Back home.
Kurona and Nashiro happened to have the day off today.
Shachi soon met the two of them in the living room.
"Byakuya, are these two young girls the one-eyed ghouls you mentioned?"
Shachi immediately asked.
Hearing this unfamiliar man directly utter the term "one-eyed ghouls," Kurona and Nashiro both showed wariness in their eyes.
"Yes. This is Kurona Yasuhisa, and this is Nashiro Yasuhisa."
Byakuya introduced them to Shachi. "They were transformed into one-eyed ghouls by Dr. Kanou, using kakuhou from the Washuu."
"Could this old man see for himself—your kakugan and kagune...?"
Shachi asked Kurona and Nashiro.
They hesitated. Though they didn't know this person at all, he seemed to be Byakuya's acquaintance.
"It's alright."
At that moment, Byakuya spoke to Kurona and Nashiro.
"Mm."
Only then did they nod reassuringly.
They then displayed their kakugan and kagune before Shachi.
Seeing Kurona and Nashiro's single eyes, Shachi's expression grew somewhat grave.
These were the same single eyes as Yoshimura's daughter, except Yoshimura's daughter was natural-born while these two girls had been transformed.
And their kagune was nearly identical to Rize's—undoubtedly from the Washuu...
"That's enough..."
Shachi turned and walked to Byakuya's side, speaking quietly. "This one-eyed ghoul transformation experiment was probably also Furuta's doing."
"Yes, he did it. Originally, he planned to make Rize the experimental subject. After that failed, he had to change his plans."
Byakuya said flatly.
"That kid..."
Shachi didn't quite understand why Furuta would do such things.
But he couldn't be bothered to guess why anymore. He only needed to know that the kid had intended to harm Rize—that was enough.
Afterward, Byakuya also introduced Shachi to Kurona and Nashiro.
"That person just now is actually Rize's father. His name is Matasaka Kamishiro."
"So he's Rize-san's father..."
Kurona nodded slightly.
"They don't look very alike. If you hadn't said so, Byakuya-oniichan, I never would have guessed."
Nashiro said.
After all, he wasn't her biological father but her adoptive father. It would be strange if they did look alike...
However, Byakuya didn't specify that Shachi was actually her "adoptive" father, to avoid a series of complications. It was best for everyone to treat Shachi as Rize's biological father—this way, Rize would be less likely to be discovered by the Washuu.
...
Though he had finally reunited with Rize, Shachi didn't plan to stay in Ward 20 indefinitely.
He would first visit Anteiku to see his old friend, and then prepare to return to Ward 6.
After all, he was the leader of Ward 6—he had been in the past, and he still was now.
He had deliberately let himself be captured by CCG investigators to protect everyone in Ward 6. Otherwise, if he had wanted, no one in the CCG besides Arima could have caught him.
So the ghouls of Ward 6 still recognized only Shachi as their leader.
Byakuya had no objections to this. He fully supported Shachi's return to continue managing Ward 6.
At this moment, Shachi sat on the second floor of Anteiku, meeting with his old friend Yoshimura after such a long separation.
"It's been a while."
"Indeed..."
"After escaping from Cochlea recently, I joined Aogiri Tree until now. I also met your daughter..."
Shachi sat across from Yoshimura.
Yoshimura was silent for a moment. "...So have you left Aogiri Tree now?"
"Yes. When I learned that Rize was still alive and well, and that there was a reliable man by her side who could protect her, I no longer had any reason to stay in Aogiri Tree."
Shachi spoke truthfully.
"You're talking about Amaha-kun, aren't you...?"
Yoshimura said with emotion. "For Rize-san, he is indeed a very reliable man. You can rest assured leaving Rize to him. In fact... I've also entrusted Eto to him..."
Shachi was somewhat surprised. "Your daughter too? No wonder..."
He suddenly understood something. The reason Byakuya had suddenly appeared at Aogiri Tree with Rize must have been because of this.
"Our Anteiku will also do our best to protect Rize—as repayment for asking Amaha-kun to look after my daughter."
Yoshimura said.
"In that case, I owe Byakuya yet another tremendous favor."
Shachi couldn't help but sigh.
Afterward, Shachi told Yoshimura about what had happened at Aogiri Tree—especially about Byakuya's "kakuja transformation."
"...Amaha-kun is also a half-ghoul?"
Yoshimura's expression shifted slightly.
"It would seem so, though there are differences. For instance, his kakugan isn't single-eyed. Not only does he have both eyes, but they also look different from ordinary kakugan."
Shachi said. "In any case, according to Byakuya himself, he is indeed a half-ghoul..."
"...I understand."
Yoshimura's expression grew somewhat heavy.
"My intuition tells me that Byakuya and your daughter are already working together, and their goals are probably similar."
Shachi shared his assessment.
After a brief catching up, Shachi departed.
Yoshimura remained alone on the second floor, gazing out the window, lost in thought.
Before this, he had never imagined that Amaha-kun could be a half-ghoul like Eto.
He remembered that Amaha-kun could consume human food normally, always appeared completely human, and could even bypass the CCG's RC Detection Gates.
Could Amaha-kun possess Washuu bloodline?
After all, even natural-born half-ghouls couldn't bypass the RC Detection Gates without the Washuu modifying the gates' "whitelist."
Because these gates detected RC cells, and half-ghouls had RC cell counts far higher than humans.
Or could it be... that Amaha-kun was an even more special half-ghoul than Eto?
Regardless of the reason, Amaha-kun's situation could only be explained by "half-ghoul."
Yoshimura sighed with growing emotion. A fellow half-ghoul like Amaha-kun might truly be the only one who could save Eto now...
...
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