"Excuse me, are you all right?"
A working woman stopped to ask about Momochi Ikuma's injuries, but Momochi Ikuma caught the scent of food. Blood rushed to his head, and he was almost unable to control himself.
Boom—
The sudden explosion drew the woman's attention.
"Huh? What was that? ... A... skyrocket...?"
At that moment, a black-haired girl rushed out of Anteiku. She had caught a distinctive scent, the aura of a ghoul, and then spotted Momochi Ikuma.
"Tōka, that just now was..."
"...Are you all right?" A black-haired young man appeared and covered Momochi Ikuma's Kakugan. Momochi Ikuma finally realized that he had encountered one of his own kind.
Inside the café.
Momochi Ikuma finally woke up. What roused him was an enticing fragrance.
"...You're awake?"
"I..."
"This is the Anteiku café. My name is Lin Yan."
"Yan..."
"How does your body feel now?" Lin Yan continued. The person before him truly looked pitiful; he had been beaten badly.
"I heard a little about you from Mr. Yomo. You've always tried your best to avoid getting involved with ghouls because you wanted to live in human society, right?"
"Ah, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it! Sorry, you must still be exhausted..."
"What's going on? Were you originally human too?" Momochi Ikuma looked at Lin Yan, then lowered his eyes and continued, "I was born a ghoul. But humans raised me... My mother seemed to have hoped I would become a doctor, but I wasn't very smart. Besides, I had dreams of my own. Don't people say that songs can cross national borders? So it shouldn't matter whether someone is a ghoul or a human. I wanted to compose songs that could encourage listeners. Maybe you think this country bumpkin is just talking about unrealistic dreams."