Sen Takatsuki's Fan Meet

After all, this was a fan event for "Sen Takatsuki," so running into her here was perfectly normal.

Amahane Byakuya simply hadn't expected Eto to come over and greet him herself.

Amahane Byakuya nodded to Eto in acknowledgment.

Ken Kaneki had never seen Sen Takatsuki before, so he had no idea that the cute girl standing in front of Amahane Byakuya was Teacher Takatsuki herself.

Of course, she only looked like a cute young girl. She was actually twenty-four.

Eto didn't say much else to Amahane Byakuya. After a brief greeting, she went inside to get ready to meet her fans.

"Was that girl a friend of yours? Or a classmate?"

Rize Kamishiro asked.

"Neither. That was Teacher Takatsuki. I happened to run into her once before."

Amahane Byakuya explained.

"Really? She's Sen Takatsuki?"

Rize Kamishiro was immediately surprised.

She was nothing like the Sen Takatsuki Rize had imagined.

Rize had assumed someone who could write those works would be a middle-aged man or woman with plenty of life experience, not such a petite young girl.

"Huh?! Amahane, you're saying that was Teacher Takatsuki?"

Ken Kaneki was even more surprised.

"Yeah. You'll see her again inside in a bit."

Amahane Byakuya nodded.

Sure enough, a little while later, Ken Kaneki saw Sen Takatsuki sitting there meeting her fans. She was the very girl who had greeted Amahane earlier.

The line was quite long, and they had to wait their turn to meet Sen Takatsuki. That was how fan meets worked.

While waiting, though, they could pick up a book nearby to read. Plenty of Sen Takatsuki's works were displayed around them.

When Ken Kaneki's turn came, he chatted with Eto about his impressions of her works. Beyond that, he was too shy to discuss much else with a girl he didn't know.

After Ken Kaneki, it was Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro's turn.

They sat down together in front of Eto.

"We meet again, young man."

Eto smiled at Amahane Byakuya.

Her long hair hung loose, its somewhat untidy appearance apparently natural. She had probably been running late and rushed over without doing much to tidy herself up.

"Yeah, we meet again."

Amahane Byakuya replied casually.

"And you've brought such a pretty girl with you today."

Eto spoke in a teasing tone.

To be honest, she had been a little surprised when she ran into Amahane Byakuya earlier, especially to see him here with Rize Kamishiro.

She still remembered when this human boy had confessed his feelings to Rize Kamishiro days ago. Back then, she had thought he was done for.

Yet everything that happened afterward had surprised her more and more.

"You're too kind. You're very pretty yourself, Teacher Takatsuki."

Rize Kamishiro smiled.

Both Rize Kamishiro and Eto wore smiles, and the atmosphere seemed perfectly friendly.

Rize Kamishiro didn't know Eto's true identity, but Eto knew where Rize Kamishiro came from.

"By the way, what are your names?"

Eto asked Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro.

"Amahane Byakuya."

"Rize Kamishiro."

The two answered.

Eto already knew their names anyway.

"All right, I'll remember them."

Eto continued, "Would you like my autograph, then? Or is there something else you'd like?"

"Just sign my book, please."

Amahane Byakuya took out a book he had brought with him.

Eto promptly signed her pen name-Sen Takatsuki-on its cover.

Afterward, Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro chatted with Eto a little more about her works before getting up to leave.

As Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro walked away, Eto rested her chin on her hand and watched them with a meaningful look in her eyes.

She noticed that Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro seemed quite close.

By all rights, Rize Kamishiro should have eaten this human boy long ago. Not only had she not done so, but they now seemed to be getting along rather well.

What exactly had happened between them? She couldn't help feeling curious.

Then it was time for Eto to meet her next fan.

After leaving the fan meet venue, Ken Kaneki planned to head straight home.

So he parted ways with Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro along the way.

Ken Kaneki was in a great mood that day. He had gotten Teacher Takatsuki's autograph and had a lovely chat with her about his impressions of her works.

"Sen Takatsuki feels very different from what I imagined."

On the way back, Rize Kamishiro brought up "Sen Takatsuki" with Amahane Byakuya.

"That's normal. But didn't you notice anything unusual about her?"

Amahane Byakuya asked.

"No. Why do you ask? Could she be...?"

Rize Kamishiro caught on quickly.

If Amahane Byakuya was saying something like that, there was probably something off about Sen Takatsuki.

"She's actually a ghoul."

Amahane Byakuya said it plainly.

"A ghoul... So that's it. I didn't notice at all."

Rize Kamishiro was a little surprised.

That was actually because Eto was a natural-born half-ghoul, making her scent far harder to distinguish than an ordinary ghoul's.

On top of that, Rize Kamishiro hadn't gotten particularly close to Eto earlier. Even with her keen sense of smell, she hadn't picked up any strange scent on her.

"It's probably because she's spent so long living among humans that their scent has mingled with hers."

For now, Amahane Byakuya had no intention of telling Rize Kamishiro about Eto's true identity.

After all, he had no plausible reason to know the secret that Eto was a natural-born half-ghoul.

"To think such a famous author is actually a ghoul."

Rize Kamishiro sighed softly.

Still, she could now better understand why "Sen Takatsuki" could write works like those. They were probably inseparable from her past experiences.

Most ghouls had rough childhoods, as though being born into this world as a ghoul was itself a mistake.

In truth, few ghouls had a past as tragic as Eto's...

P.S. I've also realized that the pacing of this book has been a little slow so far. I'll adjust it a bit going forward and write more combat scenes. Too much slice-of-life content isn't good either.