Thank you all for your reviews! It was much needed after Premier Pro decided to be a massive dick and made me re-edit my film.
Whitedorumon- I'm kinda confused with how it's a 'major fail'. In Australia, if you change schools and weren't around to choose your subjects then the school chooses for you. Plus, I can't remember if he even had Divination in his first year, but I don't see the problem seeing as it was literally mentioned once in my chapter. For me, your review, is like coming out of an Art classroom with paint all over your school uniform but only caring about a pen mark on your arm. Though if your review isn't meant to sound rude then I apologise, but now, no.
ALSO: I've read some of the manga so some events may happen/be mentioned AND I've moved out to my dads and he it's literally a miracle if I get internet so updates will be VERY SLOW.
Ever since the incident with Kaneki's secret being exposed to both his friend and his enemy, he hasn't been seen in any of his classes, the common room, dorm or Great Hall, though Hermione now doubts she'll see him in the Great Hall. While she'll admit that she's still quite fearful of Kaneki, she's also worried. Worried about the mental state of her friend. It's obvious to her that he's hiding himself away from the world, slowly gluing himself back together.
So, when lunch rolled around, she retacked her steps.
"Kaneki was on the seventh corridor for some reason, so this is the only place he could possibly be, but the question is where?" Muttered Hermione as checked all the classrooms lining the corridor, then when her search came up empty handed she began to pace in agitation. Thinking of any hiding places her friend could have hauled himself to.
Just as Hermione was about to give up and see if she could catch lunch before their next class started, a door appeared to her left, surprising her at the sudden appearance. Hesitantly, Hermione approached the unknown door, gripping the door handle and with all the courage she could muster, steeled herself and yanked open the door; only to end up gaping at the sight before her.
There, in the middle of a room that seemed similar to a training room, was Kaneki, holding a book in one hand and is positioned in a fighting stance. Hermione watched in awe as Kaneki, who is drenched in sweat, preform such graceful movements as he fought one of the enchanted dummies in the room, punching, kicking and dodging the attacks the enchanted dummy gave. She watched as Kaneki invaded, performed backflips, exchanged punches and kicks and twisting gracefully around the dummy. Within half a minute of Hermione entering Kaneki finally noticed her when he twisted away from a punch and faced her direction.
Kaneki held a look of surprise at her sudden appearance but was quickly changed to that of slight concentration as the enchanted dummy sped towards him at speeds Hermione could barely comprehend. Kaneki, instead of dodging like usual, activated his Kagune and pierced the dummy, causing it to go limp and void of life. Hermione froze at the sight of his Kagune, which didn't slip Kaneki's notice. Kaneki, at the sight of Hermione's wide eyes, looked down, deactivating his Kagune.
The two continued to stand there, the air heavy with an awkward silence. Kaneki, now that Hermione got a better look now that he was still, isn't wearing his eye-patch. He wears a black singlet and white shorts, showing off his lean muscles underneath. Even though he's sweating profoundly he still looked quite attractive.
Hermione blushed furiously at the thought that crossed her mind, utterly embarrassed that she thought of her friend like that.
"What are you doing here?" Came Kaneki's quiet voice, breaking Hermione from her line of thoughts, which she is grateful for.
"Oh, well I… I was looking for you." She admitted. "I didn't know where you were so I re-traced your footsteps from last night and here I am." She smiled. Kaneki looked at her with a slight look of wonder which then turned into a small smile. And awkward silence once again enveloped them and Hermione for once found herself stumbling for a topic in her head.
"Ah…so those moves, when did you learn to fight like that?" She asked in an attempt to destroy the horrible silence. Kaneki smiled once again, seemingly happy for the topic change.
"I learnt it after….." His smile dropped and he looked down at the ground once again.
"After?" Prompt Hermione.
"After…becoming a Ghoul." Whispered Kaneki, Hermione almost missing it. Hermione wanted to slap herself for not thinking and bringing up such a sensitive topic.
'But,' She thought, 'He needs to get this off his chest. And if I am to help him I need to understand what happened to him.'
"Kaneki. I know this is hard for you, but please, tell me everything that has happened to you. I want to know so that I may understand what really happened to you, so that I can help you shoulder your pain and help you through this." Kaneki continued to look down at the ground and Hermione was about ready to drop the subject when Kaneki sighed, looking up to face her with his piercing gaze.
"What about your class?" he asked. Hermione's eyes widened in shock, realising she'll be late if she doesn't leave soon but quickly stopped, biting her lip.
'No, Kaneki needs me, I can always catch up on what I missed this one session.'
