Experiment #1369
Main character(s): Hideyoshi Nagachika and original male character
Rating: T
Warnings: light shounen-ai and bromance. Mpreg without the actual mpreg.
Summary: AU. Hide is given a child to raise. A child that is apparently his and some ghoul's offspring. Except the baby is a tube baby that was created and saved from being an experiment. Now Hide is raising a half ghoul child all on his own. The only thing Hide wants to know is where to get the human meat without resorting to murder.
Disclaimer: Uh? The term fanfiction should explain everything.
/
"Can you cook his food?" Hide asked immediately after he and Kaneki walked into the apartment.
Kaneki gave Hide a small smile as he placed Hide's shoulder bag onto a nearby stand. "I don't mind, are you putting him to bed?" Kaneki gestured at the sleeping child in Hide's arms.
"Nah" Hide waved the question off as he adjusted his arm to Kouki's weight, "actually, before you do anything, I need you to do something for me" the desperation in Hide's voice made Kaneki straighten his back even more.
"What is it?" Kaneki asked as he crowded into Hide's (and by default Kouki's) personal space. "Is someone bothering you? What do you need me to do? I'll help you no matter what!" Kaneki's voice got louder as he started ranting.
"Dude, chill" Hide chuckled as he motioned for Kaneki to follow him, "you used to be peaceful, not war hungry" Hide joked until he saw the serious face Kaneki was giving him. "It's okay, it's more of a job than a person" Hide gave his friend a smile.
Kaneki followed his friend to the spare bedroom of Hide's apartment, "doesn't matter" he grunted under his breath "I need to make it up to you" he whispered at Hide's back.
"Did you say something?" Hide turned around to face Kaneki.
Kaneki shook his head quickly, not wanting Hide to know what he said.
Hide shrugged before gesturing at the room's clutter, "I need you to do build Kouki-chan's bed and set up his dressers" Kaneki saw the bedframe and mattress in the corner and boxes with illustrations of dressers on them, "I would totally help but I need to toddler proof the living room". Hide gave a toothy smile and Kaneki nodded numbly.
"I'll get it done before five" Kaneki said, voice determined as he gazed at the items.
Hide adjusted his hold on Kouki again as the toddler began to slip out of his grip. "You do that, I have the tool box over there-" Hide nodded at a dark red box in the middle of the room, "if you need me I'm in the other room". Hideyoshi looked at the sleeping Kouki, "I don't think anything could wake him now so make as much noise needed" with that the dirty blonde turned on his heels and left the room.
/
It took about an hour for Kaneki to be done with building and arranging the toddler furniture. It was a hard hour though, three times Kaneki missed placed the directions for the dresser not that the directions were needed. The directions were made entirely up of pictures and Kaneki was actually thankful that he was a ghoul at this time. Turns out his kagune came in extremely helpful when multitasking.
During the first forty minutes, Kaneki had refused to use his kagune for help due to Hide being in the other room. After checking in on the blonde, Kaneki decided that he would use his kagune quickly. Because half ghoul or not, those picture only directions were getting on his nerves.
So, for the last twenty minutes Kaneki used his kagune to help him quickly build and organize the furniture. Hearing footsteps approaching, Kaneki quickly withdrew his kagune before the door opened up to reveal Kouki holding his Sippy cup and what looked like a sports bottle.
"Mommy said to give" Kouki said as he held out the sports bottle to Kaneki.
Kaneki gave a fond smile at the bottle as he took it from Kouki. "Thanks" he nodded his head with a too wide smile on his face.
Kouki nodded his head as he turned around and ran out of the room. Looking at the bottle given to him, Kaneki flipped the top open and sniffed at the contents. Eyes widening, Kaneki's kakugan appeared at the familiar scent. Hide had given Kaneki blood to drink, not animal blood but human blood. At this time, Kaneki felt like he was facing a dilemma that had no positive outcome.
If he drank it Hide would know that he was a ghoul, if he didn't Hideyoshi would feel bad. For some reason, the option of Hide feeling bad was more negative than the other option. Gulping slightly, Kaneki took a deep breath and prayed that Hide would not notice that the bottle had been drunk out of.
Except, footsteps sounded in the hall and the door flew open to reveal a disheveled Hide.
"Why is it still full" Hide asked and Kaneki felt guilty, "listen man" Hide brought a hand up to rub his head, "don't be shy, just go ahead and drink. I already know that you are a ghoul" Kaneki stiffened.
"No I'm not" Kaneki's mind kept on flashing to the threat that Touka made, "whatever you think, I am not a ghoul Hide" he said desperately.
Hide just laughed as he leaned against the doorframe. "Technically you're a half ghoul, but its okay to admit it" he grinned and the two heard small footsteps approach them, "Kouki is too".
Turning around to face the approaching figure, Kaneki felt his heart stop as Hide picked up Kouki. Kouki the toddler who happened to have only one kakugan.
