At Touka's house.
There are currently five girls gathered in the living room, and every one of them could be considered very beautiful in her own right. However, the atmosphere in the room doesn't match that description at all.
"So Arata invited Touka to... a date? Huh? I see. I see."
For some reason the light in Rei's eyes goes out for a few seconds as she nods over and over while saying those words.
Meiko, sitting beside her, slowly drinks water from a porcelain glass with her eyes closed, then speaks calmly.
"So Arata-san asked on his own... Well, that's unusual. But you don't have to give off that aura, Rei."
—Crack!
"Hiik!"
The porcelain glass broke in Meiko's hand, and Rei jumped a little in her seat from the shock while letting out a squeak.
"Oh dear. It's pretty fragile, don't you think?"
Saying that, Meiko keeps a completely serious, blank expression without changing her tone. Rei stares at her in disbelief.
"U-um... Meiko. I think you're the one giving off that kind of aura. A pretty terrifying one, actually."
"You think so? Must be your imagination."
"It definitely isn't."
After looking at each other for a while, it seems they both reach an agreement about who, so they turn their heads toward the other side of the room, where Touka is trying to fight with her own hair in front of a mireor.
Fight is actually the right word. Moving the comb up and down with far too much force, the ash blue-haired girl frowns in a way that gives the impression she's staring down a very difficult math problem.
It seems like this is the first time she's genuinely worried about her hair looking presentable, because she's going about it very clumsily.
After watching her for a while, Rei lets out a groan and ruffles her own hair.
"Argh! I've had enough of this!"
She stands up abruptly and walks quickly over to Touka, and without saying a word, takes the comb out of her hand while positioning herself behind her.
"Huh? Rei, what are you doing?"
Touka's eyes open in surprise and she turns her head to look at her.
"You're really clumsy with fashion, Touka. I've had enough of watching you fight with your hair like that, and I'm afraid at this rate all you're going to do is damage it, which would be a real shame."
Hearing that kind of comment, and under Rei's annoyed eyes, Touka suddenly feels a little irritated.
"So let me help you, all right?"
"Huh?"
But before she can leave any kind of venomous remark, Touka is surprised once again by those words.
After all, she knows Rei is extremely jealous about this whole thing too. And even so, it seems she wants to help her... get ready for her date with Arata, of all things.
In the end she nods with a blank expression, though in her heart she feels a little moved, and then turns her back to Rei.
"...You can start."
Meiko joins in shortly after. And from that moment on, Touka starts to see herself as some kind of circus clown getting her cheeks painted.
"Ugh... I hate this. Is it really necessary to get dressed up?"
Rei and Meiko look at each other.
The silver-haired girl shrugs and opens her mouth.
"Arata-san probably doesn't care whether you dress up or not. But still. You can always look cuter, right? Since you're going on a... date."
"Hey! Careful with that, idiot!"
Touka goes pale when she sees that the powder in the container in Meiko's hand almost splashed across her whole face. Fortunately she dodged it.
That was intentional, right? It was clearly intentional! Her eyes are sharp, she can't be fooled!
However, since they're helping her get ready for her date, and above all considering that this girl with the severe face and very developed figure is also attracted to that boy, Touka limits herself to pressing her lips together and staying quiet.
While that kind of scene is unfolding in the living room, a girl with a sharp and somewhat seductive face watches the three of them with narrowed eyes.
Without saying anything, she turns around and goes into the kitchen.
"Hum~"
She hums quietly. And without noticing, or perhaps ignoring it on purpose, a figure appears behind her.
This figure has a face darkened and shadowed by the pink hair falling over it. She staggers toward Rize, and in silence, pulls out a knife.
Described that way, it looks like a ghost about to stab someone in the back.
And in fact, that's exactly the situation. Because that pink-haired ghost lunges at Rize and stabs her in the back.
"Ara~, Saya-chan. Do you want to make coffee too?"
"Tch."
Saya looks at the knife in her hand, its blade now completely twisted, clicks her tongue and throws it in the trash.
"Your skin is as hard as steel."
Extending a finger, she pokes Rize's arm, who watches her curiously. Saya notices that her finger sinks easily into the purple-haired girl's skin, and that her flesh is actually quite soft.
She puts on an envious face.
"How on earth does this work? Being able to take a knife, but having a body so soft it makes me jealous... It isn't scientific at all!"
Rize shrugs and goes back to making hot coffee in five cups that start to steam.
Suddenly she speaks.
"I'm curious. Is stabbing me interesting? Because you always do it, don't you?"
Saya lets out an annoyed huff while crossing her arms under her chest.
"It's because it's pretty irritating. All these girls wanting a piece of Arata... Sometimes I have dangerous thoughts, you know? But I can't do it with Rei, because she might die. As for Meiko, even though she's human, that girl is pretty scary. How did she get so strong? And as for Touka... forget it. I'm afraid she'd slap me so hard I probably would never wake up again."
"Hoh?"
Rize narrows her eyes at Saya and her lips curve into a smile.
"I can do that too, you know."
Saya raises an eyebrow, and with a sigh, shakes her head, making her twin pigtails sway.
"I don't think so. After all, Rize is a good girl."
"..."
Rize, who up until that moment had the soft smile she always wears while stirring the spoon inside the coffee cup, suddenly freezes, and her purple eyes open a little wider.
While many kinds of thoughts pass through her mind, Saya puts the coffee cups Rize finished preparing onto a tray and starts carrying them toward the dining room.
Rize watches her back as she walks away. After a while she shakes her head and follows after her.
However...
—Pop!
A small All-Seeing Eye appears near her ear. It's the size of a finger, and nobody but her notices it.
"Yuki-chan~, what is it?"
From Yuki-chan comes Arata's male voice, relaying a few messages to Rize.
Hearing his words, Rize's lips form a smile that anyone watching would be startled by, given how dangerously attractive it is.
"Understood, darling~"
When Saya sets the tray down on the dining table and starts preparing the bread, she hears some words that catch her attention on the television mounted on the wall.
A news broadcast is playing at that moment.
"...this confirms the dissolution of the Tsukiyama family, to which Tsukiyama Tatara belonged, the ghoul known as the Chimera. It's a regrettable situation, since that night, when Chimera was attacked and the news came out that he belonged to the prestigious Tsukiyama group, many of its members fled immediately. However, thanks to the CCG's swift action, many of these threats were eliminated, and it was discovered that the Tsukiyama group was indeed connected to ghouls..."
Saya frowns and murmurs.
"So they escaped... Well, onii-chan did say that if they were sensible, they'd run."
But now that it's come to this, since she knows her onii-chan very well, a couple of thoughts come to Saya about what he's planning to do next.
—Bam! Crack!
At that moment the window glass in Touka's house explodes and the shards are blown forcefully inward.
Saya lets out a small scream before turning around.
Several figures come in through the window with their faces covered by masks and their heads hidden under black hoods.
The one in front removes his hood and mask.
What appears is a young man with blue hair. He has a somewhat cold, sharp face, and he looks at the girls in the room one by one, until his eyes land on Touka.
Touka looks back at him with narrowed eyes, while Rei's and Meiko's hands stay frozen in midair, halfway through styling her hair, too surprised by this sudden intrusion of strangers.
"After being gone all this time..."
Touka slowly stands up as she speaks in a cold tone.
"What do you think you're doing showing up here, Ayato?"