As a victim of bullying, Touma was familiar with the idea of having a bucket of water fall onto your head from above. He had suffered that idea twice or thrice. (He rather not think about it, to be honest.)

But never had he seen that scene reversed in such a twisted way, with the victims falling into ICE-COLD water. 

That was the case with him, Akinori and Keisuke as the three of them fell into the bucket a few minutes after Haruya cut the rope. 

Luckily, he managed to take in a deep breath in the meantime, but the cold sensation hit him in 5 seconds flat.

 It was so cold he nearly forgot to keep his oxygen in. 

Calm down, Touma. He reminded himself, relaxing his body in order to keep himself stable. You have the Yoseiken with you. You can cut yourself out. 

With that, he moved his hands to where the Yoseiken Holder was... Only to get nothing. 

He blinked, and looked down. 

The Yoseiken Holder wasn't there.

Cue shock. And then panic. 

He began struggling even more than before. To make things worse, he couldn't see either Akinori or Keisuke, which worried him. Where are you two?! 

He couldn't help but remember his first meeting with Akinori, and then Keisuke. How the 4 of them would talk and bond sometimes after some tough cases while Keisuke filled in the case file, being the youngest of the 4. How they learnt of Akinori's family secret and comforted him. How they helped him get rid of all those bullies. 

Then his mind was drawn back to Natsume. 

Her pure heart. How she never expected them to be perfect. Her love and concern for everyone. 

But most of all, her smile. 

The smile that could make him light up like a lightbulb after seeing it. 

After that, he thought of Akinori. 

His boisterous attitude. The chivalry in his heart. How he hid all his scars for 6 years. His righteousness. 

He soon remembered Keisuke. 

His constant worrying, despite not showing it. His great drawing skills. A grin that only he could do which comforted everyone. How he managed to keep all 3 of them hopeful during their kidnap. 

Ayame, with her sweetness and kindness not unlike Natsume, but she could get serious when she wanted to. 

With every thought, he began to calm down, so by the time he finished Ayame, he had completely calmed down. 

Touma then realised that while he had been panicking, someone had begun cutting his ropes. 

Someone he didn't expect. 

His eyes widened. 

Keisuke?

Sure enough, the eleven-year-old had somehow gotten hold of a dagger and was now sawing away at his ropes while pulling him up to the surface. Fortunately, the distance wasn't that far off, so they got to the surface a few minutes later with Touma's hands completely free. 

Akinori, who had been waiting at the side of the bucket, immediately helped Touma up before he grabbed Keisuke's right hand and helped him up too once Keisuke was done cutting his leg ropes. 

"H-How do you feel, T-Touma?" Akinori shivered a bit as he asked, his teeth clattering together. 

"I-I should be the one a-asking you, A-Akinori," Touma shot back, holding his body in an effort to keep his body warmth. Akinori just gave a weird grin in response. Keisuke stifled a shaky laugh in response.

"T-That's good," Keisuke smiled as he dried his jacket up and covered Touma with it. "H-Here, y-you should warm up." 

"A-Arigatou, b-but where d-did you g-get that d-dagger?" Touma inquired. 

"O-Oh, I-I found it a-at the A-Arihoshi s-shrine o-one time, s-so Mitsue-san l-let me keep it i-in case. I-I've been p-practicing with her," Keisuke himself was shaking all over the place, but not as much as him and Akinori. He was fiddling with the Elder watch a bit too, which reminded Touma of the Yoseiken holder. 

"O-Oh right. H-Have any of you s-seen the Yoseiken h-holder?" Touma gripped the jacket harder, a bit nervous of the answer. 

"H-Here," To Touma's relief, Keisuke took it out from his pocket. "I-I found it near the bucket, s-so I grabbed it."

"T-Thanks," Touma gratefully received it, and put it back to its rightful place. "B-But what happened to Natsume and Haruya?" 

"T-They left,"  Keisuke replied. "I-I think they might have headed back to my house." 

"W-Well then, w-what are we waiting for?" Akinori stood up. "W-We have to go save Natsume now-" 

"Not happening on my watch," Keisuke shook his head, the shivering no longer there. "We still have to get the GPS tracker, so let's bathe at Touma's place first before doing anything." 

"B-But-" Keisuke cut Touma off. "Not a single complaint. I may be younger, but as a member of the Youkai Tanteisha, I can't let you guys get sick." 

"... F-Fine," Akinori agreed. "B-But straight after that, we'll go s-save Natsume. D-Deal?" 

Keisuke nodded, the determination seemingly warming him up again, "Deal."