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Ninja Tales

Volume 1 - Snowfall

Chapter 6

Yuki found herself sitting in the clearing once again, though for the first time in her life, this place didn't make her feel at ease.

No, she was furious.

Furious at the fact that the one person she thought she could trust turned out to be lying to her as well. She heard a shuffle in the grass behind her, indicating that Takara was indeed there, but decided to not humor him, and opted to just silently stare ahead of her.

"Are you ignoring me?" he asked after a while.

"Well, you're avoiding me when I ask you really important stuff, so I'm simply returning the favour." she huffed.

She heard him grumble something under his breath, but couldn't quite make out what he had said.

Another few minutes were spent in tense silence when he sighed and loomed over her.

"Oh, you suddenly want to have conversations again?" she glared at him, "Ok then, where the fuck were you during my last nightmare?"

"That girl, Karai, was there." he stated, "She seemed pretty capable."

"I don't even know if I can trust these people yet." she glared at him, "But then again...who knows if I can trust you?"

He made a small noise, sounding like a strained cough.

"Who or what is this 'Walker'?"

"Uh…"

"You mentioned them last time after I described the design on the amulets." she pointed out, "You called it 'the Walker symbol', if I recall correctly."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." he said quickly before backing up.

"Oh, hell no!" she bellowed as she jumped up.

All of a sudden, glowing lilac tendrils shot up from the ground, pinning Takara in place.

"Uh…" she stared at the scene in absolute shock, "What the hell was that?"

"Looks like your abilities are awakening." he mumbled.

"Wait... my abilities?" she narrowed her eyes, "Are you saying that was all my doing?"

"Well, yeah."

"You're saying I'm an esper or something?" she scoffed. [1]

"Exactly."

"You're joking right?" she deadpanned.

"I'm not." he shook his head, "Remember how you'd sometimes dream of things before they happen, or figure out when you're dreaming?"

"You're actually serious..." she murmured after a few moments of silence.

"Anyway, about your question." Takara sighed, "They are called Void Walkers. Or just Walkers for short."

"Huh?"

"A group of individuals with the ability to travel through time and space." he explained, "They ensure that no one upsets the balance of the space-time continuum...probably."

"P-probably?! " she stammered. "That doesn't even make sense!"

Takara just shrugged in response, making Yuki sigh in irritation.

"So are they the reason I'm here?"

"Given that the amulet you found has their symbol on it….maybe?" he shrugged, "Who knows?"

"That's not exactly helpful information, you know." she rolled her eyes.

Realising that she's most likely not getting any more info out of him, she closed her eyes focusing on the tendrils restraining Takara, willing them to retreat. After focusing for a moment, they loosened and moved away.

"Oh, I'm free?"

"I doubt wrangling you for anything more will even help." she muttered, "You'll just talk in your stupid riddles again."

"I see…" he murmured, "Well then, see ya."

"Whatever." she glowered as the surroundings faded away, and she was back in bed.

She got up quietly and walked to the mirror in the corner of the room, removing the embroidered covering that hung over it. [2]

"Am I really an esper?" she asked her reflection.

After blankly staring into the mirror for a few minutes, she pulled the cover back over the mirror, and flopped back onto the bed.

"Why does it feel like I just got told I'm the chosen one or something?" she sighed heavily.

Later...

"So how'd it go?" Chaplin asked as Karai and Yuki returned from the training room.

"I got my ass handed to me." Yuki sighed heavily. "My taijutsu really does suck."

"You're not really as bad at fighting as you say you are." Karai interjected.

"Yeah right!" she scoffed. "You beat the crap out of me."

"I'm serious." Karai shook her head, "I mean, sure, you'll need to work on your reflexes and reactions, but I can see that you know the basics."

"You seriously think so?"

"Yeah." Karai nodded, "If we do some training everyday, I'm sure you'll improve in no time."

Chaplin's phone pinged a bunch of times, he scooped it up quickly and read the contents before walking over to the other two.

"Oh...Yuki?" he called out, "It would seem that Donatello has finished sorting out your documentation."

"Awesome!" Yuki grinned.

"That was quick." Karai noted.

"It's Donatello." Chaplin shrugged. "He's on a whole other level when it comes to these things."

"True."

"Speaking of documentation, I'm probably going to have to be looking for a job of sorts soon." Yuki murmured.

