章節 6: An Engagement and Emotional Complications
As Yomo had stated, Touka had woken up a couple hours later, around eleven. After remembering the previous night, she immediately scrambled out of bed to Kaneki and Yomo's bedroom, praying that Kaneki had returned. Touka was going to rip that man a new one if he was there. If he wasn't there, it would bring the same reaction, no doubt, only worse due to having to hunt him down. Yomo wouldn't be able to stop her this time.
Touka gave no hesitation to throwing open the bedroom door, sending it slamming against the wall behind it. "Shitty Kaneki! What the hell—" She fell silent quickly as her eyes landed on the form lying on one of the beds by the wall and cringed. Kaneki was curled up in the middle of the bed, the blanket halfway over his torso, his arm draped over the side of his head. Surprisingly, he hadn't stirred at the loud noises Touka had made, looking to be in a deep sleep.
The dark-haired woman quietly walked closer to the bed, staring down at her brother in everything but blood, and carefully lowered herself to sit on the edge. Kaneki didn't even move or stir when the mattress dipped, which made Touka's eyebrows furrow in concern. This was odd. She was so used to Kaneki being so paranoidly in tune with his surroundings, even in his sleep, that any slight changes or shifts in atmosphere tipped him off. The light sleeper trait, in Touka's opinion, was something Kaneki had learned rather than it being natural. He must have worn himself out pretty well to be sleeping like this.
Just as carefully, Touka dropped her hand into Kaneki's snowy white hair and smiled as he unconsciously leaned into the touch. Running her fingers softly through his locks, Touka took notice of the hoodie he was wearing that did not look familiar to her. It couldn't be Yomo's, who didn't own any clothing that large; Kaneki looked like he was drowning in it, yet comfortable enough. It didn't smell like Yomo either. So, whose clothes was Kaneki wearing? Willingly, at that. Was this why he had been gone all night?
Touka contemplated waking Kaneki up to gain answers but ultimately decided against it. She couldn't bring herself to disturb Kaneki's sleep, not when he barely got any, considering his insufferable insomnia. Even when he did manage to rest, it was never a deep, peaceful sleep like this one. Small things, like someone walking around the house or even doors opening and closing, could instantly wake him. And that wasn't even mentioning his frequent nightmares that Kaneki believed he hid from them so well.
The fact that she could come this close and even touch him without Kaneki so much as twitching was unusual, but Touka couldn't help but feel a sense of fond hopefulness. Perhaps this official move was going to do Kaneki some good.
"Touka, is everything okay?" Hinami's voice traveled down the hallway. She stood in the doorway a moment later. She had initially woken up to Touka's phone ringing, only to find the older girl gone. "Your—"
"Shh!" Touka hissed, holding her finger to her lips. She felt Kaneki shift for the first time under her hand before settling back down again.
"Oh," Hinami whispered, eyes falling on Kaneki, looking sheepish. "Sorry. Is he okay?"
Touka shrugged. "I think so. I didn't want to wake him."
Hinami came to stand near Touka. "He slept through all your yelling?" She asked Touka with a slightly arched eyebrow.
Touka chuckled lowly. "Yup…" Touka leaned down and softly kissed Kaneki's forehead before standing and turning to usher Hinami back out into the hallway. "Come on, let's go get some work done. We'll put him on trial later."
Hinami snorted as Touka quietly shut the door behind them. She holds out Touka's phone. "Yorika called," she said, her voice at an average level now.
"Thanks," Touka said, taking the device and immediately redialing her best friend. Touka had summoned the courage to reveal her ghoul status to Yorika days before they left Japan. She hadn't wanted to treat the situation as Kaneki had with Hide, to disappear without a trace, without a goodbye. Yorika deserved to know at least that she was leaving and why.
Touka would rather have had Yorika know the truth and hate Touka for lying to her for so long and for her being a ghoul than to leave her friend to worry and always wondering why and what had happened to her. Yorika had…surprised Touka with her response. The immediate acceptance and the fact that Yorika had started apologizing to Touka for all the times Touka had had to force herself to eat the food her friend made for her. There had been a massive burst of relief running through Touka's body at that moment, and she'd tearfully told her dearest friends that it was fine. Everything was fine, and it had all been worth seeing her happy.
The last they had spoken had been a few weeks ago, and Yorika had just been accepted into culinary school. Touka got her friend on a video call as she and Hinami went downstairs, where they spent the last of the morning.
