Warnings: Minor references to events in Vol. 15 and 16. Tanuma and Taki friendship-fic.

Disclaimer: Natsume Yuujincho still doesn't belong to me.

# # # Teamwork # # #

It is far too hot to be outside right now. Tanuma Kaname thought, keeping his eyes resolutely towards the ground in an attempt to stave off the worst of the sunlight, which seemed to be conspiring with the heat to pound him into submission. Couldn't Father have waited on his order a few days longer? Or come to pick it up himself?

But even before he'd properly finished the thought, guilt started creeping in. He'd helped his father organize their stores; he knew how low they were on certain of the items his father had ordered. And there was always enough going on, keeping the temple in proper shape with just the two of them (and half the time Kaname too busy with schoolwork or other activities or too sick to be a proper help), that it could be genuinely difficult to get away. And it was … sort of on the way.

He sighed, lowering his head further, and tried vainly to shake his bangs into a position that would better shade his eyes, so that at least he'd just be overheated, instead of overheated and half-blind. I never thought I'd regret trimming my hair last week. How long is this heat going to last?

When only his reflexes saved him from an embarrassing encounter with a light pole – not that anyone with sense was out in this heat to see him, or that those left were interested in anything but their own misery – he was forced to re-think this course of action, and raised his head once more, holding up a hand to block the worst of the sun. Huh. I've come farther than I thought. So if I turn right here …

Down the road a ways, he thought he spotted a familiar figure: shoulder-length pale hair glinting in the sun as she walked down the road with a bearing that suggested she was at least a little bit less miserable than Kaname himself. I guess that's one good thing about having to wear a skirt. My pants will probably be soaked through by the time I get home.

He raised his hand away from his face and opened his mouth to call to her – but at the last moment thought better of it. She's probably got more interesting things to do with her time than talk to me. And I certainly wouldn't want to prolong anyone's exposure to this heat. He thought fondly of his own small room, well-shaded by the trees that grew liberally on the shrine grounds, and the two small fans that awaited his return. Though even with that, it will probably still be miserable for hours yet …

When several minutes later, Taki still appeared to be walking the same direction he was, he started to regret his decision not to call out to her. I hope she doesn't look back and start worrying that I'm following her. He thought it would probably be fine – Taki was his friend, after all, he thought, even if she was mostly Natsume's, but, well, girls were weird sometimes. People were weird, in general. And friends are the weirdest of all, if only because the stakes are so much higher if you fail …

Then she stopped, and for a moment, caught mindlessly following her even though he wasn't really following her, he stopped, too. Then he shook his head and kept walking. Idiot. Then she'd really wonder about you. Unfortunately, while the internal criticism was enough to keep him walking, it didn't make him feel any less awkward about the situation as the distance between them slowly lessened.

When he'd come almost near enough to touch and she still seemed unaware of his presence, standing in the middle of the road and shifting from foot to foot as though worried about something, he swallowed to try and soothe his suddenly dry (well … drier) throat, then cleared it. "Um, Taki? Is something wrong?"

She whirled. "Tanuma-kun! You surprised me!"

He smiled awkwardly. "Sorry."

She waved it off. "Oh, no, it's my fault for being so out of it. You don't come down this road often, right? Have you been following me for long? You should have said something, we could have walked together!"

"Sor –" He forgot, sometimes, how fast Taki could talk when she put her mind to it.

"But more importantly!" She overrode his latest attempt at an apology, then pointed at a mostly unremarkable patch of road in front of her. "Can you tell if there's anything there?"

Kaname blinked, looking from his friend to the road and back. "… It seems like a perfectly ordinary stretch of road to me? It's a bit damp over there – did you spill something?"

"I didn't." She looked frustrated. "But there was a moment – I tripped, I could swear over something, but when I looked back, there was nothing there, but I swear that damp spot wasn't there before … so I thought maybe it was …"

Kaname stared at the ground more closely, squinting as though that would help at all. (It never did.) Was that patch over there perhaps just the slightest bit darker than usual? In an unusual sort of way? He became suddenly aware of a mild throbbing to his temples, but … "I can't tell whether I'm getting a headache because there are youkai around, or because of the heat and the sun." He admitted ruefully. "And I don't see any suspicious-looking shadows, but … well, that's always been more hit-and-miss. I think a lot of the small stuff I just never see." He hesitated. "Have you tried using your circle? If there's something there, maybe it would enter it if you drew one nearby?" Then we could both see it clearly, rather than depending on my paltry excuse for abilities.

