Chapter Text
Chairs, as Yuuya discovered, had teeth. Sharp gouging teeth.
He knew this for a fact because no matter what he does, he could not find a way to alleviate the red hot feeling of poking, stinging and stabbing. Whether he was leaning forward, resting his back or finding that elusive and tenacious middle ground, it was all the same in the end. The rigid ugly lime green chair always found a way to nip at the center of all things Yuuya found painful in that moment. Also known at the section of his spine right between twisted shoulder blades, making his time in its bright slimy presence ever more uncomfortable.
The homeless man (Gendo, as he said in the brief mid-walk introductions) wasn't looking at Yuuya who wondered if the older man remembered that he was there. His unblinking gaze was both utterly intense yet visibly bored as he stared at the table put between them . The sharpness of his yellow tinted glasses gave his eyes an almost inhuman quality. His square, naturally authoritative, face was dour, like a frowning sculpture made out of old worn wax with a glare that could wither anything it touched.
Yuuya didn’t pay the older, ever-frowning man any mind. He was content focusing on the coffee Café he had followed Gendo. The activity was more to help him ignore his hurting body than anything that could be called productive. He didn't think about the danger was in only a little while ago. At least for now, he felt safe, so a little distraction wouldn't hurt him.
His observation of the place had him concluding that it was, minus the toothpaste green plastic chairs, a beautiful place. Warm with brown and tan being its primary colors. Well maintained and clearly often waxed if the shiny wooden flooring was any indication. Clean tables, only the occasional scratch or dent to indicate just often they had been used over months or perhaps years. The classical art on the walls of the bar (if it could be called that) looked nice, almost ornate but tacky in Yuuya's opinion. The whole place looked like it was pulled right out of a fifty year old movie.
The staff uniforms followed suit, looking unblemished even with them being busy handling seemingly ever present on-rush of tired, and in some cases, complaining customers there that day. They handled it in a mostly quick and efficient manner. Yuuya would guess that they would take a little (maybe not-so-little) time to get to his and Gendo's table, far as they were, next to the Cafés big windows.
If someone were to ask him his opinion about Anteiku, he would simply say that it seemed like a nice place but not one he could see himself ever visiting under normal circumstances. If Anteiku had crossed his path while he was walking through the 20th ward he would (and most likely already had on more than one occasion) not pay it a second glance before continuing on his way to get into even more trouble.
The customers were, for the most part, minding their own business. Almost none of them spoke above a medium volume; usually only to say things that didn't interest Yuuya, scrolling through their phones or reading a book, for the most part, they respected the general, enjoyable, peace.
And then there was the excited friendly spiky haired blonde man, a few octaves away from screaming at a young much more meek bony man wearing a turquoise hoodie who Yuuya knew very well was called Kaneki. The reason he knew this was because Hide (the loud energetic blonde) had shouted his name multiple times in the course of only a few minutes. Inversely, Yuuya knew Hide's name because Kaneki had been whispering it in a low but still audible tone of voice, trying to (without any visible success) get Hide to quiet down. Given the lack of strong reaction from the customers at the spectacle, Yuuya assumed that this little “show” was a common occurrence.
While Yuuya was focused on the unintended comedy routine that was Kaneki's lack of a love life and Hide's enthusiastic attempt at getting him laid. Gendo meanwhile, stood silent, just waiting for someone to come and take his order while staring at Yuuya.
It was around the time when Hide went from talking about Kaneki to (loudly of course) telling him about a web novel he had discovered the night before that Yuuya realized that he was being watched.
The fun is over. How sad , Yuuya thought, he was sure that this watcher was inside of the Café with them. He wondered if this individual was related to the late Nobuki; one of the “senior disciples” Yuuya heard the thing (demon?) talk about in-between knocking the wind out of him and ordering Nobuki to make him suffer.
On the outside, Yuuya appeared to be focused on the little show in front of him, his expression unchanged to not alert the voyeur. Inside, he thought the best move was to discover who he (or she) was before deciding to go with a simple approach.
He turned away from where he (somehow) felt the person watching him was and looked at the big clean window next to him. His expression schooled into one of boredom and vague interest as he spared a glance at his sharp (and thankfully bruise free) face before he turned his attention to the scene going on around him.
