Chapter Text
Gunfire cracks loudly in the chilly night air, echoing off the evacuated buildings of Tokyo. Battle cries and mournful wails tore from the throats of humans and ghouls alike. White became crimson as the snow blanketing the 20th Ward was splattered with the blood of the injured and fallen.
Kaneki sprang from rooftop to rooftop, his frost-white hair ruffling in the wind as he travelled at a speed faster than any human could achieve by foot.
He needed to protect them. He won’t let the CCG kill his friends.
As Kaneki leaps through the air, there’s a startled shout somewhere below.
‘That voice…’ Familiar. Comfort. Home. Kaneki’s heart jolts painfully into his ribs. ‘No…not here!’
He tucks into a tumbling roll, spraying snow as he skidded to a halt before two figures. “Hide!” The eye-patched ghoul yells, panicked, uncaring that he had now possibly revealed his identity to his best friend.
The ghoul, wearing an Aogiri cloak, pounces at Hide’s turned back while shooting a barrage of Rc projectiles from his fiery ukaku wings. “NO!” Kaneki dives for his human friend, tackling Hide into the snow and shielding him with his rinkaku.
“Agh…” Hide winces beneath the half-ghoul and Kaneki’s eyes widen as a tantalising scent hits his nose. His kakugan activates while his mouth begins to water behind the zipped mask. “Man…that hurts. Hey…I think you missed one.” Alarmed, Kaneki’s scarlet and black eye instantly flicks over to the source of the sweet scent: a single crystallised projectile imbedded in Hide’s shoulder, blood oozing from the wound.
Kaneki gives his surroundings a quick scan, noting that the ghoul had fled while the two of them were distracted, before turning his attention back to his friend below him. He needs to get Hide somewhere safe where he can treat the wound.
Careful not to aggravate the wound, Kaneki scoops Hide up into his arms. Hide whimpers softly in pain, closing his eyes tightly as he rested his head against Kaneki’s chest, clutching at the torn battle shirt. Kaneki glanced down at his best friend, confusion and fondness swirling in his inky sclera. Did Hide even realise that he was being carried by a dangerous ghoul?
“Thanks, man,” chirped Hide, grinning sunnily when their gazes met. “Wow. That kakugan of yours is awesome! I’ve always wanted to see one up close.” Kaneki felt his cheeks heat up at the enthusiastic compliment and was suddenly very thankful that he was wearing his mask.
“Whoa!” Hide exclaimed, startled, as Kaneki leaped into the air and landed neatly in a crouch upon a nearby rooftop.
With their close proximity, Hide’s scent enveloped Kaneki’s sensitive nose. There was something about it that had always baffled Kaneki ever since he became a ghoul. Sure, the scent smelled mostly human with a tang of something that was only Hide, unique and familiar. Yet underlying that, there was a trace of something strange…something inhuman. It was as though Hide’s human scent was masking something, hiding it from those around him.
“You can have a taste if you want. I don’t mind, it’s already lost anyway, right?” Hide’s question jolted Kaneki from his trance. Horrified, he stared at Hide, his gaze slowly trailing over to the blood dripping and staining Hide’s CCG vest before tearing it away from the tempting offer. Without giving the human in his arms an answer, the white-haired ghoul restarted his hurried retreat for safety.
Wind howled in their ears as they travelled fast over the rooftops, snowflakes stinging their cheeks in their haste. A battle between a ghoul and three investigators had taken up the next rooftop ahead, forcing Kaneki to take a detour down to the streets below. He bends his knees, taking the brunt of the impact, protecting Hide, as he landed heavily upon the unforgiving pavement.
When Kaneki straightened up, his silver eye met an unexpected, familiar face. It was the investigator he fought from that rainy night. Despite the row of low-ranked investigators blocking the road, perhaps there was a chance this man would let him pass through without fighting. “May I pass?”
“No,” the dark-haired investigator replied, firmly. Smirking, he added. “You may not.”
“I’m in a hurry,” desperation seeped into Kaneki’s voice as the panic rose within him. “Let me pass and we won’t need to fight again.” He knew this man can be reasonable. He doesn’t want to fight him.
Glancing down at Hide’s wound, Kaneki’s worry for his friend grew.
“Eyepatch, is that…Nagachika?” Asked the investigator, recognition lighting in his eyes as his gaze locked onto the CCG assistant’s distinguishable blonde hair and limp form.
“Yes,” replied Kaneki, clutching his friend closer to his chest protectively. “Hide…” His voice cracked on the name, “he’s hurt. I need to get him somewhere safe so please…let me pass.”
“Amon…” Hide’s voice was hoarse as he weakly addressed the stunned investigator. “Don’t hurt…him…please…let…Ka…” His dazed, brown eyes slipped closed as he lost his battle to stay conscious.
“Hide! Hide…” Kaneki dropped to his knees, cradling his friend’s slack body, disregarding the astounded stares of the CCG investigators watching them. Resting his head against Hide’s shoulder, Kaneki heard the clicking of the Q bullet rifles being loaded and aimed. Ignoring them, the half-ghoul pressed his ear against Hide’s neck and sighed in relief upon hearing the calm, steady heartbeat.
Hide shifted subconsciously in Kaneki’s arms and instantly Kaneki found his face buried in something fluffy, replacing the smooth skin of Hide’s neck. Distantly, Kaneki heard the investigators gasp and mutter followed by the unconcealed bewilderment in Amon’s voice.
