The following night, Shuo couldn't sleep.
It wasn't insomnia. It was the feeling of knowing something was about to happen and lying there waiting it out, his heart hanging in suspense, unsettled.
He sat up. The moonlight outside was bright, spilling across the floor like a layer of white frost.
Sai lay curled up on the floor, sleeping soundly, his breathing even. He hadn't been disturbed.
Shuo watched him for three seconds, then slipped quietly out of bed. Without putting on shoes, he walked barefoot across the icy floor to the window.
He slowly pulled back a corner of the curtain. The street outside was eerily quiet, without even a dog barking, and completely deserted.
But he knew someone had arrived.
In the shadows at the street corner, the moonlight twisted faintly, like a stone dropped into water sending out a tiny ripple that vanished in an instant.
"Come out."
Shuo's voice wasn't loud, just loud enough to carry to that corner.
In the shadows, space began to twist and fold. A figure slowly emerged-an Akatsuki cloak, a Spiral Mask over his face, and that same flippant air.
"Oh dear," he said, scratching his head, his tone once again that of the bumbling Tobi. "You spotted me. That's no fun."
Shuo didn't play along. He simply watched him, Lightspeed Thinking running instinctively.
He still couldn't see any chakra, but he could clearly feel an eye beneath the mask fixed on him, never looking away.
"Get to the point."
Shuo's tone was level, without any extra emotion.
Tobi's scratching hand paused for a second, so briefly it was hard to catch.
Then he lowered his hand, and his tone changed instantly-the playful grin was gone, leaving only a low, composed voice, as though he had become someone else.
"All right. Straight