Summary: They only made his fate worse. (He no longer cared.) Drabbles based on root A.

A/N: Life in Aogiri tree for Kaneki, imagined and hopefully close enough to reality. I can't really put my finger to Noro's enigmatic attitude though, and Tatara is too passive for me to truly tell. An apology in advance if I got the characterisation wrong. Please enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: Don't own Tokyo Ghoul and its affiliates.


1. Deft (Kaneki/Ayato)

As the blade of liquid muscle decapitated countless souls in one swipe, Kaneki watched his mission partner from the corner of his eyes. Ayato was faring more than well, shooting a volley of Rc cell bullets from dual wings, a deadly dance on the fallen bodies of foe and allies alike. Under the force of their combined onslaught, the rogue team of ghouls were ravaged thoroughly, screams punctuating the cracking of walls around them. They didn't last long enough.

The dust settled.

In the ebbing of the heat of battle, Kaneki retracted his kagune slowly, letting the tension flow out of his body. He took deep breathes, the retch of ghoul blood permeated his lungs. It set his spirit ablaze, itching to crush every single enemy in front of him (to bits and pieces till they were reduced to ashes), but he quelled his desire quickly. They had little time to waste - the CCG was closing in already. Kaneki rolled his shoulders and turned to leave.

"Gantai, wait." Ayato's voice floated over, cutting through the silence.

Kaneki paused.

"Are you hungry?"

The click of boots, ominous and chipped, resounded in the empty room. Kaneki brought a bloodstained hand to his lone kakugan, his guts twisting in a way that made him queasy. Despite his acceptance of his ghoul side, he never lost his personality to this instinct-driven beast. Well yes, he did consume human and cannibalise whenever possible, but he never ate in front of someone.

For all that metamorphosis, there was still things that sent his brain throbbing between instincts and complete surrender to the ghoul within. Emotions, raw and sharp, still hit him hard. He was a ghoul, but he was human. This dilemma dragged him into deeper, darker parts of his mind, and in wake of his recent defection to Aogiri he had yet to come to terms with it.

"Let's go." He neatly sidestepped the question, briskly walking towards the exit.

(Ayato "tched", but followed him. Their conversation lapsed into silence.)


It was sometime after they returned back when the hunger really hit him. Growling slightly, Kaneki paced in his tiny room, occasionally wondering if he should venture out to hunt. Doing so, however, will risk discovery of their base by the CCG. He dimly wondered if Tatara will chew him out if he came back with doves on their trail. Reaching for his coffee machine. Kaneki hastily brewed a cup and drowned it down.

That didn't help much. Kaneki mentally berated himself for his lack of foresight. Restless, fingers twitching to wrap themselves around a neck and dig in, letting crimson liquid spill onto his hand. A cruel parody to his starvation after he had been discharged from hospital, fresh from Kanou's hand that mended his fate. He brought trembling hands to his unmasked face, feeling the pulse of his frantic heartbeat.

Sanity was the price of power he paid, dutifully.

A harsh knock on the door sent his body jerking in shock. He already had an inkling who was standing at his door, but he was not in the mood to entertain said person.

"Oi, gantai, you still alive? Open the damned door or I'll bash it in."

Ayato picked the worst moment to come, Kaneki noted, struggling to reign in his kakugan. Being a half-ghoul had its benefits, but poor control of one's ghoul abilities was a result of this hybridisation. Not that he was a lunatic. The shuffling of feet ceased, and Kaneki could almost smell Ayato and…

The scent of fresh meat. Kaneki's body lurched up and forward towards the door, but he forced himself to stop right in front of it. One of his hands reached for the worn-out medical eyepatch and slipped on, before the other pulled the door open.

Ayato, in all his leather glory, leaning against the door frame and holding a bag of bloody flesh.

Please don't tell him this was some sick commercial for human meat.

"Yes, Ayato-kun?" Kaneki mildly said, eyes sliding to the bag. Ayato sighed heavily and shoved the bag right to his face. He was hard-pressed not to bite his hand off.

"Eat it." said Ayato. Kaneki stared dumbly at him.

"You brought something for me?"

"...Tch, of course bastard!" Ayato impatiently tossed the bag to him. Kaneki caught it, still caught in a daze. For Ayato to bring him food in the middle of the night, without him even asking, was an abnormality by itself. Unless..

"You poisoned it?"

"No!" Ayato snarled, "Just fucking eat it already!" Their second conversation came to an end with the slamming of the door. Kaneki blinked, registering the heavy footsteps of Ayato growing fainter and fainter. He was gone.

Without another word, Kaneki opened the bag and shoved Ayato's gift into his mouth, kakugan flashing the same colour as the blood dripping down his throat.


"Ayato-kun, thanks for yesterday."

"...No problem..."

"Sorry, did you say anything?"

"...No. Let's go, gantai."

"Mm-hmm."


*Note: Gantai (眼帯) refers to "Eyepatch", Kaneki's nickname. In all Root A episodes, Ayato never called Kaneki's name before.

Thanks for reading.