Two chapters in the same day? You know it, babyyyy!

This is a fun chapter, and then the next one will be Haise x Rize, and afterward will be a Kaneki-focused chapter, but then back to Haise and Mutsuki. That's what I got down so far, more in the author's notes.

Please enjoy!


Before Kaneki needed to drop Haise off at Rize's apartment near his old university, his older brother had talked him into getting matching half-masks. Setting their course to the newly managed 'HySy ArtMask Studio' on his phone, Haise was in charge of directions while Kaneki drove his SUV all the way to the 4th Ward from the 20th.

Due to the sketchiness of the urban area, with graffitied concrete walls and tall-rise apartments that looked in desperate need of renovations, Kaneki had to park a ten kilometers away from the back alley entrance to the mask shop. Having been accustomed to the 20th Ward, which was considered the more upscale neighborhood as far as ghoul real estate went, Kaneki couldn't help but feel out of place as they passed by several homeless camps of ghouls.

Walking alongside Haise while the two of them traversed down a dimly lit alley, Kaneki leaned his lips close to his older brother's ear as they passed by a group of malicious-looking ghouls— all of which were circled around a barrel-fire and who were eyeing the two well-dressed brothers. "Haise… Is my car going to be okay…? Or, uh… Are we gonna be fine…?" Kaneki asked with a slightly worried look in his eyes, as he saw the group of six ghouls approaching them.

Completely relaxed without a care in the world, Haise chuckled at what he saw as Kaneki being paranoid. "Yeah, of course we're going to be fine! You've been out in the wasteland, Ken— it doesn't get much worse than that," Haise said with a reassuring smile, before quickly reaching into his trench coat to upholster his decked-out pistol. "… Isn't that right, fellas?" Haise said with a malicious smirk on his face, as he quickly turned around to fire a single round into the asphalt between them and the group of ghouls who had tried sneaking up from their blindside.

Gnarling their teeth at the cocky look on Haise's face, the leader of the group of ghouls unleashed two giant tendrils from his shoulders and let out a cry of desperation as he tried bisecting both brothers. With the training he had thus far received from his older brother as well as the Yoshimura clan, Kaneki was able to keep up with Haise as they both smoothly ducted down to avoid the sideways swinging tendrils.

Smiling wide with an extremely excited look in his crazed eyes, Haise gave a side glance to his little brother before telling him, "Come on! This will be fun! Let me see what you've learned so far, Ken!" And what that said, Haise kept his gun out just in case he needed to step in, but other than that, he made it very clear to Kaneki that the six starving-mad ghouls who were attacking him were all his. "These guys shouldn't give you trouble, so take your time…"

"Uh… S-Sure, okay," Kaneki said with an uneasy chuckle, before standing up and extending his arms out as the tendrils came back for a follow up attack. Just like Haise showed him, Kaneki was able to catch the ghoul's kagune with both arms, before using its own moment to pick the tendrils up, along with the ghoul attached to them. Whipping the tension back, Kaneki was able to rip out the ghoul's kakuhou from its upper back, and tossed the disintegrating kagune away to the side.

With one ghoul incapacitated and laying in a pool of his own blood, Kaneki watched as two more desperate ghouls came rushing toward him with their own kagunes out and ready for the kill. Unraveling his own kagune to unveil four glowing-red tendrils from his lower back, Kaneki stepped forward and wrapped his kagune around his opponents' kagunes. Crushing them into a cloud of red-mist, Kaneki reached into his trench coat to pull out the quinque that Haise had gifted him with: Yukimura .

Feeling merciful, Kaneki made sure to only slice their arms and legs off, before hopping up to kick both of their limbless bodies directly into the wall of a nearby brick-building— causing them to crash through the wall and into the empty building. With three down, and three more charging at him with hatred in their black-and-red eyes, Kaneki's single kakugan became yellow-and-black, as his kagune began transforming with the DM-cells he had absorbed from Darkside.

