Phantasmagoria

Natsume Yuujinchou

Chapter 15

Cupcakes and Winged Apathy

Homura leaned back against the couch and heaved a huge breath, holding out the piece of paper Suzuya had 'conveniently' left him with above him, his eyes half-lidded. The paper was crinkled from when he balled it up, and the ink was slightly messy, but he could read the characters. Honestly he had expected your average youkai scrawl where you can't even be sure where it started or ended, but what was written in the paper was clearly Japanese, even though it wasn't that neat.

"What do you mean by 'skewering me on a dango stick', you bastard…" he muttered, then closed his eyes and lowered his hand. "God, I'm so tired. Haa… Should I just sleep like this…?"

As if to object his choice of sleeping on the sofa, his cell phone next to him rang and vibrated. Homura reached for it, flipped it open and pressed it against his ear without cracking open an eyelid.

"…Hello?"

"Oh, hey Homura~! It's me, it's me!" a voice too loud and vibrant for his liking at this time of night rang in his ears.

"Nishimura… What is it?"

"Aww, you sound so tired, Homu-cha~an! Haha! What's wrong, were you staying up all night reading—"

"If you don't say what you want to say, I'm hanging up," he cut in.

"Oooh, sounds like you're really tired. Oh well, I just called to remind you to bring all the stuff we talked about earlier. We don't want any forgotten items!"

"Ahh, the materials needed for cooking class tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Man, what were they thinking, letting us guys cook? ! I would've preferred woodwork a hundred times better than this!"

Homura smirked. Just as he had thought, Nishimura was that type of guy. "Don't you think that's a little harsh to me? I mean, I cook, you know."

"Nope. You're different. You cook 'cuz you want to cook. I don't."

"Aww~ Then I guess you won't be able to let Taki have a taste of your cooking right? A~ah. You're wasting such a golden opportunity," he said, emphasizing Taki's name.

He heard a dramatic gasp from Nishimura's end. "You're right! I totally didn't think about that! Akatsuki-sama! I feel so blessed you're in our group! You're our one and only shining star!"

"Eww, what do you mean by that? Besides, I think Natsume would be a pretty decent cook too. Kitamoto too, I guess. You're the only one who— Nishimura, if anybody should be the one dragging us down, it'd be you."

"Aaaaaaaaah! How cruel! Do you see me as the kind of guy who makes stupid mistakes?"

"Yes, I see you as the kind of guy who makes ridiculously stupid mistakes."

"That's enough! Even though I went out of my way to call you and remind you about tomorrow, you completely crushed my good intentions!"

Homura chuckled. "If anybody should forget about their materials, it'd also be you, Nishimura."

"Uuuuu… Fine! You'll all see my hidden potential tomorrow! I'll see you at school! Good night!"

"Good night, Nishimura…"

Homura laughed a little after their call ended. What does he mean, 'hidden potential'? No, it's more like… I can already predict all his slip-ups…

As expected, Nishimura made a lot of silly mistakes. Like mistaking normal wheat flour for high-protein bread flour. Why he even brought bread flour with him was a mystery to Homura. And that wasn't all. He spilled flour and sugar all around when he sifted them. He wanted to try mixing the batter with the mixer and put it on high-speed even though Kitamoto had reminded him early on not to.

Homura sent his condolences for Nishimura's future wife in his mind.

Huh, well, at least he didn't forget anything, he thought, checking over his friends' progress on spooning the cupcake mixture in the multi-colored paper cups.

Yes, yes, the guys were all in the cooking class. Apparently the school made the guys go for cooking class and the girls to woodwork sometimes, just like Homura's previous school did. Four guys were in one group, and Homura, Kitamoto, Natsume and Nishimura were, without question, in the same group.

Today they were making cupcakes. Homura felt that he had no trouble at all since he was used to cooking, and he did have a sweet tooth so all those baking recipe books arranged neatly in his bookshelf hadn't gone to waste. Unsurprisingly, both Kitamoto and Natsume seemed to be doing fine, carefully following the recipes and turning to him for help whenever they needed it. And as expected, Nishimura did things his own way, spontaneously.

Time passed by as the room filled with sweet smells, startled 'ah's and frustrated 'oh come on's. By then they were already on to decorating their cupcakes, and, guys being guys—at least, ones even remotely like Nishimura—frosting made a mess on their counters.

"Done," said Homura with a satisfied smile on his face, setting his piping bag down.

"Wow, yours are so beautiful!" Natsume cried. Kitamoto nodded.

"Haha, thanks! By the way, who are you giving your cupcakes to?" he asked, ignoring Nishimura's annoyed 'arrrrgh' when he applied too much pressure on his piping bag, disturbing his otherwise somewhat okay pattern.