When Kaneki finally woke from the inky, dead-like sleep he'd been in, it was to an ungodly loud squealing that could probably be heard from miles away. He shot up, looking around frantically, wholeheartedly confused. The events of the day before and earlier that morning came crashing back on Kaneki all at once, and he tiredly ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Then another yell sounded, and chatter that had Kaneki leaping out of bed, struggling a bit as his legs got tangled with the blanket. He didn't find anyone upstairs as he poked his head into each room, and Kaneki bolted downstairs, where he found the source of the noise.
Hinami and Touka stood crowded at the counter, jabbering away with someone on Touka's phone propped up against a half-full cleaning towel box.
"What's happening?" Kaneki voiced in exasperation as he tried to calm down his racing heart, eyes darting around the room.
The two girls jump a bit, turning to face him. "Oh, Kaneki, don't sneak up on us like that!" Touka said.
"Did we wake you? I'm sorry," Hinami immediately said, nudging Touka's shoulder while sending Kaneki a guilty look. Kaneki approached them and peered over Hinami's head at the phone screen. Yorika's face greeted him with a smile.
"Kaneki, hi! How have you been?" Yorika waved.
Kaneki waved back, rubbing the back of his neck, calmer now that he knew there was no threat. "I've been okay. What's with all the yelling?"
"Yorika's engaged," Touka said excitedly, bouncing on the heels of her feet.
"Ah." Kaneki flashed Yorika a smile. "Congratulations."
"Thank you."
Touka and Hinami went back at it with their excited chatter with Yorika. Kaneki, who didn't know too much about what went into weddings to add anything to the conversation, slipped away into the back room where they kept the storage and coolers for the café. In the very back corner, disguised as a basic tabletop, was a third cooler, out of the way of anything going to be used for the shop in the future. There, the ghouls kept any human remains they had collected, all cut up and wrapped in individual packages.
Kaneki moved some appliances left on the top and unlocked the cooler. It had been a while since he'd last eaten, and typically, after any encounter Kaneki had with Rize, his hunger would be triggered. Kaneki briefly wondered why it hadn't spiked earlier, especially when he'd had his run-in with the Cullen males hours earlier, but brushed it off. Maybe it was due to the Cullens not being like normal humans.
Kaneki ate as much as necessary to satisfy himself for a little while, then put everything back in its place and locked the cooler again before returning to the front, where he started making coffee. Touka walked over, making Kaneki glance up from his task. Hinami was still speaking with Yorika.
"You slept well," Touka said, watching him as Kaneki made his coffee. It wasn't a question, Kaneki noticed.
"Yeah, I did."
"That's good." Touka leaned her back against the counter next to him. "Alright, enough small talk, it's dumb. What happened yesterday?"
"You asking me one question is not small talk," Kaneki said as he poured the hot water in a circular motion.
Sighing, Kaneki delved into a rehash of what he'd told Yomo, keeping some bits of information to himself. His episode and his reactions towards the largest of the Cullen family weren't anything to tell them about anyway. Kaneki knew if he spoke them out loud, he would sound dumb, paranoid; the entire package of crazy.
Touka nodded slowly as she listened to Kaneki, aware that he was holding some stuff back. "Alright, so if they don't bother us, we won't bother them. Got it." Touka reached forward and lightly tugged on the sleeve of the oversized hoodie Kaneki was still wearing. Kaneki had honestly forgotten he had it on.
"So, what's with the hoodie?" Touka asked, smirking a bit.
Kaneki shrugged. "It's comfortable," he said, pouring the coffee into a disposable cup. Kaneki cleared his throat slightly, looking uncomfortable as he quietly admitted, "The scent is calming."
Kaneki held up the coffee pot at Touka. "Do you want any?"
Touka rolled her eyes at Kaneki's apparent attempt at changing the subject. "No, I'm good. But I do want you to elaborate. I would like you to, anyway."
Kaneki sighed as he sipped his coffee, avoiding eye contact as he hesitated. He wanted to be honest with Touka and his family, and he had been doing his best to do so. Sure, he still kept what Kaneki deemed irrelevant to himself, but that was a lifelong habit of his. Kaneki could handle his own shit like he'd always had. He didn't want to burden the others, but it would be nice to…get his thoughts out. That's the part that always got Kaneki feeling conflicted.
What Kaneki didn't realize was that his insistence on keeping everything to himself, bottled in, was what worried his family the most.
"I have trouble sleeping sometimes, that's all," Kaneki finally said. "Sometimes my mind refuses to shut off, and even when I do get to sleep, my nightmares will wake me up anyway." If Kaneki could even manage to pull himself out of those nightmares. Sometimes, he'd slip too deep, like he was drowning, and the only thing that could wake him up was someone in the conscious world.
