A/N: If you read these over on my LJ, you can see the pretty pictures that accompany it. The URL is nyanja14(dot)livejournal(dot)com .

As always, these are totally un-beta'd so if you notice something off, let me know!

032: WONDERING

"Yukimi Kazuhiko is the leader of the Kairoshu field performance team. You'll be living with him as well as working for him, so listen to what he says."Tucked away in the corner of the backseat, Yoite didn't respond. He didn't really care where he was going so long as it was somewhere without Hattori. The chief seemed to have picked up on Yoite's quiet resentment because he had yet to comment on the fact that Yoite had not spoken in his presence for over a month. Not that Yoite had been much of a talker before, but Hattori was too shrewd to not have noticed the difference. He was a little surprised that Hattori was choosing to ignore his rebellion, small as it was. He never would have gotten away with rudeness like that at the old house.

"Yukimi-kun's situation is similar to yours. He is not originally from the Nabari world; he came to Iga when he was about your age and entered the Kairoshu when he was twenty-three." Hattori paused and Yoite thought he might be peering at him in the rear view mirror, so he hid his face under the brim of his hat. "In addition," Hattori continued, "his sister will be your attending physician. Hopefully, however, you will not need her services for some time. For these reasons, I am entrusting you to Yukimi-kun."

Yoite would not think much on this information until he'd lived at Yukimi's apartment for a few weeks and observed the man carefully. He was a very good ninja, but on a fundamental level he wasn't cut out for the work. It wasn't just his poor skills at elemental ninjitsu that told Yoite this; it was the grim set of his jaw after he was forced to shoot a young ninja that looked about fifteen on one of their early jobs together. The girl didn't die, but the troubled expression stayed spread across Yukim's face for the rest of the week.

That expression made Yoite wonder what had dragged the man into the Nabari world. He wanted to ask, but Yukimi didn't talk about himself much and Yoite didn't have any right to be asking questions in the first place.

But the longer in lived in the man's apartment, the more he wondered.