Miyako's POV

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Urusai." I groaned at the annoying and high pitched sound of my alarm clock. Using my strength, I slammed the device off before forcing myself to get up from the warm and comfy bed to feel the cold air to slap against my skin.

I looked around the room to see a familiar room that I've always been in since I was four years old. When Yoshimura adopted me and paced me under his care. I sighed while climbing out of the bed and walked over to the attached bathroom in my room to brush my teeth and changed into my workout clothes.

Might as well start doing my usual routine every day, even though I'm not at work in CCG. I still have to keep my body lean and proper, just for the heck of it.

Finally getting my attire on and got my stuff prepared for going out for a job, I slowly creaked out of my bedroom and silently shut the door behind me before going down to hall and down the stairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairs and opening the door, the cafe was still closed and slightly dark. After all... it is 6 in the morning and it takes me an hour or so just to go out for a jog. I'll be back in time to work after all.

"Where you heading to, Miyako-chan?" I heard a soft voice behind me. Feeling a smile to tug at my lips, I turned to see non other than Yoshimura-san with a smile on his face.

"Just going out for a jog, Yoshimura-san." I replied.

"Still with the formalities?"

"Yes... It would seem rude of me."

"Nonsense, Miyako-chan. I am your grandfather and you're my granddaughter, after all... we're family." he chuckled before walking up to me and patted my head for reassurance. "Since you're going out for a jog, do you mind if you can buy me a list of groceries on your way back?" he asked before walking up behind the counter.

"Not at all. Do you have a list?" I smiled, following him behind.

"I do, here you go." he passed the small piece of paper to me that had a list of groceries. I gently grabbed it from his hands and took a peek as to what to buy.

"This will be easy." I chuckled, before folding the list and placing it in my pocket.

"Here's the money and be... safe." Yoshimura peeked one eye open at me and I gave him a small bow.

"Of course. I'll be going then." I waved and head out for a jog.

But before I can even walk out the door, I bumped into a well toned and tall figure making me to fall backwards but felt a pair of arms around my waist and caught me. I sighed before staring up at a pair of sunglasses and a sly grin on his face.

"Boo." he chuckled.

"Uta-kun." I smile before bringing myself up and brought him into a bear hug.

"I've missed you too, Miyako-chan." he chuckled, returning a hug. "Where you going? And most of all, how come you didn't come to see me." he pouted.

"I was, but I'm going out for a jog. Wanna come?" Patting his head before he let go of my waist to let me stand.

"A jog? That sounds like it's too much work." he grunted, placing his sunglasses down to see his kakugan. Those pupils that were red and the sclera was black. I was in deep thought of reflecting to see those familiar pair of eyes when I was younger in my days. The time of my mother and brother who protected me from these ghouls who were after us for no reason.

"If you say so, Uta-kun." I giggled.

"You should be like that around others, more often." Yoshimura chuckled, looking at us.

I sighed, "You know why... only you, Uta-kun and Touka-chan know the truth..." I whispered.

"Miyako-chan..." Yoshimura said firmly. I felt a pang of guilt in me. They should already know that I'm the closest and can open up myself towards them. If I open up myself to others, all I would do is bring pain and be afraid of opening up to more people than I already have.

"I'll be going. See you later, Uta-kun." I hugged him before walking out the door that he was blocking me.

"You have to come see me at my shop, okay." Uta said, more like demanded me to do.

"I will and I'll come back with your groceries, Yoshimura-san." I called back before shutting the door behind me.

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Time Skip ~ 1 Hour Later

"That'll be 2,000 yen please."

"Here you go." I handed the cashier with the yen that Yoshimura gave me and waited for the change as I stretched out my hand to grab a handful of grocery bags.

"Your change, miss." he chuckled, handing me the change. I stared at him in disbelief to see a small piece of paper that was handed in with the change of yen. I arched an eyebrow at him, to see him with a grin.

"Call me anytime." he winked and I stared at him for who knows how long before I noticed him to lean against the till to face me.

"Call you huh?" I chuckled.

"Of course gorgeous. Maybe we can get together later tonight and help you improve with your lean and sexy body of yours... What do you say?" he pressed a grin wider.

"Later tonight? Sorry but I'm taken and busy. I wouldn't want to waste my night and body to some kind of jerk and playboy while I'm at it." I lied sarcastically to see an irk mark appear on his forehead.

"Come on babe. I'll treat you right. Maybe we can work on your attitude as well." he answered angrily.

"How about you do something about that stinky breath of yours, pretty boy. You seem like you're all talk and need to go to the dentist for a rinse. Talk about hygiene. Try eating some gum." I winked, leaving him in shock and I smirked afterwards to see a couple of people in line to snicker and whistle at the rejection.

