Cute? Pretty girls? Demons?!
Kei felt the processor in her brain overheat to the point of scorched smells.
Aren't angels and demons supposed to be mortal enemies?
Isn't it the ultimate showdown of light and darkness?
Why does it sound, coming from Senpai's mouth, like a bunch of high-school girls in the same club having a spat?!
Seeing Kei's expression like a CPU burning out and about to blue-screen,
Rei Ao rubbed his chin.
He figured he might as well lay it all out at once, so he wouldn't have to explain every single time later.
He lifted a hand toward the kitchen.
"Since we're on the topic, let me do proper introductions."
"Tohruas you can see, the house maid. Her true form is a dragon."
"A dragon from another fantasy world."
"D dragon?!"
Kei's gaze snapped to the blonde maid in the kitchen, who was humming and washing pots at special-effects speed.
Sheshe was a dragon?
The kind of legendary creature that's massive, scale-armored, fire-breathing, and hoards treasure?
Dragons?
Kei's eyes couldn't help drifting to the two horn-like things atop Tohru's head that bobbed with her movementsthe ones she'd previously assumed were some odd hair accessories.
Could those be dragon horns?!
Tohru seemed to feel Kei's stare.
She turned and flashed a brilliant smileKei could even see the faintest tips of little fangs
and gave the spatula in her hand a jaunty wave.
The sauce on it nearly splattered onto Emilia, who was carefully covering a cake with plastic wrap nearby.
Emilia frowned the tiniest bit
and shot Tohru a chiding look.
Her exquisite profile under the light seemed to carry its own halo.
Rei Ao pointed toward Emilia.
"Emiliashe's from another world of sword and sorcery, and used to be a Hero."
A Hero from another world?
Kei felt her common sense being ground into the dirt.
That gentle, ethereal silver-haired girl had a background that that legendary?!
"And then Ilia and Sora," Rei Ao continued, pointing at Sora and Ilia.
"As you can see, they're a bit specialthink of them as incarnations crystallized from magical power."
"You can understand them as living, self-aware magic books that cast spells on their own."
Living magic books?!
Kei's vacant gaze trailed after Sora and Ilia.
"And over there is Futaba," Rei Ao finished, pointing to Futaba.
"Futaba's situation is more complicated."
"She's essentially a duplicate split off from an ability triggered by someone else. Later, I completed her so she can exist as a real human."
"Her original bodymaybe you've heard of heris our school's Futaba Rio."
A duplicate? Completed into a life?
"Boom!!!"
After weathering angels & demons dragons an isekai Hero living grimoires a separated duplicate,
Kei's brain finally gave out and fully crashed.
Her eyes opened to their limits,
the light gone from her pupils,
leaving only hollow blankness.
Her mouth hung slightly open, but no sound came.
It was like all the bones and the soul had been taken out of her; she slumped softly against the sofa back.
Even when her schoolbag slid to the floor, she didn't notice.
Worldview?
What's that?
Can you eat it?
Her consciousness seemed to float out of her body, hanging in midair, looking down coolly at this bizarre, logic-defying home of Senior Rei Ao.
Angels, demons, dragons, otherworlders, magical beings, a split-off self
This wasn't an apartment at all!
It was clearly a containment center for problem beautiful girls!
Rei Ao saw the light completely fade from Kei's eyes.
He knew they'd hit the limit of tonight's crash course.
One more step and the kid might actually split apart.
He shook his head helplessly,
bent to pick up the fallen schoolbag, patted off the dust, and tucked it back into Kei's arms.
"Looks like you'll need some time to process."
There was the faintest hint of apology in his tone.
"Come onit's late. I'll walk you home."
Chapter 891: Tokyos 20th Ward
Downstairs at the Shirogane family's apartment.
The night breeze was cool, teasing Shirogane Kei's silver-white hair.
She stood blankly at the door, eyes still out of focus, as if she were lost in that bizarre "dream" and hadn't yet woken up.
"We're here."
Rei Ao's voice tugged her drifting thoughts back a little.
"Kei."
Kei nodded stiffly, like a marionette on strings, and answered in a faint, airy voice, "Goodbye senpai"
Then, like a sleepwalker, she turned, unlocked the door, and walked in on autopilot.
The door closed behind her, shutting out the "abnormal" world outside.
"Kei? You're home?"
Her father's concerned voice came from the living room.
Her brother, Shirogane Miyuki, looked up from his book. He pushed his glasses up and peered toward the entryway at his clearly off-kilter sister.
