I didn't know where I was going. I only moved forward towards the outside night, with nothing but the piercing frost triggering my bottom jaw to tremor in bitter chilliness.

That's when the thought hit me.

Hoping to myself, I dashed all the way to a familiar place I haven't visited since after the previous year ended.

I panted as I halt in my tracks at the very entrance and peered through the window realizing the back light was still on. The front door was locked and so was the back one.

I crotched down to the doorknob's height, removed my hairpin from my hair, and immediately went to work on picking the lock, wriggling the front door several times.

*click!

I stood up and back away when recognizing I've been caught. The door opened revealing a tall, older-aged man. Mr. Yoshimura.

"S-Sorry, Sir!" I apologized. "If you don't mind, I'm a friend of—"

"—A friend of Touka, and girlfriend of Kaneki," he interrupted in a friendly tone. "I understand."

I sighed in relief and he allowed me inside the dimly lit room. I followed him towards the entrance of the back door until, he stopped.

I took that as caution and took a step back when he turned to face me. "What's the matter, Sir?" I asked.

He hesitated. "... Please, allow me to warn you; there are too many things in this world you need to be aware of especially your surroundings... I want you to be always cautious when you're upstairs here. Do you promise, Miss Y/N?"

I gave him a weird look until, the thought came to me. I understood what was going on.

"I promise, Sir," I muttered, and he continued walking forwards up the stairs in silence.

I followed him down a short hallway and we walked past a series of numbered doors, but one having the word Touka.

"Here you are, Miss. Touka should be still awake."

"Thank-you, Sir," I bowed, and Mr. Yoshimura casually ambles away from sight.

I knocked on the door twice and I caught a clear, solemn voice call out, "It's open!"

My grip tightened on the doorknob and I cautiously stepped inside to discover Touka sitting at her desk, finishing her homework while listening to music.

"Y/N?" she asked, appalled. "What are you doing here?"

I shut the door behind me and walked towards her. "I just, um, wanted to talk."

Her eyes widened, and she slammed her textbook close, sweeping her headphones off her head. "Talk? About what?"

I paused. "You see I had a quarrel with Kaneki and I thought I should come to you about it."

She crossed her arms, giving me an earnest look. "What did the idiot do this time?"

I looked down, fidgeting with my charm bracelet. It's been glued to my wrist ever since I first bought it, and I wasn't planning on letting it go.
"Actually, the idiot who started everything was me..." I muttered in absolute shame.

It turned silent for a moment before I caught a glance of a sliding chair Touka offered me. I looked up to meet her glare.

"Sit," she firmly instructed, and I immediately obeyed as I plumped myself in the seat beside her desk. I looked away avoiding eye contact from how tense she made the situation.

Oh man, I thought. I think I hit a nerve. She's not gonna like me after this. Maybe coming to her wasn't such a good id—

"—Tell me all about it then," she interrupted, grinning. "From the very, very beginning."

I heaved a deep breath and explained everything...

~***~

She raised an eyebrow at my last sentence where I gave a breath in conclusion.

"You really are an idiot," she commented, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

I hung my head low. "Yeah..."

Touka sighed, crossing her arms. "What are you going to do now, Y/N?"

"I don't know. I think the only thing I can do is give him some space. I might visit him soon so, we can talk about solving the situation," I answered, leaning against the back of my chair. "Do you really think I was siding with Ben?"

"If you think so, then so will I," she assured. "Anyways, have you and Kaneki found evidence if Ben is really a ghoul?"

I shook my head sorrowfully in response. "No, not yet. We still haven't seen him in action, rather what his kagune looks like, nor where his feeding ground is."

She rubbed her chin. "Tell me Y/N. Why is it you're here?"

My eyes widened. "I told you everything didn't I? Surely that would explain—"

"--No. I mean here, here." Her face hardened. "Why did you come to me and not your other friends."

I hesitated. "...Because you understand ghouls more than anyone I know. Even more than me, Bree, or Kaneki. I believe you're more experienced than anyone has ever experienced before." A poised and crucial expression across my face.

Touka's eyes enlarged, stunned. "I..." She paused. "I believe you're more wrong than any person I've ever met."

I smiled slightly. "I may be wrong but, I'm still right. And you know that."

Her lips slightly parted, then close, and she sighed. "You... really think so?"

"Of course!" I nodded. "Anyways... Now that you're all caught up in everything, I guess I should get going. I don't want to disturb you any further." I stood up from my seat but, to my surprise, Touka seized my wrist.
I stopped.

"Wait."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She hanged her head low, her short, dark hair concealing her eyes from me. "Tell me something."

"Sure."

Touka took a deep breath and mumbled, "What do you think of me?"

I paused to reflect for a minute.

