A lone car pulled up beside a deserted junkyard. Hitokawa stepped out of the driver's seat, his eyes scanning the perimeter. Realizing Eto hadn't arrived yet, he pulled out his phone.
The screen illuminated his face, showing the time.
12:40 AM. Approximately fifteen hours had passed since Koma's abduction.
While Eto had taken on the task of gathering information from the ghoul underworld regarding the 'Insect Mask,' Hitokawa had focused his independent investigation on the human side: 'Minami Sinaoto.'
According to Eto, who had met her briefly, Minami didn't possess the scent of a ghoul. Yet, the circumstances proved she was undeniably linked to the creature in the insect mask. While Eto hunted the monster, Hitokawa had focused on tracing the human's footsteps, and they had agreed to meet here to share their findings.
𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘛𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶...
He punched in her number and hit dial. The signal tone hummed steadily.
[𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘯𝘨!]
And then, the sound of the receiving end rang out from directly behind him.
"...!!"
Hitokawa reflexively lunged forward, gripping his Quinque case to create distance. A small, owl-like figure was perched atop the roof of the car he had just vacated.
The blanket wrapped around her body was torn in several places and stained dark with blood. The 'Owl' character mask hiding her face was cracked and battered, its cheerful mascot origins now a distant, mocking memory.
Hitokawa lowered his guard only after seeing the hybrid gaze behind the fractured mask—the coexistence of a ghoul's eye and a human's.
"Eto? Is that you?"
"Yes."
Eto nodded and hopped down from the roof. Her movements were as light as a bird's, but her balance wavered ever so slightly upon landing. The exhaustion was etched into her very posture.
Hitokawa looked at her with a complicated expression. He wasn't a ghoul, but he knew their world was one of pure social Darwinism—the law of the jungle where the weak were culled. Even with a specific target in mind, the denizens of that world wouldn't have handed over information to a strange, outsider brat just because she asked nicely.
He could easily imagine the methods Eto had been forced to employ. A child born of both worlds, raised by human hands, had plunged into that primal abyss and returned. To save the human who raised her, she had done this with that tiny body...
𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦!
Hitokawa shook his head. Now wasn't the time for sentimentality. Eto seemed to feel the same; the moment their eyes met, she cut straight to the chase.
"Did you bring the map?"
Hitokawa pulled a map from the backseat and spread it across the hood of the car. All 23 wards of Tokyo were laid out before them. Eto scanned it once, then grabbed a pen.
Red dots began to appear on the map in rapid succession. Long lines stretched out from each dot, forming arrows.
Hitokawa shifted restlessly, unable to decipher what she was doing. He knew she was brilliant and that she understood the gravity of the situation, but from the outside, she looked exactly like a child scribbling aimlessly on a piece of paper.
"Hey, talk to me. What are you doing?"
"Uncle Hitokawa, you said this ghoul was a new discovery, right?"
"Yeah. It's a mystery why a ghoul that strong had zero prior records."
"I think it's because he rarely ventures outside except to hunt. If his only goal is feeding, he would center his hunting grounds around his hideout and branch out from there. Every sighting of the Insect Mask occurred while he was in the middle of a 'meal.' These dots represent those locations."
Hitokawa scrutinized the map. The red dots were concentrated in the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 15th Wards. In other areas, the sightings dropped off significantly.
I see. The dots represent his range. But even focusing on the high-activity areas, they covered a massive portion of southwestern Tokyo. Investigating all of it would be impossible, even with a full squad of investigators.
"And the red arrows?"
"The direction the Insect Mask moved after his meal."
In that moment, Hitokawa couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration for how well Koma had raised this girl. If he only came out to hunt, he would return straight to his lair once the deed was done. Of course, his direction might change based on a whim once or twice. But if he moved toward the same point consistently across multiple sightings?
And the location where Eto's arrows converged was...
""The 12th Ward!""
They spoke in unison. More than half the arrows pointed toward the 12th. Furthermore, the arrows starting from within the 12th Ward were almost all directed toward the coastline.
"This is as far as the intel goes. From here, we have to go to the 12th Ward and comb the coast ourselves."
"The time limit is roughly eight hours away. Considering the travel time, we're cutting it incredibly close. Get in!"
Hitokawa jumped in and turned the ignition. However, Eto shook her head, refusing to follow.
"It's faster for me to run in a straight line over the rooftops than to go by car. I'll go ahead and look for Dad. You follow behind."
Logically, she might have been right. But Hitokawa denied her.
