"What type of blood are you looking for? If it’s Hound Blood, we got some right here." Kazuichi casually offered, pulling out a couple of blood bags from his duffel and showing it off to Nakashima Shig, who almost gagged at the sight of it.

"It’s all right, what I’m looking for is something even rarer," Shig responded, gesturing for Kazuichi to put the blood bags back to where they came from.

"I-I see... is it Merc Blood? Or Bulwark Blood? I have a couple of connections when it comes to Hybrids." Kazuichi then continued, wondering why Shig had to go all the way to Yamanashi Prefecture just to get ahold of Hybrid Blood or something.

"No, it’s not like that. I’m looking for something else." Shig responded with a sigh. A part of him wanted to explain what it was, but somehow, he couldn’t say anything since giving out such precious information wouldn’t do him any good. In a way, he knew that the fewer people knew about it, the better. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Your sister... is she all right?" Kazuichi asked out of nowhere since he was fairly certain that Shig didn’t want to talk about the blood he sought to get. ’Keep your secrets, but we’re going to find out about it when we get to the auction anyways.’ Kazuichi said in his mind.

"Yes, she’s in Yamanashi Prefecture. We live in a small shelter but no one knows she’s a Hybrid. If the people knew, they’d freak out. That’s why we kept it a secret. I vaguely told the people that she was sick with pretty bad measles. It was enough to keep everyone from breaking in at our place."

"Just to confirm... she’s the Hybrid one, right? And not you?" Kazuichi asked even though he completely knew such was the case. He was trying to catch Shig off-guard so he’d reveal the type of blood he was looking for. In hindsight, this was just Kazuichi trying to strike up a conversation. In no way did he want Shig to feel uncomfortable around them.

"Er, yes, that’s right. I mean, you can smell it, right? I’m as uninfected as I could ever be. If I was given the choice, though, I’d have preferred to be a Hybrid so I could protect my younger sister."

"But it’s pretty risky, even if I get myself bitten, there’s no guarantee that I’d turn into a Hybrid. More than anything, I’m just glad that my sister didn’t turn into a mindless infected. I... she’s the only family I have left." Shig muttered to herself.

"My sister is weird, you see, she’s not like any other Hybrids out there. That’s why..." Before Shig knew it, he began telling them about his sister. Fortunately, he was able to catch himself, and he stopped before saying another word.

A dragged silence then followed while Shig contemplated something. Since they were going all the way to Yamanashi Prefecture, and they were willing enough to let him tag along, the least he could do was tell them about his sister.

It’s not like he’d inform them about the mysterious blood he was trying to get from the auction.

"That’s why when she got sick... she needed Hybrid blood. Since she was bitten by a Hound, I thought that she was a Hound and I gave her the blood of a Hound Hybrid. It didn’t make her feel better, it just alleviated the pain." He continued.

"I was out of options... and I didn’t want to try out other Hybrid Bloods. Then I heard about the rumored blood of a certain Hybrid that could work. Since that was the only lead I have, I decided to risk it all and go to the auction where it was presumably sold. I don’t care how much it costs. I’m going to get my hands on it."

Kazuichi suspiciously eyed Shig since he seemed to be so oddly determined about getting that blood. And one sniff from Arisu told her that Shig had ulterior motives about that aforementioned blood. Arisu nodded her head at Kazuichi, implying that Shig was lying one way or another. However, Kazuichi sensed that there was nothing to be troubled about, so he didn’t attack Shig right then and there.

"Why are you so keen on getting this blood anyways? Is it for your sister? How could you be so sure that it would help her out with her sickness?" Kazuichi incredulously asked, forcefully and indirectly trying to wring out more information from Shig.

The bombardment of questions did surprise Shig a little bit, but he knew that Kazuichi’s curiosity was reasonable.

"And what’s your sister’s sickness? If you want us to really help you, then you should at least tell us what’s going on. Who knows, maybe we could help you out without going to the auction." Kazuichi added with a hint of reassurance in the tone of his voice.

Weirdly enough, Arisu and Kazuichi sensed a slight shift in Shig’s demeanor. He was a bit triggered by what Kazuichi had said, but as to why, the two of them could only wonder. Then again, the two of them could tell that he was triggered by the subject of the blood he badly wanted to get in the auction.

"My sister... she’s turning. She was ambushed by a group of Hybrids while she was scouting the area around the shelter. She managed to slip past them, but the wounds she suffered were so severe, she couldn’t recover by herself. Also, the amount of virus in her body was slowly turning her into a mindless infected. At most, she’d only have at least two or three more days, that’s why I have to get this blood no matter what."

There was a hint of a lie in what he said, but Arisu could smell the concern and unfathomable worry he had for his sister. While he may have ulterior motives of some sort regarding the auction, Arisu could tell that he was really looking out for his sister.

"T-then, we’d have to get ahold of that blood as soon as possible. When’s the auction?" Kazuichi asked.

"A couple of hours from now. It’s happening this morning." Shig promptly answered.