“Meow.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll play with you once I finish cleaning this up.”
This was the room where Hitokawa and I had once burned through our useless youthful fighting spirit, trading blows in a flurry of aggression.
While I was tidying up the wreckage, the cat I’d started raising a few years ago approached, pestering me for attention.
Strangely, this little guy always put on an act of affection he normally never showed whenever Eto wasn’t around.
I moved the cat aside as it rolled around on top of the toppled bookshelf in a blatant protest for attention, then heaved the shelf back upright.
As expected, the books spilled out and scattered everywhere. A few of them were even torn.
Ah, this was one of my favorites...
I hung my head in despair for about a second or two, then quickly recovered my composure and started organizing the books.
After everything I've been through in my life, my once-fragile heart felt as if it had evolved beyond steel and straight into orichalcum.
Once the books were cleared, I straightened up and stretched out the stiffness in my lower back from crouching for so long. Then, my gaze drifted toward the window.
“How long are those guys planning to loiter out there?”
Sure enough, they were still there. In the alleyway not far from my house, a Ghoul Investigator was lying in wait, keeping a close watch on my home due to the “Insect-Masked Ghoul” incident.
They had concluded that there might be some unseen connection between me and the Insect-Masked Ghoul that attacked yesterday, and feared the culprit might return.
From my perspective, it was utterly ridiculous.
It was bad enough that I got attacked while drunk and clueless, but now I had to be used as bait, too?
Damn it. If it weren’t for Hitokawa’s situation, I would have marched straight to the CCG to lodge a formal complaint.
Ding-dong!
“……?”
When the doorbell rang, I tore my glare away from the window. Who could it be? I wasn’t expecting any deliveries or visitors.
I decided to check who it was.
First, I closed the window I’d left open for ventilation while cleaning.
“……Huh?”
As I shut the window and glanced toward the spot where the Investigator had been a moment ago, they were gone.
It seemed too sudden for them to have backed off after deciding I had no link to the Insect-Masked Ghoul. Did they just go to the bathroom or something?
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
As I stood there wondering, the doorbell rang repeatedly, urging me to hurry.
I didn't know who it was, but they sure were impatient. How many times are they going to ring it?
“Yeah! Yeah! I’m coming!”
I was already in a foul mood, so if this turned out to be some trivial matter, I was fully prepared to chew them out. I headed down the stairs and approached the front door.
Before opening it, I checked the visitor through the peephole out of habit.
“……!”
This guy is……?
***
Hitokawa brought Eto to the rear of the CCG building.
They couldn’t speak inside the facility; sensitive conversations could not risk being overheard.
To use a private consultation room, one had to pass through the [Rc Detection Gate], a screening process used to identify Ghouls.
Hitokawa had moved the meeting outside, anticipating the absolute chaos that would ensue the moment Eto stepped through that gate.
After confirming that the area was clear, Hitokawa got straight to the point.
“So, what is it you wanted to talk about?”
Eto glanced around casually, then hopped up onto the middle of a clean set of stairs and perched herself there.
Due to the height, she ended up at eye level with Hitokawa.
Looking him straight in the eye, Eto spoke plainly. “I hate you, Mister Hitokawa.”
“……Okay. So you’re looking for a fight?”
Hitokawa lifted the steel case he had brought as a precaution.
The mere act of bringing it revealed his deep distrust of Eto, but she didn't react.
His already hostile opponent had jabbed at his temper without warning, and a vein bulged on Hitokawa’s forehead, but Eto ignored it and continued.
“I’ve hated you from the first time we met. You smelled bad. And your clothes are weird. Why do Ghoul Investigators always wear those white coats? My dad would’ve been horrified. He hates clothes that are too white because they stain so easily. I wanted to spend the weekend alone with Dad in peace, but then you showed up out of nowhere and insisted we go out. I thought you were completely clueless.”
“Why in the world do I have to keep listening to this Ghoul brat’s merciless trashing? Don’t tell me you came all this way just to say that?”
Just as Hitokawa, on the verge of blowing his top, touched the switch on the steel case and debated whether to open it, Eto let out a long sigh.
“But Dad likes you, Mister Hitokawa.”
“……!”
“He always said you were his best friend in the world, someone he’d shared both hardship and joy with since childhood. Dad knew you well. He always worried that if you ever found out who I was, things would end up like this. That’s why he kept it a secret until now. He didn’t want to destroy the everyday life the three of us shared—me, Dad, and you.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Hitokawa cut her off, grinding his teeth. He couldn’t bear to hear any more.
“A monster that eats people isn’t part of an ‘everyday life.’ It’s a tower built on sand. If you live there, eventually the whole thing collapses and buries you alive. Humans and Ghouls trying to coexist... do you really think you’re the only ones who’ve tried that?”
“……!”
Eto flinched slightly at the revelation.
The history between humans and Ghouls was surprisingly long. In all that time, it wasn't as if there had never been miraculous relationships between the two species.
She wanted to hear more, yet she dreaded it.
The blazing hostility in Hitokawa’s eyes made it obvious that every story he knew ended in tragedy.
“If you dig through the CCG archives right now, you can find them easily. There have been several cases in the past—humans and Ghouls attempting to live together. Do you know how those ended?”
“…….”
“Every single one was a tragedy. A Ghoul lover eating their human partner. A human taking pity on an abandoned Ghoul baby and raising it, only to be devoured once the Ghoul grew up... There was even a case where a Ghoul tried to raise an orphaned human child, but one day, driven by hunger, they lost their reason and ate the child. The relationship between humans and Ghouls is like the two ends of a balance scale. If the weight shifts even slightly, everything plunges into the abyss. That is the reality of your relationship!”
