"Yes, isn't that just the truth?"
Ihei Byakuya did not feel embarrassed at all, speaking very directly.
Pretty was pretty, not pretty was not pretty. He was simply stating facts.
"Thank you, Ihei-kun is a bit different from other boys."
Uruka Minami said.
"?"
A question mark almost popped out above Ihei Byakuya's head.
Why did she make it sound like he was the strange one?
Byakuya instead felt that those shy, stuttering boys were the strange ones. Complimenting a girl who was indeed pretty, what was embarrassing about that?
If it were praising someone who really wasn't pretty by forcing out "you're pretty," that would be awkward, and he could understand being embarrassed.
...
After some time,
Uruka Minami finished showing Byakuya all the important places on campus.
"By the way, Ihei-kun, aren't you planning to join any club activities?"
Uruka Minami asked.
"I haven't thought about it at the moment."
Ihei Byakuya shook his head slightly.
"I haven't joined either. Studying already takes too much of my time."
Uruka Minami said.
"I want to study hard too..."
Ihei Byakuya casually found an excuse.
"Really? Speaking of which, how did you feel today? Could you keep up in all the subjects?"
Whenever schoolwork was mentioned, Uruka Minami seemed more energetic.
"I think it was fine."
Ihei Byakuya said honestly.
"That's good. If there's any subject you fall behind in, you can always ask me."
Uruka Minami said with a smile: "Aside from math, which I'm not very good at, I'm fine with everything else."
"Math happens to be my best subject."
Ihei Byakuya said casually.
"Really? Then if we get the chance, we can study together. If I have trouble with math, I can ask you."
Uruka Minami said with joy.
"No problem."
Ihei Byakuya nodded.
On the surface, this looked like normal interaction between classmates, but when one of them was a ghoul, the atmosphere changed slightly...
...
After they finished touring the campus, Ihei Byakuya and Uruka Minami walked together to the school gate.
They were about to part ways there.
"Ihei-kun, see you tomorrow."
Uruka Minami waved goodbye.
"Mm, see you tomorrow."
Ihei Byakuya nodded.
Once Uruka Minami disappeared around the street corner, Ihei Byakuya began muttering to himself.
"Pumpkin Head's most recent suspected feeding record was ten days ago. Based on her pattern of feeding twice a month, she should hunt again within five days..."
This was part of the intel CCG had given him.
It could be seen that compared to normal ghouls, [Pumpkin Head] fed more frequently.
Most ghouls hunted at least once a month. Once a month was barely enough to survive.
Some areas also had "Caretakers" who strictly monitored the hunting frequency of ghouls in that district. These "Caretakers" were usually the strongest ghoul in the area.
And powerful ghouls rarely fed only once a month.
The stronger the ghoul, the higher their RC cell levels. Maintaining or increasing RC cell activity required more human flesh.
However, compared to the feeding frequency of [Binge Eater] Kamishiro Rize, [Pumpkin Head]'s twice-a-month feeding was practically normal...
...
When he returned home,
Ihei Byakuya saw Yoshimura Eto sitting on the sofa watching TV instead of reading.
"Already tired of reading?"
He asked when he saw her.
"No, there are too many characters I can't read."
Yoshimura Eto replied in a resentful tone.
Her expression seemed to be complaining that Byakuya had left without taking care of her that morning.
When she opened the book, she discovered that she couldn't read most of the characters.
Under those circumstances, she couldn't read at all. Eto could only sit at home spacing out, and even watching TV wasn't interesting to her.
"..."
Ihei Byakuya fell silent.
Only now did he realize his oversight. Eto had just entered human society, of course she didn't recognize many characters yet...
Right, Yoshimura Eto wasn't some prodigy. She couldn't magically read without ever having studied.
"How about I teach you to recognize characters then?"
Ihei Byakuya suggested.
"Okay, teach me quickly."
Eto said immediately, clearly bored out of her mind after spacing out for half the day.
"Don't rush. Let me put my things away first."
Ihei Byakuya put down his backpack and changed out of his school uniform into casual home clothes.
Then he sat down beside Yoshimura Eto, pulled a random book from the table, and began teaching her how to read.
"Look at this character. You read it as 'ao'..."
Ihei Byakuya read the characters one by one, then read the entire passage.
Yoshimura Eto nodded.
But sitting beside Byakuya and looking at the book meant she had to tilt her body and her neck. This posture made her uncomfortable.
"Wait, I want to change where I sit."
Yoshimura Eto suddenly stopped him.
Ihei Byakuya was still wondering where she wanted to move when, in the next moment, Eto pushed his hand aside and directly sat down on his thigh.
This way she could look at the book straight on.
"..."
Ihei Byakuya fell silent again.
After a moment, he said: "No matter what, I'm still a man. Can you at least be a bit mindful?"
"...Oh? So you really are a big pervert."
Yoshimura Eto said with disdain.
"I won't deny that. But if you're asking whether your body has any particular appeal to me, then you're still a few years too early."
Ihei Byakuya replied calmly, delivering an effective counter.
"You hateful guy..."
Yoshimura Eto seemed genuinely irritated and began pounding on Byakuya with her small fists.
But clearly she wasn't using any strength. Her little fists were soft and powerless against him.
If Eto were serious, it definitely wouldn't be like this. Someone would have died already...
Ihei Byakuya almost reflexively used his Gura Gura no Mi ability to defend against her attack. Fortunately, she wasn't serious.
He thought that maybe he should avoid making this kind of joke with Eto in the future. She probably wouldn't reveal her identity over something this small, but if he actually made her angry...
After hammering his chest with her small fists for quite a while, Eto finally seemed to have vented her anger.
Then she turned her body around and deliberately leaned back, pressing her entire weight against Byakuya, as if using him as a human sofa...