Disclaimer: These characters belong to the fictional world of Natsume Akatsuki and should generally be left in those very funny and capable hands.

A/N: Haha, anyone who follows me. Sorry about not updating my other stories, I've had a lot on my plate after I restarted school. Becoming a Teacher's Aide is surprisingly hard work. As for the Shiota Haruna Time, welllllllll. Anyone who's following the manga (scanlations or otherwise) knows that its nearly at the end, and after (SPOILER) Kayano got stabbed with bad-guy tentacles I wasn't sure how to move forward. I knew she'd live but anyway other problems not pertaining to this fic.

Now for this one. This is my shortest fic so far at just over 800 words. But well I saw that Gifting had been given its own section here but I didn't like the tone of the other one. Not just because its an Kazu/Aqua ship. Hell you could ship him with practically any female in that series bar Megumin's family members... and *shivers* Orcs.

So yeah I just wanted to write a little scene I imagined. Maybe one day it'll grow into more than this, but for now... This is good. It's also as close as I can get to the tone of the novels so enjoy.

Ponder

Satou Kazuma pondered. He did that a lot these days. Ever since they'd gotten back from the last big boss fight in the arse end of nowhere fun… as usual.

He found it somewhat relaxing now that he couldn't simply shut himself away - Axel seemed to attract stupid amounts of danger whenever he wasn't paying attention and as the current 'Ace' of the town he'd inevitably give in to the overwhelming pressure and go out and save some folks. As soon as it was over however. Well. He would ponder.
He was in the middle of it right now in fact. Clarifying to himself that it could not be categorised as something so ordinary as thinking (half of his party couldn't do that anyway so he was always doing more of that than the average young man) or something so whimsical as daydreams. Those were fantasies he knew could never come true and usually enjoyed in the privacy of his bath-time or the odd occasion of him winding up semi-conscious after a rough fight. They often featured Eris, fields of sunflowers and a distinct lack of giant toads. No the depth and detail on which he considered things could only be attributed to ponderment. Ponderment? Probably pondering huh? He turned to the slime covered girl lying face down in the grass beside him.

"Oi, Megumin."

"What is it, Kazuma?" was her muffled reply.

"Is it 'ponderment' or 'pondering'?" he had a feeling she'd probably choose whichever sounded coolest to her over the grammatically correct choice but it hardly mattered.

"Ufufufu," she moved her head ever so slightly so that he could see her smug, sticky face better. "Kazuma, you have finally turned to the greatest orator of the Crimson Magic Clan for grammatical advice. Hoho, listen well for-"

"Y'know what? Never mind," he interrupted her spiel, knowing she'd carry on for ages if he let her.

"Ah! Kazuumaa," this came out as an oft-heard whine. "Stop doing that. It really hurts my feelings you know?"

"Hai hai. Just answer the question loli."

She fumed and gave him a rather comical hate-filled glare. "Stop calling me that. And it's 'ponderation'. Humf." She huffed and turned her face away away. He had to admit, she was a good huffer… at least when she was mobile.

"Ah yes," he turned back to the nearby crater and smiled. Just a little. "Ponderation. The act of giving something great consideration. Man I've been forgetting more and more words lately. I hope Aqua's brain rewiring didn't shake my whole memory loose."

"Huh?" his companion's irritation easily losing out to her curiosity about his strange musings. He spared her a quick glance, If I told you would you even believe me?

"Nothing, doesn't matter," he smoothly lied. "Me strange foreigner, not know big words." She snorted into the grass and he couldn't help but grin at the sound. At least I didn't go 'Poof'.

He went back to his pondering. It'd been over two years since he'd died for the first time. Although a small part of him now hoped this was all just some crazy coma dream, a newer and more insistent part of him hoped the opposite. Despite all the hardship he'd had lumped on his then rather boyish shoulders he had gotten rather fond of this world. He honestly didn't know if he could ever really beat the Demon King. It was probably pretty unlikely, I mean half the time we only win because the bad guys are too flustered trying to deal with the pervert or the imbecile or we get some out of nowhere macguffin that saves the day. He sighed a sigh much more suited for a man thrice his age. Even if we do beat him… do I even want to go back anymore?

"K-Kazuma?"

His fugue broken by the concern in her tone. "What is it?" His tone unconsciously becoming urgent, did she notice me sighing just now? "Is something wrong? Monsters?" The young man concentrated on his 'Sense Enemy' skill in case some mob creatures had come to check out the smoldering landscape.

"Megumin?"

"My legs have fallen asleep."

"…"

"Don't stutter my name like that just because you've got pins and needles. If monsters really do come, next time I'll let them eat you while I run away."

"Ha! Kazuma wouldn't do a thing like that to a beautiful younger girl. You're too much of a lolicon to let monsters feast on me."

"Oh, so you admit you're a loli now huh?"

"Ah! Wait…"

He raised his brow and waited, wondering if today she'd throw out a zinger or a dud.

"…I've got nothing." Megumin tilted her face towards him and gave him a rather sheepish look. He was forced to admit that the look melted even his self-professed black heart. "C-can you give me a lift home?"