Kushina stepped out from the bath, her hair damp and spilling over her shoulders, the scent of soap drifting after her. She was dressed in fresh clothes, toweling off as she caught sight of Meka still sitting on the hallway floor.
"What are you doing sitting there like that?" she huffed. "Go take a bath. If you don't want to, then just go to bed."
Meka only nodded, still staring at the floor, his words clipped and quiet. "Oh… okay."
"Whatever. I'm going to my room," Kushina muttered, retreating to the room on the left.
Left alone, Meka glanced at the shimmering system timer. Only half an hour left. Panic and doubt twisted inside him. If I don't kiss her, the mission fails. But how…? Even as he wrestled with himself, another thought bubbled up—one that brought both nervousness and longing. But I really do love her. Maybe it's not so bad…
Time seemed to crawl as he paced the silent house. Eventually, legs trembling, he slid open the door to Kushina's room. The faint light revealed her curled on the futon, her face peaceful in sleep, hair splayed out on the pillow. Meka's heart hammered.
"I really have no choice," he whispered, barely breathing. "And it's not a bad thing… not for me."
He bent over quietly, close enough to see the rise and fall of her chest, the peaceful look she wore in sleep—and lightly pressed his lips to her forehead.
Kushina shifted, brow furrowing as if almost waking. Meka's heart jumped into his throat. He scampered out of the room, sliding the door shut behind him, and pressed his back to the wall in the hallway, chest pounding so loud he thought she'd hear it.
I did it. I actually… did it. The thrill and panic coursed through him in equal measure as he tried to calm down.
Just then, Kushina's door slid open, and she poked her head out. "Meka, why are you running around the house in the middle of the night? Just get in bed already!" she snapped, her tone exasperated but edged with concern.
Meka, still flushed and breathless, just nodded. "Y-yeah. On it."
He shuffled off to bed—heart racing, mind reeling, but with a dazed, secret smile on his lips.
The timer in his vision flickered.
[Mission complete.]
[Reward unlocked: Chakra Circuit Assimilation.]
He stared at the glowing words, his heart thumping with disbelief and relief. Guess… I survived.
And as he drifted beneath the covers, his anxiety eased at last, and the simple gratitude of being alive—and not alone—carried him gently to sleep.