Hermione turned around to face Kaneki, a look of determination on her features. "I'll get the notes later but right now you need me more than ever." Surprised washed over Kaneki's face at Hermione's declaration before melting into a sad smile.
"Then we better sit down, I have a feeling it'll be a while." The two sat on the floor, both getting as comfy as possible on the wooden floors. "Well, ask away. And one at a time." Said Kaneki, mentally bracing himself. Hermione blushed slightly at the slight remark but continued none the less.
"Actually… I want to hear your story, from the very beginning. And don't leave anything out, please." Kaneki nodded, though remained silent as he thought over how to start.
"As you know, I was abandoned in Tokyo and was put in an adoption home with a woman I considered a mother figure, so I'll skip to when it began. I met a girl named Rize, she was kind and beautiful, I later found out that we shared the same interest in books, we eventually spent the day out together. But, that's when it changed. You see, Rize was a Ghoul, and I was nearly killed by her as well. Throughout the Wards she was known as a Binge Eater."
"Was?"
Kaneki nodded his head. "Just as I thought I was about to die, an accident occurred; steel beams from a construction site next to us fell, killing Rize. I was then emitted to a hospital and had to have an organ transplant but not just any organ transplant, the doctor who operated on me transferred Rize's organs into me."
"Turning you into a half-Ghoul." Gasped Hermione, connecting the dots. Kaneki nodded.
"I didn't notice the signs when I woke up, such as human food tasting disgusting, the hunger and the overall oddness of the situation. It was only until later that night, after attempting to eat all human food that I had did I finally realise that the impossible just happened."
"Why do you say that? Human food?" Inquired Hermione. Kaneki rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile on his face.
"When you live amongst Ghouls for as long as I did you tend to pick up on things." Said Kaneki, looking of in the distance with a faraway look. "A Ghouls hunger, as I've had the displeasure of experiencing a few times, is a worst fate for a Ghoul. The hunger is beyond that of human hunger and it's terrifying. When you get hungry, you feel like you're slowly losing your mind, the pains are intense and overall you have an intense urge to kill whoever is in your way just to stop the hunger."
"How horrible." Whispered Hermione behind cupped hands.
"During this, I came across another Ghoul, Touka." A smile graced Kaneki's lips as he thinks of Touka and all the memories he's shared with her an Anteiku. "She's rather short-tempered and not afraid to punch someone in the face if they piss her off. But when she found me, on the brink of losing myself to hunger, no matter how violent she is she helped me. And that's how I came to work at Anteiku; she works there you see and after the events of that night I too became a worker there."
"Anteiku?" Questioned Hermione. Kaneki nodded.
"It's a café run by Ghouls. It's also a place where we help out other Ghouls if needing help. For instance, instead of hunting for food, we eat suicide victims and sell the meat to other Ghouls who cannot or do not want to hunt. It's also a way to keep the CCG from finding us."
Hermione made an 'o' with her mouth in understanding.
"Later on during my time working at Anteiku I met another Ghoul by the name of Tsukiyama-"
"Wait Tsukiyama!? As in the Gourmet?" Kaneki nodded, slightly perplexed by Hermione's becoming stream of questions. "Before you said that Dumbledore reminded you of Gourmet, does that mean you he's friend of yours?"
"Me? Friends with Tsukiyama?" Kaneki scoffed. "If it wasn't for the fact that he wants to eat me than we could've been friends. But for now we're more acquaintances."
"Wait he tries to eat you!?" Kaneki just patted Hermione's head slightly, in the same manner he does to Hinami.
"If you let me continue you'll find your answers." Hermione blushed, whether it be in frustration or embarrassment he didn't know.
"When I first met Tsukiyama the first thing I thought about him was flamboyant. He does these ridiculous dramatic poses while speaking elegantly all the time. In all honesty I thought he was weird. But I was cautious around him; Touka and the other members of Anteiku warned me to be cautious around him. I didn't understand why at first until I was tricked into being part of his little games in MM."
"When you say 'part of his games', do you mean in participation?" Asked Hermione hesitantly.
"No, more like being the game. I was forced to fight to the death for the audiences' entertainment."
"That's horrible! Why are you still associating yourself with that man!?" Kaneki chuckled.
"Don't worry, he's learnt his lesson not to try anything. After all, I am of higher rank than him, so he knows that I can beat his ass to Sunday if he tried anything."
"Wait, but if I remember correctly he's an S rank. So that means…"
"I'm ranked SS by the CCG."
"Wha!? But how? I gather you have a nickname, what's your nickname by the CCG?"
