"So then...it's Mina?"
The group of ghouls traded glances. "Yes. She's the one that's meant to choose the champion," Yuri stated, having just recently returned from the depths of his stigma. "Think about it. The ring, the cathedral, the veil you found her in..."
"Like some kind of fated bride..." Haku breathed.
Rui furrowed a brow. "So...she has to choose which one of us is gonna save everyone?"
"Only one of us?" Luca's shoulders sunk. "We couldn't put that kind of pressure on her...there was to be another way for us all to do this, without..."
A grave silence weighed on them all.
Romeo called out, "How is she going to choose then?"
While they all searched one another's anxious gazes for answers, Ruby spoke up, "She already did."
The men all glanced her way. "What? Since when??"
"She didn't choose our champion. I doubt she could do that now anyways. But she did choose hers. Months ago, in fact."
Slowly, the eyes of each ghoul twisted around to a first-year standing near the edge of the group, who stared back at them tensely.
Shohei Haizono.