Confessing Again

"Twenty or so?" A hint of surprise appeared in Kaede Hyuga's eyes. "I remember there being at least forty or fifty around this time last year."

"How did we lose so many in just one year?"

Nebula Kotetsu sighed. "You know graduation season is breakup season, right?"

"After last year's graduation exams, a lot of people joined the ninja ranks. I had less and less time to see them, and I broke up with a lot of them."

Kaede Hyuga asked, "Was it hard to let them go?"

Nebula Kotetsu replied, "What's there to be sad about?"

"They were only a few dozen girlfriends. It's no big deal."

"But you..." Nebula Kotetsu looked at Kaede Hyuga and voiced what was on his mind.

"I thought you'd be one of the people who broke up with me."

"I didn't expect you to never bring it up."

Kaede Hyuga smiled as usual. "Do you want me to break up with you?"

Nebula Kotetsu shook his head. "Not really."

"I just didn't expect it."

"Of all my girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, you have the best talent and the greatest strength."

"Objectively speaking, you're also the prettiest."

"And you come from the great Hyuga clan. You're so exceptional, yet you're willing to be the girlfriend of a womanizer and dead last. Sometimes, I just can't understand it."

At his words, Kaede Hyuga smiled and reached out.

Her pale, slender fingers gently brushed Nebula Kotetsu's face. Her eyes held a hint of infatuation.

"What's so hard to understand?"

"I'm just an ordinary woman too."

"No, you're not an ordinary woman. You're a Hyuga noble."

"Damn the Hyuga nobility!" Kaede Hyuga blurted out, her resentment plain in her voice.

Fortunately, the soundproofing barrier meant there was no need to worry about anyone else overhearing.

Kaede Hyuga continued, "If I could, I'd rather be a woman without a clan."

"Then I wouldn't have to stay in that suffocating family, wanting to kill someone every day."

"I wouldn't have to put up with those Main Family fools pointing fingers at me, then run around doing their bidding!"

Nebula Kotetsu said nothing.

He looked at the Forehead Protector tightly bound around Kaede Hyuga's forehead and understood what had suddenly enraged her.

The Caged Bird Seal.

The culprit that bound every member of the Hyuga Branch Family.

Breaking it would take power far beyond the ordinary.

As if she felt his gaze, Kaede Hyuga raised her head and met Nebula Kotetsu's pitying, sympathetic eyes.

She suddenly let out a laugh.

"Forget it."

"Why am I telling you all this?"

"We rarely get to see each other. Let's not talk about this."

"Xingyun, remember this."

"I love you. As long as you don't break up with me, I'll love you forever and ever."

"Unless I die."

"Don't say that!" Nebula Kotetsu hurriedly protested. "What kind of nonsense is that?"

"It's getting late. I should go."

"Someone's waiting for me outside."

As he spoke, he got up, intending to straighten up the bookshelf. He had barely risen when she grabbed his leg, pulling him back down onto the floor.

Nebula Kotetsu looked at Kaede Hyuga, whose smile had suddenly turned dangerous, and his expression changed.

"What are you doing now?!"

Kaede Hyuga said, "Let that person wait a little longer."

"Stay with me for another hour."

Nebula Kotetsu: "..."

An hour and a half later.

The bamboo hut by the river, where Nebula Kotetsu and Rin Nohara studied and practiced Medical Ninjutsu together.

Rin Nohara had been waiting there for a long time.

She stood at the entrance to the hut, staring at the still water ahead, lost in thought.

The sunset spilled red across the surface. Now and then, a fish broke the water, sending ripples shimmering across it, just like the restless waves in her heart.

She had no idea how long had passed when the sound of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Rin Nohara turned. It was Nebula Kotetsu.

The boy, more dazzling than the sunset, had a faint blush on his face. He seemed to have hurried over.

"Rin."

"Have you been waiting long?"

"I just got here," Rin Nohara answered instinctively. Only after she spoke did she realize she had actually been waiting for nearly an hour.

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was what she wanted to say today, and the questions she needed answered.

"Xingyun."

"Today..."

"What happened today was my fault," Nebula Kotetsu interrupted.

He lowered his eyes to Rin Nohara's uneasy gaze, his voice sincere.

"Rin."

"I know what you want to ask."

"You want to know when I mastered the Mystical Palm Technique."

"You want to know why I pretended not to understand Medical Ninjutsu and asked you about it instead."

"There's only one reason." He paused, then looked at Rin Nohara with utter sincerity.

"I like you."

"I like you very, very much."

Nebula Kotetsu didn't explain that, aside from the Mystical Palm Technique, he knew nothing about the other medical techniques and skills. That answer wouldn't make sense to most people.

No one could master the Mystical Palm Technique without knowing how to stitch wounds or clean them. It sounded as absurd as going straight to a battlefield to kill enemies before even starting school.

So he chose to draw her attention elsewhere and turn the tables.

In the sunset, the boy's sincere confession struck Rin Nohara's heart like a heavy blow.

The wind blew, the clouds drifted, and the fish swam.

Rin Nohara was stunned.

At the entrance to the bamboo hut, the girl stood frozen, a fleeting look of bewilderment passing through her wide eyes.

More precisely, Nebula Kotetsu's unexpected confession had left her completely dumbfounded.

Three seconds later, a blush more vivid than the sky spread across the girl's face.

"Xingyun, you! What are you saying now?" Rin Nohara clutched the hem of her skirt and twisted it in her hands, her knuckles turning white.

She felt as if something inside her chest was pounding, trying to break free.

Nebula Kotetsu had confessed to her again!

This time, it wasn't in front of a crowd.

This time, there was no Obito provoking him, and no teachers watching.

There were only the two of them, a streak of red in the sky, and a fish blowing bubbles in a corner.

Looking at the flustered Rin Nohara, Nebula Kotetsu wasn't sure whether he'd made the right choice.

As he'd said before, he wasn't good at pursuing girls.

In his previous life, he'd spent all his savings and taken out loans, devoting himself wholeheartedly to pursuing a girl he wanted to spend his life with. He still hadn't won her over in the end, and only succeeded thanks to a lucky break.

In this life, he had much more experience spending time with girls, but his approach to dating still relied mainly on his looks.

He had no clear idea of how good he was at the back-and-forth of romance, and he wasn't sure whether he could break through Rin Nohara's emotional defenses.

He decided to take a bold chance.

"I said, Rin, I like you."

"I've liked you since the very first time I saw you."

The evening breeze swept over Rin Nohara, bringing her back to her senses.

Looking at Nebula Kotetsu, she asked the crucial question. "What is it about me that you like?"

"And Xingyun, you have... you have so many girlfriends. Why are you coming to me?"

Nebula Kotetsu said, "I like you."

"I like how you're brave and strong enough to keep saving your comrades, even when you're afraid."

"I like the warmth and passion in your heart, like the sunshine."

"I like everything about you."