"The one that dropped me off, this is his hoodie he let me borrow with the other clothes his mother set out for me. His scent… it's calming to me. Don't ask me why, I really don't know." Kaneki shrugged again, looking off in thought for a second. Kaneki snorted in slight amusement. "Then again, it was like that with Hide a lot. That's why he always had to get new hoodies over the years because they'd always end up in my possession."
Touka hummed, a bit surprised that Kaneki hadn't just clamped up, and grabbed the front of the hoodie, leaning in and inhaling. As soon as an icy, sickly sweet smell hit her nostrils, Touka snatched her head back, her nose wrinkling. She didn't know what Kaneki was talking about when he used the word 'calming.' The scent wasn't necessarily bad, but it was overwhelming when up close and personal with it—like getting a blunt hit of smelling salts. Touka couldn't see how Kaneki could even stand it. Touka bluntly voiced that latter thought to Kaneki, who didn't seem bothered.
"It's like super sweet smelling, icy," she said.
"Oh, I'm aware." All the Cullens had both similar and unique scents that Kaneki could pick up on. The icy smell was the strongest. Emmett's distinctive scent, beneath the icy sweet, was woodsy, maple maybe. But instead of repelling him, it made Kaneki want to bury himself in it, to drown himself in it—yes, it was overwhelming, but not in a terrible way, not for Kaneki at least. And if it could keep the nightmares and his two tormentors at bay, as it had earlier, Kaneki would gladly keep that hoodie on for as long as he had it.
"And here I thought you just had a hook-up or something," Touka said.
Kaneki choked on his coffee, slamming the cup down on the counter and leaning forward, coughing into his free hand. Thankfully, the cup didn't break, but the noise was abrupt enough that it got Hinami's attention and startled Touka. The hot liquid sloshed over the sides of the cup, splashing onto the counter and over Kaneki's hand and wrist. He snatched his hand away, hissing and cursing as the burning feeling spread along his skin.
The two girls watched as Kaneki rushed over to the sink and turned on the full blast, sticking his hand under the cold water, his jaw clenched. "Sorry, sorry, I'm fine," Kaneki reassured them.
The burning wasn't as painful as it could have been, thanks to Kaneki's pain tolerance, but it still wasn't pleasant. Touka grabbed a nearby dishrag and wet it before pulling Kaneki's hand out of the spray of water and pressing the cool rag against his hand. It was pointless, really, as his ghoul healing would kick in any moment; most that would be left behind would be some pinkish patches.
"Another scar for the tally," Kaneki joked. Touka clearly didn't find the humor in that if her narrowed eyes told him anything.
"You know I was just joking, right? I don't care what you decide to do with your personal time or who it's with. Girl, guy, whatever," Touka said, pressing the cool rag more firmly against Kaneki's hand.
"It's fine," Kaneki murmured. He really didn't want to talk about this sort of thing with Touka, or anybody for that matter. "It just took me off guard, is all. Yomo said something similar when I told him all this."
"I mean when you don't know the context…" Touka gave Kaneki a knowing smirk. "it does appear that way, yeah."
Kaneki rolled his eyes as Hinami returned to the phone to tell Yorika that they would call her back. She hung up the video call and came back over, taking Kaneki's rag-wrapped hand from Touka. Touka silently let her, moving to clean up Kaneki's coffee spill.
Kaneki smirked playfully at Hinami. "Aren't I supposed to be the caring older sibling here?"
Hinami gave him a matching smirk. "Trust me, you have that whole persona down-packed. So, let us take care of you for once." Hinami pulled the rag away, revealing healed pink patches covering part of Kaneki's palm and wrist and some spots on the back of his hand. They would eventually heal further as if the accident hadn't even occurred.
Kaneki placed his free hand in Hinami's hair, ruffling it and smiling softly. "There's nothing to take care of with me, but thank you." He kissed her forehead and headed back upstairs before Hinami could properly respond.
As soon as he was out of sight, Kaneki stripped the hoodie from his body as if it were on fire, tossing it into the hamper with the other clothes. It suddenly felt uncomfortable in his mind now. It was weird, even by Kaneki's standards. Kaneki retreated into the bathroom to start his typical morning routine a couple of hours late.
Back downstairs, Touka tossed the cleaning rag into the sink after cleaning up the mess, sighing. "I hope I didn't offend him…"
Hinami snorted. "I doubt it."
