HideKen
At only ten years old, Nagachika Hideyoshi had met his soulmate.
He heard stories about them before, from his parents and random people on the street, and it had made the young man curious of what his soulmate was like; was they just as social as he? Did they have a lot friends? Were they cute? And would his soulmate like him? These were the questions that popped into his mind.
The thing with soulmates and sharing a mind, as well as thoughts and feelings, with them had buzzed through his head until one day, he saw a boy down the river. The boy had his back towards him, face planted inside of a book, but Hide couldn't help but think he looks lonely. Without further ado, the boy had ran toward the other black-haired ten-year-old, startling him from his read.
"Hiya! My name's Nagachika Hideyoshi, but you can call me Hide! What's your name?" Hide asked. The boy with the black hair and grey eyes blinked, before shuffling nervously, eyeing Hide.
"K-Kaneki Ken." He whispered.
"Nice to meet you, Kaneki! I just moved here. Would you like to be friends?" Hide asked with a giant smile on his face. Kaneki blinked once more and gave Hide a soft smile. The sunshine boy could feel his heart tighten at the look, his insides turning into goo.
"S-Sure. Let's be friends."
Hide couldn't stop smiling after that, his heart started to sing. From there on, the two were attached to the hip - with Hide constantly talking enough for the both of them, and Kaneki patiently listening to him, only to have some in-put whenever Hide was making up something ridiculous. As they've gotten older, Hide started to recognize Kaneki as his soulmate - as why he was always so happy whenever he was around, pleased to know that the only person Kaneki could ever rely on is him. It was selfish, he knew that, but their tiny circle was never tampered with, even if Hide was the more outgoing of the two. It made his heart swell to know that he will always have Kaneki's attention.
Though, admittedly, he does get a bit envious from time to time whenever Kaneki mentions a crush. Even though those typically didn't last long, it hurts to know that Kaneki never saw Hide as anything more than a friend, much less of a soulmate. He didn't want to push it, though. Hide may have been selfish - they both are, really - but he recognize Kaneki as his own person; he doesn't have to return Hide's feelings if he didn't feel the same.
He made the decision when Kaneki kept ranting on and on about this cute girl he met.
"Her name is Rize," He said with a small blush on his face. "She's very pretty. And she likes Takatsuki Sen. I think she might be my soulmate."
Hearing that caused Hide's soul to be crushed, and, bitterly, he wondered if Kaneki had felt that. After all, the pull for soulmates goes both ways; if Kaneki felt something heavy being settled into his gut, would that clue him in? That his actual soulmate was right in front of him?
"Yeah? Well, wouldn't get your hopes up," Hide teased. "Who knows? Maybe she's a maneater."
"That's rude, Hide!"
Eventually, they did go to the little coffee shop - Anteiku - to meet Kaneki's so-called 'soulmate'. One look from the girl told Hide everything he needed to, and he frowned, feeling a bit subconscious about himself. I'm never going to be that pretty. He thought, resisting the urge to toggle with his hair.
"You should give it up, man. A girl like that is way out of your league." He snickered, ignoring the glare he received from Kaneki. They talked for a bit before Hide eventually decided to go, leaving Kaneki to deal with his date by himself. He ignored the bitter feelings, the envy, because he just wants Kaneki to be happy for once. Living with his abusive aunt and then being bullied would make any kid depress, so he couldn't fault this one good thing that is happening in Kaneki's life.
He should've known better, with how on point his intuition usually is.
Moments later had found Kaneki in the hospital after withstanding an injury on a construction site. Why Kaneki had been there, he did not know, but his date had been dead on impact when some support beams fell on her. He wish he could feel sorry for her, but he couldn't muster up the energy, more worried about Kaneki than anything. He had spent days in and out of the hospital, wanting to be there for the day of when Kaneki wakes up, but every time, the black haired teen hadn't moved an inch. Eventually, he did come out of the coma, and Hide had been excited, but Kaneki didn't keep in contact with him. Hide figures that Kaneki needed some time after the trauma, but when days turned into weeks, and with each call going straight to voice messages, he began to worry.
"Kaneki!" He called out, running straight towards the unsuspected Kaneki, picked him up, and swung him around in a bear hug. "Why haven't you called me back?! I was worried!"
"S-Sorry, Hide. I'm a bit busy." Kaneki stumbled, blushing a little.
"Eh?! With what?" He asked, peering at the smaller boy. While Kaneki fished for an excuse, his stomach started to growl. "Hey, if you haven't eaten yet, let's stop by Big Girl! To celebrate you coming out of the hospital!"
"I-I-"
"Pleeeeeaaase?" Hide pouted, and Kaneki caved. They made their way to the burger joint, Hide scarfing down his food, Kaneki barely touching his. "Hey, are you okay? You haven't touched anything."