Instead of four glowing red tendrils, Kaneki had two massive-bulky black-tendrils that had a centipede-like appearance to its chitinous-purple plating that gently had a red glow beneath the spaces separating it from the jet-black kagune. With Kaneki's frightening centipede kagune already causing the three ghouls to freeze up with fear, he had no problem slamming his massive black-tendrils down on their bodies. Luckily for the ghouls though, Kaneki made sure to liquify his kagune just before it slammed down on the heads of his opponents, so instead of them being splattered into a puddle, they instead were hit with a powerful wave of black liquid-steel that instantly knocked them out as it splashed against the asphalt beneath them.

With the amount of time it took Kaneki to pacify six ghouls amounting to about four seconds, Haise smiled with an impressed look in his eyes, as he holstered his SOCOM back into his trench coat. "Not too shabby. Although, it would have been faster if you just wasted them, but… Good on you! You're a nicer person than I am, Ken— that's for sure," Haise said half-jokingly, as he waited for Kaneki to walk back to his side, before the two continued on their way to HySy ArtMask Studio.

Adjusting his black trench and its special back-flap that allowed for a kagune to go through without damaging the outfit, Kaneki pursed his lips as he turned his attention back to his relaxed older brother. "Haise, I have to ask… Why do you like using guns so much? I've seen what you're capable of with a quinque, your kagune, and even without any weapons… Why is your 'go-to' method always a firearm?"

Shrugging, Haise glanced from the corner of his eye at Kaneki, who was adjusting his eyeglasses after having asked him a question. "Simple. Because it's easy— it takes a lot less effort to point a gun at someone and squeeze a trigger, than it is to fight them like how you just did," Haise explained, while admitting to his younger brother that he preferred to be lazy when he could get away with it. "Speaking of which… Did you need more for your side-piece, by the way?"

Shaking his head, Kaneki reached into his own black trench coat to pull out the modified M1911 pistol that Haise had gifted him. "I haven't really had the need to use it in Tokyo. I don't go out looking for trouble as much as you do, Haise," Kaneki said with a playful smirk on his face, before holstering it back where he kept it concealed.

Chortling at his younger brother's remark, Haise shrugged his shoulders before sliding his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Shame you don't, you're missing out Ken! You wouldn't believe the things you see out at night…" Haise said with a somewhat joking tone, as they walked the corner of the block they were on, before finding the alley way they needed to go down. "Also, to answer your question about your car being safe… Eh, it should be fine?" Haise said with an uncertainty in his voice, which didn't do much to ease his brother's mind.


When they arrived at the back way alley that led them down stairs in the dimly-lit basement corridor of what Kaneki assumed to be an office space for several different other businesses, the Black Reaper couldn't help but to notice that the inside of the hallway they were walking down was ratty, and had graffiti painted on the peeled-wallpaper that was clutching on for dear life to the rotting walls. "… You've been here before, haven't you?" Kaneki asked, while hoping for confirmation from Haise that they were actually at a legitimate business, and not a crack-head's den.

Nodding, Haise led Kaneki to the front entrance of the mask shop that had its business logo on the front door mat, as well as on the poster beside the gothic-appearing door. "Yeah, it's where I got my old mask from. You know, the one that I was wearing when you and I first started to get to know one another at Vault 079?" Haise said, while referring to the riot-helmet he had, before it was ruined by Darkside's teeth.

"… But then of course, that was before the owner of this place passed away three months ago… What a shame, he's was a weird guy, but otherwise he's was alright I think," Haise added, while referring to Uta— the same man that neither brother knew to be the one responsible for kidnapping Kaneki and Hide in the first place; nor was Haise aware that he had been the same masked clown who Arima had ordered Juuzou to behead.

"Oh… Sorry to hear that, were you two close?" Kaneki asked with respect for Haise's loss in his voice, to which his older brother answered his question with a nod of his head.

