“Achoo!” A crisp, loud sneeze suddenly broke the peaceful tranquility of the room.
Chizhao lay flat on the bed, rubbing the tip of her nose. The faint yellow Gekko outside the window, filtering through the mottled glass, cast a silvery glow across the floor, decorating the room to be both mysterious and cozy.
“What’s wrong? Are you cold?”
Haku’s gentle voice softly sounded in her ear, causing Chizhao to shiver involuntarily.
She hurriedly shook her head. Although she was lying on the bed fully clothed, the thought of an unfamiliar person lying beside her made a sense of vigilance rise in her heart, and she unconsciously pulled her collar tighter.
Haku watched her actions with an amused smile, a playful glint in his eyes, and said softly:
“This is my first time sleeping with a girl; it’s quite a novel feeling.”
“I… I’ve never slept with a girl before either.”
“Why? Am I not a girl?”
Haku’s tone sounded a little teasing, leaving Chizhao speechless for a moment. She didn’t know why Haku was hiding his identity as a boy from her.
Although she wanted to expose him, doing so in this situation would likely lead to embarrassment for both of them.
She found herself in a dilemma and could only change the subject, trying to ease the delicate atmosphere:
“You’re letting me sleep with you so easily, aren’t you afraid I might harm you?”
Haku’s finger gently glided over Chizhao’s arm, bringing a faint coolness that made Chizhao instinctively want to pull away.
However, just as his finger was about to touch the needle-pricked wound on her arm, Haku gently took her arm, held it between them, and looked at her with deep eyes:
“Was the sincerity you showed us today fake?”
Chizhao was flustered by his sudden counter-question, and her voice became urgent:
“Of course not.”
She turned her head to meet his smiling brown eyes. Although the dim light in the room blurred his features, his gentle eyes were exceptionally bright.
Haku quietly gazed at the girl in front of him, his tone soft: “It’s you, lying here defenselessly, aren’t you afraid I might harm you?”
Realizing that the person opposite her was a boy, Chizhao uncomfortably averted her gaze again, gently lowered her arm, and looked up at the ceiling.
She said in a low voice: “If you wanted to harm me, you would have already. Besides, Zabuza is still considering cooperating with me, so you naturally wouldn’t easily hurt me.”
Haku chuckled softly, also looking up at the ceiling, and murmured: “Is that so….”
They lay quietly on the bed like that, the soft sound of their breathing echoing in the room.
Haku, who felt no sleepiness, silently absorbed the warmth emanating from the person beside him, little by little, letting it infect him.
This was a feeling completely different from Zabuza.
It was ardent, sincere, and displayed before his eyes with all its might.
It made Haku feel an unprecedented warmth and security, and also gave him the impulse to reveal his true self without reservation.
So he turned onto his side, and the bed swayed with his movement.
He gazed at Chizhao’s closed eyes and whispered in her ear: “Actually… I’m a boy.”
Chizhao’s eyelashes fluttered a few times, but sleepiness had already surged like a tide, engulfing her in a daze.
She moved her lips as if in a dream, indistinctly uttering a few words:
“I… I know…”
Haku froze. He wasn’t sure if the girl was sleep-talking or truly answering him.
He widened his eyes, staring at her peaceful face, unsure how to react.
But soon, the girl’s even breathing pulled him back from his thoughts.
She actually fell asleep just like that.
He sighed softly, curiously extended his index finger, and poked her delicate cheek. The soft touch brought a strange feeling to his heart.
After realizing his peculiar action, he quickly and awkwardly pulled his hand back.
His gaze then fell on the electronic collar around her neck, and Kado’s lewd face flashed in his mind, causing a cold glint to appear in his eyes.
He withdrew his gaze, lay flat on the bed, and closed his eyes, gradually falling into a deep sleep accompanied by the steady breathing beside him.
The silent night flowed slowly through the room like silk.
Mottled light penetrated through the gaps in the leaves, difficultly shining into the room through the glass.
The person on the bed’s fingers twitched slightly, her brows furrowed, and she slowly opened her eyelids.
The unfamiliar ceiling gradually became clear before her eyes. Chizhao was stunned for a few seconds, waiting for her brain to boot up.
“Good morning, did you sleep well last night?”
A familiar voice broke the morning’s tranquility. Chizhao abruptly sat up and looked towards the source of the voice.
Haku was wearing a pink kimono, his hair flowing smoothly down his back, and his smile was as delicate and unassuming as a blooming flower, exuding a subtle fragrance.
In that instant, Chizhao seemed to forget his gender, only struck by his beauty and sincerely praised:
“Haku, you’re so beautiful…”
Hearing her compliment, Haku’s smile became even brighter: “Thank you, I’m very happy.”
Then Chizhao’s gaze fell on the basket at his feet, and she instinctively asked: “Are you going to gather herbs?”
Haku picked up the basket and nodded: “We’ve almost run out of herbs, and your arm needs a dressing change, so I plan to gather some more.”
Then he looked at Chizhao, who had stood up, and extended an invitation:
“Do you want to come along?”
After tidying her clothes and touching the electronic collar around her neck, Chizhao shook her head:
“I won’t go. If I encounter them, it will be hard to explain my situation.”
Haku looked at the electronic collar, frowned slightly, then pulled a steel needle from his sleeve: “I can help you take it off.”
Seeing him approach her with the steel needle, Chizhao quickly covered her collar and took a few steps back:
“Wait a minute, Kado put a bomb in there. If I’m not careful, I might be decapitated. Besides, I need this thing to gain Kado’s trust, so now is not the time.”
Haku stopped, put the steel needle back into his sleeve, and turned around: “All right, if you need anything, you can tell me.”
Then he looked back at her and pointed to the table:
“I’ve already prepared the food. Before I come back, could I trouble you to look after Zabuza?”
Chizhao’s eyes widened as she stared at Haku, momentarily stunned.
Haku actually entrusted her with taking care of Zabuza.
Did that mean he had already started to trust her?
Next, all she had to do was persuade Zabuza, and then the plan could proceed smoothly.
Thinking of this, Chizhao came back to her senses, patted her chest, gave him a thumbs-up, and said with confidence:
“Don’t worry! I’ll take good care of him.”
After watching Haku leave, Chizhao washed and tidied herself, finished her portion of food, then carried the other portion to Zabuza’s door.
“Excuse me…”
Carefully pushing open the door with her elbow while holding the food, she found Zabuza still lying silently in the spacious room, unresponsive.
It wasn’t until she placed the food on a nearby table that Zabuza’s voice, full of suspicion and displeasure, came from behind her.
“Why are you here? Where’s Haku?”
“Haku went to gather herbs, so he asked me to look after you.”
Zabuza’s brows furrowed together:
“Haku actually let you take care of me? What did you do to him?”