After School, Come to My Room

Beep, beep, beep.

That brain-piercing, heart-stopping noise drilled into his ears.

Hikawa reached out a hand to break free from the blanket's seal and turned off the alarm.

The ninja world's technology was skewed—computers, refrigerators, and air conditioners all existed, let alone alarm clocks.

He glanced at the time; it was exactly six o'clock.

Though he wanted to see Konoha at four in the morning, he was still a child and needed to maintain plenty of sleep.

Hikawa changed his clothes and stepped out the door.

His plan was to run for half an hour to an hour, pacing himself.

After a long period without exercise, suddenly pushing hard would be no different from repeatedly dancing before the gates of Yama.

Such a wonderful start—he didn't want to enjoy it for only three days.

Hikawa started jogging along the street.

He had gotten up early, so there were few pedestrians and thus few obstacles.

As time passed, Hikawa's panting grew louder, sweat poured down like rain, and even his vision began to blur.

Just then, a green light shone on his face.

Hikawa glanced instinctively.

What a shock!

He saw legs flailing in the air.

He steadied himself—it was Might Guy, running upside down on his hands.

"You're running too?"

Might Guy asked with an excited look.

He felt the thrill of meeting a kindred spirit.

In the current ninja world, taijutsu specialists were at the bottom, looked down upon.

His bizarre training always drew mockery from many.

You could get a glimpse of this from Might Guy's father, Might Duy.

He alone had kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist into the Three Lucky Treasures, yet he was still a genin.

Hikawa nodded, too out of breath to speak.

"You look familiar."

Might Guy blinked, then suddenly recognized him. "You're the transfer student from yesterday. Name starts with Ha—something."

"Ha... Hikawa..."

Hikawa gasped out between breaths.

"What kawa?"

Might Guy didn't catch it and asked again.

"Hikawa!"

Hikawa raised his voice.

He finally understood how Kisame Hoshigaki felt.

"Hikawa, nice to meet you. I'm Might Guy."

Might Guy flashed his gleaming teeth. "Just call me Guy."

"Mm."

Hikawa paused briefly, then said, "You go ahead. I'll rest a bit."

Besides reaching his physical limit, there was another reason—the system had given a prompt.

"Alright."

Might Guy didn't force it and waved at him.

Of course, the main reason was that Hikawa wasn't his lifelong rival.

If it had been Hatake Kakashi, he would have squeezed every last drop of his stamina.

"What kind of alien physique is that?"

Hikawa muttered, watching him run on one hand.

He plopped down on the steps nearby, focused his mind, and opened the talent entry panel.

[E-Rank Talent Entry: Strong Physique (Not Acquired).]
[Trigger Condition: Body reaches the minimum level of a genin.]
[Current Progress: 1%.]

Since it was the lowest level, it couldn't possibly be someone like Uzumaki Naruto, a genin.

Hikawa felt the trigger condition for this entry wasn't particularly hard—it just required persistence.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and closed his eyes.

"Hikawa, I'm here again!"

Might Guy's voice was as full of energy as ever.

Hikawa opened his eyes and saw him doing frog jumps.

He smiled and waved at him.

After Might Guy left, he got up and ran toward Yuhi Kurenai's house.

By seven o'clock, the streets were starting to get lively.

Hikawa spotted the Konoha Knowledge Bookstore, the meeting point with the Kumogakure ninja, but he didn't go inside to avoid any slip-ups.

Passing by a dumpling shop, he thought of Yuhi Kurenai and bought a box of takoyaki.

Hikawa returned home, just as Yuhi Shinko opened the door.

"Did you go running?"

Yuhi Shinko looked at Hikawa, panting as if he'd been pulled out of the water, and his face showed surprise.

Working this hard at such a young age?

Add that to his Yin Style talent, and this kid was bound to go far.

"Good morning, Uncle Shinko."

Hikawa explained, "My body's pretty weak, so I decided to run for exercise."

Just then, the door not far away opened.

Yuhi Kurenai stepped out, barefoot on the carpet, her hair a mess.

She yawned and asked, "Why are you two up so early?"

"Kurenai, you should learn from Hikawa."

Yuhi Shinko put on a stern face and said, "Don't sleep in all day."

"Huh?"

Yuhi Kurenai looked around, still a bit dazed.

What's going on?

She looked just like a newborn kitten that had just woken up.

"I got you some takoyaki."

Hikawa smiled and handed her a paper box.

He never thought he'd end up being the "other people's kid" one day.

"Not bad, you're a thoughtful little brother now."

Yuhi Kurenai's eyes sparkled as she looked at the takoyaki.

"...?"

Yuhi Shinko wore a subtle expression.

He felt like some blond was trying to poach his cabbage.

Must be his imagination.

Yuhi Shinko shook his head—they were just kids, what was he overthinking?

"This is just thanks for the study notes you lent me."

Hikawa explained seriously.

"Blah blah blah."

Yuhi Kurenai chewed on the takoyaki, spitting out unintelligible telegraph noise.

If it were anyone else, it might have been foul language, but with her, it was just adorable.

After breakfast, Hikawa and Yuhi Kurenai headed to the Ninja Academy.

"Hikawa, did you finish yesterday's homework?"

Yuhi Kurenai turned to him and asked.

"You want to copy it?"

Hikawa raised an eyebrow and asked.

"As if!"

Yuhi Kurenai put her hands on her hips and said, "I meant if you had any questions, I could help you."

"I actually do."

Hikawa had already figured out her personality, so he played along with her words and said.

"Since you've sincerely asked, then I'll tell you."

Yuhi Kurenai's lips curled slightly, her eyes narrowing into slits, looking very pleased.

Hikawa walked as he asked.

He had enrolled two months late, so some questions were pure guesses.

Pick the shortest among three long and one short, pick the longest among three short and one long.

Anyway, Eiichirō knew his situation and wouldn't blame him.

"Got it?"

Yuhi Kurenai licked her lips and asked.

"Got it, but not completely."

Hikawa said with a smile.

"That's how it starts."

Yuhi Kurenai spoke with the air of someone who'd been through it, sounding worldly-wise. "Come to my room after school, and I'll teach you properly."

No thanks, Kurenai-nee.

Hikawa returned to his seat.

He greeted Shizune, then opened his talent entry panel.

code
[E-Rank Talent Entry: Scholar (Not Acquired).]
[Trigger Condition: First place in first semester theory class.]
[Current Progress: 1%.]

Hikawa stroked his chin.

This talent entry had probably appeared because of his recent academic exchange with Yuhi Kurenai.

He just didn't know what use being a scholar would be in the world of shinobi.

In the original story, Haruno Sakura was a top-tier scholar, but before she became Tsunade's disciple, she could only hold the team back.