He immediately ruled out both the loud Hide and quiet Kaneki, because of their discussion neither of them ever so much as glanced in his direction and he would have seen them looking at him earlier. Same for all the other customers.
It was then that he saw her peeking from behind the old cashier, in the rectangular opening that connected to the kitchen which allowed the cooking staff to hand the waiting staff food without ever having to leave.
She (he thought it was a she) was not someone that he could claim to recognize or remember and yet she kept periodically glancing up from her current duty to look at him while most likely preparing food or washing the dishes for some unknown reason. The attention honestly irritated Yuuya. He was used to being looked at because of his appearance and height but he didn't like unnecessary attention and something about her, not just her glances, made him feel…
He felt uncomfortable, feeling like he imagined a rat felt when some noisy scientist looked at it. The irritation was almost unbearable and he couldn't even say why beyond his usual dislike.
Yuuya spent a while watching her reflection watch him right back as his annoyance grew in intensity. Finally he got fed up and looked directly at her, his tight expression would make his now very negative feelings clear.
The girl (he was now sure about that) looked to be around his age, maybe a year or two older. She noticed and smiled with a brief shy wave, either oblivious to his mood or just not caring . She continued to look at him like he was the most interesting thing she had seen that week or perhaps ever.
Yuuya tried, only somewhat succeeded, to ignore the waitress, shaking his head before turning to Gendo, who did just finish his mandatory glaring session with the almost sparkling clean white table. He spoke up for the first time since the alleyway, his voice rich but flat, holding a strength of authority that didn't match the rest of him.
“I wish that I was still ignorant, like them. Enjoy the moment, like them,” Gendo stated, his gaze was blistering, watching the other people in the Café with something resembling envy or maybe spite before looking back at Yuuya, “I know better,” he rested his head in his hands, joined in a angle that covered his mouth, “you know better.”
And then there was silence. Yuuya couldn't hear anything.
And then he remembered.
The TV Man
“Yes… I know better,” Yuuya replied after only a moment, “It's just more… common than I thought it would be.”
That was a lie, an hour before Yuuya couldn't for the life of him remember the TV Man or anything like that. But more importantly, he can't remember what led up to “calling”(summoning?) him or why he would do it in the first place or for that matter what happened after the calling that led to the cryptid smiling thing having not only having his phone number but being a part of his contact list.
The worst part was that amnesia was not in any way a surprise to Yuuya. For reasons he would rather not think about, his mind was full of holes.
“Nobuki…” Yuuya started to say, still somewhat disoriented to speak properly, “the de- do you know-”
“I do not, it's not my purview,” Gendo looked over the crowded place, a flicker of annoyance crossing his eyes before the stoicism reasserted itself. “But I can speculate.”
Yuuya raised an eyebrow at the old man's way of speaking but he nodded in acceptance, seeking to get some answer from the homeless man. Instead of answering, Gendo's eyes flickered to a spot over his shoulder Yuuya. He saw a waitress approaching their table, her attention was directly on Yuuya. It was the girl who had been watching him.
Yuuya bit back a sigh as she did a great job dodging between the packed crowds of annoyed customers who had been there much longer than they had. She stalked Yuuya, her target, settling right in front of them, a smile on her round face which Yuuya did his best to mimic, more out of courtesy than because he felt anything remotely pleasant in that moment.
The waitress had, despite being at least a little bit older than Yuuya, a small slender build that could be described as svelte or perhaps skinny with a cute face, beautiful complexion and dark blue eyes which matched her hair which was chin length and covered her right eye. All together she looked beautiful with an unexplainable exoticness.
“Welcome to Anteiku, my name is Touka,” she said, a shy smile gracing her lips, her voice was shy but teasing in a way, “May I take your order?”
It was strange. Yuuya was looking up at Touka and felt something primal, an animal instinct that had all of his hair standing straight up. He felt his skull throb his blood was boiling, his ears rang as he heard her voice. When she smiled, he saw teeth. He stood straight, shoulders hunched and fists clenched.
Gendo was looking at him, eyebrows raised. Touka was looking at him, her smile strained and complicated.
