There was a chime from his phone and Kaneki chose to ignore it and continue his workout, until the notification went off in constant urgency. With a sigh, he let himself drop from the wall and smoothly swerved before hitting the ground so that his feet, rather than head, came into contact with it.
[Bro! Campus started two hours ago, the heck are you?!!]
Kaneki angled his head in slight confusion at first, then it clicked. Oh, he really was a student now. Curiosity welled within his chest, how long had it been since he was in a class? He found himself looking forward to it, though, he would prefer experimenting on himself than sit around in a lecture.
(AN: Does he even hear himself sometimes!)
[Don't you dare ditch me in this Kaneki!]
Came the immediate reply of Hide, he could practically taste his anxiety. Now that he thought about it, Hide and Kaneki had been inseparable. He stroked his chin as he perused through the inherited memories that were accecible to him with cinematic precision.
Despite them being literal polar opposites, for better comparison, a Jock and a Nerd, the duo hit it off pretty well, they complemented each other's personality without a hitch.
[Fine, I'll be there in a bit]
He replied and left his phone for charge as he headed for the showers. Once again, he came to appreciate that he had inherited the memories of the body that now hosted him, making essential knowledge such as the multiple technological gadgets, the internet, the common language and many more readily available.
It would've been easy to relearn all that in a short amount of time, but nothing beats a tutorial that has everything covered.
Kamii University 11:50AM
A blond head was pacing about in a corridor, he was a ball of anxiousness as he kept glancing at the time on his phone. Dressed in ripped charcoal pants and a pair of white thick-sole shoes, Hide fidgeted with the sleeves of his maroon turtle neck.
He felt sick, metaphorically of course, but his gut was growing cold and he was getting nauseous. This was very odd for his friend. Kaneki is never late for classes.
Was he sleeping in, sick?
Did he hurt hinself again trying to bake?
What if he tripped and fell on his head, and is now unconscious and, and—
'Calm down Hide,' the blond stopped, a shaky hand gripping at his chest, where his heart was in an uproar. His breathing became labored as his eyes contracted in overwhelming worry.
He imagined it, Kaneki sprawled across the floor, with blood pooling beside his head. He felt his knees drain of energy.
What would he do if that happened?
Would he lose Kaneki again? But this time around, permanently?
He dreaded such thoughts, but they kept him awake at night. Without him realizing, his eyes hardened as a cold glint – uncharacteristic of him – washed over his features.
No one.
Nothing.
Not a single thing was going to separate Kaneki from him. Hide, unawares to even himself, was willing to go to the extremes for his brother, Kaneki.
"Oh Hide, there you are, you look sick though," a flat voice announced the presence of someone else besides him within the corridors. It still wasn't noon, so students were still held up in lecture halls.
Yet, before he could turn around, the rhythm of his heart dropped to a calm beat, one of relief. Even though the voice was somehow detached, had gained immense confidence and now possessed an authoritative edge, it was still his Kane—
"KANEKI!!!" his thought process was slower than his body's actions.
Hide immediately launched towards the voice after he heard it, and like a homing missile, his body sought and found Kaneki's. He draped himself onto him, legs wrapped around Kaneki's waist and Hide's arms locked behind his back. He pressed his ear to Kaneki's chest, where his heart beat steady and mighty.
And just then, there was an intense ringing and on cue, a shuffle of feet began, increasing in tempo as bored and hunger-stricken students began their advance out of the halls. A chatter began as in no time, various course students flooded into the corridors.
Suddenly, all noise vanished. The silence was too loud as curious eyes licked at the scene before them. A small murmur began amidst the students.
"Whoa, is that Nagachika?"
"I knew that blond package was already taken," various sighs emanated after such a comment.
" Aye, who would've thought our mascot to be such a possessive Koala LOL! Check out that hug."
Hide had missed his chance, he should've unfurled himself the moment the damn bell rang.
And to make matters worse, he was known by the whole campus. No, not an exaggeration whatsover, his character was so outgoing that, many, if not all students, across various courses, knew of him.
He always offered a helping hand to the students, irrespective of gender — the teachers are always amazed by his sharp mind and the knowledge masked by his extroverted nature — even the staff knew him by name.
'Ugh, I should've been a bit more reserved as Kaneki, then maybe there wouldn't be such an uproar.' Oh he knew how doomed they both were, photos and videos had already been taken, living this down throughout their time in Kamii Uni would be quite the tall order, especially for Kaneki.
After a moment of reigning in his embarrassment, Hide raised his head, his ears flushed, he opened his mouth in an attempt to berate the increasing crowd.
"He–hey now guys, this is not what it looks like," a couple of snickers made him gulp – this would be hard to explain – he inhaled and continued, "You see, we—umm, were practicing for a drama scene. Yeah!"
Even he didn't sound so sure himself. If only one of them was a lady, then it would've been a walk in the park. Well, good thing his quick thinking offered them a string of hope, now Kaneki just had to play along and—
"Ah, Hide, are you cold? You are shivering quite a bit,"
Kaneki wrapped an arm around Hide to hold him in place as he pressed his other hand against his forehead in a feigned attempt to check at his temperature.
More phones flashed as every angle was being captured.
"Dude, you're making this worse," Hide whispered towards Kaneki, trying to make his friend see reason in such a situation and help him try to salvage whatever they could.
But then he saw something on his friend's features that made him pause. He gulped as cold sweat spotted his brow.
Right before his eyes, the corners of Kaneki's lips curled upwards, and a flame of mischief played at his Obsidian eyes like stars of a forgotten constellation. Hide forgot to breathe for a moment, he had never seen that expression on Kaneki—not before.
"I know just the thing to warm you up," his voice grew hoarse as he head pat his blond friend, "I'll make you some coffee and we can have it with the cookies you baked me last time."
Then he began walking away, unhurried and eerily composed, before the astonished—and flushed—faces of the audience. Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd like an electric current, their stunned silence breaking only in whispers of disbelief. Eyes followed them along the way, some paving way as they passed.
Hide was still in his arms, cradled like something fragile, too shocked to retaliate with his usual goofy remarks. His mouth parted, breath shallow, but the words never came. His limbs remained frozen, as though his brain hadn't caught up with the surreal weight of the moment. His eyes flicked up to his friend, silently cursing at him for the situation he had dragged them into.
Kaneki had made it hard for both Hide and himself to get girls. The blond koala grit his teeth in frustration, he wasn't going to experience the romamtic slice of life he had dreamed about since highschool. He was now stuck with this jerk!
However, on the bright side, they did manage to get a fanbase. Girls will be fawning over them. Hide would soon weep at this. He would be suffering from success, the wrong kind of success, but success nonetheless!
"Huh? Who is that besides the blabber mouth?" a slim young man with messy hazelnut hair asked – no one in particular. His eyes trailed the two 'lovebirds' as they exited the campus.
The man Nagachika was hugging wasn't someone he had seen around campus. A new student? Or perhaps an alumni?
'Maybe a sports transfer student. He does have the build of an athlete,' he pondered as the audience began to disperse.
His phone's vibration snatched him from his thoughts. Fetching it from his pocket, he glanced at the caller ID—
Baby Mama~
A smile cracked his pensive features and he connected the call.
"Missing me already, Kimi...yeah don't worry, there was a slight commotion at campus—no, no, I'm unhurt. You know nothing can harm me in this schoo— Yes, I'll be there in a blink."