After handling the aftermath with Yue Shan Xi and Nishio Nishiki, He Xi Qian Yu returned to his room on the second floor of the coffee shop.
In the dim room, only the desk lamp emitted a soft glow. He pulled open the drawer, expertly took out a beautifully packaged chocolate, and tore open the wrapper.
Dark red viscous matter seeped out from his wrist as if alive, rapidly congealing into Slaughter's iconic head, its crimson eyes fixed on the chocolate in He Xi Qian Yu's hand, carrying a hint of longing.
"...Give it to me..." Slaughter's voice carried a greedy urging.
"Be careful of cavities," his tone was a little helpless.
He Xi Qian Yu precisely tossed the chocolate into Slaughter's open mouth. Just as he took out the second piece—
Knock, knock, knock.
A clear knocking sound rang out.
"...Troublesome..." Slaughter growled discontentedly, quickly retracting back into He Xi Qian Yu's body.
"Come in," He Xi Qian Yu put the remaining chocolate back into the drawer.
The door opened in response.
Standing at the doorway was Dong Xiang.
She had changed out of her blood-stained coat and was wearing a plain set of loungewear, her hair loosely draped. Traces of lingering fatigue and an indescribable fragility still remained between her brows.
Her waist was wrapped in a bandage, and her complexion appeared somewhat pale under the dim yellow light.
He Xi Qian Yu leaned back in his chair, quietly watching her, not speaking first.
Dong Xiang walked in, gently closed the door, but did not speak immediately. She seemed to be organizing her thoughts, her gaze falling on the clean floor.
"What is it?" He Xi Qian Yu broke the silence, his voice calm.
Dong Xiang looked up, her normally distant and cold purple eyes now clearly reflecting complex emotions.
She took a deep breath, her voice somewhat low:
"I'm sorry." She said these two words very solemnly.
He Xi Qian Yu was slightly startled, then immediately understood what she meant. She was apologizing for stopping him in the church and insisting on facing Yue Shan Xi alone.
"There's no need," He Xi Qian Yu gently shook his head, his tone calm, "The person you should apologize to isn't me."
He hadn't suffered any substantial harm from it; instead, Dong Xiang herself had endured the pain of being pierced by a Koukaku.
Dong Xiang didn't seem surprised by his answer. She didn't leave immediately; instead, she took two steps forward and stopped beside the desk.
Her gaze was directed towards the deep night sky outside the window, moonlight flowing in like water, outlining a soft silhouette on her pale profile.
"Do you still remember..." She spoke again, with a sense of being lost in memory, "what I said to you last time? 'Why do people who always abide by the rules end up separated from their loved ones?'"
He Xi Qian Yu didn't speak, just listened quietly.
"It's not just Hinami," Dong Xiang's voice carried a hint of imperceptible sadness, "Our family... it was the same."
She paused, seemingly to compose herself, a bitter warmth flashing in her eyes: "Father... and Mother... they were both very gentle people."
"Father especially valued his friendship with the neighbors. Even if the food they sent was meaningless to us, Mother would always carefully prepare the snacks the neighbors sent, and the whole family would happily eat them."
"I also always learned from them, living cautiously, trying not to show any flaws, just wanting to preserve this hard-won peace."
Her voice gradually lowered: "Our family originally lived peacefully, just like ordinary human families. Until that day..."
Dong Xiang's body imperceptibly tensed, the reminiscence in her eyes replaced by pain: "Ghoul Search Officers appeared without warning."
"Mother, to protect Ayato and me, led them away and never returned." Her voice was strained, "Father, to buy us time to escape, stayed behind alone to block them, was captured by the CCG, and has been missing ever since."
"Ayato... that's my younger brother." Dong Xiang's voice carried a hint of helplessness and worry, "He witnessed all of this and blamed all the fault on Father for 'not being strong enough.' He chose to run away from home."
Her gaze slowly turned to He Xi Qian Yu.
"You are the strongest existence I have ever seen." Her voice was very soft, "I kept thinking, if back then..."
Her gaze returned to the cold moonlight outside the window.
"If back then, I also had power like yours, would Mother not have died? Would Father not have been captured by the CCG? Would that idiot Ayato not have run away from home?
"Would our family still be able to sit around the dining table like before, eating those snacks?"
The moonlight silently spilled over her, outlining her slender yet stubborn silhouette.
He Xi Qian Yu remained silent. He knew that at this moment, Dong Xiang didn't need a comforter, but someone willing to listen.
He understood that feeling of powerlessness, and that longing for power.
Only the faint sounds of their breathing remained in the room.
After a long while, He Xi Qian Yu's deep and clear voice broke the silence:
"Kirishima Arata is still alive." His gaze met Dong Xiang's suddenly stiff back, "In Kukulia."
Dong Xiang's back suddenly stiffened, her shoulders violently shaking, struck hard by the sudden news.
She didn't turn around immediately, just took a deep breath, as if to forcibly suppress the surging emotions back into her chest.
After a few seconds, she nodded very slightly.
"...Thank you." Her voice was very soft, with a hint of an imperceptible choke, but it carried more weight than before.
He Xi Qian Yu looked at her back and said nothing more.
He wasn't lying. In the eyes of the CCG, Ghouls like Kirishima Arata, who possessed powerful Kouink and were captured alive, were extremely valuable "renewable resources."
Based on the principle of making the best use of resources, the CCG would never easily execute him. Kirishima Arata would be imprisoned in Kukulia, a prison specifically for Ghouls. There, his Kakuhou would be regularly extracted to mass-produce the powerful Kouink named after him—"Arata."
That was undoubtedly a purgatory longer than death, but it also meant he was still alive.
Dong Xiang didn't ask for details. She took another deep breath, didn't turn around, and just whispered, "Goodnight."
She pulled open the door, and her figure disappeared into the darkness of the hallway. The moonlight left a brief streak of light on the doorframe, which was then cut off by the closing door.
He Xi Qian Yu retracted his gaze, pulled open the drawer again, and looked at the unopened chocolate.
The room fell silent again, with only the occasional chirping of insects from outside the window, and Slaughter's lingering whisper in his mind.
"...Chocolate... Hurry..."