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taizi · 10 months

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soft ground, claiming moon

chase them all away

@natsumeweek 2023 day 5; healing/forgiveness read on ao3

title borrowed from monsters by katie sky

(previous)

It’s immediately as horrifying as Shuuichi thought it would be.

He’s watching a fourteen-year-old boy writhe and bite back what surely would be a howl if he would unlock his jaw enough to let it out. It squeezes past his bared teeth in the form of guttural growls. His hands, clutching at his own arms, as if trying to hug himself together, are rending the fabric of his sleeves, fingers sharpening to points.

And Natsume is right there. Surrounded by his friends, a motley crew of stupid, stubborn teenagers. They must know the danger they’re in but they don’t flinch. The fear on their faces is reflective of the pain that Nishimura is in, they don’t spare any for themselves.

“You would let him turn in a room full of children?” Natori demands of Madara. He feels like he’s going insane. The shiki behind him are restless, but they don’t share his single-minded anxiety. Taki’s twin summons snicker at him and Madara flicks an ear derisively.

“You really don’t have a clue,” the ugly cat says plainly. “It’s very annoying. Knowing a thing is knowing more than how to kill it. Stop talking and pay attention. Maybe you’ll learn something.”

By the time Shuuichi tears his eyes away from the ugly cat, it’s over. Nishimura is gone, and Kitamoto’s arms remain wrapped around a wolf.

For a moment that feels like a small eternity, Shuuichi forgets to breathe. He can feel his heart in his throat.

The creature is breathing heavily, body heaving. Its thick coat is red-orange in color with white on the throat and belly, not unlike a fox. The face of it is more broad than angular, haloed by a slight mane, and its big ears are rounded at the top instead of pointed.

“Nishimura?” Kitamoto says. His voice is barely audible even in the absolute silence of the room.

The wolf lifts its head and finds his face. They stare at each other for two, three, four seconds.

Then the wolf makes an abrupt turn, climbing clumsily into Kitamoto’s lap and shoving his snout against the boy’s face. Powerful jaws open, and Shuuichi is about to spring past Madara, after all, and then…

“Ugh—ew! Satchan!” Kitamoto sputters. “Don’t lick me!”

“Puppy kisses!” Ogata shrieks.

“Let’s not swarm him,” Natsume says, holding an arm out to halt the girls from tackling Kitamoto and the wolf to the floor. “Let him acclimate for a minute. Shibata, are you taking pictures right now?”

“No, video.”

“Why?”

“Blackmail?” Shibata says it like Natsume must be stupid for asking. “Relax, if my phone gets hacked I’ll just say it’s my annoying cousin’s annoying dog or whatever.”

“You consider us family?” Taki presses a hand to her heart. “Shibata.”

Before Shibata can reply to that the way he would probably like to, Madara waddles past him. The cat plants its front feet on Kitamoto’s leg and peers up at the wolf thoughtfully. The symbol on his head begins to glow.

Out of what looks like pure reflex, Ogata quickly knocks Shibata’s phone out of his hand and it clatters to the floor. If the recording picks up Madara’s voice, it will be lost under teenagers screeching at each other.

The wolf leans down to sniff at Madara curiously. The symbol fades, and the cat says, “That’s a wolf alright.”

“You are remarkably unhelpful,” Shuuichi says. His voice comes out as little more than a wheeze. He feels like he’s just run a marathon.

“Sensei,” Natsume scolds him mildly.

“What more do you want?” Madara sits back. “He’s a human, not a yokai, so he isn’t likely to transform into a yokai, is he? He needs a physical form, no matter what shape it may take. The okami that bit him must have given him its own as a parting gift. Even with the curse that was twisting its mind apart, it probably knew that it wasn’t long for this life.”

The cat looks around at the children and then past them at Shuuichi. With judgmental green eyes, Madara adds, “Okami are messengers, lesser deities. Whoever encountered one and saw fit to banish it with their shitty home-cooked spell deserves whatever they get.”

