Judging by Minami's reaction, it was obvious Eto had hit the mark.
She hadn't expected her offhand comment to be so accurate — but at the same time, she wasn't really surprised. Minami and Arima had been practically glued to each other lately. Given how close they'd become, it wasn't strange at all to assume they were living together.
"So it was true" Eto said with a knowing smile.
"She said she gets scared living alone, so I moved in with her" Arima said with a completely straight face.
"S-stop it, Arima!" Minami stammered, her face turning bright red.
Eto smirked. "You're just worried because you like her, right?"
Arima, as calm and expressionless as ever, nodded. "That's correct."
Minami, who had been burying her face in her hands out of embarrassment, froze when she heard that. Her face was still burning red, but now she looked more shocked than flustered.
"Arima..."
In that moment, Minami felt overwhelmed with joy and disbelief.
"Did he really just confess to liking me?"
"Oho~" Eto let out a teasing gasp. "He admitted it just like that, and you're still blushing, Minami?"
Byakuya chuckled too. "That's Arima for you. Always straightforward, even about things like this."
"To me, it's just a matter of yes or no. There's nothing shameful about honesty" Arima replied calmly.
"Well then," Eto grinned. "Shouldn't you two start thinking about when to get married?"
"Ehh?!" Minami snapped back to her senses, completely caught off guard.
"M-marriage... that's a bit too soon..." she murmured, voice trailing off into a whisper.
"Oh come on, you're both of age" Eto said casually.
"Just remember to invite us when the time comes. Byakuya and I will make sure to throw you a great celebration."
Minami was a ghoul, and Arima a half-human. Neither of them had to worry about legal age restrictions — there was no actual law that applied to their circumstances.
"O-okay..." Minami replied in a small voice, not even trying to make an excuse.
After that conversation, Minami couldn't concentrate at all. Her mind kept drifting back to Arima, their relationship... and maybe even the idea of marriage.
Then, almost as if pulled by instinct, she leaned over and whispered in Arima's ear,
"Hey... why don't we start dating?"
She had said earlier that it was too soon to think about marriage, but the truth was, they hadn't even started dating yet. Eto's teasing had stirred something inside her, made her actually consider it.
And after Arima's sudden confession, this felt like the right moment.
Still, Minami felt nervous.
"What if he thinks it's too soon? What if he says no...?"
"Sure" Arima answered immediately, without hesitation.
Minami blinked in surprise. Wait... it's that easy?
It all felt surreal. Just months ago, she was a ghoul, and he was a top investigator trained to hunt her kind. Now they were dating.
"What is it?" Arima asked, noticing her dazed expression.
"It's nothing... I think I'm just really happy" she replied with a glowing smile.
"That's great to hear. Took you long enough!" Eto said, clearly having overheard the entire exchange.
Honestly, the fact that Minami and Arima had already been living together but weren't dating was the stranger part of the situation.
"Hey. Eto" Rika said suddenly, "you and Byakuya must've started dating a long time ago, right?"
"Yup" Eto replied with a bright smile.
"We're actually engaged now. Just trying to decide when to get married."
In truth, she and Byakuya hadn't officially started dating.
They never really said it out loud. But after living together for so long, their relationship had already evolved into something like an old married couple. They both understood each other deeply—there was no need for formalities.
"Wow... that's amazing" Minami said with admiration.
"So, Byakuya" Eto said suddenly, turning to him. "When are we getting married?"
It almost sounded like she was putting him on the spot.
"Uh... I haven't really figured that out yet..." Byakuya replied, smiling awkwardly.
"What do you mean you haven't figured it out? That's not fair" Eto said with a playful but slightly dangerous grin.
"I'll think about it. Seriously. Soon," Byakuya said, trying to defuse the situation.
He hadn't expected Eto to suddenly bring up marriage so directly. It was true that they could get married now—but he hadn't mentally prepared for it yet.
"Then when the time comes, Arima and I are attending your wedding too!" Minami chimed in happily.
"You're absolutely invited" Eto said warmly.
After that, they got back to what they originally came to do—study.
Whenever Eto ran into something she didn't understand, she asked Byakuya, and he would explain it to her thoroughly. It helped him brush up on the material as well.
Together, they were a pretty efficient team.
But even while studying, Byakuya's mind had started to drift.
Eto had brought up something serious—something he hadn't really thought about before. Now he had to.
He eventually decided: After the exams.
They were in the middle of preparing for university, and this wasn't the time to get distracted. But once the exams were over, it'd be the perfect opportunity to celebrate both achievements.
And of course, he'd have to let his future father-in-law, Yoshimura, know first.