Chapter 4: The Festival/A Better Way

Natsuno tapped his finger on his shoulder. "Yuuki Mutou Tohru, get your ass out of that bed this instant," he growled. God, it was like scolding a child, and yet, Natsuno kind of liked having the privilege to get away with it, especially when lumping his own family name into Tohru's name. He sighed and turned to head back toward the door, as Tohru grumbled and mumbled a response, but didn't really make any attempt to get up. "Fine, if you're going to be like that, I guess I'll just go to the festival without you, and you can just wait until I get home to eat."

"Huh…? Wha…?" Tohru's eyes snapped open and he sprang into a sitting position. "Hey, that's not fair!"

Natsuno stifled a laugh. "I knew that'd get you up," he said, "Sometimes you're too predictable, Tohru-Chan."

"You're one to talk about predictability," Tohru yawned. "I'm sorry, Natsuno, I didn't mean to sleep in."

Natsuno sat on the bed next to Tohru. "I've been trying to get you up for the last ten minutes," he said, "I'd tried everything but dipping your hand in warm water."

"Waste of time anyway," Tohru yawned.

"Huh?"

Tohru smiled. "Dipping my hand in water. Never worked on me when I was a human, no way it'd work now." He wrapped his arms around Natsuno, gently nuzzling the Jinrou's exposed neck.

"Doesn't surprise me," Natsuno replied. He closed his eyes as he felt Tohru's fangs gently sink into the right side of his neck. As Tohru drank, Natsuno gently reached upward with his right arm and placed his hand on top of the blond Shiki's head. Of course, Natsuno had no intentions of leaving Tohru behind in order to go to the festival, but he knew that the threat of being left behind would wake the sleeping Shiki, the only two things Tohru was ever serious about had always been fun and food. Natsuno smiled. "But I'm willing to bet you pulled that stunt on other people all the time, didn't you?"

Tohru tried not to cough or laugh, while his teeth were still in Natsuno's neck. He slowly pulled away and covered his mouth as he tried to force down the red liquid still in his mouth, not wanting to waste a drop. "Several times. It always worked on Masoa," he chuckled once he was finally able to open his mouth. This didn't surprise Natsuno either. "I bet it would have worked on you, too. Would have found out that one time if Aoi hadn't walked in and caught me." Natsuno turned and looked at Tohru, almost surprised Tohru felt safe enough to admit that. Tohru smiled and wrapped his arms around Natsuno. "Don't look at me like that, Natsuo," he chirped, "You can't honestly tell me you didn't expect me to consider trying it at least once?"

Natsuno sighed, "No, I guess not." He smiled and shook his head, "This is you we're talking about, after all." Natsuno stood up, rustling his hands in Tohru's hair. "Come on, hurry up and get ready." Natsuno smiled as he left the room so Tohru could get dressed. Try as he might, he just couldn't stay mad at Tohru.

Natsuno and Tohru wandered through the streets of the festival. Tohru tried to keep his admiration of the sites on a grounded level so as not to draw attention to the two of them. He was doing this more for Natsuno's sake than his own, but the blond teen found it difficult to do; this festival was much larger than any of the ones he'd ever been to in Sotoba. This one even had a few rides, rather than just game booths. The two boys walked through the area, giving each other a respectable amount of space, until Natsuno heard a faint gasp at his side as Tohru stopped dead in his tracks and threw his hands to his ears, squinting his eyes shut tight.

Natsuno turned to Tohru. He knew immediately what had caused this reaction. Without paying attention to where they were going, they had walked right past the 'Test Your Strength' game, and someone had just struck the bell. For some reason, Jinrou weren't affected by the noise the way Shiki were. Natsuno merely felt it annoyingly shrill, rather than painful and frightening. Natsuno sighed. Tohru slowly opened his eyes, when he felt a strong warm hand gently wrap around his wrist. His brown eyes landed on Natsuno's face. Natsuno didn't say anything, he only gave him a reassuring smile and a quiet nod, reminding the blond that he was safe. Tohru relaxed and smiled at Natsuno, who lead him away from the booth.

"I'm sorry, Natsuno," Tohru sighed, when they were finally far enough away. Natsuno had lead him far enough away that they couldn't hear the bell, and pulled him off into a dark corner around the back side of a quiet booth. "I didn't mean to freeze up like that back there." Natsuno only smiled at him, he knew. Tohru sighed and smiled, leaning his head on Natsuno's shoulder. "Thank you."

