Anna Takemoto was well aware of Gisei Shiraishi's prejudice against her family. It wasn't something that had appeared overnight, nor was it something that could be dissolved by mere ambiguity or vague answers.
"You're always like this, speaking in circles, never letting anyone see what you're actually thinking. Isn't it tiring to live like that?"
With a heavy sigh, Gisei reached down, grabbed Anna's hands where they were wrapped tightly around his waist, and forcefully pried them open.
Anna tried to resist, but her strength was clearly no match for his. When her grip was finally broken, her eyes were already swimming with tears.
Gisei turned around and saw the tears welling up. His heart softened instantly. After hesitating for a split second, he suddenly pulled her forcefully into his embrace.
Then, without a word, he picked her up and sat down on the reclining chair, settling her onto his lap.
Anna was bewildered by the sudden shift. She only started to struggle after he had already picked her up, but Gisei just tightened his arms around her, and she immediately stopped fighting.
By the time they were settled on the chair, her face was as red as an apple.
When they were little, Gisei hadn't been as tall as her. Now, he was a full head taller. Back then, she could pin him down and beat him up. Now? She was the one being pinned down—though in a very different context.
Time really does change things.
She remembered the scene when they first met: Gisei stubbornly refusing to change his words, even under her grandfather's crushing pressure.
Perhaps at that very moment, she had already fallen for this boy who was three years younger than her.
She didn't have the courage to resist her grandfather, nor did she really want to. He had always told her that this was her destiny. For the sake of that so-called destiny, she had given up so much.
Until she met Gisei, a single ray of sunshine in her gloomy sky.
From then on, she kept watching him. She hoped that ray of sunshine could illuminate her life, too.
Contrary to her expectations, that sunshine didn't just fail to illuminate her—it started drifting further and further away, threatening to disappear altogether.
Gisei became baffling; she couldn't understand him at all.
It wasn't until her grandfather told her that Gisei intended to defect that everything suddenly clicked. The things she couldn't understand before surfaced in her mind, and she finally realized what he was doing.
Now was her chance. She knew in her heart that if she missed this opportunity, she would never get close to him again.
Anna blushed and whispered, "You... let me go... I..."
She wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Gisei looked at her mischievously, harboring clearly bad intentions. He slowly leaned toward her, lips puckered in an exaggerated manner.
Anna panicked completely. She tried to lean back, but his arms held her tight. Seeing him getting closer and closer, she hardened her heart and simply closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
She waited for a long time, but the touch never came.
She opened her eyes, only to see Gisei's hateful face wearing a wicked grin.
"You didn't really think I would kiss you, did you? Although, given our relationship..."
Before Gisei could finish his sentence, Anna suddenly reached out, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pounced on him.
The moment their lips touched, he was stunned.
A moment later, Gisei hurriedly began to struggle, but... well, this kind of thing...
Some people say "no" in their hearts, but their bodies are incredibly honest. His resistance was purely a formality. Before long, his hands began to dishonestly climb toward the peaks...
It wasn't until his hand slipped inside her clothes that Anna, blushing furiously, grabbed his wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Um... I think you might be sick. You know I'm a doctor, and my professional ethics don't allow me to ignore a patient..."
Anna kissed him again to shut him up.
Gisei completely gave up resisting.
"Is this okay?"
"What's not okay about it?"
"You know perfectly well that I'm going to leave this place."
"Take me with you."
"It's going to be a hard life out there. What about your family?"
Anna's face dimmed, and she forced a weak smile. "I..."
Gisei reached out to cover her mouth and sighed. "With your brain, you can't come up with any good ideas anyway. Let's go. Take me to see your grandfather."
"See Grandfather? No, I came here today without telling him."
Gisei paused, looking at her strangely. "Speaking of which, what did you actually come here for today?"
Anna's eyes darted around evasively. Seeing this, Gisei became even more curious. He tightened his arms and made a gesture like he was going to lean in again.
Anna panicked and quickly blurted out, "Actually, I wanted to learn your family's secret technique."
Gisei's expression instantly became serious. "Your grandfather learned the secret technique too. He should have told you about the consequences."
Anna nodded.
"Then why do you still want to do it?"
"If you won't fight for it, then I have to. The clan..."
Before she could finish, Gisei understood.
She wanted to replace him as the new banner for the clans. There was no other way besides learning the secret technique.
Naïve.
Gisei frowned. Although it was incredibly naïve, he had to admit that if he defected, those clans would accept it—even while holding their noses.
All they needed was a reason, a spokesperson who could fight for their interests. It didn't really matter who it was. The only problem was that Anna's strength was a bit low.
Actually, her strength wasn't bad—she was at least at the Jonin level—but that was still lacking if she wanted to wave a big sword in front of Danzo and the Third Hokage.
"Have you changed your mind now? If you insist, I can't stop you, but I hope you understand that a person shouldn't hang themselves on a single tree."
"How many butterfly seeds are you raising?"
"Four. Why do you ask?"
"I want to raise that many too. That way, even if I die in the future, I won't be lonely."
Gisei knocked on her head with his knuckle. "Did you get water in your brain?"
"No."
"Then why are you talking nonsense?"
"I'm very serious."
Gisei blinked at her, then pointed at himself. "You don't really like me, do you?"
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Anna's eyes, and she stared at him expressionlessly.
Gisei knew he had said the wrong thing and quickly smiled apologetically. "I mean, I think..."
Anna leaned in, and the two were huddled together again.
After separating, panting heavily, she asked, "Do you understand now?"
What could Gisei say? He could only nod.
"Then do you like me?"
Gisei felt very melancholy. Although it smacked a bit of "pull up your pants and deny everything," asking him to admit he liked this girl was really making things difficult for him.
An hour ago, the two were fighting fiercely after a disagreement. An hour later, they were hugging each other and getting lovey-dovey.
Even soap operas aren't this melodramatic.
As soon as Gisei hesitated, Anna understood exactly what he meant. Women were astonishingly sensitive about these things.
"You don't like me, but you still hug me! Couldn't you dodge when I kissed you? Disgusting!"
Anna's tears began to fall. "You're just an animal!"
There was no way to defend against that. Gisei said awkwardly, "I think you're right. Men are all animals."
"I'm talking about you. You are an animal!"
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm an animal."
Hearing Gisei admit he was an animal, Anna laughed out of extreme anger. "You're worse than an animal."
Gisei: "..."
Seeing him silent, Anna wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned into his ear, and whispered softly, "I know it's hard for you to accept it all at once, but don't think I'll give up."
"I know you don't even have a single friend in the village. Except for me, no one will ever like you. You have no choice but to like me."
After speaking, Anna grabbed the thing underneath that had been poking her uncomfortably, gave it a slight squeeze, and only let go when she saw Gisei's face twist in pain.
"小人鬼大" (Wise beyond your years!)
Gisei sucked in a breath of cold air. "That was a normal physiological reaction!"
"As if I'd believe you."