"Hide wait!" Kaneki held out a hand as Hide brought Kouki close to his face to deliver Eskimo kisses.
Hide pulled away from the toddler slightly and gave Kaneki a look reminiscent to the ones mothers give their children. "Chill, I explain while you start cooking" Hide turned around to walk out of the room.
Kaneki stared numbly at the spot Hide was just in.
"You coming?!" Hide shouted from the other room.
Kaneki snapped out of his daze and walked out of the room, "I'm coming!" he shouted back and closed the door with a soft click.
/
Looking at the living room in amazement, Kaneki smiled slightly as he walked into the kitchen space. "You cleaned up quite a bit" Kaneki commented at Hide.
"Yeah" Hide snorted as he helped Kouki build a tower, "it was a pain but I was able to toddler proof everything" Hide waved a hand at the couch, various toddler chairs, and stands for lighting. "I even covered all the outlets" Hide made an exaggerated gasp as Kouki knocked his tower of blocks over.
"I can tell" Kaneki opened the fridge, "where is the-"
Hide interrupted, "-in the back and on the bottom shelf!" he shouted before Kaneki could complete his question.
Opening the fridge and picking up a familiar brown package, Kaneki sniffed at it before closing the fridge's door. "How did you get this?" he asked Hide.
"From the lady who gave me Kouki" Hide responded dully as he picked up a toy bear and made sounds with it.
Kaneki turned his head to Hide, "that's not normal" he commented, "People can't just give children away" he continued as he shut the door to the fridge.
"I know that" Hide snorted in the same voice he used for the toy bear, "Silly Kaneki, Kouki has my DNA!" he made the bear move as he explained it to Kaneki.
Kaneki's eyes narrowed in thought, it was possible for a human to give birth to a half ghoul child but impossible for a ghoul to give birth to a half ghoul. The ghoul's body always thought that the half child was food. "How?" Kaneki asked, eyeing Hide up and down as a thought came across his mind "you-"
Again, Hide cut Kaneki off "I am a mommy not a woman!" he cheered in that annoying voice that had Kaneki annoyed and Kouki cheering along, "science experiment!" the bear nodded its head.
"Science experiment?" Kaneki tried to suppress the shudder of what Kanou did to him, "what do you mean by experiment?" Kaneki put the package on the kitchen counter and approached Hide.
The bear was hoping around as Hide answered Kaneki's questions, "Kouki-chan wasn't born; he was created by mad scientists like Frankenstein!"
"Frank? What's that mommy?" Kouki asked, giving Kaneki sometime to think things over in his head.
"Frankenstein? He's a scientist" Hide grinned and moved the teddy bear over Kouki's head, "you'll know more when you're older".
Kouki pouted but said nothing in response as he climbed into Hide's lap.
"Was the scientist's name Kanou?" Kaneki asked with a low growl in his voice.
Hide shrugged and gave the teddy bear back to the reaching hands of Kouki. "Wouldn't know" he said in his normal voice, "one of the scientists went rouge and took Kouki-chan with her".
Kaneki nodded his head, "why you?"
"Half of his DNA is mine" Hide grabbed Kouki and fell on his back, "so he was left with his mommy" Hide started to tickle Kouki.
Kaneki frowned, "who is his other parent then?"
Hide shrugged again as he wrapped his arms around Kouki, "don't know" Hide sat up with Kouki, "that's where you come in" Hide grinned at Kaneki.
"Me?" Kaneki pointed at himself.
Hide nodded his head and allowed Kouki to climb over him. "Yeah, you can teach him stuff that I can't! Like how to control his kagune" Hide chirped.
"I'll try" Kouki tried to wrestle with Hide, "but isn't it dangerous to just accept a child like that? What if they know that Kouki is here and comes after him?" Kaneki sounded distressed and Kouki stopped moving suddenly.
Tears started to form in his eyes and Kouki's form started to also tremble. "No!" he screamed and both of the older males had to flinch at the volume, "mommy is mine! Can't take! Can't take!" he started to stomp his feet and his kakugan flared in his eye.
Hide casted Kaneki a look that obviously said 'you made the mess then you can clean it up'. Kaneki and Hide jumped in alarm as Kouki's kagune formed behind him.
"Mommy's mine!" two wing like appendages appeared behind the toddler.
Quickly appearing besides Hide, Kaneki picked the male up and deposited him in a faraway corner. "Kouki-kun" Kaneki knelt down in front of Kouki as he appeared suddenly before Kouki.
Kouki just stared distrusting at Kaneki, kakugan still active.
"No one is going to take Hide from you" 'or me' "I won't let that happen" Kaneki continued to talk Kouki down from his temper.
Taking a deep breath at Kaneki's prompting, Kouki's kakugan and kagune fade away. "Promise?" Kouki looked up at Kaneki.
"Promise" Kaneki smiled as he crouched down and stuck out his pinky.
