Chapter 4.

Monday afternoon, at lunch hour, Takashi walked to the Cracked Pot to meet up with Ikeda. He entered the small shop, greeted to Sato-san (who smiled in an oddly smug way), and sat down at the table that he and Ikeda had occupied the day before.

About ten minutes after he arrived, Ikeda herself came flying through the door, hat askew and coat billowing out behind her like a red woolen sail.

"Sorry I'm late!" she gasped, and staggered to where Takashi sat.

"It's fine," he said quietly, and held out the history books solemnly. Ikeda took them with a slight smile of thanks before she too reached into her bag and extracted a heavy volume titled 'History of the Samurai'.

"Here," she said, her voice unusually subdued, "I noticed that you never bring anything to entertain you, so… if you want to you can read this."

"…Thanks," he said, and they sat in silence for a moment.

A very awkward silence.

"U-um!" Ikeda said suddenly, "I'm really sorry that I ran out like that yesterday! I… forgot something."

"Hmm." Takashi didn't mention that he knew the real reason that she left. If he did, he would have to that he had eavesdropped on Ikeda and Sato-san's conversation yesterday. And then he would be admitting that he had heard Sato-san's rather… embarassing comments.

Another awkward silence decended over the table.

"Two teas!" Sato-san said, bustling over to them holding a tray with two steaming cups on it, "The same teas you ordered yesterday, I hope you don't mind. Enjoy!" And with that, Sato-san went away, taking with her the two young adult's hopes of conversing with her, instead of sitting in the uncomfortable silence that (yet again) made it impossible to feel the relaxed, quiet sort of understanding that the two had had just yesterday.

Ikeda busied herself with reading and taking notes, occasionally looking up to check the small clock that hung on the opposite wall. Takashi read as well. The book Ikeda had lent him was fascinating, the kind of thorough, thick book that he enjoyed.

He was quite engrossed in chapter six (titled A Samurai's Katana) when there was a sudden thump. He looked up to see what the matter was, and saw Ikeda staring at him gravely.

"I've finished with your books," she said, "And I just finished my paper."

Takashi slowly laid Ikeda's book down on the table and pushed it towards her.

"Oh," was all he said.

There was an unnatural quiet in the shop. Takashi thought he saw Sato-san's tiny shoes peeking out from underneath the backroom's door-curtain, but he wasn't sure.

"Um," Ikeda began in a nervous voice, "I'd like us to be friends."

I'd like us to be friends.

The words seemed to hang in the air, like feathers on a warm breeze.

Takashi realized that he had never had a girl ask him to be her friend. In fact, the only times most girls spoke to him was either to confess their love (sadly, he was never very interested in the girls who confessed), or when he was doing 'host' duties.

And Ikeda was asking him if they could be friends.

"Of course," he said, "I had rather thought we already were friends."

Ikeda looked at him blankly for a second, and then burst into laughter. "Holy crap—" she gasped, her sides shaking with mirth, "the longest sentence I've ever heard you say is the one that makes me feel stupidest." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I think I'd better get used to that. You're a silent, smart person."

She checked the clock and smiled at him happily. "My class starts in about ten minutes, so I'd better get going." Just before she opened the door, she turned and said, "Do you want meet around eleven o'clock tomorrow?"

He nodded his consent and watched her jog down the empty street before downing the last dregs of his tea in one gulp and starting his own walk back to campus.

After that, they met almost every day at eleven for tea. Sato-san began to have their teas at the table when they walked in the door. Mitsukuni would join them sometimes (when Takashi had introduced them they had become fast friends almost instantly) and then Mitsukuni and Ikeda and he would 'talk', although really it was more like Mitsukuni and Ikeda talking to each other, and occasionally asking him his opinion. Ikeda was obviously well known to the other customers (of which there were several, to Takashi'surprise), and they were slowly beginning to welcome the tall freshman into their fold.

One sunny Wednesday, Mitsukuni had joined them in their walk to the Cracked Pot, and as he and Ikeda were conversing, Ikeda suddenly turned to Takashi and asked "Which season do think you think Kyoto looks prettiest in?"

Takashi looked around at the red and yellow trees, at the clear autumn sky, at the roads flanked by banks of delicate leaves, and knew without question that Kyoto was absolutely beautiful in autumn.

"Autumn, huh?" Ikeda said, and smiled rather dreamily as she took in her surroundings. "It is a lovely season."

Takashi had gotten used to Ikeda's ability to translate his silences, and they walked on for a little while, enjoying the silence. He looked down briefly to check on Mitsukuni.

The smaller boy was gone.

Takashi whirled around, feeling the beginnings of his 'protector mode' kicking in, and found that Mitsukuni was standing a few feet behind them, his mouth open and his eyes wide.

"Sumi-chan!" the tiny freshman cried, "You can understand Takashi's thoughts! You're like a… a telepath!"

Ikeda blinked in bemusement. "…Telepath?" she asked in a confused tone.

"You knew what he was going to say before he said it!" Mitsukuni was terribly excited. "Ooh, you're like a sci-fi character. Read my mind!" He squinted his eyes shut in an expression of extreme concentration on his face.

"Haninozuka-san," Ikeda said, "I can't read Morinozuka-san's thoughts."

"Well," Mitsukuni said, "Takashi's family and me can also do the 'knowing-what-Takashi-is-thinking-secret-jutsu', and we're not telepaths. So maybe you're a secret cousin!"

"I don't think it's that either. I find it easy to figure out what Morinozuka-san is thinking. It's not anything particularly strange."

"Well, how do you do it? I can't always read Takashi, and we've known each other since birth!"

"I— don't know," Ikeda said, and fell silent.

They walked the rest of the way to the tea shop mutely. Mitsukuni kept eyeing Ikeda with an almost awe-stricken look on his face, and Takashi was just enjoying the rare moment of calm.

Ikeda kept her eyes focused on her shoes, a speculative frown on her face.

Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I'm afarid that I was terribl lazy this week, and totally forgot about writing this chapter until late Monday night… the night before my school's end-of-year all-day hike. So blame my couch potato synapses for the low quality of this chapter.