That much, at least, Shuuichi can’t argue. There is a strict code of conduct that the exorcist community must abide by, and while exceptions can be made here and there, crafting a spell of one’s own design and then using it without so much as getting it peer-reviewed first isn’t just against the rules, it’s downright stupid.

He would like to give that person, whoever and wherever they are, the benefit of the doubt. He would like to believe they acted in good faith, doing their best to rid the world of another monster.

But for the first time since he made his mad dash to Hitoyoshi, Shuuichi doesn’t know.

“It—he is a werewolf,” Shuuichi says. “That much is clear. He turned on the full moon and has weakness to pure metals, like silver. If he were to bite one of you in this form, the curse would spread.”

“Okay,” Kitamoto says, his tone suggesting he would like to add a petulant and? “He’s still my brother.”

“He’s dangerous.”

“So are you,” Taki says sharply. “So am I.”

“I’m pretty sure Natsume’s grandpa was a tengu or something,” Shibata adds. “He hasn’t come out and said it but the clues are all there. And I mean, the wind goes all crazy when I tick him off. So Natsume could probably start a hurricane if he got angry enough. That seems a little freakier to me than just turning into a big dumb dog once a month. No offense,” he adds insincerely, with a little nod Natsume’s way.

“Don’t call him dumb,” Ogata says, because that is clearly more pressing than any tengu-related bombshells. “Natsume please can I hug him now?”

The wolf perks up, rounded ears pointing forward, and Ogata opens her arms for him without waiting for permission or approval. The wolf picks itself up on unsteady legs, wobbles for a moment, then bounds with ungainly enthusiasm into Ogata’s snug embrace.

“Oh, I was so worried about you, I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says, squeezing him for all she’s worth. “I knew you would be but I’m still so, so glad!”

Taki drapes herself over both of them, worming her arms in there somehow, and the wolf whuffles against their hair, wriggling happily.

“Here,” Tanuma says, appearing at their side with a shallow bowl in one hand and a bottle of Calpico in the other. “He’s barely had anything to eat or drink all day. I don’t know if his tastes will be the same like this, but…”

“Should we save the snacks for when he’s a person again or let him have some now?” Kitamoto wonders aloud.

“We can always go get more,” Natsume reasons.

Shuuichi watches the convenience store bags come out, and a box of Chocorooms gets popped open, and Kitamoto offers the wolf a handful of the chocolate-covered biscuits. An hour ago, Shuuichi would have been horrified to watch the boy stick his open palm within inches of a cursed animal’s teeth. As it is, his alarm springs from a different source entirely.

“Don’t,” Shuuichi says sharply, his mouth moving before he gives it permission to. When the kids stare at him, their expressions a mixture of disdain and frustration, he adds, “Wolves can’t have chocolate.”

After a beat, Tanuma says, “What?”

“It’s the same reason dogs can’t have chocolate,” Shuuichi says, unable to believe he’s having this conversation. “There’s a chemical in it that’s toxic to them. It’s literally poison.”

Kitamoto yanks his hand back and holds the biscuits an arm’s length away from the wolf. Shibata is frantically looking something up on his phone.

“Is that true? What else can’t they eat?” Taki says, looking as though she’s seconds away from flinging all of their snacks out the nearest window.

And really, Shuuichi finds himself thinking, it’s typical. For all his knowledge and research on werewolves and lycanthropy, for all his determination when he arrived here, it’s the three-hour-long learning spree he went on when he agreed to babysit his manager’s seven-month-old cockapoo for the weekend that would have ultimately done the job. And he turned around and used it to prevent the wolf from dying.

The wolf—Nishimura mostly sticks to either Kitamoto or Natsume’s side, his head on their knee or shoulder. He soaks up the attention from his friends but he seems more tired than anything.

Taki reasons aloud that the first full moon probably took a toll. She thinks that things will get easier as they go. Only time will tell.

“I’m still going to try to break the curse for you,” she says, holding his snout in her hands and looking him in the eye. “I’m going to try everything. But even like this, we all love you so much.”

He licks her fingers. Message received.