Kouki just stared at the pinky.
"You hook your own pinky around mine" Kaneki chuckled, "it's how we make a promise" Kouki's eyes lit up and he hurriedly hooked his pinky around Kaneki's.
Hide started to laugh from his corner in the room and approached the two. "Do I get a say in this?" he asked jokingly.
"No" both Kaneki and Kouki answered at the same time. Hide just laughed at the two.
"I'm hungry" Kouki pouted at Hide who giggled and pointed a finger at Kaneki.
Patting the toddler on the head, Hide grinned "ask daddy" he said jokingly "because mommy has to fold clothes!"
Hide turned to collect the bags full of clothes lined up in the corner.
Kouki turned to face Kaneki. "Daddy I'm hungry" he said at the half ghoul.
Kaneki blushed and picked Kouki up before walking into the kitchen. "Do you want to help me?" he asked, blush still prominent on his cheeks.
Kouki nodded his head as he bounced in Kaneki's arms.
A "just don't burn my apartment down" rang from further inside the apartment.
/
Cooking the human meat was far easier than Kaneki had expected. Probably because Tsukiyama was such a food queen and taught Kaneki how to cook. Not forgetting about the other person in the house, Kaneki prepared what he hopes to be decent human food. Placing Kouki in the high chair, Kaneki called for Hide.
"The food is ready!" he looked into the cabinets and was pleasantly surprised to find plastic plates shaped like animals. "I didn't know that you bought toddler safety plates!" He called, "do you have any forks for toddlers?!"
Hide appeared besides Kaneki suddenly, making the ghoul jump slightly in surprise "I have some but are you seriously thinking about making a toddler eat with a fork?" Hide asked, voice filled with unreleased laughter.
"So" Kaneki said, "what if I am?"
"Then you can feed him, because I am not about to give him a bath" Hide snorted in amusement as he took a plate out for him and Kaneki.
Kaneki shrugged before dragging a chair over to where he place Kouki and Kouki's high chair.
Dishing out Kaneki's plate and Kouki's plate, Hide turned around to the two and carried the plates over.
"Thank you" Kaneki said as he placed a fork he had for Kouki and himself down, "your food is in the left pot" he took the plates from Hide.
"Thanks" Hide turns around to take out another plate, "I'm starving".
/
Placing the last tub-a-ware with Kouki's food away, Kaneki turned around to Hideyoshi who was rubbing the back of a tried Kouki.
"Is he asleep yet?" Kaneki asked with a low voice.
Hide turned to him and showed the nearly asleep Kouki to Kaneki. "Almost" he whispered back.
"Want to explain the situation some more?" Kaneki gestured to the couch where he and Hide could talk comfortably.
Hide nodded as he made his way over to the couch. "Where do you want to start?" he asked Kaneki.
"Just start from the beginning" Kaneki gave a gentle smile at both Hide and Kouki.
Listening with resolute attention, Kaneki nodded his head and bit his lip as Hide told how he met Kouki who was originally called #1369.
"I don't like this" Kaneki whispered to Hide, worried for the possible dangers his friend may face, "are you sure that you haven't a clue on who his other parent is?"
Hide smiled, "nah, don't really need the other parent if you're around" Kaneki blushed at Hide's blunt honesty, "besides, I think I make a good mommy".
"That's not the point" Kaneki whispered furiously, "you could get hurt because of him. I don't want you to be hurt".
Hide stared at Kaneki, "you left because you thought you would bring danger to me" it wasn't said as a question and more like a fact, "that doesn't work Kaneki" Hide brought a hand up to Kaneki's shoulder, "you hurt me by living and cutting contact, what if we never met today and I was stuck doing this by myself?" Kaneki flinched at the thought, "I would be lost and desperate to feed Kouki-chan".
"I still don't like the possibilities" Kaneki said stubbornly and Hide gave a quiet laugh.
Hide leaned his head on Kaneki's shoulder. "Then stay and protect us" Hide whispered and Kaneki closed his eyes shut tightly, "protect me" and Kaneki wanted to protect his most important person of most.
"So do you not want know who Kouki-kun's father is?"
"I do want to know" Hide whispered as he ran his fingers through Kouki's short hair, "kouki-chan may want to know when he's older".
Kaneki nodded to Hide, "I'll find out more information".
"Thanks, Kaneki" Hide hummed quietly "I appreciate it".
The two sat in silence as Kouki's breath evened out.
"Can you stay the night?" Hide asked as he stood up gently.
Kaneki stood up with Hide and offers to put Kouki to bed. "I plan to" he smiled and Hide flushed while he transferred Kouki over to Kaneki's arms.
"Who knew that you could be so dominate" Hide grinned smugly at Kaneki.
Kaneki flushed brightly, "I-I-I d-didn't mean…" Kaneki bowed his head and adjusted Kouki in his arms.
