| [Aug. 13th, 2015|02:52 am] |
Genma wasn’t usually an impulsive man. Until that moment he hadn’t even considered living with Asuma, but sometimes in the heat of battle a plan came together all at once, and you had to take action while you had the advantage of surprise over your enemy.
Not that Reiko was the enemy, exactly, but she wasn’t really an ally, either.
Genma didn’t think of himself as someone who bore personal animosity towards others, but Sarutobi Reiko was a hard woman to like. She was about as opposite in disposition to Asuma as a sibling could be — no one who knew her would call her warm or light-hearted. Even when she was trying to be a good older sister, she drove Asuma crazy. She’d never liked that Asuma had joined ANBU, both because of the risks, and because of ANBU’s reputation, and she made sure he knew it. She’d also made it clear she was not a fan of the things she imagined her brother got up to behind closed doors with Genma.
The prospect of Asuma — still torn apart by the deaths of the Guardian Twelve and under official suicide watch — having to live with his overbearing sister was just too much.
“If we haven’t signed a lease by tonight, he’s staying with me at Aoba’s again,” Genma said.
Reiko blinked round, brown eyes above flushed cheeks, visibly stumbling. “Asuma, what’s he talking about?”
Since Asuma had no more idea than Reiko what Genma was talking about, he had no answer. He looked trapped and a little panicky. Genma squeezed Asuma’s elbow again and flashed a quick hand-signal at him: follow my lead.
“I need a new apartment. Asuma needs a place to live. We’re friends. Seemed like a reasonable solution.”
“Friends,” Reiko scoffed, as if it were a euphemism. Her eyes locked on Asuma, looking for a denial she clearly didn’t expect to find.
Asuma shrugged and gave her a weak smile. “You’ll need room for the baby,” he said. “Like you keep saying.” His tone grew teeth. “Every day.”
Reiko’s belly was just barely beginning to show — that baby was at least five months off — but Asuma’d said she’d been complaining about her pregnancy non-stop. It was an uncounterable argument.
“We’ll send some genin around to collect Asuma’s things,” Genma said. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”
Reiko’s eyes narrowed as her gaze swung from Genma to Asuma and back, looking for the lie. “When should I expect them?”
The blank look on Asuma’s face concealed what Genma guessed was a seething caldera of emotions. There was no one on earth who could get under Asuma’s skin quite so effectively as his older sister. A voice at the back of Genma’s head suggested it was a weakness to be sure no enemy of Konoha ever exploited.
“When we’ve found a place,” Genma told her. “Assuming we find one today, probably tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch. There were fifteen minutes until he had to meet with the physical therapist, and he really wanted a chance to confer with Asuma before it. “I’m afraid we both have appointments now, though,” he said, ducking his head in as much of a bow as the crutches allowed. “It was a pleasure as always to see you, Reiko-san. We’ll be in touch as soon as we have an address.”
Reiko pursed her lips, looking like she wanted to say more, but she just returned a shallow bow. Her eyes swept over her brother. “Just don’t leave me out of the loop this time.”
Asuma gave Reiko a bland smile, then turned towards the elevators, tugging on Genma’s arm. “We’d better go if we don’t want to be late. Fourth floor, I think.” |
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