Ward 11. Inside the abandoned building serving as Aogiri Tree's base.
Banjou and his fellow Ward 11 ghouls were being put to work for Aogiri Tree. A ghoul with distorted features—apparently having been severely wounded by investigators in the past—served as their "overseer," punishing anyone who didn't work fast enough.
"All of you better cut faster, damn it! Or we won't make it in time for Group 1's feeding hour!"
The overseer was berating the working ghouls.
These ghouls in Aogiri Tree's uniform worked in what resembled a factory assembly line, cutting up human corpses that Aogiri's hunting parties had brought back. Wearing gloves and wielding knives, they looked almost professional.
Only the Ward 11 ghouls did this hard labor. Other Aogiri ghouls were naturally exempt—blatant discrimination.
"Brat! You dare steal food?!"
Suddenly, an incident occurred.
The overseer had apparently caught a young ghoul sneaking a bite of meat and immediately kicked him into a wall.
"Ugh..."
The little boy clutched his stomach in pain.
"You little... brat!"
Just as the overseer was about to slap the boy, Banjou suddenly stepped between them, taking the slap himself.
Even a single slap from a ghoul's strength could snap an ordinary human's neck.
Banjou's body wasn't much stronger than a regular human's. The slap sent him crashing to the ground. If that slap had landed on the frailer child, it would have been much worse.
The overseer paused. "Banjou... what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry!"
Banjou immediately knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground. "I told him to steal it because we were just too hungry."
Hearing this, the overseer's twisted, asymmetrical eyes bulged with bloodshot veins. "You think that'll make it okay?!"
He immediately stomped on Banjou's head, beating him while cursing: "You Ward 11 garbage!!"
Banjou endured a lengthy beating before being released, his body covered in wounds. At least being a ghoul gave him some regeneration.
After nearly a full day of hard labor, the Ward 11 ghouls were locked in a prison-like room.
Inside their "cell," there were only a few scattered bone fragments—their food for the day. And even those scraps had to be shared among several people.
"Just these bone scraps. They're treating us like dogs..."
Though furious, no one dared do anything about it.
"Big Brother Banjou, I'm sorry. Today was my fault..."
The little boy who'd been caught stealing blamed himself. Because of his mistake, Big Brother Banjou's face was still covered in bruises and swelling.
Even with regeneration, the damage was visible—showing just how badly Banjou had been beaten.
"Kouma... we absolutely cannot draw their attention. Otherwise, our plan could easily fall through. You want to protect your mom, right? Before we escape, we have to endure a little."
Banjou had no intention of blaming Kouma, instead speaking gently.
"Yeah!"
Kouma nodded firmly.
Not only that, but Banjou gave all his bone scraps to Kouma. "Here, eat my share too. It'll help you hold out longer."
"Banjou-san!"
Kouma's mother immediately expressed concern.
Banjou usually took all the blame, and getting beaten meant his regeneration consumed more RC cells, making him hungrier faster.
"It's fine! Kids need to eat to grow. Besides, if I don't slim down a bit, I'll be even less popular with the ladies!"
Banjou laughed optimistically.
But the moment he finished speaking, his stomach let out a loud "gurgle."
He was immediately embarrassed.
Everyone contributed part of their bone scraps to Banjou.
"Take it, boss. If you can't hold out first, who'll lead us?"
"Sigh... come to think of it, we don't have much time left. Having failed to find Rize-san, I'm worthless to Aogiri Tree now. At least before they dispose of me as 'useless garbage,' I have to get you all out. That's what a boss does."
Banjou sighed. "Even now, I keep thinking—if someone as powerful as Rize-san had become our leader, maybe Ward 11 wouldn't have been taken over. Everyone would've been happier..."
"Please don't say that, Banjou-san. We've always thought you were the best leader!"
"That's right. Rize-san aside, without you, we probably would've been killed by investigators long ago."
No one agreed with Banjou's self-assessment.
Banjou smiled. "...You're right, I shouldn't be saying such things. Alright, let's start moving."
That night, with Tatara and Eto away and Yamori already eliminated by Byakuya, Aogiri's attention was focused on defending against the CCG assault. This was their best chance to escape.
Tonight, only the Bin Brothers were on patrol rotation. When the younger Bin brother went to change shifts, Banjou led several companions through the forest cautiously.
Everyone whispered to ease their tension while fleeing quickly.
But just as they were about to exit Aogiri's patrol range, they suddenly encountered a ghoul who looked like a desiccated corpse, not wearing any mask.
"Aaaaah—!!"
Before they could react, the ghoul opened its mouth and shrieked.
Even though they came to their senses and killed it immediately, it was too late.
"Why are there Aogiri ghouls here too?!"
"Never mind that—the Bin Brothers are coming!!"
They looked back and sure enough, the younger Bin brother was rushing toward them at breakneck speed, far faster than they could run.
"Don't look back! Run!"
Banjou shouted urgently.
But perhaps due to the sudden stress, Kouma's mother tripped and fell.
"Mom!"
Kouma instinctively threw himself in front of his mother without thinking.
In that brief instant, "Bin" had already caught up, releasing his bikaku.
Just as that bikaku was about to pierce Kouma, Banjou tried to throw himself in to save the boy.
But then something unexpected happened!
A figure appeared like a phantom, moving even faster than Bin. Four dark crimson rinkaku kagune shot out from the side, instantly bisecting Bin at the waist.
His upper and lower body separated before he even knew how he'd died.
The mysterious woman had purple hair, wore a purple dress, and donned a white mask.
It was Rize—who had somehow borrowed Byakuya's white mask.
"...Ri... Rize-san?"
Though she was masked, Banjou recognized her immediately. After all, she was too easy to identify.
Rize ignored Banjou and the others. Just as she was turning to leave, the boy named Kouma spoke excitedly: "Th-thank you, Rize-neechan!"
Because he and his mother had been saved.
Only then did Rize glance back at them. "If you want to thank someone, thank that Byakuya guy. If not for him, I wouldn't have bothered saving you useless lot."
...
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