"How do you feel?"
Aoba held Anko, gently asking about her condition.
Anko's eyelids drooped, and exhaustion was written plainly on her face.
The moment the curse mark disappeared, she felt as if all the strength in her body had been instantly drained. At the same time, a wave of headache struck, and images kept flashing before her eyes.
She knew, those were the memories that had been sealed away.
"Aoba—", Anko only managed to call his name before her head tilted to the side, and she fainted.
Aoba silently looked at the dumplings that had lost their support in front of him, one falling left, one right. Truly rich and generous.
He quietly helped Anko dress her clothes properly, without any thought of taking advantage.
After wiping the sweat from her forehead, he placed her gently on the sofa and covered her with a blanket.
After thinking for a while, Aoba decided to stay for now to see how things developed.
Because he didn't know how long Anko would be unconscious, or whether other problems might arise with her body.
———
[Land of Fields, in a Dark Underground Laboratory]
Orochimaru, deep in research, clearly sensed the curse mark on Anko vanish.
At the same time, the seal he had once placed in her mind was undone.
Orochimaru fell into thought.
Since Anko's memories had been unlocked, she would definitely go to that place.
He wasn't sure what kind of person Aoba really was. But judging from the way he appeared to act...
With Anko's memories restored, her situation might become dangerous.
Orochimaru left the underground lab and went to the training ground, where he found a red-haired girl.
"Tayuya!"
"Orochimaru-sama," Tayuya responded nervously.
Orochimaru handed something to her, "Take this to the Land of the Sea, and give it to—"
After instructing her in detail, he returned to his lab again.
Now that the secret of the curse mark was exposed, he had to quickly research a new way to protect his life.
———
Night slowly fell.
On the sofa, still unconscious, Anko suddenly furrowed her brows, clenched her teeth, and her body began trembling uncontrollably.
"No!"
With a scream, she flipped over sharply and fell off the sofa.
"Ah!"
Another cry of pain.
"Hiss—"
After a moment of silence, she sucked in a sharp breath, clutching her forehead as she struggled to climb up from the floor.
"It hurts…"
"Was that a nightmare?", A familiar voice sounded by her ear.
Anko instinctively looked up and saw Aoba watching her with concern.
"Aoba?"
"Why does that sound like a question?"
Aoba looked at the bump on her forehead, his hands glowing blue as he covered it.
Feeling the warmth from his palm, Anko's headache eased, and she asked in confusion,
"Why are you wearing my apron?"
"Want to guess how long you've been asleep?"
"Hm?"
Anko looked out the window and realized it was already dark, "So you…?"
"I didn't know how long you'd sleep, so I bought some ingredients and prepared to cook."
Aoba withdrew his hand, the swelling on her forehead was gone, "Rest a bit, dinner's almost ready."
"Oh."
This time, Anko didn't act up. She sat quietly on the sofa.
Aoba looked at her vacant eyes, thinking it must be because of the memories that had just resurfaced. She probably hadn't adjusted yet.
After confirming she was fine, he returned to the kitchen.
And Anko truly was as Aoba had guessed.
All of her memories sealed by Orochimaru had come back.
She remembered everything that had happened on that island. That cruel experiment, and the true reason Orochimaru had abandoned her.
It was a tremendous shock, something hard to accept at once.
Her heart was in turmoil, like riding a rollercoaster. She felt completely numb.
Until Aoba brought all the dishes to the table.
"Anko-neesan, dinner's ready."
He waved his hand in front of her eyes to refocus her attention.
"Smells amazing!"
The aroma of the food lifted Anko's spirits a little.
She walked to the table, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the full spread.
Anko was someone easily made happy. Because she was very good at enduring, even after such a mental blow, the sight of a feast could instantly restore her.
"You made all this?"
"Who else?"
Seeing her cheer up again, Aoba felt relieved.
"What's done is done, let's eat first."
Perhaps because undoing the curse mark had drained her strength, or because restoring her memories had taxed her brain,
Anko ate like a starving ghost reborn, head down and devouring everything.
After dinner, she sat contentedly on the sofa, rubbing her round belly.
Looking at the fully recovered Anko, Aoba asked, "How does your body feel now?"
"Mm."
Anko thought for a moment and answered, "I feel so light, like I've got endless energy."
"Then it's fine. In that case, I should head back."
Aoba just stood up—
Anko grabbed his hand, "You're leaving?"
"You're alright now, aren't you?"
Aoba asked. He couldn't just not go home.
Hearing that, Anko suddenly gritted her teeth, "After everything you did for me, you're just going to walk away like this?"
"?"
Aoba was full of question marks, "Wasn't I just helping you?"
"Then why did you help me?", Anko suddenly asked.
"Uh…", Aoba was at a loss, not knowing how to answer.
Seeing him speechless, Anko suddenly shoved him down onto the sofa.
"Anko-neesan—"
"You little lecherous wolf, pretending to be so proper while dangling me along. You think that's fun?"
Anko's expression turned dangerous, "I've had enough of living all on my own!"
"Since you've done so much for me, take responsibility!"
She didn't give Aoba a chance to explain, she leaned down on top of him.
"Anko-neesan, at least move to the bedroom—"
"No!"
Rip!
The air in the room grew heavy and sticky, the heat threatening to drown them both.
The bedroom window was ajar, letting in a breeze that rustled the leaves outside.
In the living room, on the canvas of the night, two shadows overlapped.
The closed bud called Anko, in a fiery painting, bloomed in blazing heat.
The more she struggled, the more painful joy sprouted.
[🎉 Shoutout to Suleiman, Ifradil, Eryw, Carlos, Goxo & Damokles for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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