"I'm not hungry, I guess," Kaneki said. Hide squinted his eyes, studying his friend. He could tell something was wrong, his soul feeling the disturbance of Kaneki's attitude. It was like Kaneki was hiding something, but he didn't know what. At least, not yet. "Have you ever thought about soulmates?"
Hide blinked.
"Eh? Soulmates?" Kaneki didn't say anything, waiting for Hide to continue. "Of course I have. Thought about it all time, wondering where's my other half. I don't know if I'd met them or not." He has. He doesn't want to tell Kaneki that he was soulmate, especially if he wasn't sure if Kaneki felt the same. "Why? What brought this on? Is it because of that one girl-"
"NO!" Kaneki shouted, startling Hide. He slumped over his seat, looking down at his food. "It's just...there's been an eye opener is all. And I was curious."
"An eye opener...?" Hide muttered, several alarms going off in his head. Now more than anything, he wished he had been there when Kaneki was attacked. He's pretty sure this isn't something Kaneki just thought about out of the blue; that girl must've said something. "If you're wondering if soulmates can feel each other's pain, then yes, yes they can."
That had to be it, right? What else it could've been?
"Then...does that mean...you can feel what I feel?" Kaneki asked, still not looking at Hide. Hide was confused.
"Feel what you feel? I don't understand."
"Not here," Kaneki muttered. "Let's go to your apartment."
Hide didn't say anything, but paid for their lunch - his lunch, really. Since Kaneki didn't eat. They were walking towards his apartment when Kaneki spoke -
"When Rize attacked me," Hide tried not to be too surprised. He had known something was off about the girl, but he couldn't have figured out what. "She mentioned that typically, your soulmates feels what you can feel, even when you're apart. She had said we weren't soulmates." Hide blinked.
"I could've told you that."
"No, please, just listen," Kaneki shook his head. "I have...ever since we've met, I always felt something towards you - at least coming off of you. Sometimes you were happy, and that made me happy. Sometimes you were sad, and that made me sad. Sometimes...typically, whenever I was talking about my crushes, you felt...angry...jealous, maybe? I felt that too. I didn't know why. I knew about soulmates, but I always thought our relationship is more platonic than anything, so I never asked." He stopped walking. "But then...something had happened, and now...now I....I realized that I didn't want to lose you. Not if I can stop it."
"Kaneki-"
"Hide....I've been turned into a ghoul. Your soulmate is a ghoul." Kaneki started to cry. Hide swiftly came up and hugged him, Kaneki hiccupping.
"I don't care." He whispered, and he meant it. He really didn't care that Kaneki's life has been turned upside down, that he might be in danger because of it. He had known most of his life that he wanted to be with Kaneki, in any way that he could, and sacrificing his happiness for Kaneki's had always been the plan. It was completely stupid, but so long as Kaneki kept him around, even when he's happy being someone else's soulmate, Hide didn't care.
Kaneki couldn't stop crying, hugging his friend back. Seconds passed when they split apart and continued their walk to Hide's apartment, only to find comfort in each other, silent.
"Do you mind me being your soulmate?" Hide asked, and Kaneki shook his head.
"No. If I'm glad there's anything normal now, it's this. Everything else can change, but I...I don't want this to change." He tighten his grip on Hide's hand. Weeks passed since the reveal, Kaneki and Hide getting closer to each other, and it was almost as if this big new change didn't change anything. Hide was still a goofball, and Kaneki still put up with him, only now as a ghoul and currently working at Anteiku, once Kaneki's situation has been explained and been revealed that most of the employees were ghouls too.
"Hide, did you forget about the coffee on the stove again?" Kaneki's voice appeared in his head. Since Kaneki became more acceptable towards Hide being his soulmate, the idea of soul-bonding had popped up and within the first few days of it, Hide finds himself really liking it, though, still a bit creeped out that Kaneki could literally listen to his thoughts.
"Oh shit! That's what that smell is!" Kaneki shook his head and sighed.
"Third time. You really aren't good at making coffee, are you?"
"Hey I'm trying!" Hide whined, and Kaneki chuckled, placing a kiss on top of Hide's forehead.
"I know. I love you." He could see Hide's smile in his mind, before a flick to the head brought Kaneki back to reality. Touka huffed.
"No slacking off!"
"Was that Touka?" He heard Hide asked.
"Yeah." Then snicker.
"She's just jealous she hasn't soul-bonded with anyone yet."
"Better not let her hear you say that. She'll kill you, literally."
"Then you'll have to come and rescue me!"
"Not if I know you started it."
"So mean!" Kaneki let a smile came across his face. "Love you."
"Love you too, Hide."