Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a new moon that night, and it was very dark out, especially amidst the tall trees. The only illumination came from old paper lanterns carried by two men.

“I’m sure it was this way.”

“We’ve been searching for almost an hour. I bet the boss is just being paranoid, there’s nothing h-”

The man wasn’t able to finish the sentence as his foot caught on something, causing him to trip and fall face first.

“What the- hey, is that a kid?”

The two men looked at the body that lay on the ground.

“There’s some fat creature, too! Is that… a cat?”

“There’s a green notebook sticking out of his bag… Wait! Could it be… There’s no way…”

Natsume’s eyes were slowly starting to come into focus. What had happened? He had been with Nyanko-sensei in the forest, when suddenly… It was no use. He must have hit his head or something because he didn’t remember a thing.

“Sensei…”

He looked down and saw the cat, who was awake already, glaring.

“Sensei, what’s-”

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

A familiar voice spoke, causing Natsume to jerk his head up.

“Natori?”

Natori looked taken aback and surprised.

“My apologies if my memory is bad, have we met?”

“Wh- What do you mean? It’s me! It’s Natsume!”

Natori’s eyes grew wide for a moment, and then became very serious.

“You said your name is Natsume?”

“Natori, what’s going on-”

“We’ve never met. But I do know who you are, Natsume Takashi. That is your name, isn’t it? Natsume Reiko’s grandson. So you were the keeper of the Book of Friends. Or at least what seems to be a fake. Where is the real one?”

Natsume gasped and reached for his bag. The Book was gone.

“Looking for this?”

Natori held up the Book of Friends.

“Natori, please give that back-”

“Why are you speaking to me as if we’re acquainted?”

“What are you talking about! We’re friends!”

“Ridiculous, that brat doesn’t have any friends.”

Natsume’s face went pale. He knew that voice too well.

“Sensei, why are you-”

Nyanko-sensei bit his hand and he yelped.

“Stop talking, dumbass.”

Natsume looked back at where the deep voice had come from. It was Nyanko-sensei. Or he should say, Madara in his true form. What was going on? Why were there two Nyanko-sensei’s, why was Natori treating him like a stranger?

“Here, take it back.”

Natori tossed the Book to him.

“What did you mean, it’s fake?”

“You’re really telling me you didn’t know? We tested it already. It doesn’t work. Unless, it only works for you. In which case, I’d really appreciate it if you could help me. You see, as the head of the Natori clan and the exorcist community, this Book is of great value.”

Natsume glared.

“Why do you want the Book of Friends?”

“Isn’t it obvious? There are countless youkai in here, many of whom are very powerful. With this book, we can make them our servants and help keep the other youkai in the area at bay. The youkai problem has gotten much worse lately. If we had someone who could use the Book to control the monsters, then-”

“Absolutely not! I would never use it for the reason you’re thinking!”

“You’re being quite stubborn, Natsume Takashi. What is it to you if we use this Book in that way? All we want is to protect people from youkai. With your help, we can keep humans safe.”

“I don’t care, the Book of Friends shouldn’t be used to-”

Natori suddenly cried out in pain and clutched onto his neck.

“Natori, what’s-”

He saw the lizard mark crawl out from under his hand. Natori looked like he was in an incredible amount of pain.

“Does it hurt you?”

Natori winced and shook his head. A servant rushed over and handed him medicine, which seemed to go into effect conveniently quickly.

“Sorry about that…”

“What’s wrong?”

Natori laughed weakly.

“Believe it or not, it’s not the youkai. It’s this.”

He lifted his robe a little and revealed some of his leg. It was completely wrapped in what appeared to be a kind of talisman.

“Why are you wearing that?”

“I’ve had to wear it since I was a child. My family forced me to wear it because they thought they’d be cursed otherwise and more people would die.”

“It hurts you?”

“It hurts the lizard, which in turn seems to hurt me. The pain is dull most of the time, but sometimes it feels like someone stabbed me with a burning hot poker.”

Natsume stared in horror. Had he really been enduring all this since he was a child?

“You see, it isn’t just for the sake of protecting humans that I want that book. I have my own personal reasons as well. For example, if that book could somehow-”

“Sir!”

A man burst into the room.

“What is it?” Natori snapped at him, “We’re having a very important-”

“It’s the Matoba faction! They’ve brought a bunch of youkai and they’re waiting in the forest!”

“What! How did they find this place! I told you to hide it with talismans-”

“But sir, Matoba is too strong. He sees through everything-”

“That’s enough, gather all our men and shiki and we’ll scare them off.”

Natori looked at Natsume.

“You can leave for now. No reason for a child to be caught up in this petty feud between clans. But I’d deeply appreciate it if you considered my request,” he smiled.

Natsume glared, and then he grabbed Nyanko-sensei and stormed out.

It felt like ages finding their way out of the winding mansion, but they were able to slip out, thankfully managing to avoid the conflict between the Natori clan and the Matoba faction. The Natori clan and the Matoba faction… What was going on?

“I think we ran into a very nasty youkai, Natsume. One with a very troublesome power.”

“Do you know what’s going on, Sensei?”

“It’s called the Idoumono. I’ve only heard flimsy rumors about it, even I thought it was just a legend. Of all our luck we run into something like that.”

“Sensei, what’s going on?”

“We’ve been switched, Natsume. That thing, it lives in the border between dimensions, other worlds. It swims in and out of them, searching for prey. It gains energy by finding creatures and sending them to another world.”

“Could something like that really exist?”

“What other explanation is there? That Natori brat considered you a stranger. We saw another version of me. And given Natori knew about you, that means there’s another version of you here.”

“Natori said he was the head of the Natori clan and the exorcist community… and Matoba has a faction at odds with him?”

“This is another possible world that could have come to pass in your world under different circumstances.”

“How do we get back…”

“We’ll have to find that youkai, of course.”

“How do we do that when it’s so unknown that even you didn’t know it was real?”

“Hell if I know! Enough of this, I’m hungry! Let’s go get food, Natsume!”

Natori was limping more than usual, and even his cane wasn’t providing much support. It had been a while since the talisman had caused him that degree of pain. He slid the door open and wearily entered the house.

“I’m home…”

“Shuuichi! You were gone all night, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Tsukiko… we just had a run in with the Matoba faction, and had to take care of things.”

“Oh… was everything sorted out?”

“We had more manpower and with Nobara by my side, Sei… Matoba’s pathetic youkai didn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m sorry… I wish there were ways I could help…”

Natori frowned a bit. Tsukiko had been increasingly depressed about her lack of supernatural abilities. It had always been hard on her being a sightless child of an exorcist, but marrying the leader of the Natori clan had brought judgment from the exorcist community.

Natori Shuuichi and Takuma Tsukiko weren’t supposed to get married. As Shuuichi was in line for leading the powerful Natori clan, his family insisted on him marrying and having a family with a woman with considerable abilities so they could make powerful children. But he didn’t want to follow the wishes of his family so he began an intimate affair with the sightless daughter of an average exorcist. And then they found out she was with child. What people didn’t know was that the young lovers planned for the pregnancy to happen, so the clan would be forced to let them marry to avoid a bigger scandal. Tsukiko loved her husband and constantly reassured him that being with him was worth the scorn she had to endure, but Natori felt guilty, especially when his reason behind being with her in the first place was to rebel against his family’s wishes. The truth was he had never wanted to marry anyone and was perfectly happy to let the Natori clan die with him. But the intense pressure to marry a woman as soon as he reached adulthood drove him to have an affair with someone he was actually decently fond of. He didn’t consider himself in love with Tsukiko, but she was kind and modest, the complete opposite of everyone else he knew, so if he had to marry and have a family with anyone he was happy for it to be her.

Natori gently turned his wife’s face towards him and kissed her. She embraced him back and buried her face in his neck.

Natsume Takashi trudged back to his house. He was carrying far too many groceries and he really hoped for a shorter list next time. The walk from the gate to the front door felt like the longest stretch of the journey. He was certain his arms would fall off.

“I’m home… I have everything you put on the list…”

“Welcome back, Takashi!”

An older woman with silver hair and sea green eyes stared back at him, a wide grin on her face.

“Should we start on dinner now, Grandma Reiko?”

Chapter Text

“So then I said…. ‘Look, if he keeps cheating on you, just leave him!’.... and she gave me a shocked look and…. said ‘of course I can’t do that, Reiko!’ and I…. asked why she couldn’t and she…. told me that he’s so sweet, just kind of carefree…. can you believe that?! I mean…. she clearly doesn’t see the appeal of being a single woman like I am….”

Reiko slumped and rested her arm on the back of the chair. Takashi smiled. He didn’t usually have anything to add to these dinner time conversations but he never grew tired of his grandmother’s petty rants she gave while shoving food into her mouth. 

He felt a tug on his pants and then looked down. A small bird looking youkai tugged again and then pointed at the food he held in his chopsticks. Takashi sighed, but took the small portion of rice and vegetables and gave it to the youkai.

“You keep spoiling them, Takashi.”

“Sorry!”

Reiko laughed, and then ripped a small piece off her pork.

“Give it some of mine, as well.”

The youkai made a sort of excited squeal and happily took the offering, and then departed.

“Good grief…”

Takashi laughed a little, and so did Reiko.

Natsume Takashi didn’t have any parents, but he had his grandmother, and he didn’t need anyone else. After all, no one else could see the world they could. The two of them lived alone in the house his parents owned before they passed away, and the only ones who ever came in and out were passing youkai. He never went to school. Grandma Reiko didn’t want him to suffer at the hands of bullies and strict teachers. The only time he really spent with other people was helping his grandmother at the floral shop she ran. The people in this town were very lovely for the most part, and he and his grandma were well liked by the community, despite their aloofness. But of course, none of them knew the real reason the Natsume’s kept to themselves. Would their kindness remain if they found out this woman and her grandson could see spirits?

“Oh, Takashi, I almost forgot to tell you.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t want you in the shop tomorrow. I had a request to make a floral arrangement for the Natori clan… I guess they’re holding a celebration because the head of the family has a child on the way… well, I think they’re just looking for an excuse to come and harass me. Someone’s coming by to pick up the flowers tomorrow, so I don’t want you there.”

“Why don’t you take the day off as well? Have a friend say you were sick and take over for the day-”

“No, I’d just be worried that they’d make an excuse to come to me directly and pay a visit here. I don’t want that to happen. It’s best to deal with them at the shop if I have to.”

“Okay…”

The Natori clan… Takashi had never met anyone personally but Reiko had informed him of the situation. Apparently they were a powerful family who led the local community of exorcists. They were a ruthless and unpleasant family, but they had once been benefactors to Reiko. But it wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts that they had helped her stay on her feet, they had just wanted her to join them. They said Reiko was by far the most powerful woman known in the area in terms of spiritual abilities, even stronger than the Matoba clan before its decline. But Grandma Reiko hated them so she cut all ties. They were still always trying to persuade her and send her invitations and letters and requests and deals, and now they were bothering to give her patronage at her store.

