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dogcircle-scans · 4 years

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Natsume Yuujinchou: “Cookies to the Forest’s Entrance” Summary (Chapter 105)

Our cuties are back with more adventures!

I was trying to get this out within a week of the chapter’s release, but life happened so it took a while. ;w; Anyways, this is our first chapter after the 4 month hiatus! Perhaps to serve as a breather after the super intense Homura arc, we have a relatively short chapter (only 24 pages compared to the usual 30-40 pages) about Natsume, Tanuma and Nyanko-sensei stumbling into an old house in the middle of the forest. In some ways, this chapter felt more like a special chapter rather than a main one (don’t expect any plot or character development for this one, especially not information on the grandpa), but surprisingly, it also helps wrap up some stuff in the Homura arc (firstly, DID NYANKO GET HIS COOKIES, secondly, our poor cinnamon roll pure boi needs a hug ;w;). It still gives me the usual NatsuYuu feels, so no complaints from me! Also (I’m sorry for plugging), but if you enjoy what we do, and don’t mind giving a couple of dollars,

please buy me a coffee or two. At the moment I’m using my Kofi funds to buy raws of the manga for our scan uses, but after losing my Tumblr account, I haven’t had any new donations, so my tank is running empty (especially after buying the raws for Volume 25). ;w; If you have some spare cash and would like to help support our scan work, please help donate. You have my eternal gratitude. TwT As always, special thanks to Jessica for proofreading this for me on a Sunday!

- Niji

Chapter 105: “Cookies to the Forest’s Entrance”

While walking home from school, Tanuma accidentally steps onto a cookie, hearing it crack under his foot. He spots another cookie in the distance, and begins finding more and more of them the further he looks.

Tanuma: (It leads into the forest.) // This is just like Hansel and Gretel. / I wonder who dropped these…

Tanuma: ! // Natsume? Natsume: Huh… // Tanuma!? / Why are you in a place like this? Tanuma: You too, Natsume, what are you doing here…

Tanuma asks if Natsume might have been the one to drop the cookies, but it turns out Natsume didn’t notice the cookies at all. After recognising the cookies, he runs off, following its trail. Tanuma runs after him as well. At the end of the trail, they find a little house.

Natsume: Ah. // In a place like this… / Is it a vacant house? Tanuma: Hey, Natsume… / Do you know what these cookies are? / You looked like you were looking for something.

Natsume: …It’s nothing big. / I guess you can say I was just curious… Tanuma: Curious? Natsume: ——These cookies are…

Natsume recounts what happened shortly after he and Nyanko-sensei returned from Homura. Touko and Shigeru were extremely glad that he was able to find Nyanko-sensei, and gave Nyanko-sensei the cookies that they had kept aside for him (if you remember at the start of the arc, Nyanko-sensei wanted some pretty cookies but ran off before Natsume went to buy them). Nyanko-sensei was super happy about them too. However, when Natsume returned home from school that day, Nyanko-sensei was nowhere to be found in his room. Thinking that Nyanko-sensei might have ran off to play as usual, and that he might be going beyond Yatsuhara…

Natsume: I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I figured it would be interesting to try following Sensei at least once… Tanuma: … I see… Natsume: ...Don’t laugh. Tanuma: Haha, I’m sorry. / So, at the end of these cookies will be…

Yes, it is Nyanko-sensei.

Natsume: Found him! Tanuma: Fufu. / There’s a hole in his bag. / So that’s how the cookies fell out.

Tanuma: *sigh…* ……Natsume? Natsume: ——As I thought, I’m still a little worried about Sensei. Tanuma: Ah… / That’s right, at the White Mist Pottery* Village, he caught the eye of a strange Collector……

[*I’m gonna translate “Hakka Pottery” to “White Mist Pottery”, since I can pretty much confirm that ‘Hakka’ is not a family name lol. So, for localization sake, I am translating the whole term.]

Natsume: …There was someone who reassured me, saying, “I’ll take care of this incident, so you don’t have to worry.” // He isn’t someone who would say things without thinking, so I did think that things would be alright now. / But when I didn’t see Sensei around like this, I can’t help but feel anxious. // ...But I’m glad.

Natsume looks around.

Natsume: I guess he found this vacant house and has been idling around in it. / …Seriously, he even brought his favourite sake and sake bottle with him. Tanuma: Wow… // It doesn’t look like anyone is here, and it’s quite wide. Rather than a residence, this is more like… an arbor?

Tanuma: It’s old, / but it’s pretty. // It’s perfect as a hideaway / or as a secret base.

Natsume: A secret base… / Then we’ve done something bad, haven’t we? Since Sensei has been secretly having fun here… Nyanko: *open!* Hm hm. / Natsume and… the Tanuma brat. Natsume: Ah! Nyanko-sensei! // I’m sor- Nyanko: You came here with perfect timing. Help me out. Natsume: Huh!?

Nyanko-sensei explains that he discovered this place while chasing butterflies during his patrol. He figured that it would be the perfect place for him to take his afternoon naps, and was just in the midst of checking it out. The only issue is that the place is rather dusty, and Nyanko-sensei doesn’t have the spare time to clean the place up as he likes.

Nyanko: I’ve brought some dust cloths with me. / Just wet them in the river over there. Natsume: What— Nyanko: If we don’t at least clean this veranda, you two won’t be able to idle around either, right?

And just like that, the boys got to work.

Natsume: Geez~~~ *wipe wipe wipe wipe* // This house may be vacant, but it might have an owner, so don’t just do whatever you like, Sensei. Nyanko: Come on! / Put your backs into your wiping! Boys: Phew~~ // We’re finally doneee—

Completely exhausted, they plopped down onto the veranda, and had their rest. And as they closed their eyes—

Natsume: (What is this?) / (There’s some sort of sweet fragrance coming from somewhere.) // (Is it Sensei’s cookies?) / (No…) // (Maybe it’s flowers.) / (——It’s very) // (kind and sweet——)

Soon enough, Natsume notices that evening has already arrived, so they prepare to leave.

Nyanko: By the way, how did you two learn of this place? Natsume: How? Because your cookies had fallen out, Sensei. Nyanko: WHAT!? // *stunned* There’s a huge hole… Natsume: Shall we pick them up on our way home, Sensei?

Nyanko: …… / No, just leave them as they are. // We still have lots of maintenance to do. / Tomorrow, you two will follow this trail back to my afternoon napping spot. We will gather there.

[Did Nyanko just… sacrifice his cookies!? Omg!]

Natsume: “Maintenance”……? Tanuma: Haha, I’m sure birds would have eaten them by tomorrow, Sensei.

The following day, the two boys find the trail of cookies and arrive at the empty house.

Natsume: We’re here. Nyanko: You two are so slow! / You’re gonna be devoting yourselves to the maintenance of my drinking party spot! Natsume: Wasn’t this your afternoon napping spot? Tanuma: ——Huh? Natsume. / There’s something on the pillar there…

Indeed, on the pillar was a hand-written note, saying,

“Thank you for wiping the place. Please enjoy yourselves here.”

Natsume: Uwah! / It’s probably from the owner. (S- So embarrassing…) Tanuma: I wonder if it’s okay to just take advantage of their offer like that. / Even though we entered as we liked… Nyanko: Stop complaining! Today, we are wiping the sliding doors! / I want the moonlight and the evening sun to shine on it beautifully.

Natsume: …As an apology for Sensei coming in as he liked, we should at least clean the frame of the sliding doors. Tanume: Let’s do that. Natsume: You help too, Sensei. Nyanko: Hmph. / Just this should be enough, right?

Or so they thought.

Nyanko: *rip…*

Stunned by the tear, the two boys inspect the damage. Natsume asks if it can be fixed, and Tanuma figures that, if they bring some sliding door paper and glue tomorrow, it should do the trick. Natsume returns to the note on the pillar, and quickly jots down an apology.

“Sorry, we tore the sliding door. We will fix it tomorrow.”

Back at home, Natsume asks Shigeru for some sliding door paper.

Shigeru: ...Hm? Sliding door? Natsume: Yes… // Can I have enough for one grid? / We were staying at a place and we kind of… tore it. Shigeru: Oh. / Were you at the Tanuma’s? Natsume: Ah, no. Shigeru: It’s okay to be mischievous, but you have to keep it in moderation.

Shigeru: If it’s at home, you can break as many as you like, // but always make sure to apologize, alright, Takashi? Natsume: …… Yes.

[Shigeru is such a good papa ;w;]

As Natsume leaves the next day, Touko stops him, handing him some strawberries.

Touko: Here, give them these strawberries as an apology. // *rustle!* Do your best! Natsume: ——… // Thank you so much. Nyanko: Oh~~~ These strawberries look tasty~~~ Natsume: They are not for you, Sensei.

[And now we have our sweet mama TwT]

They continue to follow the trail of cookies (how have they not been eaten by animals yet??), during which Natsume asks if the owner might be there. Nyanko-sensei promptly answers that he doesn’t need to care so much about an uninhabited empty house.

Natsume: Don’t you start, Sensei. Tanuma: Oi, Natsume—

The three of them head to the house, and find that a new note has been attached to the pillar.

“Thank you for cleaning the sliding doors. I have a request. Could you help me plant these seeds in the garden?”

Natsume: Huh? // By ‘seeds’, do they mean this? // …They don’t sound angry. Tanuma: You fix the sliding door, Natsume. / I’ll clear the weeds over there and plant this. Natsume: Thank you, Tanuma.

Natsume: …… // (The owner of this house sure is strange…) // (Rather, it feels like…) // Hey… Nyanko-sensei…

Nyanko: HEY! / ENOUGH OF THAT! HURRY UP AND BRING OUT THE PAPER! // Let’s paste it down right away. It’s time to repair my afternoon napping spot! Natsume: ——… Yeah. // You’re right.

The three of them set down to work, and finally finished everything. Once again, exhausted, they plop onto the veranda and napped.

Natsume: (Nevertheless…) // (This is such a comfortable place——)

In his dreams, Natsume hears a man speak, and the thoughts of someone else…

Man: “——Hey there. Sorry to keep you waiting.” ??: ——It’s alright. // Always, / forever, // I will be here, waiting for you.

Natsume wakes up.

Note: As an apology, we have left some strawberries here. Tanuma: It’s quite a mysterious arbor. // It’s like we are exchanging letters with the house owner. Natsume: That’s true. Tanuma: ——Hey, Natsume. Natsume: Hm?

Tanuma: ...Nah. / See you tomorrow. Natsume: Yeah. // See you tomorrow.

And that night, Natsume had a dream.

Natsume: (There was a gentle-looking man sitting alone on top of the veranda.) / (And around him, perhaps it was the flowering season… There were so many colors as though it was overflowing with it.) Man: Ah, my beloved arbor. // I can only visit you once every year. / I can’t even maintain or take care of you. Please forgive this useless owner of yours. // This year, I’ve been busy with my family business as well. / The days where I come here provide emotional support, so I always look forward to it. // Ah, / the view here is so beautiful. // I built this here hoping that someday, / I could bring my wife, my children, and my family here to view this scenery. // But after so long, it has always just been me.

Man: I’m sorry. Even though I built you, // I’m always here alone. // I’m sorry I couldn’t make it lively. // ——Someday, // should // guests arrive here——

Natsume wakes up. The following day, he meets up with Tanuma again, and they follow the trail of cookies into the forest. Natsume wonders about all the strange things involving this situation, about the forest that was so close to his house and yet he doesn’t know much about it, about these cookies that still look great even after so long, and about the mysterious owner who never shows his face. And when they arrive at the arbor—

Flowers had bloomed across the garden.

Tanuma: What!? / Flowers!? // …This can’t all be / the seeds I planted yesterday…? // Just how did… Natsume: ——I’m guessing // this arbor made all of them bloom.

Tanuma: Huh… SFX: *rustle*

The one who wrote notes to thank them for cleaning the floor and the sliding doors might have been the arbor itself. With its memories of bygone days, it’s always been here inside the forest, waiting.

Natsume: You finally have guests coming here. / But I’m sorry that it was us.

This was such an old, old little arbor, and it felt as though it was mustering the last of its power to show them this scenery.

Nyanko: Ooh, there are strawberry flowers here too. Natsume: Tanuma. / Why don’t we take a seat at the veranda and look at this scenery for a bit? Tanuma: Huh? Natsume: Somehow, / I feel like we won’t be able to come here again tomorrow.

Tanuma: ———……… // I see——… Natsume: (——I wonder if there are buildings that can become ayakashi too.)

That was the mysterious arbor that Nyanko-sensei found. It was only a short while, but it was where two people, one beast, and another certain someone, had spent their time together. As they take a seat on the veranda, Natsume recalls the words that the owner had said in his dream.

Man: ——Someday, // should guests arrive here…

Man: Make sure to welcome them with lots of flowers, alright?

It was a beautiful and lovely, secret arbor.

“Cookies to the Forest’s Entrance” END

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #summary #tanuma kaname #Natsume Takashi #Nyanko sensei #natsume manga spoilers

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aislinceivun · 4 years

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Table of contents with summaries for The Cat and His Boy.

The summaries may include spoilers, so I don’t recommend first-time readers to check this out. I wrote this up more as a guide for those who want to re-read just specific parts of the fic rather than go over all 100 chapters again :’D

which includes me, even I can’t always tell which chapter title goes with which event, and on AO3 you can only skim through the chapter titles really xD

1. EASY – As Natsume sleeps, Madara studies the Book of Friends.

2. PLEASANT – This new body of his has some interesting reactions.

3. SIGHT – If Natsume lost the ability to see them, what would Madara do? inspired by ch10 / 1x08

4. DELICIOUS – Youkai don’t necessarily need to eat, but they can still hunger.

5. ROUTINE – Madara has a daily routine, now.

6. NIGHTMARES I – Natsume’s nightmares are not about ayakashi.

7. CLAIMED – The mid-ranks apparently noticed that Natsume smells a bit different.

8. FAMILY I – The Fujiwaras clearly adore Natsume. So why does he still have doubts?

9. SCENT – Natsume’s scent wraps around him the same way his own scent clings to the boy’s skin.

10. REPLACED – Madara can’t believe Natsume replaced him. inspired by 1x11 (which is based on special #3, though this particular moment was anime-only)

11. WARNING – The horse-faced bastard has “concerns”.

12. PROMISES – Madara may have forgotten about an old deal.

13. STRANGE – Madara isn’t familiar enough with the reproductive habits of humans to know what this means.

14. DEAL – How Madara really got that sealing mirror. inspired by ch18 / 2x07

15. UNFAMILIAR – Arguments are familiar. These other moments are… not.

16. DOWNPOUR – Madara doubles as a rain shelter.

17. CONNECTION – Madara and Tanuma share a moment.

18. BEAUTIFUL – Reiko was beautiful, Madara objectively knows as much.

19. RAGE – Red rage and bloodlust. inspired by ch26 / 3x07

20. CONCERN – Even when healing, the prospect of Natsume hurt wakes him in the night. inspired by ch27 / 3x09

21. DENIAL – Hinoe is wrong. (She isn’t.)

22. NIGHTMARES II – These days, Natsume’s nightmares are about his precious people getting hurt.

23. CHASTISED – Natori, chastised by a brat. What a sight.

24. FROZEN – Madara is immobilized by a talisman. It brings back unpleasant memories.

25. EMBARRASSING – Curse that damned squirrel!

26. LIES – They share words they both understand to be lies. inspired by the anime version of ch36 / 4x02

27. PHOTO – A familiar stranger. inspired by ch44 / 4x11

28. BRAIDS – Madara did not sign up for this.

29. APPEARANCES I – Madara briefly considers his humanoid youkai form. inspired by ch51 / 4x06

30. STUDYING – Madara didn’t want this getting out. But—surprisingly—they don’t make a big deal out of it.

31. MUSINGS – Perhaps, in another universe, Natsume Reiko and Natsume Takashi exist at the same time.

32. FAMILY II – After a run-in with a kemono resembling Madara.

33. HIGH – Natsume inhales a bit too much youkai incense.

34. WEAK – The Chuukyuu pair laments on how weak humans are. inspired by special #12 / 5x11

35. CHOICE – Madara didn’t really think about it when he went for Natsume instead of the Book. Somehow, that just makes it worse.

