That's him, isn't it? Ume was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with her friends, indulging in a coffee while they ate. It had only been two days since she met him, but she could instantly recognize the boy by his scent and his appearance. Kaneki-kun. And that must be his friend, right?
He was walking alongside a boy with rather fluffy, light hair. His friend was talking excitedly about something, but the dark-haired boy seemed a bit down. When her friends saw her looking, they exchanged a curious glance.
"Hey, you know that guy?" Morinaga asked.
"I've seen him around before. Wait…wasn't he-?" Tanaka started.
"In that accident a while back! Yeah, I remember hearing about that!" The boy raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Kuroda, where do you know that guy from?"
"W-we both work at a café in town," she replied. I wonder if he's still hungry. I did make something special. I was going to take it to Anteiku and leave it with Touka, but if I can get it to him now…Ume stood and grabbed her bag. "S-sorry…I have to ask him something s-so…"
Morinaga gave her a dismissive wave. "Go. We'll see you later."
She moved quickly, her loose copper curls bouncing with each step as she tried to catch up with the two boys. What am I going to say though? I can't just say 'here's some food I made just for you because I like that you like my cooking'! She could feel a faint heat to her cheeks and knew she was blushing. Shaking her head, Ume finally came close. "K-Kaneki-kun, wait!"
He turned swiftly, startled. "K-Kuroda-chan?"
"Huh? Who's this?" His friend looked from Kaneki to Ume and grinned. "Hey, come on! Introduce me! How do you guys know each other?"
Kaneki rubbed the back of his neck, blushing faintly. "We work together. Um…Hide, this is Kuroda-chan. Kuroda-chan, this is my friend Hide." His nose twitched, indicating that he had caught the scent of her gift.
Hide stuck out a hand expectantly, positively beaming. "Any friend of Kaneki's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you, Kuroda-chan. What's your first name?"
She hesitantly shook his hand. His skin was warm against hers and gave off a strong human scent. "I-it's Ume. Kuroda Ume. N-nice to…meet you."
"S-so what did you want to tell me, Kuroda-chan?"
"I-I'm sorry. It can wait. I-I don't want to take time away from-"
"It's…it's fine! Don't worry about it, Kuroda-chan." Kaneki smiled reassuringly. It was clear that he had a feeling about why she had approached him.
Her green gaze dropped to her bag and she frowned a little. "Um…I-I made something for you…I-I don't know if you'll like it, but…" She dug around in the bag and quickly produced a neatly wrapped bento box. Holding it out with shaking hands, she bowed her head. "This is…um…w-well I…made it with you in mind and…"
"Wow! Kaneki, that's great! She made you a lunch!" Hide grinned encouragingly at the boy's side. "Go on! I've heard your stomach growling all day!"
Kaneki's hands shook as well when he accepted the box from her. When their fingers brushed against each other, color rushed to his face. "Th-thank you, Kuroda-chan."
"I-I hope it…tastes okay…" she mumbled, fidgeting with her bag's strap. "I…I'm going to the café now s-so…I'll see you later!" Ume hurried off before he could say anything, jogging toward the street.
Shift P.O.V
"You're so lucky! I didn't know that someone like that worked with you!"
Kaneki could smell it through the container. There was food inside that he could consume. Something that smelled absolutely delicious. She gave this to me. She said that she made it with me in mind, too. He could feel himself blushing again and shook his head. "Kuroda-chan was gone for a while, but I guess she started working there again the other day."
"She seems pretty nice. She even made you a lunch! That's pretty cute!"
"Yeah…" He lifted his eyes to Ume's retreating form. He had not seen her out of the waitress uniform and was surprised by how cutely she apparently dressed at school. Her lavender sweater hung loosely on her, the grey skirt flaring a little as she ran. The girl's coppery locks were hanging freely around her shoulders, bouncing with each step. "She's…really nice."
The boy knew that he could not eat the food in front of Hide. Whether or not it looked like normal food, he had a feeling that his friend would ask questions and possibly even want to try some. The thought of his friend accidentally eating human flesh was not a pleasant one. I'll have to wait until my break at work, he decided.
When they split up and he made his way to Anteiku, he changed clothes quickly. With the little bit of spare time, he popped the lid off of the bento box. Inside was something very peculiar. It was thinly sliced pieces of meat with a sort of dark sauce drizzled over them. The sauce gave off a coffee aroma and it made his mouth water.
"Oh, she made you a bento?"