"Are you ok, now?" Natsuno asked, realizing it was a good idea he'd come with Tohru instead of letting those 'strangers' from the restaurant bring him, after all. Tohru nodded. Natsuno smiled. "Good." Natsuno pulled Tohru close and kissed his forehead. He slid his hand so that it was holding Tohru's, rather than just holding him by the wrist. With a comforting squeeze and a gentle tug, Natsuno lead him back into the crowd. "Just cling to me if you need to." Tohru quietly nodded. Natsuno blinked and suddenly regretted having run in this direction, as all the booths that lay before them were food booths. "Crap," he grumbled, not sure which was worse, having inadvertently lead Tohru past the ringing bell, or suddenly pulling him into a street full of sugary snacks the poor blond teen could no longer enjoy. An idea hit him, though. "Hey, Tohru-Chan, why don't you go see if there's anything over there you use to like. Something small though, that can be mashed up rather easily."

Tohru looked at Natsuno curiously. "Huh? Natsuno, you know I ca…?"

Natsuno looked at him. "Just humor me, ok?" Natsuno said calmly. "It'll have to wait until tomorrow, but I've got an idea." He smiled and let go of Tohru's hand. "Go on, I'll keep an eye on you from here, just let me know when you've found something."

"Uh, Ok…?" Tohru nodded, the confused look still on his face. Lately Tohru and Natsuno were both getting the feeling that Tohru was able to read Natsuno's mind, but at the moment, Tohru had no clue what was going through his head.

Natsuno watched quietly as Tohru walked through the booths, looking over their selections. About halfway down the alley, Natsuno noticed that Tohru had spotted something and froze, staring at it almost wantonly. Natsuno calmly strolled over to Tohru. "You find something?"

"Yeah, actually," Tohru nodded, looking down at the colored mochigome cakes in front of him.

"Mochi?" Natsuno asked.

Tohru nodded, "Mom use to buy these for us when we were kids. If she didn't have any of the store bought kind, and if one of us had a bad day, she'd go in the kitchen and make them for us herself."

"Well, that's decided then," Natsuno said, slinging his backpack off his shoulder and setting it on the counter. Natsuno wasn't sure why he still carried this thing with him, it wasn't like he and Tohru had to worry with school anymore, but he still found himself carrying it along when he went out of the house. Well, it was better to be seen with something like this than a man purse, perhaps. Almost as if that exact thought had passed through Tohru's mind, the blond turned away from Natsuno, quietly bit his lip and rubbed the tip of his nose, trying to suppress a laugh. Natsuno's eyes shifted in Tohru's direction. "Shut up," he said calmly.

"I didn't say anything?" Tohru said, turning back to Natsuno.

"No," Natsuno smiled, "But you were thinking it." Natsuno ordered a bag of the Mochi cakes, paid the vender, put the bag in his back pack, and zipped it shut.

"So…?" Tohru asked as Natsuno slung the backpack back on his shoulder, "Natsuno what are you planning on d…?" He stopped as Natsuno smiled at him.

"You'll see," Natsuno said, hoping his plan would work. "Come on, let's go check out the rides."

Hours passed. Natsuno begrudgingly had to admit he was enjoying himself. He was glad he'd decided to come. Once again, he'd found himself spoiling Tohru, though, as his backpack held now, not only the Mochi cakes, but two stuffed animals, too. Well, it was worth it to see him smile, anyway.

The two of them walked through the booths and Natsuno froze for a second, taking a step sideways to allow a group of about five girls walk past him. Tohru turned to look at Natsuno, who physically looked sick to his stomach, but was doing his best not to say or do anything that would cause the girls undo offence. Tohru blinked, then looked up and past Natsuno, at the girls. Every one of them was in a varying shade of pink. It was Tohru's turn to comfort him. "Natsuno?"

Natsuno gritted his teeth and tossed his head. "Tell me, Tohru, do you ever wish it was possible for us to throw up?" he asked.

"That bad, huh? Wow, Shimizu really left a bad imprint on you, didn't she?" Tohru sighed. Not that he could blame Natsuno, Megumi had been an over obsessed stalker as far as Natsuno was concerned, and Tohru himself had his own reasons for disliking the girl, even more so since she was the one who had turned him into the creature of the night he is now.

"I'll never understand women's obsessive infatuation with the color pink," Natsuno growled. "Bad enough her hair was that color, but she was determined to wear it every chance she got, too."