"Yeah, I think we were cool with one another. He and I used to share music recommendations, and he actually taught me to play guitar," Haise reminisced with a slight frown across his lips, as he thought of the good times he and Uta shared when he was still alive. "I think his apprentice was the one who took over the shop… She's a fireball— I think you'll like her," Haise said optimistically, before knocking three times on the door.

"Just a minute!" A woman's scratchy voice shouted from the other side of the door, leaving Haise and Kaneki to wait patiently in the dimly lit hallway as the new owner of the shop finished up what she was doing, before finally approaching the door with heavy-footsteps. After unlocking the deadlocks she had, a short petite woman with short blond hair stood at the door— her crimson red eyes matching the crimson-black fantasy-inspired gothic trench coat that she had on.

Waving a hand at her after recognizing who she was, Haise smiled as he began introducing himself and his brother. "How's it going, Asa? This is my younger brother Ken Kaneki, and I'm Haise Sasaki," he said, as he pointed to himself while the blonde ghoul stared back at the two of them with an annoyed look in her red eyes.

"I don't know who the hell either of you are! How do you even know my name? Did you know Uta, or some shit?" Asa asked sassily with an anger behind her voice, which almost immediately reminded Kaneki of Touka's own bitchy-attitude.

'Oh, how pleasant…' Kaneki thought sarcastically to himself, as he let out a sigh while staring back at Asa's fierce gaze. "My brother, Haise, said that he knew who the owner was… Was that his name? Uta?" Kaneki asked with a slight bit of impatience in his voice, as he was beginning to see no point in trying to appease someone who he had no reason to try to be nice to.

"That's what I just said, dipshit…" Asa muttered with an irked tone to her voice, before turning her attention immediately to Haise. "And how did you know Uta? Were you one of his friends, or something? You know my name, so that has to be the case, right?"

"Yeah… You'd be correct," Haise said with his eyelids half closed and a frown on his face. "So, uh… Can we commission you to get us hooked up with two new half-masks, or should we go find someone else who can?" Haise asked sassily, to which took Asa off guard, especially when he opened his wallet to flash the yen he still piled up in there.

"Uhhh… Y-Yeah, I can help you…" Asa said, and swallowed her pride up as she stepped aside to hold the door open for the two brothers. "Erm… Y-Yeah, come on inside guys, I'll get your measurements and jot you up something on my sketch pad, and then we can go from there."

Unlike how Kaneki thought his evening at the mask shop would go, he was slightly disappointed when it became apparent to him that he wouldn't get a mask immediately. All Asa did was take their facial measurements, drew some concept art for the matching half-masks she had in mind for them, and gave them her business card before Haise paid her half of the price she was charging the two of them.

Allowed to at least be given a copy of the concept art Asa had planned to use for when she would actually design the fallout-proof half-masks, Kaneki at least had something to show the others until the mask-making ghoul had completed her work.

The concept art showed a black half-mask that had a built-in neck-cover with a vertical zipper in the middle of it. With a leather mouth full of white teeth and red gums deprecated by a sideways zip to allow for a vacuum-sealed easy way to eat food, Kaneki was pleased with the fact that the mask's air filters were battery-powered, which meant that his face would remain cooled and the air beneath the leather would be circulated.

And the best part of the mask was the square eye-module that would cover his right eye. Although it looked like an eyepatch, it was actually equipped with four small cameras that would allow Kaneki to use thermal vision as well as zoom in to distant objects with its magnifying capabilities. So needless to say, Kaneki was really looking forward to wearing it out in the wastelands— something that he previously didn't think he'd ever be excited for.


With less than an hour to spare, Haise and Kaneki decided to spend the remainder of their night out together at an arcade that was on the way to the 6th Ward from the 4th. Due to Kaneki needing to be the designated driver, as well as the arcade not having any ghoul-friendly alcoholic beverages on tap, he had settle for an iced coffee while sitting beside Haise, who was taking shots of sake at the 1980's 'future-funk' themed establishment

Allocating only two minutes to get his drink on, Haise smashed shot-after-shot of sake, and managed to finish half a bottle before finally tapping out. While the alcohol was pumping through his liver and into his circulation system, Haise led Kaneki over to a token machine. With how much Haise had spent that day, Kaneki felt obligated to front the bill for their arcade outing, so he ended up spending two-thousand yen on tokens, before he and Haise began perusing the aisles of arcade machines.

