Only Kanae—disguised as male—wasn't immediately identifiable by gender. Everyone else—Rize Kamishiro, Kurona Yasuhisa, Nashiro Yasuhisa, Mayu, and Matsumae—were clearly female. Five girls total.
All gathered in the living room. Seeing so many at once startled Hairu a bit.
Her first thought was that these must be Amaha-senpai's sisters.
"..."
Byakuya could only offer an awkward smile, finding the question difficult to answer.
"I'm Hairu Ihei, Amaha-senpai's temporary subordinate. Sorry to intrude on such short notice."
Hairu smiled politely at Rize and the others.
"It's fine. But what do you mean by 'temporary subordinate'?"
Rize smiled back.
"Amaha-senpai's official partner hasn't arrived yet, and there happened to be a mission requiring both of us. Since Amaha-senpai didn't have a subordinate assigned yet, we're partnered temporarily."
Hairu explained simply.
She didn't feel comfortable sharing mission details with outsiders—meaning anyone who wasn't a CCG investigator.
"There's another official partner?"
A hint of wariness entered Rize's eyes. "Male or female?"
"Well..."
Hairu hesitated slightly, turning to Byakuya. "Amaha-senpai, is it okay to say?"
This involved their colleague Akira Mado's business. She didn't want to speak carelessly without checking with Amaha-senpai first.
As Akira's superior, his permission would be sufficient.
"It's fine. Go ahead."
Byakuya said casually.
Being evasive at a time like this would only create more problems. After all...
He could feel Rize, Kurona, and Nashiro's gazes fixed on him.
Mayu seemed fairly innocent, apparently not concerned about any of this.
Matsumae and Kanae continued cleaning as if nothing was happening.
Though they were still paying attention to what was being said near their master.
They were somewhat surprised that their master had dared to bring a CCG investigator directly home. Even if she was a colleague, this seemed risky.
After all, the household currently included four ghouls—Rize, Mayu, and the two of them. Matsumae and Kanae didn't yet know about Kurona and Nashiro's half-ghoul status. If they did, that would make six.
Everyone except Byakuya was a ghoul. If a colleague found out, the consequences...
"Alright. I believe Amaha-senpai's official partner is also female."
With Amaha-senpai's permission, Hairu answered Rize.
"I see..."
Rize didn't say anything more, but the slightly stiff smile on her face spoke volumes.
"I'll go shower and change then. I'll need to borrow some of Amaha-senpai's clothes and your bathroom."
Hairu planned to take a full shower and change, getting all the blood off at once.
"Sure."
Byakuya nodded.
The white combat uniform was the same design for both men and women. CCG had made him three custom sets—the standard attire for Squad Zero operations.
He actually liked the look of the white uniform, so he often wore it when going out.
Since he had three sets, lending one to Hairu was no problem.
But there was one issue. The combat uniform was just outerwear and pants—it didn't include undergarments or underwear...
By the time Byakuya remembered this, Hairu had already entered the bathroom.
But since she hadn't mentioned it, she probably had some way of dealing with it... right?
"Byakuya, that woman just now—is she also from your Squad Zero?"
Rize's tone was actually quite serious.
She'd noticed Hairu's outfit matched Byakuya's, and he'd previously mentioned this was Squad Zero's standard attire.
She also recognized the name "Ihei"...
"That's right. Meaning she's from that place..."
Byakuya said quietly.
"I thought so... Fortunately, I almost never encountered her when I was at the Sunlit Garden. She doesn't know what I look like."
Rize said.
She'd escaped the Sunlit Garden early. Though she and Hairu were roughly the same age, she'd never made any effort to interact with the other Garden children, so she had no memory of ever meeting Hairu.
Rize didn't question why Byakuya had brought Hairu home. He'd mentioned something about this possibility before, and she knew he usually had his reasons. As the person who understood him best, she felt no need to pry.
However... one thing was one thing, another was another...
"Speaking of which... you don't need to work tonight anyway. Why did you have to lend her your uniform? Couldn't you have just lent her my clothes?"
Rize still had a complaint for Byakuya.
"I also think Rize-san's concern is reasonable."
Kurona spoke up.
"Agreed."
Nashiro followed immediately.
Mayu sat to the side, not daring to speak. She'd worn Byakuya's jacket before, and what Rize was questioning was essentially the same thing...
"I just agreed without thinking much about it."
Byakuya explained honestly.
At that moment, Hairu emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and already dressed.
Byakuya's uniform was a bit large on her—their height difference made that inevitable, and Hairu was exactly 160 centimeters.
But her figure was excellent. Cinching the waist a bit tighter kept it from looking too baggy. It would do.
She'd heard Amaha-senpai and the others talking—something like an argument about this.
"If I've caused any trouble, I can give it back to Amaha-senpai right now."
As she spoke, Hairu began unfastening her clothes, apparently ready to strip off the uniform right there and return it to Byakuya.
And the key point was—she was probably not wearing anything underneath...
"Wait!"
Rize quickly stopped her, her smile looking rather forced now. "...Just keep wearing it. We were only joking around."
Hairu's airheadedness had left even Rize somewhat exasperated.
...
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