Kaneki felt odd, weightless really, like he was suspended in reality. Not the sky, nor the ocean, he just was. His left side was burning up, and he could feel his eye stinging. He tried screaming, but nothing came out... He could feel the air rushing past his teeth and lips, the vibrations of his vocal chords, but he heard nothing, nothing other than a high pitched ringing. Suddenly a feminine hand with nail polish adorning it, gently placed itself over his left eye, pressing slightly, then leaving as quickly as it arrived. The pain receded, his eye stopped stinging and he felt comfortable... Almost as if someone had thrown a comforter over him in his sleep.
Kaneki sighed a little, closing his eye's letting the feeling caress him, sending him into a state of pure bliss that traveled every nerve, every cell of his body began to feel numb with pleasure... And then... He woke up.
It wasn't a violent emergence from sleep, but rather a regretful and longing-to-go-back-to one. Kaneki didn't stand up, he simply laid there staring at the ceiling of the room as his memories came back to him. Sen Takatsuki's finger probing his mouth, her pinning him down, and the delicious taste of blood in his mouth. In all honesty he should've leapt out of bed right there, ran home, and called the CCG right there, but he stayed. Though he was a little uneasy, he figured if the author wanted to eat him, she would've by now. Unless of course she's like Rize, in that she likes to play with her food..., Kaneki added.
Kaneki tried to move, but found himself restrained by two thin, but strong restraints wrapped around his upper body. He also felt a weight on the top of his head and two more restraint's on his legs. Unable to move his head, due to the death hold, he moved his eyes up to be met with a green puff of hair stands that tickled his forehead. He felt a warm breeze being blown into his hair and the restraints upon his legs shifted slightly and low, muffled groan pressed against his hair. Kaneki had already almost deduced what lay on him and his face turned beat red.
He then moved his free arm up and pushed the covers off himself, revealing none other than a sleeping Sen Takatsuki, who hand entangled her body with his own. Kaneki felt his body heat up, he suddenly felt very itchy, uncomfortable, hot... He began breathing quietly faster, trying to suppress the arousal he felt. "M-miss Takatsuki?" He asked, hoping she'd wake up and release him from her, while not provocative(besides the entanglement of legs), warm soft skin, which could make any male buckle at the knees.
"Mmmm, you're awake, finally?" She yawned as she shifted the posisition of her head, and unraveled her limbs from the new ghoul. She then rolled away, almost to the edge of the rather big bed they both occupied. The female ghoul sat up, stretched her arms and yawned once more. "It's a little past noon." She wore a white, dress-like night gown which, though used straps that showed her bare shoulders and top of her cleavage, was dense enough to hide her more private areas from Kaneki, her hair was unruly and had dozen's of cow licks, her eyes were underlined by bags which showed just how tired she was, but in a flattering way. Kaneki noticed that the dress was practically just a sheet on the bottom and he assumed she hadn't worn any undergarment's... He did his best to look away
"I'm sure-" she stretched, cracking her back, "you have some questions right now..." She paused, to fall back onto her soft bed, head just hanging over the edge, letting her hair flow down. Kaneki's suspicions were confirmed as, while not quite seeing it, he did see her legs end just before her groin began and noticed no fabric, when her gown flew up from the sudden movement. He made sure not to look once more. Instead just focused on his questions.
"I realize I should be focusing on more important things, but, why were you... restraining... me this morning?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sen laughed, throwing her head even farther back. "Restraining?" She asked, adoration of some sort in her voice. "That is called cuddling, Ken." She said matter-of-factly holding up her pointer finger in the form of a lecture...
Kaneki's face flushed, due to the term she used for it. "Find then, why were you cuddling me?"
"Because you're so handsome, Ken Kaneki..." She moaned out, stifiling a laugh. Kaneki gasped at this in embarrassment, causing the author to smirk. "Just kidding... It's because you were crying..." She said a little somberly.
"Crying?" Kaneki asked, embarrassment forgotten.
"Yeah... You didn't stop whimpering since I force fed you my blood... The only way I could get you to stop was by holding you." She paused, "You were a momma's boy weren't you?" She added, a little sad.
"I suppose so..." He replied. "Anyways, to more serious matters... I've come to terms(surprisingly easily) that I'm a ghoul an-"
"Half-ghoul!" She corrected quickly, throwing her finger up yet again.
"W-what?" He asked confused.
"There was something I noticed when i forced fed you." She said, rising from her posisition, right eye closed. "Only one of you're eyes-" she opened the closed eye and pointed to it, revealing that red and black eye, "had a Kakugan."
