking care of a human here in Anteiku is impossible." Her gaze flits to said human. "If he, by some chance, finds out about us then…" she looks Kaneki dead in the eyes and says,

"I'll kill him."

Kaneki feels his blood run cold and every muscle in his body freeze.

Hide had noticed that Kaneki had a miserable look on his face once Ms. Tachibana had called on him unexpectedly. He silently urged him to press on, aware that Kaneki could not afford to notice the determined look of support on his best friend's face, forced to focus on the passage the teacher had prompted him to read.

It was at this point that he had resigned himself to his fate and started to recite the text. His voice had, at first, sounded discouraged and hollow, but slowly grew to become passionate and moved, and his enthusiasm had bled into the passage and given life to the words. It was if he had found his way into the world of the book and fully immersed himself into its events. Once he finished the reading, Kaneki had returned to reality and sat back down onto his seat while Hide looked at him proudly with a feeling of fondness.

Their classmates, however, were unmoved, and like the children they were had begun picking on Kaneki (for ten year olds, teasing was their natural reaction to everything). Watching Kaneki grow nervous under their jeering, Hide felt a tight knot form in his chest.

"Next, Nagachika-kun." Ms. Tachibana called once the children had calmed down.

"Yes!" Hide replied loudly. He stood up suddenly, proceeded to hold his textbook improperly and read in an exaggerated manner. Soon enough, his classmates had directed their remarks to him and quickly forgot about mocking Kaneki.

"Where would you take a girl out on a date, then?" Kaneki retorted.

"Ah, well…" Hide scratched his cheek, clearly not knowing what to say.

"See, you don't even know." Kaneki said, sipping his coffee.

"Well if I did I wouldn't be out here on a date with you." Hide said, putting his head on the table.

"…You have a point." Kaneki replied, resuming his preoccupation with The Black Goat's Egg. The two friends lapsed into comfortable silence, with Hide observing the passersby on the street (and making up their backstories, a pastime of his) and Kaneki immersing himself into Takatsuki Sen's work. Every now and then he would allow himself a glimpse of their drawings, his being a legitimate attempt at drawing something out of Takatsuki's works and Hide's being a jokingly crude portrait of Kaneki.

The door chimed and Rize walked in, putting Kaneki in a trance.

"What is it, Kaneki?" Hide asked, lifting his head from the table.

"That's her!" Kaneki replied, his eyes following Rize as she passed by their table. He, of course, was too mesmerized by her to notice Hide's observant gaze.

Kaneki suddenly felt Hide's hands prop themselves on his shoulders.

"Kaneki. Sorry to break it to you…but you have no chance." Hide said in a somber tone, his head bowed. "No matter what you do, a hottie like that is impossible. I bet she'll transform when you take off her glasses…" he chuckled.

Kaneki utterly failed in recognizing Hide's uneasiness.

"I know, I know…but when she meets my eyes, she smiles a little…" Kaneki says, staring off into the distance. "If maybe she shares my feelings…" he adds somewhat dreamily.

Hide is staring at him, dumbfounded. "You're kinda being that kinda guy. It's creepy."

"Hey, don't be stupid…" Kaneki trailed off, disbelieving.

"Well, now that I've gotten to see the girl you were talking about, I'm off to work." Hide said, folding his drawing and getting up. The blond said his goodbyes (with the waitress he bothered earlier getting a particularly enthusiastic wave) and went out the door.

Kaneki watched him go, annoyed (but also a little disappointed, he didn't even finish his cappuccino).

"I'll leave it to you." Arima bowed slightly.

"Haise…Sasaki Haise." Hide replied.