My first ever TG. I hope you guys like it as much as i did writing it!

Thank you and enjoy!

As he walks into the café, he hears the bell situated above the door jingle. The purple haired barista looks at him from her position behind the counter. He smiles at her, laughingly ignoring her grumbled annoyance. He finds a cosy booth by the large French windows. He idly sits by, the noise of the other patrons chatting, being dulled down as he observes the people outside. He glances down at his watch, spotting that it is only 11:58 AM.

Kaneki will be a few minutes away.

Leaving his jacket on the table, he walks up to the counter, were Touka was stationed.

"Hey Touka!" Hide shouts joyously.

"What can I get you?" Touka askes unenthusiastically.

"How's school treating you?" he asks as he leans his elbow on the marble-eques countertop. A large grin plastered on his face.

"Coffee? Tea?" she asks again. Completely ignoring his question.

He groans in displeasure at her clipped tone. "You're no fun Touka!" he gets up from his position on the counter. "Coffee. Black," he says without his usual humour. She clearly was not in the mood.

But, is she ever? He laughs to himself.

"Finally," Touka whispers under her breath. She turns to grab a sign with the number 12 on it. "Take this."

He takes his order number and gives Touka the change for his coffee without comment and she takes it quickly and shoving it in the register. As he sits back down in the booth he looks outside, seeing Kaneki's small form turn to enter the café.

Kaneki. The light of his life. His best-friend and crush.

He's been friends with Kaneki since they were children, bonding together over their messy family life. Kaneki with his abusive aunt and cousin; Hide with his deceased parents. He has such soulful and shimmering grey eyes that would light up upon seeing a new book that caught his interest. The thick, dense black hair that gave him such a cute and boyish look. He was a bit on the scrawny side but Hide wouldn't have it any other way.

However, Kaneki has the one thing he has always wanted. He was human. He didn't live in fear of the people in white, carrying parts of his kind around as weapons. Didn't have the fear of watching his family get murdered by the CCG. Hide never blamed him or was jealous about it to Kaneki. He wasn't the one lose his family. Kaneki has been his only family since his family death when he was 15.

Kaneki was his best friend, and it hurt to keep secrets from him. but he feared for Kaneki's reaction. It would destroy him if Kaneki rejected him because of something he had no control over.

Soon Touka places down his black coffee, with an audible clack. Touka takes the number and returns to her position behind the counter without so much as a word.

He sat, sipping absentmindedly as he waited for Kaneki to arrive. They had arranged to meet here earlier in the day. Hide had finished his classes for the day and knew that Kaneki would be another two hours at the earliest with his English lecture to attend. But it didn't take long before Hide caught the distant but all familiar smell of Kaneki approaching the café. He'd never admit that to anyone that he liked the lingering scent that was Kaneki. The smell of books and his cologne was alluring and soothing.

When the door opened, making the bell jingle informing that he has entered. He looks around searchingly and smiles widely when their eyes meet. He felt a rush of butterflies' swarm in his stomach that had nothing to do with his overhanging hunger. Kaneki plopped down gracefully opposite him, placing his bag down next to him on the booth.

"Sorry, I'm late!" he wheezes out, out of breath.

"No need," Hide waved him off, a crooked grin plastered on his face. "I haven't been here long." A complete lie. By this time his coffee had cooled down significantly, but he enjoyed seeing Kaneki's bright grey eyes remain full of life and happiness.

They chatted aimlessly. Hide always felt at home with Kaneki, the two could talk forever – with Hide doing most of the talking.

When he heard that Kaneki was going out on a date, he was about to ask a billion and one questions.

But something caught his attention.

He sniffed, and a dark coppery smell entered the room. He looked up at the door as did Touka. There, enters a beautiful slender girl, with long purple hair that brought attention to her lilac purple eyes. He flared his nose at her scent. A Ghoul. He clenches his jaw, she was the newcomer. The troublemaker. He upturned his nose to look back at Kaneki seeing a blush covering his cheek.

She turned at Hides look and waved at Kaneki making him blush even harder and hide behind he book.

He had to repress the urge to get aggressive as it would do no good to anyone. He felt jealousy scream at him. That ghoul was no good. She was nothing more than a hinderance and does nothing but bring the investigators here. Damn her, there were rules in this ward. This was a place to be safe, for both humans and ghouls and she is doing nothing but bring chaos and death.

She has already killed five people in a three-week period.

"She's the one." Kaneki whispered behind his book, cheeks aflush with embarrassment.

What? He mentally screamed.

"The one I was talking about earlier."

The one?! He can't mean Rize?

