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"

When Tadashi finished getting dressed with the clothes Yomo offered, and the water had drained from the bathtub, he made his way out into the hallway. The set of stairs were at the end, and he heard chatter from downstairs. A lot of it, actually. Loud laughter, and a few slams against a table, as if someone was telling a hysterical story.

Tadashi's palms were already starting to become clammy as he held the railing to help himself down. Just when he reached down to the last step, things were beginning to hush up. The café was full of people, and Tadashi swore he could see some look at him hungrily.

"Ah, Tadashi! Come over here, let me brew you up some coffee. Tadashi!" Akane called out, waving her arm to grab his attention.

She still wasn't trust-worthy to him, and he could see the smirk on her face meant more than it should have had, but he still hurried over there. At the moment, she was the only person he known in the café. The others were people he didn't know, and most likely didn't want to know. Yomo, Touka, nor Nishiki were anywhere in sight. Tadashi grunted to himself, since Yomo was the one that told him to come down when he wasn't there himself.

Akane brewed a cup of coffee right in front of Tadashi, because she seen that he watched her every move. "I know you don't trust me, but I think that you should, considering we are going to know each other for a while now." She told him, pouring coffee into the white cup.

Tadashi took in a quick breath through his nose, and then grimaced in disapproval. Did she remember what she tried to do to him less than three hours ago?

"I know I tried to do some things I'm not so proud of," Akane said, and then slide to cup over to him, "But I've changed."

This was such a joke to Tadashi, he almost laughed. He would have had, if it wasn't for the other three appearing from the back. Touka was glaring at Akane, foreseeing Akane's plan. Nishiki looked as if he was going to fall asleep, with his eyes half-closed and darted down to the floor. There was a box in Yomo's hand, with a sticker on the side of it. It was simply a coffee bean box.

"Tadashi, do you mind sitting with me for a cup of coffee?" Touka requested.

"Sure." Tadashi replied, and then picked up his cup to show her that he was already prepared. Of course he was still anxious and hesitant, but out of all the people there, he believed that Touka wasn't as bad as them.

Touka walked over to him, and sat down at the stool beside his. Akane had already placed a cup in front of Touka, and retreated over to the customers to get orders.

For a few seconds, Touka stared at the brown coffee, and then reached into her pocket to pull out a small tan cube. Then she dropped it into her cup, small amounts of water splashing out under its plop. Tadashi doubted that it was a normal sugar cube, considering that it was tan, and had a weird vibe to it as Touka gulped down her coffee.

"These cubes are like snacks. They won't stop the hunger completely, but they'll subside it." Touka clarified without Tadashi even asking. "Which is why there are so many ghouls here, a lot of them don't go hunting in the day time, but they go hungry. So we offer these cubes."

Yomo was gone from view again, and Tadashi didn't bother to figure out where Nishiki was.

"So, where are you from? San Fransokyo is nowhere in Japan, do you mean San Francisco in America? Though Yomo stated that it isn't anywhere on this earth. Did you just drop from the sky, or something?" She curiously asked.

"I think I did." Tadashi weakly chuckled, "I don't remember much past meeting you. All I know is that where I'm from, I was working on this portal experiment. It was just supposed to be a transportation device, bringing me to another room, but instead I jumped in and here I am." He explained.

"Oh? You're a scientist? How old are you by the way? You seem older than me." Touka planned to ask a lot more questions, since that was her order from Yomo. To find out more about him, his weak spots, why he was there, etcetera. Yomo didn't explain why he wanted to know, and why he chose her exactly, though she rarely ever did question him.

"I went to San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, and I was a robotics engineering student. Also, I am twenty-one." Tadashi politely answered. He didn't mind the questions, and actually enjoyed it when they were simply.

"Touka, customer." Yomo poked his head out from behind the bar, scaring Tadashi a little. He was wiping the shining plates, and stacking them up evenly on top of each other.

Touka nodded her head, reached over the bar to grab a clipboard and a pen, and then hopped off the stool. Tadashi stared at her back as she went off, to greet a group of distinctive looking people. One had hair that were two different colors, the other had an eye-patch, and one reminded Tadashi of a shark. Droopy eyes and sharp teeth.

