What exactly did she misunderstand? Naturally, Touka mistakenly believed that Byakuya's answer had been her—which was why Rize was reacting that way.
Little did she know, her understanding was completely wrong.
By normal logic, Byakuya's answer should have been either her or Rize.
Who could have imagined Byakuya would play so far outside the rules, directly going with "I want them all"...
Touka simply believed her mistaken judgment. Her face grew somewhat flushed, and she became even more embarrassed to look toward Byakuya.
Meanwhile, after her surprise, Itori found this human youth truly fascinating.
She had originally intended to probe him, to see how this human—especially one who was an investigator—viewed these two ghoul girls, Rize and Touka.
Even if he had answered with just one of them, it would have been enough to surprise her.
After all, a human investigator paired with a ghoul was unprecedented, unheard of. Even ordinary human-ghoul pairings were extremely rare.
Yet this young man had directly gone with "I want them all." She was genuinely thrown off.
Didn't this mean that this human youth not only had feelings for Rize but also had feelings for Touka? Both of these girls were ghouls...
Itori found this increasingly interesting.
No wonder Roma, Souta, and Nico were all so interested in this youth. Now she more or less understood why.
She couldn't help but look forward to what other astonishing, unexpected things this young man would do next!
Thinking this, Itori's gaze inadvertently caught Touka's reaction. Looking at that adorably flushed little face, her lips curved slightly upward, as if she had realized something.
Oh~?
Little Touka over there seems to have developed some wonderful misunderstanding~
"Amaha-kun... your answer gets a perfect score~"
Itori smiled and praised Byakuya.
If Byakuya hadn't given such an astounding answer, she wouldn't have gotten to witness such entertainment.
Not only was Kamishiro-san displeased now, but little Touka had also misunderstood because of Kamishiro-san's reaction.
"..."
Byakuya vaguely felt that Itori's words were somewhat sarcastic, but he couldn't detect any sarcasm in her tone. He had no idea what her "perfect score" actually meant.
"That's about it. I've finished chatting with Amaha-kun about what I wanted to discuss, so you all can head back. I won't see you out."
At that moment, Itori spoke with satisfaction.
After that, the three of them set off to return to Anteiku.
On the way back, Touka still felt somewhat embarrassed, deliberately walking behind Byakuya and Rize.
In her mind, she was troubled by certain matters. Now that Byakuya had made his feelings clear...
Although she didn't quite understand why she felt this way, she had to admit this was indeed what she had hoped for.
But she wasn't mentally prepared yet, nor did she know how to respond to Byakuya. This was what troubled her now.
In contrast, Rize wore a cold expression the entire way, not saying a word—looking rather intimidating.
Yet Byakuya had no idea what Touka was troubled about. He only felt that both Rize and Touka were acting somewhat strange, abnormal.
He assumed both Rize and Touka had heard his "I want them all" from earlier. If so, their reactions were understandable.
They probably both thought he was a scumbag and a turn-off...
But since he had already said those words, there was no point worrying about it now.
So at this moment, Byakuya wasn't overthinking anything and had already adopted an indifferent attitude.
...
This strange atmosphere persisted until they returned to Anteiku.
By then, Touka had calmed down somewhat. The flush had long faded from her face, though her mind still lingered on thoughts about Byakuya.
Rize's face showed no particular expression, looking much the same as usual—just lacking her usual ambiguous smile.
"I heard you went to find Uta to make masks. How did it go? That guy Uta didn't give you any trouble, did he?"
Seeing them return, Yomo spoke with concern, his expression its usual deadpan.
"No, Uta-san was very kind to us. Now we just need to wait for him to finish the mask and deliver it to Rize-san."
Touka said.
"That's good. Normally it should arrive by tomorrow. It should be Kamishiro-san's mask, right?"
Yomo said.
Touka nodded. "Yes. Come to think of it, this will be Rize-san's first mask, won't it?"
"More or less, but not entirely."
Rize replied casually.
Because she had worn Byakuya's mask before.
"Really? Rize-san, you never wore a mask before when hunting?"
Roma suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "Rize-san is amazing. Unlike a weak ghoul like me who wouldn't dare go without a mask."
"That's right, Rize-san is quite impressive."
Looking at Roma's reaction, Touka could tell this girl didn't know that Rize was the Binge Eater. So she decided not to bring up that name—partly out of consideration for Rize.
Perhaps because she had misunderstood Byakuya's answer, her attitude toward Rize had softened somewhat compared to before.
But at the moment, Rize had no interest in chatting idly here. Her mind was occupied with other matters.
She directly tugged at Byakuya's sleeve and said, "Byakuya, could you come with me for a moment?"
"Sure."
Byakuya could roughly guess what Rize wanted to talk to him about. Even so, his mood remained calm.
A moment later, Rize pulled Byakuya away from Anteiku to a secluded corner of a small alley.
"What did you mean by 'want them all' earlier? Could you explain that to me?"
Sure enough, Rize's first question was about what Byakuya had said to Itori.
Her face no longer wore its usual dangerous smile, but rather a serious, calm expression—which was somehow even more frightening.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"