Hinami-centric. Information taken, reworded, etc. from wikipedia. Slight OOC everyone.

Warning: SPOILER.

II. Butterfly and Centipede, Part V

"The Chinese red-headed centipede, Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans, is a mostly passive and harmless creature unlike others of its species. Used in ancient Chinese medicine, it has astounding healing properties, mostly used to treat rashes and ...and skin diseases? Is that what it says, oni-san?" Hinami asks, pointing.

Kaneki looks up from his book with a smile. He leans forward, the couch creaking slightly, and peers at the large encyclopedia. "Yes, that's right." Head tilting, he asks, "Why are you reading about centipedes?"

Hinami flushes suddenly and looks very guilty. Raising the book to hide her face, she averts her eyes and mumbles unconvincingly, "It's interesting."

Kaneki's eyes narrow before he could help it, and Hinami flinches. She stands up, the book falling to the ground. "Ah! Excuse me, I need to use the restroom!" She says hastily, quickly and almost running out of the room.

Tsukiyama, perfect timing as always, walks in just as Hinami dashes away. Eyebrows raised, he looks at Kaneki in question.

Kaneki sighs and picks up the encyclopedia from the floor. "I think I scared her," He admits, and sits back against the couch, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Even Banjou..." Kaneki winces and remembers the last time he even saw Banjou - the man had avoided him in the streets, the fear barely hidden from his eyes and his lackeys wavering between protecting Banjou or running away themselves.

"Banjou's a clumsy fool." Tsukiyama says, sitting beside Kaneki and riffling through the encyclopedia with vague interest. "Don't blame yourself, Kaneki-kun. You weren't in the right state then and no one blames you. He just needs some time to recover." The unspoken from you rings after the sentence. Seemingly unbothered and oblivious to the cold pit widening in Kaneki's chest, Tsukiyama turns to the book and reads quietly.

"..." Kaneki buries his face into his hands, shoulders hunching over. The living room is silent, save for the slowly turning pages and the soft and low hmms emitting from Tsukiyama's throat every now and then.

"Am I -" Kaneki chokes out after a while, and then swallows uncertainly as Tsukiyama lifts darkly intent eyes from paper to meet his. He appears encouraging, silently avid and rapt, and Kaneki wants to shake him, demand for him to tell the truth - but he doesn't know what he was going to say. Am I going in the right direction? Am I terrifying? Am I losing myself? What exactly am I doing? Why are you still here? Why haven't I scared you off?

He opts for an easier one, and he holds Tsukiyama's gaze with just as much intensity as the other was radiating. "Am I terrifying to you?" He breathes out, noting how the taller man leaned a fraction closer at the change of the tone. Kaneki reaches out, his fingers curling around Tsukiyama's wrist, much larger than his yet of more refined elegance. A faint but steady pulse beat underneath his thumb, and Kaneki allowed his fingers to slip in a mockery of a caress.

That was all it took. Tsukiyama's pulse picked up, and the man leaned forward, oddly focused and lightly flushed. Restraining himself from backing away instinctively, Kaneki let Tsukiyama's free hand stroke his hair, sliding down to the side of his face, fingers briefly brushing the tips of his ears before gently framing his jaw.

"You're beautiful." Tsukiyama says, voice low and slightly gruff. Kaneki searches his face for any hint of deceit, sees none in dilated pupils, flushed cheeks, and parted mouth. He leans forward, licking his lips briefly, pressing against the other, his hands sliding to Tsukiyama's broad shoulders and feeling the satiny fabric of his suit wrinkle and bunch up.

With a moan, Tsukiyama eagerly returns the kiss, tongue sliding between Kaneki's slightly parted lips and probing delicately around like a snake flicking its tongue to smell out a prey. He wraps his arms around Kaneki's body, lifting him onto his lap for better position, and moves his lips.