Kaneki nodded understandingly, "So, you're a half-ghoul too?"
"Good job!" She said cheerfully clapping her hands once, "Now, as for why I taste good to you, despite being a half-ghoul, myself, is a little more complicated..." She paused before rooling off the bed and on to her feet... "Here, follow me."
Kaneki followed Sen down to the kitchen where she leaned next to a knife holder, making Ken wonder what exactly she did with those knifes. She also hand human foods like bread, ham, cheese, and milk around, it must be for appearances. he determined as he looked around.
"Now then!" she said pulling him from his thoughts, "On to ghoul biology 101."
She's a little too nonchalant about all this... Kaneki thought as he sat down on a dinning chair.
"Ghouls have Kagune, Kakugan, impressive healing abilities, and nearly unbreakable skin, besides against other ghouls. But what gives them this?" She asked in rhetoric. "Well, both humans and ghouls have certain types of cells known as RC cells, though the amount is different for both. A healthy human, of both genders, normally has around between 500 and 800 RC cells. A ghoul, on the other hand, can have between 1,000 and 5,000 RC cells." She paused and placed herself closer to Kaneki, inches Away from his face.
"But what happens when the two interbreed?" She asked, one again, rhetorically, placing a pointed finger inside one that she had formed into a hole, putting a rather inappropriate image in the boy's head. "You and I, half-ghouls, are made... Half ghouls have blood that can pass for human, but-" she lifted Kaneki's shirt, revealing a pale body with random red spots, she then quickly grabbed a knife from her knife holder and slammed it against his stomach. It broke instantly, snapping in half. "-skin that can stop bullets."
Kaneki hadn't had time to scream, he didn't even realize what had happened, until he saw the knife bounce off the floor and by then the fear had passed.
"But," she continued, "like I said, only a ghoul can pierce the skin of another ghouls naturally..." Sen then lightly skimmed her finger down Kaneki's stomach, where she stopped, just under the tiny gut Kaneki had poking out, it sent shivers down his spine. Then, she lightly pressed and drew blood from him, taking some of the red substance and licking it before making a sound of satisfaction.
"Any more questions?"
Kaneki, holding back a blush, simply shook his head, while he pulled his shirt back down. Sen's personality was a bit too open for his own, but somehow he liked it. He never expected her to be so... Free spirited...
"Good, because we've got some errands to run..." She said, looking at him.
"What errands, miss Takatsuki?"
"Well, first we are stopping by your place so you can get a shower, change clothes, and pack your belongings, because you're moving in," she said as if they had planned this, when in reality she'd decided this on her own. "And then-"
"Wait, what?!" Kaneki asked, not quite sure he heard her right. "Moving in? Why would I move in?"
"Well... To be honest, Ken, you're a rather weak specimen." she said, folding her arms, "And the way I see it, you have three paths from here on out: Stay with me and let me show you how to live this life, be alone and eventually die from either starvation or doves, or stay alone and cause trouble, bringing doves to the 20th ward, which is not good for anyone..." She told him, raising an eyebrow.
Kaneki gulped, "I'll choose option one..." He said lowley.
"Good!" She said, clapping her hands again. "Now, I'm getting in the shower." she told him as she walked off, "Don't be peeking!" She coo'd as she disappeared into the hallway.
Touka was picking up empty coffee cups unto a brown tray, the shop's traffic had been surprisingly modest today... This is either a sign of something good or something bad. She decided as she picked up yet another cup. Suddenly in came two familiar faces, one more so than the other. It was that boy, that boy who should be dead at this point, him... and Eto.
"Hello, Touka!" She yelled, causing the raven haired girl to smile. "Hello, Eto." she replied, with her own version of cheerfulness: Which consisted of a slight smile and an upbeat, but low-toned voice.
"Say? Is my father around here by any chance?" The author asked looking around the empty shop and placing a finger at her lip.
"Uhhh, yeah, up stairs." she said pointing to the next flight of stairs, "Why?"
Eto merely smiled another of her cryptic smiles and leaned closer to her, "Oh... You'll find out soon enough..." she said. Touka began to worry, as much as she considered the managers daughter a sister, Eto's surprised were either good or bad, there was no in between. She could only watch with a single mouth open as the author strolled past her, black haired college student practically falling over behind her trying to keep up. Well... she was dragging him by the wrist...
