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Kaneki set the slab of meat on his plate and poured coffee into his mug. His friend Hide was coming over after class so they could play video games together, and he wanted to eat before Hide showed up.
He was about to pick his plate up when he heard the lock on his door jiggle. The door opened and Hide walked in. The young man was carrying a take-out bag in one hand and a drink cup in the other.
"I'm coming in!" he shouted cheerfully.
"Hide? I thought you had a class?"
"It was canceled," he said, turning to Kaneki. "So I thought I'd come over and... have... lunch."
Kaneki knew Hide was staring at his plate. He quickly pulled it behind his back.
"I was... just about to eat, myself, actually."
"Oooh..." there was a pause. "Well, this is awkward," said Hide with a nervous giggle.
Kaneki shook his head, "I can put mine away for later, it's-"
"No, no," said Hide, "I showed up by surprise. And it's your apartment. I... I'll go to the park across the street."
"Oh, that's-"
"It's okay." Hide grinned. "Maybe I'll see some cute girls having lunch, too."
Kaneki felt an odd pang when Hide said that. Never the less, he smiled.
"Okay. Wanna come back in half an hour?"
"Okay!"
Kaneki was actually happy about this. He had fixed this... particular meat in a new way and he really wanted to try it out when it was freshly cooked.
Whistling nonchalantly, Hide walked over to the door. He stood in the genkan for longer than Kaneki would have expected.
"Hide...?"
Turning, Hide stepped out of his shoes again and walked up to Kaneki.
Smiling, Hide said, "Let's have lunch together, Kaneki!"
Kaneki blinked in surprise.
"H-Hide..."
"C'mon, we don't get to hang out enough."
"Hide, I..." Kaneki looked down at the food on his plate. Taking a deep breath, he held it up. "Hide... this is human meat. Part of a person. Less than twenty-four hours ago, it was a living, breathing human being. You might have encountered him on the street--hell, I might have encountered him on the street!"
There was a pause, then: "You can tell it was a man?"
Kaneki gaped. "What? No, I-"
"Well, you were saying 'he', so I thought-"
"That's not the point, Hide!"
Hide sighed. "I know, I know... you eat people. I've known for while, remember?"
"Yeah, but there's knowing, and there's... knowing. And seeing."
"Yeah, but... look, Kaneki, you and I have been best friends for a long time, right?
"Yeah..."
"And I hope to be best friends for the rest of our lives. And, hopefully that will be a long time, right?"
Kaneki smiled. "Yeah, I hope so."
"Well, look... this is gonna happen again--me walking in on you eating, or fixing food, or... who knows what. Wouldn't it be better if we just got used to the idea of it right off? You eating in front of me, me watching you eat, all of that?"
Kaneki considered this. He actually didn't mind the idea of eating in front of Hide, he was more concerned that Hide might be bothered by it. And since he didn't seem to be...
"Yeah, all right," Kaneki finally replied.
"Great," said Hide with a grin. "Let's go sit down! Oh, can I get a plate?"
Kaneki laughed. "Sure. You can get silverware if you need to, too."
Hide dumped his rice onto the plate, using his chopsticks to spread it out. Then he poured the beef and vegetables on it, mixing them together. Setting his chop sticks down, he put his hands together.
"Thanks for the food!"
Smiling, Kaneki did the same.
"Thanks for the food!"
Cutting off a chuck of meat, Kaneki picked it up with his chopsticks and took a bite. It was amazing. Kaneki let out a little moan.
Hide looked up at Kaneki, making a puzzled face.
"Sorry," said Kaneki. "This is just really good..."
"Hmmm..." Hide gasped and pointed to at Kaneki.
"Your eye, Kaneki..."
"Oh!" Kaneki instinctively covered his left eye, even as he willed it back to normal. "Sorry. I'll get my eye patch."
"No, no, it's okay," said Hide, smiling. "It actually looks pretty cool!"
"Oh... okay..." Kaneki blushed at the compliment.
"You just need to think about the fact that it does that when you eat."
"Yeah, I know. You're the only human I'd be eating around, anyway."
"True, true...." said Hide.
There was silence for a few minutes as Kaneki and Hide enjoyed their meals. After taking a few bites without comment, Kaneki found himself making another happy sigh we he got a particularly tasty bite.
"That good, huh?" said Hide with a grin.
"Sorry..."
Hide waved a piece of his lunch Kaneki. "This is really good, too."
Kaneki leaned back, covering his nose as the smell of human food hit him.
"Augh, Hide..."
"Oh, sorry..." Hide popped the food into his mouth.
"Well," said Kaneki, "one nice thing about us eating together now--we won’t be stealing each other's food!"
"Hmm," Hide said in agreement. Then he grinned, grabbing Kaneki's coffee mug.
"Hey!" Kaneki protested as Hide took a swig. Then he sighed. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
"Pretty much," said Hide, setting the mug back down next to Kaneki's plate. Both men laughed.
Kaneki finished his meal, and sat quietly as Hide continued to eat. Hide finally gave him a look.
"It's hard to eat with you staring at me..."
"Sorry!" Kaneki began picking up his dishes. "How about I set up the game while you finish?"
"Sounds good."
"Though I don't know why you're so eager to get your ass kicked..."
Kaneki let out a laugh. "You wish."
"Whoever wins has to buy the other one lunch for a week."
"That's hardly fair!"
Hide rolled his eyes. "I'll buy you a bunch of coffee, okay?"
Kaneki grinned. "You'll buy me a book."
"OOoh..." said Hide with a nod. "Okay. Not that it matters, cuz you're gonna lose."
Kaneki grinned, letting his ghoul eye show. "Bring it on, human."