The seventh day.
As sunlight slanted across the ruins, Shuo's brow stirred faintly.
It was as faint as wind brushing the surface of water, almost imperceptible, but Little Black, who had crouched on his chest keeping watch for three days, spotted it at once.
"He moved!" Little Black immediately sprang up, his short legs swinging as he shouted.
Isshiki strode over and lowered his gaze to that deathly pale face. Before long, the brow trembled again.
Then his eyes opened.
They were pure black, not the Otsutsuki's pale gold, but Shuo's own distinctive black, with a hint of nonchalance.
His gaze swept over Little Black and Isshiki before turning to Kaguya and Sai beside them. His voice was as rough as sandpaper, and all he got out was, "Fuck. Thirsty."
Sai froze for a second, then turned and took off running. "I'll get water!"
Shuo slowly pushed himself upright. Every joint in his body hurt, as though a pack of Ten-Tails had taken turns trampling him, leaving him terribly sore and aching.
He looked down at his hand, his eyes briefly registering surprise-there was not just a single glimmer in his palm, but a dense cluster of tiny white dots, like shattered stars, drifting slowly across it.
"This is..."
As though they had heard him, the lights all stopped at once. The largest flashed, as if answering him.
"Hand Princess Big?"
Shuo called out tentatively.
The next second, all the lights blazed at once, darting around his palm like a bunch of little ones romping about.
"Fuck."
Shuo swore under his breath, but could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. "You're not dead."
Little Black crawled over and leaned close to his hand, staring at the lights. "They've been inside you, sleeping for seven whole days."
"How