Early in the morning, Kushina woke up and suddenly clutched her head as the memories from the night before came crashing down on her.
Her expression shifted from shock, to shyness, to shame, to anger, and then relief.
In the end, it finally settled into annoyance.
"What a bastard. Good-for-nothing… Didn't I even take a swing at him for treating me like that…?"
Rustle.
The sudden sound beside her startled her, and she quickly turned around.
"Rin?"
The question made the drowsy Rin instantly sober up. She looked at Kushina's confused face, then immediately sprang upright.
"Kushina-san? Why are you here?"
"Huh? Shouldn't I be the one asking that, Rin-chan?" Kushina crossed her arms and looked at her suspiciously.
She really was wondering what Rin was doing in Shiki's house of all places…
Could it be…?
A dark thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
But then she shook her head and dismissed it.
"Although that guy is a brute, he wouldn't do something like that."
Kushina knew very well what kind of state she had been in last night. If Shiki really were that kind of person, then something would have already happened to her.
As for the possibility that he simply did not find her attractive, Kushina did not even consider it.
She was quite confident in her charm.
Meanwhile, Rin rubbed the back of her neck, frowning as she tried hard to remember what had happened.
If Kushina had not been right in front of her, Rin would have thought she had been kidnapped purely because of how badly her neck hurt.
Then, just like Kushina, the memories of last night's encounter with Shiki came flooding back into her mind, and her face instantly turned pale.
"What did I do…? Oh no…"
Rin muttered in despair, letting out a miserable sound, even forgetting for a moment that she had been ready to commit suicide yesterday.
All that remained now was undeniable shame…
Those shameless words she had said, and the things she had done…
The fact that she had even touched Shiki-sama there…
"Ahhhh!"
"W-What happened?"
Kushina was completely caught off guard by the sudden outburst. The current Rin was acting far too strangely.
Clack.
"Oh? So what's going on here? And where's Shiki?"
The sound of the door opening stopped Kushina, who had been about to question Rin further, and even cut off Rin's outburst.
Both of them turned toward the door, where a blonde woman stood holding breakfast in her hands, looking at them with suspicion and curiosity.
"I see…"
After a while, Yugito Nii nodded thoughtfully, then waved a hand and said, "You two can go now. When Shiki gets back, he doesn't like being disturbed while he's having breakfast."
Of course, that was a lie.
Yugito simply wanted these two women out of the way.
She had gotten up early in the morning, as always, just to make breakfast for Shiki.
And today, to her surprise, Kurenai had something to take care of and was not here…
Yugito had immediately thought this was the perfect opportunity to be alone with Shiki.
And Shiki had lost his newly accepted student. Even if he was not showing much on the surface, maybe he needed a little comfort?
Although that might have been a bit shameless—taking advantage of someone else's vulnerability—Yugito Nii knew one thing.
All was fair in love and war.
But seeing these two women here had completely ruined both her plan and her good mood, so there was no way she was going to let them stay and ruin her romantic breakfast.
"T-Then I'd better get going. Bye-bye, Kushina-san… Yugito Nii-san…"
Rin did not need to be told twice. Seeing such a perfect chance to escape this awkward place before Shiki came back was the best possible outcome for her.
So without even waiting for a reply, she decisively ran off.
'What's with her?'
Yugito wondered that, but did not dwell on it for long.
Her plan had worked. One obstacle was already gone.
Then she looked at the final obstacle, who was staring after Rin with a flustered, thoughtful, and somewhat concerned expression.
Yugito's eyes lit up, and she quickly put on a slight frown, speaking as if the thought had just occurred to her.
"That girl… it seems she had quite a unique night. Something must have happened to her. Did she spend the night here?"
Kushina nodded, then shook her head, clearly too distracted to explain properly.
Instead, she said to Yugito Nii before hurrying after Rin, "Then I'll get going too… and tell Shiki I'm not done with him."
Then she stopped mid-step, gritted her teeth, clenched her fist, and shook it in Yugito Nii's direction before storming off.
Clap, clap.
"Hmph. Easy."
Yugito clapped her hands together, then headed toward Shiki's room to set up breakfast before he returned.
After finishing his morning training—something unique to his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—Shiki came back a while later, just after the two had left.
The moment he stepped inside, he instantly noticed they were gone and merely shrugged, not caring much.
Yesterday's kindness had ended there.
If Rin still made the same stupid decision and tried to end her life again, then Shiki would simply stand by and watch her do it.
He was not a good person to begin with.
His kindness was limited, and he had no intention of stopping her again and again.
Opening the door to his room, he nodded at Yugito as if he had expected this much, then walked in, set his swords down, and sat to eat.
Yugito Nii did not mind his attitude at all.
If anything, she was happy, because it meant Shiki had long since grown used to her presence and no longer felt the need for pointless formalities with her.