36. CALL – He intended to ignore her call, but… it’s been a while. Well before Reiko’s time. Why not?

37. QUESTIONS – Humans find acquiring long-term mates important, and Natsume is afraid of being left alone. So he should be looking for one, shouldn’t he?

38. UNEXPECTED – Madara finds Natsume dozing against Hinoe’s shoulder. They’re wearing matching flower crowns

39. SHIFT – “It was quiet without you.” inspired by ch70 / OVA “Party of Fun & Games”

40. STUCK – Madara is stuck in his true form for a week.

41. REASONS – Madara was waiting for Natori to say something. inspired by ch73 / 6x11

42. CRUSH – Shibata keeps stealing glances at Natsume with pink cheeks. Madara finds it incredibly amusing. inspired by ch74 / 6x03

43. BIRTHDAY – Last summer, Madara saw how the Fujiwaras celebrated, and he didn’t care.

44. MEMORY I – Many summers ago.

45. INTRODUCTION – Apparently, Natsume’s recklessness has been rubbing off on Tanuma.

46. BOUND – Even without his memories, the boy seems to be able to hear the things Madara is not saying. inspired by ch78 / 6x01

47. WISTFUL – An ayakashi has been following Natsume around.

48. SOFTENED – Natsume has affected more than he knows.

49. WARMTH – He really has no business teasing Misuzu about going soft. inspired by ch82

50. FAMILY III – These people are not his, not like Natsume is… but Madara claimed them anyway.

51. GUEST – The moment the door slides open and he smells the guest, Madara knows. inspired by ch97

52. NOSTALGIA – Madara picks up a scent he wasn’t expecting to find on Natori.

53. APPEARANCES II – Tsk. Fancy, posh bastards who only accept kemono youkai when they appear civilized.

54. BRIBES – Taki drags Madara-as-Reiko on a shopping spree.

55. TREASURE I – A truth forcibly pulled into the light.

56. TREASURE II – It’s not the Book.

57. BELONGING – Ayakashi have no place in busy cities.

58. PAST – Madara will not apologize for who he is.

59. TROUBLESOME – Why does Natsume have to have youkai and exorcist friends, again?

60. ALMOST – “Oi,” he grunts, strangely unsettled.

61. NIGHTMARES III – For him, it’s a first.

62. FEAR – Madara has realized two things.

63. MINEFIELD – A familiar faraway expression.

64. KISS – “I didn’t like it,” Natsume whispers.

65. HELPFUL – It’s not that Madara is nice. He just appreciates her culinary skills.

66. HILARIOUS – “Run that by me again?”

67. THIEF – Madara wanted those damn macarons.

68. TENDER – “I knew you cared,” he says, all soft and smiley.

69. NAMES – Names have power.

70. TEASING – Takashi only has himself to blame.

71. SEALED I – An exorcist sets her eyes on Madara.

72. SEALED II – It’s dark and tight and even worse than he remembered.

73. SHAKEN – Madara didn’t take it this bad the last time.

74. VOW – Rather than stiffening at finding Madara like this, he just frowns. “Nyanko-sensei…?”

75. STORIES – The kids chatter about their post-high school plans.

76. PICKLE – “Oh! Who’s this?”

77. STRENGTH – Apparently, some ayakashi believe him to be weak now.

78. STARSTRUCK – “It’s never occurred to either of you to tell me?”

79. SPEECHLESS – “Sensei! Are you okay?!”

80. SACRIFICE – His mind screeches to a halt.

81. GRIEF – Madara’s heart is all twisted up.

82. COMFORT – Tanuma and Taki spend the afternoon huddled up on the porch with Takashi.

83. GUILT – Madara is painfully aware that this is the result of his failure.

84. WORRY – Takashi is struggling, and all they can do is watch.

85. FAMILY IV – Watching them, Madara feels equal parts achy and warm.

86. CONDOLENCES – Matoba manages to shock them.

87. ONWARD – Life goes on.

88. SOARING – Madara could stay in the air with him forever.

89. NIGHTS – These days, nights are better. (Mornings are even more so.)

90. PLANS – “Let’s go on a trip together.”

91. FOOLS – Circumstances bring the four of them together for a night.

92. FRIENDS – Madara is fond of Takashi’s friends. Even if he’ll never say as much out loud.

93. PRESENT – Madara takes Takashi to a place he hasn’t visited in a long time.

94. CELEBRATION – “We heard you can finally drink alcohol!”

95. NOTEBOOK – Madara snoops around and reads Takashi’s first short story.

96. VISION – Another name gone. Another memory received.

97. MEMORY II – Family? He had no answers for her. Not back then.

98. ANAMCHARA I

99. ANAMCHARA II

100. ANAMCHARA III

#fic related #the cat and his boy

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taizi · 5 years

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Could you write something with natsume and the squad?? You're writing is absolutely divine!!

i wrote this before work and now im late

Kaname hesitates for a second when he realizes what city they’re going to for the weekend, but only for a second. When his friends look around at him with expectant grins, waiting to hear whether or not he’s coming along, Kaname meets them with an easy smile.

“Of course I’m going,” he says, his arms full of Natsume’s fat cat, his chest full of that squirming joy that comes from being so close to such warm people. “Someone’s got to keep all of you out of trouble.”

It’s a big city, and he hasn’t lived in it for years. What are the odds they’ll run into anyone there that he knows?

And so, naturally, it happens on the first day.

They found their inn and dropped off all their bags, and now they’re combing the streets for a place to eat lunch– they’ve made it about three blocks when a vaguely-familiar voice says, “Tanuma?”

A boy he went to middle school with is in the middle of the crosswalk, coming over to their side of the street, and he looks incredulous and delighted. Something in Kaname’s stomach sinks like a stone. He’s glad to still be holding Ponta; now he understands why Natsume is often hugging him to his chest like a shield.

“Yamamoto,” he mutters by way of greeting.

“Didn’t think I’d ever see you again after you dropped out,” the shorter boy says cheerfully.

“I didn’t drop out. I just couldn’t finish the school year.” Kaname is aware of his friends behind him, quiet and watchful, and wishes the sidewalk would swallow him up, or that there was a yokai was around that might do it. “I was– “

“Sick,” Yamamoto parrots with him, rolling his eyes. “No surprise there. It’s a wonder your parents ever let you out of the house. And what is that?”

He waves at Ponta. The lucky cat bristles. Tanuma doesn’t think it’s safe to soothe him aloud, not when it would only prompt more mockery out of Yamamoto.

As it is, his old schoolmate is viciously pleased to ask, “Is that your cat?”

“No,” Natsume says abruptly. Kaname jumps a little; he hadn’t expected Natsume to be right by his shoulder. “It’s my cat. Is there a problem?”

That’s a tone Kaname has only heard once before, when Natori tried to warn Taki off of using her grandfather’s circles, and Natsume shut that right down in a big way. It’s the same tone he’s hearing now, and he glances to the side quickly to find his best friend gazing at Yamamoto with cool, dark eyes.

Yamamoto looks wrong-footed. “Why would there be a problem?”

“You tell me,” Natsume says. “So far you’ve called Tanuma a drop-out and made fun of him for being sick as a child. If those are jokes, I don’t understand them.”

It sounds like– it almost sounds like he’s trying to pick a fight, except that isn’t like him at all. His eyes are dark and cold and somewhat narrow, the way Ponta looks when there’s something in his sights that he can eat if he’s wily enough.

Kaname looks behind him at the other four, stupefied. Adachi, Taki, Kitamoto and Nishimura all have the same expressions of wonder on their face, steeled by the prickly loyalty of protective friends.

“They’re not– I mean.” Yamamoto doesn’t seem to know what to do with Natsume. He’s always talked to Kaname like this, and years down the road is a little too long and too late to reevaluate his behavior. But it looks like he’s trying, framing his words in this new light, and some of that sharp-edged joy that always stuck to him like armor is peeling away. “Oh.”

He looks at Kaname. Kaname blinks back, equally as confused.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Yamamoto blurts. “If I’ve been hurting you– “

“It’s not his fault you did,” Natsume says, bristling like his cat. His eyes are impossibly green. He looks like something out of a folktale, melted off the page of a storybook to stand here between Kaname and someone who used to make Kaname relieved to be too ill to go to school.

“No, I didn’t mean– “ Yamamoto backpedals helplessly. Kaname feels sorry for him. His friends are like a force of nature sometimes.

“It’s okay,” he says kindly. “We were just kids. I don’t think about it very much. Until I saw you just now, I hardly remembered you at all.”

The shorter boy stares at him, one hand curling into a loose fist and uncurling again at his side. “Oh,” he says. And then, “I’ll let you, uh– sorry for interrupting all of you.” With a quick bow, he’s on his way again, bustling through the crowd on the sidewalk and turning the corner like he’d really rather run.

“Tanuma,” Nishimura says before anyone else has the chance to speak. He puts a hand on Tanuma’s arm, as serious as the grave. “I’m sorry that happened to you. And that guy was an asshole. But this is the best day of my life.”

“Same,” says Taki immediately.

“Hard same,” says Kitamoto. “I’ve never seen Natsume go off like that before in my life, and now it’s the only thing I want to see forever.”

“Shut up,” Natsume says waspishly. He looks almost jittery, as though there’s all this energy built up inside him that has nowhere to go now that Yamamoto made his escape. “That guy– Tanuma, you– “ After a brief struggle, he blurts, “Is this how you all feel when we meet someone I used to know?”

“Uhh, yeah,” Nishimura says, lifting an eyebrow. “Are you going to stop scolding me for making a scene next time we meet one of your evil cousins?”

“We’ll see.” Natsume looks up at Kaname, and all those hard, angry lines in his face relent into the spring meadow softness of him that is so utterly familiar. “Tanuma, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he says honestly. Aside from that initial dread and embarrassment, he really didn’t have time to feel anything else. “I should have– I mean, I used to live around here, and I didn’t say anything while we were planning our trip.”

“So? Natsume never does, either,” Kitamoto says, slinging a friendly arm around Kaname’s shoulders. He’s the only one of his friends tall enough to do it comfortably. “Even without the heads up, we’re here for you.”

Kaname ducks his head, pleased, and leans into the touch. He never had friends like these growing up– never thought he’d have them, either. He missed the boat, he sometimes thought; he didn’t know how to interact with people his own age, didn’t know how to introduce himself and get to know someone without stumbling over his own mouth and feeling like a fool. He always felt scrutinized but somehow never felt seen.

But now Kitamoto is here, an arm around him as casual as anything. And Taki is sliding her hand into the crook of his arm, eyes warm and caring. And Nishimura and Adachi are on either side of Natsume, peppering him with questions that seem to be calming him down under the guise of riling him up more. And Ponta is purring in his arms, a throaty rumble that sinks into Kaname’s bones and washes out the lingering bruises anxiety left behind.

And Kaname can feel himself letting go of that lonely boy he used to be. Not all at once, not quite yet, but– maybe soon.

That night, as they’re arguing over takeout menus at the inn, a few rapid knocks at the door of their room has them all glancing up in some confusion.

“Might be housekeeping?” Kitamoto says. “Tanuma, you’re closest.”

Rolling his eyes, Tanuma nevertheless deftly extracts Nishimura from his person and unfolds himself from the cushion, wandering agreeably over to the door and pulling it open to find–

“Sorry,” Yamamoto blurts in lieu of a hello, hands pressed together in gassho. “I know you super don’t want to see me right now, I totally get it. But– I backtracked earlier and realized you must have been staying at this inn and I told the lady at the front desk I was a friend of yours– sorry! I just– “

He digs into his pocket and withdraws his phone. Clutching it at his side like a token or a good luck charm, he goes on, “Can we talk? Sometime?”

Behind him, Kaname hears someone getting up. There’s a low round of “ooooh”s from the rest of the peanut gallery, which means it’s definitely Natsume.

“Give him a chance,” Adachi mumbles, tugging Natsume back into his seat. “You gave me one.”

“That’s different,” Natsume hisses back. “This is Tanuma.”

Kaname finds himself smiling as he pulls out his own phone. Yamamoto lights up a little bit, expression torn somewhere between surprise and hope.

“Sure,” Kaname tells him. It’s not even difficult to tell him. “What’s your email?”

#natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #tanuma kaname #natsume takashi #kitamoto atsushi #nishimura satoru #taki tooru #adachi kei #my writing #natsuyuu fic #prompt #anonymous #oh noooo.....another oc that im probably going to adopt........#in which the author vents thru tanuma

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owletstarlet · 5 years

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natsuyuu + singing/music

[From this themed ask meme.]

Oh, yes, good….

I’m gonna answer about musical talent instead of musical tastes (because regarding musical tastes of rural Japanese teenagers circa 2005, I dunno a fuckin’ thing, my guy).

So Natori is probably a decent singer, or has at least practiced enough to be passable at it, because it’s a marketable skill to have as an entertainer. He doesn’t do it super often, and he doesn’t particularly like or dislike it, any more than acting, just something he views as another facet of his job, releasing a few formulaic tracks here and there to go with whatever drama he just starred in… And the first time Natsume heard one of the songs he was just in a music store with his friends minding his own business and then it starts playing over the speakers and he’s torn between incredulous laughter, throwing up in his mouth a little, and being very slightly impressed. When Matoba first learns about this he does his very best to make fun of Natori for it, but that pretty much dissolves into bickering and sniping—(“You’re singing pop music now? I see there’s really no depth the last pandering face of the Natori clan won’t sink to. If you’re that desperate just get over yourself ask for help already.” “Well why are you following my career closely enough to know I’m singing pop music?” “Even I go to the mall sometimes. It really is tiresome to see your gigantic overly retouched face plastered all over every available inch of advertising space and now I have to hear you everywhere too…” etc., etc…)

Moving right along to Tanuma. I have talked about this somewhat in meta asks before but whatever– In canon (ch 84) we get the one singular scene where he’s shown sitting at a piano, talking with Natsume in what looks to be an empty music room at the school. I guess the implication is that he’s practicing for a class or club while Natsume hangs out and listens, which are both normal and plausible assumptions. But unless canon directly states otherwise I’d headcanon it as him using the pianos for self-practice (and the chance to spend time with Natsume) once nobody else is using the music room. I think unless it’s mandatory he wouldn’t opt to take a music class because even if he loves piano he would absolutely not love having to play in front of groups of people. As to clubs—lest I go off into a diatribe about my strongly mixed feelings about Japanese school clubs as an institution and their impact on the emotional, psychological and physical health of students that I’ve seen firsthand (including music clubs with some really petty nasty politics and ridiculous practice schedules in addition to the stress of performing), I’ll just say a music club would be a Bad Time for Tanuma and not something he’d likely choose for himself. Side note, he also seems to have more free time in canon than a club schedule would likely allow. It makes more sense to me that it’s something he does for himself as a relaxing hobby and has done on and off since he was little.

