I thought the hardest part of my punishment was assisting Miss Hiromi in the kitchen and then carrying the food to the cafeteria, without even being able to taste it.

I was wrong.

The worst came at the end of the dinner, when I had to walk between the tables to distribute the digestive to all the children.

All eyes were on me. The news of the near-blown brawl between Iwao and I at the springs, and of the punishment that Mistress Azumi had inflicted on me, had quickly made their way around the orphanage.

Who knows what they thought of me at that moment. Did they consider me a hero, for having the courage to respond to Iwao's bullying?

Did they feel sorry for me, who had dared to question the rules of the orphanage without knowing the consequences?

Or did they fear me, after seeing my more violent side?

In the latter case, I wouldn't have blamed them. After going to the infirmary, Iwao was forced to wear some sort of plastic mask over his nose and keep some cotton in his nostrils, in case he started bleeding again.

Unfortunately, that didn't prevent him from continuing to boast.

"You know, Choji, Yori's apron looks better on you than her!" he whispered to me as I passed by to give him the digestive. "Just try not to inhale too deeply, or you might tear it off!"

I bit my tongue and went to the table where Nao and Naoki were sitting.

I handed them the glasses, but they didn't even look at me. Of course, Nao must thought I was angry with him for what I had heard him say at the springs. But it wasn't true, not anymore. He was just trying to put his little sister in a safe position, I only realized that too late.

"Nao... I'm s..." I tried to say, but without even giving me time to finish Nao and Naoki drank the digestive in one gulp and ran out of the canteen, hand in hand.

It was even worse with Isoka. I had broken my promise about not getting in trouble to defend him, so I didn't expect him to smile at me... However, Isoka didn't even wait until I handed him the glass. He took it directly from the trolley, and he too, like the two brothers, drank in one gulp and ran away.

I finished walking around the tables and returned to Yori's, when the cafeteria was completely empty. As for her, she just took the glass in her right hand while looking at me with a neutral expression.

"While you were passing between the tables, I locked the door of the cellar. Just in case you're tempted to have a secret snack."

"Thanks," I said absently. "...then you can go too, Yori. If you've closed the cellar, there's no need for you to watch me for Mistress Azumi. Besides, I work better without anyone looking at me."

"All right, if you say so. The important thing is that you finish all of your chores. See you tomorrow."

She drank too, and she too left the cafeteria.

...

And so, there I was. All alone, miles and miles away from home, in the kitchen of an orphanage, bent over a sink in front of a mountain of dishes and crockery as tall as the ceiling.

I was about to cry.

Why was I about to cry? Why would I even care if I was put in detention? I was a ninja in disguise, I was just playing a part! Strict leaders or bullying jerks had no power over me!

I felt a lump in my throat.

Had I gotten too into character?

No, it was always me. Choji Akimichi, a clumsy ninja who was in danger of no longer being such. A ninja forced to carry out a mission beyond his reach.

A boy who feels lost without the people he loves.

I cried.

I didn't want to think about it. I had done everything, in those days, to avoid thinking about it. But the accident at the springs forced me to face reality.

I was homesick. I missed the people who made me feel good and at peace with myself.

And the worst part of it all was that I didn't even have a recent memory of them.

An encouragement for my mission, a foothold to hold on to in the most difficult moments... Nothing. All because of my cowardice.

I knew Master Kakashi would tell them everything, but it wasn't the same thing.

I could have imagined how things would have turned out, if I just had the courage to talk to them in person... but it wouldn't have worked out anyway.

At that moment, more than ever, I wanted my father to scold me harshly for the situation I had found myself in, and then give me the necessary encouragement, as he had always done since I was a child.

I wanted Ino to have pulled my ears and scolded me, and then wish me luck with her heart-warming sunshine.

I wanted Shikamaru to have shared with me a hundred tips and strategies suitable for the occasion, and then put a hand on my shoulder and instill me confidence and courage as only he could do.

I wanted all of these things to had actually happened. But it was too late to turn back.

And so, there I was. All alone, miles and miles away from home, in the kitchen of an orphanage, bent over a sink, crying and sobbing loudly in front of a mountain of dishes and crockery as tall as the ceiling.

...to hell with it!

I threw the sponge and gloves aside, closed the tap, and turned away from my work.

It was wrong and I knew it, but I absolutely needed to eat something. Since friends were unavailable, at that moment food was the only thing that could help me feel a little better.

