Disclaimer:Thanks to twitter user (@.esnoyuutsu) for proofreading this. If you found mistake in my translation please feel free to message me to correct it
Link: https://youtu.be/QTpK8DZKLp0
Song & lyrics: Hayashi Kei
Singer: UMM.com
Video: Haru Aki
Hey, a lot of things have happened
It’s too early to turn back now
Wonder how far can we go
It’s not like we don’t have destination
Just going somewhere far and much more further
Riding in the same car going for a journey
The day where we were dirtied with mud and laughed about it
We pushed out the tire that got stuck together
In the heavy rain and muddy road
I definitely never ever going to forget it
This is the destination and also the starting point
It’s an immature and embarrassing road movie
Where you and me are the leading actors
Because you are here I am able to run
It seems like you will laugh if I say this
So step on the accelerator now
Let’s go
The car’s boot has become heavy
Let’s lessen the luggage
Since it will make it hard to run
I don’t mind if you don’t have anything
Seeing this scenery with you is fine
Having such company is enough
The day where we were bathing in sweat and laugh about it
We basked in into the headwind to cool down together
Under the scorching sun with window opened
I definitely will never ever going to forget it
This is the destination but not yet the checkpoint
It’s a never-ending and non-stop road movie
Where the actor leads are you and me
Because you’re here I am able to run
It seems like I unconsciously said it
So horn the drown out klaxon loudly
and let’s go
The actors, directors and scriptwriters are us only
Critics and hate should be leave to the left
We did not expect any cheers
We also not interested in Oscars
We just want to be us
Hey
That is what we only want
This is the destination and also the starting point
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tokyo Ghoul
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Itori/Uta (Tokyo Ghoul)
Characters: Uta (Tokyo Ghoul), Itori (Tokyo Ghoul), Kirishima Touka, Yomo Renji
Additional Tags: Angst, Fluff, Healing, Warning!, Miscarriage, by CCG investigators, graphic death, it's not good in the beginning, It Gets Better, Trauma, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Psychological Trauma, You Have Been Warned, final part of the Uta/Itori one-shots
Summary:
A little over a year after confessing to Uta, Itori wakes up from a horrible dream, which in all reality is a memory she'd rather never visit again.
Itori doesn't ask it of him the first time they kiss. He does it. There's no burning need to the action like books often describe attraction, but rather simple curiosity. (How would it feel like if he was to kiss her now after she's feed?)
That and he cares for Itori. (Care, what a simple word and emotion unlike love. Uta doesn't know of love before so how could he know if he loved her? But he does know he cares for Itori - cares more than he does any other ghoul Uta knows.) They've fallen into something, unspokenly crossed some line, more than just friends for quite some time now despite not having done such things couples do in.
The discarded human body makes a crunch as he steps on it so he can get to Itori. Without a word his hand goes into her hair and it's apparent (even without the foreknowledge he has) that she has more experience in kissing than he does. It doesn't deter him though. Uta quite likes the taste that lingers in her mouth and her lips aren't chapped against his. They're soft and staining his own with the red lipstick and blood that covers her lips.
Uta draws back from her, taking out his pierced tongue to lick his lips, to taste the blood and makeup, as Itori catches her breath. Her lipstick (a color lighter than her hair was when they first met) is smudged, he observes as it finally clicks what blood taste like.
"You taste like copper." The blood was stronger in taste than whatever humans use to make lipstick.
Itori stares up at him (she's not wearing any heels today - they're inconvenient when hunting) and laughter bubbles out of her smudged lips. That makes his own lips lift up into a small, private smile. (Only for her. That's a lot of things about Uta that are only for Itori.)
The kiss didn't ignite some belated attraction in Uta, but as he smiles and she laughs at his words about their first kiss with a fresh corpse not even five feet away from them, Uta didn't find distate in the action either.
I am so sorry! I promised I would have it up sometime during last week, but I lost track of time and had a lot to do, but here you go, Fluff-Anon!
When Uta had proclaimed that he’d go on an art trip for a whole year, his friends had supported him. They knew that this was something really important to him, and now that there was a somewhat steady peace between ghouls and humans, he had the chance at fulfilling this dream.
Itori will readily admit that she felt a bit bummed after he had been gone for a while, when she realized she had to celebrate her birthday without him. To his credit, he did make a phonecall to congratulate her and at the moment it had seemed enough. Then, once they had ended the call and she had been left alone in her bar, she had felt lonelier than ever.
