After Kaneki's abrupt exit from the store, Tsukiyama was left sitting on the floor, stunned for a moment, before straitening up and dusting off.

Kaneki put on such a brave front, it was at times easy to forget what had caused him to become this way. Of course there would be certain triggers that would cause flashbacks after the ordeal. Tsukiyama had been so eager to please and make him comfortable, so enthralled by the trust he had been gaining, that he had become thoughtless instead. Even though the current version of Kaneki was certainly enchanting, the events that had occurred to bring him to this state were truly atrocious. Allowing Kaneki to feel as safe and comfortable as possible should definitely remain a top priority.

Tsukiyama began to feel an itching of guilt wriggling its way around his head. Concepts such as 'remorse' and 'shame' had never quite crossed paths with his emotional repertoire until he had met Kaneki, but lately he had found himself becoming rapidly acquainted with them. He sincerely hoped that this misstep wouldn't color the entire rest of the afternoon. Kaneki didn't seem to be enjoying the shopping all that much to begin with, even though Tsukiyama had told him to pick out anything he pleased. Still, Prince Charming had tried the glass shoe on many other girls before he found his Cinderella, didn't he? One mistake couldn't be allowed to taint the entire day. Calmato, calmato.

Finished his internal pep talk, he adjusted his tie, affected his best pleasant smile, and went over to collect the girls.

Chie had decided on a pair of cowboy boots for Hinami. Not at all what Tsukiyama would have picked, but the juxtaposition with the sundress did make for a bold statement. In addition to the box that the boots had come out of, three more boxes were placed into his arms.

"One is in case her feet get tired in those. The other two are for me. I've had these sneakers since high school! I think it's time for a change before they walk away on their own, you know?" Chie explained.

"Where's Onii-chan?" Hinami asked in concern as they headed for the door after checking out.

"He just stepped out for some air. I'm sure he's waiting for us." Tsukiyama hoped that he was not lying to the girl and that Kaneki hadn't headed for home without them.

Sure enough, Kaneki was outside, seated on a bench beside the door. He appeared to be intently inspecting his blackened finger nails. He had managed to get his shoe back on after all, but it was sloppily tied and there was no sock inside of it.

"Kaneki-kun?"

The boy started slightly as if he hadn't heard anyone coming.

"…I stole these clothes, didn't I?" he mused, looking up at Tsukiyama with an inscrutable expression.

"Non! All is well!" the man assured, "I explained to the cashier that you were not feeling well and had to leave, so she looked up the prices and I was able to pay for everything! Now, let us all continue our date, shall we?"

'All' included Chie as well, because after years of dealing with her, Tsukiyama knew that permission or no, the mouse would continue to scurry after them.

He had considered suggesting a bookstore as the next stop, usually a sure bet, especially considering that the book section at the department store had been too scant for both Kaneki and Hinami's tastes, but Kaneki was now walking so determinedly in front of the group, that the other man became quite curious as to where he was headed.

He began to slow in front of a shop window featuring a multitude of colorful crepes, before coming to a stop and turning to Chie.

"Do you like crepes?"

"Yeah, sure! Who doesn't?" She responded. It was difficult to tell if she was just being oblivious or taking a dig at present company.

Kaneki cocked his head toward Tsukiyama. "Have him buy you one. I think it's around lunch time. At least one of us should be able to enjoy eating something during this…whatever this is."

"A date," Tsukiyama reminded, absently shelling out the cash to Chie. It was clear that this was old hat for the two.

Hinami was pursing her lips, side-eyeing the crepes as if they may leap out of the case and attack at any moment.

"Would you like to help me pick one?" Chie asked.

The younger girl nodded determinedly and the two moved closer to the window, Hinami pointing to different deserts, and Chie describing the tastes in nearly nonsensical ways.

"What do they taste like?" Tsukiyama asked with genuine curiosity, eyes still on the girls.

"What, little girls?" Kaneki retorted in a mutter, so as not to be overheard. The cashier seemed to be engrossed on her smart phone, and no other customers were around.

"I'm interested to know how crepes taste." Tsukiyama hoped that reminding Kaneki of his past wouldn't further upset him, but considering that coming to such a human place as this had been his idea in the first place, it seemed safe to take a gamble. He had always harbored a deep curiosity for human deserts. During a trip to Paris, he had become completely fascinated with the things. He even owned a collection of cookbooks on the subject. The colors and shapes were very appealing, especially since only so much could be done with human meat, at least visually speaking. "I've actually come to this shop before. Sometimes I just like to look at the deserts."

Well, that and the former shop girl had had very dolce forearms, he reminded himself.

Kaneki thought for a moment before answering, "The ones with ice cream are very smooth and sweet inside, and the coldness kind of contrasts with the room-temperature pastry. Oh, the pastry is really thin and sort of like a pancake…"

Tsukiyama was so relieved that Kaneki no longer seemed to be phased by the earlier incident. Sometimes it was difficult to believe that someone as remarkable as Kaneki Ken would allow him at their side. It had been clear for quite a while now that Kaneki would not really kill him, save for the man seriously attempting to eat him again. He had merely received a scolding for kissing Hinami's cheek the other day; Kaneki hadn't even thrown him out of the apartment. Tsukiyama had slept in the chair while the other two slept on the couch, curled up like cats. Tsukiyama hadn't won full trust yet, but there was time. He hoped there was time. Yet, at the same time, he certainly not be unhappy if the way things were right now lasted for an eternity. Just being near this amazing person was something of its own reward. If perhaps someday in the future, he did ever get to taste Kaneki, well, it was becoming more and more difficult to imagine that flavor being more delicious than moments such as this.

