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born on the day of earthquakes

a/n: i dont know where this Haise x Touka angst came from sorry not sorry

He reached out. It was that face - he had seen that face in his dreams - younger, perhaps, but very much the same. Even with the carnage around them, she still looked so beautiful. Her hair dark like midnight sky, her skin as pale as the moon. Her expression so gentle as she also reached out for his face, smiling.

"Welcome home, Kaneki."

Her lips moved; he heard. He missed her so much that every breath, every beat of his heart hurt as he contemplated the times he had been away. But now she was in front of him, she was just in his reach. He was touching her face, feeling her cheeks stained by tears and blood thankfully not her own.

"Touka-chan-"

But then she was gone. He couldn't see her anymore as his head was forced to the ground, his face grinding painfully on the rocky cement dirtied by blood and bits of flesh. And now by his own blood as his nose broke and his lip split as the force behind his head push his face deeper into the cracking ground.

"Kaneki-!" He still heard her. He wanted to see her face again, see those lips move again. He tried to look up, only successful at angling his head to see the heavy white coat. Resembling white wings. Dove.

He almost froze. But his eyes continued to move, seeing the familiar white hair and those glasses. That familiar quinque even though it was supposed to be the first time he had seen it.

Aiming for his eye all the same.

And then there was darkness.

Shock remained in those beautiful features of the young lady. But it was quickly replaced by a frown, slight gritting of teeth that reminded her of her youth. She was supposed to have changed, supposed to be more mature, stronger. But with the two Doves in front of her - one of which carried death and the other she considered to be a grey bird that the Dove chained and caged - brought out the anger from her.

Handsome wings erupted from her back, like great fans of multicolored fire. It lit up the carnage, almost out of place with its fiery beauty.

Everything seemed so beautiful on her.

Alas, despite her competent strength, she could do nothing against the death god. She thought it wasn't a fitting end, as she lay gasping and gurgling on her own blood while reaching out for the boy she had been searching for a long time.

She reached out to him. She wanted to be beside him, to hold him, to be with him. But the quinque punctured her hand, making her yell.

She was literally few inches away from him. But she wasn't holding him.

It wasn't the most beautiful death.

Five pairs of eyes watched - all Doves, a death god and four semi-ghouls. It was a scene forever burned into their minds. A scene they couldn't forget.

But it was all supposed to happen.

"Who are you?"

"What kind of question is that, Urie?" their mentor asked. Confused. Curious.

There wasn't a hint of the ghoul they saw that night. It was as if he couldn't remember the moments where he thrashed and tried to get away from the CCG, to hold the woman they met in a coffee shop.

Only it wasn't 'as if'.

He smiled. "I am Haise Sasaki."

They just looked at him, except for Saiko who had her eyes on her DS. They all didn't smile back.

"I work under Akira Mado..."

Shirazu was frowning.

"...mentor of the Quinx Squad..."

Mutsuki had to turn his head away slightly, hiding his tears.

"... I am a ghoul investigator."