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BOUND	By : OokamiKasumi Category: +M to R > Natsume Y?jin-Ch? > Natsume Y?jin-Ch? Views: 1742 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: ‘Natsume Yuujinchou’ characters, terms, and locations property of Midorikawa Yuki. This story was written for the intent of Personal enjoyment. No money was made from this work.

Chapter List
- 1-BOUND
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty-One
- 22-Twenty-Two
- 23-Twenty-Three
- 24-Twenty-Four - END
- 23
- 24
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~ Twenty-Four ~

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My coat flapping open at my sides, and my scarf flying behind me, I ran through the neighborhood. I knew exactly where I was going. Yesterday's memory was burned into my brain.
"Fate is cruel." She chuckled sourly and flexed her fingers in the bandage. "That boy has returned -- as an exorcist."
I found the property wall and cursed my idiocy for forgetting to wear a watch. I had no idea how much time I had left. A quick look at the paper Natori gave me showed that he planned to do his exorcism at the front gate. The spirit was pinned to the back gate. I dashed along the property wall hoping to make it in time.
I found the gate and damned near tripped on the walkway flagstones. Panting for breath, I stepped in.
A few yards just inside the wall, Natori, in his long gray coat and cloth hat was scraping a pointed stick in the dirt, inscribing the finishing touches of a circle pattern that was obviously some kind of magic circle. He looked up and smiled. Sunlight gleamed on his glasses. "Oh! I didn't think I’d see you again." He set the stick down and crouched to pick up a paper bag. He pointed at a pack of paper sitting on the ground. "Tear up that paper into little pieces and scatter it over this diagram." He waved toward the circle.
I was not here to help that bastard. I sucked in a deep breath. "Natori, don't you know the spirit you're exorcising today?" Didn't he recognize her?
Natori reached into his paper bag and pulled out a handful of shredded paper. "I know some." He began scattering it over his diagram. "She has a rope around her neck and has been forced to curse people whether she wants to or not." He turned to frown at me. "Doesn't she deserve to be exorcised?"
Deserve to be exorcised...? For being enslaved against her will? I fisted my hands at my sides. That attitude of his was pissing me off royally. However, this was not the time to lose my temper. This wasn't about me."Natori, do you remember when you were a kid, the spirit that you bandaged?"
Natori's frown deepened. "Bandaged...?"
I stared at him wide-eyed. He didn't remember. He didn't remember her and she was going to die for him -- willingly.
Natori turned back to scattering shredded paper. "When the spirit enters this circle, lighting will strike. You might want to remember that."
I turned and bolted for the gate. I had to get to that spirit and stop her! I couldn't let her come here!
Right next to my ear, an emotionless feminine voice whispered. "And where do you think you're going, brat?" Fast as a snake, long black hair whipped out and wrapped around my arms. I was jerked backwards until I slammed against a tree. Natori's black-haired spirit Urihime, leaned over my shoulder and frowned. "I can't let you interfere." More black hair whipped out to wrap around my shoulder, stomach, hips, securing me to the tree. "Just stay here and be good."
"Natori!" I fought against the hair, twisting hard. "Natori, don't!"
Completely ignoring me, Natori pressed his palms together and began reciting some sort of ritualistic chant. Thick wooden beads hung from one wrist tied with a red tassel. He clapped his hands hard. "--Come. Come. Come..."
I kept screaming at Natori and fighting the hair that bound me to the tree.
The hollow clop of wooden shoes punctuated by a jingle was surprisingly loud. She had come. Step by step, the spirit in the one-eyed horned mask, her bandaged hand swinging at her side, came up the walk. Without hesitation she began to tread on the scattered paper.
His hands pressed palm to palm before his face, Natori utterly ignored me and continued to chant in a deep sonorous voice.
I yanked and tore at the hair that held me. "Natori, stop! You have to stop! Don't do this!"
The spirit in the mask with one eye and two horns who was once a mountain guardian, stepped fully into the circle and there was no mistaking that she was happy to be there. Even her horned mask wore a smile.
The wind suddenly swirled around her, lifting the papers from the ground to flutter around her. The scent of ozone -- of lightning sizzled in my nose. Static electricity began to snap and crackle among the flutter papers. It was happening. She was going to die for someone that didn't know her, for someone that hated spirits.
I couldn't let that happen! I put all my efforts into throwing myself at the hair that bound me. "Let me go, you bitch! I have to stop them!"
