Akuto opened his eyes a fraction and gave a slight nod. "I'll leave today. Thank you for taking me in."
"Even better." Akira turned and walked to the bathroom, briskly shutting the door behind her.
In her eyes flickered a momentary daze—one she herself didn't even notice.
"Do… do you need me to take you anywhere?" When Akira stepped out, Akuto was gone; only the open window and the drifting curtains proved anyone had been there.
She hurried to the window and looked down.
As if searching for Akuto's silhouette.
She didn't even know what she was looking for. "Forget it. Good riddance to that rude man."
Akira lost her appetite for breakfast. She dressed, got into her car, and drove to the CCG branch. "Good morning, ma'am."
The instant Akira greeted them, the lively office fell silent.
Everyone stared as if they'd seen a ghost. "Akira, is something wrong? If you're in danger, trust your squad—don't take risks alone."
Her superior lectured her with the air of a worried elder.
The rest crowded round with concern.
Akira's expression turned impatient.
"Enough."
"I was only saying hello. Nothing more, no danger." At that, the CCG staff drifted back to their desks.
"That's more like it."
"Akira being polite? I thought doomsday had come."
"Thought the world was ending."
Crack-crack-crack…
Akira's fists clenched.
Elsewhere.
Akuto slipped through a window into the top-floor office of a twenty-storey building.
"Hello." At his voice, the three people inside snapped their heads toward him.
Two men instantly flanked him, eyeing him warily.
"When did he get in?!"
"We didn't sense him!"
Behind the desk, the middle-aged man in round glasses stayed calmer.
"Is this the Tsukiyama Group?" Akuto said.
Tsukiyama Shizukimaru, seated behind the desk, regarded Akuto with icy eyes.
"He came through the window? Twenty-plus floors, yet he's no Ghoul."
He glanced at his two bodyguards and gave a slight nod.
Instantly the pair of S-rated Ghouls kakugan flared; behind one the Koukaku clanged into shape, behind the other the Kagune: Rinkaku lashed out.
The gorilla-built man wrapped the Koukaku around his arm while the wiry one's Rinkaku shot straight for Akuto—too fast for the eye to follow.
Akuto sidestepped; the Rinkaku curved mid-air and stabbed him in the back.
Smack!
He caught the Ragaku and yanked the slight man toward him.
Seizing the Ghoul's head, he hammered it into the floor.
Boom! Boom!
Two brutal slams, then he hurled the body at the charging Koukaku user.
Boom!
Both Ghouls crashed through the rear wall and vanished in dust.
"Damn you—die!"
Whoosh-whoosh!
The pair rocketed back like cannonballs, flanking him left and right and attacking together.
Akuto leaned back to let the Rinkaku whistle past, then swung the slight Ghoul like a flail into the Koukaku user.
Boom-boom-boom!
The whole room became a battlefield; the tower itself shook.
The Koukaku Ghoul severed his partner's Rinkaku, then drove a fist straight at Akuto.
Boom!
Akuto raised an arm to block, yet the fearsome force still pushed him back several steps.
His brows knitted.
He evaded the next punch, pulling the Koukaku Ghoul in front of him to shield against the Rinkaku stabbing from behind.
Shhk!
The Rinkaku pierced straight through the Koukaku Ghoul and, undimmed, plunged into Akuto's shoulder, twisting viciously.
Thud.
His severed arm hit the floor.
"Good." Blood-lust flared in Akuto's eyes; even as he spoke, the arm regrew.
"Release."
Shff-shff-shff!
Several slicing arcs howled toward the two Ghouls.
The pair never sensed the danger; in the next instant, their limbs were carved into pieces.
Yet, visibly, the Ghouls regenerated—within breaths the severed parts rejoined.
Both sides were stunned by what they saw.
Tsukiyama Shizukimaru and his men could not fathom how Akuto healed—his regeneration outdid a Ghoul's.
And those unseen slashes had severed both arms and Kagune of two S-rated Ghouls in a blink.
Akuto, for his part, was equally startled by the Ghouls' recovery.
They seemed to spend almost nothing.
A bite or two of human flesh would refill the tank.
Compared to spirits, Ghouls were six times more efficient—super economical.
"As expected, S-rated Ghouls and B-Rank Ghouls are entirely different creatures."
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Tsukiyama Shizukimaru said coolly,
"Enough. State your business, sir. Bursting into the CEO's office of the Tsukiyama Group without cause—you'll find leaving difficult without an explanation."
Akuto didn't even glance at him; his hands formed a strange sign. "Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
Drip!
In pure darkness, a shrine rose slowly, and Akuto stood before it, two fingers extended.
Shffff—!
Countless razor-thin slashes filled the air.
"Aghhh!!"
The S-rated Ghouls' Kagune and arms were shredded into countless bits; their powerful vitality kept them regenerating.
But the faster they healed, the more cuts rained upon them.
They whipped out their Kagune to block; though dozens of slashes were halted, the blades soon sheared through.
Their Kagune regrew more slowly than it had been destroyed.
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh…!
The onslaught lasted over a minute.
The Ghouls' screams weakened, then faded altogether.
The black canopy dissolved.
Tsukiyama Shizukimaru recoiled in horror, his kakugan flaring uncontrollably, pupils trembling.
Two S-rated Ghouls—reduced to a single mass of shredded flesh within a minute.
Yes, nothing but a heap of meat.
No trace of human shape remained—only two piles of mince.
Akuto pulled over the least-battered chair, sat, lit a cigarette, and regarded Tsukiyama Shizukimaru with amusement.
"Is that explanation sufficient?"
Tsukiyama swallowed hard; the thought of testing those blades himself never crossed his mind.
Such strikes would kill even if it's him.
"My apologies—there seems to have been a misunderstanding."
"I am Tsukiyama Shizukimaru, head of the Tsukiyama family."
"Whatever you require, the Tsukiyama Group will spare no effort to accomplish."
His manner had turned thoroughly deferential.
Akuto exhaled smoke.
"How much do you think your life is worth?"
Tsukiyama's pupils shrank—then he relaxed.
A demand for money is losing one's life. "If you are in difficulty, the Tsukiyama Group—"
"Difficulty?" Akuto ground the cigarette out on Tsukiyama's cheek. "You make me sound like a beggar."
"Who exactly has difficulties?"