After spending some time together, Kurona and Nashiro had already become very familiar with everyone in Anteiku.
Until now, they still had no idea that the people closest to them—like the shopkeeper and Touka—were actually ghouls.
Although Anteiku had gained quite a bit of fame after the Tokyo battle, Kurona and Nashiro didn't really pay much attention to the news, so they didn't know much about what had happened.
Of course, there would come a day when they'd have to learn the truth.
So, this time, Hikari decided to tell them herself.
Byakuya didn't see any problem with that either. At first, he'd just wanted to avoid shocking the twins while their emotions were unstable—but now, after so many days, things had calmed down.
"Kurona, Nashiro, you both know about ghouls, right?"
"Yes..."
Kurona and Nashiro nodded in unison.
Of course they knew what ghouls were. After all, ghouls had long been considered humanity's natural enemy—it was part of the basic curriculum in school.
But they also knew that, recently, humans and ghouls had begun to coexist peacefully.
"The truth is... most of us here are ghouls. Even Eto is one of us. There are only a few actual humans here."
Hikari told them honestly.
"You're all... ghouls?"
Kurona and Nashiro were both surprised.
Because the people here were far gentler and kinder than they'd ever imagined ghouls to be.
So, even after learning the truth, neither of them showed any fear.
And since they had never been harmed by ghouls, they didn't really harbor much prejudice against them.
"Yes" Hikari said with a gentle smile, "but we would never hurt you. We just didn't want to keep lying to you."
"I still think you're all good people" Kurona said immediately.
"I agree with Kurona" Nashiro added.
"That's good to hear — I was worried you might be upset or have trouble accepting it" said Hikari with a relieved smile.
Just then, the café door opened.
Byakuya and Eto entered, followed by Furuta and Rize.
Of course, Furuta and Rize weren't here on any special business.
They just liked to visit Anteiku from time to time — and today happened to be one of those days.
After the trip to Germany, Furuta and Rize had completely reconciled and were now practically inseparable.
Rize had gradually come to accept the Washuu Clan too. The clan had truly changed, and her past resentment toward Tsuneyoshi was slowly fading.
Now, the two were practically glued to each other.
In fact, even before leaving the Sunlit Garden, they'd already been like that.
Speaking of the Sunlit Garden, it still continued to operate — but under new rules, rewritten by Byakuya.
The foundation of the Garden was made up of the Washuu branch families. As long as those bloodlines remained, the Sunlit Garden would never truly disappear.
Originally, it had existed solely to serve the Washuu main family. Branch members were forced to bear hybrid children or serve as CCG or V operatives — essentially stripped of all freedom.
But now, things were different. The branch families no longer had to obey the Washuu. They could live however they wanted, marry whomever they wished.
Of course, since all branch members were half-humans, their children would always be hybrids —whether they married humans or ghouls.
And as for those newborn hybrids — whether they chose to join the TSC as combatants was entirely up to them.
The TSC hardly lacked fighting power anymore, especially since Byakuya, Eto, and Arima were all effectively immortal. The organization was perpetually at its peak.
When Furuta and Rize entered the café, it was their first time meeting Kurona and Nashiro.
In the original timeline, they'd never had any real interaction—unless you counted the fact that Kurona and Nashiro had received transplanted kakuhou from Rize during the artificial half-ghoul experiments.
"Are those customers? There are two girls I don't recognize—and they look exactly alike!"
Furuta's eyes widened in surprise.
"They must be twins" Rize said casually.
"These are Kurona and Nashiro, our newest members here in Anteiku" Byakuya explained.
"Nice to meet you" Kurona said quickly, realizing these two were probably close to her "big brother" Byakuya.
"Nice to meet you too" replied Furuta politely.
"Little Furuta and little Rize—good to see you both again" said Hikari with a warm smile.
They'd all grown quite familiar over the past few months.
"Manager Yoshimura, Miss Kirishima, everyone—sorry to bother you again today" Furuta said.
"So polite as always" Hikari laughed.
Noticing the twins, Furuta couldn't help glancing at them a few more times.
Kurona caught his gaze. "Is there something on my face?" she asked curiously.
"No, your face is perfectly clean. Maybe there's something on my face" Nashiro teased.
"N-no, not that!" Furuta said quickly, embarrassed. "It's just—I've never seen such beautiful twin sisters before."
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a freezing gaze beside him.
