Chapter 26 - Stretched Tendons
Sasuke's wife was still cooking when Yakata left the bathroom; he cleared his throat, and she turned around to look at him. She gasped slightly. "Oh, goodness! You startled me."
"Oh, I'm, I'm sorry…" Yakata said. "I, I didn't… I didn't mean it, ma'am."
She didn't respond, at first, though she gave him a half-worried, half-kind look. "It's okay." She went back to her cooking. "I'm almost finished cooking your dinner. And… you don't have to call me 'ma'am,' you can just call me… Ino-san."
"Oh. Okay! Then, then thank you very much, Ino-san!" Yakata said. He bowed, quickly. "For, for dinner, I mean. And, um. The, the fresh clothes, I, I really appreciate it."
"Clothes? What clothes?" She looked over her shoulder again.
"Didn't… didn't you leave fresh clothes out for me, after my bath?" Yakata said.
Ino shook her head. "No, I've been here in the kitchen the entire time."
Yakata blinked. "Oh, then… then who did?"
"Who knows," Ino said, and went back to cooking.
Yakata, not quite sure what else to do, hung awkwardly about in the doorway, watching her cook, smelling the wonderful smells. It was a rice-and-vegetable smell, and the sizzle of the pan and the oil was almost a comfort for him to hear.
Every now and then Ino would look back over her shoulder at Yakata and a strange squirmy smile would wiggle on her face, but always ever after an odd look that wasn't quite disgust, wasn't quite fear, but was decidedly uncomfortable. She always returned to her cooking quicker and quicker each time.
The entrance of a young girl took him completely by surprise, then, since he was so focused on wondering about her discomfort. There was dirt all over her face and her violet dress, and her hair was sticking out in every direction - like Sasuke's, but more wild. Process of elimination told Yakata that it was Karai. "You called, Mom?" she said.
"Set the table for me, dear - but wash your hands first, for heaven's sake!" Ino said, as Yakata tilted his head - he couldn't remember Ino calling for anyone. "And have an extra place set. For, um, Yakata-kun."
"Yakata? Who's - oh! Are you Yakata?" Karai said. She brushed the dirt off her dress and smiled widely. Her eyes were big and very, very black. "I'm Karai!"
"Oh! N-nice to meet you!" Yakata said, smiling crookedly as she held out her hand. He shook it. Her skin felt dusty.
"You're a friend of Dad's, right?" Karai continued. "Mom told me. I thought you'd be older."
"Oh, oh, well, I, I, um…"
"Karai, the table, please," Ino said.
"Okay, okay!" Karai said, and she quickly washed her hands in the kitchen sink. She then pulled some plates out of a cupboard. The stack looked heavy, especially considering how short she was, but she handled them like they were almost nothing.
She had set down three of them when Yakata asked, "When, when did your mom call down for you? I, I didn't… I didn't hear anything."
"Didn't hear anyth - oh! Oh, well, it's a clan thing," Karai said, cheerfully, setting down another plate.
"A, a clan thing? Like, like how you can breathe fire?" Yakata said. He had his mental notebook out again.
"Huh, what?" Karai looked at him, cradling the remaining four plates in her arms. "Breathing fire?"
"Your, your father showed me, when we made a fire on the way over…"
"Ohh! That's, uh, an Uchiha clan art. Telepathy is a Yamanaka art."
"…wha-what's tele-pathy?" Yakata asked. "Is it, is it like… finding a… path with a television?"
Karai had an infectious giggle that squeaked and sparkled. "No, no! It's… kinda like talking, only you don't use your mouth. You use your mind instead!" she said.
"How, how in the world do you do that?"
Karai shrugged. The plates rattled. "I 'unno! I just can. It's a Yamanaka thing."
"Karai, the dishes," Ino said.
"Sorry, sorry."
"Yamanaka?" Yakata said.
She put down another plate. "Mom's clan. It specializes in mind jutsu."
"Oh," Yakata said. "So… so could you, uh… talk to… talk to me using this tele-pathy thing?"
"Well yeah, but that's super advanced stuff," she replied. "Way beyond what I'm capable of. Sorry."
