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"You know Takashi, you're pretty cute for a spirit medium."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean I always thought spirit mediums were old and crusty," you elaborated, nibbling at your ice cream as you walked down the dirt track under the hot summer sky.
"Should you really be saying that? Anyway, I'm not a spirit medium, I just happen to see them," Takashi answered bluntly, taking a small bite from his own ice cream. Cicadas buzzed in the background and ahead of you the dirt path rippled in the merciless heat.
"Huh. Well you helped me out last winter," you told him thoughtfully, remembering the spirit which had attached itself to you during the cold winter months. Exam stress and school work had been building up on your horizon for months and in a moment of weakness a meddlesome spirit had attached itself to you. You had struggled with constant exhaustion and sickness in the weeks after, and the doctors were unable to help you. Only Takashi Natsume had realised what was really wrong and had gone after you one afternoon and talked it out with you. After everything you had been through, it had no longer seemed so unbelievable what he was telling you.
"I didn't help you," Natsume interrupted your thoughts. "You helped yourself. I only helped you talk to it."
"Either way, it is my wish to pay you back for that," you told him and gave him a small smile. Takashi glanced away immediately.
"You don't have to," he muttered.
"It's a small price to pay," you hummed in response.
You walked in silence for a while. Cicadas buzzed. The path in front of you rippled. Nyanko-sensei began to fall behind after a few minutes of walking and after several words of complaints from him, which only Takashi understood, there was a collective decision to sit down in the dry grass and rest.
You finished your ice cream after a few minutes and tossed the wooden stick away into the bushes.
"I'm really glad I met you, Takashi," you said after a moment.
The boy didn't reply at once and there was a small gust of dusty warm wind, which ruffled his hair slightly. You watched in interest, as he reached up instinctively and brushed it out of his eyes. Then he turned around and shot you one of his rare smiles.
"You too (l/n)-san," he answered quietly.
You punched his arm lightly. "Geez! Call me by my first name," you told him, pouting slightly.
Nyanko looked up from where he was lazily pawing at some dried moss and mewed loudly, with a smug expression. Natsume began to blush instantly and flicked a hand at the cat.
"Shut up, sensei!"
"What did he say?" you asked curiously.
"N-nothing! It was nothing!" The boy protested. You raised an eyebrow.
"Doesn't look like nothing," you commented, though you didn't receive any reply and let it slide this time. "Anyway," you continued. "You're still coming around to eat with us tonight, right?"
"Are you sure it isn't an inconvenience...?"
"Positive! Anyway my parents want to meet you. You're my knight in shining armour after all," you finished with a grin.
"I really didn't do that much..." He looked a little apprehensive at the mention of meeting your parents. You talked about them quite a bit and told stories about them which occasionally would make Takashi laugh gently. But actually meeting them sounded nerve wracking to say the least. And imposing on them on their first meeting too...
"You're such a worry guts!" You exclaimed, punching his arm lightly. "I'm sure they'll like you."
"Maybe..." He replied half heartedly, sounding unconvinced.
"You'll be fine," you attempted to assure him. "I'll be there to fill in for you, remember?"
At that moment your phone buzzed, interrupting the rustling grass and chirping cicadas. It jolted you away from your conversation and you pulled the flip phone out of your pocket.
You sighed. "It's a text from my parents... I'd better get home and help out," you muttered.
"Like I said, if it's a problem-"
"It's not!" You interrupted, jumping energetically to you feet. "I'll see you in an hour or so!"
Waving over your shoulder, you jogged back to the track and began to make your way back home.
Natsume watched you go, until he could no longer see you past the unruly foliage. Then he turned irritably to Nyanko and snapped: "Don't say stuff like that!"
The cat shrugged lazily and want back to nibbling on the grass.
******
When the doorbell finally rang after what seemed like an age, you almost tripped over your own feet in excitement as you raced out of the kitchen, calling: "I'll get it!"
Of course your seven younger siblings came rushing and toddling over after you and when you opened the door, Takashi almost seemed to have a heart attack at the eight pairs of eyes excitedly coming to greet him.
He knew of your large family of course, you told him stories all the time, but it was still unexpected seeing then all excitedly crowding around you. The two twins at the back looked at the boy for a second before turning to each other and giggling.
