Listen, the best thing about Nishiki and Touka’s relationship is that it works as platonic and romantic. Ishida has given us all the material to make either of those work.
Nishiki being a “bro” to Touka is honestly the most precious thing ever. That man has cared about her wellbeing since the first series when they got over being enemies and worked together to rescue Kaneki.
Since then, as much as they still banter, Nishiki has remained part of the team (I love pointing out how in that three year time skip all Touka really had was Yomo and Nishiki) and he has obviously proven to be someone Touka can turn to - hence why she went to him in the first place regarding the, ahem, food. And it’s been so obvious that Nishiki cares about Touka and that baby.
I love the idea that Nishiki treats Touka like the sister he lost. There’s obvious respect, but there’s love there too even though he’d never admit that. But his own sister, I’m pretty sure, has a lot to do with it.
But ya know what, I have my fun turning that into something more and I love doing it and I will continue to do it. I just love their dynamic in both ways.
And those are my 4am Nishiki and Touka feels...cause they hit me hard, man.
@murasakihime This is your Secret Valentine present! Akiramon, ayahina, touken and nishitou icons! Hope you like them! I’m so sorry for being late, I hope my art is worth waiting for :’)
Illustration of the a Royal Nishitou au that me and @xkanekitoukax been talking about for the past week. Thank you so much Mod S for motivating me to do this art and maybe I might put hc’s in the future .
About the watermark, recently me and my friend, Euterpeus, have been angry at a certain reposter from Instagram and it causes us alot of dellima. So from now on, I’ll start putting watermarks in my art. Only people who follow my twitter account will be able to see my non-watermarked illustrations, thank you for understanding.
I am into this shit for real!! Tbh, I had never shipped Nishitou or thought the idea of shipping them but they got me so deep in this chapter. I also can't get over these facts:
• the way he's comforting her as if trying to give her his own strength
• the way she's looking at him as if there is still hope
• the way they're sharing the same umbrella together as if they're a couple
Also have you noticed the fact that Nishiki was almost being in every panel she is in?
I mean
CAN YOU FEEL?
I fucking love each little detail between them in this chapter.
Yes, now I'm gonna be serious a bit: If only Kimi wasn't there, I would think Nishiki would love Touka romantically. (one-sided, actually) Because according to what I've seen through of the series, I've discovered the fact that Nishiki is the only person who knows Touka better, and able to make her smile (and he does it even though the situation they are in right now) If you guys even like the Nishitou ship, welcome to the dark side which is my world, Hehe
A/N: Companion piece to Tidal Wave. Hope you enjoy!
Burn
Touka refused to admit it, but she had become addicted to Nishiki’s touch. Ever since she woke up next to him on the rooftop of :re, with his bracelet clutched against her chest and her head tucked underneath his chin, she felt an indescribable warmth that spread with each touch of his skin. One small moment between the two had melted the frozen pit of loneliness and fear within Touka’s chest and metamorphosed it into a molten pool of some feeling she couldn’t name.
Embarrassment.
At first Touka believed the feeling was embarrassment. She had woken up before Nishiki early that morning, with swollen eyes and a surprisingly less aching heart. Her cheeks reddened when she took in her and Nishiki’s position and she remembered the bracelet clasped tightly in her palm.
Touka quickly composed herself when she felt Nishiki shift.
Touka feigned sleep as Nishiki groaned and stretched. Nishiki stilled suddenly, in what Touka assumed to be discomfort, but after a moment he carefully maneuvered Touka in his arms so that he could pick her up. Touka felt so small in his arms and prayed he couldn’t feel the burning heat of her face against him.
Nishiki groggily carried Touka to her room and placed her less gently than he hoped on her bed. He carefully removed her shoes than made his way to the door.
“Don’t be late for work,” Touka blurted out and instantly regretted it when she heard Nishiki reach the door of her flat. Thankfully she heard him chuckle before going on his way.
As soon she was certain Nishiki was gone, Touka buried her face in her pillow and screamed. She had let Nishiki in last night on the roof and felt foolish for her vulnerability. There was no way Nishiki wouldn’t tease her mercilessly about it later.
But then again, maybe he wouldn’t. Touka examined the bracelet he had given her and felt some of her embarrassment subside. She knew he was being sincere.
Touka took the rabbit keychain from her pocket and looked at it critically. With a deep breath, she got up from her bed and placed the keychain on her wardrobe. Touka stared at the small object, which had not left the pocket of her apron in over a year, and realized her pain had dulled as Nishiki had said – it had nowhere near disappeared, but that was okay.
Touka sat at the edge of her bed and put Nishiki’s bracelet on her wrist, moving her hand around experimentally. The leather band slipped from Touka’s small wrist no matter how hard she tried to secure it in place. Eventually, after much frustration, the bracelet found a secure home around Touka’s ankle.