Kaneki shivers as Tsukiyama presses feather light kisses onto his chin, along the groove of his jaw, nibbling lightly at his throat. He closes his eyes and lets Tsukiyama ravish him with delicate kisses and bites, his fingers slowly unbuttoning the front of the other's blood red suit. Tsukiyama's breath is hot against his collarbone but his hands are cold against Kaneki's warmed face.

And then he stops, pushing Kaneki back onto the couch gently. Surprised, Kaneki opens his eyes, blinking in confusion at the lack of the usual enthusiasm the man shows during these intimate moments. Tsukiyama wears a pained expression, a mix of regret and apology.

"What's wrong?" Kaneki asks, crossing his legs together. "Why'd you stop?"

Tsukiyama is silent and looks anywhere but Kaneki. He shifts uncomfortably, his hands casually folding at the bottom of his torso. Kaneki's eyes travel down from Tsukiyama's face to his hands, eyes widening in realization as they land on the stretched bulge in the blood red dress pants. Face burning, Kaneki's mouth falls open and he briefly considers the idea of having sex with the older man, despite the other's continual professions of wanting to eat him.

However, Tsukiyama gives him a stilted smile, sweeps an ironic bow and departs wordlessly from the room.

The door shuts loudly. Upstairs, soft feet thud across the floorboards, and then a small head with a glistening blue ribbon peeks in. "Oni-san?" Hinami asks, eyes wide.

Kaneki's burning forehead is all Hinami sees; the rest of his face covered by the encyclopedia.

"Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" Her voice is worried, genuinely concerned for his well-being. He places the encyclopedia onto the coffee table and smiles weakly at Hinami. "I'll be alright." He says. "Do you want me to teach you the more difficult kanji?"

Hinami's brow is wrinkled, unconvinced, but she crawls onto the couch, resting her head on Kaneki's shoulder. "I want to hear you read about centipedes."

Deciding against asking and losing another friend - one that was almost family - Kaneki turns back to the page with the Chinese red headed centipede and reads aloud from where Hinami had left off. "This centipede is known for its unexpected maternal nature; mothers will wrap its body around its eggs for incubation."

"Maternal. Incubation." Hinami repeats several times to herself, and then says softly. "Kaneki-oni-san."

"Hmm?"

"I think you're a lot like my mama." Her cheeks flame up, and Kaneki, at a loss for words at the sudden admission, could only stare at her in bemusement.

"I-I mean! You're a lot like the Chinese centipede - you're really gentle and kind, and you try your best to take care of me and protect me and everyone else! And although you're scary sometimes, I really like being with you!" Hinami says, breathing really hard at the end with reddened cheeks. "S-so! I think you aren't scary at all! Banjou-ni doesn't think so either!"

Unable to help it, Kaneki bursts out laughing at Hinami's face.

"It's not funny! I'm being serious!" She says indignantly.

"I know, I know," He says, grinning. He pokes her face and says disapprovingly. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

Hinami shuffles uncomfortably and lowers her head, ashamed. "A little bit. And then," she bites her lip, "Then Tsukiyama-ni and you were...um, so I left."

"It's not good to eavesdrop, Hinami." Kaneki chides, but he is instantly cut off.

"Tsukiyama-ni really likes you! So you should go after him! That's what I wanted to say." Hinami gets off the couch, taking the book from Kaneki's hands and tugging him up. She pushes him to the door, Kaneki laughing at how determined she was. "Go! He likes you! Go after him!"

"This isn't - we're not - I mean, he's -" Kaneki tries to say, but Hinami manages to shove him out of his apartment, slamming the door shut.

Kaneki stands still for a moment, and then his shoulders slump over as the giggles helplessly slip out. He had no idea. Hinami was observant, he knew, and her senses were excellent. But this, it was completely unexpected. His initial depression had faded and all he could think about was how uncharacteristically serious her small face was when she pushed him out the door. And Tsukiyama...Kaneki didn't know what to think. There was obviously some type of attraction between them, and Kaneki knew that Tsukiyama harbored much more than a simple desire to eat him, but rather than pursuing him like he did the first time, Tsukiyama had backed away. As if he was considering Kaneki's feelings. As if he saw Kaneki as an equal rather than a delectable prey, slightly out of grasp. And Kaneki... he closes his eyes and he can feel the feather light kisses pressed against his skin, the sensation of swelling emotions rising high, skimming the water's surface but buried underneath waves of apprehension and hesitation. Then it hits him, a crash of realization jolting him from his musings and all of a sudden, he feels incredibly, truly, very silly for not seeing it before.

