Tanuma and Natsume both stared at Haruka in a stunned silence for a moment before Nztsume finally said, "You know, you don't have to do everything he says like that..."

"Ah, but he does," Kantarou interjected before Haruka could respond. "As his master, the one who named him, he must obey my every command." He glanced over his shoulder at Haruka, adding, "If he resists, he gets stripped of all of his abilities as a tengu as punishment. He tried to refuse me once, that's how I know. It's similar for you, isn't it? If you call the name of one of the youkai written in the Book, they have to obey you, correct?"

Natsume unconsciously clutched his book bag, "How do you know so much about it?"

"Your grandmother was really infamous, you know. I've heard stories about her from various youkai over the years, same as how I heard about you. It's good to stay in the loop about these things, as long as you know that whoever you're talking to, human or youkai, is a reliable source of information. I am a scholar, after all, I need to keep my facts straight." The priest added with a small smile.

"Scholar of what?" Madara asked, glaring up at the man. He hadn't sensed any cruel intentions from him, but after being teased, the lucky cat was a bit more suspicious.

"That's what I want to know." Haruka snorted, though he kept working diligently.

"Haruka..." Kantarou turned to the man and said, "You know, that pond looks pretty deep. I bet I could fish a mackerel out of there."

The tengu froze, horrified, and stared at Kantarou, "You wouldn't..."

"Oh, I think we both know I would," The man replied with a devilish grin, "Let me have my fun and we won't have any problems." Haruka immediately got back to work, which seemed to satisfy Kantarou, who turned his attention to the two boys that seemed to be in a stupor. "We should probably go outside," The priest suggested, "There's more space and less to break out there." With this, he left the room, assuming the two would follow him when their minds caught up to the moment.

Smirking the best a cat can smirk, Madara looked over at Haruka and wondered, "So even the great onikui tengu fears those stupid fish? I thought you'd be above that."

Tanuma tugged on Natsume's arm, utterly confused, and asked, "What are they talking about, mackerel?"

Glancing over at his friend, the teen replied, "I honestly have no idea. The more I learn about youkai, the less I understand."

"Oi! Don't lump me in with the likes of them!" Madara hissed, "Tengu are afraid of mackerel. Just tengu. The rest of us think lunch is lunch and tengu are idiots."

"Oh, is that what you think?" Haruka questioned, turning to look at the other three remaining in the room, though, if looks could kill, he would be the only one left.

Seeming to finally realize that the others weren't following him, Kantarou called, "Natsume-kun! Tanuma-san! Are you coming?"

"Oh, y-yeah! Be right there!" The blonde called back, grateful for the convenient excuse to leave the room. To Tanuma, he said softly, "That face is why you should be happy you can't see youkai. That's the same expression I get about half of the time when I say my name."

Tilting his head slightly, Tanuma asked, "Your name? What about your name makes them angry?"

Wincing at the fact that he'd just given away a clue about his grandmother, Natsume replied, "Who knows? Maybe it brings back bad memories or something." The younger Tanuma opened his mouth to question this, but was cut off by Natsume, who began apologizing to Kantarou. "Sorry it took so long. Sensei and Haruka started talking about mackerel and-"

"HARUKA! You're going to get one stuffed down your throat if you don't get to work!" Kantarou scolded the second story window that he presumed was Tanuma's room. The window slid open suddenly, and Madara was thrown out of it forcefully before it slammed shut again. Sighing, the priest mumbled, "Well at least the distraction's gone," As he watched a very wet and angry lucky cat crawl out of the newly revealed pond.

"Ponta? I didn't know you could swim." Tanuma commented, somewhat amused.

"Hmph! Tengu," Madara snorted in his usual holier-than-thou manner as he shook some of the water off of his fur before walking into the sun to dry.

Rolling his eyes, Kantarou mumbled to Madara, "Yokou-chan doesn't get it either, but having seen him react to mackerel first hand, his fear of the fish is something to be afraid of..." A bit more softly he added, "My poor house," before turning back to the teens and reaching into his yukata. "Alright, the most basic thing you can do is one you might have heard of. Have either of you heard of the tale of Hoichi the Earless?"

Both boys nodded, and Natusume even went as far as to say, "I've used that marking once. Well, it was placed on me twice, but I've only put it on someone else once. Natori-san's servant helped me."

"Hmph. If we're talking about the same Naotori family, it's more like 'slave' than servant." Haruka grumbled, hovering outside the window that Madara had come flying through mere minutes before.

Kantarou opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, eyeing Haruka warily, "You're finished with the article already?"

"Just because you take months to complete an article doesn't mean it's actually difficult." The tengu replied bluntly, landing before his master, "Furthermore, in spite of your accusations, I was writing while you were scolding me. You don't believe me, go see for yourself. I didn't bring it out here because I assumed you'd want me to do something stupid that might damage the paper." Kantarou rolled his eyes and marched back into the house, presumably to look at the article he'd asked Haruka to write.

Somewhat perturbed, Natsume asked, "How can you call Natori-san a slave-driver when your master is so much more demanding?"

Haruka raised a brow, mockingly, "Demanding? Kantarou? You wouldn't understand what a demanding master is like. Besides that, Kantarou allows me the freedom to think for myself and speak for myself. He may ask a lot of favors and get himself into more trouble than most, but for all the complaints I have about him, at least I can say I know he cares about me." Folding his arms across his chest, Haruka leaned back against an old tree, "Can you say the same about Natori? From what I've seen and heard about him as well as his predecessors, they aren't like that at all. They take on tengu for money and power, similar to another family local to this area. Have you heard of the Matoba Clan?"

Suddenly defensive of his annoyingly charming friend, Natsume snapped, "Natori-san's nothing like them! Not at all!"

With a small smile, Haruka prompted, "Really? Is it that he's unlike them? Or is it that your human perspective wants you to believe that someone who befriended you, someone who can see youkai and was kind to you, can't possibly be like them? Think on that. Tell me what makes them so different, aside from their names, and I'll tell you what little I remember of them. Honestly, the fact that I can remember the name from before I was sealed is a bad omen to begin with."

"I heard Natsume-kun yelling. Haruka, are you picking fights?" Kantarou asked as he stepped out of the house, carrying what looked like a sketch book under his arm.

Sending a knowing look to Natsume, Haruka replied simply, "Not at all," Before opening his wings to and lifting off the ground, prepared to fly off somewhere.

"Don't go too far, and come if I call you!" Kantarou called after Haruka. Once the tengu was out of sight, he turned back to the teens and said, "Sorry about that, I got a little carried away. I was making seals for you to practice with," Opening up the book, he pulled out a few pages and handed them to the boys.

"You... weren't looking to make sure the article was alright?" Tanuma asked softly.

Shaking his head, Kantarou replied with a smile, "Of course not! I trust Haruka." The blonde couldn't help but furrow his brow at this response. Not only had he let Haruka go wandering with only a few motherly nags, but he was also openly admitting to trusting the tengu? He'd never once heard Natori say anything like that. Could he be wrong, after all? Were Natori and Matoba really more alike than he had thought to consider?

I'm sorry, Natori fans, if you exist. I can't stand the guy, quite honestly, and what Haruka said is what I believe. I could be way off-base, and I haven't read the entire series, but, from what I've seen, this is a strong possibility.