Title: Dirty Footsteps
Pairing: None, kinda Gen...
Rating: K+
Word count: 1250+
Summary: Yukimi is not the cleaning-type. Neither is Yoite.
Disclaimer: I do not own Nabari no Ou, not even the plush panda, sadly enough.
Note: Based on the 4-paneled page at the end of Vol. 3

Dirty Footsteps
Zesiro

"Man, I can't find a thing in here!" Yukimi exclaimed, finally stopping with his exhausting search for some documents he needed for his 'front world' job. He sunk down on his chair, his eyes travelling thoroughly through the room for a last time. Building high piles of papers, books and notes covered most of the room, followed by empty bottles and dirty plates he hadn't cleaned yet. Somehow, he noticed with raised eyebrows, there were even toys sprawled over the room. At times like this, he couldn't even recall if he even had a wooden floor.

He bend side wards on his chair, plucking a small panda plush from the floor. Surely, this wasn't his. Nope. "Yoite, found your cuddly toy," Yukimi teased with a smirk plastered on his face.

"..." The boy sitting at the other end of the room, in front a glass window, didn't respond. Only twisted his neck so that he could see the blond man poking a ridiculous looking plush in its belly. One of the ears was nearly torn off and it had dirty spots on it. Looking closer he discovered it actually were food stains. A ghost of a grimace flashed across his features.

Disappointed by the lack of reaction, Yukimi placed the repulsing panda on his desk – the only object in the room which was somewhat clean. With a simple arm movement he grabbed his mug, and sniffed it which made him cough in disgust. Yesterday's Lemon Tea was not a drink to preserve in the open. He felt sorry for the fly in his old tea, it hadn't had a chance.

Shifting a bit, Yoite wrinkled his noise at another smell. "The room smells... rotten." He declared. Following his noise, the lanky boy lifted a couple of writing cases and notes. In the short silence, the teenager glanced up at Yukimi and pointed to where he had grabbed the stuff. "..Found last week's leftovers."

Twitch.

"We never have leftovers, you're a pig when it comes to food," Yukimi retorted, leaning back on his chair, feeling an urge slowly rising within him.

Yoite just stared back with a blank face. "It's squishy and white and in a bowl, what else could it be?"

"Probably another toy," Yukimi said to convince himself more than his flatmate. He got up from his wheelchair, avoided important looking papers to have a glance at the squishy white thing. Frowning, he poked the white thing. He grimaced. 'Oh God, this was actual food?' Crossed his mind and retreated his finger immediately.

"That's it." His eyes flashed to Yoite. "Grab a feather duster, a mop and everything else that looks like a cleaning product." The older ninja rolled up his sleeves. "We're going to clean up this apartment!"

"We?"

"Of course. The more the merrier," Yukimi grinned.

Incredulously, Yoite stood up, dusting off the invisible dust from his clothes. "We don't own any cleaning products." Was all he said before leaving the apartment.

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?!" The older of the two called after him, but heard nothing in return. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed childishly. "Well... damn. "

Yukimi had found cleaning equipment in a long forgotten closet – somewhere near the corner. A feather duster covered with dust, an ancient vacuum cleaner which refused to die and a simple mop. He had borrowed a cloth from the kitchen (and found a bucket with it!) and saw to his surprise an up to date cleaning product. Yukimi had grinned sheepishly at the bottle – Yoite had been wrong.

On the whiteboard, a schedule was written. He would start with collecting papers, books, notes and writing cases, order them and store them together with for his own ease. Then he would search for garbage bags and stuff them with empty bottles, wrappers and objects he didn't need anymore – including the gruesome leftovers Yoite had found. That done, he would put the last things in boxes and then clean the room thoroughly. Secretly, he was proud of himself for having an urge to clean.

So, with rolled up sleeves, a bandana on his head and determination Yukimi started.

A hour later, however, he found himself sitting on the couch with a cleaned mug full with Lemon Tea. He may be a ninja, but housework fell under a complete different category.

"If that brat was here, he could have helped," He mumbled frustrated to himself.

5 hours, 7 garbage bags and many more curses later he was finished. Important papers were neatly stocked on the shelves, the garbage could be found in the container, three boxes were stored in the corner of the room and no dust was present anymore. Even the hard-wooden floor was shiny. Shiny! To be honest, he couldn't recall the day he'd seen the floor in such perfect state – it was probably the day when he had moved in.

Leaning against his mop, he grinned with satisfaction. He was proud of himself for accomplishing the personal mission. "..So, what do you say, Black Eyes? Time for beer?" He turned, facing the plush panda, which was still definitely not his. The dirty plush had earned a honourable place – right next to the monitor of his computer.

"Yeah, thought so." Yukimi agreed, nodding in progress. His mop clenched in his grip the blond left the room for the full refrigerator. A beer can was pulled out the fridge and greedily emptied within seconds.

On the other side of the apartment the door opened quietly, letting in a dressed in black and brown Yoite.

Yukimi threw the empty can in the bin by using it as a baseball and the mop as his bat. It made a soft clank in the end. Taking that has his sign to hide the feather duster and vacuum cleaner back in the closet he slowly made his way back. The first thing he noticed was that there was something horrible wrong. Scanning the room he came to the conclusion his floor was dirty yet again. Following the muddy footsteps Yukimi stopped behind the sitting Yoite. The footprints, in the meanwhile, magnificently vanished as he used the damp mop which was still clenched in his right hand.

He knew for sure the boy could hear his teeth gritting.

'This is why I hate brats' he thought sourly. "Noticed the clean room?" The silence answered for him. "Yes? Let's keep it that way now, shall we?" He poked with the damp side of the mop - half muddy now - in Yoite's neck.

Yoite ignored the urge to flinch but couldn't suppress a shiver. Smacking the mop away he gave the older man a glare that said enough.

Yukimi let himself fall back on his favourite furniture, his wheelchair, an exhausted sigh escaping him. He felt like he had fought with some Fuuma ninjas single-handedly. It was not day for cooking, that he knew. Ramen, then. Again.

Absentmindedly, Yukimi watched the hunched figure of Yoite. The teenager ran a gloved finger over the floor and brought it up in front of his eyes, examining. He turned after a moment, facing the exhausted man.

"You would make an excellent housewife."

Two weeks later and the room was back to its old state. Only worse. Shirts covering the couch, papers and notes hiding the floor, the small table wasn't visible anymore and the disturbing smell was back with all its glory.

When Yoite had fallen flat on his face in that second week, he only remarked a simple sentence afterwards.

"I take it back."

The End.

A/N: You know, Nabari no Ou is an amazing manga! Anyway, hope you liked it! Reviews are more than welcome.