Tohru sighed and walked over to Natsuno. Sure, they were in plain view; but there was no-one around who knew them. He leaned forward and gently pushed his lips to Natsuno's. He smiled as he pulled away, his hands behind his back. "She's gone now, Natsuno," he said calmly, "It's been a year, she can't hurt either of us any more." Tohru's eyes narrowed, his brown eyes turning dark black and pupils slightly flashing red. His voice becoming deadly serious, "But if she ever does show herself in front of us again, she'll have to get through me before she can so much as touch you!"

Natsuno sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right." He smiled at Tohru, he'd hoped Tohru would never have to kill again, but for some reason, he felt a small comfort in knowing the Shiki was willing to do so in this one case. But, as Tohru said, it had been a year, and Seishin and Sunako were the only others from Sotoba they had seen, the others were all likely dead or had moved on. Who knows how many of the surviving villagers turned hunters or were locked away in jail or institutions when no evidence of the Kirishiki family and what had occurred in Sotoba could be turned up thanks to the fire. He was beginning to understand Tohru's concerns over the past year about straggling Shiki coming after them. But in not so many words, just tonight alone, the two of them had confirmed that if anything ever happened, they had each others' backs.

The silence between them was cut by the soft sounds of crying. They both stood very still and listened. Over the noise of the other festival attendants, it was very likely they were the only ones who could hear it. Natsuno nodded in the direction it was coming from. It sounded like a child hidden behind the booths. Tohru nodded and the two of them carefully slipped around the back of the booths. There, they found a small girl, no more than five rubbing her eyes with her hands.

The old Tohru was back in a flash, his eyes back to their gentle brown, rather than their dark black and red. He walked over to her. "Aw, what's wrong, little one, are you lost?" he asked, kneeling in front of her.

Natsuno smiled and leaned against the edge of the booth. Tohru always had a way with kids and animals. "Uh-huh," the little girl sniffled with a nod. "I let go of my momma's hand for a moment, and when I looked up, I'd lost her in the crowds. She's going to be angry. It's past my bedtime, we were supposed to have gone home long time ago."

Tohru smiled. "I don't think she'll be angry. She might be worried though. Would you like some help trying to find her?"

The little girl shook her head. "Momma always said don't talk to strangers."

"Well," Tohru chuckled, "I suppose she's right about that. But, it'd be a lot easier to find her if you had some help don't you think?" The girl nodded hesitantly. Tohru smiled, "Alright then, my name is Tohru," he introduced himself. The little girl nodded again, then looked over at Natsuno. Tohru smiled, he knew Natsuno wasn't going to make the effort to introduce himself. "Ah, so you've noticed my bodyguard over there, have you?" he chuckled. Natsuno rolled his eyes, though in a way, it was true.

"You have a bodyguard?" the little girl asked, sounding impressed.

Tohru chuckled, glad to see the child smiling. "His name's Natsuno. He may look big and scary, but he's really a nice guy."

"Humph!" Natsuno growled looking away, trying to hide his smile.

"I don't think either of you look scary," the little girl giggled.

Tohru smiled. "So what's your name?"

"Maigo Tomiko," she said holding out her hand.

"Well, Tomiko-Chan," Tohru said, gently taking her hand in his. "We're not strangers anymore. Would you like us to help you find your mother?"

Tomiko smiled and nodded, "Would you?" she asked. "Momma said if I get lost to go to the temple, but I don't know which way to go from here."

Natsuno's eyes widened at the sound of this. "Tohru," he said calmly. Natsuno knew which direction that was in, but had been avoiding it.

"I think we can do that," Tohru said, standing up, ignoring Natsuno, almost as if on purpose.

"Tohru!?" Natsuno growled, forcing Tohru to look up at him, "The temple?" Natsuno knew he would be fine, yet another thing the Jinrou had over the Shiki, but he wanted to make damned certain Tohru realized what he was walking into.

Tohru blinked as it set in what Natsuno was hinting at. "Ah, shit!" he thought to himself, throwing a hand to his mouth, half surprised he even thought that word, but extremely glad he didn't actually utter it in front of the child. He looked down at Tomiko, who looked up at him a bit confused. "Well, what do you want me to do, Natsuno? We can't just leave her here."

"Just as long as you realize what we're dealing with," Natsuno sighed.

"Well…" Tohru said, looking down at Tomiko, while trying to think for a moment. "We won't go in," he said. "I can at least make it as far as the front gate. From there, the monks can help her. At least we'll know she got there safe."

Natsuno sighed and nodded. "Fine, but the first sign of trouble, and we're leaving." Tohru nodded in agreement.

"Is… Is something wrong?" Tomiko asked curiously.