Taki shook her head, looking conflicted. "Natsume-kun said … it's apparently some sort of forbidden art, so I'm trying to keep from using it. Especially in public. But –" she made a helpless sort of gesture with her hands. "If there's something here, especially if I injured it, I can't just leave it –!"

Then she brightened. "Natsume-kun! His house is nearby, isn't it? I could maybe go ask if he could come take a look …"

Kaname shook his head. "Kitamoto mentioned earlier – he and Nishimura were planning on dragging Natsume off somewhere this afternoon. Fishing, I think he said." He'd been just as glad that needing to run this errand for his father had provided a good excuse to beg off – he thought he would have enjoyed the fishing itself, but the last thing he wanted to do was keel over because he'd been climbing around all afternoon. Especially in front of his friends – Natsume in particular always got so worried when he thought there was something wrong. And in this heat, even the shade from the trees in the forest the other three were likely hiking through at this very moment probably wouldn't be enough.

He squatted. If Taki had tripped over it – if there had been anything there to begin with, though he was inclined to believe her, given the damp spot, although whether or not it was still there was a different question – it would probably be pretty short. But getting closer to its supposed height didn't appear to do any good. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I still can't see anything."

Taki bit her lip. "I really shouldn't …"

"If only I could actually see."

Her eyes widened. "I think I have an idea!" She turned to her bag and started digging through it. "I remember my grandfather saying … clear or reflective surfaces, like glass and mirrors, are supposed to display youkai more clearly. I never really thought about it much, since in order for it to help you have to actually be able to see something in the first place. And Natsume-kun's never needed the help. But maybe …"

I wonder if that's why Natori-san wore glasses. He remembered the one time he'd met Natsume's rather overbearing exorcist friend. … Though I wouldn't think he'd need any extra help, either. So maybe he's just near-sighted.

"Hah! Here it is!" She thrust a palm-sized object into his hands; its exterior smooth, rounded, and very pink. He fumbled with it, feeling even more awkward than usual, only half-listening as Taki continued to speak. "It's not really mine; Mio-chan lent it to me, but then she got called out of class and I haven't had a chance to give it back yet. But I don't think she'd mind us using it –"

He finally popped the catch, opening it to find a small mirror. He turned it towards the ground not far away from the rapidly-shrinking damp spot. … Brilliant move, now even if it does show anything, you can't actually see it. Some additional maneuvering – him placing his free hand on the ground for balance (and doing his best to ignore just how hot the pavement was), holding the compact up, and craning his neck – finally netted him a proper look.

"There's definitely something there." He confirmed, squinting at the dim, vaguely humanoid shape that he could now see sprawling across the road between himself and Taki. I suppose it's a good thing I didn't keep walking, or I would have tripped over it too.

"It looks like it's about a meter long, stretching from here to about where you're standing – sorry, I meant just this side of where you're standing, not that you were standing on it." He added quickly when she jumped back, looking even more guilty than before.

"I can't really... I think it has two arms and two legs, and it seems to have a really short neck. But maybe there are a lot of youkai who look like that? It's still mostly shadow; I can't make out any details."

Taki folded down onto her knees to bring herself nearer to Kaname's height, but soon sat back with a sigh. "No good. I still can't see anything but the road."

A part of Kaname wanted to say something reassuring, but he'd never been good with words. Especially not now, when he feared whatever he said would be tainted by his strong sense of relief that for once, he wasn't just getting in the way. So he remained silent, redoubling his efforts to discern every possible detail from the youkai's reflected form.

"Um, you might want to move back." He suggested. "I think it's reaching towards you. With an arm?" From its relative placement on the shadowy body, he was fairly certain it was an arm, at least. Taki quickly followed his suggestion, getting safely out of the way of the reaching arm. Which didn't change its trajectory at all, but if it wasn't reaching for Taki, then what …?

