Chapter Text
Stars pricked in the inky black sky as all three men succumbed to silence. Wind whistled, shaking antennas and rustling the trees below. Cheering and laughter could be heard down below from where the After-Ceremony-Party was taking place. Kaneki sat, unable to form anymore words as he glanced from Sasaki to Hide and back to Sasaki. His mouth was agape, much like Hide’s who shrugged when Kaneki’s eyes met Hide’s again. The engine of a train could be heard as it trundled along through the train station.
“It’s kinda cold” Sasaki whispered, clutching his naked body as goose bumps rose like mountains upon his skin. Kaneki fumbled to remove his jacket and wrapped it over Sasaki who nodded a small thank you. A lone siren echoed in the distance as well as the flapping of a small flock of disturbed birds. Sasaki looked upwards towards the sky, he watched the stars flicker and a lone jet plane fly overhead.
“You look like twins” Hide giggled out of the blue as he stepped up from the roof hatch. The only difference was that Sasaki had more black strands of hair. Sasaki fell out of his trance and locked on Hide, he smiled softly.
“This is no time for jokes” Kaneki hissed, shooting a glare towards Hide who threw his hands up in defeat. He mumbled a small sorry and coughed awkwardly. There was a small snort and Kaneki whipped his head around to look back at Sasaki who had gone red.
“Are you okay?” Kaneki asked and Sasaki lost it. He fell into a fit of giggles before coming to his senses and saying something along the lines of ‘this is so weird’
“We have to tell someone” Hide said, crouching down with Kaneki and Sasaki who both looked at him at the same time. It was kind of creepy having the same pair of steel-grey eyes bore into your skull. “Okay, first things first, stop staring at me like that” A smile tugged on his lips as both men averted their gaze, opting to look at the gravelled roof-floor.
“We should tell Arima” Hide suggested and Sasaki gave a pained look.
“All he did was lie to me” Sasaki whispered. Kaneki glanced at the newly-formed man as he ran a hand through his hair.
“It is true” Kaneki backed up, looking back over to Hide with a shrug. The blond sighed.
“Well what are we going to do?” Hide cupped his cheeks with both hands, letting out yet another sigh. He didn’t want anything drastic to happened, and he definitely didn’t want to lose Kaneki and Sasaki. “Arima owns us, we are basically slaves and if we let one foot fall out of line, he will exterminate us” Hide pondered for a moment. He gazed out into the sky above, watching the stars briefly before throwing his hand up as if he had an answer.
“We have to tell him” Hide said, his voice losing hope halfway through the statement.
“What if he kills Sasaki?” Kaneki asked, shifting uncomfortably on the cold ground. How Sasaki wasn’t dying of hypothermia yet was beyond him.
“We are going to have to try to persuade him to keep Sasaki” Hide answered, shifting over to Kaneki and wrapping an arm around him. There was a chance, yes, that Arima Kishou may just outright slaughter Sasaki, and then possibly Kaneki and Hide too. But they had to wager, there must be an even ground for all three to stand upon under the safety of the CCG.
“I’ll go get him”
---
“Arima, sir” Hide bowed upon finding the taller man. He was hidden in a secluded room alongside some members of his squad. They were all sipping some form of spirit and Koori was puffing on a cigar. He said something about it being a special occasion and that he should treat himself. Although treating himself to something extremely toxic baffled Hide.
“Yes, Nagachika?” Arima gave a small nod and downed the rest of his drink in one full swig.
“There is something I need to show you” Hide whispered, trying not to allow the others in the room to hear. Arima nodded again and gestured Hide to show him the way. The Blond led him up the flights of stairs to the rooftop where Kaneki and Sasaki sat. They had wanted to retreat indoors and into the warmth, but both were too scared to do so in fear of extermination.
When Arima laid eyes on both men he let out a small ‘oh’ sound. His other facial expressions stayed more or less emotionless. Slowly, he took a few steps towards Kaneki and Sasaki, he crouched down, studying the two men’s faces.
“Kaneki, are you okay?” He asked. Kaneki forced himself not to look repulsed when the man who stabbed his eyes out came up close to him.
“I’m fine” Kaneki spat. “You should be worried about him” Kaneki jerked a thumb to a large eyed Sasaki. Fear was evident on Sasaki’s face as Arima’s gaze landed upon him.
