Are right and wrong really important? (Seeking monthly votes! Seeking rewards and tips!!)

"Whoa! That feels amazing!"

Night fell in Room 1303 of the residential district.

Yahiko threw himself onto the brand-new bed, letting out a comfortable groan.

"Yahiko!"

From the top bunk came Konan's complaining voice, lowered to a whisper: "It's very late; everyone should be asleep. Don't be so loud!"

"Mm." Yahiko covered his mouth, then scratched his head and muttered, "Got it, got it."

Then, as if something occurred to him, delight lit up his face as he patted the ladder beside the bed and suppressed his voice to laugh: "Hey, Konan, can we really live here forever from now on?"

"...Yun Chuan-ge already said it's just a temporary loan. If we want to settle, we have to rent our own place, or buy a house when we have money. Don't think about getting something for nothing."

Sitting cross-legged on the top bunk, Konan felt a bit helpless, and a vague restlessness suddenly stirred in her heart.

Had she never noticed before how noisy Yahiko was? He'd always been this loud and boisterous.

If it weren't for the fact that they hadn't registered their household registration yet and hadn't saved enough money, she'd really want to experience the peace of having a room to herself.

With that thought, Konan lowered her head a little boredly, picked up a blank sheet of paper, and began to fold.

When she was little, before her parents died, they taught her how to fold paper and told her that origami symbolized blessings and good luck.

Even though no flowers bloomed in the Land of Rain, Konan wanted to fold a paper flower and give it to Yun Chuan-ge as a token of thanks.

Even if she knew that this so-called gratitude was a trivial matter to him.

And this was the only thing she, weak and frail as she was, could do for now.

"..."

Yahiko said nothing more, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

The room fell into a long silence, broken only by the faint rustle of folding paper.

Click.

Until Konan reached out and turned off the light, silently lying down on her bed fully clothed, plunging the room into complete darkness.

Faint moonlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, scattering down in sparse patches. Yahiko lay with his hands behind his head, silently staring at the moon flickering in and out of view outside the window.

Though the feeling wasn't quite real, he suddenly realized that now...

He seemed to have a home?

No more wandering from place to place, no more rummaging through trash for a single meal, no more jolting awake from nightmares, no more fear of dying in some corner.

And all of this now.

Was because of that person.

Thinking it over, Yahiko suddenly understood what the residents felt.

"Home"—a simple word, yet for the people of this country, it was something unattainable.

In comparison, he really was greedy, wanting too much.

"Konan." Yahiko suddenly broke the silence, his voice uncertain. "Do you think... Yun Chuan-ge is a good person?"

His question went unanswered, echoing through the empty room as if Konan had already fallen asleep.

Until the air grew so stagnant it made Yahiko uncomfortable.

"I don't understand why you're hung up on this."

Yahiko heard Konan sigh, then speak softly: "Does good and bad, right and wrong, really matter that much to us?"

"Whether Yun Chuan-ge is a good person or a bad person, he's still our lifesaver. That's an undeniable fact, isn't it?"

According to the original course of events.

She was supposed to found Akatsuki with Nagato and Yahiko, running as a woman for Yahiko's ideals.

Even after Yahiko died, she stayed by Nagato's side. Even as Akatsuki's philosophy gradually twisted, Konan stood behind Nagato from beginning to end.

Not for Yahiko's so-called ideals, nor for Nagato's talk of "peace," but because they were Yahiko and Nagato.

From start to finish, Konan had no opinions of her own, nor did she understand great rights and wrongs.

She was just a girl, a girl of low strength, with no ideals of her own.

Right and wrong, good and bad—to her, they didn't matter.

Because Nagato and Yahiko wanted to do it, she was willing to run for them.

Now, she only knew that Yun Chuan had saved her, so whether Yun Chuan was good or bad didn't matter either.

"Yahiko, I know you might think that Yun Chuan-ge's methods are wrong to others." Konan seemed to hesitate for a moment. "But I think that forcing your goodwill onto others is no different from what he does."

If you tried to explain his actions using Yahiko's values.

