Love me even like this
Manga/anime: Tokyo Ghoul
Warnings: nothing
(Y/N): your name
Being with Kaneki meant learning to read silence: he wasn't a guy who made grand declarations, he didn't shake her hand in public, he didn't bombard her with messages; though, he remembered how she drank coffee, he always moved her away from brightly lit windows if he saw they bothered her, when someone stared at her for a second too long with bad intentions, his gaze darkened. He was a constant, silent presence, protective but never intrusive, detached but incredibly attentive.
They had met two years before, during their senior year of high school; they've been together for a year, having started dating on the first day of college.
(Y/N) knew Kaneki was a ghoul -he had been forced to reveal it after she had heard him talking to Touka-, but she had never seen him eat, fight or show off his kagune.
Sometimes she found him sitting with a book open on his lap, his gaze lost in space, his fingers stiff and his jaw clenched.
"Is everything okay?"
He always smiled and said: "Of course" but, even so, she had understood that 'of course' meant he was hungry.
He was control, control of hunger, of strength, and above all of himself.
And she loved him.
She loved him so much.
~ ❤️ ~
That evening, (Y/N) had insisted on walking home alone: "It's only five blocks, I'll be fine", she had said, laughing. Yet, Kaneki had hesitated, his eyes frantically scanning the street, the alleys, the rooftops.
"Text me when you arrive." He had muttered.
She didn't have time.
~ ❤️ ~
Her senses sensed danger even before her brain could spread fear throughout her body.
She could smell the alcohol.
The smell of sweat permeated the entire area.
She sensed the threat.
Before (Y/N)'s brain could process it, a hand grabbed her wrist, while another tried to drag her into the shadows of an alley.
She tried to scream, but immediately the world turned red: the girl saw something black appear in front of her eyes, covering her vision, she heard a strange wet sound and then a loud, violent scream, and the strong, squeezing grip eased.
Before her wasn't her Ken, there was someone more intimidating and imposing. It was his figure, yes, but at the same time it was different.
Kaneki wasn't looking at her, his eyes were on the man lying dead at his feet, eyes that, one of that misty gray she loved to lose herself in, the other a deep red mixed with pitch black, like a ghoul's, gleamed not angry, not furious, but hungry. His kagune unfurled behind him, slow and terrifying, as if it was breathing, the appendages moving with a cruel grace, still stained. His chest rose and fell too quickly.
The human's stomach tightened, her heart dropped into her throat, her body shook violently, not so much because of what had happened, but due to the scene she had witnessed.
Her brain tried to process it, yet her body moved first: a light, gentle step backward, unheard by a man. However, he wasn't a man, and the faint sound was caught.
The half-ghoul froze, his kagune paralyzed in midair, his red eye trembling.
Then, his fearsome eyes met hers, softening immediately, but she didn't even notice it.
"Did he hurt you?" The voice was still his, so soft, so shaky and broken, but also slightly cracked.
(Y/N) wanted to answer, to run toward him, but the horrendous scene before her didn't match the image she had built up over the course of two years.
Silence fell between them, broken only by another slight, trembling retreat, which shattered the flat, deathlike tranquility just as the kagune had ripped through the drunken man moments before.
And Kaneki understood.
The tentacles suddenly retracted, as if burned, the eye returned to normal.
"Sorry..." He whispered, not daring to approach the girl.
And then he was gone. Not metaphorically, he truly disappeared, swallowed up by the shadows.
Only silence remained.
~ ❤️ ~
(Y/N) hadn't slept well for three days: she kept reliving that moment. She didn't remember the blood, nor the kagune, but the way Kaneki had broken when she had pulled away from him, as if he had collapsed.
Her gesture hadn't been one of rejection. It had been shock, an unconscious fear of not understanding, of not recognizing her boyfriend.
And yet, for him, it had been confirmation, confirmation of his monstrosity, and that was killing her.
~ ❤️ ~
Kaneki hadn't answered her messages. Nor her calls.
He hadn't gone to her house.
He hadn't returned to Anteiku, where she had found only Yoshimura.
~ ❤️ ~
Anteiku was immersed in a silence unlike that of the night: it wasn't quiet, but expectation.
(Y/N) sat at her usual table -where she used to sit with him-, her fingers intertwined around a cup of coffee which hadn't steamed in a while. She didn't remember when she had ordered it, she didn't even know if she had asked for it or if he had brought it automatically.
Behind the counter, Yoshimura was slowly drying a cup. As always, his gesture was measured and precise.
