A/N: hi~~~~~ I'm back~~~ I'm suppose to be studying for the Big! Big! Big! Super Big test tomorrow but who cares?? I care more about my story and readers!!!! So here's chapter 14! Please enjoy!!!! :D~~~~~~
Touka was resting her head on Kaneki's chest with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, staring at nothing. Kaneki was gently touching her face like she was a new born baby, humming some random melody quietly. Touka felt safe, warm, and happy. She moved her head and tried to get in a more comfortable position, but her head went through Kaneki's chest and hit the soft bed. "Huh??" She tried to touching him, but all she could touch was the bedsheets and the pillow. Kaneki suddenly started turning transparent, and she tried to grabbed him again and again, but she couldn't, and Kaneki turned into nothingness. She stared at the place where Kaneki was, and everything went blurry.
Touka gasped and opened her eyes, panting, sweating. "Oh... it was just a dream..." She muttered. Her vision was still blurry and not focused, and she realized she wasn't in her room.
"Where....?" She rubbed her eyes, and heard a sound like someone was taking off his shirt, and she saw Kaneki was half-naked standing beside the bed, facing her with his back, with his clothes still on his hands and staring at her.
"Morning, Touka-chan." He said, smiling. "You were moaning and grasping the bed, did you have a nightmare?" He asked as he turned.
Touka stared at his distinct six-pack, specs, and biceps, and blushed madly. She shrieked slightly and pulled the blanket to her nose, covering half of her face.
"What's wrong?? Touka-chan??" He asked as he leaned over the bed. Touka blushed even redder. "W-Wait!! S-Stop!!" Touka shouted, pulling the blanket even higher, covering her bleeding nose.
Kaneki looked a bit confused. Just then someone knocked on the door and opened it. It was Yomo. His right hand was holding a basket of apple, and his left hand was still holding the doorknob. They stared at one another for about one minute.
"Excuse me." Said Yomo and he closed the door and left. "W-Wait!! Yomo-san!!" Touka shouted as she jumped out of the bed. She rushed out of the room and went chasing after Yomo.
Kaneki scratched his chin, still a bit confused, and put the clothes back on. He sat at the edge of the bed, and remembered when Yomo saw Touka lifting up his own shirt at his dojo. He chuckled and blushed slightly as well, and the door opened again. He saw Touka panting heavily with Yomo standing behind her.
"It was a misunderstanding, Yomo-san." Said Kaneki, smiling a bit awkwardly. "I understand. Scenes like that really are easy to be misunderstood." Said Yomo, closing the door, and he put the basket of apple on the table.
"Everyone will be here later." Said Yomo, and the door burst open. "Or maybe now." He added. Hide, Yoriko, and Hinami ran into the room with Nishiki, Koma, Irimi, Yoshimura, Uta, and Tsukiyama entering the room a few seconds later. The room suddenly became crowded, and Kaneki was a bit shocked, and didn't really know how to respond to a situation like this.
Everyone gathered around his bed and stared at him. He smiled awkwardly again, scratching his face. "Um... hi, guys??" He said. Everyone stared at him for another ten seconds, and Hide broke the silence.
"That's it?? Hi guys?? You were unconscious for four weeks, while we were so worried that we could barely eat and sleep! And you just said 'hi guys'??" Said Hide, staring at Kaneki. Kaneki stared back at him, didn't know what to reply, and Hide stared to laugh, everyone stared to laugh, including Kaneki himself.
"I-I'm sorry!! That's all I cloud manage to s-say!!" Said Kaneki, laughing. "Y-You stupid idiot!! At least say something more t-touching!!" Said Yoriko, still laughing as well.
"And onee-chan!! You were so selfish!! How could you just pick up the call from the doctor and ran away without any explanation like that??" Hinami said, pulling Touka's shirt, smiling widely. "Sorry! Sorry! I couldn't say anything at that time! I was too worried!" She said, wiping the tears in her eyes away.
The kept laughing, and some turned into sobs. Hinami grabbed Kaneki's hands, shaking them. "W-We t-thought we were g-going to l-lose y-you!! Onii-chan!!" She said, sobbing. Yoriko and Touka was sobbing too.
"I... I'm very sorry, Hinami-chan, I am really sorry. I promise I will never leave you, okay??" Kaneki said softly, patting her head. "Let them talk for a while, shall we??" Said Yoshimura. Koma, Irimi, Yomo, Uta, Tsukiyama, and Nishiki nodded and left.
"It's good to see you healthy again, Kaneki-kun. We will be waiting for you at Anteiku until you're fully recovered." Said Yoshimura. "Thank you, Yoshimura-san. I'll be back to work soon." Kaneki said, and Yoshimura nodded and left.
Hinami wiped the tears away and smiled. He looked at her face, thinking about what she had been through. Her father and mother were gone, and she had a hard time overcoming the pain. Now she had finally walked out of the darkness, and he almost pulled her back to it again. He felt really sad and bad. He wanted to repay her, repay everyone, with all his might.
"Hinami-chan, Takatsuki Sen is going to do a book signing at the end of the month, do you want to come with me??" He asked, and her eyes twinkled.
