Ye Yuexin didn't stand on ceremony with Anko. He plopped down right beside her.
He pulled Itachi down with him, too. Turning to her, he said, "You don't have to pay today. Big brother's treating, so you don't have to spend a thing." A rich man's swagger instantly crept into his voice.
Then he called out, "Boss, bring us twenty skewers of the newest kind to try." Twenty skewers wasn't that many. The dumplings in this country were pretty small, and there were only three on each skewer. Order too few, and they'd be gone in a few bites.
Especially with two little kids who loved dumplings sitting on either side of him.
But when Anko heard Ye Yuexin say that, her eyes clearly lit up.
She looked at Ye Yuexin in delight. "There's a new kind? I just got back, so I didn't know. Haha, I can't wait!" She was the spitting image of an excitable husky.
Seeing how uninhibited Anko was, Ye Yuexin could tell his plan to turn her into a proper lady had failed.
As expected, it wasn't easy to change a character's personality from the original story.
He'd tried so hard to change Anko, hadn't he? But the results had been negligible.
"I'm not going to hold back. Did you bring enough money?" Ye Yuexin asked Anko helplessly.
At his words,
Anko immediately flashed the little pouch slung across her waist.
She put it on the table and patted it twice, looking proud. "Don't worry. I'm a rich lady now, just like you said."
She paused, then continued, "By the way, how are you doing for food these days? I'll give you half of my reward this time."
To be honest,
Seeing Anko like this gave Ye Yuexin a real sense of accomplishment.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Anko had practically been raised by Ye Yuexin.
It had been right after that deadbeat father of his died that Ye Yuexin met Anko.
She'd been beside a trash can. Back then, Ye Yuexin had never imagined that anyone in a place as prosperous as Konoha would be scavenging through garbage.
And that the person doing it would be such a tiny child.
Maybe Ye Yuexin had approached the dirty, pitiful-looking little one because he'd been feeling abandoned himself.
Only after speaking with the child did Ye Yuexin learn that her name was Mitaraishi Anko.
The setting sun shone on the little girl's face.
At first, Ye Yuexin had thought she was a little boy. With her short hair and skinny body, there was nothing to distinguish her from one.
There wasn't the slightest sign of the impressive figure she'd have later.
To be honest, Ye Yuexin had always liked Anko's character in the original story.
So the money his deadbeat father had left behind, which Ye Yuexin had once spent on himself alone, now had to support two people.
With the soul of an adult, Ye Yuexin knew how to take care of children. From then on, he began looking after Anko's daily needs. He even bought her clothes.
When it came time to help Anko enroll in the Ninja Academy, Ye Yuexin also bought her training gear like Kunai and Shuriken. And there was no need to mention the lunch boxes he made for her.
Back then, taking care of Anko was the only thing Ye Yuexin did outside of his own training. Honestly, putting himself in Ye Yuexin's shoes had given him a taste of what it was like to be a father. The pressure had been enormous.
While he was still reminiscing, the dumplings arrived.
Anko immediately picked up a skewer and handed it to him. It was a habit she'd had since childhood. Whenever Ye Yuexin gave her something to eat, she always handed one to him first.
Ye Yuexin didn't hesitate and took a bite. Itachi had met Anko before, too, so he didn't stand on ceremony either. After thanking her, he started eating. Dumplings were hard to resist for kids like them.
Itachi Uchiha stayed silent the entire time.
As they ate, Ye Yuexin asked, "Why are you back? Is the war almost over?"
At his question, Anko swallowed a dumpling and said, "No, it's still fierce. We Genin are only handling logistics. A while ago, I was sent to protect a medical team." "They're changing personnel now, so we escorted them back. Tomorrow, we have to escort the next group there."
Hearing that, Ye Yuexin knew how things would turn out, but he couldn't help worrying. "All right. Be careful over there. With your lousy skills, don't go trying to be a hero. You can't even—"
"You can't even touch the hem of my clothes," Anko finished for him.
Ye Yuexin felt awkward, his pride stung. "I..."
"All right, I'm full. I have to meet up with my teammates and discuss tomorrow's mission. I'm off." Perhaps she'd guessed what Ye Yuexin was about to say. By the time Anko finished speaking, she was already at the door. Then she disappeared.
Ye Yuexin stared at the 50,000 yen left on the table and pressed a hand to his forehead. A vein twitched faintly.
He sighed and could only comfort himself by thinking that she'd grown up and was now too big for her boots. Still, the next time they met, she definitely wouldn't escape a loving knuckle sandwich.
To be honest, Ye Yuexin really didn't have much to worry about when it came to Anko. It was only because of the name Cold-Blooded Lord of the Border. Just like in the original story, after graduating, Anko had become Orochimaru's student.
Ye Yuexin couldn't see what qualities Anko had that would have appealed to Orochimaru, but that was what had happened.
"Hey, save some for me!" Ye Yuexin had still been lost in thought when he glanced at the plate and suddenly noticed that even the dumplings they'd just been served were almost gone. He immediately shouted.
Itachi Uchiha didn't even glance at Ye Yuexin as he reached for another skewer, as usual.
Ye Yuexin found him incredibly stuffy—and secretly mischievous. Only after getting to know him did he realize Itachi Uchiha wasn't as perfect as people online had made him out to be in his past life.
Sometimes he was stubborn as a mule.
The two of them ate a huge pile of skewers. When they finally counted up the bill, it came to more than 20,000 yen.
Ye Yuexin had originally planned to do some training after eating, but now he suddenly felt like going home.
He wondered if Anko would come back to see him later. After all, it had been so long since they'd last met.
When they left the shop and walked down the street lined with Japanese-style buildings, there were more people around than when they'd arrived. They were probably getting off work.
Ye Yuexin waved and started walking home.
"Ye Yue, what are you doing tomorrow?" Itachi Uchiha suddenly called after him.
Itachi called Ye Yuexin "Ye." Since Ye Yue was his surname and Xin his given name, Ye Yuexin found it pretty awkward to be addressed by his surname like that.
But Itachi had been calling him that for two years.
To be honest, Ye Yuexin hadn't given any thought to what he'd do tomorrow. He answered casually, "I'll worry about tomorrow when it gets here. Right now, I just want to rest. If I have time tomorrow, I'll see you then."
Before you continue