Chapter Text
“Hey,” a voice whispers in my ear from behind. “Natsume.”
I unstick my cheek from the school desk. Have I been napping? It’s only the second week of the new school year, and now I’m sure I’ve made a terrible impression on my teacher. But I was so tired, I was kept up by two youkai requesting name returns.
“Hm?” I yawn, sitting up.
“See that girl over there sitting by the door? She’s looking at you,” Kitamoto tells me, pointing discreetly.
“She was probably admiring the blossoms on the tree outside the window behind me,” I dismiss, turning my attention to the teacher and not caring to glance in the direction of the girl.
“What, you’re not going to look? You’re not curious?” Nishimura pipes in from the desk in front of me, overhearing our conversation. “She’s cute.”
“Not really, no,” I say simply. “It’s probably coincidence.”
“I’m not going to let this go until you see who she is.” Kitamoto takes another peek. “She’s not watching any more, this is the perfect opportunity.”
I give in, and furtively glance towards the door. I’m taken aback when I see her features mirror mine. She, too, has green eyes and blonde-bordering-on-silver hair that she manages to make understated by cutting short and pulling into a small ponytail decorated with a delightful flower-patterned hair tie. While my strange features and ghostly aura make me seem like an outsider within a crowd, she has transformed hers into charm.
While I’m contemplating this, she catches me staring. My stomach sinks, and I quickly avert my eyes. Why does she look like me?
I turn around. “Kitamoto, do you think she and I look alike?” I ask, needing a second opinion.
He gives me an odd look. “Not in the slightest. She has dark hair and yours is light, and the eye color is all wrong. I suppose the shape of your face is somewhat similar, though.”
My heart nearly palpitates. I’m unsure of whatever bizarre youkai magic is at work with this girl. This can’t be natural, it’s too much of a coincidence.
“Why is she suddenly in our class?” It’s all very suspicious.
“It’s a new school year,” he explains, not understanding my sudden paranoia. “It’s not that surprising that they mix students up. She’s not new to the school, I’ve seen her around before. I don’t know her name, though.”
“You haven’t noticed her before now?” Nishimura asks me incredulously. “She has a lot of friends. She’s somewhat popular. You’re lucky if she’s taken an interest in you.”
“I told you, she wasn’t looking at me,” I insist. “And even if she was, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. She probably thought I looked funny sleeping in class.”
The bell rings, releasing us from our last class of the day. “You can deny it all you want,” Kitamoto says, packing up his bags “but I definitely saw her watching you for a good minute.”
“If you say so.”
“Look, she’s coming this way!” Nishimura warns. He hurriedly shoves the rest of his things in his bag before dashing away—towing Kitamoto behind him by the sleeve of his uniform—only to leave me behind.
I get out my bag, intending to speedily pack up before the odd girl can catch up to me, but when I lift it I notice it’s significantly bulkier than it should be. Upon unzipping it, I see Nyanko-sensei has stowed away.
“Sensei! What are you doing in here?” I hiss, annoyed.
“In the midafternoon I began to crave the cookies I know you carry.” He rubs his rotund belly, accidentally detaching a small avalanche of crumbs from his fur. “I had to come and find you, but unfortunately your classes started again, and I was forced into hiding.”
I cast a worried glance over my shoulder. “Be quiet, she’s almost here!” I hastily rezip my bag, muffling Sensei’s voice, though I only manage to get it a quarter of the way closed before she approaches.
I quickly turn around and paste on a smile.
“Here, take this,” she says sweetly, holding a flyer out to me. “You were asleep when the entire class was called up to take one, and you missed out. It’s information about the class fundraiser coming up soon.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I reply politely, taking the paper with a hesitant outstretched hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”
“It’s Miyoshi. Miyoshi Akari.”
At this inopportune moment, Nyanko-sensei chooses to pop his head out of my bag. I shove him back in before she can see.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miyoshi. I’m Natsume, but I really must be going,” I say, trying to excuse myself from the conversation as quickly and civilly as possible. “Thank you again for the flyer.”
“But—”
I speed-walk from the classroom before she can pursue.
When I exit the school, I find Kitamoto and Nishimura waiting for me at the front gate.
“How did it go? What did she want?”
“She gave me one of those fundraiser flyers. Next time I’m asleep during handouts, please save me one,” I grumble.
“I did save you one.” Nishimura digs around in his bag and produces the paper, waving it in the air. “I planned on giving it to you after class. But when I saw her coming to you, holding another, I thought I should let her do it.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“But I wanted to.”
“But you don’t need to in the future, alright? Anyway, I should be getting home, Touko will start worrying.” It’s a weak excuse, but they don’t stop me as I leave them at the school gates.
As soon as they’re out of sight, I unzip and invert my bag, unceremoniously shaking out Nyanko-sensei. He lands on the ground with a thud, his chubby limbs splayed, yowling crankily.
“That girl Miyoshi. You saw her. She was a youkai, wasn’t she?” I interrogate frantically.
“Not telling, not before you buy me some fried squid in penance for your harsh treatment,” he huffs. “I am a great and mighty youkai! And to be handled so roughly!”
“Alright,” I allow, “as long as you answer after.”
After purchasing the squid from our usual vendor and settling on a sunny park bench, I ask the question again.
“No, she is not a youkai,” Sensei informs me.
“But why does she look like me? Could the youkai be mimicking my appearance? And she suddenly appeared in my classroom, seeking me out, like they tend to do. It reeks of youkai mischief.”
“I assure you, she is a perfectly normal human girl.” He rips off a tentacle. “Your friends would not be able to see her if she was a youkai, no?”
“We’ve met youkai who have revealed themselves to humans.”
“Maybe one or two humans, but she is visible to the entire school, and has been for a long time,” he reminds me. “And did you feel any strange spiritual energy radiating from her?”
“Well—no,” I admit. “But explain to me one thing. Why does she appear differently to me than everyone else? That can only be the work of a youkai.”
“That, I do not know,” he admits. “It is especially mysterious since, to my eyes, she appears brunette with brown eyes. To think that I am as feeble as those human friends of yours.” Nyanko-sensei gobbles down the last too-large chunk of his squid, worrying me that he’ll choke. “But, I guarantee you, she is human.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
“Believe what you wish, but it does not change the fact she not a youkai.” He nibbles the last bits of squid clinging to the wooden skewer upon which the squid arrived. “I find it curious that she appears unique to only you, so I will undertake the enormous burden of asking my acquaintances if they’ve heard of such a phenomenon.”
“Really? Thank you, Sensei.” I pick him up and give him an affectionate squeeze.
He squirms out of my grasp before telling me “In your rush, you’ve forgotten all your books at the school.”