The Main Family Should Look More Within Themselves

Inside Ichiraku Ramen, the dim, warm light diffused into the chill of the late night.

The night was already deep, and only two members of the Hyuga clan sat on the bench, yet... the stack of empty bowls on the table was nearly touching the hanging lantern.

"That's... that's the twelfth bowl."

Ayame's hand holding the order pad trembled slightly as she watched Teuchi place a bowl of miso chashu ramen in front of Hinata Hyuga. The young girl lowered her head shyly, yet she still skillfully twirled the noodles with her chopsticks.

Hyuga Kiyonari counted the bill with a calm expression.

A bowl of chashu ramen cost 85 ryo, and adding an egg was 8 ryo. However, "adding an egg" here usually referred to a braised egg, and only half of one at that; if one wanted a fried egg, it was 15 ryo, and even a bottle of cola was only 15 ryo.

From this, it was clear that Ichiraku Ramen was priced on the expensive side, but Teuchi's craftsmanship perfectly made up for it.

He touched the three thousand ryo he had "earned" that afternoon inside his clothes, a sense of relief rising in his heart. He hadn't expected that Hinata, even as a child, would possess such formidable combat power.

"Please add another bowl of chashu ramen, a side of bamboo shoots, and half an egg."

He added the order calmly, stealing a glance at Hinata as she held the bowl and sipped the broth in small mouthfuls, her cherry-colored lips carefully avoiding the steam rising from the rim.

Even though she could still eat more, the girl herself was surely too shy to ask.

When the fourteenth bowl was set down, Hinata suddenly stopped her chopsticks and pressed her palms together in front of her nose.

"Thank you for the meal... after this bowl, it is truly enough."

Hyuga Kiyonari counted out the exact amount of money and handed it to Ayame to settle the bill. He rested his chin on one hand, looking down at her with some curiosity. After putting away a full fourteen bowls of ramen, her stomach was only slightly rounded.

Seeming to notice the change in his gaze, Hinata turned slightly to the side, pulling her stomach in.

On the way back, the snow fell even harder, landing softly on their shoulders.

In the dim glow of the streetlamp, Hinata said softly, "I've made you spend a lot."

Kiyonari shook his head slightly. "It's no trouble. Although my life is relatively frugal, I'm not so hard up that I have to worry about this little bit of money."

"Next time... next time let me treat you. How about yakiniku?"

"Then I shall look forward to it."

Just then, she suddenly looked at his profile, her gaze traveling upward until it rested on his forehead.

"How... how do you view this?"

"The Caged Bird?" Kiyonari answered quite frankly. "I look at it with my eyes. How else?"

He had said something nonsensical, but Hinata understood the joke.

For the vast majority of the branch family, the Caged Bird was a massive mountain—a mountain that had been pressed upon them since they were three or four years old, one they could not resist. Rather than worrying and sighing all day, it was better to be open-minded and accept one's fate.

However, that was not what Hinata wanted to hear, and she knew that Kiyonari was not a man who followed the rules.

"The people of the branch family are clearly all..."

"Young Mistress," Kiyonari suddenly interrupted her, "do you think everyone's grievances are truly because of the curse seal itself?"

"I have heard of the matters regarding Neji and Hizashi Hyuga, but what I want to say is that a genius like Neji is, after all, a minority. In the branch family, mediocre people like me are the majority."

"For us, the Caged Bird does indeed serve a protective function, and the visual parallax brought by the curse seal is not something impossible to accept. What everyone resents... has never been the curse seal itself."

In a flash, Hinata recalled that question again—what exactly killed Hiashi Hyuga?

She had originally thought the answer was the Caged Bird curse seal. Now that she thought about it, perhaps the root lay even deeper; the rift between the branch family and the main family had appeared much earlier.

For most of the branch family, the existence of the Caged Bird had a positive meaning, but what about the main family?

"Does the main family really need the Caged Bird?"

Hinata couldn't help but murmur, as if asking Kiyonari, or perhaps asking herself.

Kiyonari looked up at the moon and sighed, "I am not the main family, so how would I know? I fear... only you, Young Mistress, can find the answer."

"Me?" Hinata lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting her sleeves. "You believe in me that much, even though I myself..."

Her words came to an abrupt halt as a black notebook with gold-leaf edges suddenly appeared in her mind. Perhaps she couldn't do it alone, but if she made use of that...

"I believe in you, because you are already thinking about this question, aren't you?"

At this moment, Hyuga Kiyonari's voice dropped suddenly, every word imbued with a rare sincerity.

Rather than saying Hizashi Hyuga hated the main family and the Caged Bird because he saw Neji Hyuga's outstanding talent, it was better to say he simply hated that he was not the main family. He, and they, were only resenting the fact that they were not the ones high above, issuing the commands.

They did not hate the system itself, but the Hyuga main family; even if there were acts of rebellion, the result would not change. After all... no matter how the person pulling the rope changed, the rope itself still existed.

And Neji Hyuga's experience had long since proven that under the shackles of the Caged Bird, the branch family could do nothing but harbor resentment. If one truly wanted to change something, it could only be done by the main family itself—wasn't that exactly what Hiashi Hyuga was doing?

It was no exaggeration to say that as long as Hinata could jump out of the old way of thinking, she would become the savior of the entire branch family. The entire Hyuga main family really only had her, so kind—kind to the point of naivety.

"We're here."

Kiyonari suddenly stopped, and the streetlamp ahead illuminated the plaque of the main family courtyard. "See you tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow!" Hinata nodded vigorously, as if promising something.

After parting ways, Hyuga Kiyonari couldn't wait to open the system to take stock of his gains.

[Act I: The Encounter in the Snow]

[Completion Status: Completed]

[Rating: C]

[Evaluation: Although the script was brief, the outstanding performances of the leads still delivered a compelling narrative, portraying the first meeting between the protagonist and heroine with subtle emotion. As the opening act of the series, this scene has fulfilled its purpose.]

[Settling...]

[Correction Points Obtained: 100. Please keep up the good work.]

A C-rank rating was within expectations.

The script content was short, lacked grand spectacles, and one could say there were no dramatic fluctuations in the plot. Furthermore, to stay true to the character settings, Hyuga Kiyonari had arranged his own scenes quite conservatively, leaving many moments to be merely implied.

There were flaws and limitations, but all in all, Hyuga Kiyonari was already quite satisfied.

Next, he studied the system and discovered that there was already much he could do with these 100 Correction Points.

For instance, he could erase the Caged Bird curse mark on his head, but doing so would bring him no benefits other than making him stand out like a crane in a flock of chickens. Besides, his current situation was not urgent, and he could fully afford to invest these points elsewhere.

Should he turn Hinata into a genius as well?

Perhaps a genius in the true sense of the word might be out of reach, but to have her quickly master a certain skill and become a "genius" in the eyes of others, these 100 Correction Points were more than enough.

Or perhaps... introduce a new lead.