A Villain Through and Through

Simply put, the top student ranked first in their class, and the runner-up ranked second.

Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa wanted to claim both spots. Even without Amahane Byakuya's sudden appearance, that would have been a difficult feat.

In other words, Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa had already been under enough pressure. Amahane Byakuya's sudden arrival only doubled it.

That was why they harbored such deep hostility toward Amahane Byakuya.

Now Amahane Byakuya finally understood the reason. Just as he had suspected, it had to do with Akihiro Kanou.

"Akihiro Kanou really did a number on those two sisters..."

Amahane Byakuya murmured softly.

If Akihiro Kanou had shown even a little consideration or concern for Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa, he would never have said something like that.

In the original story, Akihiro Kanou had tricked the Yasuhisa sisters into undergoing an artificial half-ghoul experiment that he performed himself, using Rize's kakuhou and kagune to turn them into one-eyed ghouls like Ken Kaneki.

Later, when Akihiro Kanou's underground laboratory was discovered, Aogiri Tree, the CCG, and the team led by Ken Kaneki all poured inside. While trying to protect their "father," Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa encountered Juuzou Suzuya, who was already a Rank 2 Ghoul Investigator.

Even as one-eyed ghouls, the two of them together were still no match for Juuzou Suzuya.

Perhaps he still resented the Yasuhisa sisters for misunderstanding him and treating him coldly back then. Not only did Juuzou Suzuya threaten to pull out their intestines and compare whose were longer, but he also fought brutally, giving both sisters a savage beating.

Still, Juuzou Suzuya stopped short of killing them. Once Nashiro Yasuhisa was gravely wounded, he spared Kurona Yasuhisa's life.

With Nashiro Yasuhisa barely clinging to life from her injuries, Kurona Yasuhisa hoped to find their "father" and get him to save her.

However, Akihiro Kanou had already joined forces with Aogiri Tree by then. Aogiri Tree protected him from capture by the CCG, while he continued his artificial half-ghoul experiments for them.

When he saw the gravely wounded, dying Nashiro Yasuhisa, Akihiro Kanou simply ignored her. Although there was indeed almost no hope of saving her, his attitude showed not a shred of humanity.

Afraid that Nashiro could not hold on much longer, Kurona Yasuhisa absorbed her into her abdomen and had to search alone for a way to save her.

In the end, Nashiro was beyond saving. She merged completely with Kurona, with neither consciousness nor vital signs. Akihiro Kanou even dismissed the faint breathing that was all Nashiro had left as nothing more than "farting."

In short, Akihiro Kanou was a villain through and through. His disregard for human life was every bit as great as Rize Kamishiro's, if not greater.

He was utterly beyond redemption, yet at the same time, he was a remarkably charismatic villain.

Even at the end of his life, he never regretted anything he had done. Like Furuta Nimura, he believed that this world was confined within a twisted "birdcage," and he wanted to break it. Only one-eyed ghouls could fulfill that goal, and he was willing to pay any price to achieve it.

In the end, he succeeded. Ken Kaneki, whom he had created, fulfilled his lifelong wish.

It had all begun with Akihiro Kanou's mother, who died of an incurable disease. In his view, however, using ghouls for medical research would surely have made it possible to develop an effective treatment.

He changed after his mother's death, believing that this wretched world had to be reshaped. He knew perfectly well how evil his actions were.

So, just before the new world arrived, he put a gun in his mouth and killed himself, believing that there would be no place in it for a villain like him. That, too, reflected his extreme rationality.

He died before his mother's grave, presumably without the slightest regret or any belief that he had been wrong.

Later, medical research into ghouls and "dragon cells" rapidly conquered a great many incurable diseases. Even Yukinori Shinohara, who had spent a long time in a vegetative state, made a full recovery.

Now they don't have much chance of using Rize Kamishiro as an experimental donor. I wonder what Akihiro Kanou and Furuta Nimura will do next...

Lost in thought, Amahane Byakuya paid no attention to the looks coming his way.

After all, having two cute girls-twins, no less-leaning on his shoulders, one on each side, was bound to draw attention.

He could hardly just shake Kurona and Nashiro awake and tell them to move.

They were almost at the stop where Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa needed to get off, but neither sister showed any sign of waking.

Amahane Byakuya remembered that this was Kurona and Nashiro's stop, so he reminded them, "Kurona, Nashiro, we're at your stop."

He also gave them a gentle nudge with his shoulders, finally waking them.

"Hmm...? We're there already?"

Still groggy, Kurona Yasuhisa lifted her head and rubbed her eyes, completely unaware of what she had just done.

Nashiro Yasuhisa, on the other hand, realized immediately. She was mortified. She had accidentally fallen asleep-and had even leaned against Amahane Byakuya!

Her cheeks faintly red, Nashiro Yasuhisa rose to get off, pretending she knew nothing.

Kurona Yasuhisa still sensed nothing amiss and followed Nashiro off the train.

Amahane Byakuya said nothing the entire time, acting as though nothing had happened.

After Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa got off, Nashiro noticed that Kurona looked perfectly at ease, as if that incident had never happened at all.

But Nashiro had woken a little earlier than Kurona and had seen her leaning against Amahane Byakuya too.

Did Kurona not care at all?

Curious and a little bothered, Nashiro Yasuhisa quietly asked her, "Kurona... don't you know what you just did?"

"What did I just do?"

For a moment, Kurona Yasuhisa had no idea what Nashiro meant.

"Well, you accidentally fell asleep, and you were sleeping on Amahane Byakuya's shoulder..."

Nashiro Yasuhisa briefly explained what had happened.

"..."

Kurona Yasuhisa froze for a moment before it sank in. Her eyes widened, her pupils trembling slightly in apparent disbelief. "I... I slept on his shoulder?!"

Nashiro Yasuhisa felt relieved. She had thought she was the only one who was utterly embarrassed, but Kurona simply had not realized what had happened.

Still, the most important thing was that Amahane Byakuya knew exactly what they had done. The thought only made Nashiro feel even more embarrassed and shy.

P.S. My sleep schedule is messed up again. I'll straighten it out and make up the third update tomorrow, so there will be four updates tomorrow.