While tickets were a commodity that Haise was believing to be more-and-more valuable the more the alcohol in his system swayed his judgement to believe so, Kaneki was more interested in playing cooperative games with his older brother. Even though he was buzzed, Haise was able to keep up with Kaneki when they were playing shooting games, and always ended up completing their entire campaigns without losing any health, and always scored their spots on the top of the leaderboard.

When it became obvious to the two brothers that most of the luck based arcade games were rigged, they sought after the 'skill' based games, which relied solely on their reaction time to earn the jackpot. Scoring the jackpot repeatedly due to their incredible reaction time, Haise and Kaneki were racking in enough tickets to not only earn the attention of nearby arcade goers, but the owner's attention himself.

In order to prevent Haise and Kaneki from screwing his business model over, the owner ordered his two cutest employees to approach them with gift baskets to lower their guards. Being thankful for their complimentary prizes and gift cards, it was then that the young women led the two reapers to the multicolored light up dance floor, that was very reminiscent of a disco floor— with even the sparkling silver bar rotating the projected lights on its shiny surface in the middle of the dance floor's ceiling.

While Kaneki at first was absolutely against the idea of embarrassing himself in front of a crowd of people egging him and his brother to get on the dance floor, he eventually settled by agreeing to stand in the corner of the dance floor, where he moved his hips slightly and bounced to the beat.

Haise, extremely inebriated and more extroverted than his younger brother, didn't hesitate to leap several meters into the air, before sliding across the technicolored dance floor until he was directly underneath the disco ball above. Getting up on his feet, Haise attempted to mimic what he knew of Micheal Jackson's dance moves, by grabbing his own crotch and getting on his tippy toes, as he stared down dramatically to the floor with his other air extended out in a diagonal angle.

Despite the fact that 'Plastic Love' was playing, which wasn't at all a Micheal Jackson song, Haise drunkenly danced away and earned the roaring crowd's admiration, which of course made Kaneki smile goofily, as even an introvert such as him couldn't help but feel joy from the positivity radiating within the dance floor.

All was well for Haise, until suddenly the spotlights of the ceiling made their way over to the new challenger that was approaching. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" The owner of the arcade announced with a microphone in his hand, as he stood behind the DJ who was slowly transitioning songs. "It would seem as though our recent dance champion has taken notice of our new comer…!"

"… Now welcoming onto the dance floor, we have one of the greatest ninjas all the way from the mystic Konohagakure! You all know him, ladies, you kind of love him, I think?! Now making his way to the center of the dance floor is the 'Toad Sage' himself: Jiraiya!" The announcer spoke ecstatically through the ceiling speakers, to which sparked another wave of excitement and applause from the audience, as the tall, muscular, and middle-aged man with long spiky white-haired tied into a pony-tail approached Haise with a confident, and drunken, grin on his face.

"Well, well, well… If it's isn't *HICC-UP*! Y-You!" Jiraiya tried saying, while having the intentions of sounding dramatic to put on a good show for the crowds cheering him on. Putting a finger up and pressing it against Haise's chest to stir up suspense, Jiraiya faked an intense glare at Haise before slurring, "T-This is muh swamp… I mean dance floor—dance floor!" Jiraiya quickly corrected himself, while silently cursing himself for having been watching Shrek on the television monitor above the bar counter he had been sitting before getting up to challenge Haise.

Catching onto the act that Jiraiya was putting on for everyone else, Haise playfully smacked the other man's finger away from his chest, before getting up close and personal to the shinobi— despite being noticeably shorter than him. "If… If this is your s-swamp, then *HICC-UP, consider your reign to be 'ogre'…!" Haise said with a wide grin on his face, and pridefully chuckled to himself while watching as Jiraiya's playfully serious demeanor broke the moment he got the pun.

