A/N: Read (if on PC) 3/4 size.

Wabi-sabi: represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete"

"You don't smell like a human, nor like a ghoul." The girl inhaled in his scent once more, her visible eye closing as she threw her back slightly. She opened her eye again and frowned. The displeased expression on her face caused Tadashi to gulp and his hands clenched into a fist. One of her eyes were hidden under light blue, thick bangs, but the eye that was visible sent chills down his spine. The whole eye was black, aside from her red pupil.

She spoke in Japanese, so he guessed that he had teleported to Japan, but not the Japan he knew.

"I-I'm not from here." Tadashi stuttered in Japanese, and then felt a lump form in his throat. It was a good thing his parents taught him as much as they could before they died. He felt that he wanted to explain more about his situation, but the terror in him stopped him from even breathing at some points.

"Huh?" She slowly stood straight up, staring down at him as he pushed himself more against the brick wall. Her pitch had become lighter as she spoke, although it was still deeply frightening, "You're lost? Do you know where you're at? You're lucky it's only the 20th ward, anywhere else and you would've been dismembered already. Actually, where are you from?"

It was weird, one moment it looked as if the girl was going to kill her and the next she seemed fascinated by him.

"I'm from San Fransokyo." He managed to say without stuttering.

Before she could respond, the sound of metal clanking metal resonated down the alley. Next thing they both knew, the girl was thrown to the wall across from Tadashi. His eyes travelled from her to the shadow between her and him. The person was a man shorter than Tadashi, with black hair and glistening glasses above eyes similar to the girl before him.

"What did I say, Touka? These are my feeding grounds." He spat at her, shoving his hands into his pockets, before realizing Tadashi's presence.

"Shut up, you sex-obsessed Nishiki." She insulted right back, and then stood up normally despite the cracks on the wall from where she was thrown at. When the two were finally up, Touka gave out a gentle laugh. "Take off those glasses of yours, they bring back too much memories." Her voice was soft and her eyes have had become a deep, shimmering blue. She seemed a little sad, as if she wasn't the monster Tadashi assumed she was a few moments ago.

Nishiki glanced down at Tadashi, but his eyes were still black with piercing red pupils. An eerie smirk grew across his lips, and he bent down instantly while taking a whiff of Tadashi.

Then he scrunched up his nose, "You smell absolutely disgusting." He remarked.

What was it that made Tadashi smell so bad? He was sure he had showered before jumping into the portal, and even tempted to sniff his armpits quickly. Also, the place he was at already reeked of cooper and a sickly sweet scent. It almost made Tadashi gag. He would have, if it weren't for those two watching at him cautiously.

Quickly, Nishiki thrusted a single index finger into Tadashi's right shoulder. In all honesty, Nishiki didn't even enjoy harming and killing as much as he should have had, but if there was free dinner offered right in front of him, he would take it. He pulled it out easily, and licked the bloody tip of his finger. He grimaced right away, finding the blood purely disgusting.

"I don't even want to eat him, it's like he's not even from here. It's like he's not even human. A ghoul perhaps? Like Sasaski, maybe." Nishiki said, and then rose back up.

Tadashi was still in shock, his eyes wide opened, refusing to look at the small, bleeding whole in his shoulder. The pain was becoming more and more visible, so eventually he stiffly turned his head. Right through his t-shirt, and into his skin.

"He says he's from San Fransokyo, have you ever heard of that place?" Touka asked, and tried her best to ignore Tadashi's whimper.

"Nope, and I'm pretty damn sure it doesn't exist. This is probably a newbie dove trying to escape to safety." Nishiki hissed, narrowing his eyes at Tadashi with a 'tsk' coming out of his mouth.

"I'm not a bird." Tadashi frowned as he began to feel flustered.

Nishiki laughed loudly, and then unexpectedly slammed his foot to the right of Tadashi's head. Tadashi's eyes were still opened wide, his matted bangs stuck to his sweaty forehead and he felt his heart quicken as his chest got tighter. He could hear bits of the brick break down, and feel even the slightest impact of those bits falling onto his bleeding shoulder.

"This has got to be a joke." Nishiki whispered, and then Tadashi seen everything go blurry as something swung at his temple. Then it went all black.

