Chương 30: Unspoken Bonds and Hidden Truths
Byakuya moved ahead, leaving Arima and Minami some time alone.
Arima instinctively wanted to follow, but considering that Minami — likely the ghoul known as 'Lantern'—was still beside him, he refrained from doing anything unusual.
Thus, Arima had no choice but to walk alongside Minami.
"Yesterday morning, it seemed like you and Byakuya both left with Taishi for a while. Nothing serious happened, right? After all, Taishi seems like a delinquent..." Minami suddenly broke the silence and spoke to Arima.
"Hmm… nothing happened."
Arima's expression remained stoic, and his tone was flat.
His indifferent response immediately created an awkward atmosphere, making it difficult to continue the conversation.
"T-That's good then. I was worried you'd turned into a delinquent too" Minami said with a smile.
After that, the two fell into silence again.
A faint blush appeared on Minami's quiet, adorable face, seemingly embarrassed by Arima's cold demeanor.
...
Meanwhile, Byakuya arrived at the classroom first. He noticed that his seatmate, Taishi, had also shown up today, along with his childhood friend Aki. Ryou, however, seemed to be in another class.
"Taishi, Aki, how are you feeling? Recovered yet?" Byakuya asked, showing concern.
"More or less… though I'm still a bit shaken" Taishi replied gloomily, "Aki was pretty scared last night. She insisted on staying at my place, but she looked a lot better this morning"
"W-What?!"
Hearing her name, Aki, who was sitting in the row ahead, spun around and smacked Taishi on the head with a book. Blushing furiously, she yelled, "Taishi, you idiot! Such an idiot!"
Although her hit didn't hurt much, Taishi was left dumbfounded. "What's wrong with you, Aki? You were scared last night, weren't you?"
"That's not the point!"
Aki's embarrassment only grew, her voice rising in frustration.
Taishi remained completely confused.
"…" Byakuya sighed internally, already understanding why Aki was so embarrassed and angry.
Being scared and running to stay at a guy's house wasn't the issue, the problem was staying overnight at a guy's house.
But Taishi, like a clueless blockhead, didn't get it at all.
Byakuya lost interest in their playful bickering. He had more pressing matters to address. "About the ghoul incident yesterday—I need to warn you. If you keep riding your bikes and speeding around the city, you'll likely get attacked again"
"…Why? What does street racing have to do with this?" Taishi asked, puzzled.
Though he wasn't too interested in racing, Aki and Ryou probably wouldn't give it up so easily.
"That ghoul didn't attack you randomly. While I don't know the exact reason, I strongly suggest you stop. Nothing is more important than your lives, though people usually only realize this when they face death directly…" Byakuya explained.
"Alright, I'll try to talk some sense into Ryou and the others. If they don't listen, I'll knock some sense into them!"
Taishi rolled up his sleeves, determined. Even if it meant getting beaten up himself, he was set on stopping them.
After last night's events, Taishi saw Byakuya and Arima in a new light, trusting their words more than ever.
Clearly, Taishi didn't know much about the CCG or ghoul investigators, so he hadn't connected Byakuya and Arima to them.
Most civilians seemed to have limited knowledge of ghouls and the CCG, and many students were likely unaware of them entirely.
...
"Aki..."
Taishi naturally started with convincing Aki.
"Fine, I'll stop, but only if Taishi agrees to one condition" Aki replied.
After experiencing the terror of last night, she realized how dangerous ghouls truly were. Getting caught by the police might result in a lecture or juvenile detention, but being caught by a ghoul meant death—or worse.
"Alright! Whatever the condition is, just say it! I'll do it if I can!" Taishi said, thrilled that Aki had agreed so quickly.
"You used to love baseball, didn't you, Taishi…" Aki began, but before she could finish, Arima and Minami entered the classroom through the back door.
Taishi's attention was immediately drawn to them, especially as Minami seemed to be chatting and laughing with Arima. This made Taishi frown, feeling inexplicably irritated.
"Ahem…"
Byakuya cleared his throat lightly, reminding Taishi, "Taishi, Aki was still talking to you"
"Huh? Oh, right!"
Taishi turned back to Aki, only to see her pouting angrily.
"Idiot Taishi! You've fallen for another girl, haven't you?"
"What? No! Wait!" Taishi panicked. "Don't say it so loudly! What if someone hears?"
"So what? You're an idiot anyway! It'd serve you right to be humiliated!" Aki retorted, still fuming.
Taishi quickly surrendered, "Alright, alright! It's my fault, okay? What was that condition you mentioned earlier?"
"I don't want to tell you anymore. Maybe later" Aki said, pouting.
"…Fine" Taishi replied, utterly perplexed.
He couldn't figure out why Aki was so angry. Was it because he hadn't paid attention to her condition? Surely it wasn't that big of a deal…
Sitting nearby, Byakuya was speechless. Taishi is truly dense beyond belief.
...
"Hey, Byakuya…" Taishi leaned in and whispered, "Can you keep what just happened a secret?"
"No problem" Byakuya replied with a nod. "But a word of advice — you might want to give up."
While relationships between humans and ghouls weren't entirely impossible—examples did exist—last night's events spoke volumes.
While it wasn't entirely impossible for humans and ghouls to form romantic relationships — there were even many examples of it — Taishi had no idea that Minami was the same ghoul who had nearly killed him and his friends last night. If he ever found out, his fantasies would surely crumble.
He'd be better off cherishing the girl right in front of him—his childhood friend, Aki.
Of course, in the original story, Aki did eventually become Taishi's wife...
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