Chapter 95 - Purl Back

The room was uncomfortably cold as Nobuhiro and Yuki prepared for bed. The skin on Nobuhiro's chest and arms felt tight and prickly, no matter how firmly he wrapped his pajamas around him.

Yuki sat on the other side of the room, combing his hair, his eyes downcast. His breath did not cloud in the air at all, unlike Nobuhiro's. It never did.

Naturally, this was his doing.

And Nobuhiro eventually had enough.

"Yuki, can you cut that out already?" Nobuhiro snapped. "F'fuck's sake, it's freezin' in here."

Yuki stopped his combing. "Oh, I'm… sorry, I didn't notice…"

The room, however, did not get much warmer.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that all the time," Nobuhiro continued. "S'not normal."

Yuki lowered his head. "I'm sorry, brother."

Nobuhiro wrapped his pajamas tighter and pulled an outer robe on. "It's fine, y'just need to show more control or whatever. Why are you upset, anyways?"

"I'm not upset."

"Bullshit, Yuki."

Yuki's lips pursed. "It's nothing."

"Don't lie t'me."

"It's nothing, brother." Yuki glared at him through his hair.

"Then why's the room so damn cold still?" Nobuhiro relied. "Tell me or I'll make you tell me."

Yuki put the comb down, clenching his hands tightly in his lap. "That old woman, with the red hair. She… she made me uncomfortable."

"What, that ninja hag? Ignore her, Yuki."

"No, brother, I can't," Yuki replied. "It wasn't anything she did, it was what she said to me."

"That don't make a difference."

"It does. Brother, how did she know so much about me?" Yuki looked at him more directly, there, and there was fear in his eyes.

"I have no idea. Maybe she's like one of those con-psychic-cold-reader people. I dunno. Stop thinking about her." Nobuhiro began looking for his knife.

"Then how did she know what I could do with ice?" Yuki said.

Nobuhiro paused in his search.

"She said there was someone else like me. A clan with my name. And I just… it was just like Sekiraun, brother, when those ninjas asked-"

Nobuhiro found his knife. "That doesn't have to do with anything, Yuki."

"But what if it does? Nobuhiro, I know you don't like talking about…" He lowered his eyes, momentarily. "…these sorts of things, but what if that's where I came from?"

Slide, click. "That doesn't matter, Yuki." Slide, click, slide, click.

"It does to me!"

"Then you should stop caring!" Nobuhiro was sheathing and unsheathing his knife in fast, hard movements, as if pounding a fist into his palm. "Why the hell do you care where you came from? Th'only thing that matters is the present."

Yuki breathed in, deeply. The air seemed to drop in temperature that much more. "Are you afraid that I'm one of them, Nobuhiro? Or that I'll… that I'll desert you for them?"

"You're talkin' nonsense."

"I am not! These ninjas have seen other people like me! And I try so hard not to think about it but… but I can't help it here, when it's just shoved in my face like this!"

Swirling, sparkling ice crystals were floating in the air behind Yuki, now, forming agitated spires.

"Yuki, cut this the fuck out." Nobuhiro unsheathed his knife entirely, and stabbed it into the tatami in front of him. "You ain't a ninja, you didn't come from no ninja, you're an Inaba."

"You're just saying that because you're afraid that you're wrong," Yuki said, lowly, his hair falling in his face.

"Do not talk to me that way, Yuki!" Nobuhiro slammed his fist on the ground beside his knife.

"…you are scared," Yuki said. His voice had grown dangerously quiet. "Nobuhiro, what if I really did come from a ninja?"

"YOU DIDN'T."

"Because you can't stand the thought of having that sort of person as a brother, isn't that it?" Yuki said. "I know you've always wished I was normal."

"Yuki, just—just shut UP." He pulled his knife out of the ground, fumbling with his words and seeking sharpness. "Shut up and stop thinking about this. And stop doing that—that freaky thing with the ice, okay?"

The spires, whorled and knotted like diseased limbs, were now connected with thin, highly-reflective panes of ice, almost like mirrors. Behind Yuki's face, set in a mask of sorrow-cast anger, Nobuhiro's own face, flushed red with frustration, was reflected five-fold.

