The Pirate & The Princess [KaneTou]

13

It's been 30 minutes and he still hasn't come back for her. Instead of idling her time away, she decided to walk one more round since she still had some money left. She passed by the bread shop and went in. Following the same path Kaneki brought her to, she made it back into the slums again. 

The people whom she passed bread to earlier recognized her and ran towards her to collect the bread again. This time, she made sure she bought enough to give those who lined up. After emptying the paper bag, she threw it into the dustbin and started making her way back to the town plaza. 

Her heart felt warm and full when she saw the delighted faces of the people when they received food from her. Though she may not have been able to do anything for them for the past 22 years of her life, she's glad that she is able to do so now. It's the least she could do. 

The first thing she would do when she became a Queen was order for these people to be given proper food, shelter, and clothing. But to do that, she needed to get married. She sighed, she really didn't want to. All of the princes whom her father arranged for her to see didn't interest her at all. She wanted someone like...she paused in her thoughts, eyes widening. She wanted someone like Kaneki..!

Her cheeks warmed at the realization of how much she fancied Kaneki. Never in her life had she ever liked someone like this and though their meeting was a cause of her getting kidnapped, she was thankful for it. 

Two men sauntered up to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her eyes darted to their arm muscles and then to the surrounding people. Most of them hid in the alleys, corners and behind walls, as if afraid of the two men in front of her. Following their example, she tried to steer clear of the men by stepping to the left of them but they stood in her way and blocked her from going anywhere.

Annoyed, she met their eyes with a glare. "Please move aside."

"Not so fast, lady. Ya got any coins on ya? Notes?" One male asked.

"None. I spent all of it."

"Now now, I don't think you're telling the truth. You don't seem like you're from around here, so we can't trust you." The other male said.

"I said I don't have any! Now step aside!" She snapped.

Touka roughly shoved past them and snickering, one man fell down on his butt and let out a yell of pain. Spinning around, she clicked her tongue when they seemed to be laughing at her. The male slowly stood up with the help of his friend and limped his way over to her. "You bumped into me, lady and I've got a broken bone. You gotta pay for my hospital expenses."

Staring at them in disbelief, she was baffled at the things they do to extort money out of her. "You must be kidding. I don't believe a bulky and muscly guy like you would get injured by a small push like that."

—

Kaneki returned to the plaza and frowned when he couldn't find Touka anywhere. He asked around if anyone has seen her and one of them informed him that they saw her going into the slums. Turning on his heels, he cursed and dashed towards the direction of the slums. 

His heart raced in his chest and he prayed to God that she was safe and did not meet any..unpleasant people. Being a child of the slums, he knew the kind of people who lived there. The oppressed, and the oppressors. He hoped that she didn't meet the latter.

—

Touka yelped in pain when one of them grabbed her wrist tightly and she tried to escape his grip, though unsuccessfully. "Give me all your money!" The male roared and she screamed at him.

"I don't freaking have any money, you jerk! Now let me go!"

His friend put a hand on the guy's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The two males then looked at her with leering eyes and smirks. "Since you say you don't have any money to pay my hospital expenses, why don't you pay with your body?"

At that, the male slammed her to the nearest wall. Soon, their hands were all over her body and she felt disgust up her throat. Her eyes stung, as she tried to retaliate against them but they were men, and far too strong, much stronger than her. 

With one guy holding both of her hands up against the wall, the other guy grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled. Buttons flew everywhere while her whole front was exposed and she realized the nostalgia. Ken had done the same thing and while she did not feel anything when he did it, she felt absolutely repulsed by it. Subconsciously, she called for him.

Ken..!

Before they could go any further, a glass bottle was cracked onto the male's head and they pulled away from her angrily to see who did that. Turning around, they met with an enraged Kaneki, who glared deadly daggers at them.