Hey guys! In this chapter, I changed the plan a little to include Dotred's request: "Make Gazel meet Kaneki while he's Eyepatch."

Chapter 12: Volta

Kaneki had finally gotten his own apartment. It's wasn't amazingly good but it wasn't awesomely bad either, just average. It had a decently big living room with a couch, coffee table and a flat screen TV (much to Hide's jealousy). His bedroom had the perfect amount of space to fit a bed, a desk and just enough space for morning workouts. His kitchen wasn't impressively big but to be honest, he didn't really care. All he would use in there was the refrigerator and freezer, he hadn't even touched the stove or cooking utensils. Maybe he'll use them when Hide comes over? His bathroom was very clean much to his surprise, the toilet was new, the bathroom was spacious and the sink was shining. Overall, he was very impressed. For the price of Hide's own apartment, Kaneki got one… well, better. It was 25 minutes away from Kamii and 17 minutes away from :re if you walked. Perfect.

Life had ben indifferent for the last month or so. College had been… normal. No other word to describe it other than normal. Other than the appearance of Yoriko of course. Kaneki hadn't expected her to still go to college at Kamii after joining the CCG as a spy. Despite that, she was still very clumsy and used the wrong hand to shake Kaneki's offered hand.

Well other than that, Kaneki's new life was uneventful (apart from the occasional girl asking him out).

(December 7th, 22:41)

Kaneki breathed a puff of air as he blocked the number that kept sending him flirty messages. Even after getting a new phone, people still somehow got their hands on his number. Anyway, what made him think that going to the 14th ward in the freezing cold was a good idea? Let alone at night. On top of that, wearing a black hoodie with his (sentimentally valued) mask in its pocket and a regular pair of jeans that carried his wallet and keys. Well, whatever made the thought come to his mind, he should hurry up and get back home because it was getting chillier by the second.

However, quiet, swift footsteps behind Kaneki made him turn around as his instincts flared and he prepared to fight anything that posed a threat to his bein- "Oh, Hey! What's with that scary look?"

Kaneki stopped his thought process as he realised he was looking at his blond friend. "O-oh." Kaneki smiled sheepishly and mentally face palmed. It had always been a habit of his, expecting every sudden occurrence to be a threat. But at least sometimes it actually comes in handy like when he was faced with a ghoul. "Sorry, didn't expect to meet you out so late."

"You could scare the living shit out someone if you give them that look you know." Hide warned as he jogged up to his best friend who was putting his phone away in his jean's pocket. "How are you not shivering when you're wearing that getup?!"

Kaneki smiled and put on a menacing tone. "Because I'm colder than the cold."

"If I didn't know you, I would call the police."

"Bad move. The CCG should be first on your mind."

"Yeah, you're right." Hide chuckled.

…

"Wait, why are you here? It quarter to eleven Hide, it's dangerous." Kaneki was worried that his friend could get himself in some trouble if he wasn't careful.

"You worry too much. Just out here for some nice fresh air."

"There's nothing nice about it. We're practically in a freezer."

"Except in a freezer, the air's not fresh." Hide replied as-a-matter-of-factly and smiled at Kaneki, expecting the latter to do the same except he frowned.

"I can never understand what that brain of yours is thinking." Kaneki shook his head.

"I make it a priority to conceal my identity." Hide said in a mockingly serious tone, turning his head to narrow his eyes at Kaneki who had his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"It's not really concealing your identity Hide."

"Same thing!"

"Not it's not actually."

…

"You were following me weren't you?" Kaneki looked at his friend who stuttered in response.

Hide sighed in defeat. "Well… kind of. When you texted me saying you were going to meet some 'people', I wanted to see who they were."

Kaneki raised an eyebrow. "You should've just aske-"

"AHHH!" A girlish scream echoed through the empty streets, cutting Hide off and alerting the half-ghoul. Silence followed through, making the two friends increasingly cautious.

They turned to looked at each other briefly before Kaneki grabbed Hide by the arm and dragged him towards where the sound came from. Kaneki had a bad feeling about this, and usually his instincts are right, which is usually good but not in this situation.

Wait! What am I doing?!

If I drag Hide into that mess then I'll put him in danger!

Kaneki turned on his left heel, facing the blond while skidding to a stop. Hide stumbled at the sudden movement. "What was that for?"

"You're staying here."

"So I'm guessing you're gonna stay here too?"

"No. I'm going to see what that scream was about."

Hide sighed, knowing that this was going to happen. "This is the part where I say 'Then I'm going too!', then you say 'No! It's too dangerous!', then I say 'I'm not going to leave you!', then you say 'I don't want you to get hurt!' then I say 'But keeping me here alone is dangerous too!', then you stutter and don't know what to say and we end up going together. You know, all that cliché stuff." Hide stared at the dumbfounded face of his friend, who was not expecting that answer. "Sooooo… let's g-"

"Hold it." Kaneki put his arm in front of Hide, stopping him. "I get what you're trying to say and knowing you, you'll probably end up convincing me anyway." Hide grinned. "But. Stay. With. Me. At. All. Costs. Got it?" Hide nodded, while the two took off to the sound, while Kaneki grabbed his mask from his pocket, fitting it on comfortably.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKIING ABOUT!" The voice of the girl rang through both their ears, louder this time telling them that they're getting closer.

