Author's Note: Only 364 days since my last update rip. I refuse to give up on this idea, so I'll keep updating, even if it's slow going. I hope you enjoy!

Also, bonus points to Sezony for finding the continuity flaw. I'll fix the early chapters soon to make things more consistent.

Not trusting Seidou's mouth or Akira's glinting intuition, Hide decides that their safest option is meeting at his apartment to discuss the next stages of their plan.

It's one of his precious few days off, so Hide figures he has plenty of time to get ready before Haise is supposed to arrive later that morning. He sets his empty cereal bowl in the sink before frowning, planting his hands on his hips as he surveys the three other milk-crusted bowls beside it. He looks over his shoulder at his trashcan, filled to the brim with leftovers from last week's takeout trips.

His shoulders slump and he wrinkles his nose at sight. Even though it only smells mildly stale to him, he wonders if Haise has a more sensitive sense of smell.

It couldn't hurt to clean up a bit around here. Guest or no guest, I haven't had the chance to really do anything, since I've ben so busy. He gives the threshold of his front door a side-eyed glance. There's bound to be residual flecks of blood when he collapsed against the door after escaping from the ghouls at Helter Skelter a week ago. He doubts his "quick fix" solution of moping away the immediate stains with a damp towel solved the problem. Again, he wonders how sensitive Haise's nose is. The stench of blood when first entering a stranger's apartment might set off a few alarms. He wouldn't want Haise to think he was a psycho.

That decides it.

Determined to not come off as a serial killer, Hide musters up every ounce of his American crime television knowledge and goes in search of his bleach. That's the right thing to use, right? He offhandedly wonders about the last time he used it as he opens each of his drawers. Surely bleach doesn't expire.

Right…?

Hide takes each step two at a time, surging up the stairs to his apartment and wishing he hadn't been distracted by Katsuko-san. He sees Haise pacing nervously in front of his door and calls out to him. Haise jumps but smiles when a panting Hide ascends the final step.

"Oh, hey…! Sorry," he gasps, "if you were…waiting long."

Haise steps aside to let Hide to the door and shakes his head. "I was worried I might have had the wrong time or spot when no one answered."

"Nah, you're good. I ran out to take care of the trash and one of my neighbors wanted to talk about her cats." Hide rolls his eyes good-naturedly as he slips through his front door and kicks off a shoe. "Me being late aside, did you have any trouble finding the place?"

Haise nods as he follows behind him. "I'm still trying to navigate through the 20th Ward," he admits with an abashed smile. "I left a little early so I could go to the bakery again, but I got…turned around..." Haise breaks off, nose wrinkling at the sharp smell of caustic cleaners.

"Bleach…?"

"Uh, yeah." Hide slips off his other shoe and slides the empty bottle of bleach to the side in a single, fluid flip of the foot. "I was cleaning."

"Cleaning?" Haise echoes, still stalled by the front door threshold. "Cleaning what?"

"Oh, you know. Blood." He dismisses it with a flick of the wrist before crossing to his now spotless counter. Haise gawks at him with parted lips, head turning as he follows Hide's movements.

He wonders if he should tell Haise yet about his trip to Helter Skelter, but decides against it after seeing his new partner's panicked expression. He doesn't need to freak him out any more than necessary. Instead, Hide attempts to start a new subject.

"I noticed you were drinking coffee at the café," Hide continues, craning his neck to look into an open cabinet. "I'm not much of a fan, so I don't have a machine or anything, but I do have a few canned coffees if you're interested." He rummages through the cabinet and holds out a dented aluminum can.

Haise eyes the offered can before shaking his head. "No, thanks. I'm good."

"Is there something else I can get you?" He scratches the outside edge of his cheek after setting the can back in the cabinet. "I already ate some cereal, but, uh, if you need to eat…"

Haise blinks before shaking his head more fiercely. "I'm good," he repeats hastily, earning a chuckle from Hide.

"Ha, probably not a question you hear often then?" He waves Haise towards a low coffee table in the center of his apartment.

Haise manages a weak smile before trailing after him. "No, not often." He glances over at the box of cereal on Hide's kitchen counter. It's bright and colorful and plastered with western-style letters.

"I'll admit I'm surprised by your meal too."

Hide follows his gaze before grinning sheepishly. "Yeah? So you're an expert on human food?" He laughs, wriggling to get more comfortable in a seated position on the floor. "When I was younger, my family moved around a lot. Like, a lot. Cereal was common in America and I guess I got hooked. It's really expensive to import, especially on my measly CCG salary, but…." Hide shrugs, the corners of his lips lifting further.