“Grandma Reiko… are you sure I can’t be there? You shouldn’t have to deal with them all by yourself, I could help-”

“No!”

Reiko hit her fist against the table, causing Takashi to jump slightly.

“I’m sorry, Takashi, forgive me… I’m sorry, but please don’t come with me tomorrow. I don’t want the Natori clan to ever meet you.”

“Okay, I’m sorry…”

Reiko smiled somewhat sadly, then got up and went to hug Takashi.

“Oh, Takashi… even if I’ve lost everything else, I’m so, so glad I still have you.”

Takashi hugged her back and smiled. That’s right… they didn’t have much, but as long as they had each other, they didn’t need anyone else.

Takashi’s eyes blinked open. What time was it? It was brighter than usual, and he realized he must have slept in.

He groggily got up and went straight to the kitchen to grab a coffee beverage from the fridge. He yawned as he cracked open the can and he didn’t even get to take a single sip before there was a knock at the door. He froze. No one ever came to this house. There was a pause, and then another knock. He hesitated, but went to the door, prepared to turn whoever it was away.

“Hello?”

“Sorry to intrude, but we’re a bit lost and are looking for directions.”

Natsume stared at the two visitors through tired eyes. They were… really cool, actually. Before him stood two kids– no, they were probably in their early twenties– with pitch black hair and mostly black street fashion that the people of this town would probably scowl at. They looked so out of place here that Takashi almost let out a laugh.

“Huh? Oh, yeah… um, do you want to come in?”

Takashi was shocked at the offer that came from his own mouth. Reiko was gonna kill him for this later.

“If you don’t mind, we could rest our feet for a moment.”

The girl was beautiful and her voice sounded far more elegant and upper class than her appearance gave off. The boy was equally handsome and proper.

“Sorry it’s a mess, it’s just me and my grandma and we’re both not very good at cleaning and never have people over anyway so…”

“Ahaha, we don’t mind at all. We’re just grateful for the hospitality you’ve shown.”

Takashi almost let out a laugh again. These street punks were so polite and well-mannered. They were almost the opposite of Grandma Reiko.

The two visitors took a seat at the table after removing their shoes and Takashi went to make some tea.

“So, um… are you college students or something?”

“No, we’re not students. We’ve been too busy dealing with family issues to do anything of the sort.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Um, what’s brought you here? Are you visiting someone?”

Takashi was regretting every word out of his mouth. Was he being too nosy? He wasn’t used to talking to people like this.

“We were looking for you, actually. Am I right in assuming your name is Natsume Takashi?”

Takashi tensed up, and then turned to glare at the visitors.

“You’re not from the Natori clan, are you?”

“Dear God, of course not.”

“Who are you?”

“Our apologies for never introducing ourselves. My name is Matoba Seiji, and this is my older sister, Shinobu.”

Takashi’s eyes grew wide.

“Did you say Matoba? I thought that clan…”

“Died out? Is that what Reiko told you?”

“What do you want with me and my grandma!”

“Calm down, Natsume Takashi, I’m not here for anything nefarious. We just wanted to meet you, is all. And I’d request you don’t speak to your grandma about us coming here.”

“ Huh? ”

Takashi raised an eyebrow. That was probably the last thing you wanted to hear from some adults you’ve just met.

“Relax. We don’t want anything from you. We just heard that Natsume Reiko lived here with her grandson, and we wanted to meet him.”

The boy– Seiji– smiled kindly.

“As you probably know, the Matoba clan, once even more powerful than the Natori’s, eventually lost the ability to see youkai. I’m the only one left with those abilities, but I was shunned for it and taken in by the Natori. But they’re a horrible family who treated me even worse than my own relatives. I left them, and now it’s just me and my sister.”

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Your grandma hasn’t told you more than she has to, right? But she probably at least warned you about the Natori clan.”

“She has… she even had me stay home today because they’re visiting her shop.”

“I see…”

“Um, why did you want to meet with me?”

“Would you like to help us take down the Natori clan?”

Takashi spit out his drink.

“Pardon?”

“My apologies, that probably came out as a bit extreme. Let me rephrase. Would you like to help us restore some peace and balance to the exorcist community?”

“I…”

“I understand if you need time to think on this.”

“Why me?”

“We’ve heard plenty of rumors that Natsume Reiko has a grandson just as powerful as her. I’m considered the best of the best, but if you’re as strong as your grandmother, even I can’t compete with you. You’d be a useful ally.”

Takashi didn’t know what to say. Powerful? Useful? Those were never words he would have applied to himself.

“I’m sorry… I appreciate the request, but I don’t think I’d be of much help to you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. After all, with the Book of Friends-”

“What?”

The siblings looked at him with some confusion. The girl called Shinobu looked over at her brother.

“Seiji, are you sure he has it?”

“That’s what I always… Natsume, are you saying you don’t know about the Book of Friends?”

“No, what is that?”

Seiji stood up, dejected.

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry to bother you.”

The siblings politely bowed and turned to walk out the door.

“Wait!”

They turned back in unison to look at the boy.

“I… I’ll help!”

“You really don’t need to-”

“Please! I… I want to help. I don’t want the Natori clan in charge either, and maybe if the exorcist community became a better place, then… then maybe Grandma Reiko and I would finally belong somewhere.”

The two just stared at him for a moment.

“I understand if you’re no longer interested in me, since I didn’t know about that book you mentioned… but I want to do something . I just want my grandmother to be happy…”

“Come to Yatsuhara.”

“What?”

“It’s where we’re all meeting for the time being. Come see our group and decide then if you want to be involved.”

“Oh… um, wait! I…”

“What is it?”

“How am I going to explain going all the way to Yatsuhara to my grandmother? I don’t think she’d want me involved in this…”

“Tell her you’re visiting a friend.”

Takashi’s face went red.

“I don’t have any friends… especially not in Yatsuhara…”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Here’s where we’re staying. Well, we hope to see you soon,” Matoba Seiji said with a friendly smile and wave after handing Takashi a piece of paper with an address written on it. 

The Matoba siblings left.

The boy jolted awake as something caught on his foot and thudded to the ground. He looked around in a daze. Oh yeah… he was on a train. And he had dozed off. And now a man was sprawled face down on the floor by his feet. He now noticed a walking cane beside him, too.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Aha, I’m fine. Sorry about that, how clumsy of me to trip over someone’s foot like that.”

“You shouldn’t apologize, I shouldn’t have had my leg extended like that in the walkway.”

The man grabbed his cane and slowly got back to his feet and took a seat beside the boy.

“My name is Natori Shuuichi.”

“I’m Tanuma… Tanuma Kaname.”

The boy named Tanuma glimpsed a faint note of recognition in Natori’s eyes when he stated his name, but it faded almost instantly so he couldn’t be sure.

Natori had given off an air of maturity to Tanuma, so he was surprised on closer inspection to notice just how young he must be. Certainly no older than twenty-five. He had a young and very handsome face, but his eyes made him seem older.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It looked like you have an injured leg or something, so I was worried.”

“No need to worry, this isn’t any injury, I just tend to feel a lot of pain all over my body so I like to have something for support when I need to get around. It’s been like this since I was a child, so tripping over someone’s foot isn’t going to make any difference.”

“I see…”

Speaking of pain, Tanuma was getting a headache again.

“I get headaches a lot.”

Natori raised his eyes a bit, and Tanuma worried that he had been insensitive to make this about him now.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure that’s nothing compared to-”

“No not at all, headaches don’t sound fun at all. It must make things difficult.”

“I guess so… I do have to cancel plans with friends sometimes because I’ll get bad headaches, or I’ll just start feeling sick and have to stay in bed. I know my friends understand, but I always feel bad… like I’m ruining things for them.”

Why was Tanuma telling him all this? He was probably being a bit of a bother.

“Even when people say they understand, it’s hard not to suspect that they consider you a burden.”

“Yes, exactly!”, Tanuma exclaimed, turning to face him more and leaning over to him.

“And then sometimes people will get frustrated with you. They apologize, and try to reassure you that you will never be a burden and they understand it's not your fault, but they’ve still left a tear in your trust of others, and how you feel about yourself.”

Natori turned away a bit. Tanuma figured he must also be shocked to hear those words coming from his mouth. Tanuma smiled at him.

“Well, I’m glad someone else gets it.”

Natori turned back towards him and placed his hand on Tanuma’s head.

“You’re a nice kid, I like you!”

Tanuma’s face turned a bit red, but he smiled. Things felt a bit awkward now after that conversation though, and he kind of wanted to change the subject.

“So, um, where are you headed?”

“Just the next town over to run an errand. I’m getting flowers to celebrate a new child who will be born soon.”

“So someone in your family is having a baby?”

Natori smiled and pointed to himself.

“It’s mine.”

“Oh… oh! Congratulations!”

Natori leaned back and smiled. He looked happy, but there was a tinge of something Tanuma couldn’t quite place.

“I just hope my family will stop giving grief to my wife after our child is born, if nothing else but for appearances.”

“Do they not approve of your marriage?”

“They never wanted me to marry her, because she’s not of the right ‘status’ for us, but then we found out she was pregnant with my child and they had no choice but to let us marry.”

Natori smirked a little, and Tanuma realized this must have all been according to plan, even if he made it seem like an accident.

“I’m going to the next town as well. My aunt whom I used to live with is visiting a family friend there, so we made arrangements to catch up at a cafe.”

“You don’t live with her anymore?”

“No… It was fine living with her, but it was at a quiet hot springs inn in the mountains so I never really had any permanent friends and it was really lonely. But then a couple of boys came to visit and we really hit it off. I asked my aunt if I could move to their town so we could go to school together. She was a bit worried about me living on my own, but she was more worried that I didn’t have any friends, so she let me go.”

“I see… it’s nice that you were able to meet people who became so important to you.”

Natori looked sad despite his kind smile, and Tanuma realized Natori probably didn’t have anyone like that in his life.

An announcement rang through the speakers, informing everyone that they had arrived at their next destination.

“Well, I believe this is our stop! Do you want to walk with me into town?”

Tanuma smiled and said he’d enjoy that.

Chapter Text

“Tanuma, weren't you going to the cafe to meet with your aunt?”

“Oh, well, I figured it might be nice to stop by that flower shop actually… I haven’t seen her in a while and she did so much for me when I was growing up after I lost my father, so I thought it might be nice to get her something if I’m going that way anyway.”

“Haha, that’s sweet of you. I will let you know though, the woman who runs the flower shop isn’t a huge fan of me…”

“Huh? What did you do?”

“Nothing really… It’s more that she doesn’t like my family, and now that I’m the official head of the clan I’m the new face of evil for her.”