"How is it?"
Seeing Shiki eating at his leisure, Yugito Nii finally asked from across the table, leaning forward slightly.
Since all of her attention was on Shiki, she did not notice how her ample chest was pressing against the edge of the table, as if she were presenting an entirely different kind of dish.
"It's good. You're improving day by day."
Shiki was not clueless. Of course he knew she wanted to hear praise, so he gave it to her.
And honestly, he was not lying.
Although he had no idea who Yugito had learned this strategy from, she was truly going all out. Sometimes, he could even see the faint marks on her fingertips.
'This girl…'
Shiki would be lying if he said he was not moved by such dedication.
What man would not gradually come to appreciate a woman who asked for nothing in return and did her best to make his heart race for her?
"Come here. Sit beside me."
Shiki patted the place next to him and spoke calmly.
"Huh?"
Yugito, who had been smiling happily from his praise and quietly celebrating the old advice she still remembered from before leaving the village—
To win a man's heart, you have to win his stomach first.
—was instantly stunned by his sudden words.
For a moment, she even wondered if she had heard him wrong.
"What, you don't want to? That's fine…"
Of course, Shiki could see her reaction too, but he still decided to tease the cute kitten a little.
Swoosh.
Before he could even finish speaking, he felt a gust of wind as Yugito was suddenly already sitting beside him, upright and stiff.
'I didn't hear wrong… Shiki really asked me to come closer…'
This was the first time Shiki had taken the initiative and asked her to sit beside him on his own.
Although it was a simple thing, to Yugito Nii, this was huge progress for her "make Shiki my husband" plan.
But her happiness did not stop there.
Suddenly, Shiki picked up some food and, instead of eating it himself, brought it to Yugito Nii's mouth.
Still sitting there stiffly and dazed, she instinctively opened her mouth and ate it.
Then she slowly chewed, almost mechanically.
Shiki nodded in satisfaction, then finished his own meal, stood up, and before leaving, patted her soft golden hair.
Then he left.
"..."
Yugito Nii remained sitting there in a daze.
After a while, her face turned visibly red, and steam practically seemed to rise from her head as a teasing voice echoed in her mind.
"Hahaha… he really treats you like his kitten. Aren't you happy, Yugito?"
"Shut up, Matatabi!!!"
"Hahaha!"
Yugito ignored the annoying Matatabi. Instead, the scene of Shiki feeding her and then stroking her hair kept replaying in her mind, and she could not help but giggle.
"Hehehe…"
"Tsk, tsk. You really are behaving like a cat now."
Matatabi's irritating voice shattered her daydreaming, making Yugito Nii click her tongue in annoyance.
"You're really annoying today, Matatabi. If you stayed silent for a while, I might think you died."
"Hey… that's so mean…"
On the other side, Shiki, after leaving his house, went straight to the Hokage's office.
The moment he opened the door, what came into view was Tsunade rubbing her temples with a troubled expression.
"Yo. Did you look into what I asked you about?"
Shiki smiled as he spoke, then casually sat down on a nearby sofa.
Shizune came over from the side with a cup of tea. He took it from her and gave her a smile.
Shizune smiled back happily, then stood quietly to the side.
"Tch, you've got some nerve…"
"Shiki, there's something I want from you… pretty please…"
At first, the veins on Tsunade's forehead nearly popped when she saw Shiki stroll into the office with that leisurely swagger and smiling face.
But then she quickly changed expressions, putting on an unnaturally sweet, gentle, spoiled look as she pleaded with him.
Shiki's smile widened even more.
He set the cup down and said without missing a beat, "As long as it's not you wanting to stop being Hokage, I'll do my best to make your wish come true."
"Tch. Smooth talker."
Tsunade clicked her tongue and grumbled, though there was a faint blush on her face.
'Shiki-sama is getting better and better at dealing with Lady Tsunade.'
From the side, Shizune watched their interaction and gave Shiki a look full of admiration.
"Here, look for yourself… I'm still surprised. And a little envious of your ability. If only I had it, I would've… ha… hahaha…"
Tsunade handed a stack of documents to Shizune, who then brought them over to Shiki.
Tsunade could not help but shake her head as she spoke.
If she could actually see into the future, she would have gone from gambling house to gambling house across the entire shinobi world and won to her heart's content.
And the reason she was thinking that now was simple.
Shiki had asked her to look into something involving Amegakure, and just as he had predicted, things really were moving in that direction.
Now it was only a matter of time before what Shiki had said came true.
Tsunade had never doubted him after that one time long ago, when the Third Great Ninja War had started exactly as he predicted.
Shiki flipped through the papers, then smiled.
After that, he handed them back to Shizune and leaned into the sofa, gazing out the window.
Now, he only had to wait for them to make their move.
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