Archive of Our Own ^beta

“What's wrong?” Tsukiyama asked, setting his book in his lap. Though he'd been engrossed in the story, it couldn't hold his attention when he sensed the discomfort of the one laying next to him. When he saw the look on Kaneki's face, he closed the book and turned to him, showing him his concern. “Are you alright? Is it...”

He placed his palm over Kaneki's round belly and stroked gently; a gesture that often helped to calm him and the little one inside of him whenever it decided to get rowdy. Kaneki had been handling it well so far. Like he always had before, he was usually able to hide it when he was feeling pain. If he felt something uncomfortable, he kept it to himself. His attitude towards pain was impressive, but Tsukiyama really wished that he would tell him when something was bothering him; he wanted to be involved. This was his child, too. He was ready to protect it with his life, but if anything happened to it because either of them had been careless...

“Please, Kaneki. At least tell me what you're feeling. If it feels different from usual, then something might be-”

“I think it's time.”

The words that were squeezed out from between Kaneki's tightly clenched teeth made Tsukiyama stop, made his heart freeze in his chest. If it were true, then this was the moment he had been waiting for. Now that it had arrived, though, he realized that he wasn't as prepared as he thought he was. With his mind suddenly in overdrive, he couldn't think of what they were supposed to do.

Seeming to notice his panic, Kaneki touched his face and smiled past the pain he was feeling. He placed a hand over the one on his stomach and gave it a light squeeze. “I'm fine. We just... need to figure out what to do.”

This was sooner than expected. Ghouls carried their children for as long as humans before giving birth, so he expected that they would need to wait a full nine months before it was time. He even found the best ghoul doctor to monitor Kaneki's condition, but even he was unable to say for sure when the due date would be. Kaneki was too unique. The doctor had never dealt with a half-ghoul before. Kaneki could have had his choice of any doctor through the CCG as well, but neither of them wanted to let them anywhere near their child for obvious reasons.

It seemed easier for Kaneki to rely on his own intuition. Now, that was why he was going to trust him. If Kaneki said that it was time, then Tsukiyama wouldn't allow any doubt into his mind.

First giving Kaneki's hand a squeeze back, Tsukiyama pushed off the sheets and got out of bed. “Where do you think we should do this?” he asked.

It was inconvenient, but they couldn't bring this child into the world in a regular hospital. Because they refused to let the CCG handle anything, they were left with nowhere else to go. Though they had been trying to keep an eye on Kaneki's condition, he was adamant.

They were going to have the baby at home.

Threading his fingers together over his stomach, Kaneki closed his eyes with an expression of concentration. A few drops of sweat had formed on his brow without Tsukiyama noticing. He was already doing his best to hold himself together, to keep the pain inside. “Can't I stay here?” he asked, sounding like he thought it would be too much effort to move himself.

“I'll carry you to any place in the house if there's somewhere you'd find more suitable; the bathtub, for instan-”

“I'm not weak,” he snapped, the sudden sort of hormonal outburst that Tsukiyama had learned to weather without offense. “I could do everything by myself if I had to. I can handle it all. But...”

Something cut him off and he rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around his middle. He was trying to be strong, but this was clearly a pain he had never experienced before. Tsukiyama didn't doubt him. He certainly didn't think he was weak. This was the same man who had experienced suffering in ways unlike anything Tsukiyama had ever had to endure, so he was more than aware of his strength and mental fortitude, but this was something else. Tsukiyama couldn't imagine what it felt like, but the look on Kaneki's face that broke through his tightly constructed expression of indifference told him that he wasn't fine. It looked like he was being torn apart from the inside.

The moment he rolled over, Tsukiyama was already at his side, but, at the point that Kaneki stopped trying to hold back his cries of pain, he knew that he had to get up and do something.

“It's alright if you stay here. I'm not moving you,” he said, hoping that Kaneki could feel the hand on his arm as he tried to reassure him. “I'm going to go get some towels. Try to relax.”

The moment he turned to leave, he was stopped, one of Kaneki's hands tightly grasping his wrist.

“Don't go... Please,” he gasped, looking up at him with eyes that made Tsukiyama regret that he was the one responsible for his pain. It was likely a rush of hormones and instincts that made him reach for him desperately, but it still forced Tsukiyama to stop and worry that he would be betraying him if he tried to leave the room for any reason.

