Hide never spoke to any of the other CCG investigators if he didn't have to. Their opinions of him and his affiliations with an insane ghoul were made very clear, especially when they all at once moved away from him in the cafeteria, or when they purposely ignored him in the hallway when he made to greet one of them, or when they neglected to help him whenever he carried pounds of papers and reports in sore arms.
Part of him wondered when they would start tripping him in the hallways, or start slamming this lunch tray on his shirt.
Working as an assistant at the CCG headquarters sucked. It was high school all over again, but worse, it was adults. Hide took to eating alone or in the coffee lounge, where the stench of coffee was so great, no one wanted to eat in there, and no one really had the time.
He had attempted to eat in Kaneki's room, but the ghoul got a hold of his burger and tried to eat it, and unfortunately, ended up barfing the entire thing on himself and the white sheets on his bed.
So the coffee lounge it was.
With a sigh, Hide walked into the heavily scented room, and placed his small lunch on the table in the center of the room. He looked at the coffee maker, and seeing that it was on, decided to fix himself a cup of the steaming caffeine. He figured he could bring Kaneki a cup, as the CCG often went days or even weeks without feeding him. And it wasn't like the knowledge that he was sneaking his friend cups of coffee went unnoticed, Amon just constantly turned a blind eye towards the action.
So he walked over to the coffee maker, and touched the handle. It was slightly warm, warmer then usual.
Someone must have been here minutes ago, he thought to himself as he searched for a mug in the counters above. After he found one, he placed the mug on the counter, grabbed the glass coffee pitcher, and began to pour the dark,bitter liquid into mug. After short while, he debated on whether he should put some sort of sugar or cream into the murkiness, but decided against it. Kaneki took it black anyway.
"So you take your coffee black, then?"
Quickly, he turned on his heel, and was met with the stoic figure of the bleached headed Arima standing in the door way. That man had taken a sudden interest in Hide's actions ever since he caught wind of his connection with the wayward ghoul.
"I ugh..I mean-"
"Is it for Ken Kaneki?"
Hide's appetite chose that exact moment to dissolve into nothingness.
True, Arima's victims were all ghouls, but still, he was a killer none the less. And anyone who could kill someone, or something that remotely resembled an actual human being sent Hide's hairs on edge. The man was an emotionless killer.
"Um...sorry Arima-san, you must want to use the coffee maker," Hide changed the subject as he grabbed the warm mug, and at the same time, Arima walked into the lounge. With the mug pressed tightly against him, Hide ducked away from Arima, and quickly walked out of the lounge.
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He took to letting Kaneki off of his chains as of recent. The ghoul, though cautions of Hide's presence, had taken a slight liking to him after the books and the cups of coffee. It turned out that Kaneki enjoyed having books read to him. Whether it was the tone or the story (could Kaneki even comprehend words anymore), there seemed to be something about the books that settled the ghoul down.
Presently, Hide placed the mug of coffee on the floor, and from beside the bed, the white haired ghoul peered out from his hiding place.
"Hey man, brought you something!" Hide tapped his foot by steaming mug, "Come on, drink it before-"
Kaneki's thin figure was already inspecting the mug before Hide could finish his sentence. Cold fingers wrapped around the mug, and slowly, lifted the mug to his chapped lips. Like a child taking in long gulps of milk, Kaneki began to swallow the steamy contents.
He was done within seconds, and the mug lay on the floor, it's contents empty. Next, Kaneki found Hide's sneakers to be quite interesting. He began to trace around the shoe laces, and began to tug on the fabric, and next, he fingers crawled up onto his pants, and tugged at the cloth.
"They're pants Kaneki!" He ruffled the white locks, and the ghoul, already accustomed to his friends awkward advances, continued to investigate the pants.
He knew that Kaneki remembered absolutely nothing, and when he did, the memories caused him pain. So for what it was worth, he didn't mind his friend tugging on his pants like a curious monkey, not in the least.
After Hide's inspection, the blond looked towards the wall of the room, where a stack of books had accumulated. Hide smiled as he walked over towards them, and pulled one from the stack. Over the months, Hide had bought a rather large collection of books for his friend. Kaneki loved all of them, or at least that's what his body language told Hide. He was always so attentive, so engrossed in the text and the plot, at least that's what Hide liked to think.
Or maybe it was just an awesome way of putting Kaneki to sleep.
So like always, Hide fell to the ground, opened a book, and began to read. Kaneki crawled very close to him, still cautious, yet not entirely guarded. As the words buzzed from Hide's lips, and each page turn made a "flip" noise that somehow soothed the ghoul, Kaneki found himself leaning against the human, peering over his shoulder and at the pages.
Hide smiled as Kaneki became immersed within the story, even to the point of trying to turn the pages himself.
"Not yet Kaneki, I haven't gotten..." Hide trailed off as he noticed an imperfection at the top corner of the page. With an raised eyebrow, he touched the crinkled 'dog-eared' page.
Why on earth was it dog eared? Hide hadn't picked up this book in ages, let alone, he hadn't gotten this far.
The ghoul beside him seemed to calm down slightly as his friend traced his finger around the bookmarked page. Kaneki rested his head on Hide's shoulder. Meanwhile, Hide pondered on the page.
There was no one else coming in here, as far as Hide knew, so who the hell was bookmarking pages.
"K-Kaneki...have you been reading?" He asked, slightly appalled .
The ghoul didn't respond, he only remained silent, extremely silent.
"Kaneki, tell me, have you been reading?" Repeated Hide, as he continued to flip through the pages, as a result, being met with more dog ears. The ghoul said nothing, and Hide figured it would stay like that.
So he was partly when Kaneki did start speaking.
It was quiet at first, barely inaudible. But it was there nonetheless.
"H-Hide" Came the whisper, a small, helpless whisper, "Help me."
Somehow, their position had been altered so that Hide's hands were on Kaneki's arms as the human stared the ghoul in the face. Kaneki's red eye glowed brightly, while the other stared at his friend with tears.
"P-please, they-"
The door had been open for some time, and it had taken Hide a while to notice an actual being standing in the door way. But after a brief moment of silence, and the shuffling of feet against the floor, Hide turned around just in time to see who it was.
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Sorry for the long wait, and just so you know, I'm not dropping my other two Tokyo Ghoul stories. School has started, and it's just been hard to write. I actually have a new chapter written for What We Lose, but unfortunately, it's been lost in my documents so I have to dig it up or just start over. I'm still working on Helping Hand, though i've been at odds with it lately. But yeah, I haven't dropped anything. As usual, I own nothing, and I am my own beta, so there will be mistakes! Please tell me what you think, have a wonderful weekend, and God bless!