"No, no, it, it, it's okay," Yakata said. "It just, it sounds awfully neat."
"Yeah, y'think so? There's a whole lot else you can do with it," Karai said. She put down the final plate.
"Oh?"
"Five minutes to dinner, Karai, you should at least wash your face before we eat," Ino said, looking over her shoulder. She turned the stove off.
"I know, I know," Karai said. Even her dismissals were strangely melodic. "I'll tell you more about it later, 'kay, Yakata-kun?"
"Sure! Thank you," Yakata said.
"You're-wel-come!" Karai bounced out of the room. Yakata could hear her run up the stairs and slam a door behind her. And he smiled, half from Sasuke being right - she was cheerful! - and half from his sheepish admiration of the mind-talking thing. He had a feeling he'd like her.
"Ow! Damn it, where did I put my oven mitt…?" Ino sucked on her thumb as she set the pan back down on the stove.
"Um, Ino-san. Can, can, can I help with anything?" Yakata asked.
She stared at him, for a moment, before sliding another awkward smile on her face, taking her thumb out of her mouth. "No, no, you don't need to worry about anything," she said. "I'm fine."
"Oh, okay… Well… well, if you, if you do need me…" Yakata said. "I, I mean, just… just because I'm a guest doesn't mean I don't, don't want to help…"
Ino laughed, quickly, and opened a drawer, taking out an oven mitt. "If you… do want to help, can you reach down into that drawer, over there? There's a dish I need."
"Oh, uh. This one?" Yakata opened the cupboard, pointing to a large, white dish inside.
"Yes, just put it on the counter for me."
"Okay." The dish made a hard thump on the counter as Yakata set it down. With a careful turn of the hand Ino poured the stir-fry into it; it sent up large clouds of sesame and vegetable steam, and Yakata almost had to close his eyes, it smelled so good.
"Stir fry? Honestly? I expected something a bit more impressive for a guest of Father's."
A young man entered the kitchen; he was dressed in a black, high-collared shirt, just like Sasuke's. He had narrow, lazy-looking eyes, and a hard smirk on his face.
"He asked for it specifically, Takeru," Ino said. She didn't look at him, putting the dish on the table.
"Father, or the guest?" Takeru said. He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Ah, never mind. So where is he, then, this Yakata?"
"That, that's, um. That's me, actually…" Yakata said. He waved his hand and bowed, slightly. "You… you must be, um. Takeru-san, right…?"
Takeru blinked once, twice. His smile didn't leave. "You're Yakata?"
"Yes…"
"Takeru, don't be rude."
"I'm not being rude, Mother, I just expected someone a little…" He glanced at Yakata, toe to head, his smile dropping for only a moment. "…different."
"Takeru."
Yakata felt his face growing hot. He looked at his feet, shifting his weight from one to the next.
"I didn't mean anything negative by it."
Yakata saw Ino rolling her eyes when he finally looked up.
"S'dinner ready yet?" A taller man entered, behind Takeru. He had shadows around his very dark eyes, and his clothes were well-made, and simple.
"I just put it out, Hajime, we're just about ready," Ino said.
"Ah, good. I'm a little hungry." He passed Takeru and went to sit at the table, lacing his fingers together and resting his nose on the surface they made. He didn't acknowledge Yakata.
"Well, at least it'll taste good," Takeru said. He sat on the other side of the table, leaning back in his chair like it was a throne. He glanced at Yakata again, smirked, and then looked away.
"You can sit down if you want, Yakata-kun," Ino told him. She was scooping lumps of rice from a rice cooker into glass bowls, now.
"Um, where… where should I sit…?"
"Anywhere you want, though Sasuke always sits at the head of the table," Ino said, filling a third bowl. "I usually take the other end…"
"You can sit next to me if you want, actually," Takeru said. His voice sounded strangely amicable. "I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little better."
Since he had received no other offers, Yakata shrugged and said "Oh, o-okay, then…" He took the seat directly beside Takeru and sat with his hands in his lap, stiffly.
There was quiet, for a while. Takeru didn't say a thing, just looking over Yakata out of the corner of his eye. Yakata was too nervous, too embarrassed to ask any questions of his own.
