Chapter 21

Untitled. Part 1

"No!" Nakiri shook her head frantically. She took a step backward, hiding behind her husband's back. Her expression still painted with disbelief and horror, little beads of sweat formed on both her and her husband's face. She felt terrorized. She wasn't even sure if her dear son was still alive under her nephew's feet. "No way! There's no way that you're him!"

"Oh, but it is me. It's your most hated, despised, despicable nephew." Kaneki sneered then his face slowly turned cold as ice, "How does it feel after running away with 5 million yen in your pocket?"

~8 years ago, ward 8.~

His dark room which he slept at was only enough for a single bed, a desk, and a small shelf where he put his favorite Takatsuki Sen's books which he bought with his saved up pocket money for a month.

Kaneki was working on his daily homework. He had the choice not to do it, but he wanted to get a scholarship. He was different than his cousin, Yuuichi, who was always playing on his game and didn't even bother to study. Kaneki didn't envy him at all. It wasn't like he had the right to borrow his consoles, the boy didn't even know how to play those. Never really had it even when he was still with his parents who were already dead.

The time was ticking, it was the only sound that accompanied him. He didn't mind it. He liked comfortable solitude.

Morning came and it was the time for him to get to school. The raven haired boy walked down the stairs with his high school uniform worn neatly. The first place he walked to was not the front door, but the dining room where he would find his family had eaten first without a single chair provided for him.

Why he would still even bother to go there was just because there would be 1000 yen on top of the table for him. Basically, Kaneki needed to buy his food himself and that'd be his pocket money for the day. Doing this every day made him feel like an avaricious person. That was a word he learned on his Takatsuki Sen's novel.

"Aunty, I'm going out." Kaneki said before he left. He didn't expect any response, he had never hear the other three members of that household ever answered him anyway. At least ever since the day his aunt grown tired of taking care of him.

Kaneki then walked out from the house to the place where he felt comfortable the most, his getaway. School.

"KAAANEKIII!"

"H-Hide wait-UFF!"

It was his morning routine. Every same hour before he entered the school's gate, Kaneki would always get ambushed from his blonde best friend, Nagachika Hideyoshi.

"Dude, I forgot to work on Hage-sensei's homework. May I copy yours?" The blonde grinned.

"Hide, you never takes on Ushimitsu-sensei's homework seriously." Kaneki laughed. His best friend didn't like the said teacher very much. The teacher was one of those annoying teachers that every school had.

"D'uh!? He's still keeping my soccer ball away! I had to buy a new one to continue on practicing." Hide tutted as they both began to walk inside.

"You already bought a new one?" The raven haired boy asked as he put his shoes inside of his locker and changed it into the school's shoes, "I thought you were still trying to persuade him on giving your ball back?"

"I gave up. You know that he's stubborn like a friggin' hammer. He'd probably give my ball back by the end of this semester's exam," Hide closed his locker then wore his school's shoes, "I can't possibly wait that long and spend my free time watching TV all day like a couch potato?"

Kaneki awkwardly laughed. Of course, Hide was ambitious. The blonde boy's dream was to be a professional football player that could play in FIFA World Cup. He was athletic and liked to play soccer, unlike Kaneki who preferred to read all day and studying.

It was finally break time. The two best friends would come together to the field in front of the school to play soccer. No, Kaneki didn't join. He would sit on the bench to watch Hide played with his cool friends. It'd be a lie to say Kaneki wasn't a bit jealous. He wished he was good at sports but he didn't find anything about him and his body capable to do so.

"Kaneki!" Hide shouted from his spot. His uniform wasn't tidy anymore, "Come on, join us!" He invited the boy. His friends also didn't mind at all.

"N-No thanks!" Kaneki shook his head. He didn't want to mess Hide's game with his sloppy play.

"Come on, partner! It's okay for once! Pleeease!" Hide begged with both of his hands clapped together.

