Hi guys! I like to give a HUGE thanks to Kaiser Greedy for taking the time to give me a really helpful review to help improve my work! All things have been taken into consideration and your review really helped out, thanks!

Chapter 8: Thank you

(1st ward at CCG headquarters: 5:36)

The entire room was silent.

Only the quiet sounds of people shuffling in their seats was audiable.

It had been 5 minutes since the last of the investigators took their sea at the meeting, and they were now waiting for the bureau director to give his speech.

Finally, Matsuri Washuu stood in front of the audience of around a hundred CCG investigators.

He fixed his papers on his desk before begging his speech. "I'm sure a few of you already know why meeting has taken place. But for those of you who don't, it is about the return of the SS rated ghoul: Centipede."

The whole room burst into shocks, gasps, and murmurs of No way's. Everyone was in complete awe, thinking of the rank 1 investigator Haise Sasaki defect the CCG and join the ghouls side.

"We shouldn't have even trusted him."

"He was rotten from the start."

"How was a ghoul even allowed to become an investigator to begin with?"

After the chatting quietened down, Matsuri cleared his throat to silence the room. "He was sighted in the 14th ward this morning in an alleyway by 3 CCG investigators. They engaged combat against the ghoul but weren't successful, and one investigator brutally lost his life."

Almost everyone in the room gasped, some found themselves drowning in fear of the ex-investigator, while others burned with rage and anger at the turncoat.

Before the room got too loud and emotional, the Washuu leader finished his speech. "We have increased the rating on Centipede from SS to SS+. It is highly advisable to have great caution in an encounter and never go into battle against this traitor alone without backup, as centipede's rinkaku kakuja has unimaginable power. We don't yet know the capabilities of his kakuja, but we do know it's still incomplete which typically makes him lose control. I'm sure you all know the shocking identity of centipede; as a former investigator and as a dangerous threat to humanity, we must eliminate this renegade and bring him to justice."

Matsuri stepped down from the podium and the investigators clapped, even though they were still in great awe. Slowly, the investigators began to leave, chattering away in disbelief about the news that just hit them.

One particular rank 3 investigator however, couldn't help but smile a toothy grin. "I'm sure they're going to be so excited." The voice was elevated, which caused a few confused eyes to come her way. "I need to tell them right away!"

She hoped and skipped out of the crowded room, humming a cheery song on the way out. After she made her way back to her squad's empty office, she got her phone out and made a quick phone call before anyone else gets back.

It didn't take very long before the other end picked up, and the investigator immediately greeted her friend. "Heyyyyyy~~~!"

"Oh hey, why are you calling me in the middle of work, something wrong?" A lot of background noise could be heard from the other end of the phone call; soft conversations and the sound of a running tap.

"Quite the opposite actually, I have some amazing news! You won't believe it!"

"You got promoted?"

"Even better!"

"I'm all ears missy."

"Well~~~… your Mr Eyepatch is back!"

Drowsy eyelids reluctantly heaved open, and the blurry vision finally sharpening to pick up its surroundings. A creamy coloured ceiling obstructed the half-ghoul's vision, so he tried to sit himself up on the rather comfy bed.

…

…

…

What?

Why can't I move?

Kaneki, utterly confused, put more effort in and tried once more to lift his back to sit up.

… FUCK!

An extremely sharp pain hammered in the ghoul's back, causing him to force his spine into an arch as a reaction to the pain.

Not a very smart decision to say the least. The pain only multiplied, and not twice or three times… hundreds of times.

"AAaAaAaaAhhHhH!" Kaneki screamed louder than his tired vocal chords could manage, causing his throat to crack and him to stupidly choke on his own spit.

Finally after countless rounds of very deep inhales and exhales, Kaneki managed to slowly, slowly, shape his spine into a straight line to continue resting on the (actually very comfy) bed.

Staring at the ceiling, Kaneki tried to figure out what the fuck just happened. First Kaneki assumed he was restrained, which would explain why it was so hard to move, but that wasn't the case. Kaneki was able to freely twist his wrists and slowly move his feet.

Maybe someone used RC suppressants on him?

Kaneki sniffed the air but not a whiff of the drug's heavy odour touched his nose. But even so, why did he almost die from the pain that just erupted in his back when he harmlessly tried to just sit up?

More confusion poured into Kaneki as he let out a heavy sigh. A massive headache rang through his head as he wanted nothing more than to rest. He stared at the ceiling and listened to the birds sing. The sweet sound filled his ears with small tweets, long chirps and… soft, distant thuds.

Yes, beautiful indeed.

…

…

…

Wait what?

Birds don't make thudding sounds.

The thuds grew louder and louder until Kaneki recognised them as footsteps.

W-who's coming?! Oh shit, I'm defenceless!

Kaneki stared hopelessly at the ceiling, unable to make any drastic movements in his fatigued, exhausted body.

Finally, the person entered the room in a rush. "Kaneki?! Are you alright? I heard you screaming what happened?!"

That voice…!

Kaneki felt tears well up in his eyes as the figure of his one and only best friend slowly started to make his way towards Kaneki.

Kaneki quickly shuffled to hide his face between the soft pillow and the warm blanket, ignoring the vigorous pain that sliced through his neck as a response to the sudden movement.

Something wet touched his cheeks, and soon he realised he was in silent, sorrowful sobs.

"H-hey, you alright?"

Silence.

"It's me, Hide. I'm your best friend, remember?"

Silence.

Hide slowly walked over and sat near Kaneki's feet at the edge of the bed.