Kaneki smirked. "I'm heartbroken that you haven't pieced it together yet, I was even mentioned twice in Defence Against the Dark Arts." Said Kaneki in a mock hurt. Okay, maybe he has spent too much time around Tsukiyama.
Hermione's brows scrunched up together in confusion and deep thought, looking at the ground as she tries to piece together what she knows.
"Gourmet was said to work with Eye-Patch…but he's not an SS ranked Ghoul… But he's been given a new nickname….Centipede…" Hermione looked up at Kaneki for answers, who merely nodded. "Wait, you're Centipede!?" Kaneki nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he anticipated her next fire of questions.
"But…Centipede has a Kakuja, but that means…" Hermione trailed off, not wanting to believe that her friend had committed such an act. Kaneki grimaced, giving her the answer she needs.
"But why? What made you commit such a thing!?" Kaneki looked away, seemingly finding more interest in the wooden floorboards.
Kaneki mumbled. "What? Please speak louder."
"I did it to protect those I care about."
"I don't understand."
Kaneki sighed. "For one to get stronger their Kagune also needs to be stronger and the only way to do that is to consume a large amount of Rc cells and the only way to get a large amount of Rc cells quickly is from Ghouls."
"But….you ate them."
"If it makes you feel better I only ate those who intentionally cause harm to both Ghouls and humans alike. Jason is one such example."
"Jason?"
"He's…..the Ghoul who tortured me…." Kaneki whispered the last part, but Hermione heard; he eyes widening in shock before sadness washed over her features.
"So stupid," Muttered Hermione, "How could I have been so dense as to bring this up?"
"You didn't know, so don't blame yourself. What's in the past stays in the past." Said Kaneki, making Hermione's head snap up.
"As I was saying before, I managed to survive Tsukiyama's games but for some reason he changed his mind. After I survived he got me out of MM and let me leave, after that I kept my distance from him as large as possible. Then Aogiri came." Kaneki purposely left our Nishiki, Kimi and Tsukiyama and Touka's fight; feeling it wasn't necessary to add.
"Aogiri Tree?"
"Aogiri Tree, in a nutshell, is a terrorist organization of Ghouls." Explained Kaneki, "For whatever reason they came to Anteiku and attacked us, taking me away with them. When I woke up I was in a red dome like room with black and white checker tiles, tied to a metal chair. The rest of those 10 days I've spent you already know."
Hermione looked down at her hands, the images of the Boggart resurfacing to the utmost forefront of her mind.
"And then what?" Asked Hermione quietly.
"Then, I went off on my own with Hinami and Tsukiyama."
"Hinami?"
"Remember that woman you saw in the Boggart with the chestnut hair?" Hermione nodded, "That's her mother. The girl you saw later being held up by her throat is Hinami."
Hermione felt sick at how causally Kaneki refers to the gruesome scenes of the Boggart, how easily he brushes off witnessing the death of those closes to him. Sure, it isn't real but even so no one could just walk away from that perfectly fine. Especially after having to witness your own torture again. A heavy feeling settled in her stomach…was this guilt? Why? Why does she feel guilty? She had as little control over the situation and was just as surprised as Kaneki about the Boggart. So why did she feel guilty? Was it because she witnessed those scenes? Was it because she knew the spell but didn't do anything, too fascinated in the horror that played out before her?
"Stop beating yourself over it."
Hermione's head shot up in surprise and confusion. "Huh?"
Kaneki turned to face her, his features soft as he addressed her. "I know you, Hermione. And knowing you you're beating yourself over not being able to do anything to help. But you've forgotten that you have helped; before you warned me to get away from the Boggart, the second time you warned me about what it is and what it's doing to me. If you hadn't of spoken I'd of lost myself, and Malfoy wouldn't be alive."
Hermione, for once in her life, is silent. Questions no longer at the tip of her tongue, the need for knowledge no longer filling her brain as her stubborn nature fuels her actions. Even now Hermione is still having trouble processing the drastic changes that have occurred in her friend both physically and mentally, so much that her heart shatters at the pain that he'd gone through and at how useless she feels. Another thought filtered through her mind as the two settled in what seemed a comfortable silence. How was his life as a Ghoul like? It must've been difficult that much is obvious. He'd have to have come to terms with his Ghoul nature and eaten.
Hermione internally grimaced at the thought. He says that he and the others at Anteiku have eat suicide victims, but what about now? There were no suicide areas for kilometres that she knew of, so did that mean he hunts witches and wizards down town near Hogwarts?
