Mayu wasn't actually much older than Hinami at this point, but her parents' genes were probably quite good—even as an adolescent, she'd already reached about 165 centimeters.
And that was while severely malnourished, so her figure hadn't fully developed yet.
For Japan's average female height, this was already quite tall.
She was definitely a big sister in front of Hinami.
As for the appointment with Eto, Byakuya certainly hadn't forgotten, but "Sen Takatsuki's" fan meet-and-greet hadn't ended that early. Taking Mayu to Anteiku first wouldn't affect anything.
Wards 19 and 20 weren't far from each other, and taking the subway made it even faster.
As they walked, Mayu carefully placed the purple hair clip Byakuya had given her in her hair.
Though she couldn't see what she looked like wearing it, a happy smile still spread across her face. Just having such a pretty hair clip was enough to make her overjoyed.
Seeing Mayu's face light up with that smile, Byakuya felt a sense of satisfaction.
He was planning to take Mayu to the subway station when several figures suddenly emerged from a narrow alley beside them.
"Well, well, isn't this poor little Mayu? Bringing us a big meal, are you?"
From these words alone, it was clear these people were ghouls.
They all fixed Byakuya with unfriendly, greedy gazes.
More than because of Mayu, these people seemed to have been lured out by the scent wafting from Byakuya.
Mayu naturally recognized these fellow ghouls from Ward 19. She'd been bullied plenty by this particular group. Even the carrion she'd managed to find had been snatched away by them and other ghouls before.
Because she was too weak, no organization would take her in. She had no fixed feeding ground of her own—she could only wander everywhere, hoping to scavenge whatever scraps other ghouls left behind.
She'd grown accustomed to being bullied herself. Usually, when it wasn't about food, other ghouls didn't go out of their way to pick on her. But now these ghouls wanted to attack this kind big brother—that was something she couldn't accept.
"No!"
Mayu shouted harshly. "Don't come any closer, or I'll call the police!"
She knew this was a stupid threat, but she had no other way...
"Huh? Did you say call the police?"
The group burst into laughter, as if they'd never heard anything so funny.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're one of us. If you actually called the cops, you'd be the first one caught. Would you dare?"
They even mocked her.
Matters between ghouls couldn't be resolved by calling the police—the police were humans. They could even use the police to make Mayu suffer while they themselves escaped.
After all, police were nowhere near as capable as investigators. And they had masks—Mayu didn't. If the police saw her face, investigators would target her specifically.
"Run, Oniichan!"
Mayu positioned herself in front of Byakuya and Hinami, apparently intending to hold them off with her own strength to buy time for Byakuya and Hinami to escape.
"Getting bold, aren't you? Daring to stand in our way."
The leader was a woman with dark lipstick who seemed to be the head of this little group. She signaled her companions to grab the human boy and the little girl while she herself would teach little Mayu a lesson.
They didn't take the three in front of them seriously at all. Mayu was obviously pathetically weak—she couldn't even manifest her kagune.
That human boy was surely even weaker than Mayu. As for the little girl—though she smelled like a ghoul, such a small kid probably wasn't any better off than Mayu.
That's why they dared to act so brazenly in broad daylight. Taking advantage of the momentary absence of bystanders, they planned to quickly grab the human and drag him into the alley to devour him.
In the blink of an eye, Byakuya and Hinami were surrounded.
They appeared to have nowhere to go, but Byakuya hadn't planned on going anywhere.
Hinami's face showed no worry either—she knew these people were no match for her big brother.
But Byakuya wasn't in a hurry to act. He wanted to see if this incident could stimulate Mayu into releasing her kagune.
In the original story, something similar had happened to Hinami. After her parents were killed one after another, just when Touka was about to die at Kureo Mado's hands, Hinami had suddenly erupted with her hybrid kagune and grievously wounded Mado...
If Mayu could replicate that situation, her strength would advance by leaps and bounds.
Of course, if it didn't work out, he'd definitely ensure Mayu's safety.
"No!"
Seeing Byakuya and Hinami about to be harmed—especially this big brother who had given her that beautiful gift—whose importance in her heart had already become extraordinary.
Her emotional turmoil triggered unprecedented potential, and both her bikaku and koukaku burst from the kakuhou on her back simultaneously.
Theoretically, every ghoul could use kagune—it was just that at the beginning, some kind of catalyst might be needed to unlock it.
Mayu's koukaku manifested as two long, armor-like projections, while her bikaku was the common tail-type—distinguishable from rinkaku by the absence of scales on its surface.
[Ding! Host has facilitated Mayu's mastery of "Hybrid Kagune (Bikaku + Koukaku)." Reward: 30 Fusion Points!]
"What?!"
The ghoul boss was shocked by the two types of kagune Mayu had suddenly released.
They each had only one type of kagune. Why did this brat have two?!
Their knowledge was clearly limited—they'd never heard of hybrid kagune.
Almost instinctively, Mayu directed her kagune to attack the ghouls surrounding Byakuya and Hinami first.
These were all just B-rated ghouls—only the boss was slightly stronger, barely reaching A-rated.
Compared to Mayu, who was at least A+-rated the moment she released her hybrid kagune, they were far too weak.
Those ghouls were all swept away and instantly killed by Mayu's bikaku in one swing. The main reason was their overconfidence—they'd never imagined Mayu could suddenly become this strong. They were obliterated before they could even release their own kagune.
Not only that, Mayu also used her koukaku to shield Byakuya and Hinami.
Meanwhile, her own front was completely unprotected—having just learned to use kagune, her combat experience was severely lacking.
At this moment, despite being heavily shocked, the boss managed to seize the opportunity to attack Mayu. Her rinkaku was about to pierce through Mayu's abdomen.
As long as I can kill this suddenly mutated little brat, that human boy and the little girl will be nothing to worry about!
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"