Busting out with a belly-filled laugh, Jiraiya clapped his hands out of drunken amusement, and gave a hard smack on Haise's shoulder that momentarily dislocated it. Had Haise still been able to feel pain, or wasn't having such a good time, he would have noticed that he was on the floor after being smacked down to the ground by the powerful and drunk-happy shinobi. "—OGRE!!! HE SAID 'OGRE', INSTEAD OF 'OVER'!!! PFFFFTTTT—HAHAHAHA!!!" Jiraiya howled with hysteria, before accidentally tripping over Haise and landing smackdown on the dance floor.

Seeing how the dance off wasn't going to happen so long as the two men were laughing their asses off on the floor, the owner of the arcade instructed the same young women as before to make their way past the roaring crowd and to the dance floor. Ignoring the fact that both drunk men were shamelessly hitting on them as they helped up to their feet, the young women had to quietly remind both Haise and Jiraiya that they were supposed to have a dance off.

"Oh crap, that's right…!" Jiraiya chuckled to himself, before getting his head back into the game while jumping up-and-down. "Okay, 'Oreo-Head', you're about to get your ass whooped an old dude! Let me show you how it's DONE!!!"

Not one to back down from a challenge, Haise showed off his own bravado by raising his fist up and shaking it playfully at Jiraiya, "The future's now, old man! Prepare to witness TRUE A-AWESOMEN—*HICC-UP*!!!" And with Haise messing up what he had the say, the two dancers took several steps away from each other, before beginning to bust a move.

Spectating the two drunk men, it soon became apparent to Kaneki that neither Haise nor Jiraiya actually knew how to dance, and instead they were laughing and being goofy while trying to mimic any and all dance artists that they knew about. Despite the fact that neither men could dance to save their own lives, the audience was cheering them off, and it even got to the point where a few drunken women were beginning to flash their bare chests out for the two dancers to admire— earning a charming two-finger salute from Haise, and a wink along with a pair of finger guns pointed at them from Jiraiya.

Just when the two dancers seemed to be at a stalemate, Haise suddenly felt himself getting sick as the alcohol in his system was beginning to come back with a vengeance. Noticing Haise reaching up to block the vomit from escaping from his mouth, Jiraiya laughed hysterically with triumphant victory in his eyes as he watched Haise making a bee-line directly to the restrooms.

"AND THERE WE HAVE IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! Jiraiya remains the champion of the dance floor, and keeps his title for anoth— WHAT'S THIS NOW?!? THE OTHER CONTENDER'S BLACK-HAIRED COUNTERPART IS MAKING HIS WAY TO THE CENTER OF THE DANCE FLOOR, PEOPLE!!!" The announcer shouted loudly into the microphone, and stirred up the crowd into an uproar as Kaneki did his best to appear confident as he approached the much larger man.

"Oh, ho!? You're approaching me?! Instead of shying away like the wallflower you are, you're coming at me?!" Jiraiya bellowed out in a playfully challenging voice, as he watched Kaneki getting closer to him.

"I can't beat your ass on the dance floor without getting closer," Kaneki replied back with his own melodramatic tone in his voice, which immediately caused the crowd to let out an 'ooooo' as the Black Reaper smirked at Jiraiya's grinning face.

"Oh, ho! Then come as close as you'd like!" Jiraiya replied back, before letting out his best impression of a villainous laugh. When Kaneki finally came within a meter of the tall and impressively muscular man, the two locked eyes with one another, and waited as the song transitioned from 'Plastic Love', to 'Android 52 - Dancing All Night'.

Having the advantage of being sober, Kaneki kicked off the dance floor displaying a mixed form of moves he had learned from both Haise and Eto— martial art moves that Jiraiya instantly picked up on. Performing back flips, and spinning the floor like a break-dancer, Kaneki had a serious expression on his face as he danced surprisingly well for someone who never took a dance class in his life.

