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"Actually, it's mine."
I say casually, severing my mental connection with the All-Seeing Eye in the man's hand.
The eye dissolves in the air.
"Interesting ability."
The man doesn't seem surprised at all, only nods slightly.
"You here to fight too?"
The white-haired man slowly shakes his head while his smile remains.
"I'm too old for that. Besides, if we fought we'd destroy the entire town."
'Wow. So this is the level, huh.'
Though he's probably right. I can tell this guy is extremely dangerous.
"So what do you want?"
"First, introductions. My name is Yoshimura Kuzen. I own a café called Anteiku."
"Arata."
Yoshimura observes me. Although I say that, he has his eyes closed, but it's unsettling to feel that even so I'm being observed.
"A pleasure to meet you, Arata-kun."
Touka beside me maintains a tense posture. Despite her wounds and exhaustion, she seems ready to fight.
Yoshimura seems to notice.
"You have nothing to fear from me. I love humans and ghouls equally. I mean you no harm."
'A ghoul who loves humans, huh.'
I decide to push a little.
"You've been hiding since I started fighting the CCG. Not stepping in means you wanted those investigators gone too, right?"
"You're correct."
Yoshimura accepts that without hesitation.
"CCG investigators have been increasing their operations in the 20th Ward lately, slaughtering innocent ghouls in the area. Ghouls who only want to live in peace."
He pauses and his lips wrinkle in a slight smile.
"I feared that without you, Arata-kun, this little one would've met a similar fate."
Touka tenses even more at being mentioned.
Yoshimura continues.
"In that sense, you've indirectly helped the other ghouls in this ward by eliminating a major threat."
"However..."
His tone shifts from gentle to a serious one.
"Like it or not, all of this started because of you."
I wince.
"Arata's fault...? What's that supposed to mean?"
Ah, right. Touka doesn't know. She, with doubts in her eyes, narrows her gaze at me and Yoshimura.
"Because in the past he killed a CCG investigator. That man was an Associate Special Class Investigator."
Or also known as Assistant Special Class investigator.
"He's one step below the Special Class Investigator title. In other words, he can't compare to Yamamoto in terms of brute strength or experience. But he was still extremely valuable to the CCG."
While Yoshimura explains that, he sighs.
Yamamoto was in fact far superior to that man. He had incredible strength and combat experience from the start, plus the Arata Armor. The only reason he didn't escape was because I caught him off-guard by faking my death.
That way, Yamamoto suffered an agonizing death with no chance to flee unlike the two ghouls who wore the Arata Armor and managed to escape Yoshimura's grasp years ago.
"... Arata, is that true?"
"Mm. It's true."
Touka looks at me speechless for a long second. She puts a finger to her temple and shows a grimace.
"When did it happen?"
"Ah. When I carried the body of the parasite ghoul we killed. That man followed me."
I made him follow me.
Touka punches my side.
"Hah... Seriously, you're a complete idiot."
Can't argue with that.
A bit guilty, I look toward Yoshimura. All this time I've kept my Vampire Vision active on him, and I can see he's extremely dangerous.
However, the upper layer of his aura shows calm, so I can be sure he won't attack me.
Can't say about the future. But for now, I can relax.
"Now I've killed a Special Class Investigator."
Yoshimura nods.
"Yamamoto. He was the head of the CCG division of the 20th Ward branch. An important man."
"Really? So that complicates things, doesn't it?"
"Indeed. Special Class Investigators are rare, and considered extremely valuable. For someone of that caliber to move personally, aside from wanting to train new recruits from other wards, they were taking the 'dangerous ghoul' they estimated as S-Rank very seriously."
'S Rank...'
The one I killed before was an Assistant Special Class Investigator. Those must be valuable to the CCG too since they can easily handle A-Rank ghouls and go toe-to-toe with S-Ranks.
That one like that died undoubtedly raised all the alarms among them.
Yoshimura continues, and shows a relaxed smile again.
"But seeing how calm you are, there shouldn't be any problems. Have you thought of a solution, perhaps?"
I shrug.
I'm just a kid, but this old man seems to think highly of me.
"So, is there another reason you're here?"
At my question, Yoshimura stops looking at me and diverts his closed eye toward Touka.
Seeing she's being directly observed she tenses like a scared cat.
"Don't be afraid, little one. I have no intention of harming you."
Then he looks back at me.
"Arata-kun, would you be willing to part with her and let her join Anteiku? We could offer her protection and a safe place to live."
Touka is completely frozen in place hearing that.
She originally in canon would join Anteiku, and would be under Yoshimura's protection.
I pick up on Touka's turbulent emotional frequencies and answer honestly.
"I'll respect whatever Touka decides. It's her life, not mine."
Yoshimura nods approvingly before looking at Touka.
"What's your decision, little one?"
Touka asks cautiously.
"What kind of organization is Anteiku? I've heard the name before, been there a couple times. Isn't it just a regular café?"
Yoshimura smiles slightly.