I marched to the cellar... only to remember that Yori had locked it. That though didn't discouraged me, and so I began to open all the drawers, cabinets and lockers in the kitchen, one by one. Obviously I didn't expect to find the keys, but at least I was hoping for some condiment bottles or fresh vegetables being kept somewhere other than the cellar.

But as I opened and closed doors, my expectations were getting lower and lower.

Cutlery... pots... plates... this one is locked... glasses... tablecloths... Is there really nothing edible in here?

After a few minutes I returned to the starting point of my furious and fruitless search.

Nothing at all, not even a three-day old loaf of bread. Guess I'll have to resign myself to swallowing my own saliva.

My stomach rumbled in protest at the thought.

Please, don't make things worse! Come on, let's get back to work... But first I want to clear a doubt.

I went back to examine the only cabinet I had found closed. I certainly wasn't going to force it, but at least I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything to eat there either.

I knelt down, put my nose close to the crack between the two doors, and...

But of course! Chili powder and dark chocolate, there's no mistake about it!

I got up, annoyed. With my tail between my legs, I returned to my duties.

As if Iwao wasn't enough, even fate itself wants to laugh in my face! What a pity though, I could've made a decent snack out of... !

Chili powder. Dark chocolate.

Sliding on my knees, I went back to the cabinet to check again.

These two ingredients together in the same place... It can't be a coincidence! I must open this locker at once!

I already knew how. If that locker was equipped with a simple latch like all the other kitchen cabinets, I would only had to find something thin enough to slip into the space between the two doors to lift it. A knife blade would have been perfect for the purpose. I went to get one from the cutlery drawer.

Here, this one can go just fine.

I closed the drawer.

Just then, I felt something different in the air.

I hadn't heard any sound of footsteps or doors opening, yet I had the feeling that I was no longer the only person in the room.

I walked around the kitchen tables two or three times, occasionally quickening my pace, but found no one.

The tension is playing tricks on me. I have to stay calm.

Slowly, I returned to the closed locker. I had just got down on my knees when an infernal crash almost made my heart leap out of my chest.

"AAAAH! W-what's going on?! What?! Who... Oh!"

The stacked pile of dishes and crockery I had yet to wash had just collapsed, some in the sink and some on the floor. Fortunately nothing had broken, but what a scare I got!

Oh man, I'd better put everything back in place... Later.

Determined to ignore any other distractions, I slipped the knife between the two doors, lifted the latch, and opened the cabinet.

When I saw the small box and its contents, my suspicions were confirmed.

Bingo. Now all I have to do is find out who...

I felt a gust of air behind my neck.

I whirled around.

It was Yori.

And she was about to knock me cold with a heavy dripping pan.

Instinctively I raised my arms to block the blow. I disarmed her smoothly and threw the pan away, then took the small knife I had cracked the door with and pointed at her, to keep her at a distance.

"Stay back, Yori... And stay calm, okay? I know, I wasn't supposed to poke my nose where I shouldn't, but I don't think I deserve a pan shot for this..."

"I was right not to trust you!" she hissed, unfazed by the knife. "Have you seen what's inside that box?"

"Yes, I saw..."

"Do you know what it is?"

Despite being unarmed, Yori looked equally threatening. Her face was red, and her chest rose and fell with each breath.

"W-why are you asking me..."

"Just answer my question, Choji! You know what those things are, don't you?"

I lingered. I was under pressure. If I had said no, I certainly wouldn't have sounded convincing. On the contrary, by saying yes I would have risked compromising my true identity.

I ended up in a dead end.

"ANSWER ME!"

...however, come to think of it, it was also a golden opportunity. I finally had the chance to talk to Yori face to face, with no one to interrupt us. I could finally confirm or deny the suspicion that she knew something about the murder.

But, I had to play my cards right.

One wrong word, just one, and my investigation could have been over for good.

"...yes, I know what they are" I finally answered. "Those are Soldier Pills. Ninjas use them to regain their strength, or at least that's what I remember... What are they doing here, of all places?"

"I don't owe you any explanation, Choji. I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to let me hit you in the head. This way you'll forget what you saw. Don't you even dare to resist or I could do you a lot worse. I mean it."

I widened my eyes. That was not an answer I had been counting on!

