"Huh...?"
The little Nutcracker was completely stunned.
She couldn't believe it, this Nee-san was actually inviting her to stay at their home.
But... she was a ghoul.
If they lived together, it would be too easy for her to be exposed.
As soon as she snapped out of her daze, a look of unease appeared on her face; This was what she feared most.
Even Uchiha Byakuya was slightly surprised. Yoshimura Eto's sudden offer was something he hadn't expected at all.
At that moment, Eto leaned in close to Nutcracker's ear and whispered,
"Little one, I know what you're worried about. You're afraid we'll find out you're a ghoul, right?"
The moment she heard those words, the little Nutcracker's face turned deathly pale from sheer terror.
"N-No! That's not true!"
She denied it outright, but deep inside, she was petrified of what might happen next.
However, her panicked expression had already given her away.
Eto grinned mischievously and said,
"Lying isn't very cute, you know, little one."
Then, she added, "Besides, my intuition is always spot-on. And did I mention? My husband is a CCG investigator."
The little Nutcracker froze.
She didn't completely understand the word "husband," but from the way Eto said it, she guessed she was referring to the young man standing next to her.
That realization made her even more terrified.
She instinctively wanted to run; her instincts screamed at her that if she didn't escape now, she would be killed by these ghoul investigators.
But before she could make a move, Eto spoke again.
"Actually, you don't have to be so scared."
"If we really wanted to hurt you, we would've done it already."
Little Nutcracker hesitated for a moment.
"I-Is that... true?"
"Of course." Eto nodded.
"But… aren't CCG investigators supposed to see us as enemies?" The little Nutcracker asked in confusion.
Eto chuckled. "That's not always the case. Not every investigator hates ghouls with a passion."
Then, she gestured toward Byakuya.
"Take this guy, for example- anyway, we're not going to hurt you, so you can relax."
Byakuya also spoke up, explaining calmly,
"The CCG is the Commission of Counter Ghoul, but that doesn't mean we hunt down every single ghoul, as long as you haven't harmed any humans, we won't harm you either."
"Oh... oh..."
The little Nutcracker easily believed Byakuya's words.
After all, she was still a child, innocent and simple-minded.
Even so, she still found it hard to believe that such kind people existed, people who knew she was a ghoul and yet still chose to help her.
She had no one in the world.
She didn't even know how much longer she could survive on her own in the 19th Ward.
And she was too afraid to leave and wander into completely unfamiliar territories.
She had neither a sense of safety, nor a place to call home.
Deep down, she desperately longed for shelter and so; Little Nutcracker ended up following Eto and Byakuya home.
They took a taxi back to the 1st Ward.
For the little Nutcracker; This was the first time she had ever ridden in a human's car.
It was also the first time she had ever entered a human's home.
She had no idea that in reality, the "Nii-san" and "Nee-san" she saw weren't human at all.
"We're home!"
As soon as they arrived, Eto turned to Nutcracker and said,
"First things first, go take a bath. And for clothes... you can wear mine for now."
Along the way, Eto had already asked Nutcracker for her name.
Unlike some of the stronger ghouls who were able to steal human identities and blend into society, Nutcracker's parents had been low-level ghouls.
They had never been able to obtain human surnames or official identities.
Since she had no surname to inherit, she could only go by the name "Mayu"-a name that wasn't even recognized in human society.
At that moment, Yoshimura Eto handed her a set of her own clothes.
Since Eto's frame wasn't that much bigger than Mayu's, the clothes actually fit quite well.
"Thank you!"
Mayu was overwhelmed.
To her, these clothes were beautiful and cute, she had never imagined she would ever get to wear something so nice.
While Mayu was taking a bath, Byakuya turned to Eto and asked,
"What made you suddenly decide to bring her home?"
Eto smiled faintly and said,
"Do you really think I can't read your thoughts? I'm guessing you were planning to send her to the 20th Ward for help, weren't you?"
"That's true..."
Byakuya couldn't deny it, she had seen right through him anyway.
"So I figured, why not just bring her home? That makes it easier. We can send her to the 20th Ward later."
Eto replied casually.
But it wasn't just Byakuya's influence that made her decide to help.
Due to her own childhood experiences, she sympathized with Mayu.
She genuinely wanted to help her.
"I see. But my original plan was to convince her to go to the 20th Ward immediately."
Byakuya said.
"It's fine. Once my book is successfully published, we can take her to 'Anteiku' together. That old man will definitely be happy to take her in."
Eto had already made her decision; when the time came, she would meet her father again.
The "old man" she referred to was, of course, Yoshimura Kuzen.
"That works too. But until then, we'll have to take care of her."
Byakuya said.
"It's just corpse meat, isn't it? 'Aogiri Tree' has been regularly collecting the bodies of people who committed suicide in various wards. Our hideout in the 24th Ward already has a large stockpile; if we ration it properly, it'll be more than enough."
Eto planned to return to the 24th Ward later to retrieve some corpse meat for Mayu.
As for herself, she didn't need it, nor did she need fresh human meat to replenish her RC cells at the moment.
After all, thanks to her cannibalism during the attack on the Labyrinth Organization, her strength had skyrocketed.
For now, she could go without food for quite some time.
Besides, she was also considerate of Byakuya's feelings.
She knew he wouldn't want her to harm innocent humans.
And with the overwhelming power he had displayed so far, she felt like she could trust and rely on him.
There was no need to recklessly devour humans any longer.
Not to mention; eating human flesh wouldn't even make her that much stronger.
The real way to grow in power was through cannibalism, eating other ghouls.
For the majority of ghouls, eating humans was mainly about survival, keeping their RC cells stable and satisfying their hunger.
But Eto didn't even need to eat to satisfy hunger.
She could easily eat normal human food instead.
At her level, as an SSS-rated kakuja, there was no other way to grow stronger except through large-scale cannibalism.
"Yeah, that works too."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
There was no doubt that Yoshimura would accept Mayu.
As for himself, he needed to think carefully about how he would explain everything when he finally met the old man.