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"Splash!"
Water splashed everywhere.
Pebbles casually thrown skipped across the river in a continuous series of splashes, flying from one side to the other, finally hitting a tree trunk squarely.
"Kiri?"
Uchiha Megumi seemed to sense a slight abnormality in the young man beside her and turned to look in his direction.
Then, she saw Sawara Kiri clap his hands as if nothing had happened, smiling easily as he said,
"It's nothing."
"Just felt like letting off some steam suddenly."
"Sorry, were you bored waiting?"
"Mm-hmm."
Uchiha Megumi shook her head, her hands clasped behind her back, her high ponytail swaying slightly with her movements.
She just quietly watched his profile.
Even though they had known each other for a long time, Uchiha Megumi realized that she seemed to have had very few opportunities to be alone with Sawara Kiri since their time at the Ninja Academy.
And she didn't know as much about him as she had imagined.
The girl thought, then took a step, following closely beside the young man, and said in a joking tone,
"I never thought that the good-tempered Kiri-kun would get so angry for the first time, and it would be in front of Hokage-sama."
"Honestly, I was so scared my jaw almost dropped."
"I was so scared my legs went soft," Sawara Kiri chuckled self-deprecatingly, not minding at all. "At first, I was just speaking up for the child from the old neighborhood, and by the time I reacted, everything that needed to be said had already been said."
"Indeed, after all, there's that past."
Uchiha Megumi turned to look at him, as if recalling their time at the Ninja Academy: "When I saw Kiri-kun's lunch was always plum rice balls every day, I felt something was off. I didn't expect the actual situation to be so difficult."
"It was even more difficult than you imagine, Megumi."
"Old clothes and old shoes were donated by the street. We used cheap soapberry powder to wash clothes. Occasionally, we'd buy some vegetables for dinner, and meat was only for New Year's," Sawara Kiri counted on his fingers, recounting the situation from back then with familiarity.
"This was still quite good, after all, we were meticulously budgeting every day."
"Thankfully, we finally made it to graduation."
Uchiha Megumi pursed her lips, walking slowly.
Just listening to him describe his childhood living conditions, she could imagine how tough such a life was for a child with a burden.
"No wonder..."
"Kiri has always been very strong, even from back then."
"Have I?" Sawara Kiri seemed a little surprised.
"Of course, I've always paid attention to your matters," Uchiha Megumi said with a touch of pride. "When we were at the Ninja Academy, you would secretly go to the training ground by the Sanbonki River to train after school every day, right? The next day in class, even the bandages on your hands were torn."
"And when we first graduated and formed a team, too, when we first fought other Ninja, Kiri was the first to react, right?"
The girl also recounted his affairs in detail: "At that time, I was so scared I was almost crying. We had just started fighting, and Teacher Megure, who was leading our team, had such a big gash on his shoulder."
"If Kiri hadn't rushed in front of me, I really thought I was going to die."
"And after every mission, I never saw you squander money; you only cared a lot about Ninja tools."
Sawara Kiri listened quietly.
The young man and woman walked slowly in the faint morning light of dawn.
In Sawara Kiri's peripheral vision, the pale white halo above the girl's head became increasingly clear.
「Sawara's Book of Friends」
「Uchiha Megumi's Heart Knot」
「I want Kiri to understand my feelings more.」
This was the second shallow heart knot Sawara Kiri had encountered.
Young love, a girl's feelings.
It was actually very easy to understand; in fact, even during his time at the Ninja Academy, Sawara Kiri had rejected two or three girls.
Being good-looking was, after all, a great advantage.
However, what Sawara Kiri was concerned about now was not this point.
Currently, his Limitless Void had reached the "Second Stage," and to advance further, he needed to consume at least two heart knot points.
But until now, in Sawara Kiri's vision, only Yuki and Megumi, who possessed "heart knots," had appeared.
During the time he was luring Kira and others, he had been thinking about how to extract as many heart knot points as possible from them.
It wasn't until the end that he noticed the words 'shallow' in "Shallow Heart Knot."
Since there were shallow heart knots, then presumably there should also be modifiers like medium, deep, and super deep, right?
So, how to turn a shallow heart knot into a medium one became a problem Sawara Kiri had to consider.
Just like Miss Megumi's wish.
「Understand a girl's feelings」
For an entire relationship, this was just the beginning.
However, how could Miss Megumi develop an even stronger desire after this stage of "understanding feelings"?
A deeper heart knot?
Suddenly, Sawara Kiri seemed to think of something and spoke as if inadvertently:
"Megumi..."
"You've been very concerned about my matters since long ago."
"..."
Uchiha Megumi's words abruptly stopped.
