The next morning, Kaneki was able to cook for himself in the apartment, due to the shopping he had done the day before, and ended up down in the cafe lounge quite a bit later than he had before. This time, though, the place was far from deserted. There were maybe fifteen people in the room, and considering how large the apartments were in comparison to the building, that was probably most if not all of the tenants. He recognized Touka and Yoriko from the day before, and Tsukiyama was speaking to a woman and a girl who must have been her daughter of around thirteen.

As Kaneki walked further into the room, Tsukiyama spotted him and glided over, pausing to snag the attention of an elderly man, and the two made their way over.

"Hello, Kaneki-san. I'm Yoshimura, the buildings owner. I am sorry that I didn't greet you when you first moved in." Yoshimura said, friendly and gracious, but also formidable in a way. The older man owned the building, and had taken it upon himself to house and protect all of these people of yokai blood peacefully. Kaneki knew that this place had wards and other things to protect them, who were more at rush of yokai attack, and he could only think that they were set by this man. He was old, but powerful and wise, and Kaneki could tell that he was not to be trifled with.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance." Kaneki bowed respectfully.

"Since you are here now I think you should take this time to become acquainted with the other tenants. Those in our community should take it upon ourselves to look after each other." The words were genial, but carried an undertone of 'if you will not stand with us you are against us'. Thankfully Kaneki was entirely willing to stand with them.

"I had been meaning too. I've just been adjusting to life here. Tsukiyama-San has helped me to adjust, and I met Kirishima-San and Kohsaka-San yesterday." Kaneki said politely. Tsukiyama inclined his head at the mention of his name. Some of the other residents seemed to have taken notice of him. The little girl and her mother were approaching.

"Is he like me too then, mom?" The girl asked, staring shyly at Kaneki from besides her mother. The woman, maybe in her thirties with long chestnut hair and a gentle smile, looked from Hinami to Kaneki.

"Ah, I'm sorry for how blunt she is. Hinami why don't you ask him yourself?" The woman said, nudging the girl forward. "I'm Ryoko Fueguchi and this is Hinami." The girl smiled up at him shyly, before stepping forward.

"Hello, I'm Hinami. Are you a youkai like me?" Hinami repeated her question, eyes wide and innocent as she looked at Kaneki.

"I'm Kaneki Ken. Yes, I have yokai blood like you," he couldn't help but smile gently at the innocence of the girl and the gentle demeanor of the mother. He ignored Tsukiyama openly staring at his face.

Ryoko smiled at him widely. "Hinami got yokai blood, but I didn't, you know how the inheritance is limited to one in a generation, and my sister got it. She died before she had children though, so Hinami ended up inheriting the power. She was quite sheltered by the main family, and so she never had many friends, and never interacted with the community, and of course I couldn't teach her," she turned her gaze back to her daughter. Hinami seemed to have grown bored of the conversation, fidgeting in place, before she retreated with Ryoko.

"Bye Kaneki-San! Bye flower man!" She called, before returning to her breakfast.

Kaneki turned questioningly to Tsukiyama, whom the 'flower man' seemed to be directed at.

"Flower man?"

"Ah well, I couldn't help but bring young miss Hinami flowers whenever we happened to meet. I guess the name stuck," said Tsukiyama, smiling down at Kaneki.

Yoshimura, who had left while while Kaneki was meeting Ryoko and Hinami, was once again headed towards him, this time with another pair of men in tow. One was truly odd looking, with many tattoos as well as unconventional hair. The other man was substantially less unusual looking, with silver hair and a small amount of scruffy facial hair.

"This is Uta and Yomo. They are the most long standing tenants here, and some trusted friends and helpers of mine. Come to them for help if ever you need it" Yoshimura said genially in introduction. Yomo nodded silently, seeming to be the taciturn sort, but Uta walked straight up to Kaneki, almost uncomfortably close.

"Kaneki-San, it is nice to meet you. You are... Yamata no Orochi, correct?" He asked, keeping an unsettlingly blank face and extending a hand in front of him. Kaneki, who had been in the midst of accepting the proffered hand, reeled backwards in surprise. This odd man, who he had barely met, had just guessed an incredibly personal, and private, detail about him. Kaneki distanced himself a little, and Uta smirked ever so slightly, just a quirk of the lips that could express amusement, before it melted into something more genuine and he extended his hand further.

Kaneki took it and shook warily, hoping that Uta couldn't feel the slight tremor. He made polite conversation for a bit, and met a few other people. There was a boy a little older than him and his girlfriend. Apparently he was attending the same university Kaneki would, in the pharmacy department. They were polite but distant, and Kaneki found himself growing tired of all the smiling and shaking hands.

Deciding to escape, Kaneki checked that Tsukiyama was still occupied, talking to Hinami in a theatrical manner, greeted Yoshimura and thanked him one last time, and slipped out alone. The lounge was warm and cozy, but around a large amount of people it became stuffy and uncomfortable. He relished the breeze that ruffled his hair as he strode down the buildings steps.

As he wandered, he came across an outdoor cafe on a back road that he hadn't been able to visit on his tour the day before. Deciding that a coffee was in order, ordered and sat himself down, borrowing a book from a shelf that was available to people to browse. As he was getting engrossed in his novel, a figure passing by his chair caught his attention. A woman, with long purple hair in a vaguely familiar shade, sat down on a table nearby, settling her flowing skirts as she sat, and pulled out a book, pouting her pink lips and adjusting glasses delicately. She glanced up, catching his eye over the top of her book, and smiled at him. Kaneki blushed profusely and buried his nose in his book, sneaking glances awkwardly at the girl, in between sips of coffee and pages of a novel. He scolded himself inwardly for thinking about something like this when he was about to become obscenely busy with school, but he couldn't help but glance at her again. She caught his eye and smiled at him again, before getting up and making her way over to him. Kaneki's chest seized as she opened her mouth to greet him, face flushing to increasing levels. He really needed to get a grip.

A/N: I'm gonna end this here. Lol sort-of cliffhanger. Anyways thank you for reading! Please leave me comments, they would make me very happy. Critiques, suggestions or comments are all welcome.