A few hours later, when the moon was no longer at its zenith, the wolf shuddered and whined, burying his nose against Kitamoto’s stomach. The change happens a little bit faster this time, pale skin peeking through the fur, ears folding back into messy russet-colored hair. It seems slightly less painful, the body returning to the shape it’s supposed to take.

Finally it’s Nishimura sitting there, pale and exhausted in Tanuma’s oversized jacket. He leans against Kitamoto, pressing his face into his best friend’s shoulder.

“I like you better as a wolf, Satchan,” Shibata says in a falsely-earnest tone.

“Literally no one invited you, Sumi,” Nishimura replies hoarsely.

The room is full of relief and laughter as Tanuma drapes a blanket around Kitamoto and Nishimura’s shoulders, as Natsume presses a cold bottle of Pocari into Nishimura’s hands and Ogata tucks the frog stuffie into the blanket with them.

Nishimura’s friends care about him so much that there is no room left for things like fear or disgust. They’re so loyal to one another, their lives entangled comfortably, their every conversation about the future a vision of togetherness.

Shuuichi wonders if any other werewolf changed under those conditions. Under their adopted siblings’ gentle, fearless hands, in a room full of faces who looked at them with affection and trust.

The curse pulls from nature, shaped by the moon and the toxin in the monster’s bite. What else does it absorb? If those fundamental moments are ones of fear and hatred, then it’s little wonder why the recorded history of werewolves is so frightening.

It’s clear that Shuuichi’s presence is no longer needed, if it ever was in the first place. A quiet word to his shiki sends them ahead of him, back home. Hiiragi lingers to receive a particular set of orders, and sets off in the opposite direction to begin investigating the exorcist at the root of this mess. She is fond of Natsume and his friends and will tackle this job with particular fervor.

Shuuichi is on the porch watching her departure when a tug on his sleeve draws his attention.

He turns to find Nishimura, of all people, who skitters back a whole two steps when Shuuichi looks at him.

“Sorry,” the kid says quickly, as if convinced Shuuichi would bite his head off for standing too close.

This is the boy that Natsume so fondly described on the phone as your number one fan, Natori. He asked Shuuichi for an autograph earlier. Now he can barely look at him, studying his house slippers intently and wringing his hands.

Shuuichi boxes up the ache in his chest and shelves it for another time. He offers Nishimura a smile, knowing that there’s no way to undo the damage he’s done, but that’s no reason to add to it.

“No need,” he says. “If anyone should apologize, it’s me. It seems I just never learn.”

“You,” Nishimura starts, and then pauses. Trying again, he says, “You really hunt monsters?”

“My clan did for many generations,” Shuuichi says readily. Frankly, he owes Nishimura whatever answers he wants. “I’m the only one left in my family with the proclivity for it.”

Nishimura nods slowly. He looks over his shoulder, back into the sitting room. It’s a small miracle his brother let him out of his sight for this long after the night they just had. Nishimura must think so, too, because he takes a deep breath and blurts, “It would have been okay.”

Shuuichi frowns, not understanding.

“If you had to—hunt me,” Nishimura says. He still isn’t looking at him. “If I was going to hurt one of them and you had to stop me. That would have been okay.”

You only see monsters, Taki had said the very first time Shuuichi met her. She stood between him and Natsume with her arms spread wide, tiny and formidable and determined. Are you even looking?

“No, kid,” Shuuichi says gently. “It wouldn’t have.”

#natsumeweek #natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #natori shuuichi #natsume takashi #nishimura satoru #kitamoto atsushi #taki tooru #tanuma kaname #shibata katsumi #ogata yuriko #nyanko sensei #hiiragi #my writing #natsuyuu fic #soft ground claiming moon #(covered in blood) i did it :')

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nin-deer · 11 months

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day 5!!!!! almost there!!!!!

honestly was just experimenting w lineless and i dont hate it, so i count it as a win <3

ID under the cut!

