One Thousand minus Zero

Chapter 4: The Marketplace

Shimi's Note: (0 w 0)/ Yellow guys~! I'm just here to drop this chapter and no, I'm not discontinuing this..

Subaru's POV...

A cliche game name and your typical out-of-the-ordinary animal faces as far as the eye can see. Mixed in the crowds of people doing their business on daily mornings, bargaining on the market stands and buying from food stalls accompanied by encrypting words with unique heliographic letters. This experience is something that every Japanese with otaku senses would dream of coming. 

This left a smile on my face.

I feel like I'm on a tourist trip..

It was like waking up from a sudden start of some game. Still, I'm a little devasted that I can't use magic but I guess I'm not quite ready to use it yet.

Do I need to find someone else to teach me? Well, it's a new and big world, I'll get my chances, and somehow or another, Kaneki and I entered some kind of marketplace. 

"Of all places.." I heard Kaneki mutter beside me.

"Hmm? Did you say something Kaneki?" I turned to look back at him.

"...."

He was silent as always and stubbornly refused to repeat his muttered words.

Looking at him, his complexion was very pale, as well as biting down his lower lip and furrowed brows. I would've missed it due to how pale his skin is if I didn't pay close attention to his expression.

I sighed. Well, that didn't take long for me to deduce what was making him uncomfortable. 

Poor guy, the smell of fruits and animal meat must've got to him..

In fact, I knew that this would be his reaction the moment we got here.

"Are you sure this is the place you want to go?" Kaneki questioned, eyeing the food stalls in disgust. I could even catch a small grunt coming from his voice.

Before coming here, I followed a girl with an empty basket which I suspect will lead us to the marketplace. Still, I can't tell the guy that this is the place I want to go but then again, he can spot my lies as easily as listening to my heartbeats.

"Yeah. After all, wouldn't this be easier for us to acquire more information?" I reasoned, adding more truth to my words, "By talking with the vendors here we can discover whether or not we can speak their language!"

"...."

I saw a reaction and I saw dejection. It may be faint or a trick of the light, but Kaneki truly isn't fond of this place even when I mentioned an advantage.

As much as I want to give him a pat on the back and give him my support, I just wanna check and see something. I chose this place specifically to experiment as we need the necessary info we need if we wanna continue to live in this world.

So hang in there for a little while Kaneki! 

While mentally shouting this, Kaneki looked at me. Numerous thoughts are probably going through his head. 'I can't let this guy know that I'm a Ghoul..' His thoughts are plainly written on his face. Or blank-faced? Anyway, I can tell what he is trying to avoid.

Odd, could this be the perks of watching an anime?

Having no chance to argue and say his dislike, Kaneki gave in and slowly nodded to my idea.

"..I'm going to check over there" Kaneki lowly said, pointing towards the corner of a nearby alley.

I took a quick glance at his chosen destination. It was a store that sold herbs. Hmm, he chose an area with less stench. When I turned back to Kaneki, I clearly noticed his nose crunched up as if he was trying not to intake the air surrounding us.