Ino's Daily Life

Ino woke up at six every morning.

Her room was on the second floor of the flower shop, its window facing the street. Before the sun had fully risen, the sky outside was pale blue, like cloth washed clean with water. The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was pull back the curtains and look across the street.

Across the street was the direction leading to the Uchiha Clan District.

There was no sign of anyone.

She withdrew her gaze, got out of bed, washed her face, and changed into her Ninja Academy uniform. The uniform was a little too big—her mother had deliberately bought it a size larger, saying, "You're still growing." Ino thought her mother just wanted to save money.

Downstairs, her father, Inoichi, was already arranging flowers outside the shop.

Roses, lilies, baby's breath—pot after pot was carried out onto the racks by the entrance. Inoichi's fingers were thick at the knuckles from years of turning soil, and dirt was always lodged beneath his nails. Yet his movements were gentle, as though he were holding a baby.

"Morning, Dad."

"Morning, Ino." Inoichi looked up and smiled. "Breakfast is on the kitchen table. The eggs are fried, and the milk's in the cup."

"Okay."

Ino walked over and sat at the table. The edges of the fried egg were a little burnt, but she did not mind. She picked it up with her chopsticks and took a bite, drinking milk as she watched the clock on the wall.

Six forty.

She finished the rest of the egg in two bites, grabbed her lunchbox, and stuffed it into her schoolbag—it had been made by her mother the night before and left in the fridge, still cool when she took it out. Ino weighed the lunchbox in her hand, making sure it was not leaking.

Then she went to the shop entrance, pulled over a chair, sat in the corner, and began combing her hair.

She divided her long blonde hair into two sections, combing and tying one side at a time. A mirror hung on the wall beside the entrance, and through it, she could see the street.

There were not many people on the road. The fishmonger pushed his cart past, its wheels clattering over the stone pavement. The woman at the breakfast stall was hanging up her sign, which swayed once in the wind.

Ino finished tying the left ponytail and started combing the right side.

Her movements were very slow.

Slow enough that even Inoichi found it strange.

"You've been tying your hair for a long time today."

"I want it to be neater."

Inoichi glanced at his daughter, said nothing more, and continued spraying water over the lilies.

Seven fifteen.

A small figure appeared across the street.

Black hair, a straight back as he walked, neither too fast nor too slow. He carried a schoolbag in his hand and wore the Uchiha Clan's dark blue clothes, washed so many times that the color had faded a little.

Shuo Ye.

Ino's hand paused. Then she stood up from her chair, walked to the flower shop entrance, and raised her right hand.

"Shuo Ye—!"

The boy across the street looked up and glanced at her.

Ino waved hard. Half a hair tie was still wrapped around her hand, and her hair hung loose over one shoulder, making her look a little ridiculous.

Shuo Ye stopped for a second.

Then he nodded. Very lightly, like an acknowledgment that needed no words.

Ino lowered her hand and stood at the flower shop entrance, watching him pass along the other side of the street. His back disappeared around the next corner leading toward the Ninja Academy.

Ino turned around and tied up the right side of her hair.

Inoichi set down his watering can and looked at his daughter.

"Every day?"

"Every day what?"

"Waiting for someone."

Ino bit the hair tie between her teeth and mumbled, "I'm not waiting. I just happen to tie my hair at this time."

Inoichi smiled. Afterward, he lowered his head and continued watering the roses.

Ino took the mirror from her mouth, tied the hair tie in place, slung on her schoolbag, and headed out.

As she passed her father, Inoichi suddenly said, "That child looked a little better today."

Ino's steps paused.

"...I guess."

"Better than last month."

"Yeah."

"Go on." Inoichi patted his daughter's shoulder.

Ino ran out of the flower shop.

During class, Ino sat two rows in front of Shuo Ye.

She had chosen that seat on purpose. Too close, and he might notice; too far, and she would not be able to see clearly. Two rows was just right—close enough for her to hear the sound of him turning pages.

Ino often drifted off during class. Not by looking out the window, but by looking behind her. She pretended to bend down to pick up a pencil, pretended to turn around to speak to the classmates behind her, pretended to stretch. Every time she looked back, she would steal a glance at Shuo Ye's desk from the corner of her eye.

Shuo Ye's desk was very neat. His textbook lay open in the middle, with a sharpened pencil beside it. His fingers rested on the pages, his nails trimmed short. When he listened in class, he did not spin his pencil, doze off, or stare blankly into space.

But he did not take notes either.

Ino found that detail strange. But she could not say what was strange about it.

Once, when she turned around, her eyes met Shuo Ye's.

Shuo Ye was looking at her.

Ino blinked hard, turned back around, and the tips of her ears turned bright red.

The classmate behind her leaned over and whispered, "Were you looking at Uchiha Sakuya just now?"

"I wasn't!"

"You clearly were."

"My neck was sore. I was just turning it."

"You turned that far just for that?"

Ino stopped talking. She drew a flower in her textbook. Halfway through, she realized she was drawing a bellflower—the one she had given Shuo Ye outside the flower shop last spring. Back then, he had said, "It's okay."

Ino scribbled out the flower.

