"Aiko!"
At that moment, little Mayu came back as well.
Though perhaps "little Mayu" was no longer an appropriate name, now that Mayu was already eighteen, she had fully grown into a graceful and mature young lady.
She had grown to about 165 centimeters in height, roughly the same as the current Suzuya Juuzou.
Her figure was also quite impressive, and Mayu, who loved beauty, had developed her own distinct sense of fashion and style.
"Mayu-nee!"
Little Aiko beamed with a joyful smile.
Usually, the ones who played with her most often were Mayu, Kirishima Touka, Juuzou, Kurona and Nashiro, as well as the other big brothers and sisters.
"So sweet~"
Mayu gently patted little Aiko on the head.
"Mayu, how have your and Juuzou's grades been lately?"
At this moment, Uchiha Byakuya asked Mayu.
"Juuzou's grades have always been pretty good. Mine are a little..."
Mayu gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
"Try your best anyway. You and Juuzou are about to take the uni entrance exams. Even if you don't get into some prestigious university, at least give it a solid effort."
Byakuya's tone held no criticism, rather, he spoke calmly and gently.
It was thanks to his encouragement that Mayu and Juuzou had even started attending school like ordinary children. Now both of them were already in their final year of high school, just a few months away from taking the university entrance exams.
However, Mayu usually spent more time and energy on her appearance and studying fashion magazines, learning how to style herself, and so on, so her academic performance wasn't exactly stellar.
Of course, academics weren't the only path in life. With Mayu's natural gift of dual kagune, she could shine brilliantly in the TSC without much effort.
But Byakuya still believed that Mayu and Juuzou, at such a youthful age, should be enjoying their youth to the fullest.
And since Mayu herself wasn't particularly interested in fighting and killing, perhaps the TSC wasn't a good path for her after all.
"Mm-hmm, I'll do my best! I'll have Juuzou tutor me!"
Mayu nodded with determination.
"Papa, where are Uncle Arima and Auntie Minami?"
At that moment, Uchiha Aiko suddenly asked.
Byakuya glanced at the time and said, "Them? They should be back soon."
Arima Kishou and Minami had, of course, long since gotten married and even had a daughter who was only a year younger than Aiko. Her name was Arima Mika.
Although she wasn't a natural-born half-ghoul, but rather a half-human, she had still inherited the best traits of both Arima Kishou and Minami, namely an exceptional intellect and outstanding physical abilities.
And since the Dragon's Toxin had resolved the life-span issue for half-humans, being one didn't have many drawbacks anymore.
After all, wasn't Arima himself a half-human? Yet his strength needed no further explanation.
And Mika's potential for growth could almost rival that of her father, Arima.
"You really like Mika-chan, huh?"
Eto Yoshimura said with a smile.
"Yeah!"
Aiko nodded seriously.
The reason she had just asked when Uncle Arima and Auntie Minami would be back was because she and Arima Mika were best friends. She was waiting eagerly for Mika to come play with her.
"Aiko is just too adorable. She suddenly reminds me of when Touka-chan was just a tiny kid, how cute she was back then."
Let me know when you're ready for the second half or need any revisions!
At that moment, Kirishima Hikari was sitting at the counter, resting his chin on one hand, and couldn't help but sigh.
"Touka is still really cute now."
Kirishima Arata said.
Next to Hikari, Kirishima Touka was wiping glasses. She had already grown into a graceful and beautiful young girl. Right now, she was attending Seisei High School.
On school days, she went to class as usual, and after school, she came to the coffee shop.
"Well, I can't possibly stay a little kid forever, can I?"
Touka said with slight exasperation.
"Hahaha, I was just joking."
Hikari chuckled lightly.
"Speaking of which, Kaneki-kun has already gotten into Kamii University. You've got to work hard too, Touka, or else if Kaneki-kun meets a really amazing girl at school, he might get snatched away by someone else."
At that moment, Hikari teased her.
The "Kaneki-kun" she mentioned, of course, was Kaneki Ken.
"I know..."
Touka responded, feeling a little down.
Because, just like Mayu, her academic performance was also rather average.
Getting into the same Kamii University as Kaneki Ken wasn't going to be easy.
Come to think of it, she hadn't really noticed before but Kaneki's grades were actually that good?
Not long after, Arima and Minami also returned. They were holding Mika's hand, bringing the little Mika along with them.
Mika's facial features resembled Minami more, though she also had traces of Arima in her face. Wearing braided pigtails, she was a very pretty and adorable girl.
Her personality was quite similar to Arima, maybe it was genetic, maybe she was imitating her father, or perhaps it was a bit of both.
She almost never showed expression on her face, except when she was with her mom and dad or playing with Aiko, then she would occasionally reveal a happy smile.
Soon after, Aiko and Mika held hands and went off to play on their own.