Aoki stared at Mei, trying to read something in her gaze. But Mei looked down, hiding her face in the shadow cast by the dim campfire light.
The orange glow softly reflected on Mei's pale cheeks, adding a melancholic touch to the increasingly long silence.
Aoki closed his eyes for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady his erratic heartbeat. He knew this wouldn't end too badly. But when Aoki opened his eyes again...
"I... I like you too," Mei said.
The words shot out like an arrow, slow but precise.
Aoki jolted. His heart seemed to stop for a moment. Turning to look, Aoki's eyes widened, staring at Mei's now flushed face as she avoided his gaze.
Suddenly, the air around Aoki felt lighter, but also hotter. Aoki smiled—a stiff, awkward smile, but clear. There was a surge of excitement in Aoki's chest, wrapped in an inexplicable anxiety.
"Really?" Aoki asked, his voice soft, almost in disbelief. It was as if he wanted to confirm that what he had just heard wasn't a figment of his desperate imagination.
Mei nodded slowly, her head bowed deeply. Her shoulders rose and fell slightly, as if she were holding something back—perhaps embarrassment, perhaps fear, or maybe both.
Aoki bit his lip. There was something he needed to say. Something he had to admit.
"But... um..." Aoki glanced to the right, then to the left. His gaze felt restless, like a child caught stealing food. "I... there's something you need to know..."
Mei didn't respond, only straightened her posture slightly, a signal that she was listening.
"There are... other girls," Aoki confessed, his voice low, as if he were biting his own words. "Who also like me. And I... like one of them too."
Mei tensed. She then turned slowly, her gaze piercing directly at Aoki. Her eyes were not just looking—they were probing, digging, peeling away layers of lies that might be hidden.
"Even though I'm a jerk?" Aoki continued, trying to salvage the situation with humor that fell flat. "An annoying, disgusting guy... who's close to a lot of girls?"
"What?!" Mei half-shouted. Her voice shattered the night's silence, causing a few night birds to take flight from the tall trees around them.
Mei's face was now flushed not from embarrassment, but from anger. Her head quickly turned to Aoki, her brows furrowed.
Aoki swallowed hard. He knew this would happen. But still... it didn't make things any easier.
"Well... so, the first girl, I knew her before the matchmaking letter was found. We were close. Then, the second—she was the woman I helped after I found out about the letter. We got pretty close too, and I think... she likes me as well. The third, I saved a woman from a big problem. And yeah, I guess she likes me too. Lastly... you." Aoki ended his explanation with a lowering voice, like a fire dimming to embers.
Mei listened without interrupting. But her expression shifted from curiosity to gloom, and from gloom to something darker. Each name Aoki mentioned seemed to add weight to Mei's shoulders, pressing on her breath, and constricting her chest.
"So..." Mei finally said, her voice calm yet cold, "who do you like?"
Aoki didn't want to lie. "The first girl," Aoki answered honestly.
Mei took a sharp breath. Her eyes darted around, as if she were holding back something urgent to release.
"What have you done... with them?" Mei asked, almost in a whisper. But behind that voice, Aoki could feel a burning wave of jealousy.
------------------------------
[Announcement: A New Novel Has Been Added!
The Puppet Maker in the World of Naruto
A man who is a scientist, researcher, and expert mechanic in robotics dies in a massive explosion that occurs in his laboratory while developing an advanced robot project. However, instead of experiencing death as he thought, the man awakens in another world—a strange place with vast stretches of desert.
There, the man is surrounded by people who can jump high, calling themselves ninjas. The confusion he initially felt grows as he realizes that this world is not unfamiliar to him. This is the world of Naruto! However, there is one thing that surprises him.
"Isn't this Sunagakure? Why am I not in Konoha? This poorest village... Oh my God, this is serious!"
Now, in the midst of a new life filled with danger and uncertainty, the scientist must find a way to survive in Sunagakure, a harsh place full of limitations. With his robotic knowledge, can the man change his fate in this ninja world, or will he fall along with the village?]
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