"Big sister, no matter when, I'll always be by your side."
"What if one day, I'm no longer here...?"
"Then I'll definitely find you!"
"What if I'm hard to find?"
"Then I'll keep looking and looking, search the entire world, and never give up!"
"...Mm."
That night, Wuye fell asleep holding Kaguya.
Other than embracing each other, the two of them did nothing more intimate.
Still, Kaguya's occasional questions left Wuye flustered.
But since she did not say more, neither did he ask. He only told her of his resolve.
Later, Kaguya seemed much more at ease and finally fell into a deep sleep.
Yet Wuye kept his eyes open, watching the moonlight that seemed eternally cold.
Without moving, until dawn...
"Wuye—"
The next day, after getting up, washing up, and opening his door, he was tightly hugged by a fiery-red figure.
"Kushina..."
Wuye wrapped his arms around her, only to find that her clothes were slightly damp.
They were covered in dew...
"You... came last night?" he asked softly.
Kushina's voice was muffled. "You said you were spending yesterday with big sister, so I came after yesterday was over."
Feeling the dampness on his shoulder, Hyuga Wuye could not help but sigh softly. "Sorry. I never expected to be gone for three years."
Kushina's body trembled slightly. After a long while, she murmured, "I'd rather have been like Mikoto and lost those three years with you."
For three whole years, even Kaguya had been asleep, while she alone had tasted the bitterness of longing.
So tangled and lingering, so agonizingly difficult to bear...
"Let me see sixteen-year-old Kushina, okay?" Hyuga Wuye asked with a gentle smile.
But Kushina, still in his arms, shook her head fiercely. "No, no! I must look awful right now!"
Yet Wuye cupped her head