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Chapter 14: Chain reaction

(December 10th, 1:26)

Kaneki dragged his feet across the floor, slowly making his way to his usual bench on campus away from all the loud students (who wouldn't know he missed his lunch). He slumped down and gulped his cheap coffee, murmuring on how bad it tasted.

"Neki-san!" Kaneki sluggishly turned his head and lazily scanned the two girls behind him. They both wore similar clothing; they both wore a sweater (one wore a red one while the other wore a blue one of the same design), and both wore a black skirt with black leggings. Despite they're suspiciously synchronized clothing, Kaneki didn't raise an eyebrow but let out a silent sigh. They both had their annoying little smiles and perfectly applied makeup on their faces, along with their lunches being gingerly held by their hands.

Kaneki tried his absolute best to forge a smile. "Yes Emi, Eri?" They flushed.

"Can we please join you?" Emi asked, straightening her blue sweater. Kaneki grew very annoyed and exhaled angrily, which the twins didn't seem to take notice of. Who knew being so nice could make you so annoyed?

"Sure." Kaneki replied half-heartedly, despite his agitation.

They quickly sat down opposite to him and Kaneki opened his book even quicker. Watching them from his peripheral vision, Kaneki saw they started to unpack their lunch that was beautifully prepared, but the smell from the freshly cooked food travelled not-so-beautifully up his nose.

"Neki-san?"

Kaneki hummed, not really interested in anything they have to say and carried on reading his book. "Emi and I have made these lunches and we wanted you to try them." Eri started.

"We also want you to honestly tell us which is better." Emi finished, pushing her food forward towards the bookworm.

Yeah, of course they'll ask that.

Duh, why didn't I think this was going to happen?

Kaneki inwardly screamed in annoyance and anger. Bloody hell, he just wanted to peacefully drink cheap coffee (that tasted like shit) and read a book before lunch ends. Is that really so much to ask?

"Why?" Kaneki simply asked, not morphing his face into any sort of emotion.

"Well… because you'll be going to the beach tomorrow." Emi started.

"We thought we'll make you some food." Eri finished.

I hate it when twins do the 'finish the same sentence' thing.

Wait, how do they know I'll be going to the beach?

Creepy…

"You don't need to-"

"We also are 'coincidentally' going to the same beach too." Emi started.

"So I hope we can get along well together!" Eri finished, pushing her foodbox to that it touched a black nailed finger.

He grabbed the two boxes giving cancer to his nose and picked up the given eating utensils to wolf down a considerable amount of food from both boxes, wanting to get it over and done with. Swallowing the food whole was the hard part, literally everything there from chicken chunks to cookies either had a rough texture or a big size. It just made keeping a straight face harder with the big or hard food sliding slowly down your throat.

"So…"

"Whose is better?"

"I know this is pretty cliché, but I'd say it's a draw." Both pouted at the results, expecting to beat the other and 'win'. "I didn't really like the homemade cookies you made Emi. They were pretty bland and rough in texture. But I do like the small sushi rolls you made, the rice was cooked perfectly."

Emi's face lightened up and she sighed with relief. At least the sushi she spent God knows how many hours on payed off.

"As for you Eri, I really liked your strawberry tart because it was sweet but not overly sweet. But, your chicken bits need more balancing in its seasoning. The different spices and stuff you put in there is either too much or too little."

The twins were slightly surprised at their results. They hadn't expected an actual detailed review of their work, not that they minded. It just shows how much he focused on tasting the foods to give honest results on their food… right?

Kaneki was pleased with his response, it sounded like he took the time and effort to pick out the bad parts of their food, even though all of it tasted like waxy old toenails drenched in petrol. "So I would say that you Emi, are better at main foods while Eri is better at deserts."

"Thank you Neki-san."

"Do you want to finish the lunches?"

"Uh, no thanks. I'm already full." He nodded in thanks before grabbing his shoulder bag and stuffing his book in it.

He took his coffee and began to walk away from the two, ignoring the waves from behind him and eyes following him. Downing his coffee in one go, he hated how it not only tasted bad now, but cold.