When Tadashi looked away, he noticed Yomo's hard eyes looking at the group also. His hands had stopped moving, and his shoulders rose up stiff slightly. Tadashi wondered if Yomo knew the people? Or if they were also ghouls. And not the best kind.

Tadashi strained his hearing to listen to Touka, but while at it, he heard Yomo mutter a name. He couldn't catch the name though.

The group mumbled to each other after they noticed Yomo's intense stare, but Touka interuppted them by moving in front of their view.

"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you to greet the customers?" She rhetorically questioned Yomo, before facing the others.

Touka directed them to a table at the walls, and she took their orders quickly before returning to behind the bar. She muttered something in Yomo's ear, and Yomo didn't give back a response. He simply put down the towel and plate in his hands to the surface of the bar, and then walked away. It was quiet between the workers, and even between the customers. As if the group gave off an intimidating aura, although they seemed alright to Tadashi.

Some customers mumbled the name, "Haise Sasaki." With an upset tone.

Yomo sat down right in front of the boy with white hair adorned by black streaks, and scrutinized him for several moments without saying a word. However it looked like only Tadashi found it abnormal, since everyone else went about their business, except for the table.

"Ah, the order was three cups of coffee?" The customer spoke, and flashed a small smile.

As Yomo walked back silently, Touka lectured him while walking out with a tray of three cup of coffee. "Sorry for the wait." She told them, and placed one cup in front of each person.

"Whoa... Delicious." Tooru, the eyepatch one admired.

"It's a bullseye! And Sassan's nose kagune ain't shit either! Right?" Ginshi wondered. He directed a toothy grin to Haise.

Haise lowered his head with a small smile, and stared down at the cup after taking a short sip. "Yeah, it's tasty." He replied, though the smile on his face quickly disappeared. "Huh?" He gasped. Small droplets of tears brimmed in his eyes, and soon fell out. An air of melancholy clouded around him, and settled into his lungs as he tried to breathe.

As he lowered down his head even more, a hand offering a handkerchief appeared in his blurry vision. Instantly, he looked up from the pale hand and took the handkerchief gently. He looked at Touka for quick second.

"Ah, I'm sorry. It's delicious, it really is." He wearied, clearly flustered, and then patted his wet cheeks and dabbed the corners of his eyes without looking back up at Touka.

While Touka waited for her handkerchief, her eyes didn't move away from Haise, and he couldn't get the image of her expression out of his mind. She gave him a smile, a smile that looked a little troubled and a bit sad. And the only thought that crossed Haise's mind was that he once had such a beautiful person in his life.

After Haise and his friends were gone, Touka walked back over to Tadashi, and sat down quietly.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi asked, twirling the cup around by the handle.

Touka's coffee went cold, and she pushed it away lightly. "I'm... Alright." She slowly answered, and then pensively played with her fingers. The moment she looked at Haise, she felt too many things at once. He reminded her of someone she once knew too terribly, and she felt that she was right to put the two together. It hurt to think about it, so it was best that she tried her best not to.

"What's up? Was he your old friend, or something? Your older brother, I mean Yomo, didn't seem too happy about him." Tadashi commented.

"I believe he is an old friend." Touka told him, and although the answer was vague, it was evident that he wasn't just any typical old friend. "And Yomo isn't my brother." She added.

"Oh?"

"Jeez, it looks like you still have a lot to learn." She groaned, surprising Tadashi a little. Her voice became more low as she continued, "Ghouls aren't accepted in this world, and Yomo, Nishiki, and I aren't exactly that safe from doves. My kagune is well-known to the doves. So, Yomo and I became new people when something happened. We're apparently related now."

Tadashi nodded his head, and processed the new information immediately. He ran his hand down to the back of his head, propped his elbow on the bar, placing his head on the palm of his hand.

"But enough about me, let's talk more about you. Do you have a family?" Touka inquired, her voice returning to its soft self.

"I do actually," Tadashi said, quite sadly. "My younger brother, his name is Hiro and he is a genius. Graduated high school at thirteen actually. Then I have my Aunt Cass, because my parents died."

