"Yukina..."
Watching the place where Minato Namikaze had vanished, Chiba seemed to sink into thought, with a trace of melancholy on his face. After standing there for a while, he slowly turned around and looked at the girl staring blankly at him.
Yukina...
Yet that call brought a stifling feeling to his chest.
At this moment, two tear tracks were still visible on Yukina's cheeks. It was the first time he had seen this strong, proud girl cry. One could only imagine what she had gone through while he was unconscious.
And what heartbreak she had endured inside.
Chiba knew Yukina very well. It was precisely because he knew how strong and proud this girl was that his chest felt so constricted now.
This girl had suffered a drastic change in her life and had been ostracized by her own family, yet she had never shown the slightest fear or retreat. She had simply lived on strongly and faced it all bravely.
Yukina's expression now left Chiba at a loss. Though he instinctively called out to her and wanted to say something comforting, he could not get a single word out.
For one, he did not know how to comfort Yukina.
For another, he had no way to comfort her now.
"Are you... Chiba?"
Hearing Chiba call out, Yukina's previously vacant eyes suddenly cleared. However, she frowned and spoke in a suspicious tone.
"I am!"
Chiba froze slightly and answered instinctively.
What... was going on? Yukina... didn't believe me?
At that moment, the stifling feeling in his chest was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of disbelief.
At the same time, his unconscious step toward Yukina came to a halt.
"Really?"
Upon hearing Chiba's answer, Yukina's brows furrowed even tighter as she spoke with utter suspicion.
"Of course it's real. You