I’d say due to costs and him frequently ill and moving towns a lot, he probably didn’t take consistent lessons, if anything it was probably some inexpensive community center lessons he’d attend as he was able throughout elementary and junior high. I think, though, that this is a great hobby for him to have had growing up, because if you’re too sick to leave your house and lonely and bored, a keyboard you can set up on your bed (with headphones so nobody else can hear if you mess up) and a stack of old piano lesson books can be a good remedy and comfort. Tanuma never thinks to mention to Natsume that he can play, until one day he comes by unexpectedly to check on Tanuma when Tanuma had been home sick from school, and Tanuma’s in the middle of practicing in his room (sans headphones) and not realizing for a good several seconds that Natsume’s in his doorway. Tanuma’s first anxiety-brain instinct is of course oh god put it away now before you embarrass yourself or bore him but he also realizes that that would be kind of a dick move when Natsume’s come out of his way to check on him. And provided Tanuma’s not going to keel over in the middle of it, Natsume Would In Fact Very Much Like To Listen, so that’s what happens, for the fifteen or so minutes before Tanuma’s dad makes him stop to to get some rest. And objectively it does Not sound all that great, even though he intentionally chose simpler stuff he has memorized from years of repetition so he won’t fuck it up, because he’s both sick and hyper-aware of his audience and thus keeps missing notes. But Natsume’s totally enthralled because I’m sure that rarely if ever has he gotten to listen to anyone play an instrument, least of all for his ears only.

From there it ends up becoming a weekly-ish occurrence, and Tanuma’s still a little baffled that it genuinely seems to make Natsume and relaxed to hear him rather than bored and too polite to say so. In terms of musical genre, I don’t think he’d particularly favor any one over another, and that it’d come down to whatever he can successfully teach himself, and whatever (most often secondhand) sheet music he gets his hands on. His dad will often give him music books as gifts, especially if he’s been on a trip, and will look for music shops and secondhand shops with sheet music when he travels. And a big (and very wholesome) motivator for Tanuma to keep practicing, I think, is to be able to show his dad the pieces he’s learned from the books his dad found for him. And his motivation, frequency of practice, and personal enjoyment of it all get a big ol’ boost once Natsume starts listening too. He’d want to start picking new things he’d think Natsume would enjoy hearing, but it’s difficult to gauge exactly what to choose when Natsume seems to genuinely enjoy every piece he hears. (Of course, Tanuma’s conclusion would be “he really likes to hear the piano” and he would not quite make the connection of “he really likes to hear me play the piano” until much later on, even if Natsume were to tell him outright.) Still, Tanuma’s perceptive enough to have worked out which specific pieces Natsume likes best, and will make sure to play those first if Natsume has clearly had a rough day or week. (Side note, one of those pieces is the Tottoro March, because early on after moving to Hitoyoshi he mentioned he’d never seen the movie before…to which Nishimura was like *dramatic gasp* “You’re coming over RIGHT NOW and we’re fixing that.” So it’s a very warm association for Natsume when he hears the song. And Tanuma, knowing this, does try to work some more Ghibli into his repertoire because whether Natsume’s seen the movies or not—and probably not in most cases—it’s got a similar gentle tone and feel to it, and very easy to find.)

Two additional sidenotes here: one, Touko has Absolutely knitted Tanuma a scarf with a piano key design…he did not quite know how to react upon receiving it, and worried later that he made a seemingly ungrateful ass of himself for getting all tongue-tied over it but he takes very good care of it and wears it all the time. Two, an effect of having a bunch of random mostly secondhand sheet music is that a lot of the pieces are scores from random movie/anime/game franchises that Tanuma knows literally nothing about, and of course if he got it from his dad/picked it up himself because it looked like it would sound interesting he’ll try to learn it regardless. And I’m Positive that at least once Nishimura hung out with him while he was practicing and almost had a stroke when he heard Tanuma start playing a piece like this from [insert whatever series/franchise Nishimura happened to be obsessed with at the time here], only to be like “what do you MEAN you’ve never seen it and also you sound GODDAMN AMAZING but I also feel slightly betrayed okay.”

Thanks for the ask, sorry for the wait, this was a super fun question!

#megumibex #owlet's headcanons #owlet's meta #ask meme #natsume yuujinchou #natori shuuichi #matoba seiji #horrible exorcists #tanuma kaname #natsume takashi #tanunatsu #nishimura satoru #natsume's book of friends #natsuyuu

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winterune · 5 years

Text

A First for Everything

Summary: A day after Natsume’s birthday and his friends prepare a party for him.

@natsumeweek 2019 Day 2. Prompt: Adventure/experience

Happy belated birthday, Natsume! I planned to write something yesterday but couldn’t fit it into the prompt, so here is my birthday fic for our lovely boy, Natsume ^^ (Btw I’m setting the fic on Natsume’s 2nd year of high school)

Read on AO3.

~*~*~*~*~

“A karaoke place?” Natsume asked as he read the sign of the building they were about to enter, dread filling his heart. Nishimura was grinning from ear-to-ear beside him.

“What are we doing in a karaoke place?” Natsume asked slowly, his attention shifting to friend, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“Of course it’s to celebrate your birthday,” Nishimura said matter-of-factly. Natsume winced slightly, already guessing that would be the answer. “I mean, you practically dropped a bomb on us yesterday when you said it was your birthday and we had no time to buy presents let alone give you a proper party—”

“But that’s why I asked you all to come to the party Touko-san planned,” Natsume protested, because really, they didn’t need to go all this way.

He never even had parties before. He had tried to stop Touko from planning one, but Touko was persistent and she wouldn’t budge. Natsume figured they would have a normal, modest party at home, but instead, Touko had gone all out with the dishes and Shigeru had bought a really delicious strawberry cake from a bakery near his workplace and both of them had insisted Natsume invite all of his friends. And yet, when he told them all about it yesterday, everyone was dumbstruck and none of them wanted to come, saying how they needed to go on an immediate gift-shopping and that Natsume had to keep the next day free of any schedule.

“That was your quality time with your family, Natsume,” Kitamoto piped in. “We,”—Kitamoto emphasized, his finger moving around the circle of four boys—“have to have our own party.”

So here they were, in front of a karaoke place. Nishimura and Kitamoto pulled Natsume inside, half forcing him to follow. He glanced at Tanuma beside him, who also had a somewhat worried look on his face.

“Did you know anything about this?” Natsume whispered when Nishimura and Kitamoto had gone off to book a room at the reception.

“I knew they were planning something, so yeah I guess? We couldn’t a reach a decision yesterday so they decided to take the matter to their own hands and told all of us to go home,” Tanuma explained.

By all of us, he meant Taki and Sasada too. The girls hadn’t arrived yet. They had separated away from the group when they spotted a cute little store by the street and told the boys to go first.

Natsume was nervous. He had never been to one of these places before. Before living with the Fujiwaras, he had heard his classmates would sometimes talk about going to one after school. In his mind, this place was loud, and dim—a place where people hung out. Now that he was really here, he realized it wasn’t exactly was he had thought it was, but still it made him felt out of place.

Maybe they should have changed out of their school uniform first. Right when school was over, they had dragged him away and boarded a train to the next town over, never saying once where they were going.

The entrance doors slid open and in came Taki and Sasada, right around the time Nishimura and Kitamoto finished booking their room.

“Did you buy anything?” Kitamoto asked.

“Sure did!” Sasada replied, lifting a small pink bag to the air.

The attendant came over and told them their room was ready. But just as they were about to follow him, Taki suddenly said that she needed to go to the bathroom and Sasada told everyone to go first. So the boys left them, and with each step, Natsume felt his heart become heavier.

He never had a reason to come to this place even though he was curious. But, did he really have to sing?

***

A couple dim lamps lit the room that was big enough to fit 6 people. A large TV screen on one side, a set of red couches on the other, and a coffee table in-between. They took their seats and Kitamoto and Nishimura sang the first song, a pop song that Natsume had never heard of. Natsume glanced at Tanuma when he noticed his friend was tapping his foot to the rhythm. Tanuma shrugged with a resigned grin. “They’ve been playing the song everywhere it just kind of stuck in your head after a while,” was what he said.

Even so, Natsume had never once heard the song before. Should he watch more TV? Or go out to places more—places that didn’t involve youkai? Because that was it: on almost every day of his daily life, there was always a youkai involved. Be that Nyanko-sensei, or the Dog Circle, or some random youkai seeking to have their names returned or to take the Book for themselves. If not, one way or another, Natori would appear in his life, or he would somehow get entangled with the exorcists.

Seeing his friends singing and swaying to the rhythm of the song, he realized once again that his life was far from a normal one.

When Taki and Sasada joined them, they were indignant that the boys hadn’t let Natsume pick the first song. “It’s his party, for God’s sake!” Sasada exclaimed.

“No—No, I’m good,” Natsume stammered, flustered. “You guys just…sing first.” He tried his best to smile but he knew his smile was strained. It was one thing that he couldn’t sing, but what was he doing in a karaoke when he probably didn’t know any of these songs? He couldn’t possibly tell them that, after all they had gone through to plan this out.

Sasada glared at Nishimura and Kitamoto and Natsume had half a mind to stop a fight on the brink of exploding when Taki said, “Well, if that’s what you want…what if we let Natsume-kun sing last?”

Natsume whipped his head toward Taki, eyes wide, jaws slightly ajar. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at his shocked expression.

“Save the best for the last, as they say,” Tanuma agreed with a nod.

“Wha—?” Natsume’s head whirled toward Tanuma this time, and before he could put any cent into the conversation, Sasada was already clasping her hands together and said, “That’s a great idea!”

Beside her, Nishimura was scowling and he said to the microphone, “That was our idea too, you know.”

“Wait, you didn’t say anything about that!” Natsume protested. He had thought if he didn’t speak up and just let everyone had a good time, they would forget that he hadn’t sing anything.

“What are you saying, Natsume? Of course you’re singing,” Kitamoto said. “There’s no way the birthday boy doesn’t sing in his own party.”

“No, but, really, I don’t—you don’t have to—” He hated himself that he couldn’t even form a proper sentence. His friends probably thought he was being too modest, and maybe he would be if he wasn’t tone deaf, but in truth, Natsume really didn’t know what song he would pick and he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his friends.

But Sasada wasn’t having any of it and she brought her face to Natsume’s eye level, a frown on her face. “Natsume-kun,” she said. Natsume jerked at Sasada’s tone, as if she was scolding him. “This is your birthday party.” But then she smiled and said, “Live a little.”

Live a little.

The simple words touched something deep in Natsume. Having it ingrained in his mind and body for years, Natsume had grown to live a cautious life. Stay low. Don’t pull attention to yourself. Do what everyone tells you to do. You’ll avoid half of the trouble you’ll bring.

“O—Okay,” he mumbled quietly.

Maybe, he should live a little. For once, maybe he could stop thinking about youkai and the trouble he would cause his friends. For once, maybe he could try living in the present and enjoy the moment. Seeing his friends standing on their feet, singing songs he didn’t know, he found himself swaying with the rhythm from time to time. They would laugh at some of the song choices and giggle at off-key notes. They would choose songs everyone knew to sing together and before long, Natsume was already joining in the fun that he almost forgot his time to sing was almost there. So when Tanuma asked what song he wanted to sing, Natsume took a moment to realize he still didn’t know what song to choose.

In the end, he went with a really old children song he remembered from when he was a child and his friends chuckled at his choice.

“Sorry, I don’t know any other songs,” Natsume explained with a sheepish smile, standing in front of all of them. “It’s my first time to a karaoke and I never sang before so, sorry if I’m not good.”

“Wait,” Nishimura said, a hand up in the air. “This is your first time in a karaoke?”

Natsume nodded.

“And you never sang before?” Sasada asked.

Natsume shrugged.

His friends all looked at one another and he expected them to burst out laughing but instead, they shared smiles and grins, and then Kitamoto said, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We’d have brought you here earlier.”

“Well, there’s a first for everything, right?” Tanuma added.

They were right, as usual. The song started and Natsume tried his best to follow the lyrics. He stumbled in a few places but picked up his pace as the music slowly coaxed something out of his memory—of years and years ago, sitting in front of a television on a Sunday morning, a cartoon being shown.

It had been quite a popular show in its time and everyone knew the song. After a while, they joined in and suddenly, Natsume felt tears pricking his eyes. He never had a normal life and asking for one might be impossible, what was with all the youkai following him wherever he went. But being there, singing with people he could call his friends, made him think that it wasn’t truly out of reach.

All of a sudden, the lights went out with a crash and the girls plus Nishimura screamed.

“The hell?!” Nishimura shouted. It seemed he had tried to stand up so suddenly his knee hit the coffee table with a loud thud and he crashed back onto the couch, cursing under his breath. Everyone were talking over everyone else while Natsume stayed where he stood, unable to move, his hand gripping the microphone until his knuckles went white.

A youkai?! his mind frantically thought.

“Wait, everyone, calm down,” Tanuma said over the noise. “Taki, can you try the switch?”

Taki did, reaching up to the lamp switch above her. It didn’t work.

“Where’s the call-for-service button,” Kitamoto muttered to himself. There were buttons on the table and he reached out to punch whatever buttons he could find. Nothing happened.

A few minutes passed without any signs of the light turning back on, and Nishimura was heard muttering, “I’m getting a refund for this,” when suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Taki was closest to it, so she stood up, and opened it slightly.

The staff on the other side was saying how it’d take several more minutes to have the electricity back up. They left after they apologized and silence fell.

“Well, this sucks,” Kitamoto said.

“I’ll go outside for a bit,” Tanuma piped up.

“I’ll go with you,” Taki joined in.

Both of them left and the four of them were once again trapped in darkness. Natsume had gotten back to his seat and Sasada had turned on the light on her phone so they could at least see each other.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on their door again and Sasada stood up, saying how it must be the staffs with more news on the sudden blackout. But just as Sasada opened the door, the two people from the other side suddenly sang a Happy Birthday song and Natsume looked up, surprised.

Taki was entering the room with a little round chocolate cake on her hand, the candles 17 propped up on the surface. Tanuma and Sasada were suddenly singing the song, as well as Nishimura and Kitamoto who had stood up to stand and sing beside the others. Natsume was speechless.

The song ended and Natsume received the cake from Taki. “Make a wish,” she said.

Natsume still couldn’t process what was happening. “Did you plan all this?” was the first question he asked.

“Not the blackout, no,” Tanuma said.

“It kind of set up the surprise easier, huh?” Kitamoto added.

“But, when did you—?”

“Remember when I went to the bathroom earlier?” Taki asked. “Yeah, I was asking the staff if they could keep the cake for a while.”

“We bought it when we separated a while back,” Sasada said.

But he didn’t see any sort of box that even resembled a cake when they entered the building.

“Come on, the details don’t matter!” Nishimura said impatiently. “Make a wish! Then we’ll be able to eat the cake.”

Sasada slapped Nishimura across the head and it was such a mundane scene of Sasada and Nishimura fighting and arguing that Natsume found himself laughing. There was nothing to wish for because all his wish were already in front of him. His first surprise party with his first friends and his first time in a karaoke. A truly normal life might be impossible for him, but it was in moments like this where he could feel like he was any other seventeen-year-old boy.

~ END ~

#natsume yuujinchou #natsumeweek #natsume week #natsumeweek 2019 #natsume fanfic #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my story

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fuanteinasekai · 5 years

Note

Ur posts made me realize just how unintentionaly insensitive Taki is about Natsume especially compared to Tanuma & how the anime keeps erasing it. Tanuma who's as slender as Natsume,just taller, was added to Takis episode where Kai thought Natsume was after him & his friends called him names like beanpole which depressed Natsume. Tanuma & Taki laughed at him but in the manga it was only Taki. Tanuma however in Shibata chapter was: Natsume is not a beanpole! at same time Natsume defended him too

Feel better soon! A moment toned down & cut in half is, 1st time Natsume teased Tanuma & Tanuma teased right back in ch 66-67. Anime is more gentle,Natsume is sweet & Tanuma is mostly suprised & little embarassed. Manga Natsume's expression is priceless, SMIRK, & Tanuma's too, "somehow that really pisses me off". Then Tanuma's teasing, his HEH~ looked very pleased that the girl run away from Natsume & he also blushed along with Natsume who was flustered.Ofc they cut it, but its about women too?

Hello, nonnies, I hope it’s okay I put these together! I felt they were sort of related.

