Class

Uchiha Yuan hadn't known at first why his childhood friend had changed so much.

It wasn't until they were at the Upper Ninja School, when Uchiha Yuan saw Hyuga Asana following a girl who looked even younger than her, with her head bowed and half a step behind, that he realized what had happened to her.

The Uchiha Clan valued bonds more than any other clan. Knowing that his only friend had become part of the Hyuga Branch Family, been branded with the Caged Bird, and even become another girl's maid and bodyguard left Uchiha Yuan furious.

What made it worse was that the young lady of the Main House was nowhere near as talented as Hyuga Asana. Her grades in every subject were worse than Uchiha Yuan's, let alone Asana's.

So, to vent his anger on Asana's behalf, Uchiha Yuan deliberately picked fights with the Main House girl during practical lessons. But when Asana watched him beat the girl black and blue, there was no joy on her face.

Uchiha Yuan assumed that because she was from the Branch House, she didn't dare show her true feelings, even though she was surely happy inside.

But it didn't take long for Uchiha Yuan to realize he was wrong.

That day, just like always, he beat up the Main House girl during practical lessons.

Asana went to help the girl up and glanced at Uchiha Yuan, seemingly without meaning to.

Uchiha Yuan took it as encouragement from Asana, and after school he practically floated all the way home.

But halfway there, Uchiha Yuan suddenly remembered he'd left something in the classroom. When he ran back to get it, he saw a scene he would never forget.

Asana was kneeling on the floor, her face deathly pale. Sweat on her forehead had nearly soaked through the entire bandage.

The young lady of the Main House stood with her arms crossed, watching Asana with an indifferent expression.

That was when Uchiha Yuan understood: the look Asana had given him hadn't been encouragement.

Every time he beat up the young lady of the Main House, Asana was probably made to suffer like this.

Yet Asana had never told him. She'd let him think he was helping, just to make him feel better, while silently bearing it all herself.

Uchiha Yuan had been overwhelmed with regret. He'd thought he was standing up for his friend, but all he'd done was cause her even more pain.

From that day on, Uchiha Yuan never picked on the young lady of the Main House again.

"Hey! Uchiha Yuan, what are you spacing out for? Did you hear what I said?" Asana's voice interrupted his thoughts.

He scratched his head. "Sorry. I was thinking about some things from the past."

At that, a flicker of concern crossed Asana's usually placid eyes. Her father had told her that Uchiha Yuan had just lost the person dearest to him.

But with the relationship between the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans, Asana couldn't visit him.

Seeing Uchiha Yuan come to school today had finally put her at ease.

Still, his distracted look worried her. She glanced at the young lady of the Main House sitting in front of them, then said, "Wait for me at our usual spot after school."

"I'm fine. You don't have to go and beg her for—"

"That's final." Asana turned around and ignored Uchiha Yuan.

After school, Uchiha Yuan went alone to a small river not far from the Forest of Death.

It was where Uchiha Yuan and Asana often met. Since it was close to the Forest of Death, few people came there. Asana had found the place the year before, and ever since, they had made it their meeting spot.

Uchiha Yuan waited by the river for about half an hour before Asana finally arrived in a hurry.

"What took you so long? Did she give you a hard time?" Uchiha Yuan asked, looking her over.

"There was no avoiding it, but I managed to get through it," Asana replied.

"I'm actually fine. You don't have to do this for me—"

"Did you misunderstand something? Do you think I'd waste my time comforting you?

"I'm telling you that you need to start working hard. In a little over two months, we'll be moving up to fifth grade. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll graduate early then and all be sent to the battlefield.

"As far as I know, fewer than ten percent of the Genin who graduated last year survived. If you keep drowning in your grief, you might die on the battlefield." Asana spoke without expression.

Uchiha Yuan sneaked a glance at her. Her still slightly chubby cheeks were tense as she struggled to look serious, but there was no way to take her seriously. She looked kind of cute instead.

The only thing that spoiled the effect was the white bandage on her forehead.

Noticing Uchiha Yuan's gaze, Asana instinctively touched the bandage.

She would never forget the day of her fourth birthday. That was the day she was branded with the Caged Bird, and the day her life changed.

From then on, some of her old friends stopped playing with her. One of them even became her "master."

It hadn't been like that before.

They had all been friends.

Why had things turned out this way?

That question had haunted Asana for years. She'd started asking herself the day her friends first rejected her, when she sat silently on the edge of her bed, knees drawn to her chest, and cried all night.

Had everything that came before really changed just because of the Caged Bird Curse Mark?

Even now, Asana still had no answer.

In truth, members of the Hyuga Clan, born and raised in the Hyuga Family and accustomed to the Main House and Branch House system, could never find the answer.

It was a classic case of being unable to see the forest for the trees.

Seeing the confusion in Asana's eyes made Uchiha Yuan uneasy. He hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "Hey, Asana, have you ever wondered why a single curse mark could change your whole life?"

Asana was stunned. Uchiha Yuan had asked the very question she'd been pondering all this time.

"You might not be able to understand this because you're part of the Hyuga Clan. It's actually simple: everything changed because your social status changed.

"Think about it. The Caged Bird in your clan gives one group of people control over another group's life and death.

"When one group holds another's lives in their hands, they naturally start to believe they're superior. That's how the two classes came into being.

"Oppression exists everywhere when there are classes. Your clan keeps claiming that the Caged Bird is there to protect the Branch House, but the truth is that the Main House uses it to treat the Branch House as slaves."

Uchiha Yuan's words made Asana feel as if she'd suddenly understood. But then a doubt came to her: Since when did Uchiha Yuan think about things like this? Wasn't he like most members of the Uchiha Clan—simple-minded, impulsive, quick to anger, and not much for thinking?

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