"Too... too close..."
Kaneki Ken's face instantly turned red.
"What are you talking about? How else are we supposed to read the manga if we don't get closer?"
Kirishima Touka looked confused.
The next moment, she suddenly realized something, and her expression turned slightly disdainful. "You... you're not thinking of something weird, are you?"
Even though Kaneki and Touka were still young, they were vaguely aware of certain things.
"N-No, I'm not!"
Kaneki quickly denied it.
"Really...?"
Touka was rather straightforward and didn't think too much about it. "I really don't get you. So, are you reading or not? If you are, stop hesitating."
Kaneki had just leaned back to put some distance between them, but Touka immediately moved closer again.
"Then... I'll take a look..."
Kaneki wasn't very good at refusing people, especially when it was a cute girl.
At this moment, his expression was slightly shy because Touka's shoulder was already pressed against his. This way, it was easier for them to read the manga together.
Watching this scene, Uchiha Byakuya remained silent, but he found it somewhat amusing.
"It seems Touka-chan is quite the assertive girl~"
Yoshimura Eto chuckled with interest.
"Indeed."
Kirishima Hikari smiled slightly.
Although Touka was still so young, Hikari saw her and that boy as having a very innocent relationship, so she wasn't worried about anything.
If they could become friends, that would be even better.
She hoped her daughter could make more friends, whether they were human or ghoul.
After chatting with Hikari for a while, Byakuya and Eto were ready to leave.
Before leaving, Eto grabbed a copy of 'Dear Kafka'; of course, she had to buy one to take home.
"Ken, we're heading back first. You and Touka can take your time reading that manga."
At that, Byakuya called out to Kaneki.
Kaneki immediately looked up. "Oh... see you."
So... this girl beside me is called Touka, huh?
Touka also bid farewell to Byakuya and Eto before continuing to force Kaneki to read the manga with her.
About ten minutes later, they had already read most of the volume.
At this moment, Touka finally asked, "Well? Even if you're slow, by now you should understand how great manga is, right?"
"Uh..."
Kaneki subconsciously scratched his face lightly. "I guess it's... okay."
His opinion on manga had clearly changed a little, but just a little.
After reading a more complete portion of the manga, he could indeed see a lot of interesting aspects, but his desire to read still wasn't as strong as when he was reading 'Dear Kafka'.
"Just 'okay'?"
Kaneki's response left Touka somewhat dissatisfied.
"Uh... I should probably head home now."
Kaneki glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was getting late.
Even though his parents were no longer around, he still followed the old rules, such as making sure to go home by a certain time.
"Alright then. Next time, I'll show you an even better manga. Just wait and see, same time tomorrow!"
After leaving those words behind, Touka also prepared to go home with her mother.
"Oh right, what's your name?"
Just as she was about to leave, Touka suddenly remembered something and immediately asked Kaneki.
"My name is Kaneki Ken... What about you?"
Kaneki Ken also tried asking.
"Kirishima Touka."
Touka said, "Don't forget about tomorrow."
"Okay..."
Kaneki's expression looked a little dazed.
So that means... I'll be meeting this girl again tomorrow?
For some reason, he actually felt a faint sense of anticipation.
Even though Kaneki wasn't particularly interested in manga, if he had to read it, he could manage.
One reason was that the manga was actually somewhat enjoyable.
The other reason... was probably because reading together with that girl gave him a feeling he couldn't quite describe.
Eto returned home, satisfied with her newly purchased physical book.
"Now that the book is published, are you planning to take it to Anteiku?"
Byakuya brought up the topic.
"I do have that in mind, but I still need to mentally prepare myself."
Eto lay on the sofa, resting her head directly on Byakuya's lap as a pillow. As she flipped through her physical book, she was also deep in thought about Anteiku.
"There's no rush then. Take your time."
Byakuya said.
"Do you think... when he sees me for the first time, Kuzen will recognize me?"
At that moment, Eto suddenly asked.
"Probably not. He hasn't seen you in so many years, has he?"
Byakuya guessed.
In the original timeline, Yoshimura Kuzen was able to recognize Eto because, by then, she had already become famous under her pen name Takatsuki Sen, and Kuzen knew that the name belonged to her.
"That's true... So I need to carefully think about what to say to him when the time comes."
Eto said softly.
"Hmm..."
Byakuya didn't say much more.
This was something he couldn't help with; after all, it was a private matter between father and daughter.
That night.
As usual, Byakuya was sandwiched between Eto and the little Mayu, like the filling in a sandwich.
While little Mayu had already fallen into a deep sleep, Eto was still awake.
"...I should just go tomorrow after all."
Eto suddenly whispered in Byakuya's ear.
She seemed to have made up her mind.
As for "mental preparation," that kind of thing didn't really matter at all by now.
"Then tomorrow it is. As long as you've made your decision."
Byakuya responded.
"I've already decided. And... you should have time tomorrow, right? Come with me."
Yoshimura Eto said.
Suddenly facing a father she hadn't seen in years; a father with such a complicated relationship with her, even she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
If Byakuya was with her, it would definitely be better.
"Of course. Didn't I already say I'd go with you?"
Byakuya replied.
Then, he fell into deep thought.
It wasn't just Eto who was nervous; he wasn't exactly calm either.
After all, he had once cut off both of Yoshimura Kuzen's kakuja arms.
Now, meeting the old manager again, knowing that Kuzen was aware of his identity as an investigator, things definitely wouldn't go smoothly unless he explained himself properly.