After buying everything, Kenzo returned to Touka.
On the street, Kenzo took one of the snacks from the bag and ate it while walking.
Touka glanced at the delicious food Kenzo was enjoying and couldn't help but pout.
"We're genetically engineering food that Ghouls can consume. For now, we've only succeeded with regular wines and chocolate," Kenzo took out a silver-wrapped chocolate bar and handed it to Touka.
"Is it the same as the one you gave me?" Touka held the chocolate bar with trembling hands, and her eyes shone with excitement.
Although Ghouls can't eat regular human food, there are still a few things they can taste, like coffee and water. Anything more than that is simply impossible.
Something other than liquids was impossible for a normal Ghoul to eat, so Touka didn't hesitate to unwrap the chocolate.
"Try it... Many have tried it and even cried from the excitement of experiencing new flavors," Kenzo said as he cut a small piece of chocolate and placed it in Touka's mouth.
"This taste..." Touka couldn't help but tremble as she felt the flavor of the chocolate on her taste buds. She had never experienced that kind of taste with anything other than human flesh, so it only took one bite for her to cry unconsciously.
Kenzo could only smile; he knew what this meant for any other Ghoul who had been forced to eat to survive and hide from humans.
"Sometimes I envy humans a lot. They can taste all kinds of food!" Touka said after taking a bite of the chocolate.
"Just be envious; there's nothing wrong with that!" Kenzo said as he stroked Touka's hair.
"By the way, what does the thing you're trying taste like? Why do you like it so much?" Touka asked again at this moment.
"It's similar to chocolate, but this one has bread and tastes sweet and sour... The crumb is elastic and soft, contrasting with the crispy, thick crust of what I eat... It's not a big deal if you think about it, and we're very close to altering the genetics of food and creating a vaccine to stop the production of that substance that prevents Ghouls from eating anything." Kenzo was excited about all the discoveries they could make in the future.
"Um... I've eaten bread, but I found the taste very hard to swallow!" Touka made a disgusted expression as she remembered the unpleasant taste of bread.
Ghouls can't eat human food because they simply can't swallow it, and the worst part is they can't digest it. If a Ghoul eats these foods for an extended period, it will cause severe damage, leading in the worst case to death.
However, to integrate into human life, sometimes Touka eats some human food in front of her human friends.
The Manager Yoshimura does the same.
Like silly internet challenges, such as eating a lemon without making any expressions, Kenzo, with a natural expression, asked his father to eat a piece of a sandwich without showing any expressions. Due to the sudden declaration, he stated that if he couldn't do it, he would ask someone else.
That day, he was not only punched by Touka but also by Enji. The best thing he could do that day was to leave the café for a while.
"Oh, by the way, a very good meat pie will be made soon... It's still in beta testing because the side effects are unknown, but if it's successful, I'll invite you to eat it," Kenzo said casually, but behind his words was an implication that only Touka understood.
"Oh..."
At this moment, a girl on the side of the road caught Kenzo's attention.
"Well, isn't this girl from our school? What is she doing on the street so late?" Touka wondered, slightly confused.
"I heard her father had an accident at work, he was hospitalized and needed money, so she went to work!" Kenzo said casually, even though he hadn't been to school in a while, he was well-informed about where Touka studied because he had always tried to look out for her.
Touka stopped and looked at the girl.
"What's wrong with you? Come on, don't get involved in other people's problems!" Kenzo said, completely disinterested.
"Kenzo, help her!" Touka couldn't help but want to help the girl.
"Oh, I don't have extra money to help her, so let's go, don't pretend to be a good person!" Kenzo's last desire was to have the gratitude of a girl who might become annoying later.
However, Touka pulled Kenzo and approached.
"Hey, you really are stubborn..." Kenzo scratched his head wearily.
"Touka... And your friend who dropped out of high school..." The street girl was obviously surprised when she saw the two of them.
"What are you doing out here at this hour? It's a very lonely area, so I can't help but ask after feeling Touka's hand pressing on me," Kenzo asked after hearing this.
Upon hearing this, the girl hesitated and ultimately didn't dare to speak. In her hands, she held a sign, and when she realized they were acquaintances in front of her, she turned around.
Kenzo frowned, reached out, and looked at the sign.
["You can kiss me for only 1300 yen!"]
"Is that so..."
"I'm sure many would consider this the impossible dream of a night..." Kenzo, with his tired expression, fell silent.
Touka was also surprised but didn't judge the girl for it.
On the contrary, she respected this girl a lot because she knew that she was doing everything for her father who was hospitalized.
As many say, laughing at the poor and not laughing at prostitution is just hypocrisy.
"You should go back home; there have been Ghoul attacks nearby recently..." Kenzo took the sign from the girl's hand.
"Oh, Touka's friend... give it back to me!" The girl was startled and tried to retrieve her sign.
"You should take care of yourself; if something happens to you, your father would never forgive himself..." Kenzo said nothing. After returning the sign to the girl, he turned and left.
"Hey... we should help her!" But at that moment, Touka stopped Kenzo.
"Do you really want to do that?" Kenzo was slightly annoyed by Touka's attitude; she needed to learn to distinguish between empathy and pity.
"Lately, I've lost a lot in gambling..." Kenzo thought about the money he had lost from gambling, and it only infuriated him more.
"You had told me that you would do whatever I asked..." Touka seemed unwilling to back down from this request.
Kenzo looked at Touka. Even though this woman generally tended to be grumpy, she liked being a good person, and she did it without even realizing it.
It's not that Kenzo didn't want to help; he was already helping people too much, so he couldn't care less about others when he was out and about.
Thinking about this, Kenzo touched the not-so-thick wallet in his pocket and then looked at the girl's sign, which read: "You can kiss me for only 1000 yen..."
Even if only 1,000 yen was given, it was estimated that the girl's father's hospitalization fee wasn't that high.
But still, Kenzo stopped caring and took out all the bills from his wallet, which amounted to around 100,000 yen, and said, "Hey, girl, do you think I can use my tongue for 100,000 yen?"
"What?" Touka was frozen in place, hearing Kenzo's question so suddenly.
"Isn't he your boyfriend?" The girl looked at Touka in fear.