"Maybe it's still a sensitive topic for him…I mean, the last person he tried being involved with literally tried to eat him and put him through so much."
"Kaneki has always been the shy type, though. I remember how he used to get flustered when the mere topic of sex was brought up. I doubt that has changed much."
"True," Touka said. She shook her head, pushing her thoughts aside as she picked up her phone to call Yorika again. "What were you and Yorika talking about before…all that?" Touka asked as the phone rang.
"Just wedding stuff. She's thinking about having a winter ceremony," Hinami said.
"That would be nice," Touka hummed in agreement as Yorika finally picked up. Touka apologized for the interruption and immediately fell back into their previous conversation. Touka wondered if she could get Tsukiyama to arrange something so that she could attend her friend's wedding; Touka would be the maid of honor, of course.
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"For the love of God, Emmett shut the fuck up," Edward voiced in annoyance, tapping his fingers lightly against the piano keys.
"I second that," Jasper sighed. Had the blonde been human, he'd surely have a migraine. Jasper still felt the urge to rub at his temples anyway.
Only a week and a half had passed, and most of the Cullen clans had thought everything would have died down a little now that Emmett had met his mystery man, but apparently not. It could be argued that things had only worsened since Emmett mentally wouldn't shut up about it.
The family had been stuck inside for the past few days, and if they did leave the house, they couldn't go into town. Sunny days, even during the summer, were rare in gloomy, wet Forks, and the sun decided it wanted to make its full appearance.
"Sorry." Emmett was lounged out on the living room sofa, not doing anything except letting his own thoughts run free. He hadn't realized he'd been overwhelming his brothers.
"Oh, leave him be," Rosalie said. "It can't be that bad."
"You try listening to his thoughts for a day," Edward retorted.
The blonde rolled her eyes at the mind reader, sending Emmett an empathetic smile. Emmett and Rosalie had fallen into a surprisingly comfortable co-existence; not much changed with their interactions aside from the lack of intimate contact, which was expected. Emmett had thought that Rosalie might want to go away for a while so they both could come to terms with the rapid change and the end of their marriage and relationship, but she seemed fine where she was.
She was just…quieter most of the time and more thoughtful. Usually, Emmett wouldn't ask his brothers for input on what Rosalie was thinking and feeling. Still, Emmett couldn't help but feel concerned about it. But both Edward and Jasper had told him to let her have her privacy, that there was nothing to be concerned over, and Emmett couldn't argue with them.
Emmett, caught up in his whirlwind of thoughts again, didn't notice an object being thrown at him until it hit his cheek, falling into his lap. It was a gaming controller. Emmett looked up, glaring at the perpetrator. Alice stood above him with the other controller, and immediately, Emmett shook his head.
"No way. You cheat."
"I do not! Come on, I'm tired of playing with Edward. He takes all the fun out of it!"
"I wonder why," Emmett deadpanned, rolling his eyes. Emmett eventually surrendered to a game or two of Call of Duty 1v1 with his pixie sister, which, as he already knew, consisted of her predicting his every move. The split-screen already gave its advantages, but Emmett was no match for Alice's visions that secured her every win.
After a few frustrating yet amusing rounds, Emmett refused to play another, handing the controller to Rose to play against Edward. He retreated into the backyard, lying on the grass in the sunlight, his arms crossed behind his head as he stared at the sky. He wasn't out there long before he felt someone sit down beside him.
"You know we were only teasing you, right?"
Emmett gave Edward a side-eyed glance, then briefly tilted his head back to look behind him through the living room windows. Jasper had taken Edward's place on the gaming system, and they were playing Mario Kart from the sound of it.
Emmett shook his head. "I know. I forget how easily overwhelmed your powers can get."
Edward hummed, getting comfortable on the grass. "I get it. This entire thing has you on edge. I'd be more worried if you weren't feeling conflicted."
"It's a little easier than I expected with Rosalie, so…chill about it, Supportive even," Emmett admitted. He sighed. "This isn't going to be as easy as it was with her. Not that I expected it to be…I assumed the hardest part would be Kaneki being human, eventually having to tell him about us…"
Edward stayed silent while purposefully blocking out Emmett's raging thoughts as much as he could. Digging for exactly what Emmett was struggling to form into actual words certainly wouldn't be welcomed right then. Emmett's gaze remained upwards as he tried to find the right words.
