Watching Nishiki sit there with his fingers interlaced under his chin, looking so serious, Byakuya almost laughed.

He held it in and answered casually. "Yeah, I’ve known Rize’s true identity from the start."

"Not only that, but this guy fell for me at first sight."

Rize added, seemingly eager to show off how loving their relationship was.

"What? Really...?!"

Nishiki was dumbfounded.

Kimi listened without fully understanding, feeling out of place in this conversation.

But if Nishiki could talk with them like this, they couldn’t be unapproachable.

She’d gathered that one of them was an investigator and one was a ghoul—a couple even stranger than her and Nishiki. No wonder he was so worked up.

"You’re the same way. What’s there to be so shocked about?"

Rize looked at Nishiki like he was an idiot.

"It’s not the same! It’s completely different! You’re the Bin—...!"

Nishiki started to say "Binge Eater" but caught himself.

He was afraid that dropping that title might anger her.

"Doesn’t matter. What I am doesn’t conflict with loving him."

Rize said lightly. "Though I did want to eat him at first..."

"See?! She wanted to eat you at the start—and you still like her?"

Nishiki immediately turned to Byakuya.

"That was only at the beginning."

Byakuya said.

"Fine..."

Nishiki lowered his head. "When I first met Kimi, I wasn’t sure if I saw her as emergency rations or if it was love at first sight. Somehow we started dating. Later, when my identity was accidentally exposed, she still stayed with me. That’s when I fell for her completely..."

Even with Kimi sitting right beside him, Nishiki felt no embarrassment. This was how he truly felt.

Kimi’s gaze grew tender.

"Is it the same for you?"

Nishiki looked up at Rize.

"...Not quite?"

Rize considered for a moment. "Your girlfriend didn’t know your identity at first. But this guy’s different—he knew what I was from the very beginning and confessed to me anyway."

"Ah... is that so?"

Nishiki was stunned again. "Maybe that’s what makes the strongest investigator special..."

"Don’t make me sound like some weirdo."

Byakuya retorted.

"By the way, are you two students here as well?"

Nishiki asked. "I know Amaha-kun was a student here before joining the CCG. Don’t tell me your girlfriend is also—"

Since he couldn’t just call her the Binge Eater, he referred to her as Byakuya’s girlfriend.

"No, I’m just visiting for fun today."

Rize denied it.

"Oh. Do you even recognize me?"

"I don’t."

Rize smiled and answered almost instantly.

Nishiki went blank for a second. "...That’s infuriating. You stole my feeding grounds back then, and now you don’t even remember me?"

"No memory of that. Probably because you were too weak to be worth remembering."

Rize said dismissively, not caring about his feelings at all.

"Damn it..."

Nishiki was annoyed, but he couldn’t deny it.

Against the Binge Eater, his strength really wasn’t worth mentioning.

...

They’d come for lunch, but only Byakuya and Kimi could actually eat.

So they didn’t order much—just enough for Byakuya to have a bite and for Kimi to fill up.

As for Rize and Nishiki, both were the type who could eat once and go for nearly a month.

"What a coincidence, running into you two at school like this."

Nishiki mused.

"By the way, Nishio-kun, you still haven’t joined Anteiku?"

Byakuya asked.

Through their earlier conversation, they’d exchanged names.

"Anteiku? Never had any interest. And besides... didn’t the CCG wipe them out?"

"Who told you that? Everyone from Anteiku is alive and well—they just reopened under a new name somewhere else."

Byakuya handed Nishiki a business card for the coffee shop. "Here’s their card. Drop by if you’re interested."

[Ding! Host invited Nishiki Nishio to join ":re (New Anteiku)." Reward: 20 Fusion Points!]

Byakuya wasn’t going to force Nishiki to join. This was simply an invitation.

"Oh, okay..."

Nishiki accepted the card.

"I’m fairly friendly toward ghouls, but Ward 20 is still my jurisdiction. If everyone behaves, it saves me the trouble."

Byakuya explained casually.

The subtext: he trusted Anteiku’s ghouls.

Of course, this was just an explanation for Nishiki and Kimi’s benefit. He couldn’t exactly tell near-strangers that he was part of Anteiku himself—especially with Kimi being human. That would be too abrupt.

"I understand..."

Nishiki nodded thoughtfully.

He knew full well that as the CCG’s strongest investigator, this man could kill him on the spot if he wanted.

Under Anteiku’s protection, not only would he be safe from the CCG, but he’d also have a stable food source. The only restriction was no hunting humans.

Since falling truly in love with Kimi, Nishiki’s mindset had been shifting. Rather than risk hunting, he wanted a peaceful life with her—and Kimi didn’t want him doing those things either.

For Kimi’s sake, Nishiki had already made up his mind...

...

Get 20+ Chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"