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Chapter 8 – A Friendship Born From Juice

It wasn't long before Kaneki decided that the tiny figure crouched against the grimy stone wall was a contradiction.

Clad in a pick dress with a dainty face and short white hair, 'Juuzou-chan' looked to be just a frightened little human girl, unfortunate enough to have caught the attention of a ghoul like Big Madam. However, even as the little human visibly quivered, there was something irrevocably 'off' about her.

Kaneki initially thought that perhaps it was just his shock at the sight of such a sinister chamber existing within the bigger ghoul's grand mansion, or perhaps his unease stemmed from the very fact that it was his first time seeing a so called human 'pet'.

It was common knowledge amongst that there existed some eccentric ghouls kept human pets, chaining them up and parading them around the higher classes as a sign of wealth and status – there were even rumours that they would take young ghouls if they could get their hands on them. It was a tale that most mother's told their children at night, warning them of the big, bad ghouls would capture them and turn them into a pet if they were to be bad.

Observing the puzzle in front of him, it took Kaneki all several moments to realise what was so off about the scene – the lack of fear in the air.

Kaneki had always prided himself of his keen sense of smell. A normal ghoul could smell slightly better than a human, allowing them to scent a small drop of blood from far away or helping them distinguish between fellow ghouls and humans. Kaneki, however, had a nose much more sensitive than any others. He was accessible to a whole new palate of scents: emotions, illness and much, much more that even the most sensitive of dogs would never experience. His mother had always raved about how his half-ghoul status granted him better abilities than any ordinary ghoul. It seemed one of those abilities extended to an acute sense of smell.

Kaneki sniffed the air one more time, taking in as many scents as he could.

Mould on the walls – check.

The sweat dripping off of Big Madam – check.

The mouse droppings scattered on the floor – check.

Kaneki continued to analyse the barrage of scents in this method until he conclusively decided that there was definitely no fear. In fact, it was even more curious to note that instead of the slightly sweet tang that accompanied all females, he could smell a slightly bitter scent emanating from the white haired child.

'Could it be? A male?' Kaneki thought.

"Juuzou…chan, my lady?" Kaneki questioned, emphasising the honorific with puzzlement clear in his voice.

"Yes. I see your confusion. My, you are perceptive." Big Madam smiled as if speaking to a naive toddler, "Her stage name's Juuzou, her real name is a secret that only those I deem worthy may know. After all, who knows what could happen if the humans find out about her. To you, she is only Juuzou."

"Oh…I see…" Kaneki replied, slightly vexed at not receiving the answer he wanted, but also intrigued over the insanity of his new employer. What was the importance of hiding a name? Especially of a no name human kid whose family was most likely dead. If one thing was for sure, Big Madam really was a nutter, that fact alone only solidified his certainty that this 'Juuzou-chan' was actually a young boy.

The bigger ghoul suddenly turned towards him, her face steely and serious despite all the blubber that surrounded her features that would have been comical to a child. "As new to the household, I expect you to always be accompanied by the head butler or myself when inside this room." She instructed, her voice laced with ice and malice. "It is only reasonable to know that I cannot fully trust you yet, after all you could just be trying to steal my little treasure." A rusty, old key appeared in Big Madam's hand and she promptly started unlocking the barred door.

'You were the one that wanted me here weren't you? Believe me, I don't trust you either.' Kaneki ensured that the snark held in that thought did not appear on his face. He watched the rusted door swing open and the small, pink-clad boy scurry across and out of his cell into the arms of an expectant Big Madam.

As she placed him in front of her, weaving her arms over her pet's shoulders and clasping his two petite hands with her meaty ones, Kaneki gained a closer view of his employer's plaything. He was young, perhaps even the same age as Kaneki but with a more wiry build. His skin was porcelain white, as if he had never experienced the sun. The same could be said for his messy shoulder length hair that was startlingly starch white with several pink, glittery clips scattered around to hold the stray strands back from his face. Kaneki heard a small chink and saw a thick, rusted, metal collar clasped around the other boy's slender neck. He winced at the old, healed over scars that marred the skin near the collar. However, what was most surprising to the dark haired teen were the white haired boy's eyes; they were big and round, still possessing a touch of childish innocence.

