*edited*
Your POV
"I...I want to talk to you..." Kaneki admitted, hanging his head low.
You blinked a few times, before nodding.
He cleared his throat and scratched his neck in embarrassment, as if he was afraid to say whatever he wanted to say.
And you sincerely were sad for that, you hated bringing fear to others.
"I...I wanted to know...what happened in these years, you know..."
He was obviously referring to your changes, so you averted your eyes, thinking about a way out the situation.
"Nothing important...and it's none of your business" you added the last part more sternly than you intended to, immediately regretting it.
Kaneki's expression fell, his lips which were once curved upwards in an embarrassed grin, now were downward, and he looked very upset.
Keep up your wall, (f/n)!
You scoffed and finally turned around; you went to grab a cloth and started to clean a table.
Suddenly the door burst opened, startling you a bit; at the entry there was a woman with a girl. The woman was very beautiful, but her features were contorted in a quite sorrowful expression. The girl was surely her daughter: she had the same brown hair and Hazel eyes, and her features resembled much the women's.
They were all wet, you also noticed, probably due to the bad weather. Everyone's eyes were fixed on them, and finally Touka arrived wondering what in the world was happening. But as her dark purple eyes landed on the two, she let out a soft gasp.
"Ryoko-san! Hinami! Kaneki, go get a towel!" she shouted and Kaneki flinched, but obeyed and came immediately back with a big towel.
"There is only one room, you can stay there" Touka left with the woman and the little girl (let's pretend that Hinami is 7 or 8) behind her.
You and Kaneki were still looking at the direction they disappeared, not fully understanding what had just happened, when Yoshimura appeared and placed an hand on the boy's shoulder.
Kaneki flinched again and you both turned around.
"Kaneki, you still have to get a mask, don't you? (f/n), can I ask you to take Kaneki to Uta's shop for a mask?"
You sighed and looked behind you with a bored look.
"It's not like I have something more funny to do..."
You faced Kaneki and gave him the most scary look you could give.
"Tomorrow at 3:00 pm. Don't you dare to be late" you said and went back cleaning the table, a satisfied smirk spread across your lips.
~ Time skip brought to you by Ryuk and his apples~
The next day
You were outside, wearing a tight, red tank top and jeans shorts.
3:00 pm
Checking the time on your phone, you thought,
I told him to not be late. Now I'll-
Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and you turned around to see Kaneki jogging towards you.
"I'm... sorry... I was... about... to be late" he smiled, panting, his hands on his knees.
You felt bad for making him upset before.
You sighed.
"Let's just go"
Kaneki followed you, and you finally arrived in that ward you hated so much, where everyone had your appearance, looked like a punk. You were conscious of the fact that guys were checking you out, but you acted like you didn't care.
Ugh, why did I accept to come here in the first place.
Finally you arrived at the masks shop and opened the door.
Kaneki followed you.
"Hello? Is someone fucking here or we came here for nothing?" you asked annoyed. The boy explored the dark room you were in, observing the masks hanged to the wall, finding them quite interesting.
He then spotted a white blanket over something. Overwhelmed by curiosity he pulled it up...
"Boo" Uta, the ghoul covered by tattoos and piercings, looked up at Kaneki, who yelped and fell backwards. You started laughing. Uta stood up from his place and helped poor Kaneki up.
"Hi, I'm Uta, and you are...?"
"Ka...Kaneki Ken"
Uta nodded and then turned to face you, a smile on his lips.
"(f/n)... Long time no see. Do you want another tattoo or something?"
You sighed dramatically and shook your head.
"It wouldn't be bad, but today I'm here only 'cause Kaneki here needs a mask" you explained.
Uta nodded and placed Kaneki on a chair, starting to ask him questions.
You decided to explore his shop, observing the masks.
Kaneki's POV
I sat on the chair, while Uta was questioning me about my eyepatch. Honestly I felt very excluded and awkward at the moment, or like some retarded. I mean, (f/n) and Uta were about the same, they talked the same way, they acted the same way... I felt like an outcast.
"I see...do you have a lover?" the question made me flush noticeably. Why couldn't I hold in my emotions?
"N-no! Not yet... "
Uta hummed, seemingly unsatisfied at my response.
"What do you think about (f/n)-chan?"
My heart skipped a beat for some reason, maybe because I was intimidated by her, or maybe because I used to have a crush on her in my childhood... But I pushed those thoughts aside.
"I...I think she's scary...but she wasn't like that, when I first met her..." I said truthfully, receiving another soft hum from the man in front of me.