First of all, I forgot but you’re right, Nonny1! Taki really did think that was hilarious. She’s literally shaking, trying to hold in her laughter. At least she tried? But this is a great example of how Taki was never the delicate, sensitive flower the anime tries to make her. Cookies ≠ delicate.

Kai is apologizing here for calling Natsume “a pervert, a beansprout, and a cutting board.” (The depression part was earlier.) It’s really kinda genuinely terrible? Tanuma has teased Natsume before, so I don’t want to completely rule out him laughing at something this absurd, but you’re right he also got offended at a very similar insult: Shibata’s ひょろひょろ is a variation on Kai’s friends’ ひょろ男. The former means “tall and skinny” in a gangly, awkward way, and the second means the same thing but attached to the word for “male”. So basically, “scrawny” vs “scrawny-boy.” This is what was translated as “beanpole.” It’s actually quite sweet that they got offended on each other’s behalf, isn’t it? Natsume is very sensitive to the “skinny” remarks, but he was more upset at the idea that they were directed at Tanuma.

Interestingly, I feel like this story was actually peak Natsume/Taki. It had that scene where Natsume was watching Kai with Taki, and wondered whether he would “ever come to care for people earnestly” or “ever be able to make a family.” He clearly doesn’t come to any conclusion about who he would do that with, but given the context of Taki and Kai, it’s easy to see how it might be subtextually pointing at Taki as future wife.

But that never goes anywhere, and the further the manga gets along after this, the more Taki sort of… retreats relative to Tanuma.

In fact, the timing of this is really interesting to me, because it’s literally the very next story after Tanuma’s special. In the author’s notes for that special, Midorikawa-sensei describes the way Tanuma and Natsume don’t exactly behave according to plan:

久しぶりに田沼の話です。もうすっかりつうかあの中になってると思って描き始めてみたら思っていたより二人ともモジモジしていました。笑ってあたりさわりのない話をする夏目は描き慣れているのですが咄嗟の判断をしそこなう夏目が描けて楽しかったです。妖に関わってる時の夏目は田沼のところに来ないので、必然的に描く機会の少ないキャラクターですが描けてよかったです。

“It’s been a while since we had a Tanuma story. I thought [Tanuma and Natsume] would already be on completely the same wavelength, but when I tried to start drawing [the story] they were both more shy than I thought. I’m used to drawing a Natsume who smiles and takes care not to offend, but I enjoyed being able to draw a Natsume who makes bad snap judgments. Natsume doesn’t visit Tanuma when he’s involved with yōkai, so I was glad to be able to draw a character that I inevitably don’t get many chances to draw.”

Yes, you read that correctly. She literally started the story without realizing how awkward they were going to be. Makes me wonder what the original story was going to be. Oh, and モジモジ means “hesitant” or “restlessly unable to do things one wants to, due to reserve or embarrassment.” I thought “shy” was more natural in this context. It’s very similar to the concept of そわそわ “restlessness” in that trolly post-Omibashira author’s note, but more appropriate for boys who haven’t known each other long. Also, the “not on the same wavelength” is the same. So really, that later note is basically an update saying “STILL AWKWARD. STILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGING WHY.”

Anyway.

Considering the timing, and considering how much the above reads like a crush, part of me can’t help but wonder if the Taki and Kai scene was an experiment by Midorikawa-sensei to see whether she could get another character to compete with that tone without forcing it. (She couldn’t.)

@Nonny2: Thank you! I’m feeling much better now.

I hadn’t re-watched the whole ep for comparison, so I had missed that the second part was gone. So much lost! Manga Tanuma almost looks like he thinks it’s cute that Natsume can’t handle children, though technically he’s snerking. It’s the same face (and sound) Natsume makes when he goes “pfft” at Taki’s cross-dressing photo.

For what it’s worth, the dialog in that “You’re really popular, Tanuma” scene is actually the same, though as you say the anime softened up the delivery. Anime Natsume almost looks shy, but Manga Natsume looks evil! lol The scanlators and the subtitlers just handled the translation differently. (The official manga translation… didn’t even try. ) A couple of things:

The word Natsume uses for “popular” is モテる. This is slightly untranslatable as there is no direct English equivalent. The literal meaning is similar to “you’ve really got it” and it denotes a specific type of popularity. There’s a character in another manga who translates this himself as being “BIG.” It’s a really funny scene where it’s translated this way, but the point is モテる is kind of a rock star sort of popularity. It’s generally associated with the opposite sex due to heteronormativity, but even outside of that it can refer to non-sexual popularity as long as there’s a suggestion that people make a fuss over you. In this context, I think it’s clear that Natsume is pulling on the heteronormative meaning because, well… He’s basically saying “You’re really popular with the ladies!” except the ladies are Tanuma’s aunt and a grandmotherly figure. Little snot. haha

The part where the translations diverge is 腹立つ which literally means, er, your stomach is rising. “Get angry” is the default translation (think of the way your stomach clenches when something sets you off), but in context I think it makes more sense to go with “to be offended.”

So:

“You’re really popular with ladies, Tanuma.” [Evil Smirk]“Uggghhhh. That’s kind of offensive.” *Note “ugh” is actually “crap” but it doesn’t flow as well in English.

It’s basically the equivalent of saying “you’re a jerk” to a friend who’s messing with you, but just to acknowledge their teasing and not because you’re actually mad.

It reminds me of someone—I don’t remember who—saying that you know a Japanese person is your friend when they start making fun of you. We really don’t see a lot of that with others, do we? He’s comfortable enough to bicker with Nishimura and laugh when he’s ridiculous, and Taki is arguably teasing when she gives him his Awkward Photo where he’s “dressed up all cute.” But I can’t remember him actively teasing anyone but Tanuma. Natsume’s so used to trying to be super-polite to appease everyone, he must be really stepping outside of his comfort zone to take a social risk like that. It really shows how much they trust each other.

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feverhalo · 7 years

Text

@itsasign said:

"That's the third time you've stumbled in the last ten minutes!" — Nishimura says to Natsume, whose face is pale with only two red spots dotting his cheeks. (I just found your AO3 so excuse me XD You write for Natsume Yuujinchou bless you ♥)

This has so much potental to be adorable, I really hope I got at least something going right.

Thanks for sending a prompt! and I think its the first official Natsume one! :0

Wineberry Pastries /cheesy title

“Oi, Natsume!” Nishimura shouted across the forest path. Natsume turned, his vision spinning slightly to meet eyes with his friend. “That’s the third time you’ve stumbled in the last ten minutes! You aren’t getting sick again are you?”

“I think my shoe laces are untied,” Natsume gave that half smile of his. He looked embarrassed, color high on his cheeks and even dusting his ears. Nishimura sighed dramatically and Kitamoto gave him a whap about his head. From where he stood, Natsume could hear the gentle scolding about not embarrassing friends.

“Tie them up and come over here,” Taki called to him, her head popping up above the gentle slope of a hill on the other side of the path. “There are huge bushes with wineberries over here!”

“I’ll be right there,” Natsume stooped, he held his hand out to a small forest spirit standing near his foot. He has startled it and it had darted out and flitted between his feet screeching nonsense at him. Perhaps it made sense, but from up at his full height, and with his head swimming as it was, it was hard to understand. He whispered down to it, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. Please be careful, I’m going to leave you to your place now.”

Natsume shook his head, words were harder to place right now. He felt like he wasn’t getting his message across. The small spirit lifted its leafy parasol and chirped up at him some more, shaking a small fist. Natsume tapped his finger to the acorn top hat it wore and brushed his finger down the front of its petal-scaled tunic.

“I am really sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you. Its not safe near the paths, though.” He gave his laces a tug before straightening after the spirit seemed to calm itself. It gave a small huff and tugged at its clothing before dispersing into a small plume of soft peach and violet petals and blowing further into the forest.

“Na-tsu-me!” Nishimura called up to him in a sing-song voice, “Hurry it up! We’ll pick the bush clean by the time you get here.” Natsume started forward, his legs felt weak, but they’d sit soon. He ran to the edge of the slope and let his momentum slide him down the dewy grass.

“I’m here,” He panted lightly, “Don’t eat them all before we get back! I promised Touko-san I’d bring some back for pastries.” He frowned and plucked the berry Nishimura was about to eat from his fingers.

“Hey! Taki! Kitamoto! Look at this-!” Natsume popped the berry into his own mouth and half smiled, “Why-! You- Natsume, you’re too cheeky sometimes.”

“That’s right,” Taki spun with a flourish of excitement, “You said she would let us help bake if we brought some back. We should make sure we get enough to make very sweet tarts!”

“No, no, no-“ Kitamoto wagged his finger, “Berries are way better toppings for cakes. A light cake.”

Natsume chuckled, he felt a chill wash over him and shuddered with it. He was happy to have his classmates enjoying themselves in his presence, a little chill or exhaustion wouldn’t be enough to get in the way.

“What do you think, Natsume?” Taki paused in her pilfering of the little red berries from the bush. “Tarts or cake?”

“What does Tanuma like more?” He paused, touching a hand to his face as he considered. Tanuma had to sit out on the expedition today, he had caught a fever and was still trying to shake it. Touko-san suggested making the boy something sweet to bring his spirits up as he was starting to get his appetite back with getting better.

“He likes cakes,” Kitamoto piped up. He slung an arm around Nishimura’s neck, “Right?”

“Cakes, for sure. Pudding too.” Nishimura nodded. He rubbed at his nose to hide his sly smile. Natsume shook his head at everyone trying to secure their favorite treat as the answer.

“Maybe a sweet bun would be best,” Natsume knelt with a wave of dizziness, he started picking some of the lower berries to avoid suspicion. “He is recovering, something too sweet might not sit well. It would be more responsible.”

“Always responsible with you,” Nishimura shrugged, “But I guess it is up to Touko-san. She is the one running the show- I have no idea how to bake anything.”

“Aaah, good point,” Kitamoto crossed his arms, “I really only know how to make pancakes. And that’s not really baking either.”

“Its her kitchen, so of course she would be in charge,” Taki knelt down next to Natsume to help pick some more. They had a nice little pile of berries in a fair-sized container she put down between them. A second container with significantly less was a few feet away at the other side of the bush.

Natsume nodded. He felt his mind go blank. The conversation buzzed around him, and he let himself get lost in picking the ripe little fruits from the branches. He felt the warmth in his face and at the back of his neck and realized he probably caught the fever off of Tanuma.

“Natsume?” Taki’s voice finally broke his haze with a giggle, “Come on, I think we have enough now. That’s near overflowing.”

“Ah, sorry.” He stood up and wavered a moment before stumbling back a step.

“Legs asleep?” Kitamoto joked. Natsume gave a noncommittal hum in response.

“Natsume?” Nishimura grabbed onto Natsume’s elbow to steady him, “you okay?” He frowned.

“Sorry,” Natsume rubbed a hand across his eyes. He felt so exhausted all at once and felt someone pull the container from his loosening grip. “I feel a little dizzy.”

“Aah,” Nishimura pressed the back of his berry stained fingers to Natsume’s forehead, “You’re warm!” Natsume could only give a lopsided smile to the audible frown in Nishimura’s voice.

“What?” Taki sounded concerned.

“I’m okay, I stood too fast-“

“No, you’ve caught a fever too.” Nishimura tugged on his elbow gently, “come on. Lets get back.”

Touko was worried when Natsume’s friends were the ones to call out on entering. She entered the hall, finding them guiding him to the kitchen table. She followed and fretted over him- he had gone so pale on their walk back and it made his red flush stand out all the more. He looked sunburned, and the cloudy sky outside contrasted so much with that idea it was nearly heartbreaking. Natsume had lost his energy and just rested his head on his folded arms at the table.

Taki got a glass of water for him, while Touko raided the cupboard for the thermometer and offered apologies. Nishimura reassured her it was fine, they should be sorry for keeping him out so long in this state. Kitamoto just stood by Natsume, rubbing his hand up and down the other boy’s bent back as he rested against the table. Natsume insisted, as slurred by exhaustion as it was, that they should all bake anyway.

The others decided they could compromise, and Natsume found himself resting on the sofa in the dim living room while the sounds of people busy in the kitchen drifted around him. Touko made sure he put on an extra pair of socks and brought down one of the comforters from upstairs to wrap around him while he dozed. The warm scent of fresh pastries woke him up after a while, and Taki was just moving to sit between Nishimura and Kitamoto at the other side of the low coffee table. She had placed a plate in front of him with a still-warm pastry on it.

“It should be cool enough to eat now, if you’re feeling up to it.” There was a glass of water and some cold and flu tablets beside Natsume’s plate as well. He nodded, but stayed where he was, sleepily watching his friends have a hushed conversation around him.

Natsume realized he had dozed off again when he heard them say their goodbyes, and thank Touko for lending her kitchen and help to bake the treats. They left, promising to take Tanuma some of the pastries before heading home, and to please let Natsume know they hoped he would feel better soon.

He blinked his eyes open when Touko ghosted her hand under his bangs to feel his forehead, and she apologized. Natsume hummed, he felt too warm and comfortable to do much else.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume sickfic #sick natsume #takashi natsume #tooru taki #satoru nishimura #atsushi kitamoto #fh fic #prompt fic #sickfic

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outtacommission · 7 years

Note

Natsume returns several names before going to school. Giving back so many so quickly has exhausted him & at school there seems to be a bug going around. Natsume catches it & nearly passes out on Tanuma as they're walking home.

omg i cranked this out p fast for me. it’s 3.2k!!

The numbers on the blackboard blur in and out of focus no matter how hard Natsume stares and blinks at them. The teacher is working through math problems and he really needs to pay attention, but the pain is making it so difficult.

He supposes he should’ve listened to Sensei and stayed home today. When he’d woken up that morning with a sore throat, he was convinced he could tough it out—he didn’t want to make anyone worry unnecessarily, and he’s already taken so many sick days. But now he’ll admit he probably should have taken another one. His health has been declining steadily since he got out of bed, and he knows that by now he’s far too sick to be at school. He should really go to the nurse… But that would mean raising his hand and asking to be excused, and then actually walking all the way to the nurse’s office, and then having the nurse call Touko-san, and none of that sounds appealing at all. The day is almost over anyway. He’ll just wait—no need to trouble anyone.

He blinks owlishly and tries to resist groaning aloud. His throat hurts something awful. Every time he swallows it’s like a razor being dragged down swollen, tender flesh. His head is heavy and his body aches and he’s so, so cold sitting there beside the window. He longs for the muffler Touko had wrapped around his neck that morning, and maybe a mug of hot tea. The thought of walking home in this condition through the snow and ice makes him drop his head onto his folded arms.

He supposes he should have seen this coming. There’s been an infection going around and he’d hoped it would pass him by, but of course it hadn’t. Kitamoto was the first of their friends to come down with it, and Tanuma hadn’t been far behind. Natsume had been pretty healthy recently; it had been a while since he’d had a run-in with a spirit that impacted his health. But of course he couldn’t hope for that to last too long.

This illness may not be caused by spirits directly, but he fully blames it on all the visitors that came to his room during the middle of the night last week. The sudden onslaught of them that had arrived practically knocking down his window was puzzling, and Sensei has told him more than once that he shouldn’t return so many names in such a short span of time, but of course Natsume couldn’t say no when there was a tiny rabbit spirit with huge, teary eyes looking up at him so imploringly. He hadn’t even been given a choice when an algae spirit kept knocking on his window and refused to return later. The rest came after Natsume was wide awake and the selfless part of him just didn’t want to turn them away. He’s never been good at enforcing his boundaries.

The exhaustion that came afterward had been incredible. He fell asleep immediately and slept through Touko calling him the next morning. He felt bad when she had to come all the way up to his room to wake him up. She was, unsurprisingly, worried by how fatigued he was, but he’d assured her he was alright and went to school regardless.

It seems he’s paying a heavier price for it now. If he could get a decent night’s sleep, maybe his immune system would do a better job of warding off contagion.

