Chapter Text
Creak…
She looked up to see Kaneki sitting up in the bed.
He stared straight at her, “Touka-chan…” Then glanced around, “Everyone…”
“Kaneki?” It’s really him and not a dream right?
But reality soon shattered through as Saiko rushed to hug him while crying. At that moment, everyone else in the room had woken up to see that Kaneki was fully conscious. The white haired looked around at everyone in shock while everyone else looked back at him, grateful for the fact that he wasn’t just an empty shell, but actually living.
Nishiki grabbed onto his face harshly, as to confirm that Kaneki was fully there.
“You bastard… You’re too damn resilient, you shitty kouhai,” Nishiki scolded before letting go of Kaneki’s face. “Wait here, I’m gonna tell Kimi.”
Kaneki looked back at her again, “Touka-cha-”
Before he could utter another word, she hugged him, reveling in the fact that he’s there, he’s alive.
Thump… Thump…Thump....
He was still cold, but she could hear his heartbeat. She wonders if he can hear hers.
“Thank goodness,” she whispered.
After Kaneki decided to go out into the wrecked city, Touka had gathered some clothes for him seeing as he can’t just walk into the city in just a hospital gown.
“Um…Touka-chan?”
She looked down at his limbs, realizing that he would have some issues changing. “I’ll help.”
When she took the gown off of him, she could clearly see the condition of his body. Everything from the neck down was still red and raw. His hands haven’t even reformed. But considering his previous condition, this was fine, he’s healing. It might be slow, but it was better than nothing.
“It’s cold outside,” she mumbled as she pulled the jacket onto him.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” She gave his hand (?) a firm grip to let him, hoping that it would be enough to reassure him that she, not to mention everyone else, was on his side.
But the concern didn’t disappear from his face, “Are you ok? Is our child…”
His hand looked tempted to reach out, but he looked afraid. As though he might hurt her or their child somehow. She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her. Even though the baby probably was still really tiny, she placed his misfigured hand on her stomach, “We’re fine.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes,” she answered, placing her other hand on top of his, “I’m fine. They’re fine.”
Of course, she’ll have to get a proper check up at some point to be safe (especially considering all the fighting she didn’t expect to be in), but she was able to avoid getting her stomach hit. That was the most important thing.
But her answer didn’t seem to reassure him.
His expression turned to something between guilt and downcast, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put you through this.”
“It’s ok, we made it out, didn’t we?” She smiled, but he didn’t return it. “Is there something else that’s bothering you?”
He looked at her with a confusing look on his face, “Have you seen Hide?”
Oh.
So that’s what’s on his mind.
“Yeah. He helped convince the CCG to cooperate with us.” If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have been able to find Kaneki so easily.
When the blonde haired man insisted on talking with her privately, she didn’t know what to expect. She certainly didn’t think he would immediately ask questions about her relationship with Kaneki. But speaking to him didn’t make her feel uncomfortable in the slightest, it was actually quite pleasant. She was glad that they could talk, that’s what reminded her about the ring that she had given Kaneki.
“Is he…How is he?” her husband asked quietly while looking towards the ground. She wonders if Kaneki feels guilty for what he’s done to his best friend. She saw the damage firsthand, but it didn’t seem like Nagachika held any remorse towards it. If anything, he just covered it up to keep other people from being uncomfortable.
Despite everything, Nagachika was still as cheerful as she remembered him to be.
“You should ask him that in person,” she answered, because she knew the two had a lot that they needed to say, “Once you finish looking at the city, you should talk to him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk to you again.”
Those words seemed to give Kaneki a little bit of hope, seeing as he finally cracked a small smile, “I… Should.”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, Urie-kun and Saiko-chan must be wondering what I’m doing. I’ll be back soon.”
She squeezed his hands once last time before letting go, “Be careful out there.”
“Yeah.”
“Try not to push yourself too much. I still need you to give our kid a name. I suck at Japanese, you know.”
His smile widened a little, “Yeah, I know.”