Then Sasuke came back into the kitchen. He seemed satisfied, a slight smile on his face. "Ah, so you two are home already? Where's everyone else?"
"Karai's washing her face," Ino said.
"And Inou?"
Ino paused, tilting her head upward with her eyes closed, her serving paddle poised on top of the bowl of rice. "…I don't know, he's not responding."
Sasuke sighed. "That boy. Well, if he's late for dinner it's his own damn fault. Ah, Yakata!" He smiled wider - why was he suddenly so happy again? "Getting to know everyone already, I see?"
"Well, I, I guess…"
"Hopefully we'll get to know you as well, yes?" Takeru said, tilting his head. "I really am curious about you. Wherever did you meet Father?"
"We'll talk about that in time," Sasuke said. He pulled out his chair at the head of the table, to Takeru's left. "How was your day, son?"
"Boring. Did you know? I got asked out by that Ayako girl again. You know, that vice-captain from ANBU?" Takeru had his arms crossed, hands up near his shoulders. "Hajime, don't you know her?"
Hajime just shrugged, his eyes betraying nothing.
"Remind me again, who is she?" said Sasuke.
"That ninny with the green hair. She's always drawing, it's a small wonder she made it into ANBU." Takeru shook his head. "She sent me a portrait, this time, can you believe it?"
"What did she send you last time?"
"Nothing. She just asked me out." Takeru sighed. "I did share a coffee with her this afternoon, for her time, since she went and asked twice. But there's nothing in that head of hers. I was disappointed, but at least she enjoyed herself, it seemed."
"That's a shame," Sasuke said.
"I suppose it is, but honestly, though, I have no time for girls like her." Takeru leaned back in his chair again, waving his hands for emphasis. "With their heads in the clouds. No grasp on reality whatsoever. I was almost glad when Mother called me home for dinner."
"Well, that's good, Takeru. You should be careful about who you spend your time with," Sasuke said.
Hajime unlaced his hands and reached for a pair of chopsticks from the container in the center of the table. From the stairs down the hallway there came a series of rapid thumps.
"We started dinner yet?" Karai came into the kitchen. Her face and her arms were clean, and she was wearing a different dress, Yakata noticed. "Oh, hi, Father!"
"Karai," said Sasuke, nodding.
"I'm just putting the rice out," Ino said. She put the lid on the rice cooker.
"Oh, I'll help!"
"No, you sit down," Ino said, pointedly. "I can handle it."
So Karai did, shrugging with a smile, pulling out the chair beside Yakata's. "You don't mind if I sit here?" she said.
"Oh, no, not… not at all!" Yakata said. He found himself smiling back.
Ino started putting out the bowls of rice at each place at the table. Karai fidgeted in her seat, her hands in her lap, like Yakata, though her posture wasn't nearly as stiff. Takeru got his own chopsticks, Yakata following afterward, seeing that it was the thing to do. Karai refrained.
Nadeshiko entered, silently, her only acknowledgement of the rest of the table a simple nod as she took a seat beside Hajime, directly across from Yakata. She took her chopsticks and set them, neatly, above her plate. She didn't look at Yakata, even though he gave her a shy glance.
Ino put out the final bowl of rice, and finished setting the table by putting out a teapot, then taking her place at the other end of the table.
Sasuke cleared his throat, after a while. "Well, thanks for the food," he said, clapping his hands together.
"Sasuke, Inou isn't home yet," Ino whispered.
"And whose fault is that?" Sasuke replied. He reached into the dish of stir-fry and began choosing vegetables and meat with his chopsticks to put on his plate.
"…thanks for the food," Ino said reluctantly, and the rest of the family echoed her, beginning to eat.
Karai, Yakata noticed, refused to even touch her rice. "Are, are you not hungry…?" he asked her.
"Oh, no, I figured I'd let everyone else get their portions first," she replied, almost in a whisper, with a sunny smile. "Wanna make sure there's enough left over for-"
Sasuke cleared his throat, and she quieted herself, taking a sip from her water glass instead. Yakata went back to eating.