Urihime, the spirit that bound me suddenly shouted. "Boy! Stop! There's nothing you can do!"
"I said, let me GO!" Power crackled around me. The hair around me suddenly smoked and shredded.
Urihime screamed.
I was free. I lunged for the sparking magic circle, determined to tackle the spirit and throw her out of it. However, when I stepped across the boundary, white hot knives of electricity flashed and stabbed through me. I screamed.
Outside the circle, Natori finally noticed me. "What the hell are you doing?! Takashi, get out of there!"
It was far too late. The circle was already dancing with lightning and I was being jerked along to its vicious tune.
Natori threw out his hands and shouted. "I can't stop the lightning! Takashi...!"
It burned, it burned, IT BURNED! Grabbing onto the masked spirit, the two of us could only shriek.
There was a huge rush of white and I was suddenly smashed to the ground under the heavy weight of frost white fur marked in scarlet. I caught a glimpse of a massive yellow eye that was achingly familiar. I blinked. "Mada..."
The world exploded.
I fell into a pool of darkness.
A voice fell into the darkness with me. It plopped and the darkness rippled like a pool of water -- or blood. "Hey..." A young boy spoke, his voice clear as a bell and just as sweet. "Hey, what's wrong?" Light pooled and formed a faded picture like an old sepia-tinted movie. It was a little boy. I couldn't make out the face, but he had a very familiar lizard on his forearm. His hand was out. "What a weird mask... Your hand! It's bleeding!"
Floating in that rippling darkness, I suddenly understood. These are her memories.
The faded images shifted to become the boy at the masked spirit's side wrapping her hand with cloth. "This is what my mom did for me when I fell down." The boy dropped his chin, but his hands didn't falter. "My mom's gone now. She was delicate." He shrugged slightly. "But my uncle says I'm bad luck because I see weird things." He scowled. "But if that's true, then someone should have gotten rid of me before that happened!"
The spirit huffed out a sigh. "You talk a lot, child." Her voice was dry and a little rusty, as though she hadn't used it in a long, long time. "Humans -- especially children -- do not have the power to cause misfortune, to be 'bad luck'."
The boy stared up at her with wide golden eyes. "Really?"
The spirit patted his head with her freshly bandaged hand. "You're a nice kid -- a nice normal kid." A sigh whispered through the pool of darkness. "Which is why, when I met you again, I was so happy."
I opened my eyes to blue sky and clouds. I was alive. A look around showed me that I was sprawled on my back still in the magic circle with burned paper and ash all around me.
To my immediate left was Madara, or rather Nyanko in his chubby cat form, snoring away. His fur was a bit singed here and there, but he would clearly be just fine.
On my right was the spirit. Her mask was cracked and through it, one wide open blue eye looked over at me.
I blinked in astonishment. "She's alive." We were alive. We were all alive. We were decidedly crispy around the edges, but definitely alive. I felt like celebrating -- once I could move again.
"Yes, and the spell around her neck was burned away."
"Eh?" I blinked and looked up.
Seated on the ground right by my head was Natori. He leaned over me with a sad smile. "I figured she had a fifty-fifty chance of survival." He lowered his gaze and sighed. "Since that pitiful spirit couldn't escape that spell, I wanted to let her pass on. If she survived it, at least the rope would be destroyed and she'd be free. His gaze drifted to Nyanko. "But, it's clear now that she wouldn't have made it. She survived only because you two shielded her."
My attention was caught by the ash floating on the wind. That was very nearly her. That was very nearly me. Gods... I was so...tired.
Natori sighed heavily and looked down at his clasped hands. "Please forgive me. I..." His eyes closed tightly and his knuckles whitened. "I never meant for this to happen to you. I never meant to...hurt you."
I rolled my eyes. "No, you only wanted to enslave me." My voice sounded just as dry and crispy as I felt.
Natori gave me a weak smile. "When I look at you, I remember how I used to be, and how...vulnerable I was." He shrugged, just a little. "I just wanted..." He took a deep breath, but his voice sounded weary. "I just wanted to talk to you, and maybe teach you a few things."
I looked up at the clouds. "I just wanted to talk to you too."
Natori's gaze abruptly narrowed and his jaw tightened. He spoke so softly, I almost didn't hear it. "I just want...to protect you."
Something in the way Natori said those words lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. It was time to go. I needed to get Nyanko and myself out of there, out of Natori's reach -- immediately.
