So I was wondering if you guys would prefer it if I had a set schedule for updating. I'm fine either way but would it be easier for you guys to know what days to expect a new chapter?

For example, if I choose 2 or 3 days of the week like Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday when I make sure to update or choose a time span between updates like every 4 days.

The other option would be to stick to what I'm doing now where I just post a chapter as soon as I'm done. It means I might update after four days or two days in a row so it's kind of unpredictable but the pro is that I'll update faster than with a set schedule.

…

McGonagall and Kaneki had appearated to the apartment Tsukiyama had given him after he (regrettably) had to drop out of school.

Kaneki stuck his hand under the welcome mat and pulled out the key and for the first time in a while entered the little apartment. The place wasn't squeaky clean, but for the most part, it was orderly.

The first thing he did once inside his house was to go to the closet. It wasn't to pack though, no, he simply swiftly changed out of his embarrassing shirt.

He'd been living mostly in revealing spandex battle suits that weren't really his style so it felt a little heavenly to finally be back in his preferred, more formal, clothes.

"It's a nice home," McGonagall complimented.

"Thank you," Kaneki said casually.

Moving to one of the many bookshelves that littered the apartment he scanned for a particular book and pulled it out to reveal another book hidden behind it. When he opened the book instead of pages he was met with the hollowed-out space that he made to hide his wand.

When he touched it, it felt like when he had first held the wand at Ollivanders'. A piece of him was back after years of being suppressed and though there weren't any sparks it still felt magical.

Tucking the wand into his back pocket he went to the closet and rummaged around for a suitcase. Unfortunately, all he had was his backpack and for a second he wondered how he would fit all the clothes he needed in it until he realized he was being stupid.

"Professor, could you put an expansion on this?" He asked as he walked back into his living room. He didn't really remember much magic so it was probably better if he let her do it.

McGonagall nodded and pulled out her wand. "Expandus," She said with a wave.

The bag shimmered for a second but looked otherwise the same. Then Kaneki suddenly remembered the Asian hospitality that was beaten into his very being as he realized she was still standing awkwardly by the door.

"Oh god! Pardon my manners! Please come inside, just take off your shoes first. I'll be a while so feel free to watch the TV or grab a book. Before I go would you like coffee? I was fancying a cup myself," He said quickly.

"I'll take a cup if you're making one," McGonagall said with a yawn, realizing that it was about 11 pm at Hogwarts.

While Kaneki made the coffee she looked at the mini-library the boy had amassed. She looked through them until he noticed a set of books that seemed much more worn than the others (Can you guess the author?). Since the writing was in Japanese though she didn't pay it too much mind.

She sighed discontentedly. She was garbage at any and all translation charms so she'd come without one and now she was regretting it. She should've asked Flitwick for one, it would've made Japan so much less mysterious.

Kaneki turned on a speaker that looked like a radio that Hide had gotten him because it fit well with the dark academia aesthetic of the home as he got out his coffee beans. A soft melody rang through the room and McGonagall found herself enjoying the melody even though the words were Japanese.

Kaneki, on the other hand, froze the moment the vocalist started singing. This wasn't Ikura singing, no, this was a voice he knew intimately. A voice that had professed that Kaneki was a better singer, a voice he loved from the very bottom of his heart.

Hide

He'd been here before the raid. Before he said he'd known the entire. Before he professed his love to Kaneki. Before he told him to live. Before he asked to go home.

This was Halzion by Yoasobi. Hide wasn't a big fan of the song, it just wasn't his type of music. No, Yoasobi was Kaneki's favorite band. Hide hadn't ever really been confident in his ability to sing so why-

The lyrics were different.

It was just one line but it recontextualized the entire song. The line "No matter from now on, even if you're not here" was "No matter from now on, we will never be alone".

And then it all clicked. Hide had been broken up over Kaneki's disappearance but instead of finding other people, better people, he further intertwined himself with Kaneki. Hide vowed to find him and did, connecting the past and future, and making sure they would never be separated again.

Hide had been prepared for the fact that he might not survive, and of course, he was the only one who would try to cheer up Kaneki even after death.

"-ki? Kaneki!?"

Kaneki was startled out of his thoughts by McGonagall's worried voice. He hadn't noticed that his knees had given out, leaving him on the floor.

