I Won't Leave Again (Touken)

Chapter 13: Work

Morning had come, and with it a smile on Touka's face. These last two nights had brought tremendous sleep for her. She felt an unknown energy and was excited to get up and go to work. She got a clean uniform and took extra care to make herself look nice, something she found herself not doing previously. Once she was satisfied, she headed towards the café downstairs. 

It was 8:30; Yoshimura and Nishiki were already there. Nishiki barely allowed her to walk into the room. 

"Heeey, how did your date go javahead?"  

Too happy to be bothered, Touka simply responded.

"Really well"

"What did you two love birds do?" 

"None of your business and don't call us that" Touka answered matter-of-factly. 

"Sheesh"He continued setting things out for the day. 

"It's great you two had fun"Yoshimura stated with a smile. 

At that moment, the door opened and Kaneki walked in. 

"Hi, everybody" 

"Good morning Kaneki" Yoshimura responded. 

Kaneki came in and removed his sweater. Everybody noticed right away that his old uniform had shrunken a bit... or more realistically he had gotten bigger. The uniform was tight on him and his arms barely fit through the sleeves. 

To be honest, most would find it quite attractive and he was already a decently attractive person before, now he just looked "hot" Touka had to look away. 

"Damnit I'm weak" She cursed to herself. 

"Worried about your first day back Muscles?" Nishiki asked Kaneki. 

"Heh Not at all, I still remember how to make things and talk to people haha" 

"The old man mentioned you claimed to have quite good coffee. I'm curious to see if that's true, you were just OK before"

"Oh thanks" Kaneki spoke sarcastically "You'll see for yourself soon enough" 

With that, he walked over to Touka who was busying herself busting a table. 

"Hey you" Kaneki spoke coolly.

"H-Hey" 

"Thanks for indulging me last night Touka, I had a lot of fun" 

"Yeah I'll admit, it was the most fun I've had in a long time" 

"I can't wait to try your coffee again, we'll see if mine compares now hehe" 

"Bring it on! haha" 

Nishiki rolled his eyes in the background. 

"You two are going to make me crazy" 

9 am had finally rolled around and the doors were open to the public. After a few hours, Touka discovered working with Kaneki wasn't as fun as she thought it would be, however it wasn't directly his fault. What she feared once he walked in the door had come true, the girls that came into the café were completely enamored by him. Several offered to give him phone numbers, but luckily he turned them all down. It was his outfit, you could practically see the toned muscles and abs through his uniform and his bubbly, approachable personality made him even more lovable. Customers loved him. Touka tried her best not to let it bother her, she trusted him after all. 

After awhile, the shop calmed down and the customers were few so they had a chance to try each other's coffee. Yoshimura admitted Kaneki's coffee was on par with Touka's now which made him smug. They were both better than Nishiki. One area Kaneki was shockingly strong in was latte art. He had delicate piano hands that could craft any creature. Touka, naturally, loved his rabbits.