[ID: Natsume and Shibata sitting on a grassy hill, bodies turned slightly away from each other. In the middle is a tree with no leaves, branches spreading out. Natsume is sitting criss-cross applesauce with his arms in front of his torso, hands hidden by his legs. Shibata is sitting with one leg propped up, a hand wiping away something on his face.]

#my art #natsume yuujinchou #natsume week #its in reference to shibata's intro ep #idr what he was actually wearing so i put him in the first thing google showed me lmao #natsume takashi #shibata katsumi #als;kfjal;sd i didnt actually know his full name till now #noted

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dailysmilingnatsume · 1 year

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#daily-smiling-natsume #natsume yuujinchou #natsume takashi #shibata katsumi #s03e03 #1277

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treecakes · 1 year

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Natsume Popularity Poll Results!!

Thank you for participating! These results are not exact, and are instead rounded numbers, compiled over two separate days of rounding numbers (once around four days in and once after the polls were completed, because as more votes were coming in, the less accurate the rounding would become).

Theoretically I could have checked the API of the polls, but I didn't feel like it.... so rounding it was! :') On to the results!

[ID in alt]

1st - Natsume Takashi (~208 votes)

2nd - Fujiwara Touko (~106 votes)

3rd - Hiiragi (~68 votes)

4th - Nyanko-sensei (~54 votes)

5th - Tanuma Kaname (~50 votes)

6th - Hinoe (~41 votes)

7th - Natori Shuuichi (~27 votes)

8th - Matoba Seiji (~25 votes)

9th - Natsume Reiko (~21 votes)

10th - Fujiwara Shigeru (~16 votes)

11th - Nanase (~13 votes)

12th - Yorishima (~11 votes)

13th - Taki Tooru (~8 votes)

14th - Nishimura Satoru (~6 votes)

15th - Benio (~5 votes)

16th - Urihime (~5 votes)

17th - Kitamoto Atsushi (~4 votes)

18th - Shibata Katsumi (2 votes)

19th - Misuzu (1 vote)

20th - Sasago (0 votes) :(

#natsume yuujinchou #long post

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dorothydalmati1 · 6 months

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Dr. Slump Arale-chan Season 2 Episodes 30-32: Penguin Village Grand Prix

Written by Shun'ichi Yukimuro

Part 1 storyboarded and directed by Minoru Okazaki

Part 1 animation directed by Minoru Maeda

Part 2 storyboard by Katsumi Endō

Part 2 directed by Hiroe Arakawa

Part 2 animation directed by Sadayoshi Tominaga

Part 3 storyboarded and directed by Hiroki Shibata

Part 3 animation directed by Mitsuo Shindō

#anime #dr slump #toei animation #grand prix #special

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thelemoncoffee · 6 months

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Hi hello Lead Hearts questions: I was thinking about Ellodie and if she would make hats for the other characters and that lead me to wonder what kind of hats would the cast wear if they were to wear hats?

ooooh that's a fun thought- i never thought about Ellodie making hats for the others but it would be fun. i think i can think up hats they'd all wear,but i don't think Ellodie would be the one to make alot of them due to her specializing in fancy dress hats.

Here- Everyone who doesn't have a hat, and what they'd wear:

Zenko Kairi - ascot cap, i have no explanation for this, i just think he'd look cute in one

Tamami Doku - she doesn't feel like a hat enjoyer, she'd rather wear headbands with random decorations on them. i simply cannot see her wearing a hat

Fumiko Umemoto - either a barrette or a halo hat. the Fancy Hats™ for the fancy girl.... either that or whatever hat is currently the most popular to wear

Kazuhiko Ichigo - baseball cap or a bucket hat- he's a surfer, what'd you expect?

