Okay, so I've been wondering, how exactly does Kofuku work as a goddess of poverty? Aside from how she's shown in the anime and manga to lead men into debt, of course. Bishamon also asked her whether her vent prediction was because she could feel them or if she caused them in the first place. It isn't relevant to the story, but that scene made me wanna write a fic where Bishamon gets dragged into Kofuku's shenanigans.
This fic is part of a collection of crossovers where Kofuku and Daikoku fall into another world, with the occasional guest/s she drags along.
This will be released in three to five parts.
"Draw a Line"
Summary: AnAnteiku is many things. To the ghouls, it's a place of refuge and peace. To Aogiri Tree, it's a troublesome but untouchable place. The CCG has identified it as the base of the Non-Killing Owl. The clowns see a number of its associates as people of interest. One thing they will agree on, is that the pink devil and the battle maiden are absolutely terrifying when provoked.
Tags: Crossover, Manipulated Events, Bad Luck, AU,
Nagachika Hideyoshi curiously watched Kirishima Touka as she stared at the new hires. When he first saw her, she seemed like a shy girl. She was always courteous whenever she took his orders, no matter how many times he tried to hit on her. Today, though, she wasn't reacting at all. She just kept on staring at her new coworkers. Something about them just rubbed him the wrong way.
He glanced at the pair of middle-aged men who'd joined Koma behind the counter. They were preparing the many orders that piled up, mainly from middle school to college students who very clearly came for the new waiters, a pretty pink-haired girl and a hot blonde lady, who were also the main targets of Kirishima's attention. There was also that guy with glasses, but he was less conspicuous than the others. Still, he attracted his fair share of customers too.
Hide had a feeling that Anteiku would be getting very crowded real soon.
...
Unlike Hide predicted the previous day, the cafe only had a moderate amount of customers. Kaneki Ken quickly found a seat near the recent object of his curiosity. While another person may have found its anonymity strange despite the stunningly attractive staff, Kaneki was content to have his favorite cafe remain unchanged.
The cozy atmosphere was perfect for a relaxing afternoon read. Sitting near someone who enjoyed the same genre as himself was... nice. Takatsuki Sen's novels were morbid, but he couldn't help but be attracted to them. He noticed they were reading the same book, Takatsuki's seventh work, The Black Goat's Egg. He'd long since stopped reading, opting to observe her as she read instead.
"Here's your order, sir."
The waiter, a bespectacled young man, placed the coffee and the sandwich on his table. As he passed by Kaneki, he whispered, "You should be careful. Poisonous flowers are beautiful to watch from afar, but you'll only get hurt if you get too close."
The waiter had spoken so quietly that only Kaneki could hear his words. When Kaneki turned to ask him what he'd meant, the waiter was already at the counter retrieving another customer's order. Kaneki sipped his coffee while wondering what he meant by his words. He'd decided to ask him what he meant after the waiter finished serving the other customers, but in the end, Hide was right about the place getting crowded. He never got to ask the waiter what he meant.
The cafe was soon filled with students who came only for the good-looking employees, and Kaneki left the place thinking about the waiter's words. He only noticed that he didn't get the girl's name or number when he got home.
...
As a new waiter in Anteiku, Kaneki learned some things about the other employees. One was that one-half of the employees were ghouls while the other half were humans. The humans were hired a few months before the incident with Rize and were fully aware they were working for ghouls. Surprisingly, everyone could fight pretty well and hold their own against Touka and Yomo working together, so they helped out sometimes with his training.
They also had other friends who worked at different places and helped out at Anteiku from time to time. He'd been shocked when he saw one of the servers at Big Girl delivering Hinami's food to her room. He thought she was another ghoul because of that and only discovered she was human when she came over to eat dinner two days later, which was prepared by Bessa.
Sometimes, he'd catch Kofuku space out while looking at him. But whenever he asked about it, she'd always dodge the topic. Even when Irimi told him not to worry about it, he couldn't help but wonder about it at night.
(He'd later overhear why she did when Kofuku pulled Touka aside to talk.)
...
Touka didn't like being put in charge of the half-ghoul. The only reason she even accepted was that Yoshimura was the one who asked. It was bad enough that he stank of Rize, but he had to be spineless too. (It wasn't because he reminded her of him.) She'd take Bessa any day over him. Actually, even Ebisu would be less annoying than him. (It also helped that none of them smelled like food.)
"What's the matter? Is it him? Kaneki?"
Touka jumped when Ebisu's voice broke her away from her thoughts. Her face was only inches away from Touka's, making her push her chair back to put more distance between them. When Ebisu grinned and sat on the seat opposite hers, she muttered, "What do you want?"
Ebisu sighed as she crossed her legs, "You have a problem with him. It's clear to anyone who knows what to look for. He reminds you of someone you knew. Someone you loved. Someone you lost. Am I wrong, Touka?" Ebisu wasn't smiling by the time she finished.
It was hard to believe that a simple expression change could make someone look and feel so different, but this girl could pull it off without a sweat. The atmosphere around Ebisu had changed, her warmth all but gone as she reclined in her seat, silently scrutinizing Touka.
Touka resisted the urge to fidget under her heavy gaze. She clenched her fists and spoke through gritted teeth, "You don't know shit about me."
Standing abruptly, she ignored the fallen chair and promptly left the shop. Gradually increasing her pace from a jog to a run, she ran and ran until she forgot what she was running from (including the memories her conversation with Ebisu had brought up).
("You went too far, Kofuku. I know you're close with the half-phantom girl, and the situation with the artificial one-eyed ghoul struck a chord with you. I would know because I am reminded of her when I see him. But keep in mind that this world is different from ours. Ghouls aren't the same as phantoms. And we need to lie low until we find a way back home.")
...
Kaneki regretted trusting Tsukiyama. He should've listened to Touka when she told him he was "trouble in the 20th ward". Even Kazuma, the waiter who'd warned him about Rize, was suspicious of Tsukiyama. Kaneki and Kazuma received invitations from him, but his senior had expressed his doubts that they were given out of goodwill. The nickname "Gourmet" should've let him know about the kind of ghoul Tsukiyama was, after all.
Now here he was, dodging the attacks of an overgrown man-child that they called an executioner, which was intent on butchering him while ghouls cheered it on. If he were still human, one of its attacks would've gotten him already. Only the enhanced reflexes of a half-ghoul saved him; combined with the countless hours of dodging Touka's kicks and Bessa's whip, its reckless swings became easily predictable. Because of that, he hadn't even been grazed once.
When its weapon got stuck on the wall, Kaneki quickly leaped on its shoulder and threw a poison dart at its neck. He pulled out his pocket knife and stabbed the executioner while he slid down its back. Kaneki fell to his knees as he fought to keep the contents of his stomach down upon realizing what he had just done. The blood gushing out of that open wound made his mouth water, but he was too light-headed from shock to even register it.
The last thing he saw and felt before passing out was a familiar blonde figure in a skimpy outfit protecting him. He didn't see the troubled face of the one who caught him before he fell face-first on the bloody floor. Nor was he awake to witness the utter panic and chaos the arrival of his savior brought.
This was originally going to be a very long one-shot, but I decided to split it into three to five chapters instead. But depending on how it goes, it may get as long as seven or eight chapters. I'm already done with the next part, just deciding where to cut now. Tell me what you think about this one!