[Graded][Closed] Chasing Ghosts

[Niro]

Yoshinori had been poring over the coded entries in the three journals he and Tsuki had recovered from the underground research lab; the one centered on experiments involving eyes. The involvement of Hyuuga children left a bitter taste in his mouth and a knot of worry in his chest. If Tsuki continued helping him with this investigation, she'd inevitably be at risk. Whoever was behind these twisted experiments was after the Byakugan, and the thought of her being caught in the crossfire made him uneasy.

Among the journals' findings was a fragmented map, sketching out what appeared to be a subterranean labyrinth. At first glance, the structure seemed unfamiliar, but something about the layout tugged at his memory. Mining was one of the lesser-known branches of his family’s business empire, spanning Fire Country and beyond. Over the years, he’d skimmed through countless mine reports and infrastructure documents even if he hadn’t always understood the technical jargon. But the design of the tunnels in the journal felt hauntingly familiar. Older. Cruder. And certainly no longer in circulation. Contacting current operations for historical documents would raise too many questions.

That was how he found himself standing at the entrance of the University of Konoha’s grand library. If there was one place in the village that still preserved old industrial plans and topographic records, it was here. He stepped into the vast space, momentarily awed by the soaring shelves packed tight with aging tomes and scrolls. The air smelled faintly of dust, parchment, and ink. Quiet, scholarly things.

Navigating by the Satomu Decimal system, he made his way to the section on land use and historical infrastructure. The exact shelf he needed, of course, was high above his reach. He scanned the aisle, spotted a rolling ladder at the far end, and brought it back with care. After securing it into place, he began the climb upward, fingers tracing the spines of brittle books until he found the titles he was after.

With his arms full of old mining plans and brittle blueprints, Yoshinori felt a sudden jolt beneath his feet. The ladder’s locking mechanism failed with a sharp click, and before he could react, it rolled loose and carried him and the heavy stack of documents sliding uncontrollably down the aisle. "Oh, c'mon!" he shouted, clinging to the ladder as books rattled on nearby shelves in protest.

[Drak]

Ever since the birthday celebration, something had stuck itself deep into Akito’s mind. There was of course the question of the wedding. He had little desire to wed Tsuki, and less still outside of the path to leading the clan that wound its way through a matching ring on each of their hands. His thoughts swirled and crashed against one another, an ocean of argument and counter-argument, plot and anti-plot which might see him lead the clan which once despised him

Beyond the worries of his new engagement and his newly rekindled desire to lead the clan himself was a question. It was a petty one. Something no more than idle gossip, really, and yet it had still wormed its way into his mind with the fervor and steadfastness of even the deepest of research questions. Who is this partner of Tsuki’s, and might they be an ally?

All he knew so far was that it was no Hyuuga. If it were, that would have been the talk of the clan to an extent that even an outcast would know it. Beyond that, he would have been informed of that when he had been informed of his upcoming wedding.

“Perhaps a change of scenery will do me good,” he muttered to himself at his desk, penning the last few letters of a note which immediately turned itself into a crow and flew out the open window of his office.

As he paced the library, the telltale sound of a ladder’s lock failing snapped him from his thoughts. He looked up only to see the very ladder he had heard careening towards him. Laden with books and records, the figure atop the ladder appeared to be an unfortunate scholar rather than some raucous thrillseeker. Still dressed in his academic clothes – deep blue tunic, matching haori, and black hakama – Akito sprung into action. He stepped aside as the ladder sped past him and grabbed one of the rails. The wood creaked at the added force, and a moment later that was echoed by the scraping of wooden geta across the floor as Akito started to slide with the ladder as well.

With a deep breath, another Akito appeared to push the ladder from the other direction. A shadow clone. As it creaked to a stop, both the man and the clone bent down to secure each of the wheels.

“Are you alright up there?” Akito asked, his clone disappearing into a cloud of smoke. “Let this be a lesson to secure both wheels before you climb.”

[Niro]

Yoshinori braced his legs against the sides of the ladder, muscles taut as he rolled unsteadily along the track, high above the library floor. With one hand on the top of the ladder and the other holding tightly to a precarious stack of reports, he was caught between focus and panic. For a fleeting moment, he considered jumping off the runaway contraption and just hoping for a semi-dignified landing. But then, thankfully, he felt a counterforce slow the ladder's wild momentum. He glanced down, eyebrows lifting in surprise as he spotted a figure below, struggling to halt its motion. One of the university scholars, it seemed. Just as the two began sliding together helplessly, a puff of smoke erupted beside them, and a shadow clone of the man appeared, anchoring the runaway ladder at last.

