Waking Up

Wuming, still unconscious, had a very, very long dream.

In the dream, she had another name—Uchiha Hikari.

It was a world without war. Uchiha Hikari grew up carefree, sheltered by her parents.

She didn't have to wear that shabby blue dress, spend all day weighed down by heavy shackles, or endure all kinds of experiments every day.

Her only worry was that Qiancao, the boy next door, was always cold toward her, yet spent all his time pestering Uchiha Hiri to teach him ninjutsu.

Qiancao's strange behavior gradually stirred Uchiha Hikari from her immersion in this world. When she turned around, her parents' once-familiar faces were growing blurry.

Somewhere deep within, a voice told her, "Why think so much about it? You must have grown tired of that hell filled with conflict long ago.

"As long as you convince yourself not to notice those little inconsistencies, you can live in this paradise forever."

Looking at her parents' indistinct faces, Uchiha Hikari couldn't remember their names or what they looked like anymore. But the warmth she felt was so familiar, so real.

They opened their arms, ready to pull Uchiha Hikari into their warm embrace.

But after one last look at her parents, she turned resolutely toward the voice in the void and said, "Let me go back."

"I don't want Qiancao to live alone in that hell."

"I promised him we'd be together forever."

The voice in the void didn't answer. The entire false world quickly faded into darkness, and Uchiha Hikari became Wuming once more, returning to that hell where Qiancao was.

But this time, Wuming was no longer afraid or lost. Even in hell, she had resolved to create a warm paradise for Qiancao.

The first thing Wuming saw when she awoke was Qiancao. He sat beside her, gently stroking her face.

His hands were a little cold, but warmth welled up inside Wuming. Her heart felt positively light with happiness.

The real world really is better. Does anyone actually like staying in a fake one?

Still a little embarrassed, she blurted out, "W-why are you touching me?"

Caught in the act, Qiancao jumped and snatched his hand away as if he'd been shocked. He'd just been sneaking a peek at Wuming's cleavage. No one had noticed, but he still felt terribly guilty.

But then joy filled Qiancao's heart. Forgetting his embarrassment, he said happily, "You're finally awake! Does anything still hurt? You lost so much blood—you scared me half to death."

When Qiancao pulled his hand away, Wuming felt a little disappointed. For some reason, she suddenly wanted him to touch her more.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when it startled her. The spot he'd touched suddenly felt itchy, and she knew it had turned terribly red without even looking.

When Wuming didn't answer, Qiancao thought she still felt unwell. He hurried closer and carefully checked her over.

Qiancao's closeness made Wuming's face flush even more. All she could manage was a stammer: "I-I'm fine now. Mm, I think I'm fine."

She didn't sound weak when she spoke, and her face was deeply flushed—not pale from blood loss like it had been yesterday.

Qiancao finally relaxed a little. As the tension left him, his injuries began to hurt again, and he dropped down beside her with a thump.

To distract himself, Qiancao instinctively took Wuming's little hand in his and said with relief, "I'm just glad you're okay. I was so worried about you."

Wuming felt a little happy when he took her hand. She wondered if she should pull away, too.

But the feeling of holding hands made her feel lightheaded with joy. She wished she had a few more hands for him to hold.

After enjoying a moment of Qiancao's tenderness, Wuming suddenly remembered something and struggled to sit up.

Qiancao quickly helped her up and asked with concern, "Does anything hurt?"

Wuming searched all over herself, even pulling open the torn front of her clothes to look inside, giving Qiancao beside her an unobstructed view.

Mm. Small, but cute.

After searching herself from head to toe, Wuming still couldn't find what she wanted. Anxiously, she asked Qiancao, "The sandals you gave me are gone!"

When Black Zetsu had ambushed Wuming, his knife strike had been flawless in both technique and force. The one thing he hadn't accounted for was the pair of straw sandals Qiancao had given her, which she'd kept tucked against her chest.

Worried his handiwork wasn't sturdy enough, Qiancao had deliberately made several extra layers when he crafted the sandals for Wuming. They'd acted like a natural shield, slightly deflecting Black Zetsu's attack and keeping the knife from damaging Wuming's internal organs.

"Don't panic, don't panic." Qiancao soothed Wuming and took the sandals from his backpack behind him, handing them to her. "I was afraid they'd infect your wound, so I put them away."

Seeing the sandals in her hands broken into four pieces, Wuming felt a wave of sadness. Her eyes stung, and tears welled up.

When Qiancao saw her red-rimmed eyes, as if she were about to cry, he hurried to comfort her.

"Don't be sad! These sandals saved your life, so they died a glorious death. We've still got a long time together. I'll make you an even better pair someday."

Wuming still looked dejected, and her voice grew quiet. "But they were the first gift I ever got from a friend. I-I still can't bear to part with them."

Qiancao thought for a moment, then went to the river and picked some fresh water plants, testing their strength with his hands.

He took the sandals from Wuming's arms and figured out how to use the new water plants to mend the pair that had been cleaved in two.

The sandals had been ugly to begin with, and now they looked even shabbier, but at least he'd managed to put them back together.

Qiancao showed Wuming the reborn sandals and pointed to the fresh green water plants. Smiling, he said, "See? These water plants stand for me. I've tied myself to them, so no matter where I am in the future, it'll be as if we're always together."

Wuming stared silently at the even uglier sandals and didn't say a word, leaving Qiancao feeling awkward.

Just as he began to worry that Wuming didn't like his painfully cheesy line, she murmured so softly he could barely hear her, "Thank you. I'll keep taking good care of them."

"And... and... I don't want you to leave me..."

Halfway through, Wuming stopped lowering her head to hide her embarrassment. Instead, she looked straight into Qiancao's eyes. "Wherever you go, I'll follow you. We'll never, ever be apart."

Wuming's frankness made Qiancao blush. He was just an innocent college student who'd never dated anyone, and this was the first time a girl this beautiful had ever come right out and said something like that to him.