“That doesn’t sound fair-”

“It’s fine, I’m aware of her history with my family, although she cut ties with us when I was still little. Well, she’s had to deal with them even longer than I have, so I don’t blame her for holding a grudge, even if it’s against me now. But… I’ve made my choices and decided on my path in life, I don’t have any regrets.”

Natori had the same smile he had earlier when he was talking about the affair that went against his family’s wishes. There was a strong determination in his eyes that looked so much older than the rest of his face.

“Well, it might be best if you hang back when we get there, maybe wait outside until I’m done. I just don’t want you to have to get caught in the middle of the drama if there is any.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tanuma felt a little sad. He knew this was probably just one of those passing acquaintances that occur when you travel somewhere, but he had grown fond of Natori in this short amount of time. He didn’t really want to go separate ways again. It was so rare that he connected with anyone…

“Hi, Ms. Natsume! Long time no see!”

“Shuuichi? What are you-”

The young man strode over to her with a grin on his face and she responded with a glare.

“I thought a servant was going to come…”

Reiko’s heart was starting to race, she hadn’t expected the head of the clan to come, they would only send the head if-

“Good to see you, too!”

He approached the counter she was standing behind and spoke quietly in a serious tone now.

“Ms. Natsume, I also thought they were going to send a servant, but I found out last night that they were going to send the former clan head, my father.”

Reiko’s eyes grew wide and she clenched her fists. She took a deep breath and tried to regain some composure.

“I didn’t want you to have to deal with him, so I insisted on coming myself. Don’t worry, I’m not going to invite you back or do anything of the sort. There’s no point. I mean, you don’t even have the Book of Friends anymore, do you? That’s the reason my family wanted you in the first place, wasn’t it? I know my wretched relatives never would have helped support you and your daughter out of the goodness of their hearts. That’s why I ordered from you!”

“Huh?” she glared at him again.

“Even if you understandably cut off ties with my family, I still want to support you.”

“Hmph, I don’t need-”

“I know that, but I want to show thanks in any way I can. I still remember how you defended me from my relatives after my mother died. You even offered to take me away from them and raise me yourself… I do admit, there are times I lie awake wishing I had accepted your offer, as I probably would have been happier. But I have no regrets. I’m going to become a powerful exorcist and help people who can’t help themselves. I remember too well what it felt like being scared and helpless, not knowing if anyone would ever try to reach out to me again, like you did. I want to make sure those around me never have to suffer like that.”

Reiko looked at the young man and she saw so many things. She saw a small crying child with a curse branded on him who had no idea what he had done to deserve the hatred of everyone around him, she saw the boy’s beautiful mother who had withered away, she saw the angry father and grandfather who’d blame a small child for the death of their loved one. She saw traces of all of them together in this young face who had lived through far too much already. She hated looking at him. And she hated looking at herself in the mirror because she always thought she could have done more to help him.

“Shuuichi…”

“Hm?”

Reiko sighed and turned away a little.

“Please just take your flowers and leave. Don’t give me money, just accept them. I’m… thank you for trying to look after me, but I’m fine. I don’t want to be involved with your family at all. It’s best if you don’t come here again, even if it’s just you.”

“I-”

“Shuuichi, your child is going to face a lot of difficulties growing up if you keep this life and let yourself be immersed in that environment.”

“Ms. Natsume-”

“But if you can care for it enough, it will make things at least a little bit easier to carry. Please never let them forget how loved and cherished they are, even if it’s just you and the mother who treasure them. Don’t allow them to be beaten down by the cruelty of others, like you were. I don’t want to hear about another child going through that while I am powerless to do anything.”

The two stood in silence for a moment. Natori opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He took the flowers, bowed politely, and left.

“How’d it go?”

Natori sighed a little.

“It was fine. I got my flowers!”

He obviously didn’t want to talk about it and had shifted the attention to the beautiful bouquet he had just purchased.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Tanuma!”

Natori placed his hand on Tanuma’s head and ruffled his hair a bit. Tanuma smiled up at him.

“It made me happy, too. Um, feel free to say hi anytime we’re in the same area!”

“Oh, yeah, let me give you my number.”

Tanuma was a little surprised and blushed bashfully. He was pleased that he might have made a new friend. Maybe someone who understood him more than any of his other friends. No one else understood how it felt to get sick all the time. But Natori apparently did.

They exchanged numbers and parted ways.

After parting ways with Tanuma, Natori heard an annoyed sigh beside him.

“Hmph, rare for you to get involved with some random brat like that. What good will come from getting attached to a weak child?”

“Tanuma…”

The giant wolf-like creature, white as snow and with a face dotted with blood red markings glanced over at his young master who looked deep in thought.

“Nobara, you must remember as well. That priest Reiko befriended… after the Book of Friends disappeared, there were rumors she had given it to him… his name was also Tanuma.”

“So?”

“That kid had an aura about him… it was very faint, but I think he may be sensitive. He probably can’t ‘see’, but his frequent headaches could be explained by a sensitivity to spiritual energy.”

“What are you saying?”

“When we return I want to do some research on that priest. Find out if he ever had a child and what happened to them. If my suspicions prove true, I think we may have a lead as to what became of Natsume Reiko’s Book of Friends.”

The beast jumped in front of Natori and narrowed his eyes.

“I sure hope you haven’t forgotten our deal.”

“Ahaha, of course not. If I’m able to get my hands on the book, and if it holds the key to exorcizing this thing from my body, it’s all yours.”

“Excuse me…”

“Welcome! What can I do for you today?”

“Um, I’m meeting up with a relative- my aunt- for the first time in a while, so I just thought it would be nice to get her something small as a present. I happened to pass by here, so I thought some flowers would be good…”

The woman at the flower shop had visible age lines, but she had a youthful demeanor about her. Her silver hair and sea green eyes made her appear almost otherworldly.

Tanuma had mostly come here as an excuse to stay with Natori longer, and hadn’t really planned out what he actually wanted. He spotted a bundle of multi-colored chrysanthemums and decided to get those.

“Would you like me to add a card with that?”

“Um, sure. Say it’s from ‘Tanuma Kaname’.”

The woman had the same look of recognition he saw in Natori’s face when he introduced himself, although it lingered a bit longer on her face.

“Well, Tanuma, I’m sure your aunt will be very happy!”

“Yeah… thank you!”

“You know, I have a grandson right around your age. Are you from around here?”

“No, just visiting.”

“Ah, okay. I hope you enjoy yourself, it’s a good town. There’s good people here.”

“I’m sure I will. Thank you again.”

Grandma Reiko had told him to stay home, but Takashi figured it wouldn’t hurt to go out to the cafe and get some coffee. He needed it. 

“Ah!”

Takashi had bumped into someone carrying flowers.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention. Are your flowers okay?”

“Haha, yeah, they’re fine. And don’t worry about it, I wasn’t paying attention either.”

The two boys stood awkwardly looking at each other.

“Well, I should be going now.”

“Ah, me too. Have a good day.”

The boys started walking.

“Oh, um, I guess we're going the same way.” 

“Yeah, I guess we are. I was just going to the cafe for a drink.”

“I’m also going to the cafe. I’m meeting my aunt there.”

“Oh! Is that who the flowers are for?”

“Yeah… I haven’t seen her in a while, so I thought it would be good to get her something nice for all she’s done for me in the past. I got them from the flower shop a couple blocks down.”

“That’s what I figured, my grandma actually runs that shop. I usually help her, but…”

Takashi realized he was probably talking too much.

“Oh, um, my name is Natsume. Natsume Takashi.”

“I’m Tanuma Kaname. It’s nice to meet you, Natusme. If we’re going to the same place, want to walk with me?”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure that boy will actually come see us?”

“Maybe… I do truly believe he wants to come, but… I’m sure Natsume Reiko has done her best to shelter him for his safety. He’s probably never left that small town of his in all his life.”

“She must be paranoid about youkai going after him because of that book of hers.”

“I think if anything it’s humans she’s trying to shelter him from. At some point she finally realized how much worse we are than any spirit.”

Shinobu rolled over onto her stomach. She was on her hotel bed, surrounded by snacks and rock music magazines from the corner store.

“Hey, Seiji, ever considered starting a band? You could be famous, I’m sure of it.”

“What are you talking about, sister?”

“I think it would be hilarious if the Natori clan had to look at your smug face everywhere.”

“You think I’m smug?”

“Yeah.”

There was a knock on the door and both siblings grew alert. They looked at each other and nodded, and Seiji quietly went over to stare at the peephole of the hotel room door.

He stepped back and sighed.

“Hm? What is it, Seiji?”

He opened the door.

“I told you, you don’t have to knock. Just appear here when you need to talk to me. Doors are for humans.”

“I was practicing human courtesy.”

“Why?”

“If we’re going against humans, it may be best to practice their customs.”

Seiji was a bit offended at the insinuation he was also not a human, but he felt it best not to stay on this topic. 

The polite visitor was a short youkai with shoulder-length straw colored hair and a horned mask with a wide grin and one large eye painted on like a Cyclops. A section of the mask was broken off, revealing a lavender eye and pink scarred skin from being severely burned. There was also a burn around her neck and her right hand was cut up and bandaged. Despite her otherwise tattered appearance, she wore a beautiful blue kimono adorned with purple wisterias and flying birds.

“Anyhow, Egao, what have you come to tell us?”

“We spotted a human of concern in the area- the mistress of the Natori family-”

“Tsukiko is here?”

Shinobu sat up suddenly.

“Did she say Tsukiko? Where was she? What’s she doing here?”

“She’s at the cafe.”

“Egao said she’s at the cafe.”

Shinobu grabbed her leather jacket that was drooped over a chair and went to the door.

“What are you doing, sister? I doubt it’s wise to go see the wife of the clan head of our rivals-”

“I want to see her,” Shinobu asserted, and Seiji knew there was no getting her to back down. 

He sighed, and against his better judgment decided to accompany his older sister. He couldn’t blame her for her urgency to take advantage of this opportunity. Having been taken in by Tsukiko’s father, Takuma Yosuke (the Natori clan only had need of Seiji’s abilities), Shinobu had been practically raised as an older sister to the girl, and now that she was a member of the Natori clan they were separated.  

Shinobu didn’t speak a word as they walked over to the cafe and she didn’t pause in her steps for a single moment. She didn’t even acknowledge the waitress welcoming them in and walked right past her to get to the table at the back corner where Tsukiko was seated. The girls’ eyes met immediately. Seiji stood back a little bit, not wanting to be caught in this awkward reunion, but contrary to the distant response he was expecting from Shuuichi’s wife, Tsukiko stood up and embraced his sister. She was crying.

“Shinobu, I missed you so, so much…”

Shinobu held her more tightly.

“I know, I was missing you as well.”

