It was about noon when Natsume heard someone knock.
He forced himself upright, blinking the sleep out of his eyes reluctantly. It was Sunday, so by all rights, he ought to still be asleep right now. Touko and Shigeru were both out of the house today for some sort of little trip, however, so here he was: Natsume Takashi, awake on a Sunday afternoon, going to get the door for what was more likely than not some sort of weird yokai.
If it is a yokai, I'm going to punch it in the face, he resolved. After all, he wouldn't need the extra sleep so badly if it weren't for the fact that he'd stayed up until nearly five o'clock returning names the previous night. They just didn't respect his sleeping time.
He came dangerously close to accidentally kicking Nyanko-sensei in the face as he left his room; the fat fortune cat was snoozing happily in his doorway, oblivious to the ever-louder pounding at the door. Natsume felt a twinge of fondness at the steady sound of the yokai's breathing, which served to soften his irritation a little.
The knocking at the door became still more insistent, and the irritation returned, accompanied by a throbbing headache.
When Natsume slid open the door to the house, however, it was not a yokai that greeted him, but a positively glowing Natori.
Natsume was at a loss for words. How can he be this sparkly already?
"So pleased to see me you can't speak?" Natori said with a rather disturbing wink, and Natsume glared at him. "Ah, well. May I come in, then?" Without further ado, the exorcist stepped into the house, inspiring more murderous grumbling from Natsume, who began to follow him.
"Sorry for barging in like this," came another, more apologetic, voice from the doorway, and Natsume spun around. "I know it's unexpected, but Natori said he'd need your help."
"Tanuma?" Natsume asked, bewildered; his dark-haired friend followed him inside awkwardly, wearing his usual hesitant but kind smile. "Why are you with Natori?"
"He invited me along," Tanuma explained, and the two joined Natori in the kitchen. "He said that even my limited abilities might be useful on this job."
Natsume instantly felt sick to his stomach. He had actually been thinking about going to see Tanuma today, and he always loved seeing his friend, but what was Natori thinking? Did he not remember how dangerous it had been for Tanuma the last time he'd been involved in one of their jobs? Did he not remember how Natsume felt about this matter?
He realized that his conflicted emotions had been conveyed through his face when he saw Tanuma's expression grow more serious, and he cursed himself a little for letting his worry show so obviously. He smiled hastily, asking, "Well, Natori, what's this job?"
"It's nothing dangerous," Natori assured him, as if reading his mind; Natsume distractedly watched the man's tattoo crawl across his face as he listened. "It's just that an extra set of eyes - even a half-blind one - will help in this situation. We're going to basically be looking for a needle in a haystack, so I can use all the help I can get."
"It might be fun," Tanuma added, but Natsume still wasn't convinced.
"I'll explain on the way," sighed Natori; he shook his head, straightening his glasses with a grin. "Don't you think you should get dressed, Natsume?"
Trying his best not to take a swing at him, Natsume nodded. "Yeah, I'll be right back. There's some leftover food in the fridge if you guys are hungry."
He gave Natori another disapproving look and Tanuma a smile in rapid succession and left to change, still wondering what kind of job he could be headed for today.
One long bus ride and a short walk later, Natsume was staring in disbelief at the location where their job would be taking place: an amusement park.
"What's this?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "Is this some sort of joke?"
"Of course not," Natori said. "Come on, let's go."
Natsume and Tanuma, who had apparently not been informed of the specifics either, shared a slightly apprehensive look and followed, Nyanko-sensei not far behind.
"We're looking for a particular yokai," Natori explained over his shoulder, raising his voice as the din from the crowd ahead of them grew louder. "It's not dangerous - it's actually quite friendly - but it is supposedly hanging around here somewhere and I don't know exactly where. I figured that having a few people looking is better than just me, right?"
"What kind of yokai is it?" Natsume asked.
"It's very small, and very tricky," Natori responded, almost yelling now; they were almost at the park's gates, and the faraway rumble of rides and conversation had grown to a dull roar. "It likes to hide, since it's not quite large or strong enough to defend itself. It has the appearance, last I heard, of a small white fox with three tails. It's harmless, but might be hard to pin down."
"This isn't a Matoba job, is it?" asked Natsume uncertainly, and Natori glanced back at him quickly.
