Although Eto had already received Byakuya's promise to take responsibility for her safety...
With so many customers in the café right now—ghouls though they were, still a motley crew—it was best not to let Hinami blurt out that she was "Sen Takatsuki" in front of everyone.
"In crowded places like this, I'd prefer if you didn't say my pen name out loud, Hinami-chan."
Eto explained while still covering Hinami's mouth.
"Mmph mmph..."
Hinami nodded quickly, only able to make muffled sounds with her mouth covered.
"You can just call me Eto-neechan. That's actually my real name."
Then Eto released her hand.
Hinami hadn't expected to learn "Teacher Takatsuki's" real name by accident. She exclaimed happily: "Okay! Eto-neechan!"
"Good girl."
Eto smiled and patted Hinami's head.
"You're here."
Byakuya smiled at Eto.
"Of course I am. I wouldn't break my word about something like this."
Eto replied casually.
In truth, she'd been pacing outside the café for a while before coming in. She wasn't nearly as composed as she was letting on.
"Onii-chan, who is this pretty... little sister?"
Mayu asked from nearby.
Since both Eto and Hinami were around 150 centimeters tall, Mayu had instinctively assumed Eto was the same age as Hinami-chan.
"Now, now—I'm not a 'little sister.' If anything, you should be calling me 'big sister.'"
Eto smiled.
"??..."
Mayu looked utterly confused.
"This big sister is already a twenty-four-year-old old lady. Can't tell, can you?"
Eto said.
"Twenty-four..."
Mayu's expression shifted instantly from confusion to surprise.
"As for who I am~"
Eto continued cheerfully: "I'm your Onii-chan's rumored girlfriend. Or rather, I should put it the other way around—your Onii-chan is my rumored boyfriend. That's roughly the relationship."
"Rumored boyfriend?..."
Mayu immediately sensed that this sis—no, this big sister—had an unusual relationship with Onii-chan.
"She's asking who you are, not your relationship with me. And you're not my rumored girlfriend."
Byakuya corrected her flatly.
"Don't be so literal. I was just joking."
Eto laughed.
Then she actually answered properly: "I'm Eto Yoshimura. And you?"
"I'm Mayu..."
It took Mayu a moment to process. The next instant, she realized the other person's surname was "Yoshimura"...
Recalling that the manager was also surnamed "Yoshimura," Mayu immediately asked: "Could you be... the manager's granddaughter?"
"Wrong—it should be daughter."
Eto corrected her.
"Oh, I see..."
Mayu nodded, somewhat surprised.
Just then, Eto noticed Byakuya and Hinami's positioning.
She stroked her chin and teased: "So Hinami-chan and Amaha-kun have already gotten this close?"
"..."
Understanding what Eto-neechan was implying, Hinami's cheeks flushed. But she made no attempt to deny it.
Eto was about to ask where the manager was when her gaze happened to catch Roma Hoito over by the dishes.
She'd seen Roma during her attack on Cochlea, so she naturally recognized her.
Even if she hadn't seen her then, she knew who Roma Hoito was. When they'd raided Cochlea, they'd tried to recruit Roma for Aogiri Tree, only for her to refuse with "boring" as her reason.
Eto knew that after Roma had escaped Cochlea, she'd been hanging around Anteiku. She's still here and hasn't run off yet?
Roma had also noticed Eto's gaze. She could likewise recognize the One-Eyed Owl in human form.
Rather than avoiding her, Roma walked right over.
"New customer, you were just looking at me."
Roma smiled, playing dumb. "What is it? Have we met somewhere before?"
Having already been exposed as a Clown by Byakuya, she was actually in a safe position now—she understood she just needed to behave herself.
Besides, she and Eto each had dirt on the other—knowing each other's identities—so she faced Eto without fear.
What Roma hadn't considered was this: between herself and Eto, whose side would Byakuya favor...?
Eto's smile didn't waver. She projected even more confidence than Roma, going so far as to say outright: "Of course we have. Didn't we meet at Cochlea last time?"
The moment Roma saw Eto's expression, her sharp instincts told her something was off.
So when Eto had only gotten as far as "Coch—," Roma was already trying to stop her: "Wait wait wait wait! You can't just say things like that!"
Roma started to panic, finding herself at a disadvantage against Eto.
She hadn't expected this woman to be like a "self-detonating truck," leading with self-exposure.
If word got out that Roma had escaped from Cochlea, she wouldn't be able to stay at ":re" anymore. After all, Touka and the others still believed she was just a weak ghoul seeking shelter...
"I'm not saying anything untrue~ But if Miss Hoito prefers I don't mention it, I can keep quiet."
Eto's smile remained.
Her confidence in this standoff with Roma came directly from Byakuya's promise to take responsibility for her.
In her view, she was clearly worth more than this Clown skulking around in the shadows.
"Haha, Yoshimura-san, I was just joking earlier. Don't take it seriously."
Roma laughed it off, trying to move past the topic.
Afterward, Eto stopped giving Roma a hard time—and stopped acknowledging her entirely. She'd never had any respect for these aimless Clowns who only knew how to amuse themselves.
"Weren't you worried about exposing your own identity just now?"
Byakuya asked Eto quietly.
Her "self-detonating truck" behavior had surprised even him.
Eto immediately leaned close to his ear and whispered cheerfully: "What's there to worry about? Didn't you say you'd take responsibility for me?"
...
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