This was...
Numbers?
Chiba stared blankly at the white sheet in his hand.
At that moment, several code symbols were clearly written on the paper. Chiba recognized them—they were among the coded messages on the letter Hyuga Shinsuke had left for him and Hyuga Yukyō.
If Chiba remembered correctly, these symbols represented numbers.
And he could remember exactly which numbers they were.
After Hyuga Yukyō had deciphered the codes, Chiba had inadvertently memorized quite a few of their corresponding meanings.
He was quite certain about that.
But what did these numbers represent? Could what Hyuga Shinsuke left me really just be a string of numbers? No, six numbers. There are symbols separating them in the middle—does that mean they are divided into two groups of three?
Hmm...
Another puzzle? Once he confirmed they were numbers, a bitter thought rose in Chiba's heart.
Was Hyuga Yukyō's one a puzzle too? Was that why he had those heavy dark circles under his eyes? Then, he thought of the puzzle on Hyuga Yukyō's side.
Tch! What the hell was Hyuga Shinsuke thinking? Couldn't he just say it plainly? Irritation welled up inside him.
Originally, his curiosity about Hyuga Shinsuke's last words had only stemmed from wanting to know what arrangements Hyuga Shinsuke had made for Yukina after his death—or, rather, in the event that his plans failed—that would allow her to live a better life.
Everything else was secondary. Chiba himself had never been particularly interested in these last words.
And his cooperation with Hyuga Yukyō had also been for Yukina's sake.
But Yukina's matter had now been resolved. In a sense, she was free. Though she still bore the Hyuga name, she was no longer bound by the Hyuga Clan's main and branch family system. There was nothing left to worry about.