Echoes outside the wall and first conversation
The white-haired boy vanished into the capital's nightscape like a drop of water merging into the sea, leaving no trace. Uchiha Aoi's life seemed to have returned to its normal course, regular and peaceful, with a lingering touch of loneliness. That accident by the spring stream was like a pebble dropped into a deep pond. After the ripples dissipated, the water returned to calm, but only the person involved remembered that brief disturbance.
About two weeks later, on a sunny afternoon, Kui was practicing calligraphy alone in a small courtyard near the outer wall of the mansion. It was relatively secluded, rarely visited. Only a few bamboo poles and a small "Jinglu" (a bamboo device that uses water power to produce sound), the occasional crisp "tap" sound, added to the tranquility.
She was concentrating on writing when suddenly, an extremely small and light object, with a slight sound of breaking through the air, landed on the stone steps in front of her with a "pop".
Aoi jumped in surprise, her pen pausing as a blob of ink immediately appeared on the paper. She looked up and around warily, but no one was around. She looked suspiciously at the object that had fallen on the stone steps—a small square wrapped in dark blue muslin.
Her heart skipped a beat! This color...!
She forced herself to remain calm, and after confirming that no one was around, she cautiously stepped forward and picked up the small cloth bag. It felt heavy in her hand. She untied the string and unfolded the blue cloth—wrapped within was the very handkerchief she had torn off to bandage the white-haired boy's wound, which had since disappeared! The handkerchief had been carefully cleaned and neatly folded. Besides the handkerchief, the bag contained two other items: an aged collection of waka poems written in a beautiful handwriting, and a purple gentian, slightly flattened but still beautifully formed.
Aoi's heart was pounding so hard it almost burst out of her chest. He was here! He had actually found her! And he had done it this way!
She subconsciously clenched the handkerchief. It seemed to still have the clean scent of sunlight, without a trace of blood. She picked up the collection of waka and flipped through it. It contained poems with profound artistic conception and a touch of melancholy. The handwriting was neat and elegant, not like it was written by a man, but rather the private collection of a noble lady. How he came into possession of it was unknown. The gentian flower glowed a deep purple in the autumn sun, resilient and beautiful.
At this moment, a young man's voice, very low but clear and cold, came from across the high wall, as if it was right under the wall:
"Returning the item to its original owner. Also enclosed is a thank you gift as a token of my appreciation."
The voice was not loud, but it was like a stone dropped into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves. Aoi's palms were sweating with nervousness. She quickly walked to the wall and lowered her voice as she asked, "...You? Are your injuries...healed?"
She felt a little regretful after asking the question, as it seemed like she was too concerned.
There was silence outside the wall for a moment, as if they hadn't expected her to ask that question. Then the voice rang out again, still emotionless: "It's all right. Thank you for your help that day..."
"It's just a piece of cake..." Aoi replied softly, feeling her cheeks getting hot. "You...you don't have to take the risk. It would be bad if someone found out."
"No one will find out." The voice outside the wall carried a ninja's natural confidence, even a hint of arrogance. "It's just returning what's due. Farewell."
"Wait!" Aoi blurted out unconsciously, then regretted her impulsiveness. She paused, looking at the collection of waka and gentian in her hands, and whispered, "Thank you for... the book and the flowers. They are... very beautiful."
There was silence outside the wall for a while. Just when Aoi thought he had left, the voice came again, a little softer than before: "...Do you understand?"
"Well... the female official taught me some." Aoi answered honestly, and added in her heart: And I learned more in my previous life.
"...Is that so?" The voice outside the wall paused, as if it wanted to say something, but in the end it just said, "Take care."
Then, there was an extremely slight, almost imperceptible sound of fluttering clothes outside, and then it returned to complete silence, with only the regular "thump" sound of startled deer and the rustling sound of bamboo leaves in the wind.
Aoi leaned against the cold wall and slowly slid down to the corridor, clutching the handkerchief she had lost and found, the unfamiliar collection of waka poems, and the purple gentian. Her heart was still beating wildly, a mixture of fear, surprise, and an indescribable, strange throbbing.
He actually remembered. He actually risked his life to come back and thank her. Although his tone was cold, he carefully washed the handkerchief and returned it, bringing a thank-you gift that seemed at odds with his temperament, a touch of elegance.
This young ninja seemed a little different from the ninjas she imagined who only knew how to kill.
This brief, yet perilous, conversation through the wall, like a seed, quietly planted itself in Aoi's heart. For Tobirama, standing outside the wall, this encounter confirmed that this "Miss Aoi" was indeed, as his investigations had shown, a harmless, even somewhat naive, noblewoman, and his last remaining doubts gradually dissipated. At the same time, her composure beyond her years (no screaming or denunciation) and her concerned inquiries about his injuries stirred a faint, unnoticed ripple of emotion within his frozen heart.
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