Note: A short story originally written for Lang during a dark time. Yet again, another Kei and Tomoko story, during the Genin years.

Themes are split between Kyle Landry's piano cover of Hikari from Kingdom Hearts and TYER Records' English cover of Oracion from No Game No Life. They worked when writing this.

"Is it enough?" is something I constantly ask myself. This time, I hope with all my heart that this is.

Sparkle 23: To Care, Even in Sleep

"…Kei?"

"…"

I blinked, keeping my grip steady on the pitcher of lemonade in my hands. My voice came out in a barely audible whisper, almost blending into the quiet air of the Gekkō living room with the low frequency. "Kei-chan?"

My reincarnation buddy simply twitched, not even reacting to the call. Another moment resulted in her shifting on the couch, her back left lying against the cushions as her eyes remained closed. Kei's hitai-ite bandana was barely covering her hair anymore as she unconsciously nudged closer to the nearest armrest, left arm thrown against her stomach haphazardly. The barely visible rise and fall of her jacketed chest as she breathed confirmed everything else.

She fell asleep, Hisako said softly in my place. She must've really been tired.

Considering that she came back to the village from a month-long mission a mere hour ago, probably.

I looked around. Wherever I looked, there was used clean furniture telling of a living room well-cherished by a four-person family, but that wasn't the point. I needed a place to put down my delivery. Thankfully, there was a table nearby, so I could walk over to deposit my newest creation of lemonade pitcher. It could sit there for a little while.

Blanket?

Blanket. And pillow.

I clamped down on my chakra as much as I could to make sure Kei didn't wake up before quietly skedaddling out of the living room. Flitting across the floor in slippers was surprisingly easier than I thought. "Miyako-bachan?"

Thankfully, once I hit a nearby hallway with my personal task, my surrogate aunt poked her head out of the nearest room. "Yes?" Miyako-bachan met my stare with an inquiring tilt of her head, her long hair falling against her shoulder with the gesture. "What is it, Tomoko-chan?"

"Do you have any spare blankets and pillows?"

She blinked at me, black eyes searching and curious as I approached her. A single second was all it took for understanding to shine in her gaze, and she nodded to herself. "Kei-chan fell asleep?"

With no other response, I simply nodded, avoiding the urge to hold onto the hem of my blouse. There was nothing to be nervous about. Miyako-bachan was a good auntie for many reasons, and this moment right now proved one of them. She caught onto things quickly.

"Wait here then, Tomoko-chan." Miyako-bachan smiled. "I will go get them for you."

The bedding search didn't take that long, so the only thing left on my mind was how to drape them over Kei without her waking up. The bundle Miyako-bachan found for me was light enough, but my chakra spoke up far more than I ever did in real life, both as Vy and as Tomoko. Kei as a sensor would notice unless I held it down as much as I could.

A balancing act is still a balancing act, Hisako said sagely, nodding her head to the point of her glasses shining over almost mockingly. If I didn't know any better, it was like she parodied Fate/stay night's old meme of, "People die if they are killed." Need my help, dear?

Hm. I hefted the bundle in my hands with a small bounce in my step. The hallway's wood tiling didn't even echo under my step. Well. That was one check off the worry list. If you're good at holding down spiritual energy?

Dear, I'm a Nobody. Energy is my thing. For the first time today, Hisako smirked, waving my approaching worries off with a hand fan. Leave it to me, honey.

Thank you, Hisako. That seemed like enough, but just in case, I added a small, Love you. There was really nothing better than that.

Awwww. I love you too, Tomoko-chan. Now get going. All the signal I had past those words was Hisako's smirk and a mental push to my back, and I tried not to skip on the way back.

Huh. I probably should've expected that. Now where was that heat dial…?

Thankfully, opening the door to the living room revealed Kei still on the couch, and I tiptoed as best as I could across the floor. Now, for one last check…

"Kei?"

"…"

No answer. My reincarnation buddy continued to breathe softly, sleeping the time away.

