"Give up...? I can tell you mean well, but I don't want to give up so easily."
Fura Taishi's expression was firm.
He never even considered the possibility that Uruka Minami was a ghoul.
How could she be?
She was polite, well-mannered, and academically gifted, she was even the class representative.
He thought Uchiha's words meant something else:
That Uruka Minami was simply too good for him; That compared to her, he was just a worthless delinquent.
That, on the other hand, Arima was strong, good-looking, and her seatmate-he had every advantage.
Yeah… maybe he didn't have much of a chance.
But that didn't mean he was ready to give up.
Byakuya didn't respond.
He had already said enough.
Unless he straight-up told Fura "Uruka Minami is the pumpkin-head ghoul that almost killed you," the guy wouldn't drop this.
But that wouldn't help Byakuya's plans, so he wasn't going to do that.
First Period-Math.
The teacher wrote a difficult problem on the blackboard and asked for volunteers.
No one wanted to be picked.
The only ones who stayed completely calm were the students who were confident they could solve it-
Byakuya, Arima, and Minami.
Math had always been Byakuya's strongest subject in his past life though he had been terribly bad at everything else.
Now, with the Mangekyō Sharingan, his skills had only gotten sharper.
"Alright… let's have Arima-kun try."
The elderly teacher adjusted his reading glasses and scanned the student list for an interesting name.
Arima eventually stepped up, barely pausing before writing down the entire solution in a matter of seconds.
It took him two to three minutes total.
Then he put down the chalk and returned to his seat.
"…Absolutely correct."
The teacher was stunned for a moment.
"Arima-kun, you only transferred in yesterday, right? You're adjusting remarkably fast."
Uruka Minami smiled warmly at Arima.
"Arima-kun, you're amazing. You must be really good at math."
"It's nothing."
Arima's voice was as flat as ever.
"Math is just recognizing the right formulas and applying them to the problem."
Uruka Minami's smile froze for half a second.
"…You make it sound easy, but most people struggle with that."
She laughed awkwardly.
But deep down, she was thinking-
"Huh… this ghoul investigator is surprisingly good at school."
Lunchtime-Rooftop.
Byakuya and Arima ate their homemade bento lunches on the school's rooftop.
It was also a good spot to discuss work in private.
"Arima, did you pick up anything useful from talking to Minami?"
"…No."
Arima shook his head.
"Everything about her behavior seems normal but it's common for ghouls to blend into human society perfectly."
Byakuya nodded.
"No rush. We'll observe her a little longer."
But then he added-
"Besides 'Lantern'-I think there's another ghoul at this school."
Arima turned to him.
"Explain."
"I noticed someone acting suspicious."
Byakuya's gaze sharpened.
"A janitor working on campus."
Uchiha Byakuya pointed toward a specific spot below.
"Look over there. That guy, he's right there."
On the lawn, a middle-aged janitor wearing a hat was supposedly trimming the grass.
But instead of focusing on his work, he was constantly looking around-his movements shifty and suspicious.
A normal student might not think much of this.
But Arima wasn't a normal student.
He took one look and knew; That guy was extremely shady.
"Arima, how do you want to handle this?"
Byakuya asked.
"He looks like he's searching for an ideal target, I'll let him choose me."
Arima answered.
After all, he looked frail and unthreatening-the kind of "easy prey" a ghoul might go after.
Byakuya nodded.
"Alright, then I'll leave him to you."
Internally, though, he was planning something else.
This janitor ghoul was a known character-he was in the original story.
His method?
He targeted students and teachers.
Byakuya was only bringing him up now to create an opportunity-an excuse for Arima to be busy, so he could move alone.
"We'll act after school."
Arima concluded.
At 3:45 PM, school ended.
Students either went home, attended club activities, or headed to cram school.
Arima split off to handle the janitor ghoul alone.
Meanwhile, Byakuya was somewhere else entirely.
Kamui Dimension.
Yes, he was inside the Kamui Dimension.
Because when he had bought his striped tiger-patterned mask, the system had also gifted him a full outfit and a chain.
This was Uchiha Obito's outfit from the night of the Uchiha Massacre.
The system was thoughtful enough to provide the whole set-though it stored everything in the Kamui space, except the mask, which he could equip at will.
[Ding! Host has equipped full set: "Red Moon Night"!]
[Set Effect Activated: +5 RC Cells, Hairstyle Changed!]
Wait, what?
Byakuya blinked.
His hair had changed?!
Checking his reflection, he realized; He now had Obito's exact hair from that time period.
Right now, aside from his face and physique, he was basically a carbon copy of "Red Moon Night Obito."
This was perfect.
With this disguise, nobody would be able to recognize him.
Before leaving the Kamui Space, Byakuya decided to spend his accumulated points.
[Current Attribute Points: 134]
[Ding! Host has successfully allocated points!]
[Physicality +6.1]
[RC Cells +73]
[Attribute Points -134]
Byakuya had split his stats with priority on RC Cells, but without neglecting Physique.
[Physicality: 30]
[RC Cells: 673 (+5)]
"Alright… It's time."
With that thought, Byakuya activated Kamui and phased back into reality-Right on Uruka Minami's path home.
It was a narrow alleyway.
A perfect place for an ambush.
Here, a red-masked figure appeared out of nowhere, completely unnoticed by any passersby.
Moments later, Uruka Minami arrived.
She stopped immediately.
Her body tensed.
Her first reaction was; "This guy's a ghoul."
No human would dress like this and yet she had never seen this ghoul before.
She ruled 13th Ward like it was her personal domain.
No unknown ghouls should be here.
So why was there a mysterious intruder blocking her path?
"Is he from another ward?"
She wondered.
At that moment, the red-masked figure moved; Dragging a heavy chain across the ground.
Clank.
Clank.
A slow, deliberate sound as the mysterious figure advanced toward her.