Byakuya walked Eto all the way home.
Eto rented a unit in this relatively upscale apartment building before him.
Byakuya stopped at the base of the building.
"You're not walking me up?"
Eto asked.
"There's no need, is there? I didn't notice anyone paying attention to us the whole way."
Byakuya replied.
Continuing to escort Eto upstairs would attract even less attention.
"How cold. You're clearly a lustful yet gutless guy, yet you always act so proper."
Eto complained.
Byakuya's mouth twitched slightly. "Could you at least say that when I'm not around..."
"Bleh~"
Eto made a face at Byakuya, then went upstairs.
Afterward, Byakuya headed home as well.
...
Teleporting directly home through the Kamui dimension took only an instant. Byakuya was quite satisfied with such a convenient ability.
Seeing Byakuya suddenly appear in the living room, Rize, who was sitting on the sofa, seemed to have gotten used to this by now.
After all, this wasn't the first time Byakuya had suddenly appeared and disappeared like this. It had been startling at first.
"Though I'm pretty much used to it, you appearing like that can really scare people..."
Rize said flatly.
"I can't exactly give you advance notice every time I come home. Or how about this—next time I'll teleport to the entrance instead."
Byakuya said.
"The entryway works too. As long as you don't suddenly appear in my line of sight."
Rize said.
With that, she put down the fashion magazine in her hands. When Byakuya sat down on the sofa, she directly sat beside him.
Then she thoroughly inspected Byakuya's entire body through scent.
"Seems like you didn't get too close to other women today."
Rize said calmly.
Ever since she'd detected a few days ago that Byakuya had kissed some woman named Hairu Ihei, she had become increasingly meticulous about checking the scents on Byakuya.
"..."
Byakuya could only smile awkwardly.
"Byakuya, you're back. Have you eaten dinner?"
At that moment, Kurona came downstairs.
Nashiro was naturally beside her, and also spoke up: "If Byakuya-oniichan is hungry, we can prepare dinner right now."
"Mm, I am getting a bit hungry."
Byakuya nodded.
However, just then, Matsumae emerged from the kitchen.
She was carrying a plate of food, and said expressionlessly: "I apologize—we've already prepared it."
Clearly, Matsumae and Kanae had just been in the kitchen preparing dinner for Byakuya.
"That was fast?"
Kurona was surprised.
"We miscalculated..."
Though reluctant, Nashiro had to admit that this time they had truly lost to Matsumae-san and Kanae-san.
Seeing this, Rize couldn't help but ask with some concern: "Matsumae, are you trying to get in on this too?"
"..."
Matsumae understood what Rize-san meant. She slightly shook her head. "No, I simply want to fulfill my duties as a servant."
Her duties were nothing more than household chores like cooking and cleaning. If even cooking was taken from her, she would be failing as a maid.
"Is that so? It'd better be as you say."
Rize said skeptically.
Matsumae didn't say anything more about it.
Afterward, Byakuya had the dinner Matsumae and Kanae had prepared.
...
After dinner.
He rested in the living room for a while.
Kurona, Nashiro, and the others had all gone upstairs to prepare for bed.
Matsumae and Kanae were also upstairs cleaning and getting ready to rest.
Washuu Chika and Mayu were still in the living room watching TV.
"Mayu, I'm going to bed too."
Chika yawned and said to Mayu.
"Mm-hmm, goodnight Chika-neesan."
Mayu replied.
"Byakuya, Rize, you two should sleep early too."
With that, Chika returned to her bedroom.
After a while, Mayu suddenly asked Byakuya: "Oniichan, I don't have a family name. It feels kind of weird. Can I use your family name?"
"That's fine, but the main issue is you don't have official identity..."
Byakuya said.
For example, the family name Kamishiro had been passed down from Shachi's human martial arts master during his training days. In other words, both Shachi and Rize could obtain identification.
Of course, Japan didn't have ID cards per se—this was just an analogy.
But ghouls like Mayu without "identification" were essentially undocumented. Even if she temporarily adopted a family name, it wouldn't be official.
This meant there were many places she couldn't go—like school, or taking planes or trains.
"I don't really care about official identity. Having a family name would at least make things less weird."
Mayu said, unconcerned.
"Oh~?"
At this point, Rize suddenly spoke up: "Is it really just because not having a family name feels weird?"
"Yeah."
Mayu nodded.
"Hmph—"
Rize gave a light snort. "Then use my family name. Kamishiro Mayu sounds pretty good too, doesn't it?"
"Eh? Okay."
Mayu didn't refuse.
"..."
Rize was silent for a moment.
She was thinking that this little girl really didn't understand these things.
In Japan, wives take their husband's family name after marriage. So she had just suspected that Mayu's request had ulterior motives.
"Whatever, do as you like."
Rize thought about it and decided to let it go, otherwise she'd seem petty for making a fuss with little Mayu over such a thing.
"Then from now on I'll be called Amaha Mayu!"
Mayu immediately changed her answer.
"..."
Rize's expression darkened. She reached out and pinched Mayu's cheeks.
Now she understood—Mayu wasn't clueless; she was playing dumb.
"Ow..."
Mayu weakly pleaded for mercy.
Only then did Rize let go. She wasn't going to make a big deal over such a small matter.
"Oniichan, I can be called Amaha Mayu, right?"
Mayu confirmed with Byakuya.
"Of course."