Daiki Dekiru - cowboy hat, he'd look so silly in one and also he's a ranchboy so it fits

Neiro Shibata - it wouldn't matter what hat she wears, she'd punk it out somehow. i can see her wearing a baseball cap and beanie specifically tho

Juno Shizu - beanie or ushanka, mostly to tame the fluff (it just shoves his hair further into his face)

Takao Hagiwara - refuses to wear a hat, he put way too much effort into his hair to fuck it up with a hat.... they convince him to wear a cat ear headband instead

Masaki Futagoza - i'm just straight up stumped for him, i know he'd probably like hats but idk what kind he'd wear. i asked my friends for ideas and the answers i got were "beanie" which makes sense yeah, and "The Hat" ....whatever that means

Kasai Sachie- ya know those really floppy sunhats? yeah. either that or an ushanka, opposite seasons but both work really well for her i think

Kobe Katsumi - fedora, not cause he's a snively self righteous jackass, but because i genuinely think he'd pull it off really well... he just needs to fix the rest of his fashion sense

Asuka Seo - voted second most likely to wear a tophat to prom, only beat out by Ellodie.

Ohara Susumu - sunhat! or bonnet- something you'd imagine someone to wear to a cottagecore picnic.... does a flower crown count as a hat?

the missing people who already wear hats are Ellodie(tophat), Chiba(cap), and Hibiki(beanie) Bonus: Ellodie would offer to fix the tattering on the bill of Chiba's cap but she'd decline cause she doesn't trust Ellodie not to add unnecessary detail to it (Ellodie wouldn't dare)

#ask kai #fanganronpa #lead hearts

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wewerecore · 9 months

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CORE Pro #121 Trios Kingdom 2023 - Night Two 09/02/23 Charles Chrin Community Center - Easton, Pennsylvania Attendance: 998

Match #1

Trios Kingdom Quarter-Finals Kerry Morton/Starboy Charlie/Marcus Mathers vs. Donna del Mondo (Giulia/Maika/Thekla) Winners: Kerry Morton/Starboy Charlie/Marcus Mathers

Match #2

Trios Kingdom Quarter-Finals Big Mouth LOUD (Katsuyori Shibata/Kazunari Murakami/Manabu Hara) vs. Black Generation International (Kaito Ishida/Flamita/Yutani) Winners: Big Mouth LOUD

Match #3

Trios Kingdom Quarter-Finals The 37KAMIINA (MAO/Yuki Ueno/Toi Kojima) vs. Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Cancerbero/Luciferno/Virus) Winners: The 37KAMIINA

Match #4

Trios Kingdom Quarter-Finals Titus Alexander/Alan Angels/Kevin Blackwood vs. Just 5 Guys (TAKA Michinoku/Taichi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Winners: Titus Alexander/Alan Angels/Kevin Blackwood

Match #5

Non-Tournament Match Ren Ayabe vs. Joshua Bishop vs. Shaw Mason vs. Derek Dillinger Winner: Ren Ayabe

Match #6

Non-Tournament Match Trios Kingdom (Ethan Page/Andrew Everett/"Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams) vs. King Of Trios (Hallowicked/Lince Dorado/Trent Seven) Winners: Trios Kingdom

- During intermission UltraMantis Black presented Raychell Rose with her certificate of completion from UltraMantis Black's School of Professional Wrestling Management and Bartending and her provisional wrestling manager license. These proceedings were interrupted by Jake Something and Vincent Nothing demanding a match against Giant Baba Yaga tomorrow night. They didn't have to wait long as Giant Baba Yaga appeared puffing away on an American Rebel cigar. But Baba Yaga did not arrive alone, fresh from his win in the previous contest she was joined by Andrew Everett, who now insisted on being called by a different name. Tomorrow night it will be Something/Nothing vs. Giant Baba Yaga and Andrew The Giant.

Match #7

Trios Kingdom Semi-Finals Kerry Morton/Starboy Charlie/Marcus Mathers vs. Big Mouth LOUD (Katsuyori Shibata/Kazunari Murakami/Manabu Hara) Winners: Big Mouth LOUD (Katsuyori Shibata/Kazunari Murakami/Manabu Hara)

- Marcus Mathers was helped to the back by medical staff after his ankle appeared to give out shortly before he was submitted by Manabu Hara. Mathers' lower leg had previously been injured at the hands of folkstyle during our Pittston Tomato Festival event.

