Yoshimura Eto and Uruka Minami happened to have the same thought but Eto was simply the first to speak it aloud.
"Eh...? Me? Well..."
Minami instinctively glanced over her shoulder at Arima Kishou.
Even when she was alone with Arima-kun, she never had the courage to confess her feelings to him.
And now with Uchiha-kun and Eto-san sitting right there, she felt even more embarrassed.
Eto noticed the covert glance but she still wanted to confirm it.
So she asked, "Could it be... Arima Kishou?"
"Pffft-!!" Minami nearly spat out all the coffee she had just sipped.
She barely held it in but still choked slightly and coughed a few times.
Seeing such a strong reaction, Eto immediately knew she was right.
So, it really was Arima Kishou.
Realizing this, Eto instantly felt much better.
Her earlier concerns had all been unnecessary.
Now that she had her answer, Eto smiled playfully and said, "Minami-Chan, you're so shy~"
She then dropped the topic.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore."
Because she had already confirmed it.
Of course if Eto had figured it out, then Arima himself had also done so.
He may have been socially dense but that didn't mean he was actually oblivious.
What he would do with this new knowledge was another matter entirely.
For now, at the very least, he understood.
Even though Eto had ended the conversation, Minami still felt flustered and awkward.
Though if this meant that Arima-kun finally noticed her feelings, then she supposed it wasn't so bad in the end.
Thinking this; Minami couldn't help but steal another glance at Arima.
And to her surprise, she found that he was also looking at her.
Their eyes met.
Panicked, Minami quickly looked away, fidgeting.
Meanwhile Arima's expression remained unchanged.
His face was completely calm, so unreadable that it made Minami feel a little disappointed.
She thought that maybe- Arima-kun hadn't noticed anything after all.
As expected, he's just too dense...
After the brief commotion, Minami handed the freshly brewed tea to Eto opposite to her.
"Thank you~" Eto smiled brightly as she took the cup.
Of course, as a naturally born half-ghoul, she could drink tea just like any normal human could.
For most ghouls, "pretending to eat" required at least some amount of acting.
Especially for someone like Minami, who was very skilled at it.
But Eto's reaction was completely natural.
She genuinely enjoyed the tea, it was so natural that Minami didn't even suspect a thing.
She never once thought to associate Eto-san with ghouls.
She was certain that Eto was just a normal human.
At that moment, the latter suddenly spoke up.
"By the way, I know that Minami-chan is actually a Ghoul but don't worry, I won't expose you."
Uruka Minami froze, she hadn't expected that at all.
Then, Eto smiled and continued, "Actually, I'm a writer; I came to see you because I wanted to gather some material for my work; that's why I asked about whether you had someone you liked at school."
"Oh! You're a writer, Eto-san?!" Minami's eyes widened in admiration, "That's amazing!"
"You flatter me, technically, I haven't debuted yet; I'm still in the publishing process."
"Calling myself a 'writer' is actually a bit of a stretch given the honor." Eto smiled a little self-deprecatingly.
Even now, her book still hadn't been published.
And even if it did get published, there was no guarantee it would even sell well.
If it didn't sell, then getting her next book published would definitely be harder.
To begin with, if Byakuya hadn't helped her at the start back then, she probably wouldn't have even qualified for a contract.
"That's still really impressive, though." Minami's praise was genuine.
"I wish I could do something I love- just like Eto-sensei."
"Creating something isn't hard, the hard part is getting a contract and earning money from it."
Eto spoke calmly, "Without at least some income, it's hard to stay motivated, most people who rely purely on passion only last three minutes."
Uruka Minami nodded slightly. "Yeah, I don't have much confidence in getting a contract... So I just write little stories for fun sometimes."
She knew that getting signed by a publisher was a high hurdle.
Besides, just trying to blend into human society took basically all of her energy.
She didn't have the mental space to focus on writing seriously.
For now she decided not to think too much about it.
Instead she said, "Eto-san, if you need material, I'll be happy to help."
"Mhm mhm! Then let's start with your age, height, and measurements!" Eto suddenly pulled out a notepad and pen from her bag.
"Eh...?" Minami was momentarily stunned.
She hadn't expected those to be the first questions.
Seeing her reaction, Eto smiled and explained,
"It's because my new protagonist is based on Minami-chan; I want to understand you as thoroughly as possible."
Then, she turned to Byakuya and said, "Also, Boys, please step out for a moment. Especially a certain lolicon~♥︎"
"Lolicon?" Minami blinked, confused.
"..." Byakuya wordlessly left the living room.
Arima also remained silent and walked out with him.
He wasn't about to protest because responding would be as good as admitting it.
"Alright, they're gone now."
"You can answer freely, Minami-chan." Yoshimura Eto smiled.
"Um...I'm sixteen years old."
"Height is 161 cm, as for my three sizes..." Minami paused to think for a bit.
It had been a while since she last measured herself- but after a moment, she recalled:
"I think it's around... 86, 60, and 87."
"Alright, got it!" Eto-san jotted it all down.
"Thanks for cooperating, Minami-chan~"
Then she casually continued.
"So, Minami-chan's crush at school is definitely Arima Kishou, right?"
Hearing that, Uruka Minami's face immediately flushed red.
She had already been exposed, so there was no point in denying it.
Still, she hesitated for a moment before shyly nodding.
"Mmh..."
Now that she was completely seen through, there was no reason to keep being so coy about it.
Eto leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands with an intrigued expression.
"Then tell me, Minami-chan; how did a ghoul like you fall for a ghoul investigator like Arima Kishou?"