Rize's eyes had gone cold.
Realizing the danger, Futako immediately clamped his hand over his mouth, not daring to say another word.
The café burst into laughter at the scene.
Meanwhile, life at the university continued as usual for Byakuya and Eto.
Whenever they had free time, they'd drop by the Ghoul Studies Society.
"We've been planning a club activity" said Mo.
"We're thinking of studying ghouls outside the campus."
"Outside the campus?" Byakuya raised a brow, surprised.
Mo was hard to read. He was actually a Special-Class Investigator from China, yet here he was—joining a university ghoul research club.
Probably only Suzuki knew his true identity; the rest of the members were clueless.
"If we're free to go anywhere" Byakuya said, "then I've got a few interesting places in mind."
For instance—Cochlea.
Of course, he couldn't actually bring them there.
Mo might be a Special-Class Investigator, but the rest were ordinary students—far too fragile for such a place.
He had another location in mind.
"Where exactly?" Mo asked curiously.
The other members looked eager too.
After all, the TSC Chairman himself was leading the trip—it had to be somewhere extraordinary.
Tokyo — The Tsukiyama Estate.
The place Byakuya chose to take them was none other than the Tsukiyama family mansion—a grand and luxurious estate.
Because of what had happened in Germany, Tsuneyoshi had personally stepped in to resolve the situation, and the Tsukiyama family had been deeply grateful, even inviting Byakuya to visit.
The Roswald family, on the other hand, hadn't been entirely wiped out, but they were shattered beyond recognition—the clan essentially ceased to exist. Still, many members survived, now living under false identities.
That was thanks to Yoshitoki's intervention—otherwise, as in the original story, every member except Kanae would have been annihilated.
Now, Kanae von Roswald, who had since come to Tokyo, had taken on a new identity: Rose, working under the Tsukiyama family to one day rebuild her lineage.
When they arrived at the mansion gates, the students were in awe.
Even Mo and Suzuki looked impressed, while the others stood speechless at the sight of such luxury.
A servant opened the gate respectfully.
"Lord Uchiha, Lady Yoshimura, and esteemed guests—please, come in."
All the Tsukiyama servants were ghouls too, and quite strong ones.
"Lord Tsukiyama is away on important business today" one servant explained. "We didn't know you would be visiting, but we can inform him if needed."
"No need" Byakuya said. "We're just here to take a look around."
"Understood. We can serve as your guides."
"Actually," Byakuya added with a faint smile, "they're here to study the lifestyle of upper-class ghouls. Just observing is fine."
The servants nodded. "As you wish."
They began touring the vast estate. The grounds were enormous—just walking through the gardens took ages.
Eventually, they encountered a young boy — Shuu Tsukiyama.
At this age, he was only around twelve—still calm, well-mannered, and far from the flamboyant eccentric he would one day become.
Serving at his side was none other than Rose — now disguised as a boy.
Her lavender hair was cut short, her sharp features striking but not overtly feminine — she played her role flawlessly.
"Master Shuu, it seems there are guests I don't recognize" Rose said quietly.
"Probably Father's friends" Shuu replied dully. "Otherwise, the servants wouldn't have let them in."
He looked tired, almost bored by everything around him.
The two sat in a gazebo, sipping what looked like afternoon tea — though it was, of course, a cup of blood.
Not taken from humans directly, but sourced through... special channels. The Tsukiyama family had plenty of influence to quietly acquire blood packs from hospitals and banks.
After a while, Byakuya and Eto arrived with the club members.
The moment Shuu saw them, his keen ghoul senses caught a strange aroma — no, several.
From a very young age, Shuu had possessed an abnormal obsession with flavor.
He had long since grown bored of ordinary human flesh and blood; he craved rarer, more exquisite "tastes".
That was why, in the original story, his eating habits were so bizarre — culminating in the infamous Gourmet,
Now, that same instinct was triggered again.
The scent was coming from Byakuya and Eto — both half-human, half-ghoul.
Their aroma was unlike anything else—a transcendent blend of human and ghoul essence.
But when Shuu saw who they were, realization dawned in his eyes.
"I see... so it's them" he murmured, a trace of regret in his tone. "What a pity..."
After all, these two were among Tokyo's most renowned figures.
Even Shuu wouldn't dare to dream of tasting them.
Otherwise, he'd doom the entire Tsukiyama family.