Pairing: Ghoul!Corpse Husband x Half Ghoul!GN!reader

Genre: AU (Tokyo Ghoul!AU)

Warnings: reader blames themselves for a lot of things

WC: ~2.4k

Request: A continuation for the corpse husband tokyo ghoul au pls? maybe it could be the reader getting a makeover and learning how to work at the cafe ?

A/N: okay this took me a really long time and I apologize. But I finally finished...this chapter!! I might make a few more like a mini-series sorta thing. I don't really have a plan or anything (when do I ever) so we'll see how it goes. Thanks again for your requests and support <3 !! Hope you like it! (Also just like all my other work it has not been proofread 😊 enjoy the errors loves.)

"You're awake!" A cheery voice startles you as you peek your head out of the room you were in. "Sorry, sorry." Rae apologizes to you when she sees you jump and cautiously approaches you.

"It's fine." You reassure her with a small smile, feeling the dryness in the back of your throat as you speak. You were still unsure about where exactly you were and who all was around, but it was nice to see a somewhat familiar face this morning. Or was it already noon?

"Would you like some coffee?" She offers to you and you nod your head quickly, making her giggle to herself. "There's a change of clothes in the bathroom here. Feel free to wash up while I make your coffee. Just come down the stairs when you're ready." She says to you as she walks down the stairs herself. You look to the bathroom she had pointed at and walked inside of it, turning on the light and finally getting a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You almost turned the lights back off at what you saw. Face sunken and bruised on the right side. Bags under your dull eyes and hair still wet from the rain and blood. You touched the back of your head where you had gotten slammed into the wall and felt the dried blood over the healed wound. You turned your body away from the mirror, focusing your attention on how to turn on the water.

After a nice warm shower that washed away all the blood, dirt, and grime you felt on you, you dried yourself off and put on the pair of clothes Rae left for you. It was a white button down and black pants along with some black socks. You wondered if there were shoes around you could borrow too, but maybe they didn't have your size. You open the door with your old clothes in hand and notice a pair of shoes on the floor in front of you. You smile, feeling a little relieved that they had remembered and were kind enough to let you use them. You walk back into the room where you had slept and set your clothes on the floor where the towels you had used last night had been, unsure of where else to put the dirty laundry. You sit down and slide on the shoes; a pair of black loafers and although they feel too big on you, you continue on your way down the stairs where Rae said to go.

You reach the bottom of the stairs and pull aside the thin white cloth used as a half door and emerge into a completely different room. You weren't sure what you were expecting this place to be; maybe just a normal house, but definitely not a cafe. A couple walks into the shop through the entrance and you hear Rae's voice greet them as they find a table. They were humans. You took a step out into the dining room and looked around at the interior. Dark wood tables contrasted with the white walls and black trim around the windows. Shelves were placed high on the wall with plants and cute coffee-related trinkets on them. A wooden sign with the cafe's name and decal covered the main wall that you see when you first enter. It was cozy and cute. How come you've never heard of this place before? Especially since it was run by ghouls.

"Over here!" A different voice calls out towards you and you shrink back as a man approaches you with a wide smile- almost menacingly- and grabs your wrist. "Sit over here while I make you some coffee." He says as he begins to drag you towards an open stool. You pull on his hand, wanting him to let go of you, but he doesn't seem to get the hint.

"Michael, let go of them." A soft, higher-pitched voice scolds the man holding your wrist. A short woman appears behind the counter with a tray full of food and drinks. She gives him a pointed look through her big round glasses and Michael lets go of you. You pull your arm back towards you and cross your arms over your stomach to prevent that from happening again.

"I'm sorry, honey."

"Don't apologize to me."

"I'm sorry." He says to you and you nod as a response before he brightened up again and gestured to the stool. "Please sit. I'll have Lily make you some coffee- she makes the best out of everyone here." Michael whispers to you before turning around and running into another woman who just walked out of the kitchen.

"Everyone here makes good coffee...It's just you that makes bad coffee, Michael." A woman with brown hair and round face says to him. He mimics her voice in a high-pitched whiny tone and walks into the kitchen.

You take a seat on the stool and look around you. You felt too open here, too seen. After last night you want nothing more than to curl back up in the dark room and stay there till the doves forget about you. A pipe dream- you know that- but it sounded nice. You straightened your back and looked over your shoulder as another person walked through the entrance, ringing the bell hooked on the door. It was Corpse. Finally a face you recognized. You felt your body relax and you even mustered a smile when he noticed you sitting on the stool.

"You're up." He comments as he sets a bag down on the counter. You nod your head and eye the bag suspiciously.

"What's in the bag?" You ask out of curiosity. He puts his hands in the bag and pulls out a box of hair dye in one hand and a wig in the other.

"Which would you rather do?"

The hair on your head felt itchy. The hair dye burned your scalp and you couldn't get used to how different you looked. They even used concealer to cover the noticeable tattoos peeking from the collar of your shirt and on your arms. You supposed this was better than the alternative; going underground for who knows how long until the heat was off of you. You looked at yourself once more in the mirror and then at the people who helped you dye your hair, Michael, Lily, and Rae.

"Thank you." You say to them as you touch your hair. It felt dry and stringy, like a stick of hay, but you didn't look like you and that's all that mattered.

"Of course, y/n. A friend of Corpse is a friend of ours." Lily says as she continues to dry off her hands with a clean towel. You smile and think back to Corpse. He saved your life that night, And he continues to save your life when he's not even around; introducing you to amazingly kind people who are sticking their necks out for you.

