Sitting on the ground, panting, Minami no longer tried to hide her kagune or kakugan.
There was no point in hiding anymore, Arima had already seen everything.
"Arima..."
Minami murmured subconsciously, her voice trembling slightly.
She looked up at Arima, standing before her, and for a fleeting moment, he seemed like a knight in shining armor, appearing at the critical moment to protect her.
Arima focused intently on the mysterious masked man in front of him, paying no attention to Minami's words.
He had no intention of giving unnecessary responses to a ghoul.
Meanwhile, Byakuya continued his facade and launched an attack on Arima.
This time, however, he refrained from using his mangekyo sharingan. He merely exchanged a few casual blows with Arima, evenly matched, before choosing to retreat.
Watching his opponent retreat, Arima did not pursue.
His primary objective was to protect Minami, not to chase down other ghouls. Moreover, under normal circumstances, investigators rarely manage to catch fleeing ghouls.
Arima's decision to protect her, however, wasn't born out of sentiment—it was because she was a designated target. His mission wasn't to exterminate her, but to apprehend her and send her to a ghoul detention facility. Allowing her to be killed by another ghoul would have jeopardized his mission.
If, however, Minami had succeeded in killing those delinquents the previous night, the situation would have been different. The CCG might have reclassified her as a target for extermination.
That said, ghouls of higher calibers, such as S, SS, or even SSS ratings, were often spared to serve a purpose—either to provide information on other ghouls or as experimental subjects for developing new quinque weapons.
The battle over, Minami had recovered somewhat. But instead of attacking Arima, she asked, "Arima, you're a ghoul investigator, aren't you? You still saved me..."
"No, I only saved you because the mission was to apprehend you, not to exterminate"
Arima's voice was cold and direct.
"I see... After all, I'm just a ghoul. No matter how much I try to live like a normal human girl, I'm still just a ghoul" Minami said bitterly, a faint, regretful smile on her lips. "But Arima, you did save me. Whatever the reason, thank you"
Arima was silent for a moment. "...No need to thank me"
"You're going to take me to the detention center now, aren't you?"
Minami had already abandoned the thought of resisting.
She understood Arima's strength. If he had held his ground against the masked ghoul from earlier—a foe she couldn't even touch—there was no way she could hope to defeat him.
"Yes" Arima confirmed with a slight nod.
"Before that, could you give me a little more time?" Minami pleaded. "I have an exam next week... I've been preparing so hard for it"
"No"
Arima refused coldly and without hesitation.
"I see. What a pity..." Minami replied, smiling faintly in resignation.
...
Meanwhile, Byakuya had slipped into an empty alley where he had left his bag.
He removed the mask from his face, letting his hairstyle revert to its original appearance.
From his bag, he took out his school uniform and quickly changed into it, stowing away the costume and chains that matched the mask.
He didn't waste RC cells to return the outfit and chains to the Kamui space—he was already running low on RC cells.
This operation had only required minimal use of his abilities: transporting himself into and out of the Kamui space while changing and using "intangibility" during the fight with Minami. Even so, it had drained most of his RC cell reserves.
Apart from some eye strain and mild physical fatigue, he was fine and estimated that he would recover fully by tomorrow or the day after.
"That brief exchange with Arima confirmed it... his physical capabilities are clearly superior to mine. But, well, this is Arima at his peak..."
Byakuya mused to himself.
His physical attributes weren't yet strong enough, but his potential for growth was limitless. With enough attribute points, he could continue to become stronger.
...
Back at the scene, Byakuya arrived just in time to see Arima placing handcuffs on Minami.
These handcuffs were made of kagune-suppressing material and were designed specifically for restraining ghouls.
"Arima" Byakuya teased, "Do you have a... peculiar hobby?"
At this point, Minami had already retracted her kagune, and her eyes had reverted to their normal black pupils. To an outsider, it might indeed look like Arima was up to something strange with a cute schoolgirl.
Minami, startled by the comment, momentarily froze in disbelief. She knew Byakuya must be Arima's fellow investigator, but she hadn't expected him to say something like that.
"No," Arima replied flatly, unfazed. "I've confirmed that Minami is the ghoul known as 'Lantern' and I am now apprehending her."
After securing the handcuffs, Arima walked over to Byakuya and whispered, "A moment ago, an unidentified ghoul attacked Lantern, likely over territory. The ghoul has since fled. I also confirmed that Lantern's true identity is Uruka Minami"
He went on to explain that he had just eliminated another ghoul who had infiltrated the school under the guise of a janitor. That ghoul, unwilling to surrender, had forced a confrontation.
What Arima didn't realize was that the unidentified ghoul from earlier was none other than the man standing before him — Byakuya.
The differences in their appearances were too stark. While their body types were similar, Arima couldn't rely on that alone to make a connection. Moreover, Arima was fully aware that both he and Byakuya were half-humans from Sunlit Garden, and half-humans didn't possess kakugan.
"By the way, Lantern just requested more time—apparently to finish her upcoming exam. What do you think, Byakuya?" Arima asked, relaying Minami's earlier plea.
As Arima's partner and superior, Byakuya had the final say.
"Let her have this chance. Besides, don't you enjoy the school life here too, Arima? A bit more time won't hurt, will it?" Byakuya replied.
Arima remained silent for a moment, his expression unchanging, but did not refute Byakuya's words.
"...Understood" he finally replied.