Same night with some manga references. Cake thoughts are thanks to the Easter cakes for Easter.
Still feels weird putting these up and don't wanna make things feel rushed on here. I don't know what to expect of views or reviews at this stage of my mindset toward the story but from 12 on everything links together. Bear with me on this ride. A peacefully chaotic cycle with a touch of realism is all I can comprehend right now. Error judgement and all.
Hide's place...
After what felt like searching the whole night for possible options, Hide handed Ken a few Mangas that represent himself, cycle 1 Ken, Cycle 2 Ken as well as Yuno and Yukiteru;Arifureta to represent cycle 1 Ken, Higurashi When They Cry representing Yuki and Yuno and Ajin representing half ghoul Black haired Ken and Cycle 2 Hide. If there are any others Hide wasnt sure if he'd easily find them in his mess of a room.
"That should keep you busy." says Hide proudly.
"These aren't ghoul manga..." says Ken uneasily.
"I wouldn't know where to begin for demon manga as your first to read. So have fun with those so you have a peace of mind like you rightfully deserve. You should easily pick out who is who until you find the manga you wanna be part of." says Hide.
"Is there any others?" wonders Ken raising an eyebrow.
"Hard to say. These are all shared Manga that we agreed to leave here due to reasons you most likely know of." says Hide pondering.
"Then give me one batch of volumes at a time." says Ken unamused.
"If you are like my Ken, you'll manage just fine." says Hide grabbing two manga he was 50\50 toward giving Ken.
"So I have to depict us in the characters before becoming part of a Manga?" wonders Ken glaring at the stack of Manga.
"Yeah, so we can read the one you like the most." says Hide facing Ken.
"Hmmmm...fine. I'll go along with it. Suspicious about it though." says Ken frowning at the books.
"Can't go wrong with the ones you take to over the others." says Hide shrugging
"This is to weird to be real." thinks Ken reverting his eyes.
"Manga aside, with you having to eat other me's meals and snacks, I wouldn't be picturing a fit Hideyoshi." says Ken.
"In your words, I run as fast as flash when looking for my buddy unless biking which is rare." says Hide.
"Can't deny that. If other me comes to visit a lot, his cooking would fatten you no sweat. How much would you be weighing by now between him giving you his plates and snacks given by your foster dad if he did, school lunches and a ghoul's delicious cooking?" says Ken.
"Are you suspecting that I'd take joy in food despite the delight in teasing said half ghoul about it?" wonders Hide.
"I need to know a set weight ya dummy." says Ken annoyed.
Hide merely shrugged and turned Ken toward the door and pushed Ken out of the room before kicking the bedroom door shut.
"My memories are blurry for the most part. A boy who loves to run needs a lot of fuel. It did take its toll over time but dad forced me to get in shape for the CCG life. Getting a ghoul as a first and only friend lead to me being fed more than usual so it wouldn't be suspicious. It was already bad hearing that Ken was never fed and never ate the lunch he asked for." says Hide.
"You never bothered to weigh yourself?" wonders Ken.
"You don't give a shit as a teen so it didn't dawn on me until my dad screamed at me to workout and slim down to make it easier to catch ghouls. I got into the place but no killings for me to partake in yet." says Hide.
"So all that jogging and whatever else went to waste." mutters Ken.
"So far. Can never tell when my paper boy status will turn into me being around Amon, Juuzou and the others." says Hide.
"I'd much rather you a safe distance from ghouls at all times, looking like a meal or not. An all fast food diet may be hell to abide too though. A breakfast buffet for one human sounds greedy but you'd have to eat what's on the table. I'm used to as fast as lightning Hideyoshi when he glomps the shit outta me and then some if we met up. The new Hide we are to pass off as reality can either go well or go sour." says Ken groaning.
"It's a two way street my coworkers will have to take notice of." says Hide.
"If I never cared what people thought, who knows where I'd be right now." huffs Ken trying to smile.
"Watching you order takeout at lunch breaks screams something is up." says Hide.
"Have they!?" wonders Ken wide eyed.
"Not that I have seen." says Hide.
"A personal chef should be ecstatic not nerve wrecked. I should've agreed to making all your meals so you can pig out all you want." says Ken jokingly.
"Joking around is when I put on my hero attire for you to toy with." says Hide amused.
"I'm not force feeding your ass." says Ken glaring at Hide.
"Course not, but you will have to place everything you make infront of me." says Hide.
"But that'd mean the first meal of the day will be hell to keep up with." says Ken taken aback.
"It's already been a week and you said you'd up my intake." says Hide.
"NOT LIKE THAT!" yells Ken.
"Once said, can't be undone." says Hide.
"I should've latched my kagune around your waist but you turned around before I could." mutters Ken annoyed.
"Uh huh." says Hide unamused.
"We should be hanging out on buildings not be actual roomies." says Ken.
"We need things to be as normal as possible." says Hide.
"Yeah, yeah. Your funeral. A feast filled funeral you'd want to die for if tempted." says Ken waving it off.
