I stayed alive as well, mostly by pouring myself into work, I was practically a salaryman with my steady hours and constant overbooking of commission, so one day Renji decided he'd had enough.

"You're boring now, Uta, and yes, I understand that's probably the strangest thing I've ever said."

"I'm boring? How so?" I looked up and crane my neck back at him, standing behind me, as he glared down at me.

"You dyed your hair black, you only wear monochrome colors. You never leave the shop, when was the last time you went back to your apartment? Do I need to keep going? Let's go to Helter Skelter, or get Itori and go out clubbing, anything would be better than sitting in here alone."

"I must really be pathetic if you're telling me to go outside and socialize, more so if you are willing to go out with me," I sighed. "Let's go before the clock strikes midnight and I turn into you."

We got drunk at Helter Skelter, danced at an underground club in Shubuya, and ended up walking to Anteiku to sober up.

"U-chan, Ren-chan," Itori slurred, her dress threatening to split that last three inches up her thigh.

"What?" I moaned, I hated that tone in her voice that said she'd get whatever she wanted out of either of us, or maybe both of us at the same time.

"I want to cuddle," she giggled, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Oh, hell, no," I pushed her into Renji's arms, and staggered into Anteiku. I slumped at the first open seat at the bar, glad that there were no other seats nearby.

"I'll have a black coffee," I groaned and lowered my head to the counter, covering it with my arms. Even through my sunglasses, the cafe's dull light made my head throb.

"Welcome back," Koma greeted me, and placed a cup by my head.

Itori fell into a chair at a table already occupied by people, at least three of them. In my inebriation, all of them smelled delicious.

"You got anything to dull the hunger?" I asked Koma. He slipped a sugar cube into my cup, and I swallowed the hot beverage down in three gulps. "Give me another."

"Coming right up."

"You're a cutie, aren't you?" Itori giggled at the poor fools at the table.

"Itori," Renji warned.

"Oh hush, Ren-chan, you're not going to cuddle with me, and U-chan's just a grumpy puppy like always…"

"Not like always," I called from my seat, not bothering to look. "Just when you try to make me cuddle. I hate cuddling"

"So, your name is Itori? What do you do?" A male voice asked.

"Oh, yup, that's my name. I own Helter Skelter, and these two, well this one is, Ren-chan and he's my bouncer," she hiccuped. "The other one is U-chan and he's a tortured artist, don't bother with him, he's been no fun since his lover ran out on him."

"Fuck you, Itori, he didn't run out on me," I groaned and finished my coffee, putting my head back on the counter. "And he wasn't my lover."

"Uta-sama," Koma whispered, "please watch your language."

"Sorry, Koma."

"What about you? What do you do?" Itori asked.

"I own the new tattoo parlor down the street, these two are my best artists."

"U-chan! Did you hear that? Maybe one of these guys could finish your tattoos!"

I ignored her; somehow the tattoos I had seemed untouchable, and I hadn't been inspired to add anything since that day.

A chair screeched as it slid back from the table. Itori stumbled across the bar, and grabbed my left arm, shoved my sleeve down, and exposed the tattoo on my wrist.

"See, so pretty," she said, mesmerized.

I pushed her away and spun around to tell the guys at the table that I wasn't interested, when I –

"Uta?" Clive said from the far side of the table. "Um," he stumbled, "it's good to see you again."

"What are you doing back in Tokyo?" I asked, forgetting all the things I'd planned to say if I ever saw him

"I finished university and well… out of this huge city, I never expected to see you again."

I was vaguely aware of Itori trying to talk to me, asking me some ridiculous question. "Uta, do you know this guy?"

"He… did my tattoo," I said, rubbing my chest.

"I knew you lied to me," Renji said. "I knew that fat fuck in the back of the van wasn't someone you would give a shit about, but I accepted your lies because it was easier. I should have been more diligent -"

Still staring at Clive, I addressed my comments to Renji, "If you touch him, I will kill you, Renji, I won't hold back anymore."

"I'm not going to touch him, for fuck's sake. Maybe now you'll stop pouting."

Clive turned a snicker into a cough, and smiled shyly, ducking his head, but not breaking the eye contact we had across the room.

I threw myself off the stool and crossed the room in three strides; I pulled Clive out of his chair by his collar and smashed our mouths together. He was game, sucking my lip ring into his mouth and I bit him, softly until his sweet, sweet blood ran into my mouth.

"Yay!" Itori clapped. "Well, it wasn't the yaoi I was hoping to see tonight, but two pretty boys chewing on each other is good enough for me."

"That sounds like Itori," Kaneki-kun says, laughing. It's the first time I've heard him laugh in ages, and he looks younger, lighter for the effort. He's missed so much of the last two years, and that haunted look he had when he came back to us wasn't pretty, but now… somehow he looks a little better.

"Does that give you a better idea of what you should do?" I ask. Clive cocks his head and raises an eyebrow. He came into the conversation after the pertinent part, but I make him wait as I keep my focus on our guest.

"So are you suggesting I should just go to :Re, pull Touka across a table and bite her?"

"It doesn't work for everyone, but it certainly does make a statement," I say, smiling. I emphasize my words by putting a tasty morsel in my mouth and chomping down on it hard.

"I don't know, Uta." He stands, draining the last drops of his coffee. He picks up his mask, and puts it on, almost by rote. He drifts to the door, putting one pale hand on the jam as he turns back to us. His black nails click against the frame, once, twice, thrice. He looks down at his feet, "The indirect has never really worked out well for me. Maybe your way is the best. If she punches me -"

"You can blame me," I say. "She'll believe it."

"No," he laughs. "If she punches me, I'm gonna try hitting her back this time."

I can't see him mouth, but I can tell by the twinkle in his visible left eye that he's smiling behind the mask.

I chuckle and as I blink, he's gone. Clive get's up and locks the front door.

"You ready for the next tattoo session?" he asks.

"Not tonight. Right now I want to cuddle."

A/N: Thanks for taking this journey with me. If you like this story, please review or favorite it. Thanks!