She gently pulled back and placed her hands on Tsukiko’s shoulders.

“How soon now?”

“A few weeks…”

“How’s Shuuichi?”

“He’s been pretty stressed out…”

“Obviously he would be,” Seiji scoffed. “It’s probably finally setting in how futile his little agenda is of fixing his horrible family.”

“Seiji-”

“Well, Tsukiko? Are you two still so sure you want to nurture a kid in that environment? Now that you’ve been dragged in as well are you realizing how dangerous it is to make another child endure that-”

“I know that! That’s always been a consideration, and that’s why, if things don’t get better here, we’re leaving!”

“And Shuuichi agreed to that?”

“Of course he did! He’s stubborn about wanting to make things better in the exorcist community but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to put another child through what you two experienced... It’s been the agreement since the beginning that if our child faces any scorn from the family, then we’re leaving the Natori clan for good. We’ll move away to the city and live a normal life…”

Seiji kept quiet for a moment before bitterly speaking back up.

“If he’s actually willing to abandon his clan like that for someone else’s sake, then why couldn’t he have left with me …”

“I…”

Tsukiko tried to say something but was unable to get anything out.

“Seiji!”

Shinobu tried calling out to her younger brother but he was already exiting the cafe.

Seiji had tried putting Shuuichi’s rejection behind him, had tried to focus on his own agenda to make things better, but what Tsukiko just told him brought that burning ache back again. This all seemed so stupid. When he had asked several years ago. Shuuichi flatly refused him, insisting that he was going to stay and fix up everything from the inside. And then after that self-sacrificial statement he was the one who left. He went to go study under the powerful exorcist Yorishima (which Seiji knew was just a permissible excuse for getting away from his family) and Seiji got left behind and became even more trapped by the clan who sang the praises of his exceptional skills at gatherings only to sneer at him behind the curtains for not being their own flesh and blood and being a potential threat for coming from a fallen family that had already met with unspeakable tragedy. He was made to train and hone his skills and techniques constantly with only breaks for eating and sleeping. Any failure was met with angry lectures, and some of the clan members in charge of mentoring him would even resort to striking him if he didn’t meet their expectations perfectly. Shuuichi’s absence made his relatives all the more harsher on the boy they admitted was his superior as an exorcist.

Shuuichi barely spoke to Seiji when he returned, and after having a fight with his relatives over their plans to arrange a marriage with a woman from another esteemed exorcist family, he stormed out and was out of contact for over several weeks. The next thing Seiji heard was that the Natori clan was begrudgingly making hurried plans for a wedding with “Takuma’s talentless daughter”. She was already living under them by the time Shinobu returned home from her classes in the city.

This whole mess was because Shuuichi hadn’t agreed to leave with him back then because of some honor-bound obligation to make everything harmonious and agreeable with the least harmonious and agreeable group of people you’d ever have the misfortune of meeting. Even going so far as marrying and having a baby with someone who had always just been a close childhood friend for the sake of… who even knows what all this was for anyway? Why couldn’t he have just given up and left in the first place? It didn’t just have to be with Seiji, they could have both been with Tsukiko and Shinobu, just like always, except this time away from that awful oppressive family. Why had he ruined everything with his stubbornness when they all could have stayed together this whole time!

Seiji jolted as he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and turned to see Shinobu staring at him, looking sympathetic but hurt. Tsukiko stood a few feet behind her.

“Seiji, I know who your anger has been directed at this whole time, but this was all my idea…”

“What?”

Tsukiko’s face went flush with shame.

“Tsukiko, why would you put yourself through all this.”

“Because you all left…” she was not very successful at trying to stifle her tears. “Shinobu and Shuuichi both went away for several years to go study far away from us, and then I no longer heard from Seiji anymore-”

“Tsukiko, I’m sorry, but they wouldn’t let me-”

“I was so, so happy when at least Shuuichi returned. But then I found he had come to say goodbye because his family was going to take him away from me forever and I couldn’t bear it… maybe it was selfish of me, but in that moment I was willing to come up with anything to keep at least one of you from leaving me again…”

Seiji opened his mouth but didn’t really have anything prepared to say. Shinobu placed a comforting hand on Tsukiko’s shoulder.

Tsukiko wiped her eyes with her sleeve, which was slightly damp now with how much she was crying. Seiji had a feeling she was doing this a lot lately.

“It wasn’t as impulsive as it seemed to everyone else… We talked about it thoroughly and made plans for different scenarios and Shuuichi was adamant that we really think it over before making a final decision. But both of us ultimately decided to go through with this. Either we’re able to make progress in smoothing things over in the exorcist community and, or we’ll cut ourselves off from the clan and live a normal life as a normal family, far away from them.”

“Do you really think they’d let him go that easily? I hear they still try to harass Natsume Reiko, even though she’s been trying to live a normal life.”

“Yeah, well, Shuuichi says that if he was no longer there…”

The end of her sentence drifted off, but Seiji knew she was going to say “if he was no longer there, it would be a great relief for them”. After all, he’s heard them say that behind Shuuichi’s back many times, when they thought he wasn’t listening. Or at least pretended he wasn’t listening.

“I’m going back to the hotel room. It’s been quite hectic these past few days, I need to rest.”

“I’m sorry, Seiji.”

He turned to leave and didn’t look back at Tsukiko as she apologized. He wasn’t ready to forgive her and he especially wasn’t ready to forgive her husband who acted like he had such limited options while turning his back on people who had wanted to support him.

Natsume’s stomach growled as he stared at the menu of delicious udon bowls plastered outside of the restaurant. He was starting to remember now… Before he ended up here, he had just gone out into the woods intending to meet up with the Dog’s Circle, who had coerced him into joining a “Celebration of Gratitude for that Scrawny yet Mighty Lord Natsume and his Rotund Good-For-Nothing Drunkard of a Cat” the evening prior. He hadn’t brought his wallet with him and now there was no way for him to go retrieve it. He sighed.

“Ow!! What was that for!!” he angrily grabbed Nyanko-sensei, who had just chomped down on his hand.

“You idiot! What kind of moron goes and forgets his wallet in a situation like this!”

“How was I supposed to ever know I’d be in a ‘situation like this’! You’re the one who was too drunk from your ‘pre-party’ drinking to protect us from that youkai that got us trapped here!”

“Say that again?!”

“Why you-”

Natsume suddenly silenced himself and grabbed onto Nyanko-sensei.

“What are you-!”

“Shush!”

There was laughing, and the approaching sound of two boys talking.

That can’t be…

One of the boys noticed Natsume and made eye contact, and decided to run over to greet him.

Oh no…

“Nishimura, don’t bother some stranger!”

“Yeah, whatever. Hey, you look hungry. Aren’t you going in?”

“Ah, uh-”

“Nishimura…”

“Oops, sorry, we should introduce ourselves first. I’m Nishimura Satoru, and this is Kitamoto Atsushi. You look the same age as us. Are you new around here?”

Chapter Text

They’re late again.

The girl sighed as she checked the time on her watch. Fifteen minutes late… 

She knew it wasn’t on purpose, but her friends’ lack of punctuality was irritating her lately. Well, everything was irritating her. Her parents announced they were moving away for work (she was asked to come along, but she told them she wasn’t going to leave her friends after it had taken her so long to figure out how to make any in the first place), her brother’s ridiculous ghost sightings blog was becoming super popular, especially among kids her age, and the vacation she had worked hard planning for her family was canceled at the last minute because her parents realized they “couldn’t afford it after all”. 

She was sulking now. She should just leave and go home if they aren’t going to-

“Ah, Taki! Sorry we’re late, ahaha!” Nishimura awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“There you guys are,” she pouted, “I was about to-”

There were two odd things her friends Nishimura and Kitamoto had brought into the restaurant. One was a boy their age with a strange aura about him, and the other was…

“Oh my god…”

“Uh oh, brace yourself, Natsume.”

“It’s so cuuuuuuute!”

Taki was normally a cool and composed girl, the kind to roll her eyes when Nishimura started gushing about whatever newest pop idol he was into, but she did have one weakness of her own.

She had never seen or held such an incredibly round cat before. This was beyond your normal fat cat, this thing was like some fluffy basketball. Fluffy…. So very fluffy, what incredibly soft fur…

“Um, Natsume, this is our friend, Taki Tohru”.

Taki suddenly composed herself and handed the cat back to the boy, blushing.

“I’m so sorry! I have a hard time restraining myself when I see cute things like cats…”

“That’s alright.”

She looked at this new boy, who was smiling softly and didn’t seem to be bothered or taken aback at all. The cat on the other hand looked a bit frazzled and was clutching onto the back of the boy’s shoulders, giving her an annoyed glare. She cleared her throat.

“Um, who is this, by the way?”

Her friends bringing some random boy to hang out with them without telling her first made her feel a little annoyed again.

“My name is Natsume Takashi,” he introduced himself while giving a polite bow.

“I’m sorry that I’m intruding on this time with your friends. I carelessly forgot my wallet at home somewhere, um… not around here, and they insisted on grabbing me something to eat here.”

Taki smiled.

“Don’t apologize. To be honest, I was a little annoyed that they showed up late with someone I didn’t know-”

Nishimura laughed nervously.

“-But if they’re doing something so generous and kind hearted, I suppose I’ll forgive them for now. And you brought such a cute kitty cat with you so everything worked out perfectly.”

A kind looking old man walked over holding a pen and notepad.

“Can we get you kids something to eat?”

“Oh, yes please! I’ll get this vegetable udon.”

“The curry udon bowl for me and my new friend here!” Nishimura said, resting his arm on Natsume’s shoulder. “Put a good helping of pork in his, he looks like he needs some meat on his bones, the poor guy’s got no money on him either!”

“Oi, Nishimura! Don’t go ordering for other people,” Kitamoto lectured.

“Haha, it’s fine. Curry udon with pork sounds good to me.”

“Mm, maybe so, but you shouldn’t let someone else just decide for you like that.”

Natsume laughed gently.

“Ha, maybe you’re right.”

Taki observed this new boy as Nishimura and Kitamoto attempted to converse with him. He was difficult to get a read on. His laugh and smile didn’t seem fake or forced, but it felt like he was keeping himself at a safe distance. Whether that was for his sake, or others’, she didn’t know for sure. Although, perhaps this was a trait she understood well enough.

“Hey, why didn’t Tanuma come with us?”

“Dummy, he told us yesterday.”

“Well, I’m sorry! I was in the depths of despair after getting our test scores back, have some sympathy for me,” Nishimura whined.

“He went to meet up with his aunt at a cafe in another town. Shiromachi, I think…”

“If he wanted to see his aunt again, he should’ve taken us back to her hot springs…”

“Not everything is about you, Nishimura.”

Taki was zoning out a little, but her eyes glanced over at Natsume. He looked a little tense and distracted all of a sudden.

