Natsume Yuujinchou Fan Fiction ❯ His Wedding Night ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: It would appear there are a handful of weirdoes like myself who like this pairing, so I'll see what else I can do. Also, the people have spoken, so there will be a small amount of Natori eventually. Don't get too excited, though, Matoba isn't finished with Natsume just yet. And…thanks everyone so much for your support >w< it made me really, really happy.

~Part 4~

The moment Madara touched down, Natsume tripped over himself to get inside. It was late enough that he didn't have to worry about the Fujiwaras seeing him rush to the bathroom. Once there, he struggled out of the dress, paying no mind to the snapping of threads being pulled too taught. He caught a glance of himself in the mirror, and wished he hadn't.

He was a wreck. There were marks all over his neck and chest, his hair was mussed, and the look on his face was absolutely miserable. Before that point, he was more or less in a state of calm. Now some odd emotions were rising in his throat. He braced himself against the sink and took a deep breath.

He was angry at Matoba, angry at himself, but mostly he was embarrassed about the whole thing. He didn't think he would cry, though. It was unpleasant (wasn't it?), but a lot of unpleasant things happened to him. This was just one more to add to the pile.

Feeling more stable, he stepped into the shower. He cleaned the make-up from his face first, and spent a lot of time scrubbing the "touched" feeling from his skin. He saved his lower parts for last. The hot water and soap stung as he cleaned a small amount of blood and another unmentionable substance from his backside. After he finished and stepped out, he was relaxed enough to feel his exhaustion.

He picked up the crumpled dress from the floor – gods, he left his boxers there – and peeked out into the hallway. His nightclothes were folded on the floor next to the door. Madara must have brought them. Natsume slipped them on gratefully and made his way back to his room.

Madara, now the pudgy cat once more, sat on the edge of Natsume's futon. He raised his head. "It's late. Get some sleep," he ordered dismissively. Natsume nodded and slipped into the covers. Madara toddled closer and curled up next to his shoulder. The warm lump next to him was like a spell that chased away any worries that Natsume had, and the young man easily found sleep.

~*~

It was dark. And cold. Nothingness surrounded him, which intensified the scent of fear and sweat that pierced it. A single figure knelt in the void where the stench came from. Its face was cast in shadow, save for sharp red blood that dripped onto the non-ground before it.

"I hate them," it hissed.

~*~

"Takashi-kun, are you still asleep?" Touko's voice called from outside Natsume's door. He startled awake and noticed the sunlight filling his room. "Are you not feeling well?" she tried again.

"Sorry, I'm fine. I just over-slept," Natsume replied. He groaned as he raised his aching body.

Madara bounced to his feet. "Are you sure you don't want to call in sick today?" He asked.

"No, I shouldn't," Natsume reasoned. "I've done that a few times already, and I don't want Touko-san to worry. And I'm fine, really. Just a little sore."

"Hmph, you're a tough kid, Natsume," Madara commented. "You better not overdo it, though. I'm not your horse, so don't expect me to carry you all over the place if you get tired."

"I won't," Natsume smiled. "Thanks, Sensei."

Natsume threw on his school uniform, and was only half relieved to discover that if he buttoned his shirt all the way up, it covered all but one of the marks. He touched the particularly dark bruise just under his jaw. He really didn't want to draw attention to himself, but there was no helping it. He found a large bandage in the first-aid kit he kept in his room and covered it up the best he could.

Downstairs, the Fujiwara couple was already prepared for breakfast. Touko glanced up with a smile. "Good morn- Takashi-kun! Are you hurt?" She exclaimed.

"Did you cut yourself shaving?" Shigeru teased.

"O-Oh, no," Natsume laughed it off weakly. "It's just a scratch. From Nyanko-sensei."

"The little kitty?" Touko frowned at the round cat at Natsume's feet. "That's no good, kitty! No breakfast for you!"

"Mu!?" Madara glared daggers at Natsume for the rest of the meal.

Natsume had to make it up to him by stopping to buy a snack on the way to school, but still got chewed out the entire time. The walk itself was worse than Natsume expected. He ended up limping the whole way, only forcing himself to walk normally when he reached the school gates.

Class dragged on. Natsume could hardly pay attention to the current lecture, and instead shifted uncomfortably and continually glanced outside. Madara was sitting on the wall outside like a sentry.

"Hey, Natsume, did you cut yourself shaving?" Nishimura made the same joke during lunch. Natsume only smiled a little. "Hey, lighten up. You've been acting distant all morning."

"Maybe it's a girl," Kitamoto offered.

"Eh!?" Nishimura exclaimed.

"N-No-," Natsume waved his hands, but the damage was done. Nishimura pestered him about it the rest of the day.

After class, Natsume met Madara at the gate. "Did you really wait here all day, Sensei?" He asked.

"Don't get used to it, fool. I just smell something suspicious around," he muttered.

As though the words were a spell, Natsume saw the unmistakable shape of a shiki ghost between two buildings. His heart froze. So soon? And did they really know where he went to school? Would they show up at the Fujiwara's home, too?

"I knew it. I'll eat every one of them!" Madara growled and prepared to spring.

"Wait, Sensei! Don't run off!" Natsume pleaded. He was certain there would be more than one of them, and he didn't want Madara to go chasing after one only to have the others ambush him in the guardian's absence.

"Natsume?"

Natsume spun around. "Tanuma?" He replied. His breath caught in his throat. He absolutely did not want to involve Tanuma in any of this.

Tanuma frowned. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Natsume looked back between the buildings, but the shiki had disappeared. "Nothing," he said hesitantly.

Tanuma sighed, "It's not nothing, is it?"

"…Sorry," Natsume replied.