He raised his eyes along the line of the arm, and after a moment – the heat really shouldn't be affecting his ability to think this badly, and his headache (threatening to grow beyond 'mild' if he didn't do something about either the heat, the presence of youkai, or both sometime soon) didn't help matters at all – realized that directly in that line of sight sat the now nearly gone damp spot. And right next to it …

He crab-walked a step, then realized he probably looked ridiculous, stood, and walked over to the damp spot, carefully skirting his way around the shadowy youkai. Squatting again to get a better view, it only took a little bit of fiddling with the direction in which he pointed the mirror before he found what he was looking for: a much smaller shadowy spot, vaguely circular and a little less than twice the size of the compact, that rested right next to the damp spot. He reached out, and after not too much trial and error – only being able to properly see what he was doing via the small compact's mirror did not make things easy – managed to first touch, then pick up the piece of shadow.

Despite the fact that he could still only see it through a mirror, and only for the very broadest definitions of the word 'see', it felt quite real to his fingers. Slightly curved inwards, smooth, and almost cool to the touch. "… I think it's a plate? Or a lid?"

He turned and set it down within reaching distance of the youkai's arm; as though it had been watching Kaname's actions (which, he realized, it probably had, given that he and Taki presumably looked far more real to it than it did to them), the moment he set the plate down, the reaching arm snatched it up, pulling it towards … "Why would a youkai want to put a plate on its head? … I think upside down?"

Then he turned to look at Taki, and could almost feel the moment when they both got it. "Kappa." They said simultaneously.

Taki jumped to her feet. "Water. That must be why he's sprawled out over the road, especially with how hot it is. If we can get him to the river …"

He eyed the shadow. "It's …" he hesitated, running a hand through his sweat-dampened hair, then sighed. "I know it's not that far, but … I'm not sure I could make it. Not in this weather, carrying something that heavy." Not when I already feel like I'd like to collapse myself.

"We could trade off carrying him." Taki suggested. "Or both carry him at the same time, distribute the load?"

He might not be the best at reading people, but even Kaname could tell from the stubborn set to her shoulders and determined look on her face that Taki would not be swayed from doing something to help the stranded kappa. Well, it's not like I don't want to help, too. But … He offered a cautious half-smile. "We could give it a try, I suppose. It would at least get him closer to the water. And I doubt anyone would even notice us acting weird in this heat." He flexed his hand, thinking of the weird solidity of the plate that he couldn't even properly see, then looked at Taki. "Can you, though? Touch him?"

Taki bit her lip, then forced a smile. "I should be able to. I was able to trip over him, after all." She paused, then added sheepishly. "Um, if you can tell me where he is?"

"Oh. Right." Kaname fished his handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat threatening to start dripping in his eyes off his face, then refocused his concentration on the mirror, angling it towards the kappa's feet. "OK, back in that direction about a foot and a half, then a step to the right. A little bit more … stop!" At her enquiring look at his vehemence, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just, you were about to step on him. I think."

"Oh! Thanks." Taki crouched, reaching out a hand. "So he's about here, then?"

Kaname nodded distractedly. "Your hand's just above his ankle. Now you're touching … through it?" There had been a moment of what looked like resistance but might have just been hesitation, but then Taki's hand passed straight through the shadow. I wonder how that feels to youkai. It must be lonely, to know that the vast majority of people won't ever even notice your existence. Even if you're right in front of them.

No wonder so many of them flock to Natsume. To actually be acknowledged … Well. By someone who's not going to immediately turn around and exorcise them, at least. Maybe I should be surprised any of them are willing to seek out humans in the first place.

Taki frowned. "I thought I felt something for a moment, but then … nothing." She lifted her hand, then tried again. "Still nothing – I didn't even feel anything that time." She looked at Kaname. "Are you sure you have the right place?"

He blinked, and double-checked the mirror. "He moved his leg. It's a bit further to the right now. Yes, there." Yet even as he watched Taki lower her hand, he saw the shadowy appendage slide away. "… And he moved it again." I guess maybe even if we live in separate worlds, it can't be precisely comfortable. "Let's give up on this, Taki."

"No!" The hand that rested on the ground near the kappa's leg fisted. "I can't just leave him here, Tanuma-kun. Especially not if we're right and he really is a kappa. He could die if we left him out in this heat. And Natsume-kun's not –"

Natsume's not here to save him in our place.

Taki looked away, and Kaname looked down for a moment, too, feeling more useless than ever. He closed the compact, bringing his arm – beginning to feel the strain of being held out at such an odd angle for so long – back down to rest on his knees, then looked back up at Taki. "I didn't mean –"

"I'm sorry –" She started at nearly the same time. Their eyes met, and they both laughed self-consciously. He nodded to Taki, gesturing his willingness to yield the conversational floor. "I'm sorry for yelling." She said quietly, looking down again. "I just feel so …"

"Helpless?" He offered wryly. Taki's head shot up. "I do too."

