Unknownfate
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Chapter 61 Operation: Koji’s Eternal Torment.
🕑 Added 2025-06-10 11:30:07 +0000 UTCIt didn’t take long to finish my business, but I was in no hurry to get back to the others, with the Byakugan I could see them from anywhere, and I could see if any enemies were coming my way, so I felt safe to be alone with Kuro for a bit, just sitting up in a tree, on a large branch and watching the quite forest down under us.
“Say, Kuro, did you tease Koji a lot about… well, me?”
Kuro nodded his head and barked, and while I didn’t understand what he was saying, I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had more than just teased him a little.
It was something I had been thinking about, Kuro, he had long been my partner when going out alone to answer nature’s call, and I had never been shy about telling him things, sure, I knew he was intelligent, but he was a dog at the end of the day.
Who thinks twice about saying something to a dog?
Well, not me, that’s for sure.
So now, knowing about Koji’s feelings and having some understanding of Kuro, I had a feeling that he had been spilling my secrets to Koji, or maybe even acting like his spy.
I didn’t think Koji would ask him to, no. I was beginning to believe that Kuro might have done it freely, just to mess with Koji.
It was a kind of brotherly love. Something I could totally see between the two of them.
All Inuzuka treated their ninken more like family than anything else, so yeah, I believed Kuro might have been spilling the beans.
Now, what should I do about it?
I felt like I had to somehow punish him for it, but how?
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” I muttered, flicking his ear lightly. He didn’t even flinch. Just thumped his tail twice against the branch with smug satisfaction.
I leaned back against the trunk, arms folded, eyes drifting upward where the canopy opened just enough to let in patches of moonlight. The stars above twinkled faintly, distant and cold, uncaring of wars or feelings or dogs who couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
“Kuro… you really do like messing with him, don’t you?”
He gave a low whuff in response, which I chose to interpret as agreement.
“And you’re not going to stop, are you?”
Another bark, a bit louder this time. Definitely not.
I sighed. “Well, I don’t mind if you do, thinking back, you got a lot of funny reactions out of him, so that’s cool. But still, I wish we could work together, really mess with him, but without understanding you… Only so much we can do.”
Yes, I would have to play the long game if I wanted to mess with Kuro; he was too smart for anything else, dog or not, he was no fool.
“For now, just do as you have, and if you need, I will try to help you. Together, we will ensure Koji never has a boring moment, and therefore, I never get bored.” I offered Kuro a hand in partnership. One he took as best he could with his paw.
A pawpump, really.
It made me smile. Kuro’s eyes glinted with satisfaction, and I could swear there was a hint of conspiracy between us now. A silent agreement forged under the moonlight—Operation: Koji’s Eternal Torment.
I stood, brushing off the back of my thighs with a lazy swipe. “Alright, partner. Let’s go see how badly he burned dinner.”
Kuro barked once, then leapt down, landing in a soft thud of fur and muscle. I followed more gracefully, chakra guiding my descent as we made our way through the trees and back to the soft glow of campfire light.
Kuro, despite our new alliance, had wasted no time running on ahead of me, and I couldn’t help but shake my head in exasperation.
Koji looked up when I emerged. He was crouched by the fire, skewers already laid out and sizzling gently. He gave a lopsided grin, one hand resting on Kuro’s head as if they’d never been apart.
“Back already? Thought you were going to abandon us for the romantic moonlight,” he said with that familiar lilt in his voice.
I shrugged, “What can I say? Kuro is great company, he has so many interesting stories to tell me, all about you, and the things you have said about me.” I teased him, and he instantly turned red, gasped, and looked at Kuro like he had killed his mother.
Until Kuro barked a few times, likely reminding Koji that he couldn’t tell me anything because, well, I didn’t speak ninken.
“Damn it Yuki, fooling me like that, and here I worked so hard to catch and make you dinner, even Haruto and Arata wanted some, but I saved it all for you.” He said, pretending to be hurt.
Koji’s dramatic delivery made me smirk. I walked over and took one of the skewers, giving it a cautious sniff before biting into the roasted fish.
“…Okay,” I admitted, chewing slowly, “it’s not terrible.”
He clutched his chest. “Not terrible? That’s high praise coming from the Hyūga Ice Queen herself. I might faint.”
“Shut up,” I said, sitting down in his lap. Which indeed shut him up really quickly.
Koji froze like a statue.
His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again—no sound came out. His face was redder than the firelight dancing over his cheeks.
“You…” he finally managed, voice an octave too high. “You can’t just—”
“I just did,” I said, snagging another skewer from his hand as if I hadn’t just thrown his entire nervous system into chaos. “You did say this was all for me, didn’t you?”
“I—yes, but—usually people mean, like, metaphorically!”
“Oh,” I hummed, leaning back against his chest, “well, maybe I misunderstood.”
Koji didn’t dare move. His hands hovered awkwardly, like he wasn’t sure where to put them. Kuro gave a single, very judgmental huff and flopped down by the fire, snout on his paws, watching with that smug satisfaction only a dog could pull off.
“I’m going to die,” Koji whispered.
“Not yet, you aren’t, in fact.” I paused, “I think I will keep you alive at least until Kuro learns to speak like a human,” I finished, making Koji go through a bit of an ups and downs emotionally as he hoped I was gonna say something that wasn’t just teasing him.
