#toukenweek

he presses a line of kisses across the top of her back, one and two and three and four, and then one on each side of her vertebra. his lips travel up her nape. he exhales, into her hair, and the heat of it makes her skin shiver, and she makes herself make an annoyed and incoherent mutter, curls herself away from him, but not too much. she keeps her eyes closed. they wait. then, carefully, kaneki resumes — pulling her to him, again — closer this time, sliding a leg over hers — nibbling the curve of her ear, drawing the lobe into his mouth and tracing it with the tip of his tongue in such a way that touka pinches her legs together next, turns her face into the pillow with a heavy, sleep-like sigh. but still he keeps kissing her, and still she pretends not to be awake for it.

her body’s warming up. he reaches beneath her shirt, splays a soft palm against her belly as he makes his way to the protrusion of her shoulder blades, and then the valley between. she cracks an eye and is relieved at least to see that he’s propped mattresses up against the entrance, to cover his ridiculousness from view. she relaxes, but hopefully not so much that he would notice. her eye closes quickly again as he shifts, and she keeps her body pliant as he goes on — kissing her arm again, her forearm — raising her hand to his face to kiss each knuckle and fingertip — shifting and resting her on her back so he can unbutton her shirt to kiss her bare sternum, both her bare collarbones, her throat.

so sweet. too sweet. finally he kisses her beneath her chin and it tickles, it’s too tender, her body quivers and when he looks at her next her eyes are open, and her mouth is wrenched into an embarrassed grimace. that he is smiling tells her she didn’t fool him for a second. her face is so hot it hurts.

Last night...they had been so close, closer than any other time and not just physically. All these years, these painful years of being alone, of being hurt and starved of love, they had eventually found each other. No matter how long that might’ve taken, they found each other and she never wanted to let go of this embrace. He had opened up to her just as she had for him and they became one, in more ways than could be imagined. She didn’t even know if they would ever have such a moment as intimate as this and yet…

“Are you feeling okay?” He turned around and pulled her in for another hug this time, his hands rubbing her back slowly. “I, uh, didn’t h-hurt you too much, did I?”

“Well, it hurt a little.” Touka chuckled, leaning back to rest her hand against his cheek. He looked at her with such adoration and affection that it was almost overwhelming for her to see. It wasn’t like the times he would gaze at her in the cafe, nor the time he would look back on her with such raw emotion in cochlea. No, this time, it was just pure honest love and there was so much love in those pretty eyes of his.

“It’s fine though.” She pinched his cheek after he gave her a little frown, moving away to pull on her cardigan so they could leave. “It was worth it.”

He blushed then, his bashfulness always a cute sight, even after everything they had done last night. Though there was still some concern in his expression and so she shyly reached for his hand, Kaneki nervously lacing his fingers with hers. She stepped closer and they kept their eyes on each other, both smiling giddy.

“Kaneki, it was good.” There was no waver in her voice, no hesitation. “I’m...really happy. With us like this, so you don’t have to worry.” She was now shrinking back slightly, her shyness getting the better of her. “Because I...I..You know..”

Kaneki reached up and brushed her hair back, gazing at the eye that was usually hidden. With a gentle smile, his hand moved down to cup her cheek, his thumb rubbing her bottom lip that was swollen from all their late night kisses. He waited for her to look away, to try to hide again, but she never did. Even now, he was still taken aback at her honesty and how open she was willing to be for him. He didn’t deserve her, not one bit, yet she was still here, never drawing away from his touch. She was...so breathtakingly amazing.

“I love you.” His voice was barely above a whisper, but it left both of them taken away with deep affection. She broke out into a flustered smile and leaned up on her toes, kissing him softly. He felt his heart surge, his hands quickly pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss, his fingers brushing through her hair. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” She whispers and she pulled back, taking in the sight of Kaneki’s teary, goofy grin. “You big idiot.” She reached up to wipe a stray tear away, kissing each eye. “Come on, we should get moving.”

Touka pulled back and headed towards the door, but turned to see Kaneki hadn’t moved. He was looking this way and that, his brows furrowed whilst he gnawed at his lip. Amused, Touka leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed, wondering what it was he was thinking of. Whatever it was, the deep shade of red on his face should be a good clue.

“I want to t-try something.” Kaneki confessed, stuttering over his words and he scratched the back of his head, taking small steps towards her.

“Oh? And what might that be-” She let out a loud squeal when Kaneki suddenly lifted her up, bridal style. “W-What are you doing, idiot?!”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to try this with someone. Someone like you.” Kaneki admitted, leaning down to kiss her forehead as she nervously gripped his shoulders tightly. “So I thought I might as well try it now, since you looked a little tired.”

“That’s your fault, not mine.” She sighed and Kaneki started walking, watching her with so much affection. “You really are some corny romantic.”

“That doesn’t bother you, does it?” With a playful roll of her eyes, she shook her head and leaned her forehead against his, feeling him smile against her lips.