Author's Note: I will not be able to update until Monday, June 7. I'm sorry for the odd updating schedule.

Chapter 2. Kouda and Kyudo

The next day had the kind of perfect weather that only comes after a fall rainstorm, with cool temperatures and clear skies. Takashi was sitting at one of the tables in the university library, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his jacket slung over the back of the chair.

He looked up when a bag was unceremoniously dumped in front of him. Then he blinked a couple of times to make sure his eyes were working properly. The girl he had bumped into yesterday, Sumiko Ikeda, was bundled up in a coat and scarf like it was thirty degrees outside. He glanced out the window, just to make sure there hadn't been a freak blizzard while he had been sitting inside. Outside, a red-hued leaf drifted picturesquely to the ground against a backdrop of immacuately kept lawns. There was not a snowflake in sight. He turned his attention back to Ikeda and raised his eyebrows quizzically.

"Cold?" he inquired.

She grinned back, unabashed. "Yup! I get cold really easily. I think I'm the only person I know who wears long sleeves in June."

He thought back to the day before, when they had had their rather sudden meeting, and realized that her coat had been unusually heavy, even then.

"Why?" he asked, wondering at her unusual sensitivity.

"Well," she said, "I grew up in Kushima, Miyazaki. My family moved to Kyoto because of Otousan's work. I guess I never really adjusted to the climate, although I sometimes felt slightly chilly in Kyushu as well." She shrugged. "My brother says I'm like an old lady, always complaining of the cold."

He smiled slightly at this, but drew back in surprise when she clapped her hands. "Aha! So you do have expressions! Yesterday, you barely even looked surprised when I bumped into you. You just sort of stood there and looked at me." She ducked her head, her expression apologetic. "That was the reason I got mad at you. I hate it when people just look at someone who needs help, instead of helping them." She bowed. "Again, I'm sorry."

"Mm." Takashi said. He blinked again, suddenly remembering why they were there. He grabbed his bag out from behind him and pulled out three worn volumes.

"Here," he said, depositing them on the table in front of the girl. She snatched them up like a child with a chocolate bar, grinning widely.

" Ooh! Goro Kouda! He was an such an incredible historian!" She opened one of the books and looked at the title page.

Then she froze.

Very slowly she closed the book and looked at Takashi with eyes so wide he wondered if they would pop out of her head.

"Were you aware that this is a first edition?" she asked in an awed voice.

"Ah."

"A first edition by Goro Kouda?"

"Ah."

Ikeda took a deep breath. "How on earth did you get your hands on this?" she asked, her voice deceptively calm. He could see her actually shaking with excitement.

" 'These'," he corrected her. "They're all first editions."

Her eyes actually got bigger. He hadn't thought that was possible. She opened another and clapped her hands to her mouth.

"And I've never even seen this one before. A History of Early Japanese Use of Firearms. I thought I had read all of Kouda's books!"

"It's never been printed."

Now her mouth dropped open. She looked almost exactly like a surprised cartoon character, exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. "How did you-?"

" Kouda was was my grandfather," he explained.

"Your grandfather was Goro Kouda?"

"Daichi Morinozuka. Kouda was a pseudonym."

"Wow." She sat back in her chair. "I never...that's incredible."

"Not really."

She shook her head. "And you're letting me look at these?"

"Ah."

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

He smiled again. "No."

"Well...thanks! I'll have even better material now!" She paused. "Do you mind if I start now?"

He shook his head, and almost immediately she pulled out a spiral bound notebook, opened it, and then began to flip through the borrowed history book.

He rose to go, and she looked up, startled. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"You're working," he said, slightly perplexed.

"Oh, you don't have to go. In fact, it would probably be best if you stayed. That way, I won't give into temptation and steal your books."

He smiled slightly and sank back into his seat. Ikeda began to read again almost immediately.

Takashi found himself watching her as she worked. When not wet, muddy and crying, she was quite pretty. She had the kind of figure that he considered particuarly comely, tall but not too thin. And with very nice curves…

A sudden thump jerked him out of his reverie. He shook his head to clear it, a blush spreading over his face. He was here to help Ikeda, not to ogle her. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, falling into his kendo breathing routines easily. The world faded around him, and he felt his limbs relax.

The next thing he knew, Ikeda was shaking his shoulder. "Hey," she said, "Are you sleeping?"

Takashi opened his eyes to see Ikeda's face hovering a few inches from his own.

"No. Meditating."

"Oh." She sat back and grinned at him. "Well, I've finished with this one, so you can take it back. Thanks again."

He nodded slightly, and she tilted her head to the side and looked at him. "You know, you're a really calming prescence."

He raised an eyebrow, and she giggled slightly. "It's true! I got much more work done than usual with you here. I tend to get really stressed out when I'm working on a paper. But I wasn't stressed with you here. Maybe it was because of that meditation thing you were doing. Meditation's always calmed me, even when it's other people doing it."

He frowned in bemusement. "You meditate?" Somehow he had trouble imagining the energetic girl sitting quietly for long stretches of time.

"Well," she said, "I do standing meditation during kyudo practice, and my father is an amatuer kendo practitioner, so he does sitting meditation for an hour every day. Sometimes I join him"

"Kyudo?"

"Yup! I'm an archer" Ikeda grinned proudly. "And I can actually hit stuff too. Which is better than most of the others in my dojo."

"Hm," he said, amused.

"Hey, do you want to meet up again tomorrow? That way you won't have to worry about me abducting your books while you're gone, and I honestly got more work done with you here than I've ever done in one sitting. Ever." She grinned deviously. "Aaand… I'll treat you to tea…"

Takashi had to admit, he was very tempted. If he stayed tomorrow, he wouldn't have to leave the books with a near-stranger (they were quite delicate, and he liked his grandfather's writing almost as much as Ikeda seemed to), and tea was a very enticing prospect.

"Ah."

"You'll come? Huzzah!" She grinned widely and rose from her seat. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Same place, same time."

Takashi nodded, and stood as well. He looked down at her face (although not very far down, he still couldn't get over how tall she was) and then gently patted her head. She blinked at him, and then smiled again. "You're a very nice fellow." She commented, as she picked up her bag and started walking towards the door. "Goodbye Morinozuka-san!" she called over her shoulder.

It wasn't until Takashi had gotten back to his dormitory that he realized something.

That had been the first time she had ever said his name.

Some Things of Interest:

Miyazaki is one of the prefectures in Kyushu, which is the southernmost island of the four main islands in Japan, so Sumiko grew up in a sub-tropical climate. I'm imagining the university that Takashi and Sumiko go to as Kyoto University, so the autumn weather would be chillier than in Kushima (although wearing long sleeves in June is impressive, as it can get hot in Kyoto!).

Kyudo is Japanese archery, and (although some of my sources are a little dubious) apparently sometimes the practitioners do standing meditation before shooting.