Author's Note: So, as a fervent HideKane supporter, I figured I would add a few more song-inspired drabbles to this dusty work while I'm waiting for the next TG:re chapter to finally give me that reunion I've been craving for 84 years.
I've reordered the drabbles to be chronological, but they were all super quick, so don't judge me too hard :') They all focus on Hide, Kaneki, or them together, but nothing is excessively shippy (apart from one or two). Enjoy!
Mrs. Darcy [Dario Marianelli]
Trees blur into streaks of emerald, the city shrinking as the train speeds away. Kaneki watches the world disappear in colorful streaks, fingers and nose pressed up against the cool glass. It's the first time since his mother's death that he's left Tokyo. An hour passes and Kaneki slumps against Hide's shoulder, lulled to sleep by the train's gentle rocking.
Hide buries his smile in Kaneki's hair. This trip will be good for the both of them.
.
September [Earth, Wind & Fire]
Hide grabs Kaneki with a looped arm around the shoulder, grinning as he announces that's it's finally over between him and Kiko-chan. Kaneki stutters an apology, but Hide waves it off with a shake of the head, a motion so vigorous that is rattles Kaneki too.
"Nah, turns out I wasn't that into her after all. It's just you and me again."
Kaneki thinks Hide might be taking his recent breakup a little too lightly, but really, what does he know about relationships?
.
Learn to Do It (Waltz Reprise) [Anastasia Soundtrack]
Hide decides that he needs to teach Kaneki how to dance, a skill that neither of them have any experience with. He cites it as a necessary requirement for maintaining a love life, but seeing as neither of them have been on a date for months, Kaneki remains unconvinced.
Needless to say, the experiment quickly crumbles in chaos.
Hide discovers that he has three left feet, while Kaneki gets embarrassingly dizzy when Hide spins him around too fast. Despite the fluttering stomachs and nervous giggles and apologies, Kaneki realizes he feels less queasy when he leans closer to Hide, even though it brings his poor feet closer to the "stomping zone." Hide's erratic jerks slow and they sway in a peaceful tandem.
Despite his earlier apprehension Kaneki finds it soothing, like an elongated hug and he's reluctant to pull away when the music stops.
.
Rubik's Cube [Athlete]
He was fifteen when he finally figured it out. Each girl he teased, each ridiculous date he stumbled through with flirtatious smiles and meaningless winks. It all felt hollow and boring, like a chore or a choreographed dance he lost all passion for. He quickly realized his favorite part of each "date" was complaining to Kaneki afterward, relishing in the quietly relieved expression on his best friend's face.
Holy shit, Hide breathed, feeling the color drain from his face.
It seemed like the only logical response to realizing that he was in love with his best friend. He wasn't even that surprised, but….wow.
(It sure as hell explained a lot.)
.
What the Water Gave Me [Florence and the Machine]
A tsunami strikes the southern coast of Japan. In a dry monotone, the reports claim that it's comparatively weak, resulting in only a few casualties, but that does little to reassure Kaneki as he watches the situation unfurl. His eyes linger on the footage, videos of towering waves and angry clouds swirling above. He imagines what it would feel like to be swept away, yanked under by the rippling currents. Lungs of fire, struggling to fight free. Finally feeling nothing.
When Hide suggests they go to the coast for summer break, Kaneki immediately changes the subject. He's selfish and won't let the waves have him.
.
Conquest of Spaces [Woodkid]
Kaneki reminds him of a solar eclipse. Hide knows he's there—hell, he can see him, bustling on the opposite side of the dark mahogany counter—but then the shadows lengthen and Hide feels like he's alone again. He would do anything to pull Kaneki back into his life. He imagines reaching over the counter and tugging him close, knocking away coffee stained napkins and porcelain mugs with a flick of his extending elbow.
