Is this okay?

Antiques, coffee shop.

hall.

jingle.

The crisp sound of the door chimes rang out, and Dongxiang, hearing the sound, turned around to greet them with a happy smile.

"Welcome... Why are you back?"

When Dongxiang saw that the person who came was Leng Mo, she looked puzzled. At this time, both Gecko and Xuan were looking down, so she did not recognize them at first.

Leng Mo dragged the two people into the hall as soon as he entered. After seeing that there were no guests in the hall, he threw the two people away from him as if they were cement bags.

Now Dong Xiang was even more puzzled, frowning as she couldn't understand why Leng Mo had brought two people back after just one trip out.

"Dongxiang, do you want a little brother?" Leng Mo walked up to Dongxiang and asked happily.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Dong Xiang was momentarily stunned and stood there even more bewildered, completely unable to understand what was going on with Leng Mo.

What do you mean by "Do you want a younger brother...?" Wait a minute!

As if realizing something, Touka's eyes widened, and she quickly walked over and picked up the limp Ayatsu.

"Ayato!? What's going on!?"

"Oh, my useless older sister."

Ayato, whose body was still aching and hadn't recovered, immediately adopted an arrogant tone when he saw Touka, which made him look particularly ridiculous.

He's the only useless person right now.

But it's okay! Everything will be fine once I recover.

"What's going on with you?"

Touka couldn't understand how things had turned out this way, but since her younger brother was here, she definitely had to take care of him.

"Tch! You don't need to know!"

Ayato, who was being carried, was very unhappy with Touka, probably because of their past parting ways.

Although the specifics are unclear, based on the current results, it seems that Ayato chose to join Aogiri Tree and become a legitimate ghoul, while Touka chose to join Anteiku and become a weakling in the eyes of legitimate ghouls.

Ayato isn't a bad person, but he has his own way of life. He despises Touka for her "self-destructive" ways, but secretly hopes that Touka can face reality.

Touka didn't care about Ayato's attitude, after all, she knew him very well.

Turning to look at Leng Mo, he said apologetically:

"I'm so sorry, my little brother has caused you trouble. I'll take him to the back to rest first."

Even so, you could sense a hint of joy in her voice; after all, they were family.

And so, Touka happily dragged Ayato, who was dragging on the floor like a mop, upstairs. You could even hear the 'thump thump thump' of the wooden stairs as she went up.

It must be intentional.

She was deliberately retaliating against this guy's rudeness by holding onto Ayato, who was unable to move.

Terrifying! Terrifying!

Leng Mo felt a sense of fear upon seeing this; a woman's vengeful nature could still be quite mischievous.

But it doesn't matter!

Since I'm not the one suffering, I shouldn't worry about it.

At this moment, Yoshimura Kozen walked up, squatted down, picked up the gecko, and examined it carefully. He immediately recognized it.

“It’s Jason the Gecko… This guy’s no good. I’ll take care of him.”

"No, no need." Leng Mo immediately disagreed upon hearing this, as the gecko was of great use.

"If they stay..." Yoshimura Kōzen seemed worried, but he was also quite sympathetic, after all, he had experienced the methods that Leng Mo and the others used.

If the gecko really falls into Leng Mo's hands, it will probably be worse than death.

Since we're both ghouls... let's just kill him.

"Don't worry. It's just a gecko. He can replace Rize Kamishiro. After all, we can't let her do all the experiments."

Leng Mo looked at Yoshimura Kozen with a serious expression, and even squatted down to pat him on the shoulder.

Suddenly, an atmosphere of "Don't be ungrateful" arose in Yoshimura Kōzen's heart.

"I understand."

After a brief silence, Yoshimura Kōzen realized that he couldn't stop Leng Mo, and could only pray in his heart that the gecko would die soon, so as not to suffer a pain worse than death.

Even though they are enemies, we can still show them this much mercy.

Yoshimura Kozen, who had been squatting, slowly stood up and turned to look at Leng Mo, intending to say something.

"Regarding Rize Kamishiro..." He was a little unsure how to begin, since Leng Mo was of a higher status in his eyes, and he didn't know how to offer advice or give a reminder.

"What happened to her?" Leng Mo asked, puzzled when Yoshimura Kōzen mentioned Rize Kamishiro.

"Regarding her amnesia, do you really want to restore her memory? From what I understand, I don't think it's a good thing. Right now, she has the personality of an ordinary girl, which is already..."

"I know what you're going to say."

Yoshimura was interrupted by Leng Mo halfway through his speech, and Leng Mo stood there with a serious expression.

He will not back down on this point.

“I know you’re reminding me that Rize Kamishiro wasn’t a good person before, um, I know.”

“Yes, she was never a good person. In fact, she deserved to die…” Yoshimura looked at Leng Mo with emotion. He didn’t want to see Leng Mo’s efforts go to waste, or even that she would end up doing something she didn’t want to do.

That is, he was forced to kill Rize Kamishiro after she regained her memories.

He didn't want to see someone like Leng Mo, who helped ghouls, end up in a tragic situation.

"Manager, you don't need to worry about this." Leng Mo smiled confidently, as if there was nothing to worry about at all, relaxed and at ease.

"There are far too many tragedies in this world. At my age... I've seen far too many tragedies, so I hope you won't do that. Rize Kamishiro, having regained her memories, might destroy a lot..."

Seeing Leng Mo's certainty and decisiveness, Yoshimura was filled with emotion.

You once felt the same way he did; back then, he firmly believed he could protect everything.