"…I see," Yuki said. "I'll just get out of your sight, then. Save you the embarrassment of having such a freak in your presence."

"Yuki, no-!"

But Yuki stood, the fragile spires and sheets of glass shattering as he went, and he left the room, taking the coldness with him. The shards of ice on the tatami disappeared.

And he went to Kiine's room.

She and Kou were together, though not speaking. She was reclined on one of her room's large pillows, reading a book. Kou was leaned against her, knitting with ice-blue yarn, his head gently touching her shoulder.

They looked beautiful. And the sight of this pained Yuki, the two of them so perfectly content without him there, though not nearly as much as the pain his brother had given him.

(Though it added to the needle of abandonment making its way into his brain through his ears, humming as it went, "Brother doesn't want you, Brother doesn't want you." Over and over.)

(Though, now, it said, "Brother doesn't want you, Master doesn't want you, you are just a tool to her, you could be replaced.")

He hadn't even said a word, opening the door noiselessly, but somehow, she noticed he had entered.

"Yuki?" She put down her book. "Hey, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

Her warmth was achingly undeniable. Yuki closed the door behind him and got on his knees in front of her. "I could be better, sir."

"Oh, gosh, Yuki…" She left the pillow (left Kou) and went to his side. "Tell me, what's going on, yeah?"

"It's my brother," he mumbled. "And I'm… I'm sorta scared about some things."

"What things, Yuki?" She scooted a little closer.

Yuki glanced away from her. At Kou.

His face was filled with honest concern. He had even come a little closer.

"That old woman that asked me all those questions today. The one that kept staring at me. And then Sekiraun, Master, you remember?"

"I remember, Yuki."

"It's just… it's got me thinking about where, exactly, I came from. I mean, if there are ninja out there that are like me…"

"Then it means you've got relatives that also happen to be ninjas, Yuki, you shouldn't be so upset, yeah," Kiine said, her eyes softening.

"…I know you wouldn't care, Master," Yuki said, softly. "But my brother, and… Boss Tensho, sir. That matters to them."

"Papa's a huge baby about ninjas, Yuki, you know that, yeah?" Kiine said. "Besides, it's not like he'll throw you out for being related to people you've never met."

"…that's not what I'm worried about," Yuki replied. "Nobuhiro, he… he thinks I'm a freak. I know he wishes I wasn't like this." His throat began to feel tight. "And it just… I wish I didn't care, but it bothers me…!"

"Oh, Yuki…" Kiine leaned forward and hugged him. "It's okay, it really is, yeah?"

Yuki shook his head. "It's not, it's not."

"What's not okay, then?"

"Master, I… I've always tried not to think about who my parents were, where I came from," Yuki said. "I try not to think it matters, but with all these people asking, I can't ignore it. And I don't know what to do. It's not just your clan, sir, it's all these other people."

(And Nobuhiro.)

Kiine's stammer-silence was no comfort. "Well, Yuki… I guess, that, um…"

"Sometimes it's just better not to know."

It was Kou that had spoken.

"What… do you mean by that, Kou?" Kiine said.

Kou fidgeted, his forefingers playing with the tips of his knitting needles. "When I was little, I asked my dad where my mom was, since I had to have had one. He said that she was literally nobody and that he was only… with her to have me, because my grandpa's dying wish was to have a grandchild…"

"Oh, Kou…" Kiine raised a hand to her mouth.

"He really likes to talk about her, though. 'Shame you're such a plain boy, Kou. Maybe if I hadn't chosen such a homely girl you'd have turned out prettier.' 'Look at all that baby fat. You must get it from your mother. Serves me right for choosing a flat chest over thinness.'" His voice was a painful imitation of his father, high and petty. "Some days I think I'm more of a pet or something to him than a person… Just something he had to have, not something he really wanted."

And it was then that the full weight of Kou's humiliation, from that day, from all the other days, hit Yuki.

