20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, August

It was a cool fall day in the twentieth ward, a lazy wind blew through the afternoon streets, rustling the few leaves that had already fallen from the trees. This lead to a good day of business at a small cafe known as Anteiku, with many stopping for a cup of coffee after hard days of studying or work. Many would describe this as a peaceful, perfect fall day.

However, for one young boy this would be a day that would haunt his dreams for years to come. On this day, as he returned home, face full of hope and excitement to see his mother, a face that would soon turn on its head as he found his mother unmoving, unfeeling, leaning on her desk, an unfinished paper flower in her cold hands. After that had been a flurry of events that the boy moved through without thinking. Finally, the Police officers that had arrived had decided to take the boy to the station, hoping to find a next of kin that would take him in.

Normally, the two would take the boy straight there, and then continue with their patrols, but on this day, as they drove past a certain cafe, the two decided to make a stop, figuring the young boy with them could use something to drink and eat. And so, the two police men and the boy with dead eyes entered the cafe.

And changed the events of the tragedy waiting to unfold.

Kaneki Ken lazily swung his eyes around the room he was in, not being able to have the energy to force enthusiasm into his motion. He saw the various patrons, noticing some becoming relaxed at the police presence, while some began whispering amongst themselves. At the counter, wiping cups was an older man, who had a gentle smile on his face as he performed the monotonous task. After finishing the cup he had been cleaning, the man made his way to the table Ken was sitting at.

He gave a short glance to Ken, before looking at the two men and asked "Hello, welcome to Anteiku gentlemen. What can I get for you?"

One of the police men returned the smile the older man seemed to have permanently on his face and said "Hello, one black coffee for me, an espresso for my partner, a cup of milk for the little one here, and a plate of sandwiches please."

The man gave a brief nod, writing down the order, before noticing the blank look on the boys face, and saying to him with a small, almost understanding, smile and said "If you want to walk around, I'm sure you can find something to interest you while you wait." Before walking away before the boy could respond.

Kaneki began to wander the small cafe, entertaining himself by staring at the many cups on the shelves behind the bar. He noticed a book on a nearby table, without thinking he walked to the book and picked it up, flipping through the pages before stopping and reading at a random point. As he went he noticed this was no normal book, the words in it more complex than he was used to, and as a result he began trying to pronounce the parts of the kanji of the words he did not know, trying to understand the mysterious words.

Kaneki was drawn out of his reading by the clinking of a glass, when he looked up the older man was standing next to him, a glass of milk on the table in front of Ken. The older man crouched down to be on the same level as Ken and looked at where Ken stopped his finger, the man looked confused for a moment before a look of understanding washed over him. In his wizened voice he said "Ah, that is a tricky word, it is natsukashii and it used to be read as 'beloved' but now it is mainly used to mean 'a longing for the past'." The man then turned to see if Ken understood, but was met with a very different sight.

Ken's eyes were glassy, a film of water almost appearing to cover them, his lower lip trembled, and if one had great enough hearing, they could hear his heart speeding up. The man helping him pronounce and understand the word had brought the painful memories of today to the front of his brain, demanding that he face and acknowledge them. Forced to remember the feel of her cold, paper thin skin on his own, the peaceful look on her face, as if she was merely sleeping and would soon wake up.

Finally, the cap on the dam broke, tears streamed down the boys face, a ghastly wail ripped itself from his throat and he threw himself against the nearest thing, in this case the older mans chest. Despite Ken's face now in the mans chest, it did nothing to muffle the wail from the boy, a wail that only comes from those who have realized they have lost everything dear to them, that they had nothing yet. The older man recognized such a wail, and began to rub the boys back, not saying anything, just letting the boy let out his pent up feelings in relative peace.

When the boy finally began to calm down, with those in the cafe either purposefully looking away of staring down at their laps, the old man said to Ken "I don't know what you have gone through young one, but there will always be a home waiting here for you." Before he passed the still quivering boy to the police officers, and waved goodbye to them.

20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, December

Kaneki Ken was miserable.

The past two months had been the worst times of his life, his mother dying, living with an aunt that was stricter with him than he had ever seen, and his exclusion from what was supposed to be a kind loving family. His aunt treated every mistake Ken made as being the worst possible thing he could have done, even something as simple as not setting the table perfectly resulted in Ken being placed in time out while the rest of the family ate, his dinner cold by the time he was allowed to eat.

His cousin ignored Ken every chance he got, the older boy preferring to spend time with his friends or on his video games, than the strange cousin who showed up in his house one day. Ken had even been on the receiving end of some glares from his cousin the first week, the boy muttering about "Stupid cousin taking my toy room", but this eventually stopped as the boy opted to merely pretend like the invading family member did not exist, which certainly wasn't helped by his fathers attitude.

Ken's uncle was rarely at the home, spending most of his time at the office or a place that his wife always yelled at him about. For the rare times that he was home, he did little to nothing with Ken, everything Ken asked of him would be deflected to his aunt, who would then punish Ken for asking for more things.

One of the main reasons Ken had been able to keep his head up during these times, along with the words his mother had given him, was a new friend he had made recently. Nagachika Hideyoshi, or Hide as the boy had all but demanded Ken call him. Hide had been a true friend during this time for Ken, not saying a word when he had broken down in front of him, only hugging him and providing a shoulder to cry on. He hadn't told Hide what had caused the breakdown yet, but the boy seemed to have noticed, with Ken coming into class later than normal due to the longer commute and leaving the park they played at earlier to make it home in time.