Touka's eyes widened in surprise. "So, you lost your parents too? How strange." It was originally just a thought, but it slipped out of her mouth and she couldn't take it back once it did.

"Yeah, when I was a kid. Hiro doesn't remember much of them, being just a baby then, but when he says the word 'parents', you could just hear how sad he is. He's a strong kid though, I think he's doing just fine now." Tadashi responded.

"Even without you? I think it's really hard to find out your sibling's gone, especially when you're close to them, or when the parents are gone also. It just makes you want to go back, sometimes." Touka sighed. It was a nostalgic sigh, and Tadashi could tell that her words meant more to her than it did to him. Then she moved on to the next question after realizing what kind of mood she have had put down between her and Tadashi. "Do you know how to fight in any way?" She questioned.

"I mean, I know some karate but in this place, I doubt it's useful." Tadashi replied and then chuckled.

"And you're right with that. Unless you were to join the doves or stay under our roof, you're dead before you know it. Neither humans nor ghouls last very long nowadays." She said with no visible feeling.

"I don't think I'd want to join the doves. I don't think I can ever kill anyone, even if they're a ghoul." He told her.

"You'll never survive in this world if you can't kill, Tadashi." Touka stated.

Tadashi wanted to ask more about her statement, but an unexpected grasp to his shoulder made him yelp in pain. It was a firm grasp by a callous hand, and Tadashi was afraid to turn around and check who it was. When he carefully spun around, he seen that it was just Yomo.

"Do you mind going with me somewhere later?" He requested.

Tadashi wanted to say no, however he knew that there was no actual choice for him. "I don't mind at all." Tadashi said.

Akane skipped over to the bar with an empty tray in her hands, humming a sweet melody, and many people watched her. The tune she hummed sounded oddly pleasing, but the beginning part was unsteady. Her curls bounced, and her white teeth gleamed under the bright lights. If Tadashi didn't know that she was a ghoul, and an especially hunger-driven one, he would have smiled at her appearance.

The humming didn't stop, and despite her disappearing into the back room, it kept going on in Tadashi's mind. Eventually, he even started humming his own melody, since he never got to listen to the end of Akane's hum.

Yomo had started work again, and so did Touka, leaving Tadashi all by himself. Left alone with his thoughts, he groaned and tapped his index finger repeatedly to distract himself from over thinking. However, the thoughts wouldn't end. Anxiety crept up on him, and gradually all his fingers tapped roughly on the surface of the bar. He was terrified of going with Yomo, although he proved to be a bit trust-worthy. Saving him, providing him safety, and all.

The only thoughts that were holding him together were Hiro, and his world. The idea that rebuilding the teleportation device, and being able to return home kept his actions from becoming too dramatic.

"Tadashi, can you go in the back and fetch me three sugar cubes please. It's in a jar near the sink." Touka put emphasis on the word 'sugar' and Tadashi understood right away.

He made his way behind the bar, and entered the back room through the heavy door. The smell in there was sweet, yet morose. Akane was in there too, washing the cups and placing them face down neatly on the side of the sink. She paid no attention to him, until he reached the glass jar by the cups.

"You're going to die, you know that? I'm not the only ghoul willing to eat you. And you have no official identity on this planet, who else would be willing to take you in? No one." Akane coldly stated, not even looking away from the cup in her hands.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Tadashi pouted.

"Boy," Akane turned her head around to him, "There are a lot more crueller things in this world. Simply trying to live with ghouls and not turning them in is accountable for punishment to the doves. This world is terrible with no beauty to offer, and if you die, oh well."

The pout on Tadashi's face turned into a frown, and he didn't say anything else. What could he say? He wasn't curious about the pessimist she was. So he ignored her statement, and he spun open the lid, then pulled out three cubes like Touka asked. They were so small in Tadashi's large hands, and he felt the surfaces of them with the finger tips of his other hand. They were rocky, and he lifted to sniff them, surprised by the lack of scent they had.

"Try one. They're satisfying, especially with coffee." Akane suggested.

"They're meant for ghouls." Tadashi responded with hard eyes.