"It's okay" Hide cheered, "we need a big strong ghoul to protect us" he fluttered his eyelashes in a blatant mocking manner.
Kaneki was quiet for a moment before lifting his head up to stare at Hide. "I will always protect you" he said this like a fact.
Hide blushed before coughing into his hands lightly, "let's get Kouki-chan to bed" his ears turned red.
"Okay" Kaneki smiled at Hide before walking to Kouki's new bedroom.
Hide grinned as he followed Kaneki, "you should've bought me dinner first" he sang lowly as he leaned against the door frame.
"What are you talking about?" Kaneki asked while he carefully placed Kouki into his crib.
Hide just grinned at Kaneki as the white haired male turned around to face him. "Put his night light and monitor on" he said seriously.
Kaneki nodded and did just that. Completing his tasks as quietly as he could, Kaneki turned around to face Hide. "What were you saying?" he walked over to Hide, "didn't I make you dinner?"
Hide giggled in response as he and Kaneki exited the room. "Yeah, you're going to be sleeping with me" Kaneki stopped in his walk as he gaped at Hide.
"What?!" Kaneki's voice became shrilly.
Hide turned around to face Kaneki. "I'm not going to make my baby daddy sleep on the couch" Hide broke down into laughter at Kaneki's face, "dude, I'm joking! Think of it like a sleep over we used to do when we were younger!" he giggled some more.
"O-Oh" Kaneki started a fast pace to Hide's room.
"Kaneki? Kaneki?! Wait up!" Hide whined as he walked behind Kaneki, "don't be a grump! Kaneki!"
/
Hide woke up to the smell of food, or specifically the burning smell of what he thinks to be bacon. Sitting up abruptly, Hide rubbed his eyes as he stared at the small lump underneath the covers. Picking up the blanket, Hide peeked underneath the covers. Holding back his laughter, Hide gently put the blankets down again and slipped off the bed.
Yawning and scratching his head, Hide strolled out of his bedroom and to the kitchen. Giving a wolf whistle, he grinned as Kaneki turned around to face him. "Morning" he grinned at Kaneki, "are you sure you know what you're doing?" Hide asked as the pan fill of bacon caught on fire.
"Yes" Kaneki frowned as he removed the pan from the stove top.
Hide snorted in disbelief, "I could've just had cereal".
"No" Kaneki wrinkled his nose as he transferred the burnt bacon to a plate. "Kouki and I are having cereal, you are getting bacon",
Hide laughed, "You mean burnt bacon? And cereal? I hope you're not planning to make by baby stomach human food" he gave a wide smile at Kaneki.
"Its cereal for ghouls" Kaneki defended as he placed Hide's plate onto the counter.
"Okay" Hide nodded as he dug for a fork and spoon in the drawers. Closing it with a bump from his hips, Hide's eyes widen in surprise. "Did you child proof my kitchen?" Hide handed the spoon to Kaneki.
"And your bathroom. I installed a child lock on all the cupboards" Kaneki sat down at Hide's kitchen table with a bowl.
Hide notes that Kaneki was hiding the contents from him, "thanks" he said around a peace of bacon.
The two ate in companionable silence.
Hearing small footsteps approach them, both Kaneki and Hide turned to face the barefoot Kouki. Stuffing his cheeks with the rest of his bacon, Hide kneeled down in anticipation as Kouki walks over to him.
"Mommy?" Kouki climbed into Hide's arms.
"Good morning Kouki-chan" Hide placed a kiss into Kouki's hair as he stood up and walked to the stove top.
Kaneki stood up and rushed over to Hide and Kouki. "Let me feed him" he said as he prevented Hide from opening the pot for the ghouls.
"Kaneki" Hide gave the other male a look "I know that you and Kouki are ghouls, I accept that. Accepting that means that I have to accept that you two eat humans" Hide stated.
Kaneki gulped at Hide's intense stare "I know but its different when you see it" he took Kouki out of Hide's arms "trust me on this".
Hide huffed but let the subject drop as Kaneki served some food into a child bowl for Kouki.
"Hey Kaneki" Hide looked as Kaneki placed Kouki into his high chair "how are you going to find Kouki's other parent?" he asked.
Kaneki looked up at Hide "I have my ways" he stated before picking up a spoon to feed Kouki.
Kouki pouts but opens his mouth up anyways. After chewing his food, Kouki shakes his head as Kaneki brings up another spoon to Kouki's mouth. "No!" he whined loudly, "me do!" he tried to grab the spoon and Kaneki turned questioningly to Hide.
"Just give him the spoon, he needs a morning bath anyways" Hide nodded as he gave his okay.
Giving Kouki the spoon, Kaneki watched the toddler carefully before turning back to Hide. "I could give him a bath after he eats" he offered.
"You would officially be an angel if you do that" Hide grinned as he leaned into his chair.
Kaneki blushed and turned back to watching Kouki eat his food with a messy vigor.
