Chapter Seven
Touka was giving him the stink eye. That, more than anything, was all the motivation Kaneki needed to put forth the effort for a fourth attempt at talking to the beggar girl. Touka was far scarier than people gave her credit for.
Giving a sigh, Kaneki looked mournfully at the clock. This would be the fourth break he'd be spending next to a particularly stinky trash bin that would occasionally contain the human bones of suicide corpses. Rats were also an often occurrence in the dumpster.
It wasn't exactly pleasant to his sensibilities.
Today the bento contained shrimp and salted rice. He hoped she liked it.
Kaneki quickly walked out to the dumpster. A rat scuttled out and across the alley, but Kaneki paid it no mind. Rather, his cheeks burned with slight embarrassment as he raised the bento box above his head. It was a little ridiculous, but he really needed to talk to the girl. Somehow, she had gotten to the bento even when he had placed it far above her head. So today he would be holding the box over his head while waiting for her to come ask for the food. She wouldn't be able to sneak the food away when he was literally holding it.
Granted, holding a convenience store bento above his head made him feel more than a little childish.
Something scuttled in the dumpster and Kaneki shot it a weary glance. He knew wild dogs sometimes came around and hoped it was only rats.
A few more minutes passed. Kaneki glanced at his watch. Normally the girl would show up about this time, yet Kaneki didn't see anything down at the mouth of the alley. He was alone with the exception of whatever was rattling about in the dumpster. The rattling lessened and Kaneki felt himself relax a little. Maybe what ever it was would leave…
Bang!
Something loud hit the top of the dumpster. Kaneki jumped and turned just in time to see a blue and red blur flash at his head from the top of the dumpster. Instinctively, the half-ghoul yelped and closed his eyes. Something giggled and suddenly Kaneki found himself clutching at air instead of the convenience store bento. Kaneki blinked open his eyes to the cloudy sky above and had a brief moment of confusion before pivoting around. The beggar girl, for she was the one to grab the bento, landed in a messy roll clutching her stolen goods. Glancing back, she grinned at Kaneki before bolting towards the street.
"Hey, wait! I just… want to… talk," Kaneki trailed off. Kaneki glanced back at the dumpster with more than a little incredulity. Had she really just jumped off that dumpster in order to get food? And had she been giggling?
Kaneki shook his head in defeated exasperation. Well, at least she was strong willed? That was a good trait to have… sometimes.
Touka was going to glare at him even more today.
Yes! day three in a row of updating! I hath conquered! Mwahahahaha!