"What's the big deal? The other me nearly killed you, didn't she? Let's call it even—an eye for an eye, and we're square!" the girl said, looking completely unconcerned.
"Besides, you know this space is my ability. I can make illusions real, so of course I can also keep them as illusions. Hehe. Sure, you got a huge hole stabbed through you, but don't worry! It was all fake. As long as I want it to be!"
Ueno Kei froze. Fake? Hadn't he really been stabbed? Huh? But that made sense. She could make illusions real, but that didn't mean she had to make them real, right?
At that thought, Ueno Kei felt inexplicably reassured.
But wait, that wasn't right!
They were even? Could you really settle something like this that way? Ueno Kei had to admit that, for once, he couldn't keep up with the girl's train of thought.
Ueno Kei opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had no idea what to say.
Did people in this world really take mortal enmity so lightly? Even if it was fake, he had still been stabbed! The pain that had shot through his nerves had been anything but imaginary.
But that didn't add up, either. Ueno Kei had lived in this world for ten years, and in Konoha for more than three. He knew how hostile Konoha was toward shinobi from other villages.
The hatred that had grown out of the previous Ninja Wars and the battles fought on missions ran bone-deep. Ueno Kei hadn't forgotten his ninja teacher's warning in class: once they became shinobi, they had to stay on guard at all times when facing enemy shinobi.
Was something wrong with this girl's head? Ueno Kei looked Kurama Yakumo up and down suspiciously. Hm? She did seem a little off, maybe?
Ueno Kei wasn't sure, but that was his guess.
After all, everything about this situation felt strange, and a nameless restlessness stirred inside him.
Uneasy, Ueno Kei chose to stay silent. He wanted to see what this princess of the Kurama Clan was really after.
Kurama Yakumo frowned in displeasure. She could sense how wary and resistant the boy in front of her was. He hadn't relaxed at all.
She felt she'd already explained things as clearly as she could.
She'd even tried to ease the tension. How could this guy be so oblivious to the mood?
Hmph. Kurama Yakumo felt angry and hurt.
Then again, she hadn't stopped to consider what their relationship had been like. As Ueno Kei had said, they were mortal enemies—or, at the very least, they had each nearly killed the other.
How could they possibly talk amicably, like old friends?
The girl's personality, her unusual condition, and what had happened earlier might have skewed her thoughts on the matter.
After all, she hadn't really been herself back then. Even before that, there hadn't been a single moment when she'd truly been herself.
So it was possible that she'd react this way.
But Ueno Kei didn't see it that way. They were strangers, not old acquaintances or family, and they'd just been through a fierce clash.
What was more, Konoha's Anbu had made it clear that the girl was a highly classified Konoha secret and a subject of surveillance.
No matter how he looked at it, Ueno Kei had every reason to stay on his guard around her.
It wasn't as if someone could nearly kill you, then come smiling and say, "Oh, I was only joking. You cut me too, so we're even. Let's be friends."
And you'd just be foolish enough to agree, right?
Kurama Yakumo was getting hung up on the wrong thing and missing the point. That was why something so simple, something even a child could understand, was making her so furious.
And yet Kurama Yakumo had something important she needed to discuss with Ueno Kei. Otherwise, given her temperament, she would have kicked him to the ends of the earth with a huff long ago.
Out of sight, out of mind.
The girl bit down on her teeth in frustration, forcing down the surging anger inside her. Just as she was about to speak—
Her expression suddenly changed, twisting with pain.
Clutching her head, she curled up and fell to her knees. Beads of sweat, as big as beans, dripped onto the ground. Ueno Kei watched as her breathing grew more and more ragged. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, only to be concealed by suspicion.
He had taken one step toward her, but now he pulled his foot back.
A moment later, the girl's expression gradually eased.
Bracing herself on the ground and panting heavily, Kurama Yakumo slowly got to her feet.
Ueno Kei could clearly see that her face had grown even paler. It wasn't the normal fair complexion of a human being, but a sickly, ashen pallor.
A complicated look flickered in Kurama Yakumo's eyes.
"Kei, may I call you that?" The girl's voice now held a hint of sorrow and loneliness.
Ueno Kei said nothing, merely giving the faintest nod.
A faint smile appeared on the girl's face. She no longer seemed playful as she had before, nor was she in the violent state she'd been in earlier.
Now, she seemed cold and distant.
It was just like the feeling Ueno Kei had gotten when he'd caught his first distant glimpse of the girl by the river.
In Ueno Kei's eyes, the girl had three distinct sides: the vicious, bloodthirsty Ido; the mischievous princess of the Kurama Clan; and the lonely, sorrowful Kurama Yakumo.
"Kei, whether you believe me or not, I've never wanted to kill you or Teacher Kurenai, even though I did nearly kill you both," the girl said quietly.
Ueno Kei's gaze remained clear and calm. His expression didn't change, as if he hadn't heard her at all. Yet, unexpectedly, her words didn't feel the least bit out of place to him.
Contradictory. At odds with himself. Ueno Kei admitted that something in him had gone a little wrong.
When he faced this girl called Kurama Yakumo, he couldn't figure out how he was supposed to feel.
It sounded ridiculous. She was an enemy, even if she was a girl. What was there to hesitate over? If anyone else knew what Ueno Kei was thinking at that moment, they would undoubtedly call his thoughts childish and laughable.
But Ueno Kei wasn't ignorant of such obvious truths. It was just that, when it came to her—
An enemy? Maybe. A companion? That sounded ridiculous. So what was she, then? Ueno Kei was lost. His experience, spanning two lifetimes but amounting to barely thirty years, wasn't nearly enough to help him make sense of it.
At that moment, all Ueno Kei could do was stay silent and listen. He didn't know why, but he felt he only needed to quietly hear the girl out.
Perhaps the girl didn't expect him to answer. The thought came to him faintly. Perhaps, when she faced him, she felt just as conflicted as he did.
Maybe. Probably.
"Kei, do you believe in fate? When I first met you two years ago, I somehow felt you would be the one to bring everything to an end."
"Hey, Kei. I knew a long time ago... I knew it all..." The girl's voice trembled with tears.
"Teacher Kurenai was always so kind to me. My uncle was always thinking of me. My third uncle could be scary, but I knew he was strict with the younger generation because he wanted us to amount to something... Dad... Mom... They always... always..."
The girl's voice faded, breaking off here and there and catching on her sobs.
"Ah, Kei... What do you think people are alive for?"
Ueno Kei looked at the girl before him, tears streaming down her face, and felt his heart grow heavier. He reached out and gently closed his hand around empty air.
As if he were trying to grasp something, he felt only a weight in his hand. Slowly, he let it fall.
Faced with the girl's sorrowful expression, the boy didn't know what to say.
At that moment, the boy felt as though his heart had drawn a little closer to hers.
P.S. It's been a month. At first, Ye thought hitting that collection milestone would be easy. Turns out, Ye had been expecting too much. What a tragedy.
Before you continue