What do I think of Touka? Well... She's unique.

"I think you're a very smart, and confident person, and deep down you care and love about everyone. Even humans." I muttered the last part to myself but, shockingly she caught it.

"Even humans..." she repeated under her breath and removed her tight grip.

That's when the thought came to me that I swiftly unclipped a charm from my bracelet.

"Y'know, you sometimes remind me of a rabbit," I muttered, placing the tiny charm on my chair. "Maybe because you're so aggressive and full of fertility."

It was silent where I took the hint that Touka was in deep-thought. I left her room without a farewell, a noticeable grin upon my face.

~***~

I took a deep breath and unlocked the door. I never told Kaneki I found an extra house key to his apartment he left hiding so, I stored it in my phone case for safe keeping.

The apartment was quieter than usual, and all the lights were turned off in every room. I cautiously closed the door behind me and tiptoed to Kaneki's bedroom where I discovered him in his comfortable pj's, snoozing soundly in his bed.

I removed my backpack, jacket, and pants before climbing in next to him. That's when I realized something fell clinking from Kaneki's hand.
I picked it up and studied it with my sense of touch under the low lighting. It was the necklace I gave him.

My eyes watered, that I laid down beside him, resting my forehead against his spine as I hugged him close under the covers. I clutched his necklace tightly in my sweaty palm.

I knew he'd be thinking about what I said earlier. It must be lingering with him for too long. I guess I'll have to wait till morning if he does mention anything, I sighed. I don't like seeing us like this. I bet it's hurting Kaneki more than myself. I shouldn't have said anything. I was siding with Ben, and I feel like I'm betraying Kaneki because of it. As if I'm allowing Ben to slip himself between us, and force our relationship apart. I just don't know what to do anymore.

A small tear slipped down, and I shut my eyelids tighter, my grip becoming firmer around Kaneki.
Kaneki takes a breath and turned around, his chest colliding against my nose. He wrapped an arm around my small body (probably thinking I was his pillow) and he squeezed the living air out of me.

I slowly released his harsh grasps, so I could breath, and small, quiet mutters escaped under his breath.

"...Y/N... I'll... kill him... Y/N... Mn..."

He was having a dream, and I knew Ben and I were in it. I believed it was horrifying since he squeezed my body, again, a soft groan escaping his lips.

I sighed, and sat up from his bed. I couldn't take anymore of this.

Kissing his cheek softly, I left his necklace on his bedside table and carried my things to his couch where I burrowed one of his blankets and pillow. My eyes began to heavenly droop from weariness that I threw the blanket over myself, gaining a long, night's rest.

~***~

A sudden wash of goosebumps tickled my legs from the chilly air that I fetched for my blanket and realized it landed on the floor. I yawned, and sat up straight where my heartbeats increased in disbelief. I almost forgot I wasn't in my bed and that I was sleeping on the couch in Kaneki's apartment.

A teasing, warm-yellow light silently shined through the blinds of the glass patio doors and windows climbing to every room. I laid against the back of the couch and sighed. Kaneki wasn't around but, the sounds of dripping water was.

*creak

I observed as the bathroom door opened slightly, steamy and humid, revealing Kaneki, hair soaked, and a towel wrapped around his neck as he wore a light-grey t-shirt with dark bottoms. He turned his eyes from the bathroom light, shutting it off, and then to my wide ones, enriched with deep rosiness.

He glanced at my gaze before marching towards his bedroom.

Without thinking otherwise, I followed him.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, head sadly dangling as he held a towel to his hair. I chairly took a seat on the bed next to him and muttered,

"...Kaneki." My voice tense with thoroughness and sincerity. "I'm sorry."
He stiffened, and I decided to continue.
"I really am, and... to tell you the truth, I was siding with Ben. When I did, there was this sense that made me feel like I was betraying you, our relationship, in a way that I didn't want. I love you, Kaneki. I really, really do, and... I'm not going to expect you to forgive me. I... only wanted to apologize for any harm that I may have c-caused is all.... a-and..." Tiny, salty tears slipped their way down my cheeks from how much I ache inside, and keeping them from Kaneki really brought a weight upon my small figure. It was just too unbearable, and I didn't like it one bit.

I wiped my tears away and sniffed where Kaneki turned to me, withholding any sort of eye contact. He pulled me into a hug. I immediately accepted his offer, and hugged him back.

"Hey." His tone thick with concern. "Don't feel like you're betraying me. I was just upset that you ran away. It wasn't a great choice leaving me like that, you know."

I laid my forehead against his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I breathed.

"I'm sorry, too." He pulled away from the embrace and his lips touched my damp cheek tenderly. "I love you, Y/N."