"Oh, I'm going to give it to Touko-san and Shigeru-san," Natsume answered immediately and without hesitation.

"The Fujiwaras, huh?" Kitamoto ruffled his hair. "You're such a good boy, Natsume! Well, I'm either going to eat it myself or wait until I get home. But I guess I'll ask my family whether they wanna eat it."

"Me, me! I'm gonna give 'em to Taki-chan!" Nishimura exclaimed, having finished with his and slapped his piping bag down on the counter, causing some of the leftover frosting to ooze out of the nozzle a little.

"Nobody asked you, Nishimura," Homura said with an edge to his voice.

"Whaaaat? You wanna say that again, Akatsuki?" the brown-haired teen scowled. "What is wrong with you anyway? You've been mean to me ever since yesterday when I called!"

"First of all, nobody calls that late at night and screeches through the phone. Second, nobody brings bread flour when we don't even need it. Third, I've never seen anybody actually ignore the recipe when it's right in front of their eyes. Want more?" Homura teased.

"Okay, fine! I admit, I made a lot of mistakes. But it was all because of these cooking classes!"

Homura rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm going to eat mine by myself at home afterwards," he continued his previous conversation with Natsume and Kitamoto as if the exchange with Nishimura had never been made.

"Hey!"

Twigs and dead leaves crunched under his feet as Homura walked in the forest, bag slung on one shoulder and the box of cupcakes in his hand. He walked on for a little while before he stopped, at the place where he and Suzuya usually met, just off the trail. He raised his eyes and scanned the thick greens of the leaves high above him, trying to see if the tengu was there.

"Suzuya?" he called out. "I've got some cupcakes with me. They're really good. And sweet."

He waited for an answer, or even a telltale flutter of leaves or wings.

But, like it had been all week, Suzuya never answered. Homura had come by and called for him every day since the note from said tengu had been delivered—along with a very, very deadly arrow—but he was never there. Suzuya never did actually say when he was going to 'return', that was why Homura kept on coming, just in case.

"If you're not there, I'm eating all of this by myself, you know," he said again. He counted up till five in his head and turned. "Okay then, bye."

He didn't mind if he had to finish all of them. He didn't feel any pity for the tengu for not being able to taste them too.

Suddenly, he heard a flap of wings—ash-gray, he hoped—and snapped his head around, searching for the one who had made the sound.

Instead, he saw nothing, and deemed it was either his imagination or some other normal bird. When he turned once again, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he came face-to-face with a head that was upside down.

The youkai—of course it was a youkai, no human could ever have floated upside down unless he had his knees wrapped around a branch, and Homura knew there was no branch low enough above him—kept a face of apathy, unimpressed by the way Homura had a silly expression on his face and almost dropped his box of cupcakes.

Homura froze, his mouth hung slightly open. He backed a step and his upper torso made contact with cloth and limbs, which he expected was the youkai's thighs and knees. He guessed that the youkai had come up behind him and bent over his head.

"…What?" the human asked lowly after a good few seconds of staring at each other. The question seemed to alert the youkai—a flash of recognition flitting across its warm brown eyes.

"Have you seen Hiyo?" it asked, a smooth, light voice which Homura thought would be perfect for singing.

"Hiyo?" he repeated, dubiously.

"Hiyo," it confirmed with a single nod that made its hair sway with the motion.

When Homura's brows drew together with confusion the youkai made a flip and landed on the ground, facing him. He noticed that he—well, it looked like a male—had brown hair and equally brown eyes that shone in the warm sunlight. His hair was longish, was tied up loosely with thread and the brown ends hung down his shoulder. He guessed it would barely reach his shoulder blades if it were untied. He had a handsome face and wore a simple moss-green yukata. This youkai had wings, too. Amber brown ones, which he had tucked neatly behind his back.

"Um, look, I don't know who 'Hiyo' is. Why don't you go ask some other youkai instead of me?" he said hesitantly. Homura wasn't sure whether this youkai was a tengu, like Suzuya, but he didn't want to be around if it decided to attack him.

"You don't know Hiyo?" he asked, canting his head, that apathetic expression ever present.

"No. No, I don't."

"But you have his smell," he said, frowning. "Even for a human, you have Hiyo's scent. Lead me to him." His tone was soft, but seemed commanding. Homura made a mental note to go about this carefully, since people like this were usually the ones who you should be scared of the most. The things they would do when they're raged. He shivered. Natsume, Natori Shuuichi and Tanuma all fitted into that category, although they were not likely to blow up blindly in the first place.

"Like I said, I don't know this 'Hiyo'."