'How do your eyes still look like that?' Kaneki wondered, only God knew what Big Madam was capable of doing to a tiny little human like him.

"Though I suppose once your training is complete and my butler has retired you will have free reign of the whole household – including this room." The bigger ghoul continued, ignorant of Kaneki's thoughts. Kaneki felt the air thicken as Big Madam's hackles tensed, "But just know, the consequences for crossing me and harming my little Rei-chan will be unimaginable." The tension suddenly evaporated from the room as she proceeded to nuzzle her face into the crook of the small boy's neck, evoking a demented, clearly forced, high-pitched giggle.

'This woman is crazy.' Kaneki sweat dropped, mentally making a note to watch out for her seemingly 180o mood swings. It would not do to fail one of his mother's tests so early in the game. Big Madam gently ushered the small boy back into his cell before proceeding to lock the heavy door, carefully placing the large, rusted key in a steel box that was bolted onto an adjacent table in the chamber. He watched Big Madam lock the box with a smaller silver key that she had pulled from her purse.

"Alright, that's it for the manor. I expect you to have all the whole vicinity memorised by sunrise tomorrow so you can start working. Until then I believe you can start your training." Big Madam cupped her hands together around her mouth and bellowed "Terada-kun!"

An elderly man suddenly appeared in the doorway, he was immaculately dressed in standard butler attire complete with a black tailcoat. His grey hair was gelled back, revealing his squinted electric, yellow eyes. A diagonal scar ran across his wrinkled face started from the left side of his scalp and stopped shortly after slicing through the left side of his lips. It was by no means a grotesque scar, instead had aged well with the man, adding to his character. Kaneki internally winced, despite his relative age, the man looked like a force not to be taken lightly. 'This is the man that has supposedly been forgetting things? That needs to be replaced? He looks like he could kill me just with his stare.'

"You called my lady?" The newly arrived ghoul questioned subserviently, his upper body slightly bowed with his right arm resting over his left shoulder.

"Terada-kun, this here is your new apprentice. I have high hopes that he will perform better than the one. Be sure to have him ready for the next party." Big Madam smiled, her beady eyes gleaming in anticipation. Kaneki didn't even want to guess what this party was that got her so excited.

"I will do my best, my lady." The older butler responded in a reserved manner.

"And, Kaneki-kun. This is Terada-kun, my head butler and your new superior." Big Madam turned to him, "Terada here is the best of the best and I will not settle for anything less than his standards. Be sure to learn well."

"Yes, my lady. I will not disappoint." Kaneki responded already trying to mimic the more experienced butler. The hidden threat was as plain as day. If he didn't perform up to par in the coming weeks under Terada's tutelage then he was sure to meet the same unfortunate fate as the previous trainee.

Satisfied with his response, Big Madam gestured for the two to exit the room, leaving her alone with her treasure. Kaneki didn't have enough time to concern himself over the fate of the little human boy before he was cornered by Terada in one of the nearby corridors.

"So you are to be my new apprentice huh?" The man still spoke softly yet also threateningly. Kaneki simply stared directly ahead of him, choosing to not focus upon the older ghoul's piercing eyes which would no doubt frighten him out of his stoic persona.

"Yes. I will do my utmost to fulfil all requirements of the training as quickly as possible so that my transition to the role of sole butler will have the least effects upon the lady."

"Hmm, I see that the lady has chosen well." Kaneki could feel the older ghoul's eyes burning onto him as they analysed his body. He paced around the black haired at a languid pace. "An able and young body, perfect for moulding. Respectful and aware of their place in this household." Kaneki remained frozen under this man's gaze. "I can see why our lady has such high hopes for you. You are a much better candidate than the other. Although…" He stopped pacing as he stood directly in front of Kaneki and hooked his finger under his eye patch, "this will not do," and with that statement he pulled back his arm, tugging the eye patch from the younger ghoul's head and onto the floor.

