Chapter 279: Chapter 279: A Deeper Experience

Byakuya stopped eating halfway through the meal—he was already mostly full.

Instead, he went to Kurona and Nashiro’s room to check on them.

Hearing someone about to open the door, the twins, who had been cuddling on the bed, immediately sat up.

Seeing it was Byakuya, they relaxed.

Because only in front of Byakuya did they need no restraint—they could be as willful and affectionate as they wanted.

"Byakuya, why aren’t you eating with everyone?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Kurona asked as she watched him enter.

"And Byakuya-oniichan worked so hard cooking. You should properly taste what you made."

Nashiro said.

"I’m already full. I came to check on you two—I was a bit worried."

Byakuya closed the door behind him.

"What’s there to worry about? Nashiro and I aren’t that fragile."

Kurona said.

"In that case... should I leave?"

Byakuya tentatively reached for the door handle as if to leave.

"Wait!"

Kurona immediately changed her tune: "You should stay and keep Nashiro and me company..."

Byakuya smiled. He knew Kurona’s slightly tsundere personality inside and out by now.

"Kurona really isn’t very straightforward..."

Nashiro murmured quietly.

"Alright."

Byakuya sat down on the edge of the bed with them.

He didn’t say anything comforting to Kurona and Nashiro, and they didn’t need him to say anything.

Just sitting together like this, with Kurona and Nashiro leaning against his shoulders, was more meaningful than any words.

At this moment, Byakuya couldn’t help but reflect that Kaneki, after losing his memories and becoming Sasaki Haise, had been quite strong. In the original story, Sasaki always cooked for the Qs Squad, yet couldn’t eat normal food himself—and he’d still sit at the table chatting and laughing every time.

The reason was simple: half-ghouls created through the half-ghoulification surgery had RC cell counts just as high as normal ghouls. This couldn’t be reduced to human levels with RC suppressants.

Like the ghouls imprisoned in Cochlea, who were constantly suppressed with RC suppressants yet still ate carrion for sustenance.

"I feel like... maybe Nashiro and I should sit at the table with everyone next time. Even if we don’t eat, it might be better to be there."

Kurona said.

"Yeah, I also think just the two of us retreating to our room seems awkward..."

Nashiro agreed.

"I don’t think that’s necessary."

Byakuya said: "You don’t have to force yourselves to do uncomfortable things. Besides, they all know about your situation now and can understand. If they can’t understand something like this, they’re not normal people—and you’d have even less reason to care about normal people’s opinions."

"Okay, then we’ll just go by how we feel."

Kurona nodded.

"Actually, after smelling those scents enough times, you get used to it. Like Kurona said, we’ll just go by how we feel."

Nashiro added.

"Right, as long as you don’t force yourselves."

Byakuya emphasized "don’t force yourselves." If they were in a good mood and wanted to sit at the table with everyone, that was fine too.

...

About ten minutes later.

The meal outside had mostly concluded.

Kurona and Nashiro came out of the room with Byakuya.

[Ding! Host personally prepared a feast for the Qs Squad. Reward: 20 Fusion Points!]

Everyone naturally understood Kurona and Nashiro’s situation. They all knew the twins had undergone a different surgery than the Qs Surgery, with the severe side effect of being unable to eat normal food.

Since no assignments had started yet, after lunch was done and dishes were cleaned and washed, Urie and the others went to do their own things.

Urie liked studying ghoul intelligence and combat matters in his room.

Yonebayashi liked sleeping and playing games in her room.

Shirazu and Mutsuki didn’t have particular hobbies.

...

That evening, Byakuya took Kurona and Nashiro home.

They didn’t stay at the Qs residence overnight—they went home.

Sitting on the sofa, Byakuya leisurely watched TV.

Just then, Rize sat down beside him.

"Byakuya, I recall that Furuta kid also studied at Kamii University. How did he get in?"

Rize suddenly asked.

"Obviously through the Washuu Clan’s power. With the Washuu’s influence, getting him into a university wouldn’t be difficult."

Byakuya answered.

There was actually a small noteworthy detail here. Nimura Furuta’s official identity within the Washuu Clan was that of a low-status branch family half-human, and he’d openly enrolled at Kamii University.

So it wasn’t a case of Tsuneyoshi Washuu secretly pulling strings for him.

This indicated the Washuu Clan’s considerable power—getting even a low-status branch family child into Kamii University clearly hadn’t required much effort.

"Requires the Washuu Clan’s power, huh... never mind then."

Rize said.

"What’s this about? Are you interested in Kamii University?"

Byakuya asked.

"Mm, staying home every day has gotten a bit boring. I’m tired of reading, and books that suit my taste are rare anyway."

Rize answered: "I was thinking of finding some entertainment when it suddenly occurred to me that I’ve never attended school."

"That’s easy. I’m still a student there—I can just take you in. Actually, even if you went alone, it would be fine. You could sit in on classes and no one would know you’re not a student."

Byakuya said: "As for actually enrolling like Furuta did, that’s not easily arranged right now—probably have to wait until I deal with the Washuu Clan."

"Then just take me in to experience it. Like before, but this time I want a deeper experience."

Rize said.

Byakuya had taken her to Kamii University once before, but they’d just wandered around casually without really experiencing student life.

"Sure, let’s do it tomorrow then. I don’t have any work anyway."

Byakuya readily agreed to Rize’s request.

His only current responsibility was keeping an eye on the Qs Squad newcomers, since he was now in charge.

But he certainly didn’t need to monitor them every day. He’d rather spend more time with Rize.

...

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