Dimensional Kaguya Ōtsutsuki

The time had reached late afternoon, with the sun setting amidst a sky of vibrant colors.

Initially planning to leave after packing up, Kaguya found herself intercepted halfway by a man. He was tall, with short hair and narrow eyes. It was Kousuke Houji.

"There you are. Finally, some luck," Kousuke Houji said, his eyes lighting up as he approached. "I've been looking for you."

"What's the matter?" Kaguya asked, curious about his slightly disheveled appearance.

As a Provisional Special Investigator at CCG, Kousuke Houji worked in the same building as Kaguya. They rarely interacted, with minimal professional exchange. Logically, there was little reason for him to approach her.

"Arima Special Class wants to see you," Houji explained. "If you're free, it would be best to meet him."

"I see," Kaguya nodded. "May I ask what it's about?"

"I'm not entirely sure. You'll find out once you meet him," Houji replied with a polite smile.

"Alright. Thanks."

Watching Kousuke Houji disappear into the distance, Kaguya grew thoughtful.

When Kaguya arrived at the office, the sky was darkening; evening had set in.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in," Arima's cool voice called from inside.

Kaguya pushed open the door and entered.

The office looked the same as before: spacious but not empty. Everything was neatly arranged—desks, chairs, and bookshelves filled with books—giving a sense of order. The small potted plant and an unknown white flower on the desk added a refreshing elegance to the otherwise austere room.

"Special Investigator Arima, what's the matter?" Kaguya asked, sitting unceremoniously on the sofa opposite him, crossing her legs.

"It's nothing too complicated," Arima replied, adjusting his glasses slightly. "I wanted to ask about the café I assigned you to investigate recently. What's the status?"

"Oh, that," Kaguya leaned back against the sofa, speaking nonchalantly. "They appear to be ordinary humans. I haven't noticed anything unusual. Their dietary habits and behavior are entirely consistent with regular humans."

"Is that so?" Arima glanced at Kaguya, gathering the documents on his desk.

"Yes."

Kaguya couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease. She wondered if Arima had already discovered something about Anteiku's true nature. But since she'd already spoken, she couldn't backtrack and had to push through with confidence.

Fortunately, Arima didn't press further. Instead, he nodded and said, "If that's the case, I'm reassured. Given the prior attack on our base by ghouls, many personnel have been reassigned. Right now, I need to delegate a particularly important task to you."

"What sort of task?" Kaguya asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I have a mission I'd like to entrust to you. However, unlike the simpler tasks before, this one is highly dangerous. Several investigators have already lost their lives to this mission," Arima explained, picking up a file from his desk. "Of course, you're free to decline."

"Before that, Special Investigator Arima, I have something very serious to report," Kaguya said, sitting upright, her expression suddenly grave.

Arima raised his head, momentarily taken aback. He had never seen Kaguya look this serious before. "If there's something to say, go ahead."

Just as Arima leaned in to listen carefully, Kaguya said with a completely straight face, "Can I get an advance on next month's salary?"

Arima, despite his unshakable composure, was momentarily stunned by her words. Of all the things she could have said, it turned out to be this trivial.

"Ahem. Special Investigator Arima," Kaguya cleared her throat, rubbing her fingers together in slight embarrassment. "You see, I just moved here and don't have much money. I'm struggling to eat. At this point, I can't even afford instant noodles. If I don't get some funds soon, I might…"

With her pitiful, tearful demeanor, Kaguya looked genuinely sorrowful. She was on the verge of conjuring tears to sell her plight.

When Kaguya left the office, she was holding an envelope filled with thick wads of cash. Despite his usual stoic demeanor, Arima was unexpectedly generous. The envelope contained at least several hundred thousand yen—a small fortune that meant she wouldn't have to worry about food for quite some time.

Arima explained that the money was a reward for her previous achievements, including defeating Matasaka Kamishiro, Rize Kamishiro, and rescuing many CCG operatives. Though he claimed it was due to be processed later, he decided to give it to her early since she was in need.

But Kaguya could tell from Arima's subtle shifts in demeanor—despite his impassive face—that part of the money likely came from his own pocket.

She thought to herself, Who would've guessed this guy is actually pretty decent? Her opinion of Arima improved significantly—not in a romantic way, as she wasn't into guys.

As for the mission Arima assigned her, it wasn't an easy one.

The task involved the Tsukiyama family.

Arima also revealed startling news: "The Gourmet," Shuu Tsukiyama, was still alive.

Considering the devastating power of the Tailed Beast Bomb—a force akin to a nuclear explosion—Kaguya had assumed Tsukiyama couldn't have survived. Not even a ghoul's regenerative abilities should have sufficed. Yet somehow, he had escaped death.

This was evidence of the astonishing adaptability of ghouls. It also suggested that Tsukiyama might not have been directly hit by the full force of her attack, allowing him to narrowly escape.

If her hunch was correct, CCG had already begun targeting the Tsukiyama family's vast network. Arima's mission for her was to investigate their movements. Recent intelligence suggested the Tsukiyama family was mobilizing unusual resources, indicating internal strife or plans for a larger operation.

As Kaguya delightedly patted the envelope in her pocket and headed toward her apartment, eager for a lavish meal, strange noises suddenly echoed from a nearby park.

When she reached the park, the sight before her made her eyelid twitch involuntarily and her mouth curl into a grimace.

Standing before her, with golden hair and an adorable face, was none other than the young girl Kaguya had saved twice before.

At the moment, she was surrounded by a group of ghouls with crimson eyes and drooling mouths. They had her cornered against a tree, their predatory gazes filled with malevolence. The girl was trembling, holding her arms to her chest. Her eyes were red, and it seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

"What luck, stumbling upon such a prime specimen."

