The wind ruffled his hair as he stood beside the gateway. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder, it was a bit heavy. Looking around he tried to pick out the red haired wizard.

"Miyano?" the voice spoke behind him.

The boy the name represented jumped hissing as he spun around.

"What are you doing coming from that direction?" Miyano cried.

"I had a study session." Sasaki said.

He watched as Miyano clutched the straps of his bag tightly. The large size of it made the small boy bend forward. Sasaki's smile slowly faded as he took in the struggle the teen was having. Reaching out, he plucked the bag from the boy's back. Miyano stumbled forward a bit as he hadn't let go of the straps.

"This is heavy, let me carry it for you." Sasaki offered.

"What kind of familiar would I be if I can't carry bags?" Miyano stated, but he relinquished the straps.

"I would think your wizard would assist." Sasaki glared out at the cemetery before them.

"Shall we?" he asked in a more cheerful tone. Miyano smiled, nodding.

They walked out through the stones laying every which way on the ground. Sasaki read some of the names out loud as he passed them. Miyano liked to hear his voice, it was soothing after the day he had. He let out a sigh as he held his injured hand against his chest.

"Oh, do you need me to help you with the rubbings?" Sasaki asked eyeing the swollen fingers.

"Yeah, I think I did too much with it today." Miyano muttered.

"This one looks interesting." Sasaki pointed to a grave stone.

The top part was slightly twisted around from the bottom. The intricate design of the stone was beautiful. It looked like a blanket wrapped over it. Miyano walked around the stone to read what was written on it. He gasped.

"It was just a baby." He muttered.

"That's sad. I feel for the parents." Sasaki stated. He turned to Miyano.

"Do you want..." the small boy was nodding.

"Yes, I think this will be a good one. I only need three more." He said.

Sasaki set down the bag. Miyano got out his art stuff. He held the paper to the stone while Sasaki rubbed the charcoal over it. Slowly the words appeared on the paper. Miyano looked it over. He smiled his thanks to his new friend as he rolled the paper back up. Sasaki placed a tie around it. Together they moved on.

The light shifted as they walked deeper into the field of stone. Every so often, one or the other would stop to point out a stone. For some reason they would disregard it. That was until the came to a monument. It was of an angel pointing out toward another building. Sasaki stayed by the angle as Miyano walked to the other building.

"Oh wow, the lighting..." Sasaki loved how the sun glistened in Miyano's dark raven hair.

"Sasaki, I want to do this one. It is one of the first familiars. She was a cat type to, a panther." Miyano pointed out.

Sasaki walked over to him. Once more they repeated their process, but this time Sasaki held the paper. Carefully, but with strong sure strokes, Miyano ran the charcoal over the paper. He was amazed at how well the rubbing came out.

"Only one more!" He smiled as Sasaki rolled the paper up for him.

"Before we lose this lightening, can I do a quick sketch?" Sasaki asked.

"Oh sure, I'll wait over..." Miyano stopped talking as Sasaki caught his arm.

"No, I want you in the picture. Can I draw you?" he asked.

"Oh, um sure." Miyano nodded feeling a little embarrassed.

Sasaki posed him as he had been when he first walked up to the building. Miyano was half turned away. Sasaki quickly got his tablet out. He made a rough sketch of the picture. As he was drawing a thought came to him, he wondered if the other boy would mind... Sasaki finished the sketch.

"Can I take a picture to fill the rest in later?" he asked.

"Yeah, ok." Sasaki took two, as he lowered his phone he decided to ask the other idea he had.

"Would you mind, um, well I really think the drawing would look amazing if I caught you in both your forms." Sasaki rubbed at his neck.

"You want me to transform?" Miyano asked.

"Yes, maybe curl up here..." Sasaki pointed to a spot in the sunlight.

"Or sit here." He pointed to a higher ledge area that would enhance the cats appearance.

"Um OK. But your going to have to put me up there. How about I do both? You can take pictures and see which one works best as you finish it." Miyano suggested.

"Perfect. Let's do the curled up cat first."

Sasaki turned his back as the boy transformed. When he looked back he saw the cat walking up to the spot of sunlight. Sasaki was mesmerized by how the sunlight played in the fur in the same way it had with Miyano's hair. The cat curled up on the sun warmed spot. He looked like a black ball. Sasaki took a few snaps.

