That night, Konoha Prison.
The cell was not large, with four beds lined up against the wall.
Mei Terumi lay on her side in the bunk by the window, facing outside as she stared blankly at the moon. Though Konoha's moon and Kirigakure's moon were the same one, they somehow always looked different.
Kirigakure rarely had such clear nights. Once night fell, sea fog would roll in from every direction, wrapping the moonlight into a hazy blur, like it was veiled behind a layer of soaked gauze.
Konoha's moon, however, shone brightly and cleanly.
Konoha kept male and female Kirigakure prisoners separately, and the cell she was in housed four people.
The other three inmates were all seniors from the village with more experience than her. At the moment, they sat around another bed, quietly discussing the news the prison had announced that afternoon.
In three days, someone would come speak to them prisoners.
And the person speaking would be none other than Higashino Shinichi.
The Konoha ninja who had informed them had also issued several extremely impolite warnings. The general meaning was that they were only alive thanks to Captain Shinichi's mercy, so they should learn to be grateful.
When the time came, they had better show some respect and not mistake kindness for weakness.
The inmates' hushed conversation drifted over in fragments. Some guessed it might be some new interrogation trick, some thought it was merely for show, while others asked what there was left for the enemy to make such a grand fuss about when they were already prisoners.
Mei Terumi did not join the discussion among the three inmates, but the matter continued circling through her mind.
What exactly did that boy who had pulled her from beneath the rubble want to say to them?
Would