"W-wait, Yori! I told you, I'm sorry I looked where I shouldn't! I was wrong, I know, and if I get a punishment, I'll take it! But you don't need to give me a bang on the head! I won't tell anyone anything, I promise! By the way, even if I did, I wouldn't gain anything..."

"You would get me in trouble, or you would blackmail me with the threat of getting me into trouble."

"W-what?! And why would I ever want to?!"

"Don't play dumb, I can see from miles away that you are already sick of wearing my apron and doing my job."

"This... This is true, all right! But I never thought of harming you! Look, if you don't believe me!"

I dropped the knife to the ground and pushed it towards her with my foot, then kept my hands raised and in plain sight, to be as harmless and vulnerable as possible.

Unfortunately, it didn't get me the desired effect.

"You don't want to hurt me, sure. And Iwao's nose split by itself. Get on your knees and don't resist, it'll be quick."

Picking up the knife and keeping it pointed at me, Yori backed up to retrieve the pan.

"On your knees, I said!"

"O-okay, okay!"

I obeyed her.

Regaining possession of her "weapon", Yori placed the knife on a counter and walked back to me.

"Lower your hands, Choji."

"Okay. But before... let me tell you something, please."

"It would be useless, soon you will have already forgotten it. Lower your hands, it's my last warning..."

"Yori, take a good look at me! Do you really think I enjoyed beating Iwao? Do you think I enjoyed hurting him?"

"Drop the act! I don't know what exactly Iwao did to make fun of you, but it is obvious that you wanted to take revenge..."

"That's not how I wanted things to go!"

I pounded my fists on the floor.

"When Mistress Azumi welcomed me into the orphanage I was happy, because I thought I had finally found a safe place to live. A place to receive some affection... and make new friends to help me overcome my pain... But I didn't have any of this!"

I paused. Yori didn't interrupt me. I continued.

"I tried to accept Iwao's friendship, and as a result I have been repeatedly mocked! I tried to be nice to you, to help you, and I have always been turned away badly or looked at with suspicion, without receiving a single word of gratitude! I tried to get along with Isoka... And I succeeded, yes... Too bad that the poor guy is always afraid of being seen around, because the rules prevents you from being sad and in need of comfort, otherwise you're punished! I ask you again, Yori! Do you really think I enjoyed beating Iwao? Do you really think I enjoyed discovering that this orphanage is actually a prison where it's forbidden to be yourself?!"

Panting, I took a moment to catch my breath.

I hadn't struggled at all to find the right words. There was no need: what I had said, was exactly what I thought.

As for her, Yori hadn't flinched. The large pan clutched in his hands was always raised in the air.

...damn it.

It didn't work. And what was worse, I had run out of arguments. There was only one thing left to do.

I bowed my head and closed my eyes, waiting for the blow. I doubted that I would be knocked out and lose my memory, I was positive about that, but... hey, it was still a pan on the head.

I waited, for seconds that felt like hours.

"...get up."

Timidly, I opened one eye.

The pan that was supposed to execute me had been placed on a table, while Yori... was opening the cellar door?!

"Come along. I'll make you something."

I stared at her in amazement.

But... But how? Just a moment before, she wouldn't have hesitated to attack me from behind, and now she wanted to offer me something to eat?

Common sense told me not to trust... but as usual it was the stomach that had the last word.

I went down to the cellar. Yori was already stuffing a large sandwich with ham, lettuce, tomato and cheese. It wasn't much different from the packed lunch I had eaten at the springs, but for that awful night it was still more than I could have ever hoped for.

"Sit," she said, pointing to a wooden chest.

I sat down, and soon Yori brought me dinner.

"Here you go. Eat. It's not poisoned."

"T-Thanks, Yori. I was starving!"

I opened my mouth to take the first bite, only to stop. Yori had crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned away.

She didn't look like herself anymore.

"Do... Do you want a bite?" I asked her.

"...no. Thanks. I'm... All rig..."

Her voice broke.

I put the sandwich aside and walked over.

"What is it, Yori? Is that... something I said earlier?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me, I didn't mean to..."

"You didn't offend me, don't worry. I'll explain everything. Eat, now."

I sat down again. I swallowed the sandwich in just three mouthfuls, but did not immediately ask for the promised explanations.

Yori looked truly devastated, to the point that she sat down next to me and buried her face in her hands, in a vain attempt to hide her tears.

I couldn't see her in that state without doing anything.

"Yori... May I...?" I asked her, touching her shoulders with my arm.