Hearing Touka's voice so close made him jump a little. "Wh-what? Um…"
"Wow. Coffee sauce, right? You're pretty lucky. Gummy bears and now a bento. A lot of guys would kill to get stuff like that from Ume."
"S-sorry."
"What are you apologizing about? Anyway, you'd better eat that first. If you leave it in your locker, it's going to get stolen. I guarantee it."
Kaneki waited for her to walk away, for him to be totally alone, before hesitantly lifting a slice of meat with the chopsticks tucked into the box. He sniffed at it, but knew already that it was something he could eat. It carried no corpse scent. It smelled like a premium cut of meat, cooked to perfection. There was a slight char that gave it a crispy edge, mingling well with the sauce. Chewing it, he felt immensely satisfied. I can eat this. It's something I can actually eat! And she made it for me?
Shift P.O.V
"I heard that you made something special for Kaneki," Irimi commented.
Ume jolted, nearly dropping the coffee cup she had been returning. "Y-yes…um…w-well I know he can't eat it raw so…"
"You're always so considerate, Kuroda-chan."
But I did it for my own selfish reasons, she thought. Ume kept her head bowed as she started pouring some cups of coffee for customers. I did it to help Kaneki, but I also did it because I wanted to get closer to him. He's so different from most other ghouls. She watched him emerge from the back and blushed brightly when their eyes met.
He smiled, displaying an expression of gratitude as well as satisfaction. "Th-thank you for the food, Kuroda-chan. It was delicious."
"Y-you really…liked it? Really?" Ume saw Irimi smiling from the corner of her eye and bowed her head again, trying to hide her blush from the woman. Seeing the boy look so happy, and knowing that she had contributed to it, made her heart skip a beat. He's…so cute when he smiles.
"You know…it's hard for me to find things I can eat, but that bento was perfect. Thank you for making it for me."
"It's…no trouble at all! I love cooking for people so…so…um…if you want to…I-I could make another sometime and…" She realized that she might be rambling and frowned. "S-sorry…I get kind of excited sometimes…about cooking…"
"I think it's cute," Irimi chimed in. "You two seem like you get along really well. Why don't you eat together next time?"
"E-eat together?" Ume was both nervous and excited by this idea. Sharing a meal was uncommon with ghouls, but not completely unheard of with couples. She was already beginning to think of what she could make and how to arrange it so that he could eat it without difficulty. But if we eat together, is it a date? Ume started thinking about the dates she had seen on television shows and frowned, realizing that they would need to find a good place to eat their meal. She could serve it at her apartment, but her home would need to be tidied up first. Regardless of where they ate, she would need to buy something nice to wear. Before any planning, she would need to first ask him. "K-Kaneki-kun! Do you…want…dinner…date?!" she blurted out.
Kaneki stared at her, a little alarmed by the outburst. He had assumed the conversation was over and went to deliver coffee to a ghoul customer. Turning quickly to look at Ume, he nearly dropped the coffee cup. "Kuroda-chan?"
Realizing that she had managed to draw the attention of every person in the café, her face turned bright red. "Kaneki-kun…date…dinner…do you want?" she attempted again, failing miserably at forming a sentence.
"A-alright."
"Alright?!"
"Yeah…um…w-we can talk about it after work…okay?" He was blushing as well, realizing that their potential date plans were being listened to intently by all of the customers.
Ume was unable to hide her smile and look of relief. "A-alright. We'll…talk after work," she agreed.
Irimi patted her on the back, wearing a look of amusement. "That was kind of unorthodox, but definitely a memorable way to ask someone out. I'm proud of you, Kuroda-chan."
I just asked him out in front of the entire café! What am I going to do? What are we going to do? What am I going to wear? What am I going to cook? Ingredients! I'll have to make a list and if I ask really nicely, will Yoshimura-san give me what I need for the perfect meal?! Her heart was racing as she thought about the date that she was going to plan. Throughout the next few hours, she would continuously look at the clock and wait for both of their shifts to end.
Touka came up to her around the end of the day, raising an eyebrow. "I heard that you asked Kaneki out."
"I-it's just dinner!" Ume quickly protested.
"I heard that you used the word 'date'," Touka corrected her with a laugh. "Don't worry about it. You always get so nervous around boys. What's the worst that can happen though? And besides; it's Kaneki."
Her green eyes lifted to Touka's gaze, bearing tears of worry. "T-Touka…I think I might really like him…I don't want to mess this up!" she whispered. "He…ate the bento that I made for him! And he liked it! He really liked it, Touka!"