"Mom, who's here?"
Just then, Akira, having heard the commotion outside, came out as well.
"Two of your friends have come to visit."
Kasuka replied.
Akira had reached the doorway and spotted Byakuya and Eto.
"Byakuya... Eto? What brings you here?"
Akira was clearly surprised.
"Come in and sit down. Sorry for keeping you standing at the door so long."
Kasuka immediately invited them in.
Seated in the living room, Eto and Kasuka began to chat.
"Mado-san, you're not angry even after learning who I am?"
Eto asked.
"Not at all. That's all in the past, and besides, I'm perfectly fine now, aren't I?"
Kasuka smiled.
Moreover, ghouls as a species had ceased to exist. Eto was no longer a ghoul either. Being angry at her would serve no purpose.
"I see..."
Eto wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Speaking of which, where's Mado-san?"
Eto noticed Kureo was nowhere to be seen.
"Kureo? He's in his room tinkering with things."
Kasuka explained. "Though Quinques don't exist anymore, his love for researching things hasn't changed."
The fundamental nature of ghouls' extinction was the disappearance of RC cells under the Infinite Tsukuyomi's influence—which meant all Quinques, being primarily composed of RC cells, had become defunct.
"I see. Then we won't disturb Mado-san."
Eto said.
"No need to be so reserved. I'll go get him right now."
Kasuka said. "Besides, since you've come all this way, you might as well stay for lunch."
She then went to Kureo's room and pushed the door open.
"Kasuka, did we have visitors?"
Though Kureo had been completely absorbed in his research, he showed no annoyance toward Kasuka's intrusion.
Rather, Kureo had always had a good temperament—kind to colleagues, subordinates, and family alike. It was only his extreme hatred of ghouls stemming from his wife's death that had defined his former self...
"It's Byakuya and Eto. You should know them quite well, right?"
Kasuka replied.
"Mm..."
Kureo was silent for a moment, then looked up and smiled at Kasuka. "One is Akira's friend, and the other is our future son-in-law."
"Future son-in-law?"
Kasuka looked surprised.
Clearly, she was less informed and didn't yet know about Byakuya and Akira's relationship.
"Yes, the young man named Byakuya. My intuition tells me that he's the only one who could be our future son-in-law."
Kureo stated with certainty.
Actually, intuition wasn't necessary—he could tell just from how Akira normally acted.
He said this to make it easier for Kasuka to understand, since she hadn't witnessed Byakuya and Akira's interactions firsthand.
"Is that really so? I was wondering if Byakuya might be Eto-san's boyfriend."
Kasuka found it hard to believe.
It was clear that Kasuka was far less perceptive about such matters than Ukina.
Back when Kureo had pursued Kasuka, she'd been quite simple and casual about it—initially rejecting him because she didn't want to bother changing her surname, so Kureo had decided to change his instead, and then they got married...
So Kasuka was basically clueless about these things...