"Kaneki…he has these scars," Emmett finally said. He held up his arm and wrapped his fingers around his wrist. "Around his wrists. I thought it was just a rash or something, something he picked up while in the woods, but it didn't look like it after I got a second look. They look like…handcuff marks, rope marks, maybe? I don't know if he has more, but that alone clearly tells that he has some past trauma.
"Rose had—has—her past issues, some that I've helped her through, and I'm not trying to undermine her experiences, but I don't—" Emmett let out a frustrated groan, glaring down now, watching the diamond-like glow emulating from his skin in the sunlight. He shifted his arm back and forth, the light flashing in several directions, even in his eye, though it didn't bother him.
The mind reader very rarely saw his brother like this. Typically, no matter the situation, Emmett always maintained a carefree attitude. Most would say he didn't care about much around him. So it wasn't a sight Edward was used to seeing, Emmett being so unsure about himself, his own actions and thoughts. Nervous, so… un-Emmett-like. Edward understood where Emmett was coming from, of course.
Emmett's relationship with Rosalie had come about with relative ease because he was already being changed, as well as Rosalie. Kaneki and Rosalie were different people from different walks of life, not to mention different time periods.
Edward placed a hand on Emmett's shoulder. "I can't say much that will ease your mind probably, but…just take this slow for Kaneki's sake and for your own. It's new territory; don't overthink yourself too much. Overwhelming yourself won't help anything. It will work out how it needs to."
Emmett was silent momentarily, then said, "You're right. Thanks, Ed."
The two brothers sat listening to the others play and talk inside for a bit before Edward gently patted Emmett's shoulder and went back inside, leaving Emmett alone to his thoughts once again. Fiddling with his phone, Emmett found himself looking at Kaneki's contact. Still, no photo was attached to it, though Emmett intended to change that eventually, though not now. It would be kinda weird for me to ask for a photo from him out of the blue. Though it has been a week…a simple text would be fine, right?
Emmett hit the message icon under Kaneki's name.
Emmett (11:48 A.M.)
Hey. Hope everything's going okay. just checkin up
Emmett didn't have to wait long for a response.
Kaneki Ken (11:51 A.M.)
Everything's fine.
My family wants me to send their thanks for bringing me home.
Emmett (11:51 A.M.)
It's no prob, rlly
I just wanted to check up since its been a few days
Kaneki Ken (11:55 A.M.)
Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been meaning to contact you. Got a bit busy.
Would it be alright if I came to return the clothes this afternoon?
Emmett wondered if Kaneki constantly texted so formally.
Emmett (11:56 A.M.)
That's fine, you can come now if you want
It's just me and my siblings here. My parents went off for a medical conference for my dad
Kaneki Ken (11:57 A.M.)
Okay.
Emmett stood up, quickly sending Kaneki the house address, and went inside, where he needlessly informed the others about Kaneki's imminent arrival. Alice was already sprinting around all the main downstairs rooms, pulling the curtains shut.
"You know he's just dropping off the clothes, right?" Emmett commented.
"You think that really matters?" Alice asked, smirking. "No, what does matter is that he's going to be here, and Rose and I finally get to meet him."
"You already know him. And please, don't embarrass me."
"I mean, like, officially."
Rosalie spoke from her spot on the sofa. "No promises."
"Rose…" Emmett whined as he inched over to her, an uncertain pout forming on his face. Rosalie rolled her eyes at him. Dropping down into one of the lounge chairs with a heavy sigh, Emmett's gaze scanned Rosalie's face. He did that often, especially whenever the topic of Kaneki came up, which was inherently a lot nowadays. He gave up rather quickly, the blonde keeping her famous poker face, giving away nothing underneath.
About an hour later, tires could be heard rolling along the pavement in front of the house. Getting up and parting one of the curtains at the window, Emmett watched as a silver car parked, and a white head popped out. He let the curtain fall back into place, beginning to feel somewhat anxious, which Emmett was not used to.
"Calm," Edward told him, his voice traveling from the other room as the doorbell rang. "You'll be fine."
Emmett took a needless deep breath and went to answer the door, Alice following him close behind. She's going to get annoying fast…
On the front steps, Kaneki stood, looking a bit uncomfortable, wearing a somewhat baggy gray shirt, khaki pants, and sneakers. He held the folded clothes and Emmett's hoodie between his arm and waist. Kaneki gave a hesitant wave and then held out the clothes to Emmett. "Thanks again. I made sure to wash them and everything."
"It's no problem, man, seriously," Emmett said, taking the clothes.
Kaneki glanced a bit to the side, and Emmett remembered Alice. "This is my sister, Alice. Alice, Kaneki."
