Chapter 8: 

The soft jingle of a café bell went off as Yuji lead Yumi to his favorite bento* spot. 

“Here it is…This is the only spot I go to to eat besides my own stand. It's a guilty pleasure of mine, since this place is so so good!”

He said teasingly, hoping to lighten the mood. Yumi still had on Yuji’s hoodie like a lifeline to hide her identity. “My clans attacked this village too many times…please keep me hidden…” 

She mumbled to him, hoping for some help. As they stepped in, they were immediately met with a waiter in their face. 

“If it isn’t Yuji Toshida! Our top customer! With the amount of times you've come here to eat, we always recognize that face!”

Yumi slightly giggled to herself, only imagining the amount of stuff Yuji could have had here. 

“Table for two! I’ll do the back corner today.” 

“You brought someone with you this time! This is a first…how did you two meet?” 

She quickly looked up at Yuji with panic, worrying if he would slip up and say her true identity. 

“I-Uh-She was one of my customers, and we kept seeing each other after that…” 

“Well…it’s about time that you brought someone to come with you…ever since, you know…” 

Yuji’s eyes grew dark. 

“Yeah…We’ll take the table now…” 

“O-Of course, follow me you two!” 

They were finally seated in a comfy corner of the café. Yumi was quiet and calm per usual, and Yuji looked at the menu, and sometimes took heavy gazes at her. “So…What do you want? It's my treat tonight!” “I might just do the Kamemeshi* box with the green tea…how about you?” 

Yuji was slightly shocked at her asking about him for once. 

“I-I’m gonna try the new Makunouchi*and their signature smoothie. It’s so good! You have to try it with me!” 

Her face flashed a slight red at the thought of sharing with him. 

“If it will make you happy…I’ll try it.”

Yuji’s heart exploded. He excitedly ordered for the both of them and went back to gazing at her. Yumi didn’t know how she got to this. 

“I go from going on missions everyday to sneaking out to see a boy…what am I doing?” 

She thought, her thoughts betraying her. Yuji sees her thinking to herself, and tries to start a conversation. 

“Thanks again for coming here with me…like that waiter said, I tend to come here alone, so this is huge for me!” 

“It’s no problem…I like coming to places with you.” 

That was what made him explode. “R-Really!? For Real-sies!?” 

“Yes, For real-sies…You’re…different from anyone I’ve encountered…and I want to keep this going…” 

“I’m honored Yumi! I’m so so happy! We’re officially best friends!” 

He exclaimed, extending his hand for a simple high five. Yumi first gave him a confused and silly look, but finally completed the high five. 

“Likewise…” 

She thought to herself. Her hand wanted to stay forever, but their food finally arrived. Yuji started to dig in immediately, but Yumi could only look at her bento. It wasn’t the colorful fillings inside…it was something she heard earlier. 

“...Always come here alone…ever since…” 

She wanted to know…She needed to know. 

“Yuji…may I ask something?” 

“I’m all ears Yumi! Ask away!” 

She gave him a concerned look. 

“Up at the front…that waiter was talking about something that happened to you…what, was it exactly?” 

Yuji set his chopsticks down, and could only stare at his cup with blank eyes…and a dark look on his face. At first, Yumi thought that he was just being rude. 

“I asked what happened, Yuji…don’t ignore me…” “It…I…I cant…” 

Yumi kept staring deeper. 

“You can tell me Yuji…don’t keep this from me…” “I’ve…always come here alone, and I’ve never had anyone here before since…my family…” 

His fingertips started to shake, his breaths turned short and fast. Yumi didn’t realize what she did, what she pressured him to say. 

“They…were murdered…right in front of me…” 

He finally confessed, tears in his eyes, his throat closing up, and on the verge of breaking down once more. “Y-Yuji…I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have asked…” 

“No, it’s okay Yumi…It’s not your fault for not knowing…” 

He reassured her even through his broken state. 

“Our only stand…our only home…was burnt to the ground…my brother, my dad, my mom…all slain by them…” 

He explained to her, completely opening up, more than he has to anyone. 

“That’s why I’ve always been scared…they left me with the survivors' guilt…and they drew this symbol on my only remaining picture of all of us…” 

He pulled out a slightly burned picture. Black marks were scribbled over his killed family member's eyes, and in the middle: A huge, black kanji letter…

Hoshira

Yumi could only stare. Her clan…that mission…It all came back to her. 

“I-I need to go…N-NOW. No time to ask questions…This is serious…” 

She said, storming out of the café. Soy sauce crawled out of his pocket. 

“Why does this always happen…what do I do wrong, boy…” 

He thought to himself, still broken from opening up, and noticed that she left without a scroll that fell out of her pocket.

Yumi fled down the village with lightning speed, desperate to get back to the dojo. Even with the situation, tears fled down on her face and flew behind her. “No…No…This can’t be true…We couldn’t have…” 

The moon felt as her only light left in these times. Her ninja life back home, abusive and toxic, her new life, secretive and endangered. She finally made it and fled to the mission records. 

“Ekta…Elmoundi…Endo.” 

She scanned through, and what she found within the scroll was just what she had feared most. 

Mission code name: Mission Endo 

Date: 10/06/16

Location: 724 Endo Street, ShaoYin, Japan

Objective: Steal as much as you can, murder anyone in sight

Background: This stand is run by an up and coming family of chefs. They're super weak and have yen ripe for the taking. Burn down the stand, murder any witnesses, steal all riches.

Result: 3 victims, burned down stand, 280k yen gained

Ninjas sent: Toshi Hoshira

It was true. She couldn’t believe it. 

“I-It couldn’t have…No…I…He did this…” 

She thought, completely scarred and stunned from the results of her findings. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face, realizing just how cruel her clan truly was for harming someone as innocent as Yuji. “How…How is he so…so collected about this…” 

She had flashbacks about what he said about himself in the past. 

“...I’m not one to hold grudges…I have a terrible fear of ninjas if you couldn’t tell…I don’t mean trouble, please don’t hurt me…” 

It was all coming back full circle. 

“That attack…It ruined him…I finally see it…” 

She said to herself, realizing just how terrible her clan is. The mission logs felt like a graveyard, showing every single mission they did. All the lives they’ve taken, all the yen they stole, all of the people they broke. She looked at her uniform with new found disrespect. 

“I can’t believe this…I’ve been living a lie all of these years…” 

She said grimly, holding the uniform with a dark stare. With one last breath, she set it on the table, and…

*Rip*

A clean slice from her katana landed on the uniform. “I’m done living like this…” She whispered. She sheathed her katana back on and left the room, her uniform laying lifeless on the ground

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