"Sigh..."
Byakuya sighed softly. Just as he was about to subdue her,
Rize had already acted, using her kagune to intercept the woman's kagune directly.
Setting aside Rize's strength, this woman hadn't eaten human flesh for about half a year, barely surviving on nutrient solution in the cultivation tank. Her strength had weakened severely.
So her kagune was as fragile as paper before Rize's. In an instant, four visibly withered kagune tentacles were severed.
Having lost her means of attack, even if the woman reached Byakuya, all she could do was bite him.
But Byakuya restrained her with just one hand on her head. His other hand delivered a casual knife-hand strike to her neck, knocking her unconscious again.
"Do we have any carrion at home? If not, let's take her to Anteiku."
Byakuya said.
Rize shook her head slightly. "No. We'll have to go to Anteiku."
On the way to Anteiku, Rize's mood was somewhat complicated.
The reason was the miserable fate of this Washuu woman.
"Byakuya... if you hadn't saved me back then, the one who just attacked you in a frenzy would probably have been me, wouldn't it..."
Rize couldn't help but say to Byakuya.
"...Probably."
Byakuya, mindful of Rize's feelings, didn't put it too bluntly.
In the original story, Rize's fate was almost identical to this Washuu woman's.
"That bastard Furuta really deserves to die. But fortunately, I met you..."
Rize said.
If she had been imprisoned in that place under Dr. Kanou's constant torture, without even a moment of freedom, eventually becoming this kind of mindless, feral wreck—she would rather die.
Because that would have been leaving the "Washuu" she despised most only to enter another, even more hellish "cage"...
"Don't imagine things that didn't happen. Besides, I also think saving you back then was absolutely the right decision."
Byakuya said with a smile.
...
At this moment, Byakuya and Rize brought the woman to Anteiku.
They didn't enter through the front door but went directly through a second-floor window into the upstairs lounge.
Yoshimura happened to be on the second floor.
"This is?..."
Yoshimura immediately asked.
"She was the experimental subject Dr. Kanou used for his 'half-ghoul transformation surgery.' Kurona and Nashiro's kakuhou came from her."
Byakuya explained briefly. "Dr. Kanou's underground laboratory has now been exposed and destroyed. We brought out the experimental subject, but Dr. Kanou himself was taken by Aogiri Tree."
"I understand... So she's also one of the Washuu..."
Yoshimura's expression grew somewhat grave.
"Yes. But she's lost her reason from starvation right now. If we can restore her to normal, she'll still be useful to us. So I need some carrion."
Byakuya said directly.
"No problem."
Yoshimura certainly wouldn't begrudge a bit of carrion.
Especially since Anteiku still owed Byakuya quite a few favors.
Afterward, Yoshimura first gave Byakuya a package of carrion.
Byakuya then propped the woman up in a chair and opened the package to feed her.
The moment Byakuya brought the carrion near the woman's mouth, she opened it as if waking up. In her extreme hunger, her subconscious was focused solely on eating meat.
Byakuya then stuffed the entire package of carrion into her mouth.
The woman gradually regained consciousness from her comatose state. Though she still seemed somewhat dazed, by the time she finished eating the carrion, she was much better than her previous feral state.
"Can you hear me now?"
Byakuya spoke to test her level of awareness.
But the moment he spoke, the woman—catching his scent before even finishing the carrion in her mouth—immediately turned and lunged at him. He restrained her with one hand on her head again.
Thwack—
He flicked her forehead hard with his finger. He controlled the force well—enough to cause pain without injury.
"Ow..."
The woman immediately clutched her forehead with both hands.
That she could feel pain meant there was hope. She wasn't so far gone that she couldn't recover.
"Get a grip. Don't try to pounce on every human you see."
Byakuya said. "Now, what's your name?"
"Wa... Washuu Chika..."
The woman's consciousness temporarily cleared somewhat, and she could answer Byakuya's question, though she was a bit breathless.
"Washuu Chika, is it? Looks like there's a chance for full recovery, since you can remember your own name."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
"Where... is this?... I..."
Long-term imprisonment and torture had affected Washuu Chika's speech. She wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out.
She only remembered being locked up somewhere, suffering endless torture day and night.
Kagune and kakuhou constantly being cut out... regenerating... being cut out again... regenerating again...
So hungry... So scared...
"This is Anteiku. But that's not the point. The point is we saved you, so you shouldn't be trying to eat me."
Byakuya lectured Washuu Chika. "If you're still hungry, I'll give you another package of 'meat.' But if you attack me again, I'll have to punch you."
Washuu Chika nodded blankly, forcing herself not to attack him, even though the scent coming from his body was impossibly delicious.
Washuu Chika's reason had clearly recovered significantly—unlike Rize in the original story who seemed to have gone completely mad. This was because Rize desperately craved unrestricted freedom, and being locked in such a place was the complete opposite extreme. Over time, she went insane. Perhaps with more time she could have recovered her sanity, but before she could, Furuta captured her again...
Yoshimura soon brought another package of carrion and said with a smile to Washuu Chika: "Please enjoy."
Byakuya took the carrion and, as before, unwrapped it to feed Washuu Chika.
Washuu Chika devoured it ravenously. Back in the Washuu Clan, she could only eat the corpses of fallen investigators. Carrion all tasted similarly mediocre, but having never eaten fresh human flesh, she didn't know what that tasted like. Besides, she was so starved that even century-old human bone fragments would probably taste delicious right now.
After finishing the second package of carrion, Washuu Chika still seemed unsatisfied. She began licking the residual meat fragments from Byakuya's palm, and then even started to suck on his fingers.
Rize's gaze immediately turned cold, a dangerous smile appearing on her face. "Don't push your luck..."
...
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