Kobayashi's question caught Uruka Minami off guard for a moment.
Kobayashi, wearing glasses, lightly pushed up the frame with her index finger, her small stature giving her the air of a detective.
She was clearly here to gossip.
"..."
Arima Kishou remained silent, showing no reaction.
"It's not like that! Arima-kun and I aren't dating," Uruka Minami quickly denied with a smile.
"Oh? I really thought you two got together so fast," Kobayashi said, sounding a little surprised.
"Really, we're not dating. Arima-kun and I just happen to live in the same direction, so we walk to and from school together."
Uruka Minami came up with a reasonable explanation.
"I see..."
Kobayashi nodded slightly before leaning in close to Uruka Minami's ear and whispering, "But honestly, Arima-kun is so good-looking. He's already super popular in our class, and from what I've noticed, even girls from other classes are starting to show interest. If you don't act fast, someone else might snatch him up."
"T-That's... I can't do that..."
Uruka Minami gave an awkward, embarrassed smile.
She really couldn't.
Because she was a ghoul, and Arima Kishou was a ghoul investigator-practically destined enemies.
Besides, by next week, she would be locked away in the ghoul detention center.
Kobayashi adjusted her glasses. "Don't say you can't. If someone else gets to him first, it'll be too late."
"..."
Arima Kishou remained silent.
Even though Kobayashi and Uruka Minami were whispering, he could still catch parts of their conversation.
He wasn't sure how to respond, so he simply waited for them to finish.
"Alright, alright, I got it! Just stop already, Arima-kun can hear everything!"
Uruka Minami tried to escape from the awkward topic.
"That's even better," Kobayashi said. "If he hears it, it'll help things progress between you two."
Then she added, "But anyway, I don't have time to bother you guys any longer. I still need to go 'interview' Uchiha-kun. He's another new transfer student who's been getting a lot of attention lately."
Finally freed from the situation, Uruka Minami let out a sigh of relief.
Arima Kishou remained completely expressionless and silent, as if he had heard nothing at all.
But the atmosphere was undeniably awkward. Uruka Minami wasn't dumb-she knew Arima had definitely heard everything. He was probably just staying quiet to spare her embarrassment.
The silence lingered for a while before Uruka Minami finally broke it.
"Arima-kun probably hates ghouls, right? But I guess it's not really Kobayashi-san's fault for saying all that... she could never imagine that I'm actually a ghoul..."
There weren't many people around, so she dared to say the word "ghoul" out loud.
In her mind, Arima Kishou must have become a CCG investigator at such a young age because he hated ghouls, maybe even because his family had been killed by one.
"Hate ghouls? Not really..."
Arima Kishou replied flatly.
As a half-human, Arima Kishou carried ghoul blood in his veins. He neither hated ghouls nor particularly favored humans.
His personal feelings were meaningless, he simply followed the orders of "V."
Moreover, the relationship between the CCG and "V" was far more complex than just a battle between humans and ghouls. It wasn't as simple as two opposing sides.
"Eh...?"
Uruka Minami was visibly surprised.
She hadn't expected Arima to deny it.
"But whether I hate them or not, I am a ghoul investigator."
Arima spoke in a calm, detached manner.
The deeper meaning behind his words was clear; Regardless of his personal views, he would always carry out "V's" orders.
"I understand that. I'm just surprised that Arima-kun doesn't hate me."
Uruka Minami smiled, genuinely pleased.
"..."
Arima remained silent.
"Arima-kun… the truth is, I love school the most. Being able to study and play like a normal human girl... I always envied that kind of life."
Uruka Minami chuckled bitterly. "It's ridiculous, isn't it? A ghoul who sees humans as food, yet wanting to live like them?"
Arima continued to watch her, his face expressionless.
"Of course, I'm not saying this to gain your sympathy," she added. "If I wanted that, I would have said it from the start."
Uruka Minami suddenly stopped walking, turning to face Arima directly. Their eyes met.
"By the way, those guys on motorcycles that night… they were Fura-kun's friends, weren't they? Moments of peace are precious to me, but they were so noisy, disrupting my quiet life. So, I wanted to kill them, from a human's perspective, that makes me rotten to the core, doesn't it? A ghoul like me isn't worth sympathizing with."
"Who knows..." Arima said flatly. "When the time comes, I will take you-'Lantern'-to the ghoul detention center."
He truly didn't know what a human would think about this, because he was not fully human himself.
"Alright. When the time comes, I'll go quietly with Arima-kun."
Uruka Minami smiled. "But I have one selfish request… Arima-kun call you call me 'Minami'? Just for these last few days, I want to feel like a human."
"...Minami."
Arima saw no reason to refuse such a simple request.
"Thank you, Arima-kun."
Uruka Minami's smile became even brighter. "I know you've probably heard enough of this already, but being able to say these things to you really makes me happy."
Before long, they arrived at her home.
"See you tomorrow morning, Arima-kun."
At that moment, she sounded just like any human girl saying goodbye to a friend.
"Goodbye."
Arima responded in his usual calm tone.
He wasn't entirely devoid of emotions-he simply chose to suppress them.
Even if he felt the slightest emotional fluctuation, it would never show on his face.
But in truth, Uruka Minami's words had touched something within him.
For the first time, he had heard a ghoul's true feelings.
For the first time, he had met such an unusual ghoul.
Until now, he had almost never spoken with one.