"Hey! Would you be up to learning how to make the perfect cup of coffee?!" Michael says to you excitedly as he bounces from foot to foot.

"They're tired, Michael. We should let them rest." Lily says as she holds his shoulder to keep him from bouncing anymore.

"No, actually. I would love to learn." You say as you smile at them in the mirror. All of them smile back and whisk you out of the bathroom and down to the cafe floor. You watched Lily first since Michael insisted that the professional should show you the ropes first. You were in awe at how easy she made this look. It took her less than two minutes to make you the perfect cup, and it was actually perfect. Great taste, perfect temperature, and very addictive. You could see yourself drinking ten of these a day. You watched Rae and Michael next and did one alongside them. Lily oversaw everything like a hawk and critiqued everything Michael did, causing you and Rae to laugh whilst Michael attempted to fix his mistakes and crumble under Lily's intensity.

"Alright," You set the cup down and smile, "done!" They all crowd around to look at your coffee. Lily grabs the cup and you anticipate her reaction; you may have winged it on a few of the measurements. She takes a sip and then smacks her lips dramatically as she assesses the flavor.

"Not bad, y/n." She says with a small smile. "Still need some more practice, though."

You find yourself alone behind the bar, practicing the new skills you've learned. You're not sure if you had caught on to everyone's advice and tips on how to make coffee, but you were still gonna try through trial and error while everyone was working. You poured out the liquid into the cup and frowned as the color had looked wrong.

"You should try using a measuring cup to measure the beans." A deep voice startles you and you look over your shoulder to see Corpse walking out of the back room.

"You work here all of the sudden?" You joke with him and he shrugs his shoulders as he leaned against the counter next to you, looking at your cup of coffee over his shoulder.

"I used to. A long time ago." He reveals and you glance at him from the corner of your eye, watching as he puts his hands in his pockets.

"What made you change career paths?" You ask him as you taste test your coffee. It was more water than coffee.

"Always loved to make things- masks for sure were super interesting and cool to me. So once I got back on my feet here, I focused on making masks and designing them. When I earned enough money I was able to buy that place and work from there." He says and you are overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. He had worked so hard to get that place and you led all the doves in the entire ward to his doorstep; putting a target on his back for who knows how long. You wondered how long it took him to get to that point? Months? Years? You didn't want to know. Didn't want to throw yourself down that rabbit hole.

"Well, I'd say it was a good career change. I don't really picture you in a cute frilly apron, serving coffee and food to people." You tease him, trying to rid the guilt from your conscience, and you smile when he snickers.

"Yeah, it was for the best. But, I did look good in that apron." He corrects you with a knowing smile and you can't help but laugh.

"I'd love to see that one of these days." You comment through your laughter and he just shrugs and pushes himself off the counter.

"That day might be closer than you think." He says as he motions for you to follow him. You do just that and he takes you back upstairs and turns left at the top of the stairs instead of right where the room you had slept in last night. He turns to face you when he reaches a door and smiles before opening it up.

"Ta-da!" He exclaims as you peek into the room. It was basically a small apartment. Bed in the left corner, TV in the right, a table in the middle of the room to eat dinner, a small kitchen to your right as you walked in, and a small bathroom to your left. It was plain and small, but it had everything someone would need to live happily. You turned around to face Corpse.

"What's this?" You ask him, silently hoping he was just showing you a random room just because he wanted to.

"It's a room. More specifically- your room." He says as he walks into the room behind you, noticing your panicked expression as you begin to speak.

"You didn't have to do this. I would've been out of your hair by the end of today." You say while shaking your head. You were shocked by how gratuitous and kind Corpse and his friends were to you. It was overwhelming at times- especially now. You've never had someone stick their neck out for you like this before. It was scary. You wanted to trust them. To feel safe with them. But every instinct in you tells you to keep your guard up. To fend for yourself and get far from here.

"It's no big deal, y/n. They have a bunch of rooms here for this exact reason. Everyone here helps ghouls who need it. Give them a place to sleep, a job, friends, a chance to rebuild." Corpse tells you and you find it hard to look him in the eyes.

"I can't accept this, Corpse. I really can't. I'm sorry." You apologize to him and go to walk past him, planning on gathering your old clothes and leaving for good. But he reaches out towards you and grabs onto your shoulder.

"Hey, I could've shut that door in your face when you came asking for help, but I didn't. I wasn't gonna leave you alone that night and I'm not about to let you walk out of here, now." He says before walking around you to stand in front of you. You couldn't say anything- you didn't know what to say to him. "I was in your position once before. I thought about running away too. I didn't want any handouts from people who didn't even know me. But trusting these people was probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life." He finishes and you press your lips together in a fine line, trying to sort through your thoughts.

The easiest thing to do for you was to leave. Go as far away from this ward as you can, dodging doves and authorities for as long as you can. Running for who knows how long. Sleeping with one eye open. Or you could stay here with Corpse and his interesting friends. Sleeping on a bed. Working in the cafe. Having friends. You know what you wanted to do, but you couldn't admit it to yourself. You didn't want to depend on these people forever. Bother them with your problems and your presence. It was bad enough what you had done to Corpse; the guilt was always present in the pit of your stomach whenever you talked with him.

"I'll stay," You start and Corpse's grip on your shoulder relaxes as he sighs a breath of relief, "for a week. Then I'll leave." You finish your sentence and muster a small smile for Corpse's sake. He seems to deflate but he nods his head, recognizing your decision.

"I can work with a week."