Ghosts of the Past

Chapter 19

Lily was happy that Kaneki still seemed to be the same, though he had gotten angry at something she didn't expect him to.

It had taken some time, but Lily was able to decide that Kaneki wasn't a bad person, nor was Ned.

Both just wanted to help keep people safe.

Lily wondered what Kaneki thought of Ned's escape.

Did he know where Ned was? Did he know who killed the guard? Did he know what exactly happened? Did he know if Ned did the damage by himself?

Was Kaneki himself the one who'd done all of it?

These questions were ones she would never bring up, for the sake of her friendship with Kaneki. She didn't know how he would take the questions.

She'd decided long ago that she would let him do what he thought was right. If he wanted to tell her anything, he could. She wouldn't force something out of him he didn't want to talk about.

The imaginary friend incident, for instance. It was obvious she'd hit a sore spot for the boy.

The next time she saw him, she would act like everything was okay, and she wouldn't push for details.

She hated it when people did that to her, so she wouldn't do it to Kaneki.

It didn't stop her from wondering, though.

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Kaneki cursed himself as he stumbled through the window, tripping before falling onto the bed.

He sat up painfully and took off his shirt, quickly throwing it to the side.

"Damn it all." Kaneki muttered.

He put his hand under his chin and coughed, blood pouring from his mouth.

He clutched the stomach wound and pleaded for it to heal quickly.

As the wound burned, he realized that he needed flesh. Though it had been only a few days, the hunger was faint and gnawing, craving flesh. The wound wouldn't heal if he didn't get food.

He breathed heavily. He should have been paying more attention.

Kaneki slowly let out a breath and sniffed the air.

A scent hit him head on, and he realized it was too close for comfort.

He whirled around, but not quick enough, getting pierced through the stomach by a binkaku.

The ghoul laughed. "What do you think you're doing on my hunting grounds?"

Kaneki ignored the pain and stared the ghoul in the eyes. "Looking for you."

The ghoul turned pale and the last word she said before Kaneki sliced her head off was a whisper.

"Centipede."

He hadn't been paying attention, and was stupidly caught off guard. He swore to himself he wouldn't let it happen again.

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Lily's mind was telling her something was wrong.

She looked at her phone and the urge to call Kaneki became stronger.

She made a grab for the phone and clicked his contact.

It rung and rung before stopping. "Hey, it's Kaneki. I'm not able to get to the phone right now, I lost it, or its dead because I stupidly forgot to charge it. Sorry if I never call back. If I do happen to ever check my voicemails, leave one for me. Bye!"