~from Kaneki's POV~
Since I've been breaking more plates than washing them, Touka reassigned me to waiting on tables.
"Just ask what they'd like, got it? And for goodness sake, don't break anything," she reminded me, her hands resting on her hips, and I nodded.
I put the uniform and went over to the first table, one occupied by two older men.
"What would you like?" I asked, but I was too quiet, and they didn't hear. "Um, excuse me?" I tried again, a little louder, and they looked over at me, annoyed, as I'd interrupted their conversation. I tried to smile at them, but I'm pretty sure I looked like a frightened deer instead. "May I take your order?"
The one on the left rolled his eyes. "Where's the pretty one?" he asked loudly, and I cringed, letting my hair fall into my face.
"Yeah!" agreed the second man. "Why can't Touka take our orders?"
I bowed slightly, glad that my hair was hiding my eyes so they couldn't see the self-loathing they contained. "I'm terribly sorry, but Miss Touka is busy. I'll have to do, I'm afraid-"
Just then, someone's hand slipped easily over my shoulder, and I flicked my head to the right to see the same man from yesterday. What did Touka call him? Tsukiyama?
"Now, now," he said coyly, looking only at you. "Beautiful women such as yourself shouldn't ever have to apologize for a single thing. Any real man with good taste would be dying to have you wait on him. In fact, my dear Miss, if you'll come over to my table, I'd be most grateful," he said smoothly before leading you away, the two older men glaring at both of you.
He lead me over to an empty table and pulled out a chair before gently pushing me into it and seating himself directly across from me. I immediately tried to push back the chair and return to my job, but he leaned across the table and grabbed my small hands in his own, effectively trapping me.
"Please let me go," I said, hiding my eyes again, but his hands didn't move.
"Ah," he said instead, his eyes somehow finding mine behind my wall of hair. "This is the first time I've ever heard your voice. As expected, it matches your beauty to a tee."
"Please stop teasing me," I said more quietly, looking down at the table.
He was silent a moment before turning my hand over. "How is your injury? Healing, I do hope."
Indeed, the handkerchief was gone today, and all that was left of the shallow cut was a light line across the skin of my palm.
"It was nothing," I murmured. "Just a small cut. I'm fine."
"You're welcome to keep my handkerchief," he said, a faint smile on his lips and a certain laziness in his eyes, as though flirting came easily to him. "As long as you keep me in your thoughts," he added, his eyebrow slightly raised in challenge.
I looked away towards the window, at the people walking on the sidewalk, people who didn't know what I was. "Touka washed it. If you want, go talk to her. Please," I added, realizing that I was being extremely rude. What's wrong with me?
He just laughed softly before sighing. "And here I wanted for you to personally return it to me," he said almost wistfully. "Oh well."
"I really must be returning-" I said, standing up, but he still had a hold on one of my hands.
"Wait!" he said, standing up as well and hanging on to that one hand for dear life. "I'm Tsukiyama, but please call me Shuu. I'd like to know your name as well, Miss," he said, his eyes still full of the awareness of his own charisma. He looked like someone who was used to getting what he wanted.
Well, I didn't know what he wanted, but it couldn't be me. "Kaneki," I replied softly, and he finally let go of my hand.
"Sayonara, Miss Kaneki," he murmured, and I bobbed my head before rushing back to the kitchen, hoping to hide for a moment, but Touka was there, and she yelled at me for not bringing in a single order and wasting my time talking with customers.
"Who were you talking to, anyway?" she asked, returning to washing dishes.
"Just...a customer," I replied, not quite sure why I was protecting Tsukiyama Shuu.

~from Tsukiyama's POV~
I left Anteiku and decided to take a walk to call myself down.
What a thrilling game I've discovered! It's true that she's not quite as aesthetically satisfying as my usual standards, but she's the perfect type for my purposes. Quiet, private, mysterious...that just makes her more tempting! I bet that if I were to get close to her, I'd be able to discover a different side of her. That's what her type is always looking for - a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, an arm to hold. She's just begging to be comforted and loved; in which case, it's not entirely my fault that I've picked her as my target. She's like a wounded animal - one must either nurse it back to health or put it out of its misery.
Which shall I choose for you, my dear Miss Kaneki?
Shall I polish you up and make you into a beautiful woman?
Or shall I destroy you so that your secrets and worries lie forever only with me?
Either way, my dear Miss Kaneki, I am not a man who likes to share his food, and you've become my new dessert course.
I hope you're entertaining enough to fill me up...