Aoba placed Hinata on the sofa, turned on the heater, and carefully wrapped her up in a blanket.
To prevent her from catching a cold accidentally.
After that, he sat beside her, reading the medical ninjutsu book he had brought from Sukui.
The book recorded various acupoints and chakra meridians within the human body. Without Byakugan to observe them, he had to memorize all this information himself.
Time quietly passed like this.
The girl lay flat on the sofa, sleeping soundly, while the boy sat beside her, seriously flipping through the book.
The air was filled with the rustling sound of pages turning and the waves of warmth emanating from the heater.
.
.
.
No one knew how much time had passed, but the sky gradually darkened.
Hinata, who had been sleeping soundly all this time, finally began to stir.
"Mm—", It seemed like she was having a nightmare. Her delicate eyebrows knitted together slightly, her lips pursed, and a low whimper escaped from her throat.
This was the first time Aoba had encountered such a situation. He put down the book in his hand and looked at Hinata, who seemed uncomfortable, frowning as he pondered.
"Ao… ba-kun…"
In her sleep, Hinata suddenly called out his name.
Aoba instinctively responded, "I'm here."
Hinata's furrowed brows immediately relaxed.
Seeing this scene, the corner of Aoba's mouth twitched slightly.
Just as he was about to continue reading, he noticed Hinata's eyelids trembling, it looked like she was about to wake up.
Aoba decided to put down his book and leaned closer to Hinata, observing her delicate little face, which still had a bit of baby fat but was undeniably cute.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Slowly, Hinata opened her snow-white, pure eyes, untainted by any speck of dust.
Her eyes weren't entirely white in a terrifying manner; there was a clear distinction between the iris and the sclera.
They were quite stunning.
The moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Aoba, who was leaning in closely, observing her.
Her drowsy eyes carried a trace of pure confusion.
For a moment, she didn't process what was happening.
"You're awake."
"Such beautiful eyes."
Aoba said with a smile.
These words snapped Hinata back to reality. Her mouth opened slightly.
Her face quickly turned red, and in the warm room, filled with the heat of winter, faint steam seemed to rise from her body.
'Is this… steam princess mode?'
"Grumble—"
A sudden sound echoed in the room, and Hinata immediately shrank her head under the blanket.
It seemed like she wanted to smother herself with it, but the rising wisps of steam suggested that wasn't really possible.
Seeing this, Aoba knew Hinata wouldn't recover from her embarrassment anytime soon.
"It must be because using Byakugan earlier consumed a large amount of chakra. You should rest a bit more. I'll go prepare something for you to eat first," Aoba stood up from the sofa and walked into the kitchen. Cooking anything complicated would take too long, so he decided to make a few bowls of noodles for her to fill her stomach.
After a long period of silence, when she confirmed that Aoba was no longer beside her, Hinata slowly peeked out from under the blanket.
She exposed half of her face and secretly glanced at Aoba, who was cooking noodles in the kitchen.
Watching his focused expression, a scene suddenly flashed through her mind, the moment when he had spat out blood.
Hinata's face paled instantly. She quickly threw off the blanket and ran toward the kitchen.
"Ao… Aoba-kun?"
"Hm?", Aoba hadn't expected Hinata to run over like that. Seeing her flustered expression, he had no idea what was going on.
He smiled and asked, "What's wrong? The ramen will be ready soon."
Hinata shook her head and asked seriously, "Aoba-kun, are your injuries okay?"
"Injuries?"
Aoba was stunned for a moment before remembering that he had faked being injured during the fight earlier.
"Oh, my injuries have already healed. It's all thanks to you, Hinata. If you hadn't stepped in and scared them off, I might've gotten even more hurt."
"As a thank-you, here—have a piece of char siu."
As he spoke, Aoba picked up a piece of the prepared char siu and brought it to Hinata's mouth.
"T-Thank you…", Hinata, her cheeks flushed, took a bite of the char siu.
The moment she tasted it, her eyes lit up, "This is so good!"
"Right? If you like it, just sit and wait. It'll be ready soon," Aoba smiled.
But Hinata didn't move. She just stood there without doing anything else.
"Do you want another piece?"
Confused, Aoba picked up another piece of char siu.
But before he could offer it to her, he realized that Hinata's face was already covered in tears, "This… Why are you crying all of a sudden?"
"I… I'm sorry… Aoba-kun is always so kind, but you got hurt because of me… I'm really sorry…", Hinata sobbed.
Aoba quickly understood her thoughts, 'She must have blamed herself, thinking that if I haven't helped her, I wouldn't have gotten injured.'
He wiped his hands clean and gently patted Hinata's little head.
"In my eyes, Hinata is the kindest one here."
"Eh?", Hinata looked up, teary-eyed, at Aoba.
Aoba smiled warmly, "You have great power, but because you're afraid of hurting others, you'd rather endure suffering yourself. You'd rather get hurt than hurt someone else."
"But Hinata, just because you choose to suffer doesn't mean no one else will feel pain. Even if you don't want to hurt others, there are people who will be pained if you get hurt."
"Like me. If I saw you getting hurt, I'd feel terrible too. So next time, when someone tries to hurt you, please learn to fight back."
Hinata stared blankly at Aoba in front of her, as if, in her eyes, he was the only person left in the world.
'So… someone will actually feel pain because I am too weak?'
She had even caused him to get hurt.
'It hurts so much.'
'Aoba-kun cares so much about me… If it is for him, I have to change.'
"Aoba-kun, next time, I won't wait until after you get hurt to step in!"
"I won't forgive anyone who tries to harm you!"
Looking at Hinata's determined expression, Aoba felt like something was a little off.
His mission was to help Hinata become more resolute and firm in her strikes.
That should be accomplished now, right?
Might as well add a little extra insurance. After all, this was worth 100,000 ryo.
"Hinata, let's make a promise."
"If it's for Aoba-kun, I'll do anything!"
Hinata's words were no longer hesitant, and her eyes shone brightly.
Aoba hesitated for a moment at her unusual enthusiasm but continued.
"Hinata, just like before, keep your kindness. You don't need to throw punches for yourself. But in exchange, throw them for me. Defeat anyone who dares to bully you."
"And I… I'll throw punches for you. If there's something you're willing to protect with your life, then I'll risk my life to protect it too."
At this moment, Aoba had no idea how much this promise would change Hinata.
———
Outside, several Byakugan guards who were observing the situation inside the house through the wind and snow with their Byakugan found themselves momentarily unsure whether they should intervene in the atmosphere inside the kitchen.
[T/N: If you're into anime mashup worlds, crazy girls, and a protagonist everyone somehow falls for, give "Animania: Everyone Loves Me" a shot. I had a blast translating it. Maybe you'll have just as much fun reading it.]
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