The leader of [En], Koma Enji.
The leader of Black Doberman, Irimi Kaya.
The leaders of two groups that had long been at each other’s throats met in the same place.
They weren't there to settle their grudge in a life-or-death duel to finally end their long feud. They were no longer in a position to do that.
It was a favor Kuzen had asked of them—a favor they owed him and desperately wanted to fulfill. They were eager to get it done, but of all people, they had managed to get on the nerves of the very person they were trying to please.
When the two of them made no effort to hide their murderous intent and threatened to turn the house into a wreck, an angry Koma threw them out and locked the door. He told them that regardless of their circumstances, if they didn’t sort things out between themselves before returning, he wouldn’t even see them.
From Enji and Kaya’s point of view, it was enough to drive them insane.
In the world of Ghouls, where killing and being killed was routine, the most efficient way to resolve a conflict was for one of the parties to die.
That way, the group that lost its leader would collapse, and the survivor could finally wash away the frustration they’d been stewing in by driving the other side out.
The problem was that Koma would never accept a corpse as a "resolution."
Angry or not, the two of them were guests sent by Kuzen.
Now, imagine one of those guests returning after personally burying the other. What kind of host would welcome such a guest with open arms?
In the end, the only option left to Enji and Kaya was to find a way to coexist without killing each other.
First, they decided to try talking.
“Get lost.”
“You get lost.”
Of course, the conversation was short and vicious.
After thinking it over, they decided the best solution was for one of them to swallow their pride and back down.
With no opponent left, there would be no conflict to settle, and the survivor would simply have to keep their promise to Kuzen.
Of course, the one who backed down would be in a truly miserable position. That was why they spent their time growling at each other to be the one to retreat.
If it were up to them, they would have loved to throw the whole thing away and just slaughter one another. But these were leaders—people who knew how to suppress their instincts for the sake of profit rather than being swept away by emotion.
If they stayed like this, nothing would be solved; they would only continue to run in parallel lines.
No one could die, and neither side could back down. There was only one way left to resolve the situation.
“……”
“……”
Enji and Kaya both twisted their faces at the same time. They had come to the same conclusion.
It was a method they hated more than death, but for now, there was no other way.
***
A week after I’d thrown Enji and Kaya out, the two of them returned to my house.
“……”
“Haha……”
“Hoho……”
An awkward silence and forced laughter drifted through the room.
I wondered if this was a side effect of staying up late reading the novels Eto had recently become obsessed with writing.
Since childhood, Eto had always been glued to books, and it seemed some talent had finally blossomed in that direction. She’d become so absorbed in her writing that she lost all track of time. My eyes were paying the price for her creativity.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, then opened them again and looked straight ahead.
Sure enough, there were Enji and Kaya, smiling awkwardly. Their bodies were pressed close together, and they even had their arms draped around each other’s shoulders.
So I hadn’t been seeing things. The two people who had looked ready to start a war the last time I saw them had somehow become incredibly close.
“……What on earth are you two doing?”
My confusion manifested as a polite inquiry.
“We took your advice and beat the hell out of each other until all the bottled-up resentment was gone.”
“That’s right. We sweated it out together, and as the evening glow settled in, we confirmed our friendship. We’ve made up now.”
That was what they said, but I could see right through it.
The hand Enji had on Kaya’s shoulder was trembling, the tendons standing out as if he were fighting the urge to crush her bone on the spot.
And on Kaya, whose skin was pressed against Enji’s, goosebumps were rising around the nape of her neck—a visceral, physical rejection from the depths of her soul.
These idiots weren’t reconciled. They were pretending to be.
They hated each other so intensely that it was leaking through their physical reactions, yet they remained glued together.
At first, I’d planned to throw them out again if they hadn’t changed. But seeing how far they were willing to go just to get back into the house, I decided to let them in.
At the very least, if they could endure this much, they wouldn’t start tearing the place apart like they did last time.
And besides, I had prepared something for their return.
“But that child doesn’t seem to be here. Has she gone somewhere?”
I knew the "child" Kaya was referring to was Eto.
After seating them at the table, I headed for the kitchen and replied, “Where do you think a kid who just entered middle school would be at this time on a weekday? She’s at school studying.”
“So you’re the only one in this house?”
“And?”
At that, Enji spoke in a tone of utter disbelief.
“Aren’t you afraid? Even if Mr. Kuzen sent us, we’re Ghouls, and we’re strangers. Is it really all right to let us in like this?”
“Oh, so that’s what this is about.”
Their concern was simple:
With no one like Eto around to protect me, was it really okay to let them in so easily just because of a recommendation? To put it bluntly, wasn’t it possible they might have ulterior motives and turn on me? For people who had lived in an environment where trusting others was a death sentence, I must have looked completely reckless.
I stopped taking out the glasses and rolled up my sleeve, holding out my right arm to them.
“See this scar?”
“Looks like a bite mark……”
“Right. I was bitten by a Ghoul once. They tore into my flesh and ate it.”
I didn’t bother mentioning that the Ghoul was Eto. She had been very young and couldn’t control herself; it had been nothing more than a small accident.
