A quick drabble that's been bouncing about in my head and I need to get rid of it before uni exams start. Being a student is such a pain sometimes.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own this anime/manga, no matter how much I love it.
Natsume often wondered what life would have been like if he couldn't see the youkai around him.
Would he be able to live in peace? Live like a normal person and fit in with everyone else?
Maybe he could've been popular, like the boys he saw at every school, that everyone wanted to be friends with. A far cry from what he had experienced.
Maybe he wouldn't have been passed around by his relatives, living with his aunt and uncle, as well as his cousin. He would've lived near his old home, able to visit whenever he felt like it, and maybe let it go more easily. He would have graduated at the normal age, instead of being held back because of his nearly inconsistent education. And he wouldn't have to have suffered the mocking and torment that he did.
But, if he didn't have the sight, he wouldn't be able to help various youkai. He wouldn't have found friends in Taki or Tanuma, or even in Hinoe and Mizusu or the multitude of other spirits that lived around him. He wouldn't have moved in with the Fujiwara's and experienced their kindness. He wouldn't have understood the importance of the Yuujinchou and be able to return the names.
Above all, he wouldn't have met Nyanko-sensei.
Yes, the cat was a glutton and a general pain in the behind. The spirit constantly turned up drunk, gave unhelpful commentary and threatened to eat him more times than he could count. But Nyanko-sensei could be considered his first friend, the first being to look out for him (even if it was so the yuujinchou didn't get stolen said the cat), to give him help when he really needed it (under much protest and derogatory comments), to guide, to protect and to teach him, because, really, he got pulled into all sorts of plots far too easily with his kind nature and lack of understanding of the spirit world.
And if he was being really honest and was sure it would never ever get back to the maneki neko, Nyanko-sensei was kinda his guardian spirit in more ways than the spirit's self imposed bodyguard duty, and he would have no idea what he would do now without the cat to guide him.
So in the end, he was thankful for his ability. He had thought it was a curse before he met Nyanko-sensei, the Fujiwaras and his friends, both human and spirits. But now, now he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
So, that's that. You know what to do. R&R, like and favourite this vid- ... I think I'm watching too much youtube...