“Natsume? Hey, Natsume.”

Natsume’s head snaps up instantly, an apology ready on his lips, but all he sees is Nishimura peering at him with a worried crease between his brows. When he looks around, the classroom is mostly empty. A few students are milling around talking, but most are already out the door.

Class is…over?

A confused, choked noise leaves his mouth and his hand automatically shoots up to his throat as if it will soothe the stinging ache there.

“You okay, Natsume?” Nishimura says, looking genuinely concerned.

Despite definitely not being okay, Natsume nods groggily.

“You were fast asleep.” The boy tilts his head, a very uncharacteristic frown taking up his face. He stares wordlessly for a moment, and Natsume squirms under the scrutiny. He gets these looks too often from his friends. Before he can twist away, Nishimura reaches out and presses his palm against Natsume’s forehead. “Oh, no,” he says, more disappointment than surprise in his voice. “You’ve caught it too, haven’t you?”

Frustration boils in Natsume’s gut along with a growing nausea. He had really been hoping to slip out and get home before anyone could cause a fuss. Well, there’s no point in trying to hide it now. He looks up at Nishimura sheepishly and tries to smile. “I…I think I have.”

His hand is immediately on his throat again. His voice sounds hoarse and painful, a rough whisper that grates against his enflamed esophagus. Talking hurt.

Nishimura winces. “You sound awful. And you’re burning up—you should really go home.”

Natsume nods and bends down to collect his bag. “Y-yeah.”

“Do you need someone to go with you? You don’t look too steady…”

“I’ll be okay.” He grins, but he’s not sure if it looks reassuring or more like a grimace. “Thanks, Nishimura.”

The other boy sighs like he’s exasperated. “At least let me walk you to the front gate.”

Natsume doesn’t have the energy to resist. Once they’re in their shoes and coats and he’s blessedly bundled up in his wool muffler, Nishimura walks outside with him, keeping a careful and obvious watch.

Truthfully, Natsume doesn’t feel very steady. The fever’s making him dizzy and the wintry breeze makes him tremble like a leaf and his stomach is beginning to ache. He probably shouldn’t try to walk home on his own, but he’s sure he’ll manage. He’ll have to.

Beside him, Nishimura suddenly stops and waves an arm over his head. “Hey! Tanuma! C’mere for a sec!”

Natsume goes rigid. Tanuma is the last person he wants to see right now. He’d already been on Natsume earlier about taking precautions against the illness going around, since he’d been one of the first to catch it. He had only been able to return to school recently—it took most people a mere few days to recover from, but Tanuma had been knocked flat on his back for a solid week. Every time Natsume tried to visit him while he was ill, he’d been turned away. Tanuma-san said his son didn’t want Natsume exposed any more than he had to be, and Natsume wasn’t surprised. They were both far too familiar with illness.

If Tanuma finds out Natsume caught it regardless, he’ll just worry needlessly. Natsume doesn’t want him to worry.

“Nishimura,” he rasps quietly, tugging on his friend’s sleeve. “Please don’t say anything to him. I’m begging you.”

He looks at him strangely for a beat too long, and then sighs again in the same exasperated manner. “You two are so weird.”

Natsume only gives him a tiny smile. “Please.”

It’s at that moment that Tanuma walks up to them, grinning brightly. Despite himself, Natsume’s stomach flips in his gut. Tanuma still looks a bit pale, but healthy overall, and he exudes a kind of ethereal beauty in the white of winter with snowflakes drifting lazily around him, catching in his dark hair and eyelashes.

Natsume drops his gaze to the ground when he feels his face heat up uncomfortably.

“Hey,” Tanuma says. “What’s up?”

Nishimura, as usual, doesn’t miss a single beat. He claps both of them on the shoulders and gives a big grin. “I just thought the two of you should walk home together, since you live out the same way.”

Natsume resists the urge to cover his face with his hand.

Tanuma blinks. “Uh… Sure. Okay. If Natsume wants to.”

Natsume opens his mouth to protest (and hope he can make his voice sound somewhat normal), but Nishimura throws an arm around his shoulders before he can get a word out. “He’d love to! He was just telling me how he missed you while you were out sick.” Without a hint of shyness, he grabs both Tanuma and Natsume’s hands and brings them together, wrapping Tanuma’s long fingers around Natsume’s shorter ones. “Make sure he gets home safely, okay, Tanuma?”

Tanuma, whose cheeks have lit up a burning red, merely nods.

Nishimura runs off with a wave. The two boys are left frozen by the school gate, hand in hand, and Natsume can’t move. His heart flutters rapidly in his chest, alarm coursing through him, every sense screaming that he needs to break this contact because Tanuma probably doesn’t want it and he can’t let on that he’s ill. But Tanuma’s hand is so warm around his…

No sooner had the thought entered his head than Tanuma tenses and lets go. Natsume can’t help but feel a little disappointed when his fingers are once again exposed to the icy air. The taller boy laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck. “Well, um… Shall we get going? I mean, you don’t have to walk with me if you don’t want to…”

Nishimura sure has put them in an awkward position. Natsume looks down again, hoping his face isn’t as flushed as it feels, whether due to fever or embarrassment. “No, it’s…”

And just like that, his focus is once again brought back to how awful he feels. He swallows and tries not to let pain show in his face, but it’s getting worse. His throat feels like it’s swollen to the size of a pencil eraser, raw and sore and miserably enflamed. The blurriness hasn’t left the edges of his vision and his head is still pounding and the nauseous feeling is only getting stronger. He supposes he should be grateful that Nishimura hadn’t gone so far as to tell Tanuma that he’s sick, but he’s not thrilled about putting up the pretense of being healthy, either. But he can’t refuse Tanuma, so he straightens his shoulders and lifts his head high. “It’s fine. I’d…I’d like to walk with you.”

A flicker of something that looks like relief passes over Tanuma’s face. “Good. I haven’t seen you in a while. I’ve been a little worried, to be honest.”

Natsume eyes snap to him. “Why?”

“Well…” Tanuma ducks his head, rubs a finger under his nose. “I always get worried when I haven’t seen you for a while. I can’t help thinking that something might’ve happened.”

He’s talking about spirits, Natsume realizes. Not his favorite topic to discuss, but better to steer away from the fact that he’s becoming more lightheaded by the second. “Oh. Well, don’t worry. Nothing too interesting has happened lately.”

Tanuma gives him a dubious look. “Really?”

“Really!” Natsume smiles. “I promise.”

“You’d tell me if something had?”

At that, Natsume bites his lip. Tanuma knows he’s not always honest, and he’s alright with that. Or at least, Natsume thinks he is. It’s for his own protection, after all, not because Natsume just wants to keep things from him. He doesn’t like lying to Tanuma. But if it’s for his own good, he’ll gladly cover things up. And keeping him from worrying definitely falls under that category. “I would tell you if I thought you needed to know.”

There’s a flash of disappointment in Tanuma’s face, but he only nods and says nothing.

They walk in silence for a ways. Natsume pretends to be enjoying the snowfall, but he’s really just trying to take his mind off of how sick he feels. The longer they walk, the worse it gets. His throat feels almost entirely closed up. He can barely make himself swallow, and he thanks his lucky stars that Tanuma isn’t talkative. The headache is drilling into his temples, and chills wrack his body. His stomach doesn’t feel any better either, and now he’s getting worried he actually might throw up.

Worst of all, though, is the fact that he’s feeling so dizzy. He breathes in steadily through his nose and out his mouth, but it doesn’t help. He shuts his eyes tight and begs for it to leave, but when he opens them again the brightness of the snow only seems to make it worse. His palms are sweating and his lips are numb and his vision is becoming more and more clouded with black dots. But they’re almost halfway to his house. He can make it.

“Are you cold?” Tanuma asks suddenly.

Natsume blinks at him, cursing his traitorous body when the image refuses to focus. “Huh?”

“You’re shivering pretty badly.” The dark haired boy frowns. “Are you alright?”

“Oh.” Talking is so painful. Natsume tries to dig up the strength again to act perfectly fine, but he’s fading. It’s harder than he thought. “I’m a little cold.”

He curses himself for admitting it when Tanuma shrugs out of his coat. “Here.” He drapes it over Natsume’s shoulders and pulls it close around his chest.

“Oh, uh…” His brain feels so foggy. He should be flustered by this development, but all he feels is a little bit warmer. He stops walking and looks down at himself. “You don’t…”

“Take it.” He smiles brightly. “I’m not that cold. It’s okay.”

Natsume just stares, vision blurring and sharpening over and over again in dizzying waves. He’s still shaking inside Tanuma’s large coat that hangs halfway down his thighs. The longer he stares, the less he can remember what he was about to say, or what he was doing.

“Natsume?”

God, his throat hurts. He wants more than anything to lie down. He needs to go home, to crawl under his blankets on his futon and get warm and go to sleep. He takes a step forward, and then another, feeling alarmingly unsteady on his feet.

“Natsume? Hey, are you okay?”

Suddenly he’s doubling over and heaving the contents of his stomach onto the snow. His throat burns and he can’t breathe and it must be too much for his senses, because once he’s done vomiting the dizziness overwhelms him and he can’t hold himself up anymore.

He falls into a pair of arms.

“Natsume! Hey! Can you hear me?! Natsume!”

When his senses begin to come back and his vision clears, he realizes he’s sitting on the sidewalk with snow soaking into his pants and Tanuma’s arms holding him up. “…Huh…?”

“Jeez, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?”

He can’t tell if Tanuma is talking to him or not, so he doesn’t answer. The arms around him shift a little, and Tanuma’s face appears before him. It’s marred by a worried frown and a wild note of fear in his midnight eyes.

A warm hand covers his brow.

“Oh, Natsume. You’re burning up.” Tanuma looks so sad as he brushes Natsume’s bangs aside. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t catch it…”

In his dazed state, the only thing Natsume can get out of his mouth is, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t do that.” Tanuma pulls him in and hugs him tightly. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I’m gonna take you home, okay? Do you think you can stand up?”

Natsume nods against his chest, though he isn’t sure if he can or not. Tanuma takes most of his weight and they rise to their feet slowly. When Natsume’s knees buckle, he’s caught by the arms around his waist.

“Okay, change of plan,” Tanuma says, his mouth close to Natsume’s ear. “I’m going to carry you. Is that alright?”

Natsume nods again. The pain is really the only thing he’s aware of right now. He wants to be out of the snow, out of the cold. It seems like they’ve been walking for miles.

Somehow, Tanuma is able to heft Natsume’s limp body onto his back and wrap his arms under his thighs. Like this, Natsume can smell Tanuma’s shampoo, can feel the warmth of his skin against his cheek. It’s not exactly comfortable, being carried this way, but since he quite literally can’t support his own weight, it’s kind of nice. Maybe he should thank Nishimura for setting them up. He can feel every sway of Tanuma’s steps. He’s a good deal warmer, pressed against him. The coat is still around his shoulders, too.

He’s half asleep by the time they reach his house. He hears Touko’s cry of alarm, but he can’t reassure her that he’s alright because his throat is on fire and he can’t event think about speaking anymore without making it hurt worse.

Tanuma carries him upstairs to his room. It’s when he’s laying him down on the futon Touko hastily spread out that he finds the energy to laugh a little and hears himself saying, “I didn’t know you were so strong, Tanuma.”

Through the fever haze, he sees the taller boy blush. “I’m not that strong. Just rest, okay?”

It’s an easy order to follow.

Tanuma is still sitting there when Touko brings her usual equipment up to the room. It’s a little pathetic how used Natsume is to this routine. She puts the hot water bottle under his head and pulls the quilt up to his chin, and then gently places the thermometer under his tongue. He hears her cry of dismay and is instantly slammed with guilt. Touko should never be unhappy; he should never, ever make her unhappy.

“What is it?” Tanuma says quietly.

“39 degrees,” Touko replies.

Tanuma makes a low, displeased noise. “He’s definitely caught it.”

“Oh, dear.” Touko smoothes a cool hand over his forehead. “I thought he was acting a bit strange this morning. I should have made him stay home.”

“I would have made him go to the nurse if I’d known.”

“He can be stubborn when he wants to be.” Touko sighs. “Thank you for looking after him, Kaname-kun. I can handle things from here, if you need to go on home.”

“I’d actually like to stay for a while, if that’s okay. I could help out.”

“Oh. Well, that would be lovely. Would you mind finishing this, then? I’ll go down and make some tea.”

“Of course, Touko-san.”

Natsume listens to Touko’s soft footsteps leaving the room, and then he hears the slosh of water. A few seconds later, a cool cloth is being placed on his brow.

“You make everyone worry more when you hide things, you know.” Tanuma’s voice is so soft that Natsume isn’t sure whether he thinks he’s already asleep.

Somehow, he finds the strength to open his heavy eyes. “M’sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Shh.” Tanuma drags the cloth over his forehead and down his cheek. “Don’t talk. It’s bad for your throat.”

Natsume gazes up at him. The light from above shines in a halo behind his head, illuminating the ends of his hair. It looks kind of angelic. “You…”

Tanuma gives him a warning look as he wets the cloth again. “I mean it, Natsume.”

He closes his eyes again, relishing the feeling of Tanuma caring for him like this. “You’re beautiful.”

Above him, Tanuma makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a cough. “You’re delirious.”

“M’not.” He should stop talking, really, but the words just come spilling from his lips. “I’m lucky…to have you, Tanuma…”

“Quiet.” Long fingers comb through his hair gently, slowly. “You should sleep.”

He nods weakly. This isn’t so bad, he thinks. If Tanuma will take care of him like this, he doesn’t mind being sick.

“Just rest, Natsume. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

#natsume yuujinchou #tanunatsu #tanatsu #sickfic #illness #my fic #swingingrobin #ask

250 notes · View notes

taizi · 6 years

Note

*whispers* tanuma with eye contacts but something happens and he needs to use reg. Glasses instead

Nishimura and Natsume usually meet their friends on the rooftop for lunch, but today Kitamoto bursts into their classroom with all the grace and finesse of a runaway train.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he announces with a fish-eating grin.

Nishimura’s day has been pretty dull so far so he jumps up from his chair with a grin to match, ready for whatever shenanigans are coming his way. Natsume doesn’t jump up, and looks one part amused and two parts appropriately wary.

“What is it?” he asks carefully.

By way of answer, Kitamoto moves out of the doorway with a theatrical flourish, and Tanuma, looking world-weary and put-upon, shuffles in on cue. He’s so tall that it’s always kind of adorable when he gets self-conscious and tries to make himself smaller, which is what he’s doing right now.

And at first glance, Nishimura can see why. His mouth drops open, and he scoots around his desk eagerly.

“Tanuma! When did you get glasses?”

“I’ve always had them,” he says, a little defensive for no reason, adjusting the plastic frames for something to do with his hands. “I usually wear contacts, but dad forgot to order my new ones before he went on his work trip, so…”

He’s embarrassed about it, eyes pointed toward the floor, and Nishimura knows that’s not what Kitamoto paraded him in here for. Just the opposite, probably. He needs to hear how good he looks right now, and Nishimura has just the man for the job.

“Natsume,” he says, turning around, “tell Tanuma how pretty he is in these specs.”

Tanuma sputters something incoherent behind him, and Kitamoto laughs good-naturedly, and Natsume jumps when their attention turns to him, like he’s been startled out of a trance.

“Um,” he says eloquently, face on fire as he scrambles to put words together, “yes. I mean, you are. Very pretty.”

And then he hears what he just said and deliberately plants his face in the top of his desk. Even the tips of his ears are red. This is the best day ever. Nishimura needs to find Taki five minutes ago and tell her literally everything. But first things first –

“See?” he says, glancing at Tanuma smugly.