Haise sits next to him and turns his attention to the dry erase board on the coffee table. As strangely interesting as it is to learn about Hide's breakfast preferences, he remembers that he's there for another reason.

"So, what's all this?"

"Do you remember what I told you at the café when we first made this deal?"

Haise nods. "That if we can find Anteiku, they might be able to help me figure out who I used to be."

"Right. And in order to find them, you have to first convince them that you're Kaneki Ken, otherwise they'd never agree to see us. Once we have that audience, we can explain that it's all a big misunderstanding—no hard feelings, that kind of thing—but hopefully they'll agree to help us, well, you."

Haise hates the twist in his gut, but he knows that Hide's right. There's no other way to find the Anteiku dynasty without Kaneki Ken.

Hide uncaps a dry erase marker and scribbles a few words on the board. Haise squints at the messy characters before he manages to decipher them.

Past history. Physical traits. Anteiku involvement.

Haise feels an eyebrow spike as he reads the last one out loud.

"Undeniable proof?"

Hide nods, reaching over the board to add a checkmark. Even with his elbows and knees tucked in, the space is tight and Haise can feel Hide brushing up against him through his jacket. The pungent scent of bleach and dry erase marker mixes with the softer smells of Hide's shampoo and the faint mint of his toothpaste as he exhales. It's enough to make Haise's head swim, so he focuses on Hide's next words.

"Sure, undeniable proof. Something to convince them you're the real deal if we miss a few details."

Real deal?

Haise doesn't like the sound of that—it makes what they're doing seem like a cheap con rather than a mission to find out more about his past—so he's grateful when Hide announces that Haise doesn't have to worry about it.

"Already taken care of," he adds with a wink. "Now, what we need to work on is finding out more about the Anteiku Prince—err, more about Kaneki Ken."

He taps the board next to the phrase Past history. "This is where we're going to start today."

"How? Do you have more files?"

"Not exactly. At least, not yet." Hide forces an overly cheery smile, which makes Haise instantly suspicious.

"What do you mean?" Haise's eyes narrow as Hide climbs to his feet and grabs a jacket.

"Tell me, Haise. Have you ever impersonated an investigation assistant before?"

Despite Haise's numerous and emphatic refusals, he finds himself sitting with arms crossed on a subway bound for Kamii University.

"This doesn't feel right," he repeats again, much to Hide's amusement.

"Relax, Haise. We haven't even gotten there yet, so technically we haven't done anything wrong."

Haise wrinkles his nose and deepens his frown, which Hide only finds more adorable, but he quickly stops his laugh after catching Haise's glare. He relents and decides it's in his best interests to cheer his partner up.

"Besides, you don't even have to say anything. I'll do all the talking, since I'm an actual CCG investigator—well, analyst, but that's still higher than an assistant." Hide rolls his eyes skyward, causing Haise's frosty glare to thaw. Staying silent doesn't sound as bad. "So, in a way, it's only half illegal."

Haise shifts and relaxes his arms, curious to learn more about the CCG's investigation privileges despite his trepidation for Hide's plan. Although he sometimes visits the 20th Ward headquarters to meet Arima, the latter never mentions his role and Haise had always assumed he had been a noncombatant or a scientific consultant. Arima had never mentioned fighting ghouls; he only seemed interested in Haise's progress as he continued to readapt to normal living. Perhaps he will broach the topic during their next scheduled meeting.

"Ghoul investigators can access private information if it relates to a case?"

"Sure, if it involves ghouls. It's all laid out in the Ghoul Countermeasures Law. Akira-san made me read it when I first joined as an investigation assistant. Doubt this is what she had in mind though. It's really meant for full-fledged investigators, but civilians don't know that. Once they see a badge and hear the word ghoul investigation, they're all eager to help."

"Uh huh…"

"Unless they're ghouls. Then usually they're a bit more apprehensive."

"I bet."

"Anyway, if we tell the office staff that we're investigating Kaneki Ken under suspicions that he was involved in a ghoul attack, they'll have to turn files over."

"Even though Kaneki Ken was a human, officially?"

Impressed, Hide appraises Haise with raised eyebrows and a smile. "You looked more into the case on your own then?"