Despite that, Kaneki still shook his head. He always refused. Not like he had never tried to play it before. He totally sucked at it. When he kicked the ball forward, it went sideway instead.

"Watching you play is more fun!"

Hide pouted, "Fine... Next time I'm forcing you to do it!" He shouted before he continued to play again.

Again, Kaneki could just laugh. He kept on thinking, what did he do to deserve such a good friend?

School was finally over. Both Hide and Kaneki would always go home together, parting ways in the river bank. If only their home were in the same direction they would go together and keep on talking about life, Hide's dream, Kaneki's doubt about his future, Hage-sensei, or Kaneki's rambling on Takatsuki Sen's books. The raven haired boy waved his hand, hoping to see his best friend again the next day.

The moment his well-being was in front of his home-no, the place where he stayed until he graduated, his feet felt heavy. It only took him a single step to open the door, but he found it hard. Kaneki hated that place, but he found it hard to succumb to his hatred. After all, ever since his mother died, his aunt was the one who took him in. Even though he lacked her love, she still gave him money everyday. Kaneki understood that it was just because his aunt didn't want to get into trouble with child abandoning crime, but he was still grateful for that.

Pushing away his thoughts away, Kaneki opened the door and stepped inside.

"I'm home." He said lowly. Not too loud, he was afraid of disturbing everyone.

Again, no response at all. Kaneki didn't think about it too much and continued to walk towards his bedroom upstairs.

"Are you sure that they're going to come tomorrow, Nakiri?"

"They will. They'll pick him up..."

Having no idea what his uncle and aunt were talking about, Kaneki just continued to walk up to his room to take a nap until 6 and then he's going to study for tomorrow's math daily test.

An hour had passed since he studied. The boy hadn't felt tired yet by looking all of those numbers which he doubt he would use in the future. Well, Kaneki hadn't decided what he was going to be, so maybe a profession where those numbers on his text book were needed would be useful for him. There were still two more years of struggling high school, so he didn't want to be stressed about it too much.

Suddenly, he heard his aunt was calling his name.

"Huh?"

The boy thought maybe he just misheard, so he continued on working his exercise.

"Kaneki!"

Okay, that was clear and loud. Hearing her calling on his name was a rare thing to do, so Kaneki quickly got out from his room to answer his aunt.

"Y-yes, aunty!?" He stuttered uncontrollably as soon as he saw his aunt was down there.

"Come down here." She ordered.

"Y-yes..."

Kaneki stepped down the stairs, feeling anxious. It would be anything but good. However he couldn't imagine what did he do wrong for getting called like that. Kaneki never asked her for anything, he never joined their meal together, he never showed off his high scores again, and he never caused troubles outside. Gulping, he finally stood in front of his aunt, looking up slightly.

"I-I'm sorry if I did something wrong..." Kaneki apologized. It had been something he was good at.

"What were you doing? Studying?"

"Yes... I have a daily test tomorrow."

Then his aunt smiled, a small act that made Kaneki widened his eyes in disbelieve. Did his head was playing mind with him because of those numbers he were working on?

"Let's eat. Dinner's ready."

"...Huh?"

Nakiri used her chin to point out the way to the dining room. That still put Kaneki in an astonished situation. He totally couldn't believe what he just heard, nor understand why his aunt was doing that.

"Come on, hurry up. Before it gets cold."

Without saying anything, Kaneki complied. In the dining room, he saw his uncle and cousin had already been waiting. While his cousin didn't show any smile, his uncle was the opposite. That time, his portion and chair were present.

"Kaneki, come and sit with us." Shido, his uncle beckoned while his legitimate son averted his eyes away from his cousin.

As Kaneki slowly walked towards his chair, he still couldn't believe what was happening, even until he finally sat. They were too kind. Something was fishy.

"Is this a dream?" He thought.

"Let's eat up!" Nakiri said cheerfully. She picked up her chopsticks, poking the fried salmon fish on her plate and picked a tiny piece then stuffed it in her mouth.

"Y-yes..."