Alice grinned, nudging Emmett to the side. "It's so nice to finally meet you. We heard what happened last week. I hope you're alright." She held her hand out to shake, which Kaneki took after a second.
"It's nice to meet you too, and I'm doing fine."
"Would you like to come in?" Alice asked eagerly. "Sit for a minute? It is a bit of a drive to get out here."
"Oh, no, that's alright. I just wanted to come drop off the clothes. I meant to do it earlier, but I got busy."
"Are you sure? We really wouldn't mind, or I wouldn't have offered. It's been a while since we had newcomers. You're from Japan, right?"
"Um, yes, we are," Kaneki said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Really, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to intrude."
"You won't be," Alice insisted.
"Alice," Emmett hissed before addressing Kaneki in a normal yet somewhat strained tone. "I'm sorry, she's not usually this annoying."
"Hey!"
Emmett turned his head so that Kaneki couldn't see his face. "Quit it," he said to Alice lowly. "What is your deal?"
Alice blatantly ignored him and sent a pouting look towards the white-haired man. Emmett felt like strangling the smaller girl. All I asked was for her not to embarrass me. Is that too much to ask?
But, by some grace of God or whatever, Kaneki seemed to melt on the spot at the look he was getting from Alice. Maybe the little sister-type presence made it hard to deny the persistence. Not many knew how to handle the whirlwind that was Alice and her antics—people outside their family anyways—and tended to give in when they didn't know how to ignore her efficiently. I'll have to teach him how to do that. Who knows what shit Alice would get him involved him if I don't.
"I guess I can stay for a little bit…"
"Great!" Alice moved in a way so that Kaneki could easily follow her movements as she grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him into the house. She led the man into the living room where the others were and asked, "Would you like anything? Water? Something to eat?"
Jasper and Edward had returned to their game of Mario Kart with Rosalie still lounging on the couch, looking bored. Kaneki's face twitched as he awkwardly shifted on his feet. "Uh, coffee. If you have it. Water's fine if not."
"I'll check," Alice nodded. They most likely didn't. They didn't usually have food in the house since there was no point, as it would only go to waste. But they occasionally had non-perishable stuff, or things that wouldn't spoil for a long time, for the simplicity of looks.
As Alice entered the kitchen, Emmett took her place at Kaneki's side. "You've met Edward and Jas already. This is Rosalie."
"Hello," Kaneki said.
Rosalie looked away from the TV screen and nodded at Kaneki, watching as he sat on the other couch with a look of almost concealed interest in her eyes. "So, I hear you're from Japan. What made you end up in Forks of all places? Kind of a downgrade."
Kaneki chuckled a bit. "My family and I have been in America for two years now, and it was about time for us to settle down somewhere with all the moving around constantly. Touka chose here."
"Must be a huge difference from what you're used to then," Rosalie said.
"Yeah, it's certainly quieter than Japan and any other cities we stayed in. Though, it's not bad. I like it."
Alice returned carrying a steaming mug, placing it on the end table next to the couch Kaneki was on. "I didn't know how you like your coffee, so I just added sugar."
"Thank you," Kaneki said, taking the mug into his hands.
"Ya'll are starting up a coffee place, right?" Jasper asked, glancing over. At Kaneki's confused gaze, the blonde gestured to Emmett, smirking slightly. Emmett flipped his brother off, sitting next to Kaneki, ensuring he kept his distance and did not crowd the man.
"Oh. Yeah. We all used to work for a café a couple years ago in Japan," Kaneki said, sipping the coffee. "Touka always wanted to open her own one day."
"I'm sure our coffee is pretty dull in comparison," Alice joked.
Kaneki breathed a short, breathy laugh through his nose but didn't agree or disagree with her statement. Emmett found himself smiling at the sight. "If you guys ever need help with the place, let us know. An extra pair of hands never hurts."
"Don't go volunteering people's time, Em," Edward protested lightly, though he wasn't serious.
"As if you have anything better to do for the summer besides wallowing away at the piano," Rosalie said.
"At least I have a hobby," Edward shot back.
"You play piano?" Kaneki asked, placing the mug down as he watched the two go back and forth.
Edward looked over at Kaneki, a spark of interest in his eyes. Oh, here we go, Emmett thought, amused.
"Yeah, I do. Do you?" Edward asked.
Kaneki shook his head. "No, but I've been a fan of a few pieces and piano artists."
"Ever heard of Debussy?"
