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There’s nothing but the whiteness of snow, the harshness of the wind, and the icy cold seeping into his bones.
“Sensei,” Takashi yells, but his voice is drowned out by the storm howling. The snow almost reaches his knees by now; every step is a struggle, but he tries to move as quickly as possible. “Sensei, where are you?”
Takashi doesn’t know where he is, but the panic seizing him has little to do with getting lost in a snowstorm. A vivid memory flashes through his mind—Sensei in his real form, getting hit by a powerful spell, falling. A strangled cry, the poof of transformation, Nyanko-sensei’s cat form, falling.
“Sensei?”
Takashi stumbles. His feet are frozen to the ground, he can’t move, he—
Takashi opens his eyes.
Faint moonlight illuminates the room. His room. There’s no storm, just a light dusting of snow on the rooftops, no freezing cold, just the warmth of his futon. It was just a dream, memories of the youkai whose name he returned in the afternoon lingering. Nothing out of the ordinary. Sensei must be fine as well.
Takashi sits up, trying to locate his bodyguard. He expects to see a calico cat dozing off on the cushion next to his bed, but he finds Madara instead. Sensei is curled around Takashi’s futon, long body almost filling up the entire room, head resting on the pillow he usually sleeps on. He appears to be deep asleep, but Takashi knows no matter what form Nyanko-sensei takes, he snores. He doesn’t call Sensei out on faking sleep, just reaches out to pet him.
Nyanko-sensei staying in his real form outside of youkai troubles is rare. Takashi caresses the soft, silver fur and scratches him behind an ear. If Sensei was properly awake, he would protest being treated like a cat. Takashi runs his fingers along the top of Sensei’s head one more time, then settles back under his futon.
“Thank you, Sensei,” Takashi whispers. Drifting off to sleep, he misses Nyanko-sensei opening his eyes and turning back to his regular cat form.
No more nightmares follow, just the faint sound of wind and gently falling snow.