"They could be for anyone if they are brave enough. Are you a coward now, Tadashi? Are you scared?" She taunted.

Instead of replying, Tadashi continued to stare at them, and closed his hand slowly. He turned around, and stomped his way out of the room. Everything that came out of everybody's mouth sounded like it was meant for poetry, and fated poetry typically ended with a tragic. He found Touka greeting a new group of customers, and gave her the cubes without a word.

While walking back to the bar, he noticed eyes directed at him and heard nearly inaudible mumbles scattered around the room. Even Yomo was watching him. Before he took a seat on the stool, he began to feel even smaller. More insignificant and insecure, as if anyone in the room could stomp him if he didn't hide soon. Just like an ant.

Akane marched out of the back room with a rectangular bucket holding the shining cups. She carefully settled it down on the bar, and then stacked them on a shelf hidden to anyone in front of the bar.

"Can I just ask you one thing, Tadashi?"

It was Tadashi's nature to say yes, because there were no harms in simple questions. That was usually how he went with life. So of course he nodded his head.

"If you were given a chance, would you become a ghoul? To survive." Akane's tone was uncharacteristically soft, or maybe that was just a side of her that Tadashi didn't know about.

I'd think I rather much die. Was what Tadashi thought, but what he replied with said otherwise, "I guess."

"If you were to given the chance to join the CCG, would you?" And again, Akane finished off her words with a, "To survive."

"Hey, you said you'd ask me only one thing." Tadashi smirked, and crossed his arms. He knew that she was being serious, but he was exhausted from answering questions he didn't want to answer.

Akane didn't say anything else, and went back to organizing the cups and shelves.

It was quiet again, and for some reason, Tadashi felt content with that. With Touka's voice chiming throughout the room, Yomo's constant travel from dirty tables to the bar, and Akane's casual humming. It felt as if he was back at the Lucky Cat Cafe, and perhaps that was why he was so relaxed. At the moment, it was the closest thing to home.

It was warm in the car, and smelled a bit like lemon. Tadashi sat at the passenger seat, his hands clinging the gray seat belt. Although the car had started, Yomo was still in the café. Tadashi could see him by the glass doors through the rearview mirror. He was speaking to Touka and Akane, serious expression on all of their faces.

To say Tadashi was terrified was an underestimate. The hairs at the back of his neck stood up, and his breathing stopped with every person that walked by the car, for some looked past the tinted glass and right into his eyes. The warmth in the car felt nonexistence as chills ran down his spine, and Tadashi soon found it very hard to seem impassive.

Finally, Yomo exited out the café, and the two girls ran off. Yomo wore a cape, but Tadashi couldn't distinguish what color it was under the dark night sky.

When he got into the car, he glanced at Tadashi, and started to drive out of the parking lot. There weren't many cars out, though Tadashi did notice a few men in suits watching the cars drive by. Yomo paid no attention to them, but Tadashi stared at them while they were still in his view. They also held briefcases tightly, as if all their way of survival was kept in those.

After a bit, Yomo checked on Tadashi and seen how interested he seemed in those people. "Those are the doves. They usually where white lab coats, or jackets, but I guess not tonight." Yomo explained to Tadashi.

"They look scarier than ghouls do." Tadashi mentioned.

"That's what a lot of ghouls think too. However, there are some ghouls that you shouldn't mess with." Yomo said back, and then took a sharp turn into a less populated area.

"Oh, yeah? Like who?" Tadashi wondered.

Yomo thought for a moment, and then stopped the car near a closed store. It wasn't the destination, however it was a good stop for a few seconds. He didn't like to talk and drive very much. No doves were around, nor people in general. Their car's headlights were the only light source down the street. It caused the situation to become even more creepy for Tadashi.

A couple of moments past before Yomo opened his mouth again.

"Let me just tell you one thing, Tadashi, you'll become one of the weakest ones."

A/N: If you didn't get that, you will soon. I plan for the next chapter to introduce how Tadashi's world is taking this in. Also, to the Hide (on ) review, I can't write if Hide is alive or not because I am typing this while also depending on the manga. My story is a subplot, I guess. I hope I get to put some action in this fanfic soon :-) Enough talk.

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