"KKKKKaaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeekkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Kaneki was almost thrown to the ground from the force of his best friend's hug. The two spun around in a circle, before Hide landed in front of Kaneki and started shaking him by his shoulders.
"Kaneki! I was worried sick! Why haven't you been at school? Do you have any idea how lonely it's been? Kaneki, answer me!"
"Hide, I can't breath!" the black-haired gradeschooler was finally able to force out of his mouth despite his breathlessness from the shaking.
"What? Oh, sorry!" Hide let go and let his friend explain himself.
Kaneki straightened his clothes, making sure that the bruises where all covered up. "I accidentally fell down the stairs and got hurt pretty badly." As he said this, his finger absentmindedly went up to scratch his chin.
Hide's eyes lingered on Kaneki's hand. Kaneki looked at it, and realized that there was a bruise peaking out from his sleeve.
He quickly pulled the sleeve over his hand.
Hide's face quickly changed from worry and concern to his typical happy-go-lucky self. "Man, you need to tell me these things! We're best friends, so I'm prone to worry about you! If you don't start telling me these kind of things, My hair will be turning white by the time I'm in my 20s!"
Kaneki scoffed. "You? You can't get worried. It just doesn't fit your personality."
"KKKKKaaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeekkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Kaneki was almost thrown to the ground from the force of his best friend's hug. The two spun around in a circle, before Hide landed in front of Kaneki and started shaking him by his shoulders.
"How was your break? Was it fun? Your Aunt and Uncle and Cousin didn't give you a hard time did they? Come on Kaneki, did you miss me?"
"Hiiiidddeee" Kaneki whined until the other middle school-er stopped shaking him. "It was fine. I spent most of it in my room reading, so it wasn't too bad."
"Humph." Hide's eyes were focused on Kaneki's hand, which was clutching his schoolbag.
"How was yours Hide? Did you get to see your dad and his side of the family again?"
"Yeah, Dad was great, Grandpa was distant as always, and my evil older brother was a pain in the ass as usual. Really Kaneki, I swear one of these days I need to take you with me, nobody else believes me when I say he's pure evil!"
Kaneki sighed. "I doubt that he's pure evil, Hide. He just doesn't like you for some unknown reason."
"KKKKKaaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeekkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Kaneki was almost thrown to the ground from the force of his best friend's hug. The two spun around in a circle, before Hide landed in front of Kaneki and started shaking him by his shoulders.
"Did you see it? Did you see it? Have you checked the exam results? Have you? Have you? Have you?" Hide practically squealed.
"Are you talking about the entrance exam? Yeah, I saw it. Looks like we get to spend several more years together!" Kaneki smiled.
"Kami university, here we come!" Hide cheered.
"KKKKKaaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeekkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Kaneki was almost thrown to the ground from the force of his best friend's hug. The two spun around in a circle, before Hide landed in front of Kaneki and started shaking him by his shoulders.
"Why did it take you so long to come back to school? Rabbits die of loneliness you know!"
"Oh, I'm sorry Hide!" Kaneki scratched the side of his chin. "I just wasn't feeling well, you know?"
Hide sighed. "I guess. Getting crushed by steel beams would do that to you." The two of them started walking off together. "Hey Kaneki? Are you eating right? You look a little pale."
"KKKKKaaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeekkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Kaneki was almost thrown to the ground from the force of his best friend's hug. The two spun around in a circle, before Hide landed in front of Kaneki and started shaking him by his shoulders.
"Have you hear the rumors? No, of course you haven't, but I hear some rumors that a lot of people are really impressed by your performance in the most recent raid and there's talk that a certain someone will be getting another award! Maybe even promoted!"
"What? But I didn't really do much! If anyone deserves recognition, it's Saiko! She really pulled through in that mission." The First Class Investigator commonly known as Haise Sasaki was surprised by his oldest friend's words.
"Oh, I didn't say they weren't planning on recognizing her. But I do know that they're recognizing you too." Hide shook his head. "Honestly, you managed to take out several S and SS rated ghouls, as well as keep the casualties in your squad to a minimum, I'd be very surprised if they didn't acknowledge you for this."
"But that's not all my doing. I had a lot of help. You were the one directing the operation; it's because of you that casualties were kept to a minimum."
Hide just shrugged. "Eh, I just tell you guys where to go. It's everyone else who is putting their lives on the line and actually doing the fighting."
"Well, having worked with someone who didn't value the lives of those under his command, I can see the difference." Kaneki piped up.
Hide smirked. "Yeah, I'm glad that Matsuri wasn't in charge of this one. The kill count might have been higher, but so would the casualty count."
Another investigator came up to the pair. "Uh, First Class Sasaki? Here's the report you asked for."
"Oh, thank you." Kaneki took the file and flipped through it. "Yes, this is exactly what I need." The other investigator left.
"Hey, Kaneki? Why don't you let anyone else call you Kaneki?" Hide asked. "I mean, everyone knows at this point, and you've had your memories back for a while now. There really isn't a reason for you to hide who you are."
Kaneki furrowed his brow in thought. "How do I explain it… They do know me, but they don't the the 'Kaneki' me. They got to know and respect me as Sasaki Haise the Ghoul Investigator.. That is still a part of me, but its not exactly the same as the human or Ghoul Kaneki. None of them knew me as that, so it would feel weird for them to call me by that name."
"But you don't make me call you Sasaki. Why is that?"
You're the only one here who knew that side of me, so I don't mind. In fact, it would sound weird if you called me that, considering how long we've known each other."
"You're right, Haise Sasaki does sound weird to me. You'll always be Kaneki Ken, my best friend."