"..."
Byakuya was silent for a moment, then decided not to bother explaining. "You're overthinking it. Anyway, it's not what you're imagining."
Rize didn't press the topic further.
Mayu looked completely confused—she had no idea what "boyfriend jacket" meant.
"This is Mayu. Like Hinami-chan, she's from Ward 19."
Byakuya properly introduced Mayu to Rize.
"I'm Mayu. Nice to meet you."
Mayu immediately spoke to Rize as well.
Though her tone was somewhat nervous.
"Hello, Mayu-chan. I'm Kamishiro Rize."
Rize said with a smile.
"Rize-oneechan."
Mayu said obediently.
She immediately felt this big sister seemed quite easy to get along with.
In reality, this was just Rize's surface act. She could smile at anyone, but she could also turn on them in an instant. A scary woman indeed...
But regardless, her surface act was at least done well, and Mayu's unease basically disappeared.
Afterward, Byakuya had Mayu meet Kurona and Nashiro.
Seeing identical twins for the first time, Mayu found it quite novel.
"This is... Kurona-oneechan, and this is Nashiro-oneechan, right?"
Mayu confirmed the twins' names.
"Correct. Actually, you can tell them apart by their hair color. The one with black hair is Kurona, and the one with white hair is Nashiro."
Byakuya taught Mayu the simplest way to distinguish them.
"Oh, I see..."
Mayu nodded—this really was very simple.
"Though Byakuya-oniichan bringing girls home every day is a bit of a headache, having a little sister feels pretty nice."
Nashiro deadpanned.
"Agreed."
Kurona added.
"It's not quite 'every day,' is it..."
Byakuya smiled somewhat awkwardly.
This was the one point he really couldn't refute.
It had happened so gradually that before he knew it, there were this many people in the house.
"Matsumae, Kanae—please help Mayu set up her new room."
Byakuya then instructed Matsumae and Kanae.
"Yes, Master."
"Understood."
Matsumae and Kanae immediately got to work.
Meanwhile, Rize was sitting on the sofa reading a fashion magazine.
Mayu happened to catch sight of the magazine's cover and was instantly drawn to it. She almost unconsciously walked over, wanting to see what was inside.
Rize noticed Mayu's gaze and handed the fashion magazine to her. "Want to look?"
"Yes!"
Mayu nodded immediately.
She took the magazine from Rize, sat down on the sofa, and began reading with great interest.
Rize had more than one fashion magazine—she picked up another and continued reading.
Mayu looked at all the fashionable outfits in the magazine while fantasizing about how beautiful she'd look dressed like that.
"Speaking of which, Mayu doesn't have any clothes to wear. She's just borrowing Fueguchi-san's clothes right now. Why don't we go buy some new clothes tomorrow?"
Seeing how engrossed Mayu was, Byakuya suddenly remembered this.
"But... I don't have a single yen..."
Mayu's expression fell.
"That's not a problem. I can buy them for you. If you feel bad about it, you can owe me and pay me back when Anteiku pays you."
Byakuya said.
The money for clothes wasn't the point—the point was that constantly giving someone things for free would actually make them uncomfortable.
The manager gave Anteiku members a salary each month—that was certain. Otherwise, people like Touka wouldn't be able to pay for tuition and rent without any income.
"Okay, thank you, Oniichan!"
Mayu was immediately grateful.
She really couldn't wait to get beautiful new clothes—she couldn't bear to wait until Anteiku paid her.
...
Later, in private, Byakuya discussed Aogiri Tree matters with Rize.
"I talked with one of Aogiri Tree's executives today. We agreed that I'll visit Aogiri Tree next Monday. Would you like to come with me?"
Byakuya asked Rize.
Considering that Rize didn't know about Yoshimura's daughter yet, he didn't specify which executive it was—explaining that would be quite troublesome.
"Do you even need to ask?"
Rize answered with a question of her own.
"So that's a yes. But before that, we need to get masks made."
Byakuya said.
Since Aogiri Tree was a mixed bag of all kinds of ghouls, he couldn't let random ghouls see his and Rize's faces.
"Sure. Where do you plan to go?"
Rize didn't particularly like wearing masks, but she could guess why Byakuya wanted her to get one, so she didn't resist.
"Ward 4. There's a mask maker there who specializes in this—he's made masks for quite a few ghouls."
Byakuya said.
The mask maker he was referring to was naturally Uta, Renji Yomo's best friend.
"Never heard of him."
Rize said casually.
"That guy used to be Ward 4's 'Manager' and the leader of 'Clown Masks.' Though the Clown Masks ghoul group was mostly wiped out by a team led by Kishou Arima long ago."
Byakuya briefly explained Uta's background.
"Clown Masks" and "the Clowns" were different things, though Uta, as the former leader of Clown Masks, was indeed a member of the Clowns.
"So... that guy is one of the Clowns?"
Hearing "Clowns," Rize made the connection.
"Probably. According to CCG intelligence files, it was because Clown Masks had connections to the Clowns that Arima was sent to lead the suppression."
Byakuya said. "But we're just going to have masks made. Whether he's a Clown doesn't really matter."
Among the Clowns, the only one who actually posed a threat to Rize was probably Furuta. Someone like Uta would rather spend his days harassing Yomo than take any interest in Rize.
In a sense, his "love" for Yomo had reached a fanatical level. Every Clown member had their own target for amusement—and Yomo was his.
Rize smiled with amusement. "It really doesn't matter. After all, you said you'd protect me, didn't you?"
...
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