Ingrid's POV
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.
Ingrid stepped into the quiet hallway of her apartment building, the sounds of the city muted behind concrete walls and polished steel. The long day settled heavily on her shoulders. Practice had ended hours ago, yet her mind remained trapped at the pool.
Inside her apartment, she slipped off her shoes and closed the door behind her.
Silence greeted her.
For a moment, she simply stood there, staring at nothing.
Then she moved through the familiar routine. Her coaching clothes were exchanged for something more comfortable: a loose gray sweater that hung from her shoulders and a pair of dark lounge pants. She tied her hair back again, though less carefully this time, and made herself a cup of tea she never intended to drink.
The apartment was small but neat. A few books sat on a shelf beside framed photographs. A single lamp cast a warm glow across the room.
Tea in hand, Ingrid walked toward the large window overlooking the city.
Tokyo stretched endlessly before her.
Neon signs painted the streets in shades of blue, red, and violet. Cars crawled through intersections like streams of light. Trains glided between buildings. Office workers hurried toward stations while restaurants filled with evening customers. Down below, thousands of people moved through their lives, each carrying worries, hopes, and secrets of their own.
The city never truly slept.
Tonight, however, it felt different.
Distant.
As though she were standing outside of it all.
Ingrid rested her forehead lightly against the cool glass.
Her reflection stared back at her.
And in her hand sat the problem she could no longer ignore.
Proof.
Clear proof.
Proof that Sakura was betraying Naruto.
The thought alone tightened her chest.
She closed her eyes.
"I should tell him."
The words escaped into the empty room.
Yet the certainty vanished the moment she spoke them.
Naruto deserved the truth.
There was no question about that.
But truth could be cruel.
She knew exactly what would happen the moment he learned everything. The hurt in his eyes. The confusion. The anger. The feeling of betrayal.
He was already carrying more weight than someone his age should have to carry.
Would telling him help?
Or would it simply be another wound?
Ingrid sighed and looked back out at the sea of lights.
For perhaps the first time in her life, she genuinely did not know what the right answer was.
That realization unsettled her more than Sakura's betrayal.
Since childhood, she had always known what to do.
When challenges appeared, she faced them.
When decisions needed to be made, she made them.
Confidence had never been something she lacked.
Whether as a student, an athlete, or now as a teacher and coach, she had trusted her judgment without hesitation.
But this...
This was different.
Because this wasn't about rules.
It wasn't about discipline.
It wasn't about training schedules or academic responsibilities.
This involved someone she cared about.
Someone who had somehow slipped past the professional distance she had spent years building.
Naruto.
The realization lingered in the room.
She cared.
More than she should.
More than a coach probably had any right to.
Not in the way rumors and gossip would suggest.
No.
It was something deeper and harder to define.
She wanted to protect him.
And that desire complicated everything.
Ingrid lowered her gaze toward the streets below.
Far beneath her window, people continued moving through the night without pause. Taxis stopped. Traffic lights changed. Laughter drifted from restaurants. Somewhere, music echoed between buildings.
Life continued.
Unaware of the storm brewing inside a quiet apartment several stories above.
Her tea had gone cold.
She hadn't taken a single sip.
The city lights reflected in her eyes as she remained standing by the window.
Alone.
Thinking.
Wondering whether some truths were better revealed immediately...
Or whether there was a way to spare Naruto from the pain that was inevitably coming.
For the first time in many years, Ingrid found herself hoping for an answer that refused to come.