The hospital room remained wrapped in peaceful silence.
The rain had stopped completely, leaving only the soft chirping of insects drifting through the open window. Moonlight poured into the room, mixing with the warm glow of the bedside lamp and painting everything in gentle shades of gold and silver.
Naruto sat quietly beside my bed, listening as I finished explaining the story of The Little Prince.
"So..."
I smiled faintly.
"What I did to you was a little like the Little Prince and the Fox."
Naruto blinked.
"Huh?"
"I spent time with you."
"I cooked for you."
"I played with you."
"We laughed together."
"Without realizing it..."
"I 'tamed' you."
I looked down at our hands resting on the blanket.
"And then..."
"I suddenly began keeping my distance."
"Just like the Little Prince leaving."
The room became quiet.
Naruto lowered his head.
His small brows furrowed as he carefully digested every word.
Unlike many children his age, he never pretended to understand something he didn't.
Instead...
He thought.
Very seriously.
After nearly half a minute, he slowly raised his head again.
Then...
He asked a question I never expected.
"So..."
His blue eyes were filled with innocent curiosity.
"Who's Big Sister's rose?"
"..."
"...Rose?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
"The Little Prince had his rose."
"Then who is yours?"
He tilted his head.
"Is it Shikamaru?"
"Pfft—!"
The mouthful of warm milk I had just swallowed shot straight out.
"Cough!"
"Cough! Cough!"
I nearly died on the spot.
Naruto jumped in fright.
"Big Sister!"
He hurriedly grabbed the cup before I could spill the rest.
Then he snatched several tissues and began wiping the milk from my chin.
"Are you okay?!"
Meanwhile...
My brain had completely frozen.
Why?!
Why would Shikamaru appear here?!
How did this child arrive at that conclusion?!
Comparing Shikamaru to my rose somehow felt so bizarre that my brain simply refused to process it.
I continued coughing.
"Cough..."
"Cough..."
"N-Naruto..."
"What..."
"What does this have to do with Shikamaru?"
Naruto blinked innocently.
"Doesn't it?"
"...No!"
He tilted his head again.
"...Really?"
"...Really!"
He accepted my answer without arguing.
Instead...
He sighed.
Then looked at me with an expression that strangely resembled an adult worrying about an irresponsible child.
"Big Sister..."
"You really can't take care of yourself."
I paused.
"...What?"
He repeated it matter-of-factly.
"You can't."
"You even choke while drinking milk."
He folded his arms with complete seriousness.
"I don't think I can leave Big Sister alone yet."
I stared blankly at him.
"...What did you just say?"
"I said..."
"You can't take care of yourself."
His tone became almost helpless.
"Look."
"You didn't even notice you were holding the cup wrong."
"When I used to bring you drinks..."
"I always placed the cup exactly forty-five degrees to the right."
He demonstrated carefully with his hand.
"You probably never noticed."
"But whenever you reach for your cup..."
"You don't actually look."
"You just reach."
"If someone leaves it in the wrong place..."
"You can't find it."
I froze.
Forty-five degrees?
I had never realized something like that before.
Naruto continued counting on his fingers.
"When you write..."
"Your fingers slowly slide lower and lower on the pen."
"By the end..."
"They're always covered in ink."
"I'm always the one reminding you."
He raised another finger.
"Your chair cushion always slides to the left."
"You never fix it."
Another finger.
"You always forget to turn off your desk lamp."
Another.
"When you make tea..."
"You put in way too many tea leaves."
"It tastes bitter."
"But you still drink all of it while making this face."
Naruto immediately imitated me frowning while drinking tea.
The imitation was so accurate that I almost laughed.
He kept going.
"The blanket always falls off when you take naps."
"You forget to close the window."
"You forget lunch."
"You forget dinner."
"You even forget where you leave your glasses sometimes."
His voice gradually became faster.
It sounded almost as though these observations had been buried inside him for a long time.
Only now...
Did they finally have a chance to come out.
Meanwhile...
I sat there completely speechless.
I had always believed...
That I was the one taking care of Naruto.
I cooked for him.
Played with him.
Listened to his stories.
Comforted him whenever he felt lonely.
Yet...