He touched his hand and eased it away from his arm as gently as he could, but he knew that it would take more than that for Kaneki to feel safe being left alone. Kaneki was strong, and, as much as he wanted to think that he understood his body now, this was still something new. Without experiencing it for himself, even Tsukiyama understood that there had to be something very frightening about not being in control of his own body. Knowing what pain he was in, how uncertain this whole situation was for not only him but also the child inside of him, Tsukiyama wanted to do everything he could to make sure that he was comfortable and safe.

At times like this, he really wished that Kaneki had allowed him to hire help. The maids back at his parents' estate were useful even in the latest hours of the night, always awake when they had to be, ready to serve. As they got closer to Kaneki's inevitable due date, he was tempted to have someone on hand to assist him. He wasn't a doctor, but he was prepared to handle as much as he could on his own. Still, having someone who could do these little things like gathering towels and medicine would've at least allowed him to stay by Kaneki's side. Though he only intended to leave the room for a couple minutes, he feared what might happen while he wasn't there.

Stopping at the closet outside the bathroom, he retrieved a few soft, white towels. Shortly, he expected them to be dyed red, but he didn't much care when they could easily be replaced. It was all for the sake of making Kaneki feel clean and comfortable.

In the bathroom, he hovered in front of the cabinet in front of the sink for a minute, frantically trying to decide whether he should bring any sort of medicine back with him. Anything they had probably wouldn't be strong enough to calm the sort of pain Kaneki was in at the moment, but he threw back the cabinet door and grabbed the first aid kit anyway, figuring that it was better to have it with him than to have to return later if Kaneki needed it for any reason. After a quick trip to the kitchen to grab a few bottles of water, he hurriedly returned to the bedroom.

He feared what state he would find him in, expecting Kaneki to be in even greater pain, but, when he arrived, he found the room to be much quieter than he thought it'd be. Kaneki had rolled onto his back, his feet planted on the bed with his knees raised, his hands folded over his stomach, eyes closed. Tsukiyama was sure that he must have heard him return, but Kaneki made no sign to acknowledge him, keeping his eyes closed as he breathed deeply in through his nose, out from his mouth.

“It almost looks like you didn't need me.”

Kaneki cracked open his eyes, his mouth flattening into a straight line as he glanced at him without turning his head. “Don't be stupid. I had to find a way to distract myself while you were gone. At least it seems to be working.” He winced, struck by a wave of pain. “At least... It works when I don't think about it.”

Setting down the other things he brought with him, Tsukiyama unfolded one of the towels and sat down at Kaneki's side. There were questions that he had to ask, but all of them sounded embarrassing when he tried to open his mouth to say them. As ridiculous as some of it might sound out loud, he didn't personally feel embarrassed of it, but he knew that hearing it might make Kaneki feel humiliated. After spending so much time with him, he knew how Kaneki would react to just about anything he could say, so he hesitated before speaking. He had always been careful of what he said around him, but, during a situation like this where Kaneki's body was involved, he felt especially conscious of it.

“This might go without saying, mais toujours... Your water didn't break, did it?”

Thankfully, Kaneki didn't reprimand him for asking such a thing. He just squinted, thinking, then turned his head to the side to give him a sympathetic look, like he was just as confused. Through labored breaths, he tried his best to explain what he thought. “I don't think there's any water to break, you know what I mean? Moreover, I... I get the feeling that we should take care of this ourselves.”

Tsukiyama repeated that last part in his head a few times, but that didn't help it make more sense. “What do you mean?” he asked. They were already handling everything on their own. The moment the baby started to come, he was going to be ready to help guide it into the world, supporting Kaneki through it. Though, based on the way that Kaneki said that, he had the feeling he might have been referring to something else.

Explaining seemed to make Kaneki uncomfortable. He clutched his fingers in the fabric of his shirt over his belly, and his brows pinched together in a look of great concern. Something was worrying him.

“Haven't you thought about this yet? There's no water to break because I'm not a woman. It feels like the baby is ready to come out, but where is it going to go? It can't possibly leave the way you'd expect. A male body isn't made for that.” He grit his teeth, weathering another shot of pain. “Look, what I'm saying is – even if my body is different, even if it can do that somehow... I don't want to endanger the baby.”

