A fresh breeze entered the dark and stale-aired shop with the opening of the front door. There stood the college student: Kaneki Ken. He had come by the mask maker's for one reason and one reason alone: to confess. The black haired boy shook his head, trying to gather up his nerve before calling out into the dark shop.

"Uta-san?" He called out warily. Maybe the ghoul wasn't there? No, he had to be, the sign out front said that they were open. He took a step into the shop, glancing around. That's when his foot hit something on the ground. It must have been a knocked over mask. Frowning, Kaneki leaned down to pick up whatever was on the floor, only to be met with the face of the very ghoul he had come to see.

"Boo."

Kaneki jumped back, hand grasping the shirt fabric over his heart, breathing heavily, all the while staring in bewilderment at the older man. Uta sat up, one knee to his chest and the other sprawled out in front of him. The man merely raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

"Did you come for a mask repair?" The calm and monotone voice asked clearly. Kaneki, who had finally calmed his heartbeat, blinked in confusion. What about his mask? He felt himself blush at the way Uta was staring at him intently, giving the younger all his attention.

Ah, Uta-san is such a hard worker... he thought, then blushed. "Uh...ah, um..." He stuttered out, not able to formulate a sentence.

The tattooed man continued to stare at Kaneki before he slowly got to his feet; leaning on one of his mask racks, hip jutted out, and an arm on said hip, "hm?"

"I came here to say that I really like Uta-san!" Kaneki cried out, blushing darkly and moving his gaze to the ground, suddenly becoming very interested in his sneakers. There. He had said it. However, he wished he could take the words back, not the fact that he said them, but the way in which he had said them.

Uta let his head tilt to the side, lolling carelessly onto his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow, his wonder and confusion evident on his face. " ...I never did anything for you."

Kaneki ignored the blunt response, and instead continued with his confession, spearheading through. "I really like Uta-san...because-because he's really strong! And..even though he looks scary, Uta-san has a kind heart and is caring a-and I can't help but feel a pull towards you." The college student explained, his voice rising at the end.

The mask maker's laugh floated through the shop, "you think I'm scary?" Kaneki blanched.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" He shook his head vigorously. "I just meant that you scared me the first time we met, and not to mention right now, and that just left an impression," he blubbered out. Man, for someone who loved to read, he could barely articulate a sentence without insulting the man in front of him. "Uta-san is actually very handsome and sweet."

The ghoul nodded curtly, smirking slightly, "thank you." The eyepatched man stuttered out a response quickly. "You know," Uta continued to talk, "You never did tell me why you were here. You know I'm a busy ghoul," he explained, placing an elbow on the mask rack, holding his chin in said hand.

"Ah," the half-ghoul scratched his cheek, holding his chin when he stopped scratching. "s-sorry, I just, I was walking around and I found myself here," he smiled. "I've been meaning to visit Uta-san, to tell him about those things."

An eyebrow was quirked in response; "you have? How interesting..."

"How so?"

"I would have never thought that Kaneki-kun would say such things." The ghoul explained.

Kaneki laughed nervously, the chuckles bubbling out of him in a similar manner of bubbles in a carbonated drink. "Well, I did say them, didn't I?" Another laugh escaped his throat. "Aha, maybe I should be going now..."

Uta shrugged carelessly, "if that's what you want, then go ahead."

Kaneki sighed, shaking his head, "Uta-san can't seem to take a hint," he muttered lowly. He guessed that he would have to take the initiative. He rushed forward, his face merely inches away from Uta's face. He watched the normally careless and stoic ghoul's eyes widen slightly, just a fraction of an inch, but widen nonetheless. The college boy stopped an inch away. "May I kiss Uta-san?" He whispered, his breath ghosting over the other's lips.

The older man thought for a moment before responding. "I suppose one kiss won't hurt," he shrugged a bit.

Kaneki leaned in closer, lips brushing against the other's, "just one?" He whispered in question, staring the other male right in his ghoul eyes.

"Yes. Just one. Kaneki, I'm a little old for you," was Uta's response. Kaneki frowned, pulling back, instantly missing the closeness that he just shared with the strange, but yet compelling man.

"Do you think I would be here if I cared about that?" He asked, pulling away even farther. He even took a step back. Uta hadn't budged a centimeter in this whole ordeal. "Wasn't you who mentioned older people for relationships?"

"I said older women."

"At that time you didn't know my preference." Kaneki rebuked.

Uta pursed his lips. "Fine, then perhaps older men?"

"Ah, I'm looking at one right now," the raven haired college boy explained.

The tattooed ghoul smirked very lightly, "I didn't say me."

"You didn't not say you."

The older ghoul thought for a moment, "this is true."

Kaneki suddenly became quiet, his bold outbursts seems to have subsided for now. Staring at the ground, his voice escaped his mouth softly, "does Uta-san not hold feelings for me? If he doesn't, he should have told me in the beginning, that way I wouldn't have made a fool of myself..." He trailed off, not quite knowing what to say anymore.

"...you're special," was all the response he was given. Although he didn't show it, Uta was ultimately taken aback by the straightforward question.

Kaneki scoffed. "Special, huh?" He lowered his head, fists clenching at his sides and teeth grinding down on top of each other. A solitary tear escaped his unpatched eye. "That wasn't an answer to my yes or no question. If I'm so special, then why? I'm neither a full human, nor a full ghoul. I'm just trying to find a bit of peace where I can get it, and right now, it's with you, Uta-san."

He thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the situation at hand. So many things could possibly go wrong...but so many things could also go right. "I guess everyone deserves a bit of peace."

"Please..." Kaneki begged.

Uta was confused now, why was the boy so upset? "I said you could kiss me." He tilted his head to the side, confused over the younger's emotions.

"It's more than a kiss to me," he spoke softly. "To me, it's a promise."

"A promise of what?"

"A promise that I'm not in this alone anymore," he began, taking a deep breath before lifting his head. "A promise that I can have more than 'just one kiss'," he took a step forward, " a promise that you feel something towards me and this isn't just some new mask that you're deciding to try on while you create a new one."

The mask maker chuckled lightly, "that was deep, Kaneki-kun," Uta leaned stepped forward, pushing himself off of the mask display, simultaneously closing the gap between him and the younger man. Leaning forward he pressed his lips to the half-ghoul, light and sweet, but it conveyed feelings that were impossible to describe using words, especially if the person trying to describe the feeling was none other than a tattooed, mask making ghoul that goes by the name of Uta.

A strangled cry escaped the lips of Kaneki who threw himself into the arms of a very shocked Uta, tightly wrapping the other in an embrace. "Thank you," he whispered, a small smile on his face as he buried his face into the other's chest. Uta didn't exactly know what to do with his arms; his arms hung awkwardly in the air, not knowing where to place them. he eventually settled for one to go around his small lover's waist and one on his mop of black hair, slowly stroking it.

Yeah, Uta thought to himself, smiling, this feels like a promise I can keep.