[ Calm down, you idiot , he told himself, gritting his teeth, she's a waitress, what is she going to do? Overcharge you?
Yuuya looked down at the menu. He needed a moment to study the green on blue text before the Kanji became discernible. He could feel her eyes boring into him.
“A double ham and egg sandwich with mustard and cheese, one french fry, one honey toast, one coffee black,” he looked up at her, expecting….
What was he expecting?
Touka, now happy again, gave him a broad smile, there was an aura about her, like his order was the most appealing thing in the world to her. She scribbled their orders down and then she left.
At least that was what Yuuya wanted to happen.
Touka was still looking at him, she had a very wide embarrassed smile. It was like she was expecting him to pat her on the head.
A few long moments passed as Yuuya and eventually Gendo looked at the waitress, whose smile became more than a little brittle.
“… I'm Touka,” she once again informed Yuuya who was now looking back at her with no expression on his face, “you're new here… What's your name?”
“Kizami Yuuya,” He replied quickly, he might have wanted “Touka” gone but he saw no reason to be rude. “Nice to meet you.”
Touka nodded, clearly happy for some reason before almost sprinting to transfer their order to the kitchen. But to his surprise, she goes inside instead.
“Interesting,” was the only thing Gendo said, “do you know her?”
“No, I've never seen he-”
The clock struck noon, the subtle melancholic sound heralding the near end of lunch. People began finishing, or had already finished their drinks, meals and conversations. What could be finished was put on the move. Even Hide and Kaneki were getting ready to leave.
Yuuya waited for everyone to leave before replying.
“I don't know her,” Yuuya said quietly while scratching his forehead. He could see Touka in the corner of his darting around the kitchen, “I don't like it,” he reluctantly tore his gaze away from her and back to Gendo, his hands were now above the table, his twitching fingers began tapping the wood all on their own, “… I'm ready to talk now.”
Gendo nodded before saying: “It was a business transaction.”
Yuuya gave the older man a sharp look before replying.
“I…”
Yuuya stopped speaking and thought about that statement while Gendo watched him with unblinking eyes, assessing and measuring him. Yuuya went over what happened in his head more than once and remembered something.
“Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember the deal going like this: my power for blood and pain.”
“You're right.” Yuuya waited for Gendo to continue.
Only that didn't happen. Gendo just watched him for a while, so silent that even his breathing couldn't be heard. Yuuya stood straight, his back hating the action almost as much as it hated him. He noticed that the old man at the register was looking into the kitchen, he could hear him asking someone, who he somehow knew was Touka, what she was doing back there.
Yuuya wasn't certain if he really saw it or if it was just his imagination, but for a single fleeting moment he thought he saw the older man smile.
“And why do you think I'm right?” Gendo's tone was level, Yuuya could picture this as a job interview and Gendo a member of upper management testing a young employee.
Yuuya wondered what kind of game Gendo was playing. Was it idle curiosity that spawned his question or something more serious? He decided that he would play along, for now.
“Nobuki- the thing in Nobuki called their arrangement a deal.” Yuuya hadn't remembered that detail until now, on account of being too busy having the wind knocked out of him. “And because the thing kept talking about how wasteful Nobuki was when he was collecting the payment.”
Yuuya figured that the thing (demon?) was going to kill Nobuki if they hadn't. If he had to guess it would be when the latter had killed Gendo and finished the “ritual”. Get the most profit possible before eliminating the weak link.
Gendo gave a slight tilt of his head as the cashier continued to question the person in the kitchen who was apparently not supposed to be there.
“Correct, it's why I dislike children,” Gendo scowled at him, the expression all too fitting, “too much ambition and no wisdom to temper it.”
“Hm,” Yuuya hummed at what very well might be (he wasn't sure yet) an insult that was for reasons unknown directed at either him, all children or both, “speaking from experience?”
Yuuya observed as Gendo leaned by the smallest amount, his posture looser, his eyes ever so wider. Yuuya interpreted that to mean (assuming he wasn't tricked) that the older man liked it when someone bites back, so Yuuya would continue to verbally spar against him to see where that gets him.
