Hinata's hands were trembling, but she still pulled back the cloth.
Inside were several rice balls. They were carefully made; each one was wrapped in seaweed and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
"I... I made them..."
Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Nobunaga-kun hasn't eaten dinner... so..."
Mei Terumī looked at the rice balls.
She looked at them for a long time.
Then she raised her head and looked at Nobunaga.
Mei Terumī looked at those rice balls for a long time.
Then she raised her head and looked at Nobunaga.
In those emerald eyes, that fire burned even brighter than before. Yet her face still wore a smile, a very sweet one.
"Nobunaga," she said, "were these made for you?"
Nobunaga didn't say a word.
Mei Terumī lowered her head and looked at Hinata again.
Hinata's hands were still trembling, but she didn't run. She just stood there, looking up at Mei Terumī.
There was fear in those white eyes, but there was also something else.
It was stubbornness—the stubbornness of not wanting to shrink away in front of him.
"Your name is Hinata, right?" Mei Terumī asked.
Hinata nodded.
"The eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan."
Hinata nodded again.
Mei Terumī smiled. That smile was even sweeter than before, so sweet it made one's skin crawl.
"How nice. A good status, a good appearance, and you even know how to cook."
She reached out, took a rice ball from the basket, and held it before her eyes to examine it.
"Carefully made. Every single one was made with great care."
Mei Terumī took a bite.
She chewed.
Then she nodded.
"The taste isn't bad either."
Hinata stood there dazed, not knowing what to say.
Mei Terumī put the remaining rice ball back in the basket and brushed the grains of rice off her hands.
"Nobunaga, you've raised her well."
Nobunaga finally spoke.
"I didn't raise her."
Mei Terumī turned to look at him.
"Then why is she bringing you food in the middle of the night?"
Nobunaga remained silent.
Mei Terumī looked back at Hinata.
"Do you like him?"
Hinata's face turned completely red in an instant. It was so red it almost seemed to smoke. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
But she didn't deny it.
Watching her reaction, Mei Terumī's smile grew even sweeter.
"To what extent do you like him? Are you willing to die for him?"
Hinata was taken aback.
Mei Terumī took a step forward, drawing closer. Those emerald eyes were right in front of her, like two bottomless pools.
"I'm asking you, are you willing to die for him?"
Hinata's hands tightened. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the basket's handle.
Her voice was shaking, but she spoke.
"I am."
Mei Terumī's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What did you say?"
Hinata looked up at her. There was fear in those white eyes, but beneath that fear, something was burning.
It was a different kind of burn than Mei Terumī's—not as fierce, but very persistent.
"I am willing,"
She said, "Nobunaga-kun saved me. He helped me. He... he is a good person."
Mei Terumī was stunned for a moment.
Then she laughed.
This laugh was different from before. It wasn't that sickeningly sweet smile; she truly laughed.
It carried a hint of helplessness and an indescribable sentiment.
"A good person," she repeated. "Did he say he was a good person?"
Mei Terumī glanced back at Nobunaga.
"Nobunaga, are you a good person?"
Nobunaga didn't speak, but he knew that the personality of the Mei Terumī before him was completely different from the one in his previous dreams.
The little girl who had once unconditionally trusted him had undergone a massive change within her love and hatred for him.
Paranoia? Yandere? Or perhaps madness?
Mei Terumī looked back at Hinata.
"Little girl, do you know what he has done?"
Hinata looked at her.
Mei Terumī's voice was very soft: "He has lied. He lied for many years. He deceived someone's feelings for almost their entire life.
"When that person trusted him most, when she thought she could finally be happy, he destroyed it all with his own hands."
Hinata's eyelashes fluttered.
Mei Terumī continued: "To this day, that person doesn't know which of the things he said were true and which were lies. She doesn't even know if he ever truly liked her."
Hinata was silent for a while.
Then she spoke.
"And what about you?"
Mei Terumī was taken aback.
"Do you like him?"
Mei Terumī didn't speak.
Hinata looked at her, light flickering in those white eyes.
"The person you were just talking about... it's you, isn't it?"
Mei Terumī's eyes narrowed.
Hinata continued: "If you hate him, why don't you kill him? If you don't want to kill him, why did you come looking for him?"
Mei Terumī was silent for three seconds.
Then she laughed.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
In the next second, Mei Terumī turned around and walked back to Nobunaga's side.
She reached out and grabbed his collar, dragging him in front of her.
"Nobunaga. Did you hear that? This little girl is willing to die for you."
Nobunaga looked at her.
Mei Terumī leaned close to his ear, her voice as soft as if she were coaxing a child.
"Tell me, should I grant her wish?"
Her breath brushed against the side of Nobunaga's ear, carrying a hint of warmth along with that damp, cold fragrance unique to the Hidden Mist Village.
Though they were threatening words, she spoke them as if she were acting spoiled.
But Nobunaga knew she wasn't acting spoiled.
It was a blade.
A blade hanging over Hinata's head.
And a blade hanging over his own heart.
She was waiting. Waiting for him to panic, waiting for him to bow his head, waiting for him to beg her.
Waiting for him to say 'don't hurt her' with his own mouth, so she could smile even sweeter and say,'So you actually do care after all.'
That way, she would win.
Nobunaga's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he smiled.
It was faint, with almost no curve, but Mei Terumī saw it.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked.
Moonlight shone through the window, falling on his face. Those eyes appeared exceptionally deep and exceptionally calm in the dim light.
"Mei Terumī," Nobunaga spoke.
His voice was very calm. So calm it didn't sound like someone who had been grabbed by the collar.
"Do you know what I was just thinking?"
Mei Terumī's brow arched.
"Thinking what?"
"Thinking about when you would finally realize—"
Nobunaga's eyes suddenly snapped wide open.
"You've already lost."
The Mangekyo Sharingan activated instantly, its six-pointed star pattern clearly visible under the moonlight, and the pupil of his right eye suddenly contracted.
Tsukuyomi.
Mei Terumī only felt her vision go dark.
In the next second, she was standing upon a field of ruins.
The Hidden Mist Village.
No. It was the ruins of the Hidden Mist Village.
Broken walls and debris lay scattered about, and charred wood was still emitting wisps of smoke.
The sky was a murky gray, as if covered by a layer of old, unwashable gauze.
But those layers were falling down.
It wasn't mist. It was ash. Ash falling after a fire.
Mei Terumī's breath hitched.
She took a step forward.
Her foot stepped on something soft. She looked down.
Ao.
Ao lay on the ground, his eyes wide open, staring at the sky.
His lips were slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something, but there was a sword wound on his chest, and the blood had already dried into a dark red mass.