A sharp click signaled the mechanism locking back into place. Yoshinori exhaled hard and leaned his forehead against the top rung for a beat, then peered down at the man below. "This is what I get for going to the library," he muttered with a dry smile, beginning his careful descent while still balancing the collection of materials he’d risked life and limb to gather. Halfway down, impatience won out over caution. With a practiced twist, he hopped from the ladder and landed lightly on his feet, a lone paper escaping the pile. He caught it mid-air and added it to the stack before placing the documents on a nearby table.

“I owe you for that,” he said sincerely as he turned to thank his unexpected savior. His gaze met a pair of unmistakable lilac eyes. Hyuuga. A flicker of tension crossed Yoshinori’s features, reflexive and brief. Was this man one of Tsuki’s overzealous relatives here to finish what the ladder started? He scanned the stranger's face for any resemblance to the more... aggressive members of the clan.

No, this one looked closer to Takeshi than the twins. That was reassuring. For now. “Who knew researching for a missing ninja could almost get me killed by library infrastructure?” he quipped, extending a hand with a wry grin. “Thanks for the save. I’m Yoshinori, by the way.” He gestured toward the documents he’d assembled: books, charts, and scattered reports. “Looks like I'm digging in for a long one.”

[Drak]

“Professor Hyuuga Akito,” the older man said with the slightest of bows. “Pleased to meet you.”

It was hard to catch, but his eyes flicked over the stacks of books and papers, more idle curiosity than anything else. It seemed this young man – Yoshinori – was interested in mining, and in particular regions of Fire Country.

“Digging quite literally,” Akito quipped in a tone that almost suggested he hadn't realized the humor there.

The white eyes shot back up to the young man's face. His outfit, bearing, and physique suggested that he was a shinobi, and not any lowly one either. It was not at all uncommon for the Leaf’s shinobi to visit the library in preparation for missions. It was not even all that rare for one to look into specific regions or industries to better craft cover stories and blend into diverse settings. Yoshinori’s volume of literature meanwhile rivaled what a full time scholar might dig up.

“Are you writing a monograph on mining in the far reaches of Fire Country?”

[Niro]

Akito. Yoshinori mentally filed the name under his internal list labeled Hyuuga. The man’s polite bow to someone of common birth all but confirmed he wasn’t from the Hyuuga main house; those types rarely spared such courtesies for people they considered beneath them. Turning his attention to the materials he had gathered, Yoshinori began spreading them out across the wide table, arranging journals, scrolls, and aged maps for easier review. “I’m looking for an old mine,” he said, pausing as he tugged free a century-old topographical map. “I think.” His gaze flicked up to Akito, expression uncertain, with a shrug that betrayed his lack of concrete leads but not his resolve.

“On one of my last missions, we stumbled across an underground research facility.” Yoshinori’s voice dropped slightly, his attention fixed on the slope lines of the map in front of him. “It was buried underground. But what they were doing down there…” He set the map aside, pulling an aged journal from his weapon pouch. The leather binding was worn, its pages yellowed and brittle with time. He placed it gently on the table with the rest of his findings.

“They were researching eyes. Doujutsu.” He glanced briefly at Akito, letting the word hang in the air before continuing. “What I saw pointed to them testing on Byakugan.”

Circling the table, Yoshinori produced two more battered notebooks from his person, setting them down with care. From the final one, he withdrew a brittle, fragmentary map, its edges burned and curling with age. “Whoever was running the lab blew it all to hell before we could secure anything else. Buried everything under a mountain of rubble. This,” he gestured to the torn map and its intricate tunnelwork, “was all I managed to salvage. The journals reference these tunnels, supported with what looks like early mining infrastructure. Crude, but deliberate.”

He picked up a modern blueprint from the pile and held it next to the older map, the contrast stark, yet undeniably related. “See? Same structure, same bones but different hands. I’m almost certain these pieces point to a mine. Old, forgotten… but still out there somewhere.”

[Drak]

Akito paced behind Yoshinori as he hobbled over to spread his research out like a feast on one of the wide reading tables. As Yoshinori began to present his leads, Akito’s impassive face revealed the slightest bit of skepticism. When Yoshinori produced the journal, his expression changed to one of curiosity. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning over the documents as he tried to construct a theory between what this man was telling him and what he saw laid out on the table.

