Judal wanted to run. God, he wanted to run. Flee the alley that stank of blood and fear, keep running until his head was clear, and never return. However that wasn’t an option – Both because he couldn’t leave Kaneki and also because his legs seemed to be having trouble working. That realization left another streak of panic lacing through his system. You can’t run, you can’t hide, he’s going to kill you and–
No. No. He couldn’t afford to think that way. Kaneki was his friend. Maybe even more than that – Judal cared about him, so he had to give him the benefit of the doubt here. That was a task proving incredibly difficult though, those irrational thoughts rattling around inside his head as he struggled to keep another bitter round of bile inside his stomach.
Hand still clamped over his mouth and nose, Judal lifted his head at the sound of sobbing from the half ghoul, concern still managing to interfere with the fear he should have been feeling. Kaneki obviously wasn’t okay, and Judal wasn’t quite sure why. Was it because he had been interrupted? He hadn’t meant to upset the other.
He made to move towards the mouth of the alley, to fresh air and a freedom from the gruesome scene, but his legs buckled under him, and he sank fully to the ground, trembling turning into full on panicked half-sobs. “I can’t, I can’t,” he gasped, attempting to breathe normally. “I’m sorry, I can’t… Please, don’t–” The end of that sentence caught in his throat. Please don’t kill me.
Kaneki’s body finally sagged against the wall when he picked up on the sounds of Judal getting to his feet, relief temporarily winning out against his steadily growing hunger. Yes, run away... Slowly, Kaneki let himself uncurl from the ball he’d drawn himself into. Get as far away as you can..
“You smell so good..” The words were barely a whisper on the half-ghoul’s lips as his head lolled against the wall, mismatched eyes fluttering shut as Kaneki finally allowed himself a deep breath.
‘Thud’
Something akin to a strangled groan tumbled from Kaneki’s lips when he heard Judal collapse onto the concrete. Dammit Judal.. The one time he needs Judal to actually listen and cooperate with him. His mind vaguely registered the panicked sobs coming from Judal, but by this point the individual words were lost on him. The relief he’d felt earlier had long since disappeared, leaving Kaneki with little else to grasp at in hopes of grounding himself.
He sounds so afraid..(”Of course he does.”) Rize’s voice echoed in his ears, decievingly soft compared to her normal taunting tone. (”Anyone would be afraid of being eaten.”)
Eaten...?(”Yes, eaten. You’re hungry aren’t you?”) Fingertips ghosted along the length of his jaw, sending a chill down Kaneki’s spine that did nothing to dull the burn of his hunger.
Yes... (”Then eat him, you’ll feel better if you do.”)
“But.. I can’t..” (”Why not? If he smells so nice even in a place like this, just imagine how good me must taste..”)
Tears were beginning to prickle at the corners of his eyes again, but Kaneki didn’t seem aware of it.
(”He’s right over there, just waiting for you.”) Rize cooed in his ear. (”Go on... take a bite.”)
“Just.. a bite...” Kaneki muttered dazedly. “Just enough to make it stop...” To stop the pain, stop the hunger, stop the voices. Just enough for one moment of peace... that couldn’t be too much to ask for. Slowly, Kaneki got himself back onto his feet and crossed the alley to where Judal still laid out on the ground.
(”That’s it, just let go..”)
With Rize’s voice echoing inside his head, it was easy enough to roll Judal onto his back; one trembling hand clutching at the fabric of his t-shirt and tugging it aside to expose his shoulder. Easy to ignore the futile flailing of limbs as Judal fought against him, the absolute horror reflected in the other’s eyes as Kaneki leaned down over him, licking his lips one final time before the last thread holding him together unraveled and Kaneki sank his teeth into Judal’s skin.
He can’t believe that he let them put him up to this.
Haise breathed a quiet sigh as he made his way down the street toward the designated meeting spot on the note that Saiko had shoved into his hands that morning, all smiles as she nudged him toward the door to his room to ‘make himself presentable.’