Easier said than done. Every muscle in my body screamed in agony. It was very difficult to just draw a full breath. My skin felt dry and ashen, as though it would blow right off my bones with the next stiff breeze. That didn't stop me from shoving myself up into a sitting position. I even managed to scoop Nyanko into my arms.
Natori rose to one knee and held out his hands. "Takashi! You shouldn't be moving just yet." Suddenly his jaw tightened and his gaze shifted left then right, as though he was expecting someone, and they were late.
That galvanized me into heaving myself onto my feet. I whimpered, but I made it without falling over. I had no intention of waiting around to see what Natori had up his sleeves. I started walking toward the gate.
"Takashi, wait...!" Natori held his hands out toward me. "Help is on the way, just wait a few more minutes."
Help? I snorted. Riiight... Just how stupid did he think I was? Somehow, I dodged his hands and kept moving toward the gate. "I'm fine. I have to get home anyway." At the gate, I summoned the energy to lift one hand in a half wave. "Later."
Rather than follow me, Natori suddenly turned and ran for the main house. I frowned. "That can't be good." Not for me anyway. Ten steps away from the gate was a patch of trees. I ducked into them. Though I had the Book of Friends on me, I didn't have the power to summon anyone -- not in the condition I was in. However, I did have permission. "Mitsuzu, please come to me."
A groaning wind bent the trees, and then a hoof larger than my head appeared at my feet. "Natsume, that is a very weak face you are presenting to me."
I smiled up at the giant black horse. "Surviving an exorcism will do that to you."
Mitsuzu's belled ears tilted forward and he shook his head to shift his white mane out of both widened eyes. "Exorcism...?"
Still smiling, I nodded. "Could you, get us out of here, please?" I don't know what happened after that because I quite plainly, topped over.
~ * ~
I woke up in my bed with a wet cloth on my forehead and Nyanko at my side still snoring away.
Only minutes later, Touko walked into my room with a bowl of soup on a tray. "Oh, you're awake!" She knelt at my bedside and helped me sit up. "Your friend dropped you off saying that you weren't feeling well." She pressed a cool palm to his brow. "My guess is that you've pushed yourself just a little too hard and your fever from before flared back up."
It was a really good excuse, so I decided to go with it, but... I winced and rubbed my temples where a head-ache was building. "My...friend?" Oh Gods, please don't mean Natori!
Touko set the tray across my lap. "White hair, dark skin, very handsome? Mr. Mitsuzu I think he said his name was."
"Oh..." I sighed in relief. "Yes, Mitsuzu is a very good friend of mine." I would make sure to do something to pay him back for his kindness.
Touko placed a cloth napkin before me and handed me a spoon. "Eat some soup and I'll consider letting you go to school in the morning." She shook her head and sighed. "You really should be far more careful when playing around fireworks. They can be dangerous!"
I blinked at her. Fireworks...? That was certainly one way to put it.
Touko fluttered her hands. "Mr. Mitsuzu said it was only the smoke that got to you, but still...!"
I bowed my head. "Yes ma'am, I'll be sure to avoid the smoke from fireworks from now on." Not to mention the exorcists that like to set them off. I looked up at her. "I'm sincerely sorry I troubled you."
She sighed. "Well, you're a boy. It's expected that you're going to get into trouble every now and again -- especially around fireworks." She winked. "It just proves you're normal."
Normal...? I could only stare at her.
~ * ~
I did go to school the next morning, but I was still feeling rather...fried.
Even Kaname noticed that I wasn't quite up to speed. He stared at me wide-eyed. "What the hell happened to you? You look like someone set you on fire and didn't quite put you out."
I winced. Damn his instincts. "Can I tell you at lunch?"
Kaname nodded, letting me go then, but he came by my class at lunch break. Clearly, there was no escaping this little talk.
In the empty classroom, I told him all about the spirit and the exorcism that I...interrupted.
Sandwich halfway to his open mouth, Kaname froze and stared at me. "You...what?" He let his hand --and sandwich-- fall slowly into his lap. "You jumped into an elemental exorcism circle that was active?"
I shrugged. "There was no other way."
"Bleeding Gods..." Kaname smacked his own forehead with his other hand. "Look, Takashi, I understand that you want to help spirits, but must you commit suicide while you're at it?"
I frowned at him. "Hey, I lived!"
Kaname narrowed his black eyes at me. "This time." He digressed into a long vehement lecture on taking my life a lot more seriously because if I were to die foolishly not only would the Fujiwaras be devastated, certain other people would be pissed as hell.
