‘You look like everyone belonging to you has just died,’ Itazura pointed out. He was tired and dishevelled. Though Itazura knew that wasn’t why his friend was saddened. He’d been the closest to Naoko, Yori, and Hoshi. He had been their teacher and confident both during their earliest days amongst the division, and had been ordered to show them the ropes. It was a job he had described as refreshing and rewarding, for it allowed him to directly affect the way the next generation would turn out. Or so he claimed. Itazura had his own theories as to why he enjoyed the post so much. And the top of his theory list was young Naoko, who Hei had taken a particular shine to. An injury to them, whom Hei had trained, was as much an injury to him. It went a long way to explaining why he now looked so di