Chapter 13 "A Lover or a Toy?"...

You put down the documents and waved to him, "Don't be so petty. You don't want Sasuke to find out that you're actually a narrow-minded older brother, do you?"

Itachi didn't come over immediately. Instead, he bent down, picked up the letters from the coffee table, straightened the folds, and put them back in the envelope. He repeated this several times. Because Shiro had written you more than one letter, he remained quiet throughout. Finally, he handed the repackaged letters to you. You reached for them, but he didn't let go, as if the two of you were locked in a stalemate. He said, "That child really likes to call you by your name. Have you taught him any basic manners?"

Just seeing Bai write your name in the letter was enough to bother him. How come you never noticed how petty he was before? You took the letter back with a little more force and even flicked his hand with the folded letter. The force wasn't strong, and the young man chuckled. He liked the feeling of you focusing all your attention on him.

The hotel also offers turndown service, with a small bottle of sake and desserts on a small plate. Since the area is famous for its cherry blossoms, the small plate contains transparent water mochi, with a candied cherry blossom in full bloom at the very center. Staying in the room all the time is too boring, so you pick up the small bottle of sake and ask Itachi to take the rest of the sweets to the cherry blossom tree to enjoy the moon.

"Are you going to admire the moon or work while admiring the moon?" he asked in advance.

You put the documents aside, tapped the wine bottle in your left hand against the wine glass in your right palm, making a crisp sound, and said, "It's time to drink and admire the moon."

He then smiled, picked up the tray, and walked alongside you.

Rather than saying there's a cherry blossom grove near the hotel, it's more accurate to say the hotel itself is built within a vast cherry blossom grove. A babbling brook meanders through this tranquil cherry blossom forest. Because you visited during the off-season and the hotel doesn't readily open to other guests, it felt exceptionally serene.

Walking along the stream to the oldest cherry blossom tree, where pale pink cherry blossom petals floated on the surface of the stream, you deliberately found a spot bathed in moonlight to sit down. You poured a glass of wine for both Itachi and yourself, handing him the small glass and asking, "Have you ever drunk wine before?"

"No."

"Take a small sip first, and if you can't handle it, don't drink anymore." This is advice from someone who's been there. You also found the first time you drank alcohol in your past life unpleasant, but later you discovered the joy of drinking. Of course, you only have a small drink when you have free time after work, and you're not addicted to alcohol.

Itachi took the sake cup from your hand. You hadn't poured much sake, only about half the cup's capacity. He lowered his eyes and took a small sip. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. When he looked up again, he found your bright eyes staring at him intently, probably wanting to see him make a fool of himself. You're still so mischievous. But you'll be disappointed. He said, "It's alright, not too bad."

"What a pity, I thought you would furrow your brows."

He directly expressed his true feelings of regret without any attempt to hide anything.

He finished his glass, and you were already on your second. The alcohol content was too low for you; it felt like drinking water.

You weren't interested in the rest of the sweets, especially the fancy-looking Mizu Shingen Mochi. Based on your past life experience, anything with a cherry blossom flavor is generally not very tasty, so Itachi enjoyed all the cherry blossom sweets. He enjoyed the sweets, and you enjoyed them, which didn't seem wrong.

You kissed him and said, "How could you eat such sweet desserts without any expression?" His lips even tasted sweet; it was hard to imagine how much sugar was in those two desserts.

His lips, glistening with the dessert juice, were even more moist. He said, "It's not too sweet."

He still likes to close his eyes when kissing, so devout and so earnest. You lift his face and count his long, thick eyelashes. Petals blown by the night wind fall on his eyelashes, and you laugh and say that a cherry blossom has landed on his eyelashes.

The boy's cheeks were slightly flushed. As soon as he opened his eyes, the petals that had been resting there fell down. You leaned closer and asked him, "You only drank a cup of sake, why are you blushing?"

"It's not because of the alcohol."

"So it's because of me?"

He glanced at you, his eyes practically asking: If you know, why ask?

But when it comes to blushing, you and he are about the same, except you're more likely to blush because of the alcohol, since you finished the rest of the sake. You reached out and poked his forehead, "Forgive me, Itachi."

This was clearly an imitation of something Itachi had said to Sasuke: "What do you usually study?"

"Learn how to control the world through economic means?" you said, half-jokingly, and then planted a string of kisses on his neck. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, you let him fall into the grass, into the layers of cherry blossom petals.

She hooked his hair tie with her finger, and his long hair came loose, with cherry blossoms dotting his hair like embroidery blooming on black silk.

The navy blue kimono has a dark gold obi in the center. You used to love unwrapping gifts, especially those carefully wrapped in silk. Holding a corner of the ribbon, you only needed to tug gently, and the bow would fly away, leaving only the toy that pleased you.

The dark gold belt also resembled silk, which you thoughtfully reused, only this time to cover the beautiful ruby.