To Yun Chuan-ge, Yahiko's goodwill was also malice.

"..."

Hearing Konan's reply, Yahiko fell silent.

After a long moment, Konan felt the bed shake, creaking and groaning.

In the dim moonlight, she could faintly make out a figure suddenly standing up.

"Yahiko?" Konan propped herself up and asked instinctively, "What are you trying to do?"

Was this idiot about to get hot-headed and go pick a fight with Yun Chuan?

"I just think... you were right."

Yahiko took a breath, the confusion fading from his eyes, and said in a low voice, "I have no right to question Yun Chuan's decisions. I'm going to apologize to him for my arrogance."

"And besides, I want to use my own strength to make some changes for this country."

He wanted to do something too.

Maybe the Yun Chuan who was respected and protected this land was the person he'd always dreamed of becoming.

So when he saw the darkness hidden beneath that polished exterior, he'd instinctively recoiled.

Thinking back now...

The tangled emotions of admiration and jealousy had twisted him beyond recognition back then.

"In my view, right and wrong still matter. Since I was wrong, I'll own up to it!"

He shot one last look at Konan's surprised expression, tossed his head with a show of nonchalance, and laughed. "But I still hate that red-haired brat. One day, I'll grab him and tell him he was wrong!"

With that, he strode forward, chest out, and walked out of the room.

"Wait..."

Behind him, Konan reached out a hand, but before she could finish, Yahiko had already hurried out.

Seeing this, a vein bulged on Konan's forehead.

This brainless idiot—it was the middle of the night!

And he was charging ahead without a second thought again!

Meanwhile, out in the corridor.

Yun Chuan's room was right next to theirs, but when he reached the door, Yahiko's confident steps slowed. He deflated like a punctured balloon, visibly wilting.

He was probably asleep by now, right?

So... maybe he should come back tomorrow?

"..."

He'd acted all cool in front of Konan, but when it came time to actually apologize, he chickened out.

A hot-blooded idiot who lived for his pride.

"What are you standing out there like an idiot for?"

But just as he turned around, a familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Hearing this, Yahiko froze for a moment, then pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Click.

"Sorry for the intrusion."

He muttered quietly, head down.

But then he heard a crisp, faint sound from in front of him.

Clank! Clank!

Yahiko looked up instinctively, his face filled with shock.

If he remembered correctly, the initial decoration of these rooms should have been uniform.

But all of that was gone.

What Yahiko saw now was a pile of unfamiliar equipment.

And on the pull-up bar in the living room, a figure slowly rising and falling.

"...Am I under a genjutsu?"

The expression on Yahiko's face turned horrified, his eyes fixed on the man like he was a monster.

Yun Chuan's legs were wrapped in chains as thick as an arm, and hanging from the chains were three massive iron plates.

The strange sound Yahiko had heard was the iron plates hitting the floor whenever Yun Chuan pulled himself up and down on the bar.

Each time he slowly extended his arms and lowered himself, the plates hit the ground with pinpoint precision, barely touching before he pulled back up.

Just as Yahiko stood there dumbfounded, another voice rang out.

"Yahiko! What are you doing standing at the door? Are you—"

Konan frowned and poked her head in from behind him, about to say something, but froze when she saw Yun Chuan.

"Huh? Huhhh?!"

Soon, a blush gradually crept across her small face.

Outside the window, moonlight fell upon Yun Chuan's back, casting shadows over his well-proportioned back muscles, making the contours and lines more three-dimensional and aesthetically pleasing, merging into the shape of wings...

Then, as if sensing their gazes—different in meaning yet equally intense—Yun Chuan paused mid-motion as he pulled himself up.

Bang!!

The heavy iron plate hit the ground, startling the two dazed little ones awake.

At the same time, it cleverly masked a rumble coming from outside the house.

"You two..."

Yun Chuan picked up a towel nearby, wiped at nonexistent sweat, and gave them both a deep look. "Is there something you need?"

In the darkness, a glint of light reflected in his deep blue eyes—the flash from the distant administrative building was clearly visible.