"Skin so smooth and tender—she must be delicious."

"Shame she's so small, but it'll last us a week."

"We should really thank Aogiri Tree for this. At least now we don't have to hide like before."

"Stop saying downer stuff. I'm already salivating."

"Hehehehe."

This was clearly one of the lingering consequences of Aogiri Tree's attack on the CCG. The heavy casualties they inflicted had left the agency severely understaffed. Patrol frequencies and coverage had visibly decreased, providing opportunities for ghouls to run amok. Kaguya had anticipated this situation but knew that clearing all the ghouls in the 20th Ward wouldn't be a quick task.

Still, she thought to herself, Young lady, why are you wandering around at this hour instead of going home? Don't you know how easily you could be "eaten"?

Of course, that could mean being consumed in more than one sense.

Just as the ghouls prepared to pounce, ready to tear into their prey, a cold voice cut through the air.

"You scum, lurking on the fringes of society—do you not know how to restrain yourselves?"

"Hmm?"

The ghouls froze and turned toward the source of the voice, startled to see a slender figure standing at the edge of the park.

"I thought it might be the doves, and it scared the hell out of me."

"Looks like it's our lucky day—caught one, and now another has come to us."

"Since you've shown up uninvited, don't blame us for being impolite."

"This one looks tastier than the last."

"Catch her! Don't let her get away."

With that, the group of ghouls lunged at Kaguya, their ghastly claws tearing through the air. Their eyes gleamed with hunger as they surrounded her in a deadly formation, eager to rend her apart.

What they didn't realize was that their supposed prey was far from a helpless lamb.

Kaguya raised her arm, and a beautiful katana with an eerie glow materialized in the air. This was her blade, Liuli.

Since Kaguya found carrying it cumbersome, she rarely kept it on her and instead stored it in her dimensional space. She seldom used it, as most low-level opponents could be dealt with effortlessly. But a weapon like this deserved to taste blood; otherwise, it would eventually become nothing more than a dull piece of iron.

With a flick of her thumb, Kaguya unsheathed the katana. A sharp clang echoed as its blade, glowing with a spectral blue light, glimmered coldly in the dark.

Kaguya leapt forward in a burst of speed, moving like a streak of lightning. With a single swing of her arm, her blade moved as if it were part of her body. The air shrieked as the katana slashed through it, tracing a luminous arc that split the night sky like a shooting star.

Cold gleams scattered, the blade aura surged.

With a crisp "clang," the long sword returned to its sheath.

Without sparing a glance at them, Kaguya walked toward the blonde-haired girl.

Behind her, the ghouls froze in place, their faces twisted with fear and disbelief. None of them dared to make a sound. The group of ghouls stood still like statues, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, their faces pale with terror, and their wide-open mouths incapable of uttering a single word.

"Plop."

Scarlet blood suddenly spurted from the ghouls' bodies. It sprayed high into the air and dispersed like a mist of blood. Amidst the splattering of crimson, the ghouls' corpses crumbled to the ground in pieces, severed into neat chunks as if chopped by a master butcher. The pungent stench of blood instantly permeated the air.

Kaguya walked up to the adorable blonde-haired girl and immediately launched into a scolding tirade. "Idiot! I've never seen anyone as stupid as you! Do you not know how dangerous it is to wander around at night? If I hadn't been here, you'd have already been eaten by those ghouls! What were you even thinking? Or were you not thinking at all?"

However, the blonde-haired girl didn't seem to hear Kaguya's words. Her pair of beautiful amber eyes stared blankly at Kaguya.

"Hey, did you hear what I just said?" Kaguya crouched down, waved her hand in front of the girl's face, and frowned. "Were you scared out of your wits?"

"So cool," the blonde-haired girl muttered under her breath.

"What did you just say?" Kaguya, seemingly confused, asked.

"So cool!" The blonde-haired girl's beautiful eyes widened, sparkling like stars as she clenched her fists and exclaimed excitedly, "You're so cool! Just incredibly cool!"

"Huh?"

Kaguya was utterly baffled by this blonde-haired girl's thought process. Shouldn't she be crying her eyes out and vowing to turn over a new leaf at this moment?

The blonde-haired girl grabbed Kaguya's hand with excitement and said, "You're truly amazing!"

"Is there something wrong with your brain?" Kaguya shoved her away and said exasperatedly, "Aren't you even a little scared?"

The blonde-haired girl wasn't upset. She clung back to Kaguya and said happily, "At first, I was really scared, but once I saw you, I wasn't afraid anymore."

Kaguya simply couldn't understand this person's thought process. Was she missing a few brain cells?

"Do we know each other?" Kaguya asked.

"No, but are you trying to ask my name?" The blonde-haired girl's eyes lit up as she said, "I'm Ibuki Kosaka. Nice to meet you, my savior! What's your name?"

Hey, you're overthinking this! I was clearly implying that we're not close, okay?

Yoriko Kuroiwa.

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Oh, right—she's that good friend of Touka Kirishima. Basically, her bestie.

"My name doesn't matter," Kaguya turned her head away, thinking that having such a person clinging to her could only lead to trouble.

"Come on, tell me!" Yoriko Kuroiwa shook Kaguya's arm and pleaded coquettishly.

"Fine, fine, you're so annoying," Kaguya, now thoroughly exasperated, replied irritably. "Listen up, my name is—"

Suddenly, a shadow emerged not far behind Kaguya. It extended a crimson kagune and, moving with lightning speed, launched a sneak attack toward Kaguya's undefended back.

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