"Steak, hamburger patty, potatoes..."
Yoshimura Eto pushed the shopping cart, following Uchiha Byakuya around the supermarket as they shopped for ingredients.
Byakuya mostly let Eto take the lead; Whatever she wanted to eat, he was fine with it, especially since most of it happened to be things he liked as well.
"Alright, I think that's about it."
Eto had picked out everything she wanted.
At this moment, she noticed that Byakuya hadn't chosen anything yet. "You're not picking anything? Why am I the only one choosing?"
"Because you've already picked for me."
Byakuya replied.
"...I see. In that case, I guess I didn't grab enough."
Eto had originally held back, assuming Byakuya would pick out some things for himself.
Now that she realized he wasn't planning to, she unhesitatingly grabbed a few more packs of various meats.
"Alright, let's go~ Just need to grab some apples, and then we can head home."
She pushed the shopping cart toward the fruit section.
"Wait for me in the produce section for a bit. I'm going to pick up something else."
Byakuya, of course, hadn't forgotten his promise to get Kamishiro Rize a stuffed animal.
"Sure~"
Eto didn't particularly care what he was going to buy.
But a short while later, as she looked at the teddy bear plushie in Byakuya's hands; Her first instinct was to say "thank you," but then she quickly realized she hadn't asked for a plushie in the first place.
So instead, she probed, "Is this for me?"
"No."
Byakuya flatly denied it without hesitation.
"Oh~?"
Eto's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then who's it for?"
"A kid in the Sunlit Garden. She'll also be my disciple from now on."
Byakuya answered truthfully.
"A disciple?"
Eto was getting a strange feeling about this.
A kid who wants a stuffed animal… that has to be a girl, right?
Taking in a female disciple out of nowhere? She didn't buy that there wasn't something going on.
"Since when did you suddenly have such refined tastes, taking in a girl as your disciple?"
She asked, her tone teasing yet subtly probing.
"Because she's... a special case."
Byakuya responded calmly.
The words "special case" immediately set off blaring alarms in Eto's mind.
Her gaze turned sharp, something about this didn't sit right with her.
But before she could jump to conclusions, Byakuya finished his explanation.
"She's the Washuu clan's 'Mother.' The most pure-blooded Washuu ghoul."
"Ah… I see."
Eto blinked in brief surprise before quickly regaining her composure.
So that's what this was about.
Her expression didn't change, showing no trace of embarrassment over her brief misunderstanding.
Instead, she seamlessly transitioned into a discussion about the Washuu clan, "So the Washuus have something like a 'Mother' role, huh? I never knew. Kind of impressive you managed to take in someone so important as a disciple."
Clearly, she hadn't been aware of the Washuu clan's deepest secrets.
Back then, Eto's mother, Ukina, had only uncovered some information about V, her investigation touched on some of the Washuu clan's hidden truths but hadn't gone deep enough to expose the concept of a 'Mother.'
"Well… that kid is indeed important to the Washuu clan, but at the same time, her status is incredibly low, I guess you could say… I'm taking advantage of the Washuu clan's twisted system."
Byakuya then gave Eto a brief explanation of Rize's position within the Washuu clan and the reasons behind it.
After hearing everything, Eto couldn't help but sigh with some emotion, "The Washuu clan is completely obsessed with becoming human… to the point of madness. The purest-blooded ghouls end up with the lowest status?"
"But actually, this works out well. If we can find a way to take their 'Mother' away, it'll only make things harder for them."
At this moment, Eto's attitude shifted dramatically, she was now fully supportive of Byakuya taking that girl, Rize, as his disciple.
However, she still had some concerns.
She had just learned from Byakuya that Rize was only around ten years old.
"But… if a certain perverted lolicon dares to step out of line, I'll be the first to report you."
Eto's face bloomed with a sweet smile, but her words were filled with unmistakable threat.
"I wonder if a certain lolicon will go down in history as the first-ever Special Class Investigator to be arrested by the police? That would be quite the legendary first-and last-case."
Byakuya instantly knew that she was talking about him.
"..."
He was completely speechless.
"Come on, I wouldn't go that far..."
Byakuya let out a faint sigh before steering the conversation back on track. "Anyway, aside from Rize, there's also a kid named Furuta Nimura-He's actually Washuu Tsuneyoshi's biological son, making him the younger half-brother of the current Bureau Director, Washuu Yoshitoki."
Byakuya continued, "But just like Rize, his status was cast aside because of the Washuu clan's twisted system."
"So you mean... you've taken him as a disciple too?"
Eto immediately caught the implication.
"Yeah. Nimura and Rize will both be my disciples."
Byakuya confirmed.
"Well, this just keeps getting better, now I really want to meet them."
Eto suddenly felt a surge of creative inspiration.
"Nimura and Rize… both of them should have been central figures within the Washuu clan, yet they were thrown away into the lowest ranks of the Sunlit Garden; How fascinating!"
She had always held deep interest for protagonists with tragic backstories and cruel fates.
"If you want to meet them, that's easy. I'll be taking them out of the Sunlit Garden tomorrow."
Byakuya said as he pushed the shopping cart toward the checkout.
With Eto cooking alongside Byakuya more frequently, her culinary skills had improved rapidly.
Now, the dishes she made actually tasted pretty good.
"Here, taste this for me again-let's see if my skills have improved."
Eto picked up a piece of the sliced hamburger steak with her chopsticks and held it out to Byakuya.
"Open up-ahhh~"
Byakuya felt slightly awkward, but he still complied.
The perfectly grilled hamburger steak burst with rich flavors as he chewed.
"Mmm, it's really good."
Byakuya gave an honest evaluation. "The seasoning is well-balanced, and the light charring on the surface is just right. I can definitely taste the improvement."
Eto had made it a habit to have Byakuya taste-test her cooking every time, and today was no exception.
"I want to hear the flaws too-I need to keep improving."
Although she enjoyed hearing his praise, Eto was more interested in knowing what still needed work.
She had come to trust Byakuya's critiques-his assessments were always fair and to the point.
At this rate, she figured she might as well keep him as her personal taste-tester for life.
That way, her cooking skills would only keep getting better.