The way she looks as she goes her own way, unshaken, is brilliant, and will never, ever leave me.
The Ghouls in the 11th Ward had some rules that must be strictly obeyed.
1. Don’t kill on another Ghoul’s hunting ground.
2. “Residence tax” was due at the end of each month.
3. One meal a month.
4. Never leave tracks.
5.
5 …
These strict rules had been made by Hagi, the leader of the Ghouls in the 11th Ward, because the Ghouls in that area were living under the oppression of regular observation. But thanks to them, rule of order was maintained in the 11th Ward and the Ghouls there could live without fear of the CCG. They had their issues, certainly, but they never had to worry about their own safety.
Banjo Kazuichi was one of those Ghouls, nursing his resentment toward Hagi while following the rules he’d made. Other, more positively inclined Ghouls thought that, although it would be great for all Ghouls to have an equal playing field and therefore trust each other, there was no chance of it happening anytime soon.
“What are you gonna do about it anyway?” said Banjo, when suddenly, right in front of him appeared Ms. “Binge Eater” herself, Rize.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Four bodies with Ghoul traces left on them have been found this month already!”
It was a meeting of Ghouls in the 11th Ward. One of the Ghouls gathered around the table, Usu, wore a pained expression across his broad face as he spoke.
“Who could it have been but you, Rize?”
The girl this line of questioning was aimed at had her nose stuck in a paperback, despite sitting in the meeting.
She lifted her gaze from the page and gave an alluring smile. She looked very calm despite currently being under fire in front of a lot of people.
“Oh … are you talking about me?”
“Don’t play dumb! This kind of thing never happened until you got here!”
Finding four abandoned corpses in one month in the orderly 11th Ward was a big deal. As Usu had said, nobody sprang to mind except Rize. The other Ghouls around the table looked at her with hard expressions too.
“The one left at the beachfront park was especially easy for people to see. Almost asking for someone to find it!”
This is a threat to our lives. And Usu is trying, through his thorough condemnation, to make her reflect so as never to do something like that again.
But then Rize tilted her head strangely. “Beachfront park?”
“Yes! A girl’s body. Anything could’ve happened if I hadn’t gone down there first thing in the morning and taken care of it!”
The 11th Ward bordered the sea, and there was a big park by the beach. I guess Usu was the one who found the corpse. But Rize started shaking her head in disbelief.
“I don’t remember her. Maybe she was another Ghoul …”
“You don’t even know!”
Rize looked like she was about to confess something. She did not nod.
“Usu, maybe not all of them are Rize’s kills.”
The Ghoul defending Rize was Yuri Akanuma, who was sitting right next to her. Yuri was a newcomer who had lived in the 11th Ward less than a year, but unlike Rize, she lived by the rules. She was attractive and sweet, blended in well with human society, had a job, and was known as a sensible person among the Ghouls of the ward.
“Then who are you saying killed them, Yuri?”
“I don’t know … I just think pinning it all on somebody is not the right thing to do. Is it?”
Yuri looked around at the other Ghouls in the room, hoping to find someone in agreement.
“I agree. The matter should’ve been investigated thoroughly and confirmed before talking about it here.”
But only one person backed them up—Banjo. Rize’s the Ghoul with the street name “Binge Eater.” Who else would we really think did it? At this, Rize’s eyes looked sad.
“Now, we could just as easily be talking about Hana—”
“Thank you, Banjo. But there’s no help in being suspected. And they’ve just come here again …”
Banjo had tried his best to protect her, but then Hagi, who had been silent all this time, spoke up.
“She has only denied the body found on the beachfront. Rize, do you admit to the other three?”
Tension ran through the room at the sound of his voice. But Rize did not falter. “I don’t know,” she answered ambiguously. She’s not afraid of him. Because she knows her own strength. She looked brilliant to Banjo.
“We will continue the investigation. But Rize, don’t push your luck.”
The meeting ended with Hagi’s usual declaration.
“Don’t forget the rules.”
“It’s awful to act like everything’s your fault. And don’t you think we should be allowed to say something when it isn’t?” Yuri said to Rize, once the meeting was over and they’d left the room.
“Usu is really tough on newcomers. That was pretty rough. You All right?” Banjo said, taking the opportunity to jump in. Rize lowered her eyebrows.
“I’m not used to the system here in the 11th Ward, so there are always gonna be some misunderstandings. Thank you both for standing up for me,” she said, putting her hands together in thanks. Banjo wanted to continue the conversation, but Rize seemed to want to end it there.
“If something happens again, I know I can count on you,” she said, flipping her black hair, then left.
“Banjo, do you … like Rize?” Yuri asked him, watching Rize as she left.
“W-what? What are you talking about?”
“You’re always hanging around her.”
“That’s—I’m just …”
But it was true, what Yuri said. When she was around he watched her every move, and he followed after her like he was stuck to her side. Banjo hunched his shoulders, rubbing his hands together nervously.
“Anyway, someone’s leaving corpses on the beachfront. Whose work do you think it is?”
Unconcerned by seeing a big man such as Banjo fumbling like he was, Yuri continued.
“Could be another Ghoul using Rize as a scapegoat.”
“What do you mean by that?” Banjo straightened his back in surprise.
“The 11th Ward is relatively peaceful because we all play by the rules, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have our Ghoul instincts. Maybe someone’s been watching Rize, who still follows her instincts, and took a little inspiration …”
As Yuri said, Rize played by her own rules, and her instincts only seemed heightened under these oppressive conditions.
“Now anything can be pinned on Rize. Maybe somebody’s just using her to piggyback off of. Poor Rize,” Yuri said. Then, realizing she’d said too much, she left.
Someone’s using Ms. Binge Eater as a cover. If that’s true, that’s unforgivable. Banjo huffed to himself.