Chapter 5: Friends Of The Anteiku Blend (Part 2)
"So that's what Anteiku is," Yuka says.
"That's the gist of it," Irimi says.
"This ward seems far more chill than the others. Had I known that I would've come here as soon as possible," Yuka says.
"Well, you're here now. Now you just don't have to leave," I say.
"I don't plan to," she chuckles.
"So what do you want, Satozaki?" Touka asks, ready to take my order.
"That's easy. I'll ha—shit! What was that for?!" I question, rubbing my left leg due to Touka kicking me.
"I'm not on the menu so don't even pull that," she replies.
"I wasn't going to!" I whine.
"Now that I beat you to the punch, you won't," she says.
"I'll take a simple black coffee for now," I say.
"You mean the thing anyone of us can make?" She points out.
Wow, she is so much more feisty today.
Did I fuck something up?
"Why yes, Touka. The thing any of you can make," I affirm while giving her a smile with my eyes closed, trying to hide how annoyed I am.
"Got it. Could I interest you in a black coffee too, Yukari?" She asks in a slightly more upbeat tone.
"Gladly," Yuka says.
"I see how it is," I say.
Touka lets out a small chuckle.
"Hey, Irimi. Mind lending me a hand?" Touka questions.
"Certainly," Irimi answers, going behind the counter with Touka.
"Allow me to move aside for you two," Yoshimura says.
"Welp, better get to making this place shine even more before we open up," Koma says.
Man, it feels like something has seriously slipped my mind.
"So Sato, did you get my book for me?" Hinami asks, coming back up to my left side.
Silently, Touka gives me a threatening stare making me flinch.
Goddamn it! That's what I forgot about!
"I-I'm sorry, Hinami. I honestly forgot. I promise to bring it to you next time," I chuckle sheepishly, scratching my head.
"Next time means tomorrow, right?" Touka questions with a slightly stern tone while she pours the coffee.
"I'm not entirely certain but probably not," I answer.
"That's okay. If things are a bit difficult for you right now, then just give it to me when you can," Hinami says.
"Nice of you to be so understanding. I am very grateful for your benevolence," I grin.
Hinami grins back.
"One black coffee for the miss," Irimi says, serving Yukari her cup of coffee.
"Thanks," Yukari says.
"No problem," Irimi says.
"And here's your coffee. Now you can't continue to bother me about it," Touka says.
"Much appreciated," I say, taking a sip.
This really takes the edge off.
"Hinami, I'm not sure why you're staring at Satozaki like he can see you while he's enjoying his coffee. If you have something to say to him, then just say it," Touka chuckles.
"H-Huh?! W-Well um…," Hinami stammers.
"My apologies. I didn't notice. Something on your mind?" I inquire, turning to Hinami after setting my cup down.
"I-It's nothing! Please don't worry about it!" She exclaims, shaking her head.
"If ya say so," I reply with a lax shrug.
"I think I get it. You wanted to ask him to read the book with you when he brings it just like Kaneki. Am I right?" Touka asks.
"…Y-Yeah," Hinami answers hesitantly.
"Oh, is that it? I don't mind. In fact, that sounds fun," I say.
"Really?! Thank you!" She suddenly hugs me to my surprise.
"Y-You're welcome, Hinami," I stutter.
Feels like it was only yesterday when Hinami was hesitant and cautious to interact with me though I wouldn't blame her if she stayed that way.
It still makes me sick to my stomach to know how much pain Mado caused.
"Aww, didn't think you were one to be big brotherly," Yukari whispers in my right ear, snickering.
"I'm just being a good friend is all. I'm not gunning for Kaneki's role to Hinami in the slightest," I quickly mutter back.
Though… I may have to step up with how he's been lately.
Please don't do something stupid and wind up dead, Kaneki.
"I'm not sure why you were against asking that. Satozaki isn't one to turn you down," Touka says.
"Well, I know everyone's gotten a little more busy as of late so I felt that it applied to him as well and didn't want to be a bother," Hinami explains.
"Now that's absurd," Touka says.
"Hell yeah it is! No way would you be considered as such!" I shout uproariously.
The room abruptly goes quiet with everyone seeming to be surprised by my sudden outburst.
"M-My bad. Didn't mean to yell like that," I apologize, embarrassed while rubbing the back of my neck.
Everybody starts to laugh at my expense and I join in to avoid feeling awkward.
"That makes me feel much better. Thanks," Hinami says as the laughter dies down.
"Don't sweat it," Touka and I say simultaneously, quickly shooting a glance at each other for stealing the line.
Deciding to not engage, I just go back to enjoying my coffee.
"So Yuka, got any more questions for us or even Sato?" Irimi asks.
