#etokane

Kaneki shook his head, frown deepening and cheeks already turning rosey as he stopped Eto from entering through the heavy double doors in front of them to put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him with a raised brow of confusion as Kaneki leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

“Your publisher called to tell you he can’t make it to lunch. so you’re free until five o’clock for today.”

Eto laughed and patted Kaneki’s cheek before placing a hand to his chest and pushing him away. Kaneki was used to Eto’s confusing signs of affection, but was still unamused with her hot and cold behavior. She was too unpredictable, too mysterious for him to crack. But that’s what made the challenge of getting to know her that much more worthwhile.

“God, I can’t wait for this to be over!” She groaned, pausing to stretch.

She adjusted her messy bun and then looked back at Kaneki and winked, thrilled at making him blush again and look to the side in embarrassment as she threw open the double doors. Camera flashes and the clamoring voices of news reporters calling for Eto’s attention grounded Kaneki enough to push them both forward to a table waiting for them. Eto made a show of sitting down slowly in the chair Kaneki had pulled out for her as she gathered her bearings and smiled for the cameras.

“Ms. Takatsuki! Ms. Takatsuki! Where you expecting such a turnout for your latest horror novella?”

"Ms. Takatsuki! How do you feel about your book being ranked number one on Japan’s best-sellers list for the last three weeks?”

“Ms. Takatsuki! Do you ever plan on making a film franchise with your works?”

“Do you have any tips for any aspiring writers out there?”

Kaneki stepped forward and raised a hand to silence the crowd. A female reporter timidly raised her hand for Kaneki to call on her. He nodded in her direction, making the reporter squeak with nerves.

“Um… Ms. Takatsuki?”

“Yes~?” Eto replied, drawing out her response and locking eyes with the reporter.

The woman visibly gulped and shifted in her seat. “Y-Yes, um… Ms. Takatsuki? Where did the inspiration for your latest novella come from?”

“From here and there,” Eto began, playing with a cup of water handed to her. “The main protagonist, although much less quieter and more of a brute, is based off of a man I know and have come to like very much~” Eto giggled, innocent persona in full bloom. Kaneki’s eyes lowered in suspicion at her comment. He wondered if he knew who she was referring to and pushed that to the back of his mind.

Eto answered questions for the next hour and a half, entertaining the camera crew and reporters long enough to have them laughing and casually chatting with her the entire time. As confused as Kaneki always was regarding his feelings towards his client, he always admired how charming Eto could be and how natural she could make public interviews out to be. Kaneki thought about how he’d look like a deer caught in headlights if he were ever in Eto’s shoes and felt a nervous shiver run down his spine.

Eto noticed this out of the corner of her eye and leaned back in her seat casually, draping an arm around it. She made a joke about her rising popularity and how she’d needed to hire herself a body guard because of it, pointing at Kaneki to her side. He tightened his fists behind his back as he felt his nerves begin to rise. He’d told her time and time again to keep attention off of him for her own safety and pretend like he wasn’t there instead, but Eto would snicker in his face every time and flick his nose as a form of retaliation.

“I know this guy looks like he could tear your head off with that body of his, and trust me– he can,– but it’s only because I’m paying him to be my shadow. He’s harmless to you guys though, so feel free to ask him stuff about me whenever you want.”

Some photographers shifted their focus to Kaneki and snapped a few pictures of him, much to Kaneki’s annoyance. A few reporters asked Kaneki what it was like to be by Eto’s side on a day to day basis, but the only thing that seemed to come up was Eto’s annoyed face grunting at him to fuck off and give her five more minutes of sleep… at noon the day before. Kaneki chuckled to himself and simply answered, “She really likes her beauty sleep."

******

Later in the day and hours after Eto’s interview, Kaneki drove Eto back to her condo without a word from her in the backseat. Kaneki wondered if he had done something wrong to have upset her and then asked himself why he’d possibly be responsible for Eto’s sudden change in demeanor. He hoped he wasn’t the cause for her uncharacteristic behavior. Opting to distract her from her troubles, he asked her what she’d like for dinner from her chef. She smirked devilishly, looked at him through the rear view mirror and said, “You~”

Kaneki nearly rammed into the fender of the car in front of them from shock as Eto cackled in her seat, clutching her sides from laughing so hard. Kaneki felt his face burn as he readjusted his glasses and lifted a hand in apology to the driver in front of him flipping him the finger. Kaneki clenched his gloved hands tightly onto the steering wheel and ignored Eto as she continued to barrage him with sultry comments. After pulling up to the parking lot and going to Eto’s side of the car to open her door, Eto grabbed onto Kaneki’s toned arm and gave it a pinch.

Kaneki was at an utter loss for words, feeling his patience with her silliness begin to shrink with time. Eto linked her arm with his, dragging him through the lobby doors, into the elevator, and to her apartment. Eto spent the entire time whispering foul things into Kaneki’s ear, so much so that by the time they’d entered the apartment, Kaneki had slammed the door shut behind them.

“Someone’s in a mood~” Eto teased, twirling around into the kitchen to fetch herself a cup.

Kaneki grumbled and sulked off into the living room. He plopped himself down rather forcefully onto the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, hearing Eto hum an unfamiliar tune behind him. In the next minute, he felt a tap to his forehead and looked up to be mere inches away from Eto’s devious face. He tried shooing her away, but she dodged his arm and came around to stand in front of him. He heard the clinking of ice inside her cup and questioned what it was for.

“Did you think I was lying when I said I wanted you for dinner?” Eto smirked.

Kaneki was about to retort when Eto yanked him forwards by his tie. He felt his heartbeat stutter and his pants get just a bit tighter, his hands nervously clawing into the seat cushions below him to keep himself from shaking. Eto stared him down with a sinister smirk etched onto her face before leaning in to place a gentle kiss on his lips. Kaneki quickly melted into the affection, feeling her tongue skillfully pry his lips open and snake its way inside his mouth. Eto was skilled at making him shiver and moan as she flicked her tongue over his own and delicately across the roof of his mouth, much to Kaneki’s surprise.

He made a sound of protest when she finally pulled away, a dribble of saliva coming away with Eto’s bottom lip. She laughed softly and tugged harder on Kaneki’s tie, a whimper escaping Kaneki’s throat.

“You always act like you don’t love what I throw your way, yet here you are sitting with a growing tent in between your legs~”

She made her way across the checkered bird-cage with a small bounce in her step. Footprints of red printed behind her as splashes of blood soaked her dainty feet. Behind layers of bandages, her eyes drank him in but never once did he acknowledge her presence. Although he was a wreck of a ghoul, a canvas painted in blood, he sat, bound to his chair without a shake nor a whisper. Feathery alabaster hair cascaded his face as he stared at his stubbed toes, leaving zero contrast against deathly skin of the same colour.   It seemed his soul was black, but his body was purely white. For this boy, the world had lost its colour in numerous spurts of red.

She couldn't help but think how noble he was, showing not an ounce of fear even though, for all he knew, she could have been Yamori. He sat chained to that chair like it was his throne – it was a rather fitting piece of imagery, she thought. Having been force fed the apple and had his ghoul eye opened, he'd fallen, enlightened to just how wrong this world was. It was just as she planned. A King had been born before her. “To build a new world first one must inspire enough vengeance to destroy the old one,” she said.

She could hardly blame him for the fact he rarely ever spoke. She watched him like a hawk as she knelt to her knees before him. Grey eyes gazed vacant and unblinking as she studied him behind a layer of bandage covering her own. “Kaneki,” she called. “He's dead you know. Yamori.” Her shadowed eyes glinted maliciously. “I killed him.”