She nodded. Not only did she let me wrap an arm around her, but she even leaned her head against my shoulder, to feel more contact.

After a few minutes, perhaps four, her crying and sobbing began to stop.

"...thank you, Choji. That's enough" she whispered, breaking away from me and coughing.

"Do you feel a little better?"

She shook her head.

"I'm afraid crying is not enough. I... I really need to vent. I know I might be selfish right now, but I'll ask you regardless. Do you mind suspending your errands for some minutes, and listen to me?"

"It's fine by me, but... Before you begin, please, tell me what it was that I said that made you cry."

"You just stated the truth: in here, it's strictly forbidden to be ourselves. I actually don't like the rules imposed by Mistress Azumi as much as you do. In fact, there are many kids here who'd live better without them. Some are good at hiding their displeasure... Others, like Isoka, not much... But you are the first person I know who has the guts to call it like it is. You are right, we would all feel better if only we could let our emotions out when we need the most... Promise me that what I'm going to tell you will stay between you and me, Choji."

I nodded, giving her a smile of reassurance.

"I promise."

Yori cleared her throat, which I guess had become dry after all the crying.

"You must be wondering why I keep a supply of pills that only ninjas use, in an orphanage where everyone is scared of even hearing the word "ninja". Well... The explanation is simple. I was a ninja myself."

My eyes widened open. I really didn't see it coming.

"For real?!"

"For real. However, I ceased being one almost as soon as I started. I was just a rookie when I was told that both my parents had perished in the war."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"My teachers told me that I should have been proud of being the daughter of two heroes. They told me I should have keep on training like I already did in order to become like them one day. Instead, I quitted altogether. I had no longer any intention of being part of the same world that took my mother and my father away from me. With the few skills I learnt in the academy, I deserted my village in the middle of the night, went on the run, and in order to survive I became a thief. One faithful day of some years ago... There, I knew it! I shouldn't told you any of this!"

All of a sudden, Yori slapped both her hands on her face and started to breathe heavy. She was having a panic attack.

"Yori! Yori, calm down! Please! I already assured you, I won't tell anybody!"

"B-but... You're judging me, don't you?! I saw the look in your eyes the moment I said I was a thief!..."

"I was just surprised, nothing else! ...I'll bring you some water, you need it. Be right back."

I ran up to the kitchen, skipping two stairs at a time, and quickly took two cleaned glasses to fill with tap water.

For a moment, I felt in the air the same kind of sensation as before,

Back in the cellar I gave one glass to Yori, who drank it in one shot.

"...thank you. I'm sorry for snapping like that, but I'm constantly nervous. Well, now that I started confessing, there's no coming back."

"It's better than bottling everything inside. Anyway, Yori... I'm not judging you. You became a thief out of necessity, right?"

"R-right. I couldn't find another place to live, I constantly needed food and clothes in order to survive... How many troubles I almost got in..."

"But then, you've found the orphanage."

"Not exactly. It was Mistress Azumi who found me,"

"How did you meet her?"

"...by stealing from her, too. She was residing in a small campsite, along with some orphan she had found during her latest journey. One night, I snuck inside one of their tents to steal something from their food supply, but I was busted. Back then Mistress Azumi was still kind of fast and agile, so it wasn't a problem for her to catch and immobilize me. However, seeing that I was just a young girl, she chose to be understanding and asked me to tell her my story. Maybe it was our common hatred for everything related to the ninjas, that convinced her to forgive me. She offered me a place to stay in her orphanage, which of course I accepted with joy. Wanting to repay her kindness, I proposed to help her and Miss Hiromi with all of the chores. They might be exhausting and stressful at times, but I've always carried them out with will and enthusiasm. Ahh..."

Taking a break, Yori searched for her glass to take another sip of water, forgetting however that she had already emptied it. I gave her my glass, since I didn't use it yet.

"There's something I don't understand, Yori. You said you don't want to have anything to do with ninjas anymore, but those Soldier Pills..."

"They're my drug, Choji. My vice, like cigarettes or alcohol are vices for other people. I can't do without them, otherwise I fall into depression. I'm trying to quit, but in order to do so I must keep taking them in smaller and smaller doses every week. If I'd get rid of them altogether, I'll probably risk on becoming even more nervous than I already am... or even worse, I'll go mad with desperation. Do you understand now, Choji?"