Koji huffed in retaliation and finally found the courage to act like a proper Inuzuka; his hands, before paralyzed with indecision, moved with purpose and gripped my chest. Then, in full view of the camp, he proudly started to play with them.
Everyone, even Kuro, froze at his boldness. It was… unexpected, but I guess that is what you get when you tease a young man like him too much. And honestly, I had opened myself up to it when I sat down in his lap.
I considered doing something to stop him, but instead, I felt he should be rewarded, because he surprised me, and I liked being surprised.
After being trapped for so long, unable to do anything, I welcomed all feelings and surprises.
So, I reached half a fish skewer back towards him. “Fine, eat something as well then.” I gave in, and this time, he froze, clearly not expecting that reaction.
None of them had; they all looked at me like I had grown another head or something.
An amazing reaction.
“Well, are you eating or are you going to bed hungry?” I asked, ignoring the poking from below.
“Yes!” he said as quickly as he could, and bit down so hard on the fish on a stick, he bit off both fish and the stick!
“Damn Koji, I didn’t know you where that hungry!” I laughed, and everyone laughed with me as he was forced to spit the food onto the ground.
Koji wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, glaring down at the now half-chewed skewer stick like it had betrayed him. “In my defense,” he mumbled, “someone was distracting me.”
I tilted my head just slightly, wearing my most innocent expression. “Who would do such a thing?”
“You did!” he barked in mock anger.
“I did no such thing, I just offered you a bit of my food, and you ruined it.”
“I made that food,” he countered.
I shrugged. “And you made it for me, so it's mine.”
Koji let out a strangled noise, somewhere between exasperation and surrender. “Fine, whatever… but then these are mine!” he said, quickly slapping his hands back on my breasts.
Whatever he expected as a response, I surely didn’t give it. “Nope, those puppies belong to Kuro.”
The ninken in question barked happily in laughter, or so I assumed.
“You are impossible.” Koji cursed under his breath, his hands not moving.
“And yet,” I said, brushing my fingers over his arm as I leaned back into him again, “here you are. In love with me anyway.”
He went silent.
Completely still.
I could feel his breath hitch, his heart practically punching through his chest.
I didn’t look at him, didn’t say anything else. Just kept chewing on the last bite of fish like I hadn’t just lit a fuse and tossed it in his lap.
He didn’t speak for a full ten seconds.
Then—
“I… uh, well—since we’re being so open tonight—” he tried, voice higher than normal. “I was also thinking… about the night watch.”
I hummed. “Hmm?”
“I mean, usually we do one person awake at a time, right? Solo rotation.”
“Correct.”
“But,” he said, clearing his throat. “Since we’re leaving tomorrow. And since we’re burning this site. It’s kind of the last night here. It’s… I don’t know. It’s a little special.”
I glanced at him. “Koji.”
“Yes?”
“Are you trying to make night patrol romantic into a date?”
“No!” he said too quickly. “Okay—maybe a little? Look, I’m just saying it wouldn’t be the worst idea to do paired watches. Safety, efficiency, companionship… warmth…”
“Warmth,” I echoed, one eyebrow lifting.
“I mean emotional warmth,” he said. Then quickly added, “And physical warmth! Strictly for survival. I’m thinking like—what if Haruto and Arata paired for the first half, and then you and I did second? Just… us. For security.”
“Of course. For security.”
“Absolutely.”
I let the silence stretch for a beat longer, just to watch him sweat.
I knew what he had in mind, how could I not when he kept poking my ass like that?
However, I was the leader here; it was my responsibility to ensure we were safe and the mission was completed. I couldn’t just allow myself to get dragged along. Because, if he had his way, we wouldn’t be doing much watching out for enemies during our watch.
Still, he had been good, and I did promise him a reward. I intended it just to be me sitting in his lap and letting his hands grope me as he pleased, but maybe… I could offer a little bit extra.
But, it would be too dangerous, so… we needed someone who could actually be on watch.
“Koji, be serious, we can’t afford to be careless while on a mission, I expect better of you.” I said, my tone harsh.
He instantly withered under my tone, his head hanging low. “Right, sorry, my bad, Yuki.”
“So, rather than the two of us, we will take Kuro with us, with three pairs of eyes, I’m sure we can work something out.” I quickly added, before he got fully crushed with disappointment.
And indeed, he instantly perked back up, if he had a tail, I would swear it would be wagging like crazy. “Really? You mean it?”
“Yes, get Kuro to agree, and we will be doing watch in pairs tonight, but only because there is a chance someone might be lurking nearby and come in the morning, that's all.” I said, making up an excuse that I didn’t really need, none of them were fools, both Haruto and Arata knew the truth.
Koji blinked, like he hadn’t expected to get what he wanted.
Then he grinned. Wide and stupid and so obviously pleased with himself, I almost regretted it.
Almost.
“You still need to get Kuro to agree to give up his beauty sleep, so good luck there; he might not need it, but he likes it all the same.”
Koji straightened with purpose, the firelight catching in his eyes like he’d just been assigned the most critical mission of his life. “I won’t let you down, commander.”
“If you wanna be all serious, at least stop groping my breasts for one damn moment.” I said, deadpan.
He just giggled sheepishly, but still didn’t stop.
