"Hey, Nyanko-sensei? I've been wondering, do you think that there is anything I can do to find out more about my grandmother?", I finally got up the courage to ask. Whenever I would ask my family about her, they would insult her or change the subject. I think that Nyanko-sensei liked my grandmother but I also don't want to be proven wrong.

"Hmm…you could probably track down some of the youkai she enslaved, there were a lot of them. You have all of them written in the Book of Friends."

"Yeah, but it's just their names. It doesn't tell us how to find them. Wait, Nyanko-sensei, can't I use the names to summon the youkai?"

"No you can't, Natsume. You've never met them before. Haven't you been listening to the things I tell you? To summon the youkai in the book, you have to be in possession of the name and picture the youkai in your mind. If you've never met them before how the hell are you supposed to picture them?"

Well that's disappointing. "Do you have any other ideas, Sensei?"

"Well I do know this youkai who could help, but he's EXTREMELY hard to deal with. Unfortunately, if you want to know more about Reiko, he's our best bet. Come with me, Natsume."

And so, I watched Nyanko transform into his demon form and he motioned for me to climb onto his back. As we began to fly, I moved my hands through his fur and let my mind wander. Whenever he's in this form he is always so soft. Is he normally this soft or does he put in maintenance when I'm not looking? Does he groom himself like a cat or does he bathe in water? Oh god, I don't want to imagine how large his hairballs are..

As I entertained myself with his fluff, we flew over forests, towns, and several mountains. After a while, Nyanko glided down to meet a mountain side. As we moved closer, I could see a rather small opening peeking out from behind overgrown bushes.

Nyanko shrank back into a cat before wiggling himself through the bushes and yelling, "Hyusei! Come out! I need a favor!" We heard his words echo deeper and deeper into the cave. We waited. And waited. And waited. "Um sensei, I don't think he heard you." I heard a small 'tsk' and then Nyanko began throwing rocks against the cave and screaming into the cave's entrance.

Accompanied with a low growl, a large figure emerged from the darkness of the cave. "Hyusei" was very tall, looked past 6 ft, muscular, and wore a white cat mask with blood red detail work.

"What is with all this noise?! I was taking a nap-", suddenly he turned towards the overgrown bushes blocking the entryway. "What happened to my plants!? They were so small just a few decades ago."

"Hyusei, plants grow." Nyanko-sensei said with a very annoyed look on his face.

"Huh? That voice….Madara?", Hyusei bent down to get a closer look. "Good god! Is that really you? What is with that form? Is that what you think a cat is supposed to look like?! You aren't cute at all!" Hyusei crosses his arms and with a scowl visible through his voice, he says, "You are a disgrace to cat-kind."

Nyanko sighs. "Hyusei, stop with all this nonsense. We need a favor from you."

"No." Is he pouting? "I'm not going to do anything until you turn back into your usual fluffy self."

Ah, so I'm not the only one who thinks that his youkai form is fluffy.

"Fine. Natsume you go tell him what you want him to do." Nyanko-sensei then began turning back into his "usual fluffy self", making Hyusei look proud of himself for being able to command/persuade the great Madara.

"Hyusei, I need you to help me learn about my dead grandmother."

"Oh, that's all? That's simple enough. But you'll only be able to go for 3 hours since you're a human and all.", Hyusei says casually.

"Wait, where am I going?" I didn't know I was going anywhere; I figured we were just going to have a conversation.

"Oh, Madara didn't tell you? I have the ability to send a person through another person's memories. Sadly, there are a good many rules, like the person has to be asleep, the person has to keep the other person in mind while the blood takes effect, one drop lasts 3 hours, two drops lasts 6 hours—"

"Uhhh excuse me, I think I heard wrong, a drop of what?"

"Blood, didn't you hear me?" Hyusei was acting like drinking blood was a perfectly normal thing to do.

Nyanko cut in and began trying to explain,"You see Hyusei, humans don't usually drink blood and that's why he's so confused."

"Umm, Nyanko-sensei, do I really have to drink blood?", I asked, genuinely concerned. I'm a human, wouldn't drinking demon blood have bad side-effects? It never turns out well in the movies.

"Goodness, Natsume. It's just a drop, stop being such a coward."

"Human! Did you just call Madara 'Nyanko-sensei'? Hey, hey Madara, can I call you that too?"

Hyusei then began skipping around us like a school-girl chanting "Nyanko-sensei~~~ !" He kinda reminds me of Taki when she fangirls over Nyanko-sensei. Now that I think about it, Nyanko-sensei has always seemed uncomfortable around Taki, Hyusei must be why. Poor guy.

I should probably interrupt.."Hey Hyusei? Can we get started?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot! Don't be shy! Come on in." Hyusei motions to us and turns to walk into the cave.