"Okay. Do you want to stay with me?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth Kaneki felt like regretting them. Neither he nor Hide were very subtle, but surely, he could have done something better than that. Now, Kaneki could feel Touka's murderous glare as well as see Ella's shocked eyes.

"What?" Ella asked in shock.

"Erm," Kaneki floundered for minute. Well, in for an inch in for a mile… "You don't have anywhere to go, right? But you can't stay on the streets; its too dangerous." Ella glared at him.

"Its fine. I can take care of myself." The beggar girl huffed. She puffed up slightly, as if to appear bigger or more threatening but Kaneki didn't let that deter him.

"No, you can't. If you could, you wouldn't be here getting food from me every day." Kaneki argued. On the inside, the half-ghoul shied away from how firm he was being. He really didn't like confronting people, but he couldn't let Ella get herself hurt because she was too stubborn to accept help.

"You don't know that. I could just enjoy making you-"

"Ella, please," Kaneki interrupted. "I don't want to see you get hurt. You need to get off the street before you're caught by someone. I won't try to make you go to school and I won't put any pressure on you, I just want to get you off the street. My apartment has an extra room. You can have it and a key of your own." Kaneki promised. He knew he was being brash; she could easily use any trust he gave her to rob him blind. Yet Kaneki's heart shuddered at the thought of the young girl's death. She was bright and young. She didn't deserve a life on the streets. Ella glared at him before glancing back at Touka.

"If I say no, she's just going to drag me off to child services, isn't she?" Ella's tone was flat, but wisps of anger could be seen in her eyes. She didn't appreciate being cornered like this.

Touka nodded. Frankly, the ghoul would have preferred to drop the kid off at the nearest foster home and be done with it. Kaneki was a half ghoul. He couldn't afford to live with anyone else lest they discover his secret! Touka didn't know what the hell the idiot was thinking. She didn't stop him though. If the idiot wanted to make idiotic choices regarding who he trusted, that was his mess to get into. Live and learn, as they say.

Ella looked back at Kaneki after getting a nod from Touka.

"You won't try to boss me around or be my parent, right?" She asked skeptically. She didn't want anymore parents, not after Vlad. Kaneki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Correct. I'm a bit young act like that anyway." Kaneki mumbled sheepishly. "I just want to make sure you're well fed and have a roof over your head." Ella weighed his words carefully.

"Fine. But if I don't like it, I'm gone." The beggar girl promised as she sent a challenging look Kaneki's way. Predictably, Kaneki looked away uncomfortably.

"If you don't behave, I'll take you down to Child Services myself." Touka promised as she stepped forward, taking the attention away from Kaneki. Ella flinched and looked away.

"Whatever." Kaneki found it in himself to give a strained smile. This would certainly be… a change. Hopefully a good one.