"She's shown much more initiative and leadership ability than my little pansy ever has."

Being told outright that he'd have been killed if Yuki and Kiine hadn't rescued him.

And even on their very first meeting, how casually he had tossed out his father's insults, devaluing himself, constantly apologizing.

The lead-weight of guilt settled into Yuki's stomach, causing his shoulders to rise.

"So, Yuki-san… I understand how it feels to wonder about those sorts of things," Kou continued. "I just… hope, if you do ever find out, that things don't go as badly for you."

"…well I think it's pretty undeniable by now that I'm related to these… Yuki people," Yuki said, quietly. "I mean, I was abandoned when I was a baby, that's what Nobuhiro told me. I still don't know why he took me in, though."

"You ever tried asking?" Kiine said.

Yuki shook his head. "He just says he did it because he…"

He paused.

"Because he what, Yuki?" Kiine said.

"…had to. He always changes the subject after that."

"Oh…" Kiine bit her lip. "Well… I'm sure he's just simplifying his reasons, yeah…"

"I really think he views you as a brother, Yuki-san. Truly," Kou said. He had moved slightly closer to them. "I saw how he yelled at that lady for pressing about where you came from."

Kou had noticed that…?

"Yeah!" Kiine's face brightened. "He did that the first time, too. R'member, Yuki?" She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "Nobu's your big brother, Yuki, an' he's always looked out for you, no matter what, yeah? He's just got… issues. But we'll get through it, okay?"

"…I just don't know what I should do if that woman asks me further about where I came from," Yuki replied.

"Well, just tell her what you know," Kiine replied, "and by that, I mean, tell her that you don't know. And tell her to step off yourself, if you have to! I personally thought she was getting way too touchy, yeah."

Yuki managed a slight smile. "I suppose we'll have to see what happens, sir."

"Exactly."

Still, the pin-sharp tension of the room down the hallway of the suite remained.

"…um, sir, is it… all right if I stay here with you and Kou-san for a while?" he said.

"Well duh, Yuki, of course it's okay. C'mon, I was just getting to the good part of this book, you wanna look on?" She grinned.

"I suppose I wouldn't mind that, sir," Yuki replied.

Kiine returned to her pillow, and patted the space beside her, where Kou was formerly sitting. "C'mon, over here."

But that wasn't Yuki's place. He didn't fit in, there. "Um, but Kou-san…"

"I'll find somewhere else to sit," Kou replied, brightly. "It's all right, Yuki-san."

Carefully, uncomfortably, Yuki nestled his head into the crook of Kiine's shoulder, pulling his knees up to his chest. His eyes strayed from the page, however, to see Kou sit against the wall near her feet with a placid expression, returning to his knitting. He did not seem to mind this shift in power.

But Yuki did.

"…um, sir?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Why don't you read aloud? So Kou-san can hear."

"Hey, great idea, Yuki! Kou, you remember what's going on in the story, right?"

Kou nodded, his smile growing slightly larger.

"Okay, I'll just continue where we left off," Kiine said, and cleared her throat.

The coolness of Yuki's cheek against Kiine's warm shoulder felt like it belonged there. Slowly, the hum of fear began to leave his ears.

None of them noticed, however, the thick creak of someone standing up from kneeling behind the door, and the footsteps that followed.

Nobuhiro had been listening, and he really needed a drink, or else he'd feel even shittier than he currently did.

The people in the lounge, however, did nothing to improve his mood.

Sitting at a table near the bar was the creepy eyebrow-less guy with the tattoo on his forehead, and her. They were talking, though as Nobuhiro passed them, they stopped.

"Whiskey. No ice, biggest shot you can," Nobuhiro growled, as he slid onto a bar stool.

He looked over his shoulder. The conversation at the table had died down and the creepy guy was leaving.

She was coming up to him.

"Your whiskey, sir," the bartender said.

"Nobuhiro…"

"Don't talk to me." Nobuhiro sipped his drink.

"Nobuhiro, please."

He didn't say anything, didn't even look at her.

"Can't we at least clear up a few things?"

