"Ahem... Irimi-san, please stop teasing me."
Touka's cheeks reddened slightly—clearly Irimi had hit the mark.
"Touka-chan is so easy to read."
Irimi chuckled softly.
"Honestly..."
Touka sighed helplessly.
If Irimi-san hadn't suddenly brought up the topic, she wouldn't have even thought about "romance."
Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure what kind of guy she'd even like...
Shaking the thought away, Touka lightly slapped her own cheeks.
Now wasn't the time for this—she had customers to serve!
...
The next day.
Byakuya took the subway early to the CCG Academy in Ward 1.
His first class of the morning was actually a free period, but arriving early couldn't hurt.
With time to spare, he wandered around the Academy grounds.
When he entered a small grove of trees, he happened to spot something that caught his attention.
In the distance, he could make out two figures. One was a short-haired girl with delicate features and wheat-colored skin—he recognized her as Tooru Mutsuki.
Though Mutsuki had deliberately cut her hair short and wore binding wraps to pass as male among her classmates, she was actually female.
She was crouched down, apparently fiddling with something.
The other figure standing nearby was Tokage.
A middle-aged man already going bald, with a massive scar running from his forehead to his chin on the left side of his face. The injury had disfigured his features—courtesy of "Jason" Yamori.
Of course, if Tokage hadn't spent day after day brutally torturing Yamori in the first place, Yamori would never have scarred him like that.
If Byakuya's guess was right, this was the scene where Tokage discovered Mutsuki killing stray cats.
Focusing his enhanced vision, Byakuya confirmed it—Mutsuki had just killed a cat and was now cutting out its tongue. She had a disturbing habit of collecting cat tongues.
"Hey... what are you doing there?"
Tokage approached Mutsuki.
"..."
Mutsuki didn't respond. She remained focused on removing the cat's tongue.
"You..."
Tokage stepped closer and saw exactly what Mutsuki was doing. His expression shifted immediately.
By all rights, as a combat instructor, Tokage should have reprimanded Mutsuki for this behavior.
But instead of scolding her, he began offering guidance.
"You know... you should take better care of that knife. The oils will corrode it otherwise. Huh, who knew cat tongues were so greasy."
He completely ignored the fact that Mutsuki had killed a cat.
"...!"
Even Mutsuki was startled by Tokage's reaction.
She didn't care about being discovered—but being praised instead of punished threw her off.
[Ding! Host has triggered a quest. Initiating Divine Selection!]
[Option 1: Pretend you saw nothing and leave before Mutsuki and Tokage notice you. Reward: 1 Fusion Point!]
[Option 2: Go deeper into the grove and make sure both Mutsuki and Tokage know a third party witnessed this. Reward: 10 Fusion Points!]
[Option 3: Walk over, condemn Mutsuki's actions, and threaten to report her to the principal. Reward: 20 Fusion Points!]
Looking at the options, Byakuya didn't hesitate. He immediately chose Option 1.
Before either Mutsuki or Tokage noticed him, he quietly slipped away as if he'd seen nothing.
Sure, Option 3 offered decent points—but the aftermath wasn't worth it.
Both Mutsuki and Tokage were seriously disturbed individuals.
Tokage's reputation spoke for itself—he'd tortured Yamori so relentlessly that he'd broken him psychologically.
And Mutsuki? Her behavior in the original story was downright terrifying.
Yes, her childhood trauma—being abused by her parents—had warped her. But Byakuya still intended to steer clear.
Collecting cat tongues was just the beginning. Later, her obsession with Kaneki—or rather, Sasaki Haise—would spiral into full-blown yandere madness, complete with acts only a true obsessive would commit.
So Byakuya would rather forfeit those 20 Fusion Points than get entangled with these two. His strength meant he didn't fear them, but unnecessary complications were best avoided.
[Ding! Host has completed Option 1. Reward: 1 Fusion Point!]
Still...
Based on how things were unfolding, what came next would be Juuzou Suzuya getting framed.
Tokage not only praised Mutsuki's behavior but also gave her his own knife—and then covered for her by pinning the cat killings on Suzuya.
Suzuya was already an outcast who kept to himself, and his self-harming tendencies made him an easy scapegoat. No one questioned whether he might have violent tendencies.
...
According to the day's schedule:
Morning: A Quinque practical session.
Afternoon: A light combat training class.
Quinque training was Byakuya's main reason for being here.
At the training grounds, the equipment for today's lesson was already laid out—multiple Quinques stored inside a single case.
Byakuya had wondered how so many Quinques could fit in one container, but then he noticed they were all identical dagger-shaped weapons, small enough to mass-produce.
The combat instructor began his explanation: "Each of these Quinques is called 'Hiruko 1/76.' They're B-rated Quinques. The designation means 76 identical daggers were manufactured from the same kagune. For this class, you'll start with dagger-type Quinques."
Because daggers were compact and simple to make, they could be easily mass-produced.
Larger Quinques—scythes, spears, or ones that could shift between sword and shield forms—were far harder to produce. Most of those were one-of-a-kind, crafted from a single kagune.
It was the same combat instructor from the firearms session. He immediately handed one of the "Hiruko 1/76" daggers to Byakuya. "Amaha, you go first."
He'd taken a particular interest in Byakuya and wanted to see how the young man handled a Quinque.