Chapter 95: Big Sister Kurenai's Beautiful Charm
In reality, this scene was beyond Akiyama Makoto's own expectations.
He was only pretending to be unconscious; Kurenai's gentle neck chop wasn't nearly enough to knock out someone who had already achieved mastery in taijutsu training.
He had guessed that Kurenai most likely wouldn't send him to the Konoha Hospital, as that would only ignite a huge scandal. But he hadn't expected her to personally step up to save him. In his original prediction, she would have forced Anko to do it. Even if he had pretended to be terrified, Kurenai could have just knocked him out—which she did end up doing, but the overall sequence had a minor deviation.
The reason for this deviation was Kurenai's kindness.
This kindness also caused the resentment in his heart to dissipate. At least in reality, while helping Anko clean up her mess, Kurenai hadn't completely ignored his wishes or sided entirely with Anko.
Of course, it was also possible that the "battle scene" between him and Anko had been so tragic that it had stirred Kurenai's sympathy for the weak.
Next, he wanted to see how she would handle this. As long as she was objective and fair, he wouldn't hold a grudge against her. After all, Kurenai had already given him her "pheromones," and would now be holding him for several hours. These were all unexpected joys for him.
The sun rose higher and higher. In the blink of an eye, it was ten in the morning.
Makoto controlled his body temperature, letting it slowly return to normal, and a fine sweat broke out on his forehead. He still didn't move, only tightening his hands around Kurenai. She immediately noticed this.
She lowered her head and whispered softly in his ear, "It's okay to cry if you need to. I'll stay right here until you feel better."
"As for Anko..."
Hearing Anko's name, he gave a cooperative shudder.
Kurenai quickly changed her tune. "We'll deal with this whenever you're ready to deal with it."
"No matter what you ask for, Anko will agree to it. I promise."
At the same time, Anko, having cleaned up everything and changed her clothes, was performing a dogeza outside Kurenai's bedroom door. Her mind was still foggy, and her heart was spinning in an abyss. She felt like her life was over.
Anko had even secretly decided that she would take a long-term mission and leave Konoha as soon as this was over. She would find some forgotten corner to hide in and live out the rest of her days, never to return to Konoha and become a laughingstock.
If Makoto could have heard her thoughts at this moment, he would have understood the reason for her disappearance in the simulation.
On his end, he felt that enough time had passed. Although he could continue to play the victim—even crying and wailing dramatically—and probably wouldn't be seen through in the short term, he didn't think Kurenai's patience was infinite. Besides, he still had many things to do, such as raising the girls' affection levels and training his Flying Thunder God Technique and its formulas.
So, it was time to put a temporary stop to this incident.
How should he do it?
He had already figured out the answer yesterday during his "sage mode." Now, he just needed to put it into action.
Makoto opened his eyes and met Kurenai's beautiful red ones.
At first, she was a little nervous, afraid that he would break down, or that his eyes would be dull and lifeless, a sign that he had lost the will to live. That would be the biggest trouble for both her and Anko.
But what she saw instead was a pair of calm, thoughtful eyes. He was shouldering a responsibility that did not belong to someone his age, forcing himself to stand up.
This made Kurenai think about the other information she had on him: he was an orphan, he had only recently achieved some success, and his life was just starting to look up. He also seemed to be on good terms with the girls from several major clans. A beautiful future had been laid out before him, and all of it had been shattered by Anko... At this thought, Kurenai felt her heart ache even more. She saw in him the struggling version of herself from a few years ago.
"Big Sister Kurenai..."
He spoke, his voice hoarse. "Is it okay if I call you that?"
"Of course," she replied quickly.
"I know this was an accident. No one wanted it to happen. So... let's sit down and talk about it at noon."
"Ah..." Kurenai stared at him, wide-eyed.
She had just realized he was about to shoulder a responsibility that wasn't his to bear, but to actually hear those words from his own mouth still left her deeply shocked. Although he had only said a few words, she felt a true manliness from him, something infinitely stronger than many of the aimless adults she knew.
"Is that not okay, Big Sister Kurenai?"
"It is!" she immediately gave an affirmative answer. She was worried he would regret his words and go after Anko for compensation. But out of concern for his mental state, she couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything you need me to prepare? For example... should I go and teach Anko a lesson for you first?"
"Or should I just use a sealing jutsu on her and let you take your revenge however you want?"
He shook his head. "No need."
Kurenai wanted to say more but held her tongue. She nodded, choosing to respect his decision.
She lifted the blanket off them and sat up. She was just about to tell him to rest well when her face suddenly flushed crimson. She had only been wearing her pajamas when she came downstairs in the morning. Now, after holding him for several hours, her pajamas were messy and loose, leaving her beautiful scenery completely exposed.
But he was still looking calmly at the ceiling, as if he hadn't noticed a thing.
This immediately calmed her own flustered state. She quickly tidied her pajamas, patted his head again, and said, "Rest well. I'll call you at noon."
"Mm. Thank you, Big Sister Kurenai."
That one, weak "Big Sister Kurenai" made her, who had just stood up, pause. A ripple like a spring breeze passed through her heart.
But when she opened the door and saw the pale-faced Anko, the warmth she felt from him instantly turned to rage.
She slapped Anko across the face, leaving five clear, red finger marks.
After landing the blow, Kurenai finally let out a turbid breath. Facing the silent and unmoving Anko, she said, "Come with me to the living room... He's alright, for now."
Back in the room, Makoto let out a quiet sigh of relief only after their footsteps had faded away.
The first half of this performance was now over. But the second half, an hour from now, would be the main event.
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