“Natsume?”

“Huh?”

“Here’s your curry udon, sir, I made sure to put some extra meat in there, as your friend ordered.”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

Taki sighed. She had wanted to figure out what was up with this kid, but with food arriving, everyone’s minds had shifted focus fully to their delicious meals in front of them.

“You used to live at a hot springs?”

Natsume’s eyes were filled with an awe that Tanuma thought was a bit too much for that piece of information.

“Ahaha, I promise it’s not that exciting”.

“True, but I’m a little jealous. I’ve never been to a hot springs before.”

“You haven’t? You should go to my aunt’s some time!”

“Ha, that sounds fun! To be honest, I’ve pretty much been in this town my whole life.”

“You never go to the city or anything?”

“No… I don’t think it’s necessarily I’m forbidden to or anything but… it’s just my grandma and me, and we both mostly keep to ourselves. I don’t even go to school, I study at home and sometimes I help my grandma out in the shop. She’d deny this if I ever brought it up, but I think she’s scared of other people. She acts sociable enough at work, but now that I think about it she doesn’t have any ‘friends’. It’s safer at home for both of us, so we don’t have any reason to leave.”

Natsume smiled but it didn’t fully seem like he genuinely believed that last claim. Tanuma thought back to earlier when Natori had told him the lady at the flower shop- Natsume’s grandma- had a testy relationship with his family… did they have anything to with why she’s this much of a shut-in and doesn’t even want her teenage grandson to stray too far?

“So, do you not live there anymore?”

“Huh? No, I ended up moving to another area after I met some kids my age. We ended up getting along really well, and I was happy to finally have some friends. I talked to my aunt about it and she said it was okay if I wanted to attend their high school and live near them. I’m in Yatsuhara now.”

Natsume perked up a bit at this.

“You said Yatsuhara?”

“Uh, yeah… you know someone there?”

“Well, kind of… I actually met some other people from there recently with similar interests and I was invited to visit, but… um, could I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, what kind?”

“Um, well, could I visit you in Yatsuhara?”

“Would your grandma be fine with that?”

“I think I can convince her if it’s someone my age who seems nice and behaved. The people who invited me out there are also nice and polite, but they’re a little older than me and, um, they look more like they belong in Harajuku than some quiet place like this… I’d worry if I described them she’d think they’re just some hooligans or something who are gonna be a bad influence… but now that I know someone else in the same area, maybe I could just visit both of you?”

Tanuma smiled.

“You’re gonna tell her you’re going to sleepover with a classmate so you can sneak out to a wild party?”

“Ah! No, I’m not doing anything like that-”

“Haha, I’m just kidding. It sounds fun. I’d like it if you came to visit me. I can introduce you to my friends as well.”

Natsume got that same wide eyed open mouth look again like he’d just heard something incredible.

“Oh, um, I promise I’m not just taking advantage of you… I do really want to visit you, it just works out well that you happen to-”

“I understand, Natsume. Well, let me give you my number. My aunt should be here soon, but feel free to call me at some point and let me know when you want to come visit. Other than school I don’t really have anything going on so my schedule is wide open. And, Natsume…”

“Huh?”

“It sounds like your grandma is pretty worried about you and has been very protective, but, I’m sure it will make her happy if you have friends you can visit.”

Natsume smiled and nodded, but still seemed a little uncertain.

“Ahhhh, that seasonal special dango looks so good!”

“Huh? You’re the one who was just complaining that you ate too much-”

“It’s different when it’s for dessert!”

Natsume saw Taki roll her eyes a little at Nishimura and Kitamoto’s shenanigans, but she was smiling.

He felt a little sad. Taki was pretty quiet around people in this world too, but it seemed different. She seemed much more sullen than his Taki. He was almost tempted to ask about her, but-

“Hey, Natsume!”

Kitamoto placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“We should probably head out now, but do you need anything? If you need somewhere to crash tonight, maybe one of us could-”

“Ah, thank you, but… as a matter of fact, I should probably head out, too. There’s some things I have to take care of before I go back home. Don’t worry about me! It was nice to meet you all. Thank you very much for treating me today.”

“Hey, man, don’t worry about it!” Nishimura laughed. “If you happen to be in the area again, come say hi!”

“I’ll be sure of it, thanks!”

“Bye, Natsume! Goodbye, kitty cat!”

Taki was clearly putting a lot of effort into not smothering Nyanko-sensei again.

As soon as he and Sensei retreated into a secluded enough area in the woods nearby after leaving the cafe, he put his head in his hands and sunk dejectedly to the ground.

“What the hell is up with you, moron?”

“Sensei… What happens if they run into this world’s version of me after meeting me?”

“Dummy, what are the chances of that? It seems like in this universe you aren’t living in Yatsuhara so don’t worry about it.”

“Kitamoto said Tanuma went to Shiromachi today… I don’t know what circumstances I’m in in this universe, but Shiromachi is where my parents’ house is… at least the other you we ran into in this universe isn’t sealed in some freaky cat vessel-”

“Oi!”

“-But wouldn’t it cause problems if people end up meeting me and then meeting the other me? Or meet the other me and then me…”

“You’re making no sense. But anyway, we probably don’t have to worry about that. Those kids will probably forget about you by then if they haven’t already.”

“What? What do you mean…”

“You know how when some powerful youkai infiltrate humans, the humans forget about them once they leave? It’s kind of like that.”

“But I’m not a youkai-”

“No, but you are in this world due to a youkai’s power. You don’t belong here. You can interact with people, talk to them, touch them, but your existence follows rules more akin to that of a spirit. That’s likely how this youkai can devour people without upsetting the balance of things. You’re just a shadow here who won’t have any significant impact on your surroundings.”

Natsume’s heart sank to his stomach upon hearing this. Even if they weren’t his real friends from his world, he had just spent the last hour or so conversing and laughing with Nishimura, Kitamoto, Taki… Sure, it worried him that they had met him when he didn’t belong here and there was another him out there, but the idea of them just forgetting him like this… 

“Very convenient, isn’t it! It will make it easier to investigate and find that youkai if we don’t have to get mixed up with all your friends.”

Natsume took a deep breath and composed himself. Sensei was right. He wasn’t here to meet everyone again. He had his own friends and family waiting for him back home. It didn’t matter what was going on over here, what lives these people were leading. He needed to return to where he belonged as soon as possible with no distractions.

“Well, I suppose that also means Natori won’t be after me anymore if he forgot,” Natsume sighed with relief.

“No, I expect he will.”

“What? But you said-”

“Natori isn’t like those kids, he’s a powerful exorcist. He can see and interact with youkai, and it’s likely you won’t slip his mind quite as easily as those without power. And besides, you have something he wants. Don’t let your guard down. He isn’t your trusted friend in this world and we have no idea what he might try in order to get his hands on your book. Watch out for Matoba and others who are spiritually gifted as well, or there really could be-”

Natsume covered Nyanko-sensei’s mouth and pulled him close with urgency. He heard a familiar voice coming from a nearby clearing in the woods.

“Speak of the devil…” Nyanko-sensei whispered, clicking his tongue with annoyance as he also recognized who was speaking nearby.

“I have Akage and Egao scouting the area and asking around. There may be some youkai in the area who can tell us more about the Book of Friends. From what I’ve heard, this is rumored to be the area Reiko was living when she started challenging youkai and putting them in that nasty book of hers.”

“It may be nasty, but it will be of great use to us,” a woman spoke to him. “Just think about it, if we find a way to release those names, there will be many powerful youkai indebted to us.”

“It’s true, though that may depend on if the Natsume boy decides to come see us and team up with us, and if we really are able to find out who’s holding onto that book.”

What?

Natsume’s chest tightened. Matoba had already met him. He knew about the book and had plans to use it. Although… he wanted to release the names?

“Are you sure Reiko no longer has it?”

Reiko… has? Why is Matoba speaking about her in the present tense?

“She gave it away to a priest for safekeeping over a decade ago, sometime before I was taken in by the Natori clan. Though I’m told the priest passed away, which is concerning… we don’t know for certain where that thing ended up.”

“It’s a shame Reiko decided to settle for a quiet town life with her grandson, she’d be a formidable ally, especially considering her own disdain towards the Natori clan.”

Natsume felt an ache in his chest. He couldn’t even keep his mind on the concerning fact that Natori and Matoba were both desperately trying to get their hands on the Book. 

In this world, his grandmother is still alive.

Chapter Text

“Shuuichi! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! What are you doing out here?”

The young boy glanced up at his father towering above him on the veranda. Despite the older man’s angry tone, Shuuichi made no change in expression. There was no wariness of punishment or further scolding. It didn’t matter, it was always the same no matter what he did, so he might as well read his book outside until he got chewed out for it and dragged to whatever tedious duties were being expected of him.

“Everyone else is ready and waiting. Let’s go!”

Shuuichi immediately shrugged off the rough hand that went to grab his arm and stood up, sighing with a resigned annoyance.

“I don’t see why we have to take in this boy. We already have a promising heir- me- and besides, aren’t there rumors he brings bad luck ?”

The man scoffed.

“You’re one to talk, with that vile thing living on your body. But it doesn’t matter. The Natori are strong enough to deal with whatever youkai come for revenge.”

“If that’s the case, then why do I have to wear this unflattering talisman? If something happens, surely such a powerful exorcist as yourself can handle it, Father.”

“Don’t talk back to me, Shuuichi,” the man snarled.

“Haha, I’m teasing you. You’re so touchy.”

Shuuichi was already braced for a slap across the face for that comment, but one of the servants called out to summon them back before his father had a chance to raise his hand to him.

“Tell them we’re coming now!” 

Shuuichi let out another sigh to convey his annoyance.

“You really don’t want to test your luck with this, Shuuichi. This kid we’re taking in has incredible potential. If you can’t keep up, we might have to replace your role in this family.”

“So? Since I don’t really want to be the next clan head, that works out for me! Maybe if my role does get replaced, I’ll finally complain to some softhearted old exorcist that I’m being horribly mistreated by this wretched family and my father looks for any excuse to hit me and I get yelled at for things as silly and inconsequential as being a few seconds late to dinner and they should take me far away to safety and happiness and a loving home. Then I’ll watch your reputation get even murkier!”

Shuuichi’s father glared, but genuine concern colored his face.

“I’m just kidding! I actually have a ton of plans for this family once I’m elected to the mighty office of Demon Hunting Lord, and I look forward to reaping the rewards of fixing this cesspool up while you wither away and die sad and alone and miserable!” 

Shuuichi stood up and cheerfully skipped back into the house, whistling as if there was nothing to be concerned about. His father followed him in, not saying anything, and they both went to a spacious drawing room where some men from the clan were talking in hushed voices.

“He’s a huge liability! Did you even hear what happened to his parents? It’s been only a little over a week and the Matoba clan has already desperately reached out to us so he can be our ticking time bomb instead!”