"What do I do when Kouki's food supply runs out?" Hide asked as he fondly watched Kouki eat.
Kaneki looked at Hide, "I'll help" he said with determination.
"You're not going to kill someone?" Hide asked dully, "not that I really care, but the lady who gave me Kouki handed me a contact card" he got up to retrieve a card on the fridge.
Kaneki shook his head, "don't worry" he said.
"Yomo Renji" Kaneki's eyes widen at the familiar name, "she told me to contact him when Kouki ran out of food" Hide handed Kaneki the card. "Do you know him?" Hide asked as he observed Kaneki's reactions to the name and card.
Kaneki nodded his head as he accepted the contact card, "I know him" Kaneki handed the card back to Hideyoshi, "that information is correct" he smiled at Hide.
Kouki burps loudly and announces that he is full. Picking the toddler up, Kaneki handed the licked clean plates to Hideyoshi. "I'll give him a bath now" and with that Kaneki left the room carrying Kouki.
"He likes bubbles!" Hide shouted after the two.
Smiling to himself, Hide started to wash the used dishes.
/
Apparently, Kaneki's kagune wasn't only useful in battling and building furniture but also giving bath to toddlers. So when Kaneki exited the bathroom perfectly dry, Hide just gaped and pointed a finger at him.
"How did you escape!?" he questioned loudly, watching as a smug Kaneki was followed by an angry looking Kouki, "you're not even wet!" Kouki pouted at Hide.
"Mommy" Kouki whined and held out his arms to be dried. Kaneki tossed Hide a towel with the images of ducks on it.
Hide grunts as he catches the towel and dries Kouki off. "Thank- where are you going?" Hide asks as Kaneki walked over to the entrance of the apartment and opened the door.
"I'm going to collect some information" Kaneki stated as he picked up the spare key from under the front door's mat. "I'm taking your spare" he told Hide, not bothering to turn around.
Hide wrapped Kouki with the towel and ran to the door, "do you want us to go with you?" he asked.
"No!" Kaneki yelled, "No, it's safer if you just stay home and take care of Kouki-kun" he stated and glared at Hide, "I want to protect you".
"Okay, but I do need to go shopping for Kouki-chan" Hide rubbed a hand on Kouki's towel covered back. "Have a safe trip, okay?"
Hide nodded and gave Kouki a kiss on the forehead and Hide a hug. "Remember to lock the door and travel only to crowded areas" with that Kaneki waved as he exited the apartment closing the door behind him with a click.
Looking up at Hide, Kouki bit his lips as he tugged the pajama shirt that the blonde still wore. "Mommy?" Kouki dug his face into Hide's shirt, "can we go to the playground?"
"Sure" Hide respond in a bright voice. Walking over to the TV, Hide took the remote and turned it on "let's find out the weather!"
Kouki looked confused, "what's weather?" he asked, a lisp effecting his pronunciation.
"You know what cold and hot is?" Kouki nodded his head "weather is hot and cold and rain and snow" Hide tried explaining it to the toddler that never experienced it before.
"What's snow?" Kouki asked.
"Something you will like when it happens" Hide smiled at Kouki before pointing at the screen. "See, here they show rain" Hide gestured at the umbrella and the water hitting it "-remember when the bath was filled with water?" he asked.
Kouki nodded his head.
"Then rain is like the tub when it was starting to fill up", Kouki looked horrified, "don't worry, you'll like it when you jump into puddles!" pointing dramatically to Kouki's room Hide starts to walk, "now to get dressed!" he cheered.
Once entering the room, Hide places Kouki in his crib and grabs two pants and shirts from Kouki's dresser. "What do you want to wear?" Hide asked as he showed Kouki the clothes.
"Yellow like mommy's hair!" Kouki cheered as he pointed at the dark yellow sweater.
Hide laid the yellow shirt down on the dresser, "what about the pants?" he asked as he held up the pants to Kouki.
"That" Kouki bit his lips and pointed at the white pants. Grinning as he laid the white pant besides the yellow shirt, Hide made a mental note to pick up bleach on their outing.
"Okay!" Hide clapped his hands and placed the not chosen clothes back into their dressers. Turning around to face Kouki, Hide picked the toddler up along with the toddler's clothing and underwear. "Do you want to dress yourself?" he asked as he walked out of the room and into his.
Kouki nodded his head as he was placed on the floor besides the bed.
Giving Kouki the clothing, Hide kept an eye on the toddler as he started to get dressed too.
Fully dressed, Hide turned around to face the entangled Kouki. "Your head goes here" Hide helped the toddler detangle from the sweater. Holding the sweater up Hide motioned for Kouki to raise his arms. "The small holes are for the arms" Hide explained as he fitted Kouki's arms into the sweater, "and the big hole is for your head" Kouki's head popped through the bigger hole, "and now you're done!" he clapped his hands as he cheered for Kouki.
Kouki smiled widely at Hide and demanded to be picked up. "Red?" he asked as Hide carried him over to the door.
