"White hair?"
Byakuya immediately realized something.
He had never paid much attention to his hair. Even though he looked in the mirror every day, he never focused on it specifically.
And due to the unique physiology of half-humans, it seemed that the whitening process happened at an extremely fast rate.
In the original story, Arima Kishou's hair supposedly turned completely white overnight, while Kaneki Ken's case, which resulted from extreme torture was a different matter entirely.
Byakuya immediately walked to the counter and picked up a small mirror. When he checked, the front wasn't too noticeable, but from above, the whiteness at the crown of his head was already quite obvious.
A small portion of his black hair had already turned white. At this rate, by the time tonight was over, it would likely be completely white.
Right now, he could still purchase a "Low-Grade Longevity Pill" from the system's shop to stop it in time.
But Byakuya felt that there was no longer any need to do so.
His appearance would be permanently fixed at the moment he consumed the "Low-Grade Longevity Pill" and if he took it now, his hair would remain a mix of black and white, which would look even worse.
So he might as well just let it all turn white.
After all, his physical condition was still at its peak, it was just that his hair was aging faster than the rest of him.
"..."
Yoshimura Kuzen's expression turned slightly worried and helpless.
He knew that the half-humans in V were never long-lived.
Byakuya's remaining lifespan was probably not even half of a normal person's.
"Ahhh..."
Hoito Roma rested her chin on both hands.
The mood had suddenly turned somber.
Come to think of it, this young man wouldn't even live as long as she had.
"What's wrong?"
Unlike Yoshimura Kuzen and Roma, Kirishima Hikari and the others had no idea that Byakuya was actually a half-human.
They just noticed that the atmosphere had suddenly become strange.
"Oh... that's right. After all, you're a half-human..."
Yoshimura Eto suddenly remembered that as a half-human, Byakuya in the end had a very short lifespan.
But even so, she still found it unexpected that at just eighteen years old, Byakuya was already showing signs of aging.
It was difficult to accept, but it was an undeniable fact.
She had no choice but to accept it..
"A Half-human?"
Hikari and Yomo Renji clearly had no idea about this.
"It's said that children born from humans and ghouls are almost always half-humans. Half-humans possess physical abilities far superior to normal people, but their lifespan is extremely short."
At that moment, Roma spoke up and explained:
"Of course, this is just what I've heard from others."
Hikari nodded slightly.
"Ohhh, so that means Uchiha-san is actually a hybrid of a human and a ghoul..."
Beside them, Minami suddenly thought of something.
If that was the case...
Could it be that Arima-kun was also a half-human?
Minami felt that this was highly possible, after all, Arima-kun was unnaturally strong, with reaction speeds no normal human should have.
Suddenly, she felt a deep sense of worry.
"It's actually fine. I have a solution for this."
Byakuya calmly reassured Eto.
"What kind of solution?"
Eto couldn't help but ask.
"For now, that's a secret."
Byakuya replied.
There were too many people here.
Even though most of them were trustworthy, he still didn't want to reveal such a secret in front of everyone.
"You're being all mysterious again..."
Eto's tone carried a hint of grievance.
But at this point, she also felt relieved.
Because based on her understanding of Byakuya, the fact that he was saying this meant he definitely had a plan.
Minami was deeply concerned about the matter of half-humans and couldn't help but ask Byakuya about it.
She sat down across from Byakuya and, in a very small voice, asked:
"Uchiha-kun, um... I want to know... is Arima-kun also a half-human?"
"I think it would be better if you asked him directly."
Byakuya replied.
"That's true..."
Minami also felt that it wasn't right to pry into someone else's secret behind their back.
She decided that she would just ask Arima-kun directly next time!
However, at that moment; speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Minami had previously invited Arima to stop by the café whenever he had time.
And today, Arima had come to fulfill that invitation.
At some point, without anyone noticing; Arima's once-dark blue hair had already turned completely white.
Seeing such a sudden change in Arima, Byakuya was not surprised at all.
Minami, however, slightly parted her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she hesitated.
Seeing Arima's completely white hair, she no longer needed to ask; naturally she had already understood everything.
"Kishou, you came at just the right time. Come, sit over here."
At that moment, Byakuya called out to Arima.
Arima nodded slightly and then sat down next to Minami.
"Arima-kun, your hair..."
Minami's voice carried a trace of worry.
Arima, of course, knew that she was referring to his white hair.
With an expressionless face, he responded:
"It's a natural phenomenon. It doesn't affect anything."
But this was clearly not the answer that Minami wanted to hear.
She immediately leaned close to Arima's ear and, in a very small voice, asked:
"Arima-kun... you're a half-human, aren't you?"
At those words, Arima's gaze trembled slightly.
Looking at Minami's worried expression, he fell into silence.
"I heard that Uchiha-kun is a half-human, so I was wondering if you might be one too..."
Minami added another sentence.
"Mm."
After a moment of silence, Arima admitted it.
Now that the Washuu Clan had collapsed and the "V" organization was no longer a threat, he no longer needed to hide the fact that he was a half-human.
"Because I'm a half-human, my lifespan is limited. I've now reached the point where my aging process has begun."
Arima said.
"I see..."
Hearing the answer she least wanted to hear, Minami lowered her head slightly.
"..."
Arima didn't know what to say for a moment.
"It's fine. I've already found a way to solve the lifespan issue. At most, Kishou's hair just won't turn back."
Byakuya reassured both Arima and Minami.
"Really?"
Minami was instantly overjoyed.
But she still felt that this didn't seem possible.
From a common-sense perspective, birth, aging, illness, and death were inevitable laws of nature.
Arima, on the other hand, looked at Byakuya with slight surprise.
Based on his understanding of Byakuya, the latter would never say something he wasn't confident about.
But still, it was hard to believe.
"Of course it's true."
Byakuya said.
In reality, it wasn't just the Longevity Pills in the system shop that could extend one's lifespan as even the dragon toxin from the "Dragon" could allow half-humans to have the same lifespan as normal humans.
But in comparison, the system's items were obviously the most reliable, because those products could be purchased repeatedly.
As long as there were enough attribute points, one could achieve infinite lifespan.