When Tadashi woke up, it wasn't due to the sunlight shining through the thin curtains, or the birds chirping outside the window. It was the feeling that something had crawled up his shin, so close to his inner thigh. Like a bug, but when his eyes opened up, there was no one there. Or so he thought.

Tadashi could smell coffee, and for a second he believed he was back at the Lucky Cat Cafe.

Although that couldn't be the case, because the next thing he heard was, "Good morning, alien-san!" A bubbly voice chimed in an almost perfect English accent, and caused Tadashi to jerk his head to the left of him. Near him sat a petite girl with curly black hair and green eyes. Suddenly the girl gave out an uncanny giggle. She seemed adorable, however with what he have had been through so far, looks could be very deceiving.

"Where am I?" Tadashi mumbled, and gingerly sat up. His back ached, and there was a throbbing sensation at his temples. Everything felt sore, as if he had been pulled apart out of his will and hastily put together during the time he was unconscious.

"You're at :re. Well, the upstairs. I wouldn't get off just yet either," the girl suggested as Tadashi brought his legs to the side of the couch, "You might open up the stitches." She added.

"Stitches?" He gasped, and then ran his arm down his torso, and stopped at the abdomen. He could feel the stitches stretched across almost his whole abdomen vertically, right to left. Then his hand moved down to his inner thigh, where he felt aching bruises under his pressing fingers. It was all too much for him, so he stopped checking at the thigh bruises.

"Yeah, I heard you're not from here, does your place have stitches?" She inquired. Tadashi couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not because of the fascinated look appearing on her face.

"We do, and if you don't mind me asking, where are we exactly? And who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of me! Since you don't seem like you're a native, my name is Akane. First name Akane, last name Suzuki. You can address me as Akane, if you'd like." She smiled and then continued, "And I told you already! We're at :re, a cafe!"

Tadashi nodded his head as if he was remembering her telling him, but in reality, he could barely process anything. It was all disorganized in his head, and he felt himself missing home terribly. How long have he been gone for? Maybe months have had already passed by, and he was labeled as missing from his world. He frowned, and the thoughts of Hiro and his friends back home filled up his mind. It added onto the stomach pain and headache.

"By the way, you can talk to me in Japanese if you'd like. I know how to speak it." Tadashi informed her while leaning back against the couch.

Akane nodded her head eagerly, like she was already prepared to bombard him with sentences that he wouldn't be able to catch up to. "What's your name?" Akane asked.

"Tadashi." He answered.

"Are you a dove? A distasteful human? A ghoul?" She questioned.

Tadashi rolled his eyes slightly at the word 'dove', recollecting the last time he heard it. "A distasteful human." He said, and then closed his eyes. Perhaps that this was just a prolonged dream and that if he closed his eyes long enough, it would open up and reveal himself back on his bed, in his room. With a book in his hand and Hiro browsing on his computer across the room from him.

The door behind Akane swung open, and the girl that he seen earlier shuffled her way to Akane. Akane whispered something into her ear, and Touka's lips pinched in.

Gradually, Tadashi recalled her name, and whispered it, "Touka."

Touka turned her face to him, her right eye still hidden under the bangs. Her hair appeared to be even lighter with the sunlight coming into the room. Those eyes of hers seemed more calm, and almost matched her hair. They both reminded him of the colors of a salt water beach on a rainy day. Seemingly, he felt that his description also matched with her expression. Her eyes gave a melancholic glisten, and her smile was small. The gentle tide after all the stormy waves have crashed down.

"Ah, you're finally awake, Tadashi. You're lucky I saved your life, Nishiki almost killed you. He would have had, if I hadn't stopped him. If nii-san hadn't stopped me." She told him, and then sat on one of the armrest.

"Well, thank you for saving me," Tadashi said, "You're a life-saver."

Touka didn't respond to that, and simply tilted her head with the same small smile. On the other hand, a deep frown showed on Akane's face and then she crossed her arms.

"Can I eat him already? Nishiki said he tasted bitter, and I like bitter." She thought out loud, and when she realized what she said, her mouth parted and she looked at back and forth at Touka and Tadashi. Touka wasn't planning to ever eat him, for some unknown reason, but that didn't stop others from wanting to try.

