A Pleasant and Peaceful Day

Before she knew it, the school day had ended. As agreed, Mimi was supposed to go to the Clan Residence and train with the three grandfathers.

When school let out, Chiri naturally came looking for Mimi.

It looked like she wanted to walk home together, but the Uchiha Clan Residence and Mimi's home were in opposite directions.

Something was off.

Looking at Chiri's gentle, natural expression, Mimi glanced at the boy following not far behind her. He looked as though he wanted to come over but was afraid of Mimi, shrinking back timidly.

Uchiha Yatsushiro.

Mimi raised an eyebrow.

Girls these days were truly formidable when it came to schemes.

"Mimi, shall we go home together?"

"It's not on the way," Mimi refused.

Mimi had no intention of becoming the kind of girl who was close enough to hold hands with someone and go to the bathroom together.

"It is," Chiri said with a bright smile.

"Scary." Mimi said, "Suit yourself."

There was nothing to pack. Her textbooks and everything else were still in her desk, so Mimi simply got up and left.

Chiri followed. The two of them walked out of the school together, with Uchiha Yatsushiro trailing behind.

Mimi knew without turning around that the boy was sneaking along behind them.

It didn't look like the attitude of someone issuing a challenge.

He looked more like a boy experiencing his first crush.

He was being used.

Mimi didn't mind such a trivial situation.

She didn't say much to Chiri along the way.

Instead, Chiri began explaining herself.

After Uchiha Yatsushiro had followed them for several streets and finally left,

Chiri said, "Yatsushiro isn't a bad person. He's just been pestering me a little too much."

"Mm, that's true." Mimi said, "The problem is that he's ugly."

"I don't like him. He's too childish and naive." Chiri said, "I hope he'll give up when he realizes the difficulty. I'll have to trouble you in the future, Mimi."

"You don't need to do this to make him give up," Mimi said.

"What do you suggest?" Chiri asked. "You can't be too cruel to him."

"Sometimes cruelty is kindness." Mimi said, "In this situation, he'll be miserable, and so will you."

"So?" Chiri asked.

"Tell him plainly: you're too ugly, and we're not suitable for each other." Mimi said.

He might even be stimulated into awakening his Sharingan.

That would be wonderful.

"If only things were that simple." Chiri gave a helpless, bitter smile. "What else can I do? Keep walking with you for a while longer? What if he thinks you've noticed him, that you smiled at him, that you have feelings for him and are giving him hope? What if he refuses to give up?"

"Ah!" Chiri clearly hadn't thought that far. She was young, after all, and lacked such life experience.

"Could that really happen?" Chiri asked.

"Generally speaking, that's how it usually goes." Mimi said, "Just like how you think we're friends now."

After hearing that, Chiri showed no embarrassment at all. She smiled and said, "Aren't we friends?"

"Are we?" Mimi countered.

"You never rejected me." Chiri said, "I figured that meant you didn't dislike me."

"See? That's exactly what Yatsushiro is thinking too." Mimi said flatly.

"That makes sense." Chiri nodded.

"Mimi." Chiri followed up, "Do you really dislike me?"

Mimi didn't want to answer such a boring question.

"Do you really dislike me?" Chiri pressed.

"Do you really, really dislike me?" Chiri pressed further.

"Of course. Mimi is very kind."

A clear, crisp laugh rang beside Mimi's ear.

"Aren't you going home? I'm going to train." Mimi said.

"Train?" Chiri asked. "Even a genius like Mimi has to work hard at training?"

"Isn't that obvious? No one is born knowing everything." Mimi said.

"Is that so?" Chiri said. "For some reason, it feels like Mimi knew everything from the moment she was born."

In a certain sense, that was indeed true.

"Don't you train?" Mimi asked.

Chiri shook her head. "There's nothing to practice. I can do something after seeing it once."

Ah, this...

The Sharingan really was unfair.

Mimi still hadn't figured out how to use the three jutsu she had obtained yesterday, even after an entire night.

That was basically how it went.

Brain: Ah, I know how to do it.

Hands: No, you don't.

"Just as expected of you." Mimi said.

"Is there anything you don't know? Shuriken? I can teach you." Chiri said. "Do you want to learn how to make shuriken turn corners?"

"Let's forget this technique. It sounds explosively difficult." Mimi said.

What a joke. She couldn't learn it at all.

"Is there something giving you trouble?" Chiri asked.

"No, absolutely nothing." Mimi replied.

She would just figure it out as she practiced. Learning Ninjutsu was fundamentally a process of accumulating experience.

Unlike Mimi's situation, someone with the Sharingan's cheating ability would probably work like this.

Brain: Ah, I don't think I know this yet.

Hands: No, you do.

Mimi didn't think Chiri could teach her anything.

"Honestly, let me repay you somehow." Chiri said.

"No need." Mimi said coldly.

