We're Just Friends

"Welcome to..." The young shop assistant at the Three-Color Dango Shop had only managed to get halfway through her greeting before she abruptly stopped.

Her fair complexion flushed a deep crimson in just two seconds, and her eyes began to sparkle.

"Th-th-this customer... please... please come in." If it were anyone else, they might have thought the clerk had a stutter, but Nebula Kotetsu was long accustomed to this. He had seen young girls go slack-jawed or act like boiling kettles upon seeing him for the first time more than once. With a gentle nod, he walked into the shop under her salivating gaze.

"Kotetsu!?" A familiar voice rang out from ahead. Nebula Kotetsu followed the sound and spotted an acquaintance.

"Anko?"

Mitarashi Anko.

At this moment, she wasn't the overweight version seen in the Boruto era; in fact, she hadn't even finished growing yet. Dressed in a trendy fishnet outfit, her youthful and vibrant appearance made her quite the spirited young lady.

Only, at this moment, the spirited young lady seemed to have choked on a three-color dango after speaking so suddenly.

"Cough~ cough-cough~" After taking a sip of water to wash the dango down, Mitarashi Anko said, "Kotetsu, you like three-color dango too?"

"That's great, sit down, let's try their new items together."

"I can't, Anko." Nebula Kotetsu's gaze shifted to a seat at the very back of the shop. "I have an appointment."

Who did he have an appointment with? As Mitarashi Anko wondered, she watched Nebula Kotetsu walk toward the back and sit down in front of a tall, curvaceous beauty with short hair.

Mitarashi Anko: ...

As expected of you, Nebula Kotetsu.

If you aren't with a girlfriend, you're on your way to find one.

"Senior Yomi, have you been waiting long?"

The short-haired woman smiled brightly. "No, I just arrived myself."

"Do you know that girl?"

Nebula Kotetsu knew she was referring to Mitarashi Anko and replied casually, "Yeah."

"A junior two years below me, a friend I met a while back."

"The purely platonic kind."

The woman gave him a teasing look. "Are you sure? You have female friends?"

"Now, that's a strange thing to say," Nebula Kotetsu remarked. "Am I not allowed to have female friends?"

"It's not that. I just feel that someone like you shouldn't have any platonic friends of the opposite sex."

"That just means you don't know me well enough yet, Senior." Nebula Kotetsu said, changing the subject, "Let's order, Senior, I'm starving."

Senior Yomi laughed. "I've already ordered."

"I didn't know your preferences, so I ordered a bit of everything."

"Besides... you said I don't know you well enough yet."

"That's because you give me so little of your time."

"How about you give me a bit more time tonight, and let me... get to know you thoroughly and deeply?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "Uh..." He paused, then said apologetically, "Senior."

"That might not be very convenient."

"You know how I am; I have quite a lot to take care of in the evenings."

Senior Yomi pouted unhappily. "Fine, I get it, you busy man."

"Then how about we go for a walk to catch some air after we eat?"

It wasn't great to refuse her twice. Nebula Kotetsu calculated his evening schedule and nodded.

"Alright."

As they spoke, the waiter arrived with two plates of dango and hot drinks.

It was the same young shop assistant from before.

After arriving, she held the hot drinks, but her gaze lingered on Nebula Kotetsu's face so obviously that she didn't even notice when she spilled some of the drink.

Senior Yomi saw this and teased, "Is he good-looking?"

"Ah~" The shop assistant was startled, and after snapping back to reality, she hurriedly set down the dango and drinks.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She didn't even specify what she was apologizing for, but she scurried away, offering repeated apologies.

Senior Yomi turned her gaze back to Nebula Kotetsu and laughed. "If you nodded right now, you could have another girlfriend."

Nebula Kotetsu smiled. "What are you saying?"

"With you right in front of me, how could I have room for any other woman in my heart?"

"By the way, Senior, tell me about your life as a genin; I'm very interested."

The two chatted while tasting the dango. But as they talked, Senior Yomi suddenly stopped.

Nebula Kotetsu: "Go on, Senior, why did you stop?"

Yomi did not answer, her gaze shifting to the space behind Nebula Kotetsu.

She said, "Nebula."

"Are you certain she is just a regular friend?"

Nebula Kotetsu turned his head, locking eyes with Mitarashi Anko's furtive gaze. Upon being discovered by the pair, she abruptly lowered her head, eating her dango in a transparent attempt to act nonchalant.

Nebula Kotetsu turned back around.

"She is a regular friend."

"There is absolutely nothing between us."

Yomi: "Oh? How did you meet?"

Nebula Kotetsu said, "It was a coincidence."

"I was being hunted by a few people that day, and she happened upon us, hiding me away to save my life."

Yomi frowned: "Hunted by a few people? Who was hunting you?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "The boyfriends of my ex-girlfriends."

Yomi widened her eyes: "And there were several? Which girlfriend of yours was that trashy?"

Nebula Kotetsu said awkwardly: "It wasn't just one girlfriend."

"It was the boyfriends of several girlfriends."

Yomi: "..."

With Mitarashi Anko lurking and spying on them, neither had the heart to stay at the dango shop for long, so they finished their meal in a hurry and left.

Afterward, Yomi, who had just claimed she wanted to catch some breeze, tugged on Nebula Kotetsu's sleeve and led him through several twists and turns into a dead-end alley where not a breath of wind could possibly reach. Before Nebula Kotetsu could react, the slender hand gripping his sleeve suddenly seized his wrist, executing a swift joint lock.

"Wait, Senior!"

"No sneak attacks!"

By the Naka River, Muto Ayaka paced back and forth along the bank, kicking small pebbles away from time to time.

"Stupid Nebula."

"Bad guy."

"Making me wait this long and still not showing up."

After kicking a few more stones, she looked up toward the path again, her eyes filled with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

After a long while, a figure vaguely emerged on the distant path. Muto Ayaka's face lit up with joy, but it was immediately replaced by a complex expression.

Before long, Nebula Kotetsu arrived in front of Muto Ayaka.

"Ran into some trouble on the way here, got delayed."

"How long have you been waiting?"

Muto Ayaka lowered her head: "Not long."

"Did you resolve the matter?"

Recalling the delicate, retreating figure of Yomi as she walked away step by step, Nebula Kotetsu confirmed: "It's resolved."

"Ayaka, let's start our walk."

Muto Ayaka replied softly: "Okay."

The two walked along the riverbank.

The river tinkled, the stones crunched beneath their feet, and the wind from the distant woods blew against their faces, cool and refreshing. Muto Ayaka remained silent, and Nebula Kotetsu was happy to enjoy the leisure; as he walked, he thought about the life of a genin that Yomi had described to him.

Missions had become increasingly intense lately.

The tasks assigned to genin were also starting to become dangerous.

Combining this with the timeline in his memories, he calculated how much time remained until the Third Shinobi World War and how much time he had left to improve himself.

He was so anxiously immersed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice how long it had been since the two of them had spoken.

It wasn't until Muto Ayaka's gentle voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Nebula, let's break up."