Match #8

Trios Kingdom Semi-Finals The 37KAMIINA (MAO/Yuki Ueno/Toi Kojima) vs. Titus Alexander/Alan Angels/Kevin Blackwood Winners: The 37KAMIINA

- While Titus Alexander was clearly frustrated following their elimination, with some encouragement from Alan Angels and Kevin Blackwood, Alexander was coaxed into returning to the ring to shake the hands of The 37KAMIINA. After shaking hands, Titus Alexander immediately attacked Alan Angels who had suffered the fall. By the time Kevin Blackwood realized what was transpiring, Alexander was leaving the ring and soon exited the building through the crowd.

Upcoming Shows:

CORE Pro #122 Trios Kingdom 2023 - Night Three 09/03/23 Martz Hall - Pottsville, Pennsylvania 01. Something/Nothing (Jake Something and Vincent Nothing) vs. Giant Baba Yaga and Andrew The Giant 02. NWA World Women's Championship Match: Kenzie Paige (Champion) vs. Maika 03. TrustBusters Reserve (Big Dan Champion and Joshua Bishop) vs. Fire Katsumi and Akira Juumonji 04. Torneo Cibernetico: Cancerbero/Luciferno/Virus/Flamita/Starboy Charlie/Shun Skywalker/Yutani/Bendito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Hallowicked/Adrenalina/Explosivo/Fantastico/TAKA Michinoku/Taichi/Fuego Del Sol 05. Ren Ayabe vs. Kerry Morton 06. Titus Alexander vs. Kaito Ishida 07. Athena and Queen Aminata (with Raychell Rose) vs. Donna del Mondo (Giulia and Thekla) 08. Trios Kingdom Finals: Big Mouth LOUD (Katsuyori Shibata/Kazunari Murakami/Manabu Hara) vs. The 37KAMIINA (MAO/Yuki Ueno/Toi Kojima)

CORE returns to the Good Time Theatre at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania! 09/04/23 Television taping for The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour as seen on Defy TV.

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scorpionatori · 3 years

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NatsuYuu + Yahoo Answers (rip😔🙏🏻)

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume’s book of friends #natsuyuu #natsume takashi #natori shuuichi #matoba seiji #tanuma kaname #nyanko sensei #natsume reiko #taki tooru #shibata katsumi #hiiragi #urihime #sasago #misuzu

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ror-art · 3 years

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@natsumeweek Day 1 - Nature / Nurture

shibata owning a flower shop! think itd be good for him to be surrounded by plants! also gives him an excuse to keep bringing plants and saplings to natsume and tanumas apartment and stopping by unannounced bc its ‘good for you to have lots of plants around’

also a bonus natsume since he starts working there also lol

#natsumeweek #natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #Natsume Takashi #shibata katsumi #anyone in this thread like shibata #natsumeweek 2021

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mikazukidoesart · 4 years

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@natsumeweek day 2: Past/Future

My love for crossovers is kicking in! I imagine Natsume and Nishimiya meeting each other once in their hard times as kids, then another chance encounter in the future along with their bullies turned friends.

Bonus:

#natsumeweek #natsumeweek2020 #natsume yuujinchou #a silent voice #natsume takashi #shouko nishimiya #shibata katsumi #ishida shouya #nyanko sensei #koe no katachi #crossover

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justaregulardecoratedemergency · 4 years

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if the Beanpole Gang™ stayed at shibata’s in s6ep3

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #natsuyuu #natsumeme #natsumemes #natsume takashi #tanuma kaname #shibata katsumi #is this the stupidest thing i have made so far???#perhaps #i just love how shibata is the only person natsume will unleash his Rage upon #also we love shibata and his nerdy ass cardigan #my art #mliarde

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taizi · 11 months

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soft ground, claiming moon

no other place to go

@natsumeweek 2023 day 4; calling/answering read on ao3

(previous) (next)

Shibata and Ogata arrive thirty minutes too late to witness the confrontation, juggling a ton of bags between them, but Shibata doesn’t even make it all the way out of the genkan before he’s scowling.

