"Haise...!" Touka screeched sitting up in her bed, a bead of sweat dripping down her cheek. Or was that a tear? Either way, it was warm and a salty liquid.
"Touka!" Sasaki yelled back, a small chuckle leaving his lips which earned the investigator a hard glare from the purple haired barista. If he wasn't sitting in a chair a couple meters from her bed reading a book, he would've earned himself a hard slap. Removing his glasses, and placing them between the pages he left off at, he returned his silver eyed gaze back to the woman.
"It's was nothing. Just a bad dream." She finally muttered as the scent of the half ghoul lingered through the air. Swallowing, she lifted her legs over the edge of the bed and stood on bare feet.
"Touka-chan. Are you sure you wanna get up? I can make myself useful for you." Sasaki muttered and quickly reviewed his sentence as Touka gave him a horrified look. "Ahh- shit! Not in that way! I mean, a glass of water or something. I'll go get you some water!" The investigator shot to his feet and quickly walked out the door, setting his sights on the water faucet in her apartment. Taking out a clear glass, he turned around to fill it with water. As soon as the glass was filled, he stopped to look at the clear liquid.
He must've been staring off as he heard the floor creak behind him. Turning around to find Touka looking at the man, she coughed lightly. "Hell, if I knew you were gonna take this long I would've gotten it myself."
"Uh... Sorry?"
"Useless." She joked and gave Sassan a light shove and picked up the glass that had been filled between two hands as she rested against the counter, staring out the window to see the lights of the small green space glowing brightly.
"That hurts." Sasaki muttered following Touka's gaze out the window to the glowing lights. "How pretty." He finally commented and to his surprise, the purple haired waitress flushed from the corner of his eyes."Did you?"
"Yeah. With a couple friends."
"Wait. Why am I here if you have friends in the building?!" The investigator whined, though he honestly didn't mind being around the woman.
"Their dead."
"Oh. I'm so-"
"Forget it. Their gone."
"Mmm." Sasaki responded with a hum, an odd throb in the back of his head causing him to flinch. Noticing how tired he was, his lids felt heavy with the hours of sleep he missed watching over Touka. He was assigned to her as the investigators rule states that you will be responsible for a victim of a ghoul attack if you come to their aid before the medics can.
"Hey. If you wanna sleep, I'll be fine for a couple hours."
"Alright, I mean, if you want to change your mind, just wake me up."
"It's fine. I have some spare clothes in the closet. Just sleep in my bed."
"Thank you very much Touka-chan." Sasaki bowed his head as he turned towards the room. As instructed, he dug through the closet until he found a couple pairs of men's pants and a couple t-shirts. Quickly changing out of his clothes and changing into the offered clothes, the scent of something- no someone familiar wafted around and it was certainly not Touka. Finding that a hint of jealously had struck him, he quickly shook it off. The barista certainly couldn't have felt the same way about him.
Blinking out of thought, he made his way to Touka's king sized bed that was way too large for one person and crawled under the sheets, allowing the sweet scent of coffee and the woman to comfort him. Feeling his eyes flutter at the smell, he must've laid there for a good twenty minutes until he parted his lids the smallest bit towards the door which was still open and watched through nearly closed eyes as Touka crept into the room and sat at the edge of the bed causing it to shift a slight amount. Scalp tingling as she drew out her hand and dragged it down his black and white strands as lightly as possible.
Hidden silver orbs looking up at Touka's own, he saw a sort of sadness cross her eyes as she managed to get her fingers under his hair and ghosted her nails over his scalp once more. Goosebumps raced along Sasaki's skin despite how comfortably warm he was under her sheets.
Holding back a small sigh in his throat until Touka left the room, he was conflicted with himself and what he thought. Did Touka really like him? Well, of course. The fact she returned how he felt while drunk and this most previous action was an obvious sign. But what if she felt responsible for him for some odd reason. Maybe she thought she owed him.
Whatever it was, it was on Sassan's mind until sleep captured him in its clutches.
Touka was loitering in the living room that connected with the kitchen and sat down heavily on one of the small couches. She wore a troubled gaze as she held back a yell as her hunger was raging through her causing thoughts to become fuzzy and consciousness to almost slip from her grasp. They had flesh downstairs that would hold her off for a couple days. Instinct forced her to her feet and shoved her out the door. She was almost unable to control herself as her voice tried to sing out her need for blood and human flesh. It was like being trapped in your own body with a monster controlling your every movement which led to clumsy sounds being made as she almost tripped down the stairs. Passing a human on the way down, she felt her body become overwhelmed with the fact food was walking around her like she was just another person.