Inou arrived a few minutes later, a bit out of breath. He had a hunk of tissue stuffed into his nose, and there was blood on it. His clothes were very dirty. "Sorry I'm late…" he said.
"About time," Takeru said quietly, helping himself to another portion of food.
"Where were you, Inou?" Sasuke said. "You're filthy."
"I was training. Sorry, I didn't have time to clean up on the way over."
"Oh, I see." Sasuke nodded a few times, slightly, as he considered this. "Well, then, I suppose that's an acceptable excuse. Sit down, the food's still hot."
"Mm." Inou took the final seat at the table after washing his hands, next to his mother and Nadeshiko. He began serving himself.
"My! It's been a while since we've had such a full table," Ino said, holding up her chopsticks and smiling optimistically. "And when was the last time we had guests over for a nice casual dinner like this? Not counting all those times Naruto's come over… Oh, either way. Tea, anyone?" There were a few takers, and Ino got up and poured it for the ones who had asked.
Sasuke cleared his throat again, a short while later. "So, I'm sure you all have noticed that we have a guest."
"It's rather obvious, Father," Takeru said, with a slight chuckle. "Are you finally going to introduce us?"
Yakata looked at Sasuke, awkwardly, as if waiting for a prompt. Sasuke put down his chopsticks and wiped the sides of his mouth, needlessly. "Everyone, this is Honbo Yakata. He's going to be staying with us for the summer while I train him."
"For the summer, huh? That's exciting!" Karai said. She'd finally started serving herself, now that Inou had some food on his plate.
"Training? Don't you already have three students?" Takeru said.
"I'm just focusing on training Go'on right now, Takeru. And Yakata's an exception," said Sasuke. "I'll have enough time for Go'on on the side. Besides," he added, "I get the feeling that Yakata's going to be something of a fast learner." He sent a smile in Yakata's direction, and Yakata vaguely smiled back, then into his rice.
"So, Yakata-kun, how did you come to meet my husband?" Ino asked, all smiles, except in her voice, which sounded ever-so-slightly strained.
"Well, um, it, it was…"
"I first met him on-mission with my genin team, a few months ago," Sasuke interrupted. "I went out to get him after thinking over what I saw while I was there. I thought he had the potential to be a great ninja, so I talked to his parents, and we're doing a trial run here."
Yakata felt words gathering in his throat as Takeru and Sasuke talked on about potential and such, and what exactly it was he'd seen. They weren't even mentioning his father. But then again, what was it Sasuke had said? "They didn't know him well, they'd only get confused," he had said.
But surely he'd have said something by now? Surely that'd have been the first thing he'd mention?
But Yakata trusted Sasuke. Maybe he was just waiting.
So Yakata didn't mention his father, and he sat there and ate as they talked about him, but not to him.
And then Nadeshiko spoke. "Where is Yakata-kun going to stay in the house?" she asked. Her voice was very soft, but at the same time very flat.
It seemed to knock the conversation that her father and brother were having violently off-course, as both of them turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. Sasuke's glare intensified for a moment, afterward, though she hadn't even been looking at him when she spoke.
"I was thinking of having Yakata share a room with Inou," he said, after clearing his throat again. His harsh expression remained.
Inou, who, like Hajime, had been focusing more on eating than participating in the conversation, whipped his head up and at his father. "Wait, why my room?"
"You and Yakata are similar in age, I thought it fitting," Sasuke replied.
"But…"
"But what."
"But it's my room," Inou said. Yakata could only see one of his eyes, from the way his hair fell into his face, but the look he shot at Yakata was, for a moment, surprisingly like one Sasuke's own angry expressions. It was unnerving.
"Um, I, I don't, I don't want to be a bother…" Yakata said, his voice squeaking slightly. "I mean, if… if you don't want me, um. In your room, I'm, I'm, I'm sure I can find somewhere else to-"
"And Yakata is our guest. The guest's needs come before your own, Inou," Sasuke said, sharply. "Wouldn't you want to be treated the same if you were a guest in someone else's house?"
"Re-re-re-really, I, I don't need to-"
"He doesn't even want to stay in my room!" Inou said, looking at his father again - so at least he had been listening to Yakata.