The youkai looked as if he were a child who'd just lost his favorite plaything. "… I see. Should I tell you about him, then? See if you can recall him?"

Homura's eyes widened. He sure seemed desperate in wanting to seek out 'Hiyo'. He mildly felt that Hiyo seemed to be a girl's name, but the youkai had clearly said it was a 'he'.

"How do I know you're not just fooling me? How do I know whether you're going to eat me when I let my guard down?" he questioned.

"I have no interest in eating a human. They're really interesting beings. And besides, I look partly human myself."

...True, Homura thought. Suzuya had said he didn't feel the need to eat humans himself, either.

"Fine then." He turned to the direction of the lake where he and Suzuya frequented. "Come this way, at least we'll be able to sit."

They walked silently for a while, Homura leading the way, sensing those brown eyes boring holes behind his back. He shook his head lightly. Nah, the youkai probably was just curious about him.

Upon reaching the lake, Homura sat down on the grass, setting his bag and box of cupcakes beside him, while the youkai chose to stand, eyes fixed on the glittering water.

"So, what's he like?"

"He looks like me," he said simply. "But his hair, eye, and wing color are all different. We met some time ago, but he suddenly disappeared from the tree we shared, and after asking around, he was spotted to be around this area. I realized instantly that was true when I smelled him, but he is nowhere to be found. I hope I find him soon. He is pretty reckless."

Homura raised an eyebrow. It can't be… After all, he was nameless when I met him…

"But I don't particularly mind if you can't help me find him, boy. I can ask other youkai who might know. You are, after all, just a human. Though I do find the fact that you can see us quite interesting." He frowned. "What is that smell?"

"What smell?"

"That smell. That sweet smell. It comes from you."

"Oh. You mean this?" Homura held up the box, and opened it, revealing sumptuous-looking cupcakes. "They're called cupcakes. It's a human dessert."

The youkai bent down curiously and blinked at the bright colors. "This is a dessert?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Is it… delicious?" he asked hesitantly, a flush creeping on to his cheeks. Homura could hardly hold himself back from smirking. There was a bit of Suzuya in there, the part that loves food. Only this one was more humble than the acerbic bastard ever could.

"Of course it is. You're free to try one if you want."

He nearly laughed when that lost expression rose up to hide that apathy as the youkai's eyes darted from one cupcake to the other.

"You can choose whichever one you like, you know. I don't mind."

After a few seconds the youkai finally settled on one and bit gingerly into it, albeit still managing to get some frosting on his nose. It was then that Homura noticed he had a mole, a dot at the corner of his left eye. His eyes widened slightly and he bit into it more and more, obviously liking the sweet foreign taste. Homura kept on watching him eat until he heard the unmistakable sound of paper tearing. He immediately reached out to stop the youkai.

"Hey, stop!" The youkai's eyes were set incredulously on his face as Homura lowered the hand holding the cupcake, softly nudging his fingers away, and peeled away the paper cup. "You have to peel this off, you know. You can't eat this." He placed the paper back into the box and gave the half-eaten cupcake back to him. "Here."

The youkai finished his cupcake and licked his fingers. "Thank you. It was very good," he said when he finished. Homura would've thought it very kind of the creature had there been no frosting still there on the tip of his nose. He fished out his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose clean.

"Want some more?" he asked.

"But… I… already ate one."

"Haha! One is never enough! Besides, I can't finish all of this." He gestured to the remaining seven cupcakes. He told him to eat and he picked out another one, this time carefully peeling off the paper cup first and giving it to Homura.

"Hey, do you have a name?"

The youkai froze, and looked at him. "Why would you want to know?"

What is with youkai and their apparent refuse at giving out their names? Homura thought. "Nothing, just… how would I call you if I have something to tell you next time?"

He seemed to think for a while. "You're right. It's Suzume."

It sounds close to Suzuya. "I'm Homura. What kind of youkai are you?"

Suzume looked at him as if he'd just asked what color the sky was. "A bird youkai. To be specific, a sparrow."

Of course. Suzume does mean sparrow. "Hmm. Okay then. I'll call for you if I catch word about that 'Hiyo' guy, all right?" Homura placed two more cupcakes—Suzume seemed to like the ones with more frosting on the top better—and got up. "If it's alright with you I'll go back now. It's getting kinda late. I have school tomorrow."

Suzume eyed the cupcakes with a little delight before looking up to the word 'school'. "'School'?" he repeated.

"A place where human children study. Sadly it's compulsory so everyone has to go."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

… I'll check on Suzuya again before coming here. "Yes. I'll bring some more food with me, okay?"

Suzume's eyes widened.