"What's wrong? You look pale. Was club practice that exhausting?"
Kei hadn't told them she'd gone to Rei Ao's placeshe'd only said it was a club activity.
But she ignored their questions as if she hadn't heard a thing, staring straight ahead. Her steps were unsteady as she crossed the living room and went straight to her room.
Click.
The bedroom door shut softly, leaving her father and Miyuki exchanging a baffled look in the living room.
"Is Kei okay?" her father asked, frowning with worry.
Miyuki pushed his glasses again; a glint flashed across the lenses. "Looks like she's had a major shock Did a test go badly? Or"
Thinking of another possibility, his face darkened a shade. "Did some jerk at school bully her?"
Father and son met each other's eyes, and both saw the same worry there.
In the bedroom.
Kei didn't even turn on the light. She dropped onto her soft single bed and pulled the blanket over her head.
In the dark, those impossible images spun like a runaway slideshow through her mind, looping again and again.
Angels, demons, dragonswords and pictures crashing and tangling together!
Do angels really exist? Magic? Dragons? Other worlds?
Were the things she saw at Rei Ao's place real or not?
Was it a shared hallucination brought on by stress?
Or just an absurd, outlandish dream?
If it was real, then what did the world she'd known for over a decade amount to?
A massive lie?
A carefully hidden, ordinary faade?
And if it was fake why did every little detail feel so real?
The more she thought, the worse her head throbbed.
Her thoughts were like a ball of yarn a cat had batted to piecesthe more she tugged, the more tangled it got, with no end in sight.
Irritation mounted. A huge sense of aimlessness and the frailty that follows a shattered worldview closed in around her.
At last, she squeezed her eyes shut, buried her face deep in the pillow, and let out a long sigh.
"Forget it I'm done thinking"
She chose to stop.
She desperately hoped it was all just a gaudy, fever-dream of a night.
If she could just sleepjust wake upshe'd find the world back to the way she knew it.
No angels, no magic, no dragons.
And Rei Ao would be nothing more than that slightly mysterious, kind of handsome senpai who made her heart flutter in secret.
Clinging to that faint, final hope, Shirogane Kei, mentally exhausted, sank into a deep sleep.
A faint trail of tears still clung to the corner of her eye.
Tokyo's 20th Ward.
Evening.
Inside the old coffee shop.
Gentle music flowed as always, the aroma of coffee lingering in the air. But compared with most days, there was a barely perceptible tautness to the room.
By the window, in her usual spot, Kamishiro Rize set down her cup with elegant poise, a flawless, mild smile on her face.
Across from her sat a black-haired boy, a little tense and shyKaneki Ken.
"I really enjoyed talking with you today too, Kaneki-kun."
Rize's voice was soft and melodious, like a spring breeze gliding over stringsand it plucked at Kaneki's heartstrings too.
"Time flies. It's that hour again."
Kaneki's cheeks flushed; admiration and fondness for this "cultured onee-san" shone in his eyes.
After these days of chance meetings and conversations, he felt the distance between them had shrunk.
She was so gentle. So understanding. She discussed books with him and listened to his clumsy thoughts
In his monotonous life, Rize was like a shaft of light suddenly breaking in.
A wave of courage rose in him out of nowhere.
He wanted to confess.
Kaneki drew a deep breath. His hands clenched nervously into fists on his knees. His voice trembled a little, but came out unusually firm:
"Um Rize-san, it's getting dark. It isn't safe to go home alone. P-please let me walk you back!"
The moment he finished, it felt like he'd spent all his strength.
Rize's lips curved into a bright smile. "Of course."
At her answer, Kaneki's eyes lit up. He sprang to his feet and bowed deeply toward Manager Yoshimura behind the counter.
"Manager, I'm really sorryI'd like to leave a bit early. W-would that be okay?"
Yoshimura's hand paused on the cup he was polishing. His usually narrowed, kindly eyes opened to a thin slit. His gaze slid past Kaneki to the purple-haired woman by the window who was still wearing that perfect smile.
His look grew deep and piercing; it rested on her for a long moment with a knowing scrutiny.
Rize seemed not to notice, smiling with undiminished grace. She even dipped her head to the manager in a polite nod.
After a beat, the sharpness in Yoshimura's eyes ebbed away. They narrowed again, and his face returned to its usual gentle, benevolent smile.
"Heh. You're young. Go on, go on."
"Be careful on the way."