Kaneki's eyes were directly looking at Rize, before turning around to pretend that he's been reading his book when she turned around. She smiled innocently at Hide, but he did not appreciate her falsity. Behind that innocent mask was a violent monster. He pulled his lips back to reveal a toothy grin, a grin with far too much teeth to be polite or kind.

"Hide! That's rude!" Kaneki chastised.

"Huh? What are you talking about Ken?" he giggled as he leaned over to look at Kaneki's new book. "What'cha reading?"

Hide could see the questions behind Kaneki's eyes but he didn't voice any. He followed Hide's question, "It's the new Takatsuki Sen novel. I just got it. It's why I was late today."

They talked together ignoring the earlier talk about Rize. He was gutted that Kaneki had found a soft spot for another. But at the same time, he knew he couldn't be with him the way he wanted.

It would be too obvious that he didn't eat as much as he needed. Its why they lived apart rather than together. He didn't want to raise any suspicions.

He knew he was going to have to break the trust between them. Kaneki didn't know she was a ghoul and he couldn't just tell him that she was because he'd ask how he knows and why he so easily flipped her off. So, he would follow them tonight. he knew the ghoul wouldn't attack him in the public eye. That's far to dangerous for any ghoul.

He hated to do this.

It was a huge invasion of privacy. But he could not live with himself if something happened and he stayed home despite fears. He lingered but avoided them by making sure to remain behind the wind. He didn't want the wind to catch and to alert Rize to his presence. He didn't want to put Kaneki into further danger. He was flinching at every major noise, worried that someone would come up behind him or something had happened.

When he heard Kaneki's scream, he immediately launched into action. He climbed up the closed industrial building, to see the ghoul had pierced her kagune into Kaneki's abdomen. Desperately searching for something he could do, he sees a section of steel beams that were secured not to far from where she was. He froze and felt his body seize each time he heard Kaneki's panicked screams. He rushed to the edge of the building when he saw his best friend – someone who he considers to be family thrown around like a ragdoll. Fuelled by his anger at the ghoul he shot of forward. Releasing his bikaku and securing himself to the beams. He shouts and makes a racket, luring her towards him, as if he was an offending ghoul.

She slammed Kaneki to the ground, without a single sound escaping his mouth. He clenches his fist and sucks in the tears that are tempting to come forth. His violently curled kagune was pulled back as he grabbed onto the wires holding the beams up and once secure, he prepares to cut it. but he waits, waits until she edges nearer. Her four rinkaku's flying around destroying everything in sight.

Now!

His kagune cuts through the thick metal like its butter and the heavy beams land one after the other atop her crushed body. As her kagune begins to disintegrate, he launches himself to the ground and rushes over to Kaneki.

Blood. Blood everywhere.

He can taste it in the air.

Its heavenly.

NO! this is Kaneki! He leans forward to check if Kaneki is breathing. Its incredibly shallow, borderline non-existent. He rips open Kaneki's shirt, seeing the dark massive bruises swallowing his pale skin. He feels along Kaneki's body, noting that multiple ribs were broken, at least two in one leg and a bone is poking out from his arm. He removes his overcoat. Wrapping it around the exposed bone and pressing his kagune damaged shirt over his gutted stomach, exposing the organs within. Pressing down, he fumbles for his phone. He presses 119 to call the ambulance.

"119, what's your emergency?" asked a polite, female voice.

"Kaneki!" he panted. "My friend has been attacked by a ghoul!"

"Okay," she said, her voice radiating concern. "Is your friend breathing?"

"barely!" he shouts, as if asking such a question was complete idiocy.

"where are you located?" the woman asked as he heard loud clacks from her keyboard.

"The 20th ward," he states before, he drops the phone onto the ground. "Behind the Mitsubishi building. Please hurry!"

He would rather focus on Kaneki's deteriorating condition.

"Don't you die on me! Kaneki you promised me! Promised that we'd be friends forever! You didn't lie did you!?" he crumples as he cries. He clasp Kaneki's bloodied hand in his own, squeezing it to his chest. Preying that the ambulance would hurry up.

He could hear the woman on the other end try to get his attention, but he could make himself pick it up. He didn't want to take any attention away from Kaneki.

Within minutes a woman and two men arrived, rushing over to his side.

"I'm not injured. I just found him like this." The younger man and woman attended to Kaneki, checking his pulse and breathing. The other man lingered before him. that's when he realised the man in front of him was a CCG investigator. "You know this young man?"

Nodding, "yeah, he's my best friend. We've known each other since kindergarten." Hide turns to see the medics placing a breathing mask over Kaneki's face before ushering him into the ambulance.

"I am Rank 1 Amon Koutarou. It was reported that this incident was the cause of a ghoul attack?"