Alone {Ayato Kirishima}

♔ One ♔

M I K A

I shivered as another gust of cold wind blew through the air. I hugged my jacket closer to me, hoping it would give me something warmth.

'Damn weather,' I thought. 'Why does it have to be so cold?'

I let out a small breath, it being visible for me to see. I groaned to myself and continued my small venture to Anteiku, the place where I truly felt at home.

The building started to come into sight and I mentally cheered. Finally! I can get out of the freezing cold! I slightly jogged the rest of the way and walked in the front, the bell chiming as I did so.

The warmth and smell of coffee hit me and I smiled. I took off my jacket and hung it on the rack by the front door, dropping my backpack behind it as well. Straightening my clothing, I walked behind the counter where Touka was leaned over the counter talking to some of the customers.

"Good morning, Touka." I greeted her happily. She gave me one of her half smiles.

"Morning Mikala." She said back. She resumed her conversation and I straightened up everything that needed to be.

I started to think about everyone at Anteiku and my smile grew a little bit wider. To think that they would actually bring someone like me in and give me a home is amazing. They basically knew everything about me, they figured everything out pretty quickly, and yet they still accepted me.

"Yo Mika!" I heard Touka say. I turned towards her and she gave a confused look. "What's gotten you in such a happy mood?" She asked curiously. I laughed lightly.

"Just thinking about things. Don't worry about it." I flashed a toothy grin and she just chuckled at me.

"Whatever dork. Anyways it's just gonna be you and me today since everyone is out doing something. And Kaneki said he would come by and help us." I heard her mumble something else about him and I snickered a little at her.

"What are you doing that for?" She asked, squinting her eyes at me slightly.

"Oh nothing, just laughing at the way you always talk about Kaneki." I said the last part a little quieter so she could barely hear it.

"W-What!" She stuttered, her cheeks lighting up a little bit. "I do not!" She protested. I gave her a look that said 'Sure you don't' and continued on with what I was doing.

More and more people started to file in and soon the place was starting to get pretty full. I looked at Touka with wide eyes.

"Do you think we can handle this amount of people?" I asked her.

"Pfft! C'mon it won't be that hard, we can do it." She encouraged. I looked back at the small croud of people then back to her. I sure hope she's right.

· · · · · · · · · ·

"Ugh!" Touka groaned, plopping down into one of the many barstools. "Why is it that we always get stuck with the busiest days with no one to help?"

"Who knows. But at least it's all over." Before cleaning everything up, I decided to make both of us coffee, just as a little reward.

I had gotten everything out and ready to make coffee as Touka just sat there and watched. She had a small smile on her face as I did.

"I think we should get back at Kaneki for not helping us today. What do you think." She laughed under her breath at the thought of that. "I'm taking that as a yes." She nodded and continued to watch me.

After finishing that up, I got two travel cups and poured the coffee evenly in to each one, handing one to her. She thanked me and sipped the warm liquid.

"Hey, if you want to, you can go upstairs and rest and I'll close up shop."

"You sure? I can always stay so you aren't by yourself." I nodded and hesitantly, she got up from the stool and grabbed her coffee and walked to the door that led to the staircase.

"Just be careful walking home. And if someone bothers you, kick their ass." I giggled lightly at her comment before waving her goodbye. She left the room and the sound of her footsteps going up the stairs faded slowly until there was no noise left.

I finished cleaning up and putting everything away. Putting on my jacket and making sure all the windows and doors were secure, I grabbed my coffee and headed out.

It was even colder than this morning and I shivered. 'Seriously, why does it have to be so cold?' I asked myself.

Little flakes of snow started to fall and I huffed, rubbing my hands against my arms trying to warm up. I looked up and saw my apartment coming into sight. I smiled to myself and walked a little faster.

Halfway there, I got a strange sensation on the back of my neck, as if someone was watching me and stopped dead in my tracks. I gently laid a hand where the feeling was and turned my head in all directions to see if there was anyone around.

No one.

I picked up my pace even more and I was practically running to my apartment.

Reaching my front door, I quickly pulled my keys out and unlocked it. I closed the door and locked it immediately. Waiting a couple of seconds, I stood up as tall as I could to see through the peephole. I was barely able to see anything, but I caught a glance of a swift shadow moving through the nearby alleyway.

I backed up from the door, my eyes wide. Maybe I shouldn't have walked home by myself.

« Hiya beautiful readers. Welcome to my book. I'm Ricky and I will be your author. Heh, excuse my lameness but you will be getting a lot of that and awkwardness, (along with crappy writing because I suck at writing but I still try). Anyways that is all for right now so I hope you will stay with this crappy story. Bye lovelies!! ~Ricky »