I'm back! I was really planning to post this chapter earlier but I participated in Touken Week on Tumblr. My fic is called Red Strings of Fate which I will post the revised version here in several days :)

"Please, Your Majesty." Banjou kneeled down on the floor abruptly, bowing his head to beg his queen. "Show him what love is, make him know that he's loved."

"Banjou, please stand up-"

"Promise me, promise me you'll make him feel loved. Make him happy. Please, I'm begging you." Touka couldn't bear staring at the older man any longer. He looked so pitiable, begging her like this. But then again, it wasn't like she didn't want to. She had fallen hard for her husband and would do anything for him, just to make him feel better, happier.

"I will. I promise." She pulled him up, and between the heavy sobs and sniffles, he thanked her.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you so much."

Kanou and his assistant, Kimi, arrived that evening- much earlier than they were expected to.

They started to treat the one-eyed-King immediately. Touka just sat and watched as they took out their tools, injecting clear liquid into her husband's left eyelid, and extracted some blood from his arm. The procedure took almost an hour.

"I've treated his eyelid. It won't swell that much now. He should be waking up anytime soon, but I can't promise when. It could be today, tomorrow, or next week. It's out of my control." Kanou informed her, his face looked tired and drained of energy. It must have been tiring for him, judging by the time of their arrival, it seemed as if they rushed to Re straight away after they received the news.

"It's alright. Thank you so much, Doctor, for your help. But how about his black tears? Is it life-threatening?" She looked so worried and scared, her eyes portraying deep concern for her husband.

"About that..." Kanou seemed lost for words momentarily. "He should be fine. You shouldn't worry that much." He felt terrible for lying to her, but he had no choice. If King Kaneki were a commoner, he would have told her about his dying condition. But he couldn't do the same for a king, for there might be some punishment on him for revealing his secret.

Touka exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Thank you, both of you. I'm glad."

"It's our job to save people's lives." He smiled, while Kimi bowed slightly to Touka.

There was a vague sadness in her eyes that Touka subtly caught. But she chose to ignore it, thinking it might be because of another reason.

"It must have been a long journey to get here. Thank you for arriving earlier than we expected to. Please, have a proper rest. Banjou, bring them to their respective room."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Kimi was brought to her own guest room inside the castle. It was her first time coming to Re Kingdom, usually King Kaneki would come to Washuu Kingdom instead to have his check-ups.

At first, she was surprised to see the colour of the castle. It was pitch black from the outside. But after she entered the castle, she wasn't affected by the dark colour at all. In fact, she felt the other way around. The people in the castle were very nice. The castle interior was full of white furniture, and the curtains were light silver. The black walls, paired with white and silver decorations just made everything appeared more exotic.

The servants brought in some food for her. When she had a taste of the famous grilled mutton, she finally understood why King Tsuneyoshi wanted to conquer Re so badly. Goats in Re had an exquisite taste that she didn't mind eating them every day.

She almost laughed at her thoughts. Nishiki promised to marry her and bring her to Re, but she turned him down, saying there was no point marrying someone who couldn't give him children.

He was a persistent one, that knight, saying they could always adopt instead of having their own children. She still hadn't given him an answer yet, and he was still waiting.

After finishing her meal, she stepped into the bathroom to clean herself from the sweat and dust that she accumulated from the journey, as they were rushing from Washuu to Re immediately after they received the message from Hetare.

She lay on the huge bed afterward, trying to get some sleep but failed. She couldn't forget the worried face of Dr. Kanou during the treatment of King Kaneki earlier. The severe state of his left eye made her anxious.

She knew it, she could tell as well. She still had a long way to go to become a full-fledged doctor, but as a doctor's assistant, she could see how badly his eye and his body were. He was aging quicker than she expected.

'King Kaneki doesn't have much time left...'

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard a knock on the door.

She didn't have time to take a proper look at her visitor as she was pushed abruptly into her room, her lips pressed fervently by none other than her lover.

Too lost in a daze at the way he kissed her passionately, she didn't even realise that he had placed something around her wrist.

"What? What is this?" She stared at her wrist and blinked thrice. A bangle. He raised his arm. A matching bangle.

