Too Sweet to Eat [Female! Kaneki Ken x Tsukiyama Shuu]

5

~from Tsukiyama's POV~
I waited out in front of Anteiku. If Touka or another employee saw me leading Kaneki away, they may try to interfere, and that would be most unsavory.
At 2:55, my dear Miss Kaneki came out wearing casual clothing. I had to suppress the urge to call up my servants and have them prepare a change of clothes - a wine red dress, a black choker necklace, black heels... - but if I moved too quickly, my dear Miss Kaneki would run from me. I had to be slow, be patient...
She turned to me, a tentative, doubtful look on her face. "Umm..."
I smiled, trying to seem as gently charming as possible as I extended my elbow. "My dear Miss Kaneki, you look wonderful. Well, I'd hate to waste too much of your time, so I'll lead the way."
After a moment, she took my elbow and let me guide her through the city.
***
The cafe I had mentioned wasn't busy, so Miss Kaneki selected a table beside the window. When I smoothly pulled out her chair for her, she nervously looked down and to the left, her right hand resting against her face () before she nodded. "Thank you," she said, taking her seat, and I gave her a smile before sitting down across from her and picking up the menu, although I already knew it by heart, as expected of any true gourmet.
The sight of the menu made her pale, and she set it down quickly, giving me a tight, forced smile, her one visible eye closed to hide her disgust. "I'll just have coffee, if you don't mind."
I leaned in a little closer. "Don't hold yourself back on my account. A woman should be able to enjoy her meal to the fullest. Don't mind me; order whatever you please." I winked at her. "And don't even try to pay. Today is my treat."
My dear Miss Kaneki still looked uncomfortable. "I...I'm fine with coffee. I don't have much of an appetite."
"Quel dommage (what a pity/shame)," I said, reverting to a bit of French. That was another thing women loved, so I used it to my advantage as often as possible. "Well," I said, turning and smiling at the waitress. "My lady will have a coffee, and I suppose I'll take the same."
The waitress returned my smile and wrote down our orders before leaving us alone once more.
I turned back to Kaneki. "So...I'm afraid that it seems Takatsuki Sen won't be gracing us with her presence today," I said regretfully. "But as we're already here, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, Miss Kaneki?"
She stared down at the table with that adorable nervous expression of hers once more. "There's...well, there's really not much to tell."
"That can't be so! Such a beautiful young woman such as yourself must have a few interesting things about herself! That is, if you don't mind sharing with me." I gave her a bashful smile to make her feel guilty. "I don't mean to seem invasive. If it's too personal-"
"No, not at all," she replied, clearly forcing a small smile and accepting her coffee from the waitress, taking a sip and setting the cup down on the saucer before responding to my question. "I've always found more friends in books than the world, to put it simply...So...I'm not very good at...um...this," she said, looking up at me before quickly looking back down at the table and taking another sip of coffee.
"Do you have any family?" I asked, but then inwardly cursed myself as her face grew ashen. Clearly a touchy subject. I shouldn't have jumped too quickly on that one. "Why do you like Takatsuki's novels so much?" I asked instead, and relief flitted across her face.
"I'm not completely sure," she admitted. "I know it's strange...for a young woman like me to enjoy reading horror novels...but Takatsuki has such lovely phrasing...somehow, even though the novels are irrepressibly dark, they are startlingly beautiful." She blushed lightly, looking up almost inquisitively, checking my opinion of her thoughts. "That probably didn't make any-"
I leaned forward and caught her hands in my own and was pleased when her breath caught. "It made perfect sense." I gently let go of her hands - I musn't push too much physical contact on her so quickly - and rested my elbows on the table, my chin propped up on my fists. "I understand exactly what you mean." Women like to be understood...not just agreement, but to see their true thoughts. "Takatsuki's words, while hiding terror and horror between the pages, flow like sweet poetry. I've always thought so, but..." I looked out the window for dramatic effect. "I don't have any friends left...anymore...who will discuss books as such with me, and even then, they couldn't understand what I saw in Takatsuki's works." I looked back over at her to make sure that the arrow had hit its mark, and indeed it had - her head was bowed slightly in reverence for the dead, and there were unspoken condolences in her eyes, but something else.
She met my eyes. "I, too...have had difficulty seeing eye-to-eye with my friend. Of course, she doesn't like books as much as I seem to..."
Friend? Singular, not plural? Inwardly, I grinned. That will make this a lot easier. And this friend is female, huh? This could be interesting... "Anytime you'd like to discuss books, my schedule is open for you," I promised, and she smiled at me - not a nervous smile or a forced smile, but a real one - small, hesitant, but genuine. I wasn't lying when I said that I enjoyed literature, but does she truly value it to this extent?
"Thank you for your time," she said, standing up and waving away my offer to help her. "I really must be getting back. But...thank you for today. It was..." She looked out the window before looking back at me. "I enjoyed myself. Now, I must leave." She gave me a small bow and departed, and I was left alone at the table, gently swirling the dregs of my coffee and observing passerby on the adjacent street.
My dear Miss Kaneki, you will be mine. That is no question, of course...
...but I must wonder, how much is there to you that I don't yet know?
I allowed myself a smile as I took a sip of the coffee. I prefer to take my time and absorb it all...I'll be patient. I don't have to know all of your secrets just yet...
...but soon, they will belong only to me.