Tanuma gives him a dazed nod, looking across the room at Natsume with something bright and hopeful on his face. It’s a nice look. It’s just too bad Natsume’s head is still buried in his desk, or he’d have seen it, too.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #nishimura satoru #kitamoto atsushi #tanuma kaname #natsume takashi #tanunatsu #Sort Of #my writing #prompt #anonymous #natsuyuu fic

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owletstarlet · 5 years

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9, 17 or 19 for tanunatsu??

(From this ask meme! Questions: 9. What was their worst fight about? Who apologized first and how? 17. How do they comfort one another? 19. What would they do if the other person was hurt?)

9: What was their worst fight about? Who apologized first and how?

I wanna say that their worst fight would’ve been rooted in mutual protectiveness of one another and some breaches of trust that were carried out with good intentions.

I think that A Dangerous Youkai Situation comes up, one which probably involves the Book of Friends (which we’ll say Tanuma doesn’t know about yet), but Natsume tells Tanuma enough about what’s going on and about whatever youkai he’s been helping out that he starts to worry, enough to be like, look, I know you care a lot and you can’t not care but this is not worth your life, so please please do not go to [insert Dangerous Place here] and do [insert Dangerous Thing here]. And naturally, Sensei weighs in that it really is in fact a dumbass move to [go to the place] and [do the thing] even if he himself is there, and Natsume winds up agreeing not to.

That is, until the situation suddenly changes. Most likely whatever ayakashi initially came to him for help comes back to tell him that whatever Big-Scary-Youkai-du-jour that’s causing the problem is going to imminently devour some uninvolved ayakashi and/or humans, and of course Natsume can’t not go and try to fix it after all. Buuuuut when he goes, he does not tell Tanuma.

Meanwhile, Tanuma (rightly) has a Bad Feeling about all this, and winds up following him. And not only does Natsume inevitably find out that Tanuma tagged along, but also that Tanuma’s been reading up on some things in Taki’s books. Whether whatever it is he tries is effective is another story–probably Natsume was in immediate danger so he chucked some homemade exorcist talisman in the vague direction of the youkai’s face that he can’t quite see, which probably just made it angrier.

Anyhow, they both make it out alive and relatively unscathed, due to a combination of luck and Sensei saving their hides, but it’s a long awkward walk home nonetheless. And the ensuing conversation is more or less “You promised me you wouldn’t go, you nearly got killed,” followed by “Well you were in just as much danger and you promised me that you wouldn’t mess around with the exorcism stuff, you know it’ll get you badly hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing,” “…yeah, well–” and it devolves from there, and they leave it off completely unresolved because they both feel hurt and angry and they suck at proper communication anyways. Afterwards there is at least one day’s worth of Awkwardly Avoiding One Another at school, much to the dismay of their friend group.

As to who apologizes first, I think Natsume does. And it’s not because Tanuma’s being stubborn; I mean of course he’s mad that Natsume apparently value himself enough to stop endangering himself at every opportunity (and that he lied about it). But more than that he’s just really deeply upset, and we know after that most recent chapter just how little self-esteem this boy has. So whether he thinks he’s at all justified in his anger he’s probably also thinking, welp, that’s it, I blew it, he doesn’t want me around anymore. And Natsume eventually realizes as much, so he goes to apologize, because he needs Tanuma to understand that he is worthy of not being lied to. And this, I think, is when he finally tells Tanuma about the Book of Friends (that is, if it doesn’t happen in canon first, which I am really really hoping it does.) And then, maybe not during his apology but sometime soon after, they discuss Tanuma learning (within reason) some defensive exorcism techniques. Natsume makes a rather reluctant call to Natori to orchestrate this, and Natori is only too delighted to help (I think he honestly stans the hell out this relationship and jumps at the opportunity to both help them and to be super embarrassing the entire time.) So Natsume’s like “…ugh” but Tanuma’s so happy to be able to learn it, and pragmatically speaking he’ll able to protect himself better anyhow, so Natsume’s reassured by that and probably learns some things himself as well.

17: How do they comfort one another?

For Natsume the greatest comfort is just having Tanuma there to listen. And this goes for anything at all that’s bothering him, I mean especially if it’s youkai stuff but also, y’know, past traumas, and even normal and very much human interpersonal problems or day-to-day stress. Because he never really had anybody that he could be fully honest with before Tanuma (and Taki as well, and like I said I’ll be sad if he doesn’t tell them about the Book in canon). And until relatively recently he certainly hasn’t had anybody in his life who would actually care to listen to him about anything. And he’s thanked Tanuma in canon for being willing to listen. I think Tanuma would be worried sometimes that he wouldn’t know the “right” thing to say in response, but Natsume’s not expecting him to magically fix his problems, and he’d feel a lot better when he sees that just being heard can lift so much of the burden off Natsume. So Tanuma will always gently try to coax him to talk about it when he’s upset, even if he doesn’t always want to talk, it helps a lot when he does. (@taizi did a lovely and heart-rending drabble about exactly this, I don’t have the tumblr link but it’s here on ao3.)

For Tanuma, I think something as simple as physical proximity would be the most comforting to him. Like, we know from canon that Tanuma’s biggest, constant source of anxiety is the prospect of Natsume running off to get himself killed by a youkai. So just having Natsume right there next to him would help so much, even if the thing he’s upset about has literally nothing to do with Natsume. This, for the record, is how Natsume discovers his own ability to give Very Nice Hugs. It takes Tanuma awhile to stop being shy about seeking said hugs out, but when he does there’s several instances of him just wordlessly walking up to Natsume and putting his head on his shoulder….

19: What would they do if the other person was hurt?

For either of them, it’d be a lot of sticking right by the other person and being hypervigilant to an exhausting degree, especially if they were together when it happened. And if that were the case, especially if it were youkai-related, you can bet your ass there’d be all kinds of Awesome Self-Blame going on, because this is both of their worst fear, really. From Natsume it’d be “This is my fault for getting you involved,” and from Tanuma it’d be “I’m basically useless at keeping you safe.” All amplified, of course, in the very likely scenario that the one who got hurt had been trying to protect the other. Unfortunately, that common trope of the why the hell would you do that, don’t ever do that again, you scared me so much argument has a lot of potential to not end so well for them, because they both have so much insecurity, low self-esteem and fear built up (and jesus, they’re both just so painfully young and this isn’t ever something they should have to face to begin with). And there’s also some objective truth to the you’d be safer if we weren’t together argument, regardless of which of them got hurt. Let’s hope a third party talks some emotional sense into them if this ever happens (possibly Taki, possibly Natori, hell even Nishimura or Kitamoto because they don’t even need to have been told the specifics of the youkai stuff to figure out more or less what’s happening).

Anyhow, once the injured one is on the mend, the other would continue to hover very closely (and we now know from canon that Natsume in particular is really good at hovering if he thinks Tanuma’s in danger). That is, until Sensei’s finally had enough of watching it (“Relax, idiot, nothing’s going to happen to him with me watching. You might as well go take a nap, you look like you haven’t slept in five years.”) And if it’s Tanuma who was hurt, I’m sure after the last arc that Misuzu would happy volunteer to keep an eye on him, too. And Natsume would have Strongly Mixed Feelings about that, but Misuzu’s also huge and terrifying enough to keep any threats away, so he lets him do it. ( “If you even f*cking look at [this little human] I will stomp you to death with my hooves,” heh.)

Also. There’s a lot of really good, really gentle Recovery Cuddles. A lot.

Thanks much for the ask ;)

#long post #tanunatsu #natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #natsuyuu #natsume takashi #tanuma kaname #cha-lii #taizi #ask meme #ask prompt #headcanon meme #headcanon ask #owlet’s meta #natsume yuujinchou meta

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winterune · 5 years

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A Natsume Yuujinchou Fanfiction #10 - Because I Love You

Word count: 2778

Summary: Natsume received a chocolate from a girl outside his class, much to his surprise, because he didn’t realize it was Valentine’s Day.

A/N: something I thought about on a whim because I realized I have never written a Valentine’s Day Natsume fic before. It’s been soooo long since I wrote any fic--or written anything for that matter--so I’m sorry if this turns out weird. Not edited or beta’d. Probably going to post a final version later on AO3 or FFN. Also, I wrote this for @epona999 as a late birthday present^^. Hope you’ll like it! And thanks for reading :)

“Natsume-kun!”

Takashi Natsume was walking down the corridor heading back to class in the short break between lessons when a voice called out to him. It was a girl, standing several feet behind him, with long brown hair that draped over her shoulders.

“Yes?” he asked, turning around to directly face her. He had never seen her before.

“U—Umm…” Her eyes flitted in and out of his face, hands hidden behind her back. “It’s just—umm—something I made in cooking class so uh…”

Natsume cocked his head to the side. “Can I help you?”

The girl seemed to shut her eyes and in one smooth motion, shoved something toward his chest, yelling, “This is for you!” before running off and turning around the corner. She was gone in an instant, leaving Natsume blinking in confusion with a small brown bag in his hand.

He held it up and scrutinized the bag with a frown. Cooking class?

Soft snickers around him made him realize he had spectators and dipping his head self-consciously, Natsume made his way quickly back to class.

His classmates’ buzz of conversation reached him before he opened the door. Nishimura, who was sitting by his table, looked up and noticed the bag he was carrying. His eyes widened in surprise.

“What’s that?!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger to the brown bag.

Natsume shrugged. “A girl gave it to me outside.”

“A girl? Seriously?!” His mouth hung open in disbelief.

Natsume frowned at Nishimura’s sudden enthusiasm and eyed the bag suspiciously.

“Let me see that,” Nishimura went on, and without waiting for Natsume’s reply, he’d snatched the bag away. “Cookies,” he commented. He sniffed at it. “And it smells delicious too.”

“She did say she made it in cooking class—”

“Cooking class!” Nishimura exclaimed dramatically. All of a sudden, it was as if all those enthusiastic energy left him and Nishimura deflated on the table beside Natsume’s, head falling on the desk top, his arms hanging limp on his sides. “Ahh I want one.”

Natsume looked at his friend incredulously. What was so good about these cookies? You could buy cookies from the store if you want one.

“You could have them if you want,” he offered.

“Nope. She gave them to you so it’s yours,” his friend said, adamantly handing the brown bag to Natsume.

Still feeling unsure what Nishimura was whining about, Natsume took the bag back, when he heard Kitamoto, who had been silent throughout the exchange, chuckling.

“They’re Valentine Day cookies, Natsume,” Kitamoto explained. “Nishimura’s been nagging since morning that he hasn’t received one.”

“I keep dreaming Taki would come through that door and give me a home-baked chocolate,” Nishimura said.

Valentine’s.

Natsume didn’t realize it was Valentine’s. Ah, now it made sense why the girl seemed fidgety then. But why would she give him one?

Well, at least he understood now why Nishimura seemed somewhat depressed since morning, and seeing his friend now being consoled by Kitamoto, it brought a smile to his face.

***

“Well, that’s a pretty boy to you,” Nishimura grumbled when classes for the day was over and they were gathering their books and things to head home.

Throughout the day, a couple of other girls had approached Natsume—once in class, the other was when the three of them were heading to their lunch spot on the roof—to give him yet another Valentine’s chocolate. Someone had even snuck in and slipped a chocolate box in his desk drawer when he wasn’t in class, so he had a total of four chocolates by the end of the day—five if you include the one from Sasada’s.

Kitamoto and Nishimura had received only one, and that was from Sasada. Kitamoto had accepted it but Nishimura had gotten into a fight over it, saying a chocolate from Sasada didn’t mean anything. Sasada had been tempted to take it back, but Nishimura had immediately apologized since “it’s better than coming home empty-handed”.

Natsume never liked that nickname but he could only smile wryly at it. There was nothing he could do anyway, no reason he could give, not that they were asking for any…probably. Well, what could he say? He certainly didn’t predict this happening.

When they met Tanuma by the front door, just about to slip off his indoor shoes for his outdoor ones, they noticed he was carrying a small plastic bag that no doubt contained the chocolates he’d received that day.

“Damn you pretty boys,” Nishimura muttered under his breath.

Like Natsume, Tanuma could only chuckle to that.

“How many did you get?” Kitamoto asked.

Glancing at the pouting Nishimura slipping on his outdoor shoes, he murmured, “Five. Sasada just gave me one.”

“Same as him, then,” Kitamoto replied.

Tanuma’s eyes shifted to Natsume, though he didn’t look at all surprised. “I’d thought as much.”

“Right?” Kitamoto went on, a grin now plastered from ear to ear. “Despite his quiet demeanor, he’s surprisingly popular with girls.”

“Maybe I should start having a quiet demeanor,” Nishimura piped in.

“Oh, shut it, Nishimura. You still haven’t received one from Taki yet.”

“There’s no guarantee she’s going to give me one.”

“Wait, she hasn’t?” Tanuma asked, genuinely surprised as his hand started rummaging inside his plastic bag. “I’m sure she has one for each of you. I mean, I got one from her—”

“Ah! There you are!”

Before Tanuma could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a voice. They simultaneously looked behind them and there stood Taki, somewhat out of breath, her bag slung over her shoulder had its zipper half opened.

“Good thing I hadn’t missed you,” she said, determinedly walking toward them with a hand fishing inside her bag for what turned out to be a small cute bag filled with cookies. “Here,”—she gave one to Natsume, then to Nishimura, and last to Kitamoto.

A huge sigh escaped her lips. “Sorry, I had stuffs to do all day. It was just because I passed by Tanuma-kun that I remembered to give him the chocolate. Good thing you hadn’t left just now.” Smiling from ear to ear, her hair slightly disheveled from the running she must had done from the upper floor, she said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, guys!”

Natsume and Kitamoto thanked her with grins of their own while Nishimura outright cried. They were left glancing at each other in half smiles as Kitamoto patted Nishimura’s shoulder.

***

“What’s that, Takashi-kun?” Touko-san asked the moment Natsume opened the door and called, “I’m home.” She’d peeked her head from the kitchen doorway and noticed the small bag he’d received from Taki. Feeling embarrassed and self-conscious all at once, Natsume had hidden the chocolates he’d received in his bag. But Taki’s was a last addition and his bag couldn’t take in another chocolate—if he didn’t want it crushed, which he didn’t, since it was what Taki had made herself. So he decided to carry it. When he entered the house, he’d made sure to hide it from view so Touko-san wouldn’t see it, but that plan obviously failed.

“They’re chocolates,” Natsume replied sheepishly. “From a friend.”

“Ah!” Touko-san exclaimed after a moment’s pause, so sudden that it almost made Natsume jump. “It’s Valentine’s, isn’t it? Ah, how that brings back memories. I used to give Shigeru-san chocolates too back then.” A warm smile graced her lips as her eyes looked on some distant memory. “Maybe I’ll make something special for tonight’s dinner. Ooh, how exciting! I haven’t felt this energetic for a while.” Her eyes meeting Natsume, she grinned and said, “Want to help, Takashi-kun?”

Natsume blinked and could only stammer, “Oh, okay,” before his mind could process what Touko-san just said.

Touko beamed from ear to ear. “This’ll be fun! Shigeru-san will be so surprised,” she said gleefully, getting back inside the kitchen. “Put your bag down and don’t forget to wash your hands first, right, Takashi-kun?”

***

“What’s all the ruckus down there?” was Sensei’s way of greeting when Natsume opened the door to his room.

“I’m home, Sensei,” Natsume greeted him back. “It’s rare to see you here so early in the afternoon.”

Sensei ignored the comment, then his eyes spotted the pink bag Natsume was placing on his desk. Eyes wide, ears perked, he took a sniff—it smelled like food. “What’s that?” he asked, sauntering over to Natsume’s desk.

“Cookies,” Natsume replied. “Taki made them.”

At the mention of her name, however, Nyanko-sensei stopped on his tracks, his nose scrunching in disgust. “Taki?” he asked incredulously. “Can that girl even cook?”