"I don't give time to liars," Nobuhiro said. He took another sip.

"When have I lied to you?"

"You didn't tell me you were one of them."

"A ninja?"

Another sip.

"I don't remember that ever coming up, last night," she said. "That doesn't make me a liar."

He was silent.

"I'm sorry if it made me come across as deceitful, though," she continued. "Since it obviously seems that… you and your boss have some issues with people like me."

"Tch. More than a few issues," Nobuhiro said.

He thought of Yuki, and downed the rest of his drink, trying to burn away his guilt with the fire of the alcohol in his throat. Whiskey spilled onto his face, and he wiped it off on the back of his wrist.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"I don't see why it matters to you."

"It matters to me because I can see how much it hurts you inside."

"Shut up. Barkeep, another."

"What's your deal with ninjas, anyways? Did a ninja give you that scar or something? Because that's not the fault of all of us, that's just-"

"A ninja didn't give me my scar. Fuck no."

She pulled back. "All right, all right. Then what happened?"

"None of your fucking business." He took his second whiskey and messily slurped down half of it.

"It is my business if it's someone I know, or if they were acting on the orders of someone I know," she replied. "It's my responsibility to ensure that the system isn't abused, so that people like you aren't hurt."

"It happened when I was a kid, no fucking way you could-a known them," Nobuhiro replied.

"It's still worth bringing up."

"Shut up." He took a shallower sip.

There was a thoughtful pause. "This… doesn't have to do with your sister, does it? The one you lost?"

His fist tightened around the glass.

"It does, doesn't it."

"Shut the fuck up." He took a quick sip, to quench the tightness in this throat.

"What happened to her? I don't care how long ago it happened, I want to know."

"It's none of your fucking business, whore," Nobuhiro replied. He pressed his lips together, and his scar stretched, the skin burning from tension and alcohol.

She inhaled, sharply. "Please don't treat me like this. Ninjas aren't all bad people, Nobuhiro."

"You would say that."

"I would, because it's true. There are always going to be bad people, no matter where you come from. Ninja, civilian, syndicate, it doesn't matter. And I don't deserve to be treated like this if I haven't done anything wrong."

Nobuhiro scoffed.

"Please, tell me. I want to know."

"You wanna know what happened, huh? Really?" He could feel his jaw quivering, his hands loosening. "My boss's wife was sick when she was a kid, so her dad hired some ninja medic guy to cure her. White skin, freaky as fuck. This tweaked-out fairy. But he didn't want money as payment, no, not just that. He wanted a woman. And not to fuck, oh no, he had other ideas. And guess who he picked."

She took a while to respond. "Your sister…"

"Yeah, that's right. He fucking picked my sister. Of all the damn servants in the house, he picked her. An' you know what happened after that?" He laughed like he was choking, bile rising in his throat. "And then, fucking… twenty-whatever years later, this kid gets dropped off at our house with a note addressed to me. Says it's to make up for what happened to my sister. He practically has the same fucking name as her!"

"His… name?"

"Her name was Yukiko. My sister. My brother—I couldn't call him my… son, or, or my nephew, fuck, I couldn't—the name on the note said his name was Yuki. Jeez, I don't even want to think about what that could mean."

"So you think he's hers, then."

"Yeah. And he's… you heard what that red-haired ogre-woman said, all that shit about the Yuki clan or whatever. I don't wanna think she was… forced to have some ice-freak's kid, but what the hell else could it be?!" He pressed his palm, hard, against his eyebrow, rubbing in frustration. "What kind of sick fuck thinks of humans like money."

"Nobody normal, Nobuhiro."

He stopped rubbing.

"Do you remember his name? The man that was hired, I mean."

Nobuhiro thought hard. It was a name he tried to keep it out of his thoughts.

"Orochimaru. That was his name."

She gasped.

Nobuhiro, finally, looked at her. She had a hand clamped over her mouth. "What, what is it, huh?"

"…that man was... a notorious criminal, even amongst ninja," Kohriza replied. "One of the most powerful in history. He even founded his own nation, in the Land of Rice, and launched a terrorist attack on Konohagakure thirty years ago with… children that he had trained and… modified himself."

