Oneshot for Tokyo Ghoul Week on Tumblr! The prompt is "Fool." Spoilers for the end of the series.

Six Rabbits

White velvet. Shaped like a Western-style teddy bear, sitting up, with a tartan bow on both ears, and an impressive poof of a tail.

It's a rabbit keychain, and it's sitting on the table, propped up carefully against the side of a mug. Touka stares, and then looks at Hinami, who is sprawled out on the floor with her homework.

"Where did this come from?"

"Ah! From Nii-san," Hinami answers cheerfully.

"Wh…what?"

Touka reels. Her heart lunges in her chest, pounds against the inside of her sternum, crashes and topples into the acid of her belly. Her bag slumps and slides to the ground.

"Where is he?" she asks, barely breathing.

"Oh," Hinami says, bowing her head, "he left already. He actually came by a long time ago, this morning."

"But I — I was here this morning!"

"After you left for Anteiku," Hinami clarifies. She smiles, apprehensive. "Um, he really seemed to be in a rush! But he said he'll stay longer next time."

He had been in a rush. Touka swallows. Well, alright. She rubs her chest, and tells herself, Next time.

The rabbit is soft. Safe in the privacy of her room, Touka presses it to her cheek.

Kaneki said he would come back. He promised he wouldn't leave her alone. She believes him.

:::

The second rabbit is plush pink. It's made of three overstuffed spheres: a head, a body, and a tail. It's hanging by its chain from the plaque beside her door.

The keychain rattles as she fumbles hastily, clumsily, with the door. She bursts in, yelling. "Kaneki? Kaneki, are you still here?"

But the only response is a small voice.

"Sorry, Onee-chan."

Her heart falls. She straightens. "That's…that's okay."

She eyes Hinami, who is at the table, reading a book. After a moment, Touka's eyes narrow.

"He was in a rush again?"

"Ah, y-yeah," Hinami stammers, sitting up straighter.

"So he was in a rush," Touka says slowly, "but he had enough time to cut your hair?"

Hinami shuts the book slowly.

"He looked troubled," she admits quietly. "I thought it might help take his mind off things. I — I really tried to get him to stay for longer, Onee-chan!" Hinami cries, and Touka thinks, Don't be mad. Don't be mad.

It isn't her fault.

Kaneki will come back.

Next time.

:::

Hinami hands over rabbit number three silently, biting her lip. It's spongy; it's not so much a rabbit as it is some kind of circle with with rabbit ears.

They are silent. Then Touka says: "What the hell is this?"

"I don't know," Hinami says, fidgeting.

"Oh wow!" Yoriko squeals when they meet in cram school. "I love those bunny donuts!"

"I like them too," Touka agrees, after a moment. And then, as casually as possible: "Do you know where you can get these?"

"Oh, anywhere really," Yoriko tells her, and is confused when Touka sighs and sinks into her seat.

"You're applying for college soon, right?"

She works hard. There aren't enough hours in the day for school and cramming and serving coffee. But at least she has Yoriko, and Hinami, and three little rabbits that come with her wherever she goes.

:::

Rabbit four: Black chirimen fabric, patterned with little red and white flowers. There's a small bell perched above the fold of its tail, and it rings as Touka shoves it into her pocket.

Hinami shifts her weight from foot to foot and Touka looks at her, and then at the small suitcase that she's holding.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, Onee-chan. I…that's not something I'm sure I could ever repay. No — I'm sure I can't ever really repay it."

It's so out of the blue. Touka struggles for words and despite spending four hours cramming language arts in cram school, she can't find any.

"Don't hesitate to come back whenever you need to," she manages somehow. It's the nicer version of, "Don't stay out there after he rejects you. Don't go trying to chase after him. Just give it up and come back."

But a day passes, and then another. Soon it's been a whole week, and Touka lies in bed and stares at the ceiling.

Hinami can barely fight. Hinami barely knows what the world is like. How could he take her? How could he take Hinami over her? Why? Why?

"Touka," Yoriko says nervously days later, "maybe you should get some rest. Your eyes are — are looking kind of dark underneath. Maybe you're overworking yourself."

"Don't worry," she mutters. "I'm getting rest."

Exhausting herself utterly is the only way she can manage to get any sleep at all.

:::

Rabbit five. It's knitted; it's in the shape of a snow bunny, felt green ears and all. It's about half the size of her clenched fist.

She checks the envelope it came in for an address, and doesn't find one.

"Fuck you," she hisses. What kind of sick fucking game is this? Leaving all these little shitty rabbits everywhere like he actually cares about her? Like he's actually thinking about her? Like anything about her matters to him at all?

What a fool he is, if he thinks she'll actually believe his lies. All his gifts are just toys. She's outgrown them, and outgrown his stupid games.

:::

"You think you're some dark, tragic hero…you're just an eyesore! You can barely protect yourself — what makes you think you can protect anyone else?"

"Trash like you…trash like you should stay out of Anteiku!"

:::

"He…got lost coming back."

What an idiot.

And yet.

He was on his way back.

Yomo looks away from the wreckage of Anteiku, toward her. His eyes dart down to her pocket. Her hand is in there, but knuckles and fingers can't account for the entirety of its bulkiness.

She swallows.

"I…trust him," she says aloud. They would rebuild Anteiku; they would rebuild themselves.

And, next time…she bites her lip.

"He'll come back to Anteiku, to us."

Yomo doesn't say it, and she refuses to admit it: maybe it's not him that's the fool after all.

But. She has the strength now to cast away the bitter wisdom burned into her by loneliness and abandonment. Her hope surges beneath her skin, fierce and kagune-sharp, and takes flight.