Miyano stretched out, flipping over he twisted his head to look up at Sasaki. The wizard laughed at how silly he looked. Miyano stood up, walked to Sasaki to rub between his legs. Right, he needed to pick Miyano up. Was this weird? Sasaki watched the black cat thread around his legs for a moment.

He bent lifting the weight into his hands. He was surprised at how light the cat was. He pulled it up to his face, rubbing his cheek against the silken fur. It felt so soft against his face. Miyano bapped him on the head.

"Oh, sorry, your so soft." Sasaki smiled as he carried the cat to the ledge.

Miyano posed, placing his front paws before him. He sat as if he were a regal guard to some Egyptian tomb. The light was perfect for the pictures Sasaki took. As he was replacing his phone in his pocket, they heard a crow caw. Sasaki glanced around.

The golden bird landed on the stone beside Miyano. It flapped its wings cawing angrily. Sasaki laughed at it. He walked over to pick up Miyano. The crow nipped at his fingers.

"Owe, stop that! I need to put him down so he doesn't get hurt!" Sasaki complained.

He scooped the cat up, slapping at the bird. The birds wing hit his hand, leaving a bloody thin cut on the back of it. Sasaki hissed at the stinging wound. He glared back at Hirano. Once Miyano was safely on the ground, he transformed back to his human self. Hirano did the same.

"What are you doing taking pictures?" he demanded as he slapped Sasaki upside the head.

"It's for my art project! I asked him!" Sasaki yelled back.

"I thought you were helping him with his project." Hirano fumed.

"He is. We have two done. I just need one more." Miyano stated.

"Behave!" Hirano hissed at Sasaki before marching away toward the school.

"Why don't you just fly?" Sasaki called. The hand gesture that Hirano sent to him was very rude. Sasaki huffed.

"Unclaimed familiars can only transform a few times each day. Our power grows once we connect to the wizard." Miyano explained.

"Oh, I didn't know! You shouldn't have changed for me then!" Sasaki cried. Miyano shook his head. He placed a hand on Sasaki's arm.

"I can do three to four changes a day. That was only my second one, I'm good." He smiled.

"Lets finish your rubbings before it gets dark." Sasaki offered.

They spent another half hour walking around the stones. Miyano found one that was nearly blank due to its age. He found it sad but interesting. Beside it sat another stone. This one was just as old, but more of the lines were there. It was unreadable. He wondered if the rubbing could bring out the image better.

Together they worked on it. Each one doing the holding or rubbing, nothing worked. The writing was too far gone. Miyano sat back tired from walking. He was looking up at the fading sunlight when Sasaki asked him about another one. This stone was tipped over, half buried in tall grass, but the face of it was looking toward the sky.

They cleared away some of the grass. Bugs were crawling through the letters. The grass seemed to have protected the writing. Carefully, Miyano set his paper against it. Sasaki held it down while the smaller teen fetched more charcoal. He rubbed the image onto the paper. It came out perfectly.

"That's amazing! Thank you for all your help, Sasaki!" Miyano beamed.

Sasaki helped roll up, tie and put away the last rubbing. They gathered their things to begin the walk back to the school building. Sasaki was watching the boy beside him. A thought occurred to him that made his face flush. Miyano looked back at him at that point.

"What?" he cried jerking away a bit.

"Oh, um I was wondering...." Sasaki looked away.

"Where do your clothes go when you transform?" he asked in a rush.

"Some familiars incorporate the patterns into their skin or fur. I can't do that yet. Maybe when I meet my wizard we will figure it out." Miyano shrugged.

"I hear it is easier to "hide" your clothing that way, but I don't know. What I do is create a magical pouch. At the moment I shift I send my clothes to the pouch, then when I change back, I simply put them back on." He shrugged.

"That sounds really complicated." Sasaki observed.

"Now you can see why we have classes to teach new familiars how to change. Every familiar has stories about it going wrong!" Miyano shivered.

"Like how wrong?" Sasaki asked.

"Some only change halfway, often forgetting the clothing. Either they leave it on or leave it in the pouch." Miyano offered.

"What was your most embarrassing change?" Sasaki asked, a smirk on his face.

"That I will tell you on the night of the equinox!" Miyano shivered at the memory.

"Then I will have something to look forward to!" Sasaki smiled happily.

The pair walked up to the school, Sasaki following Miyano to his room to leave the heavy art bag there. They said their goodbye making plans for lunch the next day.

"I will bring you some." Sasaki promised.