Uruka Minami led Ihei Byakuya all the way to the door of the office where the teacher was, and only then did she stop walking.
"Ihei-kun, are you alright?"
Uruka Minami asked Byakuya with concern: "They didn't do anything excessive to you just now, did they?"
"No..."
Ihei Byakuya replied.
They had not made a move yet, and were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Uruka Minami.
As for who would have made a move against whom, do not ask.
But getting pulled away by the suddenly intervening Uruka Minami was actually the best outcome, because if she had seen his actions just now, it would easily have aroused suspicion.
"That's good. Fura-san and the others were too much, bullying a new student on his very first day."
Uruka Minami said angrily.
"Thank you. By the way, you're from our class..."
Ihei Byakuya pretended not to know Uruka Minami.
After all, he had never spoken to Uruka Minami before this.
If he were able to say Uruka Minami's name right away, it would obviously be suspicious.
"My name is Uruka Minami, I sit to your right."
Uruka Minami said with a smile.
"Oh, Minami-san, thank you for what happened just now."
Ihei Byakuya said.
"You're welcome. We're classmates, after all. It's only natural."
The smile remained on Uruka Minami's face.
Her facial features were already very delicate, and with that smile she looked even cuter, easy to make someone feel moved.
Fura Taishi fell instantly because of this.
As for Ihei Byakuya... since he knew Uruka Minami's true identity was [Pumpkin Head], he definitely would not take it seriously.
"Hmm..."
Ihei Byakuya slowly lowered his head. "But that said, Minami-san, do you not mind?"
His hand was still being held by Uruka Minami.
Whether she forgot or something else, she had not let go of his hand until now.
Whether it was the half-ghoul Yoshimura Eto or the pure ghoul Uruka Minami, the physical sensation was no different from a human's.
Soft and delicate like the hand of a human girl.
Hearing this, Uruka Minami also lowered her head.
It seemed she only now realized she was still holding Byakuya's hand, and her cheeks instantly reddened.
"Ah..."
Uruka Minami immediately let go. "Sorry, I didn't notice."
"It's fine, I don't mind."
Ihei Byakuya shook his head.
Seeing Uruka Minami's shy and adorable appearance, his expression and mood remained completely unmoved.
Although Uruka Minami might not necessarily be acting, because she came to this school to live a normal life like a human girl, and she truly enjoyed campus life...
But she was ultimately a ghoul, and she was precisely the target of Byakuya's investigation, [Pumpkin Head], so he absolutely could not treat her as a normal girl.
Besides, in the original story, Uruka Minami even dared to attack a ghoul investigator first, and the one she attacked was Arima Kishou...
"So... should we go inside and tell the teacher about what happened today?"
At this moment, Uruka Minami asked.
"Minami-san, do you think telling the teacher will be useful?"
Ihei Byakuya asked.
"Probably..."
Uruka Minami could not bring herself to finish.
Because she also knew that even if they told the teacher, it would be useless.
Otherwise, there would be no delinquents in school anymore, nor would bullying happen.
This school was not a very strict one after all. Fura Taishi and the other two skipped class every day and no one cared. Even if he told the teacher, they might still retaliate afterward.
"So let's forget it, and I guess those guys probably won't come looking for trouble again."
Ihei Byakuya said casually.
"Really? Why?"
Uruka Minami immediately asked in confusion.
"...Nothing."
Ihei Byakuya fell silent for a moment. He thought about it and still chose not to reveal the truth.
Because the truth was that Fura Taishi liked Uruka Minami, or to be precise, had a crush on her.
So when Uruka Minami suddenly appeared just now, Fura Taishi froze on the spot.
Now that Uruka Minami was involved in the matter, Fura Taishi would probably pretend nothing happened so she would not dislike him.
Of course, if those three dared to cause trouble again next time, then he would not be polite anymore...
"Why like this? Is it something you can't say?"
The more Byakuya refused to say, the more curious Uruka Minami became.
"I already said it's nothing. Speaking of which, class is about to start. Minami-san, have you eaten lunch yet?"
Ihei Byakuya directly shifted the topic.
"I already ate."
Uruka Minami replied naturally: "Ihei-kun, are you going to bring the bread back to the classroom to eat? Do you want me to take you to a good place that not many people know about?"
In reality, as a ghoul, Uruka Minami could not eat food at all. The only food a ghoul could consume was humans, not counting water.
However, ghouls did not need to eat every day. Generally, hunting once or twice a month was enough.
So in Tokyo, humans frequently disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Most of them were hunted by ghouls.
"Sure..."
Ihei Byakuya did not refuse.
His investigation target was exactly [Pumpkin Head] Uruka Minami, so contacting her more was what he should do.
After that, Ihei Byakuya followed Uruka Minami to the rooftop of the school building, but they used a comparatively more secluded staircase.
"This building has several stairways that lead up to the rooftop, but all of them except this one are locked."
Uruka Minami said: "It's very quiet here, and the light is also nice. I often eat lunch or read here."
Ihei Byakuya nodded slightly.
On the rooftop he casually found a spot to sit down and prepared to eat the bread.
Although the taste was mediocre, at least it could fill his stomach.
Byakuya thought that starting tomorrow he should prepare his own bento. At worst he could buy one with good heat insulation to pack his lunch...
"Ihei-kun only transferred here today. If you have any questions in the future, you can always ask me."
Uruka Minami said with a smile.
Then her expression became a bit more serious. "Right, if Fura-kun and the others start messing around again like today, you can come tell me. As long as it's something I can help with, I will help you."
Uruka Minami's attitude toward Byakuya was noticeably warm.
But Byakuya would absolutely not fall into one of the Three Great Illusions of Life: 'she likes me'.
Compared to that illusion, Byakuya would rather suspect that his sudden transfer had aroused Uruka Minami's wariness and she was approaching him to test him...
However, Ihei Byakuya still had to put on an act.
He pretended to be a pure and innocent boy and asked Uruka Minami: "Minami-san, why are you so nice to me...?"