What exactly was the point of getting all dressed up for a coffee date?
Now here he was, standing outside of a small coffee shop feeling far too over-dressed for the occasion and really wishing he could have just made a nice lunch back at the chateau for Judal or something.
Now that sounded like a good way to spend a date, even if he couldn’t actually eat anything that he made. Haise pushed the thought aside and took a glance at his watch, lips curling into a small frown upon realizing that he was nearly twenty minutes early.
“That really is just my luck..” Hopefully he didn’t have to wait too long before the other showed up.
There were a dozen things wrong with this, but one stuck in Judal’s head the most as he stared at the other man. The CCG. Rank one investigator.
Judal himself had never directly encountered the CCG… But that didn’t mean he didn’t cringe whenever it was mentioned. The organization had a million associations – None of them good. Primarily fear. Because he had always been afraid. Afraid that one day the people with the briefcases would arrive to tear his life apart. Take away everyone he cared about, leave him alone. But, of course, that was what had happened. He just hadn’t been present to witness it.
So now, discovering that the CCG was continuing to fuck him over was only twisting the knife in deeper. They hadn’t killed Kaneki, they had… What? Brainwashed him? Made him into a new tool for their sick uses? The very thought of Kaneki being used like that brought bile to his throat and the bite of tears to his eyes.
“N-No, come on, don’t–” (Don’t do this to me please don’t reduce what we had to nothing) “That’s not who you are, you’re–”
And a pause. Even as desperate as he was, he wasn’t stupid enough to go blurting about ghouls. Not here. Not to someone who was apparently an investigator. “You’re not an investigator, you’re… You work at a coffee shop, you like reading. You’re Kaneki.”
(”See? Even he knows that this body doesn’t belong to you.”) He’s free of his chains now; phantom fingers gripping Haise’s shoulders tight enough that he swore he could hear the bones themselves groan in protest. (”He knows it’s mine, knows that you’re just a-”)
“Shut up.” Haise ground out between clenched teeth, one hand coming up to clutch at the side of his head (he could just barely catch a glimpse of a memory as it teased at the edges of his consciousness; a slender form with striking eyes and an easy smile.. and then it was gone again, leaving him with nothing but a gnawing ache in his chest.)
“I-I’m not...” His voice positively shook at this point, along with the rest of his body Haise realized belatedly. “I’m Sasaki Haise... a rank 1 investigator with the CCG..” The throbbing pain in his skull intensified along with his own stress levels, bringing with it a wave of dizziness that was enough to bring Haise to his knees. (His quinque was a long forgotten thing at this point; the heavy case hitting the ground with a sharp ‘crack’ that failed to even register with its owner.)
Haise tried his hardest to calm himself; to steady his heaving breaths and put his mind back into at least some semblance of order, but he just couldn’t. There were just too many emotions, too many things that hovered barely out of his reach that he wanted so desperately to both grasp between his fingers and run away from at the same time.
“Please...” The half-ghoul gasped out, so quietly he wasn’t even sure that Judal could hear him. “Help me...” Before this, what ever this even was, swallowed him whole.
✔ Ruin you :’) ✔ Spam you with random ic asks (that you never have to actually answer so dw) ✔ Always send you memes (again you don’t have to answer every one of them!) ✔ Spaz at you incoherently ✔ Throw headcanons and scenarios at you at random times ✔ Probably ask for a bunch of AUs ✔ Always be open for more threads ✔ Cry with you whenever anything happens with our muses.
“I’m not ‘being a dick,’ I’m just enjoying the view.” Despite his protests, Kaneki slips the hoodie off and hands it to Judal. “Here, since you want it so bad.”
For every “Yoink!” I receive, my muse will remove an article of clothing. || accepting
“You are so lucky it’s you Judal.”
He couldn’t believe he was doing this, but off comes the shirt. He tosses it to the floor with the rest of his cloths, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
