Hide could feel his time growing shorter largely due to the hole in his stomach. He had a feeling, before the raid, that things weren't going to end well. But he knew Kaneki would be there. His dorky, kind, harmless best friend. That ghoulish mask couldn't fool Hide, nor could his snowy white hair. He knew precisely what lay underneath it all. Just as he knew there was one final place he had yet to look for Kaneki.

It may be a long shot, but I think it's the only shot I've got left, Hide thought cynically.

He continued to trudge through the pristine white snow, until he found some that was tainted red. A bloody trail, leading into an alley in front of him. As he neared the blood, he saw more of it was smeared along the stone wall of the alley. Hide rounded the corner, not feeling particularly hopeful for whoever the owner of all the lost blood was.

What he didn't expect to see, was the one he was searching for all along. Hide rushed to Kaneki's side, and felt for a pulse. Luckily, he was still alive. Still breathing.

At least one of us might be able to make it out of all this alive.

With no small amount of effort, Hide hoisted Kaneki's limp body on his back.

Damn, Neki. When did you get so much muscle? You used to be all skin and bones...

Though each step seemed an impossible feat, Hide managed to get the two of them to Anteiku. Unable to bear the strain of his weight, Hide let the other man fall to the ground. Kaneki let out a small groan of pain. Hide may not be able to carry him any further, but coffee he could do.

Hide glanced around the coffee shop. Rather, what remained of it. The tables and chairs were all on their sides, and some of the windows were shattered. Remnants of ceramic mugs and plates littered the floor. Hide heard the shards crunch under his boots as he walked around the counter. He rummaged through the debris until he found what he needed. The filter looked a little dirty, and the bag of coffee grounds he found was ripped open. Both of these presented a terrible health concern, but at this point Hide didn't particularly care. He didn't see himself living long enough for it to be an issue.

Brewing the coffee turned out to be more difficult than Hide originally thought. His hands were shaking so violently, hot water and coffee grounds soon joined the shards of wood and glass on the floor. It didn't matter much to Hide; no one would be around to clean it up anytime soon.

With two mugs partially filled with coffee (a third of the liquid had spilled over when they were picked up), Hide turned back towards Kaneki. He saw one table still standing upright. He placed the mugs on it, one on either side, then pulled up two chairs. Now only one thing was missing.

Hide crouched down next to Kaneki's sleeping form. He placed his hands on his friend's shoulders and gently tried to coax him awake. When that didn't work, Hide settled for a harsh slap on the cheek. He figured Kaneki wouldn't mind so much, seeing as Hide was running out of time. That seemed to do the trick, as Kaneki jerked awake with a gasp.

"H- Hide?" The ghoul asked in disbelief.

"Hey man. Long time no see," Hide said with a soft smile. If he was bothered by Kaneki's mismatched eyes, he did an excellent job of hiding it.

Amon Koutaro was tired of this eye patched ghoul.

He woke up in the same empty street where they fought, his quinque shattered on the asphalt. This was humiliating. He almost wished the ghoul would just kill him already and save him the trouble of finding him only to start the whole process over again. New quinques were a hassle to obtain, but Amon would not let his foe have the satisfaction of seeing him give up. His quinque may be shattered, but he still had his service weapon. The handgun wouldn't kill Eyepatch, but it should slow him down enough for Amon to handle the rest. He'd need quite a few more q-bullets to kill him.

Before he could go find the ghoul again, Amon checked himself for any injuries. Surprisingly, his bones were all intact, save for a cracked rib or two. He seemed to only have been knocked out from a blow to the head. He hoped it wouldn't become a problem later on.

Amon slowly stood up. He wasn't one hundred percent sure he sustained no serious injuries, even though he seemed alright. Once he was on his feet, he quickly scanned the surrounding area. It seemed just as it was before the fight with Eyepatch. The ghoul in question was nowhere to be found, however Amon did see an odd trail leading away from the street. It wasn't made of clean footprints, rather long impressions in the red snow. It was as if the creature was heavily injured and dragging his feet, barely able to walk. Amon recalled how he had deeply slashed the ghoul's chest, and he figured these tracks must belong to it. Not content to just roll over and accept defeat, Amon set off to follow the tracks. If he died, so be it, but at least this long battle between the two of them would be over.

"I can't believe you're here..." Kaneki said quietly. Hide couldn't be here, not after everything he'd done to keep him away. To keep him safe.

"Hate to disappoint, but it seems I am," Hide said with his ever present smirk. Right then Kaneki thought that smirk was the brightest and warmest thing he had ever seen. Hide pointed at the coffee across the table. "I tried making some, but it probably doesn't taste very good."

Kaneki could a slow sip of the coffee. Hide was right; it was absolutely terrible. But Kaneki didn't care about that. Hide made it for him, and that was all that mattered. Hide left his mug untouched on the table, only because he wasn't sure he had the strength to lift it to his mouth anymore. If he hadn't seated himself at the table, he'd be on the ground in the growing puddle of blood.

After another sip of his coffee, Kaneki finally smelled the blood. He remembered his eye, and scrambled to cover it. He thought he felt Hide's hand close around his wrist, but it was too cold to belong to someone as warm as him. Then he realized where the blood was coming from.

"Hide! What happened?" Kaneki jumped from his seat, finally realizing how pale and pained his friend was.

"I may have slipped up out there," Hide said. "I just wanted to see you one last time."

Kaneki gently helped his friend to the ground and laid him there. "Hold on Hide. There's an aid kit here somewhere," Kaneki instructed as he got up to search.

"Wait Neki, I want-" Hide's words were cut off by a coughing fit that ended with fresh crimson staining the front of his uniform.

As much as it pained him, Kaneki ignored Hide's cry and threw open the cabinets. Miraculously, the aid kit was still where he remembered it to be. With the small white box in hand, Kaneki returned to his friend's side. He looked in the box to see what he had to work with and found it to be surprisingly well stocked. Ghouls wouldn't really need the bandages very often, he supposed.

Kaneki pulled the scissors from the kit and began cutting Hide's vest and shirt off. He didn't have time to fiddle with buckles and buttons.

"Kaneki, just listen to me," Hide pleaded.

"I can listen and bandage at the same time," Kaneki compromised. "Or you can wait and tell me when you're all healed up."

"Still as stubborn as ever," Hide said. "Some things won't ever change."

Kaneki grabbed the cleaning solution from the kit and poured it over the cloth. Hide clenched his teeth as the other man cleaned the wound as best he could.

"Alright Neki. If I don't get this out now, I may not get the chance to later," He hated being so cynical, but Hide knew his chances of survival were slim. "I knew you were a ghoul ever since we were attacked under that bridge, and I never once cared. I was honestly hoping you would tell me yourself, so I could help you. But I knew you'd be alright; the people here at Anteiku looked after you for me. I know what you probably think of yourself, 'cause I know how you are. I just want you to know that I never once saw you as a monster, Kaneki. You were always my best friend, first and foremost."

Kaneki could hardly see the wound through his tears. "Idiot," he choked out. "I can't fix you up if you make me cry like this."

Hide smiled. "I know. But I still needed to say it."