Another Meddlesome Job

Chapter 1~

"Oi! Oi! Are you listening, Natsume?!" shouted the pudgy-pawed maneki neko from his spot.

"Ah, sorry, what did you say, Nyanko-sensei?" Natsume rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He was supposed to be studying for his English quiz, but he couldn't seem to concentrate. Besides, he never really understood the English Language. Too many rules, too many pronunciations. Some distraction, any distraction from Nyanko-sensei at this point was more than welcome.

The orange, black and white maneki neko huffed angrily at the sandy-haired youth. "Mou... you never listen to me, air-headed Natsume!" shouted the cat which earned him a punch on the head. Nyanko-sensei rubbed his injured spot tenderly. "That hurt, dammit Natsume!"

"Whoops~ Sorry about that Nyanko-sensei! It was a reflex!" said Natsume while holding up a balled fist. With the snobbish smirk on the youth's face, anyone could tell that the smile was fake. "What were you about to say?"

Even the great Nyanko-sensei knew when to back off when Natsume was threatening. "I said, it's been really quiet lately, after that Matoba fiasco."

Matoba. Natsume didn't hate him as much as he used to, probably due to his wide understanding of humans and ayakashis. Meeting up with Matoba at some secluded place was an eye-opener for him though, for he learnt that everyone had a past, regardless of how cruel they may seem now. "You're right..." was the boy's answer.

Not dispirited by the solemn tone of the youth's voice, Nyanko-sensei carried on. "Sou, sou! It has been too quiet! Like the calm before a storm!" He swung his paws in the air while rolling on the floor. "Natsume! You have to make an offering! Gimme a bottle of sake and some fried squid before disaster strikes!'

A swift punch was landed.

"Don't joke around, Nyanko-sensei!" Despite his chiding tone, a small smile crept onto Natsume's lips.

Mission accomplished. Although he may not be the doting type, Nyanko-sensei actually cared a lot for Natsume. Keeping the boy happy is a difficult task, Reiko. "Ne, Natsume! Your hair's getting long again! Shouldn't you go get it cut?"

Natsume fingered his sandy locks. "Oh, you're right." His bangs were growing out again, like the time he kept it long to hide his face in middle school. He drew out a long sigh. "Ah, my hair gets long too quickly!"

"Isshn't zat gwood?" Nyanko-sensei munched on a manjuu. "You don't have to be bald."

Natsume squinted his eyes. "It's not convenient for me or my wallet, and where'd you get that manjuu?"

Nyanko-sensei looked to the pointed finger as he swallowed up the delicacy. "What manjuu?" he asked innocently. Before Natsume could retort, the maneki neko tossed a newspaper in his face.

"Wha-? Hey!" shouted Natsume angrily, fist balled up in preparation to discipline the cat. "What do you think you're doing, Nyanko-sensei?!"

Unfazed, the maneki neko pushed himself up on his hind paws and flipped the newspaper somewhat eagerly. "Here, Natsume!" he said as his paw was situated on an article.

Natsume blinked a few times. "Re-...mix... hair... and tattoo...salon?" came the boy's confused voice. His brows furrowed and a pensive look settled on his face. "What's this, Nyanko-sensei?"

The cat was extremely pleased with himself. "This," he said pointing his paw "is where you can go to get your hair cut!"

"Eh? Why do I need to travel all the way there?" asked Natsume with Nyanko-sensei in his lap.

The cat huffed once more. "Look at all those reviews, Natsume! Just look at them! This has to be one of the best places in town!"

Natsume was skeptical as he scanned the page. The place not only offered a hairstyling salon, there was a tattoo parlour, a mini-cafe and a spa centre. So that's what Nyanko-sensei was after... "You, want to visit the spa, Nyanko-sensei?"

Instead of pretending not to know what Natsume was talking about and being a tsundere, surprisingly he answered with a loud: "YES!" which scared Natsume. "Think about it Natsume, a spa! I mean, how many places could you find that would have a spa in this small town?!"

Unable to restrain himself, Natsume let out a muffled laugh at his cat's cute antics. "Okay, okay, I get it. Let's go after I tell Touka-san about it."

"Hoorah!" yelled the cat as he jumped off Natsume's lap with lightning speed and headed to the front door.

As Natsume tore and folded the newspaper article into his pocket, he wondered aloud. "Would they let animals use the spa?"

I know, I know, I've been AWOL for so long it's not even funny.
My excuse? None. Just that I was quite bored with writing stories for a while in my hectic schedule.

Well anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this story! I sincerely thank all those who still come to read my stories, even if I have been quite the irresponsible writer.

PS: I'll start to continue my other Natsume Yuujinchou story, "A Summer With You" soon enough!