Attack him. Kill him. Eat him. Regain what you need most. Control.
Thoughts raced through her mind as she could only watch as light reflected out from behind her meaning her kagune was out. That also meant this human had to die. Pressure building in her eyes, she almost welcomed the black abyss as her iris transformed into a blood red that matched the newly leaked liquid from her victim's chest. A almost invisible smile crept on her face as she lunged forward to dig her hands into her prey's chest. Bypassing the thick flesh and still forcing herself to power through the already overwhelming scent of warm blood, her nails broke through the pulsing internal organs and tore apart whatever her hands could grab. Withdrawing her now bloodied hands, she watched as broken organs seeped from the human as he gave quiet yells of horror. Having enough of his noises, Touka's hands shot out the break the men's neck with a loud pop causing her to cringe the slightest bit. She was a murderer. She should be used to it.
Finally sinking her teeth into her prey and tearing away some of the flesh, Touka swallowed up as much as the thickly textured flesh as she could until she heard a slam echo through the stair way. Continuing to toss the thick, warm and tough meat into her mouth, the footsteps were coming closer. Daring to take another bite, she knew blood spilled down her chin, throat and chest as eating human was never exactly clean. Nipping the throat sharply, she drained some of the warm liquid into her mouth before realizing whoever was coming was close. Withdrawing a couple steps, she made eye contact with a man who's ghoul eyes flared and gave a bob of her head to indicate he was able to eat what he wanted as she was done. Backing down the stairs cautiously, Touka eventually realized the dire need to escape the situation and turned to flee.
Feet flying down the stairs, the purple haired girl pushed the door wide open and sprinted down a dark littered alley or two until she came to an older building which looked as though it was made forty years back but was abandoned recently. Rusty colored bricks chipped and fell from the tall walls that she visited more often than not. Yet she was covered in blood and guilty. Feeling cold rain start to drop on her skin, she froze and allowed the liquid to wash away a majority of the blood before throwing off the now soaked clothing into a bin leaving her bare and holding her shivering arms. Entering the building and heading straight for a cupboard, she threw open the wooden door and dug out an extra pair of clothing she stashed incase of another one of her outbreaks. Changing into the shorts and stockings, she threw on a long sleeved shirt and a jacket and remained in the area until her body began to warm.
Forcing herself to move, Touka walked forward out of the building and took a couple strides towards her apartment only to stop in her tracks as she thought about the body that would be stuck on the stairs. Probably just bones and blood at this time as she assumed more ghouls would have picked at the remains in no time. Once blood was spilled, there always seemed to be a gathering of sorts.
After a minute of thought, she decided she would be fine if she took the elevator and forced herself forward. Upon entering, she beelined to the elevator and pressed the open button. The elevator came to the lobby with a high pitched beep, so Touka initially entered the metal box and closed the doors and pressed the button to her floor and eventually made it to her room. Quietly as possible, she entered and glanced at the time. It was about an hour later meaning the chances of Haise being awake was still low but also a possibility. Peeking into her room, it seemed as if the white and black haired man didn't move, which allowed her to give off a relieved sigh as she curled up on the couch and fell to sleep. Her stomach warm and satisfied by the flesh she had killed a man for.
---
Touka woke to sirens wailing outside and Haise running around the apartment to gather his things.
"Sasaki, what's going on-?"
"A ghoul murdered a man a story or so down on the stairs. Received a call this morning and it's believed to be either the Rabbit or Black Rabbit due to Ukaku injuries to the bones and BR has been reported in the area while Rabbit has suddenly seemed to vanish off the map."
"Okay? So am I trusted by myself for a couple hours, so maybe I can bathe?"
Sasaki sighed. "I suppose. But I don't know why you aren't comfortable with me being here while you do..."
"Just get to work. I want to take a bath."
"Maybe I do too."
"Don't be so pervy, Sasaki-kun. Go do your job already."
"Fine. And I'm not pervy!"
