Wuji and Mai (Part 1)

Ye Wuji had just walked out of the shop, thinking that Rei might have switched shops again. He was about to look around, though he wasn't worried at all about failing to find her and Yuta. Given Rei's personality, she wouldn't stray far from him until she'd spent all one thousand ryō. Even if he couldn't find them right away, as long as he stayed nearby, Rei would come looking for him.

That was why Ye Wuji wasn't in a hurry. Besides, he was pleased with the Gamabunta wallet he'd bought. Just as he was about to stroll over to the shop Rei had visited earlier—

A loud shout came from inside: "Ye, get your butt over here right now!" The voice was so loud that everyone nearby, both passersby and people inside the shops, heard it. They all looked toward the shop the shout had come from, wondering what was going on.

Ye Wuji recognized Rei's voice at once. She only sounded like that when she was really angry. He knew her well: usually, even when she was mad, she was mostly just joking around. He hadn't expected her to lose her temper so badly in that shop.

Realizing Rei was genuinely angry—and having no idea what had happened—Ye Wuji hurried into the shop.

Inside, he saw Rei standing eye to eye with a girl about ten years old, as if they were practicing a staring contest.

The girl facing Rei wore red and had short blond hair. She stood a little over a meter tall, and most striking of all, she carried a red fan almost as big as she was on her back.

This girl looks so much like Temari. That was Ye Wuji's first thought when he saw her. If he hadn't known that Temari probably hadn't been born yet, he would have mistaken her for Temari.

Another woman stood behind the girl. Judging by her figure, she must have been beautiful, but she wore a veil, so he couldn't see her face.

The woman had been watching the two girls bicker with an amused smile. When Ye Wuji came in, her eyes flickered, but she said nothing and continued watching.

Ye Wuji went over to Rei. Before he could ask what was going on, Rei cut in. "Ye, hand over all your money." Then she turned to the girl across from her. "I have money now, so the hair clip is mine." Rei pointed to a blue, butterfly-shaped hair clip displayed on the shop counter.

From Rei's words and what he'd seen when he came in, Ye Wuji figured that she and the girl had both wanted the hair clip, but Rei hadn't brought enough money. That was why she'd called him over.

Ye Wuji didn't say anything about not spending money recklessly. He simply pulled out the Gamabunta wallet he'd just bought and prepared to hand it to Rei, wallet and all. It would be terrifying to embarrass Rei in front of the other girl.

To his surprise, Rei didn't take the wallet. Instead, she gave Ye Wuji a strange look. He didn't know what to make of it.

"Where'd you get that wallet?" Rei asked, her voice edged with restrained anger.

"I bought it over there just now. What's wrong, Rei?" Ye Wuji had a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, when Rei heard his answer, she stared at the wallet in his hand, clearly unwilling to accept the situation. In the end, she took it anyway. After counting the money inside, her displeasure became even more obvious.

"What's the matter? You don't have enough money? If you can't afford it, why buy anything? More importantly, aren't you keeping the shopkeeper from doing business?" The girl in red taunted Rei.

"You—" Rei shouted at her. But Ye Wuji felt a wave of relief. Thank goodness Rei's anger had been directed at the girl. Otherwise, she might have turned on him next.

"What about me? I'm doing just fine," the girl in red said with a smug laugh. "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. I already let you have time to get the money, and you still don't have enough. Do you expect me to give you more time? If you need until the end of next year, will the shopkeeper have to stop doing business until then?

"It's only three thousand ryō. Just hand it over. Why pretend you have money?"

"How much is that hair clip?" Ye Wuji took the chance to ask Yuta.

Yuta glanced at Rei. "Three thousand ryō."

"That's so expensive. What's going on, then? Who's the girl across from her?" Ye Wuji asked.

After Yuta explained, Ye Wuji understood. The hair clip was the work of Ishikawa Yu, a famous jeweler. Ye Wuji had never heard of him, but according to Yuta, he was very well known, and his work was always popular. It was usually hard to get anything he made. His pieces were exquisitely crafted, and he rarely made inexpensive items. This time, for some reason, he'd produced a batch of lower-priced accessories. Supposedly, it was to celebrate the New Year and give the many people who loved his work a chance to own one of his pieces. Ishikawa Yu had set the prices himself before the pieces went on sale and announced that they could only be sold at those prices. Anyone who changed his prices wouldn't be able to get any more accessories from him. He'd made that rule to stop people from inflating the prices.

Rei had come across one of the accessories here—and it was the last one. It cost three thousand ryō, but she didn't have enough money on her. She'd planned to go back and get some more, but then the girl and the woman with her had come into the shop. They'd also spotted the blue butterfly hair clip and wanted to buy it. Rei refused to give it up, so she started scraping together the money.

