After that, the relationship between Kaguya and Touka Kirishima clearly improved a lot. They no longer bickered like before, almost as if they had become completely different people. However, when it came to what happened that night, neither of them ever spoke about it.
Everyone at Anteiku found this rather surprising and secretly speculated about what could have happened to cause such a drastic change.
Only Kaya Irimi seemed to have figured something out. Whenever she saw the two of them together, a knowing smile would appear on her gentle face, making Touka—who was usually very cautious—flush bright red.
Just as Kaguya entered Anteiku to grab breakfast, she was suddenly pulled aside by Touka Kirishima and dragged into the break room.
Touka placed her hands on her hips and said bluntly, "Hey, did you tell Irimi-san about this?"
"How could I possibly do that?" Kaguya was startled, looking confused. "Why would I tell anyone about this?"
"Good."
Touka breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up, her face slightly red, and said, "You can't tell anyone about this, got it?"
"Got it, got it," Kaguya waved her hand in exasperation. "How many times are you going to say that? It's not that big of a deal, anyway. Besides, they'll find out sooner or later."
"That's not an option!"
Touka huffed, crossing her arms. "Anyway, if you ever say anything, you're done for!"
She tilted her chin up, looking as proud as a swan, then turned and left.
...
"That girl is fine in every way, except that she's way too shy… and such a hopeless tsundere."
Kaguya sighed, shaking her head.
Last night, she had been so thoroughly teased that she didn't even have the strength to beg for mercy, yet now she was back to being stubborn.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what had happened. A little closeness between girls was normal.
But the way Touka was acting so guilty and secretive only made things more obvious.
Kaguya really didn't know whether she should praise her for being smart or call her an idiot.
...
In the following days, a major world-shaking event occurred—
The leader of "Akatsuki," also known as the mysterious Fox Fairy, officially revealed themselves.
Not only did they establish contact with Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces and CCG Headquarters, forming an alliance, but they also signed a series of treaties with governments around the world to combat the mutated ghouls together.
With Kaguya's influence, Anteiku also transitioned from a fugitive group into a cooperative force working alongside human factions.
This helped clear much of their previous bad reputation.
As for "The Owl"—Yoshimura Kuzen—he became a priority target on the wanted list.
Many humans weren't happy about this, especially those CCG agents who had fought Yoshimura Kuzen in the past.
For them, accepting this alliance was hard to swallow.
However, even if they weren't willing, they didn't dare act out.
After all, this decision came personally from "Akatsuki" and the Fox Fairy, and Kaguya's official status as a ghoul only made her position even more intimidating.
With such overwhelming power, who would dare openly oppose it?
So even if there was resentment, they had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Meanwhile, not just in Japan, but all over the world, reports of mutated ghouls were rapidly increasing.
...
This wasn't just an isolated crisis.
Something even bigger was happening, and at the center of it all, Kaguya was about to face her greatest challenge yet.
What worried people even more was that there was still no effective cure or solution for the mutated ghouls. Scientists around the world had no clue how to develop a countermeasure. Due to the rapid spread of infections and the horrific transformations taking place, even top researchers in various countries were left helpless.
However, there was one fortunate discovery—those who had been revived by Kaguya's Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique in Ward 5 seemed to have become immune to the mutation.
No matter how much they were exposed to the virus, they showed no symptoms and were completely unaffected.
This led to widespread devotion toward the Fox Fairy. The faith of the people grew stronger, and temples were constantly filled with worshippers, their incense offerings never ceasing.
What made Kaguya feel even more speechless was that these revived people were now referred to as "The Chosen", supposedly blessed by the gods, which was why they were immune to the virus.
Honestly, Kaguya wanted to tell them the truth—they were overthinking things. If they ever encountered another mutated ghoul, they'd best not test their luck.
As the investigation deepened, the creator of the mutation virus was finally identified—
It was none other than Dr. Akihiro Kanou, the same man responsible for the hybrid ghoul experiments.
He was the one who developed the virus that could turn humans into mutated ghouls.
However, there was no need to dwell on this anymore—Kanou was already dead, brutally murdered, and his body disposed of in a sewage ditch.
But for Kaguya, that wasn't the most important part.
She had long known who the true mastermind was Furuta Nimura.
Even if she didn't have concrete evidence, she could figure it out with her knee—who else but that lunatic would bother with such a thankless task?
She had a pretty good idea of what he was trying to accomplish.
And she had already made her move ahead of time.
It wouldn't be long before the results became clear.
As expected, before Kaguya could make the first move, someone had already come looking for her.
"Hey, there's no one sitting here, right? Can I join you?"
A lively, clear voice suddenly rang out.
Kaguya looked up to see a beautiful girl standing before her.
She had long, green hair, though messy and unkempt, as if she didn't care much for grooming.
A pair of round glasses sat on her face, softening her sharp features.
Her skin was fair, and her face delicate and pretty, but what stood out the most was her bright, intelligent eyes—they left a lasting impression.
If Kaguya wasn't mistaken, this person was Takatsuki Sen, the famous best-selling novelist.
"Why is it you?"
Kaguya set down her coffee cup, smiling lightly.
"I thought it would be that guy, Tatara."
"You mean Mr. Tatara?"
Takatsuki Sen tilted her head slightly, then suddenly broke into a cheerful smile.
"Oh, he's dead."
"How could he die so easily? Who killed him?"