“The similarities are striking,” Akito said after staring silently at the documents for a long time. “Tenuous as proof, but if you are here monopolizing the library’s entire catalog of mining references then I cannot imagine you have many stronger leads.”

He fell silent again, his fingers gently massaging into his temple as he thought. Soon, his hand paused and a realization came across Akito's face. He reached a hand into his pocket and produced a small headset: standard issue Konoha gear.

“Kagura-san,” he murmured into it. “Call Awai-sensei to my office right away. Tell him it may be important, and that it will be mysterious.”

“Come with me,” he said, turning back around to Yoshinori. “And bring your things. The maps and journals should come with us. The histories can stay here. If this works you will not need them.”

He turned on his heel and strode out of the library, heading through the twisting halls of the university to his office.

“So tell me Yoshinori, did you choose to involve me in this because of my heritage, or do you make a habit of involving strangers in your mysteries?”

[Niro]

“Dead kids, a gigantic wall of eyes minus the chunk they ripped out and took with them? Yeah, these are the best leads I’m going to get.” Yoshinori shrugged. It was a gesture that said 'deal with it.' Digging through what was left of the lab would take more time than he had. And even if he had that time, making sense of the wreckage? A waste. Whatever escape route the researchers used had been lost in the collapse, and by the time anyone found a trace, wind and time would’ve swept it clean. If there was anything to find in the first place.

He didn’t mention the hidden narrative threaded through the books buried beneath layers of cipher and code. The journals were cluttered with scribbled translations and footnotes, proof of how deep he’d already gone. But not now. Not yet. Especially when he wasn’t even sure if what he’d uncovered was a secret truth… or a bedtime story for broken people hoping for something more.

Yoshinori’s eyes scanned the cluttered table as Akito absorbed the intel, then leaned into the radio to call for backup; someone else to meet them at the Hyuuga's office. When Akito looked up from the map, Yoshinori met his gaze and nodded, wordless but clear. He tucked the maps under one arm, slid the journals back into his weapons pouch, and followed him through the maze of university corridors.

He couldn’t help a quiet laugh at Akito’s next question.

“Bit of both,” he said, smirking. “My usual partner’s… out of commission. So yeah, I’ll take the help. Figured saying Byakugan experiments would light a fire under you. Looks like I was right.”

[Drak]

“Understandable,” Yoshinori’s quip elicited a chuckle from Akito. “Presenting a professor with a mystery like that is truly an underhanded tactic.”

Just below the surface, the engine of Akito’s mind was turning. If what the boy says is true, this would be a monumental issue for the clan. One which, if fixed, could catapult the solver to great heights.

The pair made their way through the University’s twisting halls, moving through nearly identical corridors lined with offices and classrooms. The architecture seemed almost designed to confuse, and there was at least one point where Akito appeared to lead Yoshinori down a set of stairs and then almost immediately up another set of approximately equal length.

Finally, Akito came to a stop in front of a door which looked much like the doors to its left and right. This one had a plaque upon it with “Hyuuga Akito” engraved upon it, unlike the others which had similar plaques with the names of their occupants. The door opened into an ante-office of sorts, a reception area with a small desk with a huge bank of filing cabinets behind it, and a few chairs. At the desk was a woman whose baggy clothes and dark glasses immediately marked her as a member of the Aburame clan. Before Akito could even greet his secretary, a man leapt up from one of the chairs, almost falling forward before he caught himself on the pair of crutches which he carried with him.

“Akito!” the frail, blond-haired cried out with a crooked smile. “Always good to see you! What is this mystery you have for me?”

“Awai Hifumi, meet Yoshinori,” Akito said, giving his colleague the slightest of bows before stepping aside to introduce the two. “Awai-sensei has devoted himself to the study of fire in general, and Katon more specifically. Even more specifically, he is an expert in determining the chemical composition – and from that, often the origin – of items and materials by burning them, splitting the light, and interpreting the resulting frequencies. Yoshinori came to me not even an hour ago with a rather intriguing subject which I believe you might be able to help us unravel.”

Giving the pair a moment to speak, Akito walked to the large sliding door at the far end of the room and opened it to reveal the inner sanctum of his office, where he beckoned Yoshi and Hifumi inside.

[Niro]

Between the academy, general studies, and the relentless curriculum imposed by his mother and Karasu to prepare him for leading the family merchant business, Yoshinori had never once considered pursuing higher education. And now, as he navigated the maze-like corridors of the University, he felt vindicated in that choice. The endless, echoing hallways made him feel like he'd stepped into a labyrinth of stress. He was just about to ask Akito if this was all some elaborate joke when they finally stopped, thankfully, at a door bearing a plaque with the professor's name.

