"...That's not what I meant."
Ayato slightly lowered his head.
By now, there was no way he could underestimate Byakuya's strength.
Wait, no...
Ayato suddenly felt something was off.
He looked at Byakuya, then at Touka...
"Stupid..."
Ayato was about to say "stupid sis," but immediately corrected himself. "Sis, have you already... you know... started dating?"
Though he wasn't entirely certain, he sensed that his stupid sis and his boss had an unusual relationship.
Now that Byakuya had become Aogiri Tree's One-Eyed King, wasn't he basically Ayato's boss?
So in Byakuya's presence, he didn't dare continue calling Touka "stupid sis."
"..."
Touka hesitated for a moment. "I don't think I ever told you. You actually figured it out?"
"Of course. It's pretty obvious, okay..."
Ayato sighed immediately. "In that case, I really don't need to stay here anymore."
He had some understanding of Byakuya's strength—after all, he'd once been thoroughly beaten by Byakuya...
If stupid sis had their boss protecting her, there was really no need for him to worry.
And besides, Dad was back...
...
And so, Ayato obediently returned to Ward 20 with them.
Back to that "Anteiku" he had never wanted to return to...
Though it wasn't called Anteiku anymore.
Since Ayato and his sister had received the Manager's help when they were young, he actually knew Manager Yoshimura, Irimi, and Koma.
"Ayato-kun has finally come back too."
Irimi remarked with emotion.
"It's been so long since we've seen Ayato."
Koma added.
The last time Ayato had led his subordinates to raid Anteiku, Irimi and Koma had happened to be out.
And it was precisely because of that raid on Anteiku that Ayato now felt somewhat awkward.
"It's good that you're back. Yomo-san missed you too."
Yoshimura spoke up.
But the next moment, an unexpected voice came.
"Don't be so uptight, Kirishima-kun. I'm not even embarrassed—what's there for you to be embarrassed about?"
It was Eto, who had appeared at some point.
"Eto...?!"
Ayato was also shocked.
Though Eto had revealed her identity before the assault on the Sunlit Garden.
But she had only revealed her identities as the One-Eyed Owl and the human author "Sen Takatsuki." Most ghouls, including Ayato, still didn't know Eto's family name.
Logically speaking, the blood relationship between the Non-Killing Owl and the One-Eyed Owl should have been common knowledge.
But in reality, only the CCG had specifically investigated this matter and repeatedly verified that the two Owls were related by blood—and even then, they couldn't be completely certain it was a father-daughter relationship.
So this kind of thing couldn't be judged from a god's-eye perspective. Most Aogiri Tree ghouls, including Ayato, had never seen what Yoshimura looked like in his kakuja form. The CCG hadn't publicly announced the relationship between the two Owls either, so not many people actually knew about it.
Therefore, Eto appearing here in human form surprised Ayato.
"What's wrong? You look surprised. Didn't expect me to be here?"
Eto said.
"Eto, are you also here because of Byak—I mean, because of the 'King'?"
Ayato almost blurted out Byakuya's name but quickly caught himself and changed his words.
"Hmm—something like that."
Eto said with a smile. "Also, you don't have to address that guy so formally. Just calling him Byakuya is fine."
She then sought Byakuya's opinion. "Right, Byakuya?"
"Mm, it doesn't matter to me."
Byakuya said casually.
In everyday situations like this, if Ayato kept calling him "King" every other sentence, it would just feel weird.
"Alright..."
Ayato nodded.
He still didn't know what Eto was here for, but he didn't plan to ask.
After catching up briefly with Irimi-san, Koma-san, and Manager Yoshimura, Ayato went upstairs with Arata and Touka for a family gathering.
...
The Kirishima family went upstairs, while Byakuya stayed downstairs chatting with Eto.
Watching Eto take out a laptop from her bag and place it on the table, Byakuya remarked, "So now you're coming here to write."
"Mm, whenever I'm lacking inspiration, I like to come to cafés to write or find inspiration. Writing while drinking coffee feels quite nice too."
Eto nodded.
"By the way, our relationship is about to be made public soon. When that happens, so-called 'paparazzi' will get advance notice and come to secretly photograph us—it's actually leaked information from Shoeisha's side."
While opening her laptop, Eto said, "So when the time comes, we'll need to put on an act. We should at least look like a couple."
"Besides that, during our 'passionate romance,' you can't be seen dating other girls in public, or our fake couple status will be exposed..."
Midway through, Eto seemed to have another thought. "Though the public might also imagine you as a playboy juggling multiple women. Come to think of it, that might actually generate even more publicity..."
Thinking about this, Eto rubbed her chin, apparently finding this approach quite appealing.
"..."
Regarding the "playboy" part, Byakuya had absolutely no rebuttal.
"Tsk tsk tsk... It does seem feasible. Why don't we go with that?"
Eto immediately suggested: "During our passionate romance, you go on more dates with those girls. Paparazzi will definitely be tracking you. Then when the news breaks—the esteemed CCG Branch Director, Associate Special Class Investigator Amaha Byakuya, turns out to be a big playboy who even toyed with the feelings of the innocent and pure genius young beauty author 'Sen Takatsuki'—that'll definitely make for bigger headlines!"
...
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