"Eat? Eat me?" Tadashi stammered, his chest rising higher as his breathing quickened, and his hands rolled into tight fists. His palms were beginning to get sweaty.

There it was again, those eyes. Black and red, with no mercy, appearing on Akane's face. She dragged her hands down her face aggressively, and then leaned towards him. Touka held her by one shoulder, however anyone could see that wouldn't be enough to hold her back.

"Boy, don't you know what world you're in?" Akane asked with a malicious tone. "Don't you know who you've been talking to this whole time?" Her eyes were a lot frightening than Touka or Nishiki's. It was possibly because the other two never showed their true strength while he was conscious, whereas Akane meant all harm despite if he was awake or not.

Before anything critical could happen, a man silently stepped into the room. Tadashi didn't even notice him until Asato rigidly tensed up, along with Touka. The man was tall, and had a small goatee. Hair just a little paler than Touka, so Tadashi assumed that was her older brother.

"Akane." Was all he had to say for her to have her sweating in fear.

"I think you should go back to work, I'll deal with this. You too, Touka." He ordered, and made his way behind the two girls.

"Tadashi, you're so fortunate." Akane said to him in a sarcastic way, and then stood up from the chair. "And yes, Yomo!" She exclaimed, and then rushed out of the room. Her brown, curly hair smacking her back as she disappeared out the door.

The sound of someone stomping down the stairs could be heard, and then it was quiet again. Touka and Yomo looked at each other, neither one having a distinct expression. Their lips were in a thin straight line, and eyes narrowed as they stared at each other. It seemed as if they were both getting ready to kill each other.

"Touka, go downstairs and start working. More customers are coming. Go now." Yomo demanded.

Without another word, Touka glanced at Tadashi and then shuffled out of the room.

When she was gone, Yomo studied Tadashi's appearance. Messy black hair, dark brown eyes with light bags under, wore a wrinkled t-shirt and dirty jeans. He looked even worse than he did when he first arrived here. "How are those stitches feeling?" Yomo inquired, voice laced with no concern whatsoever.

"Alright, I guess." Tadashi answered.

"You're probably wondering what is going on, which is to be expected." Yomo stated, and crossed his arms. He was still examining Tadashi, watching the way Tadashi's hands gripped shut and his teeth gritted a little. It could've been out of angry, but it also could have had been out of frustration too.

"Are you guys going to eat me?" The attitude in his voice was clear, and it looked like Tadashi was too upset to be scared.

Yomo shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it depends. Do you plan to kill us? No ghoul here has any intention to digest even a bit of you, besides Asato, she'll eat anything. Nishiki said you taste like absolute crap, not even edible. That's pretty rare." He reported.

If Tadashi tasting like absolute crap helped him avoid those ghouls and not want to be eaten, then he could be the crappiest crap. At the same time of his gratification, the annoyance in him started to build up in him. He barely ever got exasperated, so he exhaled out a loud, croaking groan. He just wanted to hear that this was a very well planned, but cruel joke created by his brilliant friends. The mere idea of him understanding the whole situation would have had eased him greatly. There were too many surprises and unknown things.

"Do you know what ghouls are, Tadashi?" Yomo asked while raising a single eyebrow.

"Ghouls are monsters or evil spirits that eat human flesh, maybe zombies, and are found in graveyards. At least according to the dictionary." Tadashi hesitantly responded, and then opened his mouth again. Tadashi was doubting everything now, because everything didn't seem real enough to be true still. Well, it was more of it being too true, and him refusing to believe it was, "Am I wrong?" He questioned.

The look on Yomo's face still didn't change, he always seemed to be unamused by anything.

"You're not wrong, but you're not right either. Ghouls in this world, since you're apparently not from here, are," he paused for a short moment, "almost like humans."

"Almost?"

Yomo gave Tadashi a subtle nod, and then continued, "We age like them, can laugh like them, and fortunately, most times try to live like them. The only difference is our diet, and how our bodies work. I'm guessing you already know what we are capable of eating."

Tadashi shifted in his seat, a sickening feeling settling into his stomach. He was fascinated and horrified.

