the ice queen | hatake kakashi

48 ; tiger moth

They arrived at the end of the secret passage as the sun finally started to descend itself. Kōri took in a deep breath as he slowly opened the door. It creaked so loud that Kakashi thought that they were done for. All three of them would get caught and-

"Relax, Hokage. Nobody knows these passages. We're safe." As if he actually knows what was going on Kakashi's mind, the swordsman finally walked through the door, followed by the two shinobi. The door lead them to a place they wouldn't have expected- a bedroom. The room wasn't occupied as the bedsheets were neatly tucked, no foreign objects seemed to reside on the table- just plain old dust covering most of the area. It was as if the room was abandoned.

"Couldn't give you guys the best rooms- all of them are booked by the other 'invited' guests. Sorry." Kori pat the old bed, the dust could be seen clearly dancing in the air. "Uh.... these are the old senior servant's room. The number of senior servants has been decreasing since we only took a new batch last year so....." He stopped talking when Iruka touched his shoulder softly. "We're more than grateful that you could give us a comfy room. If I were you- and considering what we did to your queen, I would just let us sleep on the floor or near some garbage cans."

Kōri laughed, a bit too loud especially seeing the Hokage's reaction to Iruka's statement. "If I have to be frank, I was going to let the Hokage sleep near the dumpster. But, we people of the Snow Islands are taught to treat our guests as well as we can. The guest rooms... gosh, I could show you while none of the guests are here yet if you want." He looked at the Hokage and the chuunin with welcoming eyes- even if his heart actually wanted to kick Kakashi out and let the other ninja stay here. 'Idiot, remember. The guy you hate so much at the moment is also the one your queen probably still loves a lot.' He felt a lump at the thought of his queen. Now that the cause of all this havoc is here, he hopes it will be resolved as soon as possible- especially with the coronation arriving soon.

"Kakashi wants to rest. Well.. can't blame him. He is getting old." Kori snickered at the remark as they left the Hokage to rest (or more accurately, come up with a plan) and walked out of the room. "I don't know how much I've repeated the words 'Thank you' but-" Iruka started but was quickly cut off by Kori.

"It's fine. Besides," His voice toned down a bit before he continued. "No matter how much I hate him, Her Majesty still loves him a lot." They strode down the dark corridor before re-entering the tunnels. "I don't really want to see some flashy, pretty rooms. Do you mind giving me a tour of the tunnels? It is our only way of navigation here." The brunette carefully arranged his words, not wanting to piss off the latter- who he swore could hide his temper very well. Surprisingly, Kōri returned a promising smile to him. "Sure, I'll happily show it to you. I hope you have a paper or something inside all of that ninja gear."

Silence hung around them, only interrupted once in a while when the young swordsman showed where each branch would break off to. Iruka listened precisely, hands busy jotting down every single important note. As he was finishing up the last of his note, a sudden thought popped into his mind. Now that he thought of it.... Kōri is too good to be a castle servant. How did he end up here? "Uh... Kōri?" Instantly, those blue-gold eyes locked to his. Man, it's even more beautiful up close. Iruka swore his legs trembled a bit as the latter kept his intense stare on him. "I... uh... I'm not sure if you would be comfortable with this topic but-"

"I don't look like someone who fits the criteria to be a servant?"

"Are you a mind reader?"

"I have a good hunch at guessing things. Besides, you aren't the first one to ask. Come on," They passed by the tunnels at an even faster pace now, his hands not letting go of Iruka's at all. The ninja could only follow. Weird, ninjas aren't supposed to trust people this easily- but he seemed to give 100% of his trust to Kōri after only meeting him in real life several hours ago. His eyes observed the hands he was holding. They were rough, obviously for someone who has been doing the housework for the castle. Another reason why Kōri had a stronger and wider body than him and Kakashi. 'But despite that, he is quite fast... for someone who isn't a ninja.'

"Can you stop observing me, Umino-san? It's scary." Iruka blushed, his dignity and pride as a ninja crumbling down now that someone with no skills to be a shinobi caught him observing said person red-handed. "Are you sure you aren't some rogue ninja in hiding?" His question earned a loud guffaw from the taller one. After a few more moments of awkward silence, they finally stopped their walk upon arriving in front of a really old door. The servant swiftly opened it, and Iruka swore he almost stopped breathing.

If people thought the view from the docks of the Snow Islands was a masterpiece, this was another whole level of art. The tallest mountain that Iruka saw when they first arrived is way bigger here, one could also see the other smaller mountains standing behind it. The moon was so close to the top of the mountain, the moonlight giving a beautiful shade to the mountain and its surroundings. "This is.... a stunning view."

"Yeah. Every time I miss home, I would always go here to see this view." He pointed to one of the smaller mountains- wait, there was actually a mountain range here?? Iruka's jaw dropped. "My home is somewhere between those mountains. The people there aren't like the ones you see at the docks. We don't have enough food for all of us. The distance, the scary path of the mountains and the extreme weather being a few of the reasons why." Kori took a deep sigh. "I  was always interested in being a hunter. I wished I could have tagged along with other hunters to hunt for things that we could sell-off at the market. But things happened, and I ended up here, being a servant. I lost my freedom quite early. Despite that, some of the servants have learned swordsmanship, thus I learned a bit or two from them."

"My family was among the poorest of them all. I had 3 siblings- that's a lot in the mountains. We couldn't even have decent clothes to cover ourselves in the blizzards and the snow, what more to eat. My brother sometimes helped our parents to get some extra money. He was good with words so he sometimes woke up super early to help sell stuff at the market."

"And then my mother became pregnant again. We were taught to never, ever abort the child. They don't deserve it. And so they became worried. How are they suppose to give 4 children the nutrients, love and basic things they needed the most with a severe economic crisis? I still remember how my brother told me how he woke up in the middle of the night listening to my parents' exhausted voices trying to find a solution that will not hurt any of us."

"Then it was decided, my brother and I became the sacrificing lambs. The castle was looking for new servants. They'll give the money to the family who offers their sons and daughters, the servants will be well taken care of. It's a win-win situation! My parents were sure their next child will be a male to be the one carrying the family name anyway....." 

"How old were you?" Kōri was slightly taken aback from Iruka's sudden question. "No clue. My brother and I had a huge age gap. He came here first before I followed. And I was really young when I went to the castle? I don't know-" His eyes widened when the chuunin embraced him. He promised himself that he would never shed a tear in front of anyone, but all his efforts had gone to waste as he remembered the pieces of his old memories. The pain when he first left home, when he first entered the scary castles, the dictator senior servants and his brother- oh gosh, his brother.

Kōri cried- the worst he had cried in years as he held tight to Iruka's embrace. Iruka knew not to ask about his brother, the fact that he is all alone now spoke enough. "I'm sorry." He knew well those words wouldn't change a thing, but somehow he felt it was good if he could say something now. The servant continued to sob, a bit more quietly this time. His hands shook intensely, for once feeling a slight relief upon being able to express his true emotions after holding it in for so, so long.

"That's why-" Kōri spurted out the words without his composed tone. "- Haru wanted to help us. He wanted to save us in the mountains. But then.... they did something." Kōri gripped Iruka's hand, his face strained with tears but determination burned in his eyes. "The councilors did something to the Queen. You haven't seen them yet but I assure you they're the ones doing this mishap. I'm begging you Umino-san.... please... save her, and save my family in the mountains too. We waited too long for this, it's time for the Snow Islands to be reborn free from the hands of those two imposters."

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hi. i'm currently into haikyuu too.