"Takashi! Come in!" You grinned, attempting to shoo your siblings from the doorway. A little overwhelmed, Takashi dropped his head and followed you into the house.
Looking around it was easy to tell this was a traditional Japanese style house, with sliding doors and a large stone garden outside (though you had admitted to him once that the reason behind a stone garden was actually just because nobody could be bothered to keep up the gardening work), though it was cluttered and homely, obviously housing a large family.
"Hmm...? Oh! You brought your cat?" You said suddenly.
"What?" Natsume snapped his head around, finding Nyanko in the middle of the group of small interested children.
He leaned down and hissed to the cat: "I thought I told you to stay at home!"
You laughed lightly, kneeling down to stroke the cat. "Oh don't worry! He can have the left overs."
The children seemed happy enough playing with Nyanko for now, so you left them to it. Nyanko wasn't seemingly enjoying himself as much as the children were, but you figured that since he had insisted on coming along, he would have to manage.
"We might as well sit down already," you said thoughtfully, poking your head into the kitchen.
After a minute or so you, Takashi and a few of the older children managed to hoard everyone into the dining area, a small miracle in itself.
The whole set up was completely different from anything Natsume had experienced before and it felt like a shock to his system, being an only child. It wasn't as though his current home wasn't perfectly pleasant, but they were a small family and all together more organised in a way.
A moment later your parents came through, holding various plates and dishes and food began to appear on the table. There was a frenzy of hands as everyone began to help themselves to the various dishes.
Before you began there was a collective 'thanks for the meal', followed by a chaotic mix of conversation and various people asking for others to hand various bits and pieces across the table. In the end it was such a whirlwind of sounds and chattering that Takashi spent most of the time either sitting quietly amongst the confusion and eating or talking to you and hardly exchanged more than a few words with your parents.
"Hey (Name)! Pass the salt!" someone called loudly over the noise and you handed the salt across to another of your siblings, by which time Takashi began to feel rather dazed.
Nyanko on the other hand seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, being fed various titbits under the table, until he could barely move. Takashi made a mental note to put he cat on a strict walking regime.
"So are you (Name)'s boyfriend?" one of the younger children asked at one point, through a mouthful of noodles. Takashi was at lost for words, feeling a blush rising on his face again, but all you did was scold: "What did I tell you about eating with your mouth full?"
You never denied it, something that didn't go unnoticed by Nyanko-sensei, who smirked, thinking about what he had said to Takashi earlier, or your parents, who exchanged a knowing glance.
Over the next hour or so, the younger children began to finish their meals one by one, grew bored and left their places at the table, until it was just you, Takashi and your parents.
"That was good," you sighed, licking you lips and closing your eyes for a moment, while sitting back in your chair. "I know! I'll go and hand out the ice creams!" You exclaimed after a moment, leaping to your feet and dashing off to the kitchen.
Takashi panicked slightly, wondering if he should excuse himself to go and help you, but what if that seemed rude? What could he say though? He swallowed thickly.
"So you're Takashi Natsume I presume?" you mother asked, breaking the silence with a friendly smile. Takashi nodded frantically. "(Name) talks about you a lot. It's okay, we don't bite!"
"You're the boy who helped our daughter last winter, aren't you?" Your father added.
Takashi shook his head uncomfortably. "I didn't really do anything," he protested self consciously. "I was just there."
Your father laughed. "Well I don't know what you did, but she's really turned a corner we feel."
Takashi fidgeted. "It was nothing," he said quietly.
"Well," you mother spoke again with a smile. "Protest all you like, but since she met you, she's been much happier."
"She's right, you know. Take care of our daughter for us," your father finished. Takashi wasn't sure what to say and opened and closed his mouth a few times before sitting awkwardly in silence.
"Off you go then," your mother told him. "Go and help (name). She's who you're here to see after all."
Takashi nodded quickly and stood up as quickly as he could without being impolite and left the room.
"He seems like a nice boy," your mother commented. Your father nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile Takashi had joined you in the kitchen, still feeling worried about the conversation he had just had. Had he been rude? He wasn't sure.
"Here, could you please take this box?" you asked, handing him a commercial cardboard box filled with colourful ice lollys. Your fingers brushed for a fraction of a second and your hand came away tingling. Your eyes met just a moment too long before you looked back at the fridge, grabbed another box and closed the door.
