Ghoul: Starting with Sharingan

"I never lied to you. Everything I said was the truth" Byakuya corrected her immediately.

"Oh? That makes it even worse! Saying those kinds of things to a little brat like me—ugh, lolicons are disgusting," Eto teased.

"No, absolutely not. If anything, I'm an 'Eto-con' not a lolicon" Byakuya countered seriously.

"You're really getting bolder with your words." Eto was caught slightly off guard. This guy had no hesitation. He was too straightforward. But at the same time, it only made her more certain—his feelings were real.

"So, from now on, stop calling me a lolicon" Byakuya said casually.

"Hmph~ Well, that depends on your attitude and actions." Eto suddenly suggested, "How about we go on a date tomorrow?"

"A date?" Byakuya hadn't expected that.

"Yeah. We've never actually been on a real date, have we? Even if we're just a couple in name, never going on a date would be weird, right?" Eto said.

"Alright, then. Let me think about where we should go…" Byakuya had never thought about dating before. He had no experience with it, so he couldn't come up with a good plan right away.

The movies? A café? An amusement park? These were the only things that came to mind, but they all felt too cliché.

"No need to think about it. Let's just go to the library tomorrow," Eto decided. "We can read books, borrow some, and maybe even buy a few. Doesn't that sound fun?"

As a writer, she needed to absorb a lot of literature. The best-selling authors were often the ones who read the most. Apart from writing, most of her time was spent reading.

"That does sound pretty good," Byakuya nodded. He also enjoyed reading, so he found it a solid idea.

"Then it's settled. Maybe we should bring Mayu and Suzuya along too? It's always good for kids to read more books," Eto suggested.

The Next Day

Mayu and Suzuya both agreed. Together with Byakuya and Eto, they headed to Tokyo's largest library. It was a busy place, but there were no RC gates at the entrance.

First, they let Mayu and Suzuya pick out some books in the children's section before bringing them to another area. Eto chose some literary classics, and Byakuya did the same.

Although they called it a date, the two of them just sat together in silence, reading. Occasionally, they would share a passage they liked or recommend a book to each other.

Meanwhile, Mayu and Suzuya seemed to be much closer. The two sat in the same chair, looking at a single children's book together. Since neither of them was particularly literate, their combined reading skills barely reached an elementary school level.

Mayu had learned a few words from Eto. Suzuya had only been to kindergarten, and while he had been learning at the orphanage, he still struggled with reading. To get through a children's book, they had to help each other, taking turns figuring out unfamiliar words.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Byakuya noticed two familiar figures.

"Well, this is a surprise… What are the chances of running into them here?" His tone carried a hint of amusement.

Eto, who had been focused on her book, also looked up—only to spot Arima and Minami chatting casually.

"Oh? What a coincidence."

At the same time, Arima also noticed Byakuya and Eto sitting nearby, though Minami had yet to realize. She was facing Arima, while Byakuya and Eto happened to be in her blind spot.

"We just ran into some familiar faces," Arima casually mentioned.

"Hm? Where?" Minami glanced around. Soon, she spotted them too.

"You're right! Byakuya and Eto are here too. Let's go say hi." She spoke softly—after all, this was a library.

Moments later, Arima and Minami joined their table. They exchanged greetings, acting like old friends.

At that moment, Minami took notice of the two children sitting with them. Two girls? she guessed. They had to be people Byakuya and Eto knew; otherwise, they wouldn't be sitting together so naturally.

Noticing her gaze, Eto introduced them, "This is my little sister, Mayu. Byakuya and I are looking after her now."

"And this here is Juuzou Suzuya — a very adorable little boy. He was almost sold at the ghoul auction."

As Eto spoke, Minami politely greeted Arima and Byakuya. Hearing this, Minami nodded. She suddenly felt a little awkward—she had almost mistaken Suzuya for a girl.

"Good thing I didn't say that out loud… That would've been embarrassing."

"I see… But wait, there are auctions for this kind of thing?" Minami was clearly out of the loop on ghoul society's darker side. She had never come into contact with that world.

"Yeah, it's all about selling humans. But don't worry—Byakuya and your boyfriend already took care of it" Eto said with a smirk.

"Hm…?" Minami responded instinctively, but it took her a second to realize what was off about that sentence. Her face instantly turned bright red.

"Wait, no—! I'm not in that kind of relationship with him!"

Eto raised a finger to her lips, "Shhh~ Keep your voice down. And judging by how flustered you are, you totally just outed yourself."

"I-It's not like that…" Minami looked down, too embarrassed to meet Arima's gaze. She did have feelings for him, but they weren't in that kind of relationship.

Arima, on the other hand, remained expressionless. Either he was indifferent, or he saw through Eto's teasing and chose to ignore it.

"Oh? I just assumed you two came here for a library date," Eto continued, thoroughly enjoying herself. "But really, two high schoolers coming to a place like this together? There's no way it's just studying, right?"