Kaneki was astonished. 'When did he unravel my knot? Was it while he was walking behind me? But how could I not have felt it?'

"You keep so focused on what is in front of you that you aren't even aware of what is behind you." Terada looked down on him, "We will have to rectify this if you are to be taking my place. As head butler your duties extend far more than serving our lady's needs, you will serve as her shield and dagger should the need come. "

Kaneki gulped. Thankfully the surprise of having his eye patch removed was not great enough to activate his kakugan so he still possessed two normal eyes. It was then that he looked up at the taller ghoul and nodded, morphing his surprised expression into a mask of indifference. "However, before your training can commence, we must first fix your clothing. It is far too unfitting for any servant of this household to wear anything so utterly colloquial." Terada turned away from him and started walking down the corridor.

Kaneki just watched him, stunned at the elder ghoul. He was strict and proper, nothing like the vision of a retiring butler. Kaneki shivered, it would be hard to keep up masks under those all seeing eyes, but he would persevere. He was going to endure this test so he could show his mother just how strong he was. "Well are you coming?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Kaneki saw the elder butler had stopped halfway down the hall, his back still turned on him. Kaneki hastily replied, "O..Of course" and briskly walked towards the other ghoul, unable to shake away the feeling that he had somehow just sold his soul.

-Linebreak-

Kaneki nervously paced outside two, thankfully unguarded, lavish doors.

After spending the rest of the day training, Kaneki had gone up to his new room and promptly collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to take off his newly acquired clothes. True to his appearance, Terada was proven to be a real perfectionist and consequently slave driver. After picking out his new vest, shirt, dress pants and shoes, the older man had admonished him over the inappropriateness of covering a perfectly good eye. Kaneki was only able to wear an eye patch by claiming that one of his eyes wasn't able to focus as well as the other, making it hard for him to visualise far away objects, to which the man reluctantly handed over a black eye patch decorated with gold stitching.

The man had drilled into his mind all of what was expected of a butler in Big Madam's manor. He was to be punctual, never late nor early, always precisely on time. He was to always to be alert at all times, for no matter what he was doing, a soon as the lady of the house called for him, he would be by her side waiting on her orders. Terada had emphasised that all his work had to be fulfilled with the utmost care and perfection. Only today the elderly ghoul had forced Kaneki to make coffee for five hours straight, critiquing everything from the taste and presentation of the drink to Kaneki's technique, posture and timing.

Kaneki expected to succumb to sleep almost immediately after hitting the bed. His back ached from standing up so straight and his right wrist was sore from the hours of continued coffee brewing. However, as he lay on the elevated, western bed that Big Madam provided for all her servants, his mind would not stop wandering over to the pink clad human that he knew that was sitting in a cold, damp cell two storeys below him, clearly hungry from the rumbling Kaneki's sensitive ears could pick up.

And thus was how Kaneki was currently situated outside of the room containing possibly Big Madam's most prized possession, a juice box in hand, and berating himself profusely of his impulsive idiocy.

The juice box was one of many that Hide had always given Kaneki when they were younger. It was almost a ritual between the two boys that during lunchtime at school, Hide would bring an extra juice box for Kaneki to supplement his bland lunch and Kaneki would always put that juice box in his bag, saying that he was saving it for later. Thus Kaneki had quite a collection of juice boxes in his room, never knowing what to do with the multitude of human drinks as he felt too guilty to just throw away Hide's presents yet not willing to drink the liquid motor oil that humans called juice. Kaneki had only brought one juice box along with him as a memento of his friend, but that seemed redundant in the face of a human in need of it.

It seemed that the guards that were stationed in front of the chamber earlier in the day must have run off to have a break or play cards. Kaneki didn't blame them, standing out front a caged human for hours on end wasn't the most interesting of jobs, especially at night when the whole house was quaking with Big Madam's thunderous snores.