"But you're not –"

"Compared to Natsume?"

Taki looked away again.

Carefully balancing, Kaname wiped his face with his handkerchief again. Ugh, that's definitely going to need a wash when I get home. He offered Taki a small smile. "I apologize as well, for saying something that could be so easily misunderstood. I just meant, we should probably give up on carrying him. Not coming up with some way to help."

Something cool brushed his leg, and he automatically jumped back, fumbling and almost dropping the compact, then reopened it, directing it downward to see one of the kappa'sarms near where his ankle had been. But not for long – once he realized he had Kaname's attention, the shadowy arm moved upwards, first waving towards its head, then when that was insufficient, detaching and replacing the top part – the plate he'd returned, Kaname realized. He watched with fascination.

"Tanuma-kun?"

He blinked again. "Sorry. It seems to be trying to tell me something. It keeps taking the plate off its head, then putting it back on."

"Of course!" Taki said. He looked towards her as she gestured broadly. "Legends all say that the best way to defeat a kappa is to get it to bow so that all the water in the bowl in its head drains out, right? Because that weakens it, right?"

Kaname squeezed his eyes shut briefly. I really need to get out of this heat. "So if we bring water to it …"

"Maybe it'll be strong enough to do the rest on its own!" Taki grinned. Her face fell. "There's not a convenience store nearby, though. And I don't have a bottle or something to collect water from the river …"

Kaname considered the contents of his school bag, then shook his head. "I don't either." His eyes focused on the top of Taki's head. "What about that?"

She pulled off her cap. "What, this?" Then winced, presumably at the now unobstructed sunlight. "But – it's not waterproof, it'll all leak out …"

"It's better than nothing – at least you'll be able to wring out the remainder." He hesitated. "I guess, on that theory – our school bags, too … we could empty one of them out …"

It'd be a pain to try and carry Father's orders home in a damp bag, though. If they're wrapped in paper, I'd just have to carry them by hand. Along with everything else that's sensitive to water, which is just about everything ...

"We can use my bag." Taki said, putting her hat back on and opening her bag, already starting to empty it out.

"Thanks." Kaname replied gratefully. "Normally I wouldn't mind, but my father asked me to pick a few things up on the way home ..." Taki, one arm full nearly to toppling over, looked around, as though only just realizing that removing her books from her bag meant actually putting them somewhere else.

He folded the compact up and put it in his pocket for safekeeping, then held out his arms. "Here, we can put them in my bag, and I'll return them to you tomorrow morning. Unless you have homework?"

"Nothing that I can't do with what I have at home, luckily. You don't mind?" Taki asked. "I know your route home is a lot longer than mine. And if you're carrying stuff for your dad, too ..." She suddenly looked chagrined. "I'm sorry, I didn't even ask if you had something better to do than go along with my whims. If you need to go, I can –"

"It's fine." Kaname said firmly. Taki continued to look doubtful. "Truly, it is. The things Father asked me to pick up – s he needs them by tomorrow, otherwise he'd probably have waited for the weekend in the hopes that the weather would break. But he doesn't need them immediately. As long as I'm back before dinner, it will be fine."

"If you're sure …" Taki handed over the last item from her bag, a slim workbook, and stood. "All right, I'll be back soon!"

As he watched her dash off, Kaname let himself fall out of his crouch, sitting down with his knees bent in front of him. He looked down at the road beside him – could he see a shadow now, even a little bit? No, probably just a trick of the light – and sighed. "I guess it's just the two of us, now, huh?" He pulled his handkerchief back out and wiped his face again. Considered turning his face up to look at the sky, then decided against it given how punishing the sun was currently.

Something cool brushed against his ankle; he looked down, but of course saw nothing. "Was that a 'thank you'? If so, you're talking to the wrong person. All I'm doing is sitting here waiting."

Sometimes it seems like that's all I do, is wait. He shook his head. I hate this weather. It always puts me out of sorts.

He rubbed at his temples experimentally, to see if that would help at all with his slowly increasing headache. I hope I don't end up fainting again. It was mortifying that time with Natsume, but if I did it again, in the middle of the road, of all places … And knowing Taki, she'd probably never forgive herself.