"I might have?" It came out more as a question as Kaneki cocked his head a bit to the side in thought. "My mother used to play a lot of classical music around the house when I was a kid. Mostly Asian pianists, though."
"You can look at my CDs if you ever want to."
"I'm not as much of a music nerd as I am a bookworm," Kaneki laughed lightly. "But that sounds nice."
Emmett saw the differences between Kaneki and Rose with each passing moment and word. He found it more of a relief than he'd thought. Emmett would have to question the universe more, he felt—perhaps a few colorful words thrown in there—had the two been just alike. What would be the point of throwing a 'true mate' at him if they would have just been a similar copy of the mate he'd already had and chosen long ago?
Yes, there were some similarities that Kaneki and Rosalie shared, but that was overshadowed by the opposition. It intrigued Emmett in a way he hadn't felt in a while. He hadn't thought Kaneki would have interests in line with Edward of all people, but Emmett wasn't going to complain over a good thing.
"Emmett said that you guys were fairly new to Forks, too. Are you settling here as well?" Kaneki asked.
Emmett exchanged glances with the others. He had yet to think about how they would eventually have to move in a few years. They would be able to return to Forks, but that would have to be after a good few decades, perhaps more. Long enough for the people who knew of them here to move on or die.
:" It really depends on our parents," Jasper eventually answered. "We moved here because Carli—dad was offered a position at the hospital here."
"They probably want to see everyone graduate first," Edward said.
Kaneki paused, eyebrows shooting up his forehead. He'd been reaching for the mug again—it really wasn't that bad of coffee, just not the quality he was used to—but he leaned back, taking in the family. "You're still in high school? How old are you guys?" His gaze flickered over to Emmett, briefly looking him up and down analytically, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"Yeah..." Jasper said, understanding dawning on the blonde male. Of all of them, Emmett looked the least to be of high school age. The others passed, some better than others, but just barely. "Em's 19. Rose and I are 18, and Edward and Alice are 17."
"T-To be fair," Emmett cut in. "I fell behind a year." A lie, but it wasn't like anyone could go fact-check that besides the school. But they weren't exactly handing out student records to people.
Kaneki chuckled. "And here I thought that most of you were in your 20s. Though, I guess I can't speak much on 'looking your age.' I don't look as I am either."
"Hinami will be starting her junior year," Kaneki continued. "She's pretty excited about it."
"I doubt Forks will live up to her excitement," Emmett said.
"Well, she's been homeschooled most of her life, so literally anything excites her at this point," Kaneki said, looking heavily amused as he leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on top of his thighs. With this movement, the bottom of his shirt pulled up a little, revealing a part of the small of his back. Instead of the expected pale skin, however, there was black. It looked like a thin leather material that disappeared past the hem of Kaneki's pants. An open spot on the side started again, going around the front of his body, probably a similar pattern on his other side.
Emmett's eyes focused on that, his mind momentarily going blank, staring. Then, like a switch, it turned back on with only one train of thought.
Bodysuit...bodysuit, a fucking bodysuit; he wears fucking bodysuits--
Kaneki, utterly oblivious to the shock he just sent Emmett through, could feel Emmett's gaze on him like a heated beacon light. Why the fuck is he staring so hard?
Edward let out a choking sound, followed by Jasper groaning under his breath, setting down his controller. "As if we haven't already suffered enough with him and Rose," the blonde groaned. Then a pillow came flying across the room, nearly smacking Emmett in the face had he not snapped to attention in time and caught it. Kaneki blinked, bewildered, as an embarrassed-looking Emmett quickly threw the pillow back. I'm missing something here...
Rosalie reached over and smacked Jasper's arm.
"Shut it," Emmett snapped weakly.
"Don't blame us for you being hopeless," Edward said, grinning.
"I'll show you fucking hopeless..." Before Kaneki could properly blink, he witnessed Emmett and Edward tumble to the ground, grappling at each other. Emmett looked to have the upper hand in this unexpected wrestling match before Jasper joined in Edward's aid. Alice, laughing, waved Kaneki over to their side of the room. Kaneki quickly obeyed as the boys bumped into the surrounding furniture rather roughly.
Kaneki grabbed his coffee and moved from the sofa and over to the girls, thankfully avoiding the knee that slammed into the end table. Rosalie and Alice, looking completely unfazed by the roughhousing, made room between them for Kaneki, the blonde girl stating a very brief warning that their mother would have their heads if they broke anything. This seemed like a regular enough occurrence to the girls, Kaneki assumed, his previous concern simmering into slight amusement as he watched.