"Oh yeah!! I saw it on the Internet!! I can go!! Right??" Hinami asked with her eyes shining. "Yep! Of course you can! I decided to bring you there instantly when I heard the news." Said Kaneki looking at Hinami's excited face.
"Hey wait a sec! Onii-chan!! Where did you hear the news? You were unconscious when it was released." Asked Hinami.
"Well, I got the news from Eto, that green haired girl that came to Anteiku several times. Remember her?" Explained Kaneki.
"Oh you mean that girl who looks really like Takatsuki Sen??" Asked Hinami. "Yeah, that's her. She's Takatsuki Sen's younger sister, she told me everything about her." Said Kaneki, smiling, and he looked at the others. "You wanna come along??" He asked. "Yeah, we'll come." Said Hide and Yoriko together. "Okay, how about you? Touka-chan?" Asked Kaneki.
"Well... yeah. What's the date??" She said. "It's May 29th, Sunday." Kaneki answered, and to his surprise, she looked a bit down. "Sorry, Kaneki, I... I have an appointment that day." She said, not looking at him. "An appointment?? With who??" Asked Kaneki.
"Well.... that week is the week before summer vacation, and Sasaki asked me whether I would like to go to the theme park with him on that day, and I said yes. So sorry, Kaneki, I can't go." Said Touka, looking at her fingers. Kaneki stared at her for a while. "Uh-oh." Hide whispered to Yoriko.
"Well, is that so?? Then it's too bad, you can't come." Said Kaneki, smiling, but looking a but weird. "So... you're going out with that Sasaki guy, then??" He asked, and Touka nodded. "Yeah, I am." She said, and there was an awkward silence again. They stared at one another. Fortunately Kaneki's phone rang and broke the silence, so no one had to dispel this uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Excuse me." Said Kaneki as he picked up the phone. "This's Kaneki speaking." He said, and he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the phone. "Man! You are finally awake!!" He said. "A-Ayato?!?!" Asked Kaneki, a bit shocked. He didn't, in fact, no one in the room expected he would call.
"Yeah, it's me, bro. I'm here to deliver a message." Said Ayato. "Okay, what is it?" Asked Kaneki. He paused for a while, and Kaneki could tell he was smirking on the other side of the phone. "Well, you're done, dude. You're out." He said. "W-What?? What do you mean??" Asked Kaneki. "Um well.... Tatara-san said... how did he phrase it..... you're... oh! Very inactive recently." Said Ayato. "Inactive??" Kaneki repeated. "Yep! You've been slacking off lately. You stopped taking parts in our activities, disappeared when we were calling you, pretended you didn't see us when we met in the corridors. Anyway, you're out! See ya!" He hung up, leaving Kaneki holding his phone at his ear, still shocked.
"What is it??" Asked Hide. He put his phone away. "Well guys, due to many reasons, I got kicked out of the Aogiri Tree. And I think it's a good news to you, isn't it??" Said Kaneki. "Oh you're finally outta that stupid gang?? Thank god!!" Shouted Touka, shaking Kaneki's shoulder happily.
"So... everything goes back to normal now, right??" Asked Hide. "Yeah, I guess, I won't be hanging out with them anymore, but I'm still gonna be friends with Rize-san and Eto, they're special, ya know??" Said Kaneki, and they all burst into laughing. When Touka and the others left in the afternoon, Hinami looked really, really happy, and Kaneki was pleased to see that. Later his doctor, Kanou, came to check his wounds. He said it was recovering well, and he was allowed to go home in a few days. When he finished doing his last measurement, they said goodbye to each other and he left the room. A few days later Kaneki went to the counter and discharged his procedure and went back to Anteiku.
He saw Koma and Irimi cleaning the silverware at the bar when he entered the cafe, both of them beamed at him. "Welcome back, Kaneki-kun." Said Koma and Irimi together. "Thank you, it's good to be back." Said Kaneki, and he went upstairs.
He opened his door, and went in his room. He found out it'd been cleaned and a bed was placed in the corner of the room. He walked to the bed and saw a note and a pile of books on it. It was from Hide.
Hey Kaneki!
I've cleaned your room and brought you your homework and tests you missed. You've been outta school for quite a while, so I think you'll need some help. Those books are all mine and your homework and the test papers are on the top of that pile of books. It's five days to the final exam and if you need any help you can ask me, I think my schoolwork has improved lately, all thanks to the study schedule you made for me. I really appreciate that. And one last thing, I know what you're decorating your room with so I didn't let Touka-chan in. Man you are such a freak! But maybe you're just a person who needs love more than anyone, from another perspective. Anyway, you're awesome, and we're all very happy to have you back.
Hide
Kaneki folded the note and smiled, and went to bed.
The next day he went to school with Touka together and met Hide and Yoriko at the gate. Everything went back to normal, except that there was more manners between he and Touka than it used to be, the barrier between them hadn't fully disappeared yet, but it did no harm to them.
Five days had passed, and today was the final exam. Kaneki, who'd been studying for the tests really hard in these five days, didn't feel really nervous, while the other three looked so nervous that they looked like they were going to be executed.
