You too?

Kumo

Another late night. Hana had made a pit stop by Anteiku with Nishiki to get the meat properly packaged. Yoshimura gave the packages to them in Anteiku takeout bags, to give the most discreet transport as possible. Nishiki walked Hana back to her apartment, mostly to assure that they hadn't been followed by Doves or other Ghouls. She began packing the meat away in her fridge when her phone began blowing up with texts.

Kaneki: Hana! Help! I'm nervous about tomorrow!

Kaneki: Come on, you're supposed to be my friend! Help me!

Hana smiled in amusement at the texts, but decided to ignore them. She'd just tell Kaneki that she'd been sleeping and had her phone on mute. Part of her resented him for agreeing to go on a date with Rize, but he also was completely in the dark. As soon as all the meat was put away, Hana tossed the takeout bag and headed for her bed. She drew her curtains, crawling under the covers and fading away into sleep.

~~

Hana forgot to turn off her school alarm, so being woken up at 8:30 on a Saturday made her rather cranky. Since she was up with nothing to do, it gave her a reason to finally go see Uta about getting a new mask. Plus, since she was to tail Kaneki tonight, if a fight broke out between her and Rize it would be best if she was unidentifiable. She got down on the floor, reaching under her bed for a lock box. Inside of it was her old mask, in two pieces now. She closed the box, slipping it inside a messenger bag. Hana chose casual clothes today, pairing that with her bag made her look nothing more than a regular citizen.

Since Uta's was so far from her apartment, the bus was her primary transport for most of the way. She rode it halfway there, walking the rest of the distance to avoid suspicion. Hana had met Uta in her first week of being in the 20th ward, introduced by Yoshimura. This was her first time since then seeing him in person. She stood anxious outside his wooden door, a crudely written "open" sign hung by a thread near the handle. The shop hours were on a scroll next to the lamp mounted on the wall. Hana reached with a clammy hand, pulling open the shop doors.

"Ah, yes. You've finally decided to come see me after a couple years. Did it seriously take you two years to get...what did you call it...established?" Uta spun around on his work stool, a fork in his hand with an eye stuck to its end.

"You never know when a Dove can be lurking." She timidly laughed, pushing hair out of her face.

"Yeah, those bothersome bastards are in so many people's business, you'd think they had more than one nose. Come, sit, tell me what you're after."

Hana took a seat in a chair by Uta's work desk, bringing her bag around and removing the lock box. She opened it, presenting her old and brittle mask. Uta took it from her, studying even the smallest cracks on this surface.

"This isn't one of my works. No wonder it's so cheaply made. I'm surprised it lasted you so long, especially in that hell-hole of a ward." Uta placed it on his desk, flicking on a lamp to study it closer.

"Think you can make something close to it? I'd really like to have something by tonight."

"Tonight?! My skills cannot be rushed, Hana. All of the masks you've seen here are developed in nothing under 2 weeks. And judging by your facial structure, your measurements will be different. And since you want a full mask, that only adds to the labor." Uta was throwing his arms in the air, nearly launching Hana's old mask from his hands.

"Uta, please, can you at least try?" Hana refrained from telling him the true reason of wanting her mask so quickly.

"Leave, I'll see what I can do."

Hana left Uta's shop, he continued to grumble even as she closed the door. It was now almost 11, Kaneki would be leaving for his date soon. She checked her phone, 15 missed texts from Kaneki. He wanted her to stop by and help him throw together an outfit, to which she rolled her eyes. He was overreacting, big time, but decided to stop by anyway. When she got to his apartment, the door was cracked.