守りたい // hidekane

13

"...It's no use, there's something off about it compared to yours.." Kaneki sighs, placing the cup beside another, shoulders slumped and a tired smile on his face. They've been stuck on making coffee for about twenty minutes as the ravenette can't seem to satisfy himself with what he's trying to make. The taste of Yoshimura's brew was hard to achieve.

"In order to make coffee, there's a lot of effort put into it so the taste can vary greatly." The older wipes wipes off the spills on his hand using a spare cloth before continuing, "There's no need to be impatient."

Kaneki nods softly, taking the damp piece from the manager into his hands, wiping off the liquid he had accidentally made a mess of on the table. Yoshimura starts to walk away, making the dark haired teen whip his attention to him. The old man starts, "I'm going to the front for a while, you can ask for Touka's assistance if there are some things you're still unsure of." He starts to walk off, only stopping a little bit by the door as if he remembered something, he spoke once again.

"One more thing before I go," Kaneki turns to face him with evident curiosity, "Anteiku isn't just a coffee shop, it is also a place where ghouls of the 20th ward can freely gather. I'm not saying it's a reason to be on guard all the time, you just need to understand that fellow ghouls will also be coming here, as well as humans. Our only desire is to be able to give to them the best service we can offer."

Kaneki bit his lip before prying in to ask a question, "U-uhm...don't ghouls have to hide themselves from society? I-Is it really okay for them to be in the same place as humans?"

"Since we our way of living in this world is to conceal our true forms, it's necessary for us to learn from them, personality-wise, casual gestures and of course how they eat. They're like living textbooks for us. Besides that..." Yoshimura pauses for a while, a small forlorn look on his face, "I really like them...the humans."

What does he mean by that...? The youngling's brows raised in surprise at the statement but before he could yet again question it, the other cut him off.

"Anyways, do your best." Yoshimura spins around and finally reaches the door, "Ah, sorry, one last thing. If a human carrying a large case, handbag or whatever else enters the shop...come and tell me secretly." Then he finally leaves Kaneki to clean the countertop in silence.

Or so he thought.

"KAAANEKIIIIII!!!!"

"He's in this room...."

"Oh, thanks!"

Faint commotion could be heard from the other side and the door bursts open, making the ravenette jump, spilling the coffee over the area he just cleaned. He groaned in annoyance, turning around with knitted eyebrows, only to have his (adorable) stern look melt away at the sight of Hide throwing his arms around him.

"Hide! You're awake!" Kaneki murmured in the taller's chest.

"Hells yeah I am! And better than ever! Y'know I really gotta thank Touka for what she did." Hide grins, pulling away with the slightest bit of noticeable hesitance. But the statement made the smaller's eyebrows contort in a confused manner. The strawberry flicked him on the forehead at the expression, "You idiot~! Touka totally saved us from that car accident we got into! Nishio senpai was badly injured so he was hospitalized, but Touka found us and nursed us back to health! Didn't they tell you that yet? The driver of the car that hit us was kinda drunk and fell asleep just as..."

Kaneki finally caught up to the fact that Hide was completely oblivious and they told him an entrirely different story to cover up for the whole incident. He drags himself back to reality just in time when Hide finishes his whole babble, "O-Oh...right, I forgot." His grey eyes caught the sight of a bandage wrapped around Hide's head and he shivered in the memory attached to it.