He agreed, his tone betraying nothing.
"Thank you so much!"
Relief flooded Kaneki's face; joy burst across it as he spun and hurried to the staff room to change.
~~~
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Chapter 892: Gonna Eat now...
Behind the counter, Enji Koma, Renji Yomo, Kaya Irimi, and Touka Kirishimawho'd just cleared a tableexchanged helpless looks.
What Kaneki Ken took as Kamishiro Rize getting closer to him was, in their ghoul eyes, nothing more than a predator toying with prey.
The "hunger" rolling off that woman called Kamishiro Rize was especially strong and restless tonight, like a volcano about to erupt.
She was a cat whose patience with the mouse had finally run out. Clearly, tonight was when she'd draw the net tight.
Touka set her tray down and stepped up beside Manager Yoshimura, keeping her voice low. "Manager, Kamishiro Rize she's completely ignoring our warning and the rules of the 20th Ward."
To hunt so brazenly on their turfthis was a direct slap at Anteiku's sanctuary principles.
The smile faded from Yoshimura's face, leaving only a weighty solemnity and helplessness. He let out a slow sigh, voice deep and constrained. "I know."
"But Touka, we can't intervene."
He lifted his gaze and swept a look over the other ghoul staff in the shop, eyes heavy.
"Reliable intel says a Special Class Investigator from the CCG has quietly moved into the 20th Ward. The target is likely heror other 'big eaters' drawn by her frenzy. If we step in now, even just to drive her off, it won't be subtle. If the Doves catch the slightest hint, catch even a whiff of our trail"
He didn't finish, but everyone there understood.
If Anteiku was exposed, the CCG's annihilation would come down like thunder. Every comrade herethis hard-won, fragile havenwould be lost forever.
To risk Anteiku's destruction for a human boy already in a predator's sights the price was too high.
Touka nodded. She knew what could and couldn't be done.
To her, Kaneki Ken was just a man blinded by infatuationa fool rushing to his doom no matter how you tried to talk him down. Anteiku had already done everything it could.
Just then, Kaneki hurried back in casual clothes, cheeks flushed with excitement and nerves. "Rize-san, I'm ready! Shall we?"
Rize rose with practiced grace, picked up her handbag, and gave Yoshimura and the others a slight bow. "We'll be taking our leave then. Thank you for the hospitality."
The smile on her face was still flawless.
With Kaneki holding the door for her, the two of them stepped out of Anteiku one after the other and melted into the deepening dusk.
The door clicked shut. The bell's lingering chime echoed in the quiet shop, grating on the ears.
Enji Koma sighed and shook his head. Renji Yomo silently polished a glass.
Looked like they'd be short one human waiter tomorrow.
Everyone knew what was comingeveryone but Kaneki.
Night thickened. Streetlights came on one by one, casting dim halos on the ground.
Kaneki and Rize walked side by side through a quiet residential street. They were close to the apartment she'd mentioned. It was getting quieter; hardly anyone was around, just the wind whispering through leaves.
Kaneki's heart pounded fasternot only from the nerves of being alone with the woman he admired, but from a nameless impulse pushing at his back. The dark seemed to lend him courage.
At a particularly dim corner the streetlight didn't reach, he stopped short.
Rize stopped as well, tilting her head with a touch of "puzzlement." "What is it, Kaneki-kun?"
He took a deep breath and turned to face her head-on. His cheeks burned in the dark. His body trembled slightly with nerves, but his eyes shone with a do-or-die resolve.
"R-Rize-san!"
His voice jumped with excitement, even cracking. "There's there's something I have to tell you right now!"
Rize watched him quietly. The gentle curve at her lips seemed to deepen and in the depths of her eyes flashed the cruel delight of a predator watching its prey hop into the trap.
She said nothing, only encouraged him with her gaze.
"From the first time we met at the bookstore, I I" He dredged up every ounce of courage he had and practically shouted with his eyes shut, "I fell for you! P-please go out with me!"
The moment the words were out, it felt like all his strength drained away. He panted hard, heart pounding to the point of bursting, waiting for judgmenthalf terrified, half hopeful.
Silence. Dead silence. Only the wind.
A few seconds later, just as he was bracing for rejection, he heard Rize's soft reply, laced with endless seeming shyness and joy:
"Hehe what a brave confession, Kaneki-kun. I'm very happy~"
His eyes flew open. Ecstasy flooded him.
Rize-san she's happyso she said yes?!
