Sky of Glass - Tokyo Ghoul [Reader x Hide]

Chapter Eleven: A Foot in the Grave & a Foot on the Ground

~from Reader's POV 2nd person~
Touka crossed her arms and looked down at you disapprovingly. "He's nothing?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
You shrugged and looked away. "He can't be anything."
"There's a difference," Touka said, making you look up at her. "You know, being one of us isn't the end of the world. Yeah, it sucks to be hunted down and hated by the general population, but you get used to it. Besides, being a ghoul doesn't mean that you can't be like a human, too."
"What do you mean?" you asked, not really in the mood to solve riddles or similes or anything that you require mental taxation.
"I mean that, if you know how to keep your secret safe, you can still keep a part of your human world." Touka looked at the door as though to check that you were alone before looking at you. "I've got a friend, you know. A human friend. And no, I haven't eaten her or anything."
"How...how do you...?"
"How do I keep one foot in both worlds?" she asked, and you nodded. "You learn how to pretend to look like you're eating. You can choke down some human food over time, but you need to throw it back up shortly after because you can't digest it. Other than that, just blend in. It's not that hard. As long as you drink the coffee we serve here, your hunger should be pretty well balanced out, and you won't have to worry about attacking people you care about."
You and Touka talked for a bit before she excused herself. "Sorry," she said. "Hinami left a while ago with her mom, but they haven't come back yet. I'm going to check on them really quickly."
***
When Touka came back half an hour later, her face was grave. "Mrs. Fueguchi...is dead."

~time skip brought to you by Mrs. Fueguchi with the dead mom hairstyle~

"No way," you said when Touka told you that she was going after the doves that had killed Hinami's mom. "If Mrs. Fueguchi couldn't take them on, what's to say that you can?"
"You can't stop me," Touka said, crossing her arms.
"Then take me with you."
"Are you kidding, (y/n)? You're a walking pile of bandages. You're still recovering from the hit you took. At best, you'd be a liability."
You're useless. No one needs you. All you are is a liability. Eyes stinging even though you knew that Touka was trying to protect you, you nodded and turned away from her, not wanting her to see you upset, because all you'd ever been your entire life was just that extra side character. "I get it," you said. "It's fine. Be safe."
"Are you okay?" Touka asked, and you heard her take a step closer.
"I'm...fine. Just go."
She nodded and left, closing the door carefully behind her. A few minutes later, the door opened again.
"How are you feeling, (y/n)?" Kaneki asked in his gentle voice, but you didn't want him to see that you were crying.
"Touka's going to try and attack the doves," you said, immediately diverting attention away from yourself.
"She's going to do what?"
"You should stop her, or at least help her."
"All right," Kaneki replied, already moving towards the door. "You stay behind and just focus on getting better, okay?"
And without another word, he was gone. For a second, you wished that he would have cared about you more, but you'd asked him to look after Touka, after all, so if he left, it was only your own fault. Still, you cried into the pillow. You wished that someone out there would fight for you...You thought of Hide, and you turned over, holding a hand up to the ceiling. "It's not fair that the only person who kind of cared is gone now."
Then you thought about how pathetic you sounded, moping around in self-pity, and you stopped crying. "Maybe I should just leave," you whispered softly. "I'm too weak to do anything the way I am now." Unable to come to a clear decision, you let yourself drift off to sleep, awaiting Kaneki and Touka's safe return.