As night deepened, Anteiku cast its last halo of warm yellow light, like a lantern wrapped in darkness.
A "Closed" sign hung on the glass door.
The streetlights came on, and pedestrians were few. The door opened gently, then locked with a click, and the whole street seemed to fall quiet.
Having just stepped out of Anteiku, Eto Yoshimura glanced back.
She had come both to honor her promise and to summon the courage to take this complicated step.
But everything seemed just as it had always been. Nothing had changed...
Her expression darkened. Holding a new book in her hands, she clenched her teeth, her fingers turning white against its cover.
Suddenly, movement in the distance forced her to rein in her emotions, and her tense shoulders gradually relaxed.
Under a streetlight, Irimi emerged from the darkness in a white dress. Even from afar, she noticed the person standing below the café.
Her sense of smell was keen too, but for a moment, she had trouble telling whether this person was a ghoul or a human.
Perhaps perfume was masking the scent. She was even harder to identify as a ghoul or human than Kaneki.
But Irimi recognized her.
"You're... that author, aren't you? It's late. They should already be closed..." Irimi glanced up at Anteiku, where the lights were still on. From the sounds inside, someone seemed to be putting away the dishes.
But why had the Manager suddenly called her back? She hadn't even had time to change.
It didn't look as though anything urgent had happened.
"How enviable..." While she was puzzling over it, the person before her suddenly spoke. Looking down, Irimi found the woman watching her with a strange look in her eyes.
"Hmm...?" Irimi looked at her in confusion.
"Why do people who