"Kaneki-kun is fighting." The sentence had fallen between them soundlessly, but it hadn't been reassuring.
"Is he... okay?" The girl's voice cracked slightly, like something drawn out too long.
The ghoul looked up; in his eyes was that calm that knew too much and therefore never rushed. He set the cup down on the table, making a soft sound that still seemed to break something.
"Kaneki-kun has always been afraid of being seen in his entirety." He paused.
"When someone sees his darker half... He fears it's the last thing they'll see."
Her hands tightened around the ceramic, turning white from the tight grip: "I don't...". The words caught in her throat, because she had taken a step back, even though she hadn't wanted to, because her body had reacted before her heart.
Yoshimura tilted his head slightly.
"For those who live feeling like something that shouldn't exist, even a single moment of hesitation can be felt like confirmation." The silence thickened, almost deathly, and the air seemed to cool ten degrees.
"If he thinks he scared you -He continued gently- he'll stay away. He won't do it to punish you, nor out of pride -A shadow crossed his gaze- but because it's easier to disappear than risk being looked at with fear."
(Y/N)'s heart sank.
"I wasn't afraid of him. I was afraid I wasn't strong enough. And I might lose him."
"Kaneki-kun doesn't fear death. He fears rejection."
The distant sound of the wind against the windows suddenly seemed clearer.
"If you want to find him -He finally added- don't look for him where there's fighting."
His gaze shifted upward, beyond the glass, toward the dimly lit rooftops looming over Anteiku: "Look for him where the silence is big enough to contain what he cannot say".
~ ❤️ ~
(Y/N) found him on the terrace of a building not far from Anteiku, where he went when he needed silence.
He was sitting on the edge of the ledge, his legs dangling in the air, his shoulders hunched, his gaze lost in the city below. He seemed tiny against the Tokyo night sky, he was so human.
"Ken..." That time their eyes didn't meet.
"You shouldn't be here." His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in days.
The girl got closer anyway, her steps uncertain, as if she was approaching a wild beast.
"Why didn't you look for me?"
He let out a mirthless laugh: "Because I saw your face. And I understood what you were thinking".
Finally he turned around, the wind ruffling his hair. His dark circles were deep under his eyes, his red, sad eyes no longer shining.
"I saved you -He said- And you walked away as if I was something to protect yourself from."
"It wasn't tha-
"It always is -His voice cracked as he stood up- When they find out what I am, it's always like this. I'm not human. Not truly, not enough. And I'm not even a full ghoul. I'm just... something that shouldn't exist."
"When I fight for you -He continued, his voice almost becoming a growl- I don't think. If someone touches you... I want to destroy. And for a moment, when I hit him... I felt hungry -He lowered his gaze, his tone becoming almost uncertain, reluctant- I was afraid of myself. And then I saw you were too."
A dead silence fell.
"Why can't anyone love me completely? Why do I always have to hide half of who I am just to stay with someone?"
"I love you."
Kaneki stiffened.
"I love you for how you take care of me, how you protect me and love me. I love you when you read to take your mind off hunger. I love you when you pretend to be just kind and not fragile. I love you when you apologize for things that aren't your fault. And... I love you even when your eye turns red."
The wind stopped, as the half-human shivered.
Slowly, as if it was the most dangerous act of his life, he released his kagune, which undulated behind him, alive and pulsing.
That time, (Y/N) didn't move, her heart stronger than her body and mind, which recalled terror. Rather, she approached, stopping a breath away from him and raising her hand to place it on his warm, human cheek.
"When I pulled away, I was shocked. I was afraid, it's true, but I was never afraid of you: I was afraid of not being strong enough to stay, of losing what I had." His red eye trembled, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"I don't just want the easy part of you. I want everything, even the part that makes you believe you're unlovable." His lips trembled. Kaneki was crying silently, as always.
"You don't know what it means." He murmured, his voice cracking and hoarse from crying.
"Then explain it to me."
"If one day I lose control-
"We'll fight together."
"What if I become something you no longer recognize?"
She looked into his eyes: "Then I'll remind you who you are".
The kagune slowly dissolved.
He embraced her, not with the usual gentleness, composure, restraint, but as if he was afraid she was just an illusion: he held her like someone who had spent his entire life waiting for someone to stay after seeing everything.
"Love me even like this." He whispered into her hair.
"I love you especially like this."
And when they kissed, there was nothing left between them -no more fears or secrets-, only the truth and her conscious choice to stay.
Happy Valentine's Day!! 🌺❤️
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