It had started with the café, though it seems like a fairy tale or rather even a story waiting to end happily with a cheesy ending, it is not. This same outtake is seen on the gourmet a cheesy and seemingly cultured individual with a interesting fashion sense.

The day they had met was crisp, the air was nestled with the scent of humans, their food, and the aroma of passing cars. It wasn't an extremely pleasant scent for shuu, besides the scent of prey. Ward 20 had calmed right down in the past few days, going from ghouls unable to leave their own homes to feed to now almost no investigators on the street, it was a relief to most including shuu himself.

He had much business to attend to in the twentieth ward, which included heading to that café, the one that housed kirshima-san, he found the girl slightly amusing, the glint in her eyes that burned with the intensity that could not be matched, the only possible match to her intense gaze would be her younger brother. The vigour the two held in the past years was admirable to him, petty emotions aside however he felt nothing.

Making the reason he was heading to see her at the café that much more suspicious, he wasn't there for petty talk, no no no, he was planning his next meal for his restaurant; which coincidentally had brought him in this direction.

Maybe the nagging at the back of his head was slowly pushing him to the café to check out that eye patched man he had barely heard about on the streets, the one that had taken on a ccg investigator.

The door came open easily, the sounds of chimes echoing lightly through the building, as shuu stepped into the building. "hm, such a pleasant smell," the strong smell of coffee was appealing to the ghoul, quite appealing indeed there was also light traces of something else sweet in the air, something like human but yet not.

"as I thought this place has really calmed down…"he finished the sentence calmly lingering on the pleasant scent. A voice different from what he expected greeted him warmly.

"Welcome to the shop,"the voice was a young males, which tsukiyama ignored at first to greet kirishima-san and irimi.

"long time no see kirishima-san, irimi-san,"he greeted his tone held traces of pleasantries in it.

Kirishima wasted no time with any type of greeting, though her gaze darted away from him, as though she wanted nothing at all to do with him at all.

"why are you here?"it was a fairly snaky remark to him.

"oh no…can I not just come here to see your faces for a little while? Kirishima-san you're as cold as ever…well that's what appealing about you though."

"you're so creepy, you smug bastard."she remarked staring uncomfortably.

Tsukiyama finally caught eye that the boy who had originally greeted him, he was the one with the eye patch, he was rather frail from being a young man in college.

"A guy with an eye patch…it's you? You're the tough boy who could repel the investigator…"shuu's words were in a surprised tone, there was no possible way this frail small boy could manage that feat.

"ah hello, I'm kaneki,"the boy was nervous as he spoke, shuu ignored kaneki's nervousness and continued speaking, gawking around him. This was the source of the sweet smell, the tasty smell.

"kaneki-kun huh? You're much more delicate looking than I expected,"

The boy was confused and yet didn't move out of fear, allowing shuu to swoop in and take a whiff of the boys scent to make sure it was him.

"what a mysterious scent,"he commented softly pulling away from him slightly.

"oi! You're getting in the way and you're creepy so hurry up and go away already."kirishima was quick to speak and get him to leave the café.

"you're completely inelegant…"shuu commented to her before grasping kaneki's shoulder in an act of fondness."next time I'll come drink some coffee leisurely, when yoshimura is around too, see you kaneki-kun." with that farewell he left, the door shutting lightly on the way out. "let's meet again…"a mumbled sentence escaped his mouth as he left, he doubted anyone had heard it of course, his lips twitched up in a grin. He was plotting something indeed, now involving the eye patch boy…kaneki-kun.

Those times were so much easier on shuu, now he lay in a dingy apartment, immobile and disconnected from the world other than when kanae or his pet chie would come to coerce him to leave the place or in kanae's case to bring him food.

Which shuu rarely touched at all, only when the hunger got to the point where he would jump to eat whatever wandered into the room, whether human or otherwise.

Shuu hardly got out anymore, he had no point anymore, kaneki-kun was gone now, perished like so many other ghouls; but unlike the rest kaneki was his, despite the fact kaneki was stronger than shuu in so many ways, shuu still wanted to devour him at that time…or was it not hunger shuu had felt? Either way shuu was in a dark pit not even the books he had turned to at the last critical turning point in his life seemed to help his depression, they instead reminded him of the pale boy, kaneki.

His pain always felt fresh when he remembered the last time he had seen him, kaneki looked sorrowful almost to the point where he was considering staying by shuu's side, shuu looked pitiful after all. He was sobbing loudly on the ground begging, begging kaneki not to leave him.

It was a suicide mission after all, they had brought an army of investigators and kaneki, he was only one person, and to what save two lives that shouldn't concern him, he should have stayed, why didn't he stay?

