Ghoul: Starting with Sharingan

"This..."

Minami felt a bit embarrassed but answered cooperatively, "It's because Arima seems so cool and righteous, like a 'knight' who can protect me. Without him, I probably would've died a long time ago…"

She recalled the mysterious one-eyed ghoul wearing a tiger stripe mask.

"What do you mean by 'died'?"

Eto's sharp instincts immediately picked up on this.

"This happened a while ago" Minami began. "I was suddenly attacked by a mysterious ghoul I'd never seen before, and I was completely outmatched"

"If Arima hadn't shown up in time to save me, I don't think I'd have survived…"

"Oh?"

Eto's curiosity was piqued. "From what I know, Minami-chan is classified by the CCG as being close to S rated in terms of threat level, right? What kind of ghoul could be even stronger than you?"

For some reason, she instinctively suspected a certain annoying lolicon.

Minami shook her head. "I don't know. While it's not unusual for ghouls to fight over feeding grounds, having such a powerful ghoul suddenly appear in the 13th Ward, and one I've never encountered before, felt a bit odd"

"Do you happen to remember what they looked like?" Eto wanted to confirm if her suspicion was correct.

"I do remember some details" Minami replied with a nod. She had a vivid impression of the ghoul's mask. "They wore a red tiger stripe mask that only revealed their right eye. And their kakugan looked rather unique."

"As for their build… they seemed about the same as senior Byakuya"

Even so, Minami didn't connect the dots to Byakuya.

After all, she firmly believed that Byakuya, like Arima, was definitely human. Besides, the CCG had RC detection gates. Ghouls couldn't possibly become investigators for the CCG.

What she didn't know was that the RC detection gates had a "special program" embedded in them. Anyone with Washuu Clan blood or a member of the V could pass through without triggering alarms.

Kuzen had once been a Cleaner for V . Although he lacked Washuu blood, the Washuu Clan had adjusted the RC detection gates specifically for him. Naturally, this extended to Eto, who inherited Kuzen's blood.

This explained why, in the original story, Eto could have sky-high RC cell counts and still freely move as a "human" within the CCG.

"Alright, that's enough" Eto said with a playful smile. "I already have a pretty clear image in my head."

Hearing Minami's description, Eto confirmed her suspicion — it was definitely that lolicon.

Considering how Arima showed up just in time to save Minami, it was probably part of that his plan as well.

With this in mind, Eto completely dismissed the possibility of a connection between Byakuya and Minami. After all, someone like him wouldn't set up a situation just to let Arima and Minami grow closer.

"Hmm…" Minami's cheeks turned slightly red. "Ever since then, I've started to notice Arima more and more."

"Ah, the beauty of youth" Eto teased, as if playing the role of a wise older sister.

Minami had no idea that the sophisticated and intelligent writer sitting before her was actually younger than her.

Eto, feeling inspired, jotted down ideas in her notebook. Meeting Minami wasn't just for probing — it was also for gathering material.

Minami sat quietly, waiting for Eto to finish writing. Once Eto put down her pen, Minami asked curiously, "So… Miss Eto, can you share your experience with Byakuya?"

"Oh, no, it's not like that. I don't have that kind of relationship with him. Just some bad luck crossing paths. If you're interested, I can tell you about it"

"Yes, please" Minami sat up straight, eager to listen.

Eto began recounting how she first met Byakuya, carefully omitting her ghoul identity while throwing in a few jabs at him along the way.

A few minutes later, Minami couldn't help but feel that, even if they weren't officially dating, they were probably close.

Despite Eto's occasional mockery of Byakuya, Minami couldn't detect any genuine dislike in her tone.

Meanwhile, Byakuya and Arima, who had intended to return to the living room, stayed outside upon noticing how animated Eto and Minami's conversation was.

"Speaking of which, we should expand Squad 0. Do you have any recommendations, Arima?" Byakuya asked.

"None for now" Arima replied with a slight shake of his head.

"Then we'll scout for candidates when we're back at the CCG."

"Understood."

When Eto finally finished gathering material, she wrapped up her conversation with Minami and prepared to leave.

"Goodbye, Minami. I'll visit again when I have time" Eto said with a cheerful wave.

"Goodbye, Miss Eto!" Minami waved back.

Watching Eto leave, Minami felt incredulous. Eto was so cheerful and accepting. Knowing her true identity as a ghoul and still talking so naturally with her — it felt almost like being friends.

Aside from exceptions like Arima and Byakuya, who were ghoul investigators, this was Minami's first time interacting normally with a human as a ghoul.

By now, Byakuya and Eto had left together, while Arima stayed behind to study with Minami as planned.

Walking a short distance from Minami's house, Eto sighed, "Minami really is adorable. I got plenty of material today."

"Does that mean you're planning to include Arima and Minami in your next work?" Byakuya guessed.

"Yup! Along with a certain annoying lolicon — namely the one who attacked Minami."

Eto was openly teasing Byakuya at this point.

She added with a mischievous grin, "And beyond the material for my new book, I've also confirmed something else: a certain Special Class Investigator is definitely a lolicon"