Behind the counter, Enji Koma, Renji Yomo, Kaya Irimi, and Touka Kirishima—who'd just cleared a table—exchanged helpless looks.

What Kaneki Ken took as Kamishiro Rize getting closer to him was, in their ghoul eyes, nothing more than a predator toying with prey.

The "hunger" rolling off that woman called Kamishiro Rize was especially strong and restless tonight, like a volcano about to erupt.

She was a cat whose patience with the mouse had finally run out. Clearly, tonight was when she'd draw the net tight.

Touka set her tray down and stepped up beside Manager Yoshimura, keeping her voice low. "Manager, Kamishiro Rize… she's completely ignoring our warning and the rules of the 20th Ward."

To hunt so brazenly on their turf—this was a direct slap at Anteiku's sanctuary principles.

The smile faded from Yoshimura's face, leaving only a weighty solemnity and helplessness. He let out a slow sigh, voice deep and constrained. "I know."

"But… Touka, we can't intervene."

He lifted his gaze and swept a look over the other ghoul staff in the shop, eyes heavy.

"Reliable intel says a Special Class Investigator from the CCG has quietly moved into the 20th Ward. The target is likely her—or other 'big eaters' drawn by her frenzy. If we step in now, even just to drive her off, it won't be subtle. If the Doves catch the slightest hint, catch even a whiff of our trail…"

He didn't finish, but everyone there understood.

If Anteiku was exposed, the CCG's annihilation would come down like thunder. Every comrade here—this hard-won, fragile haven—would be lost forever.

To risk Anteiku's destruction for a human boy already in a predator's sights… the price was too high.

Touka nodded. She knew what could and couldn't be done.

To her, Kaneki Ken was just a man blinded by infatuation—a fool rushing to his doom no matter how you tried to talk him down. Anteiku had already done everything it could.

Just then, Kaneki hurried back in casual clothes, cheeks flushed with excitement and nerves. "Rize-san, I'm ready! Shall we?"

Rize rose with practiced grace, picked up her handbag, and gave Yoshimura and the others a slight bow. "We'll be taking our leave then. Thank you for the hospitality."

The smile on her face was still flawless.

With Kaneki holding the door for her, the two of them stepped out of Anteiku one after the other and melted into the deepening dusk.

The door clicked shut. The bell's lingering chime echoed in the quiet shop, grating on the ears.

Enji Koma sighed and shook his head. Renji Yomo silently polished a glass.

Looked like they'd be short one human waiter tomorrow.

Everyone knew what was coming—everyone but Kaneki.

…

Night thickened. Streetlights came on one by one, casting dim halos on the ground.

Kaneki and Rize walked side by side through a quiet residential street. They were close to the apartment she'd mentioned. It was getting quieter; hardly anyone was around, just the wind whispering through leaves.

Kaneki's heart pounded faster—not only from the nerves of being alone with the woman he admired, but from a nameless impulse pushing at his back. The dark seemed to lend him courage.

At a particularly dim corner the streetlight didn't reach, he stopped short.

Rize stopped as well, tilting her head with a touch of "puzzlement." "What is it, Kaneki-kun?"

He took a deep breath and turned to face her head-on. His cheeks burned in the dark. His body trembled slightly with nerves, but his eyes shone with a do-or-die resolve.

"R-Rize-san!"

His voice jumped with excitement, even cracking. "There's… there's something I have to tell you right now!"

Rize watched him quietly. The gentle curve at her lips seemed to deepen… and in the depths of her eyes flashed the cruel delight of a predator watching its prey hop into the trap.

She said nothing, only encouraged him with her gaze.

"From the first time we met at the bookstore, I… I…" He dredged up every ounce of courage he had and practically shouted with his eyes shut, "I fell for you! P-please go out with me!"

The moment the words were out, it felt like all his strength drained away. He panted hard, heart pounding to the point of bursting, waiting for judgment—half terrified, half hopeful.

…

Silence. Dead silence. Only the wind.

A few seconds later, just as he was bracing for rejection, he heard Rize's soft reply, laced with endless seeming shyness and joy:

"Hehe… what a brave confession, Kaneki-kun. I'm very happy~"

His eyes flew open. Ecstasy flooded him.

Rize-san… she's happy—so… she said yes?!

But before the joy could fully bloom in his eyes, it froze as he looked up. Terror and disbelief crashed in to replace it.

Because he saw it.

The gentle, bashful smile on Rize's face was twisting—warping—at an inhuman speed. It was no longer a human smile, but a snarl mixing frenzy, greed, cruelty, and rapture.

At the same time, an indescribable, suffocating aura surged off her like a tangible tide.

"I 'like' you too, Kaneki-kun…" Rize's voice turned hoarse and syrupy, pulsing with a bone-chilling excitement. "So much I want to eat you up right now—every last bit."

SPLTCH—!!! A wet, teeth-aching rip of flesh being torn open.