Kaneki's legs began to move, and he sprinted out of his apartment building, not knowing where he was exactly heading.

The library? The bookstore? The old Ghoul Restaurant, now in ruins? Kaneki didn't know where Tsukiyama lived. Flipping open his phone, he calls Tsukiyama, mouth dry. Two rings later, Tsukiyama answered, a wonderful low tenor that often haunted his dreams.

"Hello? Kaneki-kun, is that you?"

"Where are you? We need to talk." Kaneki asks, looking at the street signs and realizing that he had gotten lost.

"We can talk on the phone." Tsukiyama says, voice tight.

"What's wrong? Too scared to meet me in person? You were doing so well before!" Kaneki mockingly bites out, retracing his steps before giving it up, barely remembering how he had gotten to this part of the 20th ward.

He hears Tsukiyama take in a sharp breath, half annoyed and half exasperated. "I can't see you right now. Please understand."

"But I want to see you."

"..."

Kaneki waits in vain for Tsukiyama to reply, and nearly hangs up after a long stretch of silence. But a cough, uncertain and small, keeps Kaneki on the line. "I," Tsukiyama's voice is hushed. "I never left."

"What?"

"I never left your apartment." He sounds embarrassed. "I had to use the restroom. I saw you leave."

What? Kaneki spots a familiar landmark and begins walking back, a grin splitting on his face. "Then you heard what Hinami said."

"Yes." Tsukiyama laughs softly and reverts back to his usual air. "Wonderful, adorable Hinami-chan!"

Kaneki stops in front of his apartment, knocking on the door. Hinami lets him in, confused. "I thought you were going to find Tsukiyama-ni!"

"He's been here all along." Kaneki says with a grin. He tweaks Hinami's nose as he adds, "You should go to your room and close the door. Tsukiyama and I are going to have a very long talk."

Hinami wrinkles her nose and run upstairs after shooting Kaneki a look which meant she understood everything. Feeling only a little awkward, Kaneki wanders around the house before finding Tsukiyama standing in his room, his jacket off.

"There you are." Kaneki says at the door, his body warming at the sight of Tsukiyama posed in front of his bed.

"Here I am." Tsukiyama echoes, a genuine smile curving attractively, arms rising in an open gesture.

Kaneki closes the door.

From outside, Hinami hears the sound of a lock clicking, and she closes the door to her room, sliding a pair of Kaneki's headphones over her ears and opening her encyclopedia.

She reads and she thinks about the wriggling, shiny centipede dangling from Kaneki's blood stained fingers, the tortured ear of an unfortunate ghoul who she didn't know bleeding profusely. She remembers the fading ecstatic expression Kaneki wore as he pulled it out, the shape of his kagune, and how utterly insane and terrifying he seemed - so unlike the kind oni-san that she knew. He hadn't known that she was there; it had been scary, and seeing the mirrored expression of delight on Tsukiyama's face, she understood something that had never seemed more confusing - why Kaneki let someone so dangerous become so close to him. They understood each other in ways that others did not, in ways that Touka-onee-chan or Yamori, or that bright haired human boy couldn't ever understand about Kaneki.

She traces her finger over the picture of the centipede, thinks about becoming stronger so Kaneki wouldn't have to hide the dark side that was a part of him and worry about her. The book closes, she climbs into her bed, pulling out her sketchbook.

Cheerful music plays in her ears as she draws Kaneki and Tsukiyama and herself, tuning out the muffled noises coming from Kaneki's room.

It is quiet by the time she finishes, and she places the picture next to the one of her mother and father, standing back and admiring.

This was her family now.