Realizing that shit just got real, Jiraiya became motivated and determined to not be shown up by someone who he saw as a child. Although Jiraiya didn't know much about real dancing, he was one of Japan's most skilled shinobis, and intended to remind everyone around him of that as he started using his own martial arts as a substitute for dance moves. Momentarily stunning even Kaneki, who didn't see any of it coming at all, Jiraiya moved his arms above and below his head in rhythmic motions, before flipping backwards and beginning to breakdance on the floor.

Spinning on his back, Jiraiya did the worm before flipping backwards from the floor and landing on his feet, where he proceeded to bend backwards before breaking it down while keeping himself completely upright with just one finger. As if that wasn't impressive enough, the middle aged man spun his legs around and once again went back to break-dancing, before finally finishing his prompt-to-routine by laying on his side with his elbow resting on the floor— his palm keeping his head propped up his chin, while the confident shinobi winked at another woman in the crowd who shook her bare breasts for him.

Although Kaneki had gotten his ass kicked on the dance floor, that didn't stop him from still letting loose and showing off his form to Jiraiya and the rest of the crowd, and the two spent the next ten minutes performing until finally the owner announced that Jiraiya had won the dance off. And while Haise was finishing up his business in the restroom, with a few young girls standing outside the hallway trying to ask if he needed their help, Kaneki and Jiraiya conversed with one another— and briefly introduced each other before exchanging phone numbers.

"You got potential, kid! You remind me a lot of my godchild— you both got that special drive in you that you don't see too often in people nowadays," Jiraiya said with a genuine look of friendliness and warmth on his face, before wishing Kaneki and his older brother a good rest of the night, and to get home safe.


With Haise sipping on an ice-cold bottle of ginger ale, Kaneki drove him toward the direction of his old university. Although Haise was feeling tuckered out, the half-ghoul still made it a point to be the one giving Kaneki's directions to Rize's apartment— which Kaneki previously once thought that he'd get to see for himself, before of course he found out that Rize was just trying to kill him.

Parking along the curb of the sidewalk, Kaneki was still in high spirits from his time out with his older brother— something that felt way different than anything he'd ever done with Hide. Smiling, Kaneki turned his head to his still buzzed older brother and jokingly said, "Hey Haise, make sure she doesn't eat you, okay? Trust me, it's an awful experience that I wouldn't recommend at all…!"

Finding his little brother's newfound sense of enjoyment and fun to be refreshing, Haise smirked as he turned his head to meet Kaneki's joyful gaze. "Can't promise you that one of us won't be eating the other tonight, if you catch my drift…" Haise said half-jokingly to Kaneki, who in turn chortled and snorted from finding his older brother's dirty humor to be silly.

"Pfffft, that's gross…!" Kaneki said with a wide closed-smile, while shaking his head at Haise before letting out a content sigh. "Ahh… I must say, I don't think… I don't think I've ever had this much fun before in my life. Like… I wasn't some shy guy who was third-wheeling this time— I actually felt like I belonged, you know? I-I know it sounds stupid to stop, but… You made me cool, Haise— I don't think I've ever gotten that from anyone else before, so… T-Thank you— Thanks for really making me feel like I could be the life of the party, haha…"

Tearing up from being emotionally flattered by someone who he respected as a good man, Haise put the empty bottle down in the central console's cup holder before wiping his eyes with his white sleeve. "Hehe, ah shoot, you're going to make me cry, Ken…!" Haise chuckled in a low voice, before letting out a recomposing sigh from his parted lips. "Hey, it's what brothers are for, aren't they? To help one another become better people?"

Nodding his head to agree with what Haise had said, Kaneki couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh as it finally hit him: when he was Haise, he didn't feel lonely— he genuinely saw the other man as his brother who he loved. 'Love… I love my brother. I don't think I ever thought I'd get to say that, but… It feels good!' Kaneki thought to himself with a smirk, before leaning out of his chair to wrap his arms around his surprised brother's body.

