Banjou's eyes went wide, bloodshot veins appearing.
He stared at Rize in utter disbelief. Why was Rize-san doing that to a human?!
They were about to kiss... almost there!
No!!
Meanwhile, Touka had also noticed what was happening with Rize.
Her expression turned to shock. What were these two doing? Were they actually going through with it?
Except for on television, Touka had never witnessed a kiss in real life.
Though Byakuya and Rize hadn't actually kissed yet, the trajectory made it seem imminent. She couldn't help but imagine what would happen next, causing a faint blush to creep across her cheeks.
"Oh my, my..."
Ryouko touched her face with a gentle smile.
Hinami was certainly old enough to understand what was happening. She shyly covered her eyes with her hands, but left a gap between her middle and ring fingers—clearly embarrassed yet curious.
By now, Byakuya had realized Rize was trying to cheat. He remained calm, though his eyelashes trembled slightly.
[Ding! Host has activated a mission. Divine Selection initiated!]
[Option 1: Lean back to dodge Rize, then teach this mischievous woman a lesson with a headbutt. Reward: 30 Fusion Points!]
[Option 2: Fight fire with fire—counter her cheating with something even more outrageous by poking Rize's eyes. Reward: 30 Fusion Points!]
[Option 3: Take the initiative and seize victory by kissing Rize's cheek first. Reward: 50 Fusion Points!]
Seeing the three options before him, Byakuya hesitated only briefly before making his choice.
He suddenly leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Rize's cheek.
Rize had thought she had Byakuya completely cornered. She never expected him to strike first.
The sudden surprise finally made Rize blink, her expression clearly showing a hint of bewilderment.
[Ding! Host has completed Option 3. Reward: 50 Fusion Points!]
"You lost."
Byakuya reminded her calmly.
"..."
Rize was momentarily speechless.
"Onii-chan is so mean..."
Hinami murmured, her cheeks flushed.
"Shameless."
Touka commented bluntly.
Ryouko simply smiled without saying anything.
As it happened, both Koma and Irimi were out, and Manager Yoshimura and Yomo had gone on their errand as well.
Today only Touka and the Fueguchi mother-daughter pair were at the coffee shop. Fortunately, there hadn't been many customers lately, so they could manage.
This was because the Ward 11 incident had caused such a stir that even Ward 20's ghouls mostly didn't dare venture outside, afraid of being eliminated by furious investigators.
"...It's not like that. She cheated first—I was just counterattacking."
Facing Hinami and Touka's accusations, Byakuya immediately defended himself.
"I'll kill you!"
Just then, Banjou let out a jealous, furious cry and swung his fist at Byakuya.
Byakuya had anticipated this guy might make a move. He simply tilted his head to dodge the punch, then casually drove his knee into Banjou's abdomen.
Though ghouls generally possessed superior physical abilities, Banjou was among the weakest of all ghouls—he couldn't even manifest his kagune.
Byakuya's knee strike, delivered with only moderate force, left Banjou curled up on the floor, dry-heaving in agony. At least he didn't pass out immediately.
The three subordinates looked resigned. Their strength wasn't much better than Banjou's, so they certainly weren't going to cause trouble here.
The trio's outfits were quite distinctive—all wearing the same style of clothing but in different colors: red, blue, and purple. Each had a number on the chest: "1," "2," and "3."
"Saw that coming."
"Sorry, our boss caused you trouble."
"..."
The subordinates apologized helplessly.
"It's fine."
Byakuya didn't mind. He glanced at Banjou curled up on the floor, then helped him up and onto the sofa to recover.
Despite his brutish appearance, this guy was actually quite decent—one of the few kind-hearted ghouls in this world.
Then Byakuya returned to his seat, waiting for the guy to heal on his own.
At that moment, Rize's voice came, somewhat eerie: "I'll remember what just happened..."
"You cheated first, you know."
Byakuya couldn't help but laugh.
Rize didn't care about the details. She only felt that not only had her teasing failed, but Byakuya had turned the tables on her—and that annoyed her greatly.
"Cough... cough cough..."
After a while, coughing sounds came from Banjou. He seemed to have mostly recovered.
Since his strength was so weak, his regeneration was also slower than other ghouls.
"Calmed down now?"
Byakuya asked.
Compared to before, Banjou was much more subdued.
Banjou nodded, then asked: "What's... your name?"
"Amaha Byakuya."
"Amaha, huh... You're strong. Much stronger than you look. Rize-san chose you probably because of that..."
Banjou seemed to have come to terms with things; his tone was quite calm.
More accurately, deep down he'd always known he wasn't worthy of Rize-san. He just tended to act impulsively and make a fool of himself.
"How should I put this... You might have the wrong idea about me and her..."
Before Byakuya could finish, Rize suddenly appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around his.
"What silly things is my darling saying?" Rize whispered in his ear. "Weren't you just flirting with me a moment ago~?"
Rize's breath tickled Byakuya's sensitive ears, making him uncomfortable.
Clearly, she was taking this opportunity to get "revenge" for being shown up earlier.
"..."
Byakuya was at a loss for words. After all, he really had done that.
Any last traces of hope in Banjou's heart were thoroughly crushed. Looking utterly defeated, unable to beat Byakuya in a fight, he could only weep with jealousy in his heart.
"Go on, what did Banjou-kun misunderstand? Was it my relationship with you?"
Rize continued pressing Byakuya, clearly not planning to let him off easy this time. The mischievous curve of her smile was definitely intentional.