Hesitantly, Kaneki picked up his chopsticks. He was really afraid of doing something wrong at this point and he wished that he wouldn't do anything tl make his aunt pour the hot miso soup on top of his head. His hand felt heavy just by bringing the pair of plastic sticks toward his mouth. His eyes glanced at his other three family members, to check if they were all staring at him with cold or angry eyes like they always did. Great for his comfort, that didn't happen.

The boy munched the rice in his mouth without sound. It was good. It had been months since the last time he ate a homemade cooking. The last time he ate it was the starting point where he found no comfort in that house. When his aunt finally decided to give no shit about him.

"How is it Kaneki? Is it good?" Nakiri asked her nephew.

"I-it's great! This tastes wonderful! Thank you, aunty." Kaneki replied abruptly. He didn't know how to behave at this moment.

"I'm glad. Eat up and then you can continue studying."

Kaneki really wanted to ask them what was with the change of behaviour. The poor boy was too scared to ask. He was afraid if he'd break this dream-like moment, where finally he was appreciated as a family member, not a free-loader insect.

Both his aunt and uncle were asking him about his school, his grades, everything. They even apologized for the mean things that they had done. Yuuichi still hadn't said anything, but Kaneki thought one day they both could become friends. The dinner that night tasted more delicious than the usual bento he bought from his way home to school in the supermarket.

For the first time in 4 years, Kaneki didn't eat his bento that night.

Morning finally came by. Kaneki woke up from his bed followed by rubbing his eye. He took a look at his wrist, there was still the red mark he drawn with a marker last night. After he did his daily morning routine, Kaneki walked down the stairs with his bag hung on his shoulder. Usually he walked to the dining room with reluctant feet. They would usually feel heavy. However that time, they didn't.

When he walked in, what he expected was his usual pocket money. Instead, he had gotten more than that. He got his portion of breakfast, and that piece of 1000 yen. Automatically Kaneki widened his eyes, afraid with his own speculation.

"Kaneki, eat your breakfast before you go." Nakiri beckoned for the boy to sit.

"Y-yes!" Kaneki didn't intend to sound that excited, he felt kind of stupid in that split moment.

As they were eating, her aunt asked him after she put her spoon into the miso soup.

"Kaneki, are you going to come home late again today?"

"I don't know, aunty. Maybe I will."

"I see. Don't be too late, okay? Because we're going to the mall tonight." Nakiri smiled.

"H-huh? What are we doing there?" Kaneki asked feeling confused. The mall? He had never gone there since forever.

Nakiri laughed, "Silly! It's for shopping! I'm going to buy you your new clothes and a new phone. Your uncle received a bonus yesterday."

"R-really, aunty!?"

Shido nodded, "It's going to be fun. The four of us going together tonight."

Kaneki hadn't felt so happy before. His family finally recognized him. They even asked him to go out shopping. He never really had the luxury to do that. Sometimes Hide would invite him to go together to the mall, just to play on the arcade. But Hide usually generous enough to pay for his game.

"I understand. I'll make sure I go home as quickly as I can today." Kaneki replied enthusiastically. He couldn't wait for that night.

After they all had finished eating, Kaneki stood up from his seat and went to school. Before he left and took his bag, Kaneki thought about asking Yuuichi to go to school with him. He had never shared a word with his own cousin. Back then when Kaneki tried to greet Yuuichi, Yuuichi reacted like he didn't hear anything and just kept on playing on his game.

"Um... Yuuichi," Kaneki started. So far his cousin hadn't shown any sign to rejecting. "Would you like to go to school together? We're going the same way after all..."

He waited for an answer. It didn't take him a minute to wait, and Kaneki could see his cousin's lips parted. But the words that were coming out from them were not what he expected.

"Get lost you're a fucking eyesore."

Kaneki couldn't say anything. He thought that maybe his relationship with his cousin was just because it was awkward because they both hadn't known each other. However, he was wrong. It wasn't because it was awkward, but it was because his cousin hated him.