"…modified? The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kohriza, who had lowered her hand in speaking, covered her mouth again. "Oh, gosh, I'm—Nobuhiro, I'm so sorry…"

"Tell me what the hell that means! Modified? Speak up!" He leaned forward, desperately.

It took a while for her to answer, her eyes narrowed in a precursor to tears. "…one of the reasons why he was so infamous was because of his record of… human experimentation."

"…that motherfucker. So is that what he wanted her for? Fucking… experiments?"

"Nobuhiro, I can't say, I don't know. But… please, let me tell you that what happened to you is considered wrong, even by our standards. This man, Orochimaru, he hurt many people, not just you. He does not represent all of us."

Nobuhiro could barely hear her, his chest rising up and down. "Another drink," he managed to choke out.

"Nobuhiro, I don't-"

"I'm gonna kill him."

"What…?"

"I'm gonna… I'm gonna find where he lives an' I'm gonna make him pay."

"You mean Orochimaru…?"

"Wring his fucking neck." Nobuhiro muttered.

"Nobuhiro, he's… dead. He died almost thirty years ago, when the War ended."

The words sunk into him, slowly. "He's… dead?"

"Yes, he's dead."

"But then… then who the hell left…?" Words formed and dissolved in his mouth. "But who the hell else knew about Yukiko…?"

His third drink was delivered, but he did not touch it.

"What the fuck is going on…?" he said, quietly, resting his forehead on his hand. "Who the hell left Yuki for me then…?"

"That, I… can't help you with," Kohriza replied. She leaned forward against the bar, and closer to him. "But does that at least help, knowing more?"

A breath, uncomfortably like a sob, escaped him. "What the hell happened to Yukiko, then…?" he said. "Damn it, what the hell is going on…?!"

He slumped lower, his hand running over his slicked-back hair and ruining the neatness.

"Maybe it's better not to know," Kohriza replied. "I mean, considering what he did…"

"Shut up," Nobuhiro said, half-heartedly. He reached for his whiskey, but his hands were shaking, spilling the alcohol onto his fingers.

And then Kohriza's hand was on top of his hand. Her skin was soft and smooth. "The only thing you can do now is to move on. There's nothing else that can be done that can help you. Getting angry about the past will only harm you, and… your brother, too, I think."

His hand stopped shaking. He put the glass down.

"Since he's… well, he was as much a part of this as you are," she continued. "You still know as little about where he came from as you used to, right?"

He tried rubbing his eye. It began to sting, violently.

"Motherfucker!" he shouted, reaching for a napkin and stabbing it in his eye.

"What, did you just realize something?" she said.

"No! I got… fucking whiskey in my eye!" he replied.

She laughed, but sucked it back in apologetically. "Do you want me to get you another napkin?" she said.

"No, no, I'll be fine. Jeez, I'm such a fuckup…"

Not only for the whiskey in his eye, he realized, in the painful silence that came after, but for what he'd said to Yuki.

Especially after hearing what he'd said to Kiine, afterward.

What the hell could he possibly say to apologize?

"You okay, now?" he heard Kohriza saying.

He took a deep breath in, removing the napkin from his eye and rubbing it with his dry left palm for good measure.

"…either way, he can't help it…" Nobuhiro mumbled to himself.

"Who?"

"My… brother. S'like you said, I dunno anything about where he… came from, or whatever. Ninja or… wherever." His senses were thickening around the edges. "So the most I can do is just… not think about it. Move on. I mean, he's still my brother, f'fuck's sake, that'll never change…"

Kohriza smiled, gently. "Forgive and forget, right?"

"Eh, dunno s'much about the 'forgive' part, but… eh." Nobuhiro slouched forward, crossing his arms on the edge of the bar. "Forgettin' is much easier. Drinks help."

"With moderation."

"Aw, shut up," Nobuhiro replied, though gently, this time.

She giggled. "So… maybe it's out of bounds for me to ask, but do you not have so much of a problem with what I do, now?"

