TBO: YAY A NEW CHAPTER! Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope that you enjoy it!

I had to rewrite this chapter so many times... :'D

"Touka-Chan?"

No response. Kaneki's eyebrows furrowed in worry at her blank response, and he scooted his chair closer to her bed. He pulled out the thermometer that he had found in the cupboards and he leaned closer to her. "I need to take your temperature. Come on, just roll over a bit." He urged gently. Groaning in pain, the blue haired girl turned her head to the left, and faced the ceiling, eyes shut tightly.

Kaneki immediately took the chance to put the tip of the thermometer in her mouth, and gingerly placed the piece under her tongue. As he waited for the reading, Kaneki examined her facial features. Her lips were paler than their normal rosy pink color, her nose was red, her cheeks were slightly hollow, and the blue veins were becoming quite visible on her eyelids.

Beep

Beep

The sound of the thermometer reminded him of what he was doing earlier, and he cautiously removed it from her mouth. 106.2 degrees, it's worse. Kaneki wrapped the instrument up in a white napkin and placed it on the desk. He then grabbed the bowl of cold water that he had filled up and placed it on his lap.

He picked up the soaked towel from the bowl and squeezed it tightly with both hands. He placed the bowl back on her desk, careful not to let it spill. Then he used his two fingers to gently part her bangs, bringing out her usually hidden right eye.

And just like that her violet eyes flickered open.

Kaneki smiled a bit nervously, and quickly pulled his hand back.

"Oh, you're awake." Kaneki started relieved. "You had me worried sick this whole time." He said, picking up the white towel again. Touka opened her mouth to speak but roughly coughed, causing Kaneki to jump in surprise.

"W-Woah!" The black haired boy quickly passed her a cup of water. Then he paused and held his hand in midair. Touka watched him expectantly, with the back of her hand pressed against her mouth. Kaneki smiled at her and tipped the cup. "I'll help pour it in for you; come on open up." He said tranquilly, holding the cup of water over her mouth.

She pressed her lips tightly together.

"Hell no, Kaneki."

"Come on, let me help."

"How'd you even get in?"

"Here." Kaneki quickly tipped the cup further, and Touka immediately swallowed the warm liquid, coughing slightly after. Kaneki set the cup down by the desk, and placed the cool towel over Touka's exposed forehead. Immediately on contact, Touka sneezed, again causing Kaneki to flinch.

The navy blue haired girl rubbed her nose, and narrowed her lavender eyes at her colleague. "I still want to know how you got in, you perv." She muttered, venomously. Completely oblivious to her threatening tone, Kaneki sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, brushing the small black hair back.

Still mad...

"Uh, Yomo-san let me borrow the key." He explained. "I kind of came to deliver the package to you and check up on you, because I figured that you might still be mad after what happened with the soup." Touka rolled her eyes and averted her eyes to the ceiling.

"How'd I get here?"

"Well when I came in, you were unconscious on the ground. So, I carried you in here, and figured that I'd stay a little until you woke up." Kaneki explained, shyly fidgiting in his seat. Touka swiftly removed the towel from her forehead and her hair automatically brushed over her right eye.

Kaneki opened his mouth to tell her to lie back down, but he immediately shut down when she glared down at him. Then he remembered the warm mug sitting beside his arm. "U-um, Touka-Chan, I made you some coffee." He announced, chirpily.

Touka waved him off with the flick of her hand and sat up in her bed. "I'll pass. So where's the meat?"She groaned, rubbing her temples.

Kaneki paled slightly at her words. Touka…ghoul…right. He reminded himself, feeling uncomfortable. He should be used to it, but just hearing her words made his insides scramble with unease. Kaneki passed her the package, and Touka gingerly took it from him. Then she stared at him and the package.

"Aren't you going to eat it?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"...is there something wrong…?"

Touka sighed in annoyance. "Oh, no it's nothing." She said, digging her nails under the tape. She ripped the package open, and he turned away abruptly. His stomach churned at the smell, and he pressed his hand against his nose to try to suppress it.

God, I'm still not used to it. I'm hopeless...

Sensing the older teen's discomfort, Touka made an effort to close the package and placed it on the desk beside them. "Stupid. Don't force yourself to watch if it makes you sick, you dumbass. You know what, just pass me the coffee." Snapping out of his discomfort, Kaneki slowly turned to her and was surprised to see her hold out her hand to the mug of coffee that he had made.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't be annoying."

Kaneki gave her the coffee and bowed his head. "Sorry." Touka brushed away some loose strands from her face, and sipped from her own cup of coffee. Kaneki smiled, and reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small pouch. He could feel his left eye pulse uncomfortably under his eye patch.

Thank god I brought them.

Touka curiously watched as he dropped one sugar cube in his coffee, and her mouth watered slightly at the smell. "Hey, give me one."She motioned to his pouch full of cubes. Kaneki nodded and gingerly pulled one out for her. Touka snatched it from his hand and dropped it into her coffee.

Touka drank it all in one gulp, astonishing the half ghoul.

"Hey, this is pretty tasty." She handed him the empty mug and pulled her feet to her chest. "Go make some more." She ordered, monotonically.

Kaneki looked at Touka dumbly.

"You were hungry, weren't you?"

She flushed pink.

"Shut up."

She's asleep now.

The black haired boy sighs in relief and he takes his seat on the chair beside her bed. She must have been really tired, he thought, pulling the blankets and draping them over Touka's shoulders. As he pulled his hands back, he knocked something off of the bed.

Crap...He looked up at the girl, and to his relief, she's still asleep. So he crouched down and snatched up the package that had fallen. It's empty...

The insides were completely hollowed out and the meat inside the package had completely disappeared. The outside itself was completely torn, which made it look as if the package was ripped open in a frenzy.

His eyes trailed up at her sleeping form again.

"You waited until I was gone, right?" He smiled brightly and gently placed another serving of coffee on the desk beside him. Kaneki folded his hands together. "You're always thinking of others before yourself. I'm just glad that I was able to return the favor and help you today." He gave the younger teen a pat on the arm, and stood up.

"I'll be going now-"

Pull.

"Eh?" Kaneki glanced down at his sleeve which was being pulled on by Touka's hand. She covered her face with the covers, embarrassed.

"Don't go."

"Eh?" Kaneki raised an eyebrow at her confused. He cupped his ear with his other hand. "What did you say, Touka-Chan?" He asked. He guessed that she was getting frustrated, by the way she gripped his sleeve tighter. He wanted to laugh; seeing Touka so embarrassed was entertaining.

"No, I'm not gonna repeat it."

"Come on, please? What was it again.."Don't go"?"

Touka dropped the covers from her face, and blushed heavily. "...YOU HEARD ME!" She exclaimed, slapping his shoulder. Kaneki chuckled and nodded. He held his hands up defensively and tried to calm her down.

"Don't worry Touka-Chan, I won't leave you alone." Kaneki said with an honest smile. Touka pulled the covers over her body again, and Kaneki returned to his seat beside her desk. He stared at the blue haired girl in amusement.

"What did you mean by "don't go"? Does that mean you like my company, Touka-Chan?"

"...shut up..."

TBO: And that's a wrap! We are nearing the final chapter! Thanks for reading R&R!