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On a quiet evening, Natsume strolled through the forest, enjoying the quiet evening. Nyanko-sensei had gone off to drink sake as usual, and for once there was no youkai chasing him for some odd reason or another.
Natsume stayed focused on his surroundings to watch for any potential surprise attack because it was unusual for peace to last for long. It's even been an entire week since he was last attacked. As he neared a clearing, Natsume heard a few voices cheering. Natsume slowly and quietly made his way over, unsure if they were youkai or unaware humans, but not wishing to disturb them.
"Hah, we finally got that exorcist!" he overheard. They were definitely youkai then. But which exorcist were they referring to?
"He'll be dead by the end of the week, and he won't even be able to notice anything is wrong until it's too late," one of the youkai said. "He's been a nuisance for long enough. Every time I get close enough to eat a human he nearly exorcises me, ugh."
"With that attitude it's surprising he hasn't gotten rid of the lizard youkai yet."
"He probably doesn't know how!" another one said. "Heh, regardless, it's too late now."
As soon as the youkai mentioned a lizard, Natsume felt a sense of dread. There was only one exorcist Natsume knew who had a lizard youkai, and that was Natori Shuuichi. Natsume was not entirely sure of Natori's relationship with him, though he supposed he saw Natori as an older brother figure sometimes. Regardless, Natsume knew he had to do something if Natori was targeted by a curse.
Quietly, Natsume moved away from the clearing, and once he reached a safe distance he began running back. With any luck Nyanko-sensei would be in his room and he could get Nyanko-sensei to get rid of the curse.
By the time he reached his house, Natsume was out of breath. He yelled a quick "I'm home!" to Touko, who was cooking dinner, before dashing up the stairs. He flung open the door and was relieved to see Nyanko-sensei munching on a piece of shrimp tempura.
"Nyanko-sensei!" Natsume managed to say. He took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. "Natori's been cursed!"
"Hm?" Nyanko-sensei said, as calm as ever. "So what do you want me to do. He's a threat to my future possession of the Book of Friends."
"Nyanko-sensei, Natori-san is one of my closest friends," Natsume pleaded. Even as he said it, the word "friend" didn't seem to fit, as Natori felt like more than just a friend. "We have to at least try, I'll even buy you a few manju."
Desperate times called for desperate measures. Natsume was fully willing to spend some of his money on extra manju buns if it meant Nyanko-sensei would be able to get rid of the curse on Natori.
"Ok, fine, fine!" Nyanko-sensei said, clearly delighted by the prospect of manju buns. "But this isn't because of the manju!" He quickly said. "I'm just protecting the Book of Friends which will be mine one day!"
That last part was a lie, but Natsume was grateful. Nyanko-sensei may not admit it, but he does care… about manju buns.
While Natsume was prepared to rush out and find Natori as soon as possible, one glance outside the window showed that it was too dark outside. Secondly, he had absolutely no idea where Natori was, and while Nyanko-sensei could reasonably fly around to search for the actor, Natsume didn't want to bother him too much.
Natsume was worried out of his mind but knew he would have a better chance at searching the next day, after school. He did have until the end of the week so it would definitely be fine.
At school the next day, Natsume searched for his friend Nishimura. Nishimura was a big fan of the actor Natori Shuuichi, and may be able to provide a lead of where Natori was.
"Hey Nishimura!" Natsume called. "This is a bit sudden but do you know where Natori-san is filming?"
"What?" Nishimura gasped. "You're a fan of his too? Well lucky for you, I know everything there is to know about Natori! He's actually been in the nearby city, filming for his next biggest hit. This isn't knowledge most people know about! Huh, are you going to try to talk to him? Get me his autograph if you meet him! Though I doubt you can get close, since he's such a famous actor, haha."
Natsume doubted Nishimura was aware of a few of Natori's secrets, such as being an exorcist, but he wasn't about to spill that.
"Thanks a lot Nishimura! I'll be sure to get you his autograph if I have a chance to talk to him."
However, Natsume was not planning to approach Natori directly. The actor was busy with his day job and his exorcist duties, and did not need Natsume interfering with his work. Natsume hoped to locate Natori, remove the curse, and leave before the actor noticed a thing. At least, that was the plan.
As soon as school ended for the day, Natsume ran off.
"Sorry guys, I've got something to do today!" he called back to his friends. They looked at one another, a bit worried. Natsume often ran off and usually it resulted in him getting injured.
"He's going to try and get me Natori-san's autograph!" He heard Nishimura explain to them. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Natsume rushed back to his house to get Nyanko-sensei before he boarded the train. A short ride later, he made it. Unfortunately, he still had no idea where to begin within the city. He decided to ask the people nearby.
"Hey, uh, I heard the actor Natori Shuuichi is filming here, do you know where he is?"
The woman looked at him with an annoyed expression.
"Kid, Natori's got a lot more to do than have diehard fans disturb his work," she said. "Just go back home, there's no chance you'll be able to get his autograph."
Asking around garnered him similar responses. Natsume sighed and began to walk around, hoping he might be able to get some hints that way. Sometime during his conversations, Nyanko-sensei had disappeared too. He probably got distracted by the food shops again.
As Natsume wandered around, the sun began to set, and Natsume began losing hope. What if he never found Natori and the curse stayed? Then Natori would be gone. Natori, who was one of the very few humans who knew Natsume could see youkai and could see youkai as well. Without him, one of his only connections to the exorcist world would be Matoba Seiji, and that would be very unpleasant.
Just then, he saw Nyanko-sensei wandering back.
"Hey Natsume, I found your actor friend," Nyanko-sensei said. Natsume fully expected him to talk about some delicious food that he wanted, so when Nyanko-sensei was actually being helpful, it came as a major (but not unwelcome) surprise. He definitely deserved some extra manju buns after this, even if Nyanko-sensei was putting on an awfully large amount of weight already.
Natsume followed Nyanko-sensei down a few streets before they finally came upon a taped off and guarded area. From a distance, Natsume could make out Natori's hair, but as he approached the tape, he was stopped by the security.
"Ah, sorry," Natsume said before the security could do anything. "I just wanted to get a glimpse of the famous Natori- san."
He quickly turned around and went behind a corner. There was no way he would be able to get close enough to Natori.
"Nyanko-sensei, could you somehow get closer and remove the curse?" Natsume asked.
"Hmph, fine!" Nyanko-sensei said. "I'm just doing this for the manju- I mean, for the Book of Friends!"
Natsume peeked from around the corner to check on Nyanko-sensei. (The security saw a fat cat wandering over and didn't think too much of it, although it was pretty ugly and they thought they saw the cat with one of those Natori fans earlier.)
He saw Nyanko-sensei's forehead symbol light up while he was near Natori, hopefully Natori thought it was a trick of the light. When Nyanko-sensei came running back, Natsume asked, "So how did it go? Is the curse gone now?"
Nyanko-sensei sighed as best as a cat could.
"Unfortunately, this curse is not the type I can remove," he said. Just like most of the curses they came upon.
"So how do we get rid of it then?" Natsume asked.
"Well fortunately for you, I do recognize the curse!" Nyanko-sensei puffed up his chest. "Although, you aren't going to like the method to break it."
"Just tell me, I'll do anything," Natsume said desperately.
Nyanko-sensei knew there was no way to stop Natsume, so he acquiesced.
"The only way to break the curse is for him to shed the blood of a human that is close to him. So if you can make Natori injure you.."
There was no other human Natori was particularly close to besides Natsume, if being friends counted as close, and Natsume also refused to involve others in this.
"That's easy then, I'll just ask Natori to stab me!" Natsume said.
Nyanko-sensei stared at Natsume. He made it sound like stabbing was no big deal. With a deadpan voice, Nyanko-sensei said, "You really think he's just going to do that because you asked?"
"Well, of course not," Natsume replied. "I'll explain the curse to him and he'll do it. It's not much, just a small injury that'll be gone in a bit. Natori-san surviving is more important than that."
Natsume again didn't want to interrupt Natori while he was at work, but after Natori finished for the day, he quietly followed him until they were at an empty area. Only one of Natori's shiki, Hiiragi, was there. As Natsume approached, Hiiragi notified Natori.
"Oh, Natsume!" Natori said. "Aw, you care so much about me, coming out all this way just to say hi."
"Natori-san," Natsume began hurriedly without any preliminaries. "Please stab my hand."
Natori just stared. It was quiet for a few moments before Natori managed to say, "What?"
"Please stab my hand," Natsume repeated.
"Uh… what's this about? Why should I stab you?" Natori asked. "I'm not about to stab you."
Natsume began explaining, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "You've been cursed and unless you stab me you're going to die by the end of the week!"
Natori shook his head and laughed.
"I'm not cursed, if I was, Hiiragi would have been able to sense it and let me know. I won't stab you, Natsume, even if this was true."
"Please, Nyanko-sensei, back me up?"
"Natsume is telling the truth," Nyanko-sensei said.
"Nyanko-sensei is in on this as well? Did you bribe him with more shrimp tempura?" Natori did not believe it at all. "Well, if that's all, you should be heading back now, it's getting quite late. I'll walk you back to the train station."
Natsume saw there was no way to convince Natori, especially when Hiiragi couldn't detect the curse at all. He just stayed quiet during the walk back, trying to think of a way he could get Natori to injure him.
"Oh, yes, before I leave," Natori said after they reached the station. "Tomorrow is the weekend, an in fact us exorcists are having a biannual youkai-hunting convention where there is a youkai hunting competition and discuss youkai capturing techniques. I know you don't really like it, but I think it could be useful for you to know about, if you're willing to come. It'll be at the southwestern entrance to the forest near the Matoba residence."
Natsume just nodded, as an idea began coming to him.
"Well then, safe travels home, and I hope to see you tomorrow!"
After Natori left, Natsume looked at Nyanko-sensei. Nyanko-sensei just knew Natsume was about to spout a terrible idea.
"Could you help me disguise as a youkai tomorrow for the youkai-hunting convention?"
Nyanko-sensei sighed as there was no way he would be able to convince Natsume otherwise.
"Yes… but are you sure this is the only way?"
"You heard him, he didn't believe me at all! There must be part of the curse that makes him not believe the truth, otherwise it would be so simple to just stab me and be cured, right?"
"Have you considered that he just doesn't want to hurt you?" Nyanko-sensei tried to explain.
"But he will die if he doesn't! Me having an injury for a short time or his life, his life is clearly more important!"
"You do know that Natori treasures your relationship with him very highly, right? He definitely won't approve."
Natsume knew this as well, and so he would go through with his plan.
Early the next morning, Natsume made his way to the location of the youkai-hunting convention, with a youkai disguise ready. It was the second-to-last day before the curse took effect, and therefore Natsume needed to succeed.
He saw the exorcists arrive while he was perched up in a tree with Nyanko-sensei. A few shiki noticed him but didn't say anything.
When the convention finally began, he saw Natori looking around, possibly hoping Natsume showed up. Natsume did show up, just not in the way he wanted.
After a few preliminary speeches, an announcer said, "We will begin with the event… Exorcist vs Youkai!" The crowd cheered loudly. "As most of you know, we will release one youkai into a sealed ring with one exorcist. The goal is to stab the youkai with this sealing knife before it gets you! While we have had some serious injuries and deaths before, all of you are powerful exorcists, so I am sure you will all be victorious today."
More cheering from the crowd.
"A few young but powerful up-and-coming exorcists will be participating today as well, including Natori Shuuichi! He will be in the final round with the most powerful youkai we have today."
As he heard this, all Natsume could think was that he needed to take that youkai's spot. Meanwhile, excited whispers came from the crowd as they were eager to see what the youkai would be and how the powerful exorcist would fare against it.
"We will be starting with some low levelled youkai and newer exorcists! Despite them not being particularly dangerous, this is your time to start making a name for yourself!"
While the matches begun, Natsume made his way over to where the youkai were kept, Nyanko-sensei following him. The security in the area was not particularly heavy, and he managed to sneak in without much difficulty. Natsume looked around to find the youkai Natori was intended to face.
Surprisingly, the seals and cages were all marked with the name of the combatant the youkai was intended for. While Natsume would like nothing better than to free the youkai, saving Natori was his priority.
With some assistance from Nyanko-sensei, he located the most dangerous youkai. He had also managed to pick up one of the youkai-sealing knives as he made his way there.
After unlocking the door, he lunged for the youkai with a knife. It just dodged.
"Heh, I thought I was going to fight some big shot and get sealed, but now some kid's unlocked the door for me here!" the youkai said maliciously as it laughed. "Looks like I'm in luck today! All I have to do is eat this kid and then I'll be free!"
The youkai, underestimating Natsume, danced around as it narrowly dodged Natsume's strikes with the knife. Although, Natsume didn't exactly have much skill with a knife to begin with either. A few attempts left Natsume breathing hard while the youkai just kept laughing. Each time Natsume got close, the youkai swiped its claws, creating fresh wounds and causing Natsume to bleed.
Natsume refused to give up and kept trying, despite his vision starting to get a bit blurry from the blood loss. He was also tiring quickly and was not making progress as the youkai continued to toy with him. His arms throbbed in pain and his head pounded. Lifting the knife was starting to become a chore, as it seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.
"Ah, you're no fun… so weak! I'm bored now, so time to finish this off!" it said as it began opening its mouth. Suddenly, a bright light came from next to Natsume, his eyes hurting as the light blinded him.
As his vision swam, he heard Nyanko-sensei say "Natsume, he's distracted, stab the youkai with your knife!"
Natsume blinked away spots as he tried to lift up his knife. The youkai was stunned by Nyanko-sensei's light and was frozen slightly. With a last surge of effort, Natsume managed to touch the youkai with the knife, and with a glowing symbol, the youkai was sealed.
As soon as the youkai was gone, Natsume collapsed to the ground from his injuries. His eyelids felt heavy and he wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep. But he still had a part to play in order to save Natori. With some assistance from Nyanko-sensei, he managed to get the wounds cleaned up. After drinking some water, his head felt a bit clearer. He also got the youkai disguise on and was essentially ready to go, despite stumbling when he took a step.
In fact, he was ready just on time, because just then a team of exorcists came and lifted the cage before bringing it outside and into the ring.
"Finally, we have the star of the event, Natori Shuuichi!"
There was a bit of confusion because the crowd was not expecting a human-shaped youkai, as all the previous ones were animalistic in appearance. Though, they just put off the difference as it being the biggest fight.
"Yeah Natori! You got this!!" the crowd yelled encouragement to Natori as Natori stepped into the ring from the opposite end. An exorcist opened the cage before dashing out of the line in fear of getting attacked as well. A number of non-participants had been gravely injured in that way.
Natsume stood up slowly and tried to look as menacing as possible. Nyanko-sensei had hidden himself elsewhere because he would have been a dead giveaway otherwise.
Head pounding and vision still blurring with every step, Natsume made his way out of the cage and stood in front of Natori. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, but soon Natori came with the knife. He overheard some confused murmurs from the crowd because he wasn't attacking at all.
Natori had just managed to stab the youkai without any effort involved, really, and froze when the youkai did not disappear with a glowing seal as the previous ones did. Instead, a trail of red blood dripped from where Natori's knife had hit. Looking closer, the youkai's arms had a lot more of what looked like claw marks, something youkai just did not have.
To add to the confusion, a dark miasma appeared around Natori before it was dispelled with a dying screeching sound.
"What's going on?!" someone yelled.
Natsume just smiled from underneath the mask as he noticed the curse get lifted. Mission success. And then he collapsed.
When he finally came to, he was lying inside a tent, a warm weight on top of him. He felt sore everywhere and as he tried to open his eyes, the bright lights caused his headache to reemerge. Natsume groaned loudly and still tried to sit up.
"He's awake!" someone yelled. The sound of footsteps and Natsume could make out Natori coming over, pushing past the other person. Natori removed the weight which turned out to be Nyanko-sensei, and hugged Natsume tightly.
"Ow." Natsume managed to say. Natori let go of him quickly.
"Natsume…" Natori began. "I'm so sorry!!"
"Why?" Natsume asked. "If you mean injuring me, it all worked out in the end, didn't it?"
Natori just looked at Natsume.
"You're hurt everywhere, not just from that one stab! And that part wasn't ok! What happened since I last saw you yesterday?"
"Well," Natsume said as he began explaining the events that occurred.
"I'm sorry for not believing you," Natori said, "It caused you to go to so much trouble and get even more injured, to be honest I don't know why I didn't believe you either…"
"It's ok," Natsume reassured him. "Really, after I rest a bit it'll be completely fine. It's still the weekend so I don't have school yet."
"Natsume, it's still not ok, even if it turned out alright in the end, if you don't count your injuries "alright"," Natori said. "But please, if there is anything I can do to repay you, let me know, after all the effort you went through, it's only right."
"Hmm…" Natsume thought for a moment. "Then, can I get your autograph?"
He watched Natori's expression turn from delighted to mildly disappointed as he said the next line:
"It's for my friend, Nishimura."