"You idiot! Have you already forgotten how fast an Ukaku burns through stamina? Sure, your speed might beat a car to the 12th Ward, but you'll have no strength left to fight the Insect Mask once you get there. Besides, who's to say he's the only enemy?"
"But..."
"No more talk, just get in! And I haven't told you about Minami Sinaoto yet. You need to know what we're up against. That woman's past... it's not normal."
"...."
Eto was desperate to run and save Koma, but she knew Hitokawa was right. The battles she'd fought to gather this information had left her bone-tired. She wouldn't be in fighting shape if she pushed any further. And Hitokawa's grim expression implied that whatever he'd found out about Minami was significant.
The woman who was linked to the Insect Ghoul and had helped kidnap Koma—what kind of monster was she? She would find out from Hitokawa on the way. Eto suppressed her impatience and climbed into the passenger seat.
𝘝𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘮!!
The engine roared to life, and the vehicle peeled out of the lot, racing toward the 12th Ward.
I felt a soft sensation tickling my face. A wet towel. As it pulled away, having wiped the dried coffee from my skin, the face of the woman who brought me here appeared.
"You're awake? Any discomfort~?"
"...I could give you a ten-page list. You want me to read it to you?"
"𝘠𝘶𝘮~! I'll take that as a 'no.' I'm so relieved~. Our Team Leader is so mean, isn't he? Treating our materials so roughly... We have to keep you in peak condition until the day you're sublimated into Art~!"
"You really don't listen, do you?"
I'd felt it the first time we met, but the more I talked to Minami, the more exhausted I became. Ignoring her friendly chatter, I scanned the room. The ghoul 'superiors' who had been gathered here earlier were gone, as was the sleeping Insect Mask on the ceiling.
"Everyone went into a meeting~. I wonder whose proposal will be selected this time~? Personally, I think the Senior Manager's 'Prometheus Project' has a high chance, but... 𝘔𝘮𝘮~ I still hope mine gets picked~."
She babbled on without being asked. Prometheus, huh? I'm guessing it's not the mythical fire-bringer I'm thinking of. Am I going to have my liver pecked out while I'm alive? Since they're all lunatics, the unpredictability made it even more terrifying.
"Aren't you going?"
"I'm the lowest of the low, so I'm on guard duty~."
Minami puffed out her cheeks, clearly annoyed at being excluded. Since it was just the two of us, I decided to ask the question that had been bugging me.
"Why are you doing this?"
"𝘏𝘮𝘮𝘮?"
"You're human. Why are you with them? Why do you want to be a ghoul?"
"Why, you ask? 𝘏𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮~?"
Minami tilted her head back and forth as if pondering a difficult riddle. Finally reaching a conclusion, her expression softened, and she looked at me.
"Admiration."
"Admiration?"
"Exactly~! Is it so different from people obsessing over idols~? Aren't ghouls just... cool~?"
"...."
What was wrong with this woman? I felt like I was talking to a child who put 'Serial Killer' down as their dream job because they thought it looked cool in a movie.
"Sorry, but I don't follow."
"I suppose not~. But think of it this way~. Just as a purely hypothetical example~? Let's say there's a small animal. This animal is bullied and tormented by its own kind every day. It wants to fight back, but it can't. Then, one day, a savage carnivore appears and eats every single animal that bullied the small one! The carnivore does effortlessly what the small animal could never do, no matter how hard it struggled! That's cool~! You can't help but admire it~!"
...It sounded like she was hinting at something deeply personal, but the way she posed like a character from a manga ruined the weight of the moment. Minami continued.
"Anyway, that's how it is~. I want to live like a ghoul, and to them, I'm a very useful tool if used correctly~. I stay because I like them, and they use me. Isn't that a wonderful win-win relationship? Truly, isn't this the perfect symbiosis between ghoul and human~?"
"...Are you joking?" I spat out the words coldly.
"Symbiosis? One side is a fool who follows blindly without even knowing what they're doing, and the other side is just exploiting them. Don't you dare call that symbiosis."
"Oh~? And yet I think this is the most fitting relationship for ghouls and humans~. Isn't it much better than just eating and being eaten? Well, what about you? Do you know of a 'better' relationship between the two species~?"
"I wonder... Should I call it 'better,' or is it, in some ways, even worse than what you have here?"
"...?"
"'Affection' binds people together, but it can also be an incredibly dangerous detonator. You people have gone and tripped that detonator."
I hadn't spent the last seven years just coasting along. Even here, with zero information, I could see exactly what that child was feeling and where she was.
That was why I was worried. And that was why it was dangerous. Do you people have any idea what kind of hell you've invited?
"My daughter is on her way."