"It's a café. On the surface it's a shop where one can spend a pleasant day drinking delicious coffee, chatting, or reading. But it's also an organization of ghouls from the 20th Ward that helps other ghouls who can't or don't want to hunt humans by themselves."
While Touka listens, he stops for a few seconds.
"We collect food for others by searching corpses of humans who have committed suicide. That way, no innocent dies."
"Helping ghouls in need..."
Touka murmurs those words surprised.
"Does an organization like that really exist? That doesn't kill humans to eat but collects corpses for others to eat?"
She seems impacted.
Yoshimura tells her with a gentle voice.
"If you join, I can teach you to prepare coffee to be a waitress in the store when you're older. You can consider us a family."
Touka looks at me with uncertainty.
"You can decide what you want. I'm not going to force you to anything."
Yoshimura adds.
"Your house is destroyed now, and probably your personal information has already been taken to the 20th Ward CCG office. If you want to live peacefully, you need to hide, and you need someone to protect you properly."
Touka bites her lip hard.
I can feel her emotional frequencies.
If she stays with me, she'll be a burden. She'll bring me problems, destroying my peaceful life. It's better to go to that café to hide. She'll also be safe there and I won't be worried about her.
At least, that's what I can suppose she thinks through her turbulent emotional frequencies.
I show a small smile while resting my hand on her head, making her immediately glare at me.
"You're allowed to be selfish, you know."
The sunlight reflects in Touka's large blue eyes.
"Is it really okay? But I..."
Touka, someone who has lost all her family, doesn't want to be the reason someone else suffers.
I shake my head.
"You're not a burden, or a nuisance, and you won't cause me problems. So stop thinking nonsense."
"The CCG now knows about me. So, why...?"
While she asks that, on her tender cheeks appear pink tints that expand intensely.
Maybe she's remembering the time I arrived and declared she belongs to me.
'Ugh... Maybe I should have said that differently.'
It's embarrassing now that I think about it.
Discarding those embarrassing moments, I start speaking sincerely.
"I once said I only care about my little world, remember? You're part of that world, therefore you're someone I want to protect. Simple as that."
Yoshimura on the side murmurs.
"I'm a bit old for these young people's matters... Hah..."
He seems suddenly melancholic, remembering.
Meanwhile, Touka stares at me wordlessly for a moment, before letting out a barely audible "um". Turning her face to one side, she clears her throat.
"Then... I'll be selfish."
Yoshimura comes out of his thoughts, and speaks accompanied by a soft laugh.
"Then that's your answer. It's good to see you get along so well, haha..."
Yoshimura at that moment emits the feeling of a grandfather looking fondly at his grandchildren.
Turning around, he starts walking back where he came from.
"If you need help, or if you want to drink coffee, Anteiku will always have the door open for you both."
He stops for a moment and turning his head, for the first time completely opens his eyes to look at me directly.
They're red and black ghoul eyes. Slightly narrowed, they give the appearance of being terrifying and threatening.
"I didn't invite you to join us because I know you'd reject it. Because I was once like you."
I open my eyes a bit with surprise.
"But I'd be happy if a little friend, who's neither ghoul nor vampire, visited from time to time."
At first I thought he didn't invite me because he didn't want a horrifying monster like me around. Guess I was wrong.
Yoshimura seems to read my thoughts, and closing his eyes, smiles again.
"I've been watching you for quite some time, Arata-kun. I know you're not a passive danger, but a reactive danger."
"Huh? Reactive danger?"
It's true I only cause chaos if someone tries to do something bad to me or my loved ones.
Still, I feel a bit embarrassed because sometimes I want to cause chaos myself just for fun.
Still...
'Yoshimura has known of my existence for a long time, huh...'
Makes sense.
Hard to go unnoticed before a ghoul as powerful as him.
"Well, that's all. I'll wait for you at Anteiku if you ever decide to go."
His straight and robust figure disappears, leaving behind a dark blur that dissolves in the air.
After that, Touka and I leave the destroyed area too.
Very soon the area will fill with curious people. Among them, the first to come will be the police and the CCG.
That's why, silently, I make the mouths come out of the dead investigators' bodies again and finish eating everything, even devouring all the quinques without leaving a trace.
Don't need them anyway.
After all, I've realized something important since evolving into a vampire.
I can't evolve anymore by devouring.
Seems I need to figure out some new method to keep evolving beyond this point.
'Shame.'
When we reach a safe distance from the disaster, near a quiet river, I sit on the green grass under a tree to finally rest.
Touka stands in front of me, watching silently.
—Crash!
Suddenly she kicks me in the torso, making me gasp.
"Hey!"
I complain while rubbing my side.
Seems the Touka I know is back.
She huffs indignantly, crossing her arms.
"Why don't you start explaining what the hell just happened? How do you look completely different? And what was all that blood shit and those horrifying mouths?"
"Yeah, yeah, my lady."
I smile with amusement while I start explaining.