"Before you try and get a job in medicine, I'll have to warn you that you might have a slight problem in that regard." Chaplin warned

"What do you mean?"

"From what you've told us, your medical ninjutsu actually lets you heal wounds using your own energy. Correct?"

Yuki nodded.

"Due to advancements in science and technology, and the general lack of abilities such as yours in this world, many people don't even believe it exists."

"Ah." Yuki murmured, "What's the process of becoming a medical practitioner in this world?"

"Here specialized fields, such as medicine, generally require documentation in the form of a diploma or a degree, which requires a few years of study in a certified institution, like a university or college." he explained, "Nursing generally requires 3 to 4 years, becoming a doctor would take 6 to 8 years. It could take even longer if you want to become a surgeon."

"Yikes."

"Though, if you really want to, you'd still be able to go into a medical field called homeopathy." he expressed, "You just won't be able to call yourself a doctor."

"I see."

"You could also look into Reiki healing, as it's similar to the medical ninjutsu you use." Karai added.

"Though, regardless of skills or qualifications you may or may not have, right now your main problem will be the language barrier, so just focus on learning English for now." Chaplin reassured her.

"Right."

"Though, other than fighting and medical ninjutsu, do you have any other skills?" Chaplin asked, "In case you want to try something different?"

"Of course." Yuki nodded, "As my mother used to say: 'A kunoichi who can't blend in with society is a dead kunoichi', so I've been taught all sorts of things like cooking, sewing, flower arrangement and playing music." [3]

"That's pretty good advice." Karai agreed, "Sounds like she was a very wise woman."

"She definitely was." Yuki smiled softly.

"Actually, that gives me an idea…" Karai pondered.

"Yes?"

"It's a very long story, but I'm currently trying to reform the Foot clan. Hopefully I can right the past wrongdoings and restore honour."

"And you think I could help?" Yuki asked

"I believe so."

"What did you have in mind?" Yuki asked curiously.

"I was thinking that you can become something along the lines of a personal assistant."

"Really?"

"It will give you ample opportunity to focus on improving your taijutsu skills, as well your English." Karai conferred, "And of course, your medical skills will help, since there is always that one student who thinks they are being funny when we're handling weapons, and the next thing you know we have to rush people to the hospital, explain stuff to the police and apologize to family members."

"Ah."

"Well, I'll let you think about it." Karai smiled gently before excusing herself to go take a shower.

"What did she mean by 'righting the past wrongdoings and restoring honour'?" Yuki asked after Karai left the room, "Did something happen in the Foot clan?"

Chaplin's demeanor changed slightly, his expression becoming more serious.

"Usually I don't like to pry, but I'd like to know what the deal is before I devote myself to anything." she added.

"Fair enough." Chaplin sighed. "Let's just say that the former leader, Oroku Saki, wasn't a very nice person. I mean, he did have his good moments, like what he did for Karai when he adopted her, but he hurt a lot of people, very deeply. She's working very hard to make it up to those who were wronged and restore lost honour."

"I see…" Yuki murmured, "In that case, I'd be happy to help."

Notes:

[1]
For people who might be unfamiliar with the word, 'esper' is another way to say 'psychic' or 'medium', and derived from ESP + er (ESP as in Extra Sensory Perception). It's much more common in Japanese media, pronounced as esupā (エスパー).
The Japanese word for 'psychic ability' is chōnōryoku (超能力) while 'ESP' is chōkankakuteki chikaku (超感覚的知覚). Both are quite a mouthful, so it's no wonder they'd just stick to using shorter English terms.

[2]
During our stay in Tokyo, Aidan and I found that bedroom mirrors all had cloth coverings, often beautifully embroyded.
It would appear that in Japan, there's a superstition that involves a woman from another world coming through mirrors, taking people away or stealing all the energy from their bodies while sleeping causing death. For this reason, many Japanese cover mirrors that are not in use.

[3]
Kunoichi (くノ一) refers specifically to female ninja. Training for kunoichi differed somewhat from ordinary ninja training, as kunoichi generally prioritized learning traditional female skills as they would often need to be able to infiltrate enemy territory as ordinary women in order to spy on enemies or gather information.
The term 'kunoichi' is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the Japanese kanji character for "woman" (女; onna ) in the following stroke order:
"く" is a hiragana character pronounced "ku"
"ノ" is a katakana character pronounced "no"
"一" is a kanji character pronounced "ichi" (and meaning "one")