[Natsume Yuujinchou] Visits, Here and There
Day #40 -
Title: Visits, Here and There
Fandom: Natsume Yuujinchou
Characters: Natsume Takashi, Nyanko-sensei, Kitsune, Taki
Rating: PG
Words: (+/-) 1308
Summary: Takashi goes on a short trip and then decides to pay his friends another visit.
Notes: Wow, has it really been over a month since I've updated? But I'm back! Or at least, I hope so. For NaNoWriMo, I've decided to concentrate on completing this story and see where it leads. Here's another installment!
Part 1 . Part 2 . Part 3 . Part 4 . Part 5 . Part 6 . Part 7
“Natsume!” cried a little, fox-like boy as he ran up to his friend. Takashi smiled and welcomed the hug, returning it with one of his own. “It’s great to see you again! But -”
Before the boy could question why he was there, Takashi explained, “I needed to get away, so I thought of you.” Being this far away from town, he hoped the little kitsune hadn’t heard of his town or what had happened - or at least wouldn’t question it. And by the way the boy was happily tugging on his hand, there were no more questions to be asked and he merely wanted Takashi’s attention for himself.
“I’ll show you around then,” the fox-boy enthusiastically stated, pointing out things here and there - like his favorite sleeping spot, or the best creek to go fishing in. All the while, Nyanko-sensei grudgingly followed. Someone had to protect the oblivious fools, so he was stuck with that role as usual.
--
When it grew late, the kitsune invited them to stay, but Takashi shook his head with a smile, just glad he could enjoy time with someone that didn’t know of the events that had transpired previously. It had been fun to whittle away the hours with a bouncy, energetic fox that had so much to tell him. Takashi had been able to forget about his troubles for a little while, but now he had to return to where he belonged - and the small fox child understood that, regardless of how disappointed he looked.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” the boy asked, hoping, wishing,, just as much as Takashi was hoping to return to normal, wishing for it more than anything. Takashi didn’t have the heard to let him down, so he promised. He would be back, and hopefully he would be human once more when he did.
--
“Well, that was a wasted trip,” grouched Nyanko-sensei, who hadn’t been able to eat any delicious food during the trip out to the little kitsune’s homeland. Takashi laughed before fishing around in his bag and holding out a meat bun that he had procured and hidden, wanting to surprise the cat with it.
“Here,” Takashi said, “a thank you for taking me there and back.”
The cat didn’t have to be told twice and downed the food held out to him, contentedly patting his belly afterwards. “You don’t have any sake in there to go with that, do you?”
Takashi gave the not-cat a skeptical look. “Even as an ayakashi, I’m still a minor, Sensei.”
The self-proclaimed bodyguard let out an unsatisfied, “Tch,” and headed towards the window. “I’ll be back later, brat.”
“Have a safe trip,” replied Takashi, already drifting off into his own thoughts as he relaxed on the futon the Fujiwaras still kept out in the hopes of his return. It wouldn’t be too much longer before he made that hope into a reality. At least, that was what he kept telling himself, because considering otherwise would be giving up. And Takashi wasn’t going to quietly give up if he could do something about it.
He opened his eyes, fully awake, as something occurred to him. He hadn’t told Tanuma or Taki about the possibility of his return. Were they worried since he hadn’t been in contact with them lately? With those thoughts in mind, he decided to pay Tanuma a visit at the temple.
--
Taki was getting ready to take a bath when she heard rustling in the corner of her room and decided to investigate. One of the practice circles she had been working on was there, but it shouldn’t have been complete, so there shouldn’t have been anything to worry about. Unless -
“Natsume?” she called, wondering if he was there - and then she grew self conscious when she realizes she was in nothing but a towel. “Er, on second thought. Wait a minute before you answer. I’d rather not believe you were in this room the entire time.” Her face a deep red, she excused herself from an empty room and went to change back into her uniform. Upon her return, Natsume was visible, but he didn’t seem nearly as embarrassed as her.
“I didn’t see anything,” Natsume consoled, “but you really should remember to lock your door.”
“Like that could stop an ayakashi,” deadpanned Taki, flopping down on the floor in front of Natsume. “So what brings you here, Natsume-kun?” She didn’t ask how he had gotten the circle to work. He had probably seen so many of them drawn by her hand by now that he could make his own without too much trouble. “Is something wrong?” A sliver of fear crept into her heart as she waited for the answer, but Natsume quickly extinguished it with his next words.
“No, nothing like that. Actually, I have good news, but I couldn’t find Tanuma to tell him. Could you pass what I tell you onto him for me?”
Taki pouted and crossed her arms. “You mean I wasn’t your first choice?”