“So, Kizami-san tell me how you think it happened?” He drew out his words, a clear challenge, “what were events that led the imbecile to you?”
A trap? he thought He is just pretending to not know what happened to Nobuki? Maybe waiting for me to slip up and reveal something incriminating. A test of my deductive abilities?
For a moment he considered just saying that he didn't know before deciding against it. More than likely that would end any chance for him to know what Gendo knows, if anything. I don’t gonna make myself look guilty.
“Well…” Yuuya drew out the word while nodding in thought to himself, more for dramatic effect than anything else. “My first thought is that 'Nobuki' summoned the… thing.” he felt what could best be described as an itch on his grey matter, assuming that it was due to never learning what the being that was inside of Nobuki was called, “I can't tell you how that happened.”
“Kirishima-chan is hyper today.” Hide commented in a quiet voice that everyone could hear. Kaneki nods as they both leave the Café to do whatever college students do. The sound of pans hitting the tile floor intermixed with the sound of exasperation from the elderly cashier who was caught between dealing with the line of customers in front of him and looking at the apparent spectacle in the kitchen happening behind him.
“Yes, you of course, had no knowledge or even the means to be aware of anything about the fool and his 'employer',” Gendo nodded as shouting could be heard, the words oil and extinguisher were being thrown around more than once, “correct?”
“That is correct,” Yuuya took a glance at the kitchen which was a small but still worrying amount of smoke billowing from it. The distinct sound of high pressure chemicals being ejected at flame could be heard. The few remaining customers were looking concerned at the unusual spectacle, “is it always… like this?”
“Negative,” Gendo's focus remained fixed on Yuuya, Touka's uncharacteristic behavior and the maybe pyromaniacal event happening only a handful of meters away having no visible effect on him, “You can speculate. Tell me how you think it happened.”
Yuuya looked down to give the appearance of deep thinking, wanting (or at least hoping) to leave a good impression.
“The library, it's possible that he found something there that would…” Yuuya paused for a moment to imagine it: Nobuki, shouting and shaking in chunni, looking for (or perhaps stumbling over) a piece of forbidden lore, “maybe not a book, maybe he found a phrase or pattern that allowed him to conjure the… thing.” He didn’t want to say demon yet. The potential for error was too much. “But… if it was in a book from a normal library it would…” He paused at the thought so deeply entranced in his hypothesis that he didn't notice the only male waiter approach and placed cups of steaming coffee on the table before running back to the smoking kitchen. “I recall… there are stories of lost books being found in a random library.”
Yuuya grabs the cup of coffee, his eyes never leaving Gendo’s, not showing hostility or support to him.
“It's because of an improper index usually. Or maybe a bulk donation from someone's dead relative’s attic. Librarians don't have a high wage.” he imagined Nobuki at a book drive, the image almost made him smile. “More than likely they, the librarians, would only catalog surface level information. Title, author, that sort of thing.” He takes a sip of coffee.
As the scalding bean brown liquid entered his mouth and washed around amongst his teeth and gums and tongue, his world became pain. Like he was going to melt before becoming a gooey puddle on the Café floor. Instinct made him spit out the beverage.
At least that's what would have happened despite all the pain and all he saw Gendo watching him.
The only sign of his situation was a brief burst of rapid blind pain before that too was squashed. He swallowed the coffee in a calm and ever-so slow way. The liquid going from his peeling mouth, down his spasming throat before arriving at its destination in his stomach where it connected to make itself known in all of the most unpleasant of ways.
Gendo drank his nice and cool orange juice. Yuuya wasn't sure if he had seen his blunder or not but decided to carry on with his hypothesis.
“Um,” he stifled a wince as his burnt raw mouth articulated “it's possible that Nobuki could have discovered the.... tome?” He rubbed the peeling skin in his mouth as his mind raced, “the grimoire there. It would be the same at a bookstore or a trade center.”
Gendo gave the most bare of acknowledgements in what could be described as respect. Satisfied with my assessment? Easing me into a trap?
“How scrupulous,” he sipped his drink, “you could be right but you could also be wrong,” he leaned back to his full height, “tell me: what are the reasons that your theory could be wrong?”
Yuuya wondered if this was where the trap lay. He wouldn’t see when Gendo would spring it and how. Assuming, sure, that there was a trap and Yuuya wasn't just paranoid as he began to suspect about himself.
Yuuya continued to act out his role as the fire in the kitchen died with a final pitiful wheeze. Yuuya thought about it again, the scenario where Nobuki went to the hypothetical library and retrieved the hypothetical forbidden evil knowledge in, perhaps, book form.
“I imagine… “ Yuuya paused, realizing that he needed to speak with more confidence, “finding the library or bookstore with the… incantation,” Yuuya wasn't quite sure of the arcane terminology at play, deciding to stick to the most easily recognizable terms for him, “that kind of knowledge wouldn't be advertised, not openly. Even occult book stores wouldn't flaunt it because… “
His explanation trailed off, he was deep in thought and, at least for the moment, ignoring the older man. He thought about it, the scenario he was imagining. Images and sound played through and none of them were the least bit coherent, like an almost unwatchable video that only showed a single image every minute.
And then he returned to reality. One where Gendo was still watching him, his back still aching and the smell of burnt something, he wasn't sure what.
And then he saw her, Touka, holding two plates with shriveled lumps of “food”. She was smiling but it wasn't reaching her eyes, she was also sweating, she appeared nervous, the reason obvious.
She laid the plates on the dining table. The fried roadkill smell spread to other tables, the old man (Yosimura, he finally remembered) was looking on at the spectacle in horror, his usually shut eyes, wide and unblinking, like he had seen hell magnified. The other server's were behind him, only a little more composed and covered in soot and a slurry of white chemicals.
Touka's smile stretched to the point it almost hurt, she felt uncomfortable and anxious, she wondered-
Yuuya picked up the crumbling breakfast sandwich, took a bite, chewed for a while, his expression one or true neutrality.
“Hmm,” he murmured before finally swallowing and saying: “Good work, Touka.”
The reaction to Yuuya's compliment of Touka's varied. The staff of Anteiku were baffled at the clear lie while Gendo remained stone faced, not caring at all.
Touka took that simple compliment like it was the most prized and cherished thing she had in the short time she had been awake. Her smile was wide and full of life. She was happy.
“Of course- I mean, thank you!” She said, sounding truly grateful for his words before disappearing back into the kitchen, Yosimura followed behind her for some reason.
Yuuya continued to replenish his energy, not noticing Gendo eat a tiny sliver of his omelet. Which meant that Yuuya didn't see Gendo's eyes widen as the taste of liquid garbage covered his tongue making him almost retch.
Yuuya continued to eat, not being able to taste the food, his mouth was just that numb at that moment but he was glad that he could finally eat something.
“So…” Yuuya finally drew out, the adrenaline keeping the pain from the coffee induced first degree burns at bay, “ready to continue?”
Gendo nodded, unable to speak at that moment but expertly masking the disgust to not look weak in front of the potentially dangerous young man.
Yuuya nodded back, and resumed his explanation. He had a feeling that this would be more important than he rea-
Yuuya was alone.
He felt strange as he looked out at the twilight sky outside of Anteiku. The last signs of the falling sun looked awful to him.
Oh, it happened again , his phone told him only a few hours had passed this time. It’s not good but at least it wasn’t a full day or more. He looked around, no one had made themselves known in the time it had taken for him to piece himself back together. At least I wasn't burying myself again , he half-joked to himself as he stood up. The heaviness in his limbs told him he must have been seated for quite some time.
The sound of nothing ceased as his hearing returned. The sounds of the piping and heating within the walls were a relief that he basked in for a time. Smell and taste were next bringing air freshener and coffee into his rapidly filling world.
Feeling returned last, bringing the familiar sensation of eyes boring into his back.
Are they going to be a problem? Yuuya wondered before turning around and not being as surprised as he should have been to see Touka holding a clear tall glass of what he could only assume was orange juice.
“You're finally awake.” She seemed happier than he would expect given the situation. And also relieved?
“Oh, my apologi- I'm sorry I kept you here,” he said, “I haven't been sleeping lately. I'll leave now," he gave Touka a brief bow before leaving extra money on his table, “thank you.”
Yuuya was within arms reach of the door when an indistinct shape blurred past him and suddenly Touka was between him and the entrance. The entire action happened in the space of a single moment.
"You're still numb," her face scrunched up, Yuuya assumed it was because of her use of the word "numb" in the wrong context instead of just saying that he was disoriented, "don't push yourself... Kizami-san."
Yuuya wondered why a complete stranger would worry about him, someone who was keeping her at work. It could be concerning or perhaps Touka was afraid that she would be blamed or even sued if he was hurt in an accident.
He sat back down, not particularly upset at this latest interruption. He had nowhere he needed at that exact moment. If Touka wanted to waste her time, that was her problem.
He saw Touka visibly untense and grabbed the glass of (maybe) juice off the counter before walking over to him, her smile returned in full force, before gently laying the tall beverage in front of him.
Yuuya reached for the glass when to his surprise and mild annoyance, Touka sat down across from him just before his fingers could so much as brush against the glass. He doesn't get a chance to respond when she speaks up.
“Are you ok?” Touka asked with a concern that for some reason sounded foreign to you, "you weren't..."
Whatever Touka's words were, he assumed concern of some kind, faded away leaving behind an uncomfortable silence. Yuuya looked down, his hands were twitching and took longer than they should to reach for the drink, to do anything. As his conscious self regained more of his faculties, he decided that taking a bit to recover was a good idea.
Yuuya decided that he needed a moment to analyze the situation, tilted his head down towards the table, not too far down because Touka might suspect that he was passing out but not too far up either, which could be seen as an invitation for her to speak.
He saw Touka lean back into her chair, her eyes darting from side to side every now and again. Which meant that his move was a success and that Touka was impatient but holding back. He decided that that meant that her goals were simple: Touka was the one who opted to stay back while Yuuya was having one of his episodes, perhaps out of altruism or maybe a favor?
Whatever her reason may be. Yuuya's goal was simply to recover, leave and allow the tired waitress (or was it a barista? Yuuya wasn't sure what the correct terminology was) to close the shop and end her busy workday and do whatever she likes to do in her freetime.
Yuuya knew that if this “episode” was like the previous ones then it would take a while for him to be able function at an acceptable, if not normal, level. In the meantime, he will entertain Touka, garner sympathy and be as little of an irritant as possible to avoid an early exit.
He puts his strategy into motion.
Yuuya looks up and for a moment, his eyes locked onto Touka's. He maintained eye contact for only a few moments before looking away, feigning mild embarrassment to put her at ease before he spoke up.
“I'm sorry, for keeping you here.” He reiterated his earlier apology to make her more sympathetic towards his situation. “Life has been… busy lately-”
“Don't say sorry. I wanted to be here,” Touka quickly said. He noticed that her demeanor had changed. From meek and shy to something as tough as iron. The shift was so sudden that Yuuya forgot his plan, his mask slipping away.
“I wanted to help.” Touka gave him a scathing look, “you don't have to lie to me, ok?”
Yuuya smiled and he wasn't sure why. Touka was a completely different person and he liked it.
“Ok.”
“Asshole,” Touka said, but he could tell that there was no true heat in her words, she was just teasing him.
“This is the fryer.” Touka pointed at a small dull silver open topped cooler looking thing that Yuuya presumed by the name was used to fry meat and… vegetables? Yuuya realized that he didn't know much about kitchens.
Or not eating over expired chicken, Yuuya, and his stomach, still regretted that decision even then.
“This is where we store food,” Touka pointed to the white fridge that was big that stretched from the floor and almost touched the ceiling. It, and the rest of the kitchen, were out of place in the otherwise classy atmosphere that Anteiku exudes.
“hm,” Yuuya was looking around while gulping down the last drops of the orange juice, before pointing at what he thinks is a grill, the kind used to make burgers.
“There was an accident,” Touka looked at the lump of charred black metal. “fire.”
Yuuya nodded.
“Yeah, everyone noticed.”
“Jerk, accidents happen.”
“Of course, of course. And if by chance this ‘accident’ caused this lovely building to burn down, the insurance company would show you mercy,” he teased, enjoying the way she smiled at his words, “they might even give you two Cafés if you beg enough.”
