Chapter Text
Maybe Tooru had a point: the forest at night seemed a lot less dangerous with four people (plus a cat) and four flashlights piercing the darkness.
They didn't talk much as they went, since it would be difficult for half of the group to do so without stopping. Tanuma and Tooru occasionally bent their heads over the map and talked out their route in gestures. Natsume seemed to be on lookout, head up and flashlight sweeping the trees ahead and around them.
Isamu mostly tried to keep his eyes and ears open, though most of what he noticed was Natsume's bodacious feline bounding ahead, circling, and then popping up behind them again. Natsume didn't seem worried about losing track of the creature, and every time he left he came crashing back shortly thereafter, so he seemed to have the right idea.
It took over an hour to get where they were going. Isamu had to tug on some sleeves at one point, as they started to climb a ridge, to get them to pause. They did so immediately, Tooru looking at him with concern, but he just frowned at them and pulled some water bottles out of his backpack. Tanuma and Natsume looked amused, but they drank obediently, and Isamu took advantage of the moment to sit on a nearby rock and let his heartrate slow.
He wasn't frightened; he was more tired than he would normally have been. He presumably wasn't completely better from whatever illness Tooru had. Still, he knew his limits, and wouldn't slow the others down too badly. After a few minutes, he gathered his supplies into his backpack again and gestured that they should get going.
As they began the climb, something bounded onto Isamu's back. He flinched and would have cried out if he could, but the weight settled firmly onto his shoulder, warm and soft and a familiar mostly-white bundle of fur. It seemed Natsume's cat wanted a ride. It wouldn't have been Isamu's first choice, especially in this condition, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse…and the added weight didn't slow him down. Instead, he felt a second wind coming on as they began rounding the hill to descend on the other side.
At the foot of the hill they ran out of easy paths, and had to go a bit out of their way. Natsume's cat hopped down to stare at the map with the others as they discussed, putting a paw in like he wanted to be included. Natsume discussed the route with him—well, he'd seen Natsume talk to thin air when he was thinking something out before, so perhaps that was to be expected—and then they tucked away the map and kept moving.
The moon overhead was bright, nearly bluish, and cast odd, ghostly lights among the trees. As they began walking up the hill again, they rounded a copse and Isamu jumped at a rounded white shape that jumped out of the darkness…but it was just a stone, catching the moonlight. Some sort of way-marker, it seemed, because Tanuma pointed out that it matched the map.
A little embarrassed, and hoping his reaction hadn't been noticed, Isamu hung back—which meant he was able to clearly see Tanuma's stumble, but too far away to help.
Natsume called out in surprise, and they all surrounded him, the cat jumping off Isamu's shoulder to rest his paws on Tanuma's legs as he knelt in the undergrowth.
"I'm fine," Tanuma said. He gave them all a wincing smile. "We're almost there."
Isamu shook his head, slinging off his backpack and pointing at it authoritatively. He pulled out his notebook and the others waited, though he saw Tooru glancing nervously at the sky.
What hurts? he demanded, pointing his flashlight at the notebook.
"I get headaches sometimes," Tanuma said quietly. "This one came on suddenly, that's all. It surprised me, but it's not dangerous."
Isamu shook his head. A migraine bad enough to fall over was no laughing matter, and Tanuma looked more wan than the moonlight could justify. He pointed authoritatively at the marking stone.
"I think we need to hurry, though," Tanuma said, gesturing up at the sky. "It's getting pretty high."
Isamu grumbled silently, scribbling in his notebook. It will keep for a couple minutes.
Tanuma, looking sheepish, sat. Instead of following him, though, Natsume's cat ran up the path and disappeared into the darkness.
Isamu swore, reaching out to him, but Natsume didn't seem worried—more conflicted, as he glanced between Tanuma and the path up to the ruins.
"You can go ahead," Tanuma said. "We'll catch up. You don't want to miss the window, right?"
Tooru nodded,
Isamu pulled out his first aid kit and found some painkillers, shaking them in Tanuma's face and tilting his head in question.
