In Eto's heart, before she met Byakuya, the only person she truly acknowledged as close family was the man who raised her — Noro.
That's also why, even after Noro was killed, she used her kagune to recreate him in the form he has now.
But that other version of her—the one who never met Byakuya, who had no one she felt emotionally close to—she probably ended up utterly alone in the end...
"By the way, next time I run into little Furuta, I'm going to thoroughly squish his stupid face. How dare he mess up that version of me so badly."
Eto said with a scoff.
Byakuya laughed, "He'll be totally baffled when you do."
"I finally managed to dig so many secrets out of you today" Eto said smugly, then tilted her head curiously. "Oh right—you've always said my novels would go viral. That's because you already knew what the other me accomplished, right? So did I really become a famous author in that future?"
Byakuya nodded. "Yeah. A true literary giant. You had legions of fans—including Kaneki. Eventually, your influence grew so massive that even a single book launch could shake the power structure of the Washuu Clan and begin to soften society's hatred of ghouls."
"For real? That amazing, huh? Now I'm kinda looking forward to it."
Before meeting Byakuya, Eto never really believed she could become a renowned writer.
But after hearing it from him again and again, it was getting harder to doubt.
"Of course. As long as Miss Takatsuki gives it her all, every book's gonna blow up," Byakuya said with absolute confidence.
"I've told you already — stop calling me Miss Takatsuki. Just call me Eto."
She corrected him again.
"Alright, alright — Miss Eto"
Byakuya grinned.
"If you forget again, I'll bite you!"
Eto bared her sharp little teeth in warning.
"Duly noted..."
Byakuya chuckled awkwardly.
"Anyway, how many other worlds like mine are out there? Besides that Attack on Titan one, I mean."
Eto asked with genuine curiosity.
"A lot more than you'd believe…"
Byakuya had no real idea how many. Just among Japanese anime, there were countless, not to mention all the novels, films, and other stories beyond that.
"There are that many? So many you can't even count them?"
Eto looked surprised.
"Yeah, it's not even close to a normal number," Byakuya said, nodding.
"Then what was your original world like? I kinda want to go see it now."
Eto leaned closer, eyes sparkling with interest.
"My world was... honestly not that different from this one. No ghouls, sure — but the rest was pretty similar. Nothing extreme like the Attack on Titan universe," Byakuya explained. "But even if you wanted to visit, I don't know how. I haven't figured out a way to get back."
His Kamui could theoretically jump between worlds, but only if he had been to the destination before he awakened the ability—and he hadn't had it back when he lived in his original world. So returning wasn't an option.
"That's kind of a shame..." Eto said softly.
She suddenly realized she'd never even met Byakuya's real family.
"Wait... so if you can't go back, does that mean you'll never see your family again?"
"Yeah. I don't know how they're doing now. Maybe they worry about me every day…"
Byakuya let out a quiet sigh. It was rare for Eto to see him look like that—clearly, he missed them.
"Well, I'm your family now. If you really can't go back, then this can be your home."
Eto smiled gently, offering comfort. "Of course, if there's ever a chance to return—then go for it. Just don't leave me out of it."
"Yeah..."
Byakuya nodded.
If he really did get the chance to return one day, he'd want to bring Eto along. Let his family meet her too.
...
Later, as usual, Byakuya and Eto were sitting together in the café, tapping away at their laptops.
Eto, of course, was working on her novel.
Byakuya was drafting a new project.
He had consumed so many stories from anime, manga, and beyond that acting as a "ghostwriter" in this world came easily. It even gave him a chance to build his own pen name. Eto loved reading, too, which made it even more worthwhile.
Halfway through a writing session, Eto glanced over at Byakuya's screen. "What's this new one you're working on?"
"Black Bullet. That's the title."
"Hmm, just from the name I can't really tell what it's about. Guess I'll wait until you've written more."
She was clearly intrigued.
Just then, Mayu came running down the stairs from above.
"Mayu, be careful on the stairs" Byakuya called out.
But before he could finish the sentence, he noticed Mayu had someone in tow — Juuzou.
And Juuzou… well.
"Mom! Dad! Look!" Mayu chirped. "Isn't Suzuya just so pretty?"
Juuzou was wearing a full set of girlish clothes—dolled up like a perfect little porcelain doll.
And it didn't even look weird. With that face and flawless skin, Juuzou pulled it off way too well.
No wonder in the original timeline, the Madame had been so disturbingly obsessed with him.
Right now, Juuzou's face was completely blank. Whether he'd lost the will to question anything or just didn't care anymore, it was impossible to tell.
"Mayu, that's not okay," Eto scolded gently. "Suzuya's a boy—you can't just force him into girl clothes."
"Huh? But I asked first, and he said yes!"
Mayu pouted.
She'd always thought Juuzou's face was cute and his skin super smooth.
Earlier, she got the sudden urge to try dressing him up with her own clothes—and was so stunned by the result that she immediately dragged him down to show her "parents."