"We're taking this right turn to the alleyway." Kaneki informed Hide, who almost bumped into a wall at the sudden turn.

"You could've said sooner." Hide mumbled before stopping behind Kaneki's still figure. Wondering why Kaneki had stopped, he looked up only to find a dark red-headed girl surrounded by five men, two of which Kaneki greatly recognised. A scruffy businessman and a caregiver. Turning to Kaneki, Hide was surprised to see his friend's visible eye widened. Even under the mask, he could tell the half-ghoul was horrified. "Kan-" Hide's mouth however was covered by a dark nailed hand as Kaneki's face turned serious and his eye became emotionless.

"Stay here Hide, I'll deal with them. There's nothing you can do to them, I can tell they're ghouls." Kaneki said to his friend, who nodded and removed the hand off his mouth.

"Alright, fine."

Their conversation however was heard by the men. Three of the men charged at them without hesitation while the other three (including the girl) stared at the half-ghoul in complete and utter shock.

The most muscular man threw a punch at Kaneki which he dodged, grabbed his vulnerable arm, twisted it and kneed the elbow joint. The man grunted in pain to the technique that Kaneki used against a similarly bulky man in the ghoul restaurant just over a year ago. Kaneki would follow up with a roundhouse kick if it weren't for a second man diving at him. Kaneki brought his arms in a cross in front of him to block the incoming head butt from the shorter man and took the brunt of a front kick from the muscular man. Kaneki grabbed onto the shorter man's shoulders and used them as foothold to do a front flip, dragging the man with him and letting go when his feet reach the floor, sending him flying forward towards the two remaining men beside the girl. The two ghouls dodged the attack, making the body fly past the girl and crash into a wall where a nasty crack could be heard along with crimson blood splattering around him. Hide mouthed a 'wow' before he realised the third man that charged at Kaneki was now heading towards him.

"Umm… hi?" Hide said as he stared at the incoming ghoul with a nervous smile. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. Though not useful against a ghoul's skin, it can be harmful to their eyes right? "Can we talk about this… please?"

There was no chance for the ghoul to consider the option because Kaneki had already seen the danger his best friend was in and back flipped onto the bigger man behind him, before proceeding to choke the man with his right arm over the bigger man's neck. Being fed up with the time it's taking to choke the man, Kaneki decided to snap his neck to speed up the process. Before the big man started to fall limply, Kaneki jumped off his shoulders towards the third ghoul.

"Stop attacking fools, that's him!" Kaneki heard a voice behind him say but he didn't care. It was just another one of the men and besides, he needed to help Hide.

Kaneki landed right between Hide and the ghoul who stopped abruptly at the command of the scruffy ghoul in a business suit. The half-ghoul didn't stop himself though, he brought his leg up and drop kicked the ghoul, sending his face crashing into the concrete, cracking the floor and most likely his skull too. Hide sighed in relief and mouthed a 'thanks' to his friend who stared at the other two ghouls who now stood on either side of the young girl that was staring at the white haired ghoul with an open, quivering mouth. A tear ran down her cheek while she looked into the masked ghoul who had now saved her twice. She subconsciously took a step forwards which resulted in her getting slapped by the chocolate haired ghoul.

"Unless you want to be beaten senseless, I suggest you let the girl go Toshio." Kaneki menacingly growled to the ghoul who just slapped the red-haired girl.

"It seems like luck is on our side." The other ghoul stepped forward and responded before Toshio could. "On top of the girl, we also get the Mukade."

Kaneki just stared, waiting if the man would say something worthwhile before he snapped his neck for Gazel's sake. "And you were looking for me because?"

"I'm just going to be upfront. We need your strength. Orders from above are to invite you." The man replied almost instantly.

Kaneki widened his eyes his eyes, and so did Hide. They didn't expect that reason of all things. "What?" Kaneki asked in total confusion.

"We need your strength Mukade. In case you haven't realised yet, you're famous in the ghoul world."

"What do you need my strength for? What's you little gang's name?" Kaneki wasn't planning to join any random organization, but he asked the question because his curiosity got the best of him.

The man smiled. "The aims of Kagakusha (Science freak) is to bring order to this world. To restore the balance that was lost and find the key to this birdcage."

"And how exactly will that girl help you?" There was menace in his voice, anger for hurting Gazel.

"Two reasons actually. First is to lure you out from under your little rock, Mukade. Second is to use her. We've been running low on test subjects recently." The man gave a wide smile, showing a single gold tooth.

Do they really think that I'd join them after telling me that they'll experiment on her? Idiots. "No." Kaneki deadpanned. Like hell he would let that happen. He'd heard it too many times. 'To bring peace' or 'For justice'. People like him saying those stupid sayings and beliefs that present themselves true on the outside, but harbour the most rotting lies on the inside. Just like an apple that rots from the inside out. Kaneki released his Kagune and two tendrils gracefully sprouted from his back. He's not going to go join some fools who mislead their thoughts, especially since they hurt Gazel.

