This chapter took me forever to write. Good grief.

This is also the last chapter that was already on AO3. Since I got a job as a writer recently, I don't have nearly as much time to spend on my own stuff as I used to, so I'm quite slow on updates now.

Ninja Tales

Volume 1 - Snowfall

Chapter 7

"You don't like it?"

Yuki shook her head profusely as Chaplin took the cup from her.

"I mean it smells pretty nice, but the taste…" she shuddered in disgust.

"Ok, noted, no coffee." he laughed.

The two of them were currently in a small coffee shop.

"Are you sure you're fine with this?" Yuki asked, "Honestly I can wait till Karai-san isn't busy with meeti-"

"Yuki, it's fine." he interjected, "I might not really like having to go out shopping like this very much, but you need to get clothes that actually fit you."

"Alright, I got it." she sighed, "Thank you for taking time to help me with this."

He just nodded.

After a moment of silence, Yuki excused herself to go to the restrooms and got up, heading to the small bathroom at the back of the coffee shop.

She made her way to one of the stalls, and while she was using the toilet, noted the distinct sounds of someone throwing up in the stall next to her.

After finishing up, she found a rather sickly looking red-headed woman slumped against one of the sinks.

She quickly washed her hands before turning to the woman, "Daijo…"

She stopped herself, remembering that it was better to stick to English, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah…" the woman nodded, "Just a little-"

Noting the woman's expression and sudden change in complexion, Yuki was quick to catch what was about to happen, ushering the woman back to the stalls, just in time for her to start puking again. Yuki sat with her for a while, holding her hair and soothingly rubbing her back.

After a while the red-head sat back down and sighed heavily before looking up at Yuki, "Thank you."

"Ah…" Yuki put up her hands, waving them slightly [1], "Is ok."

"No really, thank you." she smiled, "I'm April, by the way. April Jones."

"Ah...nice to meet you." Yuki nodded, her pronunciation still a bit awkward, "My name is Yuki Seiji."

"Yuki Seiji?" April gave her an odd look before breaking in to a smile, and to Yuki's utter surprise switched into somewhat decent Japanese, "Ah...so you're the famous 'Yuki-chan'?"

"Wa-wait...you know who I am?"

"How could I not?" the red head chuckled, "Mikey won't shut up about you."

"Eh?!" Yuki's jaw practically dropped, "You know Mikey-kun?"

"Yeah." she nodded "We go way back."

"Ah, I see…" Yuki nodded,

April got up, looking somewhat healthier than she had a few moments ago.

"Feeling better now?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah…" April sighed.

"Let me know if I can help with anything else." Yuki offered.

"It's just a bit of morning sickness. It's been a lot better lately."

"Oh..." Yuki realised, "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

They left the restroom together, making their way to the table where Chaplin had started on the cup of coffee Yuki ended up not drinking.

"Oh, hi April." Chaplin greeted.

"Hi." she greeted back, "Karai stuck in meetings today?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

She took a seat with them and grabbed a menu, "So how has life been lately?"

"Don't tell me you're getting coffee..." he gave her an odd look.

"Don't worry." she reassured, "This place has really awesome rooibos drinks."

"Rooi...bos?" Yuki asked curiously.

"Yup. It's herbal tea from Africa." she explained, "The name translates to 'red bush' in one of their languages." [2]

"Of course…" Chaplin sighed, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Huh?"

"You'd probably prefer red cappuccinos and red espressos." he told Yuki. [3]

"Coffee not your thing?" April asked.

She shook her head, pulling a face, "I prefer tea."

"In that case, you should try this one." April pointed on the menu.

Chaplin called over one of the waitresses, and April placed her and Yuki's order.

"So..." Chaplin asked, "How's married life?"

"Not bad." she smiled.

"Is Casey still being a paranoid dad-to-be?"

"Don't get me started." she groaned, "I swear he's getting worse."

"Worse?"

"He wants to move to the farm permanently now."

"Opposed to living with your mother-in-law?"

"Actually I don't mind her. She's awesome, and all...and the farm life is really soothing…"

"But?"

"What about the shop?"

"Ah." he noted.

The waitress returned with the drinks, "Shout if ya need anything else."

"Will do." April nodded and the waitress left to attend to customers nearby.

Yuki picked up the cup, hesitant to try the drink after what she had experienced with the coffee. However this time the surprise was pleasant, "Oh wow..."

"It's good, right?" April asked.

"It is!" Yuki nodded happily, "Thank you so much for recommending this!"

"No problem." April winked.

After finishing their drinks, they left the coffee shop together.

"You look like you're dreading something." April gave Chaplin a look, "Are you ok?"

"Shopping isn't exactly something I'm cut out for." he sighed, "Especially not when buying entire wardrobes."

"Would you like a hand?" April asked, "I need to buy maternity wear, so I might as well help out."

"I'll be really grateful if you did." he admitted sheepishly.

She turned to Yuki, who was giving them a studious look.

"Something wrong?"

"No." she shook her head, "I'm just wondering how long it will take for me to understand English enough for proper conversations."

"Oh, I see." April noted.

After a brief discussion, April led the way to a clothing store she highly recommended.

Yuki didn't know what it was about April, but something told her that she could trust the red-headed woman with her life. When she thought about it consciously, she gave off the same type of aura her mother used to.