"No, don't worry." The man tipped his hat at a passing woman, and Natsume wished that he would mute his sparkling a little bit; people were starting to stare, and he was clearly getting recognized. "I'm not even going to seal it away. I just need to talk to it about something. I promise you, it's completely unconnected to the Matoba family."
The three of them, with Nyanko-sensei, were now standing in the line for entry to the park; ahead of them stood a ticket booth, where an insistent yokai was getting completely ignored by an oblivious saleswoman.
Tanuma spoke up for the first time in a while, sounding uneasy. "I appreciate you letting me tag along, but am I really going to be useful? I can't even really see yokai or anything. I don't know if I can be helpful to you."
"While it's true that you're lacking in ability compared to Natsume and yours truly, you've been able to see hazy shapes and shadows before, haven't you?" Natori intoned kindly. "I think you could come in handy. Just do your best."
Tanuma didn't respond, and Natsume sensed that his friend was still uncomfortable, but they left it be. After all, so long as this wasn't a dangerous case, there was really no harm in Tanuma tagging along. Natsume just hoped he wouldn't be miserable the entire time.
Natori bought the three of them wristbands, and they stood momentarily to the side of the bustling hub of people; Tanuma had to pull Natsume out of the way as he was nearly run over by a huge, impatient-looking man.
"We'll be splitting up for a while," Natori informed them, tipping his hat at some passersby. "We'll cover more ground that way. I'll be sending out Hiiragi and the others as well. For now, Tanuma, you go with Natsume."
"What about Ponta?" Tanuma questioned, but the round shape of the fortune cat had already disappeared into the crowd, no doubt in search of food.
"It's still only four, but I expect this yokai will be tricky to find," said Natori, "so unless otherwise informed, let's meet back here at ten minutes after ten. I'll send Hiiragi to occasionally check on you. If you find the spirit, head back here and call for Hiiragi to get me. Got it?"
Natsume nodded, and Natori added, "Oh, I almost forgot." He dug out his wallet, handing Natsume and Tanuma some crisp bills and two of the wristbands. "It's an all day thing, so feel free to use these however you like."
"Hang on, we can't take your…" Tanuma trailed off uncertainly as Natori turned and strode away, paying no attention to the voiced protestations. After a few moments of staring after Natori, the two boys shared a perplexed look.
"I guess that's that," Natsume said rather awkwardly, and Tanuma hastily nodded; both of them put on the wristbands, which Natsume assumed were to get them onto rides and into events. "Listen, I'm sorry Natori dragged you out here. I'm sure he thinks he's being funny or something. Don't worry, we'll try to find this thing quickly and then - "
"Oh, don't sound so stiff," Tanuma teased, but behind the light words, his tone was sincere. He gave Natsume a warm smile and a gentle punch on the shoulder. "After all, nothing could be better than getting a day at the amusement park with you. If there are yokai about, all the better."
Natsume couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, nor the sudden heat in his cheeks. He gave a loud cough and started into the throng of people, telling Tanuma, "We'd better get going, then. Let me know if you sense anything unusual, okay?"
Tanuma nodded seriously, but before the two could get very far, Natsume heard a suspiciously familiar voice calling out, and then another.
"Natsume!"
"Natsume?"
After a long moment, Natsume identified the voices as belonging to a couple of yokai he'd met a few days before. No doubt he'd agreed to return their names, but to think they followed him here - he grimaced, glancing this way and that to determine what direction the voices were coming from.
"Natsume!"
There - he pinpointed the sound and, not wanting to deal with this ordeal at the moment, grabbed Tanuma's hand. He pulled him through the crowds as quickly as he could, heading away from those invasive spirits.
"Natsume!" Tanuma sounded completely out of breath, but Natsume kept going, determined to escape this time. "Hey, Natsume, is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine!" gasped Natsume, barely dodging out of the way of a group of giggling girls in time as they swept past like a plague of locusts. "I'm just - ah -" He looked around for some excuse, still yanking Tanuma along behind him. "I wanted to ride something!"
Selecting a random ride without a real line, Natsume dragged Tanuma past the irritated-looking ride operator and into one of the compartments; it was an arced, hard shell, which seemed to be designed to spin easily in circles. Luckily, it was domed in a way that completely hid the two of them from their pursuers.
