As soon as Uruka Minami arrived, Uchiha Byakuya exchanged a few words with her before quickly finding an excuse to slip away.
Now that he had activated the Cleaner mission, he had a clear path forward. Simply obtaining the position would grant him 100 attribute points.
The difficulty of this mission was both simple and complex.
The challenge lay in proving himself superior to Arima Kishou in the eyes of V's leader Kaiko and Yoshitoki Washuu.
Since Kaiko had once been Arima's mentor, he was naturally biased toward favoring him.
Moreover, this mission was closely tied to the objective of repelling the SSS-rated ghoul known as the Non-Killing Owl.
If he could successfully drive off the Non-Killing Owl, his path to becoming the next Cleaner would essentially be secured.
This was because V assumed that all three attacks on the CCG's 2nd Ward branch had been orchestrated by Yoshimura Kuzen.
Since Kuzen was the former Cleaner, demonstrating the ability to repel him would prove that Byakuya was strong enough to take over the role.
On the other hand, the mission's simplicity lay in how interlinked these two objectives were.
Completing both at once meant securing 200 attribute points in total, making the process somewhat more straightforward.
Now, only Arima Kishou and Uruka Minami remained on the rooftop.
"Uchiha-kun always seems so busy," Minami remarked. "But I suppose that's expected since he's your superior, Arima-kun..."
"Regarding the observation period, First-Class Investigator Uchiha has already secured approval from our superiors," Arima stated matter-of-factly. "As long as you don't cause any trouble, you won't have to go to Cochlea."
"Mm-hmm," Minami nodded obediently.
Living like the ghouls in the 20th Ward wouldn't be a problem.
Though it would mean stagnating in strength, or even regressing, the opportunity to blend into human society and continue her normal school life was more than worth it.
Watching Arima eat his homemade bento, Minami couldn't help but sigh. "To be honest, I'm really envious of you, Arima-kun. You get to enjoy all sorts of delicious food, while I can only eat one thing for the rest of my life..."
While human food tasted absolutely vile to her, she could tell from the reactions of her classmates and friends that it must be truly delicious. Even just looking at it, she could imagine how good it must be.
Yet, whenever she tried to eat any of it, all she got in return was overwhelming disgust.
"I can understand how you feel… but that's all I can do," Arima replied.
To this day, no alternative food source had been discovered for ghouls.
So for Minami, all he could offer was sympathy and understanding.
Minami smiled. "Just having Arima-kun understand me is more than enough."
After all, ghouls were humanity's sworn enemies. Very few humans would ever sympathize with a species that could only survive by eating human flesh.
That alone made Arima's understanding incredibly rare.
"By the way, will you be the one personally overseeing my observation period?" Minami asked curiously.
"Yes," Arima confirmed. "First-Class Investigator Uchiha could be assigned to another mission at any time. During this six-month period, I'll be primarily responsible."
"So that means Arima-kun will be staying at the school for the next six months?"
Uruka Minami's expression visibly brightened.
She had a general understanding of CCG investigators and how they often moved between different wards to carry out missions.
If it weren't for the need to monitor her, Arima would likely be reassigned to another ward soon, and once that happened, he would hardly have any reason to return.
Having him remain at the school for half a year was a rare opportunity.
"That's right," Arima replied.
Until the mission was complete, unless a significantly urgent matter arose, the CCG wouldn't reassign him.
Even if he was called away, it would only be temporary.
Before officially becoming the Cleaner, Arima's movements weren't too tightly restricted by V.
For instance, in the original timeline, it took him several months to infiltrate and complete his mission at Seishin Academy.
V had not interfered with him during that period, just as most Garden-raised half-humans weren't subjected to extreme restrictions-at least, not until they were appointed as Cleaners.
"I'll be in your care for the next six months, Arima-kun," Minami said with a smile.
The exam day finally arrived.
It was the monthly assessment for the entire grade.
Naturally, Uchiha Byakuya and Arima Kishou also participated.
Nothing unusual occurred that day, and the nutrient-dense capsules from Yoshimura Kuzen successfully helped Minami make it this far.
Though her prolonged reliance on them without consuming actual human flesh had caused signs of malnutrition, at the very least, she was able to take the test without issue.
However, this was not an official, high-stakes examination-more of a routine assessment. The entire test was completed within a single day.
Once the exam ended, Minami stepped out of the classroom, visibly relieved.
Uchiha Byakuya and Arima Kishou exited at about the same time.
"It's finally over! How did you two do, Uchiha-kun? Arima-kun?" Minami asked.
"It was fine."
"There shouldn't be any problems."
Both Byakuya and Arima gave vague responses.
Fura Taishi and Sasada Aki, on the other hand, were in much worse shape.
Although they had started attending school regularly again, they still hadn't taken their studies seriously.
Having skipped so many classes in the past, they had fallen too far behind.
Trying to catch up now felt hopeless, and neither had the patience to self-study and bridge the gap.
When they emerged from the exam room, both looked utterly defeated.
Minami noticeably avoided making eye contact with Taishi and Aki.
She still felt guilty for having once attacked Taishi and his delinquent friends.
Even though she had failed to harm them, she couldn't bring herself to interact with Taishi and Aki as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, Taishi noticed her avoidance.
His first assumption was that Minami had started dating Arima, and that was why she was acting this way.
Letting out a soft sigh, he turned to Aki and said, "Well, bombing the exam is bombing the exam. It's not like I expected anything different. Instead of overthinking stuff, let's just go home and play some games."
He had come to terms with things-both the test results and his feelings for Minami.
Someone like him… was probably better off hanging out with Aki, someone who was "his kind."
"Yeah! This time, I'm definitely going to beat you, Taishi!"
Aki clenched her tiny fists with determination, ready to spend the entire night gaming at Taishi's place.