Hot. That was all that Ayumu could describe the sensation he was feeling in the depths of jumbled images. His body felt like it was made out of lead, from his eyelids to his fingers, and it was as though an uncovered furnace roared inside his chest. Was he even breathing? He couldn’t tell.

Where was he? What was he doing there? He didn’t remember. His mind wavered between being distressed at the sense of heat, the feeling of thousands of thorns gently pushing against every inch of his skin and the hazy void of unconsciousness.

Ayumu couldn’t tell how much time had passed. All he could be sure of was that time was definitely passing, and he wasn’t trapped in some timeless void. He was sure of that because the furnace inside his chest was slowly, but surely, cooling down. And after a point, the heat had subsided to the point that he could say for sure that his heart was still beating, and his lungs were steadily pumping air.

But… there was also something else in there. He could neither identify it, nor quite articulate what it felt like. He could intuit that it was a part of him- something which is supposed to be immaculate, something which resonated and vibrated like a sheet of metal like iron or brass without being struck, something that was a second heart with its own undetectable heartbeat.

But it was not immaculate. Or, not anymore. A part of him that “knew” intuitively that he had made a mistake. He had forced it to stop vibrating and beating completely before, but then suddenly struck it to make it sound forcibly in the time of need. So now the beats are erratic and unstable, and his body was mirroring the imbalance.

He did not quite understand how he knew it, but in that state, while lying at the bottom of an ocean of indistinct thoughts and words, that knowledge rang truer than anything else he intuited in his life.

Without warning, Aymu was dragged back to reality, his thoughts becoming less muddled and disjointed, but only just. His body and eyelids still felt heavy, and he couldn’t really muster up much strength, but the memories of last night hit him like a ton of bricks. The thought of his mother and friend’s safety pushed out every other consideration and he forced himself to open his eyes, but all he could achieve was parting his eyelids a few millimeters.

He stirred groggily in what felt like his bed, his vision blurry and his brain unable to process anything properly. He vaguely recalled that he had convinced his friend to let him sleep in the futon the previous night.

With great difficulty, Ayumu forced himself to concentrate on trying to get a good look at his surroundings, despite still being unable to really make out the vague outline in his sight. Seconds passed, and he opened and closed his eyelids several times feebly until everything came into focus.

He noticed a wispy black tail and a furry body near his head, and a head of wavy brown hair resting on the corner of his bed through his slightly parted eyelids. He exhaled, a large part of his concern ebbing away.

“You are awake.” Tomos said, his voice oddly distant and echoey despite his proximity, “Do not try to exert yourself too much, this weakness will pass in an hour, and a slight lethargy should remain for a few more hours still.”

Ayumu nodded. Or rather, he made a slight twitching movement with his head. It was all he could muster in that state. He wanted to say something, to talk to his friend, to ask about his mother, but the best he could do was let out a slight groaning sound.

“It seems that I owe you an apology, Ayumu. I have been… sloppy. Incredibly so.” The feline said, a hint of bitterness in his otherwise poised tone, but he recovered without missing a beat and added, “I assure you, there will be recompense. I swear it upon my pride.”

Ayumu simply nodded again, and slowly slipped into a deep sleep once more.

He didn’t have any idea how long he had been asleep, but soon the unconsciousness shrouding his senses grew thin, and he could sense movement around him.

He opened his eyes, the action a lot easier now that his eyelids didn’t feel like lead weights, and the first thing he saw was his wall and a curtained window. He sighed when he realized that it was probably noon by the color and intensity of light filtering through the slightly parted curtains.

“Ayumu!” He heard his friend exclaim and he was startled into a sitting position. Before he could get over his sense of disorientation, he was pulled into a hug tight enough to be vaguely painful. All he could do was make confused sounds that barely counted as words in response.

He was finally released after a few seconds, and Masaru fell back into the chair he had seemingly pulled up and placed near the bed. Ayumu was able to get a good look at his friend now, and he was surprised to see obvious signs of lack of sleep in his eyes.

“G-good morning. Or I guess it’s probably more accurate to say “Good Noon” or something…” He said lamely, giving an unconvincing chuckle in a half-hearted effort to stave off the feeling of awkwardness he felt at the setup. It had been very long since the last time he was seriously sick or injured- it was usually Masaru who was sitting in a bed recovering and him in a nearby chair wishing him a speedy recovery...

“I guess you did hit your head when you collapsed.” Masaru said jokingly, “But… Good morning, and welcome back.”

Ayumu’s feeling of awkwardness wasn’t helped by his friend’s smile. “Stop it, Saru, it’s not like I just recovered from cancer or something. I was just tired.”

