"Creak…"
Evan pushed open the door and entered his private quarters.
Steam drifted softly through the air.
Inside a wooden tub, Pakura sat with her back turned toward him, her bare shoulders outlined faintly through the mist. Wet black hair clung to the pale curve of her neck, giving her a fragile, haunting sort of beauty.
The moment she heard the door open, she tensed—
snatching up a towel and holding it defensively to her chest.
Her eyes, bright and sharp, glared at him with undisguised hatred.
"You know," Evan commented casually as he took a seat by the table, "that back of yours really looks like it's begging for a cupping treatment."
"You—!"
Pakura's voice tightened with anger.
Evan sipped his tea slowly.
"We've already seen each other uncovered more times than I can count. There's nothing left to hide."
"Shut up."
Pakura snapped, then abruptly switched topics.
"Is Konoha… really going to release me or not?"
"Take a guess."
"You—!"
Of course he was doing this on purpose.
Evan smiled lazily.
"Strange. You're already my woman, yet all you think about is running back to Sunagakure. What's waiting for you there that makes you so eager to go?"
Pakura bit her lip hard, refusing to respond.
"Rasa," she finally muttered. "When will you kill him?"
Evan raised a brow.
"Sunagakure is far. I don't feel like taking such a long trip."
"You lied to me?"
Pakura's eyes turned red at the rims. "You promised—!"
"Lied? Did I say I wouldn't kill him?"
Evan stood and walked toward the tub.
Pakura stiffened instantly, pressing her back against the wooden edge as though she could sink into it and disappear.
"Take it away," Evan said, nodding toward the towel she clutched.
She hesitated—but eventually lowered it, still keeping her posture guarded and tense.
"That's more like my good girl."
His hand came down gently on her damp hair, smoothing it back.
"I'm not your woman!" Pakura raised her chin defiantly.
"You admitted it yourself earlier," Evan reminded, eyes glinting.
"That was because you cornered me!" she snapped.
"I didn't force you to move," Evan replied lightly. "You acted on your own."
Her breath hitched.
Anger, humiliation, and something else flickered across her face.
Then, abruptly, she asked:
"Back in the Land of Water…
Those Mist-nin you killed—
that wasn't for a mission, was it?
You did it… to save me, right?"
Evan paused, genuinely surprised.
"Oh?
What makes you think that?"
"That period, Konoha and Kirigakure were still at war. There is no way your village would send someone like you into enemy territory unless they've lost their minds," Pakura said quietly.
Evan chuckled.
"Well, you're not stupid."
He nodded.
"It was because of you. Otherwise, I'd never have stepped foot in that fog-ridden dump."
"…Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
Pakura's eyes glistened.
"Why would you save me… only to torment me afterward?"
Evan lightly brushed her cheek with his knuckles.
"Saving you was because you were pitiful.
Tormenting you is because…
I like you."
"Like… me?"
Pakura froze.
He lowered his forehead to hers, his voice dropping to a murmur.
"If I hadn't shown up that day, your beautiful back would've been turned into a pincushion by Mist-nin."
Her heart clenched.
She remembered too well—
the betrayal of her own comrades,
the sudden ambush,
the hopeless numbers.
Even with her kekkei genkai, she wouldn't have survived.
Evan had appeared like a phantom, silently, effortlessly cutting down every foe.
Her thoughts trembled.
Maybe…
maybe he really—
"Woman…
don't tell me you've started to fall for me?"
Evan suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahahaha!
What an adorable fool.
You actually believed me?"
His laughter echoed arrogantly through the room.
Pakura stared at him, pupils trembling.
Every emotion she'd suppressed churned within her—
shame, resentment, confusion.
This man…
how could a person like this exist?
His moods shifted like storms.
Gentle one moment, cruel the next.
Warm and soothing one moment, mocking and venomous the next.
She felt as though her entire heart lay exposed in the palm of his hand—
and he toyed with it as he pleased.
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