Walking on the way home after school, Uruka Minami was already a little absent-minded.
She was forcibly restraining herself. Even so, when she smelled the streets filled with the scent of human flesh, she felt like she could not help but start drooling...
She had endured such experiences many times before, so she knew very clearly that she absolutely would not last until tomorrow. When that time came, she would definitely go mad in the classroom and injure people indiscriminately.
So she decided that she had to prey today, even if there was the risk of being discovered by the CCG...
However, Uruka Minami still chose rationally to endure until night before going out to hunt, doing her best to reduce the risk of being discovered by ghoul investigators.
Uruka Minami lay at home until late at night, using sleep to resist hunger, yet even so she was tormented to the point where it was difficult to fall asleep.
...
After 10 p.m. late at night.
Uruka Minami dragged her weak body outside. Being on the verge of her limit, she even forgot to bring her pumpkin head mask, and left the house in a dazed, sleepwalking-like state.
Almost instinctively, she arrived at a dark alley with only faint lighting. Places like this were hunting grounds that ghouls liked very much.
Because her mind was in chaos, Uruka Minami, walking slowly forward, did not notice that someone was following her from behind.
Of course, the one tailing her was not Ihei Byakuya...
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind Uruka Minami.
This person wore a white mask that covered the upper half of the face above the nose, had short blond hair, and was dressed in black clothing.
A textbook ghoul appearance.
Just like how Uruka Minami usually wore a pumpkin head mask when going out to hunt, almost all ghouls had their own masks, so that witnesses would not see their true appearance during combat.
"Little girl, what are you wandering around here for so late at night~?"
As this cheerful voice sounded, the person directly grabbed Uruka Minami's neck from behind with one hand and lifted her up.
"...?!"
Only then did Uruka Minami realize that she seemed to have been targeted by another ghoul.
And it was even a ghoul she was familiar with, one of her main competitors in District 13.
Named Kato Sumiharu, he ran a barbershop in District 13 and worked as a barber, but his true identity was one of the few A-rank ghouls in District 13...
Kato Sumiharu usually cut hair for humans and blended well into human society. Uruka Minami also often visited that barbershop under the guise of being human.
"Why haven't you come to get a haircut recently? I really missed you, so much that I couldn't help wanting to eat you~"
Kato Sumiharu sniffed Uruka Minami's hair from behind. He had always been obsessed with the smell of human hair, and every time after cutting a human customer's hair, he would eat the customer's hair.
And Uruka Minami's hair drove him nearly insane, so her not going to get a haircut for such a long time completely stimulated his predatory desire.
Although Uruka Minami often met Kato Sumiharu as a ghoul while wearing the pumpkin head mask, her body contained a large amount of human blood, and long-term interaction with humans at school made it impossible for Kato Sumiharu to distinguish her scent.
He had always regarded her as an ordinary human customer.
Feeling suffocated, Uruka Minami immediately grabbed Kato Sumiharu's hand with both hands, trying to pry it open.
But in her current state, her body was extremely weak, and her strength was so low that she was completely unable to resist.
"It's over..."
Uruka Minami's expression was pained, and despair immediately arose in her heart.
Of all times, she had run into that barber now...
She was not only starving to the extreme, but her Kakuhou injury had not yet healed, making this the weakest state she had ever been in.
Even if she forcibly released her kagune, she would still not be a match for that barber. After all, he was an A-rank ghoul.
If she were in normal condition, she definitely would not fear this guy.
"Come on, let me taste just how delicious your body really is~"
Kato Sumiharu licked his lips, looking greedy.
Although his words sounded somewhat suggestive, he simply meant it literally, wanting to eat Uruka Minami as food.
Knowing that there was no longer any possibility of survival, in her moment of despair, Uruka Minami instead smiled in relief.
Just these past days, she had still been diligently preparing for the upcoming exams. It was just a pity that she would no longer have the chance to continue going to school...
Kato Sumiharu opened his mouth, planning to eat her alive. For ghouls, fresh human flesh was undoubtedly the most delicious, and it could also maximize the activity of the Rc cells in their bodies.
At this critical moment, as Uruka Minami's consciousness was about to fade, a familiar figure suddenly appeared before her eyes. It was the face of Ihei Byakuya.
Ihei Byakuya...?
Uruka Minami's first reaction was that she was hallucinating.
In reality, this was not an illusion, but the living, breathing Ihei Byakuya.
"Who is it?!"
Kato Sumiharu was nearly startled by the sudden appearance of the figure.
But upon smelling the scent and realizing it was another human, and one who even looked like a brat, he immediately relaxed again.
"..."
Ihei Byakuya said nothing. The only response he gave Kato Sumiharu was his fist.
Byakuya's fist was covered in the power of "earthquakes," with a faint white glow enveloping the entire fist.
As his fist slammed into Kato Sumiharu's abdomen, the earthquake power instantly erupted.
"?"
After realizing the opponent was human, Kato Sumiharu had already grown careless and underestimated him. He never expected that this human brat would dare to attack him head-on, and even bare-handed.
Therefore, he had no defenses at all and took this punch head-on.
"Boom!"
The earthquake power erupted from Kato Sumiharu's abdomen.
"Gahhh--?!"
Kato Sumiharu immediately shot backward like an arrow released from a bow, his body bent into a twisted angle as he flew back, blood spraying out of his mouth.
[Ding! The host has defeated the A-rank ghoul [Barber], reward obtained: System Points *2!]
Uruka Minami, who was about to fall to the ground, was caught by Ihei Byakuya with quick reflexes.
And it was in a princess carry posture, purely because it was more convenient that way.
[Ding! The host has achieved a "princess carry" with Uruka Minami, reward obtained: System Points *1!]
"Ihei Byakuya...?"
Only then did Uruka Minami realize that this did not seem to be her hallucination...
It seemed she had just been saved by Ihei Byakuya...?
.....
Author's Note: There is actually a bit of a logical issue with the setting regarding Uruka Minami in this chapter, but the original work's setting is the same, and there is no need for me to patch things up for the original author.