Nervousness made her stomach twist in knots. Her palms were sweating so she gave them a quick wipe on her skirt before trying to focus on pouring coffee. Saya glanced to the side and saw him approaching. Her heart skipped a beat when their eyes briefly met. Looking away, she managed to maintain the moderately sized professional smile plastered on her face. "Hello, Kaneki-senpai."

"Hello," he greeted her with a smile. He took up his place beside her, moving to take the cup from her when she had finished pouring.

Saya felt warmth filling her cheeks. He's always so cute when he smiles! The only other smile that could ever make me feel close to this was Rize-san's, but it was different. Her smile was pretty and it made my heart race. Kaneki-senpai's smile makes me feel warm and tingly. She turned to hand him the cup and felt her fingertips brush against his. "Ah!"

"I-it's okay!" he assured her. Taking the cup of coffee, he was about to walk away to deliver it, but paused when he felt her hand on his shoulder. "Saya-chan?"

She bowed her head, icy blue eyes watching him from behind her dark bangs. "Kaneki-senpai. I have something. For you. It's a gift. I made it myself. After work, could you-?"

"I was actually going to ask…if you want to walk with me," he confessed, his cheeks flushing pink.

Her eyes widened, mouth slightly hanging open. "Yes!"

"Alright." Kaneki was released and he began walking to take the coffee cup to the customer.

Saya turned away from the customers for a moment, facing the back wall, and hid her grin behind a hand. Her heart was pounding at the idea of walking alone with him after work. It would be the perfect opportunity to give him the meal that she had made. Just thinking about it made her feel absurdly giddy.

As she went to work on polishing some cups, she felt eyes on her. A quick glance at her side made her frown and roll her eyes. "Don't say it."

Touka grinned and leaned forward a little so that Saya could see. "That was almost as cute as a puppy and a kitten both trying to squeeze into a bed."

"I don't need the sarcasm," Saya remarked, snickering. "Did I look that weak?"

"Pretty much. I don't think I've ever seen you act so goofy about someone. Not even Nishiki. Speaking of which, you haven't been hanging out with that asshole again, have you?"

"I pay him visits. Not that I give a shit what you think."

"Calm down. I still don't get what you see in that guy."

"He's strong. He's funny. And it's not like you know him the way that I do."

"I don't think I would want to." She saw a flicker of concern in Saya's face and frowned. "What? Are you really that pissed off at me?"

Saya shook her head and moved to tighten her ponytail. "You haven't heard from him in a while, have you?"

"Him, who? Nishiki?"

She tensed a little, worried about how Touka would react to what she was going to say. "Ayato." Immediately, she saw her friend tense as well.

"No. I haven't heard from him. Why? Did he say something?"

"I haven't seen him, either. There was just this thing. It was just something stupid, probably. Don't worry about it."

"If you know where he is-"

"I don't! I just thought that I smelled him in my apartment a few days ago. There's no way though. He wouldn't have kept that key that I gave him." Saya snickered, knowing how ridiculous she must sound.

Touka shook her head, running her fingers through her hair. "You're an idiot, you know that? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because it's stupid! Why would he-?"

"You seriously think that he wouldn't keep the key that you gave him? You said that he could visit you when you gave it to him. Idiot. If you see him, you'd better tell me. I won't forgive you if you keep it a secret from me."

Why would that little shit want to be in my apartment anyway? If he came back to the 20th ward, he would probably go to Touka first. Saya was left alone to tend to the counter, half-listening to the customers' conversations as she worked. Her stomach growled quietly and she thought about the morsel of human flesh that she had left in the refrigerator for later. That's going to be a nice snack, she thought with a grin.

The girl could hardly wait for the café to close that night. She was grinning while she changed back into her school uniform, eager to see her crush again and give him the gift. Holding the bento box in her hands, she had to bite her lip to withhold a cheerful laugh. She had chosen a simple, black bento box for the occasion, but was more excited about what was inside.

I think I did a good job, she thought as she stepped outside. It smelled pretty good. I know it won't be as good as what I had at the ghoul restaurant, but it should be easier for Kaneki-senpai to eat than raw flesh. When she saw him come outside, she hurried over and was nearly bursting with excitement. "Senpai~"

"O-oh! There you are, Saya-chan. Did you want to-?"

"I made you something special," she blurted out. The girl held out the box with both hands, smiling her true smile. It was a broad, rather unsettling smile that one might expect to see in an old asylum or in a dark alley late at night. It was a smile that Rize had never flinched at.

