"Sorry, I was being presumptuous. However, since that boy was willing to help you to this extent, it shows that your position in his heart should be quite important."
Yoshimura Kuzen said.
Based on his understanding of those half-humans of the Washuu Clan, ordinary people simply could not make those half-humans develop feelings of compassion.
So he was very certain that Uruka Minami's position in that half-human boy's heart was by no means ordinary.
"Perhaps so..."
Hearing Yoshimura Kuzen say this, Uruka Minami's heart also wavered a little.
Judging from the situation over these past few days, after discovering that [Pumpkin Head] was her, Ihei had repeatedly helped her.
Perhaps it really was as this old gentleman said...
That she held a certain place in Ihei's heart...
"But... one side is a ghoul that feeds on humans, and the other side is not only human but also a ghoul investigator. This is destined to have no good outcome, right?"
Uruka Minami voiced the concern in her heart.
"That is not necessarily so. As long as the other party is willing to accept your identity, I think that at least the process will be happy. As for the outcome... I believe it should not be too bad either."
Yoshimura Kuzen said with a smile.
He understood the forbidden love between humans and ghouls all too well.
But considering that the boy was a half-human of the Washuu Clan, he did not dare to speak too definitively.
After all, those half-humans spent their entire lives under the surveillance and control of the Washuu Clan.
However, the romance itself should not be forcibly obstructed by the Washuu Clan, because the Washuu Clan also needed the bloodline of the half-human branch families to continue.
The main purpose of the Washuu Clan letting the various branch families continuously mix bloodlines was to try to produce a naturally born half-ghoul like Yoshimura Eto.
This was like drawing cards to get a rare pull. For example, with only a 0.01 percent chance of getting a rare pull, the Washuu Clan had not drawn a half-ghoul for so many years.
All they had produced were half-humans, but half-humans could help the Washuu Clan consolidate its rule.
For example, the V Organization, whose overall strength was even greater than the CCG, was composed of half-humans of the Washuu family.
And half-humans could only mix blood with ghouls, not with humans, because half-humans were very close to humans in terms of bloodline and did not even possess the most basic Kakuhou.
So, if that half-human boy had sufficiently powerful strength and stubbornly insisted on this relationship, as long as he did not do anything that betrayed the Washuu Clan, the Washuu Clan would not deliberately make things difficult for him.
"Accept my identity..."
Uruka Minami slightly lowered her head and thought about it.
Did what Ihei did tonight mean that he could accept her identity...?
After all, he already knew she was a ghoul, yet not only spared her life, but also saved her repeatedly...
Uruka Minami could not be completely certain about this. She felt that she would probably have to ask Ihei directly to be sure.
But speaking of which, what she had just said was practically declaring what kind of feelings she held toward Ihei...
Uruka Minami suddenly felt a little embarrassed, having said so much in front of an old gentleman she had only just met.
"Then, it is already quite late. You can stay overnight on the second floor of our coffee shop."
Yoshimura Kuzen stood up.
"Okay."
Uruka Minami nodded.
Afterward, Yoshimura Kuzen led Uruka Minami to the second-floor lounge.
Because they occasionally helped other ghouls as well, the shop had quilts and pillows prepared.
"Have a good rest. You should still have to go to school tomorrow morning, right?"
Yoshimura Kuzen said.
"Yes, thank you, sir."
Uruka Minami thanked him again.
"My surname is Yoshimura. I am the manager of this coffee shop. You can also just call me Manager."
After that, Yoshimura Kuzen did not disturb Uruka Minami's rest any further.
Lying sideways on the long sofa bench on the second floor, Uruka Minami hugged the quilt and went to sleep.
However, her heart was somewhat unsettled, and she could not fall asleep for the time being.
Her mind kept replaying what had happened tonight. She really wanted to know how Ihei actually viewed her...
Recalling the feeling of being held by Ihei and leaning against him, a strange emotion could not help but arise in her heart.
...
At the same time, Ihei Byakuya had also already returned home.
Since it was already very late, Yoshimura Eto seemed to have quite a few complaints about Byakuya coming home so late.
She was probably waiting for Byakuya to read books to her, but he only came back when it was already time to sleep...
"Why are you back so late?"
As soon as Ihei Byakuya entered, he was questioned by Yoshimura Eto.
"I went to track down [Pumpkin Head]."
Ihei Byakuya explained.
Yoshimura Eto deliberately moved closer to Byakuya and sniffed him. "There's the scent of another girl on you. Are you sure you went to track down that [Pumpkin Head]?"
"Is there a possibility that the girl's scent you're talking about is actually the scent on [Pumpkin Head]..."
Ihei Byakuya explained helplessly.
What was with Eto having such a strong sense of catching someone cheating?
"Is that so?"
Yoshimura Eto was immediately somewhat surprised.
Last time, she had also smelled the scent on [Pumpkin Head], and it was not the same as the scent currently on Byakuya.
Actually, this was because every time Uruka Minami went out to act while wearing the pumpkin head mask, she would deliberately change the scent on her body.
This was also why the [Barber] ghoul had not recognized that Uruka Minami in her normal state and her ghoul state shared the same scent.
"So [Pumpkin Head] is a girl? By the way, you didn't go easy on her just because she's a girl, did you?"
Yoshimura Eto very naturally changed the topic to avoid exposing her powerful sense of smell.
Seeing that Byakuya returned empty-handed again tonight, Eto reasonably voiced her suspicion toward him.
"...No."
Ihei Byakuya denied it.
Of course, what he meant was that he had not gone easy on her merely because she was a girl.
If it was purely about showing mercy, then he could not deny it.
Because tonight he had indeed let Uruka Minami off, and had even helped her get through her predicament. He knew that, given the Manager's personality, he would definitely help Minami.
There were multiple factors involved. Uruka Minami still had value to be utilized, and perhaps there really was also a bit of compassion...
However, Yoshimura Eto very keenly caught the fleeting hesitation in Byakuya's response just now.
She immediately put her hands on her hips and questioned him, "Did you hesitate just now?"
.....
Author's Note: Alright, in this chapter I still patched up the previously mentioned logical issue regarding Uruka Minami's setting. That logical issue was actually that the [Barber] did not smell that Uruka Minami's everyday state and ghoul state had the same scent. It could only be explained by saying that she deliberately changes her scent while in her ghoul state...