"Sorry about them," Rosalie said over the noise. "They're always like this."
"They won't hurt each other?" Kaneki asked.
The blonde girl shrugged, unconcerned. "Maybe. But they know each other's limits."
Kaneki snorted as he gazed off, not really focusing on the three on the ground. It reminded him much of Hide. His old friend had never been afraid of getting physical with Kaneki, even when he'd told him that he knew Kaneki had been a ghoul. When he had been human, these wrestling matches usually resulted in Kaneki being pinned fairly easily. Hide would often tease Kaneki for being so easy to manhandle.
After Kaneki became half-ghoul and his physical strength became more robust than an average human, Kaneki would still allow Hide to win their matches. Most of the time, Kaneki hadn't been able to avoid them since Hide would always find a way to catch him off guard. The fact that Hide had trusted Kaneki not to hurt him brought a pleasant, nostalgic warmth to Kaneki's chest.
Kaneki refocused on the boys. Emmett was on the losing side now.
"Are all of you related?" Kaneki asked. All the Cullens seemed to have the same golden eyes and pale skin, but that was where the similarities died, aside from hair colors.
"Jasper and I are," Rosalie said. "But we're all adopted. Edward first, then we came along a few years later." She paused, looking unsure for a second. The fighting had stopped abruptly, and Kaneki glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. Emmett was sprawled out beneath the weight of the other two on his stomach. They were all staring at Kaneki and Rosalie, Edward and Jasper's expressions blank while Emmett stared with poorly hidden panic.
Kaneki's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Had he asked something wrong? He couldn't think of anything about his question that would cause such a sudden reaction like this...unless this was a sore subject. If that was the case, Kaneki didn't understand why Rosalie would start explaining it in the first place.
"You don't have to tell if you don't want to," Kaneki said, turning to Rosalie. "It's not my business anyways."
"No, no, you're fine. I'm just trying to figure out a way to phrase this without it sounding weird," Rosalie said.
"I don't see how it can be weird," Alice scoffed on Kaneki's left.
"That's because you rarely live outside your own little universe, and you have the context behind it," Rosalie said, waving her sister off. "Okay, so before Alice and Emmett were adopted, Jasper and Alice had been dating at one of the schools we used to go to. Emmett and I were in a similar situation."
"I was orphaned when I was a baby and grew up in the foster system," Alice threw in as Jasper got off of Emmett and came to stand next to her.
Emmett cleared his throat, bucking his hips back to throw Edward off; however, the bronze haired male remained unmoving on his back. Huffing, Emmett said, "My parents and I were in a bear attack when I was a kid."
Kaneki began nodding his head slowly. Rosalie had been right. It would have sounded peculiar without context. "So, you guys started dating before your parents decided to adopt?"
"Basically," Jasper confirmed. "Our parents didn't want to separate us when we eventually had to move, and Mom was more than happy to extend the family more."
"That's sweet," Kaneki said, smiling. "And I don't think it's weird, given the context."
"See," Alice said, reaching around Kaneki and smacking Rosalie's arm. "Told you it wasn't going to sound weird."
"Shut up, Alice," the blonde remarked.
"So, you and Emmett are dating?" Kaneki asked curiously.
"Not anymore, no," Rosalie answered, her eyes sweeping over to Emmett for a second and then back, a slightly bittersweet tone in her voice as she spoke.
Kaneki cringed a bit, draining the rest of his coffee. "I'm sorry if that was a sore subject." He checked the time on his phone and saw a text from Hinami, wondering when he'd be back. "I should be getting back soon. I told my family I would only use the car for an hour or two."
"Aw...well, it was really nice meeting you," Alice voiced, taking the empty mug from Kaneki's hand as he stood. Kaneki smiled at her.
"It was nice meeting you all as well," he said. "And thanks for the coffee."
"I'll walk you out," Emmett said as Edward finally got off his back and nodded at Kaneki with a crooked smile. Emmett got to his feet and led Kaneki into the foyer. Thankfully, no one—namely Alice—didn't follow.
"You're family is nice," Kaneki commented quietly.
Emmett chuckled. "They can be a little overwhelming, but they mean well."
Kaneki hummed. Much like my own, he thought.
Kaneki paused on the porch's top step as Emmett said, "And I was serious earlier. If you and your family ever need help with your cafe, you can call or text, whichever."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Kaneki said. With that, Kaneki said a quick goodbye to Emmett before walking to his car. Emmett remained on the porch until Kaneki had long disappeared down the driveway and out of sight.
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