Authors Note 1/30/15: I lost this chapter due to some difficulties, but managed to get it back! Huge thanks to xxxDreamingflowerxxx! You rock. Thanks so much.

October 12th - 8 years old

Touka was furious; pale cheeks puffed and arms crossed, spitting out words she could barely make out in frustration.

"How exactly is me adjusting how I look an issue?"

Kaneki stood bashfully, equally frustrated, but composed enough to keep the prickling irritation to himself. He bites back the urge to summon biting sarcasm; it's not like his demeanor would let something rash slip past his lips, anyway.

"Y-Yes.. I think you changing isn't necessary, Touka-chan.."

Of course it wasn't compulsory for a eight-year-old to change their attitude for someone. Especially their crush. Which just so happened to be Touka's intention.

The lavender-haired girl crosses her arms across her new dress, glaring at the olive-eyed male, but the way her head is slightly hung low tells Kaneki that she's embarrassed of her current attire. There's a slight tint of pink across her cheeks which seconds the notion.

"I told you, Kaneki! I need to change or else he won't like me! Do you know how important this is to me?"

Kaneki had to swallow an incredibly inappropriate grin of solace; Touka had been working for months to catch the eye of a new exchange student from Washington D.C., which almost always resulted in failure. The only sense of acknowledgement her crush displayed was a nod or maybe a slight smile.

Instead of grinning, the raven-haired boy also of eight years scratches the back of his neck apprehensively.

"Probably not.. But Touka-chan, if he doesn't notice you, then why waste your time trying?"

Touka fumed beautifully.

"Just forget it!"

Kaneki glanced at the colorful, floral-covered frock she were sporting. It fit her nicely, and almost made him blush. After all, seeing Touka in a dress isn't something you see everyday. It sent flurries awake and swirling like a storm in the pit of his stomach.

There's a lengthy silence.

Then his mind flickered to Halloween. It wasn't that far away. Besides, he had something to ask her.

"...Er, Touka-chan."

"Hm."

"Do.. Do you want to go trick-or-treating with me? I thought we could have that contest like last year, y'know, when we saw who's costume was the best."

To Kaneki's dismay, Touka never stood down; but it had paved way for yet another friendly contest. They were, of course, biased when it came to judging themselves, but Halloween night provided a much more meticulous judge. Whoever received the most praises on their costume clearly modeled it better.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

October 31st - 12 years old

The lollipop in Kaneki's mouth swung from cheek to cheek as his hand dug carefully through the bag of sweets. He had memorized the different shapes of each candy, and was sorting the disgusting ones to the bottom and pulling his favorites to the top.

His other hand gripped loosely at his book, only barely processing the information being fed to him through its writings due to being distracted by all the candy.

Last year, Touka was very adamant about sharing her candy with the boy even when she didn't eat it, (which Kaneki noticed) but seemed to have come around this year. Who knows what sparked Touka's rare kindness, but it Kaneki was sure to appreciate it while it lasted.

Touka was sitting on the edge of Kaneki's bed falsely "eating" some of her own confectionery in a gothic costume, while the black-haired Sherlock Holmes himself was attempting to multitask; he was hunched over his laptop, working on that essay the lavender-haired girl was currently blowing off. It would be trivial to cheese and get a passing grade instead of devoting precious free time to tedious homework.

Touka knew better than to prod at her friend for this and risk her own good mood, so she resigned to enjoying his distant presence.

"Having fun over there?"

Kaneki only smiled crookedly, the lollipop nearly falling from his mouth.

"How far into the assignment are you, Kaneki?"

Kaneki gave Touka a timid look, crushing the rainbow sucker between his molars. "I've only started, Touka-chan."

She scoffed and nodded her head, just as Kaneki knew she would.

"I should have expected as much. Our teachers think you're putting in too much effort, you know."

"Huh?"

"You realize life is more than just grades, right?"

Olive eyes stared at purple ones for a moment in contemplation before nodding and returning to the laptop.

That was that. There never was anything new to say whenever this topic came up (although Touka was always kind enough to reiterate on some points), so there was no need to talk about it more than necessary.

Touka was right, though; Kaneki cared too much about school. It was her belief that the intelligent deserved to be as lazy as they pleased, thus resulting in her blowing off the essay.

"You won't mind if I stay over for a bit, will you?" The girl pops a tootsie roll into her mouth and fakes chewing the chocolate.

Kaneki turned back again, not even mildly surprised. "G-Guess so."

December 5th - 14 years old

Touka sat on the porch, feet dangling to the side. Her mouth felt dry and tasted of soap without anything to sate her cravings. She'd expected to have something to eat at this point in the night.

The girl thought that standing up to the teasing teenagers would be a good idea, but it had only ended badly for her. Logically, walking away would have been the smart thing to do, but she had been overcome with emotion. No one could make fun of him like that.

She felt close to Kaneki, her only friend besides Yoriko at school. And once Touka had ushered Kaneki to the safety of his house, her kagune came out just like that. Now looking at the horribly red flesh on the gravel made her stomach turn.

At least Kaneki hadn't seen it.

July 5th - 15 years old

Kaneki liked this mattress. He had slept on it 492, now 493 times. It wasn't particularly soft, but it was serviceable, and the familiar wear of it made it comfortable.

The blanket, though, was fantastic. It was thick and pillow-y, hosted a strong, quilted surface. The hem was frayed, but not so much that it fell apart as he rolled it between his fingers.

It had been the same blanket Touka and him had shared during a camping trip 6 summers ago. It was a disastrous trip, and as much as Kaneki had soldiered and informed Hide how much fun he had, it was the reason Touka and him would never go camping together again.

He played aimlessly with the hem, silently mouthing eight thousand one hundred ninety two, sixteen thousand three hundred eighty four, thirty two thousand seven hundred sixty eight; sleep was hard to come by, but nights weren't always horrible. It had been a good day.

September 6th - 16 years old

Touka stared at the reading Kaneki over the counter of Anteiku as she filled the pitcher full of milk and ingredients, hitting the 'mix' button to the blender. She noticed the small things. How his light eyes scan smoothly over each paragraph thoroughly, fingers rubbing at the page before leafing the thin, now-dented paper aside.

How it only took around 6 seconds before he rummaged into his pocket to find a good piece of toffee. Maybe after a long dry period, something chewy was always refreshing to him. The strangely intrigued lavender-haired teen gaped at the male as he neatly popped the sweet into his mouth.

She noted how he always chewed 4 times with his back teeth before swallowing gingerly, the refreshment sliding down his esophagus to get lost in the acids of his stomach. Some may consider this stalking, but Touka thought of it more as.. studying.

Her observations weren't intentional, after all. And somehow, as weird as it may be, it made her relax. Calmed her pulse.

Then her heart-beat quickened as he suddenly turned his head in her direction. He'd probably felt her staring.

She found a smitten expression of his, cheeks dusted a faint salmon as the raven-haired teenager quickly corrected himself, pulling his gaze away as if pretending he hadn't been caught catching a glimpse of her figure. He slouches more casually, bringing the novel closer to his face in an attempt to hide his humiliation.

It was hard to look away when Kaneki seemed so embarrassed about something.

January 18th - 17 years old

Touka wants a kitten. Kaneki needs to stop worrying about school.

August 24th - 19 years old

A new girl came into town. Kaneki likes her.