Originally, this was a one shot I posted. I wrote a Tokyo Ghoul story, wanted to continue with the characters, and wrote this first chapter as an alternate timeline. However, I'm changing that entirely and plan to flush this out into an entire story of its own now. Unlike my other stories, where I leave out physical character descriptions to leave the character free to imagine, I will be adding them in this story. First of all, I already described the appearance of this character in my alternate story. Second, her appearance is influential to the story line. Anyway, I'm exceedingly excited for this story and am eager to share it.

As such, I'm proud to introduce (if you haven't read my previous TG story) Kiyoko Himura!


Mannequins. Mannequins and masks. Mannequins wearing masks, and masks hanging on the walls, or lying upright in glass display cases. Each and every mask completely differs from its neighbor. Some are blue, scrunched faces of demons, and others mimic animal skulls. Some cover the top half of the face, others only a single side, while more still fit the entire face. There are holes and horns and strange dips molded into face pieces that can only be called artistic expressions.

"I know, a hobby only a mother could support."

I glance over at Hanako, my closest friend and fake cousin. I say fake because we aren't related, our DNA actually differing quite a bit, and she's not on our family register. To put her on there would require a blood test for RC levels.

Her current expression is one of humor, her head shaking. "Wait till you meet the owner," she continues, looking over at me through her curtain of black hair. I used to envy that dark hair of hers. Because of my dad, who abandoned mom when he discovered she was pregnant with me, I have the blonde hair of a westerner. Hanako was always the one to defend me, though, if anyone said anything about my background or appearance. "He's pretty cool, but he's really weird."

"He can't be that bad," I reason. "You tend to judge people too harshly." Although that's true, the shop's atmosphere leads me to believe she might not be exaggerating this time. The dim, red lighting gives a dangerous air to the place. She does have the tendency to look down on people, though.

She raises her hands to cup around her mouth. "Hey! Uta! You here?"

A moment of silence. Then, a pale, young man with black hair swept over to one side steps out of one of the back rooms. The rest of his long hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail. This particular hairstyle perfectly frames the abundance of piercings in his ear, as well as a two more placed on his eyebrow and lip. Tattoos peek out from the rolled back sleeves of his black jacket, and from the low neckline of his shirt. One, consisting of letters of a foreign language, winds around his neck. His build is slender, almost like a shapeless, tall girl. But he is clearly a he, and actually, somehow, attractive. But even with all these striking details, there's only one thing my gaze is drawn towards.

His eyes.

They're a glowing crimson against an inky black backdrop. Anyone else might gawk at such a feature, but I just turn to Hanako.

"You never mentioned that he was a ghoul."

She shrugs. "Wasn't important. He has some pretty wicked skills, though, otherwise I wouldn't bring you here. I doubt he'll mind that you're human."

I tense, turning back to the man. I've been amongst ghouls many times accompanying Hanako, but every time I've worn heavy perfume to mask any human smell I might have. She's always worried my species will be discovered while we're around her kind.

He doesn't say anything, but pats a stool near him. Quiet, I obey his unspoken command and sit myself atop it. Hanako stands to the side watching while he circles me, scrutinizing my face. Uneasy, and honestly feeling a bit violated, I shrink back, but then he reaches out to take my face in his hands. I look to Hanako for encouragement, but she's too busy examining the mask on one of the mannequins. Well, if she's comfortable, there should be no reason for my caution.

"Do you have any allergies to certain materials?" he asks me, fingers massaging my cheekbones.

"No," I respond, doing be best not to move my head too much. "Your name is Uta, right?"

"Yes," he confirms, reaching over and checking something off a piece of paper resting on one of the display cases.

"Do you never hide your eyes? I mean, I'm human, and you've still got them...out."

"I usually tell my human customers they're inked."

"Inked?"

He stops for a moment, meeting my eyes. "I say that I inject them with dye every morning. They believe me." With his nonchalant behavior and decoration choices, I can see why. It makes me wonder if he has any sense of caution in him. He gets back to examining my face. "If you don't want to answer, don't, but why are you getting a mask made?"

"It's my eighteenth birthday next week, and Hanako promised me she'd let me come along when she eats then. She's never let me go with her before."