But today, as Ken walked home from school, Hide wasn't able to play and had to rush home. As Ken trudged through the snow laden sidewalk, he was looking for anything to take his attention away from his destination. He had tried to spend time in some stores along his walk home, doing anything to delay his return, knowing all that was waiting for him was reprimands and cold looks. As he walked through unfamiliar roads, it came to Ken's attention that he had taken a wrong turn, and yet he couldn't find the effort to truly care. With a heavy sigh he decided to find a train station so he could figure out where exactly in Tokyo he was.

However, as he walked past one building, a familiar scent wafted into his nose, the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. While Ken would normally not be able to tell the coffee of one place from another, he didn't even drink the bitter beverage, this scent had taken a large place in his mind. Turning, he saw a building that seemed as if it was from a lifetime ago, despite his last visit only having been a few months in the past. From the front it seemed to be a simple place, no large ornate signs advertising the establishment or special deals, just a simple post with the cafe's name, Anteiku.

Ken hesitated at the door, one the one hand he should make his way home quickly as he had no idea how long it would take him to find his way home. But on the other, he was in no hurry to return to a house that would either punish him for merely existing, or ignore said existence entirely, and he was feeling pretty cold after walking in the city. 'Besides' he rationalized as he cautiously opened the door and entered the building, 'There is probably someone in here that can give me directions'

As he walked in a few heads turned to look at the new arrival, and a few eyebrows were raised at a child walking in by themselves. But, for the most part Ken was ignored as he slowly shuffled in, looking at the counter he saw the old man from his previous visit talking to a woman in a suit. The man briefly turned his gaze to Ken, his eyes widening, he whispered something to the woman before walking through the doorway, into the back of the building. The woman began to walk up to Ken, and in that time he was able to gain a good look at her appearance, she was tall, at least compared to Ken, with straight black hair parted at her forehead going down her back, she wore a white dress shirt with a black vest and tie. As she reached Ken she crouched down to his level and smiled, before offering her hand.

Ken cautiously placed his hand in her own, and with slow grace stood and began to lead Ken to a table within sight of the counter. She sat down across from him after making sure he was in his seat, and in a soft voice said "Hello young man, the manager wanted me to take care of you for him, he had to go run some errands. What's your name by the way, the manager didn't ask last time did he?"

Ken looked down at his lap as his cheeks dusted pink at the memory of how he had left the cafe last time, before he managed to get out "Um, I'm Kaneki Ken, and no he didn't. Um, how did he remember who I am, Miss..." Ken trailed off as he realized he did not know the woman's name, and began to scan her uniform for a name tag.

The woman chuckled and waved off Ken's attempts to find her name, before saying "Oh, sorry about that Kaneki-san, my name is Irimi. And as for the manager remembering you, let's just say he never forgets a face." At this she gave a conspiratorial wink at Ken who giggled at the silly action. She then asked "Is there anything I can get you Kaneki-san? Something to drink?"

Ken quickly began to shake his head no, not wanting to bother the woman, when he suddenly began to breathe in quickly, "Ah, Ah, Achoo!" A violent sneeze ripped through the boys body, with Ken barely able to turn his head away from Irimi.

Irimi gave him an amused look before standing and saying "I think I have just the thing." She then walked to the counter and began making a drink, leaving Ken in his seat, cheeks still pink in embarrassment. After a few moments she walked back over and placed the drink in front of Ken, saying "On the house." as she did.

Ken looked at the drink in front of him, unable to determine what the black liquid was, before the scent drifted into his nose, one that was largely sweet with just a hint of bitter. After blowing on it he took a small sip that confirmed his thoughts, the taste of a hot, but not scathing, chocolate washed over his taste buds. After sighing he whispered "Thank you Irimi-san" before drinking more, relishing the warmth that spread through his body.

Thus, Ken spent the rest of the afternoon and a part of his evening in the cafe, Irimi helping him with his homework as she tended to the customers. By the time Ken was ready to return home, night was beginning to set in with the light posts bathing the streets in their artificial glow. As Ken packed up, Irimi gave the keys to a larger man who began to work alongside her as the day wore on, and told him to lock up. She then walked with the young boy home, even going so far as to pay for a train trip for the both of them.

Arriving at his home, Irimi checked to make sure he had everything, having done so both when they exited the cafe and train. After assuring both Ken and herself that he had everything she said "Well, goodnight Ken, and remember, you can stop by Anteiku anytime you want. Although next time I may have you on dish washing duty for your hot chocolate." Chuckling at her joke she watched Ken walk into his house before making her own way home, keeping a steady pace through the tranquil streets.

At home Ken found his family sitting down to dinner, his aunt yelling at him and demanding to know where he had been. For a moment, Ken was hopeful that they had genuinely cared about his well being, however that faded when a simple lie of Ken being at his friends house caused her to drop the case. After this simple night, Ken's life would be changed drastically, though he had no idea of it at all. He began to spend more and more time at the cafe, even introducing Hide to it as well. Thus, Kaneki Ken began to become acclimated to the life of Anteiku, and in turn grew closer to the workers as well.

All of this, because of a a simple pair of police officers, who decided to visit a simple cafe.

Authors note: Hello everyone! I have been wanting to do a Tokyo Ghoul story for a long time, and this plot just jumped out at me! So, we have Kaneki being involved with Anteiku a lot earlier than normal, how will that change things? Let's find out in the next chapter!

Preview:

"Kaneki-kun, I'm putting you in charge of training our newest employee."

"Stay out of my way"

Next time, "Tenure at Anteiku"