Chapter 2

Hide pushed open the door and smiled as he heard the doorbell chime out. He had taken care to go to the store at approximately the same time as his last visit, not only because it worked best for his schedule, but because he hoped that Kaneki would be there this time as well. The only reason, of course, being that Kaneki had seemed very open about answering Hide's questions as well as being very knowledgeable. If Hide was being honest with himself then his gentle and kind demeanor and good looks didn't hurt either.

He approached the counter only to find it manned by a young woman who looked up as he approached. She smiled and marked her place in the book she had been reading—was that a prerequisite to work here?—before closing it and standing up behind the counter. "Welcome to Cloudburst Bookshop. Can I help you find something special?"

"Yes!" Hide exclaimed, ready to ask her to help him find a new book, before the thought of not getting to see Kaneki again fully registered. It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? He hesitated slightly before settling for, "Can you help me find someone working here named Kaneki?"

She looked surprised at his admission and sent a quick look over her shoulder towards the back of the shop before turning back to Hide, still hesitating. "Why?"

Hide smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "I just want his help picking out a new book. He helped me check out last week when I was here."

"Kaneki doesn't man the register," the woman said at once with a shake of her head.

Hide raised his eyebrows in surprise at her curt reply, not knowing how to respond to that he simply said, "He did last week?"

Her small frown held out for a few more seconds before changing into a soft smile—and was that understanding in her eyes?—before she turned back around and called out towards the back of the store, "Big brother! Someone is here to see you!"

"Coming!" Someone called from behind a couple of shelves and Hide felt his smile spread as he recognized the voice.

A few seconds later the same white haired young man appeared from behind a bookshelf and Hide watched with bated breath as Kaneki's eyes widened slightly as they landed on him. Hide did not bother to try and tamper down his own smile and waved excitedly. "Hello! Nice to see you again!"

Kaneki blinked once before a small smile stretched over his face as well. "Yes, hello again. I take it the book wasn't what you were looking for then?"

"No, no! It was great," Hide waved him off, big smile refusing to die down, "but I've finished it and was wondering if you can help me pick out another one?"

"Oh." Kaneki looked surprised, he shot a quick glance towards the woman behind the counter–his sister?–and she grinned back at him with a nod. Hide followed the exchange with rising trepidation which abruptly changed into delight as Kaneki blushed, turned back to Hide, smiled, and finally nodded. "I would be glad to help you."

—

They spent more time than strictly necessary talking about ghouls, society, biology, history, and everything in-between. Hide quickly learned that Kaneki wasn't simply carrying around books all day to suit his incredibly nice aesthetic, but he was also very smart and well-versed in a lot of different subjects and Hide was more than willing to listen to him elaborate on subject after subject. He had no idea how much time had actually passed until the young woman from the counter suddenly cleared her throat from behind them.

Hide caught sight of a slightly guilty look on Kaneki's face as he addressed her, "Sorry I left you all alone to tend the store for so long, Hinami."

She smiled a knowing smile with a look in Hide's direction that made Kaneki blush before she shook her head. "It's fine. I just wanted to tell you two that we have to lock up in five minutes."

Hides eyebrows rose in surprise. Had they really talked for so long? Hadn't he arrived in the afternoon? He cast a quick look outside and was shocked to see that darkness had settled over the city. Sudden shame rose in him at the realization that Kaneki was so nice and that he was probably too polite to tell Hide that he needed to get back to work, and here Hide was—obliviously taking up all his time. He hung his head, unable to meet Kaneki's eyes as he said, "I'm so sorry! I've been keeping you from your work!"

"That's alright, I had fun," Kaneki immediately answered in a kind voice and no matter how hard Hide listener for it he couldn't pick up on any trace of annoyance in it. He looked up in time to see Kaneki's smile turn teasing as he continued with, "And you are going to buy something, right? So you can't really say that I'm not working." Kaneki raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile as he shot the small pile of books that had ended up in Hide's hands during their conversation a pointed look.

Hide laughed at the badly concealed sales-pitch. "Well, now I have to! But I still feel bad about it."

The young woman–Kaneki had called her Hinami–smiled at them. "It's fine. I have already closed the register, so I'm sorry if you wanted to buy something. You'll have to come back later." She sent a look over at Kaneki at the end, and Hide didn't need to know her to pick up on the equal parts of fondness and teasing that it contained.

"Ah, well," Hide said and he did his very best not to look in Kaneki's direction, "I think I can do that." He didn't miss Hinami sending him a pleased look.