She doesn’t feel any better now, when it is Christmas Eve and her bar is nearly empty because most people have someone to celebrate with. And she does not, because her partner in crime is halfway across the world. She keeps up the act of cheery barmaid for as long as she can, consoling herself with the fact that she is going to close the bar early tonight. No one is going to come and drink until the wee hours in the morning tonight. It is hard to keep the act up though, until it is near closing time.
And Renji enters the establishment.
“Ren-chan!” She jumps at the chance for a distraction from her depressing thoughts and feels a little less lonely when he sits down in front of her. Once everyone is gone, and the door is locked, she offers him a choice between wine and coffee. He grunts, and the answer is obvious. He can’t hold his liquor for shit, of course he wants coffee. She pouts, calls him a party pooper, but lulls the coffee machine to life.
“What brings you here, Ren-chan? Aren’t you going to celebrate with Touka-chan, Kanekicchi and Ichi-chan?”
“No one should be alone on Christmas.” Renji says, thanking her as she sets a cup of coffee in front of him. She fills herself a glass of wine, because even if Renji is here right now, she needs something stronger than coffee.
“Oh, were you thinking of me? How sweet of you, Ren-chan!” She gush, but he gives her that look that tells her he knows she is putting up a front. And she’s tired of faking smiles tonight anyway.
“Am I so transparent now?” She asks, smile falling off her face.
“Hn.” She takes a sip from her glass, mulling.
“You’re also invited over. Touka thought you might be lonely tonight.” Renji informs her and the redhead huffs.
“Contrary to what everyone else believes, I do have other friends than you and U-chan.”
“Are these friends real?” She glares at him, actually upset by his comment because no, they are not.
“Be quiet!” But he doesn’t keep quiet, surprisingly.
“Are you okay?” To have Yomo Renji, of all people, notice how she’s not her usually cheerful self, is kind of sad, but she explains to him how it feels kind of weird, and lonely, that for the first time for as long as she can remember, she will not be celebrating Christmas with Uta. Itori never once celebrated any birthday or holiday before she met the mask maker, so everything feels wrong, but she had honestly been excited on his behalf when he told her he had found the chance to go on this trip. A trip that would let him experience all kinds of art. Even though she knew he would be gone for quite some time, she hadn’t thought it would feel this bad.
“But he was so excited, it was almost like when we were kids again. He’s been wanting to go on this kind of trip since he figured out he was good at art, that he loved doing it.”
“For what it is worth,” Renji says as he stares into his coffee, “I think that you supporting him meant a lot to him.”
“I’ve always supported him.” Itori says quietly, grip tightening on her glass.
“From when we were kids, I’ve always had his back. Hey, Ren-chan?” The male turns his head to look at her, and his eyes widen at the sight that meets him.
“Am I being stupid?” She asks, tears falling from her eyes. She doesn’t even bother attempting at stopping the waterfall. She’s kept this bottled up inside for so long, she’s wanted someone to talk to, but she’s had no one she felt like she could confide in. When humans and ghouls considered each other enemies, when the Clowns had been active, she had distracted herself with orchestrating the tragedies that took place, but now that they live in peace with humans, there are no more fights to create and watch over.
“Uh…” Renji doesn’t know what to say and that makes Itori laugh as she cries.
“I am stupid, aren’t I? I’m stupid for loving him! He’s going to find someone on this trip who is an artist like him, and he’s going to stay with them in whatever-country! Even worse, he might bring them home!” As he embraces his friend and tries to calm her down, Renji also sends a text-message to Touka to tell her he might be late.
Uta himself is feeling a bit lonely as well. There is a museum that is open today, but considering what day it is, it will probably close early. He’s still in bed in his hotel, it’s still early, but in Tokyo it is probably late by now. It is still better to call now though, than in the evening because he is sure no one will answer him then. He takes a shower and dresses himself, before heading out. The people outside are running around, carrying bags and boxes and nearly yelling into their phones. They are stressed, because Christmas is upon them and they must finish the last preparations before they can celebrate and Uta thinks about what his friends back home is doing right now. Back home, Renji is probably with the Kaneki household, Uta muses. Nico is probably scouring the streets for the one, the Nishikis are probably doing some kind of form of experimentations, Naki and Miza are having their hands full with their new family, most likely, and Itori…
Itori is most likely alone in her bar.
