Chapter Text
Ever since childhood, Touko had had a passion for books and writing. Novels, biographies, she loved them all. Even in high school, she found herself in the library, surrounded by books and her personal story documents. Shelves of books always made her feel at ease, calm. So, despite being only two years out of high school, she found herself ending up as the operator of a small bookstore in downtown Tokyo. A warm, cozy, book littered shop that had pretty much become her second home. Her little store got some business (mostly due to the vast variety of manga she begrudgingly stocked her shop with), but still tended to be on the quiet side most days. Not that she minded. She was perfectly fine with time to herself, just her and the books as the slowly penned a novel of her own in between customers. Life was simple, routine, orderly. Everything she needed. She couldn't really handle much more exciting than what she had right now. Excitement meant danger and danger meant HER showing up. Then again, working in a dusty little store like this with so many shelves that were a huge hassle to wipe the dust off of also meant SHE might show up.
The bell on the door jingled quietly, pulling Touko from her thoughts. Another customer. She glanced at the person who had entered her shop, then quickly did a double take. The customer was a gorgeous young woman who looked to be her age. Her hair was a pale blonde, her skin even paler, and her eyes a gentle grey. Even from where she stood behind the counter, Touko could tell the girl had an air to her that befitted a princess. Her elegant hair and nearly snow white skin certainly wouldn't have looked out of place on a monarch of some small European country.
"M-may i help y-you?" Touko stuttered out, not able to meet the woman's eyes.
"Ah, yes, do you by chance have any non-fiction books for sale?" Touko's jaw dropped as the woman spoke. Her japanese was flawless, something the bookstore owner hadn't been expecting. It took her a moment to realize the woman was waiting for a reply.
"O-of course! what k-kind of second class owner would I b-be if I only stocked novels and manga?" Touko scoffed, her hands placed on her hips. The blonde woman clapped her hands together joyfully, beaming at Touko's words.
"Oh, most excellent! I know this may be odd sounding, but do you perhaps have any books on serial killers?" Her grin didn't falter for a second as she spoke those words. "You know, killers like Futoshi Matsunaga, Jack the ripper, Genocider Syo?" The girl's smile simply grew wider as she kept talking, excitement obvious in her voice.
"G-g-g-genocider Syo?" The shopkeeper barely managed to choke out the name as she nervously fiddled with one of her braids. Of all the people that could've been brought up, this random customer brings up HER? Why couldn't this woman be like any other customer, winding aimlessly through the shelves until either something caught her eye or she got bored? Oh, why did today have to differ from the patterns of literally all other days?
"Yes, Genocider Syo. I'm assuming you've heard of his work? Admittedly I find myself fascinated by his patterns and his sheer ability to evade capture. Why, I actually very much admire him. It would be nice to meet him in person, especially knowing that I don't fit his killing criteria." Touko's fists clenched as the blonde continued to ramble on about Syo. What did this girl know? Despite her seemingly extensive knowledge of the killer's track record, she was still oblivious to very much. Apparently she had no idea that Syo was a woman, nor that Syo actually could harm another woman. Not kill, but most definitely harm. Finally, something mentally snapped.
"Y-you don't even know what you're talking about! Who even a-are you, anyways, waltzing in h-here like you own the place, claiming you know a-about Syo, but you don't! You don't know a t-thing about her!" The shop fell silent as Touko's words echoed slightly. She was seething, furious, ready to make this adorable woman leave.
"Oh, of course, my name is Sonia, sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Wait, did you just say that Genocider Syo is a woman?" Sonia's head was tilted gently to the side in confusion as she spoke. Fuck. She hadn't meant to let any of her personal knowledge escape, yet here she was, trying to explain to a Syo fangirl why she called Syo a 'she'.
"M-my tongue just slipped! Besides, if Syo has never b-been caught, how do we know one way or the other what Syo's g-gender is?" Her words made Sonia pause, a fist resting on her mouth in contemplation.
"I suppose you do have a point. And that does make a lot more sense than the alternative, a man crucifying other handsome men using scissors..." When she phrased it like that, the concept of Syo being a guy made absolutely no sense to Touko, even when she put aside her knowledge of who and what the killer was.
"Now, if you're d-done questioning my statements, at the very l-least browse through the books or get out." Touko said curtly with a wave toward the shelves. Had this girl forgotten this was a shop? Apparently she had, based on the shocked face she made before scurrying over to a shelf of romance novels. "You're so lucky you're pretty." She murmured to herself, watching as Sonia crouched in front of a lower shelf and rifled through the selection.
She waited five, ten, twenty minutes, simply watching from behind the counter as Sonia flipped through book after book. The girl was probably looking for something not written by Touko, despite the abundance of her novels. The time ticked by and slowly but surely, a pile of books grew around the blonde. To Touko's frustration, closing time came and went with Sonia still combing through book after book.
"H-hey, store closed at six, you know." Sonia's head popped up like a gopher at the sound of Touko speaking to her after what had probably been an hour of silence. The silence resumed as the store owner gestured to a small wall clock. 6:30. The blonde scrambled up as the pieces clicked together, scooping a large stack of books into her arms.
"I'm so sorry! I just got caught up looking at the amazing selection you had for sale. I've never seen this many books written by Touko Fukawa in one place and I needed to see which ones I still needed for my collection. She really is a splendid author, you know. Have you read any of her works?" Sonia's eyes sparkled with excitement as she began to gush about the author. Touko's cheeks lit up a bright red, burning hot from the compliment. Someone not only liked her books, but wasn't lying so as to make Touko feel better? This woman was truly something.
"Y-yeah, I've read all her books. You see, I work part-time as her editor, so I g-get a bunch of copies from her after publication. Hey, listen, it really is l-late, and I have editing to do, how about I set these aside for you and you c-come back tomorrow when I open back up?" She quietly suggested, not able to look Sonia in the eye. One compliment from a cute girl and she was already turning to mush. She really did need to get herself together.
"That would be lovely, actually. I actually need to come back tomorrow since I got so distracted by your novel selection, I didn't even touch any non fiction pieces. See you then!" Sonia gently placed her book collection on the counter before making her way back to the door, waving to Touko as she left. Touko awkwardly waved back before slamming her face on top of her arms on the counter's free space. Today definitely did not go as planned.