48

Chapter 48: Second Class Investigator

The third day of the internship.

In the morning, Ryoma had nothing pressing to do, so he accompanied Rize back to her apartment to help her pack.

Since Rize had decided to move in with him, everything she needed had to be transferred to his place.

Early that morning, Ryoma and Rize knocked on her landlord's door.

"Eh? Miss Kamishiro is moving out so suddenly?"

The landlord, an elderly woman, sounded surprised.

She seemed reluctant when she heard Rize was leaving. After all, Rize had always been gentle and polite, and both the landlord and her granddaughter were quite fond of her.

"Sister Kamishiro, you're really moving away?"

The landlord's granddaughter, a little girl with pigtails who looked about ten years old, ran out of the room when she heard the news.

"Yes," Rize said with a gentle smile. "I'm going to live with my boyfriend now."

Hearing the word boyfriend, the little girl's curiosity instantly spiked.

"Boyfriend? Kamishiro-nee has a boyfriend?"

The little girl's eyes shifted toward Ryoma, who stood beside Rize.

"Is it this big brother?"

"That's right."

Rize smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Ohhh!"

The little girl's gaze locked onto Ryoma with curiosity written all over her face.

At her age, anything related to romance seemed fascinating.

Ryoma scratched his head awkwardly, unsure whether to confirm or deny it. In the end, he simply let Rize have her fun.

After completing the check-out paperwork with the landlord, Ryoma and Rize returned to her apartment to pack.

Once they had everything sorted, they dragged their luggage back to Ryoma's home.

...

"So you have to go to your internship this afternoon, right?"

After lunch, Ryoma and Rize sat together on the sofa, casually watching TV.

"Yeah," Ryoma replied. "Today's the last day. After that, I should be promoted to a full-time investigator."

"Hmm... It's funny how you're actually becoming a CCG investigator. I guess you'll get all sorts of useful information that way," Rize remarked.

"It's a shame I'm too recognizable. Otherwise, I'd sneak in and play along too."

With her Washuu bloodline, Rize could easily bypass the RC cell scanners at CCG headquarters.

But if she left behind any trace of herself there, the Washuu family would inevitably track her down.

Although CCG had labeled Rize as an S-rated ghoul under the alias "Gourmet", they didn't know her true identity yet. If the Washuu family realized that Rize Kamishiro was "Gourmet", they'd waste no time coming after her.

"Yeah, let's not push it," Ryoma said. "That'd make it way too easy for the Washuu family to track you."

Before long, Ryoma's break was over, and he was ready to head out.

As he changed his shoes by the door, Rize approached him.

"What am I supposed to say now...? 'Be careful out there, dear?'" she teased with a grin.

"...Yeah."

For a moment, Ryoma felt oddly emotional.

From an outsider's perspective, he and Rize must have looked like a typical couple.

Especially with that sweet smile Rize wore — she almost seemed like a caring, devoted partner.

But Ryoma knew better.

Rize was just messing with him.

...

On the subway, Ryoma once again ran into Kurona and Nashiro.

This time, the two sisters kept their distance — still feeling awkward about what had happened the day before.

For a while, no one spoke.

Eventually, Kurona broke the silence.

"Um... Can you just forget about what happened yesterday?" she muttered.

"Sure," Ryoma said casually.

He hadn't planned to bring it up, but Kurona mentioning it herself seemed like her way of easing the tension.

With that, they returned to their usual chatter.

"Today's the final day of the internship," Kurona said. "I guess I should congratulate you in advance."

She didn't sound entirely happy about it. Despite her frustration, she knew Ryoma had outperformed them from the start. Today's results wouldn't change that.

"Honestly, you shouldn't worry so much about the rankings," Ryoma replied. "Just focus on getting through today without repeating the mistake from two days ago."

He'd said something similar the previous day, but Kurona and Nashiro had been asleep at the time.

"I know... I won't mess up again," Kurona said firmly.

...

At the entrance to the 24th Ward, the interns gathered for their final assignment.

[Ding! You defeated a "B-Rank Ghoul." Reward: 5 Fusion Points.]

[Ding! You defeated a "B-Rank Ghoul." Reward: 5 Fusion Points.]

[...]

The final day's events were uneventful.

As usual, Ryoma excelled, performing at the top of his class.

In Ui's eyes, Ryoma's internship had been practically flawless.

...

At the evaluation session, the Zero Squad members assigned a score to each intern.

Ui, along with Iwao Kuroiwa, unsurprisingly gave Ryoma perfect scores.

After all the scores were averaged, Ryoma's final grade was 9.6 — an impressive result.

Suzuya Juuzou earned 9.2, also a remarkable score.

Kurona had her score reduced to 8.0 due to her earlier mistake, while Nashiro scored 9.0.

If Kurona hadn't messed up on the first day, her score likely would've matched her sister's.

The remaining two male interns hovered around 6 or 7 points — barely passing but still acceptable.

In the end, everyone had passed the required threshold of 6 points, qualifying them as CCG investigators.

"Congratulations on passing," Ui said. "Are you heading home first, or would you prefer to go directly to the District 1 headquarters with us?"

"I'll head to the headquarters now," Ryoma answered without hesitation.

He was the only one to make that decision.

Kurona and Nashiro had personal matters to handle, and Juuzou's 9.2 score — despite being excellent — didn't qualify him for immediate placement at the headquarters.

"Alright then," Ui said. "Let's go."

...

Once Ryoma arrived at the CCG headquarters, he completed the official registration process and received his title as a second-class investigator.

More importantly, he was formally granted ownership of his current Quinque.

It had technically been a temporary assignment until now, but now the dagger was officially his.

Due to his excellent performance, Ryoma was also promised a new Quinque of his choice in the near future.

With the formalities done, Ryoma was granted some well-deserved time off.

...

Coincidentally, the vacation period overlapped with Takatsuki Sen's upcoming book signing event.

Ryoma hadn't forgotten his promise to meet Kaneki Ken there.

However, Rize insisted on tagging along, which complicated things slightly.

When Ryoma arrived at Anteiku to meet Kaneki, Rize was right beside him.

Kaneki, unsurprised, greeted them with an awkward smile.

"Um... so... is this your girlfriend?" Kaneki asked hesitantly.

Before Ryoma could respond, Rize answered for him.

"Yep! I adore Ryoma the most," Rize said with a bright smile.

"Ah... Got it," Kaneki said, now visibly relaxed.

At the signing event, Ryoma spotted a petite girl walking briskly past him.

Moments later, she paused and turned back to look at him.

"Hello~"

The cheerful girl waving at him was none other than Eto Yoshimura, or as her fans knew her, the acclaimed author Takatsuki Sen.