Now Tsukiyama understood what he was trying to say. He didn't have a birth canal. The baby was saying that it was ready to come out, but there might not be anywhere for it to go. Even if it could come out that way... Kaneki had a point. It might not expand wide enough to handle the size of the baby. Not only might it potentially put Kaneki in severe pain, it might also harm the baby. They couldn't risk it, but if Kaneki was suggesting what he thought...

His voice stopped in his throat for a second and he gripped the towel in his hands. “You don't think it's too soon to decide that?”

It was too late for him to even ask. Kaneki looked like he was firm in his decision. “What other choice do we have?” he asked, growling at the pain in his abdomen. He shifted his legs, moving his feet around like he was searching for a place to ground himself.

It looked like it was getting worse. Tsukiyama had expected this to be a painful process, but he thought that it would be slower, longer. With the way that Kaneki was writhing around on the bed, his back arching, his face covered in sweat, it looked like there would be no waiting. The baby was ready to come and it was coming now, whether they were prepared for it or not. It was a big decision to make, but it seemed like this would be their safest choice, even if it brought its own set of worries along with it.

“I won't let anything happen to this baby,” Kaneki growled. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up, exposing his large, round stomach. “If you aren't going to do it, then I'll-”

Tsukiyama immediately reached out and grabbed his hands. For a moment, he was stricken with fear when he saw Kaneki's left eye turn black. Kaneki wasn't kidding. Tsukiyama had seen him like this before, on a couple occasions when he felt threatened. For the sake of the one inside of him, he avoided confrontations as often as possible, but if a threat presented itself, he became fierce and ruthless, ready to protect his unborn child with an instinctual ferociousness.

Absorbed in the moment, consumed with pain and the fear for their child, Kaneki's kagune emerged and immediately went for Tsukiyama's arms. Tightly wrapping around his wrists, they wrenched his hands away from him and forced him back. After they released him, they poised themselves over Kaneki's belly, ready to tear into him. His whole body was shaking, afraid to do it, afraid that he might strike too forcefully and harm the child. It was one of Tsukiyama's own concerns if he were the one to do it, but he felt more confident in himself than in Kaneki whose whole body was trembling with pain and fear and a thousand other emotions.

“Don't do it!” he shouted. It was only the first thing that came to mind, but he hoped that it would be enough to stop him. Kaneki clearly wanted to protect the child and release himself from his own pain, but he was in no condition to handle it himself. “Please, Kaneki. Let me do it. You aren't thinking straight right now. I can do it. Please.”

Kaneki had the most devastating expression of anguish on his face when he looked at him, but Tsukiyama knew that he wouldn't blame him for the pain he was in. Kaneki wanted to have this baby just as much as he did. He was just as attached to it. Without even meeting it, without holding it in his arms, without even giving it a name, he loved it just as much.

Getting back on the bed, Tsukiyama leaned over and brushed his lips against Kaneki's forehead in a light kiss. “I won't let anything happen to it. It's my child, too,” he murmured gently, threading his finger through Kaneki's sweat-dampened hair. Kaneki shivered, his eyelids heavy, his body already exhausted yet still fighting to keep him going with the power of endorphins. His kagune slowly relaxed and came down to rest at his sides on the bed.

Sitting back for a second, Tsukiyama retrieved the towel he'd dropped and helped him sit up just enough to slide it underneath his back. His kakuhou had been leaking an unusual amount of fluid and had already soaked through his shirt to the bed, so there was little point in trying to keep the sheets clean now, but he figured that Kaneki probably didn't enjoy laying in a puddle of his own mess. Once it was laid out beneath him, giving him a nice, dry surface to lay on, he helped him off with the loose shirt he was wore to sleep in and folded it calmly, setting it aside. As long as he tried to appear calm, he hoped that Kaneki would stay calm as well.

It seemed to be working so far. Kaneki was still breathing heavily, sweating and clenching his teeth, but his kagune was still resting against the bed, limp and motionless.

Before he began, he took one of the other towels and wet it, using it to lightly dab at Kaneki's forehead and neck. Pressing the back of one hand to his cheek, he was shocked by how hot he felt.

“Mon pauvres cher... Is there anything I can do first? I brought the kit from the cabinet in the bathroom, but I'm not sure it has anything that can help you now.”

“It's fine,” Kaneki bit out. “I can handle whatever you do. The sooner you do it, the sooner it'll be over.”

