Waking up

Note: Takes place after Root A ending.

Why wasn't he able to eat the fish? Hide is alive so why is this different?

"Are you okay?" and Kaneki had forgotten that Hide was there the whole time.

/

Why couldn't he eat the fish? Why did it not taste like fish? Even with his fading memory of taste, Kaneki remembers that fishes aren't supposed to taste like that. So why? Why was he unable to eat the fish?

"Dude," Hide spoke in a low voice and Kaneki quickly brought his head up to view the blonde's expression.

Staring at Hide, Kaneki briefly saw a thoughtful look flash across the blonde's eyes before being replaced by the trademark cheerful grin and sparkling eyes.

What was Hide thinking? He already knew Kaneki was-

"Hospital food always taste bad! What were you thinking when you-"

-a ghoul. Hide already knew that Kaneki was a ghoul. So why is he acting like he doesn't? He knows and for that reason, Hide sought Kaneki even if it meant the blonde's death.

But is Kaneki still a ghoul? Hide is alive so that means that everything must have been a dream. If that is so, why is he unable to taste the fish? Is it truly because hospital food is terrible or is it something else? Is Kaneki still a ghoul?

When did he start thinking like this? It should be a given that Kaneki is still a ghoul and Hide is dead. But Hide is not dead therefore Kaneki should not be a ghoul. So why does the thought of being a ghoul sound normal? Hide's alive so that's supposed to mean that Kaneki isn't a ghoul. But the fish, why wasn't Kaneki able to eat the fish?

"Ka-ne-ki, Ka-ne-ki, KANEKI!" Hide chanted as he gently shook Kaneki.

"Hide," Kaneki whispers the name with reverence. Tears started to roll down his cheeks as he gazed at Hide. "Is this a dream?" he asks softly.

Hide frowned as he pinched Kaneki, "I don't think so, did you feel that?" Not waiting for Kaneki's response Hide grabbed Kaneki's head and started ruffling the other's hair. "Can you feel that?!" he asked in excitement.

"Let go!" Kaneki shouted with disdain as he escaped Hide's grip and glared at the blond. "I'm being serious."

Hide pouted and crossed his arms as he stared at Kaneki, "I am being serious!" He whined and Kaneki just looked at Hide in disbelief, "what's with that face! I'm being like fifty percent serious!"

"Am I dreaming?" Kaneki asked again in a low voice.

Hide grinned at Kaneki as he placed his hands on his hips. "You dream about me? Are they good dreams?" Hide's grin turned into a leer, "you total have wet dreams that star me, don't you? Not that I blame you, I am sexy-"

"-No!" Kaneki yelled with a blush as he interrupts Hide. How long has it been since he and Hide joked around like this? How long has it been since he last blushed? How long has it been since the last time Hide had made him blush? How long has it been since he got second-hand embarrassment?

Coughing into his fist, Kaneki takes a deep breath before placing the food tray onto the bed. Ignoring the soreness of his body, Kaneki stood up and observed the familiar looking hospital room. Where has he seen this room before? When does he remember being in a room just like this?

Walking over to the room's mirror, Kaneki froze as he saw his reflection.

"Aww, you don't have to pretty yourself up just for me," Hide mocked as skipped over to Kaneki.

Why wais his hair black? What happened to the white? Hide is alive but Kaneki couldn't taste the fish. Why? Is Hide truly just an illusion? Why can't this make sense to Kaneki?

Kaneki shook his head and tightly closed his eyes in thought.

He already went over some of this. Hide is alive; he is not an illusion Kaneki's mind had thought up to cope with the pain. Others were able to see Hide, so Hide is not an illusion.

So what is this situation? Hide is not an illusion, nor was the lack of taste the fish had. The fish tasted just like human food did after Kaneki became a ghoul. So does that mean that Kaneki is still a ghoul?

Kaneki braced his hands against mirror as he opened his eyes.

If he's a ghoul, then what is up with his hair? Didn't becoming a ghoul make his hair change? No, it didn't. Kaneki remembers that after becoming a ghoul, his hair remained the same. So what had happened? Kaneki remembers Jason and the torture he went through, that is what made his hair change to white. But that still doesn't explain what happened to his hair. Did the CCG do something? Did they dye his hair? Why would they do that? True, his hair didn't physically change when he was carrying Hide, but Kaneki remembers the feeling of it changing mentally. Like with Jason and how his hair changed both mentally and physically.

"Dude! Don't pull at your hair like that!" Hide shouted as he tried to remove Kaneki's tugging hands. "If you keep that up, you're going to go bald!"

Kaneki ignored Hide as he brought his fist to his face. Inspecting the strands that clung to his skin, Kaneki felt a chill go up his spine. The roots were not white but instead black. Typically that would be fine if Kaneki had dyed his hair white but he didn't. So why were his roots black? Looking back into the mirror, Kaneki inhaled sharply as his eyebrows and eyelashes were no longer white as well.

"Kaneki!?"

What is going on? Everything is different. Hide is alive, Kaneki is probably still a ghoul, and his hair is no longer white. Did the CCG try to experiment on him? Did they try to revert him back into a human being? Is that why his hair is no longer white? But that makes no sense. His hair never changed because he became a ghoul, so why is it changed now?

Hands gripped Kaneki's shoulders tightly as he was spun around to face Hide. "Snap out of it!" Hide yelled, eyes wide as he stared at Kaneki.

"Hide" Kaneki whispered as he brought his hands up to grip Hide's back. Hugging the blond tightly, Kaneki buried his head into Hide's shoulder, "what's happening to me?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Hide bit his lip. "Let's just go home," Hide whispered back as he returns Kaneki's tight hold. "But we can only leave after we pay and get your papers. Don't want them following us for debt!" Hide hummed.

Kaneki ignored Hide's comment.

"Dude, you got to release me, I don't want to do a crab shuffle down the stairs; we want to get out of the hospital, not stuck in it for falling down the stairs!"

A/N: Not going to lie. I thought I already posted this chapter up on FF. Turns out, I only posted ch.2 up on Ao3. For ch.3 I point you over my ao3 account. Also, if any of you have questions about this story that you want answered immediately, go over to ao3 and ask me. I can actual respond to your comments immediately verses a delay of waiting for the next chapter to come for your questions to be answered.

Onto pairings, the only pairings that this story shall produce is Kanehide/Hidekane and other canonical anime side pairings.