tokyo ghoul;

Who Are You? | Nishio Nishiki pt. 1/2

西尾錦｜Nishio Nishiki

Thoughts of her always clouded his mind. Everywhere he went, there was always something that reminded him of her. It was like a sweet nightmare that he couldn't escape no matter how much he tried.

He lingered in front of the coffee shop and memories of the two flooded into his mind. It was there that he first met her. It was there when they shared their first laugh together. Those memories, those cherishable moments.

✦✦✦

A year ago

* 2nd POV *

"Nishiki-kun, aren't you cold wearing that? You've only got on a thin sweater," you scolded him. He just shook his head as a response. The two of you were walking along the city's shops looking for spring attire. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom and a few petals danced in the air with the help of the soft wind. The sweet smell of coffee and cakes traveled to your nose as the two of you came close to the Re: coffee shop.

The entire day, Nishiki had been answering you with short replies and you had no idea why. It was beginning to worry you. You even asked him a dumb question and expected for him to reply with a witty retort but nothing happened.

When you came across Re:, you decided it would be a good idea to order some coffee. Usually coffee would calm Nishiki down or help him take his mind off of things. You just hoped that coffee could help out this time, too.

"Ne, Nishiki-kun, let's get some coffee?"

"Hai."

The two of you headed inside the café and when the door was held open, an aroma of coffee beans surrounded you. You took a deep breath and happily let it out as you headed towards the front to order some drinks. After you placed your order, you made your way over to the table Nishiki had picked out.

For a few minutes the two of you sat in silence as you waited for your drinks to be served. You shifted around in your seat uncomfortably as you sneaked a few quick glances over to Nishiki. He hadn't moved once. The atmosphere was beginning to choke you. Finally you had enough and you wanted answers. You couldn't be left alone in the dark forever.

"Ni-"

"Here are your drinks miss, would you like anything else," the waiter questioned before you could ask Nishiki what was bothering him.

"No, thank you, we're fine," you replied back quickly and waved them off with a smile. You puffed out a bit of air and turned to face Nishiki. Red dusted your face as you watched him cool down his hot cappuccino. He looked so cute puckering his lips as he blew air into his cup.

You couldn't see his golden eyes as they were behind blocked out from the fog that his glasses carried. A few giggles escaped your lips as the fog collected on his eyewear and then disappeared. He stopped blowing on his cup and shifted his gaze to you with an arced brow.

"Why are you laughing [name]," he interrogated you with slight annoyance raveled in his tone.

"I-it's nothing Nishiki-kun," you waved your hand in front of you quickly as if that would make him stop questioning you. He had a skeptical look on his face and dropped the subject with a tired sigh.

You took a sip of your (drink) and softly sighed to yourself. You traced the rim of the cup and contemplated whether or not now would actually be a good time to ask him what was wrong. Sigh after sigh you fought with your thoughts and occasionally took sips from your (drink).

"Would you quit sighing so much."

"O-oh, sorry...um Nishiki-kun, can I ask you a qu-question?"

He stared at you intently as he waited for what you wanted to ask him. You were a bit hesitant, but the only way to stop this bothersome feeling in your stomach was if you asked him and got it over with. So, you took a deep breath and the question popped out of your mouth.

"Why won't you talk to me!?"

There. You finally let it out. You clenched your fists tightly as you closed your eyes and held your head low. It wasn't that bad now, was it? After a few seconds passed by, you lifted your head and slowly opened one eye. Nishiki was picking out a few dollars from his wallet and placed the bills on the table. He got up from his seat and took a tight grip on your small wrist. You were confused at what he was doing.

He pulled you out from where you were sitting and hauled you out of the shop. In the process, you kept asking him what he was doing and tried to release your wrist from his hold, but to no avail. When the two of you were outside, he finally let go of you. You massaged your wrist and looked up at him questionably.

"What's wrong Nishiki? Why did you do that?"

"Listen [name], I need to tell you something..."

The tone he was using worried you terribly. His voice was laced with sadness and pain. You tired to look in his eyes, but he shifted his gaze away from you so that you weren't able to see him.

"What is it Nishiki?" Your voice cracked as you asked him. You were terrified what his answer would be, but you needed to know. The two of you stood in silence and after a few moments you heard the words that left his mouth.

The world around you went silent. His lips moved, but is seemed as if you heard nothing. Time gradually began to slow down as you tried to make sense of what just happened. His words rang in your ear.

"I'm leaving."

They pierced at your heart and you stared at him in horror unable to believe what he was telling you. Clearly, he could see your emotions as your facial feature twisted in pain. He wanted to reach out to you, but he wasn't quite sure if you'd let him go near you.

"When are you leaving," you sniffled as tears threatened to fall down.

"Tonight."

"T-take me with you N-nishiki!"

"No. It's not safe for you. You'll be killed. It's best if we just end it he-"

"H-how can you say that!?"

"[Name]...," he called out your name as he stretched his arms out to you.

"D-d-don't touch me," you yelled at him as you pushed him away violently. Tears fell down your cheeks one after another. You sniffled the boogers that threatened to spill out of your nose. (a/n: that was me this morning tbh //slapped)

Pain was written all over his face and his golden eyes expressed terror. You hurriedly left the scene and made your way home without looking back. Your only thought was to get away from him as far away as possible. And that's exactly what you did.

He couldn't move a muscle as he helplessly watched your figure disappear off into the distance. And that was the last time he ever saw you.

✦✦✦

* Present *

He shook his head to wake himself from his thoughts. His memories were from the past and that's where they belonged. He wondered the streets endlessly as he blended into the crowd of people.

"Umph,"

"Gomen'nasai,"

"It's alri-"

His eyes widened with disbelief. He couldn't string the letters together to create the words he needed. Nothing came out.

She smiled at him politely. The look in her [color] orbs were empty. They weren't like the ones he remembered. She was different now; a completely different person.

And realization hit him that she didn't recall him at all.

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Well, I hope you enjoyed this! Until next time!

-ghoulsenpai