"Probably because I've been training really diligently lately."
Byakuya said this with a completely straight face, spouting nonsense.
"Is that so? Your body is truly strange. If I were a scientist, I'd want to dissect you just to see what your internal structure looks like."
Rize smiled faintly.
"Alright, I've fulfilled my promise. Can you get off me now?"
Byakuya spoke up.
"What's the hurry? Let me clean up the remaining blood first."
Rize still showed no intention of releasing him.
She proceeded to lick away the blood around the wound.
Biting off a chunk of flesh naturally caused quite a bit of bleeding.
But Byakuya's wound was already healing, stopping the blood flow. The regeneration was almost visible to the naked eye.
Rize could see his wound repairing itself in real-time. The regeneration speed was comparable to an ordinary ghoul's.
If Byakuya's flesh and blood weren't genuinely delicious, she'd find it hard to believe a human could possess such regenerative abilities.
Even just licking the blood around his wound left an unforgettable taste.
Only after every last trace of blood was gone did Rize finally release him.
A short while later, Byakuya's wound had nearly finished healing.
"So starting tomorrow, are you going out hunting humans again?"
Byakuya asked Rize from where he sat on the bed.
"I've been considering it. It's dangerous, sure, but that's just my style."
Rize smiled lightly.
"..."
Byakuya was somewhat speechless.
Apparently Rize was still rather willful and rebellious, wanting to go gallivanting around even at a time like this.
Honestly, he didn't want to keep using his own body as leverage to restrain her. Getting bitten hurt quite a bit, and the whole thing felt like self-harm.
The corner of Rize's lips curved upward. "But if you can still satisfy my needs, I'll behave and listen to you."
Obviously, her previous statement was just setup. This was her real intention.
"Stop messing around. I'm not a masochist. I don't want you taking bites out of me whenever you feel like it."
Byakuya refused.
The system didn't react this time either.
Even if it had offered rewards, he might not have agreed—unless the payout was substantial. At least one or two hundred Fusion Points before he'd even consider it.
"Then how about this—just let me drink a tiny bit of blood occasionally."
Rize lowered her demands.
Byakuya's blood was equally delicious and could satisfy her hunger. Eating his flesh wasn't strictly necessary.
If she couldn't get full, Anteiku still had plenty of human corpses.
But for Rize, the issue had never been about getting full. It was about satisfying her appetite.
"Fine. But only when I'm willing."
Byakuya reluctantly agreed.
...
The next day.
Over the past several days, Byakuya and Rize had been visiting Anteiku regularly.
They often saw Ryouko and Hinami Fueguchi there.
Byakuya could feel Hinami's gaze lingering on him for extended periods, presumably because he still carried Asaki's scent.
But he couldn't exactly approach a girl he'd never met and start explaining things, so he pretended not to notice.
Each day he simply came here to read and drink coffee. There wasn't much else to do for entertainment—he didn't really have other hobbies.
When it was time, he'd leave and head home.
Right around then, Touka also got off work early.
She was accompanying Ryouko and Hinami somewhere.
Just as they were about to walk out the door, Hinami glanced back—and her eyes met Byakuya's. She hastily looked away in a panic.
"..."
Byakuya smiled with slight exasperation.
If Hinami had been bold enough to approach him directly, he would have been happy to answer her questions.
Afterward, Byakuya and Rize gathered their things and left Anteiku.
But halfway home, Byakuya suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.
It was Yamori—the same one he'd encountered not long ago.
Yamori's build and features were far too distinctive. Byakuya noticed him immediately.
"You saw him too, right? That's the 'Yamori' you mentioned before."
Rize spoke up.
"Yeah. Head home first. I have something to take care of."
"Alright. Be careful."
With that, Rize departed.
She wasn't particularly worried about Byakuya. Even she hadn't been able to get the better of him back then, so someone like Yamori was far from a threat.
Byakuya immediately headed toward Yamori's direction, but the man was quite far away and had already turned into a narrow alley.
...
Meanwhile, Yamori had ducked into this alley because he'd caught a familiar scent.
"You've really made me search high and low. Finally found you."
Looking at the three women before him, a cold sneer spread across Yamori's face. "That Asaki Fueguchi collaborated with CCG investigators. Made me lose face big time."
The three people in front of him were naturally Ryouko Fueguchi, Hinami Fueguchi, and Touka Kirishima.
These past days, Yamori had been operating in Ward 20, searching for Rize the Binge Eater while also hunting for Asaki's wife and daughter.
He'd never seen Asaki's family before, but the young woman and little girl in front of him carried Asaki's scent. That was confirmation enough.
As for the other girl in the work uniform—he'd just kill her too while he was at it.
"Who are you?"
Sensing hostile intent and detecting a ghoul's scent, Touka immediately grew wary.
She didn't recognize him at all. She'd never seen him in Ward 20 before.
Ryouko's face went deathly pale.
She'd never met Yamori, but she knew her husband had sent her and Hinami to Ward 20 specifically because Yamori had been targeting him.
The man before her had mentioned her husband by name and was clearly a ghoul. This was almost certainly that Yamori.
She'd heard from her husband that Yamori was terrifyingly powerful—an executive-level member of Aogiri Tree—and his methods against fellow ghouls were exceptionally cruel.
Even Hinami, who didn't fully understand the situation, was frightened by Yamori's savage appearance and hid behind her mother.