"We have to eat it to survive though, that's our diet. That's also why doves, or ghoul investigators, are all after us. Also, I would throw you out on the streets but Touka insisted on waiting until you heal. Nishiki really went at you, almost tore apart your limbs. Actually, I even have a friend with the doves, maybe he could get a surgeon to make you in a Quinx." It was hard to tell, but Tadashi swore he could see a corner of Yomo's straight lips twitch up.

"A Quinx?" Tadashi mumbled. It was just more and more unfamiliar words being thrown at him.

"These paradoxical humans that work for the CCG, or Commission of Counter Ghoul, who get surgery and try to become like ghouls, to gain the strength of ghouls, to kill real ghouls." Yomo answered.

"Is everyone here a killer?" There were more questions Tadashi wanted answers to, though that was the only one that came out of his mouth.

Yomo didn't say anything, and simply stared at Tadashi. His gaze caused Tadashi to feel uncomfortable, and Tadashi shifted his eyes to the side. The room was silent.

The sunlight coming from the window warmed up the back of Tadashi's head and his back. The birds still haven't stopped chirping, and if Tadashi strained his hearing, he could hear the sound of car horns from afar. The room had a sleek wooden floor, and smelled like dark coffee. That was when Tadashi noticed a small mug of coffee on the coffee table in front of him.

Slowly, Tadashi moved his head around to stare out the window. The sky was the bluest hue, with no cloud in sight. A few black birds flew by, and the building next door gleamed almost rainbow windows. It was odd, how beautiful it all was in this type of world.

"Go clean yourself, then I'll talk to you more. I'll show you the bathroom, let's go." Yomo said, and then stood up. Tadashi did the same, and stiffly walked behind Yomo out of the room.

The bathtub was medium size, pearly white and had all types of scented soaps around it. The water was scorching hot, and filled up to his chin, but Tadashi wanted it that way. It distracted him from the pain on his thighs, the soreness at his shoulders, and the ache at his stomach.

There were many thoughts running through his head, and each one made him want to groan and sigh.

Then his family and friends back home entered his mind. Tadashi swallowed his spit, staring up at the ceiling, and then closed his eyes while giving out a trembling breath. "A world full of ghouls." He muttered, leaning his head back against the rim of the bathtub. "A world vacant of peace, and love." He whispered, his voice a little louder.

Tadashi attempted to think positive, but there was nothing positive to think about. He was worlds away from those he cared most about, and felt universes away from reality, especially from himself. It was as if jumping into the portal meant never coming back, and he had no idea how to come back.

"Hey, idiot, you done yet? You've been in there for an hour." Someone commented outside of the bathroom. The voice sounded like it belonged to Nishiki.

Tadashi felt like a little kid next to Nishiki, being insulted like that. In the normal world, in his world, Tadashi would have had stood up for himself, but this was not the normal world, and Tadashi sunk deeper into the water while hoping to disappear.

"Hurry up, Yomo wants you downstairs. Something about a Quinx, I don't know. Either way, we better see you down soon, or else." Nishiki threatened, and then walked away.

Tadashi didn't move for a few moments, and then brought himself all the way below the surface of the water. The water has already cooled down, any sounds would become muffled, and for a while, it was the only thing keeping him sane.

Everybody he had met so far were what he associated with monsters. Although, when he thought of the word 'ghoul', he didn't think of Touka. He thought about just about everyone else. It was strange, since she was the first ghoul he seen. She transcended the mere idea of a beautiful monster, and was an abundance of adjectives and nouns he couldn't manage to understand.

That was when another question popped into Tadashi's mind. How come she didn't let him get killed? How come she told Yomo to let him heal first, before letting him run off? Maybe it was because she was scared he would run to authorities. Yeah, that was probably it.

Either way, she saved his life. He was determined to thank her, if he didn't get killed anytime soon.

Tadashi wasn't afraid of dying, and would risk his life for good people if he had to. That was what he wanted to accomplish back at San Fransokyo, to help everyone. However, it now seemed impossible, especially at this place. He didn't want to have to adapt in fear, and wasn't use to what he was being told.

It wasn't death itself that he feared, it was life.

A/N: I'm still unsure about the pairings in this story, but I adore Touka so.. This fanfiction is dedicated to Kirra, or 'pixelfaerie' on here! Thank you for insisting I read the Tokyo Ghoul manga, I am so happy I did!

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