Notes: The title is from "For The Best" by Gregory & The Hawk.
I had three chapters ready to go, so I posted them all at once. Hope you enjoy! This whole fic is ridiculous and sometimes pointlessly angsty, but I like it. Also idk if it'll be a problem, but my knowledge of Tokyo Ghoul is shoddy at best, so.
"Oh, hey. You're my new neighbor, right?" A curious, painfully familiar voice chimes from behind him.
Kaneki keeps his body still, ruthlessly stomps down on his irrational urge to turn around and drink in the sight of a healthy, whole, alive Hide. He doesn't deserve it - not Hide, not a second chance, not this new world where ghouls are accepted in society instead of being hunted down for existing.
He fucked up his last life. The deaths of so many lie solely on his shoulders. Hide's death is entirely his fault, and yet-
Surely, surely, if anyone deserves this chance, it's his (dead) former best friend?
Instead it was given to the monster.
Heh. Maybe this isn't a miracle at all but penance. Kaneki had been ready to die, after all. He was so, so tired, and after everything, he'd wanted to follow Hide this one last time.
But Hide is somewhere he can't follow, dead in another universe entirely, and now another untainted (alive) version of him is standing behind him, unknowing of Kaneki's role in his counterpart's demise, ignorant of the danger he's posing to himself simply by being near Kaneki.
Innocent and alive. And right there-
He resists the urge to break his finger.
"Hello~! Anyone in there?" Hide asks from beside him, way, way too close.
With effort, Kaneki keeps his gaze on the quietly rumbling washer in front of him and says rudely, "Not interested."
"Whoa, you make it sound like I'm hitting on you. Which I definitely would do - don't get me wrong! You're really- heh, well." He trails off with a laugh and then introduces himself cheerfully, "My name's Nagachika Hideyoshi, but please call me Hide. I live in 401."
Right next door to Kaneki. Of course, he'd known. He'd be able to recognize Hide's scent anywhere.
Funny that his counterpart had somehow chosen the apartment next to this world's Hide - except it's more cruelly ironic than anything. He's certainly not laughing.
Kaneki makes a non-committal grunt, seeing no need to offer his own name in return. Hide is better off not knowing him. Safer. He's not going to jeopardize that safety just because he misses Hide. He lost the right to be so selfish a long time ago.
"Okay, well, just wanted to be neighborly! I can see you're busy, so I'll talk to you some other time."
Hide exits the small laundry room, and Kaneki allows himself to relax. Now that he's established his own disinclination towards any sort of social contact, maybe Hide will leave him alone.
It's a hopeful thought, and for his own sake, he chooses to believe it.