"I don't want to make Yakata uncomfortable," Sasuke said, stiffly.
"I can… I can sleep just about anywhere, it's, it, it's, um. Fuh-fuh-fuh-fine, really…" Yakata replied.
"He can use my room," Hajime said. His voice, Yakata thought, through his growing anxiousness, was remarkably like Sasuke's. "I'm out of town half the time because of work, anyways. I don't care if he uses it."
"And where will you sleep when you are in town?" Sasuke said. His eyebrows had lowered, and his mouth had fixed itself into a stern line.
Hajime smiled very, very slightly. "I'll just stay at someone else's house," he said. "I have friends."
"That sounds like a lovely idea! Thank you, Hajime," Ino said. She sounded like she meant it, for once. "Sasuke, what do you say?"
"He should be with his family when he's at home," Sasuke grumbled.
"Oh, nonsense," Ino said. She waved her hand dismissively. "Hajime, you can take care of yourself, can't you? You're an adult, for heaven's sake…"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hajime said.
"If, if, if that's okay with, with everyone else then I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, okay with it too, I guess…" Yakata said.
"Then it's settled. Yakata-kun can stay in Hajime's room," Ino said, brightly, clapping her hands together. "Wonderful! Glad we got that settled."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and, strangely, went back to eating.
"So, Yakata-kun, what sorta stuff you like to do?" Karai asked, nudging him on the shoulder.
"Huh? Stuff?"
"Yeah, like, you got any hobbies?"
"Oh, well, um… I, I, I like reading, I, I guess?" Yakata said.
Across the table, Nadeshiko smiled ever so, ever so slightly. Inou rolled his eyes.
"Really? What's your favorite book?" Karai said.
"Duh-dunno if… if I have a favorite, I mean, I, I like a lot of books," Yakata said. "Though… though I, I did bring one home with me, I got it, um, for, for my birthday and I've read it over'n over again I, I dunno how many times."
"So I guess that one's your favorite!" said Karai, with a bubble-laugh. "What's it called?"
"Well, it's, it's a book of, um. Folk tales 'n stuff," Yakata said. "Like, a whole… a whole bunch of them. So there's not really a title, just… just 'Folktales of the World.'"
"Sounds really cool! Can I read it sometime?"
Yakata shrugged. "Sure, I, I guess so."
"Karai, let Yakata eat," Sasuke said, out of nowhere.
"'kay," Karai replied, slightly deflated. She went back to her rice.
Yakata couldn't help but frown slightly. He'd been enjoying the conversation, really, it wasn't distracting him from his meal at all or anything…
"Uh, if… if I let you borrow my book, you, you gotta tell me more about those Yamanaka things," Yakata whispered, with a slight smile. "Y'know, the um. The tele-pathy."
"That won't be necessary," Sasuke said, before Karai could speak. "You won't need to learn any of those."
"Oh, I'm, I'm sorry, I was just… I was just curious, is all. Karai-chan was just, um. Just telling me about them earlier today and-"
"Very thoughtful of you, Karai. Thank you," Sasuke said. "Why don't you and Yakata talk about Uchiha techniques next time?"
"Sure, I can do that," said Karai. She thoughtfully dangled a bell pepper slice from her chopsticks for a moment before eating it.
Yakata almost asked why Sasuke was so angry at Karai - what else could he be, with an expression like that?
Almost. But something told him that it wouldn't be right to pry, so he stayed quiet.
Hajime left the table first. "I'll go pack my things," he said, taking his plate with him and putting it in the sink.
"And I expect you'll be leaving, right afterward?" Sasuke said. His voice was spiteful, as were his eyes.
"Probably."
"Hm." Sasuke sipped his tea.
Hajime wasn't gone long before Nadeshiko left, herself, without a single word. Hajime left the house shortly afterward, with an uncharacteristically energetic wave - even Yakata, who had known him for all of an evening, found his speech and expressions otherwise perpetually sluggish, almost disconnected, like his soul was hovering somewhere just outside of his body.
Inou left after him. "I need to take a bath," he said.
