My father's name was Takaki Harima.
He was a veteran Ghoul Investigator with sixteen years of experience under his belt.
He almost never came to see me. If he showed up more than once a month, that was already enough to count as frequent visits.
He did send living expenses on time every month, but he always used work as an excuse to avoid seeing my face whenever possible.
I knew it wasn't only because he was busy that he didn't want to meet me, but I'd leave that alone for now...
Thanks to my father, who had rarely and unexpectedly deigned to visit my tiny apartment in person, I was now in the most suffocating state of tension I'd ever experienced in my life.
Let me make one thing clear: my father hated Ghouls with an intensity that could only be described as extreme.
If three hundred cockroaches and one Ghoul suddenly appeared in the house, he'd ignore the mysterious swarm of cockroaches completely and throw everything he had into killing the one Ghoul. That was how disgustingly much he hated them.
And in my apartment was that Ghoul, the number-one creature my father despised even more than cockroaches.
She was hidden well enough for now, and as long as she stayed quiet while happily sucking on her blood bottle, it would be fine... Eto, please, just behave!
Feeling cold sweat soak my back, I brought my father some tea.
After taking a sip and wetting his throat, my father opened his mouth.
"How's school going?"
"Well, more or less..."
Judging by his reaction, it seemed the incident where I'd brought Eto to school hadn't gotten out.
Oh, Father. Never in my life have I been so grateful for your hermit-like lack of communication.
"By the way, what brings you here all of a sudden without even calling?"
"I was dispatched nearby because a Ghoul was reported in the area, so I stopped by on the way."
So it was because of that incident on TV! That bastard Ghoul culprit—if I ever met him, I'd smash his jaw in!
While I was venting my hatred at a Ghoul I'd never even seen, my father looked around as if something seemed off.
"Come to think of it, have you been cleaning the place more often lately? It's cleaner than before."
"W-well, yeah..."
Of course I clean and disinfect every day so dust and germs don't build up. I'm not about to say that out loud.
"Have you decided where you're going to college?"
"I was thinking of trying for Kamii University, since it's the closest..."
That was only a thought, of course.
I couldn't even get a part-time job, so there was no way I had the money to go to college.
"Any plans to get married? Or at least a girlfriend you're seeing right now."
"I'm still a student. What marriage? And I don't have a girlfriend."
Not just a girlfriend—I'd ended up with a daughter. If I said that, I'd probably get hit, right?
"I'm worried you'll end up living your whole life single if you don't even have any decent experience with the opposite sex."
"What a strange thing to worry about."
Don't worry. I'm not married, but I am definitely raising a child.
Just as I was thinking that and firing back at my father, it happened.
Rustle...
"...!!"
I thought my heart had frozen solid.
My father turned his head, having heard it too.
"Hm? What was that?"
"A rat, maybe? This building is pretty old, after all."
"A rat..."
My father muttered to himself, set down his teacup, and stood up.
From where I sat, looking up at him, his sturdy build seemed even more imposing than usual, completely at odds with a man in his mid-forties. He looked like someone who could stay active as a Ghoul Investigator for another ten years without issue.
Then he rose to his feet, iron briefcase in one hand...
Wait!
"Father!? What are you doing now!"
That briefcase—that's the one he uses when hunting Ghouls!!
"I told you there was a murder case caused by a Ghoul in this area. There have been plenty of cases where a Ghoul, cornered and desperate for a place to hide, slipped into a civilian home."
Ah, right!
That's why he came to my apartment this early in the morning!
He was worried that a Ghoul hiding nearby might have taken refuge in his son's home!
Well, there was a Ghoul hiding here, yes! But that Ghoul and this Ghoul were completely different!
But I couldn't explain that to him. What was I supposed to do?
If he found Eto, and then the baby supplies I'd hidden away too, there'd be no escaping his questions.
Sure enough, the first place my father headed for was the closet where I'd stashed all the childcare supplies.
We were in crisis from the very start. I had to do something about this.
Work, my brain!
Grab!
My hand shot out and seized my father's wrist just as he reached for the closet door, stopping him.
"P-please stop, Father."
He only turned his head, questioning my behavior with his eyes.
"If you open that door... I'll be deeply hurt..."
"Why?"
My serious expression made my father serious too.
I hesitated in my head tens of thousands of times. Should I really say this? The damage coming back to me would be no joke.
The answer was obviously yes. I had to, if I wanted to save Eto!
"T-there's... something behind this door..."
I drew in a breath and blurted out the shocking words.
"Behind this door is my personal 'real doll,' soooooo don't open it!!!!!!!!"
A real doll.
To put it simply, a self-pleasuring device made to resemble a real woman.
"......"
Could my father's silent stare possibly be any sharper? A Ghoul licking its lips while looking at me would have felt warmer.
After staring at me for a while, my father eventually let go of the closet handle.
"Don't overdo it. It's bad for your health."
With those words, he turned his back on me.
Thud!
I dropped to my knees like a boxer who'd just taken a screw uppercut from his opponent. The, the damage...! The mental damage is way too much...!!
My father seemed to back off after I'd taken such a devastating hit, but I still couldn't relax.
He still hadn't stopped searching the apartment.
If he found the place where Eto was hidden, it would be over.
"..."
Rustle, rustle.
My father checked every possible place someone might have sneaked in from outside, even looking up at the ceiling and inspecting the bathroom window.
I watched him anxiously, not knowing when he might reach the place where Eto was hidden.
What would I have to sacrifice this time to guard her if he found her hiding place?
But fortunately, it seemed he found no sign of an intruder from outside, and he stopped searching. I felt like I'd been released from hell.
"Well, looks like there's nothing. I have to get back to work, so I'll be going now. Sorry if I interrupted you first thing in the morning."
"Yeah. It's fine, come again."
That was a lie. Please don't come again.
At the very least, until Eto could live on her own... no, that was impossible, wasn't it? I'd have to come up with some countermeasures for my father's next surprise visit.
That was when I was seeing him off at the front door as he put on his shoes.
Rustle...! Rustle...!
"...!"
I thought I'd been freed from hell, but I slipped a little at the very end.
Suppressing the thud in my chest, I watched my father frown slightly at the small noise and say, "Tell the landlord there seem to be rats. No matter how old the building is, you should still pay attention to hygiene."
"I'll run over and tell him right away."
But I held on! I grabbed the rope just before falling into hell!
My father finished putting on his shoes and stepped out the front door.
Watching his footsteps slowly fade down the hallway, I collapsed on the spot like a puppet with its strings cut.
Rustle! Rustle!
"Daa?"
As if she'd been waiting for it, the shoe cabinet door opened a crack and Eto peeked her head out.
Looks like she'd finished off the blood bottle. That timing had been razor-thin.
Eto seemed to dislike the narrow, smelly shoe cabinet, because she crawled out and came toward me.
I barely managed to lift my exhausted head and smile at her.
"Eto... Dad fought hard..."
"Baa~!"
Smack! Smack!
Eto patted my forehead, giving me her usual encouragement.