Unsurprisingly, the next time the black-haired child saw his friend, she mentioned his fight against the CCG investigators and how he protected the ghouls.
"They're calling you Knives, you know?"
The black-haired boy looked up from his book, a gift from a human friend for a birthday years ago that he spent in the cold park with the half ghoul sitting opposite. She was idlily doodling in her red tattered notebook, a prized object of her that was slowly growing thicker and thicker while her story had gotten longer and she started to edit it. Of course, the black-haired boy wasn't allowed to even have a peak at the written words, as the ghoul stated that it was a surprise for him later on, so that he could read it as a finished product as a proper book instead of a bunched of notes and butchered sentences put together in a flimsy notepad that he had brought her one day.
"Really?" He asked back, and his friend looked up at his face, her black and red eye pierced into his soul while her other eye, a dull grey but human, was filled with mirth and laughter at the name given to him by the CCG, her face dusted in dirt due to her laying on the park ground as well as a small speckle of what he suspected to be human blood from her latest meal, which painted the corners of her mouth in a bright red, a contrast to her pale, white washed skin from the lack of sunlight.
He shouldn't really be that surprised that she knew about the attack, as 20th was very quiet, so an attack was quickly the only thing that anyone could talk about. That, and the fact that she seemed to know everything that was going on in the ghoul, something that she willingly shared with him every time they saw each other.
"Yep! They've given you a B+ rating, meaning that, not only do they think you're stronger than what you've already shown then, but they're obviously expecting you to fight against them in the future for them to change." There was a bitter tint on the edge of her laughing words, and, despite context of the words, Kaneki couldn't help but to want to laugh along with his friend on the situation they now found themselves in. It was humorously dismal.
"They've put links to the other kids' files, the ones you decided to save, 'cause they think that you're related to their father or something, as if he was anything important anyway, and they also put the fact that you have yet to use your 'kagune' in the footnotes, stating that you're out to steal quinques instead!" The green-haired ghoul giggled loudly for any passer-by to hear (not that there would be any in this abandoned park), now laying down on the frozen ground, unbothered by the cold that was seeping into her skin through the thin fabrics, notepad long forgotten.
"Do they really think that I'm a ghoul then?" His book laid forgotten in his lap as he watched the ghoul in front of him, his breath coming out in small, visible puffs.
"Why, Ken-chan, Doves tend to be very closed minded, they'll think that you can't use your kagune or something, not that you don't have one in the first place!" There seemed to be a smile plastered onto her mouth, and a hungry look in her eyes, one that suggested more than eating, and, for the first since the pair first met, the black-haired child felt a shiver of fear go down his spine and settle in the pits of his stomach.
"However, by the sounds of it, you'll need more training, because there'll be more doves to fight soon." She started to spin her pen in her hand, and the black-haired child stared at the way that it danced around her fingers, trying to block out the implications of the elder's words and the way that it made him feel out of breath. His stomach was churning with a kind of anxiety that he couldn't place and his head span at the idea of pain, though if it was for himself or for the other person, no, the dove, he'd inevitably hurt was uncertain.
The green-haired girl in front of him wrote a little bit more, before going back to spinning her pen and rereading what was on her page, not noticing what her little human was going through emotionally.
Surprisingly, that's the last he hears from her for a few weeks.
The black-haired kid, sat on the swings, idlily swinging on them as he followed the words of his latest book along with a finger while he read, making sure to take careful notice of the specific kanji used for each word and the implications behind it, as there was supposed to be a test on this particular book and what it's hidden meanings were in a couple of days. He had memorised the meanings days ago, not long after they were assigned the task, but he'd rather pretend to be doing something important rather than show that he was just waiting for someone to appear when they were clearly not going to turn up, not when there was barely 2 hours left of sunlight.
Autumn had officially reared its head, and now the leaves had begun to turn orange, making it as if the whole abandoned park has caught fire. The grass, once a dry yellow due to the sun's burning heat was now back to its heathy bright green, however, it was becoming sparse in places as the rain drowned them, leaving small patches of brown, sticky mud that clung onto anything that touched it. The air was often filled with fog during the early hours, and during the other times, held a crisp taste that often nibbled on any visible skin, which, for him, was quite a lot since he had to wear mostly summer clothing, with a little bit as he had grown out of his old winter clothes, and his aunt had yet to see reason to buy him some more, stating that she'll pick him up something 'when she had the money'.
(Of course, she had the money for her son's weekly pocket money and the monthly expensive dinner out with her husband, but those were essentials, not a luxury like new clothes that suited the season as well as fitted him.)
Sighing, he closed his book, looking towards the metal sheets of the battered slide where he first met his friend, he couldn't help but feel a sense of annoyance at her lack of presence, then anger towards his annoyance. Its not like they made a promise to be there every week, and sure, she hadn't been in a while, but she had a life beyond him and the small abandoned park they both met at. He should be grateful that she didn't kill him the first day that they met, or any day past that for that matter, something that she would always remind the black-haired boy, nor during the rigorous training that she put him through, despite not having gone through it since the fight between the doves.
It was strange, thinking of the doves like enemies instead of being on the same side, since he was a human, just like them. But maybe it was stranger thinking of Eto as his friend when she could kill him at any time just to sate her hunger. She may be a half ghoul, something that she had yet to really explain to the black-haired boy and he was, quite frankly, too afraid to ask, but from he had gathered, it was no different from being a full ghoul, except only one of her eyes turned black and red instead of two.
