Chapter 3:

It was another quiet night in the Hoshira dojo. Toshi was leading a group sparring session for the clan in the backyard, and Mao was preparing some tea for herself. In between all of it, Yumi was “meditating”, which was more like breathing and over thinking way too much about anything. She was thinking back to her and Jae’s exchange about her parent’s situation, and she thought back to one thing she told him in particular: 

“If you ever want answers in life, you always have to ask.”

She had thought about that all night. She clearly knew what Jae wanted her to do, but she just didn’t know how to do it just yet. 

“Okay Yumi, you are a proud and strong Hoshira Kunoichi, this is a mere question for your mom, It’s not that serious.”

She had to do this for an hour. After a long and kind of pointless pep talk to herself, she finally gained the courage to ask the question that would answer hers.

As Mao was cleaning up the counter after making her tea, she was met with Yumi shyly looking at her. She could clearly see something was wrong with her daughter. “Honey, is everything okay? You seem a little… on edge.”

Yumi let out a hard sigh, and let loose. “Mom, I’m just gonna come out and ask…How did you and Dad actually, like fall in love?”

There was a long pause of silence between the two of them, Yumi being scared of what her mom might say, and her mom looking down at the ground, almost embarrassed. After what seemed like all night of awkward gazes between the two, Mao finally spoke up. 

“Okay Honey…I don’t want to scare you about this, but I have to come clean.”

Yumi gave her a very confused look.

“...What does that mean?”

 She said it so light and filled with fear, not knowing what she could possibly say next.

“I don’t know how to say this dear, but I’m with your father, for my own good.”

“Mom, I need you to elaborate…” 

“I understand, dear. It was a while ago when this happened, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on an evening stroll at the market to grab some fresh koi for my family, until I made a terrible choice. I saw your father and his clan doing a terrible mission against a poor old market stand, they were stealing the fresh greens and all of the yen that the couple made that night. I couldn’t let them steal from anyone, and I…I confronted them.”

As soon as she said that, she just gave her mom a look of terror and surprise to what her mom had said. “Wait…What!?”

“I know dear, I was a fool to ever do something like that. Your father was the one that immediately stopped me from getting in the way of his clan’s mission. He held a kunai to my neck, and threatened that he would kill me right on the spot for being so foolish that night. I broke down in tears and begged him to spare my life, and he made a deal that I wish I never agreed to. As long as I never told anyone of the clan sighting and stayed out of the public eye, I would be safe, if not, I would be personally hunted down by the clan until I was nothing”

“Mom…Why would you stay with Dad!? He was clearly dangerous, but you're still with him.”

“I know dear, but I did this…for you.” 

Yumi was stunned at those words.

“Wait Wait Wait, back up. How does that make any sense!?”

Her mom gave her a soft look, and finally told her. 

“Honey…I knew about you for a long time. Your father wanted the Hoshira clan to stay alive for generations to come, and he couldn't do it without me. When we had you, we each had a different view of you. Your Father wanted to raise you to be a death weapon, trained to be in the shadows and never show emotion. I wanted to raise you to always show your true emotions, and to never change who you are for anyone. I wasn’t able to do that with your father, and I always wanted this to be the ultimate example of something.”

Yumi was still trying to process what her mom told her. “W-What did you have to show by staying with Dad!?”

“I had to show that if you want to choose love, it has to be true. With me and your father, I was never able to be who I wanted to be to you, and he always looked down upon me in the family. I didn’t feel like his partner, more like a pet or something not worth being in the family with. When it came to you, he always made the decisions. He always wanted to have his offspring be just like him, dangerous and inhumane, but I wanted you to be able to live and show your true emotions without being forced to a dark life like this.”

Yumi was on the verge of tears by the time her mom had finished her speech. She was barely able to speak, and finally latched into a huge hug. Her mom was understanding of what her daughter was going through, and Yumi wouldn't change it for anything else.

Yumi did shyly ask about her mom after that though. “M-Mom, if you don't mind me asking, what were you like before the whole dad situation?” 

She let out a soft sigh after saying that, and Mao gave her an honest answer for her daughter.

“Well, I was a lot different before this. My real name is Mao Takari, before I changed my last name to fit into the clan for him. I wasn't very important to the village, I was just a roaming trader around the market somedays. A lot of people in the village liked to talk to me, and I would always enjoy it. The whole reason I tried to stop your father was because of him harming a shop owner, and a friend of mine. She was helpless, and she even told me that she was deadly afraid of the clan all her life. I always cared for who I talked to, but you have to understand why I did this.”

Yumi gave her an understanding look from what she said. “I see mom…I am not mad at you or anything, I was just curious, but it makes me feel so much better to know all of this if I'm being honest.”

Her mom gently grabbed her cheek, and she was even slightly tearing up from it. 

“Honey…I love who you're turning into, and I’m glad that you are so understanding about this”

Before Yumi broke away,Mao had something to blurt out, but was also kind of serious. 

“Yumi…I know that I’m not your clan leader or whatever it is, but I have only one mission for you.”

“Yeah, what is it Mom?”

She let out a sigh of reassurance before telling her.

“Yumi Jun Hoshira, my mission to you, is to find love…” 

There was a long pause of silence between the two of them. Yumi was standing there like her mom asked her to run from China and back, and her mom thinking that she said something wrong. 

“Mom, what kind of a request is that!? Why is that of importance to anything that I do!?” 

“Trust me Yumi, you will find someone that will understand you and how you truly are, not as a deadly ninja, but something beautiful.” 

“Mom…” 

The paper door across the dojo slid open, signaling her father entering.

“Oh, your Dad’s coming back. He can’t know we had this talk, so go get some rest. I love you dear, don't forget it!” “I…I love you too, Mom.”

Yumi gently stepped upstairs, hearing her father huff and puff from training, and Mao trying to be a little silent that night. All Yumi knew was that her mothers words…might actually mean something, something real.

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