On the evening of December 31st, New Year's Eve—the Shinobi World's New Year's Eve.
The people who had been setting up the wedding venue had already left Uzumaki Kuming's home. After a day of exhausting rehearsals, Uzumaki Kuming and Mei Terumi had finally seen off all their guests and found a moment to sit quietly in the living room.
Mei Terumi wore a loose azure dress as she knelt beside Uzumaki Kuming, smiling sweetly while pouring him tea, every bit the picture of a virtuous wife. Suddenly having someone beside him to pour his tea, Uzumaki Kuming was honestly a little unaccustomed to it. The hand holding his cup was somewhat stiff.
In the courtyard outside the living room, insects chirped in waves. Cold moonlight streamed through the doorway into the room, falling over Uzumaki Kuming and Mei Terumi.
After pouring his tea, Mei Terumi said nothing. She simply knelt quietly at Uzumaki Kuming's side, gazing tenderly at his face as a faint blush spread across her lovely features.
"Mei Terumi, come sit over here. There's something I need to tell you." Uzumaki Kuming could feel Mei Terumi's gaze, and being alone with her like this made him a little awkward. Though he had agreed to marry Mei Terumi without hesitation at the time, he was actually a novice when it came to marriage and having a partner.
This was the first time in all these years that he had been alone with a woman like this. Thinking that he and Mei Terumi would officially marry tomorrow, there were some things he had to get off his chest.
"Darling, what is it? I can sit here. This way, I can be a little closer to you."
With a smile in her eyes, Mei Terumi spoke softly, using an intimate, almost