"I saw these in the market last week. I thought, maybe you would like it. Do you?"

Her eyes almost teary at his kind act. Coming from a poor family, she rarely got any gift from anyone. What had she done in her life to receive so much love from this person?

She didn't answer. She just wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, hoping her action answered his question.

She pulled away after a while, a worried expression etched on her face.

"Nishiki."

"Hm?"

"Your king... he doesn't have much time left."

Nishiki sighed heavily before sitting on the couch, motioning for her to have a seat beside him, which she did.

"I know Kimi, I know. But there's nothing we can do about it. The surgery is risky. Personally, I hope he will undergo it but I don't want him to die earlier than he's destined to." She studied his expression, he was definitely hurt on the inside.

"Queen Touka was asking about his black tears earlier... it seems like she still doesn't know about his impending death..."

"Yeah, we have signed an agreement to keep it a secret. No one is allowed to tell Her Majesty, even after he dies."

"But, that's unfair. She deserves to know!"

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"That's His Majesty's order... breaking the agreement means facing the death penalty. There's nothing we can do about it."

His answer shocked her, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it either. She rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes briefly. If she felt bad for Queen Touka earlier, now she felt even worse for her.

"How's their marriage going on? Have they fallen in love with each other yet?"

"They have, but I don't think they realise it yet. I don't know. They're pretty much dense. Everyone could see it. I caught them making out in the training hall yesterday, the gaze I received from His Majesty was deadly... I wish I could turn back time..." He shuddered just by thinking about it.

Kimi let out a small laugh. He smiled, he rarely heard her laugh. It was nice.

"Doesn't that mean they have realised their feelings?"

"I believe so... I think we should expect a prince or princess after His Majesty regained his consciousness."

She pulled away instantly. He noticed the change in the atmosphere. He knew the topic would always be a sensitive issue for her.

His right hand took hers, and his left one lifted her chin up to face him. His face filled with determination.

"I promise. After this whole thing is over, I'll propose to you. I don't care if we're childless-"

She stopped him with a kiss. No more discussion about children was brought up again that night, even though their act of union would make her pregnant if she wasn't infertile.

Touka spent her days and nights by her husband's side, leaving Re matters to Tsukiyama and others. She couldn't bear to leave him alone, even though it was killing her inside to see his unconscious state each passing second. She talked to him every day, telling him about her childhood life, how she and Ayato worked together to rule Anteiku after her father's death. At times, she would express her feelings- saying how much she missed him, how much she loved him, how much she wanted him to wake up just to hear his voice again.

After four days, he finally did.

His head throbbed slightly, and he felt his fingers intertwined with someone's.

He looked to his right and noticed his wife was sleeping calmly, her head resting in the crook of his neck.

"...Touka?" He coughed slightly, his voice sounded raspy- he needed water.

Touka stirred in her sleep, her eyes fluttered open and she was surprised to see her husband finally regained his consciousness.

"Kaneki!" She hugged him, tears brimming in her eyes. "Thank God. You're finally awake."

"What happened?" he noticed the lit beeswax candle. It was night time, he assumed.

"You were unconscious for four days."

"Four days?" He sounded surprised as well. "W-water..."

"Ah, right. Here." She walked to the table in the middle of the room then came back with a goblet in her hand. She sat him up then helped him as he drank the water.

After his thirst was quenched, she put the goblet aside.

"Dr. Kanou was here. He said you shouldn't wear your eyepatch anymore. It's making your eye worse."

If he was still half awake a moment ago, hearing her words made him fully awake. Shock coursing through his body as he realised he wasn't wearing his black eyepatch. "No! I need to wear it! Where is it?!"

His eyes searching for the eyepatch, he was about to stand up but she caught his arm, preventing him from doing so.

"Kaneki, it's alright."

"It's hideous, I need to cover it!"

"Kaneki!" She gripped his arm harder, forcing him to sit still and look at her.

"It's alright. I accept everything about you."

However, he didn't seem convinced, so she leaned in closer, her arms wrapped around him loosely.

"Your eye is not hideous, Kaneki. You're beautiful. I like you for who you are."

He seemed to have calmed down, but he pushed her away nonetheless. His head shook in disagreement.

"I'm a monster, Touka."