But he doesn't—he can't. Instead, he settles for a gut-twisting sensation of being stranded, cut loose and discombobulated. No matter how hard he tries to claw his way back to Kaneki, each frenzied movement only propels him further away. Kaneki keeps moving faster and faster, caught up in another orbit. Hide can't follow him, as much as he wants to.
.
Staying [Koda]
Shrugging off his CCG jacket was the hardest and easiest decision he had ever made.
Despite the searing pain and the ripping squelch as his flesh left his face, Hide knew that his choice had been the right one. Tears leaked from his eyes, mixing in the hot blood that dribbled down his chin and dissipated in the lazy sewer water flowing past. He laid there in the silence, clasping the tattered ribbons of his throat in his hands. He would never be whole again.
But what did it matter, as long as he had his best friend?
.
To Be Apart [Adrian Johnston]
Haise has never been in love, but he discovers what a broken heart feels like. Each morning he must swipe away the salty crust that pools in the corner of his eyes. He first believed he was mourning for a life he couldn't remember, at least until he began to remember his dreams. He's always reaching for a disappearing figure, arms propped behind the neck in a casual, achingly familiar pose. A windy field of sunflowers. A dank sewer.
Haise brushes away the latest tear stain with his upper arm.
(Maybe it's just allergies.)
.
Creep [Postmodern Jukebox Cover]
Hide makes a near-fatal miscalculation when he assumes that he's ready to come face to face with a certain Sasaki Haise. When Haise enters the briefing room, neck angled backwards to laugh at a joke from Akira. Hide stumbles, tripping over his damn slipper (in hindsight, it didn't seem like such a good idea, but already saddled with the itchy, hot mask, he wasn't about to sacrifice any more comforts). Marude gives him a strange look, but it's nothing compared to the questioning, curious frown Haise tosses his way.
Hide squeezes his eyes shut, urging the blood to leave his flush, even though no one else can see it. He wishes he could rip the mask off and declare to the world what's been trapped in his chest for ten years, but he gingerly brushes against the scar tissue around his neck.
He can say nothing.
.
Bones of a Rabbit [Young Heretics]
"You know he can't remember you." Furuta flips a hand, practically giddy under Hide's flat glare. "I don't know why you're going to all this trouble for some half-blind, half-witted half-ghoul."
"There must be some other reason," Furuta circles Hide like a raptor, searching for a clue he might have missed.
This feels like a scene from one of his old American movies when the hero swallows audibly under duress, but Hide keeps his visible expression blank and his throat concealed. It's the damning piece of evidence that Furuta craves.
Furuta's eyes light up when Hide averts his gaze.
"Ahaha… So that's why."
.
Atrophy [The Antlers]
This isn't real, he reminds himself.
He's bleeding and dying and god does it hurt—why can't it all be over, but Hide is in front of him and Kaneki realizes he can hold on for a few seconds more, if only to catch the words he's been aching to hear for years. Hide laughs with a light twinkling sound, a sound that Kaneki has chased relentlessly each time he closed his eyes at night.
He's so tired, but Kaneki realizes that maybe he can hold on a few moments longer. Just long enough to hear those familiar words.
.
To Build a Home [The Cinematic Orchestra]
"Yo, Kaneki. It's nice to have you back."
Hide's voice is strange—mechanical and stilted—and a scarf conceals the lower part of his face, but it all disappears behind a shimmering, filmy curtain of tears. Before Hide gets the chance to speak again, Kaneki buries his face into Hide's shoulder with heaving, wet sobs.
Whatever badass remark Hide has spent years planning withers on his tongue and he reflexively wraps his arms around Kaneki's trembling form. Now he's blubbering like a lunatic and they both look ridiculous, but Kaneki keeps laughing and crying and tightening his grip on Hide because he's finally home and he's never going to let go.
Hide can't reach his voice box through Kaneki's crushing embrace, but he feels like the sentiment can go without being said aloud.
Welcome home, Kaneki.
If anyone is interested in hearing me scream about Hide and Kaneki, feel free to message me and I'll rant forever. Thanks for reading!