Protect your wife and your children.

However, in the end, he failed to protect anything and was left all alone.

At the same time, he understood that he could not persuade Leng Mo, just as he could not persuade his past self now, and he could not persuade the other party.

Just as one cannot stop the autumn wind from blowing leaves and spring from coming and going, nor can one stop the waterfall from cascading down a mountain, everything is like water flowing into a channel, and no amount of force can change the river that will eventually flow into the sea.

"It's alright, manager. Don't worry, I'll handle this perfectly."

Leng Mo reiterated, "Don't worry."

His smile was full of warmth and affirmation, sunny and carefree, as if he didn't need to consider such a sad issue and fundamentally denied it.

Just then, Yoshimura Kōzen suddenly noticed that Rize Kamishiro was standing at the door.

After seeing Yoshimura Kozen's gaze, she forced a smile, pretending nothing had happened.

At that moment, Yoshimura Kōzen realized that she had heard what he had just said.

My head hurts. I should have gone to the back and told Leng Mo.

Yoshimura Kōzen, having made a fatal mistake, looked at Rize Kamishiro at the door and was filled with self-reproach.

Chapter 53 You launched a sneak attack! That's unreasonable!

However, Leng Mo noticed that Rize Kamishiro immediately showed a friendly smile, and said to Rize, who was still unconscious:

"I'll go and make arrangements for this guy first. Rize, come to the basement later."

"Okay, sure." Rize Kamishiro smiled kindly and nodded, standing still as she watched Leng Mo leave.

As Leng Mo carried the gecko like a dead dog towards the backstage room, Yoshimura Kōzen, who was in the lobby, also prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute, manager."

Rize Kamishiro called out to Yoshimura Kozen, quickly walked up to him, and looked at him with unease.

Upon hearing this, Yoshimura Kōzen paused, stopped, sighed, and turned to look with mixed feelings.

"What's matter?"

"Um... does the shop manager know what I was like before I lost my memory?"

Rize Kamishiro was filled with urgency and tension, wanting to know yet afraid to know, but having no choice but to find out.

It was filled with too many contradictions: curiosity, fear, unease, and anxiety. All these emotions combined to make him look worried, with a struggle that made the store manager feel sorry for him.

Yoshimura Kōzen remained silent on the issue, unwilling and afraid to speak about it.

He had his own worries and concerns, but even if he didn't say anything, Leng Mo would still take Kamishiro Rize to explore her past, and the only thing he could do was postpone it.

“I didn’t know.” He looked at Rize Kamishiro with kind eyes, his gentle voice full of concern.

"You're lying to me, right, manager? You were clearly reminding Amo the whole time..."

Rize Kamishiro's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at Yoshimura Kozen before her. Standing there, she was filled with sorrow, already convinced in her heart that she hadn't been a good person in the past.

Although she doesn't remember, she understands that everything she did in the past will not disappear because of amnesia.

She had to muster the courage to face the past, no matter how unbearable the memories were.

After all, it's all about myself.

The wind blowing in from the window stirred Rize Kamishiro's long purple hair, strands of purple swaying behind her, her white dress swaying gently, the aroma of coffee in the air masking all other smells.

However, this could not conceal the sadness on Rize Kamishiro's face at that moment.

She stood there, looking both sorrowful and tearful, nervously clutching her small wallet, her fingers gripping it tightly. Her eyes were fixed on Yoshimura Kozen, awaiting his reply.

Like gazing at the sea waiting for a ship to return, or gazing at the mountains waiting for someone to come back, but not turning back until the person returns.

Perhaps it was Rize Kamishiro's intense persistence that moved Yoshimura Kozen, or perhaps Yoshimura Kozen knew he couldn't remain silent. In the end, he sighed helplessly, shaking his head and turning away with a sigh.

“I don’t know much either; I’ve only heard a few things. Come with me, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

"Thank you, Manager."

Rize Kamishiro's face lit up with joy upon receiving the answer, and she followed him with small steps. Although her anxiety hadn't changed, she felt a sense of relief.

She wants to know what kind of person she was in the past, and she also wants to find out what she should do in the future.

Perhaps we are happy now, but knowing the past means it will never return.

But she had to explore this problem herself, because everyone around her was silently supporting her.

In particular, Leng Mo's determination to help her regain her memories was evident to everyone.

Rize Kamishiro cannot and does not want to disappoint Leng Mo's expectations.

……

Antiques, basement.

Leng Mo dragged the gecko in. At this moment, when Senior Xiao Yuan saw Leng Mo return, she immediately showed a funny smile.

"Amo! How about it! My mechanical kagune is pretty powerful, isn't it!"

"Holy crap! You have the nerve to say that? I get so angry just thinking about this thing! It's dead without power! It runs out of power when you don't transform, how is this thing even usable?!"

Bang!

Leng Mo was so angry that he smashed the gecko in his hand on the ground, making an unexpected sound.

"What is this?"

Kaneki, Kazuma, and Tatsumi, who were standing nearby, curiously approached and stared at the Gecko lying motionless on the ground.

"Didn't I run into an enemy when I went out? I brought him back. Since they're all ghouls anyway, I'll study them. By the way, he's a gecko."

Leng Mo gave a simple explanation, while still looking at Senior Xiao Yuan with resentment.

"Even if you see me that way, I'm still just Madoka-senpai."

The senior student on the other side, Xiaoyuan, simply evaded the issue when she couldn't find the answer, acting as if she had no solution whatsoever.