Fool- Beginnings: first encounter between 2 or more characters. Innocence, foolishness, risk-taking.

8 years old - elementary school

Kaneki as usual was sitting in the furthermost corner of the classroom, his eyes glued to a book. The teacher was about to take attendance, and he had always listened with half an ear for which pause to say his presence. It meant he wasn't as absorbed in the book as he'd like to be, but there was more time for that later. In retrospect, whenever late or dozing other kids would jump at the chance to call out for someone else, so there wouldn't have been any sparsity to ask. Unfortunately, eight-year-old Kaneki lacked the social capability to ask a mere stranger. So he continued reading and listening.

The warmth of the sunlight near the window grazed his face and he thought of the long walk home he'd have to take. Swallowing his lips, Kaneki turned to face the rest of the class. Absently, his eyes drifted past them all, taking in the trite laughing expressions and sense of camaraderie belonging to the separated groups. He stopped, and shifted his gaze back to the opposite corner near the entrance, where the teacher was crouching to talk face to face with another student.

He first noticed the bright fiery hair on the boy. It shot out in a frenzy as if wanted to get away from the little boy's head. Kaneki smiled at the silly thought. The boy's eyes were wide and brown colored. His small skinny figure suggested an almost angelic innocence to him. The little boy was nodding furiously to whatever the lady had said.

When their conversation was finished, Kaneki stumbled to look away quickly. The burning weight of a stare from the fiery-haired boy's direction had him feeling paranoid he had been caught, but he refused to meet the look. He pretended to focus on his book, although it was goofy because he knew he was supposed to keep an ear out once roll call started. His last name being in the middle of the list didn't help his position.

Unexpectedly, the teacher went to the front of the class and pulled the fiery-haired boy along with her. Surprisingly, the boy wasn't reluctant but rather beaming at the faces of the other boys brightly. Noticing an announcement was about the take place, the class quickly shushed to a few murmurs and then complete waiting silence.

The teacher smiled. "It appears we have a new student today. This is Nagachika Hideyoshi, say hello everyone."

"Hello Nagachika," the class said slightly out of unison. Giggling had erupted from a group of girls. Kaneki sent them a curious look before giving his attention back to the front.

The little boy squirmed a bit before squeaking out, "Call me Hide. Everyone calls me Hide back home."

After a lengthy silence, the teacher shot all the children a glare. "Well," she stressed sharply, "Say hello."

The students were startled into submission. "Hello Hide!" rang out in different tones and timings. A couple kids tittered at the messiness of it all, and the group of girls in the back had burst out laughing again.

The little boy in the front smiled cheerfully; little dimples shone from his flushed cheeks. Kaneki swore he heard a girl coo and another whisper he's cute from his right. The comment was followed by more giggling. The fiery-haired boy-Hide-ignored the murmurs and said brightly, "Hello to you too!"

This bold announcement brought the little boy more pairs of eyes to him. Kids who hadn't shied away from all the attention by this point were rare. Kids who thrived in it where even rarer. Kaneki felt slightly envious he couldn't talk like that in front of people. There was always that awful sensation pressing at his throat whenever he had to talk to a group. It was another reason he gave up on creating friends. They usually came in groups, and he couldn't help mumbling and shrinking in on himself whenever the amount of people enlarged.

Swallowing his lips, Kaneki focused his gaze on the book, but realized he couldn't help flickering his eyes back to the front of the classroom. The teacher had gone on to give attendance, and left the new boy to choose a seat.

Kaneki watched openly, wondering which group the boy would choose. Matthew, Johnny, and the more rowdy boys claimed the spot near the toy basket; they were a likely choice and clearly beckoned him with their wide friendly gazes. If not, another choice would be near Tony, Donn, and the Ly twins. Their group was fused between their love of gross things and the comedic hilarity of farts. They nudged each other and giggled to each other. A group of girls were clustered near the windows, and another near the heaters. They whispered to each other, and some smiled shyly at him invitingly. The new boy appeared perturbed to make a decision. His eyes flew around the room and then fastened on Kaneki. His lips stretched in a friendly smile. Startled, Kaneki turned around to see if he was greeting someone else but there was only the wall. He could only blink at the boy. Surprisingly enough, Kaneki watched as the fiery-haired boy walked past the other groups and stopped by Kaneki's desk.

"Hi, I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, but you can call me Hide. Everyone calls me that," He exclaimed avidly, as if he hadn't just gone over this. "Can I sit with you?"

Kaneki was too surprised to respond. He watched with a mouth open.

"What's your name?" The boy asked, realizing the words would have to be pried out of him.

Straightening, he mumbled his name. "Kaneki Ken."

The new boy nodded furiously and repeated it to himself. "Kaneki Ken."

He stared at the new boy who had sat down in the previously empty seat next to him. His gaze flickered to the rest of the class; he expected them to be astonished that the new boy chose to sit by him, but no one paid them any attention. The little Hide had managed to gain from his entrance had quickly vanished. The kids were laughing again in their own conversations. Kaneki pushed down the pressure rising in his throat, and turned his gaze back to the boy seated next to him.

Uncomfortably, he wondered if he was supposed to say something now. Searching for words, yet not coming up with anything suitable, he hoped they wouldn't have to conversate and opened his book again.

That was when Hide spoke. "So what's that you're reading? I saw you with it before. It looks cool."

