Tsukiyama could remember the day he realised he liked Kaneki. He had been watching an interveiw of the band. All six members were sitting around an interveiwer. There was Rize, the keyboardist, Touka, the bassist, Naki, the lead guitarist, Banjou, the drummer, Ayato, Touka's brother and the clean vocalist and Kaneki, the unclean vocalist or screamer. Tsukiyama could recall the exact line that had spelt his doom. Ghoul had just hit their first popularity boom and the interveiwer was asking their opinions on political and social issues.

"What are your feelings on gay rights?"

The red-haired woman interviewing them had asked. Kaneki had chuckled and put his hands behind his head to stretch.

"My opinions on gays? Ayato, come here. I have something to tell you."

Ayato had given him a weird look but walked over to him. As soon as he was within reaching distance, Kaneki reached up and grabbed his collar, pulling their faces closer. He then smashed their lips together roughly for several seconds before shoving the disoriented singer away.

"That's my opinion."

Ayato stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance and sitting back down next to his sister.

"You could have given me some warning, you know."

Ayato mumbled, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. Kaneki shrugged, casually ignoring the shocked interviewer.

"Yea, I could have."

That scene replayed over and over in Tsukiyama's head the day after he saw it. Eventually, Ayato's face got blurrier and his hair got several shades lighteruntil it matched Tsukiyama's. It was a weird feeling, knowing he liked someone like Kaneki. Normally, he could have just put it off as a celebrity crush, but Kaneki and the rest of the Ghouls went to the same college as him. He'd see them around if they weren't touring, and he went to any and all local shows they had. Obsessed? Only a little. They were actually really quite good. Tsukiyama had liked them long before he got a crush on their screamer. However, he did harbor the little hope that Kaneki might one day notice him if he went to every show possible. Speaking of shows, the Ghouls actually had one that night. Tsukiyama's phone had gone off just a few minutes before to remind him and he was now scurrying about to get ready. He threw on a tight, blue graphic tee over black skinny jeans. Hurrying to his bathroom, he grabbed the tube of smear-proof eyeliner he only used for shows and put on just enough to make his eyes pop a little. Checking his phone again to confirm the location, Tsukiyama headed out. He made sure to leave his phone at home. Since he wasn't bringing a bag, he didn't have anywhere else safe to put it and he had learned pretty early on that carrying your phone in your pocket while moshing didn't work. Fortunately for him, the venue was within walking distance. So that way, he couldn't justify bringing his wallet either. Tsukiyama had bad habit of drinking more than he should anytime there was alcohol being served and then waking up next to a stranger the following day. He, only somewhat narcissisticly, put it down to being exceptionally good looking. When he arrived at the small outdoor stage, they had almost started. Tsukiyama got as close as he could, ready to use the moshpits to move forward once they started playing. They played a good set, a nice mixture of newer songs and old favorites. Tsukiyama was able to get to the foot of the stage, close enough that he could have tried to touch Naki if he had felt like having his fingers trampled. Finally, they paused and Touka came up and snatched her brother's microphone.

"Since this was actually the first venue we played in when we were starting out, we thought we'd unveil our new single here. This is dedicated to a loyal fan of our Kaneki who's been to literally every show we've done in this town."

Touka paused and rolled her eyes, her voice slipping into the sarcastic, bored tone that only the Kirishima sibilings could pull off well.

"And you think we haven't noticed."

With that, she gave the microphone back and nodded to Naki. The guitar started up, playing a fast sucession of power chords. The energetic tempo built up the tension slowly, the muscles of everyone in the crowd tensed and ready to move. Finally, the bass and drums kicked in and the crowd exploded. Heads moved up and down out of sync as people jumped, the top of the crowd like a smoothly undulating wave. The keyboard played a higher-pitched tune on top of the main melody, creating an eerie, haunted sound. Kaneki grabbed his microphone off the stand and started screaming.

"WHO THE FUCK AM I?
YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?
YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST ME
CUT OFF MY LIMBS
AND I'D BE A SNAKE
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT PERSON WHO I WAS?
WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?
WHERE DID I GO?"

Kaneki spun away from the microphone, clutching his head like he really wanted to know the answer as Ayato stepped over to get it.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me
Who am I now?
I think I've lost sight of myself.
This world keeps spinning, tearing away pieces of me."

Kaneki came up behind Ayato, shoving him away. Tsukiyama at first had wondered why they didn't use the second microphone on stage when they switched, but he had soon come to accept that perhaps they just liked throwing each other around on stage.

"WHAT HAVE I BECOME?
THIS WORLD HAS CHANGED ME
WHERE AM I NOW
I THINK I'M DEAD!"

"It seems like I've been in hell
This world was not kind to me
I can't come back
I don't know where I am"

"I USED TO BE SO WARM
NOW MY HEART FEELS LIKE ICE
I'M LOST"

Tsukiyama's breath caught in his throat. Kaneki had stopped screaming during the guitar solo and was staring right at him. Then he reached over and took the microphone, this time singing.

"Can you see me?
I'm lost but I'm still here.
Just reach out your hand to me.
And pull me back to this world."

Tsukiyama had never heard Kaneki sing before. It was beautiful. His voice was higher than Tsukiyama would have expected, and surprisingly smooth. But he barely had time to appreciate the novelty before Kaneki started screaming again and Tsukiyama had to move or get caught in a moshpit.

"WHAT HAVE I BECOME?
THIS WORLD HAS CHANGED ME
WHERE AM I NOW
I THINK I'M DEAD!"

Kaneki didn't make eye contact with Tsukiyama for the rest of the song, but that was ok with him. His thirty seconds of acknowledgement were enough. As Tsukiyama was walking through the parking lot after the show ended, he noticed the tour bus that the ghouls used. It was easily recognizable since the way the band had decided to decorate it was get several buckets of grey, red and black paint ad splatter it on the side of the bus. Tsukiyama frowned at first, then remembered they had just finished touring for their last album, so this was probably their first show back home. The door to the bus opened and all six members got off. Tsukiyama, still walking towards the exit of the parking lot, noticed Kaneki's eyes scanning the crowds exiting the venue. Tsukiyama didn't think much of it, and continued walking. As he was passing their group, someone ran up and grabbed his arm.

"Not so fast, french boy. Got anywhere to be?"