Work Text:
Natsume Takashi had thirty cats following him on the street.
Of course, these weren’t normal cats, but outsiders don’t know that. What they did know is that Natsume had a cat army that followed him and would not go away no matter what. This is a problem for when cats aren’t allow in school.
Natsume sighed as he opened the classroom door.
“Natsume! Did you have last night’s ho-“ A cat meowed. Nishimura paused. He looked behind Natsume to see thirty cats. “why is there so many cats?”
“I don’t know, they just started gathering around me as I walked to school.” (Liar.) Natsume knew very well that this happened because he helped some cat yokai who then gifted him protection. Of demon cats.
“Have you tried getting rid of them? You know, even if they let that fat cat of yours here a few times, they’re probably not gonna allow a cat army.” More cats meowed and now everyone’s focus is on Natsume.
Kitamoto stared at him with wide eyes. Sasada had already overcome her shock and is now petting an orange tabby, who she nicknamed “DeeDee”.
“I tried asking them.” Kitamoto slammed his face on to his desk. He wondered if Natsume knows that cats don’t understand Japanese.
Natsume obviously knows that, but these cats are demon cats- who are fluent in over 20 languages, including Japanese. He momentarily forgot that others just saw them as cats though.
“And? Is that all you tried doing?” Natsume nodded. Nishimura sighed. “God, you can’t believe that being polite to cats is going to get anywhere.”
Nishimura patted his shoulder.
“Don’t worry! We’ll help you out.” Natsume looked at him in doubt. The cats were harmless, but they were very stubborn. They hadn’t left Natsume’s side even when he went to the restroom.
Nishimura turned around to call for Kitamoto, but he faced a bizarre scene instead. The cats have invaded. On every desk there was a cat on it. Including Kitamoto’s, which had a fluffy brown cat laying on top of his head.
Some students were taking pictures of them and sending it to friends in other classes. Some students were petting they’re designated cats. Tanaka, who had a fear of cats, was shivering in a corner.
Nishimura turned back to Natsume.
“You should probably hurry and get-“ Nishimura stopped speaking. A tall figure was behind Natsume. Natsume had a confused look on his face.
“Nishimura?”
“Behind you.” Natsume turned around to see Kawamoto-Sensei shaking. Natsume immediately froze up. Was he going to get suspended again?
“This is my dream.” Sensei murmured. Fortunately for Natsume, this man was a die hard cat fan. In fact, he often snuck Nyanko-Sensei snacks anytime he saw him.
“Class is dismissed, we can learn history another day.” Students cheered. For the rest of that period, students just played with the cats.
Except for Kitamoto and Tanaka. Kitamoto had been stuck to his desk as the brown cat did not leave his head. Tanaka was sent to the nurse as he apparently had a cat allergy. (How pitiful!)
Natsume and Nishimura were in a deep discussion while petting cats.
“So, you got any ideas? I don’t think the next teacher is going to be a big fan.” Natsume asked.
“Leading them away with food?”
“Where are we going to find enough cat food for thirty cats?”
“You counted the cats?”
“Nishimura your focusing on the wrong thing.” Kitamoto mumbled.
“No, no, no- just how did you manage to count the cats. Theres so many of them and they’re all over the place.”
“They were following me in a line when I walking here.” Correction. They were chasing Natsume who was trying to outrun their bodyguard service.
The three of them discussed plans of how to get rid of the cat army till the bell rung. No one was in much of a hurry to get out, but there were some students who had hurried to get in.
The door was slammed open with Taki leading a bunch of students in to the classroom. Natsume’s classmates had sent pictures of the cats to their friends so now almost all of the school knew. Tanuma was inside that crowd hurried over to Natsume.
“Natsume, what happened this time?” Tanuma asked with worried frown. Nishimura raised an eyebrow at him.
“What do you mean this time? Did Natsume get a cat army before?” He had. Not demon cats, but he had an army of slightly differentiating Nyanko- Senseis. Not that Tanuma had known, he was referring Natsume’s other yokai problems.
Natsume ignored Nishimura and responded,
“You don’t have to worry. I already got it taken care of.” Well, Nyanko-Sensei has it taken care of. He had gone off to find the cat yokai and ask him to undo the protection.
“Natsume, the cat problem is not taken care of.” Nishimura pointed to the yellow cat on his lap. “See? Still here.”
Natsume frowned. Nishimura was right in a way. The cat problem had not disappeared yet.
“Maybe I can hide them in the nurse’s office?”
“Are you trying to kill Tanaka-kun?” Kitamoto asked. The brown cat had finally gotten off his head and now moved to his lap.
“Well darn. I guess I’m gonna have to skip?” This was his last resort. He didn’t want to do this as it might trouble the Fujiwaras, but it’d probably be more troubling if he got suspended for attracting cats.
“Alright! We’re skipping.” Nishimura declared.
“You’re coming with me?”
“Yup!”
“I’m also coming with you.” Tanuma added. He hoped that Natsume would explain the cats to him.
“Gah, I don’t wanna be left alone here. Count me in.” Kitamoto said.
“Me too!” Taki exclaimed.
With that, Natsume, Nishimura, Tanuma, Kitamoto, and Taki all left the school grounds with thirty cats following them.