… Speaking of the middle of the road, I suppose I should get out of it. Get both of us out, before someone trips over the poor thing again. Even in this weather, someone's bound to come by eventually.

He heaved himself to his feet, edged over to about where he remembered the kappa's head being, and bent back over, intending to get a grip under his shoulders and pull him over to the side of the road. I really ought to be able to handle at least that much.

What he got instead, just as he found proper purchase and he started to lift, was a punch in the nose.

He reeled backwards, eyes closing and one hand coming up to his face in reaction, then to add insult to injury knocked his back – hard – against the edge of the low wall separating the road from the grassy area that bordered it. "Ow." He glared in the general direction of the kappa, still smarting too much to pull out the mirror and make sure he was glaring in exactly the right direction. "That hurt. I was just trying to help!"

I bet this never happens to Natsume.

His nose throbbing in time with his head, a line of pain across his back – with his luck, it would probably bruise – and still far too hot for any reasonable person to stand, Kaname tucked his head forward and just breathed for several seconds, trying to quell his rising frustration. Resisting the urge to just stand up and walk away. (That he knew he'd only make it a few steps before guilt drove him to return didn't make it any less appealing an option.)

Sighing, he pulled the compact back out, refocusing on the kappa. Its movements seemed more lethargic than before, which he thought should probably worry him. Though he seemed pretty capable of rapid movement when it was punching me! "I just wanted to get you out of the center of the road, so that if anyone else came by, they'd be less likely to trip over you and injure you further. Um. If you are injured, that is." Kaname realized that he had no idea how tough kappa were in general, or just how much weaker losing the water from the bowl on their head made them. The stubby appendage that he assumed was the kappa's head had lifted slightly. Maybe he was actually paying attention.

Assuming so, Kaname forged on. "I apologize for not asking before. But if it's all right with you, I would like to try again." The kappa's head wavered in a motion that he thought might be a nod, so he leaned forward in preparation for getting up. Then reconsidered. He really did not want to get hit again. "Um. If you're okay with that, can you … I don't know, wave your arms or something?" Both shadowy arms started moving. "All right, thanks. Here we go."

He did one last check of the kappa's location, folded the compact away again, then stood, stretching his back out for a moment before bending back down. This time, without incident.

For a being that to Kaname's eyes was either shadowy on the verge of insubstantial, or simply invisible, the kappa was surprisingly heavy. When he finally managed to get him over to the low wall and leaned his upper body against it, Kaname was more than ready to follow suit, collapsing back into his earlier position – this time, thankfully, without further injury. I could really use a hat right now. Or an umbrella. Or a tree. Any sort of shade would be fine.

He closed his eyes, letting his hands fall to his side and his head sag. But although his eyes enjoyed the rest from the ever-present sunlight, not having anything to look at just fixed his concentration further on how hot he was. I hope Taki gets back soon.

He forced his gaze across the road, and as though the thought had been a summon, Taki appeared – dashing across the field, both hands wrapped around her bag as though carrying something precious, her hat balanced so precariously on her head that he was surprised it hadn't gone flying off at some point. She paused at the edge of the street, clearly out of breath. "Sorry … it took me so long." This close, it was clear that not just her bag, but Taki herself was soaked. "I got back as soon as I could."

"What happened? Did you jump in?" He couldn't decide whether to feel sorry for her or simply jealous – a dip in the river, intentional or not, sounded really good at the moment.

"No." Taki sighed, tucking wet hair behind an ear. "I tripped." Kaname couldn't help the twitch to his lips. He tried. Unfortunately, Taki saw it and pulled a face. "For real this time. I wasn't looking where I was going. Don't laugh!"

"Sorry." He replied automatically, doing his best to keep his face straight. He looked at the ground instead, which seemed to help. As long as he avoided looking at the quickly dampening ground at Taki's feet. "Um. I moved the kappa. In case anyone else came by. Though no one has."

"Oh, that was good thinking." Taki said. "It didn't even occur to me … so where is he now?"

Kaname tilted his head to the right. "Sitting beside me. His legs are stretched out, though."

"OK, got it." She squelched over, then paused. "I don't actually … should I just pour it on him?"