Tears again, he had fell to this routine so many times, the pain would be unbearable to him almost more than his empty stomach, then he would be emotionless yet again, as though it hadn't happened and yet still sat around.

How long had it been since that day had passed…? Two years? Three? Shuu had lost count of the days for a long while.

Somehow despite his depression he got out at some points of time, kanae following him some of the times, others were alone, and very rarely his pet would accompany him and take pictures. Chie with that camera of hers, she had taken a considerable amount of shuu or just the general scenery of their outings.

It had been on one of these outings that shuu got distracted by someone, an obvious dove but yet…he seemed familiar, his white hair with black toned roots caught his eyes. It was as though…no…it couldn't be his dear kaneki. He had passed on a considerable amount of time ago, and now after all this time he'd surface as a dove? There was no way at all.

He disregarded this encounter, unaware that chie had seen his expression change as his eyes had picked up the other male, she herself plotting lightly, maybe if she brought the boy to mister shuu he would be more entertaining.

it was during another small breakdown when the pair of boxers had made their way into his room, shuu's nose had gone to a useless state as he starved himself further and further.

"the fabric is nice,"he commented lightly, looking them over, inside the boxers was a neatly stitched 'sasaki haise'in the waistband, which seemed a bit strange to see, why had kanae brought him the underwear of this sasaki haise.

"but do you feel anything?"kanae asked.

Did this mean something, had kanae found something shuu himself had overlooked? He sniffed, nothing. Another again, still no sharp scent reached him.

"no no, no feeling nothing,"shuu muttered out, he was disappointed, one more soft inhale was taken, a incomprehensible scent reached his nose, the only thing he could note was the soft sweet scent.

Yet the scent quickly fled his mind,it wasn't a big enough event to convince him that this sasaki had kaneki's scent.

He didn't even remember the boxers or the subtle smell of kaneki on them when chie had come in the next time alone, she held the fabric gingerly as though she didn't wish to contaminate them.

"smell em, and I mean really smell em,"the girls tone was quick paced as she tossed them at shuu. "I got these for a reason."

"hm?"there was curiosity twined into his near dead tone."chie I told kanae I felt nothing, nothing at all, now leave me be." he picked the fabric between his index and thumb sighing softly, he didn't feel like entertaining her today in the least.

"I'll leave if you actually try to sense something,"

Another sigh passed his lips, couldn't she entertain herself elsewhere?"if you insist, but after this leave me be,"

Shuu brought the fabric back up inhaling deeply to please her, there it was the same sweetness he was only barely able to detect it, the scent was almost that like kaneki's …his thoughts stopped as he sniffed lightly this time, the scent was exactly the same…strange. "you say this is an investigators correct? Sasaki haise?" he was non-chalant about the subject, if it was his dear kaneki then it would be worth it in the end, if not he didn't wish to get too hopeful over the matter just to be tossed back into the pit and into disappointment.

"yeah, i got em myself,"she held up her camera snapping a photo of shuu, he was reacting to the scent more than he thought, enough that chie was documenting the reaction.

Shuu's gaze went back down to the boxers, if this was true…why would kaneki be an investigator? Why would he leave what he had tried so hard to save, shuu was unaware that the previously frail boy had lost his memory.

"there' an auction soon for ingredient, and this is the ingredient I desire, very rare,"

There was a subtle look of satisfaction on her face, chie was getting entertainment now from the violet haired man, something that had been gone from him for a very long time.

Chie left soon after, leaving shuu to ponder and dwell upon the subject, the talk of ingredients was a lie for the most part, his longing to end the boy and devour him whole had disappeared over the years of his absence, shuu just wanted to protect the frail boy again, and also taste his blood and flesh as he always wanted to do.

For the most part shuu was confused by his own feelings generally. He believed himself to be unattached and without a care, he held no bonds further than that of a fascination, that was what he would have to continue to make himself belief, he was only fascinated with kaneki nothing further.

Previous scenarios that had happened with the boy however could prove otherwise, during the times where shuu and kaneki were in cahoots with the 'shield' and the other members in gasmasks. There was times where kaneki was unusually silent in his room, those times shuu would make his way in to find him asleep, or reading.

Those times could happen again if It were kaneki in the persona of sasaki haise, so shuu would await the day of the auction, sasaki haise would be his.

The first time in such a while shuu got dressed, combed his hair, and went to hunt, he would have to establish his diet in order to be able to rip kaneki away from any other ghoul that would be able to steal him away, he was quite popular with most ghouls after all.