{7:END }

Hide walks slowly, trying his best not to agitate his injured shoulder. Once he isout of Kaneki's sight he lets himself curse, and loudly complain about the throbbing pain. "Geez Kaneki... You couldn't have nipped me instead of nearly ripping my shoulder off?" Hide mutters, "Why couldn't the hospital be closer?" His words echo throughout the night air, and the surprisingly empty streets. That's right, it's nearly midnight... Most people are sleeping know... Hide thinks to himself. He continues to think of many things, as he tries to distract himself from the pain he is feeling.

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"Kanekiiiiiiiii," Hide whines to his best friend, "I didn't come over here to watch you read! Pay attention to me!" Hide pretends to be upset about that fact that Kaneki is reading and not paying attention to him. He would never admit it to Kaneki, but he doesn't mind watching him read... In fact he LOVES it. He loves how Kaneki's eyes smoothly jump from one line to the next. He loves how Kaneki's eyes begin to gleam as he realizes he is near the end of the page, and is about to face a new and promising page. He loves how Kaneki seems to imerese himself within the story, his facial expression often changing as if matching the moods of various characters. Most of all, Hide loves it when Kaneki gets so absorbed into a story that he accidentally begins to read out loud. Kaneki's voice... It is like that of an angel. It brings light to the world and happiness to the world's inhabitants. "Let's do something toghether! Come on I want to interact with my best friend!" Hide can't help but let his gaze rest upon Kaneki's lips, lips that look both soft and kissable.

"Why don't we read together? We both know you could use to read more," Kaneki responds, which reminds Hide of the fact that he is failing the reading standard of his Japanese Literature class. Hide is about to emit a loud sigh (the very idea of reading makes him want to sleep) when he realizes something. If he were to read with Kaneki, it would give him an excuse to sit VERY close to his best friend/crush. Scooting closer to Kaneki who had been sitting on the opposite end of the couch, Hide wearily eyes the book. The book has a boring title, and is by an author he has never heard of. "Don't worry, I'll read the first page. You'll read the next, okay?" Hide nods, and focuses on the sound of Kaneki's calming voice instead of the sea of words upon the page.

"There had to be a better way, she thought, as she lay in a pool of blood," Kaneki reads, shocking Hide. How could such an innocent boy read such a violent book? "There had to be a better way to die... She knew that she couldn't avoid death, just like she couldn't avoid falling in love with him. HIM. Perhaps if HE was here it would be easier. She never would expect him to save her... He isn't a doctor, he isn't a bodyguard, he isn't a mind reader... He could never have predicted that this would happen. He could never have attempted to prevent it from happening." Kaneki pauses to bit his lips, trying to prevent tears from falling. "After all, he was an innocent... A person who knew little to nothing about the world of blood and guts that mobsters inhabit. She was, and always, be a mobster's daughter. 'The funny thing about being a mobster's daughter is that YOU ARE danger and you ARE IN danger. To date me would to tempt death... To marry me would gurantee death, are you ready for that?' She had asked him, and was pleasantly surprised by his simple response." Kaneki gently nudges Hide with his elbow, signialling to Hide that it is his turn to read.

"It's a good thing that I've always had a strange fascination with death,' He had responsed, giving her a quick kiss upon the lips.' If she tried hard enough, she could almost feel the lingering sensation of the kiss... The kiss had been full of warmth and comfort. As she lay dying, as her life rapidly leaked out of her like the blood she was losing, she knew that there was a better way to face her death... She knew that she could only accept such a painful and perhaps pathetic death if he was here to comfort her... If he was here to whisper kind words into her ears, and to cover her face in kisses. If only he was here, if only... 'I wish that you could hold me now..."

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"You know, don't you?" a familiar voice asks, slowly pulling Hide out of his world of memories.

"You know, don't you?" The man asked his best friend at her funeral...

"You know what he is. You're walking... Walking in the direction of the CCG... You're betraying him," the voice continues to ask him numerous questions.

"You know who did this, don't you?" He asked his best friend another question.

"You're not merely betraying him, you're killing him," the voice adds.

"You killed her, didn't you?" The man asks his best friend, or better described as his ex-best friend. The ex-best friend opens his mouth, preparing to respond, preparing to defend himself..."

Hide opens his mouth, preparing to respond, preparing to defend himself...

"But he doesn't get the chance to utter a single sound."

But he doesn't get the chance to utter a single sound. The familiar voice, belonging to a waitress from Anteiku, morphs into a growl as she attacks him.

"The man's voice morphs into a growl as he attacks his ex-best friend. He will avenge her death since he couldn't prevent it!"

She will prevent his death since there is no way that she could avenge it!

As he lay dying, as his life rapidly leaked out of him like the blood he was losing, he knew that there was a better way to face his death... He knew that he could only accept such a painful and perhaps pathetic death if he was here to comfort him... If he was here to whisper kind words into his ears, and to cover his face in kisses. If only he was here, if only... "I wish that you could hold me now..." Hide whispers, just as his heart stops beating.

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ALTERNATE ENDING: "Hold me, now!" Hide demands, upon returning from the hospital. He could really use a hug... His trip to the hospital nearly resulted him in dying. He had ran into a waitress from Antekiu, who turned out to be a Ghoul. At first he thought that she was going to kill him... But, to his surprise, she gave him a chance to defend himself.

'Go ahead and kill me, I already knew that I was going to die soon. After all, I'm dating someone that would make death more likely to come for me, and I plan on marrying someone that would gurantee that I will get killed. I suppose I will be alright... I have a strange fascination with death, after all...' he had told her, clearly surprising her. She had remained speechless for quite a while.

"Was that a request or an order?" Kaneki asks with a small smile, accompanied by red cheeks. Responding in such a sassy, and non-Kaneki way has resuled in Kaneki becoming embarrassed with himself.

"It was CLEARLY an order!" Hide hollers playfully in response, before giving Kaneki a quick kiss upon the lips. "Now hurry up! Rabbits die when they're lonely..."

"You're not a rabbit..." Kaneki responds, meanwhile wrapping his arms around Hide's torso, "but I'll give you a hug anyway..."