Yoshimura stood by the window of the break room, cup of coffe in one hand, the other behind his back, pressing against his vest in the style of a stereotypical formal bow from mid evil Europe(London specifically), and his eyes relaxing due to the scenery. The 20th ward was his favorite place in Japan, the world perhaps, originally though, he hadn't understood the appeal of it. Why would any ghoul want to live in peace with humans? Now he wondered who wouldn't.
Though, he supposed he would still be like that, like the One-Eyed-Owl that he made himself out to be in order to protect his daughter, because of Ukina. As kind as Eto was now, she wasn't always this way, she used to be destructive and hateful. Yoshimura didn't like to recall her being that way, besides, all that passed when she published her book. He smiled, and looked over to the picture taken of him and her when she was only 16 years old, she held the book up to her chest a happy smile on her face and he stood beside her, hand rested upon her shoulder. It was a happy memory and the beggining of many more...
The entrance swung open, and in marched said girl with a boy in tow behind her, being dragged by the wrist. "Daaaaad!" She sung aloud as the boy behind her tripped over his feet. Yoshimura turned and smiled, happy to see his daughter, but frowned when he saw the college student behind her. Eto... Was never one to bring home boys... and to make things worse this one was a human... Yoshimura knew he wasn't exactly the best example of that, but still. He just hoped the boy didn't end up in her stomach...
Eto pulled her new roommate along with her as she entered the break room, she always liked it in here. It smelled of coffee and leather, two of her favorite fragrances, it always had this feeling about it too, a felt as if you were placed outside of time and into a zone of pure comfort and relaxation, however this is not the time for that.
"We have a situation..." She told her father, turning serious suddenly.
Kaneki watched as the two left the room to discuss, most likely about him. One question ran through Kaneki's mind: Why did that waitress call her Eto? He wondered, as he looked around him. He was surrounded by fine china, wooden cabinets, and leather furniture, on which he decided to sit down. The leather squeaked beneath him as he sat down and relaxed on the couch, it was surprisingly soft considering it was leather. He noticed three cups sitting on the tabletop in front of him: one red, one blue, and one red with a blue accent. They were arranged in a way so that it would look as if the cups were a familly... It was kind of sad... If he understood correctly, the manager of this coffe shop was her father, a ghoul and her mother was a human. He connected the dots as red being ghoul and blue being human, while the hybrid cup was Sen. As sad as it was, though, it was heart warming.
The door re-opened and in stepped the old man and Eto, they both had the same smile on their face, Definetley related...
Sen turned to him and gave him a thumbs up symbol and a smile, which would have been reassuring... If she'd told him anything. She had remained humming the whole ride and when Kaneki had asked her where their next stop was she simply said: "It's a surprise!"
The old man now sat before Kaneki, staring at him awkwardly... The new half-ghoul felt as if he had become a statue, who's only purpose was to stare at him for all eternity, which was why Kaneki jumped when he finally spoke.
"Mr. Kaneki... In your life, how many jobs have you held?"
Kaneki had been asked this, before, it was an embarrassing question, because the answer was: none. He averted his gaze and blushed in embarrassment... "I uhhhh..."
"None?" The old man replied, smiling, making it was obvious that it wouldn't be a problem.
"Y-yeah..." He affirmed, scratching his cheek and looking down.
"That's no problem... It'll be fun... Working here..." He said. "Our staff is composed over entirely ghouls, so you'll get to learn the way ghouls live rather quickly." He smiled.
"Wait!" He said, shocked, "Everyone?!"
The old man nodded
"You mean the waitress, the guy with the funny hair, and the other woman?"
"Ah! You mean Touka, Koma, and Irimi. Yes everyone of them..." He then extended out a big, wrinkled hand and said "By the way, my name is Yoshimura, however most people here call me manager." He giggled a bit at the ironic nickname.
Kaneki took the hand, shakily, and felt it grasp his tightly, much to tight for a man his age, but then he was a ghoul. The older ghoul seemingly controlled his arm as he shook his hand, causing Kaneki's arm to move in the way you would see a worm do so.
"Now then, when can you start?" Yoshimura asked, quizically
And before Kaneki could even reply, or think to reply, his hostess spoke up. "In about a week from now.", she answered for him.
"A week?" Yoshimura asked, surprised.
"Sorry, I want him to get a bit more accumated to his new biology... I imagine it can't be easy."
Yoshimura nodded and said "A week it is then..." He turned to Kaneki, "See you then." Their hands broke and Kaneki and Eto left the shop as quickly as they arrived.