Surprised again, Kaneki smiled at the new boy. "Well, it's a story about these two kids who go on an adventure…" He tried to summarize the brilliance of the story, although he felt like he hadn't done a good job expressing the enormity of the novel. Nevertheless, he was finding that it was much easier to talk about his books. Plus, Hide had an engaged attentive face the entire time; it was perfect to talk to and know he was being heard.

Once he was finished, heat pooled in his cheeks. Had he been talking for too long? That was virtually never a problem with him before, but it felt as if that was the longest he had opened up to someone for. Kaneki stared at the floor in embarrassment.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Hide exclaimed.

Kaneki's eyes flickered up. He smiled at the response, and then suddenly felt overcome with the urge to share. "Y-you can read it too if you want. Once I'm done. Which will be soon."

Hide beamed at him. The pure happiness was rolling off him in waves and Kaneki couldn't help but soak it up. "Great, I can't wait to try it!"

"I'll be done in three days. Maybe two." Kaneki tried to keep up with the large amounts of energy pouring off the boy. What was this thick feeling in his chest?

"That's really quick for a book that big," Hide declared. "You must be smart."

Kaneki stuttered, "I don't know. I just read a lot."

Does that make a person smart? He wouldn't know. He felt rather clueless most of the time if he was being honest. The comment made him glow a bit though.

Hide continued. "No, maybe you're just modest. Do you know that word? It means when someone is shy about what they're good at. I think that's you. Because you're probably really good at reading if you do it a lot."

Kaneki flushed at that. Noticing, Hide changed the subject. "Besides, it's good to have smart friends, my mom says."

"Friends?" Kaneki stammered.

"Yeah, " Hide faltered. "I mean...if you want to be. It'd be nice if you did. I just moved here from Winati so I don't have any friends here. Wait, no. Let me do that again!"

Hide closed his eyes, took a deep breath, muttered something under his breath, before opening his eyes and grinning hopefully at him. "Do you want to be my friend?"

"Erm, yes?" squeaked Kaneki, startled at the fast pace of the new boy's tongue and the intensity of his gaze.

Hide laughed and cheered. "My first friend here!"

With that he pulled the shorter boy into a tight hug. Kaneki was surprised and didn't really know how to return it. He would usually snuggle into his Mom whenever she hugged him but he felt that this was different. He had seen adults pat the other on the upper back whenever hugging, so he awkwardly tried to mimic them and hoped the other boy didn't mind his lousy attempts. Due to the lack of complaint, Kaneki assumed he didn't.

Hide abruptly pulled away and placed his hands on Kaneki's shoulders intently. "Do you live by the ice cream shop close to Wilmet?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. How…?"

Hide waved it off. "I saw you walking with your mom and brother when we were moving in. My mom told me to say hi but I was too shy," he shared with a goofy smile.

Kaneki wanted to say he couldn't imagine the other boy as shy, but hesitated with the other comment. He chose to respond to the latter. "That was probably my aunt and cousin. I don't have a brother."

"Oh," Hide blinked, then quickly recovered. "You two look like each other."

Kaneki shrugged, feeling weird talking about his family. He remembered that day vividly. It started when his aunt was talking very loudly to his mom in the other room. There was a door slam, and his aunt grabbed her six-year-old son who Kaneki was playing with, sent him a peculiar look, and headed out.

Perturbed, Kaneki followed them for the first block curiously, until he was noticed and admonished for "sneaking up on them." Kaneki was told to keep quiet about it. His aunt bought them ice cream after complaint, and they walked home in the hot sun while she talked sharply into her phone. He wondered how his mom was doing, and later found her working on the laundry as usual when he checked up on her. That day wasn't anything special, yet Hide had somehow noticed him.

"Anyways," Hide was speaking again. "Let's walk home together after school. My mom says to never walk alone. It's dan-ger-ous."

"Sure," Kaneki agreed. He didn't mention how he walked alone everyday. No one had ever told him not to. He couldn't imagine why that'd be a bad thing and figured that Hide's mom was simply overprotective. Who would want to hurt him?

The day went by fast with Hide by his side. The new boy was strangely perceptive about things. He picked up the tacit ways of the school quickly; how the kids generally stayed away from the red side of the playground because of the rumor of rats, the buddy system for going to the bathroom, the admired feat of finishing the monkey bars, and the general restlessness and mischief that took place during nap time. Hide took everything in stride. He gave off the air that he could've fit in with anybody.

Then school was soon over, and they grabbed their backpacks and began the walk home. Kaneki couldn't help glancing at the new boy from time to time. His golden hair fell over his forehead, and his clothes were as bright as his personality. He had a faint smile on his face, and when he turned to Kaneki his smile grew wider.

"Let's get some ice cream," Hide proclaimed.

"Um," he stammered. "Why?"

"Why not?" the boy returned evenly. "It's hot out, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping-it's the perfect day for ice cream. Don't you want some too?"

"Yes," he said automatically.

"Okay we're going then. Do you have money?"

Kaneki thought of his weekly allowance given for lunch. He could miss a meal tomorrow; it wouldn't hurt. "Yeah."

"Great," Hide declared. "Let's go."

"Uh Hide?"

"Yeah?"

"It's this way."

The new boy switched directions, and pulled him along by the sleeve with a beaming smile on his face that Kaneki couldn't help returning equally as brightly.