Hide sat at the table at the very back, close to the book shelf Kaneki used to eye whenever they came to the coffee shop. He looked down sadly at his hot coffee and sandwich he had ordered, it had been three months since he asked Kaneki to come home in the sewer, everything after that was terrible. Kaneki ended up dying and then the CCG had ordered Hide to forget about Kaneki and keep silent or else he would be dealt with.

He hated his job as a ghoul investigator, after all of his spying and sneaking about and gaining a position in the CCG he couldn't stand it , he had done it all for Kaneki only to lose him and pretend he never existed around the CCG. It hurt like hell to 'forget' a cherished friend.

"How are you today?" Touka asked as she wiped the table nearby, her purple eyes were filled with concern for Kaneki's best friend, he had been coming everyday; ordering the exact same thing and sitting in the exact same spot. It worried her to bits, she didn't know Hide very well but she knew him well enough to know he cherished Kaneki more than anything.

"Good" he mumbled tiredly, he had bags weighing his eyes down and Touka noticed that the spark as bright the sun itself had completely disappeared in his eyes, he wasn't Kaneki's Hide anymore; he was a damaged person who had lost someone he loved. It tugged at her heart to see Hide like that but it was the harsh truth of reality.

'Ding' Touka looked up at the door as the bell chimed , immediately she felt sadness weigh her down and tears threaten to spill , 'Haise' the Kaneki she did not know and the Kaneki who remembered no one sauntered in shyly.

"I'll be back, excuse me" Touka politely excused herself and began to serve the CCG worker. "We got some new books in the other day, they are on the shelves. Feel free to take a look" the waitress offered with a kind yet sad smile, to Haise who nodded with a small smile.

He took his coffee gently from Touka's petite hand, once done Haise placed the empty mug on the table and pushed himself out of the chair he was in. With a small skip in his step the boy walked past Hide and to the bookshelf.

Hide froze up as the male walked past; he looked so much like Kaneki. He turned around in his chair with narrowed eyes to gaze at the black and white haired man who ran his fingers lovingly across the spines of the books.

"Oh! Excuse me" the latter said politely when he accidentally bumped into Hide's chair, "Kaneki?" Hide muttered out loud, he sounded just like him and that face it definitely belonged to his long lost friend.

"Hm ?" the man turned his attention to Hide , his odd grey and red eyes stared right at the stranger , the stranger staring back at him struck a unfamiliar chord in him. He could feel the other in his mind trying to come out suddenly. Who was this guy? Haise questioned nervously.

"Who are you?" Hide asked suspiciously feeling hurt and sadness deep inside of him, was it really Kaneki in front of him?

"Oh... um... I'm Sasaki Haise , I am a CCG investigator" Haise introduced himself nervously , "Sasaki Haise" Hide mumbled the name rolling off of his tongue felt so wrong , he knew that was Kaneki , he knew Kaneki's facial features better than anyone, but how come Kaneki was calling himself Haise , didn't he recognize Hide ?

"Don't you recognize me dude?" Hide questioned with a desperate tone to his voice, shaking his head side to side, Hide lunged out of his chair and grabbed the latter's shoulders. Tears were already beginning to betray him and Hide felt like a desperate animal.

Haise on the other hand froze and had no idea on what to do , he could feel the other clawing at the inside of his skull , he was screaming to get out , he was like a wild tiger wanting freedom; Haise could feel a familiar headache starting from the clawing.

"N-No, am I meant to?" Haise stammered out, Hide's grip tightened on his shoulders causing a sharp pain to run up Haise's shoulder blades, "yes! Kaneki stop kidding it, it's me! Your best friend!" the bleached blonde stated, he was almost sobbing now.

"I'm sorry, sir I am not Kaneki my name is Sasaki Haise."

"BULLSHIT! You're Kaneki; I recognize your face anywhere! I miss you man! Please come back home, please!"

"Please let go of me! You need help! I am not Kaneki!" Haise protested, he shoved at Hide's chest rather roughly, with each word the latter spoke the stronger the demon in his head became, waves of pain washed over his head.

"DON'T ACT DUMB MAN! YOU KNOW ME! YOU FUCKING KNOW ME! TELL ME YOU KNOW ME, PLEASE, COME HOME WITH ME AGAIN! FOR FUCK SAKE!" Hide screamed, he had completely lost it and tried to hug the struggling CCG member, "Get off of me! You need help!" Haise yelled back pushing away the other man who looked completely insane with his worn out eyes.

"Hey! Hey! Break it up!" Touka came dashing out, using her ghoul strength she pulled Hide off of Haise who cried and exclaimed that he was Kaneki he had completely lost it and broke, his wails and screams were hurting her so much.

Haise grabbed his suitcase and dashed out of the cafe, he was obviously freaked out over Hide and needed to escape, once she could no longer smell him, Touka let go of Hide who landed straight on the ground in a heap of mess. "That was Kaneki!" he exclaimed with trembling limbs, he looked like an insane patient.

"I know" Touka cooed , she crouched down to Hide's level and pulled him in for a tight hug , in return the boy clung tightly to her crying whispering 'he was Kaneki' over and over as if he needed to remind himself. She held for almost an hour when he eventually stopped, he looked like death when he pulled back with emotional trauma displayed on his face added to it and had Touka almost crying over his pain.

"Kaneki you idiot, remember this dork" she mumbled as she looked at the messed up bookcase the two had caused.