~from Ayato's POV 2nd person~
You were still sitting against the wall when Kaneki walked by. He was going to pass you silently, but you held out your hand and caught the edge of his jacket.
"What's wrong?" you asked, observing his body language. Something's wrong. What could possibly upset Kaneki? Maybe it's about (y/n)? But I just saw her an hour ago...
He looked down at you, his jaw clenched. "Nothing that I need you for."
You let go of him and stood up, dusting yourself off before meeting his eyes. "Look, I'm not going to do anything. Just tell me what's up."
"Why do you want to know?" he asked edgily, and you sighed, exasperated.
"Because I'm curious. There? Happy? Great. Now tell me."
Kaneki gave you a hard stare before looking away with a troubled expression. "I can't find (y/n)."
"What do you mean, can't find? Aren't you guys twins or whatever?"
Kaneki glared at you. "Yeah, we're twins, not telepathic. Why do you even care? All you do is hurt her, and I can't forgive you for that."
Even though you felt the impact of his statement hit home, and hard, you forced yourself to laugh. "Forgive me or not, but it's not up to you. Besides, she stopped by earlier to deliver her forgiveness in person."
Kaneki was suddenly focused. He turned to you, eyes sharp. "How long ago was this?"
You shrugged. "Maybe an hour ago?"
"And she was here?"
"No, we decided to meet up down by the river and take in the scenery of the cherry blossoms. Yeah, here. Where else?" you bit out snidely.
Kaneki looked to be deep in thought, which aggravated you somewhat.
"It's not fun to tease you anymore if you don't care," you said indifferently, feeling empty inside, and Kaneki just watched you with dark eyes.
"Weakness isn't something that I can afford anymore, not at the price of another, and especially not at the price of (y/n). That's why I need to find her." As he turned, you grabbed his hand. "What?" he asked, and you shrugged, letting go.
"Nothing. Just thought I'd tag along."
"Why do you want to come? I don't care if (y/n) forgave you or whatever. You're still a jerk and a bully."
"You realize that you insult people like a kindergartner?" you asked, still just teasing him because whatever real emotions you had were locked deep inside in a place that only (y/n) could reach.
Kaneki shrugged. "Until meeting you, I haven't needed to insult anyone."
You whistled. "That's why you gotta start early in life. I kind of feel a sense of accomplishment, though. So I'm your first, huh?"
Kaneki just rolled his eyes and muttered something about fangirl misunderstandings before turning and walking away.
"Was is something I said?"
***
Turns out, (y/n) was no longer in the Aogiri HQ. "What a productive hour of our time," you muttered, but Kaneki didn't even spare you a glance.
"You weren't asked to help."
"Whatever, twig."
"Sure thing, cactus."
The two of you glared at each other in a total stare down until you realized that you were wasting time arguing with Kaneki instead of looking for (y/n).
"Where to next, twiglet?"
Kaneki looked out over the river, leaning against the metal railing, and for a minute, you imagined how pleasantly delightful is would feel to push him over, but you resisted. "He'll be here soon."
"Twig, what you just did was like answering a yes/no question with 'yellow.' Would you mind making some sense for the rest of us sane people?"
Just then, a figure walked up. It was difficult to make out the features underneath the shadow of the hat's brim, but you could tell that it was a male, probably around Kaneki's age.
"Where'd you find the human, twig?" you asked, hiding your emotions of We're running out of time with your usual snappy comments. "I could go for a bite to eat right about now."
"Touch him and you die," Kaneki suggested lightly before turning towards the kid. "Hey, Hide." He nodded, and even you could pick up on the tension between the two of them.
"Long time no see," the guy, Hide, responded civilly, touching his fingers to his hat without removing it. "And whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms. "I don't collaborate with humans, twig."
"Twig...is that supposed to be you?" Hide asked Kaneki, a faint smile on his face.
Kaneki shrugged. "There's no one else here."
"Whatever, Twig. Want to explain why you invited the human along?" you asked scornfully.
Kaneki shrugged. "Hide, do you want to introduce yourself?"
Hide also shrugged. "Why not?" He turned to you, smiling. "I know that you don't work with humans, but we've got them same mission for right now, so let's agree that you don't eat me and I don't call the CCG and get you locked in prison for life. Okay?"
You scowled. "Who are you, anyway? Do you even know (y/n)?"
Hide tilted his head, a half-smile lining his face. "Know her? Of course I know her. I'm her boyfriend."
There was a moment of silence before Kaneki grabbed the back of the collar of Hide's shirt and started dragging him over to the railing lining the river.
"Okay, okay!" Hide protested, laughing and shoving Kaneki off him. "We're not dating. Happy?" he asked, mainly directing his answer towards Kaneki, who stood with his arms crossed and an aloof expression on his face. "But yeah, I know her pretty well," he said, turning back to you, but even while smiling, something about him felt sad.
"I hate you already," you muttered, to which he only laughed.
"Sweet! We'll get along perfectly," he promised before looping an arm around Kaneki's shoulder. "So, where are we searching next?"
"Wait, you're tagging along with us?" you asked, alarmed. "We don't need a useless person such as yourself to help us."
"Look who's talking," Kaneki said dryly, causing you to glare at him.
"Like I asked before, why do we need this particular human? Just because he knows (y/n) means nothing. She's changed. So what's your worth?" you asked, stepping in front of Hide to block his path.
"Why am I here, are you asking?" he asked, sighing and breaking his carefree facade. "Because last night, before (y/n) went missing, she was sleeping over at my place."