Kaneki made his way inside the building, silently sniffing a bathroom to check if it's empty but regretting it when all that waffled up his nose was the smell of shit and piss. Gagging from the smell of the toilet and the burning pain in his stomach, he couldn't help but run to the next toilet and barge in there, not caring if there were people.

Much to Kaneki's confusion, there was only one person in the restroom… vomiting. However, his curiosity wasn't enough to stop the urge to rid the disgusting feeling in his stomach so Kaneki rushed to a cubical and emptied out all the contents.

Just as Kaneki flushed the toilet and put two small roles of toilet paper up his nostrils to block the smell, he finally heard the other stop vomiting and start to pant.

Is he a ghoul?

Probably, I don't see why a human would do so much vomiting.

Unable to find out the person's species by smell, Kaneki decided to let it slide and rinse his mouth before exiting the stinking toilet, missing the sound of a grumbling stomach behind him.

Bored, Kaneki checked his watch and groaned when he realised there was still twenty minutes left of his lunch break. Hide had a detention and Touka forgot to pack her things so she had to skip college and quickly pack for tomorrow's trip to the beach, leaving Kaneki all alone.

He took out his phone from his pocket and started to furiously type to Hide.

"HIDEEEE I'M SO FUCKING BORED! SAVE ME!"

Kaneki sighed, knowing his friend can't reply in a detention. Not really in the mood for reading, Kaneki decided to set an alarm on his phone and rest his head on a bench to take a nap. However, just before he was able to close his eyes, he saw a group of three girls walking to him with something that caught his eye… dreaded lunch boxes.

Fear and terror filled Kaneki as he widened his eyes in horror like a child watching and 18+ horror film. Just as he was about to run as fast as his legs could take him, someone popped up in front of him.

"Kaneki-san!"

Kaneki's instincts immediately took over and he scanned the girl standing in front of him with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"Oh, Yoriko. Hello." Kaneki smiled, realising that it was only his friend. "Remember, it's Neki."

Yoriko clasped her mouth. "O-oh yeah, sorry hehe." She sat down beside Kaneki before three figures appeared in front of them.

"Hello Neki-chan!" The girl in the middle greeted, while the other two smiled brightly.

Why does everyone know my name?

Kaneki honestly wasn't in the mood for this. He was already pissed off with the clueless twins and having nothing to do for his whole lunch break. Not even bothering to act nice or anything, Kaneki replied. "What?"

"Would you like to try some of our lunches?" The one on the left asked.

"Could you also tell us whose is bett-"

"Sorry, but me and Neki-san already had lunch together." Yoriko cut in, noticing her friend's agitation while he drew circles on his temples.

"We didn't ask you pumpkin-head." The one in they middle, who looked like the 'boss' of the group spat.

"Then no." Kaneki replied, just barely holding back the insults that were threatening to slip his mouth.

The girl stuttered for a second before her heart fell to her stomach. "Uh…"

Kaneki didn't want to see their faces anymore so he decided to stand up and walk away, dragging Yoriko with him and leaving three girls with their mouths wide open ready to catch flies. When Kaneki deemed it safe, he sat down on another empty bench away from all the students and let out a long, heavy, tired sigh. He was about to ask Yoriko to sit down with him until he saw someone familiar walking towards them.

"Kosaka, can you come with me and buy me a ticket for the arcade?" They boy smiled.

"Um, I've got lessons after."

"You owe me remember?"

Yoriko looked to the floor. True, she did owe him for buying her lunch when she had forgotten hers but going to the arcade now of all times is a bit too much. "Okay but afte-"

"Great! Thanks." He boy's smile grew wider as he grabbed her forearm and began to drag her away from a dumbfounded half-ghoul.

"What?" Kaneki said, totally confused. But realising that the boy was the same boy he saw in the toilets, worry pooled in him. He's a ghoul!

"Hey!" Kaneki shouted, causing the boy to halt and turn to face him.

"What do you want?" The boy asked, annoyed (like most ghouls).

"She's not going to the 'arcade' with you." Kaneki bluntly deadpanned as he walked up to the older boy.

"And what makes you say tha-"

Kaneki yanked the ghoul's hand off of Yoriko's arm, and threw it back to his side.