Up to this point, the campus had seemed to consist of seventy percent hallways and twenty-five percent library, so when the door actually opened into a lived-in space full of people and belongings, Yoshinori blinked in surprise. He followed the Hyuuga inside, offering a casual nod to the secretary before his attention was pulled toward a man rising, rather enthusiastically, from a chair with crutches tucked beneath his arms. Yoshinori stared, momentarily taken aback, before recovering enough to respond. “Nice to meet you, professor,” he said politely, giving a respectful nod to the Awai man. His hands were full with maps and old mining records, but he managed a wink that carried both mischief and confidence. “I think I’ve got something you’ll want to see but let’s talk first.”

Following Akito into the office proper, Yoshinori laid out his collection of topography charts, route maps, and fragmented notes. “I came to the University library to track down an old mine,” he began, retrieving a weathered journal from his weapons pouch; the third one he'd discovered with more of the partial maps and cryptic entries he had found in the other two. He placed it atop the spread of documents. “I found these in an illegal underground medical lab. One where they were experimenting on dōjutsu, including the Byakugan.”

He let the words hang heavy in the air for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. Akito was already aware of the story, but Hifumi needed context. “This journal,” he said, tapping the cover, “contains what I think is a map of where they fled. But that’s not all. There’s a whole web of encrypted information hidden in its pages. On the surface, it reads like medical data and logs on the children they experimented on. But once you start breaking the cipher...”

He flipped open the book and pointed to the margins, where cryptic scribbles curled between more formal notes. “There’s an old legend buried in here. Any guesses what clan it’s about?” he asked, a knowing smirk playing at his lips as his eyes flicked meaningfully toward Akito.

[Drak]

“Hm, yes, yes,” Hifumi muttered, nodding his head at an almost alarming rate as Yoshinori explained the situation as his already-wide eyes widened further in surprise. He leaned in, craning his neck and tilting precariously on his crutches to get a closer look at the journal. The Awai tilted his head this way and that, examining the book from different angles, and even seeming to sniff at it.

“An old legend?” Akito crossed his arms and cocked his head slightly. “Underground experimentation on doujutsu, including the Byakugan. My first thought would be some sort of missing nin trying to create some new powerful eye. Or some plot out of Kiri or Iwa.”

Uncrossing his arms, Akito’s hand went to his chin.

“Neither of those are exactly ‘old legends,’” he mused, talking to himself just as much as Yoshinori or Hifumi. “In fact, those are neither old nor legends. No, no missing-nin we have observed in Fire Country would be involved in this. And our enemies would not set up such an… institution on our soil with no trace or record when they could simply set it up in the Water Archipelago or in the vast wastes of Earth or Wind.”

Akito’s finger tapped the tip of his chin three times. A subtle smirk came across his face.

“What, is this the grain of truth within the stories that the Hyuuga aunties would tell about naughty children being spirited away and reincarnated… into… better children…”

The revelation as he finished his sentence caused Akito’s speech to slow and his mouth to gape open.

“Really?” he whispered, hardly audible, then whipped around to face Yoshinori head on. “Can it really be?”

The outburst drew Hifumi from his deep focus on the book.

“What is it?” he asked, pulling himself back up his crutches.

Akito rushed to his desk. Quickly pulling a pen and scroll from a drawer, he unrolled it across his desk and began to draw. A sketch-like, calligraphic representation of a cat soon took form along the scroll, and with a quick infusion of chakra, stepped right off the page. The ink black cat sat on the desk, motionless, watching Yoshinori.

“If whatever this force is has made progress towards a Tenseigan, you need to tell me everything right away. Start at the beginning.”

JutsuShow

Conveyance
D-Rank Ninjutsu
With some additional hand seals, any summoned Ink creature will be able to turn into a written description of what it saw. Additionally, by touching a written or printed document, the creature can absorb and exactly reproduce what was on it.

Lesser Beast Imitation Drawing
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After drawing a small, (e.g. housecat, pigeon, fish onto a paper and channeling chakra into it, Akito can make hand seals over the paper and bring the imitation creature to life. These creatures have the attributes of the animals they represent, but are not durable, and can be destroyed with an attack of greater than [Control / 4] strength.

[Niro]

“Cold,” Yoshinori teased, flipping through the pages of the worn journal with a half-smile tugging at his lips. “Colder,” he added, giving his head a mock shake as Akito continued guessing. But when Akito mentioned the old stories passed down by the elder Hyuuga women, something flickered in Yoshinori’s expression. He paused, lifted the journal, and waved it with an almost triumphant grin.

