Title : The Hearts Wants, What It Wants
Theme : horror/dark fantasy story
Pairing : Kaneki/Uta
Chapter 2 - Mask
Kaneki was making himself some lunch. It was his day off, if he was a normal college student he would be studying for a test or something but not anymore. But he still has the habit of reading novels since that's the only thing he still does that is normal. As he finished making some Indonesia noodles he put in a small bowl and took a can of coke out from the fridge and sat in front of the television. Just then Kaneki was going to dig in his cell phone rang which annoyed him, why did it have to ring when he was having his lunch.
Kaneki let out a sigh then picked his cell phone and saw it was Hide calling. His best friend probably wanted the parcel he ordered but still such bad timing to call.
"Hello." Kaneki said putting his cell phone close to his shoulder so he wouldn't drop it as he ate his lunch.
"Kaneki, are you eating right now?"
"If you know don't ask." Kaneki then took a sip of the can of coke he had.
"Did you get the thing I asked for?"
"Yea."
Kaneki and Hide met up at the same café they were at yesterday. Kaneki had a bag with him, inside was the thing that Hide had asked him to pick up.
"What is this?" Kaneki asked handing the bag over to Hide.
"It's a mask." He said.
"Why do you need a mask?"
"It's for the project I'm doing, unlike you I like to keep myself busy." Hide took the mask from the bag. It was any ordinary mask that you would fine.
"How did you even find such a place?" Kaneki couldn't get his mind off of that place. Not to mention that guy who was running that place.
"There's a cute girl there." Hide pointed to the waitress. It was the girl who Kaneki had also bump into yesterday.
"Excuse me!" Touka turned her head when she heard somebody calling her.
"One cappuccino, please! And you, Kaneki?"
"I'm good."
"One cappuccino." Touka said as she wrote it down on her note pad she had in her hand.
"And also, what's your name?" Hide had to be so blunt.
"I'm Kirishima Touka."
"Miss Touka, Are you seeing anybody?!" Kaneki couldn't believe his best friend. Saying something so direct and to a girl.
"Stop that, you idiot!" Kaneki could see the blush on the girl's face and how embraced she looked. Touka ran off and Hide had an expression saying that he completed his task.
Kaneki's eyes went to the television and on it there was news about accidents that were happening. That reminded the black-haired college student about the day that he got into that accident and got turned into a ghoul. He was naïve to think everything was going well that night when he walked the girl he had fallen for home but instead the girl attacked him but he was somehow saved and the girl died but in the end he became this thing.
"What you thinking about?" Hide asked. Kaneki didn't realize he was deep in thought.
"It's nothing."
"You're thinking about that girl that you liked aren't you." Hide said. "I don't understand how fast you lost feeling for a girl that moved away." That's right Kaneki had told a lie to Hide saying the girl he had fallen for moved away to another city.
"It just wasn't meant to be." Kaneki said. The news on the television have been the same for some time now which made Kaneki worried. There were a lot of ghouls out there that would attack others like Rize did to him.
Just then the doorbell rang and a little girl and an older lady who looked like her mother walked in. They went to the front to talk to the owner of the shop. Kaneki could tell they were ghouls right away but he ignored it since it was nothing to do with him.
"I have to go meet someone." Hide said looking at his watch on his wrist.
"Who?" Kaneki asked.
"Oh I haven't mention but I've been helping Nishio-san with his work." Hide packed his bag and put over him which swung to the side. "Do you want to come?"
"I guess." Kaneki said. He only agreed to go because he knew that Nishio was a ghoul and he could hurt Hide and he didn't want anything bad to happen to his best friend. Kaneki saw the guy around the campus but they never interacted.
"I've been meaning to introduce him to you, Kaneki."
"You mean Nishio-san."
"Yea him."
The two were walking down the hall in the college until they stopped at one of the door. Hide didn't even knock on the door before announcing their arrival. A scream came and a girl came running out the room.
"Nagachika, ever heard of knocking?"
"Sorry, Nishio-san."
"You know, nothing ticks me off more than a violation of territory." Nishio said tiling his glasses up a bit. The senior then turned around to look at the two boys.
"Oh, this is Kaneki, the good friend I mention before." Hide said introducing Kaneki to the older male. An unpleasant feeling overcame Kaneki and he didn't like it one bite. The senior looked at him like he knew what he was but that was impossible, wasn't it.
