"Yukina..."
Ignoring the two Hyuga Clan boys beside him who were rolling on the ground and wailing with their limbs broken, as well as the growing chaos around them that had already alerted some hidden sentries, he slowly walked up to the girl. He dropped to one knee, his eyes fixed on the girl kneeling before him in a grass-green cloak, as though searching for something in her gaze—or denying what he suspected.
"Are you really... really Chiba?"
At the boy's words, the girl's snowy white, crystalline eyes widened slightly. Her entire body nearly began to tremble, and her hands slowly rose, shaking.
Really... really...
But why? How had this happened? What had happened to make Yukina like this?
At that moment, looking into the girl's eyes, the boy seemed to finally confirm something. His expression darkened at once. Seeing her trembling hands rise, he instinctively leaned down and brought his face close to those hands, covered in dust and even faint traces of blood.
"Hmph..."
As his face drew near, pain flared in her hands, along with the smooth sensation of his skin. The girl frowned slightly and let out a soft grunt.
Then her face flushed red.
If... if he really is Chiba... then I... I...
At that moment, her heartbeat quickened sharply of its own accord. A crimson blush flashed across her face, which was already beginning to burn.
W-what should I do? For a moment, her mind went blank, too muddled by palpitations and shyness to think.
Her hands! At the same time, feeling the roughness of tiny grains of sand on her hands and the coldness of her fingers, the boy's brows drew together sharply. Yet he pressed his lips together, forcibly suppressing the doubts filling his heart, as well as the anger that had