A/N: If you read these head over to my LJ for Nabari no Ou, you can see the pretty pictures that accompany it. The URL is nyanja14(dot)livejournal(dot)com .
All of these are un-beta-ed and most were written late at night. So please let me know if you spot errors!
024: GRATITUDE
"…Yoite-kun."
Yoite looked up and saw a plate of cake thrust in his face. He wasn't really hungry—never was anymore—but he took the plate anyway to at least get Gau away from him.
But Gau stayed.
"You may not be able to taste it, but maybe you can smell it. I tried making it with a strong vanilla aroma."
Yoite nodded but the boy persisted, face flushing fast. "Ah... uh... umm..."
He trailed off, then clenched his hands. "Thank you... for helping me."
Yoite lowered his gaze. This, whatever it was, was something else he didn't need. He already had enough feelings of his own and as each day went by he found it harder and harder to hold them in. He didn't need other people stacking their own feelings on top of the teetering mess.
Gau seemed to realize what he'd just said because he pulled back, stammering "J-just kidding! You'll probably say you only did it because you need me to find Kumohira-san." The boy continued blathering, face so pink that Yoite thought he might faint. "I know that. And of course that's fine. I've heard that's just how you are. But..."
His voice broke and Gau huffed and turned his head away. "...Thank you," he finished.
Yoite stared at the cake. It looked good, like the desserts Yukimi brought back from bakeries he'd taken photos at. And apparently it had been baked especially for him, never mind the fact that the cake was supposed to be for Miharu's birthday. That was… nice.
Yoite didn't need extra emotions, but maybe this was the kind of emotion that was okay to want.
He gave in and brought the plate up close to his face.
"...It smells sweet."