“Relax, unlike that fallen family, we’re strong enough to deal with the risk.”

“But-”

“Some other clan members already tested his ability using the kimono, and he saw everything in pristine, accurate detail! That is very rare, even from this family. Young Master Shuuichi only saw a plain crimson kimono when they brought him, and the current clan head isn’t even that strong-”

“We’re finally here. Where’s Seiji?”

The clan members immediately shut up and went pale at the stern voice of Shuuichi’s father.

“Why, Lord Natori! I see you and Young Master Shuuichi have arrived. I’ll go fetch the boy now.”

Shuuichi smirked to himself as he waited. His father hated that he was stronger than him, and it was always satisfying when he had to hear other clan members bring it up behind his back. It must be torture for the man that this child from the fallen Matoba clan was stronger than anyone currently alive in the Natori clan.

The door slid open again, and the young Matoba boy was brought in. Shuuichi’s smirk turned into a twisted grimace. It wasn’t that this new boy had any grotesque wounds (though it appeared he had sustained some injuries from his family’s youkai attack), but Shuuichi felt like he was looking at a corpse. He remembered how depressed he had become himself after he lost his own mother, but it was immediately obvious looking at this other boy’s face that he had seen something straight out of hell, and that maybe his soul was still stuck there, leaving an empty vessel to stand in front of them.

One. Two. Three. Four. 

There were four men in the room, who babbled on in words that swam around in the air and disappeared like mist before Seiji could piece them together. 

Five. 

There was another person here, a young boy who appeared to be around Seiji’s age, who stood a little apart from the huddled forms of the men.

They all were staring at him, but the stare from the boy was different from the men in the room. The adults seemed to be sizing him up like some livestock about to be purchased to turn a profit for them, but the boy looked sad. Did he already know what it was like to have his worth evaluated?

“Seiji…”

One of the men came over to him, the same who had pulled him in here in the first place.

“Well? Show some respect and introduce yourself!”

“My name is Matoba Seiji. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said calmly, bowing respectfully.

“He’s polite at least, but he seems like his head is stuck in the clouds. I feel like we’re talking to a bristled stray cat you found in some alley, not a human child.”

“Lord Natori, this boy just recently witnessed something unspeakable happen to his family. It may take time for him to recover, but I assure you we see great things in him-”

“Yes, so I’ve heard. Shuuichi, go introduce yourself.”

The boy named Shuuichi hesitated and didn’t move from his spot.

“Now!”

The boy rolled his eyes and started to approach, but only made it a couple steps before he cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground.

“Damn it… Shuuichi, you’re fine, stand back up and do what I asked!”

Shuuichi shook his head and grimaced as if he was in an extreme amount of pain. Seiji flinched. He didn’t want to see faces like that anymore.

“Get up!”

“It really, really hurts…” he groaned.

“Good, that means the talisman is doing its job. Now stop crying and get back up!”

Shuuichi still made no attempt to stand up and instead curled up on the ground and clutched his shoulder. Seiji shuddered when he noticed a black shadow slither up the boy’s neck from under his robes. It was a lizard black as ink and looked like it was tattooed directly on his skin, except for it moved around like it was alive. It crawled onto his cheek and Shuuichi cried out again, digging his nails into his face now.

“I don’t have any more patience for this today. Let’s bring the Matoba boy to the other room and talk there. Shuuichi is free to join us once he decides to stop being dramatic. He’s just trying to get attention anyway.”

All Seiji could think as he watched the boy sobbing on the ground as he was pulled by the hand into the adjoining room was that this was a home of shadows and gloom. He tried to think of his mother’s tired but smiling face, his father teaching him how to use a bow and arrow to hunt for food in the mountains, but those were nothing but images from his past. Now his parents were merely scattered ashes and names carved in stone. Not as if there had been much left after-

Everything felt like a dense fog. This seemed to happen now, anytime his mind drifted to his family. Maybe it was best to forget. It didn’t matter that he was in this dark house surrounded by scowls and sneers and crying. He would never return home again.

“Whatcha readin’?”

Seiji looked up and stared blankly at the kid who had just interrupted him in the middle of a climactic chapter in a manga he had brought from his old home.

“It’s just some comic I like, it’s-”

“Oh, I’m not really interested in kid’s stuff like that. I like grown up novels.”

“They make them for grown ups too-”

“Anyway, that’s not what I’m here to ask about.”

Seiji shot him a scowl. He wasn’t really sure how to feel about this kid. Honestly though, Seiji wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t like him very much. Shuuichi’s own family was already talking about the possibility of setting Seiji up to be clan leader instead of him. He probably…

“Do you want to go see your older sister?”

Seiji’s eyes widened.

“I…”

He trailed off. He hadn’t heard any news about his sister. She was injured worse than him and was sent to a special clinic based at one of the many exorcist clan mansions. No one had updated him. He didn’t even know if she was alive.

“My family had no plans of reuniting you two, since they have no use for her. They just care about your abilities.”

Seiji kind of wanted to hit him. He didn’t need a reminder as to why the Natori clan took pity on him. He knew full well they saw him as nothing more than a weapon or tool. Meanwhile they abandoned Shinobu…

“And I suppose you do have plans to reunite us?”

“Yeah, I found out she was taken in by someone I know.”

Seiji looked at him for more information.

“His name is Mr. Takuma. He actually has a daughter about our age. They’re both really nice. I sneak out all the time and go hang out with them. Sometimes I even stay for dinner and spend the night. I wish they were my family instead…”

“Is it allowed for you to go see them without permission?”

“Haha, of course not, that’s why I sneak out. It really pisses off my family but they’re always mad at me no matter what I do so it doesn’t matter at this point.”

Seiji buried his face back in his manga.

“Hey, aren’t you interested in seeing Shinobu?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Huh? What did I do?”

“I’m reading. Go bother someone else.”

“Hmph, have it your way,” Shuuichi mumbled, kicking a small rock on the ground. “It’s a shame though, Tsukiko told me next time I visit she was going to make some fancy cookies for dessert… she’s got all these cute cookie cutter shapes Mr. Takuma bought her from some bakery while on a work trip. Stuff like flowers, or animals… There’s this one that’s in the shape of a cat’s face-”

Seiji slammed his manga shut.

“If I say I’ll sneak out with you, will you give me some peace and quiet?” he snapped.

Shuuichi smirked.

“Hahaha, of course! I’m leaving to go see them at 4pm sharp tomorrow, so don’t be late! Meet me here and we’ll head over together. Can’t wait to meet your sister!”

He waved smugly and walked away, humming.

Seiji scowled. He had thought he was covert about his own personal interests, but Shuuichi had seen right through him. He was probably lurking around and watching Seiji sitting in the library of the estate looking through cookbooks filled with delicious desserts from around the world and any books about cats he could find and realized he could use that to coax him into sneaking out with him. Bastard.

Seiji put his face in his hands and started crying. Shinobu was alive… She was alive and living with the very nice Mr. Takuma and his daughter Tsukiko. He wanted to live with them, too. He didn’t want to live at the Natori estate. He didn’t want to live with Shuuichi and his relatives. He had already had his parents brutally ripped away from his life forever, why did he have to lose his sister as well?

Shuuichi watched the lizard slither down his left arm, eventually coiling around his wrist like a bracelet. He lowered his wrist into the bath water, then brought it back out, tilted his arm slowly back and forth. It didn’t seem to react to that sort of thing. It never reacted to any sort of movement or change. The only reaction there seemed to be was when he’d get hit with a sudden wave of intense pain, like the lizard had suddenly burst into flames and was burning his skin off wherever it decided to crawl around. But even then, it never appeared any different. Was it feeling pain as well? Was it suffering? Could it even sense danger? Was it actually living?

Baths were a nice relief as it was a rare moment of not being forced to wear that stupid talisman around his leg, the leg which, for some reason, the lizard never ever approached. But he hated seeing his naked body because he hated having to see how much that creature crawled around everywhere. He felt dirty and violated having something so creepy living on him, with no known way to remove it.

His family was convinced it was an omen and a harbinger of bad luck. Especially when his mother died, all eyes fell on him and this animated mark. His mother had searched everywhere for someone who could help her son, but no one knew what it was. After she fell ill and passed on, his family desperately tried to find an answer to this perceived danger, even performing exorcism rituals on him to see if it would have any effect, but all those did was hurt him. Eventually they decided to have him wrap some talisman around the leg the lizard mysteriously avoided so they could have some peace of mind. He was the one who had to bear all the suffering for this. 

They didn’t even want him. If they were so wary of him, why couldn’t they just send him away like the Matoba clan did to Seiji? His own family wanted Seiji more anyway. 

Shuuichi hit his fist against the surface of the bath water and clutched his head angrily. He was a hypocrite and an idiot. Miss Natsume had already offered to take him away from here and he refused her because he thought he could get back at his family once he became clan head. And now she was living in a quiet town with her young grandson far away from the Natori clan while he chose to stay behind in a home he detested. He had no right to lament his situation when he was the one who chose to stay behind. 

“Shuuichi?”

There was a soft knock at the door accompanied by a voice.

“Huh? Oh, Seiji… Ugh, just come in, I don’t feel like getting out of my bath.”

The door opened and Seiji entered shyly.

“Did you need something?”

“I found something interesting outside and I wanted you to see it too… I don’t know how much longer it will be there if it’s still there at all, but I wanted to come grab you in case it is.”

Seiji stared blankly as usual but he had a slight enough smile which Shuuichi supposed meant he was excited by whatever this was.

It was kind of cute. He seemed like a good kid, and Shuuichi felt a pang of guilt for the bitter envy he’d been experiencing towards him lately.

“Oh… Sure! Let me dry off and get dressed and you can show me, okay?”

Seiji looked a little shocked that his invitation was accepted so easily, but he smiled genuinely now.

“Okay!” 

“Ughhh, I didn’t know you would be dragging me around the woods, I just took a bath, ya know!”

“We’re almost there.”

Seiji had decided grabbing Shuuichi’s hand and leading him around like this was necessary for some reason. He seemed so happy for once that Shuuichi decided to oblige him on this excursion while holding hands like some little kids, but he was getting a little bored with this. Whatever Seiji had found better be good.

“There they are,” Seiji declared, pointing towards the river bank.

“Huh? This better not be something it turns out only you’re strong enough to see,” he muttered bitterly.

“Just go over to the riverbed and look at the stones.”

Shuuichi went over to check, and grew surprised when he saw all the stones scattered around with flowers painted on them. There was even a large pattern painted on some of the bigger rocks jutting out of the river now that he was paying more attention.   

“That’s weird, who painted something like this?”

“I think it must have been a youkai.”

Shuuichi tensed up. It could be dangerous if there’s a youkai going around marking stones on their property.