Yuuya saw Touka looking at him, her face puffed up in annoyance.
“You still ate it.” she talked back, the challenge clear, she was eager for blood. “What does that say about you?”
“That's simple,” he countered, eager to make her bleed, “I like garbage!”
He dodged an indignant towel, which whizzed right past his head. Touka walked to a blue metal door opposite of the serving area.
“Come on,” she opened the door, “I wanna show you something.”
Yuuya was looking down at the street below, it reminded him of a river of black ooze. He imag ined not-hands reaching up, trying to draw the rest of the world into it. He felt something touch him and he felt himself falling forward before a great force jerked him back.
He got to his feet and looked at Touka, a sheepish look on her face, folding chairs by her feet.
“Sorry.”
“Do you like books?” He asked Touka while she was pointing at a stack of apartments only a few blocks away. She had been explaining a funny story she had recently heard in passing, related to a man who had, allegedly, stolen no less than one bear, two lions and seven armadillos before parading them through the front door of his home. She said that the police arrested him shortly after.
“Uh,” she thought about it, before shaking her head, “no, I don't have the patience for them.”
“None?” He was nodding while looking through his phone for a certain series of files related to the current topic. “Why?”
“Too slow.” She really wanted to say that she found most books (unless they were particularly fast paced) dull and boring but held herself back, for now.
He found what he was looking for and showed it to her.
Theater Club Adaptation of The Portrait of Markov V0.1 (Awaiting Review by Yuri and Emi)
Screenplay by Kizami Yuuya
- Opening credits rolls (note: maybe just at the end instead?) Camera sweeps over eerie buildings at night (note: we could just open it on victim #1 opening her eyes, pretending to be asleep. Maybe spitting out a sleeping pill?)
On and on it went for at least twenty minutes of potential scenes for something Touka assumed was a movie.
“You wrote… this?” Touka asked as she read the description of “victim #1” making an escape attempt before being captured.
“I'm in my school's film club.” He explained, he didn't sound entirely pleased, “the President, my classmate Emi, volunteered me to finish a screenplay for them, it was based off a manga called Grey . The old one dropped after a disagreement.” Yuuya decided to leave out that the old writer had daily screaming matches with Emi, Emi never asked if he wanted to join and that he had written anything before then, “I also helped with production,” because Emi, of course, “it was a success, the film won an award.”
Yuuya still remembered the shock he felt that the movie he was so certain would crash and burn in the ground was instead praised. He remembered Emi hugging him, really happy, saying something he couldn't hear. Most of all he remembered being confused throughout the entire ordeal.
“Was it bad?” His recollection of the past was ended by Touka's question. “I mean, did you like it?”
It was boring, at first, he thought, but it got better
“Yeah, it was.”
“Good to know,” she sounded pleased, “I like caring for birds,” she explained, “at the shelter, right there.” She pointed at a spot where a building could just barely be seen, Yuuya could see her smile, “I like birds.”
“... I used to take care of animals.” He told her. That's not all you did, “Good place.”
“I would like to take you there sometime,” she proposed out of the blue, she looked down, he could see that she was embarrassed, “to see the birds, with me.”
Oh, what should I say here? He joked to himself.
“Ok, it's a date.”
“Can I have your number?” Touka asked him as she finished locking the door to the roof entrance. “Today was fun.”
“Hmm, sure. It was fun-”
“Even if you are an ass.”
Like you were any better, he snarked to himself before pulling out his phone, with her following suit. They did the standard ritual of copying the other's phone number down and making confirmation calls, both were smiling the entire time.
Once that was done, they looked at each other, it was silent before he finally spoke:
“Till next time.”
Touka looked sad, more sad than Yuuya thinks she should be. But she nodded all the same. He felt nostalgic, he wanted to do something but he didn't know what.
“Bye.” She finally said, waving as Yuuya left Anteiku.
His destination was “the usual place.”
His goal: Find the TV Man
Touka watched Yuuya leave through the window, she craned her head against the glass to watch the impossibility walk down the streets that shouldn't be here.
She was smiling.
She was crying.
He was back!