After class, she went into the hallway to get water. There was a window beside the water dispenser, and through it, she could see the training field.

On the training field, Shuo Ye was crouching alone at the edge of the sand, watching an ant move house. The sunlight bleached his hair pale, and he remained there without moving, like a stone.

Ino stood there holding her cup for a long time.

Choji patted her shoulder from behind. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Then why aren't you filling your cup?"

Ino looked down—the water had already overflowed, running down the side of the cup and soaking one patch of her forearm.

After school, Ino lingered at the classroom door.

She put her pencils into her pencil case one by one, pulled the zipper halfway shut, then opened it again. A classmate beside her asked why she was not leaving, and she said, "It's my turn to clean today."

Once most of the classroom had emptied out, she slung on her schoolbag and walked out.

At the corner of the hallway, she ran into Shuo Ye.

Shuo Ye was leaning by the hallway window, waiting for someone. When he saw her approach, he pushed himself up from the windowsill.

"You're always this coincidental," Shuo Ye said.

"What do you mean?"

"I run into you every day after school."

"This road doesn't belong to you." Ino hitched her schoolbag higher on her shoulder. "My home is this way too."

Shuo Ye glanced at her and did not continue.

The two of them walked out of the school gates side by side.

The evening wind in the Hidden Leaf Village was a little cool in October. The ginkgo trees by the roadside had begun shedding leaves, yellow leaves carpeting the sidewalk and rustling beneath their feet. The vendor selling dango was packing up, and the lingering smoke from the grill was scattered by the wind, carrying over the charred sweetness of sauce and wine.

Ino walked on the left, Shuo Ye on the right. Half a meter separated them. Not too close, not too far—just enough for them to hear each other's footsteps.

"You didn't finish your lunch today," Ino said.

"How did you know?"

"I saw there was still a rice ball in your lunchbox."

"Wasn't hungry."

"Liar. The seaweed around your rice ball wasn't wrapped properly again. You took one bite and put it back."

Shuo Ye fell silent for two seconds.

"Do you count how many bites I take every day?"

He said it very calmly, but Ino's face instantly flushed red.

"I don't! I just happened to—happened to—happened to see it today."

"You just happen to every time."

Ino stopped talking. She turned her head to the other side and pretended to look at the shop windows along the street. A row of kunai was displayed inside, their gleaming blades reflecting her flushed face.

After walking for a while, Shuo Ye suddenly stopped.

Ino stopped as well.

Shuo Ye looked at her. "Ino."

"What?"

"Thanks."

After saying that, he turned and went into the alley leading toward the Uchiha Clan District.

Ino stood where she was, watching his back disappear into the alley. Leaves drifted down from the ginkgo tree at the entrance, covering the ground in a wide spread, like a golden swamp.

She hugged her schoolbag a little tighter.

Then she smiled.

Not the kind of smile where she bared her teeth. It was the kind where she tucked her chin into her uniform collar, lowered her head, let the corners of her lips curl upward, and had her eyes shine in the dark.

When Ino got home, Inoichi was putting away the flower racks.

"You're back."

"Yeah."

"Why are you so late today?"

"I walked slowly."

Inoichi carried the last pot of roses into the shop. Ino stood at the entrance, looking across the street.

There was nothing across the street. The mouth of the alley was pitch-black, with only a few streetlights lit, their glow swaying in the wind.

"Ino."

"Hm?"

"That child—" Inoichi paused, choosing his words. "Is he okay?"

Ino thought for a moment and said, "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"He looks fine. He eats, goes to class, trains—everything is normal. But I think..."

She stopped. She did not know how to describe that feeling. Shuo Ye walked down the road, the wind lifting the hem of his clothes. She followed behind him, and though there were only five meters between them, it felt as if a river lay in the middle.

"But what do you think?" Inoichi crouched down until they were eye level.

Ino lowered her eyes.

"I think he can't sleep at night."

Inoichi was silent for a long time. Then he stood and ruffled his daughter's hair.

"You're doing very well."

"I haven't done anything."

"You wait for him at the entrance every morning, take that road home after school, share your rice balls with him." Inoichi said, "That's already doing a lot."

Ino looked up at her father.

Inoichi nodded, his eyes holding something hard to describe. It was not sadness. It was the expression of someone who knew his child was going through things that were heavy, beautiful, and impossible for him to bear in her place.

"Go on. Upstairs to do your homework."

"Okay."

Ino went upstairs. Her bedroom window was open, and cool wind poured in, blowing the papers on her desk onto the floor. She bent down to pick one up—it was a drawing.

The drawing showed herself. Blonde hair, two low ponytails, standing at the flower shop entrance and waving. At the bottom was a date: last spring.

Ino tucked the drawing beneath her pillow, sat down at her desk, and opened her homework notebook.

Outside the window, the moon had risen.

There were a few stars in the night sky over the Hidden Leaf Village. She rolled her pencil once between her fingers and began doing her homework. Halfway through, she stopped and looked outside.

The streetlight at the alley across the street was still swaying.

Deep within that alley was the Uchiha Clan District.

Inside the district, one house still had its lights on.

Ino stared at that light for a while, then lowered her head and continued doing her homework.