"Nope, you gotta have a boot if you want to jump in puddles!" Kouki pouted but allowed Hide to place rubber blue boots. "Now we got to put on a jacket!" Hide placed Kouki on the ground as he retrieved a matching set of orange raincoats. Handing the tiny raincoat to Kouki, Hide lowly pulled it on. "You think you could put it on by yourself?"
Kouki puffed up his chest and put the coat on slowly, miming Hide's motions before. "There!" he cheered.
"Good job!" Hide cheered along with Kouki. Pulling a dark violet umbrella out Hide picked up his shoulder bag and swung it over his right shoulder. "Do you want to be carried?" He asked as he opened the front door.
Kouki shook his head and Hide patted the toddler's head. "Then let's go!" Hide locked the door before he closed it behind him.
/
By the time the two exited the apartment, it was already raining. Raining and thundering to be specific. At the first sound of thunder, Kouki had gripped Hide's pants in fear. Then the second sound of thunder happened causing Kouki to start crying and Hide had to pick the toddler up. Spending five minutes calming the crying Kouki down, Hide had adjusted his hold and the umbrella and continued to walk.
In the middle of the walk, Kouki had gotten used to the sound of thunder and demanded to be placed down. Placing Kouki on the ground Hide just grinned at the young boy.
"I don't mind carrying you" Hide commented as he looked at the pouting Kouki.
Stomping his feet, Kouki growled "I protect mommy!" he shouted.
"Protect me?" Hide frowned as he crouched down to stare at Kouki, "why do you have to protect me?"
Crossing his arms Kouki stared at Hide seriously, or as serious a toddler could look. "Daddy said so".
"Daddy?" Hide's eyes widen and he flushed at the implication of Kouki's naming, "you mean Kaneki?" his voice broke into a high pitch at the 'e' in Kaneki.
Kouki nodded his head and Hide's blush spread to his neck and ears.
Coughing into his fist, Hide stood up and held out a hand for Kouki to hold. "I would feel better if you held my hand" Hide noticed the Kouki looked conflicted, "you could keep me safer if you hold my hand" he said instead.
At that, Kouki quickly grabbed Hide's hand and the two were walking down the road again.
"Mommy?" Hide looked down to notice that Kouki staring at the playground they were at yesterday, "he smells weird" Kouki pointed at a dark figure sitting on the swing set.
Hide quickly forced Kouki's pointing hand down, "it's rude to point" he smiled at Kouki. Turning to the probably soaked figure, Hide shouted at the figure. "Do you need an umbrella?!" he asked and Kouki tightened his grip on Hide's hand.
"Mommy" Kouki whined and Hide looked down at him.
"What if they need help?" Hide tilted his head before turning back to look at the swing set, "huh? Well I guess they didn't need an umbrella" he said to himself, a thoughtful expression on his face.
For some reason, Hide felt that the figure that disappeared was important.
Kouki tugged at Hide's hand and the two resumed their walk.
/
Making their way to tall grey building, Kouki tilted his head as he observed the building and the sign above it. The sign was colorful; it had bright blocks on it and a cartoon figure of a rocket. Staring at the sign and building for a moment, Kouki turned his head to look up at Hide.
"Mommy?" he asked, confused at why they stopped in front of this building.
Hide smiled as he crouched slightly to stare into Kouki's eyes. "Since it's raining we can't play outside" he chirped at his son's horrified look, "then we go somewhere else to play!"
Kouki doesn't look convinced or amused.
"Just try it out" Hide continued to smile at Kouki, "try it for me."
Kouki pouted but allowed himself to be herded into the doors of the building.
The building was an interactive children museum; it offered a collection of interactive exhibits and the most interesting –according to Kouki- was the space interaction. Watching as Kouki ran around in a miniature astronaut suit, Hide smiled as the toddler tried to surprise him.
"Mommy!" Kouki called at Hide, "look!" he spun as he tried to show off the outfit.
"You look so handsome!" Hide complimented as the toddler stopped spinning. "Kouki-chan? Are you okay?" Hide asked in worry as the toddler tried to walk to him but walked into a wall. Wincing in sympathy, Hide stood up and approached the dizzy toddler. "You shouldn't spin so much, you can get dizzy" he smiled as he reached out and placed a hand on the toddler's shoulder.
Kouki just groaned and raised his arms to be picked up. "Feel bad" he complained to Hide, "feel bad, mommy" he buried his head into Hide's neck.
"Do you want to go home?" Hide asked as he cradled Kouki's head.
Kouki nodded his head and was placed down onto the ground.
Taking the costume off by one piece at a time, Hide sighed as the zipper in the back of the outfit became stuck. Licking his lips, Hide bit his tongue as he used more force to coax the zipper down. Crooning in delight, Hide picked up Kouki and stood. Handing the outfit to the staff of the space area, Hide was about to exit the center until something was held out to him.