In her impression, Tatara was no easy opponent—his strength surpassed SS-rank, and he was one of the most formidable ghouls in Aogiri Tree.
Still, wasn't he your comrade? Saying it with such a casual smile... was that really okay?
Kaguya felt a headache coming on, this woman was too much.
"Dead is dead. What, do you want me to describe in detail how Mr. Tatara was chopped into pieces?"
Takatsuki Sen grinned sinisterly, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
Her expression was so twistedly cheerful that Kaguya couldn't help but get chills.
Kaguya's eye twitched, a headache forming.
"Besides, I only asked who killed him. I didn't ask for a play-by-play of how he turned into mincemeat."
"Oh? Didn't expect you to be so interested in Tatara's mincemeat."
Takatsuki Sen tilted her head, smirking.
"Stop making up nonsense with such a straight face!"
Kaguya snorted in exasperation, crossing her arms.
"By the way, do you want some coffee? Or maybe a dessert?"
"No need for that. I'm here for business."
Takatsuki Sen sat down casually and shrugged.
"Oh? Didn't expect you to actually have 'business' to attend to," Kaguya raised an eyebrow, glancing at her.
"I thought you were just here to mess around."
"If I wanted to mess around, there'd be plenty of time for that later,"
Takatsuki Sen laughed, then leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice.
"I came to tell you—Furuta has already begun implementing 'The Clowns' plan."
"The Clowns' plan?"
Kaguya's eyes narrowed slightly, immediately understanding what she meant.
She was talking about the Clown Organization, the same group Furuta Nimura was part of in the original story.
Now, it seemed that the Clowns were completely under Furuta's control—or rather, they had been from the very beginning, and now he was simply stepping into the light.
"That's right,"
Takatsuki Sen crossed her legs, her tone casual yet chilling.
"If nothing unexpected happens, their goal is to spread the virus across all of Japan, turning the entire country into a paradise for mutated ghouls."
Kaguya's brows furrowed slightly.
Wasn't this exactly the kind of thing that big bad villains in movies loved to do?
Too bad it never worked out well for them.
Most endgame villains who pulled this kind of stunt never had a good ending.
However, this did pose a problem.
If the virus truly spread across all of Japan, then the entire country would turn into a ghoul wasteland.
By then, humans wouldn't even have a place to hide.
If things really got that bad, even if Kaguya used her Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, it might not be enough to fix everything.
First of all, the scale was too large.
The chakra consumption would be on an entirely different level compared to before.
Last time, reviving hundreds of thousands of people already exhausted her.
Now, there were twenty-plus wards—meaning at least millions, or even tens of millions of people.
Wouldn't she be completely drained by then?
Secondly, what if the system judged that, after all humans were infected, the mission had already failed?
Would she not even get a chance to use the revival technique? If that happened, then things would be beyond screwed.
Because of all this, Kaguya immediately made a decision.
She had to kill Furuta Nimura before the virus bombs exploded.
"Business is done, but... it seems like there's one more thing."
Takatsuki Sen suddenly grinned, her gaze playful.
"What thing?"
Kaguya, still radiating killing intent, was caught off guard and asked, "Is there something else important?"
"Of course,"
Takatsuki Sen tilted her head slightly, smirking.
"It's about your lifelong happiness."
Lifelong happiness? What kind of nonsense is that?
Kaguya was a bit confused and asked, "What does that have to do with me? I don't recall doing anything to you."
"Huh?"
Takatsuki Sen blinked, staring at her with wide eyes.
"You don't realize what you've done?"
"Hey, don't take things out of context!"
Kaguya's eye twitched, exasperated.
"If you have something to say, just spit it out already."
"I didn't expect the legendary Fox Fairy to have such a crude side."
Takatsuki Sen chuckled, teasing.
"If your devoted followers knew about this, I wonder what kind of expressions they'd make?"
"Like I care."
Kaguya snorted, clearly indifferent.
"Actually, I have another reason for coming to see you,"
Takatsuki Sen rested her chin on her hand, her voice casual but meaningful.
"You haven't forgotten our deal, have you?"
Kaguya paused for a moment before realizing what she meant.
As compensation for keeping track of Furuta Nimura's movements, Kaguya had indeed promised Aogiri Tree a reward—a certain amount of her blood.
They seemed to crave it intensely.
But it wasn't just for strengthening themselves—it was more likely because they yearned for human-like lives and diets.
If they could consume normal food, then aside from their superior abilities, they would be almost indistinguishable from humans.
At the time, Kaguya had agreed without much thought.
After all, even if they hadn't asked, she would have found a way to help them adapt to human food.
Forcing ghouls and humans to coexist was pointless if the ghouls still needed to consume humans to survive.
Without a fundamental solution, peace between the two races was just wishful thinking.
"Oh, so it's about that. I thought it was something else."
Kaguya reached into her pocket, but then froze slightly.
That's when she remembered—the small vials of blood she had prepared had already been given as gifts to the people at Anteiku Café.
After all, they too longed for human lives, and Kaguya had no reason to deny them that wish.
"Can it wait till next time? I don't have any on me right now,"
Kaguya said.
"Don't worry, I won't go back on my word."
"How could you not have any?"
Takatsuki Sen narrowed her eyes and scooted closer, staring at her intently.
"I thought you always carried plenty with you."
Hey, hey, don't say things that could be misunderstood!
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