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Braces were the biggest load of bullshit Hide had ever seen. Pieces of metal jammed on your teeth to fix something that didn't even need fixing (at least in his case)? He didn't think so. And getting them during his 3rd year of middle school was the worst part about it.
But what happens happens, and after two hours in the orthodontist's office, putting up a hell of a fight, it was done.
The first thing he did was call Kaneki. Hide knew Kaneki would want to see them first thing, so he invited him over to stay the night.
"Yo, Kaneki!" Hide yelled into the phone.
"Hi, Hide." Kaneki paused. "Did you get your braces yet?"
"Yeah. They hurt really bad." Hide rubbed at his jaw. "I feel like I could tear out my teeth and it wouldn't hurt as much as this!"
Kaneki laughed. "Sorry, Hide. Can't help you with that one."
They were both silent. Hide could practically hear the blush spreading across Kaneki's face, which lead Hide to blush as well.
"Well, uh, Kaneki," Hide said. "I was meaning to ask you if you wanted to stay over night here."
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure!" Kaneki stuttered. "I'll go pack a bag!"
Hide's house was a cozy little place, only six or so rooms, which wasn't a problem seeing how only he and his parents lived there. Hide was inside watching an episode of Sailor Moon while cuddled up with a blanket, waiting for his friend. He rubbed his jaw with his hand, and looked over to the window, only to make eye contact with Kaneki, who had been standing at the door.
Hide scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the door. He pulled the door open, and grinned wide so Kaneki could see his teeth.
"Yo, Kaneki!" Hide exclaimed. "Come in!"
Kaneki smiled gently and walked into the house. "You can put your stuff in my room," Hide said.
"Okay, thanks." Kaneki replied.
The two boys made their way down the hall to Hide's room. It was small, with only a bed, desk, and bookshelf inside. His bed was unmade and the desk messy. His bookshelf was the only remotely clean area in the room, all of the books sorted neatly by genre. Of course, it was simple to do so. There were only two types of books Hide owned- manga and English textbooks.
Kaneki placed his bag in a corner by the bookshelf. Hide was sitting on his bed, clutching his jaw.
"So, Kaneki. What do you think of the braces?" Hide questioned.
"They're," Kaneki paused. "Colorful." Hide beamed. There were yellow and green bands on the brackets, and a green rubber band on each side to fix his overbite.
"That's what I said!" Hide laughed. "They're cool now, but I'll probably hate them in a couple weeks, I have to be honest."
Kaneki smiled and looked down at his lap.
Oh, Hide thought to himself. Stupid Kaneki, why are you so cute?
A blush spread across Hide's face. He wished that Kaneki felt the same way, but he knew Kaneki had a crush on the girl that sat in the back of the room. And, besides, they were both boys, and lots of people didn't like that.
"Uh, Hide," Kaneki said. Hide looked up, quite flustered.
"Yeah, Kaneki!"
"Sorry, you were being kind of spacey there."
"Oh, uh, no it's not your fault," Hide stammered. "I was just wondering if you'd talked to that girl in our class yet." Hide was ashamed at the lie he told. A sudden pain shot through Hide's mouth, as he felt the braces pulling on his teeth. Damn, these suckers really hurt.
"Actually, I did talk to her. She's really rude." Kaneki sighed. "And to think I was hoping I could get the confidence to confess."
Hide was glad he didn't.
"Oh, sorry man. I thought she really liked you, you know?" Hide lied through his teeth yet again.
"Yeah, I guess I'll get over it soon, though," Kaneki sighed.
Hide's heart sank. He felt so terrible for Kaneki. He really truly liked that girl, and now that he learned about who she really was, he was quite broken up about it.
If only you knew.
Hide couldn't tell Kaneki. They'd been friends for who knows how long, and it would only ruin it.
He had to keep his feelings in.
...
Three hours later and keeping his feelings in was not working out. He'd almost slipped six times (he counted) and he was starting to think inviting Kaneki over had been a bad idea.
"Hey, Hide," Kaneki prompted. "You're being really quiet. Is something going on?"
Hide froze. "No, uh, nothing." Lying to his best friend was really starting to get to him.
"I think you've been hiding something."
Shit.
"Kaneki, listen, I really, really don't want to talk about this now, I justー" Hide sighed. "I don't want to ruin anything we have."
Kaneki started to speak, but stopped. He looked down at his hands, folded in his lap. "Hide, you don't have to keep hiding this from me."
Hide's eyes went wide. Kaneki knew.
"I've known that you liked me for a while now, and I honestly wasn't bothered, Hide," Kaneki said. "You're my best friend, and I'd hate to lose you."
Hide smiled. "I dunno, Kaneki, I was scared you'd hate me." He let himself cry.
"Hide."
Kaneki pulled Hide closer to him and held him against his chest. Hide wrapped his arms around Kaneki, and held him tightly.
Hide smiled into his chest. He went to pull away, only to find that his braces had gotten stuck to Kaneki's shirt. The knit of his sweater was attached to the bracket on Hide's front tooth.
"Hide, you're stuck," Kaneki announced.
"I can see that," he responded with a slight lisp.
Kaneki used nimble fingers to remove the wool of his sweater from the wires in Hide's mouth. It took a minute, but the task was completed.
"Sorry about your sweater, Kaneki."
"It's okay," Kaneki said.
Hide leaned up and gently pressed his lips to Kaneki's. Kaneki was shocked, to say the leastー not because he didn't like it, but because he did.
Kaneki moved closer to Hide, and closed his eyes. Hide knew Kaneki could feel the braces, because he heard him giggle into the kiss.
The kiss. It was lazy, and gentle, everything Hide wanted. He was in disbelief that he was actually doing such a thing with his best friend. He almost stopped, until he remembered what was going on, and how badly he wanted this to happen.
Kaneki pulled away first, gasping for a breath. "That wasー" he started.
"Fantastic," Hide finished. "When can we do it again?"