“Seiji, I know they look nice, but we should be careful around stuff like this-”

“I don’t think it’s anything dangerous! Ever since… I’ve been really on edge lately anytime there’s youkai around, even if it’s just the family’s familiars, but I feel happy and safe seeing these here.”

That’s even more suspicious, Shuuichi thought.

“What are you two doing out here alone this close to sunset?”

Seiji turned around and almost felt his heart stop when he realized the head of the Natori clan had appeared behind them. This was bad. They were surely going to be in trouble. Shuuichi was going to get yelled at even though Seiji was the one who brought him all the way out here. He should at least be honest and say this was his idea.

“I-”     

“Father, please don’t get mad at Seiji, I saw something interesting so I made him come with me. I lied and said it was okay even though I knew we shouldn’t be out here this late. Any punishment should rest on me.”

Shuuichi bowed deeply to his father, which caught Seiji by surprise. Shuuichi seemed so resigned to being on his family’s bad side and often talked back to his father and let himself get in trouble. He wasn’t the kind to apologize for breaking his family’s rules or expectations. Why was he suddenly prostrating himself? All to keep Seiji from getting in trouble with him?

His father looked absolutely baffled at Shuuichi apologizing like this that he couldn’t even get a word out for a moment.

“Lord Natori, I’m sorry, Shuuichi is trying to cover for me so I don’t get in trouble, but actually it was my idea to come out here. I saw some rocks out here with beautiful patterns painted on them, and I wanted Shuuichi to get to see them as well so I dragged him out here. But, I probably should be more careful since it appears a youkai did this. I apologize. Please go easy on Shuuichi, I should take the most responsibility.”  

“Rocks with patterns? What kind of patterns?”

“They were like flowers, sir…”

The man stared inquisitively at the two boys for a moment, looking not as angry as expected, though perhaps exasperated.

“Come back to the house with me. There should be dinner prepared soon.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, father.”

Both boys kept their heads low. Seiji felt a knot in his chest. He had been so excited about the beautiful rocks he had found, and he was happy Shuuichi wanted to see them too. Would he get interrupted like this anytime something exciting or interesting happened?

Shuuichi’s father broke the silence after a few minutes.

“Those must have been from a Stonewasher.”             

“Stonewasher? Is that dangerous?”

The man laughed and for once had a somewhat softened look on his face.       

“Ha, on the contrary, a Stonewasher does its own form of exorcism. Its duty is to go around purifying rocks which have absorbed evil energy. The fact that one cleansed this many rocks near our home is a special blessing.”

“Father, have you seen these before, then?”

“Yes, when I was much younger. I can’t blame the two of you for your reckless fascination, I also found them beautiful.”

“Was it in this place, as well?”

“No, it was in another town I was visiting to shadow a job my father had received. I wandered off because I was bored, and I saw rocks with iridescent flower patterns. I was in awe of them, and ran back to where my father was staying to tell him about it. Well, he was very upset that I ran off and he didn’t seem interested in my discovery. He only scoffed about how the youkai in the area were probably going to cause mischief in their excitement over the ‘Stonewasher’ visiting. Perhaps it was because I was an impressionable kid, but I never forgot about those stones and always thought it would be wonderful to have such a chance to see them again.”

“If that’s the case, don’t you want to go see the ones by the river?”

The man shook his head.

“Our kind shouldn’t be around such things.”

“But aren’t they stones that purify?”

“Yes, and the presence of an exorcist would only taint them.”

“Aren’t they doing what we do?” Seiji spoke up.

“It is our role to protect humans from evil youkai. Even though we are not to hurt harmless or beneficial youkai like the Stonewasher, our choice to exterminate troublesome youkai jeopardizes our relationship to any spirit. At most, we can form contracts with useful youkai, but that doesn’t mean an exorcist can so flippantly mingle with their world. Our existences are ultimately at odds with each other, but yet we both must do our parts in the world to maintain balance. It may seem tempting at times to investigate the strange things you come across, but you should keep your noses out of things you don’t understand.”

Both boys lowered their heads.

“Yes, sir.”

I t was 4:06. Even if only by a few minutes, Seiji was late. It was a little too early to leave without him, but Shuuichi wondered if maybe he didn’t want to sneak out again after his father caught them out late the day before. Maybe he should just-

Shuuichi startled a little at the rustle in the bushes behind him, but it was just an out of breath Seiji.

“Hey, you’re late!”

“I’m sorry…” he panted.

“I thought you stood me up on our date.”

“Huh?!”

Seiji’s face turned bright red.

“Oh my god, you are way too easy to mess with, you know?” Shuuichi rolled his eyes.

Seiji glared at him but it was more adorable than intimidating. He really was like some little kid.

“Come on, we should get going. There’s a bus stop past this wooded area that will take us to their neighborhood, it isn’t too far away.”

Seiji nodded and followed him quietly.

It was too quiet. It felt way too awkward. He should make small talk but he still wasn’t sure what to talk about with this kid.

“I guess your dad isn’t as bad as I thought he was.”

“What was that?” Shuuichi turned around and snapped.

Maybe the awkward silence was better after all.

“I just… I was surprised that he was pretty nice to us yesterday even though we-”

Shuuichi angrily went over to Seiji and glared at him. Seiji flinched slightly and backed up a couple steps, but Shuuichi kept close.

“You don’t know anything. You haven’t been here very long and you go off by yourself to read most of the time anyway. You have no idea what my father is like.”

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Seiji, I’m saying this for your sake: Don’t get used to it. In very rare and fleeting moments my dad can muster up some degree of sentimentality that softens him, but give it an hour or so and he’s back to the way he always is. It’s too late for me to care in regards to myself, but try not to piss him off, okay?”

“Okay, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean-”

Shuuichi pivoted back around and kept walking. 

Silence again for a brief moment.

“Why does your dad hate you so much?”

“Do you want me to hit you?”

Shuuichi quickly turned to him and snapped, but Seiji’s upset glare wasn’t as cute as it was before and Shuuichi actually did feel bad this time. Not that he wanted to apologize to him, so he kept walking so he didn’t have to look at him while they talked.

“He didn’t always hate me, I don’t think… I remember when I was little me and my mom and dad would go out to the city sometimes, and I’d sit on his shoulders and he’d buy me whatever treat I wanted… he used to teach me a lot about some of the harmless youkai who lived in the area and tell me stories about them like they were some endearing animals. He was always pretty stressed out because of the expectations his clan placed on him, but looking back I feel like he didn’t want me involved too much. But then one day this thing showed up on my skin, and when I told him about it because I was scared, he looked at me in disgust and started avoiding me. And then my mom got sick… after that my entire clan thought I was cursed and started making me wear this stupid talisman on my leg to make sure they didn’t get hurt as well… my dad blamed me for his wife dying more than anyone else and started getting angry with me more and more…”

His sentence trailed off and there was silence again, which he hated, because he didn’t want Seiji to try and say anything about what he just told him.

“Never mind all that! Let’s not worry about that guy tonight, let’s go meet with the Tanuma’s and reunite you with your sister. On nights like this, we just pretend they’re our family instead.

Seiji smiled, although a little sadly.

“Okay!”

Chapter Text

“Tanumaaaa guess what!”

“Huh? What’s going on, Nishimura?”

“Did you hear?? There’s a new transfer student!”

“Oh?”

Tanuma perked up at this a little.

“I heard she’s a girl, too! And a pretty one at that! Hey, hey, Kitamoto, do you think maybe-”

“Don’t get your hopes up.”

Tanuma wasn’t quite as interested anymore. His instinctual reaction was that maybe Natsume had transferred here, but that obviously wouldn’t be the case. He knew Natsume wasn’t going to leave his grandmother alone.

“Gasp! There she is! She really is pretty!” Nishimura sighed.

Tanuma turned to look at the new student and had to double take for a moment. She looked like… Natsume’s grandmother? He didn’t realize he was staring so much until the girl met his gaze and he looked down, embarrassed. After a moment he glanced back up to get a better look and… found she was still keeping an eye on him.

“Tanuma, you’re just the worst!”

“Huh??” 

Tanuma blushed.

“Ah, it’s not-”

“Ahhh, I haven’t even gotten to talk to her yet but she won’t take her eyes off of you! It’s not fair…”

Nishimura dramatically slumped down and Kitamoto halfheartedly comforted him.

“Um, do you know anything about this girl, Kitamoto?”

“Huh? Oh, are you actually interested in-”

“Ah, no, nothing like that at all, but, um… doesn’t she seem a little odd? She keeps looking at me too, but it’s like she knows me…”

“Have you maybe met before?”

“No, but…”

He almost mentioned her resemblance to the friendly aging woman at the flower shop who happened to be the grandmother of a new friend, but he knew how ridiculous that sounded when they obviously aren’t the same. But it was strange, she had this aura around her that seemed off…

“I heard her name is Kyoko… but she refuses to give a family name and insists on just being called that way because ‘an entire other name is unnecessary’, whatever the hell that means… the girls think she’s really cool but kind of scary and there’s rumors she’s some boss in a girl’s biker gang but I don’t think there’s any basis for that… I get why people find her intimidating though, she seems like she could probably beat up even any of the boys here, haha!”

“Rumors? How long has she been here?”

Kitamoto paused and looked a little confused.

“Oh… um, I actually don’t remember, now that I think about it… it’s weird, it feels like she’s been here for a while but I can’t recall when she first showed up or where she came from. But I haven’t interacted with her much anyway so I dunno.”

“Nishimura said she was a new transfer student?”

“Did he? I guess she is pretty new… rumors spread fast though. It’s good she seems to be fitting in already and making friends.”

“Aaaaa she’s walking this way!!”

“Huh-”

Nishimura seemed about to burst with excitement and Tanuma and Kitamoto gasped in fear as the new girl strode over to them through the crowd of students and loomed right over Tanuma.

“Um, hi-”

“Tanuma? Tanuma Kaname?”

“Yes? Hey!-”

The girl grabbed his hand with a surprisingly firm grip and, with no pause or hesitation, pulled him out of the classroom. Kids were gasping and whispering and some girls squealed and Nishimura wailed. 

“Ah, hey, if you want to talk that’s fine but why are you dragging me out like this?”

“To get away from all the ruckus. I need to talk with you in private.”

“Ack- that’s fine, but just tell me where we’re going. It must be pretty urgent, let’s go talk in the courtyard.”

“I-”

“Oi! Tanuma! (What was your name again…) Miss Kyoko! Get back to class!”

“Yes sir! We were just heading back in I’m so sorry.”

Tanuma bowed to his teacher, feeling extremely embarrassed, and walked back in the direction of class.

“I’m taking that as a promise, I’ll see you in the courtyard during lunch.”