Masaru sighed in response, mixed with a small laugh which rather annoyed Ayumu. He looked at Ayumu and said, “You know, I think I understand how you felt now. Back when I was in the hospital for my broken arm, I mean.”

Ayumu couldn’t really formulate a reply, his embarrassment refusing to lessen. “Yeah, I hope you appreciate the soup I made for you more now.” He joked, trying to mask how awkward he felt.

“I guess I appreciate the sentiment behind it more now, yeah.” Masaru grinned, looking more like his usual self, much to Ayumu’s relief, “But it still tasted bland chicken water.”

“I forgot the salt.” Ayumu said defensively, “You didn’t have to chug it down in one go, you know.”

Masaru gave a bark of laughter, “Yeah, I guess so. In hindsight, I don’t think you would have been offended if I asked for some more salt.”

“So, um,” Ayumu started, only partly to change the subject, “What about Mom? What did you tell her about last night? Was she okay?” he asked.

“Auntie came some time after the commotion, yeah.” Masaru said, averting his eyes with a guilty look, “But she was drunk and half asleep at that time, and I was able to get you into bed and take care of most of the mess by the time she was here. I just played dumb, and she didn’t press the matter.” Ayumu ignored the part about his friend having to carry him to bed with some amount of difficulty.

“And this morning?” Ayumu asked, “Did she ask why I was sleeping in or anything like that?”

“I, uh.” Masaru said, looking rather concerned, “You had a really high fever this morning. I was pretty terrified, so I told Auntie that you had a summer cold out of nowhere.”

Ayumu felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He… didn’t want his mother to feel guilty about leaving him to go to work.

“She wanted to stay home, but I insisted that I’ll be here with you.” Masaru said, and the feeling of awkwardness Ayumu felt came back in full force, “It took a bit to convince her, and she looked really guilty, but she agreed and told me to call her if you needed anything. I guess she had some important work she couldn’t put off..”

Masaru trailed off, seemingly remembering something and looked horrified, “Oh, right, you still haven’t had anything to eat! You’re probably very weak right now from the fever- Lemme bring you the okayu Auntie left for you.” Masaru jumped to his feet and nearly ran out of the room before Ayumu could protest.

“Oh, and give her a call, she’s probably worried sick .” He told him, briefly returning and poking his head through the door.

Sighing, Ayumu looked around for his phone. He found it neatly placed beside his pillow and gave a silent thanks to Masru, before dialing up his mother’s number.

He was surprised when she didn’t pick up. Perhaps she was in a meeting, or her phone was in silent mode, as she usually instantly picked up his calls. He shook his head and then left a text message telling her that the fever had gone away and he was feeling a lot better.

He closed his phone, noting that it was around 2:00 PM now, and looked around his room. It wasn’t ransacked like he expected it to be, given what happened last night, but a lot of things were out of place or otherwise looked disheveled. He was glad that the thing didn’t end up smashing his PC, as it would have been rather hard to explain to his mother.

Ayumu scanned his room for the cat, but Tomos was nowhere in sight. He knew that the cat was with them a few hours ago, did he wander off somewhere again? Or maybe the cat was somewhere nearby, in which case-

“Tomos!” Ayumu called, hoping Masaru didn’t hear him. Seconds ticked by and just as Ayumu thought that the cat was off somewhere else, a mass of black soundlessly landed on the chair Masaru had pulled to his bed, starting Ayumu for the second time that afternoon.

“I see that you are feeling significantly better.” Tomos said, before Ayumu could snap at the cat angrily, “I hope your shoulder is painless? I found it dislocated, so I healed it for you.”

Ayumu’s eyes widened and he remembered the pain that was coursing through his whole arm before he lost consciousness. Thinking back, he was astonished that he was able to fight through the pain to grip the… “dagger” with both hands. It was the adrenaline coursing through his veins, probably.

He moved his shoulder around and flexed his fingers to be sure, and not even the slightest bit of pain remained. “Thanks for that…” He said.

“No thanks necessary, my dear boy.” Tomos said, sounding apologetic, “I would like to hear the full story from you- I hadn’t revealed myself to that Masaru boy out of consideration for your feelings, but that also meant that I could only glean some of the details of what transpired from his musings to you while you were unconscious.”

Ayumu was taken aback, “He… was talking to me while I was unconscious?” He felt the awkwardness coming back as he asked Tomos, “So, um, what did he say?”

The black feline looked at him and titled his head a little, his expression thoroughly unreadable, “The gist of it was that he was very sorry for a myriad of reasons, but primarily for not believing you.” Tomos said, “And the expected pleas for you to get well and wake up soon.”