"I do. And I also see why you attempted to hit me in the head. You are afraid that people will start see you under a different light, or even be scared of you, if they ever find out your secret."

Yori nodded.

"Precisely. Only Mistress Azumi and the man that brings us food... and now you too of course... know that I take the pills. ...now you know everything, Choji. Unless you still have some questions..."

"I... No, everything is all clear. ...how about we return upstairs, now? I didn't notice before, but it's starting to get cold in here."

"A-all right. You go on, I clean up things here and then I'll catch up."

I stretched my limbs, got up from the chest and walked up the stairs.

At the top, however, I closed the door and went back down.

Yori was still sitting, with her hands clasped in front of her chest and her eyes closed.

"The secret you want to get rid of... is another one, isn't it?"

Yori jumped in fright when she heard my voice again.

"W-w-what?" she stammered, staring at me as if she had seen a ghost. "What do you mean?"

"At first you said that you disagree with the rules imposed by Mistress Azumi, and with the fact that no one here is free to tell their past... And still, you are afraid that the other orphans will find out about your past. It's a contradiction, don't you think?"

"...y-yeah, it's t-true..."

"Then you said that since you came here you have been doing housework with will and enthusiasm, however that's not the impression I got."

Although I hadn't asked her any questions, Yori nodded.

"For a moment, I thought... maybe it wasn't time yet," she said, sniffling. "It's true, the secret that I would desperately like to share with somebody is another..."

I knelt in front of her and gently placed a hand on hers.

"Tell me everything."

"N-no, no! This is... Choji, you don't deserve to hear such a story!..."

"And you don't deserve to continue suffering alone."

Yori lingered on my words for a long time. She swallowed hard. Finally, she made up her mind.

"Let me be clear... T-this must remain with us too. There was no rat invasion in the west wing. There was... something worse."

Yori closed her eyes, as if reliving the memory.

"It all happened about a month ago. Like every morning, I got up before everyone else to do the cleaning and open the doors and windows for a change of air. The usual turn I always did from one wing to the next: corridor, classrooms, canteen, kitchen, hall, gym, changing rooms, classrooms, corridor... But, that day, when I entered the gym, nothing was the same anymore. "

"What did you find?"

Yori inhaled and exhaled deeply for a long time.

She attempted to spell something, but then stopped. I gave her all the time she needed.

"...a ...a corpse," she finally replied, in a whisper. "The corpse... of a child... he was... was naked... there was blood... and... and..."

Yori began to tremble. So did I, even though I already knew about the murder: partly because I had to pretend to be surprised anyway, and partly because the thought that Yori had to see that disfigured body in person had genuinely made me shiver.

"A child... d-dead? Who was he?"

"I don't know... he was... unrecog..."

The last word was choked in her throat. I hugged her to give her solidarity, and she hugged me back to give some to me.

"...w-weren't any of the other orphans missing, Yori?"

"No. I went to look for Mistress Azumi and Miss Hiromi to tell them what I found, but at first they didn't believe me. To prove me wrong, Mistress Azumi decided to enter one of the two boys' dorms in the west wing, leaving the other to Mistress Hiromi. They both confirmed that everyone was there... But I was sure I saw a dead body! I convinced them to follow me to the gym, and... Maybe I shouldn't have insist, when they saw him they both staggered, and poor Miss Hiromi also fainted..."

"Don't blame yourself for that, sooner or later they would have found it anyway... W-what happened next?"

"Well... It wasn't easy to make a decision on the spot. Mistress Azumi was the first to regain control after the shock. While I was helping Miss Hiromi recover, she went back upstairs to lock the dorms, so that the other children could not go out and see it too... But she hadn't thought that, at that time, they were waking up. So, she had to tell them the first excuse that came to mind, to convince them to let themselves be locked in for a while..."

"The invasion of rats."

"The invasion of rats, yes. T-then, she took on the thankless task of wrapping the corpse in a blanket and carrying it outside, with the help of poor Miss Hiromi who had recovered in the meantime."

"Where did they take him?"

"Far away into the forest. They buried him. When they came back, I saw them arguing heatedly. Miss Hiromi was freaked out with fear, demanding that we all get out of this "cursed place", while Mistress Azumi simply suggested sealing the gym. In the end, they found a compromise..."

