Of course Kanzaki Ryoma noticed Kurona standing beside him.
You don't just stand that close to someone unless you want something.
He glanced at her, trying to read the unusually stiff posture, the way her arms stayed pressed to her sides. Was she waiting for him to say something?
Did she want praise, like Nashiro?
The thought made him chuckle softly to himself. So even the stoic Kurona had a side like this. Cute, in her own way.
"You did a great job too, Kurona," he said, not letting her linger in that awkward silence a moment longer.
"Huh...? I... I mean, what?" she stammered, her eyes flickering toward him before quickly darting away.
"What's wrong?" he asked, smiling.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, though the faint pink flush that appeared on her cheeks told a different story. She tried to hide it, but the hint of happiness was there.
Ryoma didn't push it. Instead, he moved on.
"By the way," he said, "about your food problem. I'll take you both to the people in the 20th Ward's safe zone tomorrow."
Kurona looked unsure. "But Nashiro and I are ghoul investigators now. Will they even welcome us?"
"I'm one too, remember?" Ryoma pointed out. "And I get along just fine with them. Plus, you're one-eyed ghouls. It'll be easier for them to understand and trust you."
Kurona paused, then nodded. "Alright."
Nashiro didn't object either.
---
The next day, Ryoma brought Kurona and Nashiro to the 20th Ward's "safe zone."
After what had happened the day before, Yoshimura and Renji Yomo weren't taking any chances. They stayed close to the café, maintaining vigilance. Koma and Irimi had returned from their errands, so for the first time in days, the whole team was present.
"Manager, can we speak upstairs?" Ryoma asked Yoshimura calmly.
Yoshimura nodded with his usual gentle smile. "Of course."
Kurona and Nashiro followed Ryoma with quiet steps, a stark contrast to the light clinking of tableware downstairs.
On the second floor, Touka was helping Hinami read. But when she noticed Ryoma bringing up two unfamiliar girls with the manager, her eyes narrowed.
"Do you want me to step out?" she asked.
Yoshimura looked to Ryoma.
"It's alright. It's not a secret," Ryoma replied.
He sat across from Yoshimura. Kurona and Nashiro took seats on either side of him like silent guards. Touka observed them quietly, her curiosity piqued. Hinami, ever shy and gentle, peeked from behind her book, eyes wide.
"What's this about?" Yoshimura asked.
"Their names are Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa," Ryoma said plainly. "They're ghouls. And ghoul investigators."
Touka's eyes widened. Even Yoshimura's calm expression became more serious.
"...Ghouls? And investigators?" Yoshimura repeated slowly, trying to gauge if he had misheard.
"Yes. Technically, they're one-eyed ghouls. Artificially created. Not born."
Touka looked stunned. "Wait... you mean ghouls that were once human?"
"Yes," Ryoma confirmed. "Kurona, Nashiro. Show them."
Without hesitation, the twins turned slightly, allowing the others to see the red-black shimmer in just one of their eyes—Kurona's in her left, Nashiro's in her right.
Touka's breath caught in her throat.
"One-eyed..."
It was the first time she had seen one in person. She had only heard rumors.
Now, Yoshimura's expression turned heavy with thought.
He was connecting the dots already.
One-eyed ghouls, turned from humans. Investigators working for CCG. It all led back to a single source.
The Yasuhisa twins had been altered—almost certainly through human experimentation. Yoshimura knew of it. Years ago, when he was a cleaner for V, he had seen what CCG was capable of. The failed attempts to hybridize humans and ghouls. The program had been buried and abandoned.
But Kanou Akihiro had brought it back. A former researcher for CCG, he knew enough to reawaken what should've stayed buried. And the Yasuhisa sisters were proof of it.
Yoshimura had no doubt now. The experimentation. The one-eyed status. The mention of "Washuu blood." Everything aligned.
Yoshimura looked back at Ryoma, his voice low. "I see. Then... what do you intend to do?"
"I want to speak with you privately," Ryoma said, his tone shifting.
His words were calm, but there was weight behind them.
Yoshimura gave a small nod. "Alright."
Ryoma turned to the others. "Would you mind giving us the room for a bit?"
Kurona and Nashiro stood up without a word. Touka paused, glanced at Ryoma, then silently herded Hinami toward the stairs.
The room cleared, and the air changed.
Now it was just the two of them. The old man who carried the weight of two worlds. And the boy who refused to be defined by either.
***
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