Uruka Minami sat on the ground, gasping for breath, no longer bothering to hide her kagune or kakugan.
There was no point in concealing them anymore-Arima Kishou had already seen everything.
"Arima-kun..."
She muttered his name subconsciously.
Looking up at Arima Kishou standing before her, she suddenly felt as if he were a "knight," appearing at the critical moment to protect her.
Coincidentally, the pronunciation of "Kishou" was very similar to "knight" in Japanese.
That was the reason behind the side story title "Jack."
Arima Kishou remained focused on the masked figure before him, ignoring Uruka Minami.
Besides, he had no intention of offering unnecessary words to a ghoul.
Uchiha Byakuya continued his act, launching an attack on Arima Kishou.
However, this time, he refrained from using his Mangekyō Sharingan ability; Kamui, a few casual exchanges with Arima would suffice.
After a brief but seemingly evenly matched bout, Uchiha Byakuya took the initiative to retreat.
"..."
Watching the masked figure disappear into the distance, Arima Kishou did not pursue him. His primary objective was to ensure Uruka Minami's safety, and in most cases, ghoul investigators couldn't keep up with fleeing ghouls anyway.
His intervention wasn't out of personal concern for Uruka Minami-it was because she was the target of his mission. And the mission's goal wasn't extermination but capturing her and sending her to a ghoul detention facility.
He had to prevent any other ghouls from killing her.
However, had Uruka Minami successfully killed those delinquents the previous night, the situation would have been different.
Tge CCG might have decided to switch the mission from capture to extermination.
Unless, of course, the target had significant value. Powerful ghouls ranked S, SS, or even SSS were often kept alive to be used for intelligence gathering or as test subjects for new quinque development.
The fight was over, and Uruka Minami had recovered somewhat. But instead of attacking Arima Kishou, she asked, "Arima-kun, you're a ghoul investigator, aren't you? And yet you saved me..."
"No. The mission simply isn't extermination-it's to capture you and send you to a ghoul detention facility," Arima Kishou replied bluntly.
"I see... After all, I'm a ghoul. No matter how much I try to live like a normal human girl, in the end, I'm still a ghoul."
Uruka Minami smiled bitterly. "But regardless, Arima-kun, you still saved me. So... thank you."
Arima Kishou was silent for a moment.
"...No need to thank me."
"Arima-kun, you're going to take me in now, aren't you?"
Uruka Minami had given up on resisting.
She had witnessed Arima's strength firsthand-he had held his ground against the masked ghoul, whereas she had been completely powerless.
That meant she wouldn't stand a chance against him either.
"That's right."
Arima Kishou nodded slightly.
"Before that, can you give me a little time?"
Uruka Minami pleaded, "Next week's exam... I've worked so hard preparing for it."
"No," Arima Kishou refused coldly.
"Ah... what a shame..."
Uruka Minami smiled regretfully.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Byakuya had arrived at a secluded alley where he had stashed his schoolbag.
He removed the tiger-striped mask from his face, and his hairstyle instantly reverted to its original form.
Next, he took out his school uniform from his backpack and changed into it, stuffing the outfit and chain from the mask set back into his bag.
He decided not to waste any more RC cells transferring the outfit and chain back into the Kamui dimension, as his RC cell reserves were already running low.
During this operation, he had only used Kamui twice, once to enter and exit his pocket dimension when changing clothes and once to phase through Uruka Minami's attack.
Yet, even with just these minimal uses, more than half of his RC cells had been drained.
Aside from some pain in his eyes and slight physical fatigue, there were no major issues. He estimated he would recover naturally in a day or two.
"After exchanging a few blows with Arima, it's clear that his physical abilities surpass mine. Well, that's to be expected-this is Arima Kishou at his physical prime, after all..."
Uchiha Byakuya thought to himself.
His Constitution stat still wasn't high enough, but unlike Arima, who would eventually experience physical decline, Byakuya's growth potential was limitless-so long as he had attribute points, he could continue to grow stronger.
After making his way back at full speed, Byakuya soon arrived at Arima's location.
The first thing he saw was Arima preparing to place handcuffs on Uruka Minami.
These weren't ordinary handcuffs but ones specially crafted by the CCG using ghoul kagune material.
A standard ghoul would have no chance of breaking free.
"You know, Arima, I didn't take you for someone with this kind of fetish."
Byakuya deliberately teased.
At this moment, Uruka Minami had already retracted her kagune, and her kakugan had returned to normal black pupils.
From an outsider's perspective, it looked as if Arima Kishou was restraining a helpless and innocent schoolgirl.
Uruka Minami knew that Uchiha Byakuya must also be a ghoul investigator like Arima, but she hadn't expected him to make such a remark right away. She was momentarily caught off guard.
"No," Arima replied expressionlessly. "I have confirmed that Uruka Minami is the ghoul 'Lantern.' I am proceeding with her capture."
After securing the handcuffs on Uruka Minami, Arima walked over to Byakuya and, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear, gave a brief report.
"Earlier, I encountered an unidentified ghoul fighting 'Lantern,' seemingly over hunting grounds. That ghoul has since retreated. Additionally, I have now confirmed that 'Lantern' is Uruka Minami."
Before this, Arima had just finished driving out the janitor ghoul who had been hiding within the school. That ghoul had chosen to resist rather than surrender, forcing Arima to subdue him.
Immediately after, he had gone to track Uruka Minami, a part of his standard investigation of 'Lantern.' That was when he happened upon the scene of her battle with the masked ghoul.
It was clear that Arima had not recognized that the mysterious ghoul was, in fact, Byakuya himself.
The differences in appearance were simply too drastic. While their body types were similar, it wasn't enough to draw conclusions. After all, countless people in the world shared similar builds.
Furthermore, Arima knew very well that both he and Uchiha Byakuya were half-humans raised in V's Sunlit Garden. Half-humans did not possess a kakugan.
Thus, he never once suspected that the masked ghoul could have been his partner.
"By the way," Arima added, "'Lantern' requested a short delay before being taken in. She said she wanted to complete next week's exams. What do you think?"
Since Byakuya was his partner and superior, he had the final say in such matters.
"Let her have this chance. Besides, Arima, aren't you enjoying school life quite a bit yourself? No harm in extending it a little longer, right?"
Byakuya said casually.
Arima was silent for a brief moment, his face as unreadable as ever. But he did not deny it.
"...Understood."