Later that day, Touka’s mouth quirked slightly and the pool of warmth within her stirred when she saw Nishiki walking in to begin his shift. The warmth spread as her fingers brushed his as she handed him his morning cup of coffee.
Nishiki’s eyes reflexively jumped to Touka’s slender hands and an undeniable hurt flashed across his face when he noticed they were bare.
Touka cleared her throat and crossed her legs, pretending not to notice Nishiki’s expression. Nishiki’s caught sight of the small band of leather against Touka’s ankle at her movement and a slight flush began to creep up his neck.
Nishiki quickly made his way to the break room, tossing back a snarky, “Nice ankle bracelet” on his way.
Touka smiled, “Thanks. Some shithead gave it to me.”
—
Biology.
Once Touka ruled out embarrassment, she assumed the feeling was purely biological – humans have a basic need for physical touch, so why wouldn’t ghouls? Having been deprived of physical affection for so long, it made sense that a simple touch could set her aflame.
Touka began to incorporate more touches into her schedule. She began cautiously, with light punches to Nishiki’s arm, or quick ruffles of his hair. Then she and Nishiki began to hang out more after work, and she would occasionally brush her shoulder against his during walks or would rest her feet against his thighs when they sat on the couch playing games on their phones in comfortable silence.
Touka doubted her biological theory when New Year’s Eve rolled around. Yomo had planned a small get together that night in :re with a few of their ghoul regulars.
For most of the evening Nishiki and Touka stood away from the crowd, drinking blood wine and laughing at Yomo and his guests as they attempted to dance.
Their laughter ceased when the music became slow and a handsome ghoul, whom Touka recognized from his frequent visits to the shop, approached them. He was about the same height as Nishiki, but had black hair and more angelic features. He stopped in front of them and smiled a shy gummy smile at Touka as he extended his hand toward her hopefully.
Touka looked surprised, “Oh, I don’t d—”
“She’d love to!” Nishiki beamed as he clapped Touka on the back and smiled at her obvious discomfort.
Touka chuckled awkwardly and allowed the ghoul to lead her to the designated dance floor. Nishiki watched gleefully as Touka aggressively took the ghoul’s hand and began to sway in her subtle drunkenness.
Once the initial awkwardness passed, the two swayed to the music smoothly and whispered quietly about mundane topics. The music became even slower and the man stepped closer, inadvertently forcing Touka to rest her hands against his chest.
The position was rather intimate and Touka could feel the steady beat of the man’s heart beneath her fingers. But Touka felt no comfort from this man’s touch, no warmth stirring in her belly, no feeling akin to what she felt with Nishiki.
What the fuck, biology? Touka thought confusedly. Touch was touch. So why didn’t she burn?
At the same time, Nishiki felt himself begin to heat at the sight of his friend in the ghoul’s arms. For some reason he regretted volunteering Touka for this. Something about the situation didn’t sit right.
Touka was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when she heard Nishiki clear his throat next to them.
Nishiki smirked at them, “May I cut in?”
Nishiki didn’t give the man time to respond before ushering him to the side and taking Touka’s hands.
“He stepped on my foot twice, you know” Touka glared daggers up at Nishiki as if he himself had crushed her feet.
Nishiki chuckled, happy once again that he made Touka dance with the man, “Well, then it was a good thing that I came and rescued you, huh?”
“Shitty Nishiki,” Touka hissed in mock anger, the wine having made her too relaxed to argue.
Nishiki mocked offense and unconsciously brought his hand to Touka’s lower back.
Touka was thankful the music ended shortly after. The warmth in her chest had spread to her back, and god did it burn.
—
Comfort.
Touka concluded with confidence that the feeling must be a mixture of comfort and trust. Touka trusted Nishiki and felt safe with him. They were both strong and could count on each other - it was only natural for her to feel so warm and safe in his presence.
One particular night, Touka had been reading a manga in her bed when she heard the door of her flat burst open. Touka ran into the hallway just in time to see Nishiki fall through the door and collapse on the ground.
“Nishiki!” Touka screamed as she rushed to his side. Nishiki was covered in blood, so much so that Touka couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. Without thinking about it, Touka frantically began to peel Nishiki’s clothes off. She gasped at the sight of several deep puncture wounds across his chest and abdomen that weren’t healing. Touka sprinted to her fridge and recovered a few packages of meat, almost falling in her haste.
Touka hoisted Nishiki into a seated position on the floor and began shaking him rather forcefully. As soon as he groaned and opened his eyes, she began practically shoving the meat into his mouth. “Eat, you idiot!”
“Alright, alright!” Nishiki said weakly as he allowed Touka to feed him. As Nishiki slowly ate, he began to heal and Touka watched with watery eyes as his body stitched itself back together.