"Haha." says Hide acting hurt.
"Since you're pleading for a big breakfast, may as well start off with you eating as much snacks as possible to make room for it." says Ken heading over to the couch to set the manga down.
"I'm not starving. We can wait till tomorrow. It's getting late anyway. You keep freaking about being the creepy lover feeder type." says Hide.
"Actually, feeding you with my Kagune while it pins you down sounds heavenly if I want to read the night away." says Ken smugly.
"That's not proper force-"
"You wanted a feel for kagune tentacles so now's your chance." says Ken chuckling.
"Are you sleep deprived? You're sounding loopy for a Ken that prefers human way of going about things." says Hide blinking worriedly.
"How does a big basket of bunny and egg shaped chocolates sound? Or a midnight dessert for kicks? Egg shaped chocolate cake with blue buttercream with blue swirls is sounding good right now." says Ken pondering.
"Doesn't matter to me when it comes to desserts or snacks." says Hide confused.
Antieku...
Cycle 2 Ken was relieved to see no more customers in the shop. Everyone was staring at him strangely all day yet not a word was spoken with Touka screaming at everyone to stop staring at the new worker.
"Wonder why Hide never appeared. He nor my lookalike appeared since the day they left before I came to these kind hearted ghouls. Maybe Hide feels like he can't be here anymore due to Touka? Hide wouldn't stay away without a reason. There are loads of coffee shops in Tokyo but this place was our favorite yet it left a burden over our shoulders just the same." says Ken looking outside.
"It's better to leave it be until next he comes with the lookalike as customers. Whenever that ends up being." thinks Ken growing concerned.
Ken was about to turn in for the night when he saw two pairs of eyes staring at him from outside and jumped back freaked out.
"How long was I being stared at!?" thinks Ken.
Ken stared from the staircase to the door, going back and forth until his mind got dizzy.
"It'd be rude to ignore a person who comes to the door but would it be the same way? I'll have to deal with the screaming tomorrow." says Ken heading to the store door.
Ken heard the voices of a girl and boy and footsteps heading toward the door. When he peeked out the door he was face to face with a girl who didn't look like an outdoors type with blue pigtails and a blonde boy with pointy teeth.
"Not to be rude but a couple outside this late an hour could mean trouble." says Ken hesitantly.
Usually humans instantly forced the ghoul in him to come out yet this duo seemed different. Ken couldn't put his head around it but why wasn't his kagune alerting him of human company. They had to be humans right? Shark teeth aside, there was no way there'd be other half demons like him around. That he knew was true.
"You ok man? You look like you saw a monster." says Ginshi confused.
"Those monsters were us that he saw you dope." says Saiko annoyed.
"Must be my teeth. Sorry man. Can't help that." says Ginshi trying to lighten the mood.
"If I had a new friend for every time I said 'Can't help what I am.' I'd have alot of supportive school friends by now." mumbles Ken.
"You have no friends AT ALL!?" wonders Ginshi stunned.
"I did have 1 but I don't think it will ever be the same." says Ken frowning.
"Ginshi, he looks like that kid that got killed by a ghoul. You know, that construction ghoul killing." says Saiko glaring at Ginshi.
"He does?" wonders Ginshi looking at Ken closely, "Well whatya know. How'd you heal so fast if you were pronounced dead?"
"I'm not sure how to answer that." mumbles Ken reverting his eyes.
"You gotta tell us how you came back from the dead! That's to amazing a thing!" says Ginshi amazed.
"I don't know how to respond! I got injured by the ravenous ghoul and before I knew it my wounds were healed up and I felt just fine as if I were a...those creatures humans detest." says Ken growing quiet.
"You think you're a ghoul due to instant recovery? What kind of imagination is that!?" wonders Ginshi.
"I never went to the hospital so I can only assume I have ghoul abilities despite feeling like a human." says Ken.
"Have you ever eaten live humans?" wonders Saiko frowning.
"Never." says Ken shaking his head.
"Does your eye go black and red when danger is around?" wonders Saiko.
"I'm still reeling from social anxiety due to my school days. I never showed signs of being a ghoul during those years. I was a loner due to anxiety between the society's take on ghouls and if anyone were to find out." says Ken.
"You said you had one friend." says Saiko.
"He was yet wasn't. He was just there, always by my side. I always had to flee from him but he never let up." says Ken.
"So it was a male buddy." says Ginshi.
Ken went quiet wishing he never opened the door.
"How does the food humans eat taste to you?" wonders Saiko.
"The taste is horrible so I kept giving it to my lone friend but that only added to the suspicions." says Ken shaky eyed.
"What was his name mister 'I am actually a ghoul. No joke.'?" wonders Ginshi.
"Hide." whispers Ken gloomily keeping his eyes from staring at the two peculiar visitors.
"Look at us when saying it." says Saiko.
"His name was Hideyoshi, loves being called Hide. I ditched him after graduation." says Ken looking them dead in the eyes mouth going dry.
Ken suddenly felt like he was digging his own grave telling them about himself.