"Actually, I do. What's the deal with some of you calling him Sato while others just use his full name? It's kinda strange," Yuka says.
"Oh, I can actually explai—," I start to say.
"He prefers guys to call him Satozaki while ladies call him Sato. May or may not have something more going on there," Nishiki interjects as he suddenly makes his appearance.
That sneaky bastard! I didn't even hear him come in!
"Oh, so that's what it is," Yuka says.
"Goddamn it, Nishiki! Not everyone needs to know! I was just gonna whisper it!" I shout, annoyed.
"Maybe but whispering is for chumps. Be a man and own it," he says, taunting by pushing up his glasses.
So we're doing this now?
Standing up from my seat, I approach Nishiki and push my glasses up.
"You wanna run that by me again?" I question, looking up at him.
"Whispering is for chumps!" He yells.
"You lookin' for a fight?!" I ask, raising my voice to his level.
"Hell yeah! Let's go! I'll knock that head off of your shoulders!" He answers, his kakugan manifesting.
Nishiki and I growl at each other while butting heads.
"Nope. We're not doing this today. I'll kick both of your asses if I need to. Got that?" Touka warns, flashing her kakugan.
"Killjoy," Nishiki and I sigh.
"You have more important matters to tend to like doing the job you agreed to, Satozaki," she reminds me.
"Yeah, I know. I was waiting on Nishiki to get here first," I say, sitting back down.
"Agreement?" Yuka questions.
"Guess we must've skimmed over that. The only reason this guy over here ever found out that we are ghouls was because for some reason he was wandering around the Anteiku area at night and caught me having a quick snack in an alley," Touka replies.
"It's not like I was up to anything nefarious," I say.
"Then enlighten me with the reason for why you were carelessly out at night way back when," she says.
"I… I can't tell you that. Not at the moment," I say hesitantly, looking off to the side to avoid eye contact with Touka.
I really wanted to talk to you that night when I felt I was confident, Touka.
With Yuka being a thing now, I'm unsure of what to do!
"I'm pretty certain I know what it is," Nishiki chimes in.
"Then you should keep it to yourself if that's the case," I say, side eyeing him.
"My lips are sealed. I'm not gonna throw you under the bus," he says.
"Very much appreciated," I say, taking another gulp of coffee.
"Regardless of his reason, I noticed his presence and immediately tried to kill him but he happened to get lucky with Yoshimura stepping in," she says.
"Defusing the situation, we struck a deal with Satozaki for him to pass along whatever he can get his hands on about the goings-on of the CCG to us," Yoshimura says.
"And what did he get in exchange? Other than not dying of course," Yuka asks.
"Go ahead and tell her the dumb thing you wanted," Touka chuckles.
"It's not dumb! I just wanted all of you to answer any questions I have about ghouls and fill me in on ghoul society to satiate my curiosity as well as increase my understanding of things," I say defensively.
"Really? You could've asked for free coffee for a year or something along those lines," Yuka says, unimpressed.
"Touka would smack the very idea of that down!" I dispute.
"You're damn right I would," Touka agrees.
"See?" I say.
Yuka giggles and shrugs.
"Anyway, enough of that. Do you have any updates for us?" Touka questions.
"Well, the thing about that is there has only been rumblings here and there. As far as I know right now, the CCG could be potentially planning to conduct a raid of sorts. I don't know where exactly and I'm not really sure if it's something big or small scale yet. It's weird though because it sounds like it's a couple months from now but usually planning is done on the week of an operation to prevent leaks. It's all fishy," I answer, noticing some kind of reaction from everyone.
"Damn it," Touka mutters, clenching a fist.
"You gotta be shitting me," Nishiki groans.
"That's all I got so far," I say.
"I see. We can really only wait and see how things develop at the moment," Yoshimura says.
I just hope Shinohara and Rei aren't involved in it.
That would stress me the hell out.
Hearing someone abruptly come in, we all quickly turn to see who it is as to stay alert.
K-Kaneki?!
"Did I interrupt something?" Kaneki questions, seemingly puzzled.
We all breathe a sigh of some relief.
"You got some wild sense of timing, y'know that?" Nishiki asks.
"I guess I do. I just figured I would stop by," Kaneki shrugs.
"Kaneki! You've been gone a lot longer than you usually are," Hinami says, rushing over to him.
"Did I make you worry? My bad. I had some important business to tend to," he says, giving her a smile.
After giving a casual wave to Touka, Kaneki looks my way.
"Oh, Satozaki. I've been wanting to discuss something with you if you don't mind," he says.
Shit!
And here I was hoping he wouldn't show up at least until after Yuka and I left.
I take a deep breath and exhale.
"Sure thing," I say.