"Sure," Tanuma said, "it can't hurt."
Isamu popped a blister pack and passed over the pill along with Tanuma's bottle of water. Then he pulled out a snack bar and passed that along to him as well. Tanuma looked a bit amused, but he opened it obediently and took a bite.
Hydration, painkillers, and a snack in case of low blood sugar. In the field, that was about as much as you could do for a headache, unless Tanuma was secretly addicted to caffeine or something. But they were going to have a long walk back, regardless of whether the group found what they were looking for, so they all needed to be in good shape.
Tanuma finished his snack and shoved the wrapper into his pocket. "Thanks, Isamu-san. I'm feeling a lot better. Should we follow the others?"
The path up to the ruins was a lot darker with two flashlights instead of four, and every rustle sounded a little more ominous without Natsume's cat around to explain it. The path was longer than Isamu had expected, turning back on itself multiple times as it climbed a gentle slope towards what looked like the ruins of a wall. It had been built before concrete foundations, and instead hunks of stone were heaped onto each other, tumbling down over the years.
"This is nearly a castle," Tanuma said, sounding awed. "Let's see, by the map, we need the eastern side—wait. Shh. Did you hear that?"
Not being able to shush, Isamu just froze instead, listening. A gust of chilly spring wind was sweeping over the wall and through their section of the path, carrying with it tumbling flecks of petals…and a snatch of voices.
Isamu lifted an eyebrow in Tanuma's direction, assuming it was Natsume they were hearing. But the voice was too high-pitched for that. The cat's meowing, maybe, warped by distance to sound like a voice?
But then another gust blew by, stronger, and accompanied this time by a laugh—a laugh he knew.
He could swear that it was his sister's laughter being carried on the breeze.
He sped up without thinking, Tanuma calling after him to wait but catching up quickly with his long legs. They moved as quickly as they could on the uneven path, and Isamu was so focused on his footing that it took him until they reached the wall surrounding the property to realize what he was hearing.
He tapped Tanuma's arm and then tapped his ear insistently.
"Is that…music?" Tanuma said. "You hear it too, right?"
If it wasn't music, it was something very close—perhaps the cry of an owl or something, but it sounded to Isamu more like pipes. And occasionally, still, there was what sounded like distant voices and laughter, but never quite loud enough to be sure. If Tanuma heard that, too, he didn't say, and Isamu was currently prioritizing getting back to the others over stopping to check.
Isamu glared at the gate that stood in front of them, falling apart in places and held upright mostly by rust. None of the gaps were wide enough to fit comfortably through, and yet there was no sign of the others. He moved his flashlight in a wide arc on either side of the path, and soon enough found what he thought was the answer: a gap in the wall with a few bent stalks of grass nearby. The others must have climbed through the gap.
"Good eye," Tanuma said, when Isamu nudged him and pointed. "Shall we?"
They moved carefully through the tall grass, and then Isamu gave Tanuma a hand to balance as he made his way over the gap. Tanuma returned the favor a moment afterward, and Isamu hopped down from the wall into a ruin that appeared to have once been a garden.
The building beyond was barely visible between the mass of trees and bushes that had well overgrown their plots. It looked well beyond abandoned and into decaying, and Isamu was glad that Tooru's friends had only ever intended to check the garden, not explore a building that was undoubtedly condemned. Tanuma led them around the side and to the east, panning his flashlight as they went.
The wall drew close to the manor as they rounded the corner of the estate. There would have still been plenty of room to walk, if not for some bamboo that had grown in from somewhere, dead stalks littering the ground and half-living ones tilting drunkenly all around. They had to slow down to push through it, going single-file and moving gingerly.
Tanuma flinched halfway in, holding his head and grabbing a thick stalk nearby for balance. Isamu, unable to ask if he was alright, grabbed his shoulder.
