EYE OF THE STORM | k.kazuha

10: NOT SO DIFFERENT

After your little encounter with Yinxing, and chatting with her for a bit, you wandered off. You tried to see if you could help with anything at all. Everyone seemed to do their own thing that you sort of felt lost.

Kazuha was doing his own thing as well, so you decided not to bother.

Suddenly, you felt a force hit your legs. It didn't hurt but caught you off guard. From below, you could hear groaning. You realized that Little Yue must've bumped into you. You bent down to the child's level and helped the kid up.

"There you go, kiddo. Sorry about that." You smiled, giving a head pat.

"It's okay! I'm Yue by the way... and you're...?"

"Y/N. Just call me Y/N, no need for honorifics."

You sat down with Little Yue, handing him an apple that you got from Yinxing as an apology. The kid happily obliged, eating the sweet fruit in an instant.

"What's your story?" Little Yue asked.

"My story?"

"Everyone has one before coming on the ship, and I usually know about it!"

"Well, Yue, I'm from Inazuma and... I used to be a bad person who... did bad things. I left that life years ago but only came to Liyue now due to circumstance."

Little Yue stopped chewing on his apple as he looked at you. He reminded you of Yui, always curious. Hell, even their names sounded similar to you. You weren't the best with kids, but you always liked keeping them company. After all, you never had that privilege.

"What about you, Yue? What are you doing here?" You asked cluelessly. Little Yue gave a small frown, making you panic.

"You don't have to say it! I'm sor-"

"No, It's okay! Everyone in the crew knows so.. you should too."

"When I was a kid, my parents... They... got into an accident on board... and..."

Immediately feeling regret, you slowly pulled Little Yue into a hug. It was silent but warm. His little body held you, feeling comforted like you were an older sibling.

"No one talks about it with me... I know why, but sometimes I wish they'd tell me stories of when they were alive." Little Yue spoke.

"I'll try asking around. I'm sure they'll understand."

"Is it okay to ask about your... parents?" Little Yue asked.

"Hmm... well I was already being raised by the bad people when I was about four years old... I heard my real parents abandoned me so I don't know much." You answered truthfully.

The Nobushi's always used the fact that you were abandoned to convince you to stay. They knew that sometimes you were slipping away and had that excuse up their sleeves. It makes you sick to think about it now.

"So we're kinda the same! Wait... abandon you!? But you're such a cool person!"

"Hehe, it's okay. I'm here now, living better than before. I gotta thank Kazuha for that though."

"Kazuha? He sounds familiar... Oh! He always sits by himself saying some complicated stuff.... but ever since you came on board, I don't see him alone much!"

Unbeknownst to you, Kazuha could hear the whole conversation from the bow. He tried to not listen in and let your voices drown in the waves, but his ears failed him. He never meant to pry into your private life and now feels guilty about his newfound information.

It was true though.

The wandering samurai liked to be alone, minding his own business. He liked the peacefulness it brought, the breeze becoming the only melody picked up by his ears. But you were a nice change of scenery. It was fun to chat, mostly because you related to one another.

"Okay, I think I gotta go help out now. Come talk to me whenever you want Yue! When you feel lonely, or just bored." You smiled, ruffling his hair before walking off.