"You seem troubled." April said with concern after observing her for a while, "Is something wrong?"

Yuki shook her head, "No, it's nothing."

"You sure?"

"I…" Yuki frowned.

"You're a shinobi from a world where there's a lot of shinobi around, right?" she shrugged, "It would only make sense if you find it hard to trust people."

Yuki nodded, but remained silent.

"I know how the guys were back when I met them, as well as from my own ninjutsu training."

"You're studying ninjutsu?"

"Yeah Splinter has been teaching me for a few years now."

"So you're a kunoichi as well?"

"I'm still in training." she chuckled. "And currently out of commission."

"Fair enough." Yuki grinned, "Although, I feel like we'll have fun training together when you're able to again."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

After they arrived at the store, the two women ended up browsing through clothes together, idly chatting about a wide variety of topics at the same time. After a while Yuki ended up subconsciously venting about Takara's recent behaviour, causing her to berate herself.

"Takara?" April asked, "Is he a childhood friend?"

Yuki shook her head.

"I honestly don't really know much about him." she sighed, "He's been appearing in my dreams since I was little. I suppose you can say he's something along the lines of a spirit guide."

"A spirit guide, huh? That's pretty interesting." April murmured, "Do you dislike him?"

"Not really." she frowned, "He's just been acting really odd since I got transported here."

"Odd how?"

"It's like he's hiding something big." Yuki sighed, "And now it turns out I might be an esper."

"Esper…" April murmured, "As in someone with psychic abilities, right?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"You should talk to Splinter about that." April suggested, "If anyone can help you with ESP and psychic abilities, it's him."

"Really?" Yuki asked.

"Absolutely." the red-head gave her a grin, "He's an amazing teacher, especially when it comes to the mystic arts."

Once Yuki was satisfied with her selection and April had found a few pieces of maternity wear, they began making their way to the spot where Chaplin had been waiting for them.

"On the note of shopping, I run an antique shop, and occasionally get some stuff from Japan." April told her, "Let me know if there's anything specific you're looking for, 'kay?"

"Actually there is something…" Yuki replied, "I'm looking for a koto. I haven't had a chance to play in a very long time."

"Hmmm…" April was deep in thought for a few seconds, "I know it's not quite the same, but someone recently sold me a guzheng."

"Gu...zheng?"

"It's the Chinese instrument the koto originated from." she explained, "The only real difference is that it has 21 strings rather than 13."

"That sounds interesting." Yuki grinned.

The two found Chaplin idly browsing on his phone.

"You two got everything you need?" he asked as they reunited.

"Yup." Yuki nodded.

He stopped for a moment and eyed Yuki's selection of clothes.

"You really are a cat lady, through and through." he murmured with a slight chuckle.

"Liking knitwear doesn't make someone a cat lady." April shook her head.

"Eh?" Yuki asked, "What's a cat lady?"

"It's a stereotype of unmarried women who end up owning a bunch of cats and obsessed with knitwear and knitting." April explained.

"Is that so?" Yuki murmured before chuckling, "Guess I'm in trouble."

Notes:

I've learned a lot over the last 10 years. About life and people, which has greatly influenced my writing, and specifically the way I create and write characters.

An interesting thing to note, is that I didn't base Yuki off anyone when I first created her. I simply created someone who I thought would be interesting and unique. And she definitely was.

However, even though I decided to make her a medic/nurse, I didn't truly make it a part of her character. As I started giving her more of a 'nurse-like persona' in the rewrite, I subconsciously ended up basing her on someone in my life: my mother.

I mean, logically it makes sense, seeing as my mom is a nurse. (So if Yuki acts like a scary, angry mom when she loses her temper...this is why!)

Although, despite the similarities, unlike Yuki, my mother absolutely LOVES coffee. Though none of the instant stuff. She drinks the strong, dark roasts.
Or as we call it in Afrikaans: moerkoffie ("mess-you-up coffee").

[1]
This is a Japanese gesture meaning "No need to thank me" or "You're giving me too much praise"

[2]
Rooibos (it's pronounced as ROY-BOHS, and means 'red bush' in Afrikaans.)
It's a naturally caffeine free and antioxidant rich herbal tea that grows in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Something it's quite popular for is the fact that it's safe for pregnant women and babies to consume. A lot of soaps, body lotions and creams (including baby products) also utilise rooibos as it works really well for various skin ailments. All that aside, it's an extremely popular tea here in South Africa.

As an Afrikaner (a person of the demographic from which Afrikaans hails), I've been drinking this since infancy, and it's still one of my favourite teas even as I approach my 30s. It's one of those teas that you can add virtually anything to without ruining the taste, and does well when blended with other teas as well. My absolute favourite is when it's brewed with fresh turmeric, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, honey and lemon (very soothing for colds, flu and the like!).

I know that many Japanese people absolutely LOVE it. We took our host family some when we went to Tokyo, and one of ACSkywalker's fellow kendoka literally buys like 20 boxes to take in his carry-on luggage whenever they go back to Japan, because it's so much more expensive there!

[3]
Red cappuccino and red espresso is made using rooibos tea rather than coffee. I'm personally not a big fan of red espresso, but do like red cappuccino once in a while.