Payday

Miyori headed straight home after school that day, despite her friend Shizuka's invitation to hang out. It was brighter than she was used to on the walk home, and when she turned the knob and found it locked, she didn't have the key. 

She stared at the door for a moment, but it wasn't that strange that Takasu had forgotten. She tried knocking on the door. "Takasu-kun? It's me." 

Silence. 

Miyori stared at the door in consternation. Had he left for good? Would she find the key in the mail slot when she finally got inside?

"Miyoriii!" Her father's voice came from overhead as he zoomed down. "Welcome back! Are you looking for that classmate of yours?" 

"Yeah, is he not here?" 

"He went out with your Aunt Yuko to help clean out her place." 

"…Oh." Well, that was better than sitting in a closet all day, as long as he was okay with being put to work so soon. "Okay, then can you let me in? Takasu-kun has the key, and I want to change before I head over there." 

One quick change later, still carrying her bag, she headed over to the Matsuda annex. When she arrived, Takasu was sitting two storeys above the ground, on a plank attached to the outside of the building, reaching through the window and talking with someone inside. 

"Takasu-kun?" she called. 

Takasu jumped. "Oh, hey, Ogimura-san! Sorry, I forgot about—I didn't realize you would—" 

"Miyori-chan!" Her uncle Daisuke's head popped out of the window. "Sorry for keeping your friend! He asks good questions. Want to come on up?" 

"Can't right now, sorry," she said with regret—she was in her human street clothes, which wouldn't transform with her. 

She turned back to Takasu. "How did you get up there, anyway?" 

"Want me to show you?" he asked, grinning. "You'll be safe, I promise." 

"That's…reassuring," she said doubtfully. 

"Take three steps to your left," he said. "And then hold very still." 

She stepped once, twice, and over some rubble. "What did you do?" She seemed to be standing in a ring of—

She heard a word from Noa overhead, and she started to rise straight into the air. 

She didn't quite shrink out of her clothes to unfurl her wings, but it was a very close thing. "Takasu-kun! What on earth—"

"Just a bit of levitation," he said, and held out his hand scooting over. "Here, land on the bench." 

She let him tug her out of the field, gravity reasserting itself as she sat down next to him. "There is no way that's safe." 

"I had it, don't worry," Takasu said. "Anyway, your uncle was showing me some of your family magic. It's incredible."

Leaning to peer over his shoulder, Miyori examined the book. It looked very old, and was full of old designs that she'd seen in bits and pieces everywhere for as long as she could remember. 

"You've got some really interesting protective spells," Takasu said, lifting the book out the window to settle on his lap. "Like this. Have you seen this used before?" He turned a few pages back and pointed. 

"Yes," Miyori said. "It's a pretty standard privacy spell—helps keep out the noise from the neighbors, though that's mostly a side effect. I think most pixie houses use this. Even more common, though, is—pass me the book?" 

He did so. It was small in her human-sized hands, but still readable. She flipped further along. "These ones, here. Humans have building standards they follow, and nowadays the way that magic is channeled is standardized as well, see? But we mostly have to build around all that. So stuff like this is really important." 

Takasu bent over, squinting at the tiny characters. "I see." 

"Ah, those." Daisuke fluttered out the window, coming to rest on Takasu's knee. "Getting all that set up is the first step to building new housing, and the first thing we check during renovations." He pointed further down the page. "We'll be splitting the old factory floor in two, so the new floors will need these all underneath, see?" 

Takasu nodded. "That makes sense. And you do this as part of your job, Matsuda-san?" 

"Sometimes." Daisuke puffed up his chest. "What we're aiming for, though, is to get more piecework for human clients. Pixie-craft can work very well in protective charms for jewelry, children's toys, stuff like that. There's enough room on the ground floor for a storefront—it'll just take some clearing out and polishing up to get it up and running. In fact…" 

He gave Takasu a probing look. "It'd be great to have someone with your skills to help out, if you'd be willing to let us hire you longer-term, Noa-kun." 

Takasu beamed. "If you can use my help, absolutely!" 

Yuko popped her head out the window. "That means you'll be sticking around, right? It'll be a few weeks of work at least, the pace this guy's been going." 

"I mean…" Takasu turned to Miyori. "I'd like to, but I don't want to impose." 

Miyori kicked her legs. "It's not a big deal," she said. "Nobody really uses that room but me, and I'm fine with it." She might have to ask her parents' permission again at some point, but it sounded like she already had her uncle and aunt on her side, so that was something. 

"Fantastic!" Yuko ducked inside again, and then emerged with several strings of green beads wrapped around one arm. "Here, Noa-kun. Your payment for today." 

Takasu took the beads between two fingers, looking conflicted. "You don't have to—"

"Of course we do!" Yuko beamed. "Consider it a token of our appreciation." 

"Well, all right." Takasu put the money in his pocket with a smile. "If you insist." 

Miyori looked down at her knees and willed herself not to flush with embarrassment. Judging by the number of beads, that was a reasonable wage…by pixie standards. By human ones….

But if Takasu minded, he wasn't saying anything. Instead, he set a time to come back tomorrow, and then held his fingers against the wall. "Stand back," he warned her aunt and uncle, and then added, "Hey, Ogimura-san. Hold still and hold on tight, okay?" 

Realizing what he was about to do, she considered arguing—and then saw the muted flash already igniting under his fingers, and reflexively grabbed the bench, pressing her lips tightly shut. 

The plank detached from the wall, wobbling just a little as Takasu brought it slowly and carefully down to earth. 

"You're really good at that," she said, once she was safely on the ground and in no danger of distracting him. 

"Thanks," Takasu said, looking like it was no big deal. 

Miyori considered the balls of magic that had shattered across the classroom this morning, and wondered if Takasu's, given his apparent skill with instinctive magic, would have done the same thing. Instead of saying that, though, she said, "I usually do some studying around this time. Want to go to the library with me?"

Takasu shrugged. "I'd rather talk. Any good family restaurants around here?" 

Miyori felt herself make a complicated face. "There are, but…" 

"Lead the way, then." He tossed the ryokudama in his hand, giving her a determined nod. "My treat."