"How do I view Minami...?"
Ihei Byakuya's gaze sharpened. As expected, this guy was still thinking about Uruka Minami.
But that was normal. In the original work, until Uruka Minami's true identity was exposed, Fura Taishi had always harbored romantic fantasies about her.
At the same time, Uruka Minami, who saw Ihei and Fura leaving the classroom together, followed them shortly after.
Originally, she wanted to walk over and listen to what Ihei and Fura were talking about, and she just happened to hear Fura Taishi ask Byakuya that question.
"...!"
Uruka Minami froze slightly, and after reacting, she immediately hid behind a wall.
Only for this kind of topic, she wanted to secretly hear Ihei's true thoughts...
"Minami is my target."
At this moment, Ihei Byakuya said it bluntly.
That calm expression was as if he were stating something completely ordinary.
"What?! You..."
Fura Taishi was full of shock.
Upon hearing Ihei Byakuya's words, Fura Taishi's first reaction was that he meant a "romantic target."
He had never considered the possibility that Uruka Minami might be a ghoul, and it was even more impossible for him to associate Uruka Minami with being the mission target of Ihei Byakuya, a ghoul investigator.
So his expression changed drastically in an instant, because he felt that his chances were extremely slim...
Fura Taishi was not the type to have blind confidence. He also knew very well what a mess he himself had become after falling into self-degradation. Therefore, even though he had already begun to secretly love Uruka Minami long ago, he did not dare to actively pursue or confess.
One reason was that he felt Minami was far too outstanding. The second reason was that he also knew there were countless boys who had already been rejected by Minami.
Recently, he had slowly stopped skipping classes so much, wanting to perform a bit better in front of Minami.
Until Ihei Byakuya suddenly transferred in, his hope became slimmer and slimmer...
Setting everything else aside, last night Fura Taishi had personally witnessed Ihei Byakuya's extraordinary strength, as well as the composure and calmness completely incompatible with his age when facing dangerous ghouls.
Minami would surely think Ihei Byakuya was more outstanding...
"..."
Meanwhile, hiding behind the wall, Uruka Minami's cheeks flushed red.
Although she knew that Ihei's meaning should be "mission target" in a work sense, her heart still could not help but race just now.
"What's wrong?"
Facing Fura Taishi's shocked reaction, Ihei Byakuya asked expressionlessly.
"N... nothing..."
A sense of retreat arose in Fura Taishi's heart. "There's nothing else. Let's go back to the classroom."
"Mm."
Ihei Byakuya nodded slightly.
Hearing that Ihei and Fura were going back to the classroom, Uruka Minami immediately fled from this place to avoid being discovered listening behind the wall just now...
When coming out from the corner, Fura Taishi had no idea at all that Uruka Minami had just been listening behind the wall.
Ihei Byakuya, however, glanced toward a certain spot. That was precisely the wall behind which Uruka Minami had just been hiding.
He had actually noticed Uruka Minami listening from behind long ago. More precisely, he noticed it at the moment he said, "Minami is my target"...
...
Over the next few days, nothing happened.
Although what Ihei Byakuya needed to do now was to rely on Uruka Minami's means to deal with [Centipede], Uruka Minami was not always able to contact [Centipede].
After all, she and [Centipede] were competitors in the 13th Ward...
Considering this, Ihei Byakuya did not urge Uruka Minami to look for [Centipede].
Tonight in the 13th Ward was not very peaceful, because delinquent youths were once again riding motorcycles and revving them loudly through the streets.
Several motorcycles roared through the streets, disturbing the public, with police cars chasing after them.
"Those motorcycles over there! Stop right now!"
But they had no intention of slowing down.
They even made faces at the police cars behind them and shouted provocations.
On one of the motorcycles sat Ryou and Sasada Aki.
The leader of the delinquent trio, Fura Taishi, was not present.
"Quick, go into the small road ahead and shake them off. Be careful not to fall."
Ryou gave a reminder and then prepared to start drifting.
At that very moment, the motorcycles roared past the street where Fura Taishi was.
"Vroooom!"
Hearing the ear-splitting roar, Fura Taishi immediately turned his head to look.
At first glance, he saw Sasada Aki.
"Aki...?"
Fura Taishi immediately felt a headache.
"That idiot... he's still messing around with that moron Ryou. Racing like this is basically looking for death. If something happens, it'll be too late to regret it..."
"No, I have to go talk to them."
Fura Taishi felt that he had to do something and did not want to just watch Ryou and Aki keep messing around like this.
And among the crowd, there were also many voices expressing dissatisfaction with that group of "bosozoku."
After all, the noise produced by the "bosozoku" was truly irritating.
Among them, a strange figure flashed by...
...
After Ryou and the others entered the small roads and weaved around, they successfully shook off the police cars.
They also stopped here to rest, feeling quite satisfied.
"This feels so damn good. Those bastards still wanted to catch us. They couldn't keep up at all, hahaha!"
A blond delinquent with a rooster-like hairstyle laughed arrogantly.
"Let's go race another round later. For now, let's go buy some drinks."
Another buzz-cut man with a look of "wisdom" and nearing baldness said, "Ryou, Aki, what do you want to drink?"
"Soda."
"Soda."
Ryou and Sasada Aki replied almost in unison.
The buzz-cut man and the blond man then ran off to buy drinks.
A moment later, Ryou, who was smoking, asked Sasada Aki sitting beside him, "...Aki, I haven't seen Taishi much lately. Did something happen?"
"I don't know... I just know that Taishi seems to actually be going to school for classes now."
Sasada Aki replied.
"Seriously? I already felt something was off before, and now he's even attending classes properly?"
Ryou found it hard to believe. "Back then, he suddenly started hanging out with us because he gave up baseball. Did something else happen recently that hit him hard again?"
At this moment, Uruka Minami's face suddenly appeared in Sasada Aki's mind. "That wimp probably fell for some girl. Let him die for all I care, hmph!"
At the same time, the buzz-cut man and the blond man were in front of a vending machine not far away.
Just as they were about to insert coins to buy four bottles of soda.
"Whoosh-!"
Something indistinct suddenly flashed before their eyes, accompanied by the sound of air being torn.
"Clatter!"
In the quiet of the night, the coin fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.
Under the dim light, within the darkness, a terrifying pumpkin head appeared...