Ahead of them, the musical sounds stopped. There came sudden shriek, loud and all-too-familiar, and in the same instant Tanuma dropped to his knees. Isamu reached for him, half trying to haul him upright, half wanting to push past him in desperation. Neither effort worked, and instead Isamu ended up pressed against Tanuma's back, unable to get past him in the tight space. A wind had set the bamboo rattling, and he felt Tanuma shudder beside him.
He wanted, more than anything, to cry out—and then there was a ragged shout.
Not Tooru's voice, this time. Not a language he knew, if they were words at all. It was loud and primal and…somehow pleading and triumphant all at once, he thought. It was a man's voice, a young man's voice. One that was almost familiar…but different as well. Off somehow, in a way that Tooru's hadn't been.
Tanuma turned to look at him, face pale, eyes wide. Isamu looked back, trying to place the voice.
The wind picked up. The bamboo rattled harder, beginning to creak dangerously. Isamu hauled Tanuma up, worried they were about to be pinned by falling stalks, and shoved past him, pulling them forward.
The stand ended abruptly at another fence, long leaves trailing over the top as they came into the orchard.
It was dyed every shade from blackest red to blushing pink through to pale lilac in the moonlight.
Isamu stared. The blossoms were resplendent—trunks twisted and gnarled, boughs heavy and criss-crossing from decades or even centuries of neglect, but the blossoms fluttered with the eternal youthful vivacity of early spring.
It was difficult to see very far in the orchard past the abundant blossoms, especially as the ground of the orchard was uneven. They were near the crest of a hill, and the orchard spread beneath them.
Tanuma was still leaning against the fence, looking wan in the moonlight, though judging by his expression he had forgotten his discomfort. "Wow."
Isamu nodded in agreement, and then mimed cupping a hand to his mouth.
"Right," Tanuma said, and then called—quieter than Isamu would have—"Natsume! Taki! Are you there?"
Wind rustled the bamboo behind them, and if there was an answer, Isamu couldn't hear it.
But Tanuma didn't seem worried. "They're probably distracted," he said. "Come on."
They wended their way through the plum trees. As if by unspoken agreement, they moved slowly, descending into the orchard until the moon was all but completely hidden.
Isamu found himself engrossed by the blossoms overhead. They were every bit as gorgeous as cherry blossoms, in every shade of white, pink, and purple. Petals fell like sparks from a firework all around, but the effect was like being underwater. He took a breath and caught a whiff of a sweet, distant scent on the cold air.
It wasn't the sort of thing he would admit aloud, even if he could, but Isamu thought he might understand why people would think of this place and time as magical. Tanuma didn't call again, and Isamu could understand why—shouting just felt wrong, in this place. Even hearing what he'd heard before, he wasn't willing to rush blindly in.
Well. Some places could leave a strong impression like this. There didn't need to be anything supernatural about it. But he wished he'd heard more about the research into the family that had built this place, and the significance of plum trees specifically. Though perhaps it was simply that they were beautiful.
There was a rustling to one side, off the path, and Isamu turned to look. He thought, for a moment, that he saw a shape like a kimono brushing through the trees, a moon-white shape at about head height turned toward him, a crescent of a smile; but when he blinked and turned fully, it had already moved on. There wasn't enough room off the path to move that quickly, let alone silently; so it must have been an owl or something, with a side helping of pareidolia.
"What is it?" Tanuma asked from behind him. "Did you see something?" The words were light, neutral, and yet…Isamu could hear something behind them. Something like tension, or hope, or longing.
For once, he was glad he couldn't answer. He shook his head, shook himself, and continued on.
The path they were on opened to darkness up ahead, and as they approached they heard a voice and saw twin arcs of weak yellow light, scanning back and forth. "Tanuma? Isamu-san?"
"Natsume!" Tanuma sounded relieved, breaking into a trot as he left the bower of plum blossoms. Isamu sped up himself, and emerged into a hollow center. Overgrown paths branched out in every direction, the plums sloping upward. It had the odd effect of being at the bottom of a well, or a flower basket. The moon overhead shone down absurdly brightly, even past its zenith.