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong, Tomiko-Chan," Tohru said, "It's just that…"

"Tohru-Chan's allergic to the incense they burn at the temple," Natsuno said, quickly making up an excuse for why they can't go past the front gates. "Even the smell is enough to make him sick."

Tohru sighed and smiled, "Thanks for that, Natsuno," he thought, "I never would have come up with it."

"I'm sorry Tohru-Niisan," Tomiko said, looking up at him.

Tohru and Natsuno both flinched. They looked at Tomiko and smiled. It had been a long time since Tohru had been called that. "Hey, Natsuno?" Tohru said, deciding to carry Tomiko in his arms, as the child did look like she was getting sleepy. "Let me see your bag for a minute?" He smiled at Tomiko. "Are you hungry, Tomiko-Chan?" The girl quietly and shyly nodded. Natsuno already knew where Tohru was going with this. He unzipped the bag and handed Tohru a single Mochi cake, glad he'd bought a couple dozen of them, so one or two wouldn't really make a difference.

The two of them carried Tomiko to the temple, Natsuno leading the way, since he knew where it was. There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but like Tohru said, they couldn't just leave the girl now that they had found her. After all, what kind of monsters would they be if they…? Oh, right, exactly the kind of monsters they're trying to prevent themselves from becoming. He tried to ignore the childish banter back and forth between Tohru and Tomiko. "It's no wonder Tohru gets along so well with kids, he still acts like one himself," Natsuno smirked at the thought. However, what Natsuno didn't realize was that while Tomiko was chattering away with Tohru, her innocent green eyes were watching the quieter teen, as if she had made up her mind about what kind of person he was, already.

They reached the gates of the temple and knocked, deciding they'd wait until someone took Tomiko inside before leaving. "Alright," Tohru said, getting ready to put the girl down, "We're here. When the monks open the door, we'll ask them if your momma's come by to look for you, yet. They can help you from there."

Tomiko nodded and hugged Tohru, "Thank you, Tohru-Niisan!" she giggled.

"You're welcome," Tohru said.

"You, too, Natsu-chan," she said, leaning her body across to give Natsuno a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Natsuno turned away, trying not to blush, or smile. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he said.

Tohru and Tomiko both giggled at Natsuno's reaction. The monks opened the door and Tohru sat Tomiko on the steps, explaining the situation. The monks said Tomiko's mother had indeed been by, but went out to look for her again, and was expected back at any time. Almost as soon as they said this, a beautiful young woman came walking up the steps of the temple. It didn't take long from the way she and Tomiko greeted each other to figure out this was Misses Maigo.

"How can I ever thank you, two?" Ms. Maigo asked them.

"No need to thank us, ma'am," Natsuno replied.

"Just doing our civic duty, Maigo-Sama," Tohru said, rubbing the back of his head. "We're just glad we could bring Tomiko-Chan back to you safely." Tohru was secretly glad they didn't have to wait long, he thought he could handle coming as far as the front gate but, just standing on the steps had made his legs weak and shaky.

Natsuno and Tohru said their goodbyes and headed back down the stairs. As soon as they reached the bottom, Tohru couldn't resist the urge to tease, "Soo… Look at you, Mr. Heart Breaker! How'd you become such a lady-killer, Natsuno?"

Natsuno blushed, knowing Tohru was referring to Tomiko's innocent, childish 'thank you' kiss. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up," he said.

"Cradle robbing at it's finest," Tohru continued teasing, "I'm going to have to keep my eye on you."

Natsuno smiled and looked back over his shoulder at Tohru, a wisp of his purple locks bouncing in the wind, "You're one to talk," he laughed.

"Maybe so," Tohru said, running up to Natsuno and wrapping his arms around Natsuno's, "But only by three years."

"Just drop it, will ya'?" Natsuno chuckled. "We've done our good deed for the night. I think it's time to head home, before it winds up past your bedtime."

Tohru sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Too bad, too, I was really enjoying myself. We need to go on dates more often." He smiled wryly as he purposely used the word out loud for the first time, just so he could watch Natsuno's face light up a bright red.

Natsuno couldn't deny that was exactly what this was, but it had never actually occurred to him to call it that before now. Natsuno smiled, there was no point in arguing with Tohru. "Yeah, you're right," he said, "We should." Tohru smiled and nuzzled Natsuno's arm.

