Chapter 73: The Anteiku Ghouls Have Gone Mad!
The Tsukiyama family was not only incredibly wealthy, but also had extensive connections in the political world, making them a powerful force. As the pure-blooded young master and future heir of the family, Tsukiyama Shuu naturally had no shortage of money. He immediately put his "money power" to use, buying up the glowing food from other customers.
"Itadakimasu!"
Tsukiyama eagerly took a savory pork bun and took a bite. Behind his sunglasses, his red and black kakugan instantly widened.
"The soft, springy wrapper… the moment you bite through it, a rich aroma just explodes," he murmured to himself, enraptured. "The meat filling is a perfect balance of fat and lean, a savory flavor with a hint of sweetness. The fat and the sauce have melted together, and it just dissolves in your mouth. The juices slowly seep out, soaking into the wrapper, making every bite incredibly satisfying. And there's a hint of spice from the green onions, adding another layer of flavor…"
"This taste is just… marvelous! Magnifique!" Tsukiyama was instantly thrown into a state of fervent ecstasy.
Though he was in the middle of a bustling city, he felt as if he were seeing a giant, towering mountain made of pork buns, its peak disappearing into the clouds.
"What is this?! What is this?!" he cried out, his body trembling with excitement. "How is this possible?!"
He had read the online comments about the "unbelievable experiences" people had while eating the Glowing Cuisine, but reading about it and experiencing it firsthand were two completely different things. He was shaken. Deeply shaken.
"This pork bun is more delicious than any 'dish' I have ever tasted in my life! They're on completely different dimensional planes! There's no comparison!"
Tsukiyama spread his arms, tilted his chin up, and closed his eyes, tears of pure emotion streaming down his handsome face. He was moved to tears.
"Ah—! It's too delicious! So moving! To think that something so delicious exists in this world!"
"I feel like I've pushed open the door to a new world!"
"Whoa—! Another one's gone crazy!"
"Add it to the highlight reel!"
"In the face of Chef Ryohei's cooking, all are equal! Even a rich-looking guy from a powerful family acts like this!"
"He's even more excited than a normal person…"
"You could even call it a frenzy. And he speaks foreign languages, too!"
"He's the real showman!"
"But to be honest, watching him makes my own food taste even better!" an old regular said, taking a bite of his own food with a look of pure bliss.
Tsukiyama paid no mind to the comments of the people around him. He couldn't care less what his "ingredients" thought of him. He was completely lost in his own world. He bought and ate more pork buns, more Omurice, more Crème Caramels… until he was so full he couldn't eat another bite.
"This is true cuisine! C'est divin!"
The purple hair, the red suit, the gentlemanly demeanor, the fanatical attitude toward food, and the strange habit of peppering his speech with foreign languages… The more Ryohei watched him, the more certain he became that this was the "Gourmet," Tsukiyama Shuu.
A man who was a gentleman on the outside, but also a "gentleman" in other, more sinister ways. In the Tokyo Ghoul series, he was arguably the person who loved the protagonist, Kaneki Ken, the most—even more than the female lead.
A very troublesome guy has shown up, Ryohei thought. The idea of being targeted by him made him feel physically ill. He instinctively reached out and hugged the soft, fragrant Yurine from behind, burying his face in her hair. He immediately felt much better.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Heian-kun, I can't pack the orders like this." Yurine looked back at him with a mock-annoyed expression, though a small, happy flutter was in her heart. As long as it wasn't something like last night—'Can I put my hand in your clothes to feel your heartbeat?'—she was fine with it. In fact, a little public display of affection made her happy.
"Mmm, I think a gay man is staring at me. Let me just hold you for a little bit longer, Yurine," Ryohei said, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Huh?" Yurine blinked, completely caught off guard by his absurd reason.
A gay man? Minos thought, a question mark appearing over her head. Jashin-chan, on the other hand, crossed her arms and scanned the crowd, trying to identify which gay man was eyeing her familiar.
"It's not me! I have a girlfriend!" the salaryman at the front of the line quickly said, seeing Jashin-chan's suspicious glare land on him.
"That was so satisfying," Tsukiyama sighed happily, patting his full stomach. He felt like his entire life up to this point had been a lie. And to think, people called him a gourmet. Before tasting Chef Ryohei's cooking, he had thought the title was well-deserved. But now, he felt like a clown. No, like a frog who had accidentally leaped out of his well and seen the vast, true world for the first time.
After eating this, how can I ever eat anything else?! I can't leave! I can't imagine a futuro without this food! I must taste more! Chef Ryohei can definitely make more kinds of Glowing Cuisine, right?
Tsukiyama turned and began to walk toward the stall. A fire of desire raged in his chest, more intense than anything he had ever felt before. With every step, the flames grew higher. Behind his sunglasses, his red and black kakugan burned with a boundless greed.
Yurine frowned slightly and looked at him. Minos and Jashin-chan also turned their attention to him. This time, even Ryohei sensed the change in the atmosphere.
Koma Enji, who was standing guard by the stall, looked at Tsukiyama with cold eyes. "I believe my man already gave you a warning."
"Of course," Tsukiyama said, instantly calming down and turning with an elegant shrug. "I don't intend to do anything. I simply wish to extend an invite to Chef Ryohei." He turned back to Ryohei, took off his sunglasses, and gave him a warm, refined smile. "Ryohei-kun, would you be willing to become my personal chef? You can name your price."
The nerve of this guy!
Rich people are so annoying!
What a show-off!
The human customers all thought, though none of them were worried that Ryohei would accept. This wasn't the first time he'd received such an offer, and he had always refused.
