"Ah, sorry, it seems I accidentally touched on something serious..."
Uruka Minami immediately apologized.
"It is fine."
Ihei Byakuya slightly shook his head.
Although Uruka Minami misunderstood what he meant, strictly speaking, he indeed had no parents in this world.
Because the lifespan of half-humans was usually at most around thirty years, even if the system really arranged parents for him, they would probably have already died of old age by now.
Both parents being gone was basically standard equipment for transmigrators.
As for having a sister and a house...
Speaking of which, putting the house aside, did he even have a sister?
Yoshimura Eto definitely did not count as a sister.
Byakuya really did not know whether he had any siblings in the Ihei family, because the system had never provided him with information in this regard. It seemed he would only find out later.
"Did Minami just say the smell was very fragrant? Do you want to try a bite?"
At this moment, Ihei Byakuya picked up a slice of beef from his bento.
For humans, including half-humans and half-ghouls, this would absolutely be delicious.
But for ghouls, it was the complete opposite...
However, this was exactly the effect Ihei Byakuya wanted, so that he could collect evidence through various details.
"Eh? But..."
Uruka Minami's pretty face immediately flushed red.
This was no longer just a question of whether she could eat human food. There was also the issue that those chopsticks had already been used by Byakuya...
But seeing Byakuya's serious expression, Uruka Minami did not know whether she should say it out loud.
Because she did not know whether Ihei was completely unaware of this point, or whether he knew it and deliberately did this anyway...
If it was the first case, and she said it directly, both sides would become very awkward.
So at this moment, Uruka Minami's face showed hesitation and shyness, hoping that Ihei would notice it himself.
However, Ihei Byakuya's main focus was on Uruka Minami's ghoul identity and collecting evidence, and he completely failed to notice the issue of having already used those chopsticks.
As for Uruka Minami's reaction, in his eyes it was simply a moment of flustered hesitation.
"It is really tasty. You do not want to try?"
Ihei Byakuya said again.
"All right..."
Uruka Minami neither wanted to appear unable to eat normal food, nor did she want to make things too awkward between them, so she reluctantly accepted.
She lightly brushed aside the hair by her cheek, then ate the slice of beef that Byakuya had picked up for her.
[Ding! The host has achieved an "indirect kiss" with Uruka Minami. Reward obtained: system points x3!]
"...?"
Hearing this system notification, Ihei Byakuya suddenly realized what had happened.
He seemed to have done something a bit improper...
After that, Uruka Minami not only did not show any nauseated or disgusted reaction, she instead looked as if she was quite enjoying herself, slowly chewing and savoring it.
Seeing that Uruka Minami showed no discomfort at all, Ihei Byakuya thought that it seemed she had already learned how to "pretend to eat."
The so-called "pretending to eat" was exactly as the name suggested. For ghouls to integrate into human society, they had to learn to pretend to eat, first swallowing the food directly without chewing, then pretending to chew.
Ordinary people would not notice anything unusual, after all, no normal person would forcibly pry open your mouth to check how you were eating.
After that, they would have to induce vomiting and throw it up before the food was digested. Otherwise, human food would cause harm to a ghoul's body, simply put, making them weak.
So even though Uruka Minami looked like she was savoring it right now, in reality, at the very moment it entered her mouth, she had already swallowed it directly.
This way, at least her taste buds would not be stimulated by the disgusting flavor and cause nausea, and nothing abnormal would show on the surface.
"It really is very tasty, but I will just eat bread. I have been controlling my figure recently."
The smile on Uruka Minami's face looked slightly awkward.
Eating normal food was not a problem for her, as long as she pretended to eat, but she was a bit bothered by the fact that Ihei's chopsticks had already been used.
That was a bit too intimate, was it not...
Although Uruka Minami had indeed approached Ihei Byakuya more deliberately because she was wary of the suddenly transferred student, probing whether he was one of her own kind.
One had to know that ghouls also had something similar to a "territorial instinct." Most ghouls had their own "feeding grounds," which were their personal hunting areas.
For example, a ghoul could not casually enter another ghoul's "feeding ground" to prey on humans, otherwise it would inevitably lead to a bloody fight.
The stronger the ghoul, the wider their "feeding ground" usually was.
As the strongest ghoul in the 13th Ward, Uruka Minami's feeding ground certainly was not limited to just this school.
If Ihei Byakuya were also a ghoul and preyed on humans within Uruka Minami's feeding ground, then Uruka Minami would definitely eliminate him.
As for the identity of a ghoul investigator, Uruka Minami had no suspicion in that regard.
In the perception of most ghouls, it was unlikely for CCG to have such young underage investigators. Even if there were, they were probably very weak and not worth paying attention to.
But what Uruka Minami did not expect was that she had only slightly and deliberately approached Ihei, and he already seemed to be...
"Is that so? Minami is already so slim, and you still need to control your figure?"
Ihei Byakuya said.
He also did not plan to continue picking food for Uruka Minami.
Because he already knew that she could use the trick of "pretending to eat," so giving her more food would not yield any evidence.
And he also realized that his earlier behavior had been somewhat improper, and belatedly understood what that hint of shyness on Uruka Minami's face earlier had been about...
"Of course I do. Ihei really does not understand a girl's thoughts very well, does he?"
Uruka Minami immediately said.
"Yes, it seems so..."
After Uruka Minami said this, Byakuya suddenly thought of how Yoshimura Eto had inexplicably sulked at him this morning.
Seen this way, he really did not understand girls' thoughts very well...
Even as a transmigrator who already understood Yoshimura Eto's personality and experiences quite well, he had still been left completely confused by what happened this morning.
Afterward, Uruka Minami still used the method of "pretending to eat" to finish the bag of bread she had bought from the cafeteria.
Then she went to the restroom under the pretext of going to the bathroom, and induced vomiting to throw up all the food she had just eaten.
When she returned, there was nothing unusual about Uruka Minami at all.
"It seems class is about to start. Let us go back to the classroom."
Uruka Minami said.
"Mm."
Ihei Byakuya also packed up the empty bento box.
On the way back to the classroom together with Byakuya, Uruka Minami was thinking about some things.
She was thinking that since it could now be confirmed that Ihei was not a ghoul, should she appropriately reduce contact with him from now on?
Otherwise, if Ihei really fell for her, that would not be good...