“How did this happen?” Arima spoke to all three men.
“I had pains, and my Kagune came out and then two of the claws detached and formed into Sasaki” Kaneki droned, rubbing his sore back. Arima nodded walking around the back of Kaneki. He order the male to lift his shirt. Where his Kagune would rupture from was a large gash, it oozed a thick reddish coloured liquid. Around the edges of the wound was the formation of new pink skin and Arima clicked his teeth as if to say ‘put your shirt back down. The tall Reaper then walked around Kaneki towards Sasaki and studied his naked figure. The jacket Kaneki had offered him was shorted and less padded and Sasaki had slowly taken on a blueish tinge. Arima removed his coat and offered it to Sasaki.
“Sasaki, here, this one is longer and warmer” Arima spoke softly and handed the coat to Sasaki who removed Kaneki’s and placed it over his frame. “Let’s get you inside before you get a cold”
The soft tone of voice felt like a punch in Kaneki’s face. Why does Arima care so much for Sasaki and treats Kaneki like a nobody? They are pretty much the same person! Kaneki bit his lip, so wanting to vent some anger onto the tall investigator. However, he didn’t favour his eyes being ripping out their sockets again. Sasaki was fully covered as Arima led all three back indoors. They took another exit out of the building to minimise any one seeing the newly-formed Sasaki Haise. He took them back into the main CCG building and to his office. Surprisingly, Arima had a small wardrobe inside and offered Sasaki some of his clothes. They were large and hung of off the man’s smaller frame, but they did the job.
“I’m going to have to speak to the Head” Arima began when Sasaki came back in with his new clothes on.
“I have no idea what he is going to say” Arima wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. All three of them watched him carefully.
“I’m not promising anything” Arima stated “But I will see what I can do to secure your safety, Sasaki”
“Thank you sir” Sasaki bowed.
“Now, for tonight I presume there is space inside the Chateaux for another person to stay?”
Kaneki and Hide both nodded.
“But what about the rest of the Qs?” Kaneki stated.
“Well, you are going to have to tell them” Arima answered, sitting down in his chair.
“Now go along, there aren’t many people around at this time so no one will see you hopefully” Arima waved an arm and all three ambled back to the Chateaux.
--
The walk back was short, it took them through the back exit of the Main Office Block and through the small plaza situated outside. It was lined with small winding paths and trees and it even had 2 or 3 art sculptures set in stone inside. One of Kaneki’s and Hide favourite spots at lunch was a bench in front of the large dragon sculpture made of treated wood and metal and other household objects like knives and forks and door handles.
The 3 men walked past that very sculpture and Kaneki and Hide gave each other a slightly dazed glance. They had too many delicious make out sessions at that bench. Sasaki knew, well, he was technically there the entire time. Expect not physically, just mentally. However, one weird thing Sasaki was beginning to notice was subtle changes in his sensory receptors. For example, when Kaneki hears something and instinctively whips his head around to view where the sound had come from – Sasaki would do the same, even if he actually hadn’t heard the noise. It confused him slightly, but given that they were the same person in separate entities it kind of made sense.
Sasaki shifted the baggy shirt uncomfortably as he fell back into his thoughts. He didn’t feel okay, but it wasn’t like he was ill or angry or sad. Just… kind of… lonely? He couldn’t place it…
The chateaux could be seen now and they all picked up pace. Kaneki was the first to enter to check if anyone was home, and luckily, the entire squad was still at the party. Sasaki chose one of the guest bedrooms to bed down in. He mumbled something about wanting to be alone with his thoughts for a while. Kaneki brought a cup of coffee up for him and a novel, but Sasaki insisted on him to leave it outside the door. Kaneki didn’t argue, he simply said.
“Just talk to me, okay?”
A muffled ‘okay’ came through the door and Kaneki turned away, walking directly into Hide who had snuck up on him. Suddenly it was a trap of arms, nice, large and warm ones. Kaneki melted into the hug as Hide rubbed small circles into his back.
“How’s the pain?” Hide whispered and Kaneki grunted. He had been in pain this entire time, even though his wound had healed. It was a weird kind of pain that came from the heart and told him he was missing something.
“How’d you know I was in pain?” Kaneki whispered back, lifting his head to look into Hide’s brown eyes. Hide laughed, placing a small kiss onto Kaneki’s nose before saying.
“I know these things, remember?”