"Ok!", The female ghoul said/ sighed, as she sat in the drivers seat of the car, "we have one more stop and then we're done..." She placed the key inside of the ignitioned, turned it, and the engine roared to life causing the car to vibrated and steadied its rythm. Honestly the only reason she took it was for Kaneki's belongings, which to be honest wasn't much, his clothing, his books, and some films(all of which were requested by Eto, films she hadn't seen and couldn't find, that she would want to).
"Ah, miss Takatsuki-" was all Kaneki got to say before Eto stuck her hand over his mouth, she'd had enough of that 'miss Takatsuki' bullshit. Miss was a word reserved for old women, and she was anything but, she was only 25 for Christ sake. Still, she wasn't mad, he was just being his adorable normal self, the shy boy that he was. But they were to be living together now, for a while, it wasn't permanent, a year at most and he needed to get used to calling her by her real name. Kaneki had told his landlord he was moving out in two weeks, that was a lie he was moving out today, but two weeks notice is always nice. When the time came, Eto would help him find a new one near by, but until then, they were roommates.
"My name is Eto." She said, eyes still on the road ahead of her. "We are going to be roommates for a while so please use it." She said
"Ahh... OK, Eto." He said, a little umcomfortabley, causing Eto to smile. She moved her hand over his face and to his hair and began to ruffle it. "Good boy." She complimented, causing Kaneki to blush and relax at the same time as she softly played with his hair.
Soon enough(probably to soon for Kaneki's taste, considering how relaxing Eto's head massage was), they were at their destination, a shop deep in the 4th ward called HySy. It was a rather odd name for a shop, Kaneki decided, as he looked up at the plastic board above it. In subtext it read Mask and Tattoes shop. Kaneki frowned slightly, his mother told him if he'd ever gotten a tattoo she'd never forgive him, he'd hoped that Eto wasn't trying to make him get one, in fact, how could he? To get a tattoo a needle must pierce your skin to leave ink.
"Errmmm, Eto," he asked, nervous, "what are we doing here?"
Eto kept walking while she explained. "Well, you see Kaneki, ghouls will often need to hunt for their food, and when they do that they are liable it be seen by onlookers and their faces will be discovered. That is why you need a mask, because should the time come, you'll need to hide your face."
At the thought of himself eating humans Kaneki began to feel cold. I... I can't eat a human! Not a live one Anyway...
He watched Eto knock on the door three times and return to her idle stance. After the owner of said shop did not open up, she decided to take it upon herself to barge in, "Uta!" She called, the name most likely belonged to the owner. "Come out!" she ordered. There was nothing, nothing but veiled objects upon stands. They waited, but no one came, it was just them, or so Kaneki could see. He began walking closer to Eto, to whisper: "I don't think he's here..."
"Oh no, he's here, he's just trying to see who will break first," she whispered back, "he almost never leaves this place."
An audible sigh was heard, causing Kaneki to jump a little, and then a voice. "I see, so it's like that huh?"
Kaneki looked over to the direction of the voice, hoping to see its caster. At first there was nothing, nothing but white drapes and tiled floors. Then a man, who was tall, lanky, and bony, crawled out from underneath the curtain. The man was dressed in black, had a part of his head shaved off, and had Tattoos covering his visible body. "I never could out last you..." He said looking away, slightly annoyed.
"Awwww, is someone mad?" She teased, walking up to the man, who's hands rested in his pockets, and pinching his thin bony cheeks. For some reason, Kaneki felt a sense of jealousy. He didn't know why, but he felt like something that belonged to him was being tampered with. He shouldn't have, that wasn't right, to think of Eto as an object... But either way his jealousy was quelled when the dark tall man sleeper her wrists away and rudely asked what she wanted,
"Bah, you're so mean to me big brother Uta!" She teased.
"We're not related, don't call me 'big brother...'" He said, annoyance in his voice.
"I just don't get why you always yell at me... You're so nice to Touka and Yomo, the latter of which you used to hate."
"Yeah, but Yomo wasn't intentionally an asshole to me."
"I just like to tease..."
After a full five minutes of light bickering, Eto finally spilled why she came over. "Anyways, that guy over there." She threw her arm at Kaneki, who simply waved his hand nervously at the Tattooed ghoul. He noticed, however, when the man saw him a smile formed on his face. Not one of bad intention, nor malice, but simple kindness. Uta, that's his name right?, Lifted a hand and motioned Kaneki over to a stool that held on it: measuring tape. "He needs a mask, he's a half-ghoul like me... Though his is on the left..."