"You don't say." Nishio said as he got up from his seat and walked toward the two. Nishio put one his hands over Kaneki's shoulder. "I'm Nishio Nishiki, a second year in the School Of Pharmacy." His eyes looked at him with a cold tone. "Nice to meet you, Kaneki." Kaneki knew he wasn't seeing things, this guy knew exactly who he was.
"Everywhere I go there are ghouls." Kaneki didn't like it one bite. "No it was always like this, just I wound up in this mess."
"Nagachika, go get me a drink."
"Are kidding me?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Nishio glared at his junior. Nagachika didn't have a choice so he left the room leaving the two alone.
"You're a ghoul, aren't you?" Nishio stared at Kaneki without looking away. "You're one but you smell different."
Kaneki knew there would be a time when somebody would find out but he didn't think it would be by somebody in the same college as him. He walked passed this guy many times and nothing has happened maybe that's was his mistake. He should have avoided such thing.
"Don't look at me like that." Nishio didn't like the way Kaneki glared at him and only knew why. "I won't do anything to your friend."
"And I should believe you."
"I guess you don't." He laughed it off like it was nothing.
"I don't need him since I already have my supple."
Hide came back with a drink for Nishio. He looked at Kaneki then back at Nishio, he wonder what happened since the two were so quiet.
Later that evening Kaneki had just bought a novel from a bookstore and was heading back home. His mind was still on Nishio since it worried him that Hide would be in danger and he didn't trust the guy but there was something that told him maybe he's not bad but looks can be deceiving.
"I better hurry home." He said. He looked up in the sky and thought it was going to rain soon, as he started walking he stopped in the middle of the road. He smelled blood and he didn't like the smell one bite. It was a familiar scent where did he smell it before. Just then he saw a familiar little girl running and she had tears in her eyes. The smell was coming from her.
Kaneki promised himself that he didn't want to get involved with other ghouls but it was too late when his legs started moving and stopped in front of her.
"It's okay." He smiled. Kaneki didn't think he would revealed who he is to a little girl but he did. Since it was the only way the girl would trust him and not be afraid since she was looking scared as she was. Kaneki bend down and showed the girl his ghoul side.
The girl took Kaneki to the place where the blood was coming from. The smell was heavier than it was before. There Kaneki saw it the woman that the little girl was with when she came to the café that afternoon but this time the woman was no more. The little girl started crying his Kaneki's arms.
Kaneki took the girl back to the café. He didn't know what he should do. He didn't want to reveal who he was that's when he got an idea. He went to see the man who he didn't want to see.
Kaneki stood outside the shop of the place that man owned.
"Stay here." Kaneki told the little girl. "By the way what's your name?" He asked.
"Fueguchi Hinami." She spoke.
"I'm Kaneki Ken." Kaneki walked in the shop, just like the first time Uta was nowhere to be seen. The college student was thinking the man hiding somewhere like last time.
"Uta-san, are you here?" Kaneki called out." I came here to pick the mask up." The man didn't appeared even after calling the guy's name so many times. Just then Kaneki turned around and there Uta was staring at him, it freaked the boy out that he ended up screaming like last time.
"Can't you appear like a normal person?"
"You came to get the mask." He said.
"Yes."
Uta handed the Kaneki the mask. When Kaneki saw the mask he was surprised. It was a half-face mask and it was strange looking. Uta had created it well for him, it matched the college student well and his face would be hidden well.
"Do you know?"
"Know what?" Uta replied.
"Never mind." Kaneki said as he took the mask and walked out the shop.
"Hinami, let's take you home since I have some business to attend." It was late and saw the café was closing but before they did Hinami arrived with Kaneki when Touka noticed Hinami she came out running that's when he saw Kaneki disappearing.
"I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong but I know that humans are the start of all this." Kaneki said as he put his mask on.
After Hinami explained to Touka what happened she had an angry expression on her face. She wasn't happy and now the little girl was all by herself. Humans were to blame for everything and Touka wanted the people who hurt Hinami to feel the pain.
She followed the scent of blood that led her under a bridge. What she saw there was a corpse of a man and she walked closer and saw the man had a wedding ring on his finger. It made the ghoul think that maybe it was good she didn't do anything and good somebody did. This man had a family which sadden Touka. Another thing was on her mind, who was behind all this.
She heard a noise and when she turned saw somebody and he was wearing a mask that covered half of his face. Touka felt like she saw him somewhere before but she hadn't the idea who it was but she felt she knew the person, she would tell the person was a guy.
"Did you do this?" She called out the masked-man. Kaneki didn't think he would find another ghoul and it had to be the girl from the café. He thought he would leave without being notice but she had to spot him just when he was about to leave. Kaneki didn't say a word but just nodded his head.