"S-sorry," Kaneki said clutching his forehead.

"Are you alright? You gave me quite the scare though. Do you need to sit down? don't push yourself too much," She said as she helped him up

"No I'm fi-." he started when he was interrupted.

"Please don't lie. You just collapsed, you're clearly not fine." She warned.

"It's just old memories," He reassured.

"Alright, but if you feel faint, sit down, ok?" She said not entirely convinced.

"Ok," Kaneki said before falling back into the routine of making coffee. At this point, the ritual was muscle memory. He managed to ignore how McGonagall kept checking up on him and enjoyed the amazing smell of hot coffee that slowly seeped into everything in the house.

"Would you like cream and sugar?" He asked, never noticing how much he sounded like a barista.

"Just a little," She said pulling out one of the few English books in the house.

Kaneki nodded grabbing some powder creamer and a small jar of sugar.

Moments later he gently handed her a mug. She took a sip and almost immediately her eyes went wide. "This coffee is amazing!" She said softly, in shock.

Kaneki smiled softly and politely at the compliment. "Thanks," he said, not realizing that she'd spoken too softly for most humans to pick up.

Kaneki walked away leaving a mildly surprised McGonagall.

…

He had just about finished putting most of his clothes in his bag. Most of it was his usual dress shirts, slacks, and sweaters but he threw in a kimono he had too because he wasn't sure what he'd wear if he needed something nicer than usual.

Then, when he thought he was done, he remembered the fact that it would be hard to find japanese muggle books at Hogwarts. He then proceeded to empty most of his extensive book collection into the bag along with his coffee beans, manual coffee grinder, and a pour-over coffee maker.

By the time he was done the bag was heavy even for him and his ghoul strength.

"Alright professor, I'm done. I just need to pick up what I dropped off at the mask shop." Kaneki said.

"Ok- Oh! Do you need a feather-light charm on your bag?" She asked.

"Ah, actually, that would be really helpful," he admitted.

She tapped the bag with her wand and mumbled a spell under her breath and instantly the weight disappeared from his shoulders.

McGonagall then apparated them to an alley right beside the mask shop. Walking in, Kaneki noticed that Uta wasn't up front and assumed he was in his workshop.

"Uta-san?" He called out.

"I'm back here. Just let yourself in," Uta replied.

"Professor, do you mind if I go back by myself?" Kaneki asked her in English, knowing that Uta+human=chaos. Uta apparently overheard what he was saying though and interjected.

"She can come back too," Uta said, the smirk audible in his voice.

Kaneki face momentarily scrunched up in destain at the realization that Uta was going to make this troublesome.

Pushing open a door that said employees only, he saw a workshop where Uta was sat making a mask. Before opening the door completely and slipping through he scanned the room for any "snacks" that Uta usually had laying around. After finding none he relaxed slightly and stepped in with McGonagall following close behind.

"How was itori?" Uta asked never taking his eyes off of the mask he was currently making.

"Annoying, where's my mask?" Kaneki said, surprised that Uta hadn't tried anything.

"It's on my desk. Since you said it wouldn't be on the field again for a bit I took the liberty of putting it in a nicer box so the leather doesn't get bent out of shape," Uta said

"I'll be on my way th-," Kaneki started only for Uta to cut him off.

"Actually I was wonder if I could make a mask for her," Uta said finally looking up from his project to point at McGonagall.

Kaneki went to say no only for McGonagall to surprise him.

"Really?!" She asked excitedly getting a nod from Uta in response.

"I've wanted one for a while but personal masks are expensive and I wouldn't be able to wear it much so I've put it off," She said.

Kaneki just stood off to the side slightly awestruck as Uta took measurements. McGonagall had always been so professional that he never thought that she would be interested in muggle alternative fashion.

The two seemed to get along surprisingly even with Uta's shitty English and by the time they left they could even be called friends.

Kaneki let himself absorb the sights and sounds of Tokyo as they stepped out of the shop. After all, he wouldn't be able to see any of it for a while. This time when he closed his eyes he prepared himself for more than just apparition. Fifteen nauseating seconds later he stood in front of an imposing new challenge, distinctly different from what he'd faced before.

Hogwart's, a world of magic.