I wait for him to question why I want to see such a thing, but he simply says, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

"Ah, I'm hungry," Hanako whines, taking off a mask she was trying on. "Uta, do you have any snacks? I've been holding myself back to wait for her birthday."

He points to a jar sitting atop one of the mask cases. "Help yourself." I eye her as she glides over, popping off the lid and lifting a round orb from the depths. I don't even flinch when I realize it's an eyeball.

She glances over at me first, making sure I'm not gagging before slurping it into her mouth whole. I've always been curious as to how Hanako eats, so I've done my research. I used to not be able to stand the pictures. I would have nightmares of the mutilated corpses and splattered blood, waking up screaming. Now, though, I've grown accustomed. Maybe some people would feel that they were losing their humanity to be able to look at something like that and not feel anything, but I don't. I'm close enough to someone who isn't human to feel completely human, even if I do vary a bit from the usual. At least I can still eat sweets.

Barely seconds later, the door opens. It's completely silent, but the movement is more than enough to catch our attentions. Uta pays it no mind, while I, on the other hand, stiffen, and Hanako pauses mid chew.

A boy, easily older than either of us by a few years, steps in. His hair is greyish white around the edges, fading into black as it reaches his scalp. I've seen a lot of different dyed styles, but never this one before. I like it. It's kinda cool. Hanako swallows as he glances around at us. His gaze lands on Uta.

"Are you an employee here?" In his hand, he holds what looks to be one of the masks. Black leather seems to be the material it consists of, and it covers an eye and the mouth. Is it his? Is he a ghoul, then?

I look to Hanako for confirmation, but she returns my stare with a look of utter confusion. Her nose, as she always brags, she's trained to be a lot more sensitive than a regular ghoul's. She highly prizes her ability to tell ghouls and humans apart merely by their scent. However, this time she can't seem to puzzle it out.

"Yes," Uta responds simply.

"Well, this was delivered to the wrong house," he explains, holding up the strange mask. Now that I have a better view of it, I can see bolts protruding from the area near the neck. The way it's designed, I get the feeling whoever it was meant for is a monster not to get involved with. Somehow, the mask reminds me of the grim reaper. It's like death itself.

"Is that so?" Uta finally takes notice, straightening and leaving me to sit isolated on the stool. "Are you not Kaneki Ken?"

"I'm not."

"I apologize, then." His black eyes are wide, seemingly in an expression of surprise. It's then that the customer sees his ghoul eyes.

"Your eyes-"

"They're inked," Uta interrupts, pulling down one of his lower eyelids so he can see his eye better. "Don't they look like a ghoul's?"

The boy laughs nervously. "Yeah, they do. About the mask-"

"Keep it, as an apology for troubling you," Uta insists. When the boy tries to refuse, he continues. "I'll make another for the customer who actually ordered it, although I'll have to change the design. I guarantee, the masks I make are one of a kind. They're perfectly suited to their owner."

I may be the only one who catches the implication behind his words. Does he mean that that mask was meant for that boy? He doesn't look that intimidating at all, but if every mask is suited to the wearer...I don't want to know what that boy's hiding.

"Well, thank you, then," the boy reluctantly agrees. Uta returns to writing something down and studying my face again, but for some reason I don't feel as uncomfortable as before. I just wish that boy would leave. Something about him bodes ill.

As he turns to go, his eyes meet Hanako's. "You were eating something when I came in, weren't you?" With that phrase, I realize he's suspicious. He must doubt Uta's excuse of inking. No, he's definitely not normal, is he?

"Chocolate," she lies smoothly. She digs her hand into her pocket. "I've got some more if you want...ah, nevermind. That was the last one, sorry." She shrugs, casually apologetic. I've seen her put on this act countless times since she moved in with me and mom. When we were young her dad got caught by ghoul investigators, doves as she calls them, so I urged her to move in with us. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about how she might be suffering over her dad's death. I was just terrified that she'd leave my side. Mom was pretty shocked to learn about her being a ghoul, but hid her nonetheless. We moved, she changed back to her actual name instead of an alias, and she's been living in our house ever since. She can't go to school with me, but sometimes she comes to pick me up. Usually, she's a straight forward person. She says what she thinks, does what she feels like doing. I've always admired that about her. But, when it comes to anything related to ghouls, she scares me sometimes. It's not that she eats other humans. Oddly enough, I was never really concerned about that. It's just that she feels like a stranger when she lies so blatantly.