Kaneki plopped himself down on the stool and straightened his back up. "I'm very sorry your first impression of me was me arguing with Eto..." He apologized, "She's a friend, and I love her to death, but she just pushes my buttons..." He said as he pulled out a drawer next to him and held a small white ball, but upon further inspection, which meant Uta turning it over, it was an Eye-ball. Kaneki felt his stomach grumble and crave the treat at the same time... His human side still hadn't adjusted to his ghoul nature yet...
"Want one?" The man asked, holding the brown eye in front of him.
"Ahhhh, n-no, thanks though." He said, shaking a little. Uta shrugged and plopped the eyeball into his mouth.
"Let's see- um, what's your name?" The Ghoul asked.
"Ken Kaneki..."
"Well, Ken, do you have any hobbies?" Uta asked, while setting up the tape next to Kaneki's head and measuring, then writing the measurements down on a blank paper.
"I like books?" Kaneki answers unsure. "I'm sorry, but is this necessary?" He asked.
"Oh yes very..." Uta replied as he took measurements on his head with. "You see the more I know of my client, the more likely I'm going to do a good job on their mask..." He explained, it was either superstition or him just being social.
"I see, sorry..."
"Don't be. Now what type of books do you like?" Uta asked as he examined his head.
"Well, mostly horror..." Kaneki replied.
"Oh, that opens up more options..." Uta said as he once again measured Kaneki's cranium. "Tell me, are there any girls you like?"
Kaneki blushed before answering. "Ahhhhh, n-no..."
"Really?" Uta asked, "Forgive me but might you be a homosexual" earning a quick "No!" From Kaneki. "I see... You don't get any attention from girls around your own age huh..?" Kaneki was silent. "What about Eto over there?" He asked. "You're both half-ghouls I mean..."
Kaneki simply stuttered out. "She's kind of... Wild."
Uta simply nodded and rolled up his tape. "Well I'll call you when it's done..." He told him... "Until then Take care."
Kaneki stopped, turned and looked at Uta, a single question in mind. "Mr. Uta?" He asked.
"Hmmm?"
"What sort of customers do you get in here?"
"Well..." he began, "mostly ghouls, but every now and then I get the occasional human to come in and request a mask or tattoe." He paused. "And then," Uta placed a finger onto the base of his neck. "I get racing feeling right here in the base of my neck..." He said, bending towards the smaller ghoul. "But, it's not hunger... It's happiness..."
Later that night.
Kaneki had put on a blue pajama suit which he'd taken with him when he and Eto stopped by his previous apartment and was about to go to bed in the guest room. His bed was significantly smaller than Eto's, but it was much, in his own opinion, more comfortable. He threw back the covers of the bed, revealing a soft, white mattress. The half ghoul, very unceremoniously, threw his body onto the bed before rolling himself up in a blanket and putting his mouth and nose underneath the covers.
For a moment all was silent as Kaneki relaxed underneath the weight of the covers. It was silent, though Eto was still up he it was silent. He didn't want to be rude, but in all honesty he'd imagined Eto to be a more noisy person to live with, but he guessed he'd been proven wrong.
Suddenly he heard the door of his room open and a light crawled up his room, on the bed frame, and then into him, forcing him to open his eyes. Eto was silhouetted by light currently, but he noticed that she'd carried a small rectangular object with her, he couldn't tell what.
"E-to?"he asked groggily as she moved towards him with light feet.
"Sorry, Ken... I realize you're trying to sleep, but I wanted to try to do something..." She whispered/hissed as she crawled into the bed, a tiny flashlight also in hand.
"And what might that be?" He asked turning over to face her slightly.
"I've always wanted to read someone to sleep." she said, opening the book and turning on her tiny light, being careful not to hit her roommates eyes. "Unless, of course, you mind."
Ken smiled warmly, whether the author knew it or not, she did(as he's stated so many times) have a certain ability to relax him. "No I don't mind..." he whispered back. "Just..." He blushed a little. "Can you... uhh, play with my hair?"
A silence fell between them, and Ken thought he'd created and awkward setting. He was just about to apologize when he felt a soft hand on his head, the sound of pages fluttering and the click of a light.
"Chapter 1..." Eto hissed lowly as she danced her fingers through Kaneki's hair.
I'm so exhausted... Lower classmen had testing today and our classes decided to do nothing, so writing this and sleeping is what i got done... Please review! I'm... I'm gonna go take a nap...