Shuo woke from the cold. More precisely, the cool autumn wind slipped through the broken window, making straight for the warmest spots beneath his covers and scattering every last bit of warmth until he frowned in irritation.
He opened his eyes to see the curtain flapping like a white flag in the window frame, rustling as if it were desperate to fly away.
He lay watching for five seconds before dragging himself upright-the moment his foot touched the floor, it pulled at his wound, sending a dull ache through it.
Oh, right. I cut myself stepping on broken glass last night.
He glanced down at his foot. The bandage was still crooked, its edges curling up, but at least no blood had seeped through. Good enough. That saved him dressing it again.
He shuffled to the window and stared at its half-shattered pane. Jagged shards of glass stuck out of the frame like a beast baring its teeth.
He reached out to touch a shard. Hard and icy cold. His fingertip recoiled-Tch. Fixing a window is such a hassle.
Asking the Logistics Unit meant filling out a form, filling out a form meant lining up, lining up meant waiting, and after waiting, he would still have to schedule someone to take measurements, then wait for the glass to arrive. The whole process would probably eat up most of the day. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
He leaned against the wall and simply stopped moving, staring blankly out the window.
Konoha's morning was as lively as ever. Sai's silver-gray figure was gone from the opposite rooftop. Only a few sparrows hopped over the tiles, their tails bobbing, making an awful racket.
After watching for a while, he held out a hand, tiny flecks of golden light shimmering at