:re Chapter 125

Sheltered in their improvised hideaway, Kaneki and Touka continue to kiss, and during a pause his nervous glance at her body prompts her to let him touch her. His startled expression unsettles her, so she suggests he remove his shirt to ease the awkwardness. Once shirtless, Kaneki reveals that his arms remain scarred and never healed properly.

Touka struggles out of her own shirt, waving off his offer to help, and teases him about the muscle he has put on since his gangly days at Anteiku. Growing bolder, Kaneki sits up to kiss her, and the two lie side by side as they undress further, Touka handling the fastenings herself when he fumbles. She bows her head shyly under his gaze before they draw together again.

Reassured by Kaneki's touch, Touka tells him he need not be gentle, and the two become fully intimate. She reacts with a flash of pain that sends him into a worried panic, but she assures him she is fine and they continue. Overcome by the closeness, Kaneki begins to cry without understanding why; rather than answer her question, he gathers her into his lap and holds her. By the next morning he sleeps peacefully with his head cradled on her lap.

Kaneki and Touka grow physically intimate for the first time in their hideout. Kaneki's unhealed scars and his sudden tears mark the encounter's emotional weight. The pair fall asleep together by morning.

X is the one hundred twenty-fifth chapter of Tokyo Ghoul:re, released in issue 2017-26 on May 25, 2017, within volume twelve. Its closing page reworks the artwork from Munou's second cover. The chapter sits between chapters 124 and 126.