a/n: :^)
disclaimer: disclaimed af.
pink flowers are nice.―

Kirishima Touka refused to acknowledge the fact that she was beginning to be a little too fond of Kaneki Ken.

She refused to acknowledge it because, for one, things might become awkward between them. The type of awkward that only happened in books, of course. Which would be very bad. On a side note, she wasn't exactly sure about her feelings.

(She was fairly sure they were romantic feelings.)

In her life, she had never had time for a romantic relationship. Between concealing her identity as a ghoul, working as a waitress at Anteiku, and school, she didn't see where she could fit in time for that.

If Touka bothered to consult Yoshimura about the topic, she had a feeling he'd make her a cup of coffee and smile at her. Give her some mysterious answer, or say, "Do what you wish, Touka-chan." Or something along the lines of that.

On the other hand, there was always Yoriko. Though, Yoriko had the wrong idea about she and Kaneki anyways―where would it get her to ask for advice? Maybe Yoriko would just shove a bowl of food in her hands and tell her to give it to him.

Touka rubbed her forehead, scowling at the pile of homework on her desk. A small pile of homework, albeit, but still a pile of homework. At the moment, she didn't have time to think of boys or her relationship with Kaneki.

Not when there was a homework to be done, because she'd had Yoshimura call her in sick for the past few days. She didn't bother going to Anteiku for her shift, either. Yoshimura had called her about that, and she'd said that she was unable to empty her stomach of Yoriko's cooking and it was taking a toll on her health.

He'd believed her. (Or he hadn't bothered to say something.)

And it was the partial truth, at least.

.

.

.

The dreaded day had come when Touka had to pull herself out of bed, clean herself up, shove the homework in her bag, and go to school.

The day otherwise known as Monday.

Yoriko had been the same as always―chatty, bright, a distraction from all the gloom and doom that seemed to surround her when she left Yoriko's company. It was a relief that Yoriko was a constant pillar of stability for the past few years.

It was an even bigger relief when Yoshimura had called to inform her that she was being given the day off. Because of her health and how much she needed to stay at top health, to avoid anymore sick days.

But, it meant she was stuck sitting still in her room, trying to sleep. And ignore the homework on her desk. Wait for Hinami to come home, bright and happy, carefree. Touka wondered how she was like that, especially so soon after losing her parents.

Very, very, very close to falling asleep, somebody knocked on the door.

She sat up and blinked a few times, before shoving the blankets aside and walking to the door. She was surprised that it wasn't Yoriko, but instead saw Kaneki.

He was still wearing his uniform, which meant he'd just gotten off his shift. She glanced down, at the bouquet of flowers in his hands.

(...did he?)

(Yes, he did.)

"Touka-chan?"

She blinked at him, and then dumbly replied, "Yeah?"

Kaneki shifted, then raised up the bouquet of flowers, almost shyly. "You haven't been at Anteiku for awhile, so I bought you some flowers in the hope they'd help you feel better."

What.

A bouquet of flowers?

Touka broke eye contact with him for a moment, glancing down at the bouquet of flowers in his hands.

Yes. Definitely a bouquet of flowers.

For her.

Touka blinked at the flowers, then looked at him. He was smiling, and looked a tiny bit hesitant. His gaze was fixed on her nose, and the one eye that was covered with an eyepatch shone in the light.

(Damn it, Kirishima. Stop overthinking and take the damn flowers.)

"Oh," Touka said quietly. She leaned back, trying not to blush. Well, maybe she did blush. (She probably did and was in denial about it.) "Thank you, Kaneki."

It sounded like a question.

Touka awkwardly took the bouquet of flowers from him when he held them up, and she thought his smile got a bit wider. It was really hard not to smile, especially when he looked so adorable.

"I hope to see you tomorrow, Touka-chan!" Kaneki said enthusiastically. "Well, I hope you're feeling better by then."

"Thank you for the flowers, Kaneki." She shifted her gaze downwards, looking at the flowers. Pretty pink, purple, yellow, and blue flowers that looked watercolor. "I'm sure Hinami-chan will love them."

Touka hoped it wasn't her imagination when his smile faltered for a moment.

"Okay, bye, Touka-chan!" he said enthusiastically.

The enthusiasm sounded forced. Touka regretted her words about Hinami liking the flowers.

She watched as Kaneki stepped back and turned around, walking away. Frowning, Touka closed the door and placed the flowers of the table, searching for a vase.

(Of course, Touka didn't miss the card that was attached to the flowers.)

She untied the ribbon holding the flowers together and placed them in the vase, card sitting on the table. Touka filled the vase with water and placed it on the table, then picked up the card and went back to her room.

.

.

.

Touka-chan,

I hope you feel better soon! Everyone at Anteku misses you, including me.

Your friend,
Kaneki Ken