“Don’t be like that, Sensei,” Natsume said with a chuckle. He opened the bag and saw star-shaped chocolate cookies inside. He fished one and looked at it carefully. “I’m sure it’s edible.” He took a bite of the cookie, tasting it for a while. The chocolate melt in his mouth, the flavor spreading and coating his tongue, before he gulped it down then tossed the rest of the cookie inside.

“It’s good,” he commented.

“Surprisingly,” added Sensei.

“Want some?” Natsume held a cookie out to the cat, but Nyanko-sensei was looking at it as though he was looking at something out of this world.

“I’d rather have this,” he said, as he rummaged inside Natsume’s bag and held out a box one of the girls had given Natsume. He sniffed at it, and Natsume had to wonder if he could even smell something through the box and wrapping. But apparently he could, since his eyes seemed to gleam so bright when he looked at Natsume and said, “This is from that shop, right? The one you always pass by to and from school?”

Well, Natsume had to say he was impressed. Give it to Nyanko-sensei to be able to spot something so random. There were quite a few stores that sold chocolates at this time of the year. How did he even know which shop this particular box was from?

“You’re going to get fatter, you know, Sensei, and then I have to take you out for a walk again,” Natsume teased even as he took the box from Sensei and began unwrapping it.

“Oh shut up and hurry up and open the box!”

Natsume snickered at his response.

The box had a variety of colorful chocolates in various shapes: hearts, stars, flowers, leaves, or plain simple circles. Without further ado, Nyanko-sensei took one of them and plopped it into his mouth. The instant the chocolate made contact with his tongue, a smile bloomed on his face, eyes shut in bliss.

“You should buy more of this chocolate stuff, Natsume,” Nyanko-sensei said after tossing the third chocolate into his mouth.

“You know chocolate isn’t good for a cat, right?”

“Well, I’m not a cat.”

“All the more so. Isn’t it weird for a great youkai to be so giddy over a little chocolate?”

“Shut it!”

He was eating the fifth one when Natsume snatched the box away. “Don’t eat it all, Sensei! I’m going to save some for Touko-san and Shigeru-san.”

“What’s the problem? You have more than enough for them even if you give me that box.” Sensei made his point more apparent by grabbing the rest of the chocolates from Natsume’s bag and dropping them down on the table. “See? You have—what—six in total?” he said, counting the wrapped boxes and the two bags of cookies. “You can have Taki’s. I’ll have this box. And you’ll still have four more.”

“That’s not the issue here,” Natsume replied with a sigh. “Anyway, no! You’re not having any more before I give some to Shigeru-san and Touko-san, all right?”

Before Nyanko-sensei could protest or snatched any of the boxes for himself, Natsume moved fast and grabbed all the chocolate boxes and bags. Nyanko-sensei scowled and clicked his tongue in irritation.

“Why do you have so many chocolates in the first place?” he asked.

“I guess it’s Valentine’s Day. Girls give chocolates to boys.”

Nyanko-sensei stared at him. “Why?”

Why?

Natsume pondered that question and couldn’t really come to an answer. Though he’d seen his classmates getting rather excited for Valentine’s Day before—like how Nishimura was that day—Natsume himself never really cared about it. None of the families he’d lived before had ever done anything special. In fact, it was the first time he’s ever received a chocolate from anyone.

“I heard it’s the day girls give chocolates to the boys they like,” Natsume responded rather hesitatingly.

Nyanko-sensei’s eyes flitted from the pile of chocolates on Natsume’s arms to his face, then his lips spread into a wide smirk. “Does that mean all those girls like you then?”

It took a moment, two moments, then three, before the statement was rooted into his mind, and he realized then why that girl had been so nervous when she gave him the chocolate. He couldn’t stop the heat from reaching his face.

“W—What are you talking about? Of course not!”

Nyanko-sensei snickered. “You’re blushing.”

“There is what you call friendship chocolate too, Sensei,” Natsume tried not to let Sensei’s words rattle him so much.

“And that is Taki’s chocolate. I believe you have Sasada’s too, right? The others—”

“Anyway!” Natsume cut him off. He wouldn’t let Nyanko-sensei finish that thought. “I don’t know much about it, okay? And Touko-san is waiting for me downstairs to help her with dinner.”

“Even Touko-san,” Natsume heard Nyanko-sensei said absently after a pause as he left his room behind in a hurry. “Sometimes I really don’t understand this holidays you humans have.”

***

Touko-san was already busy with a soup and some side dishes when Natsume entered the kitchen.

“Is that you, Takashi-kun?” she asked without looking from chopping up vegetables. “Can you help me stir the soup over there, please?”

“Okay,” Natsume responded. He put all the chocolates he’d carried on the dining table before heading over the stove. It was then Touko-san looked up with a smile, as if she was about to say something, when she spotted the pile of chocolates on the table.

“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise.

Natsume noticed the direction of her gaze and, reminded of Nyanko-sensei’s remark, heat immediately rushed to his face again.

“It’s not what you think, Touko-san!” he said quickly. “I received some chocolates and I only wanted to share them with you and Shigeru-san and—”

But Touko-san, who met his gaze, only had a warm smile that touched her eyes.

“What?” she asked, a slight giggle escaping her lips. “I wasn’t going to say anything.” She turned her attention back to the vegetables she was prepping for dinner. “I’m just happy to see you so loved.”

“What?” Natsume turned his head toward Touko-san, surprised at her words.

“Didn’t you know?” she asked. “Valentine’s Day is a day when women show her appreciation and love toward the men in her life. Of course, you can express your love on any other day, but it’s a nice thought, isn’t it? That someone takes their time to buy you or make you something on a special day. Doesn’t that make you feel you’re special to them? That you mean something to someone? Oh, and it goes without saying, too, that this special dinner is not just for Shigeru-san, but for you too, Takashi-kun.”

“For…me?”

Touko-san met his gaze and she nodded, her smile so warm that Natsume felt something squeezing his heart. He could almost hear it—the words unsaid.

Because I love you.

He didn’t know when he had started crying, but he felt the tears in his eyes and tried so hard to hold them back.

Of course he knew that. He knew how kind the Fujiwara couple were to him. Some part of him knew they loved him. It had taken a while for him to see that, but he knew it, though none of them ever explicitly expressed it. From their actions and the way they treated him, he’d learned how much the Fujiwaras cared about him.

His throat felt constricted as he tried to fight back the tears. He couldn’t form any words even as Touko-san gently wiped a tear that had silently slipped through his eyes, rolling down his cheek.

With a last gentle pat, Touko-san then said determinedly, “Let’s finish this quickly before Shigeru-san comes home. It wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it, if he saw us preparing this?”

She got back to chopping the vegetables and Natsume could do nothing but smile at this woman he called his foster mother, the warmth of her hand still lingered on his face.

“Okay,” he said quietly and went back to stirring the soup that already smelled quite delicious.

~ END ~

Thanks for reading! I hope you like it^^

More of my Natsume Yuujinchou fanfiction here.

#natsume yuujinchou #fanfiction #my fanfiction #natsume fanfic #writing #my story #it's been so long since i wrote any fluff :3 #the last natsume fics i wrote are all filled with angst

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taizi · 7 years

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Consider: everyone thinks kita and nishi are crushing on natsume, but little do they know kita and nishi have actually been dating for years. They haven't been intentionally hiding it, it's just never come up

“You know, you’re terrible at hiding your crush,” is Kei’s mild remark. “I can see you pining from across the room.”

Kitamoto lifts his head slowly, to pin him with a Look that would have made a lesser (smarter) man hesitate. Kei isn’t lesser or smarter, so he just grins toothily back and settles in for a fun conversation.

“I’m what now?” Kitamoto asks.

“You’re pining, dude. It’s embarrassing. I always took you for a stand-up guy.”

“Uh-huh. And who am I pining after?”

He’s acting like he really doesn’t have a clue. Kei gives him a sideways look, some of his initial glee fading. There’s dense, and then there’s Nishimura dense, and he hadn’t thought Kitamoto was the latter.

Because he’s not that type of person, not anymore, Kei looks around to make sure they won’t be overheard and even leans in – he doesn’t want to make trouble for his friends.

“Natsume, obviously. You think I don’t have eyes?”

Kitamoto’s mouth works for a moment, before he bites the inside of his lip. He looks like he’s struggling with what to say, and Kei starts to feel bad for him.

“Hey – I shouldn’t have brought it up, I guess? I just wanted – you know, I don’t want you to think I’m not cool with it or anything – and it must be especially awkward, you know, ‘cause of your competition.”

“My competition?”

“Well – Nishimura likes him, too, doesn’t he?” Kei rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, having a crush on your friend is one thing, but having a crush on the friend your best buddy also has a crush on is like, Olympic levels of “I’d rather not,” honestly.”

Kitamoto buries his face in his hands and probably would have fallen into his bento if Kei didn’t yank it out of the way. His shoulders are shaking silently, with something suppressed – and he better not be crying, holy shit –

“What – “ Kei stares at him. “Wait, are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” Kitamoto wheezes, not sounding sorry at all. “It’s just – you don’t – I can’t even – hold on a sec,” he adds, visibly wrestling for a handhold on his composure. He turns his eyes on the rest of the classroom, and calls Nishimura over when he spots him.

Nishimura comes to them with a bright grin, feeding off Kitamoto’s energy already. “What’s so funny, what’d I miss?”

“Apparently we both missed something,” Kitamoto says, wiping tears out of his eyes. “Did you know we – as in the two of us, independently – have a crush on Natsume?”

“Get outta town,” Nishimura replies, raising his eyebrows. Kei has the sinking feeling he’s on the outside of a joke. “I feel like we probably need to have a serious talk about that.”

Kitamoto laughs again, and Nishimura lights up just a little at the sound. And then he’s moving closer, sitting in Kitamoto’s lap like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and Kitamoto is putting a hand around the small of his back so he doesn’t fall, and Kei stares.

No one else in the room reacts. A few people shoot them incredulous looks – as if to say “really? right now?” – but for the most part the scene seems to be as incredible to their peers as a piece of plain furniture.

“Close your mouth, Adachi, or you’ll attract flies,” Nishimura says, so prissily Kei is one hundred percent sure he’s quoting Tsuji. Kei does as he’s told, mostly out of shock.

“What,” Kei says weakly. “But I thought – “

“Natsume’s totally crush-worthy,” Kitamoto says in the name of fairness. “And we are pretty affectionate with him?”

“Of course we are,” Nishimura scoffs. “He likes it.”

“But we’ve actually been dating since middle school,” Kitamoto concludes with a wry smile. “I think everyone we grew up with already knows. My mom calls Nishimura her son-in-law, and I’m not sure she’s totally joking.”

Kei tries to process this. At the same time, the door rattles open and a familiar voice reaches to them from across the room.

“There you are,” Natsume says, looking exasperated. “Tanuma and I have been looking for you everywhere. Why are you in this classroom, none of you are in this class.”

Nishimura doesn’t get up, and Kitamoto doesn’t retract his arm from around Nishimura’s waist, and Tanuma and Natsume don’t look surprised at all. This is largely unfair, because they’re new here, too, if not quite as new as Kei is –

So Kei blurts, “You two knew about them?”

Natsume blinks, as though it’s the strangest question he’s ever heard. “I – yes?”

“They didn’t tell us and keep it a secret from you,” Tanuma adds kindly, maybe guessing that it’s something Kei would be upset about, once he has a chance to think that far ahead. “We just sort of picked up on it.”

“He’s being nice,” Natsume says dryly. “If you’d ever come to one of the sleepovers we invite you to, you’d pick up on it, too. Within five minutes, I’m sure. They’re not subtle.”

“We’re really not,” Nishimura admits, and takes advantage of the spot he’s in to steal from Kitamoto’s lunch box.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #kitanishi #kitamoto atsushi #adachi kei #my writing #prompt #milkteaghost #natsuyuu fic #that rare and elusive kitanishi prompt ! thank u !#(it was only a matter of time before i wrote a fic in adachi's pov #im not even sorry)

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taizi · 7 years

Note

I just read that Natsume is scared of thunderstorms, could we maybe see something about that please?

Consider this the beginning of a mininishinatsu series :’) 120% because there was talk on the discord about this pairing and now it’s stuck in my head rip

Story tag

Tsuji may have assigned Satoru andNatsume out of turn cleaning duties to get back at them for beingchatty, in the passive aggressive way of all overly-cheerful classrepresentatives, but Satoru doesn’t really mind. Hanging out withNatsume beats going home any day—and since it’s more or lesshis fault they’re in trouble, he can’t exactly complain to his friendabout it without sounding like a total heel.

“This is the worst,”Satoru says with feeling, hauling the heavier of two trash cansoutside. “Tsuji’s got in for me, I swear.”

Hecan’t complain more than usual, anyway.

Dumping his half ofthe trash, he turns to glance at his quiet companion. Natsume is nextto him but he may as well be miles away. The half-empty bin ishanging loosely from his hands and his head is tipped back, roundeyes trained without blinking on the sky. Satoru follows his gaze,nonplussed.

There arethunderheads rolling in, dark and foreboding as they build up in a graysky. He hadn’t noticed before, but now that he’s paying attention,the air definitely smells like rain.

“Oh, wow,”Satoru says, eyebrows shooting up. “It’s really gonna storm. Nowonder my brother bullied me into taking his umbrella this morning.”

Pluckingthe trashcan out of Natsume’s hands, he dumps it for him, then stacksit inside his own empty bin. Natsume seems out of it, but Satoru isno stranger to his vacant moods—the guy zones out a lot—sohe simply hefts the stacked bins under one arm, grabs Natsume’s handin his free one, and leads the way back inside.

“Ifwe hurry, we can make it home without getting too wet,”he says, all but dragging his unresistant friend up the stairs. “Imean, there’s no way we can beat the rain, but—you have anumbrella, right? I can walk you home with mine if you don’t.”

“No, that’sokay,” Natsume finally replies. “I have mine with me.”

He’s keeping pacewith Satoru on his own now, but he doesn’t tug his hand away. Satorutakes that as implicit permission to keep holding it. The only soundsthat accompany them as they run through empty hallways are the echoedstamping of rapid footfalls and the faraway rumble of approachingthunder.

In alittle under ten minutes, they’re back at the front doors. Satoru isshoving his school slippers in his locker and yanking on hissneakers in their place, a little out of breath from tearing throughthe school—and glad no staff had caught them, because that wouldhave given Tsuji a whole heap of disciplinary material to work with if he was still in a bad mood tomorrow.

“Alright,” hesays with a triumphant grin, as a light rain begins to fall, “it’sbarely started out there. Come on, Natsume, and we can—”

He trails off ashis eyes move from the doorway to his classmate. Natsume is still inhis uwabaki, jack and umbrella bundled under his arm. He hasn’t evenstepped down into the entry area yet, lingering on the raised floor afew feet away, with what looks like absolutely no intention of takinganother step.

“Go on withoutme,” he says with a smile. “I forgot something.”

Satoru blinks athim. “What? Just go get it real quick, I can wait.”

“I might have tolook for it,” he deflects easily. “It could be awhile. You shouldgo ahead though, before it gets too bad out there.”

His expression isempty and serene. It stirs something uneasy to life in the pit ofSatoru’s stomach.

This is whatNatsume looked like when he first came to this town; agreeable andindulgent without giving an inch, without letting anyone in. Satoruremembers the slow, painstaking work of extracting a childish,sarcastic, endlessly earnest personality from where it was hiddenneatly behind a pretty face and a distant smile.

He doesn’t likethat Natsume can so easily revert back to what he used to be.

Hedoesn’t like that there must be a reason forit.

Lightning flashesoutside, illuminating the room for a split second. Natsume goesstiff. Satoru takes a step towards him, frowning. Uncomprehending, but he wants to understand, and so he reaches out with abewildered, “Natsume—”

Thunder cuts himoff. It stops him cold. Because Natsume flinches, full-body, andSatoru’s voice gets stuck in his throat. The distance between theminches wider somehow, even though they’re both standing still.