Inside all those ordinary days...
There had been another truth.
One I never noticed.
In his own awkward...
Childish...
Clumsy way...
Naruto had also been taking care of me.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Day after day.
"...Naruto."
"Hm?"
"...You've always been watching me."
The tips of his ears slowly turned red beneath the warm bedside light.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"...Because..."
His voice became softer.
"...Big Sister is the only person who truly watches me."
Silence filled the room.
The breeze outside gently lifted the curtains.
It carried with it the fresh scent of rain-soaked grass.
I smiled.
"...Come here."
Naruto leaned closer without hesitation.
"What is it?"
I reached up.
Behind one ear...
A tiny blade of grass still clung stubbornly to his blond hair.
I carefully removed it.
Then gently ruffled his messy hair.
He laughed.
"I won't hide anymore."
Naruto blinked.
"...Eh?"
I looked directly into his blue eyes.
"As long as I'm here..."
"I won't avoid you again."
"No matter what happens."
"I was wrong before."
"But..."
"I won't make the same mistake again."
Naruto stared blankly.
Then his face gradually brightened.
"Really?"
"Really."
"But..."
I raised one finger.
"You have to promise me something."
His entire posture instantly straightened.
His expression became unbelievably serious.
"What is it?"
"If anything like yesterday happens again..."
"You must never secretly go to the back mountain alone."
"You must never disappear somewhere I can't find you."
He quietly listened.
"And..."
"If someone bullies you..."
"You have to tell me."
He blinked.
"Even if I can't beat them up..."
"...I can still stand beside you and cheer for you."
For one second...
Naruto simply stared.
Then—
"Pffffahaha!!"
He burst into laughter.
He laughed so hard that he bent over the side of the hospital bed, clutching his stomach.
"Big Sister!"
"You..."
"You want to fight people?"
His laughter became even louder.
"The last time..."
"You couldn't even open a can!"
"I had to help you!"
"..."
I immediately protested.
"That can had a design flaw."
Naruto laughed harder.
"No it didn't!"
"Choji opened the exact same can with one hand afterward!"
"...Choji doesn't count."
"He's from the Akimichi Clan."
Naruto immediately counterattacked.
"What about Shikamaru?"
"He opened it too!"
"..."
"...Shikamaru used his brain."
Naruto wiped tears from laughing.
"What does opening a can have to do with brains?!"
"...Everything."
"It absolutely does."
Our laughter filled the hospital room.
For several wonderful minutes...
Nothing else mattered.
Outside...
The clouds slowly drifted apart.
Moonlight quietly spilled across the foot of the bed.
Eventually...
Naruto finally stopped laughing.
He lowered his head.
Thinking deeply.
After a long silence...
He looked back up.
"Big Sister."
"Hm?"
"Shikamaru's mom is coming tomorrow..."
"...Right?"
"..."
"...Please don't remind me."
Cold sweat immediately appeared on my forehead.
Aunt Yoshino.
The moment she looked into my eyes...
Every excuse inside my head simply disappeared.
She possessed a terrifying ability.
No one could refuse her.
Especially not me.
Naruto smiled.
"I'll stay with Big Sister."
"I won't go anywhere tomorrow."
"I'll stay all day."
As he spoke...
He reached one hand over the hospital bed.
His little finger hooked around mine.
"It'll be our promise."
I looked at our linked pinkies.
Then...
The ending of The Little Prince quietly resurfaced in my mind.
The Fox had once said...
"I shall look at the wheat fields."
Because their golden color would forever remind him of the Little Prince.
At least...
The Fox still had something precious.
Something beautiful.
Something impossible to forget.
But...
Our story had become different.
The Little Prince hadn't left.
The Fox hadn't cried.
Instead...
They were sitting beneath the warm yellow light of a hospital room.
Hooking pinkies.
Holding tightly onto each other.
Looking...
Like two complete idiots.
A laugh escaped me.
"...Mm."
"It's a promise."
Outside...
The moon shone brighter than ever.
The fresh scent after the rain drifted gently through the open window.
For the first time in a long while...
I genuinely believed...
Tomorrow would probably be a good day.
The next morning...
Shikamaru was awakened by his mother before sunrise.