“I thought they were extinct,” whispered the investigator in awe.
Untangling himself from Hide, Kaneki peeled his face away from the strange softness only to find himself staring uncomprehendingly at his unconscious friend.
“…Hide?”
Lying upon the icy pavement before him was not the body of a human but…
A wolf.
A sleeping wolf with golden fur that was sprinkled with tufts of brown, reminiscent of Hide’s dyed hair. ‘This wolf…is Hide really a…?’ Kaneki reached towards the unconscious canine with a quivering hand. ‘All this time?’ He buried his black-nailed fingers into the fur, unsure at first until his fingertips felt the warm fur welcome them. Absent-mindedly running his fingers through the wolf’s fur, Kaneki was dazed by the overwhelming realisation of what his childhood friend is.
He isn’t human.
He was never human.
He is a wolf.
Hide blinked blearily and his eyes met Kaneki’s single, uncovered left eye. Even as a wolf, they were the same glimmering brown Kaneki had known since the day they first met.
The human-now wolf-shakily stood up, swaying unsteadily from the blood loss. Kaneki was distressed when he saw more blood gush from the wound and into the widening puddle on the pavement below.
There’s not much time left.
“Amon! Please! Give me something clean to bandage him with!” Yelled Kaneki. Hesitantly, Amon approached the pair, much to the shock and horror of his back-up men.
“Sir! That ghoul is dangerous!”
“Investigator Amon, Sir!”
“Be careful, Sir! That wolf is injured, it may attack you.”
Hide’s gaze dropped to his front paws and his jaw dropped in surprise, seemingly having only noticed his altered appearance just then. When Kaneki pulled him closer and held him in place, Hide yelped but made no move to escape the half-ghoul’s hold.
Cautiously and slowly, Amon kneels down on the other side of the wolf, opposite Eyepatch. Wary not to make any sudden movements, Amon raised his arm to reveal a first-aid kit which he had taken off of one of the field medics.
Hide’s anxious gaze flickered from Kaneki to Amon and back again. “Thank you, Amon,” said Kaneki, softly, carefully taking the kit out of the investigator’s grip. Without warning, Kaneki yanked the imbedded Rc crystal out of Hide’s withers before swiftly covering the wound with his hands until Amon had removed the bandages from the kit. Hide released a low whine as Kaneki wrapped the wound with an air of medical precision. “Hide, you’re going to be okay. I’m here,” comforted Kaneki, gently.
“Hide?” Amon echoed and Kaneki winced, realising his mistake. “You sound like you know Nagachika Hideyoshi very well, Eyepatch.”
If he admits it, Hide would know that Kaneki is a ghoul but Kaneki didn’t want to lie. Hide meant too much to him, even if he is a wolf.
Hide huffed at seeing Kaneki’s hesitation and hooked his paw around Kaneki’s shoulder in a wolf’s version of a side hug. A toothy, dog-like smile stretched across Hide’s muzzle as he grinned at Amon, thus confirming the investigator’s suspicion.
“I see. A ghoul and a wolf? Huh…” Mused Amon, the corners of his lips twitching upwards into a smile.
Kaneki tensed. Touching his chin with one hand, he futilely attempted to deny it. “W-We’re n-not…i-it’s…n-not what you think. Why would he be friends with a ghoul like me? That’s…that’s…”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Hide asked quietly near Kaneki’s ear as two, now human, arms wrapped around the astonished half-ghoul in a warm embrace. “Just because you’re a ghoul now, ‘Neki, doesn’t mean that you can’t be my best friend anymore.”
“You k-know that I’m…”
“Kaneki?” Hide finished, leaning back so that he could look Kaneki in his silver eye. “Of course I knew, man! Ghouls aren’t the only ones with a sensitive nose, ya know.”
“Hide…I’m not…human anymore.” Kaneki whispered brokenly, averting his eye down to his blackened fingernails. He cracked a finger, listening to the sickening sound without grimacing.
“I don’t mind, I’m not human either. There’s nothing wrong with that, Kaneki,” reassured Hide, his voice taking on a serious tone Kaneki had rarely heard from his friend. “Do you…mind being friends with a wolf like me?” Kaneki couldn’t recall a time where he had seen Hide as insecure about something as he did while he was asking that question.
“No,” he replied honestly and instantly the apprehensiveness drained from Hide’s shoulders as he relaxed again. “Of course I don’t, Hide.” Kaneki added.
Hide grinned as he tugged his white-haired friend into another hug. “I missed you so much, Kaneki,” his voice wavered as he was overwhelmed with the sheer relief at finally being reunited with his best friend. Hide buried his face into the crook of Kaneki’s neck to stifle a sob, his breath hitching as he murmured, “I don’t think I can take it if you disappear again, man. Rabbits die of loneliness remember?”
“You’re a wolf not a rabbit, Hide,” mumbled Kaneki, earning him a soft chuckle from Hide.
Nearby, a section of the building collapses, crashing into the pavement with a ground-shuddering thud. Dust and powdery snow billowed upwards into the air, swirling across the street and obscuring the two friends from the wide eyes of the CCG.
Somewhere hidden in the shrouding grey, Amon heard Eyepatch say: “Hide?”
“Yeah?” Nagachika replied.
“I missed you too.”
When the dust cleared, both the eye-patched ghoul and the golden wolf were gone.