At this point, Nimura Furuta held multiple identities simultaneously.
First, he was a support member of V.
V had roughly several dozen members, almost all possessing combat ability on par with Special Class investigators. Furuta's current strength wasn't noteworthy within the organization—hence his support role.
Of course, it was also possible Furuta was deliberately "playing weak." Being overlooked by V served his own plans better.
Second, he really was a student at Kamii University—genuinely enrolled and attending classes.
Third, he was a member of the Clowns organization, going by the name "Souta."
Fourth, he was a VIP at the "Ghoul Restaurant."
Despite all these identities, Furuta didn't truly belong to any faction. Everything he did served his own agenda.
This also proved that the steel beam incident wasn't primarily about revenge on Rize—or at least, revenge wasn't the main reason. His plan simply required sacrificing her.
Otherwise, why would he maintain so many identities? Just for fun?
That said, Rize was Furuta's childhood friend. To say he felt nothing for her would be untrue.
He had helped her escape the Washuu Clan once. Though that too might have been part of his long-term planning—without Rize leaving the clan, Kanou would never have had a chance to use her for experiments.
"Furuta?"
Just then, Rize noticed him too.
They weren't far apart, and Rize's sense of smell was exceptionally keen.
Since he'd been spotted, Furuta saw no point in hiding.
He noticed she'd called him "Furuta"—not "Nimura" like before. Clearly, during the steel beam incident, she'd seen him after all.
That operation had been a failure. Furuta had expected it to go smoothly, but Byakuya had turned back to save Rize at the last moment—even though the kid had nearly been killed and devoured by her just moments before.
Not only had the plan failed, but Rize now knew he was responsible. She'd be on guard against him from now on—any future attempts would be far more difficult.
He knew that when Rize fought seriously, she was actually quite powerful. He had no confidence in capturing her without tricks. After all, even if she couldn't win, she could escape—otherwise the Washuu Clan would have caught her long ago.
It was similar to how, in the original story's "Anteiku Raid Arc," Eto Yoshimura—despite being far stronger than her aging father, the "Non-Killing Owl"—still collaborated with Arima to use the CCG to corner Yoshimura. She wasn't confident she could capture him on her own.
As for why she wanted to capture her own father: by then, Rize (the original experimental material) had been rescued and hidden by Yomo. Eto needed a new source material for Kanou to continue creating artificial half-ghouls—to fulfill the wish she shared with Arima: placing a true "One-Eyed King" on the throne they'd prepared.
Yoshimura ended up becoming that new material, producing "Pineapple King" Seidou Takizawa and Koutarou Amon—both artificial half-ghouls...
"Rize, long time no see."
Furuta greeted her with a smile.
As if he'd done nothing wrong.
"Hehe~"
Rize didn't say much—just a soft, knowing laugh.
"By the way, who's this..."
Furuta turned to Byakuya. "Oh! I remember you—we met in the cafeteria before."
Byakuya internally noted how theatrical Furuta was being.
"Yeah. Didn't expect to run into you again so soon."
Byakuya said casually.
"You two already knew each other? What a coincidence."
Rize feigned surprise.
"But Rize, you're not a student here, are you? What brings you to campus? Don't tell me you missed me?"
Furuta was at it again.
This was just his personality—acting slightly unhinged on the surface...
"Not at all. If we hadn't bumped into you today, I might've forgotten you existed. I'm here with my boyfriend to look around."
Rize smiled sweetly.
Every word was a dagger, clearly intended as payback.
To drive the point home, she linked her arm through Byakuya's, demonstrating their relationship.
She had no intention of confronting Furuta about why he'd done what he did. Such naive questioning was pointless—he'd just play dumb anyway.
"..."
Byakuya glanced at Rize, somewhat surprised.
Was she really going to provoke Furuta like this?
"Ahaha, well then, I hope you and your boyfriend have a lovely time."
Furuta said, his smile strained.
"Thanks. Goodbye, Furuta."
With that, Rize led Byakuya away.
As they departed, Furuta silently walked over to a nearby tree. One hand against the trunk, the other clenched into a fist.
His expression darkened, turning somewhat twisted. Under his breath, he repeatedly cursed Byakuya: "Die die die die die die die die die..."
Though Furuta had this sort of personality, it wouldn't affect his commitment to his plans.
No matter how much it bothered him to see Rize with another man, it only gave him another excuse for his agenda—letting him convince himself he was doing this for revenge, numbing his own heart.
Just like in the original story when Furuta had rambled to Kaneki about wanting to marry Rize, have lots of children, and even invite Kaneki to be his best man.
But that was pure fantasy. He'd turned Rize into the "Dragon Core"—marriage was impossible. He couldn't even touch her.
The real Furuta had long since given up on life, despairing of this world.
He wanted either the world to end, or his own death to pave the way for Kaneki's supreme throne.