Uta misses her. A lot. This trip is fun, but it’s lonely too. He never expected to feel like this… the trip is fun, he just shouldn’t have gone all alone. And the coffee is awful. No one can compare to :Re, but it’s all he’ll get until he returns. He enters a café, asks for a cup of coffee, and pops in his earphones as he takes a seat by a table. He dials Itori’s number, hoping she’s got some time for a video-call and when she doesn’t pick up immediately he thinks that she’s either perhaps busy or asleep. He’s about to give up when she does answer. Her hair is covering half of her face and her eyes blink sleep from them.
“Oh my, did I wake you?”
“U-chan? What time is it?” Itori squints at her phone.
“Well, it’s almost noon here.” He quips.
“Where are you now? It’s two in the morning here.” She yawns.
“I’m in the states.” She brightens, eyes twinkling as he sleepiness is soon forgotten.
“How is it there? Are the Christmas decorations just as over-exaggerated as they are in the movies?” He laughs at her excitement and nods.
“Almost. They take it very seriously.”
“Ara, U-chan! Bring me a souvenir!”
“Do you have a gift for too, then?” She rolls her eyes and reaches out to beside the bed, before appearing on screen again, holding a small package.
“I have your Christmas gift right here, not that you’re here to open it in time.”
“Yeah, well-“ Uta is interrupted when a waitress sits down his coffee on the table as she cheerfully tells him to enjoy his beverage.
“Cheery girl.” Itori’s voice has lost some of it’s cheer and Uta blinks. She’s slid properly beneath the covers again, and she’s pouting.
“Hm, yes.” Apparently that is not the answer the redheaded ghoul wants to hear, as her eyes darken. “But as for my gift for you, what do you want?” Changing the topic seem to work. He sits for a long time with her as she lists all the things she’d like and Uta realizes he’ll have a hard time choosing from her list. His cup is almost empty by the time she’s out of things she wants him to bring home to her.
“Hm, that’s a lot.” He says, taking on a thoughtful expression. “How about you come with me next time?” There’s a pause as Itori tilts her head, watching him.
“Will there be a second trip?” She doesn’t sound all that enthusiastic about the prospect, and Uta himself misses his friends and his shop.
“Only if you come with.” He says. He misses Itori, their nights in the bar, the easy conversations which seem a bit difficult to have over the phone. He misses being able to just head over and visit whenever he wants. Itori thinks back to what she had told Renji earlier, how she has admitted to him the feelings she holds for the mask maker, her inner conflict over what to do, wondering if there even is something for her to do. She had been so surprised when the stoic ghoul had actually embraced her. Renji is usually so awkward when it comes to comforting others and Itori’s never sought comfort from anyone.
“Do what you must.” He had told her. “Don’t worry about what’ll happen, do what you have to do to feel better. No matter what, I’ll be here to listen.” And then, when he left, she had gone to bed with a newfound courage. She had believed she had a few months left until she could say anything, to have some time to think through her words.
“If it’s you and me, I guess I could tag along.” She mumbles, hiding her pink cheeks behind her pillows.
“Good.” He smiles. “You weren’t alone today, were you?” He asks and she shakes her head.
“Ren-chan came by.”
“Oh? Did you celebrate together?” He can’t exactly say that he’s unhappy that Renji came by, but there’s a dark emotion brewing in the back of his mind at the thought of the two of them alone.
“No, we just talked for a bit.” Her cheeks darken and she casts her eyes down, avoiding eye-contact, and that dark emotion grows. It’s jealousy, he gathers, though he tries to reason with himself that he’s the one who left on this trip, and that he never once told Renji how he feels about the redhead. If Renji holds the same feelings, then Uta left the playing field completely open by leaving on this trip.
“How nice.” Uta hears how forced he’s own voice sounds. Itori must have picked up on it too, because she looks up at him, eyes wide in confusion. That’s what alerts him to the redness of her eyes, and he comes to the startling realization that Itori has cried. He can’t remember the last time she did that.
“Itori-san, what’s wrong?”
“Wrong?”
“You’ve been crying?” Her eyes widen some more and she is suddenly in a hurry to end the call.
“Nothing’s wrong! Hurry up and finish your trip and come home!” She says and the screen goes black. He blinks at the screen, before he gets up from his chair and dials a new number.
“It’s three in the morning-“
“Tough luck.” Uta growls. He’s feeling a bit angry now, and he’d rather not cause a scene as he pays for his coffee. Just because Japan promotes peace, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world does.