That certainly got a reaction from her friend, who flushed and ducked his head. “I didn’t mean it like that! I was going to tell you both separately, so I went to Tanuma’s first - because he was closer.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Taki said, feigning disbelief, “playing favorites, I see how you boys are.”
Natsume let out an exasperated sigh. “Believe what you will.” Then something occurred to him and he considered Taki carefully. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Tanuma is, and just be distracting me, would you?”
“I might,” confessed Taki, “but first, shouldn’t you tell me what it is I should know?”
While still suspicious, Natsume didn’t press her for answer. Instead, he went on to tell her what he needed to tell her. “There’s a way for me to return to being human.” He waited for a reaction - shock, happiness, tears - but none was forthcoming.
Nothing but a small, “Oh,” and wide eyes. Natsume had been expecting something different and narrowed his eyes at her.
“Did you already know?” She turned her head away, and he continued with a quiet, “But how?”
“It’s … a bit of a long story,” mumbled Taki.
“Taki,” she raised her head to meet with Natsume’s determined gaze, “I have all the time in the world. Let me hear your story.”
--
Takashi’s head was spinning with the implications left behind when Taki was done with her tale. Natori and Tanuma together. Alone. Somehow, that didn’t seem possible. He had gotten the impression that first time around that Tanuma hadn’t liked Natori. And now this?
“But why is Natori-san with Tanuma?” He had a feeling that Taki had omitted certain parts - certain crucial parts - but that was her own decision, and if she felt it necessary, it was probably for a good reason.
“They decided on a student-teacher relationship?” Taki attempted, a bit sheepish at her own choice of words.
“Ah,” Natsume furrowed his brows, frowning, “you mean, Natori-san chose Tanuma for an apprentice? How did that happen?”
Taki, at her wit’s end, threw her hands in the air. “Enough questions! If you want answers, ask Tanuma yourself!” She hadn’t meant that to sound harsh, but it did, so she reiterated with, “I mean, he’ll be able to explain what’s going on with that apprenticeship better than I can, and I know where you can find him.” Natsume leaned forward expectantly. He was almost out of the circle, as if he was a person on the edge of his seat in the theaters, waiting for the suspense in the movie to reach its peak. “He’s at Natori-san’s apartment, practici -”
She couldn’t even finish before Natsume was gone. It was her turn to sigh in exasperation. Boys. She would never fully understand them.
Part 9
Title: Visits, Here and There
Fandom: Natsume Yuujinchou
Characters: Natsume Takashi, Nyanko-sensei, Kitsune, Taki
Rating: PG
Words: (+/-) 1308
Summary: Takashi goes on a short trip and then decides to pay his friends another visit.
Notes: Wow, has it really been over a month since I've updated? But I'm back! Or at least, I hope so. For NaNoWriMo, I've decided to concentrate on completing this story and see where it leads. Here's another installment!
Part 1 . Part 2 . Part 3 . Part 4 . Part 5 . Part 6 . Part 7
“Natsume!” cried a little, fox-like boy as he ran up to his friend. Takashi smiled and welcomed the hug, returning it with one of his own. “It’s great to see you again! But -”
Before the boy could question why he was there, Takashi explained, “I needed to get away, so I thought of you.” Being this far away from town, he hoped the little kitsune hadn’t heard of his town or what had happened - or at least wouldn’t question it. And by the way the boy was happily tugging on his hand, there were no more questions to be asked and he merely wanted Takashi’s attention for himself.
“I’ll show you around then,” the fox-boy enthusiastically stated, pointing out things here and there - like his favorite sleeping spot, or the best creek to go fishing in. All the while, Nyanko-sensei grudgingly followed. Someone had to protect the oblivious fools, so he was stuck with that role as usual.
--
When it grew late, the kitsune invited them to stay, but Takashi shook his head with a smile, just glad he could enjoy time with someone that didn’t know of the events that had transpired previously. It had been fun to whittle away the hours with a bouncy, energetic fox that had so much to tell him. Takashi had been able to forget about his troubles for a little while, but now he had to return to where he belonged - and the small fox child understood that, regardless of how disappointed he looked.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” the boy asked, hoping, wishing,, just as much as Takashi was hoping to return to normal, wishing for it more than anything. Takashi didn’t have the heard to let him down, so he promised. He would be back, and hopefully he would be human once more when he did.
--
“Well, that was a wasted trip,” grouched Nyanko-sensei, who hadn’t been able to eat any delicious food during the trip out to the little kitsune’s homeland. Takashi laughed before fishing around in his bag and holding out a meat bun that he had procured and hidden, wanting to surprise the cat with it.
“Here,” Takashi said, “a thank you for taking me there and back.”