"I don't mean to push you, but you know you can ask me for help with anything, right?" The dark-haired boy offered gently. "I saw you limping, too. Did something attack you?"

"Yeah…" Natsume's voice trailed off. "Sorry, Tanuma. It's just something with an ayakashi, but it's nothing that I can't handle. So don't worry about me, okay?"

Tanuma's face fell. He looked…hurt. "Alright," he gave in, "but if you need anything, please call me." Natsume nodded and they said good-bye.

Walking home, Natsume hated how easily the lies fell from his lips. A liar. That's what everyone called him. Maybe now he was becoming one. He thought back to Matoba's words. He couldn't pretend that the exorcist's offer of understanding wasn't enticing. Tanuma was his friend, but there were still so many things he couldn't share with him. To people who knew even more than Natsume did, he would never have to hide anything.

But that wasn't true either, was it? He could never tell them about the Book of Friends. He could never confide in people who treated ayakashi like tools easily disposed of and replaced. He couldn't even do that with Natori, who thought of him as a friend.

If the shiki saw him, it didn't seem to follow. Natsume arrived home without incident. He greeted Touko and immediately trudged to his room, where he rested his weight against the door. Madara plodded to the futon and plopped down.

"What am I going to do, Sensei…?" He breathed.

The cat statue mulled it over for a moment before speaking. "I don't know much about the Matoba clan, but I can tell you that man is dangerous," Madara started carefully, "If it's you he has his sights set on, he's not going to stop. I'll protect you, but I can't guarantee I'll be with you at every moment. Give me the word, and I'll end it now."

The cat's offer hung in the air. Natsume swallowed before shaking his head. "We can't do that, Sensei," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because he's human," he slumped down, wincing when he hit the floor.

Madara's paws thudded on the floor in a tantrum, "You reckless twit, how am I supposed to get the Book of Friends if it gets taken by those guys!? Oi, Natsume, are you listening?"

Natsume hung his head in deep thought. What was he supposed to do? Against ayakashi, there was always something that could be done. He could run or hide. His punches were strong enough to bring most adversaries to their knees. And in the worst cases, Madara would deal with them himself and that would be the end of it.

But the Matoba clan were humans, and Natsume felt powerless against them. Running or hiding would only work for so long, his punches were only really effective on spirits, and the thought of Madara taking lethal action….Natsume shook his head again. He was afraid of ayakashi, but these people were frightening in all new ways.

Unlike them, Natsume wasn't really trained in any spells or seals. If only he had some weapons at his disposal to protect himself, instead of relying on Madara's strength. He remembered suddenly that he knew someone who might be able to teach him such things. He asked Madara who glared at him, "Do you think…I should ask Natori-san for advice?"

Madara bristled even more at this. "Are you out of your mind!? He'll think you're coming around to being his partner! He's cheeky enough as it is, so don't go anywhere near that seedy bastard!"

Natsume tilted his head. That was a strong reaction, even for Madara. "You're really wound up today, Sensei," he noted.

"Of course I am! I'm sick of these uppity kids trying to steal my prey! It was bad enough when it was just ayakashi, but these exorcists are a thousand times more annoying!"

Natsume stood and walked to his desk. In the top drawer, shoved way to the back, he dug out a crumpled paper doll. Natori had given it to him with the instructions that if he ever needed anything, he could write a message on it and send it to him.

Madara bounced to his side. "You're really contacting him?" He grumbled.

"I have to try," Natsume replied, jotting a quick note asking to talk. "Natori-san might be the only one who can help." Now what? He opened the window and held the crumpled doll outside experimentally. The paper sprung to life on contact with the fresh air. It thrashed in his palm to straighten itself before zooming off into the sky.

Natsume spent the rest of the evening studying what he was too distracted to pay attention to in school. At first, he couldn't stop looking out the window for signs of any response from Natori. But after several minutes, he fell into a comfortable lull of concentration. He didn't know how desperate he had been for a distraction. By the time he closed the book, the sun had fully set.

A familiar scratching sounded at the window. Natsume jumped to answer it, but instead of a paper doll, a tiny froglike ayakashi stood on the sill with an equally tiny box. Madara leapt to his feet. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here again!" He hissed.

The little ayakashi cowered with its skinny knees rattling. "Yikes, p-please, Natsume-sama! We're very sorry for tricking you!" It squeaked. "I brought a gift of gratitude from the princess. Please accept it."

"There better be sake in that box," said Madara.

"N-n-no," the ayakashi trembled harder under the cat's scrutiny.

Though he thought the mutinous ayakashi deserved a bit of punishment, its obvious terror became a little pathetic and Natsume came to its rescue. "What is it?" He asked.

The ayakashi flicked the box open and presented the contents to the human. Natsume peeked in at a shiny metallic object. The ayakashi cleared its throat. "This ring has a powerful spell on it," it explained. "When you place it on someone's finger, they're bound by their word to you. They'll always be faithful."

Natsume plucked the silvery band from the box and inspected it, unimpressed.

Madara scowled, "What a useless trinket!"

"Eep!" The ayakashi stumbled backwards in fright, and then darted away.

"You better run, you little snack!" Madara shook his paw wildly.

Natsume leered at the suspicious item. It was reflectively shiny, just a silver loop with an obsidian stone embedded in it. Ayakashi writing was scrawled along the inside in flowing letters. The stone itself absorbed all light that touched it, so black and creepy he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to wear it. Giving such a thing to a significant other seemed like an underhanded thing to do in the first place. He sighed.

All this marriage business was beginning to irk him.

Natsume stuffed the ring in his bag where he kept the Book of Friends. Might as well keep troublesome objects in one place.

~TBC~

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