CH-4: Past memory

I watched as the small wound closed. It was very slow but visible; Yuki gasped when she saw this.

The phenomenon brought a frown to my face. This potion had a very pitiful purity and was made using common herbs. Even the process of creating it was not very smooth or that well timed.

"Why is it so effective?"

:::::::::::::

[POV RENKO SHINSUI]

The potion was too effective; considering how poor the methods and conditions were used to create it, there had to be something that helped to increase the effectiveness despite the high amount of impurities.

My train of thought was interrupted by some noise.

"How… How is this possible?!"

"How can medicine be this effective? This… This is like medical ninjutsu."

Poor Yuki, I seemed to have shattered her worldview. It was not an exaggeration, though; 'medicine' alone being this effective? It was totally unheard of.

To be honest, I felt a little proud of myself seeing her reaction. Earlier I could have stopped trying despite the failures and tried again the following day after thoroughly troubleshooting and coming up with different ways to overcome my problem.

Failure was expected; I could've tried out another time; I wasn't in a hurry; it was no big deal. But somehow, in that situation, my feelings overcame my rationale, causing me to stubbornly try to succeed that very day.

Maybe I was craving some approval or wanted Yuki to be proud of me. Or maybe I wanted to surprise her; I did not know the true reason myself, but I did not hate it.

Although healing a small wound this fast was not anything special, that was in the realm of ninjutsu.

Wait—

Ninjutsu?

I quickly examined the potion and already had an answer to my question.

Unexpectedly, the potion efficiency increased because of Yuki's fire-based ninjutsu.

Strange fires are great for alchemy, and a fire produced by jutsu was by all means not natural. I did not know if it was categorized as some form of strange fire, but this opened a multitude of possibilities. I had to go and take a bath and get some rest; my training would soon begin, and I felt mentally tired and didn't want to think about complicated stuff anymore.

"Yuki, store this potion inside a bottle and tightly seal it, then store it safely. I'm going to need it later."

I instructed the still-shocked Yuki, who handled it as if it were some treasure.

"I shall complete the task, Shinsui-sama." Yuki looked like she was on some top-secret mission.

I went on ahead to the house as I left her behind to complete the task.

________

[POV Renko Yuki]

It had been three years since Meiko-san had passed away, and I could still see her shadows even after all this time, especially on her son, the young patriarch of the Renko clan, Renko Shinsui.

I could still vividly remember those days when I used to accompany her for walks while she was pregnant, chatting with her for hours, naively thinking that such happy times would last.

Every night I close my eyes to sleep, my mind would replay that scenario in my head so many times, like a broken record, that I believe I remember every detail of it like it had just happened yesterday.

[FLASHBACK]

"Yuki-chan, after my baby is born, would you… would you help me look after him?"

Meiko-san said softly.

"Don't worry, Meiko-san; I will take good care of the child. With your guidance, I'm sure I could be of great help to the young master."

"Young master?" She looked confused.

"Ahem... I have a strong feeling that it will be a boy." I said after clearing my throat a little.

"So you prefer boys, huh? I didn't know."

'Was I being too forward?' I panicked a bit.

"Ah… No, that's not what I meant… I don't like boys at all." I tried to explain to her in a panic.

"Oh my, you do not like boys at all? I wouldn't have known." She held her large belly in distress. "Baby, Yuki-chan doesn't like boys at all; what are we going to do if you are a boy? Yu-"

"No—no, you misunderstood me. Meiko-san, what I was trying to say was…"

"Pffthahahaa, Yuki-chan is so cute."

I tried to explain in a hurry to prevent the misunderstanding from continuing, but hearing her laughter, I was stunned and understood that she was just teasing me as always.

'I don't know why I keep falling for the same trick every time,' I sighed.

"Meiko-san, you should stop teasing me like that." She complained but then said seriously. "I will give my all to take care of the child regardless, as long as it is yours."

I saw relief and a flash of sadness in her eyes, but thought it was an illusion.

[FLASHBACK END]

Back then, I should've known better and realized early on that there was something wrong. But there are no ifs in this world; at least I will keep my last promise to Meiko-san.

_To be continued..._

_________

Too short of a chapter, I know. It is just an extra chapter.

Please add this to your library and review it.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to comment, and I will do my best to answer.

If you have any suggestions, please do not hold back and comment on what you are thinking.

If you don't mind, please give me some power stones so that I could move forward in the ranking and let this fanfic be visible to more people. I would be grateful.