Shiki, who had been drinking the whole time, no longer felt like staying there.
He rose to his feet, adjusted the kimono draped over his shoulders, then slid both hands back into his sleeves.
He took the bottle of sake with him, tucking it at his waist, but left his swords behind.
Then he stepped out of the house.
Moonlight spilled across his face, catching in his blond hair as it swayed softly in the night wind.
Konoha at night felt very different from the daytime. During the day, the village was lively and full of noise, but now it was strangely quiet.
Not that Shiki minded.
He walked for a while, looking for a decent place to sit and drink in peace.
Then he sensed someone standing atop the Hokage Rock.
Normally, he would not have cared.
But this chakra signature was familiar.
After a brief pause, he changed direction and headed there instead. It was a good place to sit, and he could also see what exactly she was doing.
Swoosh.
"So what now?" Shiki said flatly. "Why is everyone doing something stupid today?"
Rin Nohara, who had just closed her eyes and was ready to throw herself off the Hokage Rock, froze.
Her eyes snapped open.
She looked down in shock and found herself suspended in midair, unable to fall.
Startled, she turned her head.
A blond man was sitting casually on the edge of the Hokage Rock nearby, one knee raised, one arm resting over it, looking down at the sleeping village below.
Rin's voice trembled.
"S-Shiki-sama…!?"
Her body remained hanging in the air. No matter how much she struggled, she could not move.
Shiki did not look at her right away.
He simply took a slow sip from the bottle, his gaze still fixed on the village beneath them.
"…You picked a pretty high place for this."
Rin's body went cold at his nonchalant tone.
Her lips moved, but for a moment, nothing came out.
The night wind passed quietly between them.
"…Let me down," she said at last.
Shiki gave his answer without hesitation.
"No."
Rin's fingers curled tightly.
Tears began to gather in her eyes again.
"…Why?"
This time, Shiki finally answered while sounding faintly annoyed.
"Because you were about to jump."
He took another sip before adding, without the slightest mercy—
"And asking that now is just stupid."
That single sentence shattered the excuse she had been trying to cling to.
Her shoulders trembled.
"…It doesn't matter."
Seeing that Shiki didn't even spare her a glance only made her feel worse.
Like he had already seen through everything.
"…It should've been me."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Her voice came out unsteady.
"…I know now. I was the one they were after."
She laughed weakly, but there was no joy in it.
"…They were aiming for me. I know that now…"
"But Kakashi…"
Her breathing caught in her throat.
"He died instead."
Rin was not stupid.
During the mission, she had already felt it.
Shiki had been paying too much attention to her. Protecting her.
And afterward, she had heard enough to understand what had happened.
Obito was already dead.
And Kakashi…
Kakashi had died because the enemy changed targets.
Because Shiki had focused too much on keeping her alive.
Because she had been the one in danger.
Her lips trembled harder.
"…Why wasn't it me?"
Tears spilled down at last.
"…It should've been me."
The guilt she had been holding back finally burst out.
"If you hadn't focused on me so much…"
"If you hadn't been trying to protect me…"
"…they wouldn't have needed to switch targets…"
Her voice broke completely.
"…Kakashi wouldn't have…"
She bit down hard on her lip, enough to draw blood.
Then, in a shaking voice, she forced out the words she hated most.
"…I killed him."
At that, Shiki stopped drinking.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then he casually tossed the sake bottle off the Hokage Rock.
Rin flinched at the sound of it disappearing into the darkness below.
Only then did Shiki stand up.
With a flick of his will, Rin's suspended body moved through the air until she was right in front of him.
Now she had no way to avoid his gaze.
Shiki looked at her directly and said, voice low and deep—
"Don't be selfish, Rin."
A chill ran down Rin's spine, goosebumps rising across her skin as she met those glowing golden eyes.
"Even if everything happened exactly the way you think it did…"
His eyes remained fixed on her.
"Throwing your life away now won't make any of it mean something."
Rin's eyes widened slightly.
"It won't bring Kakashi back."
"It won't change Obito's death."
"And it sure as hell won't ease the pain of the people who are still here."
His voice stayed calm, but there was a weight behind it now.
"You're alive… because Kakashi gave his life for yours."
"And you want to spit on that by jumping off a cliff because it hurts too much to keep living?"
Rin's face turned pale.
"I-I'm not—"
"You are. Live long enough to figure it out. If you really feel guilty… then carry it—live with it, struggle with it. That's a lot harder than dying."
Shiki showed no mercy. In an instant, he sealed off every path of escape, leaving her nowhere to run.
They had gone that far for her sake, had done everything possible to keep her alive, and yet she still chose this. Worse, even without saying it directly, Shiki could hear it beneath the tremble in her voice.
That buried note of blame.
That quiet resentment she was desperately trying to hide.
Rin lowered her head, shoulders shaking.
As expected, under that much pressure, Rin finally snapped. Someone who no longer feared death was never going to care who stood in front of her.
"How can you stand there and talk so righteously, Shiki?! Didn't you say you would protect Kakashi?! Then why did you let him die?! Why?!"
From Shiki's point of view, her face looked undeniably ugly right now, twisted by tears, grief, and anger.
Slap!
Without the slightest hesitation or remorse, he struck her across the face.
The shout stopped instantly.
Rin's mind went blank for a moment as the sting spread across her cheek.
Then came his cold voice.
"Get out of my sight."
Shiki turned and started to leave, already done with this entire conversation.
But after only a few steps, he heard footsteps behind him.
His frown deepened.
Then her voice followed.
"I get it now... Shiki-sama..."
A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind, her face pressing tightly against his back.
"So that's what this was..."
Her voice was soft, but there was something broken in it, something bitter enough to make the words sound almost like mockery.
"Could it be that Shiki-sama did all that because he was interested in me? No wonder... you have so many women around you, so it would make sense if you wanted me too."
She held onto him tighter.
"I'm sorry if my words angered you... you did so much for me... so shouldn't I repay you instead?"
Whether that mockery was aimed at herself, at Shiki, or at the whole situation, even Rin herself probably no longer knew.
If someone had seen Shiki's face at that moment, they wouldn't have found the satisfaction Rin expected.
Only confusion.
And beneath that, suppressed anger.
Because Rin had misunderstood him so badly that the whole thing had become disgusting.
But that didn't last long. Rin's hand suddenly moved down, slipping beneath his kimono and straight to his dick, wrapping around it with trembling fingers. Calling it a full grab would've been inaccurate, since her hand couldn't even fully wrap around the thickness.
Before she could do anything more, before her trembling fingers could even begin to stroke it, Shiki grabbed her wrist.
Rin's body stiffened for a moment, then slowly relaxed, as if she had guessed right. As if this was what he wanted all along.
But then—
In her dazed, confused state, Shiki pulled her hand away from himself and swatted it aside.
"I'm not interested in you, Rin. So don't humiliate yourself any further."
Those words shattered the last bit of composure Rin had been forcing together.
Whatever she wanted to say died in her throat. In the end, she could only lower her head and cry.
As her tears finally broke through, the faint frown on Shiki's face slowly disappeared.
"Sigh…"
Bang!
The side of his hand struck Rin's neck, knocking her unconscious on the spot.
Without another word, Shiki caught her as she went limp and vanished from the Hokage Rock.
After leaving her beside Kushina—because he genuinely had no idea where Rin's house even was—he glanced once at Kushina's slightly drooling sleeping face, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Then he turned and walked back out.
For Shiki, today had to be one of the most troublesome days of his life since reincarnating.
"…Tch."
He clicked his tongue lightly, not even bothering to hide his irritation.
"…What a pain."
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