Kaname angled the mirror towards the kappa. "Huh, he's holding his hands out, I think holding the plate. Maybe he wants you to pour into that?"

Taki looked briefly surprised. "He can understand –?" Then chagrined. "What am I saying, of course he can. But where ...?"

He switched the mirror into his left hand, then turned slightly to give himself a less awkward angle to hover his hand under what he hoped was the center of the bowl. "Just pretend you're pouring into my hand."

"All right, here goes ..."

Her initial attempt missed the bowl, splashing across the kappa's outstretched legs instead. Though from the way they suddenly started twitching strongly enough that even his shadowy sort-of-sight could see it, Kaname doubted that the kappa minded. The second attempt was more successful, splashing part of the plate, but mostly the kappa's body, and the third attempt finally struck the plate in the center.

"This is so weird." Taki complained. "I believe you that it's going into the plate, and sometimes I can almost see it ... but most of the time, I could be pouring straight onto the ground for all I can tell."

Kaname briefly turned his gaze away from the mirror to look at the situation with his own eyes, then just as quickly brought it back. "You're right, that is disorienting. But it definitely is – stop a moment." The kappa had removed his hands from the stream of water, upending them over his head, then returned them to their previous position. He seemed to realize that it was only through the position of Kaname's hand that Taki knew where to pour, so this time he let his hands settle into Kaname's, so he ended up partially cupping the cool porcelain of the plate. "All right, you can start pouring again. He seems to be interested in a refill."

Two refills later, instead of bringing the plate back down the kappa set it firmly on his head and stood. Kaname reluctantly followed suit. "I think he's done."

"Good, there's not a whole lot left."

The kappa bowed shallowly – Kaname thought he might have bowed more deeply, if not for the fact that water started leaking out, causing him to abruptly raise a hand to his head to steady the plate and straighten. Kaname bowed in return and, looking nervous again, Taki did as well. She didn't have the direction entirely right, as bowing towards where she had poured ended up with her facing at a slight angle, but Kaname figured it was close enough.

"I'm really sorry for knocking you over. Or tripping on you. Or whatever it was that I did." She said earnestly.

The kappa stood silent for a moment – or rather, Kaname realized when he made a dismissive gesture, most likely he had been speaking, before remembering that neither of them could hear him. "I think he said not to worry about it." The kappa's head moved in a gesture that Kaname took to be a nod.

And then, with a wave of one of its arms, the kappa bounded off in the direction of the river, even more energetically than Taki had. I wish I had that sort of energy right now. "… He's gone now." He belatedly informed Taki, when he noticed she was still staring fixedly just off-center from where the kappa had been.

"Oh." She sounded a bit disappointed, then brightened. "I'm glad that he's okay. But …" she looked down at her book bag. "I still have some water left …"

"I've got an idea what to do about that." Kaname offered, after taking a mental inventory of his pockets. "If I may?"

"Of course." She passed the bag to him.

He upended it over his head, sighing happily, then smiled at Taki. "Now we're both wet."

She giggled, accepting the bag back. "You should have said something; I would have been happy to throw the rest of it at you."

"But then my back would still be dry."

Taki sighed mournfully. "We've been standing around long enough that mine almost is again. It's unfairly hot."

Kaname nodded his agreement as he picked up his bag. "Shall we move on out of this heat, now that our mission is complete?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." She agreed.

They walked side-by-side for several minutes in silence before Taki spoke again. "Thank you. I'm really glad –" she stopped.

When after a short pause she didn't continue, Kaname turned to look down at her, and caught a troubled, vaguely guilty look on her face. "You're glad?" He finally prompted.

She looked down at her feet for several more seconds before looking up at him, expression on her face still guilty. "Are you sure you want to know? It's not … very nice."

He offered a smile in response. "Now I'm curious." Then, fearing he was being too pushy, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, though."

"Oh! No, it's just …" She smiled back half-heartedly. "I was just thinking … I'm kind of glad it was you here instead of Natsume-kun. But that's terrible, isn't it?"

Kaname blinked. "Why? Natsume would have been so much more helpful – I couldn't even see the kappa without a mirror, and neither of us could hear it, and I sent you running off to the river and back when I'm sure Natsume would have been able to come up with a far better plan …"

"But he would have tried to do it all by himself." Taki cut in, then looked away again. "I feel like I actually helped this time, instead of mostly being in the way. See? I'm terrible."

