Uchiha Byakuya suddenly recalled, "Nutcracker" was indeed a ghoul from the 19th Ward.
What a coincidence.
They had just arrived in the 19th Ward for some casual shopping, and now they had run into her while she was still just a child.
But what surprised Byakuya the most was that Eto had directly taken the little girl's hand and walked her into the shoe store.
Seeing this, Byakuya followed them inside.
At that moment, the store clerk, still confused about the situation, turned to Byakuya and asked,
"Excuse me, are you this little girl's relative?"
Byakuya responded calmly, his voice composed,
"No, but her parents are our friends."
His tone was so natural that it didn't sound like a lie at all.
"Oh, I see… that makes sense."
The clerk nodded in understanding.
She was just a shoe store employee, after all.
It wasn't really her place to question the situation too much, she was just curious about what was going on.
Meanwhile, Eto had already led the little girl to the red high heels she had been admiring earlier.
"So, these are the shoes you wanted?"
The little girl nodded timidly.
Eto smiled.
"But you're still a bit too young for these. I don't think they'll fit you properly."
After all, the shoes were clearly meant for adult women.
So Eto immediately turned to the store clerk and asked,
"Do you have any high heels like these, but in children's sizes?"
The clerk nodded right away.
"Yes, we do! Please wait a moment."
She quickly went to the back to find a suitable pair.
The little girl had been in a daze the entire time since Eto had dragged her into the store.
It all felt so unbelievable to her.
She couldn't understand why this beautiful Nee-san wasn't disgusted by her dirty, smelly appearance.
Not only had Eto taken her hand without hesitation, but she had even offered to make her wish come true.
A moment later, the store clerk returned with a pair of child-sized red high heels.
Eto took them and handed them to the girl.
"Come on, let's wash your feet first. Then you can try them on and see if you like them."
"O-okay…"
The little girl was still dazed, barely able to process what was happening.
With the clerk's help, she washed her small, dirty feet using the sink in the store.
As she was washing, she couldn't help but look up at Eto and ask,
"Nee-san… why are you being so nice to me?"
Eto simply smirked and replied,
"You should be asking that nosy guy over there. He's the one who wanted to help you, so I just went along with it."
As she spoke, she turned her gaze toward Byakuya.
The little girl followed Eto's line of sight and saw the tall young man standing nearby.
He was a stranger to her, just like the young woman.
But this was the first time in her life that she had met people who were so kind to her.
Still, a sense of unease started creeping into her heart.
Because she knew, her real identity was that of a ghoul.
If this Nii-san and Nee-san found out, wouldn't they hate her?
She was terrified that they would discover the truth.
Eto noticed the sudden fear and nervousness in the little girl's expression.
She could easily guess what the girl was worried about.
But she chose not to say anything.
Instead, she simply smiled at her warmly.
Once her feet were clean, the girl also took the opportunity to wash her face, wiping away the dirt that had been there for who knows how long.
And then, she eagerly put on the new red high heels.
Her expression lit up with joy.
Even though Eto had only helped this little girl because of Byakuya's insistence, seeing the girl so happy still left her with a small sense of satisfaction.
"So? Do you like them?"
Eto asked with a warm smile.
"Mm!"
The little girl, Nutcracker nodded enthusiastically, her face filled with pure joy.
But then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, her expression fell.
"But... I don't have any money..."
She didn't know exactly how much these high heels cost, but she was sure they weren't cheap.
"That's not a problem," Eto replied casually.
"Didn't I already say from the beginning that I could make your wish come true?"
"Really?! Thank you!"
Nutcracker's eyes lit up, her excitement surging again.
Eto, however, tilted her head slightly and playfully corrected her,
"But actually, it's that Nii-san who's paying for them, so you should be thanking him instead."
Nutcracker blinked in curiosity.
"That Nii-san... is he your friend, Nee-san?"
Eto, keeping a mysterious expression, shook her head lightly.
"Nope. Why don't you guess again?"
"He's not? Then..."
This question was completely outside Nutcracker's field of knowledge.
She had spent her entire life only thinking about survival and had never considered things like relationships.
She thought hard for a long time but still couldn't come up with an answer.
"I... I don't know..."
"You'll understand when you grow up."
Eto smirked playfully, choosing not to reveal the answer just yet.
But at that moment, Nutcracker suddenly had a thought.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she hesitantly asked,
"Wait... Could it be like... my mom and dad? Like... family?"
"Ding ding ding! Correct answer~"
Eto nodded immediately, her voice playful.
Byakuya, who had been listening silently until now, sighed and spoke up,
"That's enough. Don't go filling her head with weird ideas."
"Hehe~ I'm not saying anything weird, I'm just telling the truth~"
Eto said with a grin, her tone mischievous.
Nutcracker, on the other hand, still didn't really understand much.
She could only sit there blankly, listening to the conversation between the young man and young woman, completely lost.
Afterward Byakuya simply bought her the heels.
Since Nutcracker had no shoes to wear, she simply put them on immediately.
The child-sized red high heels became her first pair of shoes in a long time.
Upon leaving the store, Eto turned to Nutcracker and asked,
"By the way, where are your parents? Do you want us to take you home?"
Hearing this, Nutcracker's expression remained calm as she replied,
"My parents… they're gone."
Her tone and demeanor carried no sadness, as if she had already accepted it as normal.
Eto immediately felt a pang of guilt and apologized,
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."
Nutcracker, however, smiled gently.
"It's fine. It doesn't bother me. Besides, I don't have a home to return to anyway, so you don't need to trouble yourselves with me."
She paused for a moment, then continued,
"But really, Nii-san, Nee-san, thank you so much for today. I don't think I've ever been this happy before."
To her, today felt like a dream.
She had met two incredibly kind people and they had even given her the beautiful shoes she had longed for.
After saying this, she turned and prepared to leave on her own.
Ever since her parents died, she had been surviving alone, wandering from place to place, scavenging for the corpses of humans just to fill her stomach.
Barely managing to stay alive.
But in reality, compared to the CCG investigators, what she feared even more were her own kind.
Because in the fight for food, ghouls would kill each other without hesitation.
Her own parents had been killed by other ghouls for this exact reason.
At that moment, Eto, after thinking for a while, suddenly turned to Nutcracker and made an offer.
"Why don't you come stay with us for now?"