On the beach.
Today's foot traffic was incredibly high, though to be more precise, it was probably like this every day around here.
The group from Anteiku were either splashing around in the water, building things on the sand, or lounging on beach chairs sunbathing and enjoying the view.
Uchiha Byakuya had bought several beach chairs on the spot, and now he and Yoshimura Eto were lying on them, with coconut juice and other drinks placed beside them.
Just then, Eto suddenly pulled something out of her bag, it looked like sunscreen lotion.
She shook the bottle in her hand slightly, the corner of her lips curling into a faint smile. "I'll leave it to you~"
"Leave what to me?"
Byakuya didn't catch on right away.
"What else could it be? Of course you're supposed to help me apply the sunscreen."
As she spoke, Eto casually laid down on a mat beside the chairs.
"..."
Byakuya froze for a moment.
This was… a bit stimulating.
But he quickly brushed aside any distracting thoughts, opened the bottle of sunscreen, and poured some into his hand.
Then, starting from Eto's back, he began spreading it evenly.
What he should touch, what he shouldn't touch, he pretty much touched everything in the process.
Yet there wasn't the slightest bit of shyness on Eto's face. Instead, she calmly enjoyed it.
But just then, a sudden scream rang out from a certain direction.
Could it be some Dragon Orphans or a ghoul showing up?
Byakuya figured the Dragon Orphans shouldn't have spread here this quickly, it was probably just some ghouls stirring up trouble.
He focused his gaze in that direction. With the enhanced vision from his Mangekyō Sharingan, he saw that indeed, several ghouls dressed in matching outfits had appeared.
From the looks of it, it was a ghoul organization.
"What's happening over there?"
The sunscreen was almost fully applied, but Eto was still lying on the mat. Hearing the commotion, she asked Byakuya.
"A ghoul organization showed up. Seems like they're here to cause trouble."
Byakuya replied.
"I see. Well, then I guess they're in for a good time."
Eto said with a faint smile.
"Everyone here! Listen up!"
At that moment, one of the ghouls jumped onto a high spot and shouted to the surrounding crowd.
Almost everyone on the beach turned their attention toward him.
"If you obediently hand over ten women and ten children to us as offerings, we'll spare your lives! Otherwise, every single one of you dies!"
The ghoul bellowed arrogantly.
"What?! That guy's a ghoul? And there are a bunch of others dressed like him, it looks like we're surrounded…"
"Isn't there supposed to be patrol investigators around here? Why aren't they saving us?"
"There's so many ghouls here… even if one or two investigators noticed, they probably wouldn't dare show themselves. Hell, maybe they've already been taken out by these ghouls…"
"Then what do we do? Are we really just going to sacrifice the women and children?"
"..."
The crowd on the beach immediately fell into a panic.
At that moment, Yoshimura Kuzen looked at the ghouls and frowned slightly.
Well, it made sense, currently, only the Tokyo area had achieved some relative peace between humans and ghouls. Other regions, especially those this far from Tokyo, still hadn't made any real progress.
Looks like a fight was inevitable.
Although nobody wanted to die, no one had yet taken the initiative to push women and children forward.
Those ghouls weren't in a hurry either, they were just waiting, ready to enjoy a good show.
They wanted to see the ugly side of humanity. In situations like this, would some man, in order to survive, offer up his wife and children with his own hands?
"We'll add one more condition. If there's a man willing to offer up his own wife and child, then that man will be allowed to leave safely."
At that moment, the ghoul standing on the elevated platform deliberately added this condition.
While no one was immediately willing to commit such a beastly act..
Given enough time, as the fear within their hearts grew more severe, someone was bound to break.
That was what the ghouls were waiting for, a good show.
However, this had nothing to do with the so-called ugliness of humanity. When it came to matters of life and death, certain ghouls would do the exact same thing.
This wasn't a uniquely human "trait." As long as any species had intelligence comparable to humans, they would possess the same so-called "human nature." Ghouls were no exception.
Just then, a girl with green hair stepped forward of her own accord.
She was the first to stand out.
"Oh?"
The ghoul noticed that a woman had stepped forward on her own.
Now here came the question, should she be counted as a woman or as a child?
That green-haired girl was, without a doubt, Eto.
Byakuya stood off to the side with an expressionless face. He wasn't the least bit worried about Eto.
If anything, it was those ghouls who were about to be in deep trouble.
Immediately after, Uruka Minami also stepped forward.
Then Irimi Kaya, and Kirishima Hikari.
Kirishima Touka thought this whole thing looked fun and directly dragged Kaneki Ken over to where her mother was.
Mayy then grabbed Suzuya Juuzou, and Kirishima Arata also followed right behind.
Hoito Roma found the whole thing amusing and went over to join the crowd as well.
"We already have this many willing volunteers, huh? We still need five more women and five more children. I'll give you all one last half-minute to decide. If the requirements aren't met in thirty seconds, then none of you are leaving alive."
The ghoul deliberately shortened the time limit, threatening everyone present.
They hadn't yet witnessed the scene they were so looking forward to, so of course they wouldn't back down so easily.
Hearing that, all the ordinary people in the area had their hearts in their throats.
Some were secretly hoping others would step forward on their own. As vile as that thought was, they didn't want to die.
But at least up until now, not a single man had actually offered up his wife and children.
Right then, Eto suddenly continued walking forward, calmly heading straight toward the ghoul.
The ghoul obviously noticed Eto's movement and immediately barked a warning: "You'd better not make any sudden moves. Otherwise, I'll make you the first one I eat."
At that moment, a strange smile crept across Eto's face, and her body suddenly began to swell rapidly; within the blink of an eye, she had transformed into the towering 12-meter-tall "One-Eyed Owl."
Seeing a kakuja user of this sheer size appear before him, the ghoul was instantly paralyzed as his entire mind went blank, almost as if his brain had completely crashed.
In her kakuja form, Eto bent down and loomed over the ghoul, letting out a delighted, eerie laugh from her mouth.
"Who did you say you were gonna eat just now?"