Hide woke when Kaneki began to stir weakly. The human remained still,not wanting to wake him. A low, painful moan escaped the ghoul.
"Shh, it's okay." Hide soothed quietly. Kaneki opened his eyes, realizing that Hide was still behind him.
"Y-you weren't there all night were you?" He asked.
"Of course I was. You were in a lot of pain, I'm not gonna move you around if I don't have to. You were comfortable so I stayed."
"You'll hurt your back." Kaneki gasped sharply, his hand moving to his belly.
"Are you okay?"
"I-I don't know. I-"
"Sounds really painful. I'm so sorry, Kaneki. You trust me, right?"
"Yes,why are asking me that?"
"Because I'd like to try to help you with the pain,but I need you to be relaxed if you don't like it, I'll stop. I want you to guide my hands to wear it hurts." Hide instructed, reaching out his arms. Kaneki took hold of his friend's hands, guiding them to the center of his abdomen.
"Here." Hide kissed the top of his head.
"Good. Now I just want you to lie back and relax." Kaneki felt Hide remove his hands, placing them underneath the blanket and soon, Hide began to lift his shirt.
" Hide, wh-"
"Just trust me, I'll never do anything to hurt you."
"I know." Hide's hands found their way to Kaneki's stomach, to the exact place he had indicated.
"If it hurts too much, I'll stop, but I'm really hoping it works. I'm going to use gentle pressure." Hide placed his hand flat on Kaneki's belly, carefully pressing inward with his finger tips. Kaneki moaned painfully.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"I trust you, if you think it might help, I'll give it a minute." The weakened ghoul said.
"I'll go slower." Hide promised, continuing the massage. It wasn't long before Kaneki had completely relaxed against Hide and the pain lessened.
"Better?" Hide asked.
"Much better, I feel a lot more relaxed. I'm starting to feel like I could sleep again." Hide smiled.
"Good, we've found something that can help you, it's a start. Will you eat something?"
"No, not right now. While we're talking about feeling better, you did it again."
"You're right , and I'll do it as many times as it takes. I won't argue with you. Just accept that I love you that much and see it for what it is."
"You're going to hurt yourself if you're not careful." Kaneki warned.
"It's not like I gave you a huge amount. I'm fine. It was an emergency. Like I said just get your strength back. You don't have to worry about anything else. Do you remember asking me to keep you here, I did what I had to do to keep that promise. I know it didn't help much. But it got you back on track. I won't let you-"
"Sometimes as much as you love someone, all you can do is-"
"Don't talk like that, it scares me." Hide admitted. "You already proved you'd die for me, Kaneki, but I really need you to live for me. Whatever you need to make it happen, you can take from me."
"You know I won't."
"You have to do something. I can only do so much myself,I understand not feeling good, but I need you try."
"I don't want to get sick again, I thought it was going to-"
"I told you, I'm not gonna let it happen. You seemed to feel less nausea after you drank. Maybe you need to start slowly. Drink for a little while and work up to it."
"I'm not going to put you in danger."
"You're not. Just think, when you're better, we'll be able to hang out and-"
"As long as the CCG gives you permission to be there."
"Actually, you're not going back."
"What do you mean, they're not just going to let me go."
"Amon released you to me, those investigators out there are only temporary. To make sure you don't cause trouble which I know you won't. I brought you here to stay with me. Only thing is, he'll be close by for a while."
"Hide, y-"
"Shh, just rest."
"How did you manage that?"
"He wasn't going to let me take you at all. It took a lot of convincing, I met with him quite a few times after he called me. Told him you're a good person, that you weren't just going to go attack someone. You don't deserve to be locked away. We talked about you saving those guys and some of them even stood up for us, if you can believe it. One day he asked me what exactly I wanted from our meetings, so I told him. I wanted you out of the cell and back where you belong, with me. Amon's pretty tough though. In the end, I had to agree to let the team hang around for a while and to let him do check ins. I told him I'd take full responsibility for you."
"Hide, you shouldn't have done that." Kaneki scolded, though touched by his friend's actions, he worried about the possible consequences for his friend.
"I wasn't going to just abandon you, you really deserve better than that." Hide allowed his hands to rest on Kaneki's belly. Almost immediately, kaneki began to show signs of discomfort. Hide began the gentle pressure once more.
"You don't have to keep doing this." Kaneki said.
"I want to." Hide nuzzled Kaneki's cheek lovingly.*this is really nice, not that you're sick, but holding you like this. I think I like being your pillow. "Kaneki smiled.
"Hey, I just had an idea." Hide announced.
"What's that?"
"What if I gave you a tummy rub, then had you drink a little and just a small piece of those things Touka brought you?"
"I don't think I can."
"You won't know unless we try. It could be helpful." Before Kaneki could reply, soft footsteps could be heard from the hall.
"What-" Hide began.
"It's Touka." Kaneki said faintly. The female ghoul soon appeared. She stood in front of the bed but remained silent.
"What's wrong?" Hide asked.
"I was talking to some ghouls I know, I have a couple ideas about what's going on. Neither one is easy to recover from, I don't know for sure if either one's right, but I really hope I'm wrong about both."