"No you're not, why would you say that?"

"I am! I- you don't know me. About my past." He covered his face with his hands, so she hugged him again, rubbing his back up and down in a soothing pattern.

"Banjou told me about your mother. I'm sorry to hear that, Kaneki. You deserved so much more." He tensed at the mention of his mother.

"What- what did he tell you?" He grabbed her shoulders- pushing her away slightly, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"That... she doesn't want you." She murmured softly, not wanting to hurt him.

Yet he just laughed, bitterly.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have been born. I should just- die."

"No, Kaneki. You deserve to live."

"I don't. I-" he took a long pause, searching her eyes for some assurance, hoping that what he was going to reveal will not make her detest him.

"-I killed my own mother."

Her eyes widened at his revelation, she didn't say anything, and for a moment- he thought she was going to leave him, or despise him for what he did.

He could hear his heartbeat pounding loudly- and painfully in his ears.

It felt like an eternity before she started responding to his darkest secret.

"...What?" It came out like a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear. His lips clamped together so tightly it made a white line, tears started to gather in his eyes.

"She was stabbing my eye, I- I wanted her to stop."

She took the nearby quill pen, smiling sinisterly before stabbing it repeatedly into his left eye.

"Mother, it hurts! Stop it! Mother, I won't ask for anything anymore! I'm sorry! It hurts!"

He was trying to close his eye but his mother forced it open, a menacing smile was plastered on her face.

Kaneki- screaming and wailing to be released, couldn't bear the pain anymore, and acted on instinct.

He kicked her as hard as he could.

Two loud thuds were heard.

Then silence.

"Mother?"

More silence.

He sat up, his eye was still bleeding from the stabs he received, but he couldn't blink at all when he saw his mother, lying in a pool of blood, not moving at all.

Her head hit the edge of the table when he kicked her.

It was an instant death.

More black tears fell from his left eye as he told her about his past. The past that had been haunting him for half of his life. It haunted his dream, as well as his mind as it seemed that he always remembered it every time his mother or his childhood was mentioned.

"I don't d-deserve you. You- you're like an angel, and I'm- I'm a hideous monster who k-killed his own mother."

"Kaneki..."

"And you know w-what? I was g-glad that she d-died. She- she won't hurt me a-anymore! I- I-" He pulled his hair, trying to repress the awful memories, but failed. The scene played in his mind over and over again. From the time when she stabbed his eye, to the part where he kicked her.

"Why didn't you love me... I'm your son... WHY DID YOU HURT ME?!" he shouted, his hand trying to claw his left eye, and this shocked Touka to the core. She gripped his wrists tightly, trying her best to stop him. But he was too strong, he yanked her hands away from him as he tried to claw his left eye again.

'This needs to stop.' She wasn't sure what else to do, so she just pushed him down, forcefully kissing him as her hands carefully removed his from its previous position.

He didn't seem to repel her anymore, in fact, he seemed confused, lost.

"Why-"

She smiled softly at him as her hands cupped his cheeks.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself. You're precious, Kaneki." Oh how she wanted to call him Ken, but she knew it might trigger him again just like on the night when he had his nightmare.

He stared at her face for God-knows how long, he wasn't really affected by her words, at least, not as much as she hoped him to.

"But I don't d-deserve to live. I'm- I'm a monst-"

She captured his mouth with hers again, stopping him from muttering the word.

"You're my kind husband, and if you died- I would be very sad." She caressed his cheek tenderly, kissing the crown of his head, her eyes showing nothing but love and concern towards him.

"But, I kill-"

"I don't care." What she did next surprised him. She kissed the corner of his left eye, his eyes automatically shut as she did so. She proceeded to kiss his eyelid gently, kissing away his mixed tears but it only made him cried even more.

She rained tiny kisses on his other eyelid, his high cheekbones, his red nose, his chin, then back to his eyelids again. A whimper escaped his lips.

"Touka…"

She covered his lips with hers- he responded weakly at first, but grew more passionate by the second. He was still crying, not because of his mother anymore, but because of the tender affection that was displayed by his caring wife. She pulled away for a moment to wipe his crystal clear and black tears away, then she leaned down to kiss him again, and again, and again.

