"It's nothing. I'll be heading back now."
Byakuya lowered Akira from his back, intending to hand her over to Kureo and leave.
"Alright, thank you."
Kureo supported Akira and first set her down on the sofa to rest.
Meanwhile, Byakuya had already reached back to close the Mado family's door and departed.
Sitting on the sofa, Kureo fell into thought. He remembered that he should have invited First Class Amaha to stay and sit for a while just now.
He couldn't help but lament that his reaction had been a beat slow, his mind a bit stuck. Perhaps it was because this was his first time seeing his daughter come home in such a state—and carried by another man at that.
Fortunately, that man was First Class Amaha, which put his mind at ease.
At this, Kureo suddenly realized—Akira had reached that age too, hadn't she...
It felt like, before he knew it, Akira had already grown up so much. Twenty-one years old was not young at all...
Kureo recalled how back when he was just eighteen, he had met Akira's mother—Kasuka Mado—at the Academy. Falling for her at first sight, he'd boldly declared his love, only to be told that romance was too troublesome, especially since marriage meant changing her surname.
Under Japan's marriage system, a wife typically takes her husband's surname after marriage.
But Kureo had directly declared that he could be the one to change his name. And so he became the one who married into her family—that was how, in somewhat comedic fashion, he and Kasuka Mado got married.
Of course, it was only nominally marrying in. Aside from the husband being the one to change his surname, they were no different from an ordinary couple.
Both were rare talents in the CCG. Kureo had exceptional skill with Quinques, while Kasuka became the youngest female Associate Special Class investigator.
It was only the tragedy ten years ago that tore the Mado family apart...
Recalling his past experiences, Kureo was filled with emotion. All these years, his heart had been almost entirely consumed by his hatred for the "One-Eyed Owl," to the point where he'd nearly forgotten all those precious moments he once shared with his wife.
If not for what happened tonight, he didn't know when he would have remembered those times.
"What a miscalculation. I should have asked Amaha about his thoughts on Akira just now. Or maybe I'll just ask Akira directly once she wakes up tomorrow."
Kureo muttered to himself.
As a "Quinque maniac," he was pretty straightforward when it came to matters of the heart—just like when he'd pursued Kasuka Mado back then, with basically no beating around the bush. He was curious, so he'd simply ask directly.
There was also another thing that bothered him slightly: regarding Amaha Byakuya and Akira Mado's partnership. It actually wasn't him who had recommended or arranged it. It was definitely the Bureau Director and Yoshitoki who set it up, but as for who recommended it—or whether Akira had volunteered herself—he had no idea.
...
Before 10 PM—9:30, to be precise—Byakuya finally made it home.
After running around all day, if not for his extraordinarily powerful physique, an ordinary person would probably have collapsed on the sofa by now.
After all that hassle, he was finally home.
"You came back quite late, though earlier than yesterday."
Rize Kamishiro walked up to Byakuya and helped him take off his combat suit. That big, thick combat suit was definitely not something to wear as casual home attire.
There was something rather domestic about Rize's behavior at the moment—quite the devoted wife.
Just then, her eyes sharpened as she asked, "There's a woman's scent on you. And it's quite strong. What's going on?"
Clearly, she had detected this scent from Byakuya's combat suit. With her highly developed senses, distinguishing between a man's scent and a woman's scent was easy.
"The woman you're talking about should be my subordinate. Tonight at 8, a colleague invited us out for a late-night meal. Then my subordinate got drunk, and I had no choice but to carry her back to her home. That's probably why the scent is so strong."
Byakuya explained simply.
This time, he was straightforward, neither embellishing nor hiding anything.
"I see. No wonder there's also a smell of alcohol."
Rize said evenly, "The fact that you didn't bring that woman directly back to our home—that's already quite an improvement."
"Haha..."
Byakuya could only manage an awkward laugh at that.
This was exactly why he'd decisively chosen the first option earlier.
If he'd brought Akira Mado directly to his own home for those extra 10 Fusion Points, Rize would definitely have given him a hard time about it. And there were also Kurona, Nashiro, and Mayu...
"By the way, is everyone already asleep?"
Byakuya asked.
"Mm. Kurona and Nashiro have been quite diligent with their CCG work lately—they wake up early and go to bed early. Mayu is still growing, so I had her go to sleep at 9. As for Matsumae and Kanae, they've always kept a very regular schedule—after all, they were professional servants for the Tsukiyama family."
Rize said.
"Mm, thank you for your hard work."
Byakuya was somewhat surprised that Rize had actually told Mayu to sleep early. This was a bit different from the Rize in his impression.
Though he didn't have many impressions of Rize to begin with—even in the original work, she hadn't appeared in that many scenes.
Just from this one detail, he could tell Rize's personality wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface. For instance, while Rize was wreaking havoc in Ward 20, she'd also been helping Anteiku collect human corpses—something that, based on her surface personality, she didn't seem like she'd do.
Cruel and merciless, yet also having these sudden, inexplicable moments of tenderness. The root cause was probably that Rize's personality had been twisted by the Washuu Clan.
"What's there to work hard about? I'm at home all day with nothing to do anyway."
Rize smiled. "Now then, let me show you my cooking skills."
"Is that so? I'm quite looking forward to it."
Byakuya said.
Whether it would be the unsurprising dark cuisine or unexpectedly delicious—he'd find out soon.
Afterward, Rize put on the apron Byakuya usually wore when cooking. Her movements tying the apron didn't look clumsy at all; she seemed to have practiced beforehand.
Growing more curious, Byakuya also entered the kitchen, wanting to see what Rize's cooking would be like.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Help me tie up my hair."
Just then, Rize suddenly remembered something and asked Byakuya.
This was to prevent hair from falling into the food while cooking—another tip she'd picked up from food magazines.
For today, she'd read quite a few food magazines and done plenty of preparation, all so she could let Byakuya taste her cooking.
...
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