Yuki Yukina!

Chapter 46: Yuki Yukina!

Jutsu of the day:

<Listening no Jutsu>

Courtesy of Yours Truly

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[Previously on NaRUS?]

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Mitsu and his party travels to the first Island of the Water Country, Kobe Island. There they witness the dilapidated state of the harbor and village. The wounding scenery hits Mitsu's conscience, as he decides to help the people of the village, and slowly the whole island.

During the next morning's Bazar, Mitsu notices the joyous and grateful smiles of the villagers. But something or rather someone attracts his attention. It was a lady with tidy hair and a stony appearance.

Just seeing her, Mitsu remembers a character from the anime. And in curiosity, as he tries to appraise her, he finds her identity as another survivor of the Yuki Clan.

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And now~

Time: Morning

The Bazar near the harbor

[Mitsu]

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'Yuki Yukina? Why does this name sound so familiar… Let's see…

Ink Black hair, bright brown eyes, a glare that makes men shiver, rosy lips, a cold personality….

Yeeeeppp *pop* that settles it. It really is that creature... Umu, umu.

I thought they only existed in TV shows and dramas… Yet I found one here...

An Ice Queen!

Though that beauty mark above her lips is incredibly sexy…

[A/N: As I promised an illustration of Yukina. Check paragraph comment or the comment section itself.]

But someone from the Yuki clan lives here? Weren't most of the survivors in hiding? I remember many escaped to the Snow Country. Welp whateveees~

Speaking of the Yuki clan, Haku should have met Zabuza already. Welp I can still find him in the Water Country I suppose... I always thought the lady-boy was better than the emo kid anyways.

Hmmmmm… I wonder what will happen if I convince Naruto that Haku is actually a girl and always lies? Will he actually believe me? Hehehe~ That settles it, I will catc- *cough* Invite Haku to join me for ummm shenanigans purposes, yeah!

As for Zabuza….

If I remember right, he wanted to cause a coup, but fails in the anime. Which ultimately lead to Yagura becoming even more mental.

More mental means more fun, so I am all in for that.

Welp, if he can cause headaches for that three tailed freak, till I settle here properly, then good for me, I guess.

Nowwww~

The big question!

Why do I want to poke this Ice Queen?'

Mitsu stared at the beautiful lady standing in line. She was releasing such a cold air that men felt threatened to go near her.

Mitsu thought, 'She does have the bloodline, can I make her my minion? Nahhh, that won't work, she prolly never had training to be a ninja. From her stats, it cries civilian through and through.

But her cooking and other life skills are high… Hmmm, maybe I can have her work as one of my maids.

An Ice Queen maid sounds nice. Umu, umu! And if she masters the Ice release in the future, she might even become a battle maid.

Wait…

Battle maid…

FRICKKKK! WHY HAVE I NOT STARTED THAT YET?

I could've had my own platoon of battle maids by now! I mean, the girls are working hard and all, but umm, battle maids are cooler, umu, umu.

If that overgrown skeleton can have battle maids, why I, the prince of Fire, can't? *snorts*

*Crossing spacetime paradigm, an overlord felt the urge to sneeze. He felt that some ominous otherworldly power was plotting to take something from him. He quickly started messaging his guardians for a meeting.*

[A/N: Just an easter egg joke. This isn't a multiverse travel novel… Yet!]

Okay, noooooow, how should I approach this… Hmmm, ahhh, mmmm, gaahhh, where is the auto recruitment skill when I need one...…

[A/N: Only Naruto has that Bish!]

Sigh, doesn't matter, I guess I will use the oldest trick in the book. I will try to melt the ice with my smile'

As soon as I thought of the battle plan, I started walking towards the pretty lady.

'Damn she looks scary… Sigh, wonder how pretty she would look if she was as amiable as Haku. Oh well, one can't have everything going their way…'

My maids and the sailors were watching me as I approached her. I felt pretty sure that there will be some gossip about this, if I get rejected downright…

I sighed.

