preybeforemeals | IC Contact/Voicemail

...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.

Actually, when I first sought you out at Anteiku I was interested for the exact opposite reason.

I like powerful people, and the word was that you had just defeated someone from the CCG.

[..Ah, that...sure was a thing that happened, wasn't it.]

Oh...well, that makes sense.

At least you weren't looking for someone particularly athlethic...

[He's still ashamed of how bad that went.]

[SHIT HE PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE LAUGHED AT: THAT]

That...probably could have gone a bit better, yes...

[Look, all he can say is that he's glad the Pokemon do the the fighting for sport here, not the other way around.]

It could have gone worse too, but...I think I'll just stick to books from now on.

That's probably for the best, honestly.

[And there are other reasons he has to say that, because he's seen what happens when Kaneki does decide to actually fight and do something with himself and the result isn't particularly pretty.

...That said, "...thanks, asshole" is still an utterly valid reaction to that.]

[...thanks, asshole.]

Anyway...I guess what I'm trying to say is I was surprised when you talked to me. I don't really know what I was expecting...to be honest, a lot of people told me it would be better for me to just keep my distance. I'm pretty sure they meant that because of how powerful you are, but...still.

[Basically, he can relate to not having many people to talk to, all told.]

You're trying to spare my feelings. That's kind of you, you know.

It's a little strange having so many people around, isn't it? "Around" in a way that matters, that is. I wasn't entirely alone back home - I had a pair of servants who were good to me, and Hori-san, of course - but even they were different to how things are here.

[...Wait.]

Ah, you haven't met Hori-san yet - she's a human I've known since we were in school together. It's probably been about...seven years now? Something like that.

[Yet...?]

It is, yes, and...I don't think I have. You say she's...a human?

[Well, he is technically from the future and all.]

She is! Something of an unusual one, but she's definitely human.

[That's...a little surprising.]

...Does she know about you?

[...Ah.]

Yes, she does.

Ah...I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, or anything, by the way. I'm just curious.

But...if you don't mind telling me, what is she like?

[Besides unusual and maybe harboring a death wish.]

Well, first of all - and don't tell her I told you this in so many words should you ever see her in person, because I imagine she won't be very impressed with me for having said it, but - she's incredibly young-looking. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the fact that she's so short, but she doesn't look a day older than she did when we met at sixteen. ...By which I mean she looks about twelve, if I'm going to be blunt.

Outside of looking so young, physically speaking she's very plain and frankly I find her unattractive, not the sort of person who would normally have caught my attention at all. In fact, we attended the same high school for years and I never noticed her.

As for her personality...she's very capricious in her daily life; I suppose you could say that she's somewhat like I am - I think she's looking for the ultimate experience, the thing that she won't be complete without, and she doesn't know what that is yet but she'll know it when she finds it. She's disinterested in things that don't lead to fulfilling that goal, and because of that she often comes across as apathetic and uncaring about life, but honestly I find her to be quite the opposite; she just doesn't have the time or the inclination to be kind to those that don't interest her. She's very blunt and socially strange, and she seems to prefer being alone; if she has any friends, I've never met them.

She's a photographer as well - an extremely talented one, actually, and that's how we met for the first time. She came across me while I was hunting someone and took pictures of the result. Things were a bit ugly between us for a while as a result, but everything worked out eventually.

She's never had any real interest in outing me to anyone, though, nor has she really threatened me with it; she's good at getting information for me, she's one of my best sources. We're very close now; she looks after me in much the same way that a sibling would, though she'll deny it if that's pointed out.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject