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“Aghhh!”
“Quiet, something might hear us, including that thing that attacked you.”
Natori sharply inhaled as Matoba tightened the bandages around his leg. Blood already seeped through them.
“This is quite serious. We need to get help immediately.”
“Yeah, I think I’m aware of that,” Natori snapped back.
He winced. How did he end up in this situation? Why did he take this job with Matoba? Nothing good happened when he worked with Matoba. And of course it had to happen right after his familiars were affected by some curse and rendered useless until they recovered. He couldn’t even call them for help.
“Really, Natori, you need to be more careful.”
Natori just glared at him.
It had all happened so fast. He didn’t even know the creature was there until he felt the sharp, throbbing pain in his left leg. The leg the lizard never went to. The leg he feared he’d lose someday. And that day had almost been today.
He wanted to go home. Thinking about it, he only agreed to take this job with Matoba because it was near Natsume’s home. He didn’t want the boy involved in this, and wanted to keep an eye out. And now he was stuck here. It was getting dark, and he couldn’t move. On top of that, of course there was a dangerous youkai on the loose that he was now powerless against. The pain wouldn’t stop. He could barely think anymore. He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself, but it wasn’t working. He passed out.
This was quite inconvenient. The man was unconscious now. One would think a powerful exorcist would have more pain tolerance than this. Matoba sighed. He was frustrated. He should have seen that youkai coming. He should have taken care of it in an instant. Now Natori was seriously injured, and they were stuck in the dark woods. Matoba began searching in his bag and found the paper dolls, along with a brush and ink he had brought. With this he could send out a message for help. He watched as the paper doll fluttered away through the trees. Now all he could do was wait. He felt restless. He wanted to go hunt that thing down and kill it, but he was stuck here. He could go off by himself, but it would be foolish, especially when it was too dark to see clearly. And Natori would be left alone. He’d just have to set up camp for the night.
Natori’s eyes blurrily blinked open. It was still so dark. He must not have been out for too long, probably awoken by the intense pain in his leg that even pushed its way into his dreams. He slowly sat up, wincing.
“Ugh. How long was I out?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“About an hour. I’d say it’s only about 10pm. Still quite a while until the sun comes back out. I sent out a message for help after you passed out, but it could take some time for a search party to find us, assuming the message was received. We could be here for a long time.”
“Matoba… you should leave me and go hunt that youkai down. I’m worried about it leaving the forest and hurting more humans… or coming after us again.”
He said that, but what he was really worried about was it running into Natsume. The youkai had already killed some livestock, but since it attacked him, it was probably craving more blood from a human. And humans with strong spiritual power tasted the best. If it left the forest to look for food, if it found Natsume…
He sighed and put his head in his hands. His head was throbbing now too. He was lightheaded from the blood loss.
“I’m worried about Natsume,” he admitted.
“What for? He’s more powerful than us, and the cat is with him.”
“I know, but-”
“Is that why you agreed to come with me on this mission?”
Natori looked down.
“Yeah. I wanted to help since it was so close by. Knowing Natsume, I’m surprised he hasn’t somehow gotten himself involved already. I want to get rid of this thing before that happens. For all I know, it-”
He stopped abruptly. He had almost mentioned the Book of Friends.
“You should make more use of him.”
Natori glared.
“You’re saying I should take advantage of him.”
“Is that not why you made contact with him in the first place?”
He continued glaring and clenched his fists tightly.
“You’ve grown too soft. You know you can’t afford that in this line of work. If someone or something is a useful asset, you should take advantage of that.”
“Natsume isn’t an asset, he’s a friend . And he’s a child. He shouldn’t be involved in this stuff.”
“Were you not the one who involved him in the first place? Everyone remembers the child you brought to an assembly who foolishly jumped in front of a youkai to protect everyone. The boy you brought to the Hakozaki estate in disguise. The boy you drag around everywhere.”
“That’s-”
“Natsume should really reconsider his position on exorcists. He’d be much safer among us, with his own kind. We could protect him. I even went as far as to ask him to join the Matoba clan, but he refused. He refused you too, did he not?”
Natori looked away. He didn’t want to have this conversation anymore.
“We should rebandage your leg.”
He looked down at his leg, the bandages on it completely drenched in red. Matoba unwrapped the bloody bandages and carefully and firmly applied new ones.
“Oh, it seems that was the rest of it. They’ll have to last till we get out of here.”
Natori felt sick, and in so much pain. He just wanted to pass out again and sleep until they were finally rescued, but his mind allowed him no rest.
Matoba leaned back against the same tree he had propped Natori against. He sat huddled right against him. It was getting cold out. Natsume… he wished the boy was here. He and his powerful youkai companion could easily take care of this infuriating creature they were dealing with. Why did he refuse him? Matoba didn’t understand. The boy spent his entire life being passed around by people who didn’t understand him, who rejected him. Why would he say no to taking refuge in a clan who would appreciate and cherish his talents, who would grow and nurture his abilities? Perhaps his current caretakers were truly kind, but if they were kind, finding out about his abilities, and everything he’d gone through because of youkai, would cause them pain. And that would in turn cause the boy more pain as well. Then there was Natori… he had turned soft again after meeting that boy, even more so than when he was around that age. He had become so strong and sure of himself, but now he wavered. That was troublesome. This wasn’t a job that allowed for second-guessing yourself and hesitating, you had to make swift decisions, and not care how others would react. From the sounds of his recent jobs, he’d begun killing youkai less and less, even ones who truly needed to be done away with. Seals don’t last forever, sooner or later a blood-thirsty creature simply needs to be put down. He knew this. Meeting that kid had changed something in him. He was weaker now.
“Matoba?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for helping me.”
“With what?”
“Well, I just meant the bandages.”
“Oh. Well of course I had to wrap your leg up, I wasn’t just going to leave it.”
“Yes, but I’m thanking you anyway.”
“Okay.”
See? Soft.
“Matoba?”
“What is it?”
“Do you really think I’m going to lose my leg someday?”
Matoba paused, considering.
“It’s just a theory. But I can’t think of many other reasons. It’s also a possibility that mark of yours may be waiting to eat that leg, or possess it. Though I suppose that also involves you losing your leg.”
“When that thing clamped down on my leg, all I could think was ‘It’s time’. That this was when I’d finally lose my leg. Do you know, I almost felt some relief? I thought, ‘Now I know. Now I can live with one less thing weighing on my mind, cause at least I’ll know why it never went to that leg’”.
He looked up, smiling weakly.
“I still have my leg, but now I’m back to the anxiety that this mystery brings. I’ve come to peace with the possibility of losing my leg. I probably couldn’t keep my exorcist job anymore, unless I moved strictly to research, but I could probably find a way to keep my acting job. It would attract attention and sympathy, too. I wouldn’t mind that.”
“You’d really stoop as low as to use your new disability to garner attention from the media? I’m almost ashamed.”
“Haha, well, it’s nice to think there’d be at least some upsides.”
He paused for a moment.
“Matoba? If you don’t mind me asking, do you think you’d keep your exorcism job if you lost your eye?”
“Of course I would. It would be no different than now. I wear an eyepatch over that eye, anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“And besides, I’m the leader of the community. I’m not leaving until I die and an heir takes my place.”
Matoba was quiet after saying this. His clan had been pressuring him lately to find a bride, but he kept brushing off their concerns. He was still plenty young, and he was too busy at the moment to become a husband, to become a father. He still had time. They would just have to wait.
What about Natori? Was there anyone in his life? Probably not. There was plenty of gossip of him being a playboy celebrity, and he didn’t seem like the type to settle down with any one person. Not that he could even afford to settle down with anyone. He was likely never going to marry and have children. The Natori bloodline was going to end with him.
These conversations were getting too personal, Natori thought. Though he knew it was his fault. He wasn’t one to open up or talk about personal topics. Perhaps the blood loss was getting to him.
“Damn it. I wish I was in bed right now.”
“Are you cold?”
“...Yeah.”
Matoba took his jacket off.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re injured, so you should try to take care of yourself and stay warm. Take it.”
Natori didn’t really see what being cold had to do with his leg injury, but he wasn’t going to say no to the extra warmth. He painfully moved over slightly to be closer to Matoba as well, hoping he could at least share some body heat. Normally this would have felt awkward to him, but he was in so much pain and so tired and so cold that it didn’t matter. It was a little warmer leaning against the other man. He closed his eyes and smiled. It was nice to be resting against someone like this. Even if it was Matoba. Maybe he could get some more rest while they waited for help to arrive.
Matoba thought Natori was being unusually amicable with him today. He had been a little bit snippy while having his wound tended to, but besides that he was friendly. Matoba supposed he was glad for this. Normally Natori would get irritated with everything he said or did, so it was nice not to have to deal with that. Maybe the pain had mellowed him out. He felt the other man’s slow and steady breathing, and his warm breath against his neck.
Matoba reached over to Natori gently and brushed the hair out of his face.
“Is your leg feeling better?”
“No.”
“Oh, well, I figured it wouldn’t.”
“Then why did you ask?”
Okay, maybe he was still being a little snippy.
“Just trying to pass the time,” Matoba replied.
“Matoba?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think Natsume shouldn’t be around me?”
“I think you draw attention to him.”
Natori let out a stressed sigh.
“I didn’t say that was a bad thing, necessarily. But you seem to think that is. What are you so worried about?”
“I want him to have a normal life.”
“That child will never have a normal life, staying away from exorcists won’t change that.”
Natori looked pissed off at this comment, but had nothing to say.
“He really is incredible. I suspect his powers exceed even mine.”
“Stay away from him. Natsume doesn’t need to be involved with the Matoba. He has enough to worry about.”
“Oh? I’m curious now. What’s he have to be so concerned about?”
“None of your business, Matoba.”
There was a rustling sound, and the two men jolted their heads up. It was close by. More rustling, getting closer now. Matoba stood up and grabbed his bow and arrows. He looked into the bushes and aimed where the sound came from. His arrow snapped and his bow shattered as a shadow taller than the trees, with long limbs and pointed horns, reached its large hand out and grasped him tightly. It squeezed tightly. He couldn’t breathe.
“Matoba!”
He heard a cracking noise, and he passed out.
Snow fell gently on the boardwalk, but Seiji’s head was safely covered by his mother’s umbrella.
“Tell us, Seiji, what does that kimono look like to you?”
“Huh? Kimono? You mean that red one with all the flowers?”
Gasps from the others.
“He’s amazing!”
“The only ones who can see the flowers are Mr. Yorishima, Mr. Hakozaki, and the head of the Matoba himself.”
“It barely looks red to me!”
“He truly is his father’s child!”
Seiji felt a warm hand on his head. His mother.
“Good job, Seiji, you’re surely fit to lead us all in the future.”
Seiji felt confused at first, but, seeing the smiling faces around him, he beamed proudly.
The scenery shifted to the same location, but now it was a cool autumn evening.
“What was that? What do you mean, ‘not bad’?!”
The boy looked angry at this comment. Hilarious. Seiji meant it, though. It’s impressive to see the dark red hue of the beautiful kimono. It’s not like he had expected the new boy to be able to see the flowers. After all, almost nobody could see those.
A warm, but breezy, summer day. The two boys sat by the river.
“Matoba?”
“Hm?”
“Is it true the kimono has flowers on it?”
“Yeah. But only a select few of us can see them. It’s pretty rare.”
“I wish… that I could see them, too. Maybe then I’d be strong enough to protect people…”
The two sat in silence for a moment.
“Matoba?”
“Matoba!”
Matoba looked up, expecting to see Natori. Instead he opened his eyes to see a young cat-eyed boy looking at him with concern.
“Whew, I was worried. Are you okay, Matoba?”
Matoba tried to sit up, but the sharp pain in his sides prohibited this. That thing must have cracked several ribs. He looked over beside him to see Natori looking pissed off, but too tired to do anything about it.
“I got rid of that small fry for you. You owe us one, brats.”
Natsume’s massive beastly companion clicked his tongue and then transformed back into his round lucky-cat form and perched on the boy’s shoulder.
“What are you doing here, Natsume?”
“Er, well, I kind of got requested to get rid of the evil spirit by the youkai who live here and- Sorry.”
“You should have come to us to begin with, Natsume,” Natori commented, sighing.
“Hmph, obviously this was too much for you brats to handle anyway. Look at the state of you two! What were you doing?!”
The round cat hopped up and down in a fit of annoyance as he said this.
“And, I also found this.”
The boy held out a paper doll with smeared writing on it.
“I was worried about you guys when I found this, so I came out here tonight looking. I’m glad we found you.”
“Well, now that you’re here, and that thing’s taken care of, could we bother you to fetch help? The Matoba clan has doctors specifically to help wounded exorcists. With your powers, a paper doll would be sure to-”
“No need, Sensei and I can take you there now!”
“I’m not an ambulance!” the cat protested.
The boy shut him up with an unnecessary smack to the head.
“Natsume, you don’t-”
“What else am I supposed to do? You and Matoba are hurt.”
He clenched his fists tightly and looked down. This boy concerned himself with others far too much. He was like Natori in this way, Matoba thought.
“Thank you, Natsume. It would be much appreciated. I guess this time I owe you a favor.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he smiled weakly.
The two men lay side by side, their injuries now tended to properly. They both hurt too much to get up. The sliding door opened, and Natsume walked in holding a tray with a couple glasses of water.
“I grabbed some water for you guys. Feeling any better?”
Natori painfully sat up and took a glass. Matoba couldn’t sit up at all.
“A little bit. Thanks, Natsume.”
Natsume smiled at his friend.
“Oh, um, I wanted to ask, what was that kimono out there?”
“Which kimono?”
Matoba already knew what Natsume was talking about, but he decided to ask anyway. It didn’t hurt to prod for clarification, especially when the answers could prove interesting.
“The one hanging from the tree out there. The red one with flowers. Did someone lose it? It’s very pretty.”
“Oh? So you saw that kimono. Very interesting.”
He gave a weird look.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s just a test, Natsume, used to gauge one’s spiritual abilities.”
“A test? So does everyone see it differently?”
“It looks red to most people with abilities.”
“Oh, that’s cool. Can you see the flowers, Natori?”
“No.”
The boy looked slightly sad at this.
“I’m afraid it’s terribly rare, Natsume. I only know of a couple people besides us who can see them.”
“Oh. That’s a shame. It’s so beautiful. I wish everyone could see it.”