Fun Fact: Sawatari used to have a crush on Serena. He appreciated her noble intentions and thought it contrasted well with her beauty. However, he didn't like how reckless and headstrong she could be.

Chapter Summary: Hikage delivers a meal to Yoko Sakaki.

Ninjas often had work as bodyguards, or as assassins, or as gimmicks for dueling tournaments. Even in this day and age, the world still had need for strong people with good stealth skills, or people in strange costumes. This was what kept the Fuma Duel School thriving for centuries.

Tsukikage made use of his skills in many ways. He was a Lancer, serving as Reiji Akaba's right-hand man. He was a bodyguard to Reira Akaba, doing his best to keep her safe throughout their journey together. He was an expert in escape and espionage, as well as moving around quickly.

Outside of deadly work though, he had another job. He acted as a deliveryman for Gyaku-Gire Panda Express. (Because even restaurateurs were in on the Duel Monsters gimmick.) Though the branch's owner was hesitant to hire someone who wasn't also Chinese, he had no regrets once he saw how quickly Tsukikage made his deliveries.

Hikage didn't work at the job. He found such work undignified for a ninja. But he had nothing to do that day, so when his brother asked him to make a delivery, he accepted the task.

Hikage met his brother a block away from Gyaku-Gire Panda Express. Tsukikage approached his older brother while carrying three bags: two paper, and one plastic. He tucked the two paper bags under one arm and offered the plastic one to his brother.

"Thank you for this, brother," Tsukikage said to him. "With your delivery done, I can take my break earlier."

Hikage accepted the plastic bag. He tucked it under one of his arms.

"While you deliver that meal, I will be making my own delivery," Tsukikage explained. "She is a very special customer, so I would like to present them her food personally."

"I do not understand the appeal of this job," Hikage confessed. "But for you, brother, I will do my best and ensure that the job is done well."

"Thank you, brother."

"Not a problem, brother," Hikage responded. "To whom am I delivering this?"

"You know where the Sakaki reside? It is for Master Sakaki's mother, Yoko Sakaki."

"Excellent, brother. I will get to it."

"Thank you, brother."

"No problem, brother."

Hikage observed the Sakaki home from across the street. Staring at the house, he couldn't feel anything but boredom for his mission.

Ninjas were trained to act without feeling. At Fuma, you were told to accept missions as they are. To think of nothing but your job, and how to accomplish it. Your feelings on the matter weren't important; once you signed up for a job, you were a tool to be used.

Tsukikage didn't accept that, but Hikage did. He never turned down a mission, and he had a higher success rate than his brother. But those missions at least had some risk to them, an element of danger. This didn't.

But it could.

After a few minutes of work, Hikage was able to survey the perimeter of the house. He discovered that the kitchen window was wide open, and Yoko Sakaki was in the living room. And in less than another minute, Hikage was able to devise a plan.

The first step was to ring the doorbell. He approached the door and pressed his finger against the bell button. Listening in, he could hear the sound of air chimes filled the house. Along with dozens upon dozens of barking dogs.

He could hear Yoko say something to the dogs, hushing up only a few of them. She made her way to the door and opened it ever so slightly, so as not to let the dogs escape.

But when she opened the door, she found no one. Because Hikage was already on the other side of the house, sneaking through her window.

The second step of his plan was to get inside the house and place the food on the table before Yoko would turn around and catch him. It was an incredible, close-cut stealth mission. Although the dangers weren't that serious (he figured he could just apologize and explain things to her if he was caught), it was still vastly more thrilling than simply knocking on the door.

He entered the kitchen silently, carrying the plastic bag in one hand. He darted over to the table and placed the bag on the table.

Hikage pondered if he had enough time to open up the bag and set up the meal. Was it too much of a risk? Probably. But it would have been a much more satisfying challenge for his skills. But at the same time, Yoko could walk in at any time and say-

"INTRUDER!"

Hikage nearly dropped the food in his hands. He turned towards the source of the voice, saying, "No, it's-"

He was nearly met with a flying kick to the face. He was barely able to sidestep the attack, leaning his body against the kitchen table to avoid being hit.

