"...I understand."
A smile appeared on Akira's face.
The situation had turned around, and Eto was satisfied too.
At the same time, she found Byakuya's approach quite effective—seemingly more powerful than mere sweet talk.
"That's not fair... I want Byakuya-senpai to confess to me too."
Hairu spoke up wistfully.
"Me too! Me too!"
Eto immediately joined in the fun.
"Can you all be serious for a moment..."
Byakuya felt somewhat helpless.
"We're being perfectly serious, right Hairu-chan?"
Eto asked.
"Absolutely."
Hairu nodded earnestly. "I also want a loving confession from Byakuya-senpai, just like Akira-san got."
"Fine..."
Faced with Hairu's request, Byakuya couldn't refuse.
"Hairu... I like you."
Byakuya said directly.
Hairu's face bloomed with a satisfied smile. "I like you too, senpai."
"What about me? And me!"
Eto immediately raised her hand.
"You're obviously just looking for entertainment. I'm not going to indulge you."
Byakuya said flatly.
"Aww~?"
Eto looked somewhat disappointed.
It seemed this guy wasn't as easy to tease as before.
"How can Byakuya-senpai be like this? Doesn't that make Eto-nee too pitiful?"
Hairu immediately spoke up for Eto.
"...You're calling her Eto-nee?"
Byakuya asked with some surprise.
Not just Byakuya—even Eto herself was surprised.
Hairu was actually speaking up for her...
This was just... too pure and adorable!
"Yes. Eto-nee is older than me, right? I remember Takatsuki-sensei debuted many years ago, so she's my elder."
Hairu's tone was matter-of-fact.
She didn't know much about Takatsuki Sen, but when Takatsuki had revealed herself as a one-eyed ghoul, the CCG naturally gathered relevant information immediately. She knew Takatsuki Sen had debuted over a decade ago.
"Hairu-chan is so cute!"
Eto immediately hugged Hairu, nuzzling her cute, round cheeks.
Though due to the height difference—Hairu at 160cm and Eto at only 151cm—Eto had to stand slightly on her tiptoes.
"Such a kind, obedient, and adorable girl—if a certain someone doesn't know how to treasure her, that would be unforgivable."
Eto was teasing Byakuya again.
"..."
Byakuya's lips twitched slightly.
It was only because of the Washuu Clan's destruction that Squad Zero and Eto weren't enemies anymore.
Otherwise, the moment the Washuu ordered Squad Zero to eliminate the One-Eyed Owl, Hairu would have drawn her blade without hesitation.
"Aren't we supposed to be handling business? Let's pick up the pace."
Akira came over and interrupted them.
"You're right."
Byakuya seized the opportunity to change the subject. "Ward 24 has a large ghoul population. Eto, are your people ready?"
"All set. They're on standby in Ward 24."
Eto nodded.
Her "people" naturally meant Aogiri Tree's ghouls.
...
Deep within Ward 24.
This area was near the underground world.
The Dragon Orphans, possessing a certain level of intelligence, seemed born with a love for slaughter, actively seeking out humans and ghouls.
They eventually found the passages from the underground world to Ward 24. The ghouls living in Ward 24 became their targets.
The first victims were ghouls dwelling in Ward 24's depths.
"What are these monsters? Why are there things like this in Ward 24?!"
"There are too many of them! Run!"
"Damn... their bodies are so tough!"
"..."
Ghouls were already under attack from Dragon Orphans.
Only a handful of ghouls were in this area, while countless Dragon Orphans continued pouring up from the underground world.
One ghoul tried attacking the nearest Dragon Orphan with his kagune, but only managed to knock it down without dealing fatal damage.
Realizing these creatures weren't easy to deal with, they fled immediately.
Byakuya, Eto, Hairu, and Akira soon arrived at the depths.
Seeing the four people suddenly appear, the ghouls instinctively assumed they were fellow ghouls and urgently warned them.
"Don't come this way! Run!"
"There's a horde of monsters chasing us—too many to count!"
"..."
In the urgency, they hadn't noticed that Byakuya, Hairu, and Akira all carried human scents.
"No need to panic. We're here to help you."
Byakuya said calmly.
The moment he finished speaking, the Dragon Orphans at the front were struck by invisible attacks.
They showed signs of being hit—severed hands, severed legs, shattered chests—yet no attacker was visible.
This was one of the Rinnegan's abilities: Limbo: Border Jail. It could split four invisible "shadows" from the user's body—intangible clones that couldn't be seen or sensed. These shadows could use ninjutsu and even Susanoo.
However, Byakuya had shown mercy.
He only incapacitated the frontmost Dragon Orphans while simultaneously blocking the ones behind, temporarily halting their advance.
The reason was that these Dragon Orphans would gradually evolve into human form, developing intelligence to human levels—a confirmed fact from the original timeline.
Whether they ultimately evolved into humans or ghouls didn't really matter, since humans and ghouls shared the same origin.
However, the Dragon Orphans' evolution was a lengthy process. Until they fully evolved, they would remain enemies of both humans and ghouls...
Humans and ghouls slaughtering each other, Dragon Orphans indiscriminately attacking both, humans and ghouls joining forces to fight back—it was essentially all self-destruction, since all three shared the same origin.
Self-destruction was one of humanity's greatest talents. Perhaps this was one of the themes the author of Tokyo Ghoul wanted to express, though the rushed ending left the Dragon and Dragon Orphans aspects rather underdeveloped.
...
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