"Sure you aren't, now get out." With that, Touka shut the door on the investigator and quickly took a hot bath in fear of Sassan returning early. After she was clean and in some comfy clothes, she settled down in the kitchen with some coffee, staring out the window at the scene she had caused. Sighing, Touka lifted the coffee to her lips and finished the liquid off and brought it over to the sink to wash later and returned to the window.
Sasaki called up yet another unit to report their findings and took a couple pictures of the scene while a man next to him wrote down facts of the body such as the evident random breaks in the ribs which only happen from Ukakus or hand to hand combat. If it were hand to hand, the hands would've had to be female and small.
Waving towards a crew that would clean up the remains of the dead man, Haise sighed softly and scratched at his cheek and blinked as the victims blood smeared. Finishing up some crime scene papers and reviewing them, he handed them off and looked down at his hands which were lightly covered in blood. Going to wipe off the human blood, he stopped suddenly and began up the stairwell towards Touka's room. The intoxicating smell of the liquid on his hands suddenly overwhelmed his senses causing him to curiously lick a blood covered finger. It tasted so good. When was his next meal and why the hell was he so hungry?
Finally getting to Touka's room, he opened the door with a spare key he had been given and walked directly towards the bathroom to wash his hands. Doing so in the oddly quiet surrounding, he glanced at himself through the mirror to find his eye had shifted to it's kakugan again. Blinking at his reflection, he shook his head and went on to ignore the inhumane aspect of his while his mind subconsciously wondered where Touka was, as the scent of her lingered in the bathroom with a mixing smell of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Making his way to the living room, he found the girl curled up on the couch once more, a large flannel shirt covering her body while her jeans hugged her legs perfectly.
Walking towards the woman, he managed to lift her head without waking her and allowed her to use his lap as a pillow. Leaning back into the cushion, he felt himself start to slip into sleep. A shitty idea considering their situation but Haise was much too comfortable to change his position. This was worth the risk in his mind.
Lifting his hand to take hold of a damp silken strand of Touka's purple hair, he returned the favor of last night and slightly grazed his nails on her exposed scalp. Looking towards the barista'a features, she seemed very comfortable in her sleep and he dared to cup her cheek in his hand and leaned down to press a small peck on her forehead. Opening his eyes slowly after the peck, he found the woman's violet eyes on his own orbs.
"Shit." He muttered as Touka's cheeks burned red as she quickly sat up and pulled arm back and slung it forward. A loud slap rang out through the room casing Sasaki to stumble away from the woman and hold his burning cheek that would certainly have a bright red handprint imprinted on his face for a couple days.
"What the hell was that?!" Touka yelled, trying to compose her anger but obviously failed as her temper flared.
"You- uh, -It seemed l- no, maybe, I'm sorry?" Sassan tried, now sitting on the floor, refusing to make eye contact with the barista.
"Not gonna cut it, you shit." Touka stood, an inhumane heat radiating from her as she towered over the investigator, unaware his mind was racing to get out of this situation.
Sasaki looked at her feet, eyes trailing around to the couch and the lack of coffee table. There was nothing that would injure the girl in the process of his training coming back to him. Rolling to his feet in a flash, he ducked under a swing of Touka's arm and grabbed the limb as it narrowly missed his head. Reaching out to grasp the other arm in a mere second, he took it between his fingers and twisted it to press it against her back. Shoving the woman to walk harshly, her chest was suddenly pressed against the cold wall and was pinned there by a her arms and Sassan's hip that was pressed into her own.
Only then did the investigator realize his mistake.
Touka kicked out her legs from beneath her and struck the black and white haired man in the shins and quickly landed on her knees, only roll to her side and release an arm as another was twisted painfully causing her to yelp and submit.
Cringing as force was pressed into her limb, she fell to her stomach and certainly not by her own means.
Sasaki trapped the barista between his body and the floor, legs crossed over the back of her thighs, arm still twisted and pressed to her back.
"Sassan- shit. That hurts! Get off!"
Sasaki blinked down at the woman and withdrew himself, a stream of apologies leaving her lips as she sat up to cradle her arm which was stretched in every which way.
"Touka, I'm sorry, I just did that without thinking and I should've thought and and, I'm just so sorry. I don't even know what happened, my pain receptors seemed to have taken the slaps as a threat and I lost it maybe? I don't know what to say but I really didn't mea-."
