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Chapter 11 - A moment without thorns

Late afternoon.

Hyuk stood at the edge of the koi pond behind the village library, arms folded, eyes scanning the lazy ripples on the water's surface. He hadn't planned to come here. His legs had brought him on instinct — maybe memory.

This was the one place in Konoha that didn't feel tainted.

No chakra traps. No surveillance. No shinobi missions echoing through the air.

Just books. Leaves. Water.

And silence.

He liked it that way.

Or maybe…

"…You came back."

Hyuk didn't need to turn around.

Reina.

She stepped gently down the stone path toward him, her boots soft on the moss, a small cloth-wrapped parcel in her hands.

"I wasn't sure if I'd see you again," she said quietly. "Not after the last time."

Hyuk didn't respond.

The last time they met, she had seen just a hint — a single flicker — of the black veins blooming across his wrist when he'd thought no one was looking.

And she hadn't asked.

She hadn't run.

She just watched him, like she always did. Not with fear. Not with awe.

Just… understanding.

Now, she stepped beside him.

"I brought something."

She unwrapped the cloth — inside was a small pastry. Simple. Sweet. Glazed with honey.

"You mentioned once you liked anmitsu," she added, avoiding his gaze. "This is the closest I could find."

Hyuk stared at it.

No one else in the village brought him anything. Not without a mission, or a reason, or a favor expected in return.

He took the pastry without a word.

"You don't have to say anything," she said. "But I can tell… you're different lately."

He looked up at her.

Still the same blue ribbon in her hair. Still the soft brown eyes that didn't search for cracks in him — only waited for permission to see them.

"I'm not safe to be around," he said at last.

"I don't care," she replied, voice firmer than he expected.

"That's foolish."

"Maybe. But I still don't care."

A long pause.

Then Hyuk sat down on the edge of the pond, crossing one leg over the other.

"…It's getting worse," he said quietly.

Reina sat beside him, close but not too close.

"You mean… the thing inside you?"

He nodded.

"I thought I could control it. But every time I fight, every time I bleed—it likes it. It's like it learns from me. I cut someone, and it wants to cut deeper."

"You're scared," she said.

"No. I'm aware."

Reina watched his reflection ripple in the water.

"You've always felt like you didn't belong here," she said gently. "But maybe that's because this place doesn't deserve all the pieces of you."

He didn't answer.

But something in his shoulders softened.

Then she stood.

"I'll be by the bookstore tomorrow. Same spot. If you're still yourself by then… come find me."

She turned and walked away.

He didn't stop her.

But for a brief second, as her figure faded down the path, the vines inside him pulsed gently—not with hunger this time, but something quieter.

Like calm.

Like restraint.

---

That night…

The clouds returned.

And with them… danger.

Far beyond Konoha's outer wall, in the trees just outside the village, a figure crouched in silence—completely still.

White robes. Pale mask shaped like a moth. Long dark hair braided with black thorns.

The air around them was absolutely still. Birds avoided the branches near them. Insects died mid-flight.

A whisper passed through the wind:

> "The Weaver has arrived."

---

In the darkness of his apartment, Hyuk slept for the first time in days.

But even in sleep, he dreamed of blood.

Not his.

Not his team's.

Not even the cult's.

No — he dreamed of vines growing around Reina's neck.

And the sound of glass shattering behind her eyes.

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