The next day was the first day of Huiqi's leave.
Everyone at the CCG in Ward 20 came to work as usual. Akira Mado arrived at the office early, glanced at Huiqi's empty seat, and began tidying up, throwing away some useless trash.
As she cleaned, she muttered that Huiqi was slacking off again, abusing his authority as a Special Class Investigator to arrive late and leave early.
Time passed, and five o'clock gradually became seven. By then, many Ghoul Investigators had arrived and begun another day's work. Even Juuzou Suzuya managed to arrive before eight, but Huiqi was still nowhere to be seen.
Every so often, a knock sounded at the door. Akira Mado always looked over instinctively, wondering whether Huiqi had finally arrived.
But the greater her hopes, the greater her disappointment. Huiqi had vanished without warning.
"Isn't Huiqi coming today?"
Her archrival, Seidou Takizawa, noticed this too and approached Akira Mado to ask.
"No."
Over the next few hours, Kōtarō Amon, Kureo Mado, Hideyoshi Nagachika, and others all came to ask. Akira Mado shook her head every time.
It was the lunch break.
Everyone gathered to chat about Ken Kaneki, a topic Hideyoshi Nagachika had brought up.
Akira Mado had no desire to speak. She merely sat there to make an appearance, staring blankly at Huiqi's seat.
"Huiqi's taken leave... um... a relative passed away... about seven days." Seidou Takizawa read the message on his phone word by word.
"Family? A relative? Seven days?" Akira Mado looked at the message on his phone. That meant Huiqi had already notified his superiors yesterday.
"Seven days... it must have been someone important to him."
Hideyoshi Nagachika spoke solemnly.
"It might have been an immediate family member. But we don't know where he lives, so we can't visit."
"All right,