She trailed lower and placed open-mouthed kisses along the tender skin of his jaw and neck. His Adam's apple bobbing visibly as he swallowed.

"You have a mole on your Adam's apple, Kaneki." She smiled.

"Really? I- I never noticed."

She trailed down to his throat again, kissing the mole tenderly. Her hands eased under his shirt, pulling it over his head, revealing his well-defined muscles. There were several scars on his body, but the one on his lower right abdomen was the most noticeable of all. She carefully traced it, rubbing her fingertips in little circles over the rough surface but stopped as the sound of his sobs getting louder.

"She- she tortured me-" her heart clenched painfully. 'He didn't deserve this.' "-I was tied, I c-couldn't do anything-"

She gave him the most comforting kiss while her fingers wiped away his tears for the nth time that night.

"It's alright... I'm here..." His arms wrapped tightly around her, drawing her closer to him. He needed to feel her warmth, to know that she was there with him.

She smiled as her hands caressed his cheeks, her eyes looked at him lovingly as if conveying her feelings for him.

She kissed her way down to his collarbone, chest, stomach, and also his scar. His chest heaved with each fond kiss that she planted onto his body.

"T- Touka." He panted. For a moment, he looked like a young boy, yearning for something unreachable.

She wondered where she got the courage to do this to him. All she wanted was to ease him of his painful memories. Banjou asked her to make him feel loved, so she would fulfil her promise. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Because she loved him.

She removed his pants along with the braies.

He was quite hard.

Her fingers attentively caressed his length, she was curious and nervous as she had never done this before, but she wanted to make him feel better.

She stroked him experimentally, his whimpers encouraged her to go faster. His hips bucked up slightly, responding to her movements.

Their gazes met- his eyes burned, she could see the desperation on his face as he seemed entranced by her action.

"Let me love you."

"Wait, Touka-"

She took him in her mouth, she was inexperienced and so was he, but who was he to complain when she made him feel good down there despite the lack of experience? Closing his eyes, his head fell back in a deep bliss. Eventually, his whimpers turned into deep moans as she took him deeper into her mouth, feeling the back of her throat.

"Touka, stop. Please stop." He murmured, panting heavily. He didn't think he could hold it any longer if she continued.

She hesitantly released him, "what is it?"

"I- I want you..." his lust-filled gaze was overwhelming. He looked so... beautiful that she felt guilty of her answer.

"You can't. I mean- I'm on my- um, period. It's usually very heavy on the first three days so..."

"O-oh."

"I'm sorry." She smiled warmly at him, then proceeded to give a lingering kiss on his tip before taking him again.

"Ah- you don't have to do this if- if you don't want to." Despite saying that, his hands instinctively made their way to her hair, slowly tangled into her locks.

She stared hard at him, he tried to return her stare but his face was in a pleasure mess as her hands engulfed him, unconsciously teasing him more.

"I want to. Tell me if I'm not doing this correctly, okay?"

Hearing her words, he nodded- his hooded eyes burning into hers.

With every touch, every kiss, and every movement on his length sent him to cloud nine. He had forgotten about his mother and his horrific childhood. In that moment, the only thing that occupied his mind was his gentle wife, giving him the best sensation he could ever imagine. Her touch was so light and careful as if she would break him if she were slightly a bit rougher.

She would occasionally look up at him, observing his reactions, learning more about his responses- what made him whimpered, what made his breath hitched, what made him moaned her name. She wanted to hear more, so that she could comfort him through her actions, making him forget about the painful memories.

Her eyes watered with every gag, but she didn't mind. She loved him. So much. She didn't care that her love for him was unrequited. She didn't care that he was just playing the role of a perfect husband only to make the marriage works. She wanted to stay by his side, supporting him, loving him, hoping that one day, he would love her back.

Afterwards, she held him close to her chest, stroking his white hair soothingly, placing a kiss on top of his head. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, as if she was his sanctuary, his haven, his home.

On that night, for the first time in Kaneki's life, he felt as if someone really cared for him.

For once, he didn't feel like a monster anymore. For once, he wasn't afraid of the nightmares that occasionally haunted his sleepless nights.

For once, he felt safe. And for once, he felt... loved.