The conversation ended.
After settling the bill, Byakuya and Eto parted ways.
He returned to Anteiku first.
"Wasn't Oniichan on a date with Takatsuki-sensei? You're back so soon?"
Seeing Byakuya return, Hinami was somewhat surprised.
"A date with Takatsuki-sensei?"
Touka immediately took notice.
She knew of the famous author Sen Takatsuki, but why would Byakuya go on a date with her?
"It wasn't a date. I just discussed some things with Takatsuki-sensei."
Byakuya corrected.
"Oh, I thought it was a date..."
Hinami had been misled by what Takatsuki-sensei had said earlier.
At that moment, noticing Manager Yoshimura wasn't downstairs, Byakuya went directly up to the second floor to find him.
Sure enough, he saw the manager organizing "supplies" on the second floor.
"Amaha-kun, is something the matter?"
Yoshimura paused what he was doing.
"I've already had a chat with Sen Takatsuki—that is, your daughter."
Byakuya said directly.
Yoshimura fell silent for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat grave. "...What did you discuss with Eto?"
He naturally knew that the author "Sen Takatsuki" was his daughter Eto. He'd always been secretly watching over her.
"Quite a lot, though I was careful about boundaries. Overall, I'd say I've earned some of Takatsuki-sensei's trust."
Byakuya said. "Now it just depends on how things go when Rize-san and I visit Aogiri Tree."
"You're taking Rize-san with you... Will that be alright?"
Yoshimura was somewhat worried.
"It'll be fine. I'm fully prepared."
Byakuya said lightly.
"That's good then."
Hearing Amaha-kun say this, Yoshimura could relax.
In his impression, Amaha-kun wasn't the type to make empty boasts.
That said, when the time came, he still wanted to follow secretly and observe.
If anything unexpected happened, he definitely wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
...
After a while, Anteiku was about to close.
Where Mayu would stay tonight became a problem that needed solving—she couldn't just keep wandering the streets.
Besides Byakuya, no one else's home was really suitable for taking in an extra person.
Surviving in human society as a ghoul was quite difficult—even renting a room was no easy matter.
Among Anteiku's ghouls, Yoshimura was undoubtedly the wealthiest. His time as a "Cleaner" for V in his youth had earned him considerable wealth—otherwise, he couldn't have opened such a large café.
"I recall that Tsukiyama-san and Kanae-san are staying at Amaha-san's place. Can your house accommodate Mayu-san as well?"
Koma asked.
Since Touka already knew Kanae was a girl disguised as a boy, the others at Anteiku basically knew her true gender as well.
However, even though this was no longer secret, she still maintained her male disguise.
This was because she wanted to shoulder the responsibility of reviving the Rosewald family like a man, and to avoid pursuit by the German CCG.
Now she was the only surviving member of the Rosewald family, so no one else could bear this responsibility.
"There's still room."
Byakuya said.
"Eh? Amaha-san's house is that big? To accommodate so many people."
Irimi said with some surprise.
"...It's decent."
Byakuya smiled slightly.
He'd never mentioned to anyone at Anteiku that his home was a large villa...
Truth be told, even a few more people moving in wouldn't be a problem.
Though the composition of his household was becoming increasingly strange—aside from himself, none of them were human.
"My house is fine, but it mainly depends on Mayu's wishes."
Byakuya then asked Mayu: "What do you think?"
"I definitely have no objections. I mean... would you find me a burden?..."
Mayu said weakly.
"Of course not."
Byakuya smiled. "Then let's go. Time to head home."
"Mm!"
Mayu suddenly felt a sense of novelty and anticipation—she'd never experienced what "going home" felt like.
Then Mayu walked alongside Byakuya, with Matsumae and Kanae following behind.
"Master is really kind to ghouls, even though you're an investigator."
At this moment, Matsumae suddenly spoke up.
"Oh? I nearly killed all of you before—can you still conclude that I'm kind to you?"
Byakuya remarked casually.
"That was a special circumstance. We were in the wrong first, after all. It was already remarkable that the Master spared us."
Matsumae said logically.
Even Kanae couldn't deny this.
Back then, it wouldn't have been strange for this human boy to kill them all. Yet at the master's pleading, he'd spared the young master and them—though with conditions attached. But nothing was more important than their lives.
"..."
Byakuya made no comment.
Mayu beside him was a bit confused, not knowing what had happened between this Oniichan and those two.
...
"Mayu, up ahead is your home from now on."
As they approached the front door, Byakuya said to Mayu beside him.
"Th-this is it?"
Mayu's face immediately showed surprise.
She didn't have much concept of villas—she just hadn't expected Oniichan's house to be so big. Even more incredible was that she'd be living here.
Before, if she'd managed to find an abandoned shack not occupied by other ghouls, she would have been overjoyed and grateful.
"Yes. Though there are quite a few people in the house—you'll meet them soon."
Byakuya said.
"Mm..."
Mayu nodded.
She was thinking there were other girls besides Tsukiyama-san and Kanae-san...
"I'm home."
"I'm... home."
As Byakuya said this, Mayu tried to imitate him.
"Welcome back, darling. But... why did you bring home another new girl today?"
Seeing the unfamiliar Mayu, still wearing Byakuya's jacket, Rize couldn't help but question this.
Byakuya walked over and quietly explained to Rize: "She's a new member of Anteiku now, but she has nowhere to stay temporarily, so... Plus, she actually possesses two types of hybrid kagune—a prodigy. I think she'd be an excellent candidate for the Akatsuki Organization."
"So that's your reason for bringing her home and putting your boyfriend jacket on her?"
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"