"Oh, yeah."
But even when they ate together, Yoriko had changed. She no longer enthusiastically shared her food. Maybe this was better for Tōka, after all—she would not have to force herself to eat human food.
Anteiku.
"Tōka, the coffee's overflowing."
"Wow, why didn't you tell me sooner?! Go pour the coffee!" Lin Yan did not want to argue with Tōka. She was just a little girl, after all. There was no need for a grown man like him to nitpick with a young girl. Besides, Lin Yan knew what had happened to Tōka.
Tōka was thinking about Yoriko. Their relationship was destined to grow more distant, wasn't it? After all, Tōka could not explain what had happened to her.
"Huh? It's my first time seeing you. Are you new here? What's your name?"
"My name is Lin Yan."
"You have a distinctive scent about you. That person does too, right?" The customer was referring to Tōka in the distance, speaking mysteriously.
"Though he isn't a ghoul from the 20th Ward, he's too weak to have a feeding ground in his own ward, so he occasionally comes here to look for prey. He likes prying into all kinds of nonsense. You'd better not tell him too much."
"Huh? So there are all sorts of ghouls."
"Oh, right. I took your advice and told Hide not to come to the shop for the time being."
"What? Advice? I never gave you any advice."
"Didn't you tell me about examples from the past?"
"It'd be better if he never came again for the rest of his life," Tōka said. In truth, Tōka was not a cold person. Deep down, she was quite kind.
"I told you before that ghouls come to our shop to gather information. That guy is one of them