Kuri stepped into the antique store where she worked, Visions of the Past.
"This is where you work?" Kaneki marveled. "How have we never met? It's across the street from Tales of the Lost!"
Kaneki gestured to the bookstore where he worked across the street.
Kuri chuckled. "I only visit during fall book releases. You are probably already gone. Otherwise I'd constantly blow my paycheck." She winked at him.
"Don't I know it…" Kaneki muttered, remembering all the money he spent on books every time he got paid.
Kuri guided him to the glass case. "I don't keep them here cuz they're valuable. I keep em cuz they're LOUD."
"Loud?" Kaneki knelt to the glass.
"Older pieces speak of the owner's past." Kuri said, bringing one out.
Kaneki suddenly knew what she was talking about. That scent! It was so strong, woven through with images of the past. The scent was an assault to his ghoul senses, and he had to step away. "I…I see what you mean."
Kuri laughed and put it away. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."
Kaneki walked away from the strong sensation and was suddenly drawn to the art on the walls. "Are these…ghouls?"
"Don't worry, you're the first one to recognize that." Kuri giggled. "When I was in the hospital I became an artist."
"Just…became one?" Kaneki marveled. First the crazy reading skills and now this?
"I used to just draw in a sketchbook," Kuri said. "But I discovered digital art. It's fun. I like drawing you the best. Your soft white hair…" She stroked his hair again.
Kaneki relaxed under her hand, and then watched, fascinated, as she sat down and began to draw. He sat beside her as she drew him beautifully.
Kuri clicked on her music, beautiful classical music. Ghouls didn't get much of a chance to appreciate things like art and music, though Gourmet tried.
As time went on, Kuri's left hand lifted and began to move. Alarmed, Kaneki thought her fingers were cracking like his. But then he slowly began to recognize the movement as piano. And it looked like she knew what she was doing!
"Is that piano?" He asked curiously.
"Air Piano I guess." Kuri laughed. "It helps me really focus when I get into the music."
"Like meditation?" Kaneki asked.
"Yeah…" Kuri stopped drawing and leaned back. "Its like…when I get lost in the music, I forget, y'know? I forget about pain and suffering, and it's just melody, harmony, beat…"
"So you count the beats?"
"Sometimes." Kuri looked off into the distance. "When I was having dental surgery; it was horrible. I could hear the scraping of bones, the scream of the saw against the tooth…three hours of that, and I couldn't afford sedatives. So I just…listened to the music. I couldn't scream, so I kept time." She tapped her finger in rhythm to the music for emphasis.
Kaneki shuddered, remembering a darker time, fingers cracking subconsciously. It got worse when he thought of something as horrible as torture happening to her.
"Kaneki…what happened when you first became a ghoul?" Kuri traced his scars. "What…happened?"
"I was young. Like you were." Kaneki calmed, remembering something less painful, but only a little. "I was five. It was a year before I met you. There was another little ghoul. Rize. She was really pretty, and we were close, or at least, I thought we were. You know how it is when you're a kid. You think you're in love, but your just playing house."
"And you were the dinner." Kuri whispered.
Kaneki chuckled darkly. "You could say that." He grabbed her hand, and she traced his scars again. "I was walking her home. It was storming and dark. She made her move. She was one of the few ghouls that sought out prey even when she was a human. Yoshimura told me later that she was a danger to all of us. There was an accident, and a beam fell on her. She died, but it was too late for me." He took a breath. Worst part coming. He didn't want to continue, but Kuri gave him an encouraging look. "I went home, but when you're first turned the transformation has little to do with the weather, and your pretty feral. But Yoshimura told me I was actually very coherent. But my parents saw my ghoul eye, and my hair. They thought I was a demon. Maybe I am."
"You're not a demon." Kuri laughed a little. "I'm not one either."
"When they realized I ate human flesh…I-I think I did it by accident back then…they decided to "return me to God." Kaneki swallowed. "They slit my wrists in the bathtub; but as you know, it's hard to kill a ghoul. They kept having to reslit, trying to drain all my blood out and kill me; but they were caught when my mother complained to a neighbor that I was "taking too long to die.""
Kuri gasped.
"They were put in jail, and that's when I met Yoshimura." Kaneki said. "He had been watching me since Rize, and now that he was certain of what I was, he adopted me, legitimately. The rest is…he raised me."
Kuri surprised him then. She pulled his head against her shoulder and stroked his hair. It was then that he realized he was crying. She pulled him closer, kissing his head.
Kaneki realized that this was the first time he'd been held like this by a woman. He didn't want this perfect storm to end.
"Yoshimura took care of me, but he doesn't have much longer…" He whispered. "Soon he will disappear into his Ghoul." And so would he.
Kuri kissed his forehead again. "I won't let that happen."
Looking into her steadfast gaze, Kaneki could almost believe her, and almost hope.