Since the Akatsuki Organization hadn't been formally established yet—they didn't even have a base—for now, all these people from the Tsukiyama family were lumped together at Anteiku.
Anteiku had essentially become Byakuya's "temporary storage facility."
But there were already enough servers at Anteiku. Under Manager Yoshimura's arrangement, Tsukiyama would handle the same duties as Rize—periodically going out to retrieve human corpses for the café.
"Shit Tsukiyama, if you don't do your job properly, I'll have the manager fire you."
Touka had never gotten along with Tsukiyama, and she hadn't expected him to suddenly become a member of Anteiku.
This guy was every bit as troublesome as Rize had been before—especially given what had happened just a few days ago. That had left quite an impression on Touka.
So her attitude toward Tsukiyama was terrible; she'd immediately put him in his place.
Then Touka suddenly recalled something: Rize had also been a huge problem before, but after getting involved with Byakuya, she'd become remarkably well-behaved...
Could Shit Tsukiyama also be changed by Byakuya?
But now Touka had something else on her mind: how exactly had Byakuya made Rize so docile?
Rize hadn't hunted humans lately, nor had she been "picking up supplies" at Anteiku. Could it be... she was sating her hunger directly through Byakuya?
Touka had actually guessed correctly on this point, though her imagination was more extreme—she assumed Rize had eaten Byakuya many times over. In reality, Rize now satisfied her hunger through blood-drinking alone.
The power of the Hashirama Cells meant that just an occasional drink was enough to keep Rize nourished, so she never needed to "pick up supplies" from Anteiku. Unless absolutely necessary, she couldn't be bothered with carrion.
"Kirishima-san is still as unlovable as ever. Such prejudice against me—it's truly heartbreaking."
Tsukiyama sighed.
"It's not prejudice. You're just inherently untrustworthy."
Touka rolled her eyes at Tsukiyama and stopped engaging with him.
Instead, she walked over to Byakuya and asked quietly, "Speaking of which—didn't I bite your arm last time? It seemed to heal really fast?"
She hadn't noticed before, but it just occurred to her now: these past few days, Byakuya showed no signs of arm injury whatsoever. No bandages, no careful movements—as if the arm had never been harmed at all.
"Yeah. Maybe it's because I have an unusual constitution—healing abilities similar to you ghouls."
Byakuya didn't bother hiding this.
It was too obvious to conceal anyway, so there was no point trying.
"There's actually a constitution like that?"
Touka was immediately astonished.
Yoshimura, who happened to overhear, also took notice. He'd never heard of any human possessing such a constitution—not even half-humans.
Could Amaha-kun also be a half-ghoul like Eto...?
Even if not natural-born, he could have been artificially created through experimentation. After all, Kurona and Nashiro were living examples, and Amaha-kun was close to those sisters—which made the speculation even more compelling.
That would also explain Amaha-kun's abnormally powerful abilities.
And if Amaha-kun was indeed a half-ghoul, Yoshimura felt even more confident that he could save Eto.
Besides Yoshimura, Roma was also thinking quite a bit about Byakuya's "constitution."
This Amaha Byakuya kept bringing more and more pleasant surprises. No wonder Nico and Souta had recommended she come "play" at Anteiku. Coming here had definitely been the right choice!
At that moment, Byakuya simply removed his outer jacket, revealing an arm that had healed perfectly.
More accurately, it had healed without a trace the very same day Touka had bitten him.
"It's true. I remember biting right here."
Touka grabbed Byakuya's arm and examined it closely. There really wasn't the slightest mark.
A human with such a constitution—she found it incredible.
But a moment later, her expression turned somewhat peculiar.
She leaned in and whispered in Byakuya's ear: "I was wondering why Kamishiro-san has been so well-behaved lately. Is it because you're always letting her eat your flesh?"
She couldn't help but be concerned. After all, Rize was infamous for her brutal, insatiable appetite. Her feeding urges were massive, and her methods savage. Byakuya must have suffered considerably dealing with someone like that.
"Not really. Just once or twice total."
Byakuya said.
As for the blood-drinking, that was basically negligible—he barely even felt pain from it anymore. As his physical capabilities kept improving, so did his pain tolerance.
"What are Touka-chan and Amaha-san whispering about? Why can't you share with us? Is it something private between just the two of you?"
Just then, Irimi spoke up teasingly.
"Not surprising at all. Touka-chan is at that age when youthful passion runs highest."
Koma chimed in with a sigh.
"Make sure to take 'safety precautions'..."
Yomo was even more direct, speaking these words with a completely straight face.
"Does that mean Oniichan and Touka-oneechan are...?"
Hinami's bright eyes went wide.
Ryouko wasn't present—today wasn't her shift, and she'd only come later to pick up Hinami.
Yoshimura smiled without comment.
Tsukiyama lightly supported his chin, thinking, Ah, I see~
Matsumae and Kanae didn't participate in this conversation, staying focused on their work.
"That's not it at all! What are you all imagining?"
Touka immediately denied everyone's assumptions, her face flushed—especially her uncle's comment, which was the most outrageous!
Safety precautions... that was way too far-fetched!
"Why is Kirishima-san denying it so vehemently? Could it be because she's too embarrassed to admit it?"
At this moment, Tsukiyama's tone carried a suggestive lilt.
"Shut up, Shit Tsukiyama!"
Touka glared viciously at him.
...
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