"Ask you? Wait… are you saying you're Commissioner-General Uchiha's current girlfriend?"
The girls froze for a moment, then suddenly realized something.
"Not just current, you could say I'll always be."
Yoshimura Eto said with a constant smile on her face.
But there was no chill, no killing intent behind that smile. After all, in her eyes, these girls weren't even remotely a threat.
"W-Wow… that's amazing…"
The girls were instantly stunned by Eto's confidence, composure, and commanding presence.
"Come to think of it, during that whole 'Tokyo Defense War,' people said that the 'One-Eyed Owl' who appeared later had a pretty close relationship with Commissioner-General Uchiha… don't tell me she's…"
One of the girls suddenly recalled something and immediately began to suspect that this cute girl in front of them was the infamous One-Eyed Owl.
"That's right, I am the One-Eyed Owl."
Eto replied nonchalantly.
These days, the true identity of the One-Eyed Owl wasn't really a secret anymore.
Besides, she had no enemies left who posed a real threat, so there was no need to hide it.
Once they realized she really was the One-Eyed Owl, the girls were scared out of their wits.
After all, the One-Eyed Owl had once been a fearsome name. Even now, with the ongoing promotion of peaceful coexistence between humans and ghouls, it was hard for people to forget the terrifying reputation the One-Eyed Owl had once held.
"No need to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."
Seeing how frightened they were, Eto even tried to comfort them.
"O-oh…"
Even so, they couldn't help feeling nervous.
They didn't dare ask Eto any more questions. They made up random excuses and hurriedly backed away.
"Geez, it's not like I'm going to eat them. What are they so scared of?"
Eto said, her tone a little helpless.
"Alright, let's head inside before the crowd gets even bigger."
Byakuya suggested.
The two of them then entered the café.
"Papa! Mama!"
At that moment, Mayu, who had been playing upstairs, seemed to hear the commotion downstairs and immediately came running down.
She was eager to reunite with Uchiha Byakuya and Yoshimura Eto.
"Mayu, have you been behaving these past few days? Did you listen to Grandpa and all the uncles and aunties?"
Eto immediately asked her.
"Yes, yes! Mayu's been super good!"
Mayu replied at once.
"I thought Papa and Mama wouldn't come back for a long time."
She added.
"We won't be gone that long again. In fact, we probably won't be taking any long trips for a while."
Byakuya reassured her.
Shortly after Mayu came down, Juuzou Suzuya, Kirishima Touka, and the others also made their way downstairs.
Even Ken Kaneki was there.
It looked like the second floor was pretty packed with kids.
"Kaneki's here too?"
Seeing Kaneki come down from upstairs, Byakuya couldn't help but ask.
"I invited him over. The guy was acting all shy at first."
Touka replied.
"That's because… I thought it was your house…"
Kaneki mumbled softly.
The further he went, the quieter he got, especially the second half, which even he probably couldn't hear clearly.
"Hmm? What did you say?"
Touka asked, confused.
"Nothing."
Kaneki quickly denied it, too embarrassed to say the real reason.
If Touka found out what he had been thinking, she'd just tease him even more.
At that moment, Byakuya couldn't help but think; not bad, Kaneki.
He and Touka were progressing quite well.
Even though so many things had been changed, like Kaneki not becoming an "artificial one-eyed ghoul," and Touka not losing her parents; the bond between Kaneki and Touka hadn't changed.
And that, of course, was a good thing.
After staying at Anteiku Café for a while, Byakuya headed over to check on TSC, the renamed and reorganized version of the former CCG and Aogiri Tree.
Just in case something had gone wrong inside TSC without him knowing.
Turns out, everything was fine, there was no internal unrest.
Byakuya took the chance to get an overview of the recent situation. Besides the Dragon Oephans, which were almost impossible to completely eradicate, there were still some rebellious ghoul factions.
After all, not every ghoul was willing to coexist peacefully with humans. Even with the existence of special food that could replace human meat, some still preferred the taste of flesh.
Some were just addicted to killing, they couldn't feel satisfied unless they murdered.
So the TSC had to deal not only with the Dragon Orphans, but also these problematic ghouls.
Overall, the TSC, with its overwhelming strength, remained dominant. It was just that the Dragon Orphans and these stubborn ghouls couldn't be entirely wiped out.
For the time being, there was nothing that required Byakuya's personal attention.
He also paid a quick visit to Dr. Akihiro Kanou's lab.
"Dr. Kanou, how are the studies on special food and dragon cells progressing?"
Byakuya asked.
"They're progressing well. We haven't run into any major obstacles so far. The taste of the special food is improving, and as for the dragon cells, they'll soon be ready for clinical use. At that point, we'll be able to cure most diseases."