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Natori had been enjoying his much-needed day off lounging around his barren apartment.
It wasn't often his exorcist AND acting schedule left him completely free. which made days like this quite rare and to be honest it had left him quite bored.
Just as he was contemplating actually going somewhere or something his house phone began to ring.
'I forgot to unplug that,' he thought as he decided to just let it ring but after the 3rd chime it began to seriously annoy him.
"Urihime, check who's calling" he called into the apartment despite being alone shortly followed by the sound of his familiars moving about the apartment.
"It’s an unknown number Natori-dono" Urihime answered after the phone rang a few more times.
"Well at least it's not my manager" Natori sighed to nobody in particular, as he got up from the couch.
Sure enough it was a number he didn't recognize meaning he should probably ignore it but, what did he have to lose. he was bored out of his mind
Natori picked up the phone, "Hello? This is the Natori residence" he answered in his normal 'I'm a celebrity voice', just in case it was a fan or something that found his address
"Hello, am I speaking to Natori Shuuichi?" A professional woman said over the receiver, definitely not a fan thankfully.
"Yes this is him, do you need something?"
"This is Hitoyoshi hospital, I'm just calling to inform you that Natsume Takashi was admitted earlier today" the woman responded, sort of sounding like she reading something off a clipboard
'Natsume's in the hospital?' He thought briefly
"what happened?" He said a little to quick
"It appears he was attacked by an animal in the woods" she said noncommittally
'ah an animal' that most likely meant a youkai
"I see" he hummed ‘I'll be right there' was right on his tongue, but then he thought about it
'Why did the general hospital call me?' It would be normal if Natsume himself called (though out of character for him) or even his friend whose name escaped him at the moment but not the hospital
"May I ask why you called me in particular?"
"Mm" he could hear papers shuffling and some clicking "Well Natsume's guardians are out of town at the moment according to him" that's true, he had heard from Natsume's fat cat that they were meeting with a friend this weekend, "and" the lady on the phone paused for a moment
"You're his emergency contact"
"Oh I see, I'll be right there" he said curtly, the woman said her thanks and hung up
His emergency contact huh...
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"I'm sorry, I didn't know who to put" Natsume said as soon as Natori stepped foot into the while hospital room
Natsume himself was laying with the blanket up to his chest with his arms free. One arm was bandaged up to the shoulder and the other one had an IV. His face was pale, contrasting with his hair that was partially stuck to his face.
He looked as guilty as Natsume always does when he needs people to do things for him, big or small
"It's no problem, though I was a little surprised" he laughed his normal 'celebrity' laugh, but a little more real because he really did mean it "what happened though?"
Natsume opened his mouth to answer but another voice beat him to it "can you believe him? He tried to protect a weakling and a bigger youkai took a piece out of him" Natsume's ugly cat huffed from atop the generic table present in every hospital room, except a pillow had been put on top of it that he was laying on
"Well the-" Natsume made an effort to try and sit up but ultimately gave up, flopping back down into the pillow with a sigh "the little youkai got away safely so it's okay", the cat just made a "humph" sound and turned its head
" you need to learn to put yourself first Natsume" he said softer than he really meant to, Natsume's guilty face came right back as he averted his eyes "are you alright though?" Natori asked
"I think so, they gave me a blood transfusion so i should be okay" Natsume shifted, it was clear he was restless but weak so it didn't amount to much more than a wiggle
Natori sat on the bed and looked around the room absentmindedly, though there really wasn't much to look at
"I'm really sorry" Natsume brought him back to reality "you didn't have to come all the way here..." his voice trailed off at the end
He wanted to laugh again but he didn't want to hurt Natsume's feelings so he simply put his hand on his hair
"Don't worry about it, I was having a boring day anyways" he paused for a second simply patting Natsume's head like you would a small child, natsume leaned into the touch which was unlike him, probably the result of whatever pain killer he was on. To save his pride natori didnt address it.
"Do you know when you're getting discharged?" Natori asked instead
"Tomorrow" Natsume said without opening his eyes
"And the Fujiwaras?"
".....they're coming back in two days" Natsume looked away. He had the look of a child who knew he had done something bad and was guilty about it
"mm, okay i'll be back tomorrow then" he pulled away finally and got up from the bed only for his wrist to be caught by Natsume
"You don't have to" He said louder than he had probably been all day, he was leaning over in a sort of half sit up, the kind people do when they're desperate "I'll tell them to change it, you don't have to come all the way here. I'll be okay" He dipped his head down as the excuses poured out of him
out of the corner of his eye Natori saw Natsume's ugly cat squint at them, though he didn't know if that was meant for him or for Natsume. He didn't particularly care either way though.
"I don't mind" he resisted the urge to pat Natsume on the head again to soothe him "i love taking care of my little cousin~" he laughed as Natsume's expression turned to a glare as he brushed his hand off his wrist
"See you tomorrow okay" he waved as he turned to leave. Just as he was leaving the door frame he heard a quiet "See you too"