Chapter Text
Hide missed his old smile.
Well, he missed a lot of things about his old self, but he missed his smile the most. After his and Kaneki's talk, they had found themselves settling down and telling miscellaneous stories about their time away from each other, and he noticed that he wasn't smiling like he felt he should.
When Kaneki told him that his squad had to dress up as girls in order to get leads on a ghoul, he felt he should've laughed more than just a quiet chuckle. Or when he told him about how he almost ended up talking to the fish in the sea while waiting for his partner, he should've smiled wider.
It was strange.
For awhile he had thought getting the closure that he wanted with Kaneki would allow him to pretend again. He could be the bubbly, sunshine that Kaneki always wanted again.
He supposed that he forgot how to do it, and he couldn't tell if Kaneki minded or not.
From what he could tell, he didn't. If he really didn't want to be around him if he wasn't pretending, he wouldn't have tried to find where he lived, or even have talked to him that night.
He cared. Hide had to remind himself of that.
“Ken?”
The man responded with a small shift in his sleep before curling back up. He smiled at him. Not nearly as bright, but it was a start.
“Sleep well, you deserve it.”
He really did. It must've taken a lot for Kaneki to be willing to spend three weeks trying to find him, along with the other things he must've been doing. He didn't know if he wanted him to do that, not after how he treated him before.
He poked Kaneki's cheek, trying to lighten his own mood.
That didn't matter now. Kaneki was with him, that's what mattered.
He gently lifted the other man off of the couch and headed into his room, then gently set laid him down on the bed. Should he sleep too? Let Kaneki have the bed and have him take the couch?
Hide ended up lying on the bed next to him. For a few moments he simply stared at his friend. During their talk, he never stopped to really look at Kaneki, to take in how he changed. From where he was, it wasn't by a lot.
He wondered when Kaneki had gotten so small, in a weird way. He was more muscular, but still seemed so fragile. Like a statue made of glass. One push and it would shatter.
His hair was white, though it was harder to tell in the dimly lit room, and his arms and legs seemed like they had chapped completely then dyed red.
Strange, yes, but still undoubtedly Kaneki.
Hide smiled again, feeling more at ease. It was Kaneki, just Kaneki. No Eyepatch, no Centipede, no One Eyed King. Kaneki.
That's all he would ever be to him.
He brought Kaneki closer to him and wrapped his arms around him as gently as he could.
“Good night, Ken. We’ll start again tomorrow.”
--
Morning came after a very restful night. Fitting, Kaneki thought. A true dawn of a new day.
Hide was still fast asleep, half curled up with his arms wrapped around his torso. He smiled fondly. It was nostalgic, in a way. When they were children and had sleepovers, Hide had a tendency to hold him sometime after they fell asleep. It was reassuring that at least that wasn't gone.
Kaneki gave Hide a gentle nudge, and was returned with a noise of protest.
“Come on, Hide.”
He was given a mumble.
“It's 10, Hide. You can't stay asleep forever.” He pushed, nudging him harder.
Hide seemed adamant about keeping him in his grasp, as he pulled him closer and held him like some type of teddy bear.
Part of Kaneki didn't want to wiggle out of his hold, it felt too comforting. A strong hold that wasn't too tight. For a moment he contemplated melting back into Hide’s arms and going back to sleep.
He quickly decided that would be counter productive.
He also decided to use his secret weapon.
Kaneki placed his hand near Hide’s tailbone and gave it a gentle scratch. This caused him to quiver around and groan, breaking his slumber.
Kaneki chuckled. Good to know that still worked.
“Good morning.” He said with a soft smile.
Hide half opened his eyes. “You could've let me sleep longer.” There was humor behind his voice.
“I could've, but we wouldn't have been able to talk as long.”
“Just five more minutes then?”
“We can lay down for five more minutes.”
Hide quietly groaned. “Don't do that again if I doze off.”
“No promises.”
“You really haven't changed.”
Kaneki cheekily grinned at that.
They laid there for around three more minutes. Hide softly rocking him, trying not to fall back asleep and nuzzling his hair ever so gently. Kaneki relished in that, feeling himself melt back into his arms without feeling drowsy. Eventually, Hide let go of him and got out of his bed. To shower, Kaneki presumed.
He took that time to go and prepare coffee for them.
The apartment had a different feel to it during the day. It wasn't quite as lonely or isolated, maybe because of the small amounts of light coming through the windows. Though that was rather limited too.
He noticed that at some point Hide must've cleaned up, as the main room was much cleaner. The papers were in folders on the coffee table, markers were capped and placed neatly next to them, and most of the pictures on the bulletin board were taken down.
Hide was always good at covering his tracks. Asking about it would be difficult, if he learned anything that previous night, it was that Hide was an expert as keeping secrets. Everything he told him were things he had kept since they met.
Should they fix that? Kaneki already wanted to change the fact Hide had to pretend to be something he usually wasn't around him. He shouldn’t be so selfish, he was his friend too.They wouldn't go anywhere with pretending around each other.
He would be a better friend this time, he decided that the previous night. Be the one Hide needs and deserves.
He made coffee with that thought in mind. He'll figure something out eventually.