I soon reached the lady and stood in front of her. 'Welp here goes nothing.'

As soon as she turned in my direction, I did the best nobles courtesy I could muster.

"A fine morning to you, miss. Hope you are enjoying your visit to our Bazar. Because we are thrilled to have you all here."

I gave my brightest smile. Which many people have complimented before, so I was confident.

'Comeon, reply, and I promise to read Icha Icha more..' I thought.

But…

A second passed… No response.

A few seconds passed… Still, no response.

'Umm, am I gonna get rejected… This wasn't part of my previous life's experience, nor was it written in the Icha Icha book.

I mean I haven't even made my case yet…

Damn Ice Queens are tough…

What do I do, what do I- wait a minute…. Is she…' I glanced at her cold face with a confused expression.

She was still just staring at me… But, her body~

Her body was fidgeting…

'Don't tell me…

She is nervous?... Or scared maybe?'

So to fulfill my curiosity I asked, "Etto~ Miss… Are you perhaps ummm, nervous?"

Yukina appeared a bit scared as I asked her the question. She almost had tears in her eyes as she nodded slightly…

An old lady near her sighed and spoke up, "Don't worry about our Ina-chan laddie, she is a cry baby… She has been living in fear till recently… She rarely talks to people...

As for her cold appearance… It's a facade her mother taught her to keep her safe."

I was dumbfounded.

A woman who seemed hard to approach was actually scared… Of me?

My pride felt a bit hurt... I knew I was adorable.

[A/N: Sure you are.]

I asked the old lady curiously, "Why has she been living in fear?"

The old woman felt awkward, and didn't tell me directly, she simply looked at Yukina who was on the verge of tears.

Reading the atmosphere, I didn't push the topic. Even someone like me knew when to back off. One needs to make the lady comfortable and entertained before asking serious questions.

So I simply said, "It's quite alright granny. And miss, *smile* if you ever need anyone to listen to you or if you need help, our doors are always open… Etto~ by always I mean as long as we are here.

Oh damn, that might not even be that long….

1 week? Nah, that might be too short… Unno~ OI FUZZY! How long did we decide to be in Kobe? HUH? ….

….

…."

As I was having a skit with Fuzzy and my minions, all the onlookers were laughing. And I also noticed the surprised yet smiling face of Yukina.

'Welp looks like my acting skill is great as always.' I smiled back at her.

She got up and bowed a bit to me and softly said in a melodious voice, "Unno~ will you really listen to my story? Umm, you don't really need to… Only if you really want to. I don't want to waste your time, sir."

I was surprised at her sudden change. But I happily accepted it.

'Looks like she isn't really comfortable with the village either… Let's see what she has to say…'

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Time: That evening

Yukina's Shed

[Yukina]

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"My name is Yukina. I was a cook for the Zeeran Inn. A few months ago there were many visitors staying there, so life wasn't that hard. But recently… We haven't had much luck…

The pay started getting smaller and smaller, while the prices started rising higher and higher…

I am an orphan… So even the small pay is enough to keep me going… But I can't say the same for the other people around me…

The last few months, I have seen the worst part of hunger…" I shivered as I said till this point.

I glanced at the little boy who offered to listen to my story…

I was hesitant to talk about my situation to anyone… I have seen how people take advantage of you, when you show them your weaknesses… But this little boy seemed very homely and warm.

And I had been keeping these feelings bottled up for so long… I want to share with someone… Let that be a little boy who might not even understand most of it, I guess…

The boy said his name was Kaneko… So Kaneko-kun, that's what I decided to call him.

He was lighthearted and smiled a lot. Watching his lively banter with his caravan even dispersed the gloomy clouds of this forsaken land…

I took a deep breath to give myself some courage and continued.

"Some of the villagers… Because of hunger… and desperation started selling all they could.

