Kaneki woke once more with a now familiar taste in his mouth, a sudden twinge of fear gripped his heart.

"H-Hide?" He called out, realizing a small amount of strength had returned. He allowed his eyes to open and attempted to push himself up.

"Don't." Hide said pressing his hand to Kaneki's chest,preventing the effort. "It's okay."

"I-I didn't-"

"You slept the whole time, you didn't do anything. You're too weak to actually pull yourself out of bed, what could you have done?" The white haired ghoul took notice of the bandage on his friend's wrist.

"Hide, what did-"

"It's fine, just rest." Hide insisted.

"You wouldn't tell me if I did, would you?" The human sighed.

"Dude, I- look, I freaked out when you wouldn't wake up. Touka said eating helps heal you. You weren't able to so... I made you drink. She said it won't cure you, but in a tight spot, it'll at least give you a little help. The illness has to run its course, but I'll be right here with you.

" how can you be if you keep letting me do this?"

"You're not doing anything, I told you I did it."

"You shouldn't. I don't want you risking your health. I'm not worth it." Hide lowered himself onto the edge of the bed.

"It's not going to be an all the time thing, just when you need the help."

"I'm really weak like you said, what if I would need more to keep me going, we don't know how long it takes to rum its course or what the end result will be."

"Yeah we do, you'll get your strength back and you'll stay here with me. We'll figure out a way-"

"I think I'm dying." Kaneki said, Hide's heart sank.

"Don't say that. You're just very sick, but you'll be fine." Hide assured him.

"I've never felt this way before. It's a struggle to be awake and it's so painful."

"That's why you have me, to help you through all that. I'm sure it really sucks,but I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Don't say that." The ghoul said softly. "There's not a lot you can do, if you say that and I die,it'll be harder for you."

"You're not going to." Hide's heart was breaking. He couldn't stand the thought of losing his best friend. "Being as sick as you are can be tough, but it's just temporary, you'll be better-"

"Why are you trying so hard, aren't you ever tired of it?" Kaneki asked as tears filled his eyes and he turned his head away from his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you trying so hard to keep me alive, I- I'm a monster, I'm not like I was,I tried but- even before all this, you-" Hide leaned forward, kissing Kaneki's head. The ghoul now lay silently, his eyes wide with shock.

"I don't know where that came from, but listen to me." Hide placed a hand on his friend's cheek and carefully forced their eyes to meet.

"You are the furthest thing from a monster. A monster wouldn't have risked his life to make sure I got to the hospital. A monster wouldn't have traded his life for anything. Amon told me that's what you said. 'I'll trade my life for his' does that sound like something a monster would say, I'd be dead right now if not for you. You're a ghoul, so what. That's not who you are. You had no control over what happened to you,you didn't choose this, but you can't give up. You can't." Hide paused, taking in a deep breath.

"I need you here,Kaneki. I told you the night you saved me, it doesn't matter and I meant it. I just wanted you back. If I lost you to something so final- I need you to live because I can't if you don't. I love you so much." Stunned by the deep sincerity that replaced the usual cheerful demeanor, Kaneki could give only one response.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. I love you too. Everything's going to be okay." Hide nodded.

"let's blame this one on the fever. When we get your temperature under control, things will start improving." The blonde man wiped his face on his sleeve.

"They make you do strange things.' The ghoul replied, allowing his friend to wipe away the tears.

" yeah. Do you want to eat, it'll help keep your strength up."

"No. I don't think I can take anything."

"Do you feel like you're going to be sick or does your stomach hurt?"

"Both. Everything hurts."

"Will you sip some water?"

"Just a little bit." Kaneki said. Hide reached out for the bottle of cool water.

Kaneki attempted to push himself up but failed, Hide slipped a hand behind him, cradling his head on his arm.

"It's okay, we'll do it this way. Just relax and let me take care of it." He raised the bottle to Kaneki's lips.

The cool liquid felt good to the ghoul as it entered his body. After only a few small sips, Kaneki raised a shaky hand, pushing it away softly.

"Thank you." He said as Hide leaned him back onto the pillow and pulled his hand away.

"Thank me by getting better." Hide straightened the cover around Kaneki. "Warm enough?"

"Yes."

"Good, there's still another blanket over here if you need it. I can find some more pillows too if-"

"I'm fine. I can't take everything you have. You'll want to sleep at some point."

"But you're sick, you need it more than I do. I'm good with sleeping in the chair for a while, I have a cot I can bring in too. Don't worry about that. I can-"the conversation was cut short by Hide's ringtone. The human sighed heavily.

" It's Amon, I have to take this, are you okay for me to leave the room?" Kaneki gave a weak nod.

"You're sure?"

"I'll be here when you get back. I'll be fine."

"If you need anything I'll be just in the hall." Hide said pressing the answer button and holding the phone to his ear, he made his way out of the room.

"Hello?"

"I'm just checking in, it's not common practice for us to release a ghoul into anyone's custody, Eye patch-"

"Kaneki isn't a common ghoul. All these security measures you have here aren't necessary. He can't get out of bed, what are you expecting him to do?"

"You're not the only one we have to look after, if he somehow slips past you and we lose him-"

"Like I said, he's stuck in bed, he's not going anywhere. He's not like that, you even said he's different." Hide pointed out.

"I've never known a ghoul to be sick, I don't know what he's capable of in this condition. The best thing we can do is think about this situation being similar to a wounded animal, they-"

"He's not an animal. You have nothing to worry about."

"Look kid, I still have a duty to-"

"Yeah, I know."

"You're lucky I let you take him in the first place, I'd like to stop over and talk to him, he-"

"You'll have to wait until he's recovered. It's bad enough we have to worry about the guys outside."

"You raised hell about that too, the reason I was sending men into the house-"

"I won't have him exposed to all that, I told you. I won't have him hurt because your guys provoked him into a fight, he's not well enough to be pushed into anything. You'll have to wait for whatever it is you need to ask. You released him into my care and your words to me were he's my responsibility. I'm doing what's best for him and everything else can wait." Hide said sternly, hanging up the phone. He leaned against the wall.

"Just what we need right now." He thought out loud to himself. After a moment, he returned to Kaneki, dropping down on the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay?" The feeble voice asked.

"Fine, just tired."

"Then you should lie down."

"I will, I just-"

"Come here." Kaneki invited.

"You need the space, you're-"

"Please, Hide?" Hide complied, pulling himself onto the bed. He laid his head on Kaneki's shoulder, the ghoul leaned his head closer so that they were gently touching.

"I'm not going to hurt you, right?"

'"Right. We're just going to lie here for a while." Kaneki confirmed.

"I missed you." Hide admitted, closing his eyes. "It's good to be home." He fell asleep almost instantly. Kaneki followed soon after, allowing his dreams to take him back to days gone by.