Kaneki's eyes widened, his nose twitching as he caught the smell of the food inside. A bit of drool visibly formed at the corner of his mouth and he hesitantly took the bento from her. "What…is this?"

"I made you dinner." Saya clasped her hands behind her back, beaming when she saw his eye raise from the box to meet hers. "I wanted to do something nice for you, Kaneki-senpai. So I thought to myself "what could I do for Senpai"? And the idea came to me pretty quickly. You always look so hungry; I thought that what you would want the most is a delicious meal so…ta-da!"

His hands shook as he carefully lifted the lid a little, sniffing at its contents. It smelled like cooked meat and some sort of savory sauce. "It…it smells really good, Saya-chan."

"I thought that you would like it! So what do you say?" She tilted her head and walked in front of him, backwards so that she could see his face. The sidewalk was mostly empty so she knew there was little danger of running into someone.

"Th-thank you, Saya-chan. I'm going to open it when I get home." He tucked it into his bag and looked toward her again. The girl's pale blue eyes seemed to almost glitter beneath the bright streetlights. The smile that pulled at her lips was absolutely genuine and the happiness spread to her eyes. What drew his attention, however, was the pink hue on her usually pale cheeks.

"Hmmm? What is it? You're happy, right? You like it? It smells okay?"

"It…it smells good." Kaneki fidgeted with the strap of his bag for a moment, glancing from the girl down to the sidewalk.

Her smile fell to a concerned frown quickly. "Kaneki-senpai? What's wrong?"

"D-do you want to come over?"

Heat rose to her cheeks and she nodded. "Yeah, okay. Sounds fun!" She forced a grin, but she could feel her heart racing. He wants me to come over?! Why? Wait! Maybe he wants to try the bento in front of me so I can see his reaction! She cheerfully linked her arm through his and nuzzled her cheek against his. "Mmm~ You always smells so good, Kaneki-senpai!"

Shift P.O.V

He was glad when they stepped from beneath the streetlight into the dimness of the night. His face felt hot and he was afraid that she would see the nervousness in his eye. What he had planned was not going to be simple. It was going to take all of his courage.

Saya settled at the table when they arrived at his apartment and he hesitantly joined her. The bento box was set in front of him and he had to resist the urge to immediately open it. She stared at the lid, casually wiping her mouth on her sleeve and grinning when she caught him looking. "So? Did you just want a dinner date?" she teased.

"I-I wanted to show you something…but I'm kind of nervous," he confessed. Kaneki rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers brushing the strings of his eyepatch. He could feel his courage beginning to falter and made his fingers close on a string. I can do this! I need to show her!

She stared as the eyepatch slid from his face and her eyes widened. "Senpai, your eyes aren't-"

"They're…different." He already knew that his left eye was different. The smell of the food in the bento had activated it and now there was no going back. "I-I hide it at work…and at school. And around Hide. Because I know that I look-"

"You look amazing," she assured him. Leaning forward, she grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him closer. "It's really cool! I like it!"

His face was inches from hers and he felt his cheeks turning red. Pulling from her hold, he sat down and hesitantly popped the lid off of the bento. What he found did not look like human flesh. Not even a little. It more closely resembled yakiniku. With little effort, he found himself able to actually enjoy the meal. Astounded, he looked to her and saw a cute grin on her face. "That was delicious, Saya-chan."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it. Maybe next time, we can eat together." She stood and smoothed her skirt. "I have the day off tomorrow so maybe we could do something. Maybe." The girl started toward the door and was more than a little startled by his hand closing on her wrist. He turned her quickly, pressing her back against the door and blocking her path with his body. "Senpai?"

His heart was racing as he stared down into her pale blue eyes. The hand holding her wrist pinned her right arm above her head, his free hand planted beside her head on the door. "W-we're going out. Starting today," he tried to bravely announce. "O-okay? You're my girlfriend. Starting right now."

Color rushed to her face and she grinned. "Anything you want, Kaneki-senpai! Or would you rather just "Kaneki"?"

"Just…just Kaneki." He leaned down, carefully bringing his lips to hers, and felt her free arm loosely go around his neck. Closing the distance between their bodies, he let her deepen the kiss. I think I did this right. I wanted to be confident and I know that she used to like Nishiki. I don't know how I feel about holding her wrist like this this though. But…I told her how I feel.