"Natsume, what's this about?" Tanuma asked doubtfully, giving Natsume a piercing look. "I didn't realize you were so - enthusiastic - about the rides here. Are they really that much fun for you?"
As Natsume began to relax in his certainty that they were safe from the irritation of the yokai, what he had just done began to sink in. "Um - actually, I've never really been on one of these rides before."
Tanuma's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I mean, I've only ever been a few times, but still…" Natsume shrugged rather sheepishly, not meeting the other's eyes. "Well, then, I'm glad!"
"What?" Natsume was caught off guard by that, and he was unable to continue his efforts to avoid Tanuma's dark gaze. "Why?"
"Because this will be an amazing new experience!" grinned Tanuma, bumping his shoulder against Natsume's. It was rather warm. "I'll get to show you all of the rides. What's not to be glad about?"
Natsume had to smile at Tanuma's sincerity and enthusiasm, but he was not ready to let go of his unease completely. After all, he'd only ever seen these rides from a distance; he hadn't really had friends to visit amusement parks with, and he'd always assumed they were yokai hotspots, so these rides always been a sort of vague hope - something that he'd stare at, thinking that perhaps he could try them if the day came when he had someone to go with. For all he knew, these rides could be spinning death traps; that was what they looked like, anyway.
Tanuma was more perceptive than Natsume had anticipated. "Don't worry, it's totally safe. And if you hate this one, we don't have to try any more."
Before Natsume's boggled brain had time to formulate a proper response, the safety bars of the ride made a final-sounding click as they locked. When the ride started moving, it was with a sudden jolt, and Natsume could not have prepared himself even if he'd had time to think.
Natsume imagined that it was rather similar to being on the outside edge of a yo-yo; the compartment they were in was moving around a vaguely circular track, but it was also spinning in tight circles, which kept changing speed depending on the shape of the track. He hadn't thought that the force exerted on his body would be so great, but he found himself thrown from side to side as the direction of the spinning changed. When they spun clockwise, his shoulder rubbed against the side and Tanuma was forced against him; when they spun counter-clockwise, he was thrown unceremoniously against Tanuma's chest, and had to steady himself using Tanuma's offered elbow and shoulder. All in all, it was probably more body contact than Natsume had ever had with another human before for this length of time. He was also very distracted by trying to control his unwilling neck muscles in order to ensure that he didn't accidentally smack his face against Tanuma's opposite shoulder.
Tanuma was clearly used to this, however, or was just a natural; even while being thrown against the side of the compartment, he extended his arm to steady Natsume, and didn't seem to have trouble steadying himself on Natsume's shoulder when they switched direction.
It seemed like only a few seconds before the ride ended; it was so exhilarating that Natsume's breath was coming in gasps and his heart was pounding. No doubt his system was flooding with adrenaline. As he walked off the ride, he knew he must look red and flustered - he'd never really experienced such breathlessness from anything besides running for his life - and Tanuma was mildly concerned, as usual.
"Well? What did you think? Are you okay?"
It took Natsume several seconds to process his own emotions enough to decide how to respond, and when he did say something, it wasn't particularly elaborative. "That was..." Was he terrified? Was he happy? Would it inconvenience Tanuma too much if he said he wanted to go again? Would it be a bother if he'd had fun? Weren't they supposed to be looking for a yokai?
Tanuma's smile was so warm and bright that looking at it sent a rush of happiness and heat through Natsume's veins, distracting him from his own confusion. "Would you want to do another?"
Natsume nodded. Even so, he wondered if it would be a problem to Tanuma or to their mission, and cursed himself silently for a moment. Before he knew it, however, Tanuma had grabbed his hand again.
"Let's go!"
Luckily, they seemed to have lost the two yokai, so Natsume followed him to the next ride, a monstrous metal contraption that towered overhead. Natsume could hear the distant screams emanating from the various compartments, which travelled around a vertical band while spinning crazily. Each car looked akin to a tiny, strangely shaped cell, designed for trapping and detaining its riders.
Tanuma, clearly noticing the apprehension in Natsume's gaze, gave a comforting smile. "It's pretty crazy-looking, but it's really safe. It's a lot of fun, too." Evidently, a thought had suddenly occurred to him, and he rather quickly asked, "Do you get sick to your stomach easily?" He was still half-shouting, as the crowds surrounding them had, if anything, grown.