They didn’t talk more but she kept to his side all the way back which made him feel even more embarrassed. What the hell did this girl want from him? He sure hoped she wasn’t the obsessive stalker type because he lived alone and wasn’t up for dealing with anything like that. 

She definitely is though, Tanuma sighed internally, feeling sullen now.

The next couple classes went by too fast, and he wasn’t ready to talk with that girl “in private”, but at least it was during school hours midday. He took the bento he had prepared for himself that morning and headed out to a shaded area under a tree in the courtyard. He told Nishimura and Kitamoto about the situation and not to bother them, but begged them to keep an eye on him from a safe distance in case this girl was completely crazy. It was almost scary how promptly she appeared in front of him and he startled slightly.

“Is that a bento? Give me one!”

“No way! I made this for myself, go buy your own!”

“Hmph, you think I have money…” she pouted.

Tanuma felt bad for snapping at her now. If she doesn’t have lunch or even money for lunch maybe she’s got it rough at home. If she even has one. There must be some reason why she refused to tell anyone her family name and insists on being called just Kyoko. Does she not even have a family or people to take care of her? Is that why she’s so awkward with others? It wasn’t any of his business, but…

“Here, take it. I can buy something from the vending machine later. I got up early and made a nice breakfast anyway so I’m not-”

Kyoko snatched the bento and yelled “Woohoo!” and began devouring Tanuma’s bento right in front of him.

He was a little horrified and annoyed. Not even a thank you, but was she really that in desperate need of food?

“Hey, um, I don’t know what’s going on with you and it’s none of my business, but if you ever need food or anything, let me know. I live alone but my aunt always makes sure to send enough money for me. Not to brag but I’m a pretty decent cook so if you’re not sure what to do for dinner maybe you could come over to my place sometimes.”

Oh no, why did I say that. I was already worried about her being a stalker or something I can’t give her a free invite! What was I thinking?

The girl stared at him with wide eyes and a mouth full of food. Tanuma was so nervous about what he just offered but it was definitely too late to take it back now. The girl gulped down her food.

“I can come over to your house?”

“Um… I…”

“Aha! That’s the perfect place for a private conversation. That works out perfectly!”

“Hold on! I’m sorry, but I still don’t know you very well and I live alone. So if you come over it has to be with another friend. Besides, it would look bad if a girl came to my place alone, people would start talking.”

As if they aren’t already…

“Invite the Taki girl.”

“Taki?”

“I can talk to her as well. And you seem to be friends.”

“We are, but she’s more Kitamoto and Nishimura’s friend. We haven’t hung out alone before, now that I think about it.”

“Bring Taki over. This is something that might be useful for both of you to know.”

“What?”

“I have to go now.”

“There’s still some time left before lunch ends-”

Kyoko had already stood up and began walking to the school gates. And then she left.

Tanuma stared at her. What? Where was she going? They were only halfway through the day…

“Oiii, there you are Tanuma!”

“Hey guys, sorry if that seemed-”

“Why are you out here by yourself today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Probably wanted a break from you, Nishimura.”

“Kitamoto, you’re cruel!” Nishimura cried out, banging his fists on the other boy’s shoulders as he laughed.

Tanuma winced.

“You good, man? Another headache?”

“Yeah, I’m fine though. Don’t worry about it.”

Now that he thought about it, he had started developing a headache as soon as Kyoko showed up. Just who was she? And…

“I thought I told you guys to keep an eye on me.”

“What?”

Kitamoto and Nishimura both looked at him, genuinely confused.

“Because of that girl Kyoko? We were talking at lunch just now but I was kind of suspicious of her motives since she was so forceful-”

“Tanuma??? You’ve got an admirer? No way, I’m sooo jealous!”

“Haha, good work Tanuma, you’re ahead of Nishimura.”

“Shut up!”

The two boys started playfully bickering again and Tanuma stood there dumbfounded. Why didn’t they remember Kyoko?

Talented Buddhist priest. Well respected in spiritual communities. Exorcists spoke highly of him for his dedication to cleansing areas of impure energy even while not being someone with sight. Was one of Natsume Reiko’s few friends. There were rumors she left the infamous Book of Friends in his care for safekeeping, though this was never confirmed. Married and had one child. Wife died of mysterious illness about a year after giving birth. Ended up dying suddenly in a random traffic accident, leaving behind one son who went to live with his aunt. There was speculation that youkai were to blame for his sudden passing and perhaps his wife’s as well, though this can’t be confirmed for certain.

Natori groaned and leaned back in the chair, rubbing his tired eyes and feeling defeated. He had been rummaging through his family’s library at the main estate, looking through any records he could find on the priest Tanuma. It wasn’t too difficult to find information, but there was nothing of note or anything he wasn’t already aware of. He honestly wasn’t sure what he had been expecting anyway. He was hoping that maybe he could find anything interesting in regards to his friendship with Reiko and the rumors of the Book falling into his hands, but he only came across passing mentions or gossip that weren’t necessarily baseless but in terms of investigating leads there wasn’t really anything to look further into.

Except he did have a possible lead, the late priest’s son, Tanuma Kaname. Was it truly pure coincidence that they happened to meet like this? It was almost like fate. Tanuma could be the key to…

“Well, I’m glad someone else gets it.”

Natori’s face suddenly felt hot with anger at himself and he reflexively dug his nails into his arm. What was he doing? He was horrible for even thinking of involving Tanuma in this. He was a sweet kid with a normal life and normal friends at a normal school. He probably knew nothing of the Book of Friends, and even if he did, it was a memento from his father. Natori had no right to it, regardless of how desperate he felt. He didn’t even know if the Book had the answers he was seeking, and he really had no reason to suspect it did. Thinking about it, he wasn’t even sure how he became so obsessed with hunting it down in the first place. And besides, if he did end up abandoning the clan, the option that seemed to grow more and more necessary, he wouldn’t have to wear the talisman anymore and he could just ignore the strange youkai that lived on his body. Natori buried his face in his hands, his hair tightly clutched in his fingers. His head hurt. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. Every option in front of him felt like a dead end. No matter what he chose he’d be leaving something behind. He resented his relatives but he still treasured his clan and the work they did. He didn’t want to give up on being an exorcist and researching spells and protecting people from youkai but he grew more and more hopeless that he could raise his new family in any proximity to the one that brought him up. They hated gentle Tsukiko and saw her as nothing more than a dirty mistress who had seduced the powerful heir of their prestigious clan and tainted their reputation. They certainly were going to look down on their child. She pretended it didn’t bother her but she seemed more and more weary and beaten down every day and that scared him. Even if it was her idea to start a family and they agreed they would leave if necessary he felt like he was dragging her along through the mud. Takuma was worried for his daughter and he was no longer able to show the warmth he used to have for Natori, even as he tried. Natori missed when he and Tsukiko and Seiji and Shinobu used to play in Takuma’s garden and bake cookies in the kitchen and talk about their ideas for the future knowing full well they lost their chance to have normal childhoods and they wouldn’t get to have normal adulthoods. He missed Seiji and Shinobu. It was best when it was all four of them together, they could face anything by each other’s sides but he had to leave them behind and run far away and things were never going to return to the way they were back then. This was his fault everything everything was-

“Ahhh I’m back, school is hard work. I didn’t even last a whole day- hey, are you crying? What the hell?”

Natori jumped at the sudden voice and stumbled out of his chair and then immediately scrambled back up.

“Who the hell are you?”

“It’s me you idiot .”

“ Nobara ?”

Natori couldn’t help but burst out laughing seeing this pouty school girl standing in front of him, glaring.

“Haha, why are you dressed like that-”

Nobara grabbed his arm and flung him into the wall with strength not fitting his current physique.

“Shut up! This was your idea!”

“I never told you to… hahaha…”

“Hmph, you told me to keep an eye on the Tanuma brat, and that’s what I did.”

Natori stopped laughing and looked up at his familiar.

“What… you didn’t talk to him, did you?”

“Of course I did. We’re practically best friends now. I’m even going to visit his home for dinner soon. I should be meeting the Taki girl as well.”

“Taki? That Taki family?”

“Yeah, she’s in his grade and they’re friends.”

Natori felt another stinging pang of guilt in his chest. He didn’t know all the details but he’d heard a member of the Taki clan got tricked into an unfair deal with his own clan and the family hasn’t been doing well since then. 

“Why do you want to talk to her?”

Nobara’s eyes narrowed.

“She interests me. I know her family were onmyouji in the past and while I doubt she can see, she has an aura about her and must have some latent abilities.”

Natori didn’t say anything.

“Also I don’t think the Tanuma brat trusts me and said I could only come to his place if one of his friends came as well and I said he could bring Taki.”

Natori sighed and put his head in his hands.

“Nobara, I think we should just forget about this. I don’t even know if this is a good idea to-”

The girl no longer stood in front of him and instead Natori found himself pinned beneath a beast of white fur speckled with red markings like blood, his warm breath like the sun on a too-hot summer day.

“Get off me-”

“You better not be backing out of our deal, human .”

“Have you forgotten who’s-”

Natori was pressed into the floor hard enough to let out a groan of discomfort and gasp for air.

“Don’t forget your place,” the beast snarled. His jaws were large and powerful enough to crush any human like a twig and sometimes Natori forgot how dangerous and powerful of a youkai he was commanding.

“You promised we’d seek the Book of Friends together out of our own self-interests. That is all that bounds my loyalty to you. If you give up on your search, I have no reason to keep our agreement. Don’t lump me in with those pathetic servile youkai who contract with arrogant demanding humans. I can kill you, and I can do so without any hesitation at any time. In fact, what’s stopping me from ending you now…”

Nobara started to curl a claw around Natori’s neck.

“Okay, I’ll keep looking!” Natori croaked out.

Nobara eased up a little bit, though he didn’t unpin him quite yet.

“You seem like you have a plan, do what you think is best and report back to me. Just… don’t drag Tanuma and Taki into this too deep. They’ve already suffered enough losses and they’re only kids…”

Nobara transformed back into his human form that suspiciously resembled Natsume Reiko and crossed his arms.

“Like you instructed, I think I’ll do what I think is best.”

The spirit disappeared to go work on whatever scheme he had been brewing up. 

Natori’s heart sank. He had let his guard down because Nobara had been pretty cooperative and obedient up until this point. He was always sneaking in jabs at him and snarling but Natori thought he had him under control. But that clearly wasn’t the case. Actually, it was Nobara. Nobara was the one who planted the idea of the powerful Book of Friends in his mind, hinting at some vague possibility of answers to the lizard he was still being plagued by. Natori thought he was using Nobara to get the Book, but it was the other way around. There were definitely no answers to be found for him. Nobara’s plan had always been to take the book for himself at the first opportunity. Natori needed to stop him as soon as possible, but who was powerful enough to confront such a tremendous beast? He could think of only three living people in the area more skilled and powerful than him in spiritual power, and all of them he had let down in one way or the other.