“Yeah,” Genma said. “They meant well. They thought they were helping.” He blew out his breath. “Also there was a weird effect when I was around them. Like a very subtle genjutsu that makes you sympathetic to the caster. I didn't really get the implications of my situation until I got a chance to be alone for a few minutes.”

“Himself mentioned an aura that suppressed our chakra,” Ryouma put in. “He said the adults could turn it off if they thought about it, but the kids couldn’t even if they tried. Could be the same thing?”

“Like spots on a fawn, sort of,” Genma mused.

“Uh, sure. If the spots mean they’re too cute for predators to eat? Except the tanuki make you like them, and even if you don’t like them, you don’t have any chakra to fight back…”

“Explains why the magic sake makes you happy, too,” Genma pointed out.

“Exactly! Though I dunno why they’d need to defend themselves with happiness when they have magic and shape-changing testicles, but probably Himself has some poetry quote about it.” Ryouma dumped the bucket over his head, shoved hair out of his eyes, and looked back. “They seem to have been kind to Harubi-san, though. And us. After we got everything sorted out.”

“I think we’re interesting to them,” Kakashi said.

“Like bugs,” Pakkun added.

“Bugs exist for squishing,” Ryouma said firmly. “And we’re going home tomorrow.” He unfolded from his crouch, crossed to the edge of the pool, and dropped down into the heavenly hot water between Kakashi and the drowsily floating Yori. “Let’s take the long way and skip the cicadas this time.”

Genma held out his cup for another refill. “Is this leading up to another diatribe against the cicada sex? Because we’re not discussing it.”

“We wouldn’t have to discuss it if we took the train to Nagiso…” Ryouma bumped his shoulder against Kakashi’s, a comradely c’mon, join in that may have been a tactical mistake. He didn’t want to lean back. He forced himself to offer Yori an ear scratch before Genma noticed.

“The train, which is expensive, takes us hundreds of kilometers out of our way,” Raidou said.

“That’s why it’s a tactical advantage,” Kakashi pointed out, lazily sinking a little lower. His shoulder bumped back into Ryouma’s. He didn’t lean away. “No one expects it.”

Pakkun wriggled in his arms, scrabbling his way above water. He sniffed experimentally at Ryouma, paused, and shoved his wrinkled black snout closer.

Ryouma stared down at him, and knew he was dead. A brief scrubbing, no matter how good the soap, couldn’t defeat a ninken nose. Saishou might approve and Yori might not care, but Pakkun thought Ryouma was only slightly brighter than a box of rocks, and he’d probably think it hilarious that Kakashi’s scent clung to Ryouma’s skin. And then Genma would find out, and Raidou—

Pakkun sighed, closed his big eyes, and nestled down into Kakashi’s arms.

Ryouma’s shocky pulse slowly settled. Clearly, Kakashi’s dogs cared about him, more than most contract-bound summons did. Maybe even Pakkun would pass up a joke for the chance to see Kakashi happy.

Maybe Kakashi actually was happy, and Pakkun knew it.

Ryouma eased down in the water a little more, until his knee brushed Kakashi’s. Kakashi’s legs spread wider, pressing back.