"Yesterday I sure as fuck would have. But I'm sorta reconsiderin', now," Nobuhiro replied. "I mean, I still think that Raikage guy is a huge dick."

Kohriza laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, Rotsuki-san is… sort of difficult, sometimes. Especially considering what seems to be going on with your clan and him. I'm personally really against the censorship that's sorta passive-aggressively allowed to happen in his country, it's really dumb."

"Oh yeah? I thought all you ninjas got along."

"Hardly. Especially when you're a Kage." She sighed. "You have to deal with all the international squabbles, in addition to hometown stuff. Blech." She stuck out her tongue. This made Nobuhiro chuckle.

"Well, what would you do about it?" he asked.

"Me? Well… if I were in your clan's position, personally, I'd arrange for meetings with local merchants that sell the contraband. Look at sales figures. Then maybe talk about a tax in exchange for assurance that their product gets delivered safely to distributors. That's sort of a half-baked solution, though, all things considered… I mean, I'm sure that your clan provides protection anyways…" She pouted, child-like, resting her chin on both hands.

"I always get so surprised when you use all them big words," Nobuhiro said. He reached, with a steady hand, for his drink, and took a slow, savoring sip.

"Hey, I wasn't elected just 'cos I'm pretty, you know!" She paused. "…well, okay, so that was probably a small factor, but I still have to run a country!"

He chuckled again. "So you're like that… Naruto guy, then?"

She nodded. "Yup. What, you didn't notice at dinner?"

"I was… sorta too angry to tell the difference. B'sides, you weren't wearing one of those stupid hats." Nobuhiro snorted.

"Yeah, true…" Kohriza said. "They are sorta silly. But they're traditional, so, what can you do."

Nobuhiro shrugged. "Tradition is stupid sometimes."

"Tell me about it."

The short silence that followed was comfortable.

"So, huh." Nobuhiro's furrowed brow looked almost contemplative.

"Hm?"

"So if I'd-a asked you what you did for work, last night, what would you've told me?" Nobuhiro asked.

"I'd have said I was a diplomat. Same as I tell everyone else, when I'm abroad," she replied. "Believe it or not, I love not being recognized. People sorta treat you differently if they find out things like that, I've found."

Nobuhiro nodded a few times, thoughtfully. "You just like bein' thought of as just a normal lady, hm?"

"Right on the mark," she replied, winking.

"Y'know," he said, after taking another sip, "I was sorta glad that I never asked, but now, I feel okay about it."

"Why's that?" she said.

"Well…" He folded his hands together, tapping the back of his hand with a finger. "I dunno. I guess I just feel more comf'table knowing that even you don't like havin' your job follow you to the bar. An' stuff."

She giggled. "I'm glad you feel the same."

"Yeah. Hey, were you drinkin' something back there? With that guy with the tattoo."

"Oh, huh? No, I wasn't."

"Okay. You want one of them… kikitini-whatevers, then?" Nobuhiro said. "S'the least I can do for you puttin' up with my bullshit tonight."

"Strawberry-kiwitini. And sure, I suppose I can accept that," she replied. "It really was nothing, though. You had definite reasons to be angry. I just hope that you're able to… feel a bit less hate towards ninjas, knowing this."

"Eh, I can accept that whole bad egg thing you said," he replied, lowering the hand he had raised to order her drink. "I mean, that Raikage guy, an' the cougar that was bothering my brother."

Kohriza laughed. "Well, neither of them are as nasty as Orochimaru was…"

"Yeah, whatever." Nobuhiro was smiling a little. "I think I'll change my tune to… Hmm…"

"Change your tune to what?"

"…'It don't matter what you do for a living. If you're a dick to other people, I'm takin' you down.'"

"An excellent tune," Kohriza said.

"Yeah, I guess it ain't so bad," Nobuhiro said.

He thought for a while, as Kohriza's drink arrived, and she delighted in removing the slice of lime placed on the rim.

"Hey, Kohriza?"

"Mm?"

"Who was it? That killed that Orochimaru guy, I mean."