“Ding, ding, ding,” he said, laughing as relief threaded his voice after holding the secret in for too long. He sat forward, the journal now resting in his hands like something sacred. “The real story buried in these margins isn’t about medical experiments,” he began, eyes scanning his own notations. “It’s about Akiko and Retsuya. Two main-branch lovers from centuries ago.” His voice softened, less lecturing now and more reverent. “They were cousins promised to others in arranged marriages, but still... deeply in love. Idealists, dreamers. They wanted to rewrite the clan’s future. Reject the cursed seal. Break the rules entirely.”

He flipped to another page, then gently set the journal down on Akito’s desk beside the shifting form of the ink-cat. “They ran away one night. Retsuya was a genius. Akiko, an archivist. She stole three forbidden scrolls from the clan archives. Apparently, these are scrolls said to contain more than just enhancements to the Byakugan. They outlined how to evolve it.” He paused and looked at Akito. “To the Tenseigan.”

The word hovered in the air, laced with equal parts wonder and warning. “They weren’t alone. A handful of branch members followed them. Not just for love, but for freedom. Then…” Yoshinori exhaled, leaning back. “They vanished. No records. No trails. Just gone.” He looked up, something sharp and certain in his gaze now. “Whether these journals inspired their research or was the result of it, I’m convinced that map leads to a clue. Something that’ll tell us where they went or what they became.”

[Drak]

“When was this?” Akito inquired. The room had taken on the air of a deposition, with Akito’s idle curiosity replaced entirely with a pointed desire for the truth. “Chronologically speaking.”

Akito waited as Yoshinori continued, his hands laced in front of his face in deep thought. If what the boy says is true, this could present an opportunity. The Tenseigan has been thought lost since time immemorial. While not often spoken of, the consensus is that its return heralds some sort of chosen one. If I could claim such a thing for myself…

Hifumi slid down into one of the chairs in Akito’s office. His eyes bounced between Akito and Yoshinori as if he were watching a tennis match.

“Let me get this straight, Yoshinori-kun,” Akito finally said after Yoshinori had fallen silent. “You have found information hinting at the fate of two long-lost rogue Hyuuga, and the equally-long-lost Tenseigan in an underground research facility – now destroyed – and the only evidence of this is the enciphered journal you now have in your possession?”

He sighed, and nodded to Hifumi, who dove into a pouch, pulling out a small roll of vials and metal instruments, along with a long, thin strip of paper looking almost like a bookmark.

“While this seems almost suspect, it is also intriguing enough to investigate further. I brought Awai-sensei in to run some tests on the journal. Please hand the journal over to him.”

“It will be an entirely non-destructive process,” Hifumi said, gingerly holding out his thin hands to take the book from Yoshinori. The professor began to sample it with the tools at his disposal, scraping minute amounts of dust and grime from the cover and pages into the glass vials which he had set on Akito’s desk. He managed to scrape a single flake of ink from some of the writing within, and finally snip a sliver of paper from the corner of one page before setting it down on Akito’s desk. The paper he held on the tip of his outstretched pointer finger.

“Cover your eyes,” he said, struggling to get a pair of tinted goggles over his face. Akito not only closed his eyes, but covered them with one hand. With a brilliant flash of light bright enough to leave blinding afterimages even through closed eyelids alone, the paper combusted, and Hifumi bent the light towards the strip of paper.

“All done!” he announced. Akito uncovered his eyes and looked at his colleague, who was shaking the paper back and forth in the air. Slowly, strips of color began to appear on the paper.

“Chakra sensitive paper,” he explained. “By instantly burning up the material, I can bend the light into this and see the patterns of light created by different compounds.”

He studied the rainbow of colors intently.

“I’ll need to study this further, but I can tell you something right now,” he pointed to a thick strip of deep, rich blue. “Cobalt. Wherever this came from was very rich in cobalt. Knowing that and that it comes from a mine should narrow things down quite a lot.”

He hurriedly packed his things back up and pushed himself back to a standing position.

“I’ll study this and have more details for you by tomorrow evening.”

“Very good,” Akito called out as the man nudged open the heavy sliding door with a foot. “And Hifumi: Do not speak of this to anyone before you speak to me again.”