"Guys! Please relax!!" Said Kaneki, a bit speechless. "Shut up!! We're no genius like you!!" Touka snapped. "I'm not a genius!!" Said Kaneki, scratching his face. "Yeah, just smarter than us! Shut up right now, or I'll throw up again." Hide, who'd already been to the toilet for three times, said faintly.
"Fine, anyway, the bell's gonna ring, let's get going, and do well on the tests." Said Kaneki, and they head for their classrooms.
Time skip~~~
"IT'S OVER!!!!!" Shouted everyone as the bell rang. They finished doing the last subject, math. "Quiet down now!! Class!! Hurry up!! Those who sit in the back of every row! Get up and collect the papers and hand them in!!" Shouted their teacher, Amon. The students that were sitting in the back of the rows all got up, collected the papers, and handed them to him.
"Alright!! The term is over, and you all have passed the college entrance exams! So the school decided to reward you. We're holding a prom on June 3rd! Friday night!" Everyone cheered. "And make sure you bring a date!" He added.
"Amon sensei!! Are you going with Akira sensei??" Someone asked, and the class started laughing and whistling. "I-It's none of your business!" Amon said, blushing slightly. "Amon sensei you're a really horrible liar!!" Said another student. "Whatever!! Just get out of here and go do whatever you want!!!" Shouted Amon as he slapped his hand on the desk, still blushing.
"Ahahaha!! Amon's mad!!" They shouted as they got up and ran out of the classroom. "Amon sensei really is a bad liar, isn't he?" Said Hide, grinning. "Yeah, he sure is." Said Kaneki.
"But there's one thing I couldn't understand." Said Hide. "Yeah, what's that??" Asked Kaneki. "Why the hell do we have to take the final exams???? We've already passed the college entrance exams!!! That doesn't even make sense!!" Shouted Hide. "Yeah, this's a weird school." Said Kaneki, laughing.
Touka and Yoriko finished their tests an hour before them, so they just went back to Anteiku. When they entered the cafe, they saw Sasaki was already there talking with Touka, and Yoriko was sitting beside them. Hinami was at another table, sketching. "Whao, that guy's fast!" Said Hide. Kaneki didn't say a word nor show any sign of unhappiness. He just went upstairs and got changed and went back downstairs again.
"Oh hi, you're Kaneki, right?" Sasaki approached him as he walked to the counter. "Yes, I am." Said Kaneki. "Touka-chan told me that you've become reconciled with your friends again." Sasaki said. "Yes, I have." Said Kaneki. "Well, congrats. Anyway, I'm just here to introduce myself properly, since we didn't get along well before. My name is Sasaki Haise, and I'm Touka-chan's boyfriend now. Nice to meet you." Said Sasaki, and he held out his hand.
Kaneki's brow twitched as he heard the word 'boyfriend', but he smiled, and shook hands with him. "I'm Kaneki Ken, nice to meet you too." Said Kaneki, smiling.
"Well Touka-chan, I gotta go now, I'll see you later." Said Sasaki, and he left. "Congrats, Touka-chan. You got a boyfriend." Said Kaneki, still smiling. "Yeah, thanks. But you do remember I told you that about a week ago, right? In your ward?" Said Touka. "Yep, I do. Just feel like congratulating you again." Said Kaneki, and he went back to his work.
"Uh-oh." Hide said again. Yoriko looked a bit worried. "Hey, Touka-chan, Yoriko-chan, Hinami-chan, come here." Said Hide, and the four walked to the corner. "This feels weird, it doesn't feel right at all! Kaneki couldn't have said something like that, he hates him! His faking it again!" Hide whispered. "Yeah, I think so too." Said Yoriko, frowning slightly. "But he can't blame me! Sasaki asked me out when Kaneki was still that freaken bastard! You can't expect me to know this back then!" Touka hissed, also frowning. "Whatever! Just remember this. Whenever Kaneki's trying to hide something or lie, he'll always hold his chin like this." He held his chin and closed his eyes. "See that?? That's his secret! Don't tell him I told you this!!" Hide whispered again.
"Oi! What're you guys whispering there??" Kaneki asked, and the three jolted up. "Nothing, just discussing something privet." Said Hide. "I gotta go make an excuse for this or he won't let it go easily." He whispered once more and walked to Kaneki and started talking about some random rumors in their school.
"Touka-chan..." Said Yoriko. "That ain't my fault!" Said Touka with puffing cheeks, looking away from her. "No, I don't really think you love him! I think you're just trying to find a replacement for the old Kaneki." Said Yoriko. "Hah? No I'm not!!" Touka said, a bit angry. "Yes, I really think you are. Please, Touka-chan, listen to your heart!" Said Yoriko indignantly. Hinami was nodding firmly beside her. Touka looked down. She knew what Yoriko was talking about, and she knew she was lying to herself, and she knew what her heart said. She sighed.
"Maybe I made that decision too rashly... I'll think about that......" She said quietly.
A/N: Duh! Duh! Duh~~~ do you feel it?? Do you feel the tense?? The war between Kaneki and Sasaki is gonna start!!! What'll happen?? You'll see it in the next chapter~~
Votes?? Comments?? Any follower?? Thanks for reading~~~~~~~~~~~~~~