"Mm..."
Byakuya didn't say much more, nor did he think too much about it.
For him, it didn't matter much what partner he was assigned. There weren't many people he could trust in the CCG anyway.
The "trust" he spoke of meant, for example, that having a house full of ghouls wasn't something any random investigator could know about, let alone his other secrets.
So since they were all people he couldn't trust anyway, it made no difference which subordinate he was assigned.
Unless he poached Kurona and Nashiro away from Kiyoko Aura, but that wouldn't be appropriate...
"Then would you like to partner with me, Byakuya-san?"
Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind Byakuya.
The voice was clearly Shio Ihei's. Byakuya turned around without surprise, having already noticed the footsteps behind him.
Sure enough, it was Shio.
Besides Shio, Arima had also arrived with the entire Squad Zero.
"Shio... Arima-san, Ui-san, and everyone else—it's been a while."
Byakuya immediately spoke up.
"Arima is already here. Looks like there's nothing for me to do here."
Shinohara then said to Suzuya: "Suzuya, come here. Let me see your medal and certificate."
"Yes~"
Suzuya responded.
"It really has been a while."
Arima said with a smile.
"Soon Amaha-kun will be working with us. It's quite moving..."
Ui said with emotion.
"Shio... by the way, what rank are you again?"
Byakuya was suddenly curious about this.
"I'm still First Class. Now Byakuya-san's position is higher than mine."
Shio said with a smile. "And I've never had a partner. If Byakuya-san could partner with me, that would be best."
"Oh, you're First Class. In that case, it could work..."
Byakuya had no objections.
Moreover, Shio was more familiar with him than other investigators. That wasn't bad either.
"I'm sorry... but he already has an arranged subordinate."
But just then, a voice interrupted the conversation between Byakuya and Shio.
"I'm Rank 2 Investigator Akira Mado, who will be becoming Amaha First Class's subordinate. You can just call me 'Akira.'"
Akira Mado appeared before Byakuya and Shio. "So, Amaha First Class, I look forward to working with you."
"Oh my? Someone beat me to it..."
Shio felt somewhat regretful but didn't say anything more.
"So you're going to be my partner..."
Byakuya was somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected the CCG to assign Akira Mado as his subordinate. He had thought she would still be partnered with Amon.
"Yes, this is the Bureau Director's arrangement."
Akira nodded slightly.
"Then... sorry about that, Shio."
Byakuya said to Shio.
"It's fine. After all, Byakuya-san will be joining Squad Zero anyway. We'll still be able to fight alongside each other then."
Shio said with an unbothered smile.
Akira also bowed slightly to Shio to show respect—basic courtesy.
"Mado was the top student among her cohort, just like Amaha. They're both excellent, and indeed suitable to be partners."
At that moment, Arima also spoke up.
Previously, when Akira was doing her internship, she had been "playing whack-a-mole" in Ward 24 with him, so he knew her.
"Arima-san overpaises me."
Akira said modestly.
"Mm, I'll fulfill my duties as a superior."
Byakuya nodded.
At the same time, he could still feel a certain gaze constantly fixed on him—it was Hairu Ihei's gaze.
Arima had just praised Akira too, so why wasn't Hairu staring at Akira...
"Oh? Amaha's subordinate is Akira. That's a bit unexpected, but this works well too."
Shinohara, who had just finished chatting with Suzuya, noticed the situation here.
"Shinohara-san..."
Akira greeted him.
"Now Akira can also start working on the front lines. Amaha is very capable—listen to him well. Though with your personality, I probably don't need to remind you of that, haha."
Shinohara said.
After briefly interacting with Byakuya, Akira left.
For her, lingering here to chat was a waste of time. There was no need for excessive conversation before officially becoming partners—she had completely inherited her father Kureo Mado's "workaholic" personality.
...
On another side.
Kurona and Nashiro were also at the banquet, sitting at the same table as Special Class Aura.
For them, this situation was quite uncomfortable. A table full of delicacies that they couldn't eat a single thing from. Only the drinks were drinkable.
Though they didn't like drinking either, compared to those "delicacies" that tasted completely different in their mouths, at least they could manage the drinks.
However, they still had to eat some of the food on the table, or it would easily arouse suspicion.
Fortunately, they had previously learned "fake eating" from Rize, so they could appear normal in front of Aura-senpai and the other investigators. But it was still torture...
Swallowing the food required suppressing the nauseating taste that made them want to vomit. If they actually chewed before swallowing, they couldn't get it down at all.
Of course, they had to pretend to chew before swallowing and even show expressions of enjoyment. As for afterward, they would have to go to the bathroom to throw it all up...
At that moment, Kiyoko Aura beside them vaguely noticed something unusual about Kurona and Nashiro.
But she didn't suspect in the direction of "ghoul." After all, normally, being able to pass through the RC Detection Gates meant they definitely weren't ghouls.
"Kurona, Nashiro, I believe Amaha First Class should be in that direction."
At that moment, Kiyoko reminded Kurona and Nashiro.
Because the first thing she thought of was that the reason for their unusual behavior was Byakuya.
"..."
Kurona and Nashiro were both surprised that Aura-senpai would suddenly bring up Byakuya.
"If you want to go find him, just go ahead. It's fine."
Kiyoko added.
Only then did Kurona and Nashiro somewhat realize why Aura-senpai had suddenly mentioned Byakuya. They both felt somewhat embarrassed.
But this also happened to be a fortunate escape from their torture. Going to Byakuya's side would at least be much more relaxing than here.
Regardless of what Aura-senpai thought of them, they both wanted to "escape" from here.
Seeing Kurona and Nashiro actually go to find Byakuya, this further confirmed Kiyoko's speculation.
So Kurona and Nashiro really did have an unusual relationship with that young man...
...
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