Ayumu nodded, feeling a rush of affection for his friend, but also extremely wrong-footed. He was thankful that Tomos did not go into details- Ayumu was sure he could tease his friend for the rest of his life with the kind of emotional things he imagined him saying in that situation, but he himself would feel just as, if not more, embarrassed by the fact that such words were directed towards himself. Damn it all.

“Where were you?” Ayumu asked, trying to keep his accusatory tone to a minimum.

“Today? I was hiding in your shadow.” Tomos said simply, “Partially to help you recuperate and partially to protect you.”

Ayumu looked at the cat blankly, “I… see?”

“As for yesterday, I first ran into an Onmyouji and was then forced into an audience with this city’s Guardian Kami.” Tomos continued, sounding thoroughly displeased, and Ayumu found his jaw hanging open at what the cat was telling him.

Before he could inquire further, he heard the door click open and Tomos instantly jumped out of sight into the shadows.

“Sorry about that,” Masaru said sheepishly, holding a small tray with a donabe on it, “The jar of umeboshi was hard to open.”

“It’s okay, not like I’m starving to death over here.” Ayumu laughed, privately thankful for his friend’s tardiness since it allowed him to speak to Tomos. Though if he were to be honest to himself, the situation seemed more and more complicated and he felt more and more out of his depth with each new detail revealed to him.

Masaru shook his head, ignoring his comment, “Did you call Auntie?” He asked him, and Ayumu couldn’t help taking a small amount of offense. Suddenly Masaru was acting like the responsible one.

“She didn’t pick up, so I left her a message. Mom’s probably attending a meeting or something.” Ayumu told him as he accepted the tray and put it on his lap, and Masaru hummed in response.

Ayumu pulled off the lid of the donabe, letting the few wisps of steam escape from the pot. The okayu’s slightly beige color and aroma indicated that there was a small amount of shiro miso mixed in as flavoring, just like how his grandmother used to prepare it for him and his mother before him.

He picked up the ceramic chinese spoon and looked at Masaru, “So, um, did you have lunch?”

“I did, don’t sweat it.” Masaru said, giving him a thumb’s up.

“Liar.” Ayumu said simply, frowning at him, “Mom came back late yesterday and you told me she was drunk too, I doubt she-”

“Alright, alright fine-” Masaru said, sighing, “I didn’t have lunch. I’ll go grab something for myself from the combini nearby.” He tried to get up to leave but Ayumu grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Don’t bother.” Ayumu said, “I’m sure Mom made enough okayu for breakfast and lunch. You can have some with me.”

“Dude, I’m not sick.” Masaru said in a slightly whiny tone, “Plus you know I don’t like okayu…”

“Alright…” Ayumu sighed to himself, “Bring me back some orange juice, if you can.”

“Sure, leave it to me.” Masaru looked relieved as he stretched and walked out of his room, closing the door behind him.

“Tomos.” Ayumu called as soon as his friend’s footsteps grew distant enough. “Come out, please.”

“...How long do you plan on putting off the inevitable?” Tomos said as he appeared on the chair again, his tone rather accusatory, which Ayumu resented. He wanted to snap at him for being unreliable and overly demanding despite the situation, but he calmed himself down. He knew that, whatever his feelings might be about the cat and his behavior, Tomos was still his only source of knowledge and guidance regarding this “Other World”, and it was best for Ayumu to not burn that bridge. It’s not like the eyes lurking in the dark corners or the various monsters and spirits were willing to talk with him in a reasonable manner, after all.

“Look, it’s been one thing after another since yesterday night. I’m... “ Ayumu sighed to himself, “Masaru will come back soon. We can discuss everything after having lunch. I promise I won’t try to procrastinate any longer.”

The cat raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you sure?”

Ayumu looked at him with all the determination he could muster, “I guess I realized last night that if I had to live with these Senses, I wanted to be able to protect myself and others from their consequences. If I keep running away I’ll just be a sitting duck when this stuff catches up to me or tries to hurt the people around me.”

Yes, last night was a kind of wakeup call for him. He could suffer a lot of things in silence, but he will never accept other people getting hurt because of him.

“A wise decision.” The cat said, “That was my intention as well- since the Liber Nominum may as well reject you going forward, it is best to at least equip you with the capabilities to protect yourself and your loved ones from the hazards of the Other World. And perhaps we can also do something about your worrying tendency to find the most self-destructive methods of solving your problems.” Tomos added the last sentence in a chiding voice.

Ayumu wanted to roll his eyes at the luminous-eyed cat, but he couldn’t deny that he did have a point.