Haise purses his lips. "A little bit online. I figured I would have to learn more about Kaneki—err, myself—eventually." Haise figures he should get into the practice of calling himself Kaneki, but it still feels strange. It feels like pretending to be someone he's not, though Haise supposes he'll get a trial run when he impersonates a CCG agent in a few minutes.

"However, I couldn't find anything that linked Kaneki to Anteiku or being a ghoul."

"That's because according to the CCG records, Kaneki is a missing human who disappeared right around the time that a ghoul named Eyepatch appeared. After doing some, uh, undercover work with a surprisingly helpful ghoul—" Haise shoots him the same expression he made when Hide didn't explain the bleach earlier "—I discovered that Eyepatch and Kaneki where one in the same. Not even the CCG seems to know that."

"So, Kaneki Ken is some sort of ghoul-human hybrid then?"

"Yep! They're called half-ghouls. Catchy name, huh? But that means that requesting his files only breaks half the rules, since he's only half-human. Coupled with the fact that half of us have official CCG clearance, then mathematically speaking, doing this is only one-fourth of the way to being illegal."

"I really don't think that's how math or the law works."

Hide shrugs. He isn't the one who's worried about their mission.

Haise sighs before rummaging through his pockets He would never admit it, but the thought of infiltrating a university records office causes his blood to burn. His new life is calm and safe and it's the only thing he knows, but he aches for excitement. He wonders if he felt the same in his previous life.

(The first question he asked Arima upon reawakening was if he could learn his name. Arima refused, explaining that the past should remain in the past. Haise wonders what he could have found.)

Anticipating more file reading, Haise had packed his glasses in hopes of staving off another headache. He slips them from his pocket and puts them on, ignoring Hide's smirk.

"What? If I'm going to impersonate an investigator, I might as well look the part."

Hide holds up his splayed palms in a placating gesture. "I didn't say a word. Can't I just appreciate the fact that you're kinda getting into this?"

Haise tries to scowl, but his smile keeps breaking through.

When they arrive, oddly enough it's Hide who stalls. Haise plants a hand on his hip as he waits for his partner to catch up.

"Look who's in a rush now," Hide remarks with a smile as he strolls leisurely towards Haise. His arms are tucked behind his head in a position very unbecoming of a ghoul investigator. "It almost looks like you know where you're going."

Haise hesitates before glancing around. The tall, metal-rimmed buildings and the thick tree coverage overwhelm him and he feels a bit claustrophobic, a bit isolated. "I don't think I've ever been here before. I was just following the signs that pointed to the administrative building."

"Did you go to a university?"

"Can't remember. I think I would have liked to though."

"Oh." Hide pauses before reinitiating the conversation. "I've only been here once." Haise lifts his gaze, interested in the new subject. "I was deciding between universities. I really liked the Department of International Studies here, so I figured I'd come by and visit. If anything, it could be extra motivation to study harder for my entrance exams." Hide grins and Haise feels vaguely empty. He doesn't remember what it feels like to have a student's ambition.

"Anyway, they assign this first-year pharmacy student to show me around. It was definitely not a warm welcome, but that might have something to do with me barging in on him and his girlfriend." Haise's eyes widen, horrified at Hide's nonchalance about such an embarrassing incident. "He glared at me the rest of the day—pretty sure he wanted to kill me—so I decided maybe Kamii wasn't the place for me. I ended up going to Seinan Gakuin Uni instead."

"You almost went to school with Kaneki Ken," Haise murmurs.

"Would have made getting information on him much easier, huh?" Hide snorts, rolling his eyes upwards again.

Haise smiles in his sleeve when Hide turns his attention back to the well-trod footpath. Cereal. A rude tour guide. He enjoys learning these obscure little facts about Hide's life. It makes him feel like they've known each other for far longer than a week.

Eventually, they make it to the administrative office. Hide quickly scans over the three workers before choosing his target, a young woman at the central computer. Haise follows behind, ready to observe some sort of miracle after all of Hide's boasting on the subway.

Haise flashes the young secretary a wide beam and she returns the expression after a moment of stunned blinking.

"Hello," he drawls, his smile stretching. "I'm wondering if you could help me with something."

She nods dazedly. "How can I help?"

Hide flips open his CCG badge and holds it out to her. Her wide eyes jump from his face to the laminated plastic. "I'm with the CCG and we're investigating a Kamii University student who went missing after a ghoul attack. My name is Hideyoshi Nagachika and this is my partner—"

"Sasaki Haise," Haise interrupts, flashing the secretary his guest access pass. He takes special care to cover the word "visitor" with a surprisingly steady index finger as he holds it up.