That might have been true, but Tsukiyama still wanted to be careful. “Alright,” he said, bringing out his kagune. He curled it around his arm and straddled Kaneki's legs. He didn't feel prepared for this, but it had to be done and he had to be the one to do it. Taking a deep breath, he raised his arm with his kagune and placed his other hand against Kaneki's stomach, determining where he should begin.

“W-wait-” Kaneki said suddenly.

Tsukiyama froze immediately. Holding his position, he looked up at Kaneki to see what was the matter.

“It's just- I've... I don't know. I've been feeling something else lately. I don't know how to explain it. I just... I feel extra concerned right now,” he said.

Like before, Tsukiyama couldn't make heads nor tails of what he was talking about. Kaneki reached down to place a hand over the one Tsukiyama had on his stomach and he felt his fingers lightly stroke his.

“Just... Be extra careful just in case, okay?” Kaneki said, pleading to him with his eyes, promising a hint of something at the same time.

After all these months, Kaneki's belly seemed almost too round and heavy for his own small body. All that time, Tsukiyama felt proud, knowing that it was his child growing inside of him, but now it made him feel wary as he looked at it. It reminded him that he was the one who was responsible for this, that if anything happened to Kaneki or the baby, it would be his fault.

Against his palm, he felt a light kick, as if the baby were responding to his troubled thoughts.

This was their child. What was he worrying for? The two of them were strong. He had no doubt that their child would be just as strong as its parents.

“Okay,” he said, finding his center. “Keep breathing for me. If you need something to hold onto, grab the sheets. Don't hurt yourself, alright?”

Kaneki nodded, his jaw locked. His hands went to his sides where he fisted them in the sheets to get ready. Beside them, his kagune began to quiver in anticipation.

Tsukiyama's kagune wasn't sharp enough to slice the skin, even when he formed it into a blade-like shape. If he wanted to cut through the skin, he was going to have to pierce it first. There was a point in time where this would have excited him. He would've loved to see the vibrant red of Kaneki's blood against his pale skin, would've felt a rush when he smelled the fragrant scent of his insides, hunger rising within him. Now, though, his hands shook and hesitated before they would let him bring any harm to him. The promise he'd sworn to protect him had become his honest truth.

Reminding himself that this was just another means to protect him, he sunk in the pointed edge of his kagune, trying to keep himself from reacting to the smell of Kaneki's blood, trying to keep himself from fleeing from the sound of his suffering screams as he slowly began to drag it across his belly. The skin split around his kagune, separating easily, but it was already quickly trying to mend itself, Kaneki's body working hard to heal him in his intense state. Tsukiyama wanted to be careful and take his time, but it looked like Kaneki's body was trying to thwart him. By the time he reached the other side of his belly with his kagune, the wound had already closed behind it.

“What are you doing?” Kaneki yelled, his left eye a blazing, angry red.

“I'm sorry,” he said, bewildered. “You're healing too quickly.”

Kaneki gripped the sheets and thrashed, his kagune flailing out over the side of the bed, knocking into the nightstand, nearly toppling over the lamp. “Then do it faster,” he said, tossing his head back against the pillow. “I can't lay here like this forever. The baby wants out. It wants out now.”

Their child was already awfully demanding.

He guessed that he knew which parent it took after already.

He wanted to see them. Their child... The one that belonged to them, who shared their blood and... and their love.

With his own hands, he would bring them into the world.

“This is going to hurt a lot. Please keep holding on, Kaneki-kun.”

With a swift slash, he cut through the surface layer of Kaneki's flesh. The wound was made so quickly that it took it a moment before the blood rose to his skin. It bubbled to the surface and spilled down his sides, soaking the towel beneath him. Before the wound could begin to close itself, Tsukiyama took a breath and sunk his thumbs in between, wrenching it open. He was glad that he had sliced him open in the right place, his skin separating cleanly away from the little one inside of him.

As much as Kaneki tried to keep himself calm, he was still shaking violently, babbling nonsense, screaming and sobbing in fear.

“It's alright,” Tsukiyama said, keeping his voice calm and gentle. He needed Kaneki to relax so he could figure out how he was supposed to remove the baby. He wasn't unfamiliar with what it looked like inside a person, but he had never seen inside of someone who was pregnant before; not in person – not with his own eyes and hands, at least. Kaneki was an especially unique case. Something about the anatomy inside of him seemed... different. But he could see it; a round, fleshy sac that housed what had to be their child. It wasn't connected to anything, forming seemingly independently in Kaneki's abdominal cavity. “It's okay,” he said, “I see it. It's safe. I'll have it out in a second.”