"Idiot." I mumbled, feeling a slight trickle of sweat to drip on my skin. I just finished my one hour jog around the town, and it felt great. Talk about a stress reliever. Not like I have any stress or anything, but it felt good to run around. It felt like freedom.

It only took me a couple of minutes just to reach Anteiku, since the shop was only 10 minutes away and I didn't mind to walk, it would help me to lower my heart rate. Slowly unlocking the door handle, I felt something or someone who bumped into me and in an instant, all of the bags in my arms fell down to the ground. In the process, I accidentally tripped myself but thankfully, I held onto a chair for support, not too mention a pair of hands on my shoulders.

"I-I'm sorry! Miyako-nee!" a light voice cried. I looked up with my amber eyes to see such soft and sad brown eyes staring at me, before they picked their self up and ran upstairs hearing a loud slam from the door.

"Are you alright?" a familiar voice asked. I turned to see Hide with a worried expression. We stayed in that position for a little before I pushed him away from me.

"I'm fine." I answered softly, trying to pick up the grocery bags that fell out of my arms.

"What was that about?" he added and I shrugged.

"Who knows?" Nishiki said, who was leaning against the counter with his hands at the side of his waist, while I saw Kaneki to walk towards the door that the little ghoul ran over to. "There's all sorts of mysteries to life."

"You can say that again." I muttered, still trying to grab more of the groceries.

"Let me help you, Akagi-chan!" Hide chimed, quickly and grabbed a few of the groceries in my arms and onto the table that he was sitting at.

"T-Thanks..." I nodded, a faint blush to crept onto my cheeks.

"You're welcome! Anything for a pretty girl like you!"

"S-Shut it..." I mumbled, biting the inside of my cheek and looked away from him.

"Oh, crap! I've got class! Thanks for everything!" Hide shouted, reaching some money from his pockets before heading out the doors of Anteiku.

"Geez. That kid..." Nishiki mumbled before looking in my direction as I was staring over to Ryouko-san who was sitting at the opposite side of the store who held an upset look on my face. I noticed her to stare into my direction before giving me a small smile. All I could do was stare and turned on my heels before walking towards the upstairs portion of the cafe. The look on Ryouka-san's face... I knew that a mother had to protect her child. It was similar to when I was younger and I couldn't let Hinami go through what I have did.

"I'm leaving the groceries on the table, Irimi-san."

"Right. I'll handle it and thank you for bringing it." Irimi smiled in my direction before I went up the stairs.

"Oi! Don't let me do all of the work! You kid! Come back here and help me out!" I heard Nishiki to growl but I deliberately ignored it, still walking up the stairs to hear faint knocks.

Turning into the direction of the sounds, I look to see Kaneki who was knocking on a door and calling out for Hinami who seemed to be on the other side of the door. My thoughts was that she was crying. Not wanting to get close to the half-ghoul, which I've actually figured out that it was Rize-san's organs... I didn't want to get caught up in his mess.

If I reveal to him that I am a half-ghoul... I had this feeling that he wouldn't stop bothering me. I hated it when I have too much attention on me. Sighing at Kaneki knocks, I turned to the opposite side of the hall and began to walk towards my room.

After taking a short shower, I changed into my attire that I am needed to be in within the next 30 minutes. I dried my hair, applied faint makeup that was natural, tied my hair into a high ponytail and looked at my appearance in the mirror before walking out of my room.

"Time to start." I chuckled.

Slowly walking down the corridor, I turned to my side to look, hoping that Kaneki wouldn't be there at the same spot. Thankfully... he wasn't there. I felt tension in my chest to be relived and walked up to the door that Kaneki was knocking on a moment ago.

"Hinami-chan." I said, knocking on the door to hear her faint cries.

"..."

"I know you're in there, Hinami-chan. I know I wasn't there to acknowledge it, but... do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly.

"...."

"Hinami-chan..."

"..."

"Alright then... I'll leave you be... if you need anything, I'm always here for you." I smiled at the thought before turning on my eels. I stopped to hear a click from behind and felt a small hand to grab onto my wrist. Slowly turning, I looked down to see Hinami with tears from her eyes and sobbing at the same time.

"M-Miyako-nee..." she cried and pressed herself into me.

"It's okay... Shhh... I'm here for you." I softly said and went down on one knee and caressed her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"N-Not yet...." she mumbled, tightening her grip onto my sleeves.

"Let's stay in your room for a bit. Just until you calm down. Okay?" I cooed and and nodded to my proposal before walking into her room and shut the door behind us. Then we gently laid on the floor, my back pressing against the door.

"I-I'm sorry f-for pushing you over..." she mumbled as she rest her head against my chest. Tears staining my uniform.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I would've done that too..." I chuckled, still caressing her head.

"S-Sorry... M-Miyako-nee..."

"Like I said... you don't have to apologize." I answered softly and soon, we both heard faint knocks coming from the door.