And apparently I was one of those 'things'. They decided to kidnap and sell me to one of the nobles…

And they would have succeeded if my neighbor didn't stop them… I survived that ordeal fortunately.

But unfortunately my neighbor wasn't so lucky. He died of the injuries he took…

I used to call him Reio-jisan… He was a good man. Always smiling and helpful. He and his late wife used to check up on me and the other orphans from time to time when we were younger.

Yet, that kind man had to die… And he died, protecting me…

*Sob*

That day I understood how unsafe I was…

That wasn't the last attempt… A man named Kazuo, whom I used to call a friend *sob*, Told me that he wanted to sell herbs and needed my help. So he convinced me to go outside the village with him.

But that was only a ploy to trap me, and then sell me to those… pigs…

*sob*

Only by a miracle did I survive that…

I played unconcerned the whole time, and kept looking for escape routes… Kazuo thought I didn't notice his ploy, but the moment we went into the woods, I knew things weren't right… The herbs we usually sell grows near the lake, not the woods in the opposite direction...

So the moment he went for a bathroom break, I started running… I didn't look back even once, I didn't stop till I reached my shack…

I quickly found Mira-obaachan and took refuge in her house. *sob*

If she wasn't there *Tears*

I would have felt lost.

Since that *sob* day, I have been scared, truly scared… I tried to keep the cold appearance *sob* so people wouldn't approach me… After my mother's death, I longed for company. Yet now, I am afraid of it.

I have been living in fear for so long…

I really thought, I could live a normal life after I came to this village from Kiri *sob* and yet, it's not much better…

Everywhere I look, there is another danger… For an orphan like me *sob* This world is incredibly cruel. The world or God doesn't care about us...

I lost my family, because of something we had no control over… The way people wanted to sell me to survive… All of this feels absurd to me...

I have prayed, prayed every day *Tears* and yet, I need to live in fear. I have thought so many times to just end it all. But…

My last promise to my dying mother was to live a happy lif-" I couldn't go on any further and started crying.

I was sure most of what I said didn't even make sense. And yet Kaneko-kun kept listening without interrupting.

I wanted to let out these feelings for so long…

I really wanted someone to talk to. And I finally found someone who offered to listen… Everyone here has their own problems… So, I never tried to add more to that...

'I really need to thank Kaneko-kun for listening for so long… But I wonder if he is disgusted by my story…'

I was too afraid to look.

But right then I felt two small arms pulling me into a hug. I was surprised.

'So warm… I haven't felt such warmth since my mother-' Before I could finish my thought I heard Kaneko-kun speaking,

"We all have problems, Yukina. Some of us are stuck with hard ones while the others are lucky with smaller ones. But we all have them nonetheless. One needs to be courageous to face their problems, and you, my dear, are one of those courageous ones.

I know that you are scared.

It's okay to be scared, but it takes courage to share your story with others. Which you did so bravely.

So, trust me when I say that you will be alright from now."

Kaneko-kun kept hugging me as I cried in his chest… I hadn't cried so freely for a long, long time…

But thankfully, Kaneko-kun wasn't disgusted by my story or crying. He kept holding me as my tears continued to flow.

'I am sorry Kaneko-kun, I haven't shared my full story with you. I don't know what will you think when you know of my lineage... Will you try to kill me as well? So forgive me for hiding this part... And thank you for your warmth...'

.

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~* But Yukina failed to notice something. Something she wouldn't notice till years later serving him.

She failed to notice the melancholy in Mitsu's voice as he said those words.

She also didn't notice Mitsu's tearful vision as he thought about his past life.

He kept hugging her while staring at the small candle lighting the room as the sky got darker and darker…

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[A/N: Hey there, beautiful people! Yukina's backstory is up, she needs depth to integrate into Mitsu's party. It will not occur in one day. There will be more buildup and reason for her to join Mitsu and serve him. So stay tuned!

If you want to join the discord! The link: ht tps://discord .gg/RcZZjnKnwx ]