"It's fine," he assures her. "I was just curious." He leaves without another word, scrutinizing his mask as he goes. Uta finally finishes touching my face and scribbles the final few words down, but I can still feel his fingers. The ghosting sensation causes me to frown.

"You're an interesting ghoul," I note passively. "Aren't you worried about me, a human, knowing you're a ghoul? And why'd you give that guy a mask when he didn't order one?"

He glances up at me, setting the paper aside. "You don't care that I'm a ghoul, so I don't care that you are human. And Kaneki did order a mask a while ago, but he forgot about it. It's rightfully his since he's already paid for it."

"Is that so…" I mumble. That guy, Kaneki, seemed pretty sure it wasn't his property. Exactly how long ago did he order it? Does it really take him so long to mold a mask that the client forgets about it? Hanako got one, but she never told me how long it took. "Will you have my mask ready when I need it?"

"It'll be ready in four days. Would you rather come pick it up or have it delivered?"

Wait a minute, didn't that guy specifically say he wasn't Kaneki? Kaneki was supposed to be the recipient of the mask, but the boy said… I shouldn't concern myself with it. Whatever's going on, Uta apparently has it under control. Still, though...

Hanako answers for me before I can break away from my drifting thoughts. "We'll come back here. Noriko doesn't need to know I'm taking her daughter to witness a ghoul's dinner. I'll pay you when the work is done, agreed?"

"That will be fine," he concedes.

"What is my mask going to look like?" I wonder, sliding off the stool. "I mean, I'm seeing a lot of demon faces, and the mask that boy had was like a grim reaper frankenstein, and Hanako's kind of looks like a cat. What about mine?"

He takes his time to answer, tilting his head in consideration. "Maybe a mockingbird."

A mockingbird? Interesting. Perhaps he's choosing that because I associate with ghouls. I live in the ghoul world even though I am human. I mock the ghouls' tone, the same way a mockingbird steals the songs of others. Unless that connection is something that's just coincidence, he really does put a lot of thought into his art.

Hanako bursts into laughter. "A cat and a bird? How suiting!"

Realizing the predator prey relationship, I also crack a grin. Yeah, this guy was definitely the right person to go to. I can't wait to see what kind of mask he makes for me.

"Oh!" She suddenly stops, checking her watch. "There's only a few hours left until the cafe closes! If we bring in our previous check today, we can get a free coffee!"

"You don't even like coffee," I point out for the zillionth time.

"Yeah, but it's the only thing we can drink together." That's always her reason. Even though she detests the bitterness of coffee beans, she obsesses over the fact that it's common ground between us. Sure, she looks down on and condescends humans, but I think that she kind of wishes she were one. She suffocates that fantasy of hers. We settle for simply drinking the one drink that we both can stomach together.

"We're off, then." I raise my hand in a half wave, to which Uta nods in response. Hanako holds open the door, her expression not even trying to hide her impatience as I purposely trudge towards the door dragging my feet. The moment I'm within reach, she grabs my wrist and yanks me along.

I'm unable to contain my laughter as she glares at me. I hope this never changes. With all my heart, I hope she's never caught by the doves, and never has to leave me behind. Is that too much to hope for? All I want is my one and only best friend to stay by my side.

Even if she is a ghoul.


I'm not really being subtle about the mockingbird significance, am I? Well, I didn't really feel the need to be. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I've honestly had this out for awhile, since it was originally a one shot, but I did correct a few grammar errors and wording issues. I hope I caught them all. Anyway, what did you think? Thoughts about Kiyoko? Hanako? If anyone has read my first TG fanfiction, what're your thoughts? Keep in mind this is an alternate timeline, so of course Hanako's going to be a little different. Different things happened to her. And obviously, Kiyoko's pretty different as well. If you can stomach it, I'd like to recommend anyone who hasn't read my story Scarlet Child to go ahead and read it. I think you'll enjoy it, and that it'll add enjoyment to this story. Anyway, I can't wait to hear your first impressions!

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!