The mont Hanabi—who had been determined not to lose and had been maintaining an angry, unyielding glare—heard that sudden laughter, she froze like stone.
Rinne was laughing so hard she nearly fell backward, and Hanabi's little head filled with question marks.
What is this? What does she an by "staring contest"?
Wasn't that just now a clash of willpower between two strong warriors refusing to back down!?
What "staring contest"!?
When had Lady Hanabi ever agreed to start such a childish activity?
Are you three years old?
Hearing Rinne's bell-like laughter, Hanabi's cheeks flushed as she stamred:
"This isn't a staring contest! It's— it's…"
But after glancing over at her cousin Neji standing beside her, Hanabi couldn't bring herself to say sothing as embarrassing as "a battle of aura."
Even she knew that sounded ridiculous.
Rinne continued enthusiastically:
"It is a staring contest! You stared at for sooo long just now! You're amazing—you didn't laugh at all!
Let's play again, okay— pfft— hahaha, no, I can't do it!"
Hanabi hadn't even finished speaking before Rinne cut her off.
Hanabi had been fully prepared to decline with mature grace, to stand on the moral high ground of an older, more sophisticated girl and utter the classic phrase:
"You're so childish."
But Rinne's sudden, casual interruption completely shattered her montum.
Hanabi felt terrible. Truly terrible.
Watching Rinne laughing uncontrollably while leaning on Ryūshin, Hanabi felt she had just t the strongest opponent of her life.
This girl is indeed my strong rival!
Darn it, is she the type who specializes in breaking the enemy's plan by being a clown? What a cunning opponent!
Just as Hanabi was trying to figure out how to deal with this troubleso enemy, another pleasant voice suddenly sounded:
"My sister seems to have caused you so trouble. I sincerely apologize for that."
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Hanabi instinctively turned—and saw the boy who looked about 80% like Rinne placing a hand on Rinne's shoulder and speaking apologetically.
To be honest, Hanabi froze for a second the mont she saw his face.
Since Rinne was a girl—and her appearance and personality lacked any threatening edge—Hanabi had so natural resistance to her charms.
Although she admitted Rinne was pretty, she felt she wasn't inferior herself.
In terms of looks, Lady Hanabi was not losing.
But when that sa face appeared on a boy, it was a completely different story.
Even though their features were similar, Ryūshin's presence was entirely different from Rinne's.
That lazy, slightly distant aura, combined with his apologetic tone, created an unexpected contrast that made him strangely striking.
And because he hadn't spoken at all earlier and then suddenly did now, the impact hit even harder.
During that second of stunned silence, Hanabi subconsciously compared Ryūshin with all the boys in her class—and even with Neji beside her.
The conclusion:
The snot-nosed boys in her class were incomparable.
The only one who could maybe compete was Brother Neji.
But even Brother Neji seems slightly inferior compared to Ryūshin right now.
"…Uh, are you okay?"
Seeing the girl in front of him fall into a daze for no reason, Ryūshin silently complained in his heart:
Is spacing out and entering a ntal theater anywhere, anyti a common trait of your Hyūga clan?
I originally thought my silly sister had caused her trouble. Now it seems like the person across from us isn't very intelligent either.
It actually seed pretty good for the two of them to beco friends. Co to think of it, his little sister really didn't have any close female friends she could open her heart to.
At the Ninja Academy, because she always followed him around, she got along reasonably well with the girls, but it had never reached the level of true friendship.
But right now, this "Hanabi" girl unexpectedly seed to match Rinne's personality quite well, and her talent didn't seem bad either.
Even though Ryūshin felt that instead of visiting the Hyūga household, his sister should spend more ti practicing swordsmanship at ho…
given the circumstances, helping her find a decent best friend wasn't so bad either.
Thinking that, Ryūshin couldn't help showing a faint smile.
On the other side, Hanabi—who had snapped out of her daze after hearing Ryūshin's question—saw that smile and froze again.
Was he smiling at ?
Damn it, don't randomly show such a good-looking smile!
But…
it really was a nice smile…
As Hanabi's expression kept shifting, Hinata suddenly appeared behind her without her noticing:
"What are you thinking about?"
Hearing her sister's voice, Hanabi jolted in surprise and quickly changed the subject:
"Ah—nothing! Sister, why did you co back so fast? What did Father ask you?"
Her topic-switching was swift, but the faint blush still lingering on her cheeks betrayed her unsteady emotions.
However, Hinata herself was still emotionally overwheld at the mont, so she didn't notice her little sister's strange behavior at all.
Neji, on the other hand, glanced deeply at Ryūshin—who still looked calm as ever—and lightly shook his head:
Silent charm is the deadliest weapon…
...
After Hinata's situation with Naruto was settled, she drifted dazedly out of the room.
Once again, only the four adults remained.
Now that Hinata's matter was concluded, the four silently sipped tea, each with their own thoughts.
Hiashi pondered how he could use Hinata and Naruto's relationship to improve the clan's standing with Konoha's leadership.
Tsunade and Hoshiyomi were debating whether they should bring up the matter of Ryūshin and Hanabi.
Hinata was already eleven this year, but if they—a married couple—suddenly brought up soone else's six-year-old daughter, wouldn't that feel a bit… preditated?
While the three remained silent, Hizashi—who had been kneeling quietly beside Tsunade and Hoshiyomi to serve tea—suddenly stood up.
His abrupt movent imdiately caught the others' attention.
Hiashi, as his older brother, recognized that expression instantly and knew what Hizashi was thinking.
He was about to stop him, but it was already too late.
Before Hiashi could open his mouth, Hizashi knelt straight and firmly in the direction of Hoshiyomi and Tsunade:
"Lord Hoshiyomi, Lady Tsunade, I have a request.
Please allow so ti to explain it in full."
Seeing this, Hiashi's expression turned sowhat grim. He had originally wanted to stop Hizashi, but then let out a long sigh and closed his mouth.
Let him do it.
Today, this family matter would be exposed no matter what.
My brother has been silently enduring for so many years; it's ti for him to explode once. If he can use this opportunity to resolve this inner conflict, maybe it won't be a bad thing.
I owe these father and son pair too much.
...
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