Threats

A voice came from the room, accompanied by a flurry of footsteps.

Huiqi could clearly hear their footsteps quickening, each step landing harder than the last, as though they could hardly wait.

"A bunch of scum."

Drawing three Quinque throwing knives from his coat, Huiqi walked toward the voices.

"Fuyuko, why aren't you saying anything? Already started eating? What a good girl!"

"Wait for your uncles... Once we've eaten our fill, we'll give you a nice reward."

"Did you enjoy last night? We'll try some different positions today."

As the footsteps drew closer down the hallway, Huiqi's expression darkened further, fury burning in his eyes.

"Fuyuko will join you in death soon enough."

At the corner, Huiqi faced three ghouls.

"An investigator?! Damn it! That traitorous little bitch, Fuyuko!"

"I knew that girl was no good. We should've eaten her after we finished playing with her yesterday!"

"Kill him! We need to get out of here!"

The three ghouls cursed Fuyuko as they unleashed their kagune. In the cramped hallway, their attacks closed in on Huiqi almost instantly.

Watching the incoming attacks calmly, Huiqi aimed his throwing knives at their heads. The muscles in his right arm bulged slightly, and in an instant, the knives shot out like lightning with a boom, leaving silvery-white trails behind them.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The three ghouls' kagune stopped right before Huiqi's eyes. The knives had pierced their skulls and pinned them to the wall, bright red blood mixed with brain matter dripping from their wounds.

"Now take me to the school. Let's deal with the last one." Huiqi returned to the main room and looked at the girl cowering in the corner.

The girl peered at Huiqi through the gaps between her fingers. From the corner of her eye, she also saw blood flowing around the bend. The pungent smell of blood in the air made her face grow even paler, her stomach churning.

"Are... are all the ones inside dead?"

"They're dead. Now let's go deal with the ghoul at the school."

Huiqi reached out and pulled the girl to her feet.

Inside Qingsi High School, students chatted in pairs. Most complained about how the recent exams had gotten harder again, while a few discussed what to eat during lunch break.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt, everyone, but does anyone know where Niko Kuroba went? Neither her parents nor I have been able to reach her since last night," a middle-aged man said from the podium.

"Niko Kuroba?"

"Oh, right. I haven't seen her all morning. She hasn't said anything in the group chat, either."

"Fuyuko and Yuri are close to Kuroba, aren't they? Why not ask them?"

Everyone in the classroom immediately began looking for the two girls.

At that moment, Fuyuko sat in a corner of the classroom, her hands trembling anxiously.

"Fuyuko, do you know where Kuroba is?"

"N-no... I don't know. I... I haven't been able to reach her, either." Fuyuko's voice faltered, but she forced herself to calm down and answer the teacher.

Niko Kuroba, I'm so sorry... Please, I beg you, don't blame me... I didn't want this, either. You'll surely go to heaven.

Fuyuko prayed over and over in her heart.

Half a month earlier... at Fuyuko's home.

"I'm sorry. We couldn't bring your parents back."

Standing inside the doorway, Fuyuko collapsed to the floor as though struck by lightning. Her gaze kept searching behind the three ghouls, desperately hoping to find the people she knew best.

"M-my parents... What happened to them? Why?!"

"They died in the 10th Ward. We're very sorry!"

"Why?! Sob... sob..."

"We're truly sorry. Two Special Class Investigators attacked us. We barely escaped with our lives."

With that, the man took off his robe, revealing horrific wounds.

"No! I just want my parents!"

"We're truly sorry..."

Just as the man continued apologizing, another of his companions behind him shook his head and asked, "Is there anyone nearby? We're badly injured and need to eat."

But Fuyuko had already broken down. She didn't hear the man's words at all and simply kept crying.

"Tch. Is this really a ghoul's child?" The man looked at Fuyuko in displeasure. "I'll go find food. You two rest for now."

Several hours later...

A man came in through the door, carrying a small child in his arms.

"I only caught a little one. It'll have to do for a meal. Let's heal our wounds before doing anything else."

Fuyuko hid in her room, staring blankly at a family photograph. All the while, the sounds of the three ghouls feeding in the main room and the child's anguished cries filled her ears.

In the middle of the night...

Creak.

Three figures barged into Fuyuko's bedroom. The noise jolted her awake from her already restless sleep, and she opened her eyes to find the three ghouls from earlier that day surrounding her.

"What are you doing?! Get out!" Wearing her pajamas, Fuyuko stared at them in terror, clutching the blanket covering her.

"We've discussed it and decided to hold a funeral for your parents. Surely you ought to give us something in return?"

"Get out! I'll handle my parents' funeral myself! Get out of here!" Fuyuko pointed at the doorway and shouted at the three men, the fright still lingering in her eyes.

"What can a child handle...? Leave it to us. Bring a good friend home afterward so we can eat our fill... But right now, I can't hold back anymore."

The man eyed Fuyuko wickedly, reaching for her pale legs.

"Don't resist... You could easily die if you do."

Throughout the night... Fuyuko's muffled cries and the men's roars echoed through the bedroom.

Fuyuko's leave from school had begun half a month earlier.

The days passed in a daze. The ghouls tormented Fuyuko every day, leaving her body covered in wounds, with deeper scars hidden beneath her clothes.

If not for the powerful healing ability of a ghoul's body, Fuyuko's skin would have been black and blue all over.

"Bring someone home tomorrow... Refuse, and you can die! Don't even think about going to the White Doves. You'll only get yourself killed, and I'll burn your parents' memorial tablets to ashes!"

"Of course, don't get too discouraged. We promise we'll leave once you bring someone home."

"Really?" At those last words, a flicker of life returned to Fuyuko's vacant eyes.

"Really. I'm a ghoul from Ward 24. Back there, we always keep our word."

"O-okay..."

Worn down by the torment, Fuyuko pulled herself together again. After silently enduring another night, she used makeup the next morning to hide the exhaustion on her face.

All along the way, she agonized over whom to bring home. Deep down, Fuyuko didn't want to do it, but they had threatened her with her parents' memorial tablets...

"Fuyuko, how have you been lately? You've fallen so far behind on your schoolwork... I'll help you catch up."

A voice reached her ears, pulling Fuyuko out of her daze.

"N-no need. Thank you for caring." Fuyuko forced herself to muster enough energy to answer, a fierce struggle raging within her.

"You look so pale... Did something happen? I can help you."