When he left Eto's room, Byakuya immediately went to find Yoshimura.
Renji Yomo, who had already found this place, had brought plenty of carrion—to help the severely wounded Irimi, Koma, and especially Yoshimura replenish their RC cells so they could regenerate faster.
By now, Irimi and Koma had recovered considerably. Yoshimura was at least out of danger.
"Amaha-san..."
Seeing Byakuya, Yomo's tone was respectful.
He couldn't not be respectful. He had already heard from Irimi and Koma about what Byakuya had done.
He knew that without Byakuya, Irimi, Koma, and Manager Yoshimura would probably have met terrible fates...
"Mm... I have something to discuss with the Manager first."
Byakuya said directly.
"Of course. The Manager is inside."
Yomo replied.
Byakuya then went in to see Yoshimura.
"Amaha-kun, you're here..."
Yoshimura was seated, looking much better in spirits.
"Yes. I just spoke with your daughter."
Byakuya said.
"...Is she alright?"
Yoshimura asked with concern.
"She's fine. I talked with her about many things. In the end, she asked if you could come see her."
Byakuya said plainly.
Yoshimura was silent for a moment. "...I see."
This day had finally come.
Yet even at this moment, he still didn't feel mentally prepared to face Eto.
"My suggestion is... Manager, you should go see her. It's rare to have an opportunity like this for a face-to-face meeting."
Byakuya said.
"Mm, I'll go now..."
Yoshimura nodded.
He knew he couldn't keep running away.
There might still be a sliver of hope for reconciliation now. But if he ran away again this time, he would lose even that last chance.
Seeing that the Manager had made up his mind, Byakuya said nothing more.
Yoshimura slowly rose, put on his hat, and headed to the small room where Eto was being held.
At the door, he paused for a moment before entering.
Inside, he saw Eto curled up on the floor. There was a bed right next to her, but she seemed to prefer sitting on the ground.
Before Yoshimura entered, Eto had already torn off the white bandages from her face, revealing her true features to meet him.
Eto naturally recognized Kuzen. She had seen him during her one and only visit to Anteiku, though he hadn't seen her at the time...
In other words, this was the first time in all these years that Yoshimura had actually seen Eto with his own eyes. Before this, he knew Eto was the One-Eyed Owl, knew she was "Sen Takatsuki," but had never actually seen her.
"Eto..."
Yoshimura's voice was heavy.
Having called out "Eto," he suddenly didn't know what to say.
"Long time no see, Dad~dy"
Eto spoke cheerfully. "We were supposed to meet under different circumstances, but some 'little' accidents happened~"
The "different circumstances" she referred to was the meeting that would have taken place before bringing Yoshimura back to Aogiri Tree.
"..."
Yoshimura understood what Eto meant.
When he had seen the One-Eyed Owl descend from the sky, he had already known what his final fate would be. After all, he was well aware that Aogiri Tree had been collaborating with Kanou.
It was only Byakuya's unexpected intervention that had changed everything...
"You should know, right? If that guy hadn't messed everything up, what would I have done to you? Daddy..."
Eto asked deliberately.
"I know... but perhaps that would have been my final atonement..."
Yoshimura said slowly.
Even knowing what Eto had planned to do to him, he wouldn't resent her in the slightest.
"..."
The smile on Eto's face stiffened slightly. "This is why I really hate people like you. Always going on about atonement, atonement—why don't you actually do something meaningful!"
She also felt frustrated. If the old man had blamed her or cursed at her, that would have been fine. Instead, he had this accepting, completely non-blaming attitude, which made her feel uncomfortable.
"..."
Yoshimura was momentarily speechless.
Though he had always been silently protecting Eto from behind the scenes, none of that was as useful as simply meeting her face to face. Otherwise, many things could never be resolved.
Eto sighed softly. "...Originally, I completely rejected your laughable principles. But now even my own firm principles are starting to waver. It's all that bastard's fault..."
Originally, she had looked down on Kuzen's behavior of hiding away in Anteiku, barely surviving. So what if he helped many ghouls and maintained peace in Ward 20? Little Ward 20 had almost no impact on the world.
But now... that slash from Byakuya's Susanoo Clone that had cleaved the building in two had also cleaved a crack in the beliefs she held in her heart.
Whether it was the One-Eyed King or whatever else, her ultimate goal had always been to change this world—to prevent the tragedy of people like herself, born into sin, from repeating endlessly.
Yet Byakuya had displayed absolute power, making all her schemes and her efforts to pave the way for the future One-Eyed King into a joke.
Byakuya could use absolute power to directly change this world. Why bother with all her redundant efforts?
Right now, Eto was questioning herself.
"Perhaps... you could try walking the same path as him?"
Yoshimura offered his suggestion.
"...No."
Eto hesitated briefly before refusing.
Without realizing it, Byakuya had beaten her down to the point of stubbornness.
She had prepared for so many years, paid countless prices. How could she just give up?
Since that guy was unwilling to become the One-Eyed King, she would find a way to make him accept. Otherwise, everything she had done would have been for nothing!
This was all that bastard's fault. Without Kuzen as an experimental subject, Kanou, whom she had brought to Aogiri Tree, was completely useless. Her plan to create half-ghouls had fallen through.
This path had essentially become a dead end. Unless they could capture a ghoul from the Washuu Clan to serve as an experimental subject—but that was practically suicide for Aogiri Tree's forces. Furuta had only succeeded because he was Tsuneyoshi Washuu's illegitimate son.
So the only path left before Eto was to find a way to convince Byakuya to become the One-Eyed King!
...
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