Happy Holidays! I wanted to get this up before Halloween but fate had other plans. With any luck, the next chapter will be finished in two weeks or so. Future chapters may be shorter but I'm going to try keeping the word count consistent.

Warning: Includes mention of self harm, abuse, and possibly suicide in later chapters.

I don't own Tokyo Ghoul

Omaro, apparently, looked over at me before coming to stand next to me silently. I didn't know what to say either, so I kept quite for now. Keeping my head down I stared at my feet, though I swear I could feel him watching me. Clapping her hands to get our attention again we all looked towards the front.

" Now I know this is sudden to spring three new employees onto you all but I'm sure this will work out fine. I want each of you to make our new employees feel welcome, as you will be spending all day with he person you were assigned to." She paused to throw another look at Ami, who opened her mouth to complain before quickly shutting it. "The store opens in three hours and we have at least thirty minutes before the delivery truck comes. As soon as it does I want everyone to help with unloading it into the stock room, then restocking the floor. With all of us we should have that done in no time. Afterwards if there's any time left I want it spent training our new hires. Any questions?"

"Can we please change who we train?" Ami raised her hand and whined. "I want to train to Omaro, let Kukiko have Kouta."

"No, you may not. I choose these arrangements for a reason. Besides you can't very well teach Omaro how to do inventory and set up displays if you've never done them yourself now can you? Now since it's the start of the week, it will be slow, regardless of when we open. Continue to clean around the store as you train. Time to get a move on everyone! I'll call when when the truck gets here. "

With that everyone broke apart with their partner. Omaro and I stood silently for another moment before I mumbled a quick follow me and hurried to the back. It wasn't until I heard his footsteps that I was even sure he had heard me. I spent the little time we had before the truck arrived to show him around the room that I spent most of my time in. Quickly I went over what he was expected to do, including inventory and ordering new products. My voice stuttering all the while as my nervousness showed. He was silent and gave nothing except the occasional nod from time to time. After that I showed him to the small kitchen that served as a break room. It was complete with two refrigerators, a pantry, and even a couple of small stove and oven combos. There was only three small square tables that could each seat four people. After taking everything about the room in he finally spoke.

"This isn't a typical break room for a craft store. Why is there a oven in here?" he asked. I was almost taken aback at his voice. It was soft, and not at all how I expected him to sound.

"W-well, we also make treats and snacks for the customers. You heard how Mrs. Kenta said we nearly tippled in size right?" I asked. He only nodded in response. "T-the surround stores were either changing locations or going out of business. So she started to buy the surrounding shops until she had the whole lot. One was a small bakery that had to move to accommodate new machines and more customers. Mrs. Kenta got a license to sell food and kept one of their smaller ovens."

"What other shops used to be here?"

"U-um, a movie store that went out of business, an antique store and tattoo shop that moved, and another small takeout restaurant. I think she just bought them out. "

"You've must have been here for a while then."

"Yes, since I graduated high school so about three years now."

"Do you like it here? I'm surprised only a few of you can manage a place as big as this."

I had to pause and think on that one. True, I've been here for a while and despite the awkward stares and verbal abuse from the other girls... it was a good place to work.

"I do like it. I can't imagine working anywhere else. We normally aren't this short staffed, but we manage. Out last employee quit a couple months ago. They got their dream job working in a bookstore or something."

Whatever he tried to say next was drowned out by Mrs. Kenta calling out for us. The truck had arrived and it was time to unload it. Talking to Omaro was easier then I thought it would be, despite the occasional weird glance he would give me now and then. I hardly noticed it that at some point I had stopped stuttering around him.

With the six of us unloading and Mrs. Kenta keeping track of the things coming in for inventory, we were done in about an hour and a half. The remaining time was spent going over the our goals for the day and setting the work schedule. The girls had classes in the mornings Tuesday through Friday, while Kenko had classes on Wednesday and Friday morning that extended into the afternoon. Omaro, like me, didn't go to college and would be available most of the week, but he did have a second job he helped out at on Friday and Saturday afternoon. As for me, I worked Monday through Wednesday morning and closed Thursday and Sunday afternoons. Friday and Saturday were my two days off. I was hoping that with the new employees things would run smoother. Or at least with the guys they would.

The doors opened at noon as usual, though we didn't get a steady flow of customers until around two. In the meantime, Omaro and I were busy making lightly baked apple slices drizzled with honey and cinnamon. A small how to guide was set out next to the large plate. Of course the girls immediately tried to get to them first, but one look from him sent them on their way without a bite. I guess he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. After setting those out, he and I quickly got to work planning and going over the next six costumes for our display. We agreed to spend the next few days working on three costumes: two character from a popular video game and an anime, and the last a small animal sized oni costume.

The two of us spent hours planning and measuring out the pieces, deciding on colors and accessories. After getting the pieces successfully cut and pinned to the mannequins, we took a small break to enjoy some of the baked apples. After that I begun to show him our inventory system and how to put in requests. Monday was not only our delivery day, but it was also the day we went over sales. I took no time showing him which companies we ordered from and how to place custom orders. We usually didn't get too many custom orders, maybe only ten or so every other week. But because of the upcoming season, we had twice the amount of orders. As soon as they were organized we set them to the side to be placed later. Omaro was a very attentive worker and did just about all the tasks without hesitation. I could tell this was more then he expected to do, but he did it without complaining.