"You should," Sasuke replied. "After all that training, you should get cleaned off. Price you have to pay for actually putting in effort, hm?" He glanced at Karai afterwards, with her clean face and her clean dress. She smiled back in mock-embarrassment.
Inou didn't say anything, though he nodded, and disappeared into the bathroom.
"Yakata-kun, do you need any help getting moved into Hajime's room?" Karai asked him, afterward. "'Cos I'm all done, so if you are too…"
"That's very nice of you, Karai, volunteering to help," Ino said. Karai just smiled.
"I'd… I'd like that a lot, thank you," Yakata said. "I'm… I'm done eating too, so, do, do I just put my dish in the sink…?"
"Yes, I'll take care of all the washing," Ino said.
"Okay," Yakata said. Following Karai, he put his dishes in the sink, and went to get his bag in the foyer.
"Don't waste his time, Karai," Sasuke said after them. Karai didn't answer, just smiling.
Hajime's room was at the very end of the second-floor hallway, Karai told him. "That's Inou's room, the first one on the left. Nadeshiko's is next door. Mine's that one, across from Inou's; Takeru's is next to mine, and that's the second bathroom. Mom 'n Dad sleep downstairs," she explained further.
"Oh, I see…" Yakata said.
She giggled. "C'mon, let's get you set up." She walked with Yakata to Hajime's room, and opened the door.
It was a plain room, sparse, with nothing but a few ink paintings on the walls to suggest that it belonged to anyone. The bed, one of the biggest that Yakata had ever seen, was neatly-made, with grey and black sheets.
"Gosh, this is… this is really nice, thank you…" he said.
"Why are you thanking me?" Karai said. "You should be thanking Hajime, this is his room. Remember? Mine's down-"
"It's the room across from Inou-san's, I remember. Next to… next to Takeru-san's."
She blinked a few times, with her huge, black eyes. She grinned. "You learn quick!"
"I, I guess…" he replied. His face felt hot.
(Generally, people didn't respond as well to him answering questions so quickly.)
"So, where you wanna put your stuff?" she asked, shortly afterward.
Yakata put his pack on the wooden floor and squatted beside it. It made a soft thump. "Um, well, I, I don't… I don't wanna use his drawers, that'd be rude. I guess I can, um. Just keep everything in my pack for now."
"Oh, I'm sure my brother won't mind, but okay!" Karai said. She sat down on the bed, kicking her legs against the mattress. "Whatever works for you. I mean, sometimes it's easier to keep everything in one place, right?"
"I suppose…"
"Do you need any help, Karai?" Nadeshiko had suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"Nah, I think we're good here!" Karai said, and laughed. "Unless you think we need help, Yakata-kun."
Yakata shook his head. "I'm… I'm fine, thank you."
Yakata had never seen such sad eyes. "Let me know if you need me, then," Nadeshiko said. "You know where I am."
"Thanks, sis!" Karai said, as she left.
There was quiet, for a while. Yakata stood. "Hey, Karai-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"That… that was your, your sister, um. Nadeshiko, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, that was her," Karai said. Her voice, naturally cheery as it was, sounded oddly detached. "Why d'you ask, were you guys not introduced?"
"Well, not… not really, but that's, that's not why I'm, um. Asking."
"Not surprised…" She leaned back on the bed, propping herself up with her arms. "Why were you asking?"
Yakata shrugged. "I, I was just wondering if… if she was okay, she looked kinda sad… Did something happen? I, I, I don't mean to pry, I'm just… just a little concerned…"
"Oh. Well. She's always like that," Karai said. Her ever-present smile faded, slightly. "She's okay, though, you don't need to worry about her."
"But why's she so sad, then…?" Yakata said. He added, in a whisper, as if afraid that someone was listening in, "Is it… is it because of Sasuke-san? He… he seemed kinda mad at her. I mean, that's, that's just what it looked like, I, I, I don't mean to make assumptions…"
Yakata remembered the way his voice had hardened when talking about her, to her. He remembered how quickly she had left his sight when he had first arrived at the Uchiha house.
Karai didn't answer, for a while. "She an' Dad have never really gotten along. It's always been like that," she finally said. "You don't have to worry about it. It's normal."
(It hadn't always been like that, but Karai was too young to remember otherwise.)