Considering the question, Natsume wasn't sure how to answer. He'd been on one ride without getting sick, and he was pretty used to withstanding bad auras and the like from yokai. The death machine overhead, however, looked as though it could bring the strongest person in the world to the brink of vomiting, so he wasn't exactly confident that his stomach would hold up.
He shrugged unhelpfully.
"If you get sick, they can stop the ride," Tanuma assured him, and Natsume finally nodded in agreement. The line was getting fairly long, so it took them about ten minutes to get to the front of it, but the wait seemed abnormally short-lived as Natsume eyed the looming, hollow compartment in trepidation.
It was, if possible, worse inside; it was cramped, with barely enough room for Natsume and Tanuma to half-stand and half-sit side by side. When the door swung shut, the entire compartment wobbled ominously, and the sound of clinking metal assaulted Natsume's ears.
"Don't worry," Tanuma said, misreading the apprehensive look on his face. "The compartment won't open; it's very secure. Just make sure not to let your face hit the door or anything, since we'll be swung around kind of hard."
The ride started to move, albeit very slowly, and Natsume's nerves began to tingle as though he'd sunk into hot water. "Tanuma, I'm really not sure - "
Then it began in earnest; the ride picked up speed so suddenly that Natsume gasped sharply, and Tanuma let out an exhilarated shout. As their little compartment spun turbulently, it was all Natsume could do to keep from headbutting the door; whiplash seemed to be a very real threat. After he adjusted to the strangeness of the sensations surrounding him, however, Natsume began to tune out of the loud sounds and violent movements; it was odd, but suddenly, he'd become attuned to small details, and the roaring in his ears became muted and dull, nothing more than background noise. He noticed the feeling of the wind buffeting his hair and the texture of the soft material of the safety bar on his fingers; the sound of his own rapid breathing and Tanuma's laughter mixed together and somehow harmonized. He managed to glance to the side, and his focus was drawn instantly to Tanuma's wind-whipped dark hair, and the way it was unceremoniously hitting his eyes and face; he abruptly noticed, too, the shape of Tanuma's mouth as he laughed, and the way his brow furrowed, and the fact that his own face held a similar expression of its own volition.
He was mildly terrified, and every nerve in his body was frayed and protesting, but - it was exhilarating.
When the ride had finished, Natsume could barely walk straight, and he and Tanuma stumbled drunkenly through the crowded path, chattering excitedly. The entire point of the trip was almost forgotten in the rush of energy, but just as the two of them were contemplating another ride, Tanuma seemed to stiffen.
Immediately alert, Natsume grabbed the other boy's forearm. "What's wrong? Tanuma?"
Tanuma shook his head, and Natsume couldn't help but notice that his black hair was still frizzy and disheveled from its ordeal. "I just got a bit of a headache all of the sudden, that's all." His expression was more perplexed than anything else, and he added, "I keep thinking I see a shadow moving out of the corner of my eye, too, but I can never fully focus on it...sorry, I know that's not very helpful."
He sounded frustrated, but Natsume was more concerned with the implication that they were being followed. "I didn't even notice, Tanuma. You're more helpful than I am right now, right?" The tone of his words must have betrayed his wariness, because Tanuma's expression changed to one of reassurance.
"It can't be that dangerous if you didn't notice it, Natsume. Let's just keep an eye out for now."
Natsume internally grimaced, thinking of the surplus of yokai that he'd completely failed to notice until they were literally on top of him. "It must be kind of bad, though, if it's giving you a severe headache. We should be careful." The thought that something might attack them - might attack Tanuma, that was - made him more serious.
"Oh, no, the headache's not that bad at all," Tanuma said quickly, but he winced, and Natsume knew that he wasn't being entirely truthful. "Besides, I've reacted to benevolent yokai before, you know. With any luck, it's the one we're searching for."
Natsume was about to half-heartedly agree when he saw it: a small, lithe white shape, perched comfortably on one of the park's food stands. Its three tails flicked as it noticed that Natsume could see it, and it soundlessly leapt down from its resting place and darted away, into the throng of people.
"There it is!" Natsume grabbed Tanuma's hand again and raced after the yokai, determined not to lose it; he heard a surprised yelp from the boy behind him, but he couldn't afford to slow down - not with their target speeding away with such agility and swiftness. As it was, he was just barely managing to keep his eyes on the retreating tails as the yokai raced between ankles and under bags.
