preybeforemeals | IC Contact/Voicemail

That's right...you said this might happen. Or, well...something like it, anyway.

So I did.

Did you think I lied to you?

...no. I don't think you would have had a reason to lie about something like that.

But I am glad you told me.

It wasn't an accusation just now, you know. Just verifying.

I am glad to hear that, though.

Right. I'm glad it's over now, though.

[Though somehow...that reminds him of something.]

You said you were planning on traveling though, right? You didn't fall asleep before you got to a town, did you?

[...Well, that was a bit unexpected.]

Ah, that would have been a little unfortunate, wouldn't it? But no, I'm fine.

I just ask because...I don't even remember falling asleep, at all.

[One minute he was reading something and the next he wakes up with an angry Zangoose all up in his face, obviously very unhappy with the way he kept disappearing on her between dreams.]

Keep this up and I'll start thinking you're worried about me.

[He's glad this is over text because he isn't really sure what his face is doing right now-]

Well I

that would have been really bad if it happened to anyone, right? Sleeping on the ground outside for three days...

[...you could've been eaten by something probably, and while he's aware of the irony there that doesn't mean he finds the thought pleasant in general.]

[...oh my god honey no]

...Kaneki-kun, I'm all right. You don't have to be concerned about me, though I appreciate that you are.

[You know, it's times like these when he realizes that "well I would have probably died if that happened to me" doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.]

..Okay.

Are you still in Ecruteak, then, or did you come back...?

Why do you ask?

Ah...no reason. I was just wondering.

[More like desperately trying to make some sort of conversation that doesn't boil down to...everything he just said a few texts back.]

...Is everything all right?

[WHO DOES HE HAVE TO MAIM IF IT'S NOT]

[TSUKIYAMA NO]

Everything's okay! There's nothing wrong.

I'm sorry, I just...wanted to talk, I guess. Not really about anything in particular...

I'm...not really good at finding things to talk about.

[God now he knows why he picked Hide as his best friend, he always did all of the talking.]

[TSUKIYAMA YE- oh

well that

...again that is not quite what he expected]

There's nothing to apologize for.

[...]

You usually didn't seek me out for casual conversation back home. If I'm going to be blunt, you avoided speaking to me unless you had to, through necessity. So I suppose I just keep thinking that it's...

Ah, but it's not particularly fair for me to assume that things will be like they were back in Tokyo, is it?

I...I guess not.

[For a moment, he's not sure what to say. He types something a few times and erases it before...eventually settling.]

I might not do the same thing here as I would back home, but...things are different, here. I'm not going to avoid you unless I have a good enough reason.

[The "good enough reason" before was both the fact that he's a dangerous ghoul and scares the crap out of him, but- again- things were just...different. He's still a bit unnerved by Tsukiyama since he has yet to actually see him again in person, but at least texting has been fine.]

And I meant it when I said I didn't mind just...talking, sometimes. There are a lot of people here I can just talk to...it didn't used to be like that, so...it's nice.

Does that make sense?

It does, yes, and I would be lying if I said I didn't prefer it this way. It's not familiar at all, perhaps, but it's not bad, either.

[...apparently we're doing Something With Feelings again tonight; just...give him a second.]

That time when I spoke to you at Kamii University - I wasn't exactly lying to you when I told you that I didn't really have anyone to talk to, either.

[Oh.

...Okay we really are doing Something With Feelings, aren't we.]

It didn't seem like you were. At least...I didn't think you were.

No matter what you were going to do...I just don't feel like someone would make up something like that. I know I wouldn't.

[Y...es, that certainly seems to be the case.]

...I won't try to tell you that I wasn't incredibly selective with what I chose to tell you. A lack of sustained relationships doesn't mean that I don't know how to make people like me in the short-term, and that's the reason why I understand entirely if you don't want to trust me.

At the same time, I didn't lie to you when we talked that day, nor did I lie to you on the Sunday after outside of telling you exactly what we would be doing that night at the restaurant.

[Kaneki has to stop to think about that for a few minutes before he can reply, toying with his Gear in hands that have become somewhat unsteady. Tsukiyama wasn't the only one keeping his intentions hidden, that day.]

I guess...having common interests must have made it easier. It made it a lot easier for me to talk to you, even though I had already heard about who you were.

[...]

...is that why you decided to talk to me, instead of someone else?

[He's not going to just come out and say he must have seemed an easy target, but...]

There were several reasons why I decided to talk to you, Kaneki-kun.

The most simply-put way of explaining it is that you fascinated me.

...I see. Not...very many people have ever thought that about me, before.

...I can explain my reasoning, but you probably won't care for it very much.

[Mm...]

You can, but you don't have to. I just figured I probably came off as...a kind of person who might be easier to convince to go with you.

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