"No, I'm not bringing any more cupcakes. I'll bring something else that's delicious too," he added as soon as the winged youkai's face smoothed out into that apathetical expression again. It seemed to be his everyday face, that expression. He soon left the youkai to finish up his treats.

Homura set his bag heavily down on his desk with a sigh. He should have never made a promise to bring delicious food the next day after just meeting someone when he never had any desserts in his house in the first place. Thanks to that stupid little mistake he had to thumb through some cookbooks for recipes that looked simple and didn't have to take much time in making. At first he'd only intended to make some for Suzume and keep some for himself, but he thought he should just make some for his friends as well.

In the end he settled for four different kinds of cookies, so he could mix them all up and split them, wrapping them up in those little gift pouches you find in certain shops. Meh, the pouches looked like something a girl would wrap her chocolates in and give it to her guy, but at least he'd picked a darker color.

All those pouches would explain the heaviness in his bag.

He was glad he didn't decide to make something heavier and much harder to handle instead.

Natsume chuckled from his seat beside him. "What's wrong? Homeroom hasn't started and already you're sighing."

Homura sat down with a huff. "Well, blame it on the youkai I met yesterday."

"You met a youkai yesterday?" Natsume asked, concern finding its way into his voice. "Did it do something to you?"

"Oh no," he replied, shrugging. "He was asking me whether I saw his friend Hiyo."

"Oh?" Natsume leaned in closer, curious.

"It was a sparrow youkai, and his name's Suzume."

"Haha, sounds pretty close to Suzuya, doesn't it."

"Yeah! I thought that too. He had wings too, you know? Anyway, I tried to shake him off and gave him a cupcake instead." A smirk formed on his lips. "He didn't know what it was and accidentally tore the paper cup with his teeth; he thought he could eat that too."

"Hmm~ So I guess he's a good youkai then?" That way I won't have to worry, Natsume added in his mind.

"I don't know… He seems like the quiet kind of guy, but then he could sound scary and practical and be funny at the same time. But he's mostly good, I think. Are you free after school? Maybe we can go meet him. Maybe you know who the youkai called Hiyo he's looking for is."

Natsume nodded. "Okay. By the way, where's this sweet smell coming from?"

"Oh! Here," Homura said, unzipping his bag and revealing the plentiful pouches within. "I made cookies for everyone. Ah, well, not everyone, but…"

Natsume laughed. "No, I understand. Thanks," he said when Homura placed a pouch in his palm. "Wow, you're really good at cooking, aren't you?" He held it up to eye-level and peered at the contents. "Your girlfriend must be very lucky," he teased.

Homura flushed. "I don't have a girlfriend and you know that, Natsume."

"What, what? What's this about a girlfriend?" Sasada appeared behind them, hands on her hips. "Ah, cookies! Oh my gosh they look so cute!" she gushed.

That only made Homura flush deeper. "H-Here, this one's for you." He gave another pouch to her, looking away. "I made some for my friends."

"Really? Thanks! Haha, here I thought that maybe your girlfriend made them for you! You're quite popular here, after all!" Like Natsume-kun, she added.

"Popular? Who's popular?" Nishimura's voice rang out as he arrived with Kitamoto.

"It's nothing. Here, for you guys." Kitamoto said a word of thanks while Nishimura excitedly grabbed his pouch, earning a kick when he considered marrying Homura. "Hey, how about considering becoming Nishimura Homura? Haha—hey! I was just kidding, man! Gimme a cute girl over the likes of you any day!"

The day went on, and when it was afternoon break he presented the gifts to Tanuma and Taki, who both thanked him. Taki gushed over the cookies just like Sasada did, even asking him where he'd bought the pouches and if he could recommend some recipes—if it's not much trouble. He said he would, soon, all the while thinking why on earth would girls be this excited over somebody giving them cookies. Well, it is, to be expected, rare for a guy to give cookies to girls when it's not White Day.

Soon school ended and they made their way to the forest, Homura leading the way. They went to Suzuya's usual spot first, with Homura calling out to him along with the sweet promise of cookies, but he hasn't returned yet, so they went to the lake. Suzume appeared after just one call; he had obviously been waiting for Homura to come, the way he turned up was just too quick.

Homura was just about to introduce him to Natsume when he took several steps back, face molding into one of doubt, frowning at the lighter-haired human.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. He's my friend, and he can see you too. His name is Natsume. Natsume, Suzume." Natsume smiled politely, but Suzume still seemed cynical.

"… He smells of beasts," he said, his voice low.

"Suzume!"

"No, it's okay. I think he means Sensei." When Homura turned to look confusedly at him, he continued: "Sensei's true form is a beast. A big one, at that."

