"Ahh~ That felt good."
After cursing Byakuya who-knows-how-many times, Furuta's expression instantly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
He seamlessly shifted to contemplating his plans, his focused demeanor almost schizophrenic.
Rize clearly knew now that he was behind the steel beam incident. Any future attempts would be exponentially harder.
Should he continue targeting Rize, or find someone else?
Rize was undoubtedly the ideal experimental subject, but capturing her again would be incredibly difficult. He'd need to catch her off guard and avoid alerting the Washuu Clan.
If he switched targets, it would have to be someone with Washuu bloodline—otherwise his ultimate "Dragon" objective couldn't be achieved.
The Washuu Clan had many "Breeders"—women with relatively pure bloodlines. Though not as pure as Rize's, they could still serve the purpose.
These were Furuta's considerations as he headed to class.
As for what had just happened with Byakuya and Rize—he'd already pushed it from his mind.
...
Meanwhile.
Byakuya feigned ignorance: "That guy just now—was he the one in the clown mask who attacked you?"
"Yes, that was him. His name is Nimura Furuta—someone I've known for a long time."
Rize nodded.
"Then why did he attack you?"
Byakuya continued asking.
"Who knows?"
Rize said casually.
She wasn't deliberately hiding anything—she genuinely didn't know.
If Furuta had been trying to drag her back to the Washuu Clan, other clan members would have shown up in Ward 20 by now.
But she hadn't detected any Washuu presence.
If Furuta had some other purpose, she couldn't guess what it was.
Regardless, he'd ambushed her—she wasn't going to let that go.
Rize never imagined Furuta's true goal was to turn her into experimental material. If she knew, she'd be even angrier.
"You mentioned before that you have many enemies. Your situation really is dangerous."
Byakuya said.
"So? Are you scared?"
Rize smiled faintly. "If you want to back out, there's probably still time."
"Not scared enough to back out. When I make a promise, I keep it."
Byakuya said evenly.
Next, they visited the campus library.
Rize got herself a library card and borrowed some books—all dark and heavy subject matter.
Since she couldn't hunt freely anymore, reading was her only remaining pleasure.
With her books tucked in her bag, she continued strolling the campus with Byakuya.
As they walked along a reservoir, Rize suddenly spoke: "Ghouls are supposed to be at the top of the food chain. Yet to survive, they've created all these rules—like timid lions binding themselves. What do you think, Byakuya? Isn't it both pathetic and laughable?"
The "rules" she referred to were those established by ghoul organizations that controlled each ward—like Anteiku in Ward 20.
Aside from Anteiku, other wards had similar regulations.
For example: don't encroach on other ghouls' feeding grounds, pay monthly "ward fees," hunt no more than one human per month, and leave no suspicious traces at the scene.
"...That may be true, but surviving isn't wrong. Ghouls follow those rules to avoid CCG investigators. Most ghouls aren't as strong as you."
Byakuya said. "Besides, you're in the same position now. If I didn't limit your hunting, you'd eventually have a whole squad of investigators after you—and you already have plenty of other enemies."
Rize didn't seem offended by his pushback. She mused: "That's what makes it laughable. Now I've become just like those weak ones."
"What's laughable about it? Everyone's just trying to survive. Of course, if you became strong enough to fear no enemy, you wouldn't need to restrain yourself."
Byakuya continued: "But I'm also human. I can't support you hunting people freely. And I want you to be safer."
"Mm... I just want to live more happily. After all, that's what I was born for."
Rize smiled softly. "Though I can't hunt freely anymore, I've discovered that reading books I enjoy has its own pleasures. And right now, what I'm most interested in pursuing is you, Byakuya."
That statement could easily be misunderstood, but Byakuya remained rational. He knew exactly what Rize was really after: "I think you're pursuing my flesh, not me."
"Same difference~"
Rize laughed.
"If you can truly find pleasures beyond hunting, that's for the best. The last thing you need right now is more enemies. Once investigators start targeting you in force, you'll be in real trouble."
Byakuya said calmly.
He knew hunting wasn't Rize's only source of enjoyment.
After all, she'd lived in Ward 11 before coming to Ward 20, and had left because she'd grown bored—even though there were still plenty of humans to hunt there.
That proved she was utterly self-indulgent, doing everything purely for pleasure.
"Okay, okay. A few more lectures and you'll sound just like my nagging old father."
Rize said dismissively.
Her "old father" was Shachi—also known as Matasaka Kamishiro.
"I said I'd protect you, so naturally I need to take responsibility for you. Being a bit naggy is normal—though I don't think what I said counts as nagging."
Byakuya replied evenly.
Rize chuckled softly, then asked with sudden curiosity: "Why do you want to protect me anyway? Do you actually like me?"
Byakuya had given her an answer back when the steel beam incident happened, but she hadn't taken it seriously—she'd assumed he was just saying things.
So she wanted to confirm again.