“Okay, we’re anxious,” he says, staring into Tanuma’s face like he’s been personally wronged by it somehow. “Why are we anxious?”

Tanuma, who got up to politely greet them at the door, does about as well as he always does under scrutiny. Which is to say, very poorly. He starts twisting his hands together. Shibata is only halfway out of the entryway and he’s already gearing up for an interrogation.

Ogata shoves her way past Shibata to meet Taki’s tackle-hug halfway, and beams at everyone else over Taki’s shoulder even as she spits out a mouthful of tawny brown hair.

Their presence isn’t exactly a calming factor, but it’s still a relief to see the two of them.

“I brought presents!” Ogata says cheerfully. She parts from Taki and collapses on top of Kitamoto in greeting in a move reminiscent of annoying sisters everywhere. Kitamoto squawks and goes down under her weight. Since Nishimura is still attached to his side, he goes down with them.

Takashi laughs at their tangle of limbs. He can feel Natori’s eyes on him, and glances over to find the exorcist watching the welcome committee with an incredulous expression.

“When you said you had everything under control, I was expecting a little more decorum,” the man says with false brightness in his tone. “Your friends understand what’s going to happen, don’t they?”

“Natori-dono,” Hiiragi says evenly before Takashi can speak.

He holds up his hands. “Right. I’m sorry.”

He looks as convinced about all of this as he was when he got here, but at least he’s sitting quietly to the side for the most part.

It’s not enough to keep Nishimura from avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. He looks very small and very sick and deeply uncomfortable to be sharing his first full moon with his favorite movie star. Which is fair, given that his favorite movie star showed up here to kill him.

Kitamoto and Taki are probably going to carry a grudge against Natori into their next lives. As it is, Taki won’t dismiss her familiars as long as Natori won’t dismiss his. Her foxes are smiling, teeth bared. It will take very, very little to convince them that they ought to take a chunk out of someone’s arm.

Sensei is back in his lucky cat form but his eyes are the deep vivid green that means trouble. He doesn’t quite manage to look menacing with the cake frosting on his whiskers but Takashi feels safer with him nearby anyway.

Ogata tugs one of her bags closer and starts digging through it, producing a small pile of stuff she’s accumulated for her friends since she’s seen them last.

“Wait, so you’re an exorcist?” Shibata says to Natori, his voice carrying skeptically across the room. “You can’t emote your way out of a paper bag, and you think you’re qualified to go hunting monsters?”

Nishimura flinches and studies the big frog stuffie Ogata gave him as if he’s going to be graded on it later. Kitamoto can’t sit any closer to him than he already is, but he looks willing to try.

Natori’s back straightens. He looks stunned. It’s a much better look on him than the grimly determined one he’s been wearing up until now.

“Excuse me?”

“Satchan has made me suffer through about a hundred of your movies. I think I’m over -qualified to critique you at this point,” Shibata says in a scornful tone, folding himself onto the cushion on Nishimura’s free side. He’s proving a point two-fold with the nickname and his choice of seat. “So I’m going to say what everybody’s thinking: it’s bullshit that you won Best Actor last year for your role in Dusk when your co-star carried that whole film.”

Okay, so Shibata has chosen violence. Tanuma must have told him why Natori is here. Takashi knows from experience that trying to stop Shibata now would be like trying to stop a trainwreck from happening with his bare hands. It’s easiest to just allow things to play out and then do damage control.

And also Takashi is still angry at Natori; letting him be bullied by a high schooler seems fair.

One of Taki’s foxes—the one called Chikao, Takashi thinks, but it’s indistinguishable from its twin Chimon, so he doesn’t actually have any idea—gives a high-pitched, yipping laugh and climbs into Shibata’s lap. He’s the only human in Taki’s circle who is anywhere near as catty as they are, which means he has their full approval.

“Hi, Chimon,” Shibata says, clearly pleased as he strokes its velvety black ears. “I’m not a chair, you know,” he adds, so no one gets the idea that he has feelings.