“The human body is a strange thing. When it goes through a crisis, it starts rejecting anything connected to that experience to prevent it from happening again. Like an allergy. Maybe that memory was carved into my body so deeply that a strange phenomenon occurred. When I feel a Ghoul’s gaze on me, the scar starts to throb and ache.”
I waved my arm around as if to prove a point.
No matter how I moved it, I felt no pain—even with the two Ghouls staring intently at me.
“It doesn’t hurt at all now. Why do you think that is?”
“……Are you saying we’re not Ghouls?”
“Of course not. I saw your [Kakugan] flare up and saw you use your [Kagune] with my own eyes. It’s just that you two don’t look at me the way ordinary Ghouls do.”
“……”
“I mean the gaze that sees me as 'food.' Human flesh is indispensable to a Ghoul’s survival, and because that’s the norm, every Ghoul I’ve met has had that predatory hunger in their eyes. But you two don’t. Even though your bodies force you to eat humans, you acknowledge that humans are beings with personalities similar to your own. Do I really need to fear people like that? Though, if you were starving, I would’ve kicked you out or run away immediately.”
A well-fed tiger doesn’t hunt.
From my perspective, these two were well-fed tigers.
Unlike other beasts that kill and eat for amusement and pleasure, they possessed a value system that didn't take more than necessary and acknowledged the lives of others to some extent.
To them, I was a rabbit—but I was a rabbit who knew that as long as I didn't pull the tiger's whiskers, I'd be safe. I knew this both in theory and through experience.
So why would I be afraid?
I’d felt that from the moment we met, and with Mr. Kuzen as a guarantee, there was no reason to be on guard.
“……”
“……”
Enji and Kaya stared at me blankly. The sharp edge they’d maintained was gone, replaced by looks of utter bewilderment.
It was as if they’d encountered a bizarre new species. I imagine it was the same expression a tiger would make after leaving its jungle for the first time and spotting an elephant—a strange, long-nosed creature it couldn't comprehend.
“What?”
“N-no……”
“Nothing……”
Enji and Kaya averted their eyes in unison, pretending to be interested in something else.
Thinking they were a dull pair, I began brewing the coffee I had prepared for them.
“Hm……?”
“……!”
I sensed a sudden shift in the atmosphere.
When I turned around, the two of them were rising to their feet, their bodies tense and uncertain.
Their eyes were fixed on the front door.
“What is it?”
I asked, tilting my head, and Enji answered.
“……Someone is coming.”
“Really? It’s probably Eto. It’s about time she got home.”
“It’s not just one person.”
“There are multiple sets of footsteps.”
At their words, I wondered if I had forgotten about another visitor. But nothing came to mind.
Then the only possibility left was…….
“Don’t tell me Eto brought a friend home!?”
I was horrified, yet my eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Eto had a history of making "weird" friends in elementary school.
Of course, by "weird," I didn't mean delinquents. I meant friends who accumulated bizarre, specialized knowledge.
I remembered all the trouble I'd gone through every time Eto, having learned something strange from her friends, bombarded me with unsettling questions!
But Eto was in middle school now.
She had parted ways with her elementary-school troublemakers and finally had the chance to spend her school days in a bright, proper way.
“That’s it! You’ve finally made proper friends, Eto! No more friends who teach you things like ‘the basic skills of a new bride,’ ‘how to seduce men,’ or ‘how to squeeze extra New Year’s money out of adults’!”
“What kind of children are gathering at human schools, anyway?”
“I feel my faint admiration for the concept of school crumbling.”
Leaving behind the bewildered Enji and Kaya, I ran to the front door.
I flung the door open without hesitation, and as expected, I saw Eto’s back.
But contrary to my hopes, the person with her was not a middle-school friend.
“I’m telling you, you can’t go inside right now!”
“What’s with you all of a sudden? You didn’t say anything when we ran into each other on the street.”
“That was then! But right now, inside the house…… anyway, no! Entry forbidden!”
“What on earth is your problem? I’ve got something to tell Koma today, too!”
The person who had come with Eto was…… someone I knew very well.
Hitokawa Tomoru. My childhood friend, and a Ghoul Investigator who had recently been promoted to First Class.
He must have stopped by while on duty, as he was wearing his white coat and carrying a heavy metal case in one hand.
“Hey, Koma! Got a lover hidden away at home or something? Eto won’t let me in.”
“A-ah, Dad……”
Tomoru, who had been arguing with Eto, spotted me and raised a hand in greeting. Eto, looking flustered, turned her head slowly.
I hid my own dismay and glanced back over my shoulder.
There were two Ghouls trying their absolute best to maintain composure in the face of a Ghoul Investigator, but their expressions were on the verge of collapsing.
Ghouls behind me, a Ghoul Investigator in front of me.
I looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.
“Déjà vu…… I feel like I’ve been through this damn situation before.”
Perhaps as a result of my desire to escape reality, I suddenly saw a vision of my father in heaven giving me a thumbs-up.
I really want to break that thumb off.
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