What should he do? About Nao...
Watching the handsome young man in front of him unwrap the bandages layer by layer, Chiba nearly had the urge to swallow. His heart pounded wildly, while his mind went blank.
Hirohiko had already awakened when they emerged from the primeval forest. Before he could ask anything, Chiba had told him about Yukina's situation and, without giving him any choice, demanded that he help reclaim her.
At the time, Hirohiko had not asked anything. He simply nodded in agreement and said nothing more, all the way until now.
He had managed to brush aside the two matters he had to face: "Nao's situation" and "Hirohiko's reaction."
But now, Yukina had been rescued safely. She did not even have a single injury. He no longer had any excuse to evade the matter of Nao.
There was no avoiding it.
Next, he would likely have to face the situation he feared most, the one he least wanted to face.
Hirohiko after losing Nao—and after personally killing the person most important to him! "Chiba, what happened? I remember Yukina and I joined Kakashi's team and were carrying out the Kannabi Bridge mission. How did Yukina get abducted? It seems like I was captured too... Where is this...? How are you here...?"
Just as Chiba forcefully suppressed the urge to swallow, Hirohiko spoke. The moment he did, a string of questions poured out.
Joined Kakashi's team and carried out the Kannabi Bridge mission?
How had they ended up here?
How had they been abducted?
Hearing that string of questions, Chiba froze. From the sound of it, the current Hirohiko did not seem to know what had happened. His memories appeared to remain at the point before he was captured.
He did not even know how he had been