Natori seems to be wrestling with the clear and present urge to let himself be offended by the opinions of a teenager. Sensei is chuckling, a soft whuffling half-muffled by his dessert.

“Okay,” the exorcist finally says. “I understand why none of you are happy to see me here. And maybe I could have done things a little differently. But I hope that you all understand that I acted in what I believed to be your best interest. You know—better than most people your age—how dangerous these things really are.”

“We were there,” Taki tells him. She’s holding Tanuma’s hand, maybe for her own benefit, but probably for Tanuma’s. “We do know. We’re ready.”

“They’ve done all their witchy stuff already,” Kitamoto says. “Circles and charms and whatever else. This is definitely the most fortified temple in Kumamoto.”

“Or, like, all of Kyushu,” Shibata says.

“All of my friends on the mountain are keeping watch,” Takashi adds. “Nothing that happens is going to get past these walls.”

“It’s what happens in the walls that I’m concerned about,” Natori says through gritted teeth. “This is a stupid risk. You are half-human, you realize that? You can be hurt or killed just as easily as your friends can.”

“Not by him,” Takashi replies firmly.

“You’re much nicer on T.V.,” Ogata informs Natori with a frown.

“Natsume,” Nishimura pipes up suddenly. He’s looking past the tangle of their best friends right at Takashi. He’s still wearing Tanuma’s jacket but it’s not doing anything to stop him from shivering.

He has steadily looked more and more ill throughout the day, but now he looks horrible. His brown eyes are stark and bright in his pale face.

“I hear it,” he says very quietly.

The atmosphere changes on a dime. Natori surges to his feet, but he’s blocked from making any forward movement by Nyanko-sensei, Chikao and Chimon. Hiiragi murmurs something that Takashi can’t make out, but whatever it is convinces Urihime and Sasago not to instigate anything.

Ogata picks the frog stuffie back up from where Nishimura dropped it and pushes it gently back into his hands. Shibata starts grumbling about the tears in his sleeve from Chimon’s claws, left there from when the fox went tearing away with its twin, and how his wardrobe always gets ruined when he visits “you people.” When Tanuma waves him over to help with the charms, he gets up with great reluctance. Taki presses her hand flat against the floor and activates a few softly glowing circles.

Kitamoto hasn’t budged from Nishimura’s side and won’t be budged come hail or high water. He looks as frightened now as he did that day in the hospital, waiting for someone to tell him that his best friend was going to be okay.

Takashi kneels in front of Nishimura and offers his hands. Nishimura grabs them quickly and squeezes hard.

“It’ll be okay,” Takashi whispers.

“What if it’s not?” Nishimura’s voice is just as soft.

Takashi remembers being a child, hated for something beyond his control. He was so often abandoned that he barely knew what it felt like not to be alone. Then he moved here, into the Fujiwaras’ bright, warm house, and now he has light and warmth to spare.

But he’ll never forget how desperate he once was for any kind touch, any comforting word. He’ll never forget the difference it would have made.

“Then it’s not,” Takashi says. “But we’ll still be here.”

“Natsume, move away,” Natori calls urgently.

“Enough,” sensei shuts him down.

“Wolfy-Satchan can’t be any more difficult than Shibata when he’s in one of his moods ,” Ogata says, smiling,“and we still love him somehow.”

“This isn’t my moment, so I’ll let you have that one,” Shibata snaps. “That one .”

Nishimura curls in on himself and breathes harshly. Kitamoto is near tears but he squeezes his friend tight against his side and presses his face against Nishimura’s russet-colored hair.

“I can hear it, Acchan,” Nishimura manages between pants for air.

“So answer it already.” Kitamoto hugs him harder. “Go wherever you have to. Just make sure to come back.”

Outside, the moon reaches its peak. Beneath their hands, Nishimura changes.

#natsumeweek #natsume yuujinchou #natsume takashi #natori shuuichi #nishimura satoru #tanuma kaname #kitamoto atsushi #taki tooru #ogata yuriko #shibata katsumi #my writing #natsuyuu fic #soft ground claiming moon #one more chapter.. i can do this..

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