Yakata didn't say anything.
Her smile snapped back on her face in an instant. "Hey, but she's really nice, though! I'm sure she's gonna like you a lot," she said, leaning over and propping herself up with her elbows on her knees, her hands under her chin. "Don't worry if it doesn't look like it. She's just kinda quiet. She likes to keep to herself, mostly."
Yakata found himself unexpectedly smiling, though his stomach twisted and jumped at the same time.
(Why did he get the feeling he had heard those words before?)
"B'sides, I like you a bunch already, Yakata-kun. An' I'm sure everyone else will too. I mean," she said, "if Dad thinks you got promise an' stuff then you can't be all bad!"
"Oh! Well, I, um. I like you too!" Yakata said, and laughed. His laugh was not nearly as infectious or as bright as Karai's, but it still made her smile even more widely.
"Well! Lemme know if you need me or anything. I'm gonna be downstairs," Karai said. She got off the bed.
"Okay, thank you," Yakata said.
And then he was alone. Sasuke came in to check on him later, when he didn't leave the room. "Feeling all right?" he asked, from the door.
Yakata had been lying on Hajime's bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking with his hands behind his head. Karai had turned the lights on when they had entered together, and he hadn't bothered to turn them off. He sat up suddenly when he heard Sasuke's voice. "Oh! Yeah, I'm, I'm fine…"
"You seemed tense at dinner," Sasuke said
"Tense? Well, I, I, I guess I was, um. Feeling a little awkward…"
Sasuke smiled slightly. "I suppose that's to be expected. You'll get to know everyone soon. Takeru seemed to like you," he added, his smile growing wider.
"Ah, and Karai-chan and I were, um. Talking earlier, too," Yakata replied. "I like her a lot."
"Hm, well. You two are close in age," Sasuke said, sliding into his usual, neutrally-disapproving face again. "Anyways, you'd best get some sleep. It's an early morning for us tomorrow."
"Oh?" Yakata thought, for a moment. "Oh! Because… because you, you said you were going to, um. Take me around the, the city, get those blood tests done..."
"Exactly," Sasuke said. "You need your rest, don't want to have to cut it off early. Lots of people to meet."
"Yeah…"
"So, goodnight."
"Oh, um. Goodnight, Sasuke-san."
Sasuke left, turning off the light as he went, closing the door behind him.
Yakata lay back down on top of the covers, after a while. Thinking, processing everything.
There was so much he'd learned that day, so many people he'd met already.
Ino, Sasuke's wife, with the strange looks and the sudden smiles.
Murasaki, dark-haired and sleepy-eyed and sick in the head. The woman who only spoke lies.
Karai, the youngest, energetic and helpful and almost his age.
Takeru, who didn't look much like Sasuke but acted like him, with the sarcastic voice.
Hajime, who was the oldest, and very tired, and absent.
Inou, the dirty one, fourteen years old, who glared like his father did.
Nadeshiko, who kept to herself, who didn't get along with Sasuke, who was supposed to be nice and very quiet.
And then Sasuke. Whose moods seemed to shift with the blowing of the wind. He'd been kind to Yakata, but distant, detached, awkward. Annoyed sometimes, before coming home - never angry.
His anger scared Yakata. But he'd never gotten angry at Yakata. Just at Murasaki. At Nadeshiko. He already was beginning to think that he'd be okay - his moods on the road had all had meanings, so surely his anger had similar justifications.
But if Nadeshiko was as nice as Karai had said, and from what Yakata himself had seen, then why did Sasuke hate her so much?
He figured he'd find out, soon enough. But it wasn't really his place to ask.
He then thought of writing a letter to his mother, at the nearly-barren desk on the other side of the room. But it was only the first day, he reasoned. There wouldn't be much to write about. And he was tired, besides. He'd wait a few more days, at least, and then write her. To let her know he was okay.
He'd been missing her a lot, since the land began growing unfamiliar. And he was sure she missed him too. She'd be glad to hear from him.
Still in his clean clothes, Yakata grabbed the covers and bundled himself under them, and went to bed.
He was fast asleep by the time the shouting began, downstairs.