"I can take those," Kaneki nodded towards the books in Hide's hands with a smile. "I'll keep them for you until you come back. I hope they will help you."

Hide laughed as he handed Kaneki the books. "Well, if they're not, then you said I could come back with them, right? Like you promised." He winked at the last part, more teasing than serious.

Hinami looked at Kaneki in astonishment. "You promised him what?"

Kaneki busied himself with arranging the books on the counter and trying not to look too guilty. "Well, he wasn't sure what he needed and I would feel bad if we sold him books he didn't want."

"I know you like—" Hinami started before glancing in Hide's direction and cutting herself off. Kaneki had frozen at her words and Hinami gave a strained laugh before barging on, overly casual. "You know this isn't a library big brother!"

Hide decided to step in, feeling bad for seemingly starting an argument with his thoughtless joke. "I was kidding! I'm not going to come back with it."

Hinami whipped her head around to look at Hide with wide eyes, as if she just remembered that he was there. "Oh, no. It's alright. If Kaneki here promised you that you could hand it back, then you can."

It was the first time he heard Hinami use Kaneki's first name and he saw the other wince. He tried to send Kaneki a reassuring look, but the other didn't notice as he pleaded with Hinami. "I'm sorry, Hinami. I won't promise that to people again."

She crossed her arms, and huffed out, "You better not!" Hide had a second where he was afraid that he had seriously started a fight between the two of them, but as he looked closer he saw the small smile tugging at the corners of Hinami's lips. She raised her chin high and put on a voice of mocking superiority. "Or I will make you man the register for a whole month!"

Kaneki snorted and put the back of his hand against his forehead, leaning backwards with an exaggerated expression of suffering. "Oh nooo! Not the register!"

They both broke out into laughter and Hide couldn't help but join them, very charmed by this goofier side of Kaneki that he hadn't seen yet. Kaneki smiled as he turned to Hide, still bright-eyed and with lightly flushed cheeks. "Ah, sorry about that."

Hide just smiled and shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry for? I don't have any siblings, but you guys make it look like fun."

"Still, that was unprofessional of us. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Hide felt amazed at Kaneki's care and kindness towards a relative stranger. And wasn't that a shame? That they were still practically strangers to each other?

Hide cleared his throat and lowered his voice as to try and keep Hinami from hearing him when he said, "I still feel bad about keeping you from your job and since you're closing up now…" Hide took a deep breath and finally found the courage to look up into Kaneki's face, finding the other looking at him with wide eyes. "Can I buy you a coffee or something?"

Kaneki's mouth opened into a silent "Oh" and Hide watched with a detached sense of panic as a blush quickly spreading over Kaneki's face was the only other response he got.

After several tense seconds Hide heard Hinami clear her throat, dashing Hide's hope that she hadn't heard him but also managing to startle Kaneki out of whatever it was that had frozen him in place. Kaneki shook his head quickly and took a small step in Hide's direction. "I would love to!"

It was the first time Hide had heard Kaneki raise his voice and he blinked before the words registered. "You… Would?"

Kaneki nodded decisively. "Yes."

It only took Hinami and Kaneki a couple of minutes to finish closing up the store, Hide stood outside in the warm spring air and tried to take deep breaths as he tried to convince himself that this was not a date. They were simply hanging out after work to drink coffee, nothing more.

Hinami came out first, gave Hide a small wave, and immediately took off down the street. Hide had just enough time to start doubting that Kaneki had been serious about meeting up with him–maybe they had an exit in the back as well and he was standing here waiting for no one–when the door inched open slowly and Kaneki peeked his head out. Hide was fairly certain that he didn't imagine the relief on the other's face as his eyes landed on where Hide was standing.

Hide stuffed his hands in his pockets, hoping to look relaxed. "You ready to go?"

"Yes," Kaneki said with a jerky nod as his eyes flitted away from Hide. There was just enough light outside the shop for Hide to see the pink creeping over Kaneki's cheeks as he turned around towards the closed door. "Let me just lock up."

Hide nodded before cursing his stupidity–Kaneki couldn't see him–and cleared his throat, croaking out an, "Alright."

Well, that wasn't any smoother. Hide removed his suddenly sweaty hands from his pockets, discreetly wiping them on his jeans and then leaving them hanging by his side. Had they always felt so out of place? What were you supposed to do with your hands while standing?

Hide was, thankfully, pulled from his spiraling thought by Kaneki turning back around with a smile. "I love the bookshop, but nothing beats fresh air after a long day, right?"