A few moments later the pair of found yourself sitting lazily in the swings outside in the garden, watching the other children draw, run around, hide and toss balls at each other. The sun was becoming lower in the sky casting long shadows on the ground, however it was still pleasantly warm from the heat of the sun.
"Hey Takashi?" You asked after a moment.
"Yes?"
"What do you think you want to do with your future?" You asked thoughtfully, biting into your ice cream.
"I don't really know. I guess I would want to become independent."
"Are you worried about being a burden to your relatives?" You asked immediately, seeing straight through his words. He looked startled and you knew you had hit the nail straight on the head. "Have you ever thought," you began. "That maybe they don't see you that way? Maybe they like having you there."
"I just don't want to involve them," Takashi explained quietly.
"I see... But you know, I'm sure they don't see you as a burden. You're too hard on yourself. Don't try to keep shouldering everything on your own."
"What about you (f/n)? What do you want to do?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Me? Huh... I wonder," you murmured thoughtfully. "If anything, the problem is that there are so many things I want to do. I don't know where to start."
A ball rolled towards you and you bent forwards and threw it back, before sitting back in the swing.
"I suppose I don't want to become a burden to my parents either. With all my siblings, I..." you trailed off. "I've started an after school job to start saving for college," you admitted.
"I see..."
You sat in silence again, watching your siblings dash energetically around the garden with seemingly endless energy. To you they looked as though they didn't have a care in the world.
"Takashi," you started again.
"Hmm?"
"What did Nyanko say to you earlier?"
Takashi coughed and looked away with a blush. There was a few moments of awkward silence. You were about to give up when he finally spoke.
"He asked... When I would..." He gulped. "Why I don't tell you how I feel already..."
"Oh?" You leaned forward on the swing in an attempt to catch his eye. A light smile played on your lips. "And how do you feel?"
"I... I..." He stammered and mumbled between fake coughs.
You sighed. "I knew you wouldn't say it first. You're too unselfish. I'll go first shall I?"
He looked at you uncomprehendingly. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes for a long moment. Then you blinked your eyelids open and began: "Last winter, you saved me." Already Takashi looked like he wanted to interrupt but you held up a hand. "Let me finish. Back then, I was despairing. I wasn't sure what to do with my future and I was certain I would fail my exams. But then you come along and began to speak to me. You told me all of these interesting and otherworldly things and let me see something I never knew existed. It felt like something from a fairy tale you know? Where a handsome prince comes to take the princess from her tower and breaks her curse and all that."
By this point Takashi was staring at you, his surprise evident. You hurried in before you lost your nerve.
"Then exams came around and I studied long and hard and I actually passed! I was surprised of course, but it opened so many new doors to me. I wouldn't have been able to work so hard if you hadn't been there to help me. I hope that you will let me in from now on and if you let me I would like to be with you. Basically what I'm trying to say is," you took a deep breath. "I like... No, love you, Takashi. Please go out with me."
The moment you spoke the words a kind of peace seemed to settle on you now that your feelings were in the open. The fact that you had managed to say these words was almost such a relief to you that you almost didn't hear Takashi mumbling something in response.
"Hmm?" You asked.
"I..." He cleared his throat anxiously. "Feel the... same... (l/n)-san."
In his moment of nervous apprehension, he accidentally reverted to your last name again through habit, but you let it go this time.
"So is that a yes?" You prompted.
"Y-yeah..." He sounded slightly anxious, but he seemed happy. You could tell from his body language that a certain tension had been released.
You almost fainted at this point and sank back into your seat on the swing with an exhausted sigh.
"Ah! (F/n), are you alright?" he asked, sounding slightly panicked.
"Y-yeah..." You stammered, finally loosing your nerve. "I'm just... So relieved..."
"Yeah..." So you had been nervous as well. The thought made him feel a little better.
After a moment you looked up with a grin. "You'll have to disappoint all of your fans now," you teased.
"What are you talking about?"
You groaned playfully and punched his arm lightly. "You're so dense!"
"I-I'm not!" He protested, sounding slightly offended.
"As your girlfriend I say you are!"
The effect was immediate. His face dropped in embarrassment in an attempt to hide another blush. You grinned wickedly.
"You're so easy to tease, Takashi!"
"Tha-that's not true!"