“I’m about to go back to my hotel. Stay awake, Raven, I need to have a chat with you.”
“It can’t wait four hours?”
“No.” There’s a steely undertone to his voice which Renji haven’t heard since they were teenagers, so he wisely keeps quiet until Uta reaches his hotel room. He uses that tie to wake up properly so he can talk properly to his friend, and perhaps make some sense out of whatever it is that made the mask maker angry.
“I heard you stopped by Itori-san’s place earlier.” Uta says the moment he shuts the door behind himself. Renji blinks.
“Yes, to wish her a merry Christmas.”
“Then why has she been crying? What did you do, Renji-kun?” The silver-haired ghoul frowns on the other end before sighing.
“We were just talking. She had an issue, and instead of bottling it up, she let it all out and told me about it.” Uta is the one who frowns this time.
“What issue?” He hasn’t heard anything about a problem Itori might have.
“It’s not exactly something I’m comfortable with telling you. Ask her yourself when you get back.” Renji tells him, running a hand through his hair. “It’s personal, so ask her about it when you return. I assume she’ll have everything sorted out by then.”
“Renji-“
“No. I’m tired, this has nothing to do with me, enjoy your trip, call me when it’s actually appropriate to do so, like after eight in the morning.” Renji ends the call and leaves Uta pouting. True, he did call at an ungodly hour, but they could both have entertained him a bit longer. He’s curious about Itori’s alleged problem though.
Three days later, as Itori moves is cleaning up behind her bar, the door opens. She is about to tell whoever it is that has entered that she has closed, but nearly drops the bottle in her hands when she sees Uta enter.
“U-chan?” She nearly shrieks.
“Yo.”
“Wha- Aren’t you in the states?” She’s more than just a little bewildered. This explains why there had been no phone calls after Christmas, but still, what is he doing here?
“Renji-kun told me that something was bothering you and that I could help, so I came back.” Renji had never said he could help, but Uta had come home anyway, because he is worried. He is worried that Itori kept something bottled up, that she didn’t feel like she could confide in him, and that whatever is troubling her caused her to cry. Itori frowns. She thinks it is sweet of him, to cancel his trip and come home the moment he learns that she is troubled.
“Ren-chan said that? When?”
“I called him after we spoke on Christmas.” Uta answers and the redhead groans. Renji has for once not kept quiet. The one time she needed him to actually be quiet he blabbers like a gossip-loving teenager.
“What did he tell you?”
“That I should ask you yourself when I came back, because you would probably have it all sorted out by then. So, have you sorted it out?” Never mind the fact that Uta should still be gone for another four months, Itori thinks. Of course she hasn’t sorted it all out yet, with only a few days having gone by since she decided to actually spill the beans, so to speak.
“Obviously not. Lock the door.” She rolls her eyes and beckons him to come sit by the bar-counter. He does as told and waits for her to explain everything.
“It’s not a problem, not really. It’s just something that’s followed me for years.”
“Do I have to kill someone?”
“I doubt you will.”
“I can still kill, just point me in the right direction.”
“I don’t need anyone to die. If it was that simple, I’d do it myself.” She huffs and fills him a glass of blood-wine.
“Hm, true that. So, what’s bothering you?”
“Emotions.”
“Ah, they are a hassle, aren’t they?”
“Terribly so.” She agrees as she wipes the counter. Uta raises a brow, because usually when he visits and locks the door, she comes around and sits beside him. What is on her mind, he wonders.
“What’s on your mind, Itori-san?”
“I’m thinking about how to tell you this, without making everything complicated.” She tells him, ducking beneath the counter to rummage through the tiny shelves there for something, Uta doesn’t know what.
“You’re making this far too difficult, Itori-san. Just tell me and I’ll help you figure out a way to deal with it.”
“Absolutely sure of that?” She asks him, peering up from beneath the counter and he nods.
“Of course.”
“Okay then. Come here.” She stands up and motions for him to come closer as she smiles at him.
“You ready?” He nods. She leans even closer and whispers in his ear.
“I. Love. You. U-chan.” The expression on his face nearly makes her burst out laughing. His eyes are wide, his mouth hanging open, his expression a mix of disbelief and shock. She moves back to continue to clean up after her customers and lets Uta process what she’s told him. He doesn’t move for the longest time, but she doesn’t worry too much. It’s not like he showed a negative reaction to what she just told him. She does worry that she might have broken him a bit, but then again, that is an amusing thought too. She is about to turn off the lights and just leave him in the bar when he pulls out his phone and dials a number.
“Renji-kun, good evening. Also, what the fuck?!” This time she does laugh, and Uta spins in his seat, pointing at her.
“And you, you can’t laugh now!” His voice actually cracks and she curls in on herself, nearly falling over. They will have to talk about this later, have a good and long discussion where they figure out what to do, what they want to do, but right now she is more than amused with the display of the mask maker freaking out.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tokyo Ghoul
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Itori/Uta (Tokyo Ghoul)
Characters: Uta (Tokyo Ghoul), Itori (Tokyo Ghoul), Yomo Renji
Additional Tags: Fluff, Pregnancy, lamaze class, Funny, Short Stories, The Fourth Part That Was Never Supposed To Exist, Happy, Good Things Only, Spiders, Broom Wielding Hero, Maternity clothes, Uta being good to Itori, Itori leaning on Uta, Itori realizing everything is going to be okay, ultrasound, Knitting
Summary:
A series of short-stories of nice and silly happenings since Itori figures out she's pregnant.
Itori shoves the stripped flowers into Uta's chest. Her smile is bright while Uta stares down at the carnations.
"Hello," Uta says because Itori won't as he looks down at the flowers with curious, dark eyes. His tone is affronted if you know him well and that Itori did.
The tone of his voice makes Itori laugh despite the frustration and loneliness she's felt over the last two days. (It's funny in an ugly way how you can be in a crowded place and feel lonely, Itori muses with a smile still gracing her red lips. That's the thing about comedy though: it's often at the expense of others.)
"Kaneki Ken-kun visited yesterday," Itori brightly refers the information but then her tone changes with a pointed glare, "unlike some people. You've been working too hard so I got you these."
(They both know it's a human tradition for the man to gift the woman with flowers, but neither truly care.)
Itori's thumb, covered in black nail polish unlike the rest of her fingers, strokes the flower's petals. There's so many of them, they spill out over one and another, toppling and pushing the others to the edge of the flower. The flower is beautiful because of that but Itori didn't get them for the beauty.
Her heels click as Itori follows Uta deeper into his mask shop. He lays the flowers over his cluttered desk because Uta doesn't have a vase for flowers. Now that Itori is thinking about it she's pretty sure Uta only has jars for his collection of eyeballs and dicks to eat.
Perfect, Itori thinks and does her smile grow. It barely takes any time for her to locate the jar for the eyes that can stare but never blink. Itori grabs a grey eye. It's a few shades darker than the one Uta wants once they get their laugh but it will do. Water falls down Itori's palm as she holds the eye and, with her other hand, snags some petals from one of the carnations. Itori sprinkles less than a handful of the petals on her palm. The rest in her other hand fall to the floor; it's okay, Uta doesn't mind eating off it.
"Open," she commands instead of asking if Uta has actually taken time to feed himself. (Itori is energetic not stupid despite the part, the fool, she likes to play.)
She steps closer, her heels click against the floor, and she offers her palm against his mouth. Uta takes it. His teeth bite down on the eye and petals. Tiny blood vessels break and it's not just water in the palm of her hand. Itori's fingers plays with Uta's untied and messy (he's really buried himself in work) hair as he eats from her other hand.
"Kaneki Ken-kun had to tell me a story for information about Kanou. He told me about a foreign goddess who had made the flower your eating. Unlike her brother who made hyacinths from love the goddess had made carnations in anger. She plucked the eyes out of a mortal and when they fell to the ground Artemis turned them into the ground so the man would forever be torn from the ground simply for his beauty as a punishment for daring to ogle at her nakedness."
Uta's eyes are bright from her story, his tongue soft and wet as he eats from her hand. It's after he's torn into and shallowed every petal Itori removes her soaked palm to kiss him. It's harsh unlike how he ate from her - not that Itori would want it any other way. She smiles against his lips, blood having mixed in with her lipstick, and her hand still entangled with his hair before she pulls away. Itori's heels trample on the fallen petals as well as click against the floor.
Itori's bloodied and painted lips are in a smile (her eyes are not) when she turns around to face Uta.
"Don't be such a stranger next time," she tells Uta before she leaves without another word. Itori doesn't wipe the evidence from her hand as walks out onto the bustling street where human eyes are prying because of nosiness or care.