"Transfer all the males and their beds to the east wing and close the west wing" I continued "at least until the food supplier brings here a poison to exterminate the rats. This is what Iwao told me when I asked what was behind the bookcase in the lobby. I guess what you are expecting from the supplier is actually products to... clean the gym... "

"To take away the blood and the smell of death, let's call it as it is!" Yori suddenly yelled.

I broke away from her in fright, but immediately went back to sit once more next to her.

"If you want... If you want to cry again, Yori, go ahead. As long as you need it. Even all night long."

"...t-thanks... Thanks, but I think I vented... enough..."

As before, Yori rested her head on my shoulder. More than shocked, at that moment she seemed... tired.

"I messed up, Choji. Mistress Azumi made me swear to keep this whole story to myself, in order not to ruin the reputation of the orphanage..."

"It won't happen, Yori. I can keep a secret, and I won't run away... Although, after hearing this story, I don't know if my life here will be the same again. T-there have been. other... accidents, after that?"

"No. It was the only one. The only "oddity" in the history of this place. After a week, Mistress Azumi, Miss Hiromi and I concluded that the poor fellow we found had run into a beast, perhaps a wolf, who, after killing him, somehow dragged him inside the gym... it's absurd, but it's the most sensible explanation we could find... I'm scared, Choji."

"I'm scared too, Yori. B-but... if you said there were no more accidents..."

"No, not for that. I'm afraid... that..."

Yori closed her eyes. She looked like on the verge of falling asleep. Another tear rolled down her face.

"...that Mistress Azumi is just giving me the benefit of the doubt."

"What do you mean... Wait, don't tell me that Mistress Azumi really suspect that... that you killed that child..."

"No, she never told me. But I'm afraid it's really like that, that from that day on she doesn't trust me like she used to. It's a feeling I can't get rid of! I started working again, harder, to make sure that everything at the orphanage was in its place and every child was satisfied! I doubled, tripled my efforts to prove that I really care about this place and that I could never do such a thing... But I'm afraid that things will never be the same again."

"Yori, you are too kind to be a killer. Nobody would think such a thing if they just stopped and thought."

"Don't be silly, Choji," she muttered. "Since you got here I have treated you like the lowest of the beggars, how can you say that I am too kind?"

"Because it's the truth. Sometimes you may be too strict and intractable, but I know you wouldn't actually be able to hurt a spider."

"Well, first of all they say "to hurt a fly", and... Wait a minute."

Suddenly, Yori seemed to awake from her numbness. She turned to stare at me with wide eyes, and for the first time I saw an amused smile on her face.

I knew I had chosen the right words to cheer her up.

"Are you, by chance, talking about... Supaida? But then... You met Rokuro!"

"Yeah. I only spent a few minutes with him the other day and, despite having risked losing my hearing several times, I found him very nice! I shouldn't tell you this secret, but he... For you, he's..."

"He has a crush on me, I know. It's not a secret at all. He started adoring me from the moment he saw me."

"Real love at first sight, huh?"

"More like a misunderstanding. Since I was the first person to stay in the music room for more than two minutes while he was playing, he thought I liked his music."

"And do you like him?"

"In a loving sense? No, of course not! ...but I must admit that Rokuro is the only person in the whole orphanage who can make me feel joy and carefree, even in the saddest moments his crazy happiness manages to cheer me up."

"Really? If that's the case, why don't you spend more time with him? I bet that if you accepted his company, you would be able to leave your worries behind and go back to living peacefully! You don't have to tell him everything, of course!"

"It's not that simple. First, my duties leave me little time to think about anything else. Second... And I'm not saying this to be mean... I'm always afraid of offending Rokuro by saying wrong things. Since, you see, he... He is not completely sane."

"No, wait! Wait a minute!"

Without realizing it I had jumped up from my seat.

"How can you say that Rokuro is not... sane? How can you be sure?!"

"I asked Mistress Azumi why Rokuro behaved like this, and she told me that she rescued him from a ruined country when he was still an newborn. He was the only survivor of the a bomb blast, but he didn't get out unscathed. He still carries the marks he had remedied to this day, and I'm not just talking about the burns on his face. Mistress Azumi isn't sure, but she supposes that the explosion also caused to Rokuro a... a brain damage."

I fell silent.

I gasped, put a hand to my heart, but couldn't get a word out.

"Don't make that face," Yori whispered to me, and this time it was she who touched my hand to reassure me. "If it's of any consolation, Rokuro knows nothing of what happened to him. Paradoxically, of all the orphans who live here, he is the one who enjoys life the best."

"T-thank goodness... But, I'm sorry all the same... For what happened to him..."

"Rokuro is happy, that's the thing that matters. Don't be sad for him. Also... Hey, I was the one who needed to feel less depressed, not you!"

"Y-yeah, it's true..."

A snort of laughter escaped my mouth. I tried to push it back in, but Yori reassured me by shaking her head.

"Go ahead, Choji. Don't be ashamed. You need to end this bad day on a happy note. Like I needed it too. ...thanks, for listening to me. I'm sorry I stole your time."

I smiled at her.

"You don't have to apologize, it was a pleasure for me to help you."

In that, Yori let out a huge yawn.

"I guess it's getting late for me... That's right, I almost forgot. You have to take the digestive."

"Even if I've just eat a sandwich?"

"It's the rule. Everyone must take it."

Taking one of the two glasses I had brought, Yori went to dip it into a large metal barrel placed next to a shelf.

"Here."

I thanked and drank. It took me several sips, though: I wasn't quite used to its bad taste yet.

"Take your time, Choji. I'll wait for you upstairs."

Stretching and staggering slightly, Yori left the cellar leaving me alone. I took time not only to finish drinking the digestive, but also to recap everything I had discovered thanks to that unexpected conversation.

I still couldn't believe it. My investigation, all in all, was going great. And all thanks to the accident at the springs!

If I had never been in detention, I don't know if I would've been able to talk to Yori face to face...

"YOU?! WHAT THE..."

I almost spilled everything on myself.

"Yori? Yori, what happened?" I called out to her, but received no reply. I finished the digestive in one gulp, forced the glass into the nearest shelf not knowing where else to put it, and climbed into the kitchen as quickly as possible.

I found Yori standing, one hand in her face and the other leaning against a piece of furniture, staring incredulously at something on the floor.

Silently she gestured for me to come closer. Walking around the counter, I too saw what had made her scream.

Slumped on the floor, was Naoki.

"H-her, here? And... Why isn't she moving?"

"She is sleeping, Choji. That's how I found her, I didn't do anything to her."

I knelt beside the little girl, checked her pulse and put my ear to her tummy. There was no doubt, she was indeed sleeping soundly.

"You're right. She's not hurt, thank goodness..."

The relief of knowing she was safe, however, immediately gave way to questions.

So, the feeling I got when I went to get two glasses of water... But... Why is Naoki here? Was she spying on me?

...of course, Nao!

I felt my blood boil in my veins.

I don't want to believe it, yet it is the most sensible explanation! Nao bragged to Iwao about how his little sister accidentally discovered Isoka's hiding place... In order to enter his circle of friends... And now, to secure his position as Iwao's friend, he asked Naoki to spy on me, perhaps to then go and report some of my missteps... No, that's ridiculous! Plausible, but ridiculous!

"Judging from the way she snores, she must have been asleep for several minutes now," Yori said suddenly, interrupting my improbable reasoning. "If we're lucky, she probably hasn't heard much of our conversation in the cellar."

After taking Naoki in her arms, Yori went to lock the cellar door. Then, she started to leave.

"W-where are you taking her?"

"It's impossible to wake her up now. The only thing I can do is take her back to the dormitory, where I was going to go anyway. I'll wait for tomorrow to ask her about it."

"Yori... Don't be too hard on her. In my opinion Naoki wasn't here of her own free will."

"Don't worry, Choji. I'll go lightly. Good night... and thanks again."

I waved goodbye to her.

...

Left alone in the kitchen - and this time I made sure to be alone - I started walking back and forth.

I took advantage of this time to pick up the fallen pots from the floor, and in the meantime I went back to thinking about all the newly found informations.

Not even Naoki's sudden appearance had been able to distract me.

And so, my suspicions were confirmed. There is no rat in the west wing. The kid was found dead in the gym, but apparently no one knows who he is. And if that poor fellow wasn't from around here... Yet the Masquerader is still here, the ninjas on the hunt have never seen anybody escape! I don't understand...

I looked absently at a random window.

It was dark.

It was late.

They had all gone to sleep.

It was the perfect opportunity.

I nodded firmly at my reflection in the glass. At a good pace, I went back to the sink and resumed work where I left off.

It is decided. I'll wash the dishes, and then... I'm going to pay a little visit to the West Wing.