Sasaki was shut up by a punch to the face from the pissed purple haired ghoul, that sent him reeling backwards and landing on his back with a painful thud on the hardwood flooring. "Touka-chan... I'm sorry. So. Sorry." He cringed, waiting for another blow which he received painfully in the side.
Touka hesitated before nailing the investigator once more as his apology sounded like the old Kuroneki. Grabbing the back of his collar, the woman yanked Sasaki to his knees and blinked in almost a confused manner as his lip had split and bled freely without the sudden healing. Eyes following a liquid drop that fell to the floor, Touka didn't hesitate to find a handkerchief and toss it his way to deal with the blood and all.
By the time the wound had closed, Touka had made yet another pot of coffee and poured two cups as a peace between them. They sat silently at the table staring out the window until Sasaki again tried to apologize. "Shut up." Touka growled finishing her cup and staring out the window.
"I suppose you have the sufficient grounds to yell at me." Sasaki tried once more, a weak coffee pun.
"I swear, if you make another pun today, I will throw you out this window."
"Hey. I know you think my puns are cheesy, but I think their gouda."
"I hope you don't mind a quick trip towards the concrete." Touka growled standing up causing Sasaki to laugh nervously and pour out another joke.
"Why'd the barista quit her job."
"Because she was sent to prison for throwing an investigator out a window."
"She hated the daily grind!"
Touka grabbed a handful of black and white hair and yanked the man to his feet. Dragging him towards the window. Throwing it open with her free hand, she forced his head to look out and hissed. "The concrete's waiting. When I get down there, you better be stone dead."
"Ehhe."
"It wasn't a joke. Don't laugh."
"I'm wearing off on you!"
"Not for long."
Touka thrust his head further out the window and Sasaki started to squirm backwards.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, I just don't wanna visit down there so fast."
"Fine. Get your ass back in here."
Sassan fell to the ground as he was released and stared up at Touka who stood over him, glaring as he was in the middle of her kitchen sprawled out.
When he stood, he was left to stare after the barista in confusion as she casually left him to her room and shut the door. Minutes later, she emerged from the room with her uniform on leaving Haise to finally speak up as his eyes brushed over the tights and small black skirt that connected with an apron and white blouse.
"You have been excused from all work for another two days, due to your... Uh, incident."
"I would rather work than listen to your jokes."
"But." He began but cut himself off as he noticed the bruise around her neck no longer remained. "Okay. I'll come down with you."
"Fine. But if you say another word, your coffee will never taste good again."
"That's a real threat Touka-chan."
"I know and I mean it."
"Yes ma'am."
Eventually, the two were downstairs and were met with a surprised Nishiki who didn't expect her to be working at this time, but immediately put forth a challenge.
"Oi! Damn-Touka. Get to work. I've been covering your shift long enough."
"Damn-Nishiki."
"Shitty-Touka!"
"Shitty-Nishiki! Shut that damn hole of yours!"
"Stupid-Touka! Why can't you do anything on time!"
"Damn-Sasaki!"
"Wait, what."
"Hey, he's not involved in this. Leave his poor ass outta it!"
"Oh, he's in deeper than he knows."
"Bullshit."
"Bullshit your ass."
"Uh, Touka-chan, may I have a cup of black coffee medium roast?"
"Still crying over your 'dead' boyfriend? Hah! Your pathetic!"
"There is no way in hell I would cry over him. He's gone and it doesn't matter anymore!" Touka seemed hurt by this comment but didn't show it as that was something she would never mean to do around Nishiki.
"Guess I don't get my coffee?"
"Maybe if you had shone him a little affection he wouldn't have left like that!"
"I did, and you don't know how the fuck he left! Hell, you were off with your girlfriend somewhere while he was basically murdered!"
"Please? I'm thirsty."
"Yeah, riiigghhht. Or maybe your just that readable."
"There is no way in hell you can read anyone with that stupid head of yours."
"Guys..."
"Oi! I made it to Kimi before you even heard about it!"
"And that matters why? I am years younger than you!"
"Uhm..."
"Exactly my point! I am your senior!"
"Yeah, you got one thing right. Your old as shit!"
