We'll Be Waiting for Your Return

As Mei Terumi finished speaking, the conference room fell silent once again.

"To rediscover... the real me?"

He stared at Mei Terumi's outstretched hand, remaining silent for a long time.

The afternoon light streamed in through the south window, making the hand appear even whiter and more delicate, revealing even the faint lines between the knuckles.

What am I really like?

He silently asked himself this question in his heart, the light in his eyes dimming slightly.

Now, even he himself can't explain it clearly anymore.

Whether it's Uchiha Kuro of Konoha or Mist Village Shiina Sora of Kirigakure, in the end, they are nothing more than products deliberately disguised by themselves with various purposes.

He certainly admitted that the gentleness and passion he once thought were merely acting skills had long since seeped into his very being.

Sometimes, even he himself can't tell when he's pretending and when he's revealing his true feelings.

He truly developed unbreakable bonds with Konoha and Mist Village.

But the bond that began with deception was ultimately something I couldn't accept.

A home where you can truly belong, a home where you can finally find peace and security...

He never dared to hope for either Konoha or Mist Village.

After all, when the deception is exposed, what kind of expression will they show when they face the real Uchiha Kuro...? Kotsu has already prepared himself.

He never expected that they would be able to accept him without any resentment after the truth came out.

Even if the bonds remain, even if the years we spent together cannot be erased, we can never go back to the way things were.

Parting ways and wishing each other well is probably the best ending for both of them.

"That's how it should be..."

Kō felt Mei Terumi's gaze fixed on him, and saw the hand reaching out to him, and was speechless for a moment.

Her hand was still there, not even her fingertips had moved.

"I must say... as expected of you."

Looking up at Mei Terumi, he said softly with a complicated tone:

"They're actually willing to accept a dangerous individual who's been deceiving you for so many years."

"Whether you're a dangerous individual or not, I don't know yet."

Mei Terumi smiled calmly and extended her outstretched hand closer to Kokoro.

"After all, as you just said, I haven't really gotten to know you yet, have I?"

The certainty in her voice was even warmer than the afternoon sunlight.

"So, starting today... let me get to know you all over again!"

"... Seriously, I'm defeated by you."

Kou murmured something softly, slowly raised his hand, and carefully took her hand, which had been waiting for so long, into his palm.

His fingertips trembled slightly.

Kou took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of heat rising in his chest, and managed a weak smile as he looked at her.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: you'd better be prepared to be disappointed in me."

The real me isn't as gentle as "Shiina Sora."

"... I don't think so."

Mei Terumi felt the trembling in her palm, then reached back and clasped his trembling fingers in hers, giving him a playful wink:

"Maybe the real you is even better than I thought."

As she spoke, she looked the object up and down, then added in a low voice:

"Putting everything else aside, your face is so much prettier than before."

"Hey, hey, that's a really heartless thing to say."

He glanced at Mei Terumi, his tone unusually relaxed, unlike anything he'd heard in days:

"Back in Mist Village, didn't you personally praise me for being super handsome? You were just lying to me all along."

"What's wrong?"

Mei Terumi raised her chin confidently:

"You've lied to us for so many years, is it too much for me to tell a white lie?"

"Don't just downplay such a terrible thing like that, it's making me feel bad."

Kou exaggeratedly covered his chest, as if he had suffered a great blow, and lowered his head.

Seeing Koko's expression, Mei Terumi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Seeing her like that, Kou also laughed.

His current joking and playful demeanor is completely different from his past self.

But the unspoken, inexplicable yet ever-present tacit understanding between them did not dissipate despite the peeling away of truth and lies.

It actually felt more relaxed, and... more genuine.

"Hey, Mei Terumi."

He whispered, squeezing her hand a little tighter:

"Tell me more, everyone in Mist Village, how are you all doing now?"

Well...

Mei Terumi deliberately dragged out the last syllable, mysteriously taking out a thick scroll from inside her clothes and gently placing it on the table between the two of them.

Instead of listening to my dry retelling here, why don't you confirm it for yourself?

"This is..."

Kōji glanced at the scroll on the table with great confusion, then turned his gaze back to Mei Terumi's face.

"Open it and take a look."

Mei Terumi gazed at him, a hint of expectation flickering in her eyes.

Kou was clearly taken aback for a moment, then released Mei Terumi's hand and reached for the scroll.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the scroll, he caught out of the corner of his eye that Mei Terumi took two small steps back.

Why are you so far away?

Knock stopped abruptly, squinted, and looked at her suspiciously.

"Could there be a trap here?"

Mei Terumi didn't answer; she simply stood a few steps away, watching him with a smile.

Looking at her expression, a sense of foreboding immediately rose in his heart.

"Forget it, it's unlikely to be anything that can hurt me anyway."

He glanced at the scroll on the table and sighed inwardly.

Even if it's a prank... I'll accept it. Let it be a way for her to vent her anger.

Kou took a deep breath, carefully picked up the scroll, and untied the rope binding it.

As the scroll unfurled extremely slowly, a blinding white light burst forth from it!

Immediately afterwards, countless densely packed letters poured out from that small scroll.

In a very short time, thousands upon thousands of letters filled the long black wooden table, overflowing above Kou's knees and burying him entirely in that sea of letters.

"Holy crap, what is this?!"

Kou couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, peeking out half of his bewildered face from the sea of letters.

Mei Terumi desperately suppressed a laugh, reached out and picked up the letter that had spilled to her feet, then waved it at him:

"Open it and take a look. Didn't you just ask me how everyone in Mist Village is doing now?"

Instead of listening to me tell you this, why don't you see for yourself?

Kou was taken aback at first, then seemed to understand something. He picked up a letter from the top of the pile and carefully opened it...

"To Lord Kong... no, everyone says we should call him Lord Kou now."

Please forgive me, sir; I'm not good with words and don't know what to write.

I want to tell you that everyone in the village has missed you a lot while you were gone.

Whether you are a senior member of the Air Force or a senior member of the KMT, in our hearts, you are the benefactor who pulled us out of the Bloody Mist back then.

Mist Village is your home. You can come back whenever you want; we'll always be waiting for you!

"My lord, do you still remember me? I'm ashamed to say, I was the one who tripped and fell because I was so nervous when you were awarding us Forehead Protector at the graduation ceremony."

Everything Mist Village now, please rest assured, we will do our best to protect the village.

When you return, I want you to see if I've become a ninja now...

"Tsk, why do I have to write letters like them?! It's incredibly stupid!!"

... Honestly, I don't know what to write to you, you bastard, but I've already heard about you from Yagura.

Don't overthink it. The members of Mist Village aren't as heartless as you think.

Everyone in the Mist Village, I (crossed out) Hakuta... are all waiting for you to come back.

Kou quietly read through the letters, one after another.

Some were written by villagers, some by acquaintances, and some by people he had only met once during his patrols and whose names he couldn't recall.

They wrote many letters, each more or less different than the last, but at the end of almost every letter they wrote the same sentence.

"Mist Village is your home."

"We're waiting for you to come back."

"No matter... who you are."