Watanuki woke up with a start. Something felt amiss. He reached for the most comforting item he has, the kiseru, but it was not there.

Ah, so that's what he felt.

The sliding door opened suddenly and Doumeki stood at the entrance. He had the same poker face as usual, but Watanuki could tell that something is going on from the man's body language.

"I hear footsteps," Doumeki said. "Around your room."

"My kiseru's missing," Watanuki said, annoyed. He pushed away Doumeki and walked into the living room, opening its sliding room with more force than needed. Doumeki followed him silently and they both listened.

Thud! Thud thud! Thud thud thud!

Watanuki peeked out of the living room cautiously and looked towards the direction of the storeroom. He was about to step out when a loud crash rang from the storeroom and Doumeki held him back by his arm tightly. Watanuki backed into the room slowly, and shook his arm, gently easing Doumeki to loosen his grip.

Something dashed out into the corridor suddenly. It was a tall man writhing about in the corridor, his hands covering his face as if he was burning in pain. There were tentacles growing from the man's back, flailing around painfully. White sparrows were attacking the tall man, swooping down and pecking the tentacles angrily.

White sparrows – his signature – were flying around the garden, attacking the man.

"What's going on?" Doumeki asked. "Why did you summon them?"

Watanuki didn't know what to say. He didn't summon anything at all. He heard an awkward stumble and looked out towards the storeroom again. Kaname was on the floor, crawling slowly behind the man. She looked sweaty and messy with her long black hair tangled around her shoulders. Most importantly, he found the kiseru in her hands.

"Kaname san!" he said urgently. "Quick! Pass me my kiseru!"

The woman scrambled to him so agonizingly slow that he snatched the kiseru from her, in an unintended way, and quickly took a smoke from it. He felt the familiar sensation as the powers within him worked through his body and he breathed out the smoke along with his magic. He sent out more sparrows into the battle with the man with the tentacles and a few others flew over the garden to the café. It will take a while, but he'll need all the help he could get.

The man was fighting back, his tentacles adapting to the increased number of sparrows that Watanuki had sent out. He backed into the house slowly as the sparrows disintegrated into smoke one by one. He looked around for Doumeki, to tell the man to take out his thimble and equip it. But Doumeki was already armed and was waiting for instructions in the corner of the living room.

"There! In the direction of the gate!"

Doumeki shot quickly, aiming near the sparrows, and with the same precision as his grandfather had, the arrow shot through the living room and into the garden, hitting one of the tentacles. It was a good shot for someone who couldn't see what he's trying to hit.

"Did I get it?" Doumeki said, not letting down his guard as he prepared for another shot.

"Nearly," Watanuki replied. "A little to the left."

Doumeki drew his arrow again and took aim, slower than before as there were only a couple of sparrows left flying weakly as they slowly disintegrate into smoke. He shot and immediately heard the familiar crisp sound of his arrow snapping. Whatever he was trying to shoot had retaliated. He looked at Watanuki for further instructions.

"Keep it there," Watanuki said, bringing up the kiseru for a smoke. "I'll distract it."

More white sparrows materialised from the smoke that he breathed out. Whatever that was attacking them was learning to fight back very quickly. The sparrows flew in weird patterns as if trying to dodge. Most of the sparrows disintegrated after a few dodges and Doumeki felt an immense pressure as something approached the shop. He drew back quickly and was about to shoot when two cranes landed with a great swoosh. Their claws gripped at something, digging and pulling whatever they had caught. Doumeki took it as a cue and released another shot into the garden. The cranes began to struggle and squawk, as though they were losing the battle.

"Is it not working, Watanuki?" Doumeki asked, beginning to feel more anxious.

"I'm not sure why it's not working, but this is not good," Watanuki said loudly. He didn't understand why Doumeki's spiritual power didn't exorcise the tall man. Why was Kaname in the shop in the first place? Why can't he tell what kind of spirit is he dealing with? The cranes gave a final squawk and disintegrated into bits of origami paper. Watanuki was jolted out of his train of thoughts as Doumeki pulled him behind roughly.

"What are you doing?!" Watanuki shouted from behind, but Doumeki ignored him. He stood in front of Watanuki and drew his bow. Something was coming quickly building up immense pressure in the atmosphere. Hopefully, the nearer it is, the arrow can deal a stronger strike at it. Right in front of him, Kaname struggled with the tentacles in her arms. She wrung the tentacles as she twisted and tugged them hard. Doumeki was ready to release the shot, unaware that Kaname is directly in the arrow's trajectory.

"Doumeki! Be careful! Kaname san is right there, at the corridor!" Watanuki warned.

Just as Kaname stumbled forward, Doumeki shot and the arrow flew past the side of her head and straight into the man's blank face. The impact was so great that it sent the man flying away from the shop and into the garden. Watanuki quickly rushed into the garden as Kaname crashed onto the ground together with the man. She slid along the grass for a short distance before she stopped and disappeared suddenly into the darkness.

Watanuki woke up with a start. He was in his bedroom. Maru and Moro were sleeping soundly on either side of him. The kiseru sat on the ash tray at the side table next to his bed. The door opened quietly and Doumeki's head poked in. "I had a dream," he said simply.

"It was a nightmare," Watanuki said, realization settling in as he found answers. Answers to why Kaname was in the shop, why Doumeki wasn't able to exorcise anything and why he couldn't do what he usually could. It was because they were in someone else's dream. Someone who doesn't know them well.

"It was Kaname san's nightmare."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! :)