Another week passed.
After being discharged, Sora Uchiha returned home. He had left the hospital quietly, without telling anyone, so aside from the nurses, nobody knew he was back.
He noticed that the snow around the yard had been cleared away neatly. He guessed Shisui had done it all by himself. After all, his good-for-nothing old man didn't seem like the type to do manual labor.
As for Riya, Shisui would never make his beloved mother shovel snow in the middle of winter.
Creak—
He pushed open the gate. The yard was empty. A few shuriken were stuck in the wooden target, and scattered kunai lay on the ground, left there for someone else to clean up.
"Shisui, you little rascal..." Sora smiled helplessly as he went over and gathered everything up.
Inside, the warmth of the fire instantly chased away the chill. His face, red from the cold, grew warm and comfortable.
Then he froze. Beside the fireplace, a familiar figure was sleeping peacefully, a scarf in her arms.
His mother.
How could Mother fall asleep like that? She'll catch a chill.
His gaze fell on Riya's face, and he paused. Although she was asleep, he could still see how exhausted she was. Her usually well-kept hair was sticking up in every direction, and her tender expression kept twisting, as if she were having a nightmare.
"Mother? Mother?"
He called softly. Riya's eyelids trembled, and after a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at him.
She stared at Sora without blinking.
Could there be a flower on my face? Sora wondered.
The next moment, a frail body wrapped around him.
"Sora! Thank goodness, you're all right."
Riya's voice choked with emotion. She was holding him so tightly that he could hardly breathe.
Sora couldn't miss how strange his