"Hey, it's not like you to cry Kaneki." Hide smiled and slowly, ever so gently as not to startle the half-ghoul, stroked his shin.

Kaneki's sobs became more audible when he realized the blond recognised his silent cries, though muffled by the blanket covering his shivering mouth. "I-I-I'm so s-sorry." Kaneki barely managed to form the sentence between his uneven, shaking breaths.

"Huh? Sorry for what? Making me miss that concert?" Hide was genuinely confused as to why the white-haired ghoul was apologising.

Kaneki slowly pulled down his blanket to reveal his tear soaked face and widened his eyes. "H-Hide…" Kaneki broke into another heavy sob as the human stop stroking his leg to edge closer to the other side of the bed.

Kaneki glanced at the big brown eyes that rested on him, only to jerk his eyes away and squeeze them shut while slowly pull the covers over his face once again.

It stayed that way for a comfortable minute before Hide broke the silence. "Kaneki, please stop blaming yourself."

Kaneki opened his eyes under the blanket's warmth at the familiar sentence whispered by the human; he had almost fallen asleep in the inviting silence that had just been broken by his best friend.

"I'm sure you've heard that sentence countless times by countless people Kaneki, and it's for a reason. You shouldn't be blaming yourself man! What have you done that made you guilty? I mean, other than spilling soda on my game console and nearly pushing that girl from class 7 down the stairs. Jokes aside, you didn't want to be turned into a ghoul, you didn't want to eat other people, you didn't want to be tortured until that beautiful black hair of yours turned silky white, you asked for none of that. It must have been so bloody hard to go through all of it, especially if you were just a bony little book worm that struggled to lift ten pounds. So take a break, and stop worrying, fighting and stressing yourself."

"It is all my fault Hide. Because of me, there is no Anteiku anymore. Because of me, Irimi-san, Koma-san and Yoshimura-san are all gone…" Kaneki chocked on the last three words as if they were venom. "I-I couldn't protect them…"

Hide closed his eyes and spoke in a soft, smooth voice. "Kaneki, it's not your fault. I know you've heard that sentence countless times too and you probably haven't put much thoguht to it but there's more to that sentence than you think. I mean, it's quite frank but it's true. It's. Not. Your. Fault. No matter how much you think it is, it is. You just need to find the room in your heart to accept it and then you will fully understand its meaning." As Hide opened his eyes, he found a pair of sorrowful, grey eyes resting on him. He reached his hand and ever so gently placed it on the sniffling ghoul's shoulder. "Some things in life are meant to be, cruel or not they must take place whether you like it or not. Only a fragment of those 'some things' are your fault while the vast majority aren't, not the other way around Kaneki. If something bad happens to you, even if it is your fault, you must accept it and move on in life. Isn't that what they would've wanted? Isn't that why they made that sacrifice? Learn from your mistakes, repeat what you've experienced to be good in life and don't repeat what you've experienced to be bad. I know it sounds simple but it's easier said than done. I'm not that good with metaphors and persuasive speaking but surely a book worm like you should understand where I'm trying to get at."

When Hide saw that Kaneki had showed some understanding in his clouded grey eyes, he decided to give the half-ghoul the necessary nudge to fully grasp his understanding. "Look at yourself Kaneki, what do you see? Something beautiful? Something ugly? It doesn't matter! Because whether you're beautiful or ugly doesn't matter to a person whose friends with you for most of their life. Come on, you should know better! How could I think that you're a monster just because you got mixed up in some crazy doctor's experiment? I'm sure I already told you this back in the sewers." Hide flashed Kaneki the very same smirk that he had used millions of times in the years before. His beaming eyes staring at the half-ghoul, not showing the smallest trace of fear, hatred or disgust, but showing pure friendship.

Kaneki found the sight so mesmerising and beautiful, he couldn't help but lift the tips of his lips too, forming an infinitely grateful smile that only made Hide's grow wider.

"Hide, you really are amazing. Let me tell you this now, there is no one in the word like you that has the mysterious ability to make someone smile even when their life is pretty much torn apart, ghoul or not." Kaneki's smile grew wider ever so slightly, and his eyes gleamed at the unbeatably loyal and understanding friend that just poured all his heart and soul into helping his useless ass. "You know, sometimes I can't help but feel guilty that someone as worthless as me somehow got to be friends with someone as amazing as you."

"Took ya long enough! We've been together for how long as you just realise the great magnitude of my awesomeness?" Hide crossed his arms, shook his head and tutted at Kaneki's incompetence.

Kaneki's smile grew even wider until it became an uncontrollable laugh. Hide joined in, and they laughed together for the first time in years.

Beautiful, shimmering grey eyes met big, bold brown ones as Kaneki couldn't help but wonder how someone so amazing could possibly exist.

Oh God I missed him so much.

A tear escaped his eye from the heavy yearn to see the blond his strained heart had been concealing all this time. He hadn't realized how strong it really was until he laid eyes of his forgiving friend.

"Thank you, Hide."

"You better be! It was really hard to find all those smart words nerdy people use in speeches you know!"

Thank you for always being there, Hide.

Thank you for helping me realize my mistakes, Hide.

Thank you for being yourself even after all this time, Hide.

"Yeah you're right, it's not like you to be using quotes and actually say smart things that make sense." Kaneki smirked, and Hide plastered a serious face and nodded.

"I'm tellin' ya!…"

If the blond said anymore, Kaneki didn't hear it. He was too overwhelmed by the happiness Hide so effortlessly delivered. To be accepted by someone you care so deeply for despite what you are truly feels… amazing.

Sorry if this chapter feels rushed. I tried my best to make the characters seem as natural as possible.