Byakuya said. "Also, regarding your official identity, I'll help you sort that out as soon as possible."
"Mm, thank you, Oniichan!"
Mayu said happily.
She even kissed Byakuya on the cheek to express her gratitude.
Afterward, having obtained a family name, Mayu contentedly went upstairs.
"...What a precocious little imp."
Rize remarked.
"Should we go to bed too?"
Byakuya said.
"What's the rush? It's not even nine yet."
Rize said. "Want to have a drink?"
"Hm? Feeling romantic today?"
Byakuya was slightly surprised.
In his memory, he had never seen Rize drink alcohol.
Of course, ghouls could drink alcohol—he just hadn't seen Rize do it.
"Is that not allowed?"
Rize countered.
"Of course it's fine. I'm happy to oblige."
Byakuya said.
"I'll pour you a drink."
With that, Rize got up and went to the kitchen, taking beer from the refrigerator.
She got two glasses and poured beer into both.
However, Rize started doing something suspicious.
She secretly took something from her pocket and slipped it into one of the glasses, then gave that glass to Byakuya.
Byakuya hadn't thought much of it at first—he was happy to share a drink and chat with Rize.
But he quickly noticed something unusual about the glass. Mainly because his perception was already absurdly sharp.
"Rize... did you put something in my beer?"
Though Byakuya didn't want to believe Rize would poison him, he still asked directly.
Or perhaps she had added something else. Either way, it was better to clarify first.
If it really was just something ordinary, like seasoning, then asking directly wouldn't be a problem.
"..."
Rize looked exasperated. "Your eyes are too sharp, aren't they? You can even see that?"
"So what's in it?"
Byakuya asked calmly.
"It's just a flavoring I personally like. Here, let's switch—I'll drink it first."
Saying this, Rize swapped the glass in her hand with Byakuya's, then drained it without another word.
"..."
Byakuya became even more puzzled.
This confirmed it definitely wasn't poison or anything like that. Though he hadn't wanted to believe the current Rize would do such a thing anyway.
But... he examined the glass Rize had swapped with him—there was nothing unusual about it.
If it really was a flavoring Rize liked, why hadn't she put any in the glass she'd originally intended for herself?
Besides, putting flavoring in beer was already a bit strange...
Rize finished her drink in one go, set the glass on the table, and didn't go for a refill. She just sat there with her head slightly lowered.
"Rize?"
Byakuya didn't know what was happening and couldn't help but ask.
"So hot..."
Her response came out slightly dazed and intoxicated.
"Hot?"
Byakuya didn't immediately understand what was happening.
Just then, Rize suddenly pounced on him, pushing him down onto the sofa.
"Rize, what's going on with you?"
Byakuya didn't resist; he just continued asking.
He still didn't understand what was happening to Rize.
Then he saw that Rize's face had turned bright red, her eyes becoming somewhat dreamy and seductive.
It was just one beer—surely she couldn't be this drunk?
Byakuya was puzzled.
Was Rize's alcohol tolerance extraordinarily low?
Or... had Rize put something incredible in that drink?
The next moment, Rize's actions confirmed Byakuya's suspicion.
She started tearing at Byakuya's clothes with one hand while the other hand began undressing herself.
Now, Byakuya finally understood.
"Did you... put an aphrodisiac in that drink?!"
Byakuya asked.
His pupils contracted sharply. This was the most outrageous thing he could imagine—he hadn't expected Rize would suddenly do something like this!
"Shh—"
At that moment, Rize lay on top of Byakuya, pressing her index finger to his lips while also touching her own—their faces just a finger's width apart.
Byakuya could see Rize's eyes more clearly now.
Looking carefully, he could tell Rize wasn't drunk—she was in a different state entirely, clearly caused by whatever she'd put in the drink.
But this was only a shallow effect, so Rize's consciousness was still perfectly clear.
Moreover, she was a ghoul—a kakuja-level ghoul at that. Theoretically, that kind of thing shouldn't affect her much...
"Don't speak. Tonight belongs only to the two of us~"
Rize whispered softly, her gaze so seductive it practically dripped.
"..."
Byakuya assessed the situation and quickly calmed himself.
He knew Rize wasn't significantly affected. He felt Rize must just be acting on impulse.
He believed he shouldn't act impulsively along with her and make a mistake.
So Byakuya calmly sat up.
Even with Rize lying on top of him, her weight posed no pressure for him whatsoever.
Then he lifted Rize into his arms, holding her in a princess carry.
"Don't do something foolish just because of a momentary impulse. Go take a good bath and then get some sleep."
Byakuya spoke to Rize patiently and gently.
Because he didn't know what he might have done to trigger Rize into doing something this impulsive...
"..."
Rize was silent for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Byakuya's collar. Her eyes were very serious as she said: "In your eyes, is what I'm doing just impulse and foolishness? On the contrary, I thought about this very carefully before doing it."
"...Then let me take you back to your room first."
Byakuya carried Rize upstairs and gently laid her on the bed in her bedroom.
But when he placed Rize on the bed, she still wouldn't let go of his collar. With one forceful pull, she yanked him onto the bed as well.
Rize quickly moved to the dominant position, sitting directly on Byakuya's waist and tracing circles on his body with her fingertip...
"The Washuu Clan isn't any threat to you anymore, right? So there's no reason we can't make a baby now, is there~?"
...
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