At the entrance of Terumi i's ho, Kitahara Kaede knocked twice.
A flurry of rustling sounds echoed from inside, as if soone were frantically tidying up. After several seconds, the door finally opened.
Terumi i stood behind the door, her hair tied back with a butterfly clip. She wore a casual long-sleeved ho top with a pink apron tied around her waist. The apron was brand new, without a single crease.
"You're here? Co in," she said, stepping aside to let him in with a relaxed tone.
Kaede took off his shoes and walked inside. As he passed the kitchen, he stole a glance.
The side of the cutting board was scarred with countless knife marks, new and old overlapping in a dense pattern. Beside the board lay a small booklet titled *Basic Recipe Guide for Beginners*; its corners were curled, suggesting it had been flipped through many tis.
He looked away and kept walking.
Terumi i followed close behind, clearly noticing where he had been looking. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"That look of yours—you were definitely staring." She pressed her hands onto his shoulders and nudged him toward the dining table. She was surprisingly strong. "Just sit and wait. Don't go into the kitchen."
Kaede was pushed into a seat at the table. Terumi i turned and headed back into the kitchen, pulling the door halfway shut.
Through the gap in the door, he could hear the sound of the faucet running, vegetables being rinsed, and the rhythmic thumping of a knife against the cutting board. After a while, food hit the pan, and oil splattered with a loud sizzle.
Kaede leaned back in his chair. The aroma wafting from the kitchen was pleasant, with no scent of burning. He looked through the window at the gray, hazy sky of the Hidden Mist Village. In the distance, the silhouettes of high-rise office buildings were embedded in the mist, and a few ssenger hawks soared across the rooftops.
He withdrew his gaze.
Ao had been keeping a close eye on Yagura for a long ti. After Fuguki's death, the power vacuum within the village had allowed several high-level factions to reshuffle their cards. Ao had used this window to secure a higher-level guard dispatch qualification, steadily shortening the physical distance between himself and Yagura.
As long as he found the right opportunity, a single sweep of the Byakugan across Yagura's chakra pathways would reveal imdiately whether there was any external interference.
As for Genji, Terumi i had recently been pulled into small-scale policy discussion etings. The summaries she was allowed to see had been upgraded from redacted versions to nearly complete records. Last month, Genji had even let her independently draft a proposal for the reallocation of border outposts.
This level of support ant he was already paving the way for her.
Once the truth of Yagura's control was solidified, Terumi i and Ao would be the core figures in overturning the Bloody Mist policy. Yagura would step down, Genji would serve as a short-term transition, and Terumi i would take over.
It was only a matter of ti.
Kaede closed his eyes. The pieces on the chessboard were nearly all in place.
The kitchen door pushed open, and Terumi i erged carrying two plates. One held pan-fried at, evenly browned with slightly charred edges; the other held stir-fried seasonal vegetables, bright green and crisp.
She carefully placed the plates on the table and turned back to the kitchen. On her second trip, she carried a bowl of miso soup in her left hand and two bowls of white rice in her right.
A few oil stains clung to her apron, her cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat of the kitchen, and a thin layer of sweat coated her forehead.
She handed him the chopsticks. "Try it."
She didn't sit down, remaining standing by the table, her gaze fixed on Kaede's hand.
Kaede took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of at, and put it in his mouth. Terumi i's fingers quietly tightened against the edge of her apron. She stared intently at his expression.
Kaede chewed twice and swallowed. He didn't speak imdiately.
Terumi i endured for two seconds. Then, she couldn't hold it back.
"How is it?" she asked, her voice dropping slightly. "Is it delicious?"
Kaede put down his chopsticks and looked at her. "It's delicious."
Terumi i's eyes lit up. She quickly suppressed a smile and sat down with a feigned air of smugness, picking up her own chopsticks.
"I told you," she said, popping a vegetable into her mouth. "I've always been a fast learner. Cooking is no different."
After chewing a few tis, she decided the taste was indeed good, and she could no longer hide her smile. After a pause, she looked up. "Just you wait. By your birthday next year, I'll make you a whole feast."
Kaede looked at her and smiled.
The two began to eat. The house fell quiet, save for the sound of chopsticks clinking against bowls. After a few bites, Terumi i tilted her head to look at him.
"Is the soup too salty?"
"It's just right."
"Is the at too tough?"
"Not at all. The heat was controlled well."
Once he finished the last bite of rice, Kaede stood up to stack the bowls. Terumi i pressed her hand over the back of his, stopping him.
"Wash them later. Bending over right after eating is bad for the stomach."
Kaede glanced at her, withdrew his hand, and sat back down.
Terumi i picked up her glass and took a sip of water. Suddenly, a short, sharp knock sounded at the door. She set down the glass, stood up, and opened it.
Ao was standing outside. "Let's go. There's sothing important. I need to find Kaede now."
Kaede stepped out from the house. "Senior Ao."
Ao looked at Kaede erging from Terumi i's ho. His gaze shifted from Kaede's face to Terumi i's, then back again.
"You two are moving this fast? Living together already?"
Terumi i's face instantly flushed red. "He just ca over for dinner!"
Kaede stood by and said nothing.
Ao studied them for two seconds, the corner of his mouth twitching before he caught himself. He glanced down the hallway and lowered his voice.
"Let's talk inside."
The three returned to the living room. Ao stood by the window, his back to the light, while Terumi i and Kaede sat at the table.
Ao began to speak, his pace slow. "Last week, the high command adjusted the Mizukage's personal guard rotation. I secured a slot for close-quarters protection." He looked at Terumi i. "The distance was close enough, and the duration long enough. I used the Byakugan on Lord Yagura."
Terumi i's fingers tightened on the tabletop. Kaede remained still.
Ao's voice grew even lower. "The chakra flow within Lord Yagura is abnormal. There is persistent external interference at the core nodes of his ridian system. The flow and frequency are completely different from those of a normal shinobi."
He paused. "Soone is controlling him."
Silence filled the room for several seconds. Terumi i did not speak.
The classmates forced to slaughter one another, the Bloodline Limits wiped out because of policy... they were all just pawns. The entire village was.
"So all these years..." She didn't finish the sentence, her lips pressing into a thin line.
Ao nodded. "But now is not the ti to hunt for the mastermind. We must consult with Lord Genji; only he can mobilize enough manpower to set up a defense without alerting Yagura."
He looked at Kaede. "Are you coming?"
Kaede shook his head. "Terumi i going is enough. Senior Ao is the one who discovered the evidence, and she is the one Lord Genji is grooming. A re Chunin appearing in a secret eting like this would only make Lord Genji suspicious."
Ao was silent for two seconds but didn't press him. He gave Kaede a deep look, then turned to Terumi i. "Let's go."
Terumi i stood up and walked to the door, glancing back at Kaede.
Kaede's tone was flat. "The materials you organized—the beneficiary analysis, the comparison of previous and current decrees, Yagura's abnormal records—those are all your own judgnts. Just tell them what you saw."
Terumi i's footsteps paused for a mont. Then she nodded, turned, and walked out with Ao.
The door closed.
The sound of footsteps grew fainter and fainter as they descended the hallway.
Silence returned to the house.
Kitahara Kaede sat in stillness for a mont.
Then, he stood up, stacked the bowls and chopsticks from the table, and carried them into the kitchen.
He twisted the faucet open, letting the water rush over the bottom of the bowls. He picked up a dishcloth and wiped them clean, one by one.
His mind was calm.
It was ti to plan his exit.
He dried the last bowl and set it upside down on the drying rack.
He turned off the faucet.
Silence settled over the kitchen.
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers