Getting about was pretty easy. Keisuke looked well rested and energized. That was good for me. He knew his way around the facility like the back of his hand. We ate a quick and modest breakfast served by some of the staff. It was okay. We ate in the large cafeteria. After that, it was time for stretching and some light exercises. This was a secret ninja training facility. They children were going about their routines with no difficulty. Keisuke joined in with them. It was like he had not missed a single day. He got right among the crowd with the children he remembered from his time here. Michiya was notably one of them. I sat off to the side. Watching them, they really looked like they were having fun. One of the staff members approached me. "You are more than welcome to join in. Our warmups are now, but we will be doing our sparring and more intense training in the afternoon." she offered. I simply shook my head. "No thank you. I am taking this time off as a vacation." I declined politely. Something really was off. When it was time for them to get their tutoring, I pulled Keisuke off to the side.
He smiled and asked me what was wrong. "Let's go look for some of your friends that left the orphanage. We still need to find you some concubines." I said. He looked a bit shocked. "I almost forgot! I was having a bit too much fun here with everyone. We have to look around. I'll ask around about them." he told me. True to his word, he got some leads about 30 minutes later. As we were leaving, one of the staff members smiled at us. "You're more than welcome to come back to us tonight. This is your real home, Keisuke-kun." That made Keisuke beam with pure happiness. "Thank you so much! We will be back." he promised them. I had no say in this apparently. Then again, we had nowhere else to go. I did not want to pay for a hotel room if I did not have to do so. We followed some leads. He had a list of 4 girls that he knew. 2 of them were his age. One of them was a year older than him. The final girl was actually a year younger than him. Tracking them down took some time. He only got to speak to the 2 that were his age. The others were not in at the moment he had arrived. So sad.
It was not a total waste of time. Sachie was still a genin. She looked him up and down appraisingly. The world of Nabari was not soft. People needed to be calculating if they wanted to live well. She was not getting anywhere too fast on her own. As she was now over 18, she could no longer stay in the orphanage. That would be odd. She knew better. Being odd was a huge no-no for a clandestine operation. She had a subsidized apartment. As long as she kept herself available to the town for missions, she could live there for essentially free. Other than groceries and entertainment, everything was paid for. Keisuke was a huge meal ticket though. For the chunin exams, you needed a squad of 6 and permission to go. There were dozens of ninja produced by the various institutions in the village. Beyond the orphanage, there were other places they trained ninja. The ninja themselves could also get married and have their own children. Orphans had to go to be genin. Otherwise they could not give them missions. Once they came back, that was that. Unless they were god tier, it was over.