The secretary nods vigorously. "Let me get my supervisor! I just started working here so I'm not sure how much I can help."

Hide's bright grin loses a few watts of power before he hastily spins a new line. "I'm sure you'll be more than enough help. We just need a copy of the student's file. There may be crucial information pertinent to the investigation."

"Oh…" The secretary settled back into her chair. "I'm, uhm, I'm sure we can do that, right?"

"Right."

Haise suppresses the urge to laugh at how aggressively charming Hide is behaving, though it seems to be working.

"What is the student's name?"

"His name is Kaneki Ken. He would have been a student here about four years ago or so."

The secretary nods as her fingers rattle against the keyboard. As Hide continues to chat with her about asinine topics ranging from food to movies, Haise finds his attention drifting. His eyes float towards a stack of brochures on a nearby table. He moves towards them, picking through the brochures for anything interesting or familiar.

"Excuse me." A voice behind Haise causes him to drop the brochure he's reading and he spins around quickly. Another office worker laughs at his startled reaction, an older woman with graying hair pulled into a tight bun.

"I suppose I shouldn't sneak up on CCG investigators. I overheard your partner talking to Aika-san about a case?"

Haise nods. "We're, uh, investigating a missing student. The circumstances of his disappearance suggest that ghouls were involved."

"Oh no... That's…oh, that's horrible!" Her silver eyebrows dart upwards. "What was the student's name?"

Haise supposes it couldn't hurt to do some detective work of his own. He spares a quick glance in Hide's direction for advice, but his partner is too distracted by the younger secretary.

"His name is Kaneki Ken. He would have been a first-year student when he disappeared a few years ago."

The older lady's forehead wrinkles at the name. "That name sounds familiar, but I'm afraid I can't remember enough to help." She snaps her fingers, startling Haise again. "Wait a moment! That's what I told the others when they came by a few months ago. I knew that name was familiar."

"Others came?"

"Yes, but they weren't investigators. It was…" She taps her chin as she thinks. "One of them was an author. Oh, she looked so young—even younger than you and your partner. Said she wanted information about Kaneki Ken for a book she was writing. I told her that we couldn't release information to her, since she wasn't related to Ken and she was a civilian."

Interesting. There's another person who's looking into Kaneki Ken's case? Does Hide know?

"Oi, Haise! You about ready?" He glances back at Hide, clutching a thin folder under his arm.

Haise thanks the older woman for her time before forcing himself to walk calmly and stiffly back towards Hide. "Yes, I am."

If Hide notices Haise's uptight behavior, he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he throws a wink in the younger secretary's direction before heading towards the exit. Haise follows behind, mind buzzing.

Who else is looking for Kaneki Ken? Hide made it sound like we were the only ones who knew about him.

"So, what was with the puckered lips earlier? Afraid you'd blow your cover?"

Haise shakes his head. "No, not really. With all your chattering, I couldn't even get a word in edge-wise." With the administrative building growing smaller in his periphery, Haise could relax. The leftover adrenaline from the "mission" thrums comfortably in his chest, making each step a bit bouncier.

"Ha ha. Funny. I'll have you know, this chattering got Kaneki Ken's academic records all the way through primary school. She seemed suspicious when I asked about his other records and I wasn't going to push it, but not we know a little bit about his earlier life. More than we knew beforehand anyway." Hide flips through the copied papers, scanning over the school names. "Smart kid. Looks like he lived in this area for mo—"

"Hide."

Hide lowers the folder, turning his attention fully to Haise. "Yeah? Are you okay?"

"While you were getting that file, one of the other workers talked to me. She said that someone else was looking for information about Kaneki Ken."

"What? Who?"

"She didn't get their information, but one of them was an author. She wanted to write a story about Kaneki or something. She didn't give them what they wanted, but I thought it was strange."

"You're right. That's pretty weird." Hide looks vaguely troubled and Haise wonders if he should have even mentioned it. I mean, they didn't get what they wanted, so they shouldn't be a problem. Right?

After another moment of pensive thought, Hide shakes it off with a wry frown. "We'll just have to work faster then. If you're up to it, we can go back to my apartment and start looking through this." Hide waves the folder in the air, creating a wooh wooh sound as the papers fluttered.

Haise nods quickly. He can't give up now, not when they're getting closer.

Thanks for reading!