While working, Touka noticed that Byakuya had somehow ended up sitting with Hinami, teaching her to read.
This surprised her.
She knew Byakuya was decent toward Ryouko-san and Hinami—not like other investigators with their universally hostile attitudes toward ghouls.
But being this kind exceeded her expectations.
Besides Touka, Ryouko was also working as a server. Seeing Hinami getting along so well with the young investigator, she smiled warmly.
[Ding! Host taught Hinami Fueguchi 100 characters. Reward: 10 Fusion Points!]
After considerable time, Hinami had learned 100 characters.
He couldn't just teach superficially—she needed to actually retain them.
Reading progressed slowly while teaching, as they worked through the material together.
Just then, Rize arrived at the coffee shop.
When she pushed open the door and saw Byakuya and Hinami reading side by side, an enigmatic smile crossed her previously expressionless face.
She walked over and sat at their table, right beside Byakuya. Propping her delicate chin on one hand, she silently observed them.
Byakuya naturally noticed her arrival. He glanced over, and seeing that she seemed content to just watch, he returned to teaching Hinami.
"Lolicon?"
Rize suddenly spoke.
"...What?"
Byakuya didn't immediately process this.
"I never realized before—so you're a lolicon?"
Rize repeated.
"No... How am I a lolicon?"
Byakuya was baffled.
Hinami wore a look of innocent confusion, clearly not understanding what Rize meant.
"Don't you know what you've done?"
Rize smiled as she asked.
"I'm... just teaching her to read."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Since Rize didn't pursue it further, Byakuya continued what he'd been doing.
She watched quietly for a while, gradually realizing it really was as he'd said. She dropped the subject.
...
When lunchtime came:
Byakuya checked the time. "That's enough for today. I'm going to get lunch. You can review what I taught you earlier so you don't forget."
"Okay."
Hinami nodded obediently.
But as Byakuya stood to leave, she spoke up: "Onii-chan! ...I'm Hinami. Fueguchi Hinami..."
Her voice was slightly timid—perhaps from shyness, or perhaps because of his investigator identity.
"Mm, I know. Hinami-chan."
Byakuya smiled.
Rize had remained silent, only speaking once they were outside: "That 'Hinami-chan' just now sounded pretty gentle, didn't it?"
"Alright, alright. Give it a rest."
Byakuya was mildly exasperated.
Over the following days, Byakuya continued teaching Hinami to read. Gradually, she became able to understand most of the text in books.
She also developed a love for Sen Takatsuki's works.
"Takatsuki-sensei is amazing, writing so many wonderful books. I wonder what kind of person she is."
Hinami mused with curiosity.
"I've met Takatsuki-sensei. Honestly, she doesn't look much different from you, Hinami-chan."
"Eh? Really?"
Hinami found this hard to believe. "Does that mean Takatsuki-sensei is about my age?"
Her first thought was about age, hence her disbelief.
"No, she's definitely older. She just looks about your size."
In terms of height, both Hinami and Eto were around 150 centimeters.
"Oh, that scared me. I thought Takatsuki-sensei was this young and already writing such amazing works."
"Actually, about that..."
Byakuya thought for a moment. "It's been almost ten years since Takatsuki-sensei published Dear Kafka. Ten years ago, she really might have been around your age."
"That's incredible... I still can't recognize so many characters."
Hinami sighed.
"It's fine. You're a fast learner. Soon you'll know most of them."
Byakuya encouraged her.
"Mm!"
Hinami nodded happily. "Thank you, Onii-chan."
Just then, Touka approached with two cups of coffee, setting them on Byakuya's table.
His current cup was almost empty, but there was one problem—he hadn't ordered a second.
"Did you bring the wrong order? I don't think I ordered another cup."
"I decided to bring it myself. Is that a problem?"
Touka's tone was neutral. "This one's on me. No charge."
Seeing how happy Hinami was, she felt she should thank Byakuya somehow.
"Of course it's not a problem."
Byakuya gladly accepted.
Touka said nothing more, moving to attend to new customers.
"By the way, Onii-chan, you said you met Takatsuki-sensei—where was that?"
Hinami asked with evident interest.
"There was a fan meet-and-greet before. There should be similar events in the future. I'll take you along next time so you can meet Takatsuki-sensei too."
"Yes!"
Hinami agreed eagerly.
...
As time passed, Ward 11 grew increasingly chaotic.
Aogiri Tree's ghouls had not only occupied Ward 11—destroying the original ghoul factions there, forcing survivors to either die or submit—but had also begun attacking the CCG branch stationed there.
More and more investigators in Ward 11 were being killed by Aogiri Tree. Tensions escalated dramatically.
The CCG Main Office naturally took this seriously, mobilizing three Special Class Investigators among many others for a strategy meeting regarding Ward 11...