Figuring that it was too late to back out now, Kaneki held his breath and slowly pried a door open. It was heavy, but his ghoul strength ensured that he could manage to open it quietly, without a squeak. Upon entering the room, Kaneki calmly walked over to the cell at the back, the white haired boy was against the bars, curious at the entrance of someone other than Big Madam. Kaneki smiled at the boy and sat down in front of the grated bars, the square gaps were wide enough to fit half a head, giving him a good view of the boy. "Hi there," He did his best to sound cheerful, it would do for him to scare the boy so that he would tell his 'master'.

Kaneki held out the juice box through the bars and the boy flinched, clearly expecting to be struck. However, upon seeing the bright red carton, the boy looked at him with an expression close to surprise. "Here, you must hungry, I could hear your tummy rumbling from all the way up in my room." The boy still didn't move, gluing his black eyes to Kaneki, as if evaluating his intentions. "Humans like this kind of stuff, right?" Kaneki asked in an attempt to coax the boy into taking the juice.

The white haired boy stared at the package in his hand and then back up at him. "Mama says I'm not allowed to eat anything without her."

Kaneki merely scratched the back of his head giving a sheepish smile. "Well, I guess this can just be our little secret."

The boy hesitantly took the juice box out of his hand, as if it were made of glass and then promptly, started gnawing at the corners with his teeth. Kaneki hurriedly pulled the boy's arm away to stop him from doing any more damage to the carton, it was going to explode at the rate Juuzou was tearing at it. Seeing Kaneki's displeasure at his method the pink dressed boy asked, "How do you open it?"

"Hmm..." Kaneki absently scratched his head, remembering to back when Hide had drank one. "Ah…I know!" He took the juice box out of the lighter haired boy's hands and peeled off the bendy straw at the side and puncturing the top of the box.

Handing the drink back to the smaller boy he smiled as Juuzou hesitantly sucked at the unknown mixture, as if frightened that it might be poisoned. However, after the tentative first slurp he started furiously downing the drink. Not stopping until the box had been crushed in his hands. "Well, how is it? I hear from my friend that humans find them tasty." Kaneki asked, taking the rubbish back from the boy. There would be serious repercussions if Big Madam ever discovered he had fed her prized pet.

"It's good." Juuzou concluded, eyeing Kaneki's clothing as if trying to spot more food, looking downtrodden once he realised there wasn't any more to come. Kaneki just patted his pockets and promised he would come back with more food in the future, but only on the condition that Juuzou didn't tell anyone about him. Satisfied with Juuzou's nod, Kaneki started to stand up. He couldn't however, as he felt a tug on his shirt. "Before you go…what's your name?"

Kaneki saw the desperate look in the other boy's eyes. Could it be that no one had ever shown him any compassion in this place? Was he so lonely that the mere action of offering him some old juice made Kaneki a saviour in his eyes? "My name's Kaneki Ken, Juuzou-san." He made to stand up once again, but this time as he turned around he felt a tug on his pant leg. He turned his upper body back to see the white haired boy lying on the ground, his arm stretched through the bar in order to stop him once again.

"I'm Rei. Suzuya Rei." The boy said and Kaneki nodded.

"It's nice to meet you Suzuya" Kaneki greeted and started walking ahead as soon as he felt the pressure leave from his leg. He had just gotten a sudden feeling that perhaps he had made things much more complicated for himself.

AN

Heya!

Sorry for the slightly longer delay, life has just been so busy, but alas! I come bringing a slightly longer chapter.

I hope everyone was satisfied with Kaneki and Juuzou's meeting. I know there's been a lot of hype for it so I really hope I didn't disappoint.

Shout out to a certain reader who actually predicted the next big plot of my fic correctly (you know who you are). Also big thanks to thesky448 who has really helped me with sorting out all the nitty gritty details of the fic.

So I guess that's it for me, thank you to all readers and reviewers. Also don't be scared to mention any ideas, theories or just grammatical errors. I am sure to read everything!

Until next time!

-Cifer66