"Yuuichi! Watch your mouth!" Nakiri scolded her son. Yuuchi only threw away his face to the other way, refusing to cooperate.

"It's okay, aunty. I'll be going now. Thank you for the food." Kaneki said. He walked away to his school feeling sad.

As usual, whenever the boy arrived in front of the school gate, his best friend would always jump at him from behind. However, Kaneki was a little late than usual because of his breakfast, not like he regretted it. That was his happiest moment of his life.

Hide had been waiting for him there. Once the blonde saw his bestfriend's face, he immediately brighten up and greeted him with his perfect white teeth.

"Kaneki! Pretty unusual for you to be late!"

"Good morning, Hide. You're waiting for me?"

"Well, duh? Let's go."

"Um, I wanna tell you something!"

"Eung? What is it?"

Kaneki smiled. He told his best friend his story on the rest of the way, and Hide was really happy for him. He really did.

School was finally over in the next 7 hours. Kaneki remembered that his aunt said that he got someone waiting for him to pick him up. He was packing his bag with his books and stationaries.

In the midst of that, Hide went over to his table.

"Buddy, wanna play soccer after school? Come on I'm begging you!"

Kaneki awkwardly laughed, "Ahahaha... Sorry Hide, I really can't today."

"You wanna tell me again the same reason as always? 'I can't play soccer, I don't want to mess up your game' yada yada..."

"Hide, believe me, I wanted to play with you today."

"Then why not!"

"My aunt said that someone will come to pick me up. I can't make him wait, right?"

"Pick you up? Huh? That seems fishy."

"Don't say that," Kaneki hanged his bag on his shoulder, "It'll be fine. Sorry for today. I'll play tomorrow. I promise! Gotta go!"

"W-wait! Oy, Kaneki! ...Ah... he's gone..." Hide scratched the back of his neck. Then, he smiled as he lightly shook his head. "He's really happy. Happier than ever before. Good for you, buddy."

Kaneki waited in front of the school gate. He waited for someone who'd recognize his face since he didn't know that person who'd take him home. He was kind of nervous. He had never been treated like this before.

Then finally Kaneki saw a man with sunglasses and black leather jacket walking towards his way. He was wearing jeans and his hair was swiped back, pretty much like a member of a motor group.

"Ya Kaneki? Kaneki Ken?"

"Y-yes!"

"Ah... so you're the one that she meant. Long time no see, hahaha."

Kaneki tilted his head in confusion. "'Long time no see'? I'm sorry but have we met before?" He innocently asked.

"Longer than you know." The unknown man grinned. "Get into my car. We'll talk there."

"Y-yes."

That man's car was parked not pretty far away from gate. It wasn't parked in the parking lot. His car was just an ordinary black Toyota Innova, nothing awesome. Kaneki thought that man would ride a harley motorbike on his way there.

"Sit in the front with me." He ordered.

Kaneki did as he was told and sat on the front. Before he stepped on his gas, the man opened the glove compartment in front of Kaneki's lap. He took something a transparent bottle. There was a white cloth inside.

"Uh... May I know your name? Maybe I will remember you that way?"

"Haha, you wouldn't need it." The man strangely laughed. Kaneki really didn't have any idea what the man was talking about.

"Um... why? You said you know me from a long time ago?"

"Well, if you insist. The name's JB." the man paused when he took out the cloth. Then, he looked straight towards Kaneki's confused eyes who still didn't know what to do in that current situation. "You see, forgive me for this. It's my job."

"Wh-MMMPH! MMM!"

The man forcefully shoved the white cloth that he took on Kaneki's mouth. His other hand grasped on the boy's hair, and his strength was too much for Kaneki to resist. 8 seconds after his futile struggling, Kaneki unwillingly closed his eyes and passed out.

He didn't know that that day would be the last time he ever lived his normal school life and meeting his only best friend.

To be continued!

I uploaded a KanekiRize smut one shot btw teehee. Check it out if you're interested xD