Dismissing his kagune, he wrapped his hands around the large sac and lifted it, astounded by the way that it slid right out without any resistance. The second it met the air, he noticed that the surface of the sac was beginning to stiffen and grow harder, like the shell of an egg. He could barely make out the child's features while it was being shielded by the red sac, but there was something else he noticed that he hadn't expected. At first, he thought it was just his imagination. He had noticed how heavy Kaneki was looking, but he hadn't paid it any special thought. The sac he held in his hands was large and weighty, and if he wasn't mistaken... When he moved it, he could feel two distinct, separate bodies.

“K... Kaneki...”

“What is it?” he asked, eyes wild and frightened. “What's wrong?”

He shook his head. The wound on Kaneki's belly was already repairing itself, closing up the large hole.

It was a miracle for ghouls to conceive and safely deliver their children to begin with. The sac he held in his hands was a blessing; the rarest gift that could be bestowed upon him.

Rather than telling him, he got up and moved to Kaneki's side and held out the sac for him to hold. Kaneki took it from him and immediately held it close, wrapping his arms around it protectively, shivering as his body tried to recover from the shock.

“I don't think we're supposed to break it open,” Tsukiyama said. “They were in there just like that, not connected to anything. For now, I think they have everything they need inside there.”

“They...?” Kaneki turned his blurry eyes to the egg in his arms and ran a hand over the surface, wiping away some of the blood that covered it. As it hardened, the shell became more thick and opaque, but he was sure that Kaneki had noticed it for himself when his eyes widened. At once, all of his emotions came to a head and he began to laugh and sob as he nuzzled his cheek against it. “I thought so,” he laughed. “Two... I knew it.”

After all of that work and the stress it took to deliver them, Tsukiyama felt exhausted, but he couldn't even compare the way he felt to the way that Kaneki must have been feeling. It looked like he was beginning to relax, but he was still shaking as he held the egg close. These children were unspeakably important to him. This was finally his opportunity to have the family he'd been missing. He didn't talk about his family much, but Tsukiyama could tell what a bitter and painful subject it was for him whenever a mention of it arose. As someone who had been coddled by his parents from the moment he was born, Tsukiyama had no idea what it must have been like to grow up without a father, to lose his mother when he was young, to be raised by someone who thought he was a burden...

When Kaneki lifted his head and looked at him, his eyes wet and shimmering, there was only one way for Tsukiyama to respond.

Sinking down to his side, he wrapped his arms around him and their children and held him close, burying his nose in his hair. “Thank you,” he said, his chest swelling with emotion. He wished that he could express how happy he was, but he didn't think there were words that could properly convey the depth of his feelings. He spoke them anyway, knowing that it was what Kaneki needed to hear. “I can't even believe... Two. We have two children. I love you. I'm so happy – so proud. I love you so much, Kaneki.”

Against his chest, he could feel Kaneki's tears dampening the front of his shirt. He nodded his head, sniffling loudly. “I... I'm happy too. So incredibly happy. Tsukiyama, thank you,” he said. Looking exhausted, he turned his head to place his cheek against his chest. “Thank you.”

Hushing him, Tsukiyama stroked the back of Kaneki's head and gently brushed away the hair that had gotten stuck to his forehead. “You're the one who did all the real work here, so you're the one who deserves the most thanks. None of this would've been possible without you. You're really incredible, you know.” Kaneki's eyes were beginning to close, but, even if he couldn't see it, Tsukiyama smiled softly, affectionately. “I can't even imagine my life without you.”

Kaneki was his now, and these were their children. Laying beside him in the bed soaked in Kaneki's blood that bore the sweet fragrance of their combined scents, they were truly together. Indulging in his own instincts for a moment, he held Kaneki's chin in his fingers and dipped his head and swiped his tongue across his cheek, tasting the blood that had gotten on his face from the egg. It was an incredibly bright, vivid taste, full of life. It tasted like Kaneki, but he recognized his own flavor in its taste as well.

“What a nice flavor,” he purred, nuzzling Kaneki's cheek before placing a kiss to his lips.

“You aren't allowed to eat them,” Kaneki said, turning to hide the egg.

Tsukiyama sighed. Even at the height of his obsession, he had never acquired a taste for young flesh. It was too fragile with little substance. Besides, even if it were a human child, he thought it was too cruel to eat something that hadn't yet had the chance to even live.