“That’s different...!!”
“Different!? You want to tell me that you’re the exception? Then let me ask you this!”
With a sudden stride, Hitokawa closed the distance, shoving his face close to Eto’s and glaring at her fiercely.
For a Ghoul like Eto, he was well within striking distance—close enough for her to kill him in an instant—but Hitokawa didn’t care.
He thrust his chin forward, daring her to try, and spoke with cold intensity.
“Have you never once looked at Koma as ‘food’?”
“……!!”
Whether her voice failed her because of the weight of the question or the sheer pressure emanating from a man hardened by years of Ghoul extermination, she remained silent.
“I saw the scar on Koma’s right arm. No matter what you say, my mind is made up. You’re going to Cochlea. That is the absolute limit of my compromise. Be grateful I’m not taking your life right here and now.”
Creeeeak!
Hitokawa gripped the handle of the steel case so hard it groaned under the pressure. It was a clear threat; he was ready to draw his weapon and swing at any moment.
Perhaps broken by his intensity, Eto lowered her head deeply. Hitokawa stepped back and continued.
“I’ll give you one day. Turn yourself in. If you do, I'll ensure you aren't treated too harshly in Cochlea. It will also lighten the sentence for Koma, who committed a crime by hiding and raising a Ghoul...”
“……There’s one more reason I hate you, Mister.”
Eto cut him off and lifted her head once more.
“You’re very good at lying, aren’t you? That’s why I hate you.”
“……!?”
This time, it was Hitokawa who flinched.
“Sending me to Cochlea isn’t a compromise. It’s because that’s the only option you can stomach, isn’t it? Because you don’t actually want to kill me with your own hands.”
“What nonsense are you spouting! What do you know about me!!”
“I know. Because you and I think exactly alike, Mister Hitokawa.”
With a heart free of deceit and clear, transparent eyes, Eto continued, reflecting Hitokawa’s flustered expression like a mirror.
“I hate you, Mister Hitokawa, but I like the version of you that my father likes.”
“……!?!?”
Hitokawa opened and closed his mouth, speechless.
“You’re the same, aren’t you? You hate me as a Ghoul, but you didn’t hate the Takaki Eto you’ve known until now—the ‘daughter of Takaki Koma.’ That’s why you didn’t immediately bring in a squad of Investigators to execute me. Someone who truly hates Ghouls from the bottom of their heart doesn’t care about context or circumstances. They just kill.”
For some reason, Eto felt as if she had encountered such a human a very long time ago, though the memory remained hazy.
Eto jumped down from the stairs, turned her back on Hitokawa, and began to walk away.
“I came here to tell you this: I will never kill you, Mister Hitokawa. I want to go back to the way things were... when Dad, you, and I used to laugh and talk with the manager at the shop. I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”
She paused, looked back over her shoulder, and held up a single finger.
“You’re coming to our house tomorrow to settle things with Dad, right? I’ll be joining the fray. It’ll be two against one, so be prepared. In the worst-case scenario, I’m ready to take Dad and run to the ends of the earth.”
“…….”
Leaving the dazed Hitokawa behind, Eto walked off with a refreshed expression.
Her departing figure seemed to suggest that the rest of their conversation would be continued tomorrow at her home.
Hitokawa stood there in stunned silence for a long while before finally scratching his head in frustration.
“Damn it... that brat has been annoying since the day I met her.”
Feeling as though he had been dealt a psychological blow, Hitokawa returned to the CCG building.
He collapsed into his chair like a piece of waterlogged cotton. His eyes then fell upon a document envelope on his desk, which had been torn open and left neglected.
My head is a mess and I really don’t want to deal with this... but I should probably check it.
With a listless sigh, Hitokawa turned the envelope over and shook out the contents.
A CCTV photo and a single composite sketch fluttered down onto the desk. He studied them slowly.
“……?”
Confusion clouded Hitokawa’s face.
He straightened his posture and looked at the photo again.
His expression froze.
He compared the CCTV photo with the composite sketch.
The frozen expression quickly twisted into one of sheer horror.
“Koma―――!!!!”
Knocking his chair over, Hitokawa bolted from his seat and sprinted out of the room with everything he had.
***
I opened the front door with a puzzled expression.
Standing there was a beautiful woman, smiling sweetly at me.
“What? I thought you’d already left, Shinaoto.”
Shinaoto Minami.
Long, wavy brown hair and a lovely face. However, I knew this woman possessed a rather twisted personality.
Eto had told me she left while she and Hitokawa were arguing, so why was she back?
Minami stuck out her tongue playfully and tapped her head.
“Sorry, sorry~ I realized I forgot something very important!”
“What? You’re so scatterbrained... What did you forget?”
“Hmm. My panties.”
“……………Excuse me?”
“Just kidding~ Don’t look so serious! But I really did leave something behind, so can I come in?”
I felt a lingering sense of unease, but I let her in anyway.
As I stepped into my slippers at the entrance, I asked her, “So, what actually did you forget?”
“That would be……”
THWACK―――!!!
In an instant, the world shook with a dull, heavy impact.
The strength vanished from my limbs. Even as I fell, I couldn't brace myself; I simply sprawled across the floor.
Only after hitting the ground did the violent pain bloom at the back of my head. Then came the smell of blood.
I tried to force my brain to process what had happened, but a sudden wave of nausea surged, leaving my vision swimming.
I couldn't make sense of anything.
All I could manage was to barely turn my head to look behind me.
“What I forgot was…… you, of course♥”
There stood Minami, clutching a metal pipe in one hand, smiling with the innocent face of a child.
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