Tooru was standing right beside Natsume. She gave Isamu a long, meaningful look as he approached, but between the darkness and the silence, he wasn't sure quite what it meant. He himself was trying to broadcast Are you okay? with his eyes, and was unsure of his success. Luckily, Tanuma said it for him a moment later.
"We're fine," Natsume said, and Tooru nodded beside him. "Nothing bad happened."
"And the ritual?"
"See for yourself." Natsume gestured.
Isamu looked around, but there was nothing but the moonlight on the branches. It was very bright and beautiful, and he thought there must have been some rain before they arrived, or else someone had splashed water around, because among the petals there was the odd sparkle; but it could have just been a trick of the light.
Turning back, he thought that he heard Natsume murmur something to the others, but before he could be sure, Natsume was already turning his back on them, striding to the center of the circle.
"Nyanko-sensei," he called. "Stop hunting and get back here."
There was a long moment of silence and then a rustle low to the ground. Natsume's cat emerged with his ridiculous puff-ball of a tail aloft, waddling towards them and covered in petals. Natsume laughed and reached down, brushing them off. His hair glistened silver in the moonlight, and he looked, Isamu thought, oddly like he belonged there. If he'd seen Natsume like that, strolling through old ruins with no one but his adorable cat for company, he might mistake him for a spirit himself.
That was all this was, probably. Someone had discovered a secret spot for a springtime moon-viewing, and someone else had happened by at some point and mistaken it for a ritual.
As always, it was just a bit disappointing to realize there had never been anything supernatural about a local legend…but for Isamu, the satisfaction of finally having a logical theory just about outweighed that disappointment. He wished, briefly, that he could discuss it with the others, but these weren't his research circle friends. They might be happier that, for once, he was incapable of ruining the moment.
Then the cat escaped from Natsume's attentions, bounding over to join them. He reached Tooru first, and she scooped him up, brushing the last few petals from his fur.
"Ooh, you're such a mess, Fluffy-sensei," she crooned hoarsely, hugging him around the middle.
Then she froze, eyes wide, before looking slowly to the others.
"Tooru!" Isamu exclaimed—and then coughed, his throat suddenly scratchy and raw.
"Taki? Isamu-san?" Tanuma looked between them, incredulous.
"Oh, good!" Natsume exclaimed, sounding relieved. "I was hoping you'd get them back soon."
"What?" Isamu said, stepping closer. "Why would you think that? Does the legend for this place include miraculous healing properties or something?"
Natsume raised his hands defensively. "No, no, nothing like that…it's just…uh…it's been a while. That's all."
"For Tooru, sure," Isamu said, skeptical. "But for me?"
"I mean, you've recovered too," Natsume said, a little too fast. "So you were just lucky, I guess."
"Yeah. Well, true." It was lucky; or at least, luck was the only explanation that actually made sense. Somehow, though, it was a little disheartening that Natsume just…agreed with him. And when Isamu let the matter drop, he just seemed relieved—though that could be explained simply enough by Tooru's recovery, which was a much bigger deal in Isamu's estimation.
"Nii-san!" Tooru grinned at him, smile bright. "I'm so glad!"
Overcome by a sudden urge, he reached up and patted her on the head. "Yeah," he said. "Me too. I missed talking with you."
Tooru blushed faintly, but didn't move out from under his hand.
They didn't leave the orchard right away. Instead, they sat under the trees for another water break, and then Tooru produced a camera from her own bag and tried to get some long-exposure shots of the trees under the moonlight, with Isamu and the others staying out of frame. Eventually, though, they gathered their things, collected Natsume's cat, and headed back the way they came.
The forest was quiet, the moon arcing slowly down into the trees. Their path was more downhill than uphill on their return trip, so they made good time, but it was the wee hours of the morning by the time they made it back to the house. They all winced as Isamu turned on the hall light.
"Sorry to impose," Natsume said, Tanuma echoing him, as they stepped inside.