"W-What the hell are you doing?!" A nerve visibly popped on the boy's forehead, and Kaneki realised that the boy just became a ticking time bomb that was ready to explode the moment he got the slightest bit more pissed.

"Probably saving her from being gobbled up." Yoriko gasped and Kaneki manically grinned at the satisfying sight of the boy's purely shocked expression. When he realised the boy wasn't going to say anything, Kaneki continued. "Shocked aren't you? What are you going to do now? A human knows your secret, so what are you going to do? I'm curious."

The boy soon frantically looked around noting that no one was in earshot because of the secluded area they're in. "H-hah, how did you find it out? You're not a ghoul too are you? Why are you working with a pathetic human?"

"I saw you vomiting in the restroom." Kaneki explained.

"So you're not a ghoul! You're just a pitifully observant human." The boy smiled, thinking the two 'humans' in front of him are harmless.

No you idiot, I just said I saw you vomiting not that I wasn't a ghoul.

The boy's eyes turned fiery red in a pool of jet black as a bikaku whip-like kagune erupted from his tailbone. "Haha! I was so hungry I couldn't wait to ask you after school you see. I was having trouble finding food and on top of that I had to swallow some shit from the cafeteria. You can't run from me and you can't scream! No one ever comes here!" The boy grinned. "Whachya gonna do? Whachya gonna do? Whachya gonna do when I come for you?"

Yoriko stared with wide eyes at the ghoul before turning to face her bored friend then back to the ghoul that had a brown tail swaying behind him. "Are sure you want to kill us? If two students are found dead here, the CCG will definitely come and dig you out." Yoriko calmly asked, quickly realising she was in no danger with an SS+ ghoul as her ally.

"Aww how cute, but it won't work. Y'know I'm surprised you two can keep a straight face when you know you're gonna die, you have my praise." The ghoul took a step forward before frowning. "What's wrong with you two? Do you know what I am? I'm a ghoul. I'm powerful!"

Kaneki sighed. The typical ghoul… "I would've taken Yoriko's advice because the chances of survival are higher."

The ghoul grew angry. Those two are so confusing! "What are you talking about?!" His eyes were dangerously narrowed and he finally shot his kagune to the shorter half-ghoul.

The kagune however immediately froze, along with its owner. Shocked, confused and terrified, the boy subconsciously retracted his kagune and it shrunk back into his body. As an eyepatch fell to the floor, the horrified ghoul took a step back, followed by another, and another. Breaking eye contact with the eye he believed came from hell itself, the boy wordlessly ran far, farther than his limit.

Once the boy was out of vision, Kaneki bent down and picked up his eyepatch. As he fixed it on, he sighed (he's been doing that a lot lately).

"Well that was a surprise!" Yoriko breathed. "Thank you!"

Kaneki smiled. "You're welcome. Can you do me a favour?"

"Of course." Yoriko smiled, happy she could do something to help her friend.

"Can you tell Hide I'm going home? Literally more things happened in the past fifteen minutes than the past week. I'm tired and I need some rest."

"Oh, okay sure. Get well soon." Yoriko waved as she began to walk away from the half-ghoul.

"Thank you." Kaneki waved in return before an idea popped up in his head.

Nervousness, anxiety, fear, you name it, he was feeling it. Kaneki swallowed it all up as he rang the doorbell and waited, knowing that the waiting would feel like hours, and it did. The door creaked as it opened revealing a beautiful red-head.

"KANEKI!" Gazel screamed as she jumped into Kaneki's arms and cried, wetting his dress shirt.

Kaneki smiled as he gingerly stroked her hair, ending up ruffling it in the end. Her hair was too soft. "Long time no see Gazel. How have you been?"

"K-Kaneki! I missed you… so much h-happened!" Gazel spoke between sobs, her voice muffled by Kaneki's shirt.

Kaneki took a deep breath, anxiety flooding him but he pushed it down. "Really? Can you tell me about it?"

They both looked to the floor as Kaneki waited for someone to say something. The only noise he could hear was Mrs Sozaka cooking in the kitchen. Finally, Akihiro spoke up and broke the silence. "Mr Toshio… he was a ghoul."