I couldn't help but smile. It was nice to have someone care for me that much.
The week passed by with no sign of Natori other than the occasion fan-girl report on the filming out in the far fields.
Kaname and I continued to meet in the empty classroom for lunch, if not...other things. That exorcism was surprisingly draining. I spent a lot of time simply sleeping.
So did Nyanko.
Friday on my way home from school, the goat-spirit woman, Sasago, appeared on the road to my house. "Just delivering a message!" She held up a folded piece of paper. "We're leaving town tomorrow. Master Natori is going by train. This is the time and station."
I looked down at Nyanko who happened to be toddling at my side.
He shrugged. Apparently, Nyanko didn't see a threat in it.
I took the paper.
~ * ~
Bright and early Saturday morning under a clear sunny sky, I went to the train station on the edge of town to watch Natori leave -- to make sure Natori left.
I found him in the covered booth where the ticket machines were. He was without his hat or glasses, and in a full-collared jacket that shifted in colors. He turned to smile at me. "I've decided that I just can't have a rash brat like you for an assistant."
"Oh, really?" I grinned broadly. "How very disappointing."
Natori's jaw tightened. "Smart-ass."
I shook my head. "How did you become so cynical?" I pouted ever so slightly. "You used to be such a nice kid."
Natori frowned. "What are you talking about?"
I waved a hand. "Never mind." I frowned at him. "Call me soft if you like, but I just can't accept your way of dealing with spirits."
Natori sighed and looked up at the sky. "That's fine. No one said we had to have the same opinion on everything." He turned back to me and shrugged. "Understanding people can be difficult no matter how much you have in common."
So I had learned -- the hard way.
Natori looked at his watch and then turned to me. He held up a folded piece of paper between two fingers. "Takashi, if you ever have a problem, spirit related or not, I want you to know that you can call me. I will always come if you need me." He pushed the paper into my palm and smiled sourly. "Even if you only need a friendly ear to listen to you."
I took the paper and gave him a sincere smile. "Thank you."
With a smile and a wave, Natori walked away and stepped onto the waiting train.
Right behind him stepped the spirit in the one-eyed, horned mask. The mask was still cracked, but the smile was still on it too. She looked much better. Her kimono of midnight blue over white was clean and new looking. Her shoulder-length dark hair looked as though it'd had a recent trim. She held a very new-looking staff with bells on it too.
At my feet, Nyanko sighed then spoke up in his creaky old-man voice. "It seems that that spirit has decided to become that sorcerer's follower. She's even taken a name from him, Hiragi."
I looked down at the cat. "What? But she was free?"
Nyanko turned away and began toddling across the grassy field, away from the station and clearly heading for home. "Maybe she's in love?"
I followed him through the grass. "So spirits can fall in love." I suddenly felt a whole lot better for no apparent reason what so ever.
Nyanko snorted. "Of course we can." He looked up at me from the corner of his eyes. "I absolutely love the taste of you." He smacked his lips loudly.
I cringed away from him. "Eww! Don't say stuff like that when you're in that form!"
"Oh, then shall I say it in this one?" With a poof of power, he was suddenly in his massive dog-like form, grinning at me with teeth as long as my forearm.
I flinched back and waved my hands. "Gods no!" I set my hands on my hips and leveled a glare at him. "Are you trying to give me nightmares?"
Madara continued to stride at my side, massive and shining in the sunlight. "Perhaps I merely wish to replace your current nightmares?"
I blinked. "Oh..." Something warm bloomed in my heart. Then I suddenly remembered something I should have said a full week ago. "Thank you for saving me, during the exorcism."
The massive dog-spirit rolled a golden eye toward me. "I just happen to like my meat raw -- not burned to a crisp."
I snorted out a laugh. Typical.
With a poof of power, Madara shrank back down into Nyanko. "As for Hiragi's choice to follow that sorcerer... The only one who can fully understand what will make them happy, are they themselves."
I blinked at Nyanko. That almost sounded...intelligent. I looked away and shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Nyanko snorted. "About time you realized that."
~ * ~
That autumn, I finally met someone who saw what I saw, and knew what I knew, who straddled two worlds, yet didn't belong to either; someone...like me. Even so, we did not come to the same conclusions. We did not share the same views.
Despite my ability to see spirits, the true feelings that beat inside another person's heart remained a mystery to me. I suppose it's the same for everyone.
I suppose that even makes me somewhat...normal.
~ Fini ~
- 23
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