Chapter 6: The Main Family Needs to Reflect
Inside Ichiraku Ramen, warm yellow light spilled through the cold night air.
Night had fallen deep. Only two members of the Hyuga clan sat on the long bench, yet the stack of empty bowls on the table nearly reached the hanging lanterns.
"Th-that's the twelfth bowl..."
Ayame's hand trembled slightly as she held the order pad, watching Teuchi place a miso pork ramen in front of Hyuga Hinata. The girl shyly lowered her head but still skillfully twirled noodles with her chopsticks.
Hyuga Kiyonari calmly counted the bill in his mind.
One bowl of pork ramen cost eighty-five ryo, with an egg adding eight ryo. But the "egg" here meant a boiled egg—only half of one. A fried egg cost fifteen ryo, the same price as a bottle of cola.
This alone demonstrated that Ichiraku's pricing ran on the expensive side, though Teuchi's skill perfectly justified the cost.
He felt the three thousand ryo he'd "earned" that afternoon tucked inside his clothes, feeling a flicker of relief. Who knew young Hinata already possessed such formidable combat capabilities?
"One more pork ramen, bamboo shoots, and half an egg, please."
He placed the order calmly, stealing glances at Hinata as she brought the bowl to her lips in small sips, her cherry-colored lips carefully avoiding the steam rising from the rim.
Though she could still eat more, the girl would surely be too embarrassed to ask herself.
When the fourteenth bowl arrived, Hinata suddenly set down her chopsticks and pressed her palms together before her face.
"Thank you for the meal... After this bowl, I really am full."
Kiyonari counted out the exact amount and handed it to Ayame, then propped his chin on one hand, curiously glancing downward. Fourteen full bowls of ramen, yet her stomach had only swelled slightly.
Seeming to notice his change in gaze, Hinata turned slightly to the side, pulling in her stomach.
On the walk back, the snow picked up again, falling softly on both their shoulders.
Hinata spoke quietly in the hazy glow of the streetlights. "I made you spend so much."
Kiyonari shook his head slightly. "Don't worry about it. Though I live frugally, I'm not so hard up that I'd stress over this."
"Next time... let me treat you back. How about barbecue?"
"I'll look forward to it."
Just then, she suddenly looked at his profile, her gaze traveling upward until it stopped at his forehead.
"How... do you view it?"
"The Caged Bird?" Kiyonari answered with complete candor. "With my eyes. What other way is there?"
He'd given a nonsense answer, but Hinata understood the joke.
For most branch family members, the Caged Bird was like a mountain—one that pressed down on them at three or four years old, impossible to resist. Rather than grieve and lament every day, it was better to accept it and move on.
But that wasn't what Hinata wanted to hear. She also knew Kiyonari wasn't someone who blindly followed conventions.
"But everyone in the branch family clearly—"
"Lady Hinata," Kiyonari suddenly interrupted her, "do you think everyone's resentment is really about the cursed seal itself?"
"I've heard about what happened with Neji and Lord Hizashi, but what I want to say is that geniuses like Neji are ultimately the minority. Ordinary people like me in the branch family—we're the majority."
"For us, the Caged Bird does provide protection. The blind spot it creates isn't unacceptable. What everyone resents... has never been the seal itself."
In that moment, Hinata recalled those words again—what truly killed Hyuga Hiashi?
She'd originally thought the answer was the Caged Bird seal. Now it seemed the root cause lay even deeper. The divide between branch and main family had appeared much earlier.
For most branch family members, the Caged Bird's existence held positive meaning. But for the main family?
"Does the main family really need the Caged Bird?"
Hinata couldn't help murmuring aloud, as if asking Kiyonari, yet also asking herself.
Kiyonari looked up at the moon with a sigh. "I'm not from the main family—how would I know? Perhaps... only you can find that answer, Lady Hinata."
"Me?" Hinata lowered her head, unconsciously twisting her sleeves between her fingers. "You have such faith in me, even though I myself..."
Her words cut off abruptly. A black notebook with a gold-embossed cover suddenly surfaced in her mind. Perhaps on her own she lacked the strength, but with that...
"I believe in you because you're already thinking about this question, aren't you?"
In that moment, Hyuga Kiyonari's voice suddenly deepened, every word carrying rare sincerity.
Rather than saying Hyuga Hizashi hated the main family and the Caged Bird because he saw Neji's outstanding talent, it was more accurate to say he simply resented not being born into the main family himself. He—they—were only resentful that they weren't the ones sitting on high, giving orders.
They didn't hate the system itself. They hated the Hyuga main family. Even if they rebelled, the result wouldn't change anything. After all... no matter who held the rope, the rope itself still existed.
Hyuga Neji's experience had already proven that under the Caged Bird's constraints, the branch family could do nothing but resent. If anyone wanted to change anything, it could only come from the main family itself. Wasn't that exactly what Hyuga Hiashi had done?
Without exaggeration, if Hinata could break free from the old way of thinking, she would become the savior of all branch family members. In the entire Hyuga main family, she was the only one this kind, kind to the point of naivety.
"We're here."
Kiyonari suddenly stopped. The streetlight ahead illuminated the plaque at the main family compound's gate. "See you tomorrow."
"Yes, see you tomorrow!" Hinata nodded emphatically, as if making a promise.
After parting ways, Hyuga Kiyonari eagerly opened the system and began tallying his rewards.
[Act One: Meeting in the Snow]
[Completion: Complete]
[Rating: C]
[Evaluation: Though the script was brief, the lead actors' outstanding performances still delivered remarkably engaging content, portraying the male and female leads' first meeting with moving subtlety. As the opening to a series, this act has fulfilled its mission.]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Correction Points Earned: 100. Keep up the good work.]
A C-rank rating fell within expectations.
The script was short, lacking grand spectacle, with essentially no dramatic peaks and valleys. And to maintain character authenticity, Kiyonari had kept his own role quite restrained, only hinting at things rather than stating them outright.
There were flaws and limitations, but overall, Hyuga Kiyonari was quite satisfied.
Next, he experimented a bit and discovered these one hundred correction points could accomplish quite a lot.
For instance, he could erase the Caged Bird seal from his forehead. But doing so would only make him stand out like a sore thumb without any real benefits. Besides, his current situation wasn't urgent—he could invest these correction points instead.
Turn Hinata into a genius too?
A true genius might be beyond reach, but making her rapidly master certain skills to become what people called a "genius"—these one hundred correction points were more than enough for that.
Or perhaps... introduce a new lead actor.
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