"Oh?! G-Getting a little sentimental now, aren't we?" Haise chuckled awkwardly, as he slowly returned the hug while patting Kaneki on the back.

"… I'm proud of us, Haise. Thank you… Thank you for being my older brother," Kaneki said with a genuine tone of endearment and brotherly-love in his voice, which caught Haise off guard to say the least.

"H-Hey now, no 'chick-flick' moments, alright, haha!" Haise said jokingly, as he slowly came around to embrace his younger brother in his arms. With Kaneki in his arms, Haise instantly felt himself becoming protective of the younger man in his arms, and part of him was realizing that he didn't want to let go of Kaneki. Taking in a deep breath, Haise couldn't help but wonder if what he was feeling in his chest could technically be considered 'love', and the longer the half-ghoul thought about what else it could be, the more it became obvious to him that he really didn't have any other explanation for what he felt for Kaneki.

"Ugh— nghh… Fine, I'll say it: I love you, bro," Haise said begrudgingly with a chuckle, before quickly clarifying what he said by adding, "Not in a 'gay-incesty' way though— like as brothers, and all the family-crap... No offense to the Yasuhisa twins."

"Pfft…! I love you too, Haise," Kaneki replied back with curled lips. Pulling away from their hug, Kaneki raised a playful brow at Haise and laughed before asking, "Whatever happened to 'no chick-flick' moments, hmmm?"

Rolling his eyes at Kaneki's sassy jab, Haise shot back at him, "Don't make me regret saying it…" Unbuckling his seat belt, Haise took his trash with him before closing the door, and stood on the sidewalk as Kaneki lowered the passenger-side window down. "Alrighty Ken, you can probably guess what the rest of my night's gonna be looking like. What about you? Got any plans? Or are you just gonna head home and call it a night?"

"Me? I think I'm going to head home and take some notes of everything Teuchi told me earlier— I think it'll be helpful if more people knew about Konohagakure's background— it'll bridge the gap between our cultures, I think," Kaneki replied back with a fading smile, before slowly shrugging. "As for the morning though… I think I'm going to go visit the twins, and have the talk that you told me to have with them…"

"You look nervous," Haise pointed out with an understanding look in his mismatched eyes, to which Kaneki nodded his head.

"Honestly? I am. But… I can't keep a secret from them, especially if I'm trying to start a meaningful relationship with them," Kaneki mused out loud, without knowing that what he was saying meant more to Haise than he realized. "I'm going to start fresh with them, make what we have special, and go from there… Thank you for that advice earlier by the way, I… I think I needed to hear that."

"… Y-Yeah, of course. It's what I'm here for, Ken." Haise replied back with a forced carefree smile on his face, as all of a sudden he felt conflicted about what he was about to do with Rize. "Uhhh… Alright, well… Text me when you get home, mmkay? That way I know you're safe, and that way I can go to bed without worrying about you."

Taking his cellphone out of the center console, Kaneki waved the mobile device at his brother before sliding it back into the cup holder. "Don't worry Haise, I'll be sure to let you know when I'm home safe. I love you again, and have a good night with Kamishiro— don't forget to use protection!" Kaneki advised, before driving off after Haise said his goodbye to him.

While Haise went into Rize's apartment to spend the rest of the night with her before needing to be dropped off at his agency, Kaneki drove through streets of Tokyo and was homebound with a new sense of confidence and more outgoing outlook on life— something that Haise greatly had had a hand in. And as Kaneki drove beneath the neon signs and large television screens mounted on the skyscrapers above, he couldn't help but to finally allow himself to jam out to music that he learned from Haise, with 'future funk' being something that he found especially fun.


And that's the end! Jiraiya isn't dead in this AU guys, lmao. I feel as though Jiraiya being alive would explain why Naruto doesn't distrust ghouls like the rest of the survivors from Konohagakure. Jiraiya, being a very worldly person, wrote books on his findings, so of course he would write about ghouls. He's very respected, but I can imagine that most people were too set in their ways to fully agree with his non-prejudice views on ghouls.

