Living with Rize

"I just told you. They're two fellow trainees doing their internship with me."

Amahane Byakuya hadn't expected Rize Kamishiro to keep pressing the subject. He'd thought they were already past it.

"You said it was because you fought alongside them, but judging by what I can smell on you, their scents are strongest on both your arms and shoulders. What kind of fighting alongside each other left you like that? I'm having a little trouble picturing it."

Rize Kamishiro spoke bluntly, a teasing note in her voice.

"All right... it was actually because they both accidentally fell asleep on the subway, with their heads on my shoulders."

Amahane Byakuya had no choice but to tell the truth.

"I see."

Rize Kamishiro nodded slightly.

That explanation from Amahane Byakuya was one she could believe.

"Let's leave it at that. Next, I'm going to explain the Washuu Clan to you in detail, so you don't go charging in without knowing anything, you idiot."

Rize Kamishiro said.

Although Amahane Byakuya already knew everything, he still made a show of listening attentively.

What Rize Kamishiro explained next was essentially the power the Washuu Clan commanded, such as the CCG and the organization "V"...

She also brought up her own background.

"A ghoul clan that reveres human bloodlines, where the purer your ghoul blood is, the lower your status. Don't you think that's ridiculous?"

Rize Kamishiro hadn't explicitly said this was what she had experienced herself. She merely asked Amahane Byakuya what he thought.

"Yeah... but is that something you experienced yourself?"

Amahane Byakuya asked.

"Looks like I made it a little too obvious."

Rize Kamishiro said flatly, "That's right. It's what I went through, so I never want to return to that utterly revolting place. It took so much just to escape."

"Come to think of it, if you hadn't saved me before, I'd probably still be headed toward the same fate."

"I don't know what that bastard Furuta is trying to do, but he definitely isn't up to anything good."

Rize Kamishiro's words were calm, but inwardly, she undoubtedly felt utter disgust for the entire Washuu Clan.

"You might have ended up with an even worse fate. But all of that is in the past now. I won't let you suffer that pain again."

Amahane Byakuya said solemnly.

By "an even worse fate," he meant being used as an experimental donor.

Being a "Birthing Mother" for the Washuu Clan was certainly miserable, but the suffering of an experimental donor was just as indescribable.

In the original story, Rize Kamishiro had her kakuhou extracted at least several thousand times. The pain of each extraction, along with prolonged starvation, tormented both her body and her mind.

Being destroyed as the "dragon core" at the end had actually been a release for Rize.

Amahane Byakuya didn't really want to compare which fate was more miserable, being a "Birthing Mother" or an "experimental donor." He only needed to know that Rize Kamishiro's fate was that tragic, and he wouldn't let either possibility happen from now on.

"I've already told you how powerful the Washuu Clan is, and you can still make such grand promises?"

Rize Kamishiro remarked, "I don't know where you get all that confidence, but I'll trust you for now. After all, you're the only one I can rely on now."

"By the way... you mentioned your 'father' before. How is he doing?"

Amahane Byakuya deliberately brought up the subject.

"Him? I haven't seen him since I left the Sixth Ward. I did hear that the CCG's Ghoul Investigators captured him, but I don't know whether that's true."

Rize Kamishiro spoke somewhat casually.

"The Sixth Ward? Then he probably isn't your biological father? And your surname isn't 'Washuu.' Did you inherit 'Kamishiro' from him?"

Amahane Byakuya continued steering the conversation forward.

"That's right. I met my 'father' after escaping that place. He gave me my surname and taught me plenty of fighting techniques, but he was also a real nag. Still..."

Rize Kamishiro suddenly felt that she had changed a little from how she used to be. "Maybe he was right to lecture me. My indiscriminate feeding everywhere was what gave that bastard Furuta the chance to ambush me."

"Considering your father's caliber as a ghoul, and his connection to you, the CCG probably won't do anything to him. You still have a chance to see him again."

Amahane Byakuya said.

He remembered one detail: Kamatari Kamishiro hadn't been the first to treat Rize as his daughter. Rize had been the first to call Kamatari Kamishiro "Dad."

It was actually a little like Kurona Yasuhisa and Nashiro Yasuhisa. Perhaps they were all showing how starved they were for affection?

It certainly wasn't true that Rize Kamishiro felt nothing for Kamatari Kamishiro, but her rebellious streak was far too strong. Naturally, his lectures had deeply irritated her.

"I hope so. I never expected the CCG to capture him, either. He must have been protecting those weak ghouls."

Rize Kamishiro sounded a little resigned.

Of course, she knew what kind of person her "father" was. As the leader-the Manager-of the Sixth Ward, he always thought of the old, weak, sick, and disabled under his care.

With Kamatari Kamishiro's strength, the CCG surely couldn't have captured him if he'd wanted to escape. But he had probably chosen to surrender, taking all the responsibility upon himself to protect the remaining ghouls in the Sixth Ward.

Unless the CCG had deployed Kishou Arima, but that wasn't realistic. Kishou Arima generally followed orders from "V" or the Washuu Clan. He would only have gone to eliminate Kamatari Kamishiro if the Washuu Clan had ordered him to, and Kamatari Kamishiro would undoubtedly have died, without even a chance to be captured. That ruled out the possibility.

In fact, the CCG's large-scale deployment in the Sixth Ward had been brought on by Rize Kamishiro's indiscriminate feeding on humans.

"Also, I'll be living here with you from now on. I'll start moving the things I need over tomorrow."

Rize Kamishiro abruptly changed the subject.

As for asking Amahane Byakuya's permission? That was never going to happen. She simply did whatever she pleased.

Though Amahane Byakuya wouldn't have refused something like that anyway.

But come to think of it, doesn't that mean we'll be living together?

"That works. It'll make it much easier whenever we need to get in touch."

Amahane Byakuya nodded.

"But that's a separate matter. You'd better not forget what you've already promised me. I'm still waiting for the day I get to feast on you."

Rize Kamishiro made a point of emphasizing this.

Amahane Byakuya didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Don't worry. I'll keep every promise I've made to you."

"Until then, you absolutely mustn't let any other ghoul get their hands on you. Only I get to feast on you."

With that, Rize Kamishiro gently bit Amahane Byakuya on the collarbone, leaving a faint tooth mark.

P.S. All right, the fourth update will have to wait until noon. Since we're about to reach one hundred thousand characters, the next chapter will be at least three thousand characters long.