By now, the subway had arrived at Ward 23 station.
After waiting briefly at the station, the full group assembled.
However, Arima and the other Squad Zero members weren't meeting them here—like yesterday, they would be waiting at the Ward 24 entrance.
So once everyone gathered, they immediately set off for Ward 24.
"Amaha-san."
When Byakuya met Suzuya, Suzuya actually took the initiative to greet him this time.
His tone was a bit stiff—after all, he'd never interacted normally with other trainees at the Institute before.
"Good afternoon, Suzuya-san."
Byakuya responded in kind.
The two didn't exchange many words, just this simple greeting.
"You know he has serious violent tendencies. Why are you still willing to get close to him?"
Kurona spoke up without bothering to control her volume, addressing Byakuya directly.
Suzuya stood right behind Byakuya and naturally heard everything Kurona said.
Normally, he'd never care about such things. But hearing Kurona say this to Byakuya, he inexplicably felt the urge to defend himself.
Still, he didn't speak up. Even if he explained, no one would believe him. The Academy director had already issued a formal reprimand.
"I know that's what everyone says, but I don't actually think Suzuya-san did those things."
Byakuya shared his perspective.
He couldn't directly say he'd witnessed Mutsuki killing cats with his own eyes, or that Tokage was covering for Mutsuki.
First, he had no evidence, so no one would believe him. Second, the matter now involved the Academy director.
The director probably didn't know the truth either—he'd simply believed what Tokage told him.
But without evidence to refute Tokage's account, stepping forward would only antagonize quite a few people, the director included.
Of course, with Byakuya's strength, he didn't need to fear them. But if he revealed his full abilities, the Washuu Clan would definitely take notice. Getting on their radar prematurely would seriously hamper his future plans.
It was true he could protect himself, but he couldn't exactly spend every day hiding and laying low while the Washuu Clan launched endless pursuit—just like they'd done to Yoshimura years ago. That would be too annoying.
So until he'd grown strong enough, Byakuya just wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble. That's why he'd immediately turned and left the moment he'd spotted Mutsuki and Tokage that day.
"?!"
Suzuya was startled by Byakuya's words.
He'd never even tried to defend himself, yet Byakuya believed he wasn't responsible?
"You... you're joking, right? The director already made an official announcement. Are you saying you don't believe the director?"
Kurona sounded surprised.
"I know about that, but I still don't think Suzuya-san would do something like that. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character."
Byakuya maintained his position.
"Since you claim to be such a good judge, what kind of person am I in your eyes?"
The moment she finished speaking, Kurona quickly added: "And you're not allowed to say 'cute' anymore!"
"So cute, yet she won't let me say she's cute. That's kind of cute."
Byakuya said with a slight smile.
Kurona's face immediately flushed, her voice carrying a hint of frustration: "I told you not to say 'cute'!"
"Okay, okay."
Byakuya stopped teasing her, his tone turning serious: "Then... starved for affection."
"Starved for affection?"
Kurona hadn't expected that answer.
"Yes. That's what my intuition tells me."
Byakuya said this with a completely straight face.
He could barely keep from cracking up—he felt like some kind of fortune-teller spouting nonsense.
Of course, it wasn't actually intuition. It was his "god's-eye view" analysis of Kurona.
More precisely, both Kurona and Nashiro were equally starved for affection. They'd lost their biological father when they were very young, and their mother wasn't even mentioned in the original story.
Later, Dr. Kanou had forcibly taken over the Yasuhisa household. He'd probably spun some lies to the young Kurona and Nashiro, and the two sisters—having lost family early and lacking parental love—came to see Kanou as their "father." They obeyed him in everything, even willingly undergoing artificial half-ghoul experimentation.
It was obvious they were starved for affection.
"Your intuition is wrong. I'm not starved for anything."
Kurona refused to admit it—or perhaps she simply hadn't realized it herself.
Byakuya just smiled and didn't press further. "Whether you're starved for affection or not doesn't really matter. The point is that Kurona-san is cute. That's what I really wanted to say."
"You—you're doing it again!"
Kurona's face went red in an instant, her usual cool demeanor completely gone.
Meanwhile, Suzuya wasn't paying attention to Byakuya and Kurona's conversation. He was thinking that if Amaha-san really believed in him like that, maybe he could find an opportunity to properly explain what happened.
He didn't care whether others believed him or not. He just hoped Amaha-san would believe what he had to say.
...
Same location as yesterday—Byakuya and his group met up with the full Squad Zero contingent, preparing to enter Ward 24.
The Squad Zero members still wore their matching white combat uniforms—apparently the unit's signature attire.
Other CCG investigators didn't dress so distinctively, typically wearing casual clothes or formal suits. Standing out too much would make it harder to catch ghouls. Unlike Squad Zero, which possessed overwhelming strength that made subtlety unnecessary.
"Amaha-san!"
Shio Ihei waved the moment he spotted Byakuya.
"You two have gotten pretty close already."
Yusa Arima remarked from nearby.
"Shio's always been like that. Though he does seem noticeably warmer toward Amaha-san than most people."
Rikai Souzu commented flatly.
"Well, he'll probably be our colleague soon enough. Nothing wrong with building rapport early."
Koori Ui smiled faintly.
In his assessment, given Byakuya's performance, he'd most likely graduate at the top of his class and join the CCG—unless someone even more prodigious existed among his peers, which Koori Ui considered unlikely.
Byakuya also had tremendous room for growth. Koori Ui estimated that Byakuya could potentially reach Associate Special Class in the future—and that was his conservative estimate.