Pulling his hand out of the water and drying it slowly on his pant leg, Hiro made sure all of his attention was focused on Ginta, as the seriousness of the comment called for. "From what I hear, Ryouma has a lot of initiative," he ventured neutrally. Initiative, in the sense Ginta had used it, was not always a positive thing. "I'm certainly glad he decided to use it that time," he added with an easy smile.

Something was up between Ginta, Ryouma, and Hatake Kakashi, Hiro knew as much from when he'd visited Ginta across the hall from them in the hospital. He didn't have enough information to say exactly what it was, but it did bear watching, and maybe later he would try to discover what was going on.

Not before he was more certain about where he stood with Ginta, though. The hardest thing about secrets wasn't uncovering them in the first place; it was acting, from that point on, exactly as you had when you didn't know anything at all, which took a lot more delicacy and planning. That was a lesson that children in glass houses quickly learned.

Cross-referencing Ginta's cut-off syllable with what he remembered from Ginta's record, Hiro wondered at his companion's suddenly forthcoming mood. Everything relating to undercover ops in Lightning Country was still strictly confidential, and though Hiro had enough clearance to see the full report, it would have taken some digging, and possibly a few favors. Ginta certainly hadn't needed to mention Ryouma's name. It felt curiously like a gift, and Hiro's smile settled in more securely to the corners of his eyes.

"I haven't been there too often, for obvious reasons," he ducked his head, lowering his gaze, "but I certainly don't envy you being there back then. I'm glad it was solo mission type one." Looking up from under his hair, his smile was innocent but genuine.