Mask

(A/N: ok so since I'm officially out of school for 2 weeks I'll try my best to spoil you amazing people with 2-3 chapters a day! Also I found the pills XD.)

We had the rest of the week off due to the renovations that were taking place in the Anteiku dorms. Yoshimura had decided to add around 8-10 more rooms in the case we had more unexpected 'visitors' in the coming days. Well, at least I don't have to share a room with that demon anymore. Touka and Emily have connected even more and are now even bigger rivals than before. Which in itself is a pain in my ass. The first room that was done was, in fact, mine so I hurried on over and face planted in the soft, plush bed that laid on the left side of the room. I even had my own bathroom and shower, thankfully, so I had all of the basic needs for a comfortable life.

The bed was so soft that I had almost fallen asleep and had to slap myself to stay awake when someone knocked on my door. I got up and stretched before opening the door to see a small Hinami smiling up at me. I spent a long while talking with Hinami about various things like our favorite colors, animals, books, and the like. Asaki came to retrieve Hinami, but not before chatting with me for a while and thanking me for helping him out again. My days have been spent relaxing and training without many serious things happening that I needed to see to, so I'd say that my time here at Anteiku is actually very refreshing. From what Yoshimura had told me, Asaki, Ryouko, and Hinami were all going to be staying here in the dorms until it was safe enough for them to leave and go back to their home. We now have six dorm residents, and I feel like we're going to have more very soon...

I was walking to the store to get some more coffee beans and sugar when I saw a familiar black haired boy who was wearing an eyepatch and talking to a dirty-blond haired boy wearing a yellow varsity jacket. I stopped in my tracks as I stared at the guy who should've been killed a few days ago, but here he was alive and well. I ignored him for the time being and bought the things I had came for before returning to Anteiku. I decided against telling Yomo that the guy was alive because he was originally the one who said he was, so I want to avoid that 'I told you so' moment. I put the goods in the storage before running into Touka and Emily, with the former grabbing me and saying "Ah good, we were just looking for you. You're coming with us for a bit!" before dragging me off to the door.

Apparently Emily's mask was done so we had to go and pick it up, so it's reasonable that I have to go with them I guess. We arrived and the ever eccentric Uta was waiting for us with a large grin as he revealed a black mask that closely resembled a rabbit, causing Touka to facepalm as she asked "Why the hell did you make her an almost exact replica of my mask you old bastard!?" Uta laughed and said "It was because you two appeared to be rather close friends, so why not?" before laughing again as he handed Emily her mask. I was curious but Touka told me to stop speaking before I was even able to. Thankfully, Uta asked to see my kakuja mask so I activated it and appeared in my frayed black robe, hood, and white skeleton mask. I swear Uta got a little too excited as he looked all around me. He was more interested in my pupils staying their normal color after activating my kakugan when I told him about it, but that's not as surprising considering literally everyone is surprised when I show them.

We left the smiling and unusually energetic Uta to his own devices and took out time walking around the streets and various shops littered around before making out way back to Anteiku. I once again saw the black haired boy and what I assumed to be his friend with the dirty-blond hair, but I just walked past them and kept mute. We arrived and Emily and Touka both almost immediately asked me to help train them with Yomo. I refused and asked them to talk to Yomo, but I was bonked on the head by none other than Yomo himself as he simply said "We'd be delighted..." before walking off. That damned bird was always sneaking in behind me. Touka stuck her tongue out while holding her index and middle finger up in a v-shape before walking off with Emily. Those bastards probably talked this out with Yomo before hand...

I sighed and decided to get some sleep even though it was midday. I immediately fell asleep on my bed and was woken up at around 8 from a loud noise. I hurried out of bed and rushed to the shop part of the building and saw the same black haired boy with an eyepatch cleaning up a broken plate while wearing the Anteiku waiter uniform. I looked to Yoshimura and he gave me a look that said 'I'll explain later' before helping the guy clean up. I heard Yoshimura call him 'Kaneki' so I could only assume that is his name. I shrugged before trudging off back to my bed and falling asleep once again. This time, I woke to the sun shining through the window and so I got up, showered, and put my waiters uniform on since today was the official reopening of Anteiku and I of course had a shift today as well. I couldn't really complain though, for working at Anteiku was actually very pleasant and kind of fun at times.

