Before starting work at Ward 20's CCG branch, Byakuya needed to complete handover procedures at the Ward 21 branch.
After all, he'd been given temporary command authority there. With the Grey Straw Suppression complete, he needed to return it to Houji, the Ward 21 Branch Director.
Akira Mado had now officially become his subordinate, so she accompanied him to Ward 21.
"Mado-san, you're aware we'll be working in Ward 20, correct?"
Byakuya asked his companion.
"Yes."
Akira's response was curt—no honorifics even toward her superior Byakuya.
Byakuya didn't care about honorifics. He wasn't Japanese anyway.
But then Akira spoke up. "However... I'd prefer you call me 'Akira' directly."
"Why? You think three extra syllables waste time?"
Byakuya asked.
"Exactly. I'm someone who avoids wasting time and energy whenever possible. I'm a bit surprised you guessed the reason immediately, First Class Amaha."
Akira seemed mildly surprised.
"Because you told me something similar when you had me drink hot water."
That was when Byakuya had dinner at the Mado residence.
He continued, "Understood. I'll call you 'Akira' from now on."
"Good. In return, I don't plan to use formal speech with you. Honorifics just waste time and energy. As partners, we'll talk almost every day."
Akira spoke flatly. "For instance, 'I'm terribly sorry, but would you mind handling this matter?' versus 'Please do this.' At my speaking pace, those take about 1.2 seconds and 0.3 seconds respectively—a 0.9-second difference."
"If I ask you to do ten things daily without honorifics, that saves 9 seconds per day. Over a year, that's more than 3,000 seconds I can use for meaningful work."
"Unless the person I'm speaking with is someone I particularly respect—that's different—"
Akira explained her philosophy to Byakuya.
Of course, "honorifics" and "titles" weren't the same thing. Akira simply didn't want to waste time on polite speech—she still respected Byakuya as her superior, hence continuing to call him "First Class Amaha."
Conversely, she felt Byakuya didn't need to use the title "Rank 2 Mado" for her. She was the subordinate, after all.
"Fine. Skip the honorifics if you want."
Byakuya responded.
He didn't care. As a non-Japanese person, his attitude toward such things...
Honestly, he found it tedious too. A sentence that could be said in a few words got stretched into a whole speech with honorifics. This was a particularly common issue in Japanese society, which placed enormous importance on formal language.
Akira's example was actually mild. Sometimes a few words could balloon into dozens when wrapped in honorifics.
So as a transmigrator from China, he actually supported Akira's thinking.
"Good."
Akira acknowledged.
After that, neither made small talk.
They were almost at the Ward 21 CCG branch anyway.
...
"I'm Rank 2 Investigator Akira Mado, now officially partnered with First Class Amaha."
In the branch's meeting room, Akira briefly introduced herself.
"Ah, I kept trying to remember. Amaha's partner is Akira."
Houji finally recalled.
"Wha—?!..."
Takizawa's jaw dropped.
Wasn't Amaha-san's partner supposed to be Hairu? Why was it this girl now?!
"Houji-san, it's been a while."
Akira greeted Houji.
"Why... is it you?..."
Takizawa couldn't help his surprise.
"Takizawa... so you're in Ward 21. You look well."
Akira greeted Takizawa normally—they were classmates, after all.
"Seidou, you two know each other?"
Houji asked.
"Yeah... we were in the same class..."
Takizawa's expression was complicated.
Following that, Byakuya and Houji went through the handover process. Akira sat quietly waiting. Takizawa sat looking obviously dejected.
He'd always disliked Akira, and now she was partnered with the Amaha-san he so admired. He was both envious and annoyed.
Not that his superior Houji-san was lacking—it was just that Akira rubbed him the wrong way.
...
After completing the handover, Byakuya and Akira returned to Ward 20's CCG branch.
A "briefing session" was being held—reporting on target ghoul information.
Ward 20's investigation squad currently had only four people, waiting for Byakuya and Akira to arrive.
"Two new colleagues will be joining our Ward 20 squad today. Please wait just a bit longer."
Shinohara Yukinori addressed the three investigators present, including Juuzou Suzuya.
Suzuya sat there absently, sucking on a lollipop.
The other two were Koori Ui and Rikai Souzu.
That's right—after Byakuya's promotion to First Class, Ui had partnered with Rikai and been transferred from another ward to Ward 20 by headquarters.
None of them, except Shinohara, knew the new arrivals would be Byakuya and Akira.
"Oh~ seems they've arrived."
Shinohara heard footsteps outside.
Then Byakuya and Akira pushed open the door.
"I'm Rank 2 Investigator Akira Mado, subordinate to First Class Amaha. I'll be participating in Ward 20 investigations. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm First Class Investigator Amaha Byakuya, assigned to the Ward 20 branch by headquarters."
Akira and Byakuya introduced themselves upon entering.
"Byakuya! It's you!"
Suzuya exclaimed in surprise.
Getting to work alongside Byakuya in Ward 20 was a pleasant surprise.
"I didn't expect you all to be here either."
Byakuya remarked.
He hadn't known who his Ward 20 colleagues would be. Headquarters had recently reshuffled personnel across all branches.
He hadn't expected to see all familiar faces.
This probably meant that with Aogiri Tree quiet lately and Grey Straw eliminated, CCG was focusing on the "Gourmet" and "Binge Eater" in Ward 20.
Though both had essentially vanished, that only made CCG more determined to find them.
No one would guess that the Gourmet and Binge Eater were both closely connected to Byakuya—one living in his house, the other his subordinate.
...
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