“I wouldn't eat a child,” he scoffed.

Kaneki sent him a suspicious look. “I'm not comfortable with the way you worded that.”

Did he really have such little faith in him? “I'm not going to eat our children. I wouldn't eat any children, but especially ours. I'd never even consider it. I think they taste good, but-”

Kaneki shuffled his way out of his embrace, holding the egg.

“Don't be like that. I think you taste good, so of course our children would taste good too. But I'm not going to eat them. Please, Kaneki-kun, you know me better than that by now, don't you?”

Giving him a weak smile, Kaneki came back to him and rested his head against his side. “I was only joking.”

Was he...? Tsukiyama didn't feel convinced. At the moment, Kaneki had every right to feel protective of the egg that carried both of their children. They were a special miracle that they had already spent so much time taking care of. Now that they had been released into the world, they were at their most vulnerable. Because of his instincts, Kaneki had no choice but see everything as a potential threat to their children, even if it meant suspecting their father.

“Can I clean them?” he asked.

It was worth asking, even if Kaneki continued to look at him suspiciously like that.

“Alright,” he said, resting on his back, placing the large egg on his chest. “I trust you.”

Tsukiyama couldn't believe that he had been given permission so easily. He felt something in him swell again as he took in the beautiful sight of his lover and their offspring. Placing a hand over Kaneki's stomach, he moved closer and carefully pressed his tongue to the now-firm surface of the egg. Its texture was smooth, but he could detect a few vein-like ripples that had formed when it hardened. It was so warm; its temperature inviting, its taste familiar yet new. As Kaneki turned the egg for him to clean the other side, he felt the little ones inside move around, like they were tired and didn't wish to be moved just yet. Once he was finished, they could rest as much as they liked. The same went for Kaneki.

When he had lapped up the last of it, he licked his lips and looked up at Kaneki.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, reaching up to touch his cheek.

Kaneki sighed and turned his head, resting his cheek against his palm. “I'm okay. Tired, though. That was... really draining. I'm happy, but... Wow.”

Tsukiyama smiled. “I can tell. I don't think I've ever seen you look so tired.” He sat up for a moment to have a better look at him and really noticed what a mess they had made this time. Even with the towel, the sheets were hopeless. Even the mattress had to be ruined. It was worth it for the sake of their children, but he was going to need to replace everything in the morning. Kaneki also looked like he would appreciate a bath, but Tsukiyama didn't dare to move him yet. Kaneki was still busy bonding with their children and he needed his rest.

Getting back down, he rested himself over Kaneki's legs and brought his tongue to the mess on Kaneki's stomach. Though the wound was closed and Kaneki's abdomen was already returning to its regular size, there was still blood everywhere that Tsukiyama was more than happy to clean up with his mouth. He was pleased to hear the way it made Kaneki sigh as he dragged his tongue over his tender lower belly, as he dipped it into the sweet blood pooling in his navel.

By the time he finished, Kaneki looked like he was one second away from falling asleep, his cheek pressed to the pillow, his damp black hair covering his eyes. His chest rose slowly with each deep breath that brought him closer to sleep.

Slowly, Tsukiyama got up and used one of the towels to clean him up a little more. Soft murmurs escaped Kaneki's lips at the feeling of it against his skin, and he wrapped his arms around the egg on his chest. His kagune, which had still been out, ready to protect the children, retreated now that it sensed no danger. Tsukiyama didn't want to disturb him, but he had him move for just a second so he could remove the bloody towel and place a clean one beneath him.

Now everything was perfect.

“You should rest for a little while. If you don't mind, I think I'll go prepare something for you in the kitchen. After all of that, I want to make sure you keep your strength up.” He pulled the sheets up to Kaneki's waist and watched with a smile as he rolled over, still hugging the twins.

“Okay,” Kaneki mumbled sleepily. “That's a good idea. Just come back soon.”

Before he left the room, Tsukiyama turned around one more time to have another look at Kaneki as he lay snuggled up with their children. He felt like he had to pinch himself; there was no way he could be blessed with this sort of fortune. From the very moment he met Kaneki, this was probably the thing that his heart had wanted all along. He wanted it, yet he hardly felt deserving of such a gift. But there it was, right before his eyes.

With a quiet, happy sigh to himself, he left the room to prepare him something to eat. He didn't need to pinch himself.