Yoko landed on her feet. She quickly turned around and went at Hikage with a fist. Hikage jumped back from the attack, then threw his body backwards. His hands caught the ground, and he backflipped away from Yoko.

"Mi-Miss Yoko!" he pleaded. "This is all a misundersta-"

In the middle of a blackflip, Hikage could see something coming at his head. A phone? An ashtray? A shoe? Whatever it was, it looked heavy and painful.

Hikage managed to halt his backflip while he was on his feet. He threw his body to the side and let the object smash against the wall. He took a step back, but kept his eyes on Yoko. He could feel his back press against the refrigerator. No backing out now; he could only go left, right, up, or down.

Yoko grabbed one of the chairs stationed around the table, surprisingly without struggle. She held it over her head and threw it right at Hikage.

"Get out of my house, you freak!" she screamed.

Hikage threw himself to the floor. He could hear the impact the wood chair had against the fridge. It was worrying, and the idea of escape became more pertinent.

He attempted to stand up, only to find something pulling him down. He turned around to see that six small dogs had climbed onto his back. A fat, odd-eyed cat was biting down on his pantleg, trying to keep him from escaping.

Barking. Meowing. Chirping. Hissing. More and more animals started coming into view. They climbed on top of Hikage and engulfed him in a huge pile of pets.

All he could remember after that was darkness...

Hikage woke up to a heavy feeling on his chest. It was like something pressing him down. His back felt uncomfortable and stiff as it pressed against something.

He attempted to brush the heaviness off. But to his surprise, he couldn't move his hand. It was also held down.

"Wh-what...?"

Hikage opened his eyes. He was outside, across the street from the Sakaki home. Looking down, he could see duct tape. Someone taped his body down on a surface.

"Miss Y-Yoko...!" he stammered.

He looked up to see the wires above. He was taped to what appeared to be a utility pole. And it was at this point that he realized the biggest, most fatal flaw in his plan: by sneaking around and avoiding Yoko, he couldn't collect the cash from the customer.

"... I deserve this," he sighed.

Tsukikage's customer lived in an old, shabby house. The paint on the facade was peeling away, and the door had a small crack in its center. But the windows on the front of the house seemed to be clean and fresh, as if they were recently put in. It clashed with the rest of the house's look.

The door was unlocked, Tsukikage knew that. Still, he chose to take the polite route and knock on the door. He would wait patiently for his special customer to open up the door and greet him.

And after a moment, she did. It was a small, kindly-looking old lady. Her face and hands were wrinkly and ancient, but her egao was bright enough to bring out her youthful spirit.

"Oh, Tsukikage!" the woman exclaimed.

"Two bags of food, as you requested."

The woman looked down at the bags before her. After a small pause, she rose her heavy head and have the ninja boy an egao.

"I think I ordered too much," she told him. "Maybe you'd like to share some with me."

Tsukikage looked down at one of the bags. "I did notice that you happened to have ordered my favorite meal. And my break starts soon."

"Let me just go get the money from my-"

Tsukikage shook his head. "Today, your meal is complimentary."

The woman took a step back from the door. "Why?"

"You're the 500th customer of the day."

"Funny," the woman chuckled. "Wasn't I the 500th customer last week?"

Tsukikage nodded. "You seem to be very lucky, ma'am."

"I'm lucky, yes," she replied. "I always seem to get the best delivery man."

The woman turned around and made her way towards the living room. Tsukikage dashed forward at lightning speed, putting the food on her coffee table before appearing by her side. He placed his hand under her arm and helped the woman to her seat.

"You're so much nicer than the other boy," the woman said weakly. "Jerry? Urine?"

"I won't let anyone trouble you again, ma'am," Tsukikage told her. "Now, please enjoy the meal. I'll be here, so don't worry yourself over this boy."

Tsukikage fell into his own chair, close to the woman's side. And the two of them would go on to enjoy their quiet lunch together.

A/N: An anonymous guest suggested that I make a thread bout Tsukikage and his family owning a ninja themed restaurant. I really liked the idea, so I tweaked it to fit the story.