Emily and Touka had the day off while Enji, Irimi, and I were the only ones working while Mr. Yoshimura had some out of town business to attend to. Considering he brought Yomo with him, I don't think it was something too business related. Around 10 in the morning, the black haired guy came in wearing the waiter uniform and said he was new, so I had Enji take care of him despite me having no real authority over him. There were quite a bit of customers here today so I was pretty occupied and enjoyed my shift. At 2 my shift had ended and I helped clean a few more tables and glasses before returning to my room and changing into a black tank top and shorts.

I went to the training room underground and began my training regimen with a little more intensity than before. Ever since my encounter with that masked Ghoul I've been trying harder and harder to get as strong as possible. I was nothing more than a glorified punching bag that he decided to go easy on after all. The air crackled and sparked as my fist drew arcs of lightning wherever they passed and my legs generated a deadly heat wherever they stepped. My movements were slow and methodical, but were getting close to absolute perfection. I ended my little performance and said "So, did you like my moves? Pretty damn cool huh?" before turning around and staring at the wide eyed Touka, Emily, and, surprisingly, Kaneki.

I looked to Kaneki and I heard an audible gulp as he stuttered "A-Are you a G-Ghoul...?" I nodded my head and I saw that he tried to slowly back away, but Touka grabbed his collar and said "Everyone who works at Anteiku are Ghouls because that is the only staff that we hire. Now, think long and hard about what you might be since we hired you..."

He stopped his movements and slowly lifted up his eyepatch and murmured "Am I a monster...?" I saw both Touka and Emily flinch slightly when he said monster, but I just nodded my head and said "Yeah, so what? You're still you but just a different race. You don't have to worry about anything like being shunned so long as the people you trust still think you're a human..." I shrugged and looked to Touka and asked "So, you still want me to help train you?" causing her to whip her head back to me and start to nod furiously.

I then looked back to Kaneki and said "If you like, I can also help train you so you can defend yourself, but you can't just hide away when you're confronted..." I clenched my fist and held it up before continuing "You must take power and use it to defend the things you love and care about, not abuse it for petty gains. So, will you take this power I'm offering and use it to help those in need...?" I saw Kaneki hesitate but he ended up nodding his head. At this time I had no idea that the small fire that was ignited in his eyes would be something truly amazing.

- - -

Yomo and I were standing next to the panting and sweaty trio of Kaneki, Touka, and Emily, who were tasked with the same objective as I had been when Mr. Yomo first started to train me. All they had to do was hit one of us once and they were able to move on to the next exercise, but they failed, miserably. Kaneki is actually really good at dodging while Touka is only good at attacking and Emily is good at neither, so it was rather amusing to watch their efforts. Out of the three, Touka was the only one able to actively control and use her kagune in combat so we had defaulted to hand-to-hand combat instead. It was a rather fun time beating up the two females who made my life a living hell, but my amusent was short lived when Touka saw my smug expression and kicked me in my most valued part of my body...

For the first time in almost ever I heard Yomo release a boisterous laugh as he keeled over while holding his stomach, while I keeled over from pain that seemed to never fade away no matter how much I tried to heal it with my regenerative powers. When the pain had subsided I wobbled my way back to my room after waving Kaneki off and getting a glass of tea before collapsing on to my bed and letting out a content sigh. There was no better treatment for a pair of cracked family jewels than laying on a nice and comfortable bed. I felt my eyes getting heavy and I noticed that it was hard to stay awake and, even though I tried my best to fight it, I ended up falling into unconsciousness.

I found myself in a familiar black expanse with a small girl with a long braid of strange pink hair sitting on a chair and sipping a cup of tea. She glanced at me and said "Yo! Long time no see, Ryu. I've been watching your development and I can say for sure that you should be a worthy master in a few years time..." before downing the contents of her cup in one gulp. She let out a comfortable sigh as she splayed out in a very unladylike manner before closing her eyes and appearing to fall asleep. I resisted the urge to just ask what the hell I was here for but I just sat down and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere while I meditated. This proved to be a mistake as I felt a sharp pain in my neck and saw the girl latched on to me and...sucking my blood...?

She had two enlarged canines that appeared to have the ability to suck the blood from what they pierce, something that I have the pleasure to experience first hand. Just as I was about to activate my kagune and attack her, she jumped off of my back and licked her lips and said "My my, don't you just taste absolutely...delicious..."