Work Text:
Tsukiyama Shuu sighed quietly to himself as he looked himself once more in the small mirror. Though it was his reflection in the mirror, it didn’t look like his usual self. The extravagant outfit now replaced with a waiter’s uniform, his luscious coiffure was now dull and pinned back and his exuberance was gone; stolen by one he never thought possible. To say he missed his former, wealthy lifestyle was an understatement. In one single night he lost everything.
His home. His servants.
Matsumae.
Karen.
Kaneki.
Even mentally mentioning that name, stabbed his chest with sadness and pain. He shook his head, scolding himself for the hot stinging welling up in the corners of his eyes. It had been four months now. He should be over that already. Shuu glanced at the nearby clock and saw he had another minute or two before he had to head downstairs for work. He took a sharp breath and was forced to sit down to calm himself down.
Not a day went by that Shuu didn’t wrestled with him self over why Kaneki had done what he had done to him. Done to Karen. He wanted to be angry; he knew he had every right to be. And yet when he actually took the time to look at it from his ‘friend’s’ point of view, he found there really was no other way. Especially when he came to learn that Hinami had been locked up in Cochelea thanks to Mr. Sasaki.
If Kaneki had simply left the CCG to rescue him, Hinami would have been killed instantly. And what Chie had said was right too. If Kaneki really had wanted him dead, he could have easily torn Shuu limb from limb without breaking a sweat. Still, that didn’t ease the ache in his chest whenever he thought about that cold look in Kaneki’s eyes as he fell to his almost-death.
If Kanae… no Karen… hadn’t shown up, what would have Kaneki done then? Of course this was only starting to spiral into what-ifs and Shuu knew if he started heading down that path, he wouldn’t be able to get up and go to work. So he forced the tears out of his eyes and quickly moved towards the bathroom to wash his face.
“Shittyama hurry up!” Touka’s voice rang up the stairs. “We're going to be opening soon!”
“C-Coming!” Shuu replied as he dried his face, fixed his hair and then slowly headed down the stairs.
Despite the considerably mean nickname, Shuu knew Touka wasn’t being malicious. If she truly still hated him, she wouldn’t have put him and his father up in the apartments above the café or given him a job. It was a little hard at first actually working but he quickly it up, much to Nishiki’s annoyance. But Shuu was so grateful that it motivated him to push his emotions aside and work as hard as possible to pay Touka back. As he headed down the stairs, he noticed something odd.
Everyone was standing near the bottom waiting for him.
He stopped and looked at each of their faces, (Touka, Yomo, Chie, Nishiki and his father) in confusion, “Um… something wrong…?” He did take notice of the strange large item covered up in the corner of the room near the door. Perhaps a new coffee machine?
Touka took a deep breath before answering first, “You’ve been moping around here too long now…”
At this, Shuu’s chest tightened anxiously. Was she about to throw him back out onto the street?! He knew this arrangement was only temporary but he and his father hadn’t saved up nearly enough money to find another place to live. Seeing her best friend squirm, Chie quickly jumped in:
“So we all chipped and decided to get something for the café! Something for you...”
Shuu blinked before looking over at his dad, whom merely smiled as he walked over to the covered object and gave it a quick tug. Shuu gasped and nearly collapsed in his old dramatic fashion. A beautiful, black, upright, Yamaha piano sat before him. It was nowhere near as grand as well… his grand piano back in the Tsukiyama manor, but he knew enough to know these still weren’t cheap. Collecting himself, he looked around at everyone again; silently asking if this was real. Chie nodded in response as she got her camera out to capture a truly inspirational moment.
As Shuu wandered towards the beauty, Touka spoke up again, “There are a couple rules to this. You are free to play whenever you but you cannot be obnoxious or else I’m taking it away! And secondly, I expect you to attract a lot of customers with this so don’t let us down!”
Shuu absent-mindedly nodded as his fingers ghosted the cool, ivory-looking plastic keys. If there was one material thing he really missed from home it was his piano. Playing it did always help calm him down, ever since he was a child. He glanced back once more at the RE: crew before sitting down and pressing a few of the notes. Though a little rusty, it didn’t take long for his fingers to begin moving on their own accord. Before he knew it, he began playing some of his favorite Chopin songs and was lost in his own little world.
He hardly even noticed the tears streaming down his face as he played or the flashes from Chie’s camera. It may not have been the best piano he ever played but the gesture is what truly touched his heart. For the first time in 5 months, he truly felt happy. He began to have hope.
Maybe. Just maybe things could start getting better now.