Entangled Strings

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Chapter 3-

The tea cup was slammed on the table.

Kaneki blinked, surprised as he looked at the cup and turned to see Ayato's glaring eyes on him. Without any word the younger male walked away, muttering some unintelligible words. The boy definitely didn't like him, why? He didn't know. Not that it would matter, as long as the kid wasn't troublesome he would leave him alone. His eyes narrowed at the cup, he smelled the fragrance first. It didn't seem bad. After one sip, he decided that he had drunk worse.

"My apologies for Ayato-kun. It's his first day here and he isn't accustomed to the job yet."

Kaneki slowly looked to his side to see an old man standing next to him, a gentle smile present on his face, but the man could tell that behind that smile, something else was hidden. His instinct told him that the older ghoul was dangerous and that he had to be careful. "It's alright." Kaneki reassured him. "The coffee isn't bad by the way."

"I'm glad it's to your liking. I'm Yoshimura, the manager of this cafe and the organization that keeps on eye on the 20th ward." Yoshimura explained.

"Anteiku, right?"

Yoshimura nodded. "All employees are members of Anteiku. Some may need some supervision themselves, but they are capable enough to keep order. The feeding grounds are distributed between the weaker ghouls and those who have trouble hunting receive help from us. You're free to hunt, as long as you don't cause trouble for the others." Yoshimura explained. "Now, I'd like to go straight to the point... Kaneki-kun isn't it? Touka-chan told me about you."

Kaneki nodded as he kept listening to the man attentively.

"From what I understood, you're new here and probably, only staying in this ward temporarily?"

"Yes," The white-haired man replied. "I promise I won't cause any trouble. It would be troublesome if I were to attract doves."

The old ghoul nodded. "I also heard that you were looking for someone? May I know the reason?"

"Well, it's a bit personal, so I can't reveal much, only that there's something I have to know."

The elder ghoul eyed the young man carefully. "I see and that's why you're looking for the ghoul known as the corpse collector?"

"Yes, do you know anything?"

Yoshimura shook his head. "I have to disappoint you. The name corpse collector, is a name I hadn't heard for a long time ago and from what I know is that it was a peaceful ghoul, hardly attracting any attention from other ghouls during his stay."

"I see." Kaneki said as he stared pensively at his coffee cup. "Anyway, thank you for your information."

"You're welcome. Please enjoy your stay in the 20th ward." Yoshimura disappeared through the door that lead towards the upper part of Anteiku.

He went upstairs into a small room with a table, sofas and some shelves. Ayato was sitting there, sipping on a cup of coffee with a bored expression plastered on his face, he eyed his boss, confused when he saw Yoshimura's expression. "What's the matter old man?"

"Nothing. It's just, I think I should give you and your sister the rest of the day off. We're not busy and Toukacann probably needs to focus on her studies, you actually should do the same."

The boy stayed quiet, eyes still glued on the old man. "It's my first day, and you're letting me leave early already?" The teen sighed and got up. "Fine by me, getting surrounded by those shitty humans is getting on my nerves."

"Ayato-kun..."

"Yeah, yeah, I have to respect them." The boy answered.

"Go get your sister."