It didn't take long to get him caught up to speed on how things worked in the back, so I decided to take him up front to show him where things were in the store. As usual I ignore the other girl's jabs and insults at me, which only caused him to raise an eyebrow in question but I waved it off. The girls were busy standing around chatting while there weren't any customers. Kenko was busy restocking the shelves by himself, Ami not even interested in helping him. Letting out a sigh I decided to help out, which caused Omaro to help out. It became clear that Kenko wasn't taught anything in the hours he was supposed o be with Ami, he didn't know where anything was in the store. While the girls chatted away I showed the two boys the lay of the store while we were busy stocking the shelves. After a while they got the got enough of a general idea of where things were so we could all split up.

I took a large pallet of ribbons, and other accessories to their designated place and began placing them on the shelves. As the task wore on, the pain from my injuries started to ache and make themselves more known. My pace slowed down to the point I had to stop and take a breather. I had barely taken a few breaths, when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. Unfortunately it happened to be the one that was recently nearly wrenched from it's socket. i jumped started while letting out a hiss of pain. My back nearly slammed into the shelf as I clutched at my shoulder.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. Are you alright?" that voice sounded familiar. Opening my eyes I was surprised to see the stranger from yesterday. Clearly the surprise must have been evident on my face.

"Are you ok miss?" he asked a second time.

Taking a few quick breaths, I forced my racing heart to slow down. I'd have to be careful with my shoulder in the future. "U-um yes. I'm sorry. Can I help you with something?"

"Are you sure your alright? You seem nervous."

"Yes sir, I'm fine thank you." Awkward silence hung in the air between us as his eyes roamed over my face. Looking over what little exposed skin I had showing. The urge to fidget under his gaze was growing as he watched me. I just hoped he wouldn't ask about-

"If I may ask, what's wrong with your skin?"

-that. At least he asked nicely I suppose? A quick glance down and I examined one of my hands. The skin was two different colors, one part was a light pale shade. The other shade was darker, like a foreigners. The two shades clashed and appeared on my skin in random blotches. I suppose to anyone it would sickly and just, wrong. I know it's not a common thing to see, not even in Japan.

"I-it's... a medical condition. I was born with it."

"I see. It's not very common is it?."

"N-no, it isn't..." my voice trailed off as he continued to stare at me. The urge to fidget officially took over and I couldn't help the small movements. No matter how many people asked, I wold never get used to having to explain my condition.

"Could you help me with a order?" he suddenly said.

"O-oh, sure. Please follow me." pushing myself away from the shelf I walked towards the front of the store where our order book for customers waited. After a moment I heard his near silent footsteps behind me. When we got to the counter I pulled out the book and opened to the most recent page. I expected to see an entry from the day he was here, but it was surprisingly blank. "W-was there a problem placing an order the other day? "

"No, but the girl helping me wasn't really interested in my order."

"I see... w-well our custom orders only come in bulk, but whatever you don't use you can always return in thirty days for credit to our store. Is there anything specific you would like to order?"

The next few minutes were a mix of nervous little twitches as he listed off the materials he needed. Two bolts of faux leather, a five pound box of sculpting clay, one bulk order of resin, a few different types of wood and various different types of thread and needles...This was a lot of material. After all was said and done he arranged to have the bigger items sent to his home while he picked up the smaller ones at a later date. As I was finishing up his order I felt a hand rest on top of mine, causing me to jump. I looked up, my breath hitched in my throat to see him leaning over the counter very close to me. He face mere inches away from mine.

"Those girls have been watching us for the past few minutes." It took a moment to register what he said, but when it hit I looked up and looked around the store. Akemi was watching us by one of the shelves, her two friends were also there whispering to each other. All three had scowls on their faces as they watched us. "I think they're jealous I'm talking to you."

"I... think jealous is the wrong word, sir." I replied trying to ignore the glares they directed towards me.

"Hmmm... you're right. Maybe they're afraid of you." I paused in my writing at his words. Afraid? That didn't make any sense.

"I'm sorry sir, but that doesn't make any sense."

"I think people often fear things that are different. You can't blame them though, it's just human nature." he said as he leaned away from me. Something about the way he said that seemed off. Almost detached, like he was talking about something else. I didn't have much time to dwell on it however, as he continued speaking. "How long until my order will be ready?"

I hastily explained to him it would take 2-3 weeks before His order would arrive. All I needed was a name, an address, and a phone number to contact him when his order arrived.

"I'm Uta, and you're Kukiko right?" he said while fingering the name badge on my shirt.

"Y-yes sir, if you'll excuse me now, I'll go put this order in right away."

I all but ran from him and the glaring girls and into the back room. What was with that guy? He got a little too close for comfort for me, far too close. I never met anyone that found my appearance to be the slightest bit interesting though. Maybe he was just messing with me, it wouldn't be the first time it happened. Taking a deep breath, I gathered myself before walking into Mrs. Kenta's office to turn in the order. Hopefully the rest of the day would go by without incident. However i knew after the girls saw me, it would only be wishful thinking.

This chapter was originally over 6,000 words but I cut it and put part of it was included with the last chapter. I admit these first few chapters will be boring, but things will pick up around chapter 5.

Also someone pointed out in the last chapter that I never said what was "interesting" about her skin (I thought I described it in the first chapter I apologize), so I hope this cleared it up. For those who don't know she has vitiligo.

12/24/2018