"I can tell you have a question on the tip of your tongue, so spill." Hermione's head snaps up at the sudden voice and looks over to Kaneki, who was still sitting down, eyeing her with observant eyes. Hermione looks down, unable to hold eye contact.
"Um… Well, you said that you and the others of Anteiku eat suicide victims, so what about now?" She asked hesitantly, trying her best not to stumble over her words.
Kaneki continued to stare at her before closing his eyes, seemingly in deep thought before slowly opening up again, looking off to his left as he slowly begins speaking.
"Originally I was going to find a witch or wizard and simply kill them in their sleep, but after some thought I wondered if creatures would be able to satisfy my hunger. So, I set out into the Forbidden Forest to test that theory. Lucky for us, my theory was correct, so I won't be feeding off of a human being."
Hermione truthfully didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand she should feel relieved at knowing that it hasn't come to him actually killing an innocent, but on the other hand he's killed a magical creature, one that's capable of feeling and thinking the same as a human. Kaneki sighed.
"I know what you're thinking, Hermione. I'm well aware of your kindness to all magical creatures and non-humans. I didn't and still don't want to harm an innocent but what I did make sure was that I gave him a quick death." Hermione slowly let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and calmed her still nervous heart before locking eyes with her friend.
"How long until…until you need to feed again?"
"A month, maybe two."
'So I was right.' Thought Hermione. Kaneki then gave her a questioning look, his head tilted to the side.
"You learnt this is Defence Against the Dark Arts, I'm surprised that you don't remember." Kaneki didn't seem convinced that she had just forgotten valuable information judging by the analysing look behind his eyes.
"Well, we all know how biased wizards and witches can be, so what way to check how valid it is then to ask the magical creature it's associated with." Kaneki nodded his head in understanding, making a small 'ah' sound. A tense silence hung in the air between the two, Hermione guessing that she has another 30 of so minutes until her next class starts.
"So…if you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing in here?" Asked Hermione, looking up from fiddling with her hands. It was a poor conversation started but she was generally curious as to what her friend was up to.
"I was practicing my combat and defensive skills." He didn't offer much else on the matter, so Hermione decided to take up her Gryffindor courage once again and prompt Kaneki for more information.
"Why?" Kaneki looked at her slowly, as if assessing her before talking.
"The reason why I started learning was for a number of reasons. One is to be able to protect myself, the second is to be able to protect those I care about and the third is due to the type of Kagune I possess. You see, to be able to fight or even be able to function properly whilst in any form of danger you need to be able to perform coherently with your Kagune." Hermione processed the information she managed to obtain, nodding her head in understanding. But at the same time she still felt uneasy.
The fact that he is keeping up his skills, perhaps even progressing further worries her because to Hermione their seems to be an unspoken message lingering in his words. Almost like he expects to be attacked again. Hermione kept the question to herself this time, not feeling it being the right time to speak of the possibility of being attacked again, especially seeing from what happed last night, she felt it wise not to trouble her friend any more than needed.
"Hermione." Startled, Hermione focused her attention to Kaneki, who still hasn't looked at her but she knew he'd spoken hr name. "How do you feel…about me now? Be honest." His voice was quiet, but she thought she detected a hint of hesitation in his voice; even though his face gave nothing away.
Hermione continued to stare at Kaneki, a gut feeling telling her that if she looked away it'll just help him jump to conclusions.
"To be honest, I'm nervous, not just about you but about number of things, but mainly about the possible negative outcomes that could occur here, especially since Malfoy knows." She breathed in slowly through her nose, then out through her mouth, "but you're still my friend, I'm not judging you for who you are because none of this is your fault, you had no control over the situations that turned you into who you are now so I don't blame you for anything. To me, you're still the small boy I first met on the Hogwarts Express at the start of our first year and that has never changed." Kaneki's eyes were widened slightly, surprise clearly visible in his dull orbs as he stared back at Hermione, so she continued. "Kaneki, I promise I won't tell a single soul about your secret and I will do anything in my power to help you with it at Hogwarts." To add to it, Hermione let determination shine brightly in her eyes as she held her gaze with Kaneki's.
All was silent and Hermione feared that perhaps she'd gone a bit too far, or that his time in the world of Ghouls has made him hesitant to trust, which Hermione could completely understand from what she's heard so far. But before she could defend herself or even ask if he's okay, a small genuine smile graced his lips, taking Hermione completely off guard.
"Thank you." For once in Hermione's life she was ecstatic that she managed, no matter how small it may be, to get her friend to feel some form of happiness or relief from the tough life he had to endure.
