Kobayashi's question left Minami momentarily stunned.
Kobayashi, wearing glasses and adjusting them with her right index finger like a detective despite her petite frame, was clearly fishing for gossip.
"..."
Arima remained silent, showing no particular reaction.
"It's not like that! Arima and I aren't dating" Minami quickly denied with a smile.
"Really? I thought you two had started dating already" Kobayashi replied, surprised.
"No, really, we're not. It's just that we happen to live in the same direction, so we walk to and from school together" Minami explained.
"Ah, I see..." Kobayashi nodded slightly before leaning in close to whisper in Minami's ear. "But honestly, Arima is so handsome, and he's already super popular in our class since transferring. I've even noticed girls from other classes taking an interest. You might want to take this opportunity while you can"
"That... I can't..." Minami replied awkwardly, forcing a smile.
She genuinely couldn't.
After all, she was a ghoul, and Arima was an investigator for the CCG — natural enemies by fate.
Besides, she was set to be taken to the ghoul detention center next week.
Kobayashi adjusted her glasses. "Don't say you can't. If someone else swoops in, it'll be too late"
"..."
Arima stood silently nearby.
Even though Kobayashi and Minami spoke in hushed tones, he could still catch fragments of their conversation.
Uncertain of what to say, he decided to wait patiently for them to finish.
"I get it, I get it! Stop already—Arima is definitely hearing all this" Minami tried to steer away from the embarrassing topic.
"Well, if Arima overhears, it might actually help you two get closer" Kobayashi said. "Anyway, I won't bother you any longer. I still need to 'interview' Byakuya—another popular transfer student."
Relieved, Minami let out a sigh.
Arima, for his part, remained impassive, as if he had heard nothing at all.
But the atmosphere grew awkward. Minami wasn't naïve, she knew Arima had overheard everything and was likely staying silent out of consideration for her feelings.
After an uncomfortable silence, Minami suddenly spoke. "Arima must hate ghouls, right? Kobayashi didn't mean anything by it, but of course, she'd never guess that I'm a ghoul..."
Since no one else was around, she dared to use such a sensitive term openly.
From her perspective, Arima's young age and career as a CCG investigator likely stemmed from a deep hatred of ghouls — perhaps a personal tragedy involving them had driven him to join.
"Hate ghouls? Not exactly..." Arima replied calmly.
As a half-human, Arima himself carried ghoul blood. He didn't particularly hate or love either humans or ghouls.
His feelings didn't matter. What mattered was following orders from V.
The CCG and V's dynamics were far from a straightforward humans-vs-ghouls conflic, their complex relationship defied such simple categorizations.
"Eh...?" Minami was surprised.
She hadn't expected Arima to deny it.
"But whether I hate them or not, I'm still a ghoul investigator" Arima said flatly.
The deeper meaning was clear—his personal feelings were irrelevant, he acted solely on V's directives.
"I see. I'm just surprised you don't hate me" Minami said, smiling faintly.
"..."
Arima said nothing.
"Arima... Honestly, I love school. I've always longed to live like a normal human girl—studying and having fun. It's such a silly dream for someone like me, isn't it?"
Minami let out a self-deprecating laugh. "A ghoul who sees humans as food, wanting to live like them — ridiculous, right?"
Arima didn't respond, only watching her with his usual blank expression.
"Of course, I'm not saying this to earn your sympathy. If that were my aim, I'd have said it from the start" Minami continued.
She stopped walking, turning to face him. "Oh, by the way, those motorbike-racing troublemakers from the other night—they're friends of Taishi, right? Quiet moments are precious to me, and they disrupted that peace. Honestly, I wanted to just kill them. From your human perspective, doesn't that make me a rotten ghoul to the core? Totally undeserving of any sympathy?"
"Who knows... When the time comes, I'll just take you or rather, Lantern—to the detention center" Arima said, his tone neutral.
After all, as a half-human, he couldn't see things from a purely human perspective.
"Mm. When the time comes, I'll go quietly with you" Minami said with a gentle smile. "But... I have one selfish request. Could you call me 'Minami'? Just for these last few days, I want to feel like a normal person."
"...Minami" He replied without hesitation.
"Thank you, Arima"
Minami's face lit up with a heartfelt smile. "You've probably heard enough of this already, but being able to share these things with you made me really happy."
Before long, they arrived at Minami's home.
"See you tomorrow, Arima" She said, waving like any ordinary schoolgirl saying goodbye to a close friend.
"Goodbye" He replied, his voice calm.
Though he wasn't devoid of emotion, he made a conscious effort to suppress it.
Even so, Minami's words had struck a chord with him.
It was the first time he had truly listened to a ghoul's inner thoughts.
And it was also the first time he had encountered such a unique ghoul.
Before now, he'd hardly ever spoken to ghouls, let alone tried to understand them.