"Hey! Stop your FUCKING bickering and get your customers what they FUCKING ordered! Okay?" Sasaki yelled, slamming his fist down on the counter, eyes shining as Shironeki's would have, his lips were pulled in a tight smile, revealing his teeth that were clenched together.
Touka and Nishiki looked towards Sassan suddenly, eyes wide in surprise that the usual customer would get between one of their arguments.
"He has a point." Touka finally sighed and softened as Nishiki muttered a couple choice words before returning back to work.
Grinding some new grounds into a fine powder, it took little to no time for Touka to be yelling out order numbers and catching up to the early morning service that was slow today due to the murder.
Touka leaned against the counter and rested her forehead on the cool plastic with her arms stretched out in front of her. Letting out a groan, she earned a poke from Sassan's finger and muttered what could audibly be determined as a "What."
"I should be asking you the same thing."
"Oh. Um, today sucks."
"Hey. At least you got a bath in."
"Besides that. Sales today dropped by 40 percent due to the little staircase incident."
"Oh. I could order pay a little extra today, only if you include those sugar cubes."
"..."
"What? You don't seem fond about that idea."
"I don't want the cafe to rely on you purchasing an item we don't even sell to the public."
"Fine, how about this one time then?"
Touka let out yet another huff of air. "Just this once. Thank you Sassan."
Touka didn't hesitate to head in the back room where she gathered yet another bag of the sweet treats. Tying a small white bow around the bag opening, she started back towards the counter. Placing the cubes in front of the man, he visibly lightened and opened the bag to drop one of the cubes into his coffee.
"Thank you Touka-chan. Also, as a request, I would like to take you out on your lunch break."
Touka paused before answering, hesitant to respond as she rarely went anywhere during work hours and she frankly didn't trust Nishiki to run the shop.
"She'll go with you." Nishiki responded for the barista, leaving Touka to start bickering again but was cut off when Haise picked up her hand between two of his own. The purple haired girl flushed and pulled her hand back but felt her apron drop and turned around to find a serious red head glaring. "Your going now. Get outta the damn shop for once."
"Fine."
"Go out with your new boyfriend already."
"He's not m-"
"Sure he isn't. Out."
Next thing the ghoul knew was she was out on the sidewalk with Sassan following her closely, a friendly smile on his features. "We can just walk if you want."
"Uhm, okay. Let's go towards the park. The rides supposedly look great around this time of year."
"Mkay."
Silence tied around the two like a chain, uncertainty crossing their minds at each thought at a conversation starter that would lead to a small sigh. Suddenly, a young looking girl ran into Sasaki, her camera flashing as it happened and a paper in her hand dropping to the concrete only to be picked up as it hit the cold stone.
"I'm sorry sir! Uh, I was just so focused on my homework and I was stuck on a single math problem... You look smart. Can you tell me what 1000-7 is?"
Haise froze and stared down at the girl as he spoke, a familiar feeling of anguish washing over him. "It's 993... 986... 979... 972..." The man suddenly popped a finger as he continued to subtract seven from the previous number. Touka watched in horror but the young girl seemed satisfied with her findings and her camera flashed as she captured another image. Giggling, she took off but a small paper floated to the ground as she ran.
Touka looking at Sasaki who was leaned against a wall, numbers spewing from his mouth. "860, 853, 846, 839, 832, 825- Touka!? What's going on?!" He popped another finger and continued to count down.
The barista finally managed to move herself besides the horror of the moment. Forcing herself to entwine his fingers with her own, this prevented him from popping his fingers. Something she would do with the old Kaneki when he lost it. Shoved her hip into his side until he was against a wall, she watched as he visibly flinched.
"804, 797, 790, 783, 77-" The ghoul placed her lips roughly over his own and tilted her head to capture the movement of his lips until the numbers ceased and his mouth matched hers. Giving it another two seconds, she then pulled away with a thin thread of saliva connecting their lips.
Sasaki looked at Touka with wide eyes as her face fell into a deep blush and she wiped her lips with the back of her sleeve and gave a quick apology. He was surprised she would escalate the situation more than necessary in order to help him with his newly discovered issue, but initially, he didn't mind.
"She, uh, dropped something as she left." Touka practically whispered as she walked towards the small paper floating with the wind and picked it up.
"Chie Hori? I feel like I know that name..." The girl muttered, folding the paper and cramming it in her pocket for later. Guess she would have to do her research tonight.