The purpose of this chapter was to show Haise and Kaneki being brotherly and having a good time together, but also to show that they're making a positive impression on one another. Also had to throw in that JoJo reference in there, lol.

Okay, time for the reviews lol.

In order to add Shinji into the mix, and the Eva units, I'm going to have to nerf them like how I did with the Naruto cast. So instead of the Eva-units being gods, they're just going to be artificially manufactured dragons that are controlled with a plug suit, but ultimately late the AT-Field that would break them They'll run on cold-fusion though, which is possible in the Fallout universe, and in this AU the only people who have access to that technology would be the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel.

Honestly though, having Godzilla from the Legendary series fighting a nerfed Eva-01 sounds fun, and it could be the reason why Shinji would need to abandon his Eva-01 unit. Godzilla, or Gojira, would destroy it, and go back into the ocean once it fed on it. Godzilla's existence being in the Tokyo Bay Area would honestly explain why the Enclave hasn't landed there yet. Because they rely heavily on nuclear energy, their ships and Eva units would keep on getting targeted by Godzilla, who would be a silent protector of that area who sees Tokyo Bay as his territory.

I mean, fuck it, why not? This isn't a serious canon fanfic, it's one that's written with the sole purpose of being entertaining. And I think writing a battle between Eva-01 and Godzilla would be very entertaining. The best part is that no one would believe in Shinji or his friends about the existence of Godzilla— which would also explain why Tokyo Bay doesn't have any dragons in it, and why the waters are safe, with everyone simply believing that it's the salt water that keeps dragons away.

Eto being related to Black Zetsu's concubine would make Kaneki sort of related to her? There would be a six-hundred or so year difference between Masamune's birth and Kaneki being created from his DNA, so… I don't know? It's not like Eto is a direct descendant of Masamune's mother, it could just be a coincidence. You know how much I love ambiguity, so it's up in the air.

Also thank you for giving me great suggestions for as far as Naruto lore went and how it could fit into this AU— it's been a while since I've watched it lol, so it's great to have help with ideas. Sakura and Hinata living with Naruto and his mom would make sense, but it would mean that Sasuke would probably live with Kakashi or Jiraiya. Also, having Kushina urging for grandkids would make sense, considering that most of their village was nuked. Hinata is part of team seven for the reason you mentioned— her family and team died, and she survived by running away, so she does have guilt for it and sees Naruto as her 'light'.

Sakura and Hinata being bisexual for each other while Naruto is their love interest is a big yeehaw from this cowboy. It's hot, and perfect. As for Sasuke, idk, there's Hinami I guess, but then he doesn't like ghouls so idk, any suggestions? It's not important, but hey, it's something.

And as far as Haise and Ayame having sex, it's heavily hinted that he got head from her, but it's ambiguous again. I'm glad that I'm able to show Sakura being less Sasuke-crazy, while also trying to work on Hinata being less one-dimensional too. Hinata and Hinami would probably get along, and Sasuke and Ayato would definitely butt heads.

I can see Kushina applying to become a peacekeeper, due to her being a capable konichi and having leadership abilities. Her and Arima would kinda make a good couple, ngl, especially with Kakashi seeing her as a mother figure and him having beef with Arima the most. That's what it comes down to btw. Kakashi doesn't like Haise, because he's Arima's protege. Arima was the one person Kakashi could never beat when they were younger, which would have fueled his dislike for reapers, especially when he would later learn that he was kidnapped and taken to Sunlit Gardens after V murdered his parents.

Anyways, I think about it? Remember, the next chapter is Haise x Rize, which I'll try to write more romantically than my previous work, sort of how I did Haise x Roma— I'm going to try to write my lemons more romantic and intimidating, rather than just raunchy.

Alrighty, thank you for reading, and have a damn good day!