"Hm? Oh, um… Some guy named Uchiha Sasuke, I think," Kohriza replied. "He lives around here. A friend of Naruto-san's, too, I think."

"Huh. Well, if I run into him, I'm gonna buy him a hell of a drink. Least I can do."

Nobuhiro's conversations with Kohriza were far less flirtatious, that night—rather, he asked her all sorts of things about her duties. "I mean, unless you don't wanna discuss work, I mean, I totally understand."

Though she'd giggled, and complied. "In the name of good diplomacy."

Something Nobuhiro came to realize, as he thought over their discussions, was that ninjas weren't so different than him. Well, sorta. They answered to a Boss-Kage-person, who was elected by the majority or the previous guy in charge, and followed orders and were paid to carry out errands and missions. And those missions varied depending on the area and what was being asked. Only difference he could really think of was size, since ninja villages had loads of families inside of them, while clans just had loads of individuals serving one family.

"If you were a ninja, Nobu, you'd be very highly regarded, I think," Kohriza said, with a smile that wrinkled her nose. "Maybe even famous."

"Shove it," he'd replied, though the compliment actually made him feel warm inside. And he knew it wasn't the alcohol.

What this was, he decided in the bathroom, was just like a damn clan feud. Like that one time Tensho had pissed off the Hanamachi Boss and had to meet with her about it and got that rubber-concubine for his trouble, or the time that the Jansou clan and the Saigoro clan had gotten into a fight and called the Taki clan to intercede for some reason or another. It was just as stupid and just as necessary to end.

Hell, maybe just speaking up during the negotiations would be enough to get Tensho to listen. Since Nobuhiro knew, for all his size, he wasn't nearly as bold as Tensho was. When he said things, Tensho listened.

And, well, he definitely saw paying back Naruto for his help as the fair thing to do. Thinking it over further actually gave him some respect for the guy—if Tensho had done something for somebody and wasn't paid back for it, he'd have been way more forceful in getting that debt repaid. Naruto was freakin' respectful.

Man, that Orochimaru guy was a dick.

(Nobuhiro was following Kohriza's advice and letting the other issues at hand and the alcohol keep his thoughts from wandering towards whatever the son of a bitch could have done to his sister.)

But beyond the meeting the next day, he had one other thing to deal with.

Luckily for him, Yuki wasn't asleep yet. He wasn't in his room, either, but Nobuhiro had an idea where he was, from the way that the rice-paper screen of Kiine's room was illuminated, and the murmurs that were coming out from behind it.

He slid the door open just enough for him to get an eye through, and he saw Kou working Yuki's hair into some sort of ornate top-knot. "Just a little longer, Yuki-san, hold on." Kou had bobby pins in his teeth, like a tailor of hair.

"Playing dress-up, are we?" Nobuhiro opened the door, having to lean on the frame afterward. "Lady Kiine, this'd better not be your doing."

"Oh, no, it was my idea," Kou replied, waving a hand dismissively. "It's just, Yuki-san's hair is so nice, and everyone else has such short hair, I wanted to see what I could do with it."

"Practically begging," Kiine said. Kou rolled his eyes, smiling.

Yuki, however, kept his eyes to his lap.

"Well… I just wanted to see how you all were doin'. And… to apologize. M'sorry for yellin' at you, Yuki. And I don't care who your folks were or weren't. You're still my brother." He paused, the silence almost itching at him. "…yeah, s'about all I wanted to say. You can stay here tonight if you want, I'm goin' to bed though."

"…thanks, brother," Yuki said, looking up. He had a bare smile, but that was all Nobuhiro needed to see.

"Yeah, no problem. You all should get t'bed too, big day tomorrow. Wanna make sure we keep your dad in line, eh, Lady Kiine?" Nobuhiro said.

"Uh… sure!" Kiine said. "I mean, if we wanna get anything done, yeah."

"Uh-huh. See you kids later," Nobuhiro said.

He slept a warm sleep, after that. And though he did not hear nor feel him enter, Yuki was asleep in the futon beside him, when he woke up in the morning.