Of course in a situation like this, one would be shocked. But this wasn't news to Kaneki, obviously, he was the one who beat the guy up and tried to eat him after he tried to eat him. Complicated… I know. But what's also obvious is that Kaneki can't just say 'yeah, I know'. Despite the fact that he wants Gazel to know and accept him for what he is, now isn't the right time… or maybe it's just that he's scared?

Hating himself for faking his reaction, Kaneki wore his surprised mask. "H-huh?" Kaneki's eyes grew wide as he almost whispered the word.

Gazel sniffled as she dragged her head up. "H-he attacked me with a group of other ghouls when I came back from my friend's house." Her voice was devoid of any emotion as she recalled the event.

"So then what happened?! How did you escape?" Kaneki knew what was coming, but for some reason he hoped she joined the puzzle pieces together.

"I was saved… again." Gazel's eyes looked like they were staring off into space, a hint of mystery in them. And… admiration.

"Again…?" Kaneki questioned, egging her to continue and not caring for the consequences.

"It was the same person that saved her from a ghoul in the first war." Akihiro replied for her, making Kaneki turn his head to face him. "He spoke to her."

"… What did he say?" Kaneki was slowly leaving his façade, inwardly hoping they know who he is.

Come on. It's obvious, the same hair, the same eye colour. Please join the dots, I want you to realise who I am. You deserve to.

"I don't understand." Gazel murmured, her face still staring off into God knows where.

"She's been mulling over his words ever since, it's even affected school." Akihiro answered with small but noticeable worry in his voice. "He said he wanted her to remember him."

Kaneki put on a questioning face. "But she does remember him… right?"

"That's what we were thinking. It doesn't make sense, maybe he thinks she doesn't remember him." Akihiro put his hand on his chin in thought.

Come on! Please… it's obvious!

"Maybe he's something more… maybe he wants you to remember something deeper." Kaneki hinted, getting too impatient.

Gazel looked up and eyed him. "What do you… mean…?"

Kaneki opened his mouth to spill the hint that would probably reveal his secret but was cut off by a certain granny. "Gazel dear! Can you help me out? My back is starting to kill me."

"Alright." Gazel got up and walked out the living room, missing Kaneki's saddened eyes.

"Let's go set the table, I'm sure you would want something." Akihiro said before he got up and stretched, a popping sound coming from his back.

N-No! God fucking damn it…

Conveniently, his phone rang with his previously set alarm. Quickly, Kaneki dismissed the alarm but not quick enough.

Akihiro eyed the phone. "You have a phone? How?"

Kaneki sighed. "I was going to say that I have an apartment and a somewhat proper life now because a friend helped me out, but I got caught up in Gazel's encounter."

"Really?! Congrats, I'll go tell Gazel and gran!" Akihiro was about to leave but Kaneki stopped him.

"I'm so sorry, I need to go. I know I just came, but I'm skipping college." Kaneki realised his fate once the smell of freshly cooked pizza came up his nose.

"You go to college?!" Akihiro was shocked, forgetting the part that he had to go.

"Yes. Alright bye, sent my goodbye to Gazel and Mrs Sozaka too please."

"Wait you're leaving?" Akihiro's spirit died down once he realised his friend had to go.

"Yes, I'm really sorry. I left college in my lunch break so I have to get back before I miss too much of my next lesson." Kaneki saw the sadness in his friend as he went to the front door and opened it.

"You have a phone don't you?" Kaneki asked.

"Yeah… oh!" Akihiro realised as laughed as he scratched his head. "So what is it?"

Kaneki showed the screen of his phone that had his number on his and Akihiro quickly jotted down the numbers on his hand.

"Thanks, Kaneki." Akihiro smiled, excited to call his friend.

"You're welcome, give Gazel my number too please. I'm sure she'll want to talk to me too." Kaneki smiled and waved as he walked out the door.

As Kaneki walked through the pavements one minute later, his phone buzzed with a text message.

"Hi!"

Kaneki immediately regretted giving his phone number to those two.

Thanks for reading! I have to say though, although it seems like there's no plot in this story, don't worry there is.

Also, please don't forget to vote on my poll please!