"What's this?" he asked the attendant in an astronaut costume.
The attendant smiled as she spoke, "this is the complimentary movie and story book given to all of the customers!" she cheered, smile still painfully bright.
Returning the woman's smile, Hide bowed slightly as he took the handouts. "Can you hold him for a moment" Hide offered Kouki to the woman as he struggled to put the DVD and book into his shoulder bag.
Smiling, the woman took the hissing Kouki for a moment to allow Hide to put the items away.
Zipping his bag up, Hide took Kouki back from the distressed looking woman. Looking relieved to have the child out of her arms, the attendant opened the door to allow the two males to exit the space area.
"Come back soon" she gave a shaking smile at the back of the two.
Hide waved at the woman and Kouki went back to burying his face into Hide's neck.
"Excuse me" Hide turned around to face a sharply dressed man holding a suit case.
Looking the stranger up and down, Hide shuffled Kouki to a more comfortable position, "can I help you?" Hideyoshi asked.
"This area has been made restricted by the CCG" the man showed Hide his badge. "Please go take your son and go home immediately, there has been a sighting of a violent group of ghouls in this area". Takizawa Seidou whispered to Hideyoshi before entering the museum to warn the staff.
Looking up at the sky, Hide started the walk back to his apartment.
"Mommy?" Kouki asked, voice muffled as his head was still in the nook of Hide's neck.
"What is it?" Hide stopped at a stop light, "we're taking a detour home" Hide said stiffly, feeling eyes on him, "I need to get some bleach and crayons from the store".
"Crayons?" Kouki's voice was still muffled.
Hide hummed as he walked down a nearly empty street, "you use crayons to draw and color stuff".
Kouki nodded his head, "mommy?"
"Yeah?" Hide answered as he took a right turn.
Kouki took his head out of Hide's neck, "ghouls bad?" he asked in a quiet voice that reminded Hide of what Kouki used to be like a day before.
"No, all ghouls are not bad just as all humans are not good" Hide explained to Kouki, "I like you and you're a ghoul and human" Hide said as he nuzzled Kouki's hair.
"Like me?" Kouki asked as he leaned into Hide.
"Of course" Hide cheered, stopping his walk as he waited for the walk signal, "I love Kouki-chan!"
Kouki started giggling as Hide pressed more kisses into his hair. "Mommy!" he squealed loudly.
Hide just place a sloppy kiss on Kouki's cheek before he started to walk across the street. Once across the street, Hide and Kouki were approached by a familiar stranger.
"Mommy!" Kouki hissed quietly in Hide's ear. "It's the smell from the playground" Kouki tightened his hold on Hide's jacket.
Hide stared harder as the other male approached them. "Can I help you?" he asked, distrust clear in his voice.
"No" the male responded as he stared at Kouki. Turning on his heels, the wind blew down his hood to reveal blue hair.
Watching the stranger leave, Hide placed a hand on Kouki's head. "Turn your eyes back to normal" Hide didn't even need to look at Kouki to know that the toddler released hi kakugan, "I don't want the CCG to notice it".
"Ghoul" Kouki said as he pointed to the direction the figure was walking.
"Eyes" Hide responded turning his head to look at Kouki.
Kouki's eyes returned to normal. "Know ghoul?" he asked as he buried his face into Hide's neck.
"Mommy knows everything" Hide responded.
Kouki took his head out of Hide's neck with a gasp, "knows?" Hide nodded at the question and Kouki's eyes glazed over in worship.
Looking back in the direction the stranger took, Hide resisted the urge to follow the man.
/
Continuing their walk, Hide started to giggle as Kouki sleepily moved his head.
"That tickles" he whispered to himself, only pausing as he passed by a shop entitled 'HySy ArtMask'.
Kouki's nose wrinkled and he started to fidget in Hide's arms. "Mommy" he hissed as he lifted his head up.
"Not sleepy anymore?" Hide asked Kouki as the toddler whipped his head around to survey the area.
"Kouki? Hide?" a familiar voice called out as footsteps approached the two.
Turning around, Hide was faced with a disheveled Kaneki, "why are your clothes torn?" he asked as he looked at a bad cut on Kaneki's shoulder. "Let's go home" he grabbed Kaneki's wrist, "I have a first aid kit there" Hide tugged on Kaneki's wrist.
"No!" Kaneki roared and Hide reflexively released Kaneki's wrist, "you need to get out of here!" Kaneki's hands came to clamp down on Hide's shoulders.
"But-" Hide was cut off by a hand covering his mouth.
Curling his arm around Hide's waist, Kaneki picked up the blonde and jumped away quickly as the building behind them collapsed. Taking his hand off of Hide's mouth, Kaneki checked Hide's body, searching for any possible injuries that the blonde may have acquired.
Hide opened his mouth, prepared to comment on the man-handling he just experienced.