"Thanks." Touka said. She felt that maybe Hinami would feel better now the person who killed her mother had justice serve but inside Touka wasn't that glad since the man had a family himself.
Kaneki got home and laid on his bed. He didn't know why he did what he did today. He killed a man, a human, somebody he used to be. He felt guilty about it. He was hesitation when he faced with the man and plus the man wasn't alone.
"I thought I would have a peaceful day." Mado said with a smirk. Kaneki didn't like the way the man spoke. He then saw the other guy with him take out his weapon. Both of them were going to take him out but he wasn't going to let that happen. He manage to dodge their attacks,
"Why did you kill her?" Kaneki yelled. "She didn't do anything to be killed for.
"That has nothing to do with it." Mado said. "Ghouls are supposed to be dead." Kaneki didn't like this thinking. When he was human himself what did he think of ghouls, he didn't think since he wasn't aware of such facts.
"Ghouls deserves to die." Amon said.
"I wonder who the real monster here is." Kaneki couldn't just dodge the two all the time. He stopped and attacked the older guy first. After gaining new abilities he gotten stronger. He didn't want to kill the man but he left Kaneki no choice.
Kaneki released his kagune and aimed at Mado. Mado tried to block his attack but Kaneki was stronger than that. He was smarter to he pretended to strike at Amon but attacked the senior once again killing him slowly.
"What did you do?" Amon yelled. Amon ran toward his senior with worried look.
"I don't like killing but if you harm somebody then I won't hesitate to strike." Kaneki said. Kaneki didn't feel like killing the man so he stopped there.
"You're not killing me."
"I told you I don't like killing." Kaneki repeated his words. Amon didn't like how Kaneki looked at him and the way he said his words angered the tall man. Amon's took out his weapon and attack Kaneki but the boy dodged it with no problem.
Kaneki had no choice so he attacked the man but didn't injure him that bad. His only injury was his right ear that was bleeding.
"I'll say it again I'm not going to kill you so you should before I really start get serious."
Amon had no choice since he knew he was no match even with his ear the pain was bad. He ran off leaving Mado's body but he swore he would come back with others.
"This mask came in handy but I rather not use it again."
Kaneki attended his classes the next day but he didn't pay much attention to what the teacher was saying. He was tired from yesterday since he came home late and he still couldn't believe the things he did for that little girl.
When class was finished he was going go straight home and have a nap but stopped when he saw a crowd in the front entrance.
"What's going on?"
"Kaneki, you're going home." One classmate said.
"Yea, but what's going on here?" He asked.
"Some person appeared and girls started gathering."
"Somebody popular." He thought.
Kaneki went closer to have a look and saw it was Uta but he looked a bit different. He looked more dressy and his eyes, it hit Kaneki right now. All the other times Uta had red eyes like ghouls but now he had blue.
"Did he know I was a ghoul too because I wasn't aware such facts." Kaneki couldn't believe it.
"Kaneki-kun." Uta waved when he spotted the younger boy. Uta had a smile on his face. "I came to see you."
All eyes went on Kaneki. Kaneki didn't know why the shop owner wanted to see him but he knew he didn't want the attention he was getting because of Uta.
The two were walking around the city and Kaneki tried to walk as far away from Uta as possible since he could see the people staring at him and he didn't like the attention.
"Why are you walking so far away from me?" Uta asked. "Come closer."
"I rather not." Uta couldn't help but laugh at Kaneki's response.
"Why does Uta want with me?"
"Kaneki." Uta said stopping the black-haired college student in his track. His voice turned serious and it was the first time he heard Uta like that.
"What is it?" Kaneki asked.
"I smell the blood on you." Kaneki knew know that Uta really knew who he was. Uta walked closer to Kaneki and sniffed the boy just like the first day they had met. "With this smell many ghouls could find you."
"You knew."
"Yes and others will too if you don't conceal yourself property." Uta licked his lips and then stared Kaneki in his eyes. "You're a rare find so others would want to know more about the one-eye ghoul."
"Is that what they are calling me now?" Kaneki thought Nishio was the only one who knew but he guess wrong, he had to try to be careful from now on. He still couldn't trust anybody that wasn't a ghoul.
"By the way, why are you wearing clothes like that?" Kaneki asked.
"Why?" Don't you like them?"
"It's not that but you look kind of different."
"I wanted make a good impression when I arrive at your college."
"You made an impression alright."