"I see. Honesty, I think you are the only one who has known that kind of (f/n). If you tell this to anyone right now, they wouldn't believe you, but I do, also because I know that she had a very hard time in her childhood, and that she became part of another group. Plus, she's well known by the CCG. I'm very proud of the mask I made for her, very appropriate for the name she's known as: Purple Phoenix" Uta spoke while he kept taking the measures of my head.
Hard time? Another group? Purple Phoenix?
I turned around a bit to look at (f/n), who was observing some masks. Her face looked bored, and thanks to the amount of make up she wore, you would never tell she was the same (f/n) as in her childhood; that was why he hadn't fully recognised her when she'd first showed up at the coffee shop.
So that's why she changed that much?
I was lost in my thoughts when I noticed that (f/n) wasn't looking anymore at the masks, but she was standing in front of me, looking at her nails with knitted brows.
She then lifted her head to look at Uta.
"Sorry, Uta, we have to go"
"Oh, goodbye, then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kaneki. And (f/n), feel free to come when you want for the tattoo" Uta smiled. I nodded and stood up.
"Bye, Uta" (f/n) followed me out of the dark room.
It was now afternoon and we walked quietly, (f/n) in front of me. That was when I stupidly decided to break the silence; stupidly because of the question I made.
"What are those masks for?"
(f/n) turned to look at me, a shocked and amused look on her face.
"You want to tell me you came here without even knowing why?"
I stayed silent, feeling like she was fooling me around, with that little smile of hers and her brows rised. She closed her eyes and shook her head, chuckling.
"Have you ever heard of Doves? They are special ghoul investigators from the CCG. Their job is to find ghouls' identity and kill them. If they see your face, you're dead"
After that, I didn't dare to say a word.
~ Another time skip brought to you by Levi's cleaning~
Your POV
You were now in the coffee shop, when you heard voices coming from a room. Curiosity took over you as you placed your ear on the door trying to catch up what they were saying.
"And what is 'Eccedentesiast'?" you heard an high pitched voice.
(I'm not promoting that wonderful story I swear)
"It's a person who does fake smiles" a second voice said softly.
You recognised the second voice, which belonged to non other that Kaneki and you opened the door.
Two faces turned around surprised and a little startled and you made eye-contact with Kaneki. You then moved your eyes to the other person in the room, who was the child that had come two days before with the beautiful woman.
You sincerely loved kids, but you didn't know if it was a good idea to show a "soft side". But you also thought that maybe if you only introduced and talked a bit to her, without playing or doing anything too nice, it would've been okay.
"Hi, I'm (l/n), (f/n), but you can call me (f/n). What's your name, kid?" you finally introduced yourself, ruffling the child's brown hair. At first, she seemed quite nervous.
"I-It's Hi-Hinami" she stuttered. You nodded your head and looked at the book in her hands.
The black goat's egg.
Your heart beat increased, and you felt like screaming and hugging her, but you kept cool. She reminded you of yourself a lot of years ago...but you didn't want to think about it at the moment.
"Ya readin'?" you asked, plopping yourself into the sofa next to Hinami. She stiffened a bit and flashed you a nervous smile, not looking at you in the eyes.
"Y-yes... Do you know how to read?" Hinami asked.
"Actually, yes, I do. But reading is not my thing, now. If you want, I could teach you words too" you half lied, avoiding eye-contact with Kaneki, who seemed to be staring at you.
Hinami smiled bright and nodded.
"Onii-chan... Can Onee-chan join us?"
You raised a brow when she said 'onee-chan'
Onee-chan?
You felt happy inside, but on the outside you just looked bored.
"Y-yes of course" Kaneki stuttered too, making you feel worse inside.
A few hours later, you had to go home, so you stretched as you stood up.
"I'm afraid I have to go. See ya tomorrow, Kane-kun, Hinami-chan" you waved and left the room.
Kaneki's POV (again)
I watched (f/n) leaving and I turned my head to Hinami, who was scribbling some words in her notebook.
"So, what do you think of (f/n)-chan?" I finally asked her.
"At first she looked scary..." she admitted. I couldn't blame her... with that dark makeup she wore...
"But once I got to know her she's nice!" she then added.
I looked at Hinami. The book in her hands, her cheerful face...she reminded me of (f/n) when I had first met her. Maybe, if she hadn't changed, now she would have been with me reading a book. I couldn't help but feel a bit upset at the thought.
______________________________________
Hi, minna-chan~~~
Sorry if it's too short,
Sorry if it suck,
But thanks for reading anyway!
See ya!!