Hearing Hōjō Yoru rattle off that absurdly long list of titles, Yuuki Kyōko froze for a moment—she'd simply never encountered an introduction like that before.
But once she recovered, she didn't look offended or displeased. Instead, she smiled, gave a small nod, and replied politely.
"Hello, Hojo-kun. I'm Yuuki Asuna's mother—Yuuki Kyōko."
Kyōko didn't understand most of those "titles," but she did catch the first two clearly:
Freshman representative this year.
And her daughter's close friend.
As a university professor, Kyōko was the kind of parent who would say, "Spend more time with good students, don't befriend low-achievers or they'll drag you down." So even if Hojo's introduction was… weird, the "freshman representative" halo made it easy for her to interpret him as simply lively and confident. She even warmly extended an invitation.
"Hojo-kun, I'm planning to take Asuna to a café for a bit, and then we'll have dinner together later. If you don't mind, would you like to come with us?"
"Auntie, I'll pass."
Hojo shook his head, then said with an utterly serious face:
"I still need to go home and study. Studying is like a hundred-meter sprint—you can't relax for even a second."
"Pff—"
Asuna couldn't hold it in. She burst out laughing.
After all, she'd basically been living at Hojo's place these past few days—she knew exactly what his "daily life" looked like.
Study? Hundred-meter sprint?
This guy never took notes in class. Half the time he openly played on his phone like he owned the room, didn't even listen to lectures—and now he's claiming he's going home to grind academics?
"Asuna."
Kyōko frowned and shot her daughter a stern look.
"What are you laughing at? Learn from Hojo-kun's attitude! I was against you attending a public school so far from home, but since you've managed to make a friend like Hojo-kun—someone who will influence you positively—maybe coming to Sōbu High wasn't such a bad decision."
Asuna immediately stopped laughing.
But when Kyōko wasn't looking, she secretly stuck out her tongue at Hojo and made a silly face—clearly mocking him for acting like a model student.
Unfortunately for her, the result wasn't "mockery." It was just… adorable.
"I see… Then I won't keep you, Hojo-kun," Kyōko said gently. "Let's chat again another time when there's an opportunity."
The more she looked at Hojo, the more she liked him.
Top student. Freshman representative. Tall. Handsome.
All points in the plus column.
And if he someday became her son-in-law…
That would be wonderful.
…
Ten minutes later.
After leaving Sōbu High alone, Hojo didn't head to the train station—and he didn't walk toward his own apartment either.
Instead, he slipped into a secluded back alley with no people around. Only after reaching the deepest part did he turn around and speak in a calm voice.
"We're already this far. You can come out now."
A few seconds later, two men in gray-white coats stepped out from around the corner, each carrying a suitcase.
The taller, broad-shouldered man with a square face adopted an extremely polite attitude and greeted him with a small nod.
"Mr. Hojo, hello. I'm Fukada—Senior Investigator. This is my partner, Nakagawa—Second-Class. We are—"
Before he could finish, Hojo cut him off flatly.
"CCG, right? What do you want with me?"
"Senior" and "Second-Class" weren't names—they were ranks.
Within the Ghoul Countermeasure Bureau (CCG), investigator grades were divided like this:
Lower investigators (from higher to lower): First-Class, Second-Class, Third-Class
Upper investigators (from higher to lower): Special Class, Associate Special Class, Senior Investigator
And only investigators ranked Second-Class or above were authorized to use a quinque—the reason those suitcases were in their hands.
"Hey."
Nakagawa, the Second-Class, frowned, stepped forward, and stared Hojo down with open disdain.
"You're just a devil hunter. Don't get arrogant. Watch your tone and remember what you are."
The relationship between the CCG and Public Security's Anti-Demon Special Operations Division was… bad.
They looked down on each other.
From the CCG's point of view: they were older, more structured, more disciplined, more professional—a real special operations agency. Anti-Demon, meanwhile, was "a bunch of mentally unstable mercenaries with no professional training"—basically walking bombs.
From the Anti-Demon side: ghouls hid among society and most civilians didn't even know they existed; devils were the real disaster. And CCG investigators were just "ordinary humans," nowhere near people who could wield devil power.
In short, both sides were kind of insane in their own way.
But even with Nakagawa's aggressive provocation, Hojo's expression didn't change.
Only his pupils tightened slightly.
Then he spoke, still calm—almost conversational.
"Your pores are dilated. Your sweat reeks of adrenaline. Your pupils constricted. Your grip on that quinque case tightened on instinct. Your muscles are tensed. Before you even said those words, your body had already assumed a defensive posture."
He paused, ignoring the shock spreading across both investigators' faces, and smiled faintly.
"You're not angry or arrogant. You're scared. But you still tried to provoke me on purpose. As for why…"
His smile deepened, just a touch.
"You wanted to fight and test my strength? Not happening. You're this afraid, which means you already know what I can do. The CCG isn't going to sacrifice two investigators just to 'test' a guy."
He lifted his chin slightly.
"So what you're testing is my emotional control—whether I'll fly off the handle like certain devil hunters and lose control the moment someone pokes at me."
Even without a fight, both investigators were already breaking into cold sweat.
Their bodies trembled—not from exertion, but from the suffocating pressure of being completely read.
Dilated pores? Adrenaline in sweat? Muscle tension?
Those weren't details a normal person could detect.
That kind of perception belonged to a predator.
Even ghouls couldn't do something like this.
And the devil hunter standing in front of them—
Hojo Yoru—
…was he really still human?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 85)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter85)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter81)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter60)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter66)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 40
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 50
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