"Hinami. It's Mom. Can you open up for me?" I heard Ryouka-san's voice from behind.

"No! I don't want to talk to you!" Hinami shouted from my arms and I stared at her in slight shock.

"Hinami-chan..." I whispered.

"Hinami, this is your--" Ryouka started.

"I want to see Dad! Why?! Why won't you let me? I hate you Mom!" Hinami cutted her off.

"Enough, Hinami!" Ryouka shouted with stern.

"You need to calm down and listen to your mother...Hinami-chan. Don't say that you hate your mother... because I know it's not true." I whispered as I felt Himani to tighten her grip around me even more.

"B-But..."

"I know you're hurting... but you need to be strong for yourself, for your mother.... I've been in the same situation as you when you were younger...You're mother is in pain with you, to not see your father as well..." I softly said, hugging her close to my chest.

"Y-You did?" she sniffled and I nodded.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice. You miss him, don't you? I'm sure Dad misses you too, Hinami. But you know, we'll only make things difficult for him if we go see him now. I'm sorry I've put you through all this." we both heard Ryouka to cry.

"Go to you're mother and tell her that you love her... It's okay to cry and be in pain. The world we live in has pain... but we need to be strong and get through it. I know you're a tough girl, Hinami-chan. Think about what your mother said.. and your father." I said, kissing her forehead to see her nod. "Go to your mother." I smiled, letting go of her from my embrace as we both got up from the floor. Hinami turned the door knob to hear a click and opened it slightly ajar to see her mother who bent down to face Hinami.

"Hinami... Mom misses your dad too." Ryouka cried, bringing out her arms for Hinami to jump into.

"Mom..." Hinami cried, slowly walking up to her mother and jumped into her arms and cried in tears.

"Hinami!" Ryouka said, hugging her daughter tightly, making me to smile in the background.

Not wanting to stand there awkwardly, I walked out of the room and around them so I could start my job that will start in a few minutes or so. I would let them have a talk, between mother and daughter for bonding time. I didn't want to intrude or anything.

'Might as well start doing business.' I thought.

"Thank you Miyako-chan for helping me and taking care of Hinami." Ryouka chirped from behind and I turned but was tackled in by a hug.

"T-Thank you M-Miyako-nee!" Hinami smiled, making me to smile in return and I patted her head.

"It's no problem at all..." I said softly as she got off of me and I stood up to face Ryouka.

"Would you like to come with us? Mom is going to buy me a present!" Hinami asked with a grin.

"I would like to buy you something as well, for a token of my appreciation." I glanced over to Ryouka who smiled and I blushed a little at the warm welcoming that the two were giving me.

"I-I... would love too. But I'm starting work in a bit..." I stammered.

"Aw... then maybe next time!" Hinami chirped and I nodded.

"Of course. There is always a next time. Thank you for the offer Ryouka-san, Hinami-chan. You have fun, okay Hinami-chan?" I said.

"Yes!"

Slowly walking away from them and turned on the corner, I froze to see a smiling Kaneki with a tray of two cups of coffee in his hands. I didn't dare to peep or say a word, but stare at him. It only took a couple of seconds before I could regain myself and tried to look somewhere else... other than the smiling half ghoul in front of me.

"Akagi-chan." I heard him to say.

"Yes?" I answered with no emotion.

"Y-Your outfit... you work here too?!" he asked in disbelief and in shock.

"I-I do. Got a problem with that? There's nothing wrong with working in Anteiku for part-time, is it?" I rolled my eyes and placed a hand on my waist.

"Uh oh, n-no... It's just that..." he trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Are you...."

"Are what? Spit it out." I grumbled.

"Are you taking my shift in a few minutes?" he asked and I face palmed. 'I thought he was going to ask that I was a ghoul. Thankfully he didn't asked that.' I thought, releasing a sigh.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"One more question...." he said nervously.

"What is it?"

"Are you a gh-"

"I've got to go." I mumbled, cutting him off and walked away from him.

"H-Hey... Akagi-chan!" he called out, but I clenched my hands into fists and power walked away from him, as far as possible leaving him behind.

'Of all times! Why did he have to see me smile like that?! Damn it. Next time I won't be smiling anymore.... and be cautious around my surroundings next time.' I cursed in my thoughts.

Slowly walking down the stairs, I froze in spot at the strong sense of something bad that was going to happen. Maybe later today or in the next... I didn't know but I've always had this feeling or a premonition of some sort, that would relate to the nearby future.

And this feeling was... horrible within my gut.

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Sorry for the late update! I've been getting lazy and procrastinating which I really hate about myself right now -_- Any errors and whatever... I'll fix it soon. Lazyyyy ~

Ps. I'm going out camping for two days soon, so I won't be able to post until monday or tuesday?! Gomen! (⊙︿⊙✿)