The man sighed. "Of course you'd say that. That's where the third use for her comes in." He gestured to the girl who realised she was now the centre of attention. She took a step back but was immediately pushed forward by Toshio and grabbed by the arm.

"You come with us and she doesn't get killed." Toshio got straight to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush with the masked ghoul.

Kaneki stared at the men with narrow eyes for 5 tense seconds. He stepped forward, causing the two men to tense up. "What do you think you're doing?" Toshio asked, putting his hand on the girl's throat in warning as he eyed the advancing ghoul.

"You said come with you and she doesn't get hurt right?" Kaneki smiled under his mask, though it wasn't visible. Kaneki kept his tendrils behind his back, out of sight. Using the advantage that only rinkaku's have, Kaneki liquefied his kagune and split them in two to make four tendrils, sending two of them deep underground.

"Put the kagune away, we're not idiots, idiot." Toshio spat back at Kaneki, who shrugged and his two uncovered tendrils evaporated into a red mist. This lowered their guard down just an inch, but it was plenty for Kaneki. His visible eye grew wide with glee and he smirked beneath his mask just as two tendrils erupted from the ground in front of them. One wrapped itself around the girl while the other sharpened its scales and stabbed Toshio's abdomen. The girl was dragged back to Kaneki by the single tendril while the other kagune was almost immediately cut to shreds by the scruffy ghoul as it stabbed Toshio who was groaning in pain.

Kaneki ignored his pain and when the girl was in a safe distance, he allowed both his kagune to dismantle. The girl stumbled and fell onto the concrete floor while the two ghouls regained their composure and cursed their stupid mistake.

"Wanna play some more? I've still got time so how about it?" Kaneki dared while the two backed away after having their hostage freed.

"You fucker! You're so gonna regret that asshole!" Toshio cursed as he squeezed his slow healing abdomen. He stepped forward, causing Kaneki to raise his eyebrow. But before he could do anything stupid, he was held back and dragged wordlessly to safety by his partner in crime.

Hide sighed as he released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Kaneki can be really scary sometimes.

Gazel stared blankly at the masked figure three metres away from her as if admiring him, or maybe she was actually admiring him. Kaneki's eye soon lay on her kneeling figure, and although he seemed calm and emotionless, he was screaming on the inside.

He didn't know what to do. He forgot to plan ahead to when this would happen, which is pretty stupid.

…

"Do you remember me?" Kaneki was surprised by the sudden question, and decided whether to answer or not. Kaneki gave the faintest nod, unable to keep himself from turning to leave. Gazel nodded back, while her eyes were still wide as if she was having a hard time comprehending just who was before her.

"The real question is, do you recogn- remember me?" Kaneki allowed his voice to be the slightest bit smoother, despite his slip up in words.

"Of course I do…" She replied, still unable to get the shock of what the hell just happened in the past five minutes off her. "You saved me… you saved my life before as well."

Kaneki shook his head and turned to leave. "No, you don't remember me." He saw Hide in the shadows of the alleyway, staring at him with confused, questioning eyes.

"N-no!" Gazel shouted when she realised her masked saviour was going to leave for a second time. "I…I…" Kaneki turned his head and over at her from his shoulder.

The masked ghoul sighed. "When you remember me, then I'll come back to you. Don't worry, you'll have the chance." He jumped onto a building and disappeared from the girl's view before she could respond, leaving her to ponder on his words.

…

Tears welled up in the poor girls eyes. Had she really just seen her saviour and let him go again?

Why didn't I stop him? Why did I hesitate to speak? It's as if he…

Gazel struggled to get up. She looked over at the building where the ghoul disappeared, not even noticing the receding footsteps of Hide exciting the alleyway.

What did he mean I don't re… member him?

Gazel subconsciously began to walk home, still dazed at her unexpected encounter.

Hide waited, leaning on a lamppost while scrolling through his song list. "I need new songs." He sighed, just before a white haired boy began to approach him. Hide looked up to see the saddened, unmasked face of his best friend.

"Okay, explain. What THE HELL was that all about? Who was that girl and who's that 'Toshio' guy? You seem to know them." Hide stepped forward, pausing his music and resting his headphones around his neck.

Kaneki stared at the floor, before looking up. "Gazel was one of the people that I was going to visit. And Toshio is a ghoul that worked there as a caregiver."

Hide's eyes widened. "Really?!"

Hide continued to stare at his friend in surprise. "So what was the 'remember me' part all about?"

Kaneki sighed. "It's a long story."

"We've got nothing but time." Hide countered, desperate to know the full story and satisfy his curiosity.

"Not here Hide. I'll tell you when we get back to my place."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, it would be a problem if people saw the holes ripped out of your hoodie." Hide chuckled at Kaneki's surprised face when he turned his head to look at his back.

"Y-yeah, let's go."

I was originally planning to have Kaneki and Hide meet this new organization a different way, but since I got a request for Eyepatch to meet Gazel I decided I might as well just change the plan a bit so they could meet. I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review.