"Oh. Well, it's really alright, Suzume. Natsume's a good person."

It wasn't easy to persuade him to come closer, but Homura managed in the end—with the magical help of cookies—and Suzume explained once again about Hiyo, though his explanation was vague.

Natsume looked at Homura meaningfully from the corner of his eye, and Homura nodded. So Natsume thought it might be Suzuya too. But said tengu wasn't there with them at the moment, so it was impossible to tell.

Suzume was fumbling about with the pouch, not knowing quite how to open it. Homura opened it for him, and there was that spark of delight again as he munched on the cookies.

"Are you going to be here for some time, Suzume?" he asked after some time.

"Yes. I think. I want to find Hiyo first. I spent ages searching for him. He is quite a handful." Suzume shook his head.

"When exactly did he leave?" Natsume questioned.

"Some time ago. When I came home he wasn't there. I didn't want to leave our tree just like that—it's been our shelter for many years. So when some human cut it down last winter I started looking for him. Maybe I can stay with him again at his tree."

"Hmm~ You aren't angry at the person who cut down your tree?" After all, Natsume knew just how vengeful youkai can be. He hoped Suzume hadn't cursed the guy or anything.

"Not really. There were pleasant memories but that's all they were. Memories. Besides, I think Hiyo is much more important than an old tree," he finished with a stuff of a cookie in his mouth.

"Hey, I think I can recall something…" Homura started. Suzume's head snapped in his direction in mid-chew. "But that youkai isn't here right now. So when he comes back here, I'll take you to him, how's that?"

"I understand," he stated with a vehement nod.

"Well then, now that this is settled, we're going back, Suzume." Homura placed an extra pouch on the top of his head, just to see whether he'd be enticed. The youkai didn't smile, but there was a spirited fire burning in his brown eyes. "I think I'll come by tomorrow. No promises of any more sweets, though. I'll see whatever's available," he added.

They said their goodbyes and left the place, their steps lazy and slow.

"He seems like a nice guy, doesn't he?" Natsume said, munching on a cookie.

"Hmm, yeah. Are you going straight home?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Can I follow? Uh, that is, if you let me. I want to give some to Touko-san and Shigeru-san. Maybe some to the cat, if it's there," he said, patting his bag.

Natsume smiled at him and they walked on in comfortable silence.

"Damn," he cursed under his breath as he flapped his wings urgently, hand gripping his other arm, blood flowing down the length and dripping on the ground below. There was nowhere he could hide, nowhere he could really run, but there was no way he would just get on his knees and surrender. He sneaked a glance behind him, and still saw that mass of inky black darkness, its misshapen form shooting out repulsive makeshift arms, fingers clawing the air, wanting to get a hold on him.

At first, he'd made that offer, showing up out of the blue and looking at him as if he'd accept it with alacrity. Ah well. Foolish, foolish humans. This one was even more of an astronomical idiot than that Natori. At least Natori readied him with sweet smiles and scrumptious cafes, but this one would probably be more suited to sit in the cupboard and stay there.

He shook his head at the irony. Not long before he had threatened the piggy kitty's human with the involvement of Matoba, and now the leader itself had shown up with plans for him.

Splattering that gooey-looking substance wouldn't even make him break a sweat, but he wasn't totally sure there wouldn't be other traps lying around if he tried to counter. He was careless enough to let an arrow graze his arm. It was out of pure luck there weren't any spell whatsoever that came with it. Matoba was obviously toying around with him; Suzuya could tell he wasn't being serious.

After all, that was the main reason—actually, the one and only—why he hadn't been seeing Homura and the others for a while, if he drew Matoba's attention to them then that would be an entirely different problem. He didn't think anyone would be pleased to find out Matoba has a new human to stalk his pedophile eyes on.

Oh. No. Eye.

He glanced behind him once again, and flapped his wings faster, trying to get them off his tail so he can make a sharp turn and lose them. He was tired from this stupid chase, he was hungry—especially for Homura's food which he had grown accustomed to, beware, human food blinds you once you're intoxicated—and he had to do something about that bleeding arm of his. He wasn't about to donate free rich high-ranked blood to other snooping youkai.

Wow, another new character! Homura's troops are gathering now, I see! And oh no, Matoba is targeting Suzuya. D: Matoba isn't a pedophile, Suzuya. ;A; There's just a certain quality ever-present in Natsume that makes all the guys flock to him. -shot-

So. How do you like Suzume? Personally I find him cute. X3

Oh, and Happy New Year, everybody! And hurray to those turning 16 this year along with me!

Note: Don't you think the chapter title is cool? =D I think it is!