A wide smile crept upon my lips that I clutched his hand tight. "Kaneki." I looked into his dark eyes. "Maybe I was overthinking this entire situation too much," I sighed. "I thought you'd be downright mad at me."

"Why?" He smirked. "You want me to?"

My eyes widened. "Please, don't!!"

Kaneki chuckled. "Don't worry I'm not mad... at the moment."

"At the moment!!" I gasped, scowling.

That's when Kaneki reached over to his bedside table, grabbing his phone. He pulled me down to lay right next to him on his bed that I smiled.

He unlocked his phone and showed it above me. "After you disappeared, I attempted to follow Ben's tracks, and—"

"—And you got footage!!" I intruded excitedly.

His grin extended, but then he paused. "Well, some of it. I couldn't get a clear view of him since it was too dark outside. However, I could sense his scent and the entire situation smelled of fresh blood in the shady alleyway. I may have caught the sounds of tearing flesh too."

I shuddered a bit imagining the thought, and I shoved his arm. "Okay okay!! Show me the video now!" I insisted where he instantly pulled up the video under his camera roll.

The screen showed exactly what Kaneki described, the murky dusk and the alleyway. To bad it was hard to see Ben's figure since his black clothes camouflaged within the night but, I did indeed hear short, spine-chilling mutters of crushing and tearing flesh. I bit my bottom lip and furrowed my brow as I was disturbed once the video ended with Ben's figure quickly escaping the scene across the street.

I gaped at the video Kaneki showed me, and he spoke up.

"I didn't get a chance to run after him because my battery died at the wrong timing. That's why the video was so short." He sweat dropped.

I rolled my eyes, scoffing, "I told you to buy that extra power bar battery when we were at the night market!"
He grinned sheepishly in response.

"Well, now that we have footage, we can finally expose that jerk's identity once and for a—"

*knock knock knock!!

Kaneki's sentence was immediately interrupted that he sat up in alarm. I followed soon after, trailing after Kaneki's cautious footsteps to the front door.

"Kaneki!!" chirped a male's voice from the other side, knocking several times. "Kaneki Kaneki Kaneki!!! Daddy cannot wait any longer!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!"

I observed as Kaneki unlocked the door revealing a tall, ginger-haired guy with a freakish glare across his lips. Ginger instantly grabbed Kaneki's shoulders, rattling him and exclaimed,

"DUUUUUUUUUDDE!! I'm back from America!! Did you miss me?!"

"Hide!" Kaneki cried. "Stop shaking me already!"

"I can't!!" Ginger, or Hide, replied, continuing to shake Kaneki's feeble human stature. "I missed yoouuu!!!"

But that's when Hide released his arms when realizing I was observing their little commotion. He shoved Kaneki to the floor and gave me a sly smirk.

"Hey there, girl," he said. "Mind if I take you someplace else and away from this idiot? Also, may I ask if you're single as well—"

Kaneki thumped the back of Hide's head. "She's already taken, Hide!!" he stated, a firm glare across his face.

"Really?" Hide cocked his head to the side. "With who?"

I smiled, and the heat rose a bit to my cheeks. "With Kaneki to be exact," I answered, courteously.

Hide gasped dramatically and shakes Kaneki once again. "Kaneki Kaneki Kaneki Kaneki!!!!! You never told Daddy YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!!!"

Kaneki shoved Hide's tight embrace from him, and stood his back towards me. "Yes, I do. And do you mind showing some respect towards her?" He nods his head down and I suddenly flushed as I hastily crossed my legs in absolute mortification.

Hide immediately caught on, blushed, and turned around. "Sorry!! I didn't realize until now."

I rushed towards the couch and swiftly fetched my pants, jerking them on.

"Can I look now?" Hide questioned and I gave him my approval. He spins around, facing me.

"Great!" He grinned. "Anyways, let me start this over. My name is Hideyoshi Nagachika. Best friends with this guy right here! Nice to meet ya!" Hide gestured to Kaneki, inclining his elbow onto his shoulder. Kaneki rolled his eyes playfully in response.

I giggled from his adorable personality. "I'm Y/N Y/LN. It's nice to meet you too."

Kaneki detached Hide's touch and grinned slightly, facing his ginger-haired best friend. "You should've texted me when you'd be visiting, Hide. I could've—"

"—No need!" Hide laughed. "I like scaring my best friend!" He then leaned in to Kaneki's ear and muttered, "You know, I never knew a hot one would be falling for you, Kaneki. She's gorgeous."

My eyes enlarged in bewilderment, and the heat arose to my strawberry cheeks, receiving every word clearly from only three feet away.
I pushed a hair strand behind my ear and looked away, while Kaneki irritably exclaimed,
"Hey, back off!! She's MINE, you got that?!"

Hide laughed, again.