Chapter 46: Rain

The System screen still hovered at the edge of Kael’s vision when he left the park.

[Quest 6/100 : Make Hinata your bitch]

[Time limit : 5 days remaining]

He had been right. Simply forcing the act was not enough. The wording had never been casual. "Make her your bitch" demanded something deeper than one night of shocked submission. The quest remained incomplete, the timer still ticking. Kael dismissed the screen with a thought and started walking.

His feet carried him toward Ichiraku without conscious decision. The familiar noren curtain and the warm smell of broth felt like the closest thing to normal he still had in this world. He pushed the curtain aside and stepped in.

Sakura sat at the counter, a half-finished bowl in front of her. She looked up when the curtain moved.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey."

He took the seat two stools away, not quite beside her and not far enough to seem deliberate. Teuchi offered a small smile of recognition and waited for the order.

Sakura turned slightly toward him. "I thought I might find you here. You don’t eat as much ramen as you used to."

Kael rested his elbows on the counter. "Yeah. Mother told me to eat some homemade food for a change. She’s been packing lunches."

The word "mother" still felt strange in his mouth, but Sakura only nodded as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. He ordered the usual miso ramen. While Teuchi worked, the quiet between them stretched.

"So," Kael said after a moment, "why were you searching for me?"

Sakura looked down at her chopsticks. "It’s okay if we forget the whole thing that happened during the mission. You know... I don’t have a lot of friends. But I care about you."

The honesty in her voice caught him off guard. He studied her profile for a second. The same girl who had once looked at him with open irritation now sat here offering something like an olive branch.

"Maybe," he answered. Then, quieter, almost under his breath, "Why not. Just wait sometime... by that time I will be gone from this world."

Sakura glanced over. "What?"

"Nothing."

He picked up his chopsticks when the bowl arrived and focused on the food. Sakura did not push the question. They ate in a silence that was less awkward than it should have been. When both bowls were empty they stepped back out into the street together without discussing it.

The sky had grown heavier while they were inside. Dark clouds stacked low over the village. They walked toward Kael’s apartment at an easy pace, conversation limited to small, safe topics—training schedules, how quiet the village had felt lately, whether Shikamaru had already fallen asleep somewhere. The first fat drops of rain hit the dirt just as the apartment complex came into view.

Then the sky opened.

Rain fell in thick sheets, cold and sudden. Kael and Sakura broke into a run. By the time they reached the gate of his building both of them were soaked through. Water streamed from Sakura’s pink hair and darkened her clothes until they clung to her skin. The rain only intensified, turning the street into a blurred curtain of water.

Kael pushed wet hair out of his eyes and looked at her. "Do you want to come inside?"

Sakura hesitated. Her arms were wrapped around herself against the chill. She glanced at the pouring sky, then at the door, then finally nodded.

"Okay."

They climbed the stairs quickly. Once inside the apartment Kael kicked off his wet shoes and grabbed two towels from the small cabinet near the bathroom. He tossed one to her.

"Dry off. I’ll be right back."

Sakura caught the towel and began working it through her hair while Kael disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of the shower started a moment later. She moved slowly around the small living space, towel around her shoulders, and eventually sat on the edge of the couch. The television was already on, volume low. A weather alert scrolled across the bottom of the screen: an extremely dangerous storm system was settling over the region. Residents were advised to stay indoors for the night.

The shower shut off.

Kael stepped out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped low around his waist, upper body bare and still damp. Water beaded on his shoulders and chest. He rubbed a second towel over his hair and glanced at the television.

"Looks like it’s getting worse. You should stay the night if you want to. No point going back out in that."

Sakura looked up from the screen. Her eyes moved over him once—chest, stomach, the towel at his hips—then returned to his face. Something shifted in her expression. The careful distance she had maintained all evening thinned.

She stood and walked toward him.

"What if we let go of everything," she said quietly, "and just fuck each other?"

Kael went still.

Shit. I made her a sex addict.

The thought landed with uncomfortable clarity. The rough encounters on the mission, the way he had used her, the System quests that had forced the dynamic between them—something in her had changed, and he was looking at the result.

Sakura did not wait for an answer. She stepped close, placed both hands on his bare chest, and pressed her lips against the center of it. The kiss was slow and deliberate. She moved upward, trailing her mouth along his collarbone, then higher, until she reached his lips and kissed him fully.

Kael’s back met the wall. Outside, the storm kept pouring.

---

Give me power!!!