The Ghouls, however, looked at Tsukiyama with unfriendly eyes. You bastard! Are you trying to hog all the food for yourself?!
"I'm not interested," Ryohei said with a polite but distant smile.
"Please, reconsider," Tsukiyama insisted, placing a hand on his chest. "If you agree to be my cuisinier, I'm willing to pay you ten times your current salary! Your workload will be greatly reduced, and your working environment will be much more luxurious!"
Hiss!
Is this guy for real?
Damn! That offer…
He's just throwing money at him!
Neither the humans nor the Ghouls could remain calm. They all looked at Ryohei nervously. Ten times his salary! Better working conditions, less work! The humans in the crowd were sure that if it were them, they would accept in a heartbeat. But they didn't want Ryohei to accept. If he did, where would they get their Glowing Cuisine?
"Are you bluffing? Can you even afford to pay ten times his salary?" Jashin-chan scoffed, her arms crossed. Ryohei was making around 500,000 yen a day now. Ten times that would be over a hundred million yen a month. She didn't believe for a second that this guy, no matter how rich he looked, could afford that.
"Are you questioning my strength?" Tsukiyama asked, not offended in the slightest. He was about to reveal a bit of his family's background to prove his capabilities when Ryohei cut him off.
"I'm not interested, even for a hundred times the salary," he said, waving his hand. "Working for someone else is impossible. I'll never work for someone else in this life. If you have no other business, you can leave now."
"Whoa—! Chef Ryohei's words are so profound!" someone in the crowd said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"He's so right, but most of us can't afford to live like that. Reality is too cruel."
His repeated rejections had clearly annoyed Tsukiyama. He felt that Ryohei was being unreasonable. His offer was incredibly generous. But he kept his anger in check and just sighed with a look of deep regret. "Very well. I understand, Chef Ryohei. It's truly a regret! We will meet again."
He put his sunglasses back on and turned to leave, his eyes now a burning crimson. If the soft approach didn't work, then he would just have to use force. He had to have this Chef Ryohei, and he had to have him soon. With time, more and more Ghouls would learn of him. And Tsukiyama knew his own kind all too well. There would be plenty of others who would want to "pack up" the chef, along with his food. The fools at Anteiku were a rare exception. He had to strike first.
Ryohei-kun, let me protect you!
"Heian-kun, was that the gay man you were talking about?" Yurine asked as she packed an order after Tsukiyama had left.
"Hmm, maybe, possibly?"
"I thought he was pretty handsome, actually…"
Stare—!
Seeing Ryohei squinting at her, Yurine cleared her throat and said in a serious tone, "It doesn't look like he's going to give up easily."
"Yeah, it seems I'm being targeted," Ryohei said with a "worried" expression. "So, can I sleep with you tonight? I don't feel safe sleeping alone."
"Huh?" Yurine froze. Can he do that? Is that allowed? She was a little excited, but also hesitant. It was too fast. They had only been together for three days. In the end, her shyness won out. "Is that the line you use to get girls into bed? How many have you tricked?"
"What are you talking about? There haven't been any girls for me to trick!"
Jashin-chan: Stare—! ( ﹁ ﹁ )
In a nearby alley.
"Is that all?" Tsukiyama said, holding a bag of glowing food in one hand, his other arm wrapped in a thick, purple and red koukaku kagune. He looked down at the bodies of several Ghouls at his feet. "What a guastafèste." He retracted his kagune and walked away.
By the time he arrived back at his private villa in the 20th Ward, it was already dark. He parked his car, took the glowing food from the passenger seat, and went to his front door. As he was about to turn on the living room light, his hand paused.
In the darkness, pairs of red and black kakugan lit up.
"Well, well," Tsukiyama said, his own eyes glowing in the dark. "Isn't it a little rude to break into someone's house when they're not home? And I don't believe I've done anything to warrant a visit from you at this hour." He looked at the woman standing with her back to him in front of the large glass window.
"Tsukiyama, you're too dangerous," Irimi Kaya, wearing her Black Dog mask, said as she turned around. Two brilliant, dangerous, flame-like ukaku kagune spread from her back. "You should have understood. Please, prepare to die."
This woman is insane! Tsukiyama thought. No, the Anteiku Ghouls have gone mad!
His own spring-like koukaku kagune erupted from his shoulder blade, coiling around his arm and forming a sword at its tip. He had no intention of fighting Irimi; the insane woman was a well-known SS-class Ghoul. And she had backup. He just wanted to block her attack and find a chance to escape. But he didn't even get the chance to block one.
Irimi, in her black combat dress, launched herself forward with incredible speed. Her crimson kakugan drew two red streaks in the air, her fiery ukaku kagune blazing in the night. By the time Tsukiyama reacted, she was already in front of him.
So fast! His pupils constricted. He tried to move his kagune to block, but the fastest, most agile ukaku was up against the slowest, most defensive koukaku. And with the vast difference in their power levels, the moment their kagune clashed, a dozen bloody lines appeared on Tsukiyama's body. Blood gushed out like a fountain, and a wave of intense pain washed over him, making it impossible to even stand.
Is the gap between us this big? he thought in disbelief, followed by a surge of intense unwillingness. He had just discovered true cuisine. He had just pushed open the door to a new world. He couldn't die here.
As his thoughts swirled, his vision suddenly changed. He saw a familiar, headless body… That's my… Damn it! his eyes filled with rage and regret. His vision blurred, and his headless body collapsed to the floor, a pool of crimson spreading out around it.