Hiraeth (A HideKane/ KaneHide multichapter fic)

Chapter 2

I do not own this story. It is written by Aellia on FanFiction.net. All credits go to her.

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"W-what?" Hide stuttered. "No, that's-"

But it wasn't impossible, because getting turned into a ghoul was exactly what had happened to Kaneki.

"See for yourself, monsieur," Tsukiyama said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small mirror. Hide didn't stop to wonder why a guy carried a mirror, instead taking it and shakily holding it up to his face. Slowly lowering it, he handed it back to Tsukiyama. He couldn't believe it.

He was a ghoul.

His left eye was normal, but what was supposed to be white in his right eye was black and his iris was blood red. Hide slunk down on the ground again, defeated.

"I'm sorry, Hide. I...I was too late," Kaneki murmured, placing his hands on his shoulders.

Hide saw his friend's extreme distress and decided to do what he always did-try to lighten the mood. Looking up, he attempted to muster a grin on his face and said, "Hey, at least I won't have to pay for food anymore. Do you even know how much the price has gone up for good quality ramen?"

Kaneki didn't smile, so Hide gave up the nonchalant façade. Tsukiyama stood awkwardly to the side, obviously wanting to get closer to Hide to smell him again. Then, he stated, "Monsieur, I believe we should get going. It is obvious that this facility is still operational, no? It's in our best interest that we avoid a confrontation."

Not answering, Kaneki removed his hands from Hide's shoulders and stood. Hide tried to ignore the tingling sensation left behind where his friend's hands had been and followed suit, standing and brushing himself off. He heard the somewhat sickening sound of flesh tearing and turned and saw that Kaneki had brought out his kagune. The tentacle-like...things seemed to move on their own, swaying back and forth.

Kaneki noticed Hide staring at them. "Just in case," he stated. Hide nodded in reply. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he should try to activate his kagune. He did have kagune now, right? "Don't try," Kaneki told him, somehow reading his thoughts. "I don't want you to end up hurting yourself. It takes a while to learn how to control. I only fully learned after-never mind," he muttered at the end.

Hide repressed a frown. He didn't know what Kaneki had been through these past months, but he knew that it had been hard. What could have caused him so much pain and suffering that his hair turned completely white and his nails black? As much as he had hoped it was "just a phase" in which Kaneki had experimented with some hair dye and nail polish, Hide knew that wasn't the case.

They began walking at a hurried pace. It was quiet for some time until Kaneki spoke up once again. "Have you seen anyone?" he asked Hide.

Shaking his head, Hide replied, "Only one man. My guess is he was the one who..." He hesitated, deciding how to word what he wanted to say. "Changed me," he concluded.

"Kanou," Kaneki grumbled. "That was the man who operated on me. This is his lab, where he turned even more people into half ghouls. The CCG raided this place, and I assumed it had been vacated after that. I guess Kanou didn't have any other places to do his human experiments, so he had to come back." Kaneki spat out the last few words, anger flashing in his usually calm eyes.

"There was this one huge room I went through, though," Hide began. "There were dead bodies littered everywhere. They had been torn apart, and it didn't look like it could have been done by any CCG weapon-not even by ghoul investigators. I don't think they were the only ones that infiltrated."

Hide had a strong feeling that Kaneki had come here at that time. Maybe even Tsukiyama. He had somehow known to come here to find Hide, and he at least seemed to know his way around.

Kaneki chose not to respond to Hide's statement. "Through here," he said, pointing at a wall that appeared to be made out of flesh. After continuing for a while longer, they finally reached another large room. It appeared to be the entrance room. A considerably sized steel door was on the opposite wall from which they had come in. "This was almost too easy," Kaneki said, clearly suspicious. Hide was also concerned; he had expected his escape to be more... challenging? Dramatic? Well, he had been reunited with his best friend after not seeing him for months, so he supposed that counted for something.

They crossed the room. Hide questioned how they had gotten into the seemingly solid facility. Kaneki answered his question by grabbing the handle on the door and opening it without effort. It had been unlocked. "It's almost like he wanted you to escape," he said.

"It appears that way," Tsukiyama said.

Hide braced himself from what he would see outside. In his mind, he had pictured a whole squadron of lab coat-wearing men and women armed with destructive weapons. But there was nothing. The outside of the lab was lush with green life, an extreme contrast to the inside, which was all steel and machinery. It was surrounded by a forest. Flowers grew in numerous places, and birds chirped happily. It was a clear, sunny day. Not at all what he had been expecting.

Kaneki turned to Hide as they stepped outside, his expression that of utter relief. His kagune retracted back into his body. A small smile formed on his lips, something Hide had dearly missed. Hide felt himself smiling as well. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he wiped them away. He was just so overjoyed to be with his best friend again. "Let's go home, Kaneki," he said.

"Yeah," Kaneki replied. "Let's go home."

Kanou watched as the group of three made their way through the many hallways and rooms of the facility. It had taken some effort to get the security system up and running again after a CCG worker had found the room and destroyed the control panel, which shut off all the cameras. Restoring them had been the right decision.

Kanou had planned the kidnapping after seeing how much Kaneki had blossomed. Sadly for Kaneki, he was going to be shown up by his latest creation. Or at least he hoped. Since he hadn't expected Nagachika to try to break out so quickly-or that Kaneki would come to retrieve him-he hadn't forced him to test his new abilities. It was a mystery whether or not both kakuhous would work efficiently; Nagachika had been the first to survive the surgery to become a hybrid half ghoul. If he went through experiences similar to Kaneki, he would most certainly transcend him. The only problem was creating those experiences.

The three found their way back to the entrance room. Kanou pushed a button to unlock the door for them, the same as he had done to let Kaneki and his acquaintance in. They walked across the room. Kaneki opened the door, and they left. Relocking the door behind them, Kanou stood and left the control room. A devious smile spread across his face. His experiment, he was certain, was a success. The only way to test his experiment was to release him into the outside world, where he would respond to his environment. Allowing him to think he had escaped on his own merit was part of the plan.

His devilish smile widened.