Hide nodded in agreement and hastily re-planned the whole evening in his head–he couldn't very well take Kaneki to some stuffy café right after he had said that, now could he? He realized that it was still too early in the year for any of the cafés to have their outside seating set up and desperately cast about for something else they could do. "Do you want to buy a drink and sit in a park?"

Hide wanted to disappear into the ground. Who, in their right mind, took someone on a first date—it wasn't a date!—to a park? Kaneki would surely laugh him off and just leave, finally realizing that Hide wasn't worth his time.

Instead, Kaneki looked at him with wide eyes and a small smile, seemingly relieved. "That would actually be pretty great. There's a really nice park close by."

"Sounds great!" Hide clapped his hands and laughed to cover up his own relief. "Lead the way!"

They walked the short way to the park and Hide was pleasantly surprised when there was a vending machine right by the gate where they could buy their drinks. The fact that Kaneki didn't seem to mind their more down-to-earth plans only served to make Hide even more excited about their impromptu...whatever it was. Their definitely-not-date.

Hide sat down on a bench with a sigh, stretching his feet out in front of him and smiling up at Kaneki as the other stopped beside him before sitting down as well, two hands cradling the cold coffee in his hands.

"I can't stay very long, but thank you. I needed this," Kaneki said as he smiled up at the dark sky.

Hide didn't even attempt to look away from Kaneki's face, but did his best to keep his staring to the corner of his eye to make it less obvious. He was only so strong. "No problem, really. I needed this as well. All this studying means I spend most of my days inside."

"Yes, I know what you mean!" Kaneki said with a laugh and holy shit, Hide wasn't prepared for that.

He averted his eyes fast enough to make himself dizzy and resolutely focused on the sky instead even as he swore to himself that he would make Kaneki laugh again before they parted ways. "Yeah? You're studying?"

"I study literature. An evening course after work."

"Wow! That's very impressive." Against his better judgment, Hide looked back down at that—genuinely touched by the fact that Kaneki managed to study and work at the same time and still taking the time to hang out with him, a stranger.

Kaneki smiled and blushed at the praise but shook his head. "No, not really. It's just a hobby."

Hide hadn't known until now that he found book smarts enticing. Well, you learned something new every day.

The conversation flowed freely after that and Hide felt himself marvel at how natural the whole thing felt–it was as if this was something he had been missing without knowing it, just sitting at Kaneki's side and talking about anything.

All too soon Hide felt himself shiver and he startled to realize that the evening had changed into night without him really noticing.

"Are you cold?" Kaneki asked with a concerned voice before joining Hide in his surprise as he looked around with realization dawning on his face. "It's starting to get late."

Hide hoped his disappointment wasn't too obvious as he nodded. "Right, yeah, we should probably go. You needed to study as well, right?"

Kaneki opened his mouth, closed it, and then nodded. "Yes, I do." He got to his feet and Hide followed.

He desperately tried to think up a way to ask if they could meet up again without coming across as too creepy, but before he could come up with something adequately casual, Kaneki surprised him by asking, "So... I'll see you again?"

Hide took a second to get over his shock and admiration for Kaneki's gut—how could he just ask like that!—before he remembered that he had to answer as well. He settled for a lightly teasing,"Well, I do have to buy those books, right?"

It seemed to go right over Kaneki's head as he raised his hands in a disarming gesture while shaking his head. "That was just a joke! Of course you don't have to, I'm sorry!"

Hide laughed and patted Kaneki on the arm. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, I'm just joking. But I actually do want those books if you don't mind. I'll come by tomorrow?" Hide kept his voice light, desperately hoping that his nerves couldn't be heard as he waited for the sentence.

He didn't have to worry. Kaneki smiled wide and nodded as he said, "That's perfect. I start at two. That is… If you want me to help…?"

Hide nodded so vigorously he worried he might get whiplash. "Yes! I would love it if you helped me."

Kaneki smiled in relief and nodded. "Then let's meet tomorrow."

"Sounds great!"

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Oh, no, I'll be fine," Kaneki said with a smile that seemed to hint at some hidden joke before frowning and continuing, "... Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No, no," Hide waved his hands in denial, he didn't want to take up any more of Kaneki's scarce time. "I live close by."

"Alright."

"Alright."

They both looked uncertain at that—what were the correct social cues in this situation?—until they both broke out into laughter.

Hide chuckled and managed a, "Good luck with your studies."

Kaneki smiled warmly at him. "You too."