"Hee hee." I held the giggle back to myself as I tiptoed over to that couch, gently unfolding the blanket. It didn't take that much effort to tuck her into it, and fitting the pillow under her head was just as easy considering the space between her shoulders and the nearest armrest. The entire time I went about this, Kei didn't even move, her expression relaxed from sleep. Hell, the simple fact that she didn't do so much as twitch when her hitai-ite fell off mid-tucking in said a lot.

Hmmm. Maybe she's not having a nightmare for once? Hisako pointed out thoughtfully, shrugging her shoulders. She's not sweating.

Maybe. Despite the uncertainty of the thought, I couldn't help the smile on my lips. For once in our shared lives, Kei was getting the peaceful moment. She didn't have to fight like this. Right now, it barely even looked like she was a ninja who could kill with how relaxed her expression was. Right now, with her unfurrowed eyebrows and light eyebags, she looked like the teenager she was supposed to be.

I didn't even know what prompted my mouth to keep moving. The volume was quiet, and her eyes were still closed, so there was no way she could hear it. At least, I could hope. "Kei, you're a dork, you know that?"

No answer again.

I sat down on my knees, folding my skirt under myself. "You put so much onto yourself. Taking care of Hayate, earning money to help Miyako-bachan and Wataru-jichan, and then you're in Team Minato." The team that suffers the most from canon aside from Team 7, and they already had bad luck. I couldn't tell if the small laugh that left me was fond or regretful. "You're amazing, Kei."

Sure, Kannabi hadn't happened yet. But Obito and Kakashi were getting along. Kinda. And Rin was alive right now, learning to be a better medic than Canon ever allowed her to be.

But as expected, Kei didn't answer. Simply breathed in and out, and lay still. Just as she was supposed to, sleeping her stress away.

I brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. Hopefully my feather hairclip could handle that bugger. Or I could adjust the clip itself later. Sure, it was a different sensation compared to my usual hair ribbon, but I could cope. My voice came out somewhat deep in pitch. Almost like Hisako's inflections. "How am ever I supposed to thank you…? You take on so much of the work changing Canon over me, I don't think I can ever compare."

My smile was starting to feel the slightest bit forced, but I knew it was the truth. When Kei chose to be a ninja, I knew she had the audacity to do so much more than I could and ever would admit to. She was the game-changer. She was the main piece that would help us win the war against Madara and other Canon-related bullshit.

"I just can't help but wonder if you're happy. If I'm helping you enough."

You do so much more than me, sacrifice so much more than me, and I can't help but respect that. You deserve so much more than I can ever give you.

I leaned my head against the nearest empty couch cushion, reaching over to pat her blanket. This wasn't the time to be feeling inadequate. This time was all about her. "You're my best friend, Kei. And, just, thank you. For being here. For everything." I closed my eyes. "Thank you."

Good. I said it all. Even if I knew she wasn't going to hear it, I said it.

Then again, what was I even doing? I was muttering ridiculous things to a person who was supposed to be sleeping. What was I coming to?

A mental hug was the next response. You did good, dear.

I did, huh…? Even though my legs called out otherwise, I slowly stood up from the floor to stretch. "That was enough witless and unneeded cheese. Time to make some mochi."

To work off the sugar?

To work off the sugar.

Or it could just be unneeded fat.

I don't know how I feel about the food analogies.

Baaaaah, says the girl who uses "happy juice."

Hey. It works!

Just in case, I pulled on my chakra to keep it closer to my core before glancing over at my reincarnation buddy. Yep. Still asleep.

"I love you, Kei," I whispered softly. "Just rest up."

The last I saw before tiptoeing out of the room and past the doorknob was a bit of her messy cowlicks sticking out from under the blanket as she slept on. My hand moved for me in closing the door behind me, and once the familiar click of the door sounded as it shut into its frame, I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Well then. I slapped my cheeks. No time to sit around.

The next stop was finding red bean paste.