"Sorry! Sorry - I'm sorry!" Tanuma was crying out apologies to all those who fell victim to the wild path the two were forging, and they left many irritated grumblings in their wake, but Natsume didn't have time to stop and apologize in earnest. Already the white fox was slipping away from him, growing slowly but surely farther and farther away, beyond his reach -
Without thinking, rapidly running out of steam, Natsume hollered, "Wait!"
At that moment, an enormously tall woman happened to step out in front of them, holding the hand of a shorter and heavier-set woman. The both of them were blushing and giggling happily, but the atmosphere turned far less pleasant when Natsume and Tanuma slammed into the taller woman at full speed. They were, however, barely as tall as the woman's shoulders, and were thrown back onto the ground, the breath knocked from their bodies.
Natsume hardly noticed the woman's indignant tone as she admonished the two of them; he was too busy desperately scanning the mass of feet in front of him, trying to catch a glimpse of the white fox. Unfortunately, it appeared that it was already too late; the fox yokai had disappeared.
"Natsume."
Tanuma's low hiss brought Natsume's attention back to the situation at hand; swallowing nervously and finally meeting the eyes of the displeased-looking giant of a woman and her equally fiery girlfriend above them, he and Tanuma both apologized profusely.
Luckily, the two women seemed to be forgiving, and helped Natsume and Tanuma to their feet. "Were you looking for something?" the shorter woman inquired in a rather low voice, and Natsume froze, unsure of how to answer.
Tanuma was far less awkward than his friend. "Just a paper that got swept away on the breeze," he answered easily, and gave the women an apologetic smile. "We're very sorry to have bothered you."
"Oh, that's all right," the taller woman said, and the two of them went on their way, leaving Natsume and Tanuma to fruitlessly scour their surroundings for any sign of the disappeared white fox.
Once it became clear that they had thoroughly and completely lost their quarry, the two of them were forced to take a break by their sheer exhaustion; neither Natsume nor Tanuma were very good with large crowds and loud noises, and both of them were quite worn out. By the time they'd finished catching their breath, it was already around seven o'clock.
Tanuma was wincing again, although he was trying to hide it; Natsume, however, was not fooled, and looked around for a quieter place to rest. A large tent caught his eye, and he gently guided Tanuma toward it. Tanuma must have been in more pain than he let on, because he followed along docilely, stumbling like a drunk person.
It wasn't as quiet inside the tent as Natsume had hoped, but at least it was cool. They sat in the very back, and while Tanuma closed his eyes, rubbing his temple, Natsume's attention was drawn to to stage on the other end of the tent.
Bright lights illuminated a middle-aged gentleman holding some sort of hat; with an unnecessary flourish, the man drew a small bouquet of roses from the hat. The meager audience in front of them clapped politely.
Interested in spite of himself, Natsume watched. The magician was started to look uncomfortable; his tricks were painfully mediocre, and the watchers, while mildly entertained, were not impressed. The magician dropped his hat, and a number of small items poured out of it. He received a couple of quiet insults, but most audience members were just getting up to leave.
Natsume thought of doing the same, but as he turned to look at Tanuma, he felt a gentle weight on his shoulder. Tanuma had fallen asleep; his gentle breaths ticked Natsume's neck, and the pained furrowing of his forehead had disappeared.
Figuring that it would be wrong to wake up the sleeping Tanuma, Natsume looked back to the stage. Only a few audience members remained, and of them, most were the ones who'd muttered insults.
Clearly panicking now, the magician announced in a trembling voice that he would now set a torch on fire without touching it. He stood a good ten feet away and scrunched up his face, clearly concentrating hard. The watchers quieted, intrigued, but nothing happened. Natsume noticed that the magician had a small gadget with a button on it in one hand and was pressing it repeatedly, but something must have broken, because the magician was looking increasingly afraid and confused.
Then, suddenly, the torch burst into flame. The magician, who had thrown away the button in his hand in frustration a moment before, looked just as shocked as his audience, although he recovered quickly enough to make a clumsy bow that nearly resulted in a nasty fall off the stage.
Unlike the others, Natsume was not confused about the source of the fire for very long; lurking behind the magician, a sly look in its eyes, was the three-tailed fox. Its stare met Natsume's almost playfully, a clear challenge. All three of its tails flicked.
