"...Huff."
Shinta Uchiha stood up, walked to the faucet, grabbed a towel, and wiped his face while staring at his reflection in the mirror.
Seeing the figure that looked exactly like his memory, just healthier and free of scars, he let out a sigh of relief.
Come to think of it, that deserter soldier had mentioned at the start that he planned to use the classic dead family method to help him open his eyes, right?
It felt like this method, which was useful for the Uchiha pressure king, probably wouldn't work on him.
——Shinta Uchiha didn't think he'd open his eyes just because of a deserter's words.
"Ended up in a strange world with a **Otsutsuki** threatening me, about to start a war any day now. Ugh, I swear, my luck has never been good."
"But it's not all bad. Pressure... the bigger the better. Oh right, even if the world changes, I can't forget about people."
Shinta Uchiha still remembered his mother's final words to him.
Have a sense of justice. Fight evil and help the weak.
Be open-minded, stay strong. Don't fear being cold-shouldered. Never choose to end your life because of life's hardships.
Make lots of friends, build a solid network. Be sincere with friends, but don't fully open your heart. Stay cold on the outside and cold on the inside, always on guard against sudden betrayal.
Be smart. Think twice before doing anything. Don't act stupid, but don't act too smart either. Sometimes playing dumb is the right move.
I hope you always stay true to yourself, forever my mom's child. I hope you grow up quickly, don't let others bully you.
The most trustworthy people are always your parents... No, no one is special, no one is worthy of full trust.
At that time, his mother had spoken as if it were her last chance, saying so much that it was almost conflicting, leaving him unable to fully understand what kind of child she hoped he'd become.
But he had to follow her words, do everything she'd told him to the best of his ability.
Promises made to others must be kept.
Shinta Uchiha had always been a man of his word.
"Then... you naturally evil Yuki Tsukishiro, let me stop your schemes!"
Shinta Uchiha lifted his head, puffed out his chest, and walked out full of confidence, ready to continue his work from yesterday before school: pretending to admire the scenery, eavesdropping on the room next door, and keeping an eye on the door from the corner of his eye.
You despicable, cunning Yuki, are you up to no good again!
Don't even think about it! I've been watching you this whole time.
"..."
Yuki Tsukishiro, who had already placed her hand on the doorknob, froze in place.
Ah, so he's back to his familiar surveillance routine early in the morning. Uchiha-kun is really such a stalker, way more annoying than a **little puppy** clinging to their mom.
So, is he going to go to school with me?
Or, just like when we left school yesterday, is he going to hide shyly when there are people around?
"Good morning, Yuki. You're up early too. Hehe."
Shinta Uchiha noticed Yuki stepping out the door, greeted her subconsciously, then immediately turned around and started maintaining his cool, aloof god persona.
"Hmm."
Yuki kept smiling, nodded gently, and then prepared to hand over the bread she'd already prepared.
This great witch lady still didn't quite understand Uchiha-kun. From her experience of getting him to do backflips, she planned to make him flip again first.
However, before she could make a move, Shinta Uchiha took the initiative to pull a bento out of his bag and shoved it toward her.
How stupid, you evil **Otsutsuki**! I predicted you'd use bread to humiliate me, so I already prepared a countermeasure.
"?"
Yuki blinked, her pale blue pupils filled with thick confusion.
"I made this myself. I'm quite confident in my cooking skills. If you'd like, you can have this for lunch."
"Hmm, also, please don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this for any bad reason. It's purely to repay the bread you gave me yesterday, just to do the right thing. In short... this settles everything between us completely."
Shinta Uchiha forced a smile, explaining his actions.
The real thought in his mind right now was simple.
First, to stop Yuki from "humiliating" him. Second, to redefine what happened last night.
Last night, I didn't humiliate myself by doing backflips to please this naturally evil woman. There's no record of this non-existent history in my diary!
"..."
Yuki silently stared at the bento Shinta had forced on her, starting to wonder what it meant.
Poison? No, Uchiha-kun didn't seem like the type to do something like that. Besides, ordinary poison couldn't kill a great witch anyway.
Well... might as well try it.
"Okay."
Yuki responded, choosing to accept the bento.
"Great! I hope you like it."
Shinta Uchiha stared at the scene, frantically suppressing the grin that wanted to spread across his face, not letting any expression outside his plan show.
Hehe, just as he planned, Yuki accepted the bento he'd gotten up early and put so much effort into making.
Without a doubt, this was his victory! He'd successfully erased the history of last night from the annals of time!
And this was only the beginning.
As everyone knows, there are 365 days in a year!
Therefore, the great, kind, righteous Shinta Uchiha would soon win 365 glorious victories against that evil brat Yuki Tsukishiro!
"..."
Just as Shinta Uchiha was starting to celebrate his big win, Yuki silently held out the bread in her hand once again.
"Huh?"
Shinta Uchiha froze.
Wait... what does this mean? You didn't accept the bento? Why are you still forcing bread on me? This isn't right! This isn't how the script goes! Your line isn't this!
"Don't want it?"
Yuki kept smiling, her cherry lips parting softly as she asked quietly.