"Yeah, Hikari, stay here. We can all live and train together and look out for each other," Seiichi urged her to stay.
Although Hikari was reasonably strong, her mental maturity fell several levels short of her strength.
She would easily fall victim to someone's schemes out there.
Staying with the Uchiha was best. At least with him watching over her, there wouldn't be so much trouble.
Looking at everyone's sincere gazes, Hikari felt incredibly warm inside. She nodded. "All right, I'll stay here."
"Great! Welcome aboard!" Shisui and Itachi cheered happily.
Knock, knock, knock...
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door...
"Come in."
"Young Clan Leader, here are the things you requested."
Koraki came in with several people, each pushing a three-tiered serving cart.
The carts were loaded with food in packages large and small.
He had them push the carts beside the table in the center.
"Join us."
"No, thank you, Young Clan Leader. We've already eaten. Enjoy your meal. I'll take my leave."
Koraki declined Seiichi's invitation to eat and turned to leave with the others.
"Don't be shy. Take whatever you want."
Naturally, he wasn't saying that to Shisui and Itachi.
Those two needed no special instructions. They had already dug in.
Hikari hadn't felt hungry at first.
But once she smelled the food, her stomach began to rumble.
She stopped standing on ceremony.
She reached for a matcha cake and began eating.
At the very first bite, Hikari's eyes lit up.
"It's delicious!"
"Then have some more. I can't promise much else, but there's plenty of food."
Hikari happily took a few more pieces of cake. Seeing her appetite in full swing lifted Seiichi's spirits too.
"You two, don't just stuff yourselves! Leave some for me!" Seiichi called to Shisui and Itachi.
Shisui was stuffing a slice