Messed Up World

A Nightmare

[edited: 29.01.18]

Touka sprung awake as she began to hear terrified screams.

"Hinami?" She thought at first, but then realized that she was mistaken.

The screams were different, still very familiar though. They sounded like Kaneki's-

"Kaneki?!" She sprinted out of her room and skittered to a halt as she saw Kaneki on the floor, screaming his lungs out.

Hinami also came out, rubbing her eyes with exhaustion. "What's going on?" The girl asked.

Ignoring her, Touka ran over to him and shook him. The boy continued to scream, his hands going for his hair and tugging at it. "Kaneki wake up!" She yelled, shaking him violently to get him out of whatever nightmare he was having.

"Kaneki!-" At the second call, Kaneki's eyes opened. Touka barely had time to say anything when suddenly she felt something tight around her body and it stopped her mid-breath. It took her a second to realize that she was being held up from the floor by a tentacle like thing. Which she immediately recognized as Kaneki's kagune.

Adrenaline kicked in and her first instinct was to get her kagune out, so her eyes turned into red pupils and she was about to prepare her kagune when she realized. That this was Kaneki who was holding her up. His eyes were wide open, with tears streaming down his face. They were filled with nothing but pure terror. His left eye was a red pupil surrounded by darkness, but even as terrifying as it should've looked, it even managed to show Touka how terrified he really was.

He was taking short wheezing breaths, like if he couldn't get enough air. Touka turned her eyes back to normal and tried her best to calm him down. She placed her hand softly on his kagune.

"Kaneki..It's me Touka.." She managed to wheeze out.

It took a while, but eventually, Kaneki blinked and his ghoul eyes turned back to normal immediately. The terror in his eyes was replaced by shame. "T-Touka.."

He let her down slowly and carefully with his kagune.

Once she was back down safely, Kaneki's kagune disappeared back through his back. He stayed staring at her for a while, before his face scrunched up as he stopped a sob from coming out of his mouth. Touka immediately caught him as he fell forwards and started to cry.

"It was only a bad dream Kaneki. Just a bad dream." She reassured him, rubbing his back in a way to comfort him. Hinami, who had been here the whole time, slowly came behind him and hugged him as well. "It was a bad dream big brother." She comforted him, hugging him tightly.

Kaneki's sobbing decreased to quiet whimpers, before he pulled back and looked at her. She noticed the pure shame and despair in his eyes. "I-I'm sorry Touka, are you okay?.." He looked at her as he tried his best not to whimper that question out.

Touka nodded. Her hands went for his and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"I'm s-so sorry..." Kaneki covered his left eye, as if he wanted to hide it from her. Wanted to hide it from everyone.

"I said it's okay-" Touka started but Kaneki began shaking in guilt. His whole body trembled.

Narrowing her eyes, Touka grabbed him by the shoulders and made him face her. "If I say it's okay...It's okay, get me? It's not your fault!" She told him strictly.

Kaneki stopped shaking, his wide distraught eyes looked at her, but he gulped and nodded.

"I hate seeing you like this, you idiot." She told him.