The mission to exterminate the A-Rank Ghoul 'Hyena' has been completed. There won't be any new missions for a short while, so you should rest well.
Ui Koori said to Yakuchi Kei , "Fighting consecutive A-Rank 'Hyena' and S-Class 'Jason' would be too much even for a seasoned Superior Investigator."
"Alright."
Yakuchi Kei nodded slightly.
As for his own plans, he wasn't going to tell Ui Koori.
...
With no other missions for now, Yakuchi Kei parted ways with Ui Koori and returned to the 20th Ward alone.
However, he still had other things to do in the 20th Ward.
Because during this period, 'Gecko' Ōmori Yakumo's mission was to capture Kamishiro Rize alive, so it was highly likely that this guy would be active in the 20th Ward. After all, the 'Big Eater' being in the 20th Ward wasn't a secret; anyone who bothered to inquire could find out.
Although this guy posed no threat to Kamishiro Rize, he was a great threat to Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami.
It was hard to say whether 'Gecko' would retaliate against Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami because of Kiguchi Asaki.
Yakuchi Kei first returned home. Seeing that Kamishiro Rize wasn't there, he assumed she had gone to the Antique Coffee Shop.
It was also possible that she had encountered 'Gecko,' but 'Gecko' couldn't do anything to Kamishiro Rize, so he didn't need to worry.
Unless other unexpected situations occurred...
...
Arriving at the Antique Coffee Shop, he saw that Kamishiro Rize was indeed there.
"So you are here after all."
Yakuchi Kei sat down next to Kamishiro Rize.
"Didn't you go to the 19th Ward to investigate? You're back so soon?"
Kamishiro Rize asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, the progress was quite smooth. If I hadn't been delayed by certain individuals, it would have been even faster."
Yakuchi Kei said, "By the way, do you know a guy named 'Jason' or 'Gecko'?"
Speaking of which, this guy mainly developed a dual personality because he was tortured and abused by Goumasa Tokage. 'Jason' was the second personality created for self-preservation, but he was still more accustomed to calling this guy 'Gecko'.
Kamishiro Rize thought for a moment, "I think I have some impression, just a boring guy. He tried to catch me before."
"I met him in the 19th Ward this time. He'll probably be active in the 20th Ward next, so you should be careful."
Yakuchi Kei reminded her.
"I know, though that guy isn't worthy of my concern."
Kamishiro Rize said with a smile.
A little while later, Kamishiro Rize followed Yakuchi Kei home.
However, just as they were about to exit the shop, a mother and daughter walked in.
Both mother and daughter had brown hair and brown eyes, and their similar features were all very beautiful. Yakuchi Kei recognized them at a glance as Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami.
Ryoko Fueguchi, Fueguchi Hinami
As Yakuchi Kei and Kamishiro Rize passed by, Fueguchi Hinami instinctively shrank behind her mother to avoid strangers.
But suddenly, she froze for a moment.
Because she smelled a very familiar scent from that big brother.
This was... Dad's scent!
Fueguchi Hinami believed she hadn't misidentified it; this was definitely her father's scent!
This human... should be human, right? Could he have been in contact with Dad?
Fueguchi Hinami was already very worried about her father's situation, so suddenly smelling her father's scent on someone naturally made her very concerned.
However, even so, she didn't dare to show anything at this moment, only daring to secretly watch that human.
It wasn't until Yakuchi Kei and Kamishiro Rize left that Fueguchi Hinami gently tugged on Ryoko Fueguchi's sleeve and whispered, "Mom, that person just now..."
"I know, he has Dad's scent on him, but what I'm worried about is..."
Ryoko Fueguchi could naturally smell the scent too, but her reaction wasn't as obvious as little Hinami's. "If he's a Ghoul Investigator, we'll be in danger."
Just now, both mother and daughter's attention was completely on Yakuchi Kei , and they didn't realize that Kamishiro Rize was also a Ghoul like them. Otherwise, Ryoko Fueguchi probably wouldn't have suspected Yakuchi Kei of being a Ghoul Investigator.
Although Yakuchi Kei really was an Investigator.
"Alright... I wonder how Dad is doing..."
Fueguchi Hinami said worriedly, her expression downcast.
Ever since they came to the 20th Ward for refuge, they had lost contact with Kiguchi Asaki.
In fact, Kiguchi Asaki had proactively cut off contact to prevent the trouble he attracted from affecting Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami.
...
Ryoko Fueguchi's mood also became heavy.
"Miss Ryoko, Hinami-meimei, Yoshimura is already waiting for you upstairs."
At this moment, Touka Kirishima said with a friendly smile to the mother and daughter.
"O-okay, thank you, big sister."
Fueguchi Hinami was more familiar with Touka Kirishima and was slightly less shy.
Ryoko Fueguchi also nodded and bowed to Touka Kirishima to express her gratitude.
Afterward, the mother and daughter went up to the second floor and received the "goods" from Yoshimura.
The so-called "picking up goods" was actually Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami regularly coming to Anteiku to get some human carrion from Yoshimura Kuzen.
Because they were Ghouls who couldn't hunt on their own. It wasn't because their strength was too weak; Ryoko Fueguchi could release her Kagune, which, by CCG's definition, already made her at least an B-Rank Ghoul. It was only C-Rank Ghouls who couldn't release their Kagune that found hunting more difficult.
The main reason was that Ryoko Fueguchi and Fueguchi Hinami were both relatively kind; they couldn't bring themselves to harm humans.
Now that they had come to the 20th Ward, they needed to rely on the care of Yoshimura Kuzen and Touka Kirishima.
...
At the same time.
Yakuchi Kei and Kamishiro Rize had just walked out of the Antique Coffee Shop not far.
At this moment, Kamishiro Rize suddenly spoke, "That little girl just now seemed very interested in you, and she's a Ghoul."
"Didn't I tell you earlier that I met 'Gecko' in the 19th Ward? That guy was in a Clinic at the time."
Yakuchi Kei said indifferently, "And that mother and daughter just now might be related to the doctor at that Clinic. I feel like the daughter's features resemble that doctor's a bit."
"Indeed, some of your scents overlap with some of their scents. It seems the doctor you mentioned is also a Ghoul, and likely their relative."
Kamishiro Rize nodded slightly.
Although Yakuchi Kei and Kamishiro Rize hadn't paid much attention to the mother and daughter just now, Kamishiro Rize had already recognized all the scents on the mother and daughter very carefully.
"Yes, I plan to exterminate 'Gecko.' 'Gecko' will probably target them sooner or later."
Yakuchi Kei said expressionlessly.
Exterminating an S-Class Ghoul could earn him a lot of fusion points, and he could also get an S-Class Quinque. In his eyes, 'Gecko' had long deserved to die.