It was only at this moment that she realized she had revealed a little too much today.
"Ah, I'm sorry!"
The girl turned her face slightly, smoothing the long hair at her temples behind her ear, accidentally revealing her fair, rosy ear. Her originally smooth tone suddenly became unnatural.
Her usually cool voice, when spoken from her dry throat, sounded a little hoarse, yet she still seemed to be trying very hard to explain something:
"Actually, what I mean is..."
However, Sawara Kiri's voice suddenly rang out from a very close distance, interrupting her explanation.
Even his warm breath was gently exhaled onto the girl's increasingly hot earlobe.
"Megumi's feelings, I know all of them."
Almost the instant the voice sounded, after a chaotic translation in her brain, Uchiha Megumi's steps abruptly halted.
She didn't dare to look up into Sawara Kiri's eyes, only lowered her head to look at his shoes and the toes peeking out from his Ninja shoes.
Unconsciously, her heart rate accelerated, but her mind was blank.
The impulses constantly erupting from her heart made her almost instinctively want to pour out all her youthful feelings.
However, before she could utter the words, she heard an extremely sharp and abrupt transition word.
"But..."
Just one word made Uchiha Megumi's body completely stiffen.
The girl's body temperature, which had been rising the second before, turned into a flushed face and earlobes, cooling down rapidly as if covered in ice. The permanent silence after the brief transition word, which made one feel as if they had turned to stone, caused Uchiha Megumi's rapidly beating heart to involuntarily skip a beat.
And then slowed, slowed...
Until, a chilling stillness.
Confused thoughts instantly filled her entire brain, rendering her speechless.
What exactly did this mean?
A re-rejection?
Was her first love, which hadn't even begun, going to end like this?
He was the first boy she had ever liked, the first person she wanted to confess to. Two happy things coincided. And these two joys brought her even more joy. What she should have gotten was a time as blissful as a dream. But why did it turn out like this?
Uchiha Megumi's Sharingan spun rapidly, and faintly, even the third tomoe could be seen flickering.
Gloomy Chakra seemed to overflow from the girl's body.
Until.
Sawara Kiri suddenly took her hand.
Uchiha Megumi was startled, slowly raising her head to meet his curved, clear blue eyes.
Kiri's voice was clear and bright:
"I'm very happy."
"Thump!"
At that moment, her heart began to beat, and the sunlight gained warmth.
Miss Megumi's black and white world suddenly turned into a vibrant array of colors, and everything became clear.
The previous gloomy emotions were completely dispelled in an instant.
--Poor Miss Megumi, being played in the palm of a scumbag's hand.
However, the girl still retained some rationality.
Did he agree or not?
She instinctively thought of this question.
"Kiri?"
The girl seemed to want to ask something more.
But Sawara Kiri glanced at the courtyard not far in front of them, where a solitary, small figure stood at the entrance, staring intently in their direction.
The young man seemed to sigh helplessly, then smiled gently as usual: "Sorry, let's talk about the rest tomorrow."
"That child, Yuki, seems to have been up all night."
"Oh, by the way, if you have time tomorrow night, do you want to go for yakiniku? My treat."
The abruptly interrupted question was suddenly bitten off in her mouth.
But Sawara Kiri's sudden change of topic rekindled hope in the girl's heart.
Uchiha Megumi first glanced in Sawara Yuki's direction, then immediately nodded vigorously.
"Go!"
Seeing her looking a little happy and a little annoyed, Sawara Kiri said with a chuckle,
"Then, see you tomorrow?"
Meeting Sawara Kiri's gentle smile, Uchiha Megumi, despite feeling a bit strange, still put on a soft smile and waved at him.
However, as the girl watched Sawara Kiri's receding back, her feelings were inexplicably complex.
She just felt like something wasn't quite right.
Given the situation just now, it should count as a confession, right?
And, if the answer was 'very happy'...
He should have agreed, right?
But why did it still feel strange?
At the same time.
Sawara Kiri turned around, his expression already calm.
On the panel in front of him.
「Uchiha Megumi's Shallow Heart Knot (Completed)」
「Heart Knot Points + 1」
「Sawara's Book of Friends: Character 'Uchiha Megumi' added」
「Bond Level Up ↑」
「Uchiha Megumi Bond Level: Three → Four」
However, in addition to this regular heart knot completion prompt, a new blue prompt appeared at the bottom of the panel.
「Medium Heart Knot (Not Activated)」
The moment he saw this prompt, Sawara Kiri's heart trembled.
Indeed! It had to be a push and pull.
As for dating?
Why date when you're playing a double agent? Just watch him string them along, that's it.
At this moment, Mr. Sawara was completely unaware of the dire consequences he would face in the future.
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