Aunt Kei had given Rei one hundred ryō and Yuta three hundred. That only came to four hundred, but unlike Ye Wuji, they both had money saved up. Even so, they could only put together fifteen hundred ryō. That was when Rei remembered Ye Wuji's money. He'd had exactly fifteen hundred ryō on him, making three thousand in all. He must have spent some on candied hawthorn sticks earlier, but hadn't he said he hadn't spent anything? So Rei had called for him in a panic.

Things should have gone smoothly: get the money, buy the hair clip. But she hadn't expected Ye Wuji to buy himself a wallet. That was why she'd looked at him that way when she saw it.

"So that's what happened." Once Ye Wuji understood, he couldn't help thinking what an incredible coincidence it was. He watched the two girls continue arguing and felt helpless. It was only a hair clip, but by now it wasn't about the hair clip anymore. It was about the girls' pride.

Rei hadn't gotten the hair clip she wanted and had taken a double blow: she'd missed out on something she liked, and she'd lost face in front of the other girl. Ye Wuji felt a chill at the thought of how Rei would take it out on him. And although it wasn't really his fault, he'd played a part in her losing face.

To avoid that, Ye Wuji decided to come up with a solution. Eventually, he thought of one and stepped over to the two girls, who were still arguing.

"Um, Rei..." Ye Wuji spoke quietly.

"What is it?" Rei called back, still in the middle of her argument with the other girl.

"Um, Rei, I just bought that wallet. I think I can return it. If I do, won't we have enough money?" Ye Wuji looked at the Gamabunta wallet in Rei's hand and offered his solution.

Rei froze at his suggestion, so Ye Wuji continued, "I can buy another wallet later. It's not like this hair clip, which is the only one left."

Hearing that, Rei was tempted. It wouldn't feel right, but this really is the only one left. I can buy another wallet later. Right, I can go back and get the money for one after this. She was just about to agree.

But the girl beside her spoke up. "That's not necessarily true. Gamabunta wallets may be common, but the one you're holding is modeled after the summoning beast of one of the Konoha Sannin. By the time you go back to buy another, it might be gone, and then you'll have to settle for an ordinary toad wallet. Hahaha." She looked at Rei with contempt, as though Rei were taking advantage of her little brother.

Rei had been about to hand the wallet back to Ye Wuji so he could return it, but when she heard the girl, she pulled it back.

"Rei, it's fine. Even if this wallet is gone, I can buy something else. It's only a wallet." Ye Wuji hadn't said anything, and Rei really hadn't known what to do. But after hearing him say that, she made up her mind.

Rei tucked the wallet away and turned to the girl. "It's only a hair clip. I was just messing with you. But you seem so pitiful, so I'll let you have it. Yuta, Ye, let's go." With that, Rei led the way out of the shop.

The girl looked as if she were about to say something more, but then she stopped. After Rei and Yuta left, Ye Wuji walked over to the girl and the woman beside her, intending to explain.

"Um, I'm sorry. Rei was only acting that way because of me. Sorry for the trouble." After saying that, Ye Wuji turned to leave.

"Wait a moment," the girl called. She walked up and circled Ye Wuji a few times before asking, "What's your name?"

"My name is Ye Wuji."

"Ye Wuji?" The girl suddenly leaned closer, until her face was almost touching his. Ye Wuji had no idea what to say. They were both children, so normally it wouldn't matter, but Ye Wuji had an adult's mind, and his face immediately turned red.

"You're pretty cute, kid." The girl reached out and pinched his cheek gently. "Remember, my name is Mai. Don't forget it." Then she went back to the woman's side.

Ye Wuji hurried out of the shop as if he were running away.

Not long after, the two women—one grown, one young—left the shop as well.

"Mother, is that the boy who helped my sister, the one Sister took on as a student? Is that really true?" Mai asked the woman beside her.

"Didn't I just tell you? Why don't you believe me?" the woman replied.

"It's not that I don't believe you. I just can't believe he wasn't scared when he saw Sister like that. He seemed pretty clever, but he was cute too."

"What are you planning? I'm warning you, if you go too far, your sister will come back and settle the score with you."

"How could I? I'm only helping Sister keep an eye on him. Besides, Mother, didn't you say Sister taught him ninjutsu? Then I should make sure he isn't slacking off while she's away."

"All right, stop fooling around. We've done enough shopping. It's time to head back. We still have to go to the Daimyo Mansion tonight."

"How boring. Still, I got something out of today, so let's go back."

The two of them were the Takikage and her daughter—Fu's younger sister.