"So... should I call you 'Hairu' too?"
Byakuya offered tentatively.
"Great~ Then I'll call you 'Byakuya-senpai'~"
Hairu imdiately changed her form of address as well.
anwhile, Akira sat quietly sipping her tea, appearing unconcerned with what was happening before her.
"Ah... I have sothing to take care of, so I'll be going now. I'll co find you next ti, Byakuya-senpai."
"Byakuya-senpai, Miss Mado—goodbye~"
With that, Hairu rose and departed.
...
Though there had been a small interruption, it didn't stop Akira from saying what she wanted to say.
She continued the topic Hairu had cut off: "About what happened last ti—did it cause you any trouble, Investigator Amaha?"
"...What exactly?"
Byakuya could roughly guess what she ant, but since Akira hadn't specified, he wanted to confirm.
"..."
Akira fell silent for a mont. She took a deep breath internally, then addressed Byakuya with a calm expression: "I an when I forcibly kissed you."
Though she spoke quietly—not wanting those around them to overhear—she still articulated every word clearly.
"Ahem... That incident didn't cause any trouble, actually."
Byakuya said.
"That's good... It was sothing I did on my own initiative. I developed feelings for you of my own accord—that's what I wanted to say... Well then, I should be going too."
Akira laid everything out plainly, her expression betraying no emotional fluctuation. But the mont she finished, she rose and left.
Her seemingly composed face actually concealed considerable inner turmoil.
She'd said her piece and imdiately departed, clearly because she was reaching the limits of her composure...
Now only Byakuya remained sitting there alone.
What Akira had just said... that was essentially a confession, wasn't it?
Her feelings for him hadn't co as a surprise—even a fool would have understood after that kiss. But her directness in confessing was sowhat unexpected.
Now that he was alone, there was no point staying here.
Eto was supposed to visit ":re"—the renad Anteiku—this afternoon anyway. He might as well head over to the café.
...
Ward 20, ":re."
The café was bustling with custors again today, almost entirely ghouls.
Before heading to the café, Byakuya had stopped ho to retrieve the elegant, antique cup that Yoshimura had entrusted to him.
For today, that cup was sothing very important.
"Onii-chan, Teacher Takatsuki is coming today, isn't she?"
Spotting Byakuya, Hinami Fueguchi imdiately ca over to ask.
"Yes, she said soti this afternoon. I don't know the exact ti though."
Byakuya replied.
"That makes sense... After all, Teacher Takatsuki is a famous author and very busy person."
Hinami said.
"..."
Byakuya smiled without comnt.
He knew Eto was actually quite free. As a traditional author who published physical books in single releases, she didn't need to spend hours each day rushing to et deadlines.
From when she'd started in the industry until now—about ten or eleven years—she'd produced several dium-to-long works and dozens of short pieces.
A "dium-to-long work" was roughly a few hundred thousand characters per book. Adding all her works together probably amounted to several million characters total—averaging out to a few hundred thousand per year. She definitely wasn't writing every single day.
At Aogiri Tree, Eto was basically a slacking executive on paper, with Tatara handling the visible operations. Add in the occasional fan etup or similar event, and that was essentially Eto's daily life.
"So Onii-chan, are you free today? If you are, would you keep reading this book with ?"
Hinami tugged at Byakuya to continue the book they hadn't finished last ti.
"Of course I'm free."
Byakuya nodded.
"I knew Onii-chan was the best to !"
Hinami exclaid happily.
She then settled herself comfortably on Byakuya's lap, having long grown accustod to this arrangent—plus it made reading together much easier.
"Little Hinami likes Amaha-san so much—Touka's going to get jealous~"
Kaya Irimi teased Hinami with a playful smile.
"Huh? Then I like Touka-neechan the most too!"
Hinami quickly anded her statent.
"...Alright, alright."
Kaya felt sowhat awkward.
That wasn't what she'd ant at all—in fact, it was the complete opposite. But since Hinami hadn't picked up on the implication, she decided not to say anything more.
Just then, Mayu approached Byakuya: "Onii-chan, could you help put on lipstick? I can't do it well myself..."
With the monthly salary she received from the manager, she'd been spending on costics and pretty clothes.
The only problem was that she'd just started experinting with makeup and couldn't even apply lipstick properly yet—it always ca out wrong.
"I don't really know how either..."
Byakuya answered honestly.
Seeing Mayu's expression imdiately turn disappointed, Byakuya quickly added: "But I'll try my best to help you."
"Okay! Then I'm counting on you, Onii-chan."
Mayu nodded happily.
She handed him the lipstick, then leaned closer to make it easier for him to reach her lips.
Hinami was good friends with Mayu, so she didn't mind her reading ti with Onii-chan being briefly interrupted.
At the sa ti, she was curious about the lipstick—she wanted to see what Mayu-neechan would look like wearing it.
Byakuya knew nothing about applying lipstick. He could only rely on his keen perception for precision and play it by ear. Whether it turned out well was anybody's guess—if it didn't, he could only say he'd tried.
Mayu's cheeks flushed slightly. She hadn't expected being watched so closely by Onii-chan while he focused on her lips to be so embarrassing.
But she certainly didn't dislike the feeling, so she didn't resist at all.
"Done... I think?"
Byakuya wasn't sure himself. It felt about right to him.
Fortunately, after checking in a mirror, Mayu seed quite satisfied: "It looks so good! Much better than when I do it myself."
"Glad you're happy with it."
Byakuya said.
"Hello~! Amaha-kun, Hinami-chan, did you miss ?"
Just then, Eto suddenly appeared behind Byakuya and Hinami, waving at them with a grin.
She'd successfully startled Hinami, who spun around and exclaid: "Takat—!"
But before she could finish, Eto covered her mouth. Eto maintained her smile while making a "shh" gesture with her finger.
...
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