"Are you done with the questions? I need to get to bed for tomorrow's work hours or the staff will be pissed." says Ken slowly closing the door.
"You know Hideyoshi!?" wonders Ginshi.
"More or less." says Ken making sure to lock the door.
'HEY! WHERE IS HIS HOUSE!?' wonders Ginshi.
Ken leaned against the door waiting for them to disappear so the rest of the staff could sleep.
'Where is Hideyoshi's house!?' wonders Ginshi trying to open the door.
"Hell if I know. If I could sniff em out I would without anyone noticing. How do these two know Hideyoshi? Only other people to know him are those at the ghoul killing place and college. College students have dorms so that can't be it. Which only leaves the other option. Why me...? Why now?" mutters Ken sliding to a sitting position.
'We'll come back tomorrow! To talk introvert to introvert!' says Saiko.
"How can a CCG member be an introvert when they need to be on call at all times? If you arent the human professionals, that means you are demons of some sort." says Ken lifting his head up.
'We are ghouls in a sense. We are the last resort when hunting down ghouls.' says Saiko.
"Like me no doubt..." mumbles Ken curling up.
'Quinx who are looking for a work buddy wouldn't care for a weak minded demon like you.' says Saiko.
"You all go after any and every ghoul in sight. How can I trust your word?" mumbles Ken setting his head on his arm.
'You never went after us.' says Saiko.
"You werent exactly ready to kill either. You are humans with a ghoul's kagune right? Would that make me one of you even if I eat a different kind of food?" says Ken.
'The hell are you talking about?' wonders Ginshi.
"I am neither human nor ghoul so is this freak you need answers from be killable like the family I once knew?" mumbles Ken tearing up.
'A family you once knew?' wonders Ginshi.
"Nothing...nevermind. You probably never knew about it since you were in elementary like myself back then." says Ken slinking down.
'If you let us stay in your room for the night, we can talk all day but you will have to let us eat for free.' says Saiko.
"GO back to the CCG where ghoul killers belong." says Ken frowning.
'We got separated from our group and this was the first place we could find to stay at. Are you willing to keep us out in the cold all night? Considering you, that's a no brainer.' says Saiko.
"I'm not letting in CCG subordinates. I'm not about to let everyone here die over pitiful ghoul claims. Especially ghouls who don't harm people." says Ken standing up.
'If you wanna be treated as a quinx member, you have to get to know us better miserable demonic human." grumbles Ginshi clenching his fists.
"There's only 1 bed rooms for the staff so it'll be hard finding you a place to sleep in my room unless you prefer cold floors." says Ken wearily grabbing the lock.
Ken reluctantly unlocked the door to let the quinx duo inside which they were happy to do.
"Lets go before anyone notices you." huffs Ken heading upstairs.
Without another word, the quinx duo followed Ken to his room to sleep for the night.
Hide's place...
Thanks to the delusions that sprang into Ken's head, Ken had been baking desserts; 4 batches of brownies, 4 chocolate buttercream cakes;2 with vanilla icing and 2 with chocolate icing, 2 cheesecakes topped with strawberries and others like cookies and cupcakes he lost count of. His mind was on a sugar rush tending to Hide while trying to distract himself with the bloodlust that Higurashi gave off. If Hide truly wanted this, the more the merrier as they always say and this was a sure fire way to get his stomach to stick out.
He was to focused on the chapter he was on to get a good look at his best friend's appearance. The twins seemed like him and his doppelganger, the girl who loved cute things yet looked scary to the boy seemed like Yuno, the boy didn't like killing and torture but always seemed to get dragged into it was making him think of Yukiteru. He wasn't sure of the other characters. All he knew was, despite the friends that seemed demonic with the devilish cat demon eyes when around the boy named Keiichi at the weirdest of times, the officer named Oishi...he was one to give off mixed signals on how he went about helping the villagers. The photographer and girlfriend with a cunning expression, whatever her name was, on the other hand, the guy was overall kind while the girlfriend gave off odd vibes despite seeming kind to the group of school kids; whichever of them she and the male in the cap came across. He had doubts of the woman but he didn't know much about the manga to tell if she was friend or foe.
"So this is what Hide claims as demonic manga. No demons in sight as far as what actual demons look like. Just humans with a demonic possession essence to them for whatever reason involving Keiichi. Diabolical. This manga shows craziness, demonic bloodlust, friendship...hatred toward others. And each scenario, a different female friend goes psycho. Oyashiro's curse huh? It's like ghouls showing their true colors yet it's the humans showing their true colors instead. No...curse or not, they get to stay friends with Keiichi. Every villager sticks together as if they were one big family. Even Keiichi falls into the crazy category for thinking he slaughtered his friends when they are still around as if nothing happened. That's freaky all on its own." thinks Ken.
Ken turned his head to tell Hide he realized what his friend meant by demon manga. He dropped the desserts his kagune were holding and instantly put them away sweating nervously.
"I got to distracted by the characters..." thinks Ken wearily.
