"Why are there scattered vegetable scraps in the kitchen? Did someone use the kitchen last night? But Matsumae and Kanae always clean up thoroughly, so it couldn't have been them..."
"Indeed suspicious. Though there are traces of cleaning, some bits were missed in the corners. Byakuya-oniichan never leaves things like this either, so who could it be?..."
Today, Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa had woken up earlier than usual, planning to make breakfast for Byakuya themselves. But they discovered something unusual in the kitchen.
The thing was... the only times anyone used the kitchen were when cooking for Byakuya. No one else in the house could eat that food anyway.
So the question was: if it wasn't Matsumae or Kanae, wasn't Byakuya, and wasn't the two of them—that left only Rize and Mayu as possibilities...
At this moment, Kurona was investigating the kitchen like a detective. "The scent... Rize-san's scent hasn't dissipated from the kitchen yet. It's especially strong on the cutting board and knife. So it was most likely Rize-san..."
"Rize-san has been a ghoul from birth. Making human food must be extremely difficult for her. It must be for Byakuya-oniichan's sake—no wonder I've been noticing her reading food magazines lately."
Nashiro said.
Just then, Byakuya and Rize came downstairs.
"Kurona, Nashiro, good morning. What are you two doing in the kitchen?"
Byakuya greeted them.
"Good morning, Byakuya-oniichan."
Nashiro then explained: "Kurona and I were planning to make breakfast for you, but we noticed something strange in the kitchen. It seems like Rize-san used it."
"Yes, I used the kitchen last night. Is there a problem?"
Rize asked directly.
"It's nothing. We're just surprised by Rize-san's determination. After all, making human food is an extremely difficult thing for a ghoul."
Kurona said evenly.
"That's certainly true. If Byakuya hadn't been there to taste-test for me last night, that pot of curry might have been ruined."
Rize agreed.
"As expected... I have to say, Rize-san is quite impressive."
Nashiro didn't hold back her praise for Rize.
Having been transformed into half-ghouls herself, she understood this deeply.
Even though she and Kurona had decent cooking skills back when they were still human, being transformed had caused their sense of smell and taste to change drastically, which significantly affected their cooking.
While smell and taste weren't absolutely essential for cooking, one habitually relied on them for various judgments. Once those changed, they could only forcibly change their habits.
By comparison, enduring those nauseating odors was actually the smaller problem.
If it was already this difficult for them—people who had some cooking skills to begin with—how much harder must it be for Rize, who had been a ghoul from the very start?
"For my darling, I can certainly overcome this small difficulty."
Rize said without any modesty.
"There she goes again, calling someone 'darling' on her own."
At this, Kurona voiced her displeasure.
"On this point, Rize-san really is..."
Nashiro couldn't help but add.
To this, Rize only smiled slightly, offering no rebuttal.
Her composure and confidence seemed to indicate she felt no need to explain herself to Kurona and Nashiro. After all, the nature of her relationship with Byakuya was something they both understood clearly.
After Byakuya finished the breakfast Kurona and Nashiro made, he went to work as usual.
Arriving at the CCG branch, he found that Akira hadn't arrived yet.
Given how drunk she'd been last night, he wouldn't be surprised even if she was late.
...
Meanwhile, Akira had just woken up.
She slowly sat up, her mind a bit foggy, one hand pressed against her forehead.
A lot seemed to have happened last night, but she couldn't recall it at the moment. Her memory seemed to cut off right after she got drunk.
At least she was in her own bed at home.
Looking at her bare legs and the black stockings that seemed to have been casually tossed beside the bed, she vaguely remembered taking them off last night because she felt hot.
She was still wearing her work clothes, which meant Kureo had just helped her to bed and left it at that.
"Meow~"
Just then, the cat's meow helped clear Akira's head a little.
This was the Mado family's cat, named Maris Stella.
At the same time, there was a light knock at the door, along with Kureo's voice: "Are you awake? Do you want to take the morning off from CCG and rest a bit more?"
Kureo, who usually appeared very stern and strict, was actually quite gentle when it came to his daughter.
"No need. I'll head to work soon."
Akira checked the time—there was still plenty of it. A shower should clear her head well enough.
After bathing and changing into a fresh uniform, Akira's mind was indeed mostly clear now.
During her shower, she'd already recalled roughly what had happened after she got drunk last night.
"How embarrassing... to show such a shameful side of myself in front of him..."
Akira murmured to herself.
Fortunately, nothing unexpected had happened. Her superior was quite upstanding.
She then went to the living room, where Kureo—playing the role of single father—had already prepared breakfast.
Though since Kureo was a busy First Class investigator with many missions, most of the time it was actually Akira who handled the household chores. She was proficient in all aspects of housework, including cooking.
While eating breakfast, Kureo directly asked the question he'd been meaning to ask since last night: "Akira, you're partnered with First Class Amaha now, aren't you? What do you think of him?"
"First Class Amaha... is a respectable superior."
Clearly, Akira hadn't caught the underlying meaning of her father's question.
"No, I mean... do you have those kinds of feelings for him?"
This time, Kureo was much more direct.
"..."
Hearing this, Akira froze for a moment.
She understood now, but she hadn't expected her father to ask such a question.
Was it because First Class Amaha had brought her home last night, causing her father to get the wrong idea?
"No, I don't..."
Coming back to her senses, Akira replied in a flat tone.
"You don't? Alright then. I was thinking that if you did, you could just go straight up to him and say 'Let's get married.'"
Kureo said with a laugh.
Because that was exactly what he'd done back then.
...
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