He’s never seenNatsume so transparent before. He didn’t expect it to be hard to lookat him, when for so long he thought it would be nice for Natsume tobear his feelings every once in awhile.

“You,” he saysslowly, and pauses. “You’re scared of the storm?”

The next handful ofseconds feel like an hour. Natsume is silent as he dips his head in anod, hair hanging into his eyes. Satoru stares at him.

“Andyou weren’t gonna say anything?”he asks, incredulous. “You were just gonna let me leave you byyourself?”

The rain outside is beginning to pickup, drumming against the roof and the windows, and another roll ofthunder cuts through the air only moments after the first. Natsumeshudders, hugging his coat to his chest.

“It’s so stupid,”he mutters. His hands are shaking. Satoru gravitates closer to himhelplessly. “Ever since I was little, I’ve always—”

He winces again atanother streak of lightning across the windows, folding in on himselfin time with the accompanying thunder. He drops his umbrella and hisjacket in favor of clapping his hands over his ears, and he’sshaking, and Satoru crosses the rest of the space between them in asecond.

He wishes Kitamoto was here. Or Tanuma.He’d even take Tsuji.

Because he can’tjust leave this alone, there’s no way he could, but hedesperately doesn’t want to do the wrong thing. Not when Natsume isso pale and frightened, curling up into something tiny and tremblingand fragile.

Kicking off hisshoes and dropping his bag on the floor, Satoru steps up to joinNatsume in stocking feet and hooks a hand around his elbow. Triesto ignore the way Natsume’s breath hitches, and instead tows him backdown the hall.

There’s a classroomon the first floor no one ever uses, not that anyone is still aroundto mind them making use of it themselves. Satoru shoves the door openwith his free hand and tugs his friend inside, shutting it behindthem. It’s a small room with wide windows, and Satoru leaves Natsumeby the door for as long as it takes to draw the curtains closed.

A fresh crack ofthunder has him hurrying back with the last window left bare, becauseNatsume makes a sound uncomfortably close to a whimper and Satoru isphysically incapable of anything else but putting both arms aroundhis shoulders and squeezing him tight.

“How’d yourfoster parents usually help you get through storms?” he asks,desperate to be useful. Natsume doesn’t uncurl even slightly, but heleans forward in the circle of Satoru’s arms, leans into him, andSatoru will take anything he can get. “Natsume, hey. How do Ihelp?”

“I—I don’tknow, I—no one’s ever—”

He’s drowned out bythe storm. Satoru could very quickly learn to hate thunder. Andpointing his hate in that direction instead of towards all ofNatsume’s shitty former foster families is probably a much safer roadto travel in the long run. Even if it’s a hundred times lesssatisfying.

Satoru does hisbest not to think about how many times it’s stormed since Natsumemoved here.

“Okay, that’sokay,” he says, in what he hopes is a reasonable tone. “We’lljust figure this out together, then. No big deal. Let’s just—here,Natsume, let’s sit.”

There’s a shelfpushed sideways against the blackboard wall, and it creates acomfortable little corner in the front of the room. Satoru sits, andtugs Natsume down beside him, their backs to the cabinet doors,facing the wall opposite the windows.

It’s dim and cool,and probably not entirely comforting, but it’s the best he can thinkof. Satoru keeps an arm around Natsume’s shoulders, and picks up oneof his hands in one of his own, and tries to impress warmth andcomfort and support into his cold body.

He can feel Natsumeflinch with the next heavy boom of thunder. He wishes he hadhis phone on him, so he could look up how long this ugly weather issupposed to last. He’ll sit here all night if that’s what Natsumeneeds, and he’s happy to do it, too—but it isn’t fair thathis friend should be so miserable just because he was never taughthow not to be afraid when he was growing up.

“It’s nothing tobe embarrassed about, you know,” Satoru tells him over the sound ofthe wind and rain. “I mean, I wasn’t scared of thunder growing up,but I slept with a nightlight till I was like, nine. I was certainthere were monsters in the dark, and nothing anyone told me convincedme otherwise. Pretty silly, right?”

Natsume makes asoft noise against his shoulder, and murmurs, “I don’t think so.”

“You wouldn’t,”Satoru says fondly. “I swear, any one of us could tell youanything, and you’d just nod right along like it made perfectsense.”

It’s like blanketacceptance, given freely and without reservation, when for so longthe singular person Satoru could expect anything unconditional fromwas always only Kitamoto.

“Is that weird?”Natsume asks. His hair is soft under Satoru’s cheek, and it smellsgood, and it’s distracting. Satoru has no idea why, and pushes theintrusive thought to the back of his brain.

“A little bit.But it’s not bad.”

“Still,” hisfriend says in a small voice, “that was when you were a kid. Youstopped being afraid of the dark. I'm—I’m still—“

“Okay, I’m gonnastop you right there,” Satoru says right over him, a little tooloudly, because he knows he’ll get heated if Natsume says literallyone more word. “You get a pass on this, okay? I don’t care how oldyou are. You are officially allowed to be scared of thunderstorms.And I’ll tell you why.

“Because I’veseen you fall off a bridge before. Off a bridge—like, intothe river—and all you said was pretty much just “Sorryfor getting you wet” when me and Kitamoto fished you out. That jerkShibata showed up out of nowhere to make trouble for you, and youdealt with him on your own, even though you obviously wanted nothingto do with the guy. And there was that time in the woods,” he adds,frowning a little as he tries to sort through fuzzy memories, “rightafter you transferred here, remember? Something happened to me outthere, and you came and found me, and carried me all the way back totown. You never even batted an eye.”

Thunder cracksoutside the window. Natsume doesn’t react to it, absorbed in Satoru’slong-winded ranting instead.

“Natsume, all ofthat is—really cool. Well, maybe not the bridge thing—don’tever do that again. But the rest of it? You have yet to meetyour fear quota, and at this rate, even if it storms every day forten years straight, you probably never will. So, this?” Satorugestures at the room at large, trying to encompass the last half houras a whole in a wave of his hand. “This is nothing. No big.”

He can feel Natsume’s heart beating fast through the tight press of their hands. Lightning illuminates the room through the window on the far end that Satoru didn’t get to cover, casting long shadows for a few flickering seconds. And he thinks it makes sense, objectively, to be afraid of things like this. Of darkness and storms. It makes sense to be scared when you’re alone and there isn’t a light or shelter to keep you safe.

“It’s notnothing, Nishimura,” Natsume finally says. His voice isstronger than it’s been since the storm started. He wavers a littlewhen the windows rattle with a particularly fierce gust of wind, butrallies himself and presses on, “It's—a really big deal. It meansa lot to me that you—that you’re here.”

“You’d do thesame thing for me,” Satoru says comfortably, because he doesn’tdoubt for a second where they would be if their positions werereversed. Natsume is quiet beside him, but his hand in Satoru’ssqueezes tight.

The rain is stillcoming down in heavy sheets, and each new roll of thunder is still asloud as the one before. Natsume is still leaning into Satoru’sside, and Satoru still has an arm around Natsume’s shoulders.

Natsume isn’tshaking anymore. For a person who can seem so delicate at times,Natsume is impossibly resilient. Satoru manages to forget that everynow and then, but never for very long.

It’s one of thethings he loves most about him.

#natsuyuu fic #natsuyuu #nishinatsu #nishimura satoru #natsume takashi #my writing #anonymous #back to you #natsume yuujinchou

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taizi · 7 years

Note

I just read that drabble you wrote two days ago -- the one where Kitamoto gets hurt -- and and and... COULD THERE PLEASE BE A CONTINUATION?? I really want to see how Nishimura and Kitamoto react to flying on Madara and their realization that Natsume indeed can see youkai and and and I'm imagining Natsume being terrified that they'll be too scared to approach him from now on but they're just like dude, you're our friend and always will be, and it'll be Tanuma's first time flying as well and AAHHH

a continuation of this

Disappearingcats and disembodied voices are both things that Satoru was notprepared to deal with during their overnight camping trip; rightalongside his best friend breaking his wrist, and the four of themgearing up for an admittedly treacherous hike back down the mountainin the dark.

ButNatsume’s face is white with real fear, and his eyes are as dark asthey were the day Satoru met him, even if his expression doesn’treally change much. His arms are curled around his middle the waythey’d usually be curled around his cat, like a guard – as if thosefrail hands could shield him from anythingthat really wanted to hurt him – and, remarkably, Satoru can put asideeverything else that’s going on to frown at his friend.

Sure,there was a violent curl of wind and a screen of white smoke, andNyan-nyan-sensei vanished into thin air. Kitamoto stumbled back a fewsteps in alarm, but Tanuma was there to keep him steady, which leaves Satoru free to jab a finger at Natsume and snap, “You look like you’regonna pass out! Take a breath!”

Someof that awful, bleak dread in Natsume’s face recedes to make room forbewilderment instead. Satoru has that affect on people.

Andsure he’s scared, somewhere, in the back of his mind. His hands areshaking a little, so he shoves them in his pockets as he takes a fewfake-fearless steps forward, and makes sure to scowl at Natsume thesame way he always does; when Natsume won’t share the answers he gotfor their homework, or some of the tasty-looking food Touko packs inhis lunch. Like it’s everyday and normal, and Satoru’s not going to do –whatever it is Natsume is so afraid Satoru might do.

Satorudoesn’t like being on the other side of this wall Natsume puts up.He likes to think the two of them are close, these days, and hedoesn’t want to get pushed farther away.

“Iknew your ugly cat was weird,” Satoru leads with. “It cantalk, can’t it? I’ve heard it acouple of times, haven’t I?”

“Cheekybrat,” the voice of an old man grumbles from behind Natsume’sshoulder. Satoru jumps, and hears Kitamoto mutter a faint “what thehell,” but Natsume lifts a hand almost by reflex, reaching out asthough he’s patting a large animal that isn’t there. And seeing himdo that is a little disarming, like watching someone greet a faithfuldog at the front door. “If you could see my true form, you would beawed by it.”

Really,maybe it isn’t as surprising as it should be. Natsume’s always been alittle jumpy and a little odd, but once upon a time he was a quiet,brand new transfer student with reserved mannerisms and glass eyes,and Satoru yelled hurtful things at him in the library over anorigami book. Satoru never apologized for that – never explainedthat it was something dark and hateful weighing on his heart, makinghim do and say things he didn’t mean – but he had never needed to.Because Natsume seemed to understand without asking, and followedSatoru when that darkness on his heart steered him blindly into thewoods, and knew how to save him, and carried him back home on thinshoulders, in thin arms.

MaybeSatoru has been willfully blind up until now, putting weird incidentsout of his mind as they happened so Natsume’s smile would stoplooking so strained. And maybe it was a kindness then, but it feelslike a disservice now.

“Nyan-nyan-sensei?”he says carefully. “Um – sorry, I’ve never talked to a talkingcat before – uh, so, how are you? And – what areyou? And – where…” he adds, sweeping their clearing with shrewd eyes, “…areyou?”

“He’sa yokai,” Tanuma steps in. His voice is so calm andsteady that it soaks most of the tension out of the air like asponge, and his eyes are focused on Natsume, clear and bright andsupportive. “Natsume can see them. They give him a lot of troubleat times, so Ponta looks after him. Like a bodyguard.”

“That’swhy he’s always following you around,” Kitamoto says carefully. Theshock didn’t do him any favors – jumping back like that probablyjarred his arm, if the way he’s wincing is any indication – butthere’s nothing mean in his face when he looks at Natsume. Satoru hasno clue why Natsume was afraid there ever could be. “I wondered howhe always managed to tag along on our school trips.”

Natsumeis looking back and forth between the three of them slowly, frozensomewhere between disbelief and confusion. He’s digging his fingersinto fur that Satoru can’t see, clinging to his calico cat’s trueform the way Kitamoto’s little sister used to cling to their mom’ssmock when she was younger. A safety blanket, Satoru thinks, andmoves stubbornly closer. Natsume doesn’t need oneof those right now, he’s not in any danger among his best friends.

“Soyou already told Tanuma about all this?” Satoru can’t help feeling a little hurt,but he’s mostly just trying to get that look off Natsume’s face whenhe adds, “That’s not fair, I knew you first!”

Tanumasmiles kindly at Satoru, seeing right through his efforts the way healways does whenNatsume is involved. “It’s not something he talks about easily,even to me. I can sense yokai, too, but only barely. That’s why I wasso interested in meeting Natsume after I heard all those rumors abouthim. I had never met anyone else who was aware of yokai before.”

“Me,too,” Natsume offers at that point. His voice is very soft, but hepresses bravely forward anyway. “I’ve always been the only one whocan see them. And it’s dangerous, when other people get involved. So,I – I keep it a secret. I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you,I promise it’s not that. Sorry.”

Satorustares at him. The single step between them feels about a mile wide,and yawning wider.

Healways knew there had to be a reason someone like Natsume grew up sounwanted, passed from place to place, from family to family. Therehad to be a reason why people spoke so badly of him, why rumorsfloated after him at every new school he enrolled in. Rumors thatcalled him creepy, andcursed, and a liar.

Back when Natsumewas little, Satoru thinks, it probably wasn’t as easy not to flinchwhen he saw a monster in the window. It probably wasn’t as easy notto cry when something scary followed him home.

And Satoru has seenhim faint without warning in the hallway at school, and fall off abridge into the deep of the river as if he was pushed, and run awayinto the dark of the forest by himself, and shout half of a heatedargument into thin air. He comes to class with dark circles undertired eyes and a wan smile that doesn’t touch the rest of his face,only leases impersonal space with his mouth.

It’sdangerous enough that he needs a bodyguard, Satoru realizes. It’sscary enough that Tanuma always looks pale when Natsume is late forschool.

“Yeah,”Kitamoto says quietly. “I think I understand.” He’s watchingNatsume carefully, but when Natsume glances at him, Kitamoto softenswith a grin. “So can we pet him? You know Nishimura’s dying to.”

A gustof warm, musky air hits the side of Satoru’s face and rufflesNatsume’s hair – a huff of breath, followed by a disgruntled, “Doyou mistake me for a household pet?”

“Sensei,”Natsume scolds him, at the same time Tanuma says, “Mistake? Ponta,he carries you around every day like a doll.”

They do get to pethim. For all his mighty bluster, and the animated way he and Natsumebicker with each other, he subsides after a few minutes with athroaty grumble. Natsume guides Satoru’s hand to the thick of soft,downy fur, and it’s a little trippy – after all, he can’t seeanything there – but more than that, it’s really cool.

“What does helook like?” Satoru asks, trying to find Nyan-nyan-sensei’s favoritespot to be scratched behind the ear. The invisible body beneath hishand shifts, startling him for a moment, until he realizes thecat-yokai is leaning into the touch. Like a dog, he thinks again, gleefully,and finally finds a big, soft ear to scratch behind. “What color ishe? Is he really, really big? Can he really fly? Are we really goingto fly?”

When he glances up, Kitamoto and Tanuma are both smiling at him – so warm and fond that it’s a little embarrassing, so Satoru quickly looks over at Natsume instead. At Natsume, whose amber eyes are light again, and trembling wetly with something that looks like downright staggering gratitude, and jeez, he’s no better than the other two.

If he thanks me I’ll hit him, Satoru decides mulishly, even as his face burns under the combined attention. Natsume doesn’t, though. He wipes a sleeve over his face, even though he hasn’t cried, and turns to offer Kitamoto his hand.

Looking a little taller, and a little older, and a little softer in the bright moonlight as he says, “Yeah. Let me show you.”

#natsuyuu fic #my writing #prompt #anonymous #w o w this got a little long #there isn't any actual flying :') my bad #i worried as i was writing this that this sort of story is overdone #and im not sure i got everyone's voices right here #but i tried! hope you like it!!#natsuyuu #natsume yuujinchou

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