Touka sighed in relief once she was certain he would heal alright then walked shakily to her bathroom, avoiding Nishiki’s trailing eyes. As soon as he was able, Nishiki followed after her towards the sound of running water.
Touka sat on the edge of her bathtub, checking the temperature with her hand. She got up when she heard him enter. As much as she was dying to know what had happened, she didn’t trust herself to ask quite yet. She knew she shouldn’t be, but she was burning with anger. She was angry at Nishiki for doing this to her. She was angry at herself for how her entire being crumbled when she saw Nishiki on the floor. She was angry at the world for trying to take everything she had.
Without looking at him, Touka pointed to the bathtub and left the room, calling out tightly behind her, “Get yourself cleaned up. I’ll grab you something to wear.”
Nishiki jumped when the door slammed behind Touka. He was thankful she hadn’t asked questions because he didn’t know if he could tell her the truth about who did this to him. Nishiki hissed as he lowered himself into the burning hot water of the bathtub. He wasn’t sure if the water felt so hot because of his injuries, because he knew Touka was angry with him, or because the sight of her frantic and tear-filled eyes burned itself into his very core.
Regardless, Nishiki quickly cleaned himself up and wrapped himself in a towel as he anxiously waited for Touka to return.
After she speedily collected a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that Yomo left at her flat, Touka waited outside the bathroom while Nishiki was washing. Touka had calmed down slightly, the initial roaring flames of her anger now merely a flicker. Once she heard Nishiki begin to drain the bath, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Nishiki turned towards Touka at her arrival and gave her an apologetic smile. He watched as Touka’s eyes raked over his half-naked body. Touka was no doubt checking to see if his injuries had healed but Nishiki couldn’t help but squirm at the heat of her gaze.
Nishiki was ready to make a snarky comment when Touka dropped the clothes she was holding and lunged toward him. For a split second, Nishiki feared Touka would hit him but instead she embraced him - her face pressed to his chest, ear resting near his heart, and hands clinging to his back.
“You’re okay.” Touka whispered, as if trying to convince herself.
Nishiki returned her embrace, bringing one hand to the back of Touka’s head and the other across her shoulders. “I’m okay,” he sighed.
The two stayed like that for a few minutes, just breathing and feeling the safety of each other’s embrace.
Touka was the first to break away. Once her relief had passed, her spark of anger was reignited and she glared into Nishiki’s eyes, “If you ever do that again, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Noted,” Nishiki replied sincerely as he watched Touka retreat and shut the door.
Once Nishiki had gotten dressed he made his way to the living room, finding pillows and blankets waiting for him on the couch. He felt guiltily when he saw Touka asleep on the chair, clearly exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster he had subjected her to.
Nishiki scooped Touka’s small form up into his arms and carried her to her room. As he placed Touka atop her bed he heard a faint whisper, “Will you stay?”
Nishiki feigned annoyance but was secretly pleased that she didn’t want him to go, although she probably just wanted to make sure he didn’t get himself killed on his way home. “Fine. Move over, brat.”
Nishiki moved into the bed beside Touka, letting her burry her face against his chest, and the two quickly fell asleep.
The next day was the second time in Touka’s life that she woke up in Nishiki’s arms. It was how the whole burning feeling began and Touka realized as she felt herself enveloped in the warmth of Nishiki’s body and the warmth of her own heart that the feeling wasn’t embarrassment, or biology, or trust, or comfort. It was something else entirely, and god did it burn.
hc where touka was good at hiding her sorrows about kaneki: at his abduction and loss and conversion into a dove. nishiki never saw any of those things affect her expression the way it is now, as she says, “that is kaneki.”
his disbelief wilts into horror. he looks again at the mass on the horizon, looming larger than the skyscrapers, and when he looks back to touka she is turned away again already, clutching herself.
all at once, he’s full of words he wants to say to her. i’m sorry, or, don’t worry, or, everything will be fine — things he couldn’t even bear to say to her when he returned to :re years ago with the news that kaneki had become something even more dangerous than a suitcase. he approaches her, carefully, prepared for a rebuke, and is even more worried when he doesn’t get one. beside her, he can now see that her arms aren’t wrapped so much around herself as they are around her belly. her knuckles are pale. her fingernails are still lined with blood.
i’ll take care of you, he says, almost. or whatever. we’ll raise the damn brat together, whatever it turns out to be. i don’t know that things will be okay but this, i can definitely promise. whatever happens, i won’t let you be alone, touka.
in the end, what he says isn’t that. “come on,” he says, “let’s go up here,” and she follows him mutely back into the trees, further up, to a cliffside overlooking the city. they sit on a log and look out, wordless, watching the skyline of the city writhe.