Tohru felt a chill run down his spine. Still holding onto Natsuno's arm, he glanced back over his shoulder. He got the feeling someone had been following them since they'd left the temple, but he didn't see anyone that looked suspicious. The fact that Natsuno wasn't acting like he noticed it meant one of two things; either it was Tohru's imagination, or Natsuno was well aware that they were being followed and trying to let whoever it was think they had the upper hand. The whole way home, Tohru couldn't shake that feeling, but nothing seemed to have come from it. It passed the moment they were both safely indoors, so Tohru convinced himself it was just an after effect from being so close to the temple, and that it took some time to wear off. Natsuno never said anything, so this only helped confirm Tohru's suspicions that he'd imagined it all.

Natsuno sat his backpack on the counter in the kitchen and unzipped it, handing Tohru both the stuffed animals out of it, before sticking the Mochi cakes in the refrigerator. "I still don't know what you plan on doing with those?" Tohru yawned, watching as Natsuno put them away.

"I told you you'd find out later," Natsuno said, turning to face Tohru as he shut the door, there was a slight laugh in Natsuno's voice. "Shouldn't you be heading to bed?" He walked over to Tohru. "It'll be dawn before long."

Tohru smiled and hugged Natsuno. "Yeah, I'm about to head that way," he said, looking up and kissing Natsuno's lips once more. "I just wanted to say thank you for tonight, Natsuno."

Natsuno smiled and wrapped his arms around Tohru. "You're welcome, Tohru-Chan. I'm glad you had fun. You deserve to get out more often." Natsuno rolled his eyes and smiled, "Typical," Tohru nodded a reply, but was falling asleep standing up. "Hey?" Natsuno gave him a gentle nudge. "Come on Tohru-Chan, are you really going to make me carry you to bed?" he asked.

Tohru yawned and pushed himself off of Natsuno. "It'd be interesting to see you try," he admitted. "Sorry Natsuno, you're just so comfy," he giggled.

Natsuno gave Tohru one last kiss. "Just go, already," he laughed. Tohru nodded and headed off to bed. Natsuno watched Tohru walk out of the room and shook his head. Sometimes, he just didn't know what he was going to do with that boy.

Natsuno stayed up, however, waiting until all the normal stores were open. He had something he needed to buy, and was determined he was going to get home long before Tohru woke up, this time. He came home with the package in tow and took it to his room. Inside the bag was a small red blender, a cup, and a butcher's knife. He still wasn't certain if his plan would work or not, but he was willing to try.

Tohru yawned and rolled over, opening his eyes, as Natsuno came into the room. "Already awake?" Natsuno asked.

Tohru sat up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm up," he answered.

Natsuno smiled and entered the room, carrying the cup from the bag. "Here," he offered, handing it to Tohru, "Try this."

"Huh?" Tohru blinked curiously, taking the cup from Natsuno.

"Don't force yourself to finish it if it doesn't agree with you," Natsuno said, sitting in a chair across from Tohru's bed."

Tohru was hesitant at first, until he lifted the cup toward his face. It was blood colored, and smelt strongly of Natsuno's blood, but there was something decidedly different. He closed his eyes and took a sip. He blinked as he realized what Natsuno had done. "That flavor? … That texture…" Tohru said pulling the cup away from his lips. He looked up at Natsuno, "The MOCHI CAKES?"

Natsuno nodded. "Is it alright, Tohru-Chan?" he asked, "Can you drink it, I mean?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Tohru said. "I never would have thought… But, it makes sense, whatever you eat goes toward helping your body recover lost blood, so I guess mixing regular foods directly into it… Natsuno, you're a genius!"

Natsuno smiled and heaved a quiet, relieved sigh. "I didn't know if it would work or not, so I wasn't going to liquefy them and inject them directly into my blood. I was afraid that'd only make you sick, and leave you without a back up if it couldn't work. But it was worth giving a try."

"How'd you fix it?" Tohru asked.

"Blender," Natsuno answered, simplistically.

"Wait, you didn't!?" Tohru asked.

Natsuno laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't use any equipment from the restaurant. I'm not about to cross contaminate between you and the customers," he said reassuringly. "I went out and bought a spare today, I'm going to keep it in my room, so I can make more of this for you." Natsuno rubbed his arm, deciding not admit that slicing it open with the knife was a lot more painful than Tohru's fangs. Natsuno didn't want the blond Shiki feeling any more guilty about using him as a food source than he already did. Thankfully, Natsuno had a quick healing factor, so there were no scars to show how he'd drawn the blood, though he was sure Tohru would figure it out if he tried to put two and two together on the issue.

Tohru quietly looked Natsuno over. He had already figured it out, but knew there was no point in arguing with Natsuno over it. He simply gave a quiet sigh. "Thank you, Natsuno," he said, "You're too good to me." With that, he put the cup back to his lips and finished the entire mixture in one go.