Natsume nudged Tanuma frantically, hissing in his ear until he woke up. Luckily, Tanuma caught on quickly, and the two of them crept quietly toward the stage.
As soon as they got close, however, the fox turned tail (tails?) and ran, giving them one last mischievous glance. Tanuma gave a small, offended gasp, and it occurred briefly to Natsume that for whatever reason, Tanuma could see it too.
Tanuma ran past Natsume, leaping onto the stage in hot pursuit; yelping in alarm, Natsume followed him. Being more than a little bit clumsy, Natsume cannoned past the magician, knocking the man off of his feet. The small audience let out a collective laugh.
Natsume only had time for a quick "Sorry!" before he took off, Tanuma and the fox already far ahead of him. Luckily, his years of running away from yokai were paying off, and he caught up quickly to Tanuma, whose breaths sounded a lot like gasps.
Natsume was sprinting now, determined not to lose the fox again; Tanuma slipped behind, the fox pulling ahead.
Apparently, Natsume's best wasn't good enough; having lost the fox once more, he stopped, thoroughly winded. A couple seconds later, Tanuma caught up, wincing at his still-present headache.
"Sorry, Natsume," Tanuma panted, bending over to catch his breath. "It's just...so fast."
"It's okay." Natsume looked around, scanning their surroundings, but the fox was gone; try as he might, he couldn't even feel its presence. "This fox is messing with us. It's just playing a game."
Tanuma glanced up, wrinkling his brow worriedly. "It's starting to get dark," he said. "How are we ever going to find it again?"
The clink of metal behind them startled them, and they turned to look. They were in front of a ferris wheel, and a massive, towering one at that. The metallic sound had been the entry gate unlocking and opening.
"That might work," Tanuma suggested.
Natsume thought it was a bit of a long shot to think that they might see the fox from up there, but as he didn't have any better ideas, he nodded and climbed into one of the compartments after Tanuma. It was creaky and wobbly, and it shuddered slightly as the wheel began to turn slowly.
As they approached the top, Natsume's eyes were drawn to the sunset, which dyed the amusement park in pinks and oranges. Tanuma followed his gaze, and Natsume heard him let out a relaxed sigh. He had to admit that it was quite a sight, even if he was fearing for his very life on this spinning death circle.
Just as they reached the top, the sun slipped quietly beneath the horizon, and for an instant, everything was dark; even the murmuring of the crowds below them seemed to be subdued. Then, suddenly, bright lights lit up the darkness, shining pink and purple and green and yellow. They flashed throughout the amusement park, creating spiral designs or pulsating rhythmically. It was utterly unexpected, and it took Natsume's breath away.
Without thinking, he moved to grab Tanuma's sleeve, wanting to know if he, too, was entranced by the sudden light. Another hand bumped against his, and without either of them looking down, the two of them allowed their hands to relax into a comfortable grip, staring out at the shimmering scene below.
As the initial shock wore off, Natsume became very, very aware of the warm, soft hand in his, and felt heat creeping up his cheeks and into his ears. He could tell by the slight twitch in Tanuma's fingers that he had also noticed the situation belatedly. The two of them sat in a silence that quickly went from natural to awkward.
"Ahem," Natsume said, looking away in a futile attempt to hide the redness of his face. Tanuma just stared at him for a second, seemingly processing; then, gently, he brought Natsume's hand up to his mouth and gave it the smallest and most delicate kiss.
It was Tanuma's turn to blush furiously; he released Natsume's hand and both of them stared out the window pointedly, half-heartedly looking for the fox. Natsume, heart still beating abnormally fast, caught sight of something different: Natori and Hiiragi, both smirking up at him and standing directly next to the three-tailed fox. Natsume's eyes widened and he shook his head slightly, assuming that his moment with Tanuma had addled his brains. As he watched, the white fox disappeared in a small puff of smoke, revealing a fiendishly grinning Nyanko-sensei.
Natsume felt a smile creep unwillingly onto his face, the discomfort leaving him but the blush remaining. He looked back at Tanuma, who was staring very intently at nothing in particular.
"Tanuma." Not a kiss on the hand this time, but a proper, lingering kiss - and it was warmer than he could have ever imagined.