"Get up."
Yoshino pulled open the curtains.
"Visiting a patient without bringing flowers is terrible etiquette."
She folded her sleeves neatly.
"And..."
"You promised yesterday."
Shikamaru slowly sat up.
"...What a drag..."
Still half asleep, he yawned all the way downstairs.
The flower shop stood on the corner of Konoha's shopping street.
Wind chimes jingled softly as they entered.
Inside...
A familiar blonde girl stood on a ladder changing water in tall flower buckets.
Without turning around...
She smiled brightly.
"Welcome!"
Then...
She heard a lazy voice.
"...Do you still have lilies?"
She immediately turned around.
"Oh?"
"Ino's eyes sparkled.
"Shikamaru?"
"What a rare customer!"
"You actually came to a flower shop?"
Meanwhile...
Yoshino had already begun selecting flowers nearby.
She smiled warmly.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Aunt Yoshino!"
Ino hopped down from the ladder.
She tucked her pruning scissors into her apron before walking straight toward Shikamaru.
Her curiosity practically radiated from every step.
"You..."
She narrowed her eyes dramatically.
"Looking at flowers?"
She placed one hand on her chin.
"Did the sun rise in the west today?"
"I'm just here with Mom."
Shikamaru answered lazily.
Ino ignored the explanation.
Instead...
She leaned closer.
"So..."
"Who are they for?"
Shikamaru blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"The flowers."
She pointed toward the display.
"Your mom is already choosing."
"But you're looking too."
"You never care about flowers."
Her smile became suspicious.
"...A girl?"
Shikamaru didn't answer.
His eyes quietly drifted across a row of white lilies.
Ino gasped dramatically.
"It really is a girl!"
Her excitement exploded instantly.
"Who?!"
"Our class?"
"No..."
"You barely speak to girls."
"The class next door?"
"A senior?"
"Tell me!"
"You're noisy."
He casually picked up a bouquet of daisies.
Looked at them.
Then quietly placed them back.
"I promise I won't tell anyone!"
She clearly didn't mean it.
Shikamaru sighed.
He already knew.
If he refused to answer...
She would continue talking until his mother finished shopping.
"...Someone I know."
Ino rolled her eyes.
"That's incredibly vague."
"Who?"
Shikamaru bent slightly and picked several irises from a nearby bucket.
"The girl who came with Naruto on the first day of school."
He spoke casually.
"You noticed her too."
His tone remained completely normal.
Yet...
The hand holding the lilies paused for just the briefest moment.
Almost as though he remembered something.
Then...
He quietly handed them to Yoshino.
Ino froze.
Then her eyes widened dramatically.
"Oh!"
"That beautiful girl!"
"So many people were looking at her during the entrance ceremony!"
"What happened?"
"Is she sick?"
"Was she hospitalized?"
"Is it serious?"
"Hypoglycemia."
Shikamaru answered simply.
"And some minor injuries."
"She fainted yesterday."
"Oh..."
Ino slowly nodded.
Then...
She looked at him.
Looked toward the bouquet in his hands.
Then looked back again.
A mysterious smile slowly appeared.
"I see."
Shikamaru frowned.
"...What?"
"What do you mean?"
Ino simply hummed happily.
"Nothing~"
Without another explanation...
She skipped away to help her mother arrange flowers.
Even so...
Shikamaru could still feel her secretly glancing toward him every few seconds.
Eventually...
Yoshino selected a bouquet of pale purple irises.
She added several white lilies that Shikamaru had quietly chosen.
When it came time to pay...
Ino leaned across the counter.
Then whispered with an enormous grin,
"...Good luck."
Shikamaru stared at her for two seconds.
Then sighed.
"...What a drag."
He couldn't even be bothered responding as he followed Yoshino out of the flower shop.
Behind them...
The cheerful ringing of wind chimes echoed once more.
Neither of them noticed...
That someone inside the shop was already smiling in anticipation.
Because by tomorrow...
The entire class would probably know that the famously lazy Shikamaru had personally picked flowers for a beautiful girl in the hospital.
And Ino was already struggling to keep that secret.
Or at least...
She was trying very, very hard.
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