Akuto simulated the consequences of directly snatching it in his mind.
After thinking about it, he decided against it.
Stealing the finger in broad daylight would undoubtedly make him a fugitive.
At that point, he would have to live like a rat in the sewers.
Or he would become a mass murderer, and the Inspectors and CCG would surely come to their deaths day and night.
Just thinking about that kind of life was annoying.
Shaking his head, Akuto continued walking forward.
Regrettably, there was no information about a second finger in the museum.
Leaving the museum, Akuto went to see a real estate agent.
In a place like Tokyo, as long as you have money, there's nothing you can't accomplish.
In just one afternoon, Akuto bought a fully renovated 145-square-meter apartment.
The location was right in the 20th Ward.
In the evening, Akuto looked at his newly purchased house.
Appliances, furniture, and other items were all complete; only some personal items hadn't been set up yet.
The agent had even bought mattresses and other supplies for Akuto.
Akuto was too lazy to tidy up, so he threw the mattress on the bed, arranged the sheets and other items, and fell asleep.
For several days in a row, Akuto was in no hurry to make a move.
Occasionally, he would go to the Anteiku Coffee Shop to drink coffee and research clues; the rest of the time, he was basically waiting for an opportunity.
And that opportunity soon appeared.
"Due to equipment maintenance and other reasons, the Tokyo Museum will be closed starting today. The suspension for maintenance will last for three days. We ask the traveling public to arrange their schedules accordingly and apologize for any inconvenience caused."
Hearing the news on the television, Akuto grinned and showed a smile.
"Hey, Touka, bring me another coke!"
"This is a coffee shop, you bastard!"
Touka slammed a glass of coke onto the table with an unfriendly expression, her hands on her hips as she looked at Akuto. "If you want to coke, go to the vending machine next door and buy it yourself!"
"Coffee isn't exactly a necessity for me, and drinking too much of it gets tiring." Akuto gave Touka a deep look, then lowered his head to continue looking at his documents.
The hair on Touka's body stood on end. She turned back to the counter stiffly, then grabbed Irimi Yuki's shoulders and shook her. "He knows! He definitely knows!"
"Ara, ara."
Irimi Yuki rubbed Touka's head with a helpless look. "Akuto-kun is quite mean, scaring our little Touka like that."
"Let's just kill him!"
Touka pulled out a table knife and said fiercely. "That's going too far, Touka-chan."
Irimi Yuki pinched Touka's cheek. "Calm down, he hasn't shown any hostility, has he?"
"Wait."
Touka seemed to have realized something was wrong and looked up in shock. "You guys knew all along?"
Irimi Yuki lightly rested her finger against her chin, adopting a thinking pose,
"It should be quite easy to guess."
"First, he treated Kamishiro Rize quite roughly, and then he even implied that she eats people."
"Later, we realized that Akuto-kun is actually a very gentle person who wouldn't treat others so rudely, so we guessed it."
Touka put down the knife resentfully.
"Damn it."
"I'm the only one who didn't know."
Irimi Yuki hugged Touka from behind and whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry, Touka-chan."
"Isn't this the purpose of forming Anteiku? To coexist peacefully with humans."
Touka's face turned red, and she quickly broke free from Irimi Yuki's embrace.
She knew Irimi Yuki was right; she was just sulking because she was the last to know.
*Ding-ling.*
The shop door opened, and Touka instinctively greeted. "Welcome."
Looking up, she saw Kaneki Ken with his messy black hair.
Kaneki Ken greeted the people in the shop, gave Akuto a timid smile, and then found a place to sit.
As expected, not long after Kaneki Ken arrived, Kamishiro Rize also came in.
Seeing Akuto sitting there, Kamishiro Rize's breathing hitched for a moment.
However, she quickly adjusted, didn't look at Akuto again, and sat opposite Kaneki Ken to chat.
Halfway through the conversation, Kaneki took a bag from beside him and, like a magic trick, produced a small cake.
"I heard the chestnut cake here is very delicious, so I specifically went to buy one for Miss Rize to try."
Kaneki Ken pulled out the cake with a blushing face.
"Eh? Is it from that shop in the woods? I heard it's super hard to buy!"
Kamishiro Rize looked pleasantly surprised.
Seeing that his goddess liked it, Kaneki Ken excitedly cut several portions, then pushed one in front of Kamishiro Rize and looked at her expectantly.
The latter naturally picked up the cutlery and took a small bite. "Mmm~ it really is fragrant and sweet!"
"Unfortunately, I've been dieting lately and can't eat much, but thank you anyway. Mr. Kaneki is really thoughtful."
"I'm going to the restroom for a moment."
Kamishiro Rize stood up gracefully.
Kaneki Ken felt like he was floating. He stared at the cake and giggled for a long time before coming back to his senses.
"Mr. Akuto."
Kaneki Ken placed a portion of the cake gently on the table and said awkwardly. "This portion is for you to eat, please accept it."
Kaneki Ken was still a bit afraid of Akuto; after bowing, he hurriedly ran away.
Akuto glanced at the cake in front of him. It was very exquisite, with visible chunks of chestnut inside.
Akuto took a bite.
The flavor of this cake was quite to Akuto's liking. There was a faint taste of alcohol upon entry, but it quickly disappeared.
Following that was a fresh sweetness.
It didn't feel too cloying.
When Kaneki Ken looked over again, he saw Akuto lightly raising the empty plate.
He smiled shyly upon seeing that.
Not long after, Akuto packed up his documents and stood up to settle the bill.
"Eh? Is Akuto-kun leaving so early today?" Irimi Yuki asked while settling the bill.
After all, for the past few days, Akuto had stayed here every time until closing. She didn't expect him to leave just as it was getting dark today.
"Yeah, I have something to do today."
"A date? It seems our little Touka has no chance then."
"Yuki! Do you want to die!"
After some joking around, Akuto left the coffee shop and drove toward the museum.
With the museum closed, internal security would inevitably slacken.
This was Akuto's chance.
Taking the finger, everyone would be happy.
Meanwhile, in several black cars outside the museum.
Akira gripped her quinque, waiting in readiness, while the captain in front of her was assigning tasks.
"We have received definite information that the Ghoul organization 'Poison Scorpion', which entrenched itself in the 2nd Ward, is hiding in the museum."
"By using museum vehicles, they can evade inspections, transport corpses on a large scale, and even sell human corpses as goods."
"Our goal this time is to give them a lightning strike!"
"Target: total annihilation!"
"Hai!"
Everyone in the car nodded solemnly.
The captain took out architectural blueprints and said. "Kitahe, you take Team A and enter through the front."
"Mado, you take Team B to the back door to prevent anyone from escaping."
"I will lead Team C as the assault group."
"Momoya, you take Team D to the outer perimeter to catch any fish that slip through the net."
"Disperse!"
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*
The group immediately dispersed. A team of Investigators surrounded the entire museum, and then Teams A and C rushed in through the main entrance.
"Who's there!?"
"Oh no, it's the White Doves!"
The kakugan of the two security guards at the door immediately lit up, and the Kagune behind them whistled as they stabbed toward the Investigators.