"How about I buy you something to eat?"

Mimi stopped walking.

"You're rich?"

"I suppose I have a little bit of money." Chiri said.

"Let's go."

Training could happen anytime.

Enjoying the moment was Mimi's philosophy of life.

Besides, Mimi never took the initiative to ask Yumi for money. Yumi did give Mimi pocket money and New Year's money, but only the amount appropriate for an ordinary child.

Mimi's spending habits were anything but ordinary, so she was usually quite short on cash.

Mimi turned around and walked off.

Chiri followed with a beaming smile.

Mimi sent Insect Sister, who had been herding sheep in the woods, ahead to wait at the Clan Residence.

The three old men waited and waited without seeing Mimi. Before long, they began flying into a rage.

The one mainly losing his temper was the hot-tempered Old Man Shion.

Meanwhile, Mimi and Chiri sat side by side on the riverbank, leisurely watching the Setting Sun sink lower and lower.

Each of them held a handful of grilled river fish, with a bowl of red bean soup beside them.

Far away, a white-haired boy was catching fish in the river.

It was Jiraiya.

"This is the life. The Ninja Academy is exhausting."

Mimi nodded while chewing on grilled river fish.

"Why don't you take off your mask, Mimi?" Chiri asked curiously.

"Don't even think about it." Mimi merely lifted her mask to reveal her mouth. Looking at Chiri's adorable cheeks dyed red by the setting sun, she said, "Looks aren't important."

"What a pity." Chiri said. "It's rare to make a friend, yet I don't even know what you look like. Don't you find that strange?"

Mimi raised her sleeve and wiped her mouth. "I'm starting to regret making a troublesome friend like you."

"I'm troublesome?" Chiri asked curiously.

"Yes, extremely troublesome. Mainly because your surname is Uchiha." Mimi said meaningfully.

"Everyone in the village dislikes the Uchiha." Chiri said dejectedly. "Even though I like everyone so much."

"You'll understand someday." Mimi said. "Some people aren't worth liking."

"Mimi is definitely worth liking." Chiri said. "You have the same eyes as me."

"I don't have a Sharingan."

"No, not those kinds of eyes."

"The eyes that like everyone."

"Your eyesight is that good?" Mimi said. "You can even tell something like that?"

"I can tell. Whether it's Hiruko or Jiraiya, you don't dislike them." Chiri said. "Everyone in class hates them."

"I think there's something wrong with your eyes."

Hiruko was genuinely pitiful. Because he was too cute, the boys disliked him for being effeminate, while the girls disliked him for being cuter than they were.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, had brought it entirely upon himself.

Because he was an orphan, he craved attention out of loneliness and thus did stupid, irritating things.

Like tugging on girls' hair.

Jiraiya wasn't stupid, though. Being beaten up by Tsunade was painful but pleasurable; being beaten up by Mimi was nothing but painful.

Although Jiraiya had never tried teasing Mimi, he always kept his distance from her.

In the distance, Jiraiya saw the two girls by the river. After hesitating for a moment, he abandoned his fishing and climbed ashore, fleeing.

That kid.

Mimi had never even beaten him up. Why was he afraid of her?

Chewing on her grilled fish, Mimi's lips curled upward.

So, she liked everyone?

Mimi simply liked the memories of her childhood.

That was why she would silently watch over them.

Sitting on the riverbank, Mimi swung her short legs back and forth.

The two of them chatted idly, their conversation coming and going.

"That's enough for today."

After finishing the last grilled fish in two or three bites, Mimi licked her fingers and put her mask back on.

"Let's play together next time." Chiri arranged their next meeting.

"We'll see." Mimi said.

"Then it's settled." Chiri smiled gently.

This girl really didn't listen to what people said.

She looked gentle, but was forceful to the core.

Mimi glanced at Chiri without refusing or answering. She waved goodbye and left.

Chiri smiled and waved back.

The old men were probably about to stomp their feet in impatience.

On the way, Mimi thought about that and didn't feel anxious.

She glanced at an Uncle ninja by the roadside, anxiously holding an injured large dog.

"Taro! How did you get hurt!? Who did this!? Damn it!"

Ah, someone from the Inuzuka Clan.

This dog looked familiar.

"Whimper~" The large dog whimpered pitifully.

Mimi walked past without paying attention.

I know nothing.

As Mimi passed, the dog nervously tucked its tail between its legs.

Its whimpers grew even softer and more pitiful.

"Taro! What's wrong? Taro!"

Insect Sister carried Mimi's scent, so the dog must have recognized it.

After walking behind the Uncle ninja, Mimi turned around. Looking at the nervous dog, she made a threatening slitting motion across her throat.

The dog fell silent, lowered itself to the ground, and bowed its head, not daring to look at Mimi.

Seeing this, Mimi nodded in satisfaction, turned around, and left.

What a pleasant and peaceful day.