"…and the bananas are kind of mushy, and not quite as sweet as some other fruits…" Kaneki was beginning to sound somewhat happier than he had moments ago and his face was slightly less gray now.

Tsukiyama tried to imagine some of the tastes and textures being illustrated, but it was difficult, having little frame of reference. He had at times, taken bites of human food, hoping for just some inkling of the texture, but the flavor had been so repugnant that the texture was easily overshadowed. Even so, the sound of Kaneki's voice was mesmerizing as the early afternoon sun beamed off of his white hair like a halo.

"Tsukiyama-san?" Kaneki fixed him with a stern expression. "Am I wasting my breath?"

"Hm? Why of course not!" Tsukiyama placed his finger tips against his chest as he spoke, "Your words conveyed the sensations so vividly, I felt like I was truly eating the crepe myself!"

What happened next happened so quickly and unexpectedly, that Tsukiyama wasn't sure that he could remember exactly how it went, as much as he wished that he could. The mixture of joy and confusion he felt, however, was something that would not soon leave him.

He'd like to think that Kaneki had grabbed onto the collar of his jacket, pulling him down, but maybe the boy had just stood on tiptoes. Either way, the man found his lips captured in a very fleeting kiss. Slightly chapped lips were on his, and then gone. He was fairly certain that the moment had concluded with Kaneki somewhat half-heartedly shoving him. Whatever had happened, Tsukiyama had definitely dropped the multitude of shopping bags he'd been holding.

"Ahh, Don't look, Hinami-chan!" Chie threw her free hand over the girl's eyes, as the two returned from their crepe shopping during that exact moment. The sweet held in Chie's other hand was the most gigantic one that the shop sold. It was most likely meant to feed a couple, rather than just one tiny person. She eyed the camera around her neck with a pout, but both hands were currently too occupied to use it.

"They do that all the time anyway," Hinami informed, unimpressed, as she removed Chie's hand from her face.

Tsukiyama didn't consider the kiss on the check from last night to be 'all the time', if that's what she meant. Tsukiyama imagined that he would have been the first to know if such an occurrence had happened before...

Kaneki was now wiping his sleeve across his mouth, eyes absently focused somewhere across the street, while Tsukiyama was left reeling. However brief the moment had been, Tsukiyama had still been able to taste a ghosting of the half ghoul's very distinct flavor. He brought a cautious finger tips to his own lips. It reminded him of…What was it that Kaneki had said about that one type of crepe…?

"I could tell you weren't listening, probably thinking about something gross, so I thought it was better to show you this way," Kaneki began to explain, still not looking at the other man. "I thought maybe you could still taste the things I've eaten in the past, if your tastes are as sensitive as you say…"

"Chocolate!" Tsukiyama interrupted with great enthusiasm. "Kaneki-kun, would you say that's how chocolate tastes?" He had been partially paying attention to part where Kaneki had explained particular the taste and scent of chocolate. It definitely sounded like the closest thing to Kaneki that he had heard of.

"How should I know? I'm not about to eat myself; I'm not a sicko like you." Kaneki turned and began briskly walking back the way they had came.

After collecting the spilled shopping bags, Tsukiyama was easily able to catch up given his longer legs. The girls seemed to have decided to give them some space and were walking a distance behind. Chie was somehow managing to operate her camera single-handedly while munching the crepe.

Tsukiyama was, needless to say, overjoyed as he trotted along beside Kaneki. Still, a small cloud of confusion spun about in his head. "Kaneki-kun, I thought that I had upset you before, at the store. I even forgot my manners and didn't apologize…"

Kaneki slowed a bit, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead. "You don't need to apologize. What happened to me then is over and I'll never allow anything like it happen to me again. I thought it over, while I was waiting outside the store, and I realised that I don't think that you'd allow anything like that either. Besides, I think that I might have accidentally given you too much permission earlier, so something like this was bound to happen eventually," he explained, referring to kissing incident, "Maybe it was my turn to do something 'unnecessary' for a change, before you had the chance..."

"Kaneki-kun…" Tsukiyama grasped his arm, finally causing the small, light-haired man to look up at him. "Do you think that maybe, such a thing could become 'necessary' one day?"

Night and day... twelve o'clock had passed twice now, and the prince still remained.

It would seem that in this story, it was the prince who granted the wishes...For this chapter, at least… But eventually it will become necessary for the page to turn once again, won't it?

The end

Thank you so much for reading and leaving such sweet comments! I definitely plan to bring you more Shuunekis in the future! BTW, the kiss was added at the request of reviewer Blood tinted rain. Sorry it was so quick, but I hope you enjoyed it a little anyway!