[Niro]

“I didn’t think it was necessary to inform the clan, given the fairy tale nature of it,” Yoshinori replied bluntly, a casual shrug accompanying his words as Akito questioned him. “Besides, the Hyuuga elders… aren’t exactly my biggest fans.” His voice carried a mix of dry humor and detached honesty. “I never thought there was any truth to this stuff, I just assumed it was another legend these cultists were trying to bring to life. I didn’t realize the Tenseigan was real until you confirmed it just now.”

With a flick of his wrist, he snapped the journal closed and extended it with unexpected care toward the frail-looking professor. Leaning against the edge of the desk, arms folded across his chest, Yoshinori watched Hifumi work with a curious gaze. The winding corridors of the University had done little to endear higher education to him, but there was something about watching the Awai in his element that held his attention.

Not one to dismiss the wisdom of experience, Yoshinori quickly followed Akito’s lead in shutting his eyes and placing a hand up to block the reaction. Even with that precaution, the flash of light was brilliant, its presence dancing behind his eyelids like distant lightning. When Hifumi announced he was finished, Yoshinori opened his eyes and caught the slow reveal of deep blue developing across the paper. A small but genuine flicker of admiration touched his face. “Nicely done, professor,” he offered, his voice warm with respect.

As the professors turned their attention to discussion, Yoshinori shifted back to the materials he’d brought from the mines. Fingers skimming across a spread of documents and maps, his gaze landed on a specific area and a grin began to pull at the corner of his mouth. He tapped at the border between Fire Country and Pebble Country, the subtle sound of fingertip on parchment almost celebratory.

Seven cobalt mines had once operated there, but only three stood out. Centuries old, long depleted, and mostly forgotten. Perfect. He picked up a quill and circled the trio, their locations marked clearly now. Then, retrieving the journal from the desk, he slipped it neatly back into his pouch. “Looks like your insight just saved me a lot of time, professor,” he said with a grateful nod, the grin still lingering in his voice.

[Drak]

The corner of Akito’s eyebrow flicked up for a brief moment at the mention of the Hyuuga elders. They could not be described as fans of anyone outside of the clan, but why this young man thought that in particular made for an intriguing question. Akito rhythmically tapped the fingers of his right hand against the dense wood of the desk, hawkishly watching Yoshinori study the maps before him.

“I am glad the University could be of service,” Akito interlaced his fingers on the table and spoke again after the door closed behind Hifumi. “And in fact, I believe that we can assist further. That insight leaves,” he paused, peering over at the map. “What, three locations? Even narrowed down so much it will take some time to delve through the depths up to three times. Furthermore, the inherent danger of tracking down a force powerful enough to perform this research unseen and unheard will necessitate further involvement from the village and its various arms. Not to mention the sensitive nature of the triggering research will no doubt trigger a backlash from the Hyuuga clan.”

Akito straightened his posture and looked at Yoshinori head on.

“I propose that we cooperate on this. The University can provide funding and support to cut down on the time this will take, backup to diminish the dangers of taking such a quest on by yourself, and a high-ranking representative of the Hyuuga clan to prevent any appearance of impropriety. You will still be directing the investigation, but this way, anything we discover there can be preserved and transmitted to help the Hidden Leaf.”

While well-reasoned and seemingly friendly, there was a certain edge to Akito’s speech, as if leaving unsaid something along the lines of “Do this with us, or we will do this without you.” He extended a hand across the desk.

“Partners?”

[Niro]

Yoshinori paused, brow furrowed and arms crossed, one hand thoughtfully propping up his chin as he considered the professor’s proposal. Akito had definitely pulled his weight there was no denying that. He’d earned a stake in whatever came next. Still, Yoshinori hesitated, reluctant to drag someone else deeper into this mess, Hyuuga or not.

He turned the idea over in his mind, eyes distant as Akito finished speaking. After a few beats of silence, Yoshinori exhaled through his nose and gave a faint nod to himself, reluctant agreement forming in the back of his mind. “Other arms, huh... No way Mamorinuku’s still operational,” he murmured, almost to himself, lips twitching at the thought. “That’d be a hell of a twist. Guess it’s basically my inheritance anyway.”

The corners of his mouth tugged into a half-smirk as he glanced over at Akito. “I’m not too worried about the clan, to be honest. Aside from you, me, and Hifumi? Only one other person knows, and they’re Main House. Unless you decide to go blabbin’ but come on, who wants the elders and their grubby hands all over this?” His tone was teasing, but laced with a knowing edge. Yoshinori let Akito’s offered hand hang in the air for a beat longer than necessary, then finally reached out and took it with a firm shake.

“Partners.”