Huffing quietly, he placed the book back in his schoolbag, located next to his swing, and stood up off the swing, stretching his arms after being in the same position for a long amount of time and listening to the way that his bones would crack under the sudden strain he put them under. Looking up at the sky, the black-haired boy estimated that there would only be about ninety minutes before the sun started to set, and by that point, Eto would be a no show anywhere, as he knew for a fact that she enjoyed her hunting.
Picking up his satchel from the dusty floor below, he started to make his way out of the park, only to stop in his tracks when he felt his bag vibrate.
Was that his phone?
So, he spent the next five minutes digging out his phone from his bag, rummaging through the items in it and struggling to get past the layer of rubbish that had accumulated during the past week at school, no thanks to Hide trying to make sure he was well fed during the long school days.
Finally, he managed to find his phone in the mountain. However, he only frowned when he noticed the message.
From: Hide
To: Kaneki
hey, i found a new cafe that i think youll like
its called Anteku
its very bookstorey
wanna go?
Sighing, he reread the message from his best friend, only to sigh again as he wondered what he should do.
He did want to go and see his friend, and at least try and make use of the rest of the wasted day, but the slightly older green-haired girl had been adamant about him not going back to Anteku, especially after he sent two young ghouls to the café, meaning that, not only did they know he was human, but they might be able to recognise his face. He normally took the green haired ghoul's advice to heart, accepting everything that she said, no questions asked.
But…
But, Eto wasn't here at the moment to tell him no.
Quickly, he typed a short comformation to Hide, telling him that, yes, he'll meet the blond-haired boy there, and, no, he doesn't need an address for it, he already knows where it is. With that, he leaves the small abadonded park, ignorant to the mismatched eyes staring at every step he made until he was out of her vision.
The café was just as he remembered it, warm, homely and still managed by ghouls.
Of course, the last time he properly visited it was a good couple of years ago in the summer, when his ghoul friend was much more ignorant towards humans and only saw them as a snack to be eaten later (he wasn't too sure of what she thought of them now, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to know). Now it looked a little more worn, there were a couple more chips in the plates and cups, more wear and tear on the tables and some of the chair looked to be as if they had been replaced, though none of which really surprised Kaneki, as ghouls seemed to be the sort of species that accidentally forgot their incredible strength and accidentally break something because of it. Dispite that, the staff here were still kind and helpful towards what they should be considering as their prey, the food was more than edible, which was more than expected when armed with the knowledge that the person who made it simply couldn't taste it and the coffee was astounding, if the look on Hide's face was anything to go by.
"The coffee here is amazing! Why didn't I find this place sooner?" Hide almost shouted, taking a large sip of his mocha then freaking out when he burned his tongue, his actions making Kaneki giggle into his hands and make him almost forget about Eto's sudden disappearance.
Almost, that was.
"I didn't think that you even liked coffee." Kaneki quietly admitted, taking in a forkful of lemon drizzle, then silently wondering how on earth ghouls were able to make it so good without having the taste buds for it.
"Please, I like my coffee served as my soul is perceived." Hide stated, placing down the cup and stared down at it as if it would help it cool down quicker.
"There's no such thing as sunshine coffee, they'll have to serve you a banana milkshake instead and hope that it looks vaguely similar." Kaneki cheekily replied, smiling when his friend laughed at his remark, his face dusting a light blushing and his honey brown eyes smiling right back at him. Taking the final bite out of his cake, Kaneki placed the fork back down onto the plate for it to rest while Hide took another sip of his mocha, this time not wincing due to the heat of the liquid.
"Y'know, I bet the staff here are hiding a big secret…" Hide said quietly, hand over his mouth so that nobody else could make out what he was muttering to his friend.
"Like what?" Kaneki almost felt his heart stop at the comment his friend just made, and hoped that he didn't notice.
"For example," Hide started, pointing his finger towards a woman behind the counter. "She probably killed her husband, and created a gang of woman who also kill their husbands, and they go around killing other people's husbands and making them join her gang." Kaneki only scoffed at this idea; according to Eto, ghouls don't kill their mate, they do anything to make sure they don't die.
"The one with the white hair that went to the back of the store collects people for a hobby, dead people that is. He tries to make sure they're unique, so that the police do not catch him due to spotting his pattern." There was the biggest grin on his friend's face as he exaggerated the ways that these people had committed crimes, and slowly moved onto to some of the customers, giving them gruesome backstories that were completely ridiculous.
"And those two…" Hide paused, while Kaneki looked towards where he was pointing, only to see the two ghoul kids he had saved that summer. They were engrossed in the paper in front of them, seemingly drawing or learning to write, with a male employee helping out and laughing at whatever they had just said.
"Those two are innocent."
The black-haired child couldn't help but agree with the statement.
A green-haired girl sat on one of the many roofs of 20th ward, staring as two children walked down the dark street, one of them, the blond one, laughing loudly at whatever had been said while the other one, the one that black hair that covered his soft grey eyes, has his nose in his book, a normal sight for those who know him.
To any onlooker, it would seem like she was stalking the two, and they would be right. The ghoul had, regretfully, not seen her friend in a couple of months due to a plan that would change the broken world, and all the bad people in it.
And, deep down in her heart, she hoped that the blond-haired kid was one of them.
A.N. - So I know that I promised a chapter for new year, but I can be the first to say that the target was way to high for my short arms to reach :/. Hope you like the new chapter, and update will very due to other commitments, please understand that.