Sometimes, if the Uchiha get too excited, they will unconsciously reveal their Sharingan. This information is not something you heard from others, but something you have experienced.

No wonder they say practice makes perfect.

If you temporarily lose your sight, your other senses will become more acute.

The hazy moonlight shone on her fair skin, making her look like a beautiful work of art.

You tirelessly praise him for being so beautiful, both in overall evaluation and in every little detail.

But in the end, you went a bit too far, your tears soaking the dark gold silk. You untied the ribbon and apologized to him without much remorse, "I'm sorry, but isn't it better to cry for happiness than to cry for pain?"

He blinked slowly, seemingly still reeling from the afterglow. When he came to his senses, he looked at you with eyes more crystalline than rubies and rebuked you, "You don't seem to feel any remorse at all."

"But I have already apologized to you."

"Mingxi, your personality is still as awful as ever."

"Really? Then why were you calling my name the whole time? Did you learn that from a book? Which book?"

The slightly angry boy still couldn't bring himself to do anything to you; at most, he pinched your cheek, which was nothing compared to you biting him several times.

The boy you made cried ended up carrying you home, and you giggled in his arms, saying, "Do you know you have a tiny mole on your side?"

"Really? You actually found out about something so important." He said with a straight face, delivering a lame joke.

"Your skin was also flushed just now, um... a light pink like cherry blossoms."

"That's fine."

When you get back to your hotel room and wash up, you crawl into bed. There's a black cat in there, but you're used to it. You stroke its back and let it lick its fur, and then you sleep soundly through the night.

*

The first thing you do when you wake up the next morning is drink some honey water. Itachi thought of this too and had already prepared honey water for you. Along with the honey water, there was another unexpected guest. You met that guest in the study. You took a sip of honey water and said to Zabuza, "When will you stop dressing so terribly?"

Zabuza, whose lower face was wrapped in bandages, snorted coldly, "Then when will you learn to say some nice things?"

"That's difficult, probably even until I die," you said. Seeing him staring intently at the honey water in your hand, you asked, "Would you like some honey water too?"

What Zabuza cared about wasn't the honey water in your hand, but the guy who made it for you. He said, "That guy is an Uchiha."

"Oh, you mean Itachi? Well, he's not just an Uchiha, he's a genius among the Uchiha. More importantly, his fashion sense is better than yours." You were still relentlessly attacking his tasteless outfit when Zabuza said, "Well, you're quite something, daring to provoke someone from the Uchiha."

The honey water that Itachi made for you was just the right sweetness, not too sweet for you. You didn't want to continue the conversation, so you changed the subject and asked, "Let's put aside these unnecessary pleasantries and ask, what is your purpose in coming here?"

Zabuza was just passing through on a mission when he heard you were staying at this hotel, so he thought he'd come and take a look. He patiently reported on his recent missions to you. After you bribed him to defect, he spent most of his time giving you missions. After all, the ultimate promise you made to him was that he would become the Mizukage in the future. Sigh, people here probably haven't even heard of the concept of a superior making promises. Basically, if you say a few more words, he'll believe you.

There is a sense of innocence that comes from not being ravaged by the modern workplace.

After recounting these tedious mission details, just when you thought he was about to leave, he brought the topic back to itself, asking, "So what's your relationship with that Uchiha brat?"

“He’s not an Uchiha brat. He has his own name. He’s Uchiha Itachi.” You put down the honey water, rested your chin on your hand, and looked at him.

"Is it a lover or a toy?" Zabuza pressed.

You frowned slightly, smiled sarcastically, and asked him, "What, you're asking such detailed questions, are you going to apply too? Do you think you're more suited to the former or the latter?"

A note from the author:

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My old feelings for the hunter have rekindled, so I'm giving a shout-out to the pre-order I just finished writing—

Transmigrated into a Zerg Novel, But a Chimera Ant Version

After a predictable and sudden death, you find yourself in another world—or more accurately, you've transmigrated into a book.

The system has prompted you that you have transmigrated into a Zerg novel.

The newly formed Zerg are confused and brutal, and need your guidance to steer them in the right direction.

Oh, you know, it's the basic formula of Zerg writing.

[They have an innate longing and yearning for you; as the anchor of the Zerg and this world, you will be worshipped.]

Yes, it has a classic Zerg-style feel.

When you really come into this world—

You're staring at the Ant King named Meruem.

You: Huh? Huh! Why didn't it say it was this Zerg race?!

*

Meruem, who descended to the world as the King of the Ants, was told by his guards the moment he gained access to the light, "Your Majesty, your destined guide is waiting for you."

A guide? Destiny, what does that mean?

He, who still could not fully understand the meaning of these words, came to the palace, came to the door, and pushed it open.

The woman behind the door looked at him with her dark eyes.

At that moment, he felt a tremor in his soul.