"Hide listen" Kaneki cut the blonde off again, "I need you to take Kouki and go back" he stared desperately at Hide.
Hide bit his lip, "then come with us-"
"No" Kaneki gave a smile that scared Hide, it was a smile that Hide had never seen before on Kaneki's face. "I need to protect you" Kaneki spoke lowly as he took Hide's free hand and cradled it, "you're important to me" his kakugan activated. "I won't let anyone hurt you" he promised, voice gaining an edge that Hide never knew about. "Kouki-kun" Kaneki turned his attention to Kouki, "you are a big boy" Kouki nodded his head and puffed up his chest. "You are responsible for taking care of Hide" Kaneki's eyes glinted, "don't let anything happen to him".
Kouki nodded and activated his kakugan, "mommy is mine" Kouki growled as another explosion was heard.
"Good" Kaneki nodded his head, "now get Hide out of here" with that Kaneki jumped in the direction where the explosion was heard.
"When did you become cool" Hide whispered to himself in a daze as he watched his friend jump away.
Taking a step in the direction where Kaneki jumped, Hide was stopped by Kouki pulling hard on his rain jacket.
"Kouki?"
Kouki growled, frustrated at Hide, "safety" he cried and Hide switched his direction. If he was by himself, Hide would have followed after Kaneki. But since he was holding Kouki, Hide couldn't bring himself to bring the toddler to danger because of his parent's selfish wants.
Gripping Kouki tightly, Hide started a fast pace as he walked away from the sounds of battling and buildings being destroyed.
"Mommy!" Kouki shouted suddenly "the smell is back!" he struggled and started to hiss.
"Kouki-chan!" Hide stopped walking as he tried to look at Kouki.
Kouki suddenly stopped struggling and looked up in horror. Hide followed his gaze and froze at the sight of a building falling in their area. Unable to move his legs, Hide crouched and tucked Kouki close to his body.
The two closed their eyes and awaited for the impact. Feeling only a bit of debris hitting his check, Hide slowly opened his eyes.
Standing above him and Kouki, stood a familiar ghoul. His kagune looked like wings of blood coming out of his back. Standing up slowly, Hide observed his surroundings; the falling building was split into multiple pieces and the alley's entrance was blocked by the biggest piece of debris.
Making sure that Kouki was unharmed, Hide turned to face the tall stranger the two met before. "Thank you" he said breathlessly as Kouki sniffed.
"I didn't do it to save you" dark eyes stared at Kouki and Hide blocked the stranger's intense stare with his own body.
"Then you did it to save him" Hide commented.
The stranger ignored the statement and turned around, intent on walking away from Kouki and Hide.
Watching him jump up on the rock blocking the exit, Hide eye's narrowed as the stranger turned around to face the two. Kakugan flaring, the stranger made a statement: "'you are human".
Hide snorted, "obviously" he whispered sarcastically to himself. Kouki gave a tiny hiccupping giggle.
The male seemed to become miffed, "you are human-" he paused and stared at Kouki "-and he is not".
"You have a problem with that?" Hide asked, glaring at a ghoul that could probably kill him.
The ghoul remained quiet and titled his head.
"Do you have a name?" Hide asked as he adjusted his grip on the sniffling Kouki.
The ghoul scoffed, "shouldn't you give your own name first? That's the polite thing to do" he responded.
"Nagachika Hideyoshi" Hide said and looked at Kouki, "and this is Kaneki Kouki" Kouki stopped his sniffling and looked up questionably at Hide.
The ghoul made to leave.
"Hey! You jerk! Led by example and give us your name!" Hide shouted at the male.
Kouki nodded his head as he looked at the figure.
"Kirishima" Hide's eyes widen, "you don't deserve my first name, human" Kirishima hissed and jumped off the building debris and continued to hop into the distance.
Hide gaped and started to put the facts together in his head.
"Mommy?" Kouki's small voice snapped Hide out of his daze, "wrong?" Kouki asked in a whisper like voice.
"I think I just met a relative of someone I know" Hide answered absent mindedly as he stared at the direction Kirishima leapt to.
/
A/N:
I wanna cry so badly. Have you ever written a story that you absolutely love and come back to the story the next day and find out that it has been deleted by a computer virus? I just had that happen to me and I feel like I wanna cry. Especially because I had to re-write this chapter and I feel like this second rewrite is horrible compared to the first.
Onto a different point, I think I'm going to make Ayato the baby daddy. Mainly because I want to stress the importance that family does not have to be linked by blood. The pairing is still going to be KaneHide though.
The hardest part about writing this chapter is Ayato. I haven't seen enough of his interactions with humans to get a handle of his personality, so I just winged it. For the record, Ayato is not interested in Hide, he is interested in Kouki. Because Kouki smells just like Kaneki, meaning Kouki smells like a half ghoul.
The monster of Frankenstein is actually referred to as monster in the original story. It was the doctor that was called Frankenstein.