Isamu just rolled his eyes at them. There was no way he was letting them stay up even later to go home, by themselves, at this hour. Fortunately, that had never been the plan in the first place.
"I'll get the spare futons from the closet," Tooru said, and headed down the hall to do just that.
Isamu turned to the others. "Which room do you want? There's plenty upstairs."
They both started stammering and insisting that anything was fine, really. Isamu shook his head and decided for them, leading them to the room he chose before going to help his sister get out the bedding.
Too few hours later, Isamu was woken by his alarm clock at the crack of dawn. He forced himself out of bed, grumbling a bit, and pulled on some clothes. The room where Natsume and Tanuma had crashed was still dark and quiet, so he left them alone and headed down the stairs.
As he'd expected, Tooru was already starting breakfast. She had rings under her eyes from lack of sleep, but when she greeted him her smile was bright and cheerful.
"Good morning, nii-san! You didn't have to get up this early, you know. You could've slept in."
There wasn't a second apron, so Isamu just went to the sink and washed his hands. "I could've, but I didn't. Let me help."
"If you want to, then sure," Tooru said. "Thanks."
They moved around the kitchen together, a little clumsily since they weren't used to sharing a kitchen, getting rice and miso soup going. There were eggs and toast and even some fish to sear as well; Tooru wasn't going to let her friends go to school hungry, even if she usually kept things simple for herself. Isamu had guessed correctly that she could use the help.
"Thank you for all this, too," Tooru said after a while, filling the rice bowls. "Coming out and everything. I haven't been able to tell you till now, but I appreciate it."
"Even though you didn't need it," Isamu said, and cut her off before she could protest. "You had things handled as well as you could under the circumstances. You could've gotten by without me, and things worked themselves out on their own this time. But," and here he stopped and turned towards Tooru, and waited till she turned to face him, her fingers twisting the hem of her apron, "you also could've told me sooner that you were having a hard time. Our parents, too. We'll always come back to help if you need it, as soon as we can. You know that, right?"
Tooru stared at him, biting her lips, but eventually nodded.
"Honestly, I was a little worried that I've just been getting in the way of whatever crazy stuff you're up to with your friends. But I'm not going to apologize for sticking my nose in, either. Got it? That's my prerogative as an older sibling."
Tooru turned back to the stove, eyes maybe a little brighter than a late night could justify. "Yes, nii-san. And for the record…I'm glad you did come. Really."
Isamu felt himself smile. "Me, too."
Overhead, there were quiet thumps and muffled voices. Tooru's friends were awake and getting ready for the day. Any window for heartfelt conversation was rapidly closing, but there was one more point Isamu wanted to drive home after last night.
"Just don't let those two drag you into too much trouble," Isamu said. "I can't be here every time to supervise when you decide to go on midnight hikes. And that can't be a regular thing, got it? If I hear about you doing something like this again anytime soon, I'm going to bring in our parents, and they're going to be even less happy about it than I am."
"I promise, nii-san." Tooru was still smiling as she went to set the table, and turned to see two slightly rumpled-looking teenagers eyeing the food with undisguised interest. "Good morning, Tanuma-kun, Natsume-kun. You're just in time for breakfast."
"You didn't have to go to this much trouble," Natsume started, though Tanuma had already grunted out thanks and went to sit.
"It was no trouble at all," Tooru said. "My brother helped, too."
Isamu may have had his voice back, but he found he didn't have much to say when he sat with the three of them. Some of it was tiredness, and some lack of familiarity, but mostly he was content to hear the three of them chatting away about ordinary things, like their mutual friends and the day's timetable.
They were a bit odd, all three of them, but their individual oddnesses fit together somehow, making a smooth whole. Tooru's words were like a missing piece of a puzzle, finally snapping back into place, and he could tell that her friends were just as happy to see that as Isamu was.
She was fine, and probably would have always been fine, but he didn't regret coming to see her at all. She'd found her place and was happy in it…and for the next few days, at least, so was he.