The cat didn’t have to be told twice and downed the food held out to him, contentedly patting his belly afterwards. “You don’t have any sake in there to go with that, do you?”
Takashi gave the not-cat a skeptical look. “Even as an ayakashi, I’m still a minor, Sensei.”
The self-proclaimed bodyguard let out an unsatisfied, “Tch,” and headed towards the window. “I’ll be back later, brat.”
“Have a safe trip,” replied Takashi, already drifting off into his own thoughts as he relaxed on the futon the Fujiwaras still kept out in the hopes of his return. It wouldn’t be too much longer before he made that hope into a reality. At least, that was what he kept telling himself, because considering otherwise would be giving up. And Takashi wasn’t going to quietly give up if he could do something about it.
He opened his eyes, fully awake, as something occurred to him. He hadn’t told Tanuma or Taki about the possibility of his return. Were they worried since he hadn’t been in contact with them lately? With those thoughts in mind, he decided to pay Tanuma a visit at the temple.
--
Taki was getting ready to take a bath when she heard rustling in the corner of her room and decided to investigate. One of the practice circles she had been working on was there, but it shouldn’t have been complete, so there shouldn’t have been anything to worry about. Unless -
“Natsume?” she called, wondering if he was there - and then she grew self conscious when she realizes she was in nothing but a towel. “Er, on second thought. Wait a minute before you answer. I’d rather not believe you were in this room the entire time.” Her face a deep red, she excused herself from an empty room and went to change back into her uniform. Upon her return, Natsume was visible, but he didn’t seem nearly as embarrassed as her.
“I didn’t see anything,” Natsume consoled, “but you really should remember to lock your door.”
“Like that could stop an ayakashi,” deadpanned Taki, flopping down on the floor in front of Natsume. “So what brings you here, Natsume-kun?” She didn’t ask how he had gotten the circle to work. He had probably seen so many of them drawn by her hand by now that he could make his own without too much trouble. “Is something wrong?” A sliver of fear crept into her heart as she waited for the answer, but Natsume quickly extinguished it with his next words.
“No, nothing like that. Actually, I have good news, but I couldn’t find Tanuma to tell him. Could you pass what I tell you onto him for me?”
Taki pouted and crossed her arms. “You mean I wasn’t your first choice?”
That certainly got a reaction from her friend, who flushed and ducked his head. “I didn’t mean it like that! I was going to tell you both separately, so I went to Tanuma’s first - because he was closer.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Taki said, feigning disbelief, “playing favorites, I see how you boys are.”
Natsume let out an exasperated sigh. “Believe what you will.” Then something occurred to him and he considered Taki carefully. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Tanuma is, and just be distracting me, would you?”
“I might,” confessed Taki, “but first, shouldn’t you tell me what it is I should know?”
While still suspicious, Natsume didn’t press her for answer. Instead, he went on to tell her what he needed to tell her. “There’s a way for me to return to being human.” He waited for a reaction - shock, happiness, tears - but none was forthcoming.
Nothing but a small, “Oh,” and wide eyes. Natsume had been expecting something different and narrowed his eyes at her.
“Did you already know?” She turned her head away, and he continued with a quiet, “But how?”
“It’s … a bit of a long story,” mumbled Taki.
“Taki,” she raised her head to meet with Natsume’s determined gaze, “I have all the time in the world. Let me hear your story.”
--
Takashi’s head was spinning with the implications left behind when Taki was done with her tale. Natori and Tanuma together. Alone. Somehow, that didn’t seem possible. He had gotten the impression that first time around that Tanuma hadn’t liked Natori. And now this?
“But why is Natori-san with Tanuma?” He had a feeling that Taki had omitted certain parts - certain crucial parts - but that was her own decision, and if she felt it necessary, it was probably for a good reason.
“They decided on a student-teacher relationship?” Taki attempted, a bit sheepish at her own choice of words.
“Ah,” Natsume furrowed his brows, frowning, “you mean, Natori-san chose Tanuma for an apprentice? How did that happen?”
Taki, at her wit’s end, threw her hands in the air. “Enough questions! If you want answers, ask Tanuma yourself!” She hadn’t meant that to sound harsh, but it did, so she reiterated with, “I mean, he’ll be able to explain what’s going on with that apprenticeship better than I can, and I know where you can find him.” Natsume leaned forward expectantly. He was almost out of the circle, as if he was a person on the edge of his seat in the theaters, waiting for the suspense in the movie to reach its peak. “He’s at Natori-san’s apartment, practici -”
She couldn’t even finish before Natsume was gone. It was her turn to sigh in exasperation. Boys. She would never fully understand them.
Part 9