Early morning sunlight poured warmly through the curtains, gently waking the curled-up girl. Hinami sleepily opened her eyes, saw her mother's peaceful face beside her, and felt tempted to drift back to sleep—
"Mom!!"
Hinami's sudden cry instantly jolted the lightly-sleeping Fueguchi Ryouko awake. Her first thought was that the man had done something to her daughter, but seeing Hinami's clothing intact, she relaxed slightly.
Thank goodness…
"Mom, you—where are your clothes?!"
Before she could fully relax, Hinami's trembling voice froze Ryouko in place. Last night, noticing the frightened expression on her daughter's face as she slept, Ryouko had instinctively hugged her closely, eventually drifting into sleep herself. At the time, she'd only been wrapped loosely in a towel. After an entire night, that fragile covering had inevitably fallen open.
Japan's overly advanced "education" led to some strange misunderstandings. Fueguchi Ryouko only felt embarrassment at accidentally exposing herself in front of her daughter, but Hinami's face twisted in horror, instantly arriving at the worst possible conclusion.
"You bastard!!"
"Hinami!!"
Watching her daughter rush out of the room, Ryouko reflexively tried to stop her. But due to the RC suppressants in her body, she stumbled and collapsed as soon as she stood. Her sudden fall made Hinami glance back, eyes filling with tears at the sight of her mother sprawled helplessly on the bed.
That bastard—he actually did something horrible to her mother!!
At that exact moment, Lancer emerged from the converted study, drawn by the noise from the bedroom, and collided face-to-face with Hinami.
"Oh, you're awake? Where's your mother?"
In Hinami's eyes, Lancer—shirt loosely open, covered in sweat, breathing heavily (from training)—looked exactly like a villain. Seeing him staring with what she interpreted as a filthy grin (purely subjective), she instantly charged at him, her eyes turning crimson kakugan.
"I'll kill you!!"
Lancer, seeing the enraged Hinami lunging fiercely toward him, instinctively frowned.
Could she have mistakenly believed he killed her father?
But no matter the misunderstanding, Lancer wasn't about to die here. Without hesitation, he grabbed Hinami's wrists and used his weight advantage to pin her to the floor.
BANG!
Though Lancer's strongest suit was his spear skills, as a CCG Investigator he'd naturally undergone basic hand-to-hand training. Hinami might be a Ghoul, but under the RC suppressants, her strength barely exceeded that of an ordinary girl.
Pinned beneath him, Hinami glared upward with burning red eyes, practically spitting fire as if wanting to devour him whole.
"I'll never forgive you!"
BANG!!
At that very moment, the apartment's front door burst open with a strange sound. Amon Koutarou, pistol drawn, stormed in alongside several other CCG Investigators.
"Lancer! Are you okay—uh… Did I come at a bad time?"
All dormitory doors at CCG housing had an "emergency open" function just in case. Usually, no one would casually use it—doing so on your own door might only require some paperwork or a fine, but forcibly opening another Investigator's door was asking for a lifelong grudge.
But Amon Koutarou, following direct orders from his superior, had been informed there were two captured Ghouls inside Lancer's apartment. Hearing banging noises and words like "eat you alive," he'd immediately activated the emergency override.
Yet the scene before him was entirely beyond his imagination:
Lancer, shirt torn open and dripping sweat, panting heavily (from training), had pinned a small girl to the floor, holding her wrists and pressing her thighs down with his legs. No matter how one looked at this, wasn't it clearly a crime in progress?
If not for the girl's unmistakably red kakugan identifying her as a Ghoul, everyone present would've instantly tackled Lancer to the ground and cuffed him.
But it didn't end there.
"Hinami! Wait! It's not what you think!"
Accompanying the frantic female voice, a bare, slender arm reached out from Lancer's bedroom. Only her shoulder and arm were visible, but the lack of clothing was obvious. Clearly, she was either naked or barely covered at all.
Instantly, silence swallowed the room.
Hinami went quiet at hearing her mother's desperate voice. Amon Koutarou and the other Investigators fell silent, minds racing with scandalous assumptions. As for Lancer—his brain was overwhelmed by a single frantic thought:
I'm done for. How am I ever going to explain this?!
Lancer wasn't stupid; looking around at his colleagues' stunned faces, he knew exactly what they must be imagining. After all, he'd struggled all night to keep similar fantasies out of his own head. Who'd have thought reality would ironically end up aligning with those twisted imaginations—but without any of the pleasant parts, and instead adding a crowd of unwanted witnesses?
"Ahem! Rank 2 Investigator Lancer clearly still has some…issues to deal with. Let's wait outside and give him a moment."
With that, Amon Koutarou grasped the door handle and gently closed the door.
Looks like I'm really done for—socially!
No, wait! I have to try to save myself somehow!
Just as the door closed behind Amon, Lancer flung it open again, desperately grabbing Amon's shoulders.
"Amon-san! Listen to my explanation—"
"Cough, cough! Lancer, don't worry. I saw nothing. Just quickly finish what you're doing… Is ten minutes enough? Investigator Mado is still waiting. Oh, and here—put these on those two Ghouls. They're explosive collars from the research department."
Holding the collar-like devices in his hand, Lancer felt the piercing stares of the other Investigators behind Amon intensify. He opened his mouth, hoping to clarify further, but Amon merely shook his head.
"Ahem! We're short on time. I'll explain the situation to the others. You should probably…put some clothes on first…"
With a profoundly "understanding" look, Amon gently pushed Lancer back into his apartment and shut the door behind him.
Click.
As the door locked shut, Lancer clearly overheard Amon speaking quietly to the others outside:
"Everyone, I'm sure this was merely an unfortunate accident. For the sake of the CCG's reputation, let's not spread this around, alright…?"
It was over. Completely and utterly over—socially, anyway.
Not even jumping into a river would clear this misunderstanding.
Amon! You bastard, you've completely ruined me!
---
T/N: LMAOOOOOOOO also sorry if i keep mixing up his fucking rank :sob: author switches HOW HE REFERSSSS TO HIMMM LIKE SOMETIMES IT'D BE THIRD CLASS (BECAUSE OF RANK 2 IS CONSIDERED THIRD CLASS) THEN SOMETIMES ITS RANK 2 AND THEN I GET THEM MIXED UP AND DO SECOND CALSS SFJOAOFASOFJASF