Kaname looked away, too, not eloquent enough to respond properly. Finally, he offered a quiet truth of his own. "… I'm glad it was me, too." Hesitated, but made himself say it. "… And that Natsume wasn't here either." He risked a glance at Taki, and found her staring back. "So I guess if you're terrible, that makes me terrible, too?"

Because even though I can see a little, when Natsume's around I might as well be as normal as Taki … except without even her knowledge of ayakashi.

She suddenly smiled, then blurted, "Let's do this again, sometime."

"… Rescue stranded kappa?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. Well. Maybe. If there are more stranded kappa to rescue. But I more meant … hang out together. Talk." She bowed her head slightly, just enough that the shade from her cap hid her eyes. "Like real friends."

… I keep forgetting that I'm not the only one who's bad at people. "I'd like that." He replied. "Hey, isn't that …?"

Taki followed his gaze. "My house? … Would you like to come in? Our air conditioner isn't very good, but we've got fans, too, so it should be cooler than outside. And have shade. And I should be able to find some barley tea …"

Kaname held up a hand. "Don't worry about it. I really ought to get going."

"If you're sure …"

"I am. See you at school tomorrow?"

Taki nodded, then smiled, a bit more shyly than before. "See you tomorrow."

# # # # #

The next morning, Kaname stood near the gate before school started, eyes peeled for a certain pale head.

"Tanuma, good morning."

He turned and smiled. "Natsume, how was fishing yesterday? Sorry I couldn't make it …"

His friend grinned. "It was great! We didn't catch hardly anything, but Nishimura fell in twice –"

"Oi, I was so pushed in that second time!" The boy in question launched himself onto Natsume's back, clearly trying for a headlock. For his part, Natsume bore up under the assault remarkably well for how frail he tended to look. Then again, I of all people should know how frail he's not. "If you're going to tell tales, get the story right!"

Over the tops of their bent over heads, Kaname and Kitamoto exchanged amused glances. Then Kitamoto reached over and hooked the back of his friend's shirt, half-heartedly attempting to drag him off. "Come on, it's almost time for class."

"Fine, fine …" Nishimura let go. "See you in class, Natsume! If you're late, I won't make excuses to the teacher for you!"

"Understood." Natsume watched the two leave with fond look that made Kaname's heart ache. I wish he didn't always look so grateful. Doesn't he understand?

Natsume turned back to Kaname with a smile. "I should really get going, too." He hesitated. "Are you … waiting for someone?"

Kaname sometimes wished he didn't know Natsume well enough to be able to translate that to Am I in the way?

Thankfully, he was saved the awkwardness of trying to come up with an answer. "Tanuma-kun! Oh, and Natsume-kun!"

They both turned to greet an enthusiastically waving Taki as she jogged up to join them at the gate. "Good morning, Taki." Natsume said.

Kaname opened his bag and began pulling books out. "Here – these are yours."

"You're a life-saver." Taki said, opening her own bag and accepting the offerings. "I don't know what happened – I must have been heat-addled, yesterday, to not realize that my books were still in your bag."

Kaname smiled. "Don't worry about it. I myself didn't notice until about halfway home." Which was a slight fib – he'd actually noticed once he picked up his father's orders and started trying to fit them into his fuller-than-usual bag.

Natsume looked between the two of them. "Um. Did something happen, yesterday?"

Kaname and Taki shared a smile. "Oh, nothing much." She said breezily, closing up her bag. "That's everything, right?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned. "Oh no, at this rate, I'll be late for class! See you two later!"

Natsume turned towards Kaname, clearly hoping for more of an explanation than that, and Kaname was surprised to feel a grin stretching its way across his face. It's kind of fun to be the one in the know sometimes. "Well, sounds like we should be making a dash for it, too, then."

… Or at least a fast walk. Because Taki might be part wind spirit or something (… did those actually exist? He'd like to see one someday), but for normal human beings it was still far too hot to run.

"Tanuma? That's not an answer, Tanuma!"

He looked upwards, towards a clear blue sky, unobstructed by clouds. I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day. … Aside from the heat.

Natsume drew up even with him, and the worry was so clear on his face that Kaname started to feel guilty. "It really wasn't anything much." He said. "If you can help me find Taki, we'll tell you over lunch?"

Natsume smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

How could it be anything but good, with friends like these?

#

8 August 2013