Natsume settled into a more comfortable position as he began to explain. "It seems your father hired an exorcist because you were so ill and the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with you. The silver-haired man, Ichinomiya Kantarou, is the exorcist. The other is a tengu named Haruka... Ichinomiya-san said He used to be called the onikui tengu..."

"Oni...kui?" Tanuma seemed a bit disturbed by the thought of this, "But, why could I see him? Are you sure I'm not dead, Natsume?" He wondered, eyeing his friend.

"Of course you're not dead. Your father saw you, didn't he?" Madara pointed out as he groomed himself, "He's strong enough to make himself visible to regular humans, anyone can see him."

Natsume nodded, "And since he's even stronger than nyanko-sensei, he doesn't have to resort to using a pig-cat form to be seen by humans, right sensei?"

"Yeah, that's abou- HEY WAIT A MINUTE! I can't be seen in my true form because people would be bowled over by my elegance and-"

"You talk a lot." Haruka, who had just entered the room during the commotion, commented as he lifted Madara up by the scruff of his neck and stared at him.

"You put me down! I could eat you for this, you know!" Madara hissed, his stubby legs trying to reach far enough to scratch Haruka.

Haruka smirked, "Well? Bring it on."

It was then that Kantarou decided to step in, "Haruka, don't pick fights with defenseless little kitties. It's cruel... besides, we're finished here. Let's go ho-"

"Wait!" Natsume called between laughter at the verbal abuse of his sensei, "Wait, I need to talk to you..." He glanced over at Tanuma, who's laughter was finally beginning to subside, "How did you do that earlier?" The teen asked, watching as Kantarou sat down with them.

Ever curious, Tanuma wondered, "Do what? Natsume, what happened while I was asleep?"

"A demon was posessing a koi in your pond. It had made a deal with the demon, who agreed to defend the pond from human pollution by masking it with his energy- that's why you and your father couldn't see it before," Kantarou explained, "But of course, there was a price for this. Because you were so close and had a significant amount of spiritual power, the deal was, in return for the defense of the pond, he would devour your soul."

"Haruka-san found scratches on your back. Apparently those scratches were a curse from the demon; marking you as his prey." Natsume added, eyeing Kantarou for approval. He wasn't entirely sure what all had happened, but he was trying to learn, and he knew that Kantarou had the answers.

With a bright smile and a nod, Kantarou praised, "That's right. In addition to being a tag, however, it was feeding sapping your energy. With this mark, he was able to feed from you even when you were away from home, until finally you became so weak you were unable to leave the house. That's why you were such a convenient target, as opposed to Natsume-kun, who would have been preferable as he does have quite a bit more spiritual power than you." With a sigh, he said, "What the koi didn't realize is that he was being used as a vessel. As the demon fed and became stronger, he would be able to mobilize, and eventually, completely abandon the pond."

Tanuma looked down and murmured, "I see..."

"It's alright now though. I've purified the koi, and the demon's gone, so you should be safe. Still, I put up a barrier just to be safe, and if you ever need help, I'm more than willing to come back." Kantarou offered, attempting to comfort the boy.

"Or you could ask Madara, if he could be bothered to get his face out of Nanatsuji's kitchen and do something useful," Haruka reminded, seeming somewhat bored as he leaned against the frame of the bedroom door.

"You're one to talk! You were the one that fed me if you'll recall!" The lucky cat hissed angrily, swatting at Haruka some more.

"I didn't know you were abandoning your duties as a 'bodyguard.'" The tengu countered, glaring down at the squirming creature in his hand.

"So were you! Aren't named tengu supposed to stay with their masters? Huh?"

Haruka threw the cat across the room where he hit the wall with a resounding thud. "Don't compare Kantarou to Natsume. Kantarou knows how to defend himself, and knows I'll come if he calls me. Can you honestly say the same for Natsume?"

Kantarou shot Haruka a look, "Haruka! Mind your manners!" He scolded with an apologetic glance to Natsume.

"No, he's right," Natsume said quietly. "I really don't know how to defend myself. All I can do is run to a shrine..." He looked to the floor with clenched fists, feeling somewhat pathetic, though he wouldn't admit it.

"Well at least you know to do that," Kantarou said gently. "I can teach you, if you want. You too, Tanuma-san. I know you can't see them clearly, but if you sense you're in danger, there are basic things you can do, mantras, to protect yourself. Someone with your level of spiritual energy should be able to handle it fairly well, as long as you don't over-exert yourself."

Tanuma looked up, excited now. "Really?" He'd always wanted to be able to help Natsume, but he couldn't see well enough to do much of anything. At least if he could protect himself, he would be less of a burden, if nothing else. "You'd do that?"

"Of course!" Kantarou replied with a grin, "Right, Haruka?"

"You act like I have a choice," The tengu said quietly, straightening out. "Just don't take too long. Don't think I've forgotten about your deadline."

Kantarou winced, "Yeah, yeah," He said with a sigh. He'd been hoping that this would distract Haruka enough that he would forget, but even if it didn't, he still wanted to give these boys some insight as to just what they were dealing with.

"Deadline?" Natsume asked softly, looking up at Kantarou.

Haruka sighed, "He's an author, for what it's worth. Which really isn't much."

"Haruka!" Kantarou snapped, blushing furiously.

"He writes folklore books and articles about youkai he encounters... But he barely makes his deadlines, and his work isn't popular in the slightest." The tengu added.

"Well it's not my fault people don't like to hear about things they can't see..." Kantarou mumbled, averting his gaze, "And I never get enough time to write, anyway."

"Because you're always doing charity cases like this!" Haruka motioned to the two boys, completely ignoring the fact that they could hear everything he was saying, "This is why you never get anything done, and this is why everything you write sucks! Pay more attention to your real job, and maybe we won't have to recycle tea leaves and eat bread that the bakers are about to throw away because it's so stale!"

"Haruka!" Kantarou took in a deep breath, "Fine then! Haruka, ghost-write my article!"

The tengu blinked, "You think you can just-"

"Now!" He commanded, "This is an order!" Unable to resist an order from his master, Haruka sat down at Tanuma's desk and began writing, using the boy's paper and pens. Grinning proudly, Kantarou turned to the two teens, "Now where was I again?"

Well, looks like I got the 50% more Haruka at least. Don't worry, he won't be tied up with writing for long. He'll be back at Madara's throat again before you know it =3