Would you believe I came from another world?

"Who are you?" Louis recoiled several steps, eyeing the unfamiliar woman before him warily.

She had long black hair, delicate features, and a tall, poised figure dressed entirely in black. She stood smiling with both hands behind her back, every movement radiating elegance.

But her scent left no doubt that she was a ghoul-and a very dangerous one at that.

Yet if she had meant him harm, she should have attacked a moment ago. Instead, she had chosen to call out a warning.

Either she had never intended to hurt him, or, after watching that fight, she was confident she could defeat Louis head-on.

After studying Louis for a while, the woman suddenly leaned in close.

"Irimi Kyouko. And you?"

Irimi Kyouko...

Why does that name sound so familiar...?

"Louis." He instinctively backed away from the ghoul leaning toward him, but Irimi Kyouko seemed only to sniff him.

"Human, crystals... Hmm... That must be it. I'll remember your scent." Irimi Kyouko nodded and extended her right hand to Louis.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Irimi Kyouko, a waitress at Anteiku."

"You're from Anteiku?" Louis relaxed his guard a little and took a closer look at her face.

[Ding! Irimi Kyouko, identity confirmed! Current affection: 2]

[Irimi Kyouko, SS-Rank Ghoul. Code name: Black Dog. Kagune type: ukaku. Overall combat rating: SS.]

The moment he saw the name Black Doberman, Louis finally remembered who she was.

"Oh, it's you... Mr. Koma told me a while ago that a pretty lady worked at the café too." Louis reached out and gave her hand a perfunctory shake.

"He said that?" Irimi Kyouko sounded a little skeptical. "Still, he was the one who sent me. Honestly, I'd only just gotten back."

"What did Mr. Koma send you here for?" Louis asked, scratching his head.

"He told me to find the human kid we'd been watching for so long, and protect him if necessary." As she spoke, Irimi Kyouko nudged Louis with her elbow.

"You're pretty handsome with your face washed. I almost didn't recognize you."

"So that's how it was..." Louis scratched his head awkwardly. Apparently, they had been watching him the entire time he wandered around Ward 20, and he hadn't noticed a thing.

"Come on. I'll take you back."

Louis followed Irimi Kyouko back. It was too late to get a cab, so they had to walk.

"By the way, are you really immune to drugs?" Irimi Kyouko suddenly asked curiously. She had arrived early enough to see Louis drink the drugged coffee.

"Not exactly..." Louis scratched his head awkwardly.

He had intended to demonstrate it once they returned to Anteiku, but at Irimi Kyouko's skeptical look, Louis immediately punched himself in the stomach.

Blargh!

Two chunks of ice tumbled onto the ground. A closer look revealed that they were frozen coffee, wrapped in a layer of blue crystal.

"That's how..."

"..." Irimi Kyouko's eyes widened. She crouched down and poked the ice on the ground with a finger.

"That's impressive..."

He had frozen the coffee the instant it entered his throat, then let it slide into his stomach. In theory, as long as the ice didn't melt, the drugs wouldn't be absorbed, and he would be perfectly fine.

But during the fight, Big Madam had landed a solid slap that shattered the ice in his stomach into two pieces, which had nearly touched his stomach lining.

Irimi Kyouko looked envious. "I wish I had an ability that handy."

On the way back, Irimi Kyouko told Louis a great deal about how the different people at Anteiku saw him.

In fact, the manager was the only one who supported letting Louis stay at Anteiku. Renji Yomo and Touka were neutral, while she and Koma opposed it.

"Touka was neutral too?" Louis had assumed she would be firmly against something like this.

"Her..." Irimi Kyouko smiled helplessly. "She tries harder than any of us. She doesn't like expressing it, but you have no idea how happy she was to meet a human who wasn't afraid of her and wanted to be her friend."

"She's probably demanding to come rescue you right now."

"By the way, please don't blame Koma for testing you. I would've done the same. Protecting the companions we already have is what matters most to us," Irimi Kyouko told Louis.

By testing him, she probably meant agreeing to let Big Madam take him away.

"You're right not to abandon reason for your ideals." Louis nodded. "I like everyone at Anteiku, so I'll work hard to become one of you too."

Anteiku wasn't the strongest group, but their ideals were admirable, and every one of them was kind. That was why Louis had chosen them over the other organizations.

"Is that so?" Irimi Kyouko smiled. It wouldn't have meant much coming from anyone else, but coming from a human who knew what they were, those words carried an entirely different weight.

"Oh, right." Louis paused. "So, did your test tell you anything?"

Irimi Kyouko said, "You're just going to ask outright?"

Louis said, "Didn't you tell me about the vote outright too...?"

Irimi Kyouko described what she had observed.

Strength and senses beyond those of an ordinary human, practiced combat skills, and an exceptional ability to adapt-but absolutely no knowledge of a ghoul's vital points.

It was as though he wasn't from this world.

"So our current conclusion is that we still can't determine your true identity or purpose. Yes, let's leave it at that."

At eleven that night, the two finally made it back to Anteiku.

Three people were waiting inside: Ken Kaneki, Touka Kirishima, and Enji Koma.

When the two entered, all three turned toward the door at once.

"All right, all right, I'm neutral now." Irimi Kyouko waved as soon as she stepped inside, indirectly informing everyone that she had already told him everything, whether she should have or not.

"I didn't lift a finger. This kid handled it himself."

"I'll get some gauze." Kaneki noticed Louis's injuries and hurried upstairs.

Without a word, Touka grabbed Louis and followed Kaneki.

In the upstairs living room, Touka sat across from him with a dark expression while Kaneki clumsily cleaned Louis's wounds.

"I'll do it myself." Feeling he couldn't endure Touka's stare much longer, Louis quickly took the first-aid kit and treated his own injuries.

"Hey, you struggled so much against Nishiki back then. How did you make it back alive this time?" Touka's expression was utterly grim. "Don't tell me you put on an act for us back then just to win our sympathy. That would be disgusting."

"Where was I supposed to get any strength after months of not having enough to eat...?" Louis nearly rolled his eyes and immediately shot back. Making crystals took a lot of energy.

His original plan back then had been to send Nishiki Nishio flying. Who knew he would discover halfway through the fight that he couldn't beat him?

Louis's explanation left Touka silent. After all, more food had gone into the kitchen over the past few days than in the entire previous year.

Looking at Touka, Louis sighed.

"Are you wondering where I learned to fight, and where I learned to treat wounds...?"

"I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I just thought you wouldn't believe me." Louis used his teeth to pull the bandage around his arm tight and tied it off. Only then did he extend his hand and form a blue crystal that hovered above it.

This power, unlike anything possessed by humans or ghouls, immediately drew both their gazes.

Thinking back to what Irimi Kyouko had said, Louis put on an air of mystery.

"The truth is, I came from another world..."

"Back there, I was a soldier in the Special Ability Army... Special abilities, you know? That term you see all the time in science fiction here... The Special Ability Army's position in our world was a little like yours in this one. We fought humans who wouldn't accept us, but there were also humans who did..."

As Louis described it, Ken Kaneki became increasingly engrossed. Without realizing it, he began imagining ghouls in the place of that world's ability users. He heard hope in this story and longed for the day when ghouls, too, could live peacefully alongside humans, just like the Special Ability Army in the story.

Touka, on the other hand, called him a "lunatic" halfway through and left.

Louis didn't think anyone would believe something like that anyway, and the matter ended rather abruptly. But the next day, Hinami Fueguchi, who had never paid him any attention, suddenly knocked on his bedroom door...