"Touka, what happened just now?"
Yomo asked.
"Aogiri Tree just sent some people over. One of them was that little brat Ayato."
Touka briefly explained the situation. "But Amaha-san already drove them off. Everything's fine now."
"Ayato..."
As Ayato's uncle, Yomo naturally cared about his nephew.
"Amaha-kun, thank you for protecting Anteiku."
Yoshimura expressed his gratitude to Byakuya.
It just so happened that only Touka, little Hinami, and Ryouko-san were left at the shop today. He hadn't expected Aogiri Tree's people to arrive so quickly. If Byakuya hadn't been here, he couldn't imagine what might have happened...
"It was nothing."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
Touka was surprised that the manager had directly revealed the secret of Anteiku to Byakuya. "Manager, he's a..."
She wanted to emphasize that Byakuya was a CCG ghoul investigator, but after some hesitation, she didn't finish the sentence. After all, Byakuya had just protected all of Anteiku, and before that, he'd saved her and Ryouko-san and Hinami.
He truly was completely different from other Doves.
Seeing that Touka didn't complete her sentence, Yoshimura simply smiled gently.
It seemed Touka was also gradually coming to trust that young man.
Yoshimura felt the same way. Aogiri Tree's people had already been here, and Byakuya-kun had helped Anteiku drive them off. It seemed likely that Byakuya-kun already knew this place was Anteiku.
So whether he explicitly identified this as Anteiku or not didn't really matter anymore.
At that moment, Touka also came to a similar realization.
She suddenly remembered that during the confrontation, both that brat Ayato and the drag queen had mentioned Rize's identity as the "Binge Eater." Byakuya had definitely heard it, yet he seemed to have no reaction whatsoever.
Thinking about this, Touka glanced over at Byakuya and Rize, only to find them acting as if nothing had happened at all.
The more she saw, the more curious she became. What exactly was going on between these two?
But she still didn't go over to ask directly, because that would make it seem like she cared too much...
"Amaha-kun, almost everyone here at Anteiku is a ghoul. Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Yoshimura suddenly asked.
"Not at all. I believe everyone can get along well. There's nothing to feel uncomfortable about."
Byakuya smiled as he spoke.
"That's good to hear. You're welcome to come enjoy coffee here anytime."
Yoshimura said kindly.
Yomo's expression also held a hint of emotion. Before this, he'd never imagined a ghoul investigator would be willing to coexist peacefully with them.
"I'm certain now—you really are completely different from other Doves. If you don't mind, you're welcome to visit us here anytime."
Byakuya's attitude had touched something in Touka. She smiled as she spoke to him.
"Of course I don't mind."
Byakuya nodded.
...
Ward 11.
The Bin Brothers brought Ayato back to Aogiri Tree's base. Nico had wandered off somewhere and apparently hadn't returned with them.
The base was a large abandoned building, now serving as Aogiri Tree's temporary headquarters in Ward 11. Numerous ghouls were resting inside.
All of them wore dark red robes and identical skull-shaped masks.
Three Aogiri Tree executives were positioned along the inner wall.
Tatara sat in a chair, his posture suggesting he was Aogiri Tree's leader.
Noro stood beside him. Another executive—"Eto"—sat obediently on the floor, her small frame appearing frail and delicate, her entire body wrapped in white bandages.
Seeing that Ayato had been carried in by the Bin Brothers and that the "Binge Eater" was nowhere in sight, Tatara's brow furrowed slightly. "What happened? You couldn't bring that woman back?"
Ayato had recovered considerably by now, though his face was still somewhat pale and his kakuhou hadn't fully healed.
"I found the Binge Eater, but someone got in the way. He's the Dove who killed Yamori. I... couldn't beat him..."
Ayato explained the reason for his failure, his expression grim.
Notably, he didn't mention Banjou, who had tipped off Anteiku. He took almost all the responsibility upon himself.
"The Dove who killed Yamori? I see... that's understandable."
Tatara spoke mildly.
He didn't blame Ayato or the Bin Brothers.
It seemed none of this came as a surprise. After all, Tatara and Eto were the most informed members of Aogiri Tree.
Eto had noticed that Dove early on.
She'd found him intriguing from the start because of his connection to Rize. Then when Yamori ended up dying in a place like Ward 20, she'd done some investigating and discovered it was that same Dove.
When she first learned he was an investigator, she'd been quite surprised, given how close he was to Rize.
And his strength was remarkable—which made things even more interesting.
"It seems capturing that woman won't be easy. Let's shelve this matter for now. The original plan remains unchanged—it's about time we moved on. 'Those people over there' are waiting for us too."
Tatara rose to his feet. "Noro, I'll leave the rest to you. The Doves should be making their move soon..."
Clearly, Tatara already knew the CCG was about to launch an operation against Ward 11. Yet he was still taking Eto and a batch of subordinates out of the ward.
This was a "diversion tactic"—while the CCG focused all their attention on the Ward 11 operation, they would launch a surprise attack on the relatively understaffed Cochlea prison in Ward 23.
Ayato, the Bin Brothers, and Noro would remain to pin down the CCG's forces, buying time for Tatara's team.
As Tatara led his people away, Ayato, though unpunished, still felt frustrated.
It wasn't just the failed mission. There were things he couldn't figure out.
He couldn't understand why his idiot sister, despite being a "peace-loving fool," would let a Dove stay there.
And that Dove, having discovered Anteiku, didn't seem to be doing anything about it. He was even protecting the Binge Eater.
He'd never seen such a strange Dove before...